My geek credentials are seriously lacking, but even I can tell that this weekend is pretty much a star-loving geek’s dream right here in River City. With a capital T, and that rhymes with W, and that stands for Wheaton.

Friday and Saturday it’s From the Land Beyond, Sacramento’s horror and sci-fi show. Meet Wil Wheaton and Doug Jones, and (for your Battlestar geeks out there) not only THE Richard Hatch, but also Chief (and Final Fiver) Galen Tyrol himself Aaron Douglas!

Continue reading “A geek’s dream weekend” »

Long time Folsom resident Peter Camejo died of lymphoma yesterday at the age of 68.

Camejo was the most famous Californian member of the Green Party, took 4th place in the recall election to replace Gray Davis, and was Ralph Nader’s running mate in the 2004 presidential election. He was active in politics since the 1960’s, where he involved in the Free Speech movement and Vietnam War protests at U.C Berkeley, and ran for president in 1976.

Known for his controversial political views, Camejo was an important figure in offering an alternative to our two-party political system. He will also be remembered for his pioneering work in investing, including creation of the Eco-Logical Trust for Merrill Lynch, the first fund of a major firm to hold investments to environmental standards.

The latest iteration of America’s Next Top Model premiered last night with another local product, St. Francis High School grad Analeigh Tipton (the Bee’s Leigh Grogan has been tracking this, of course). As you can see by the photo, Analeigh is 17 feet tall and is a proponent of peace.

In her audition she shared a creepy, funny-scary story about almost being sold to a Saudi prince. One wonders whether that hookup was brought to you by a modeling ad on Craigslist…

Did you see? What did you all think? Personally I think she might be a contender. Also watch out for the awkward Frenchie. Seriously, she looks like if they pick on her she might snap and kill a bitch.

Sac Bee’s Rachel Leibrock reports that Dave Walker and Lois Hart will be retiring this year, according to Lois herself in a very cute detail. And I have to confess that I did not know that Dave and Lois were the first anchors of CNN, or I forgot it. But I found the video (You have to sit through Ted Turner talking first…)

That’s right. Fieri, celebrity chef and questionably talented TV personality, was recently awarded the title of “Douchebag of the Month,” on the popular website Hot Chicks With Douchebags.

We might have to start a whole Fieri category here at the ‘Rag, what with his shameless whoring for the competition to his own local restaurant, his intentional assitude in inviting the whole nation to the Squeeze Inn, and his restaurant’s continued spotty food (except for those “Vegas Fries”–God, they’re good).

Happy birthday to everyone’s favorite prankster, policy wonk,  campaigner,  imbiber, proud dog papa, non-participant in Facebook games like Scrabulous, and all-around good guy.

Breaking news: Roseville’s bright shining spelling star, Josephine Kao, has been ousted from the Scripps National Spelling Bee, one of the last cuts before the final round was announced. She missed on “sphendone.” She’ll be eligible next year too. Way to go Josephine!

1) Not putting the new Neo Mnemonic movie, “Street Things” on the front page of the Ticket section. Rather than pimp a movie that once again has felt the wrath of Carla Meyer, the editorial staff wisely chose to feature a Second Saturday piece on the Ticket cover. Good choice. And as for Meyer’s review of “Street Wife”: not having seen the movie, I can’t comment on much more than to say that th review, as always, was well written and cogent, even though she subtly lauded Reeve’s and panned my hero, James Ellroy. Normally I’d be fuming about that pairing, but it’s too lovely a day to fume.

2) Giving the A’s just as much page as the Giants. Even though both teams won yesterday, the Bee resisted the temptation (a temptation to which the Bee usually succumbs) to splash a rather pedestrian Giants’ victory all over the sports section while relegating the A’s’ to the back pages. No doubt, the fact that either team has won a game, not to mention three games in a row, is something to celebrate. These are two teams that were described as respectively the worst opening day team ever seen (Giants), and a scrappy bunch of minor leaguers who might have a few thrilling victories amid a sea of shellackings (A’s (and yes, I used the word “Shellackings”)). So it’s nice to see the teams get equal billing on the marquee.

There has been quite a bit of attention from the Sacramento Bee about the John McCrea story, and I’ve got a few things to say about it. I appreciate the attention to the SacRag, positive, negative or neutral, but I feel the need to correct a few details that I feel the Bee got wrong.

I think Rachel Leibrock missed on a few points. Call it poetic license, call it journalistic opinion, but I call foul. You may have noticed that there are many things in her 21Q blog entry in quotation marks, which I said, and other things that are not, but are attributed to me as they are accompanied by the words “so says”.

Her headline was “Lighten Up Sac – or so says Sacrag writer”. Well, that sentence implies that I said those words. I did not. I never said that Sacramento should lighten up, mellow out, take a chill pill, calm down, cool it now, or float on (oops, that last one shows my age). In fact, I acknowledged to her that I knew that I was running the risk of offending people with this story.

Another quote from her story is the implication that I said, “Ya’ll should step off, too.” Again, I never said anything to this effect. In fact, I don’t think I have ever used the words “step off” in my life, and I would expect my friends to punch me square in the face if they ever heard me utter this phrase.

Most offending to me is her claim that I feel that “SacRag readers don’t have a very good sense of humor”. Whoa. Damn. I have all sorts of problems with this statement.

First and most important, I never said that, nor did I say anything that implies it. In fact, the readers of the SacRag crack me up. Some comments to stories bug me, but I am still amused by the interaction that occurs on this site.

Second, please look at the comments that were made by readers. A total of six readers made negative comments about the story. Six. According to StatCounter, we had 1,053 unique visitors and 551 click-throughs to the entire story. I know that we have this level of daily traffic (although this was a bit more than usual), so I would never judge the readers of the Rag based upon negative comments from only six readers.

Third, I am not arrogant enough to think that if I write something humorous that others do not find funny, that this means that the dissenting readers are somehow deficient. Different strokes for different folks.

To conclude, I don’t want anyone to think that this article is “sour grapes”. We at the Rag provide media commentary and criticism, just as Rachel does when she writes her 21Q blog. Blogging is not necessarily journalism, as a blog provides opinions, interpretations and spin with more individual freedom than a piece of journalism that is subject to editorial control and a more stringent demand for neutrality and a consideration for a well-rounded presentation of opinions. We at the Rag have already acknowledged our mistake; I hope that our counterparts at the SacBee are big enough to do the same.

French authorities in Bordeaux are now confirming that the death of John McCrea of the band Cake was no accident, but a gang-style slaying over disputed pastry turf.

Earlier today, the SacRag broke the story of McCrea’s death and the injury of fellow band member Vince DiFiore. We have received word that the French have classified this crime as a murder and are still in search of the suspect. DiFiore has been reported in stable condition but has undergone surgery to remove a vibraslap from his chest that impaled him with monster truck force. Other band members were not injured in the incident, although guitarist Xan McCurdy reports that shortly after the accident, some underage girls stole his beer.

A police sketch of the suspect (pictured above) has been leaked exclusively to the SacRag. French authorities have not gone public with this investigation as they do not want to panic the extensive and influential pastry industry that rules organized crime syndicates throughout the country. Police report to be using bloodhounds to track his distinctive and delicious scent.