Somebody kill a fatted calf. Frank Thomas has returned to Oakland.
Frank Thomas Signs With A’s
Month: April 2008
Bee Article That Caught My Eye Today #2
The front page of the sports section today was dominated by a fun piece by Bee sportswriter Ahmed Ortiz. I’m not too familiar with Ahmed’s writing, mostly since I keep forgetting that these things called “Raiders” exist, and that’s Ortiz’s bread and butter. But he definitely caught my attention with today’s piece comparing the general flameout of Barry Zito to the other notable big-paycheck pitching flops of the last ten years.
My favorite bit was when he summed up Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park as “another Boras special” and “a paper tiger,” the former comment referring to Scott Boras, the immanently unlikable “super agent” who always seems to be behind these ridiculously overpriced deals, the latter comment needing no explanation.
Good work, Ahmed.
Bee Article That Caught My Eye Today #1
The Bee is reporting today that CalPERS’ chief investment officer Russell Read is calling it quits. We’ve mentioned Mr. Read here before, less than two years ago in fact, when he first took the job.
Why such a short tenure? Well, it’s not due to Mr. Read’s investing acumen, which led the country’s largest pension fund to achieve higher than average gains in an iffy market. No. It’s instead the pull of Mother Earth on Mr. Read’s heartstrings. According to the Bee, Mr. Read says that he’s leaving “to pursue my long-standing interests in environmental and clean technology investing.”
In other words, if you’ve got a Series 7 license and PhD in biology, Mr. Read might be looking for your particular skill set. Time to dust off that resume.
“Parrot” something? Something “Bay” or something?
Help.
What was the name of that bar that was on Fair Oaks Boulevard near Cadillac Drive in the early ’90s? It got demolished in the late ’90s and became a Smith Barney building, and I believe it’s where Lord Beaverbrooks used to be.
The sign out front had a parrot on it. I only went there once when I first moved to Sacramento, but it came up in conversation last night, and I’ve been flipping through the rolodex in my brain trying to remember what it was called.
Midtown featured in AAA mag
Heckasac beat me to posting about the article in Via magazine about midtown. The Via article is here. I think it is interesting that one main focus of the article is on Sacto as a “walking town” and for using the phrase “ground-beef triangle” to refer to the as-yet unlabeled area bordered by Ford’s, Willie’s, and Suzie’s. I normally recuse myself from burger discussions, I guess because I am too much of a fan to be objective. I likes em all. Does it have meat between buns? Give it over.
Hip hop star forgets his line
So I finally caught wind that rapper Kanye West made the classic concert no-no in calling out the wrong city during his show at Arco Arena on Friday.
Kanye quickly apologized on his blog:
PLEASE FORGIVE ME SAC-TOWN
04.19.2008I can’t believe I bust a spinal tap! It’s no excuse for this I wish I could sink in a black whole. When I said Seattle and there was no crowd response I was up on my spaceship platform thinking damn… I think I just said the wrong city!!!!! I kind of muffled the words so I was praying nobody really caught it. I guess all those hours that me and Phill spent making my mic clear as possible back fired on me! We had alot of problems with the video servers on the first 3 songs and that completely threw me off! Hey, I’m not perfect. Hope everybody had a good time. I’m a man, I can say it… I’m sorry.
Maybe Kanye heard that Sacramento hates hip hop?
Note: A few commenters on this blog picked up on the “Sac Town” reference. People are funny.
Sac City’s open enrollment calendar confuses
If you’re a parent of a child in the Sac City Unified School District you might have been recently working through the open enrollment program to enroll your child at one of the district’s fine schools outside your own home area. If that’s the case I hope you were able to get your timeline straight, because the District was not. From the Open Enrollment brochure (PDF):
Elementary, K-8 and middle schools will be notified of placement by the Open Enrollment staff during the week of April 18, 2008.
Continue reading “Sac City’s open enrollment calendar confuses”
“Sac Hates Hip Hop”
Nick Miller blogs at Sound Advice today that the words “Sac Hates Hip Hop” have been tagged on boarded-up former site of the Library, which closed last year after a fatal shooting.
What would it take to prove that Sac does not hate hip hop? Would it entail a single Sacramentan saying they love hip hop? Would a hip hop issue of Sac Mag settle the deal? Would Mayor Fargo have to freestyle at city council meetings?
Eau contraire, mon graffito, I think it is you who hate painted walls.
I Dare You To Be Snarky
I can’t be the only one who thinks of recording family interviews for posterity but is too lazy to follow through on it. If you’re like me, the super cool StoryCorps Airstream trailer might be just the thing. It’s part of a national project (in conjunction with NPR) to encourage recordation of family memories, and it’s in Sacramento until May 10. You simply make a reservation, show up with your loved one, and record an interview. The suggested donation is $10. Maybe I’ve lost my edge but I just can’t think of anything sassy to say about this wonderful idea. Possibly an early Mother’s Day present? An awesome way to propose? Has anyone tried this yet?
It’s that time of the year again..
..when the fair weather parkway users dust off their bikes and baby joggers to hit our region’s treasures out in nature.
The American River Parkway is the most popular place in the area for all ages and fitness levels to get the blood pumping. If you’re unfamiliar with the rules and customs, please check out Tony Bizjak’s column today.
Here are the basics:
The Sac Rag 