Author: CoolDMZ

"X-ray vision to see in between / Where's my kimono and my time machine?"

Cars on K Street?

The shovels are in the ground and K Street between 8th and 12th will soon once again have cars. But there will be no parking, no curbs and gutters, and 11th will still be people only.

So business was booming in the 80s and the place is desolate now, but somehow adding cars is going to bring people back? Because they’ll be able to see from their cars what K Street from 8th to 12th Streets has to offer? But then they’ll have to park somewhere else and walk back? Color me unconvinced.

What do you think? Will cars on K Street return the block to its former glory?

What is biggest risk in Arena deal?

This week will see Mayor Johnson’s financing plan for the downtown arena, which Johnson calls “the city’s greatest economic opportunity since the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.”

At least in the Bee report, the Maloofs seem cautiously optimistic and willing to play ball, though they do want to see a solid plan:

Maloof said he is holding the city to the March 1 deadline. “They’ve got to deliver. Everything has to be in place, ironclad. No risk. No ifs.”

No risks? Sure, sure, sounds like a plan. For example you wouldn’t want to take on a risk that your major tenant can’t make rent payments, right?

Maloof has said the Kings only want to be tenants, not operators, of the new arena, and warned the team doesn’t have much money for rent payments.

Not sure how Maloof expects the City to handle the risk of Maloof not being able to make rent.

I would personally hate to lose an NBA franchise–and though I have been critical of the Maloofs in the past, I guess it is pretty standard to be completely beholden to the team even when their commitment is in question. It is just business, after all.

No news is crazy news

Is it just me or the headline ticker kind of trending toward End of Days right about now? And in advance I apologize but this is all I’ve got.

RonTopofIt already brought us the mom arrested for attacking a school principal.

Girl, 10, found shot inside Rancho Cordova home

2 injured in Woodland shooting at Tony’s Bar

Suspect with knife fatally shot by Sacramento police officer

Man in hospital after shooting in Sacramento “Comments on this story were closed Aug. 28 because of inappropriate comments,” go figure.

Two men arrested after shots fired at Sacramento Bee carrier

Rabid skunk nabbed in Sacramento’s Downtown Plaza garage. It forgot to get its ticket validated after shopping at Forever 21.

And of course, Bait car stolen, Sacramento police nab 10-year-old girl. “It was a bad judgment call on her end,” said the Police Spokesman. Shouldn’t a bad judgement call about operating a car for a 10 year old girl be like, getting in the front seat while the engine is on and hasn’t her dad told her not to do that like 10 bazillion times?

Sac Press headline writers don’t pull punches

“Solomon-esque compromise cuts Med Center from Oak Park” was at the top of today’s report on the contentious City Council meeting about redistricting that ended with the UC Davis Med Center becoming part of District 6.

A truly Solomon-esque end to the debate would have been to split the Med Center evenly between Districts 5 and 6, but who’s counting. Put the different wings of the hospital under the purview of two different council seats, that’ll shut people up.

I’m not quite sure what I think about this. It seems like it makes much more sense to split the actual Med Center than to take the neighborhood named “Med Center.” It just seems like Elmhurst is more tied to the hospital campus. Carving the neighborhood out of District 5 did seem like a pretty bad idea. I’m not really sure why it matters that much, I never really understood that. Aren’t the districts all part of one completely broke and dysfunctional team anyway?

Newspaper with a thing for offensive ledes

The Bee reports today on a sex offender caught preying on boys after being released from prison after serving time for a 1988 child molestation charge.

Robert Precobb, a sex offender with a thing for teenage boys, caught a big break last year when a judge ordered him freed from prison. (my emphasis)

Some guys might have “a thing for” redheads, or for Spanish-looking men, or for apple fritters, but a child molester preys on children. It’s super gross to phrase it that way and the Bee should probably change the wording.

What The French?

20110813-083159.jpg
Bee careful!
cc, By jurvetson

The Bee has an interesting report today, “Yosemite deaths: Americans may have lost respect for nature’s risks” about recent deaths at Yosemite as evidence of a growing trend in deaths caused by Americans being too stupid/ignorant/tech-obsessed to know when nature is dangerous.

On Wednesday, children waded in a small eddy just 50 yards from the edge. Some playfully teetered on a log that separated the eddy from the river’s torrent. Upstream, a man swam across Emerald Pool and back, crossing the Merced River current and ignoring warnings and prohibitions posted nearby.

Horrifying, right? Read on…

The children playing so close to the edge of Vernal Fall were among a group of 15 Parisians visiting the park.

What. The. French?

But it’s actually a great read with some interesting discussion of a very plausible trend that seems to be affecting people everywhere. Maybe the Bee can research whether Americans are more likely to be literally eating a Big Mac while falling over Vernal Fall.

Wallpaper. @ Ace of Spades 8/10

Credit: Dan Busta and Ryan Schude

Wallpaper., the Oakland-based “gonzo hip hop/party jam” outfit of Ricky Reed (aka Eric Frederic), is getting the full MTV (“Still into the music thing!”) treatment, as a featured artist in the Push project, which has launched acts like Bruno Mars, Florence and the Machine, and a little guy you may have heard of by the name of Bieber.

Wallpaper. is like Beck going through a heavy electro beats and Autotune phase turned up to 11. It’s one of those acts that skewers its genre with absurd humor, while coloring inside the lines of the genre itself and supplying enough sincerity and skill that it’s impossible to know when you depart the satirical vodka-soaked party bus and enter the … actual vodka-soaked party bus.

Continue reading “Wallpaper. @ Ace of Spades 8/10”

Unplugging at Shinneyboo Creek [PHOTOS]

Last week was the annual Cool family summer vacation fest, and this year we decided to try our hand at camping. We spent 3 nights at the awesomely named Shinneyboo Creek Cabins resort. Shinneyboo is located between Colfax and Truckee up I-80, about 75 miles away and about 7500 feet elevation.

We stayed in a tent cabin, which offers a lot of room and actual beds (though we still opted for sleeping bags). Roughing it without having to pitch your own tent (though next time we are down for that). There are about a dozen or so tent cabin sites at Shinneyboo, and each is provided a fire pit, a park style BBQ grill, and enough space to stretch out and make your own. There is potable water and there are facilities (including a shower)!

Continue reading “Unplugging at Shinneyboo Creek [PHOTOS]”

Sacramento Book Review publishers moving to Midtown

Meredith Greene tipped me that 1776 Productions, publishers of the San Francisco Book Review and the Sacramento Book Review (and one in Portland as well) are moving their headquarters to Midtown. According to co-publisher Ross Rojek, the move could start as early as next week.

“We’re looking forward to living and working in Sacramento,” Rojek told me. “Particularly having an office in Midtown near so many good restaurants and things to do after work.”

1776 also created GoLocalApps, a framework that helps small businesses roll out apps for iDevices. It’s good to hear about a business actually moving to Sacramento in this economic climate!