Author: CoolDMZ

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

No Mermaids Need Apply

mermaid barI know I made light of the mermaids thing but the larger issue is the proposed $8.6 million city subsidy for the building of the complex. As you might expect, there is a petition out there in opposition to the subsidy. Neighboring businesses argue the subsidy would “bankrupt” their businesses. The Midtown Business Association has collected some documents about the proposal (they call the proposed new bar with swimming girls a “mermaid bar,” which is confusing — if it was truly a bar for mermaids, that wouldn’t necessarily cut into the bottom line for neighboring businesses catering to “normals.”)

Based on the developer’s proposal it sounds like the mermaid bar/mermaid-themed bar is going to be punningly titled “DIVE BAR” and the “adult pizza” (??) joint is to be called “PIZZA ROCK.”

Pamela Wu moving on

P Wu Just received this email from KCRA anchor Pamela Wu:

After 14 years in the TV news biz, I am excited to make a career change.

I will be working for Kevin Johnson!

No, not Sacramento’s mayor…

Kevin Johnson is Dean of the UC Davis School of Law, where I will become the Director of Marketing and Communications starting on Monday, February 23. My duties will include raising the profile of the law school in the local and national press, as well as marketing the school to prospective students, faculty, and donors. If you’re a reporter in need of a legal expert to quote for a story, I’m your gal.

I will miss television journalism and my amazing colleagues at KCRA-3, but I won’t miss working crazy hours and on holidays, and I definitely won’t miss doing the snow reports from Blue Canyon!

U hadn’t heard this news yet. P. Wu has always been a fan of this here web log and we’ve always been a fan of hers. We wish her luck in her new career!

Downtown to get mermaids??

We would be remiss if this planned testament to d-baggery were allowed to go unremarked:

[San Francisco nightclub owner George] Karpaty’s K Street proposal has some novel elements: a pizza shop with staffers doing “dough acrobatics,” a dance club targeting the 30-and-up crowd, and a bar featuring a built-in aquarium with women swimmers costumed as mermaids.

I’m trying to find the local news clip touting the mermaid idea as being “straight out of the movies” — the movie in this case being the totally relevant “Analyze This” from 1999. I’d like to see this idea carried forward into a whole block of ’90s movie-themed d-bag hangout spots. For example, a “breakfast any time” Vegas diner joint, a “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” juice bar, or perhaps a “Crying Game” hot dog shop run by women.

And let’s not forget the “dance club targeting the 30-and-up crowd.” Who really wants to see that?

UPDATE: Budget passes, gas tax cut

Yay budget. I’m not sure what you commenters were looking at, but I was ahead of all other news outlets in calling the delays. Did you think the delays were from my not having the right info? 🙂

I’m a little confused as to why there was so much discussion about getting constitutional amendments on the ballot. Since when does getting a proposal on the ballot require almost crashing the system? Isn’t it conventional wisdom by now that part of the reason we’re in such trouble now is that it is too easy to get initiatives on the ballot? It seems like the three budget-reform amendments would have been a lock with or without Maldonado’s vote. I bet if you polled average folks most people think legislators already don’t get paid if they are 100 days late on one of their most important work tasks, almost resulting in the crumbling of one of the world’s largest economies. Now the Democrats are in the odd position of appearing to need to be convinced that they shouldn’t.

I’m also confused as to why Federal stimulus dollars (“Obamabucks” — I’ve just coined that) were added to the mix so late in the game. Were they going to give back some of it? Were they planning to divert the money to something that wasn’t part of the budget? I’m sure somebody can explain. This whole thing has been so disheartening that I must admit I haven’t been following it as closely as I could have.

“Stay Classy” alert: Lance’s bike stolen

News10’s Ryan Yamamoto reports that cycling legend Lance Armstrong’s one-of-a-kind time trial bike was stolen from his trailer overnight. The trailer was parked behind the new Residence Inn downtown. Yay Sacramento!

This is also a “Stay Classy” alert due to the use of the acronym “WTF” in a news article, quoting Armstrong’s Twitter feed. Yay 21st century newsgathering!

“Mastering the Mysteries of Love”

City Parks & Rec are offering a saucy class that would make a great gift to share with your sweetheart: “Mastering the Mysteries of Love”…

Talk about it, watch others do it, practice it yourselves.

Hey-O!!! They are talking about communication, of course. Though presumably there is the possibility of communication about watching others doing it and practicing it yourselves.

free play care will be included for children

What more do you need!

Run them out of town

This is a major scandal. It’s old news by now, but back in 2007 when the city council agreed to transfer $55 million to Thomas Enterprises to help the company buy the rest of the railyard land, it apparently overpaid by several orders of magnitude because it didn’t take the time to get an appraisal done. Most of the money came from the transportation fund and thus couldn’t be used to get us out of the $50 million hole we’re in — though how it was able to be transferred to a real estate developer in that case is beyond me.

This whole mess stunk before, but this is an outrage. The Sac Rag does not do political endorsements, but let’s just say I personally hope the city council’s unemployment rate soon becomes 100%.

Epicureanized! at Boon Boon

Boon Boon
from Midtown Grid

Mrs Cool and I try to patronize Boon Boon at least every couple of weeks. I heard somewhere that the economy is bad (…), and since Boon Boon is located in a major dead zone, we like to do our part to stimulate the micro-economy of this odd little fusion restaurant.

I’m not accustomed to seeing any other patrons at the ‘Boon, but this particular visit the place was packed, with a massive party of diners who almost filled the place to capacity. The small crew was working like mad — there is usually one one gal manning the counter, with a small cooking crew in the back making with the yummy. The massive group of diners seemed to have a leader who was picking up hosting duties, passing out some appetizers and, ahem, spicy Thai soup. Turns out it was none other than the Sacramento Epicureans and their fearless leader, Paul Somerhausen. I checked in with Paul about their meal.

Continue reading “Epicureanized! at Boon Boon”

Coming soon to Sac – new Trader Joe’s?

While the private school market may be experiencing a downturn, the niche grocery market appears to be full steam ahead. Last night at the East Sac Trader Joe’s I was asked my Zip code at checkout, surely the first sign of a massive identity theft ring development plan in the works at TJ’s HQ for a new store in the area. For once I had small talk to make with my checkoutperson — he said Davis folks can be rabidly for and against a new store, and that he has heard talk of a new store in Auburn. Yeah, that’s actually all I got. Anybody else have anything to say?