Between the DUI-related fatal crashes and the dangers of highway 12, it’s been a tragic month in the area. Each story is accompanied by on-camera appearances by the victims families–not family spokespeople, but spouses and children. In their rush to be first to the scene and get the highest level of access, I think local news agencies are throwing common sense and good taste to the wayside.
Author: CoolDMZ
"X-ray vision to see in between / Where's my kimono and my time machine?"
Me check e-mail? That’s unpossible
The Bee reports today about teachers, specifically a few at Del Oro High School, using the ‘net in the classroom.
Dylan Holcomb’s 10th-grade English students shouted the names of Shakespeare’s plays as they identified them while watching a YouTube clip of “Jeopardy!”
Earlier, Holcomb used Google Earth to show his Del Oro High School students the distance between Venice and Cyprus, where the play “Othello” is set, and had them calculate the distance.
If you haven’t read it in a while, it’s hard to remember how difficult it is to understanding the deep themes running through “Othello” without knowing precisely how far it is from Venice to Cyprus.
Athletics 11, River Cats 10 (3/29/07)
When you’re CoolDMZ, you frequently don’t have to create the snark, the snark just finds you. In order to be seated last night at Raley Field, we had to displace none other than CBS13’s Arran Andersen, who was perched in our spot for his 10 p.m. segment on the game. Why he wasn’t in the press box is anyone’s guess–even a blogger can get a press pass these days. Also we sat near the family of last-minute A’s starter Dallas Braden. That was a real treat, his grandma was there and everything. They were a bit too enthusiastic for me (“awwwing” real loud for every foul ball with 2 strikes, etc.) but what a great Sacramento night.
The action was good. Those A’s look pretty strong, and obviously the River Cats needed to get the starters out of the game to mount a comeback, but you still have to put the bat on the ball to score those runs. Here’s to a good season for both teams!
Blog roundup – 3/29/07
Heckasac wonders whether SacPD is doing enough to stop drunk driving in midtown, though I think she probably unfairly places blame on suburbanites. Of course it’s general, it’s a generalization.
Nick from FFT started a River Cats blog with his brother. Which makes me think two things: My brother and I should totally start a blog, and I am stoked for the A’s-Cats game tonight! Photos tomorrow for sure, and hopefully, hopefully, one of me mugging with Mike Piazza.
Ziller wants Hibbert in purple.
Make sure to register for Midtown Grid’s Free Lunch Fridays.
Long hair: not just for hippies!
Even hair fashion has a local angle… Bee fashion writer Leigh Grogan covers the recent trend of longer hair being acceptable for women of all ages. Which personally I think is a triumph of the human spirit on par with “Babe” the talking pig or The Astronaut Farmer. At first I laughed to see Celine Dion, Gwynneth, Demi Moore (still alive), Nicole Kidman, and then Christina Mendonsa, but I suppose she does have the most fabulous hair among the local celebrity set. Although I was always partial to John Alston, though not in that way…
Holla at your board!
Lately we’ve been getting a lot of “I don’t know where to put this” comments, from document dumping to appointment TV spoilers, so I’ve decided to dust off an old idea and reintroduce The Rag Board, a community forum. This time it’s powered by bbPress, a robust forum software built by the WordPress people.
Sign up today and start posting. Feel free to send me ideas for new Forums, though the 3 existing ones should give us enough fuel for a while. I’m making a goal of 30 discussions going by the end of April. Have fun!
Smosh win YouTube award
As a further sign of how out of touch I am with the YouTube generation, I learned about this from none other than Christina Mendonsa. Local YTers Smosh have won a coveted YouTube award for Best Comedy video of 2006. I’m happy for the two, but I can’t believe more than 4 people thought this was the funniest thing they’d seen in 2006 on YouTube. Video after the jump.
A Serene moment
A funny encounter captured in a funny photograph, posted to Flickr by MousseFromSacto…
Grand jury slams arena backdoor dealings
News10 reported yesterday that the County grand jury found that Sacramento officials “violated the public trust” in rushing measures Q and R to the ballot last fall. Ironically, it’s not a binding decision and finds nobody at fault for any specific infraction.
My own take on this saga is completely in evidence so obviously you know how I feel. However, read the PDF of the Grand Jury’s report. It is very strange. With headings like “Hail to the Kings! The Costly Illusion that City Greatness Requires the Presence of Professional Sports” and “Downtown Railyard Development – What Have We Gotten Into?” and “The Train has left and the City now has the Station!” and with language like “Has the city initiated the much wished for revitalization of downtown or has it stepped into a polluted black hole?” it doesn’t read anything like the legal document you will expect. It reads more like some snarky blog poster obviously biased against the whole deal from the start. I don’t know much about grand jury proceedings but is this normal?
Looks like the city and county officials have to respond to the findings in this report later in the year. Specifically, by “June 00, 2007.” So we’ll all stay tuned for that!
Attn. Runway fans
Bee fashion writer Leigh Grogan reports at 21Q that “several of Sacramento’s finest designers” will be traveling to L.A. to audition for season 4, which will debut later this spring. I know what you’re thinking: there are several?
It says “douchebag” in fancy letterin’
The Sac Rag 
