Couple of great tidbits in Coming Distractions yesterday… First of all check out Silversun Pickups tonight at Harlow’s and see what all the buzz is about. At least I think there is buzz. Check out “Lazy Eye,” the song you have probably heard on the radio.
21Q’s Sam McManis beat me to the punch last week on the Lost promos for News10 starring TV’s Sawyer:
He looks into the camera with that Sawyerian smirk and says, “Don’t trust ‘The Others.’ Watch News10.”
The viewer can easily detect the barely-disguised ennui actor Josh Holloway (Sawyer) is nursing having to do promos for every ABC affiliate from here to Baltimore.
Quipped one friend of 21Q: “Yeah, Henry Gale is totally a KCRA guy.”
If you’re a “Lost” fanatic, you’ll get the reference.
Which I technically still am, but I don’t. Even with the ennui it’s still better than those Colusa Casino radio spots starring Carlos Santana.
UPDATE: Sam McManis emails:
Now, the implication by my colleague who made the Henry Gale/KCRA quip was that “The Others” aka “The Man” aka “The Establishment” would watch KCRA whereas the good guys would watch warm-and-fuzzy News10.
Yeah I don’t know why I didn’t get that. Although I like to think that Sawyer would be all over this here weblog, since he is the premiere provider of snark on the island. And thinking of him hunching over a keyboard hunting and pecking is almost as funny as when he wears glasses.
The Cool family enjoyed a road trip to Napa and Sonoma Counties over the weekend. It solidified my belief that Sonoma County is one of the most beautiful locations on Earth. It helps when you gamble on the weather and it comes up aces. (Thanks a lot, Dirk Verdoorn!)
To the left is a photo of “Train Town,” a great Funderland-type amusement park just down from the Sonoma town center. Train Town has several rides–mostly the classics, including a ferris wheel and a carousel, and a longish train ride–nestled in the Sonoma foothills. It boasts “1/5 the size of Disneyland!” Which sounds fabulous until you realize that about 80% of Train Town is meant only to be looked at from the train ride. On the other hand, the train ride is great fun and includes a stop at a petting zoo that has a llama. So it’s settled then, Train Town is a winner. (More photos on my Flickr.)
These days when I visit the East Sac Trader Joe’s–which no matter how crowded it is, always seems to have a staff to patron ratio of about 1:1–I notice that the cashiers are very friendly. Like, serial killer friendly. I assume this is company policy. Saturday night, after a long tiring day of yard projects and kid-wrangling, I was asked by the young cashier whether I had any plans. Nothing much, I said, just going to watch a movie with the wife. “Oh really? What movie do you have?” At this point I was too tired to think of way to avoid telling him what movie, and then since it was an obscure low-budget science fiction flick (“Primer“–which by the way was kinda interesting, and at 68 minutes is worth your time, but your wife will haaate it.), I found myself having to give him a plot summary and genre explanation of this movie which I had not seen. Too bad I hadn’t just rented “Caddyshack” or something…
This is not the first such encounter. Continue reading “Nice goes all wrong at TJs”
Don’t check the Bee’s comics page. Today is the day that The Bee pulls the plug on the Sunday Peanuts strip. Say it with me: Good grief! Along with your Sunday dose of Charlie and gang, say goodbye to “Frank & Ernest,” “Rose Is Rose,” “B.C.” and “Family Circus.” More tragically, if you’re a fan, say goodbye forever to “Mother Goose and Grimm,” which has been running only Sundays for a while and is now gone altogether.
If Sunday just isn’t the same without a 40 year old Peanuts rerun, remember that the Official Peanuts Website has a daily strip. Mike Peters, creator of “Mother Goose,” (which I actually kind of enjoyed) has a web page but as of Saturday morning it seems not to be working.
Memo to the Bee’s comics dept.: Don’t mess with my Dilbert.
For the cycling enthusiasts among(st) you: make sure you’re prepped for the AMGEN Tour of California which is happening February 20th.
The world’s top professional teams will compete over an eight-day, 700-mile race on a route that includes the California redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast.
And yes, that includes the Discovery Team. Stage 2 is from Santa Rosa to Sac (that’s 116 miles, and if you could stretch that out over like 3 days I think it would be really fun). They’ve got a nice page about Sacramento, highlighting popular attractions and such:
Since its founding in 1849, Sacramento has grown into a cosmpolitan (sic) state capital while retaining its Gold Rush flavor.
That ’bout sums it up, I’d say…
…if your MP3 need is so small that it can be fed only once every week with just one MP3, that is. But I kid the Macias. I think a big time local-focused MP3 blog is great for the local artists. His first post yesterday introduces us to Ricky Berger, a young singer-songwriter whose track “What’s Your Name?” is really well put together. Macias says think Norah Jones and Dido, sort of an easy-listening vibe with a nice mix of sounds. I just wanted to point out that her publicity photo is a complete ripoff of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” Now I kid the Ricky Berger!
Sacramento was named to the top 25 fittest cities in America last week by Men’s Fitness magazine, which has the most horrible website ever.
“The survey examines lifestyle factors in each city, including fast-food restaurants per capita and availability of gyms or bike paths.”
I mean, Sacramento just executed the way Sacramento did in practice. Some people are saying that Sacramento didn’t earn this honor. But Sacramento can’t worry about what other people think, because at the end of the day, Sacramento is just responsible for Sacramento. And Sacramento just wants to get fit!
The family and I took in the sights at the Capitol this afternoon, which is one of our favorite spots. I happened to notice that the Sacramento County exhibit on the ground floor (near The Ahnold’s office) has not one, but two photos of Jonah Matranga. There is a large photo of Jonah performing at Cesar Chavez and then a smaller photo in a collage from what appears to be the same performance.
I’m not sure what to make of it but I thought it was funny. The Nevada County exhibit, for reference, has not one but two photos of their most famous one-time resident, Samuel Clemens. (Hmm, I notice that he resided at the Holbrooke Hotel, and as we all know is most famously impersonated by Hal Holbrook. Hmm, I wonder if Mark Twain had a dog named Michael Chabon or a secretary named Dave Eggers or something…)
Shiny Object and Fools Foundation are presenting a screening of “Metropolis” this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at Fools Foundation. Admission is $5.
Fritz Lang’s silent science fiction classic from 1927. Mixing workers’ rights with science fiction, this masterpiece had some of the most amazing sets of the time and remains breathtaking to this day. It also influenced countless later films including Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Star Wars and many, many others.
They will follow this classic up at 5:30 with “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” a documentary for movie buffs that promises to “lift the veil on the practices and membership of the MPAA.” Admission also $5. Get out of the rain and see a bargain flick!
Fools Foundation
1025 19th St, Sacramento
19th & K – in the alley, in the basement
www.shiny-object.com
The Sac Rag 