Author: CoolDMZ

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

SNR flash fiction offerings fail to impress

Chuck Rosenthal
Chuck Rosenthal,
one of my heroes

I know what you’re thinking, he can’t even write about local crime statistics without getting hated on, and now he thinks he’s a literary critic? Well naysayer, I’ll have you know I studied writing under Chuck Rosenthal, whose short short story “The Nicest Kid in the Universe” was anthologized in the eponymous anthology “Flash Fiction.” Anywhoo, this year’s stories are lame, and again I know what you’re thinking, no I don’t mean lame in an over-the-top shocking and offensive way. I mean lame fiction in the traditional sense. Continue reading “SNR flash fiction offerings fail to impress”

That’s some good fiddling, Heather Fargo

What, me worry?
Mayor and buyers celebrate railyard sale

A telling quote from Mayor Fargo in the Bee’s report today on the railyard sale:

“I never thought I’d be spending most of my political career on this site,” Fargo said of her longtime role as railyard booster.

With 59 murders in Sacramento this year, easily the highest total in a decade, including at least 3 in the last week, along with other horrible stories of assaults, unidentified bodies turning up almost daily, and gunfire at the entrance to Arden Fair (that’s just this week), really, what else could she be remembered for? I bet you a Sac Rag t-shirt we bust through 60 by the end of the year.

Continue reading “That’s some good fiddling, Heather Fargo”

!!! – “Myth Takes” due out March 4th

!!!Tracks from !!!‘s forthcoming release “Myth Takes” have been hitting the mp3-link-osphere… Fans of the group’s hard dance rock will be pleased. It’s hard to pick a favorite from this mix but I like “A New Name” and as noted elsewhere you can’t beat the song title “Bend Over Beethoven.”

(Sadly, I have just noticed–before I read it in the Wikipedia link, that is–that a Google search for “!!!” gets you precisely zero results–well, not exactly zero results; it’s more like that search breaks Google. Luckily a search for the most common spelling, “chk-chk-chk” gets you where you want to go…)

County’s new mapping tool goes live

Sac County rolled out a new online mapping application “that provides maps and information about services and facilities available to or near a specific property.” It’s called e-Map-It, and it’s available on their page of online services, which is actually a really nice list. As far as e-Map-It goes, it seems pretty useful. If you were looking at houses you could get all sorts of info on utilities and services. I suppose the main reason they can’t just rely on a Google maps for all the map info is because this particular one is tied to parcel number and overlaying parcel number data on GMap would probably be as time consuming as building and deploying a .NET application.

UPDATE: Thanks to Bill G. pointing out that the tool doesn’t even support Firefox, I can take back my wishy-washy approval and give this thing a big fat thumbs down.

Santa getting busy early on CBS13

On last night’s 10 p.m. broadcast, CBS13 ran a story by Mike Dello Stritto on a deaf family’s collection of over 4,000 Santa decorations. Their cameras panned silently through the house, showing Santas covering every surface, including the bathroom vanity, which was adorned with a windup novelty item depicting Santa and Mrs. Claus having a very merry Christmas in the bathtub, if you know what I mean. It was absolute genius, check out a screenshot or check out the video online. Stay classy, Sacramento!

Office XMas party reviews: R15 and Melting Pot

R15
Young and old mix at R15, if by mix you mostly mean the old hitting on the young

We widget factory workers were “blessed” this year with two holiday parties, and as usual this gave me an opportunity to check out some local hot spots I normally wouldn’t frequent.

First up was Café Bernardo/R15, the latest venture in the Paragary empire. Our luncheon was served in an upstairs room, one of the areas set up with XBOX 360s with wireless remotes. The fare was fusion, which if you have ever read this blog before you can probably guess is not one of my favorite styles.

Continue reading “Office XMas party reviews: R15 and Melting Pot”

Not sure if “outdone” is the right word…

The same two houses I reported on last year for their terrible holiday light displays are at it again this year! At right is a house on the 3500 block of 52nd Street, right around the corner from me. You’ll notice they mined some of the same subject matter as last year, namely giant geometric shapes. This year just one Santa, and he’s riding a pogo stick. The bright area atop the gate is a green frog. Ho hum, not much else remarkable about this house… What’s that giant shape in the center, you say? Why that’s a spider, of course… with a Santa hat and presents on its back. It’s left over from Halloween, when it was ridden by a zombie bride.

Can’t wait to see what they do for President’s day! The giant native American spider god that haunted Andrew Jackson?

Weird things are afoot at the CPK

BibbyKnocked off early at the widget factory yesterday and took the family to Barnes & Noble at Market Square. Gotta love that kid’s section–plenty of fun for the kids, but with only 2 exits it’s super easy to monitor. Afterward, while eating some really authentic Chinese food from a little restaurant I usually just refer to as “Orange Chicken” who walks in to the humble Market Square but NBA superstar Mike Bibby. He did some holiday shopping at B&N, graciously signing a few autographs for his adoring fans, before dining at California Pizza Kitchen. Gods among men. I tried to give him a what’s up nod but believe it or not he was talking on a cellular phone the whole time!

Continue reading “Weird things are afoot at the CPK”