Author: CoolDMZ

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

“Frolic” on over to Raley’s

followtheflavor.jpg
Go ahead Raley’s,
sue me for ripping off your ripoff

I’d like to go ahead and call out Raley’s for ripping off the theme song to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” for their new meat department commercials. You can hear the Raley’s theme, complete with the tuba vamp intro (is that the right term, “vamp”?) at their fake website FollowTheFlavor.com.

Is this supposed to make me say to myself, “Self, you should really buy meat at Raley’s because it is so freakin hilarious there”? Or “Self, you should buy meat at Raley’s because then it’s like you’re in the know, you get HBO, you’re hip.” All it really makes me think is, “Self, don’t go to Raley’s for meat because if you do, you might say the wrong thing to the butcher and then later the butcher will like be next in line at the doctor’s and then you’ll be concerned he’s going to tell the doctor that you were eating meat which he knows you were told not to do because of your health, and then this concern is going to ruin your wife’s dinner party by causing you to make a scene with another guest who is a butcher but who is not the Raley’s butcher. And then Richard Lewis will call and we all know how that goes.”

Family Dining: Michelangelo’s

Mrs. CoolDMZ and I are inventive and skilled chefs, which mitigates the fact that as a family of 4 we don’t eat out terribly often. Our forays as a family into the local dining scene could probably benefit other family units who are considering eating out and don’t want to waste the trip. First up, midtown darling Michelangelo’s on 17th and I.

At first glance, Michelangelo’s doesn’t seem like the kind of place that little kids would enjoy or be enjoyed at–it’s small, the tables are close together, and its clientele enjoys fine dining at the kind of out-of-the-way restaurant that features a handwritten nightly specials sign and a wine list. However, the clientele is also the midtown laid back crowd, so a few kids enjoying a meal in a funky restaurant is more likely than not to be mild entertainment.
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Today Streets of London, tomorrow the world

CoolDMZ makes headlines again… If any readers were participants in last night’s Streets of London Sunday night pub trivia contest, I hope you enjoyed getting schooled in ridiculous fashion by CoolDMZ and his siblings and parents, hereinafter the “CoolDMZ Good-time Family Trivia Band.” Our group–my parents, my brother and sister and her fiancee, with the collective power of our above average IQs and specialized tools like my brother with the rock trivia knowledge and my mom with the… remembering of stuff that happened before 2003 (Haille Selassie!!!) got 25 out of 30 and the tiebreaker, taking the house for all it was worth, which was 2 British-themed dinners to be consumed at a later date.
Continue reading “Today Streets of London, tomorrow the world”

Maybe they should have let a horse loose

Entirely predictable protests at yesterday’s Sac City Unified School District hearing on whether to endorse this year’s nationwide Day of Silence for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students.

The district’s LGBT Task Force, itself a product of a 2004 board resolution to make schools a safe place for “gender nonconforming” students, recently asked the board to approve a symbolic resolution acknowledging April 26 as a Day of Silence.

No word on whether the district would consider a day of teaching, to ensure that the students learn enough about the world so they don’t grow up to be bigoted jackasses (that was supposed to link to a picture of a bigoted jackass from yesterday’s protest, but not even Fox40, where we saw this story, has anything). Maybe if the district needs a kick in that direction, they should remember the group of student protestors who managed to get CalSTRS to tentatively divest from its investment in the Sudan. Nice work, kids!

For you gamers out there…

I’d love to give some free publicity to ConQuest Sacramento, “A gaming convention with a sci-fi flair” which will be taking place this weekend (April 7-9) at the Red Lion Inn. Special events include a costume contest hosted by one of my favorite local celebrities, Mr. Lobo, and a “questing through time” (this year’s theme) movie marathon including such time-travel hits as “TimeCop,” “Back to the Future,” and “Bill And Ted’s” (shorthand I suppose for a double feature of Excellent Adventure as well as Bogus Journey, though I don’t recall the Bogus Journey having a time-travel theme–didn’t they go to H-E double hockey sticks?). Gather your plastic tube of dice and put on your mage’s robe and giant fighting robot pilot helmet and join the fun.

We should call it… Berkeley…Two, or something…

Berkeley showed it’s not only capable of being in the news for banning stuff like the US flag and log burning fireplaces; it’s also got a shrewd business mind:

[Berkeley-based] Grocery Outlet, which operates 125 stores, closed its Rocklin store last week and reopened it with the old Lucky name.

They’ll never stick with it, however, once Rocklin bans the sale of patchouli.

(Note: I am pretty sure the Grocery Outlet company is the kind of business you wouldn’t know is from Berkeley unless you read it, and no, my understanding of Berkeley has not advanced since I was 10.)

Jimboy’s Grass Valley – A giant history taco

Checked out Jimboy’s Tacos second-newest location in picturesque Grass Valley this weekend, and let me tell you, it’s a treat. The same menu, the same addictive taco, the same distinctive taco sauce, with a few wonderful additions: free refills, which for Jimboy’s lovers is like manna from the heavens, and a delightful decor more appropriate for a sit-down taqueria than a fast-food joint. And along with your local boosterism you get some historical photos and one big lesson: as it turns out, the original Jimboy was a Grass Valley native! Though Jimboy himself is no longer manning the grease station (thanks MTSac), his name lives on. And after 50 years it’s finally come back full circle. And I am seeing an additional benefit of the Sunday taco sale–next time you’re making your way back from the North Shore enjoying some great skiing, stop off for a six pack of ground beef goodness (and the other kind of six pack too–they serve Cerveca). West off the Brunswick exit in Grass Valley.

Last chance to gaze on the grotto?

I read in this morning’s paper that Vitoon “Vic” Assavarungnirund, owner of Thai Cottage, is going to be moving his popular restaurant to the former location of Thai Palms, which he also owns.

Thanks, Mike Dunne for a great bit of trivia–the grotto in back is part of Chicken Ranch Slough, which you can get a pretty good aerial view of couresy of Google’s satellites.

All snark aside…

A pretty rough weekend for Elk Grove, but one that created a few heroes in the two female Elk Grove deputies who faced down the maniac who had just shot randomly at several people and put an end to his spree. Who’s up for a Tuesday morning RIGHT ON!!?


Jon Johnson

Unfortunately this sick twist to an otherwise peaceful Laguna Blvd evening created another tragic story in the murder of John Johnson, the local photojournalist who was shot and killed while out on a date with his wife. Sounds like an all-around good man, with a passion for helping orphans, especially those in the Gulf Coast region, through his work with the charity group Assist One Foundation. He was planning a trip to Africa later in the year to work on a film about AIDS orphans there. RIP