Author: CoolDMZ

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

Only 3100 miles from Ocean City!

This post by John reminds me how much I’ve always hated that “close to Tahoe, close to SF” mantra about Sac. Maybe it’s because I don’t generally you know, “talk” to “people” or “have” “friends” but I don’t hear that phrase as often anymore, because I think Sacramento outgrew it, but not in a good way. It has now morphed into the “loft living, huge chain restaurants, attracting people to move here rather than make the city usable for those who already live here” attitude that The Sac Rag and our friends on the blogosphere have been railing against for months. It’s a city that wants to believe it has more to offer than proximity to cooler stuff but can’t quite be comfortable owning what it has. Let’s own what we have, people.

Paging Dirk Benedict

I’m sure this phenomenon is by no means unique to the Greater Sacramento region, but nothing makes me feel more like Ward Cleaver than shaggy haircuts on the young men, aged 8-12. I get the feeling that the parents of these boys with the shaggy hair (what’s next, slingshots in the back pocket? hooch? marbles!!!??) think it looks very appropriate, a classic hairstyle, even. Wake up. Your kids are walking all over you. This new shaggy cut, the rebirth of the coif made famous by Shaun Cassidy (pictured) and his ilk of the 70s, is no better than the rat-tail was, but at least with the rat-tail, everybody knew what was going on–if your kid had one, everybody but you thought it was ugly, unless their kids also had rat-tails.

Watch out for them, Sacramento. If you see a group of young men, and one of them has a shaggy haircut, I guarantee that’s the one who will cause the trouble. Would you trust that he had not spit on your pizza while delivering it? Would you let him anywhere near your daughters? Would you trust him to give correct insurance information when he rear ends you in his 4Runner (if not now, soon enough)?

Some great hairstyle research to be done at Gene’s Barber Shop.

Remember Museum Day

Don’t forget, Saturday is Museum Day, when most of the museums in town are offering free admission. Between 10 and 4, enjoy Old Masters at the Crocker, pound some hide at Sutter’s Fort, don your engineer’s hat at the Railroad Museum, ride the banister at the Old Governor’s Mansion, see old cars at the Towe Ford, or sniff old pill bottles at the Donald F. Salvatori Pharmacy Museum. That name strikes me as odd, but I can’t quite put my finger on why…

Home outlook analysis iffy

Shock! Horror! Front page news that the housing market is in poor shape!!

When the market picks up, [the guy in the story will] consider selling again.

When will that be? That’s what everyone is trying to figure out.

Well, let’s see. Examining the graph at right, and I know I’m no economic genius, but I put the Rag’s crack research staff to the test and they told me that they estimated the housing market will pick up (in terms of the time houses are staying on the market) somewhere between February and May, like it does every single year. I’m so sick of the worked-up negative real estate news. I know the market is fluctuating, but come on, some level headedness is called for.

Sacramento’s Virtual Market


Apparently this is a
21st century device

I’m not really sure what to make of this, but it seems like if you are wanting to find a local business and other methods just aren’t doing the trick, you might want to check out Sacramento’s Virtual Market.

For example, the device pictured at right is a seed moisture meter sold by Calibration Plus of Woodland.

Sac-eats, any plans for a trip to Tugboat?

Grand Jury questions

Friends, I have been summoned by the County for possible Grand Jury work. (I sure hope I don’t have to weigh in on a case involving anything snarky!) I have questions, however. If you have ever served on the grand jury, and The Sac Rag is a site you might have heard about, maybe you can help me by telling me how this works. Do they give you a pager? Is there a Bat signal? Do you check in every Monday? How much actual time should I assume I’ll have to commit? Are there doughnuts?

Hooray for blogging

Big props from the Sac Bee today for prominent local bloggers Jason of Eyes of Argus and John of Uneasy Rhetoric, two favorites of this blogger. Also mentions the Rag, as the word “snarky” is dropped in the first sentence and we’re listed as part of the wide variety of area blogs. Thanks, readers and commenters, for keeping The Sac Rag going!

I think the most important part of that article is the quote from Elk Grove Mayor Rick Soares: “I really don’t have time for Internet chat rooms where people trade conspiracy theories back and forth.” Classic!

Winning the war on drugs at school

The Sac Bee again shocks us all with the revelation that some teenagers are ocassionally “high,” in a feature piece on training school workers to recognize stoners, drunks, pill-poppers, and other losers among their students.

If “Jeannine” shows up at the high school dance with dilated pupils and can’t stop rubbing the frills of her blouse, Steve McPherson will be ready.

Unfortunately, what they don’t tell you is if “Jeannine” is wearing a “blouse” to her dance, you’ve time-traveled back to the 50’s, and Ecstasy doesn’t exist.

CoolDMZ Editorial Note: Don’t do drugs.

Speaking of the Bee, is it just me or is Backseat Driver a really good newspaper column? It says something about Sacramento that you can focus on transportation and yet somehow touch on all aspects of Sac life. Kudos to Tony Bizjak.

Putting the “fun” at the beginning of Derland since 1947

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A little rain can’t dampen the funder at Funderland, Sacramento’s premiere spot for weird vintage carnival fun. I hadn’t personally been since I was a child, and let me tell you, it’s one of the best deals going in town. The train, the cars, the carousel (which was a little too fast for our birthday girl), the Flying Dragon (a toddler roller coaster), and as you can see the pink popcorn make even a drizzly day carnival-tastic. The only downside is a mild freakout every once in a while if you stare at stuff for too long.