Author: Stickie

Midtown Cocktail Week

While I am a beer, wine, tequila and whiskey guy, I appreciate a good cocktail. Artistry and superior ingredients separate the men from the boys, or in this case, the well from the top shelf. Next week, Sacramento celebrates our top shelf cocktail makers and shakers with the second annual Midtown Cocktail Week.

Imbibers have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Sacramento’s favorite mixologists. My personal favorite is Chris Tucker at the L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen, who has a seasonal cocktail menu with an eye for subtle flavor blending. Anyone can pour booze over ice and get you fucked up. The key to quality drinks are the other ingredients, which Chris carefully sources from organic, sustainable and local vendors. I also hold Ella in high regard, but their small bar and high prices discourage my casual boozing.

All events are free and open to the over-21 public, except for a private seminar with industry veteran Jon Santer. For $25, burgeoning boozologists can learn from a pro and take home some cool tools to aid you in home cocktail crafting. Seats are limited, so reserve your spot now!

Note: Jon Santer had to pull out of this event, so the seminar will be led by Erick Castro, who manages the totally awesome Bourbon & Branch in SF.

The Mentalist comes to Sacramento

the-mentalist-bigWhen I heard that the hit CBS show The Mentalist was coming to Sacramento, I immediately had high hopes for the things that he could accomplish. I imagined him strolling to the Capitol, using his mind tricks to convince our Legislators to compromise instead of sticking to hard line political goals. I saw him hypnotizing the Governor into donating $1000 to the general fund every time he blamed someone else for our budgetary failures rather than using his bully pulpit to encourage California to spend money wisely. I envisioned him using his powers of divination to foresee a Sacramento with sound levees, a bustling K street and a decent taproom downtown. I heard him calling to me in a soft, ethereal voice, “Stickie, I want to cast you in a minor supporting role in my hit television series.”

Which one is the most likely? Unfortunately, it is the last one on that list, as producers of The Mentalist are looking to cast more than 100 Sacramentans for an upcoming shoot. If you would like your shot to appear on a hit show, read on!
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IPAllooza at SacBrew!

hopsSacBrew will host their first IPAllooza tomorrow, featuring 30 India Pale Ales from across California and beyond. I can already feel my taste buds dance and my liver complain.

For the uninitiated, the IPA is a liquid celebration of the Humulus lupulus, commonly known as the hop. Hops have been used for hundreds of years to preserve beer, but their intense flavor made them a welcome and mandatory addition to the ancient recipe of water, grain and yeast. Dozens of different hop varieties are used based upon their acid content, which imparts different aromas and flavors that can be bitter, sweet, floral, fruity or any combination of the above, depending on the type, the amount used and the skill of the brewer.

The India Pale Ale originated in the British Empire, which added copious amounts of hops and alcohol to reinforce their standard pale ale for the long journey to the troops occupying India. Today, the IPA is unofficially the official beer of the West Coast, with hundreds of different versions brewed each year. Year after year, brewers attempt to out-do each other by packing as many hops as possible into their creations while keeping the beer delicious, resulting in styles such as Imperial IPAs, Double IPAs, Triple IPAs and the paint stripping Quadruple IPAs. Aficionados of such beers have dubbed themselves Hopheads.
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Happy Birthday Dinger!

Sacramento needs a mascot. A crusty old prospector? A river otter? Wine grapes? A vampire?

Dinger
Dinger
Until this happens, we’ve got Dinger, who turns 10 today and is having a Birthday Bash. Today’s game against the Reno Aces begins at 1:00, but the real action starts at Noon with Mascot Kickball. 18 mascots from across California will do battle in the classic schoolyard sport of champions. Guests include some awesome mascots, such as the dapper USF Don, the UOP Powercat, and Poppy, and some not-so-awesome, such as the PG&E Helmet (which sadly resembles a form of birth control), the creepy Mr. Jelly Belly, and MacGruff the Crime Dog, who simply worries me with that trenchcoat.

Have a great celebration, Dinger, and go Cats!

Seriously, who takes Arnie seriously?

KRXQ is under fire again for Sacramento’s #1 morning radio show and their wacky antics. The titular Rob Williams & Arnie States of the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show have drawn nationwide scorn for their hateful comments towards gender dysphoric children and blaming of the transgendered for America’s descent down a slippery slope of zoophilia and bestiality. Arnie is additionally targeted for comments approving of violence against boys wearing high-heeled shoes, and for his thoughts on beating his theoretical high-heeled wearing gay child, if he were to have one.

In case you have never met the trio on 98 Rock, they star as self-caricatures on a radio/comedy show with three hyper-opinionated friends. Think Seinfeld in Cowtown. Arnie plays the fat, dumb, loser, hick. Rob plays the successful capitalist genius. Dawn plays the crazy, loudmouthed, overly-emotional woman. Each show features voyeuristic details of their lives, which helps keep their loyal audience. Regular listeners get to be in on a lot of jokes, like Dawn’s therapeutic vacations, Arnie’s tiny penis, and Rob’s snobbish tastes.

The show makes jokes and provides commentary on retarded children, fat people, gay men, nerds, people with chronic diseases, single mothers, lesbians, people from every foreign country, liberals, illegal immigrants, women, child molesters, environmentalists, and dumb people. They were fined $55,000 in 2004 for “graphic and detailed discussions of various methods that men may employ to disgrace, degrade and humiliate women before, during and after sexual intercourse,” according to the FCC.
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KWOD RIP (1977-2009)

Unless you are unemployed, drunk or an insomniac, by the time you are reading this, 106.5 KWOD is gone. As of 9AM on Friday 5/22/09, the commercial home to alternative music in the Sacramento Valley since 1991 is off the air. Be careful not to step in the pools of black mascara left by mourning fans of the holy trinity of mope rock (Morrissey, The Cure and Depeche Mode).

The irony is, according to rumor, it will be replaced by a station called The BUZZ, which will specialize in 90’s rock and alternative music. That’s right. KWOD may very well be replaced by a station that will be using KWOD’s exact format, but from 15 years ago.

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West Coast Brew Fest 2009

This is American Craft Brew Week, so wrap it up with the biggest brewfest in the Sac area all year. This Saturday is the 10th Annual West Coast Brew Fest. Several changes will happen this year to make it, are you ready? —-> The Best West Coast Brew Fest yet!!!! (You weren’t ready for that, were you?)

First, the nitty gritty. 60 breweries pouring more than 120 beers from 1-5pm. No tokens, just a glass, you, and beer ’till they run out or you are cut off, baby. $25 for advance tickets, $30 at the gate. Food, music, sun and fun at Miller Park, which will help to fight the hot forecast with heritage oaks and the cool breeze that cuts up the Sacramento River. Of course, carpooling, walking, biking, public transport, taxis or designated driving is highly encouraged.

Next, the improvements and specials for this year:

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Mira Loma wins National Science Bowl

A big, brainy Right Awn! to Mira Loma High School students Andrew Chen, Rishi Kulkarni, Edward Lee, Sriram Pendyala and Heather Yee (and Coach James Hill) for taking the championship at the 19th annual National Science Bowl.

They win a trip to the International Science School in Sydney, Australia this summer. If they are named the best high school scientists on Earth, they will compete and surely lose in the Milky Way Science Bowl, where Geminids have won for most of the past millennium.

Beermann’s, Greenhouse closing

Two more area breweries have closed their doors, both in Roseville.

The Greenhouse Restaurant and Brewery shut down earlier this month. They were open for less than a year and had an uphill battle with the high cost of organic beer and sustainable food. Unfortunate, as both the food and the beer were excellent.

This Friday, Beermann’s Beerwerks Brewery will also close. Beermann’s just celebrated their 10th Anniversary and have been operating solely out of their Roseville warehouse after closing their brewpub at the beautiful and historic Empire Ballroom in Lincoln in 2006.

Beermann’s fans should visit this Thursday or Friday between 3 and 8pm for a final brew-ha-ha. Come lift a glass and offer a toast of thanks for 10 years in our community. If you would like to join other beer lovers, the Hop Heads of Sacramento Beer Lovers Union will meet at Beermann’s Thursday at 6pm.

Swine Flu in Sacramento County

{NOTE – This story contains out-of-date info about the number of cases in our area. For updated Sacramento-specific information, see the County’s DPH website.}

The first case of Swine Flu has been confirmed in the Sacramento area, so get ready for the en-sooey-ing panic.

Sorry.

To avoid unnecessary panic and worry, it is important to understand the facts behind the 2009 Swine bug. The strain(s) of the virus that have been popping up in the United States appears to be a milder version of the more lethal strains that have been found in other countries. Only one patient has required hospitalization, an elderly woman. Everyone else has gotten a nasty flu and recovered. This is the only the 8th case in California and the 40th in the US, so the chances of getting it appear to be quite slim. (Update: 3 positive cases in Fair Oaks, making a total of 10 CA cases as of 4/28)

This is not a deadly superbug. Let’s hope it stays that way.

It is also not spread by eating pigs. Please maintain your normal bacon consumption level.

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