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.)
Few businesses in the history of capitalism blew as badly as Tower Records. The Sacramento-founded and West Sacramento-based company went from having must-shop stores in Hollywood, Tokyo and Manhattan to being the current generation’s edition of a buggy-whip manufacturer.
The Bee is reporting that Tower Records founder and Sacramento-area legend Russ Solomon has signed a lease for the former TR site on Broadway, with plans to open a … um … would it still be called a “record” store? For the history-minded, that location would be right across the street from where it all began, in the corner of the Solomon family’s Tower Drugs.
Fergoshsakes, Russ, you’re 81 years old. Why don’t you open an iTunes account like the rest of the world and enjoy your retirement? Still, gotta admire the spirit and wish him the best.
As an aside … isn’t it strange that after all those years Tower didn’t own that property? The family that does has also leased the Tower Books site, to the Avid Reader.
…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!
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 Crocker Art Museum has a special exhibition starting tomorrow, “Without Words: The Sacramento Bee’s Most Powerful Photographs.” From the catalog:
Protests. Tragedy. Disaster. Despair. Each day in the pages of The Sacramento Bee are photos that tell a story few words can. Since the first photographic image appeared in 1898, The Bee’s photojournalists have taken our readers to the frontlines of the most important events that have shaped our history.
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of The Sacramento Bee, The Crocker Art Museum presents the photography that brings to life events seen through the lenses of The Bee’s award-winning photographers.
A collection of nearly 20 images will be on display in the Crocker Art Museum’s Ballroom. A highlight of the exhibition is Assassination Foiled taken by longtime Bee photojournalist Dick Schmidt, who captured the image of Lynette “Squeaky†Fromme after her failed 1975 assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford in Capitol Park.
You can hear Dick Schmidt (long-time friend of mine, by the way) being interviewed today at 2 p.m. on CPR’s show “Insight” (KXPR; FM 90.9). He’s a low-key, charming and funny man, so I’m guessing the interview will be a great one. The Crocker exhbition runs through March 21.
Back in mid-December, I posted how everyone should support a local writer and purchase Keith Lowell Jensen’s Oh Holy Night and Other Stories. Having read it last week, I can say with authority that it’s $10 well spent. Continue reading “Book Review: Oh Holy Night and Other Stories”
I’m a huge fan of The Shins, the earnest yet quirky indie rock outfit featured as the band that can change your life in the otherwise unwatchable “Garden State” by Zach Braff. I’m excited about their new album, “Wincing the Night Away” (which you can stream on Scenestars), out January 23 (my birthday) on Sub Pop, and their appearance this weekend with host Jake Gyllenhaal on Saturday Night Live. (Sub Pop is excited about that too.)
And then I realized that, as they would say on the local news, The Shins have a Sacramento connection. Continue reading “The Shins’ Sacramento connection”
The Sac Rag 