Category: Misc

To Your Local Developer Write

It has come to my attention that the Red Lion Hotel (nee Sacramento Inn) is to be redeveloped by Capital Management Group. You can read about the proposed changes here, but there is one specific change that I would like to see. I took the time to email Jeffrey Berger, president of Capital Management, the following message, hoping that others would do the same. Continue reading “To Your Local Developer Write”

Food TV arrest in Vacaville

Not a Plasma TVSo news that happens in Vacaville is nearly out of the border for SacRag reporting, but this is too tasty of a story to pass up.

Vacaville police are warning residents to be cautious of electronic scams that have been occurring in the area after a man was arrested attempting to pass off shrink-wrapped oven doors as state-of-the-art plasma HDTVs. Apparently, authorities were alerted after a frugal shopper discovered that the “high-definition television” being sold out of the back of a blue Integra was not, as advertised, “the deal of the century.”

Also featured for won’t-be-undersold prices: Laptop computer boxes full of flooring tile.

Now I’m always looking for a good deal on electronics- but somehow my Spider-Sense would start tingling if the deal was to be found in the trunk of a crappy Acura in the middle of Vacaville. Really- who’s falling for this? Or has my Sacramento “big city” street-smarts made me too cunning of an adversary for these flimflammers?

Sacramento: Ferrari Capital of North America?

Ok, this is getting a little ridiculous.

I remember a time when the Ferrari was an unattainable God-among-automobiles-  Where the vision of them could only be seen on posters and car magazines.  But now it seems like every time I run an errand around Sac, there’s another one zipping by me.

Continue reading “Sacramento: Ferrari Capital of North America?”

Video game nostalgia open thread

As promised I’d like to open this post up as an open thread for your Sacramento 80s video game memories. That short-lived arcade at Arden Fair near the elevator above Johnny Rockets, different places where you held the high score, your favorite place to game it up, places you were ejected from and why, etc.

RygarI’ll kick it off with my memory of Rygar at Round Table on 51st. Rygar was that side-scrolling game where your weapon of choice was a spinning axe blade on a chain. It wasn’t a very exciting game but I became pretty OK at it and played every chance I got at the Round Table on 51st.

And of course the best of all: free gaming at that home store in Howe ‘Bout Arden where the Rack stands now.

Discuss. (Please)

The Beauty of Puns

Let’s put this one in the “unintentionally funny” category.  On the corner of Fulton and Alta Arden, a small massage parlor called VIP Spa used to serve its clients well into the night, seven nights a week.  Anecdotal evidence (and the fact that their blinds were always closed) points to VIP Spa as a house of ill repute or at least a shady pseudo-sexual massage parlor.  Well, move to the present day.  VIP Spa has been shut down for almost a year and the new tenant of the building is a smoke shop called–wait for it– “Blow & Tell.” 

Maybe I don’t give the stoners at B&T enough credit.  If this is an intentionally funny renaming of the property, then my hats off to them for their snarktitude.

Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?

Sorry for the lapse in entertainment recommendations last weekend.  We hope to make it up to you with a prime time, Sacramento-sized deep fried bucket of weekend entertainment:

FRIDAY– Perhaps the greatest musician to come out of Berkeley High School, and a former Sacramento resident, Charlie Hunter and his ultra funky 8-string guitar (that’s 3 strings of bass and 5 strings of guitar for those keeping score at home) will be performing with his trio tonight at Marilyn’s on K St.  I’ve personally seen Charlie dozens of times, from his formative gigs in Bay Area clubs to his more polished later group outings.  He is one of the most popular figures on the jazz scene and only comes to Sacramento once every two or three years.  Check him out.  Buy tix here.

SATURDAY– (from Runnergirl) If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to run up what people ski down, here’s your chance this Saturday.  It’s the Squaw Mountain Run and it’s a 3.6 mile jaunt up from the valley floor to the Escarpment. At the top, participants will enjoy music, food, beer, and raffles.  The less energetic can take the cable car to the top of the mountain and take part in a three mile “flower walk.” This is also the first few miles of the Western States course, and the views of Lake Tahoe are amazing. Continue reading “Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?”

Watt the Heck Is That?

In today’s Bee, the Arden/Carmichael section talks about the new “public art” that decorates the median of Watt Avenue from Butano to El Camino.  Apparently the artistic barrier (it’s really a fence to keep people from j-walking) shows the “symbols and images of the area’s past, present and future.”  This includes fish, birds, and a palm tree made from stone.  Two things stand out here: 1) There is one scene in the piece that shows a four-legged animal that Mrs. Eats and I have a debate going on about.  She says it’s a wolf, I say it’s a goat.  We may need your help with this.  2) Depressingly, the dedication will be held tomorrow in the Wal Mart parking lot, which may be a comment on the future of public art, or the weight given to current art, or the ridiculous gigantor-size of the Wal-Mart parking lot.