Category: News

Local Food Blogger Earns Two Top Award Nominations

Hank Shaw: Hunger Angler Gardener Cook (photo from his website)

There’s only one way to describe local food blogger Hank Shaw today: on fire! The writer was nominated this morning for the prestigious James Beard Award for his down-to-earth food blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Earlier, his blog was also nominated by the International Association of Culinary Professionals for a Bert Greene Award. He finds out in April if he’s won the latter, and in May if he’s won the prior.

Last year, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook was also nominated for a James Beard Award, but the metal went to Sunset Magazine’s blog.  That’s right: our local guy was competing against a big company who can afford to pay their bloggers. My bets are on Mr. Shaw for this year’s award. Read it for yourself! I think you’ll love it.

Evil Weather Lurks Tonight

Batten down the hatches! We’re in for record cold in Sacramento tonight. The evil weathermen have teamed with Mother Nature in a wretched plot to suffer the force of frost upon us. You can just feel it in the graying clouds corroding our skies.

You can’t save yourself, but for god sake, save your garden! Throw some old sheets over those tender greens tonight.

May the lord save your soul—and your cilantro!

Door to door decisions

This post on the Sacto 9-1-1 blog warning Sacramento about the dangers of door to door solicitors hit home with me. What to do with solicitors in my neighborhood is a hot topic of discussion.

Except when it comes to U.S. Census workers and maybe cookie-peddling Girl Scouts, legitimate neighborhood salesmen are pretty much a thing of the past, said Sherrie Carhart, a crime prevention specialist for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Note to self: disguise yourself as a U.S. Census worker the next time you want to solicit door to door.

I kid the person from my community who is hired by the Census Bureau to make sure that my neighborhood gets represented as accurately as possible.

I did find this tidbit interesting…

Carhart said sales people are required to carry a copy of the county permit they must obtain for door-to-door solicitation, as well as a copy of their business license.

So, do I just not answer the door when someone I do not know comes-a-knockin’? Do I look through my peep-hole and give them a once-over to determine if they are cookie-peddlers or there to find out why I didn’t mail it back?

More comedy from the Sac PD

The Sac PD is continuing to put comedy right where it belongs, on the crime blotter. This time it is a press release about a break-in at a medical office building. Could be a pretty serious incident, what with the possibility of stolen medical information and identity theft. The press release is titled This Wasn’t a Scheduled Office Visit.

They’ll be here all week!

Fairfield teenager attacks raccoon with sword

Nom Nom Nom!
I suppose you would have us
exhaust all diplomatic options first?
Creative Commons License photo credit: smysnbrg

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Marquel Dawson, the Fairfield teenager who attacked a mountain lion with a samurai sword (Video clip) to protect the family dog. Or at least he thought it was a mountain lion: Fish and Game officials now believe the animal was actually a raccoon.

You may chuckle, and I’m sure that Dawson’s rep has taken a hit back home. He’s probably lucky he’s not in high school anymore. But I would like to point out that when Dawson armed himself with a sword he thought he was attacking a mountain lion. He thought, “Should I attack a mountain lion? Yes, this is a great idea, this cannot possibly be a bad idea.” The guy held a samurai sword over his head and swung it at what he thought was a mountain lion.

Continue reading “Fairfield teenager attacks raccoon with sword”

God hates everybody, especially YOU

Westboro Baptist Church - intelligent and fierce!
Guess who’s coming to town? That’s right, the Westboro Baptist Church, an internationally recognized hate group that has been banned by the United Kingdom, will be coming to Sacramento to remind us that we are all sinners doomed to hell. Why? We are all Satan worshipers for following religions such as Judaism, Catholicism or Islam, and America is being punished by God because we embrace homosexuality. They have appeared at the funerals of American soldiers, college students, Michael Jackson, Mr. Rogers, and Jerry Falwell, informing their families, loved ones and the world that the deceased was currently burning in hell for all eternity, and you are next, Satanist!

This Friday they are coming for you.

Continue reading “God hates everybody, especially YOU”

2010 Forecast: Heavy (!) traffic in Rancho Cordova’s drive-thrus

Getting too big for its boundaries
If you’re a sacrilegious, unemployed heathen who happens to be in Rancho Cordova at any point in time, please disregard this post.

As reported by the Sac Bee, the mayor of Rancho Cordova has big plans for the fair-sized denizens of his city:

Rancho Cordova’s “Great Health Challenge,” planned for announcement at tonight’s City Council meeting, calls for members of the community to drop a combined 40,000 pounds – 20 tons – over the next 10 months.

A rather ambitious objective, I would say. Continue reading “2010 Forecast: Heavy (!) traffic in Rancho Cordova’s drive-thrus”

Consignment Sale Alert!

Stripes are all the rage right now. These stripes only cost me $6.

If you haven’t already visited the new Article Consignment Boutique at 5704 Elvas Avenue, I suggest you get a move on. Starting tomorrow, January 29 through February 6, you’ll get an extra 10% off items dated 12/30.

That means 60% savings, folks! This consignment store operates on the 30-day system. If an item hasn’t sold after 30 days, it gets marked down to half its original selling price. Bargains await!

This cute little shop gets all sorts of fab pieces from East Sac’s elite. I found Prada, Banana Republic, and Lucky, to name but a few. Continue reading “Consignment Sale Alert!”

Sac PD reminds you to tip your waiters

The Sacramento Police Department released surveillance photos of two yoots who held up a video game store on Northgate Blvd on Saturday afternoon. The crooks happened to look directly into the camera as they were leaving the scene of the crime. The press release is titled “Hey Look, It’s a Surveillance Camera, I’m Going to be on TV.”

“But seriously. What is the deal with these armed robberies? It’s like, don’t you even have money to buy video games yourselves? The ladies know what I’m talkin about. Don’t even get me started.”

UPDATE: This press release was also cross-posted at The Sacramento Press. In other words, the cops themselves are part of the “citizen journalism” experiment over there at the Press. Hmmm.

Don’t mess with Texas

I received an email this morning informing me that the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon is holding a contest to change their name. Why? Because they have to!

When we decided to revitalize the long-standing Sacramento Marathon in 2005 our goal was to give it a name, identity, and personality that would be fun and relevant for our community. At the risk of being offensive to some, we renamed the event to the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon. Our runners not only embraced the name “Cowtown”, but also the theme, the festivities, and, of course, our cows. After all, who could resist those loveable, yet admittedly forlorn, cows that grace our race shirts each year?

Makes sense to me. If you can’t beat’em, join’em, right?

Simply put, Sacramento is no longer a cowtown & the name no longer accurately describes our community. We’re ready to forge ahead proud to leave this outdated ‘description’ behind us…Apparently, not so in Texas! The folks in Fort Worth, TX, their runners, their attorneys, and no doubt their cows, are so pleased to have the distinction of still actually being, well, a “cowtown” that they will go to any lengths to covet the name “Cowtown Marathon” exclusively. So, we are relinquishing the name and they can now maintain a legacy Sacramento no longer has to endure.

Alrighty then…So, what would your suggestion be? Feel free to submit it formally, and even in the name of the SacRag if you want to be really cool. Otherwise, leave your snarky goodness as a comment and we’ll have some fun at Sacramento’s expense.