Attention blog junkies

A new Sac blog aggregator has hit the market: RiverWrap.com, “All the blogs fit to wrap”…

Our mission is to elevate the visibility of bloggers in our region by providing a portal where visitors can dive into the blogosphere by either searching for topics of interest or browsing our pre-set categories.

It is handy for discovering new blogs, but unfortunately you cannot subscribe in the handy RSS format. So it loses points on that against IpsoSacto, but it does have a much more limited scope (probably something that will change as it gets off the ground) which actually makes it easier. IpsoSacto can really overload your feed reader because you get blogs that are by Sacramento people that are not necessarily local-only. Also it doesn’t hurt their review that Ours Truly (can I say that?) is all over the Top Ten Blog Posts 🙂

Continue reading “Attention blog junkies”

My first Monarchs run-in

Adrian Williams-Strong
Adrian Williams-Strong

Boarding a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Friday morning on my way home, I noticed a woman who looked a lot like Monarchs guard Kara Lawson. I dismissed it as merely the random thought of a sleep-deprived traveler (my flight the night before had been cancelled). But then she walked past me and took her place in line… next to (Sac Rag favorite) Jim “Koz” Kozimor and Coach T, Tom Abatemarco. The Monarchs were headed home after a close game win the night before over the Minnesota Lynx.

They failed to get any kind of group recognition as they filed onto the plane and sat in coach. I boarded the plane and 6′ 5″ center-forward Adrian Williams-Strong was getting herself all settled in my ticketed seat. Hers was just across the aisle so we switched it up. Go Monarchs!

Sac’s up on Google Street View

Via David Watts Barton’s awesome Sacto/music blog Blogging the Grid, and as blogged previously by RT Rider, it turns out Sacramento was added to Google Street View last week. Neato Speedo! Check it out here. Or follow the jump to see the most blighted block of the grid…

Continue reading “Sac’s up on Google Street View”

Rail Bridge Cellars: Drink Local

It turns out that you can make wine almost anywhere. Growing the grapes with which to make the wine is another story. But the actual storing, crushing, filtering, and fricasseeing necessary to make great wine can be done almost anywhere where you can match a bit of floor space with regular temperatures. Why, then, should it be a surprise that some of the best wine this writer has tasted in a long time comes out of a nondescript white brick warehouse across from a discount furniture store and a card room?

Rail Bridge Cellars, located on North 16th Street, may be a trailblazing entity, injecting the business of winemaking in to the urban core, but regardless of its geography, the wine’s the thing that makes this small wine producer stand out. Winemaker Jon Affonso (Jesuit High class of ’88, Go Big Red!) confidently, and with obvious passion produces only two wines at the present, but what wines they are. Continue reading “Rail Bridge Cellars: Drink Local”

New Eats in the 95821

Within the last few months, three new eateries have appeared in the greater Town & Country Club area (a hybrid of Country Club Plaza and Town & Country Village). These new joints manage to fill in a few gaps in the foodscape. If we keep our fingers crossed, maybe we’ll get an art house theater too.

Taqueria Y Pastelria San Marcos

It’s a fine piece of fortune when a fantastic taqueria opens up within blocks of you. San Marcos offers everything that a good taqueria should: great tacos, killer chips & salsa, and depression-era prices. Not only that, but San Marcos meets all the conditions for ethnic dive greatness, including a plethora of handwritten signs indicating the bizarre and sometimes draconian rules regarding restroom usage, ATM utilization, soda refills, chips & salsa availability, and most importantly, what is and is not included in the daily special. If you try to bend any of these rules, you will be left out in the Oaxacan desert to be eaten by coyotes. Continue reading “New Eats in the 95821”

Kings Should Call “Foul”

According to an article at Bloomberg.com, disgraced NBA referee, alleged gambler, and confirmed ass-hat Tim Donaghy claims that NBA referees, under instructions from higher ups, helped to defeat the Sacramento Kings in the 2002 playoffs against the LA Lakers.

If this is true, then this really sucks, and if the Maloofs should throw a Las Vegas style hissy fit. Also, if this isn’t some fiction dreamed up by a desperate tool, then David Stern will go down in a ball of fire while my mother-in-law pours gasoline on the flames. If there’s one thing that Mo-Law doesn’t tolerate, it’s immorality in her sporting events. Especially against her Kings.

I’m Taking My Heterosexual Ball and Going Home

In a story today, the Bee reports that the Butte County Clerk Janice Grubbs has refused to perform any further marriage ceremonies in the Butte County Clerk’s office.

Don’t jump to conclusions, however, because Janice says that it has nothing to do with the recent dust-up over gay marriage. According to the piece, “…Grubbs says the county can’t afford to continue performing wedding ceremonies… [and] said her decision has nothing to do with the California Supreme Court’s ruling last month legalizing gay marriage.” (despite the fact that gay marriage just happened to be ordered by the court in the same week as her decision) Continue reading “I’m Taking My Heterosexual Ball and Going Home”

RIGHT AWN: Phase I of The Big Fix is complete

Unless you’ve been too busy reading old posts on The Sac Rag, you know that northbound I-5 has been closed for the past nine days to repair drainage issues and to repave.

Caltrans, CC Myers, and a host of subcontractors worked around the clock to meet their initial deadline of 5am today.

Not enough credit is given to Caltrans for projects like this. While Myers is the main man, a lot of the brains and guts behind projects like these goes to Caltrans Director Will Kempton — a take-no-prisoners transportation expert who has laid down the law within an organization that has long been the butt of countless jokes. Kempton is more than the figurehead of the agency (as some would argue that previous directors have been), as he has the experience and clout to make things happen.

Credit, surprisingly, should also go to lawmakers who have allowed public-private partnerships to be able to expedite significant projects like this one.

It was downright impressive seeing hundreds of people and pieces of equipment moving all at once, 24 hours a day. Parts of the project were adjacent to regular traffic, so there were plenty of men and women toiling away with just a cone between them and distracted drivers.

Wondering what’s next? Check it out. (Now with the correct link. Thanks, T Mc!)

Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?

Friday-
Celebrity Chef Challenge– This annual event and fundraiser for InAlliance, a non-profit organization that provides employment and living services for adults with disabilities, pits some of the area’s best chefs against one another in a contest of Olympian proportions. There’s bound to be great food and copious wine and talented chefs.
Where: The Old Sugar Mill, Clarksburg (10 min south of Sacramento)
When: Friday, 5-9pm
Continue reading “Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?”