Natomas Flooded in Media Controversy

This controversy over free publications makes me think of ripping down someone else’s “Vote for me!” student council campaign sign and replacing it with your own:

A Natomas media rivalry has turned ugly, with owners of two local publications each claiming the other has stolen stacks of the competitor’s periodicals from the rack.

In one case, Natomas Journal publisher Will Craig was caught on surveillance tape in August picking up a stack of N Magazines from the South Natomas Community Center, replacing them with his own newspaper and dumping the rival publication in an outside recycling bin…

Craig said he simply was sending a message to the people connected with N Magazine because he believes they have been stripping his racks for 21 months.

I understand, only remotely, that it’s important to the publishers to tell advertisers what their circulation is and where their publication is offered; however, doesn’t getting rid of the rival’s rag artificially increase the number of publications being taken?

At least he’s recycling them.

Happy Birthday, Light Rail!

Sacramento’s starter line opened 20 years ago, and Regional Transit is celebrating by offering free rides all day on Friday, September 14th.

Sure, our light rail system doesn’t get you EVERYWHERE you want to go, but think of it as an actual 20 year old:

– It thinks it can do everything

– It still mooches off others for funding

– It still hasn’t quite decided where it wants to go in life, but definitely has big aspirations

Like many modern 20 year olds, it is also bilingual. “Empuje para abrir las puertas.”

So, get on out there and ride those rails — you never know what you’ll hear!

Cats continue postseason success

Who’s got River Cats championship fever? I know I do, and the rash is killing me. Hooray for Jorge (call him George) Piedra and AA callup Brant Colamarino, and for the great pitching by Michael Madsen, Jeremy Blevins and Brad Ziegler. Madsen really cut the ears off the Zephyrs hitters for 6 strong innings! (Sorry.)

The Cats are now up 2 games over the Zephyrs in this PCL championship series. Stay tuned to River Chat for all your River Cats blogging needs.

The Favorites List: Proceed at Your Own Risk

In writing about restaurants, one tends to put himself in the work. It’s inevitable, really. Food, restaurants, people, likes, dislikes, cannot be written about with the cold, impartial pen that so many professional journalists carry. There are certain things I like, certain things I love, others I can’t stand, and some I simply tolerate. This makes me human, makes you human, makes all of us human (except for that Chris Matthews guy, who I swear is a muppet). So, this means, every now and then, you may disagree with a review. I’m totally cool with that.

I’ve come to conclusion that there is no way that my expectations, prejudices, leanings, and passions can be superimposed on some faceless recommendee. My opinion is not universal, but I think it’s a good divining rod for a large portion of the eating public. Nevertheless, there will be those that have an entirely different idea as to what the average dining experience should be and to them, I wish nothing but good tidings. In order to be a mature and thoughtful writer, one needs to not only acknowledge that others are entitled to their opinions (a premise on which we can all probably agree), but to understand how those others can actually form opinions different from one’s own. So, to help you figure out where I (and subsequently you) stand, I offer you this list of my favorite places in the Sacramento area. If you’ve gone to these spots and totally disagree with me, then odds are you’re not going to do well by following any advice I dish out. But, far be it from me to stop you from trying: Continue reading “The Favorites List: Proceed at Your Own Risk”

Attention “Reno 911!” fans

Reno 911
Dangle takes down Big Mike

Starting tonight at 2:00 a.m., CW31 will begin airing reruns of “Reno 911!,” the Comedy Central mockumentary-style show about Reno’s bumbling and offensive fictional sheriffs, starting with the show’s pilot episode from 2003. Reruns don’t currently seem to be airing on Comedy Central, so that’s a pretty good deal right there if you’re looking for some fun comedy viewing to tide you over until fall TV starts. Set your DVRs.

Happy Admission Day Weekend

157 years ago, on Sep 9, 1850, California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state.  In order to celebrate this great day, there was a somewhat understated presentation at the Capitol including a barbershop quartet and a color guard.  Maybe it’s just my Calicentric viewpoint, but I think is a day that we should celebrate with a little more oomph.  There should be fireworks and parades and lots and lots of drinking.  In fact, this is a day that we, as Californians, should reflect on the greatness that is our state, and how fortunate the other 49 states are to have us.

I mean, think about it.  California provides 60% of the fresh produce, 35% of the commercial lumber, 68% of the wine, 90% of the movies, 80% of the attractive people, and 100% of the “California Cuisine” in America.  (all of these stats are made up, and therefore, totally true)  We need to celebrate all that is California this weekend.  Fly your Bear Flag in front of your house.  Shout “Eureka” a lot.  And don’t ever forget that you live in the greatest state in the greatest country in the world.

Other Directional (or lack thereof) Designations

So, you’re driving on Elvas from Folsom Boulevard and you’re trying to get on to Fair Oaks Boulevard (it’s “Sacramento’s Rodeo Drive” don’t you know, but that’s another post) and you notice a sign indicating that you can go to the right and get on to Fair Oaks Boulevard, or you can go straight and reach the “Central District.”  What is this “Central District” to which the sign alludes?  And when was anything close to Elvas ever considered “Central?”

Are we “Silicon Valley East”?

Computer programmer
From NASA for Kids’ careers page
on being a computer programmer

From the Computer Science Programming page on Sac City’s website

Sacramento is known as “Silicon Valley East” because of the large number of computer and high-tech companies that have moved to, or established a facility in, the greater Sacramento metropolitan area.

By whom? I don’t mean to disparage our tech sector, but has anybody actually heard that appellation used before? Also wouldn’t East be a bit too specific, considering we are just a few clicks East of San Jose? I think North would be better. Not sure what Redmond, Washington would think about that, though…

Site update

Sorry to pull back the curtain slightly here, but I finally got around to fixing a bug in our WordPress installation which kept the “Logged in user” feature from working properly. In other words, if you’re a registered subscriber to our site, you can log in to post comments and not have to retype your info every time. If you’re not registered, do so today!