Jerry’s Tumbleweed Inn

I saw a brief mention of Jerry’s Tumbleweed Inn in the Bee a few weeks ago as having one of the best burgers in town. Then my uncle asked me if I had heard of the place, being a bit of a burger hound himself. I thought it my duty to head to the distant land of Rancho Cordova and check it out.

To say that Jerry’s is rough around the edges assumes that a) Jerry’s has edges and b) the word “rough” includes the possibility of getting a pool cue lodged up your poop chute due to a poorly timed comment about the Raiders. Nevertheless, the burgers are well worth braving the elements as I quickly found out.
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MySpace Bush-basher now world famous

In case you missed it, the McClatchy high freshman who made local headlines last week for being questioned by the secret service for her anti-Bush MySpace group is now making headlines all over the world. I’d like to admit ashamedly that my post on The Sac Rag received slightly less than the 120,000 hits the Bee’s original article received.
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Roundup of local film connections

Via the Causeway Film & Television Forum, I’m sure many of you will enjoy this list of local films and film people. Who knew Carlos Alazraqui, Garcia on TV’s “Reno 911!” was a Sacramentan? I do, now. And I can’t believe I forgot that LeVar Burton, my daughter’s favorite person right now, is one too.

(At this time I would like to grant full leeway for thread creep about “Reading Rainbow” nostalgia.)

“Sacramento: The Good Old Days Remembered”

Mrs. Cool and I caught a bit of a KVIE program called “Sacramento: The Good Old Days Remembered” last night. If you’re a huge fan of local nostalgia this is a definite must see. The basic setup is nothing new–a bunch of old timers reminiscing about the old days in Sactown, with segments on the Solons, Alhambra Theater, Land Park, and “Joyland,” a turn-of-the-century amusement park in Oak Park, it will provide countless trivia tidbits that will make you the talk of every gathering. One timely segment we saw was on the beginnings of the Tower chain.

“Sacramento: The Good Old Days Remembered”
Sunday, October 22 at 12:30 pm (set your DVR accordingly)

MySpace and the Secret Service

Did you all read the front page Bee story today on the McClatchy High freshman, Julia Wilson, who was questioned by the secret service without her parents present because she wrote “Kill Bush” on her MySpace page?

Sure, that sounds outrageous, but apparently state law does not require parental notification when law enforcement officials want to question a student during school hours. And actually, the mother was notified when the agents knocked on her door, but she “asked the agents to come back in an hour,” apparently mistaking Federal agents with the Fuller Brush Man.
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Recalling Mr. Steak

Yesterday I was telling my wife about Mr. Steak. From my interweb research it looks like the brand is thriving in the Midwest, but the Sacramento location, which stood somewhere near the Border’s on Fair Oaks, is of course lost to all but the memories of those of us who ate there in the 1980s (and before, I assume).

So I was telling Mrs. Cool about it (for the dozenth time I’m sure, although probably less frequently since I started this here web log) and I got to the part where I was describing some of the items on the kids’ menu and I distinctly recall there being a chicken dish on there labeled “Matt Chicken.” Am I remembering that right? I remember from the time assuming that it was a play on “Matt Houston,” the brilliant Texas millionaire/LA private dick (played by Lee Horsley). And that’s about as far into the nether reaches of my subconscious as I think we should go today. Matt Chicken, anyone?

A Travis-ty at My58

Travis & KellyMeet Kelly and Travis, co-winners of the Host Hunt competition on My58. Faithful readers will know that I had a pick to click in this race, but I’m simply shocked, shocked that Travis pulled ahead of the pack.

For a taste of what you’re in for, check out Kelly and Travis as Phoebe and Joey announcing that MyTV has taken the bold step of airing “Friends.” See if you can get past the words “smelly cat,” I couldn’t. (I can’t link you to it, so if you think you have the stomach, visit Travis’s page and click on “Teaming Up: Travis And Kelly” in the video list.)
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Fins

Ok, admittedly “Fins” sounds like the name of some aquatic strip bar, but it’s truly a gem in the the Sacramento foodscape. (Did I just coin a phrase?) Fins has been around for years, with one location in Fair Oaks; however, not too many people were willing to hoof it out to the exburbs to buy fresh fish. ( I checked Google and it looks like “foodscape” has already been used. As well as “exburbs.” Dammit!) So Fins owners, Ed and Darcy Jayousi, decided to expand, opening two new locations that would increase their “fishpire” across the wide Sacramento “foodaspora.” (I’m really trying here.)
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The Enemy Within

The Tuesday, October 10 episode of Frontline on PBS (you know, public television?) will be The Enemy Within, an examination of the US response to the possiblity of terrorists within our borders.

This episode will focus on the case of Muslims living in Lodi and their possible connection to Al Qaida.

The Enemy Within airs at 10pm on KVIE 6.

UPDATE: If you missed it, you can see the whole thing online here.

Go big or go home

And they said there’d be a pumpkin shortage.  Whatevs. In California, this is a new jack (o’lantern) city:

The winning pumpkin at the Elk Grove 12th Annual Harvest Festival weighed 1,280 pounds, a new state record. 

The Napa pumpkin was just under 9 feet tall at 107 inches. The crowd gave it a standing ovation.

The pumpkin’s grower, Gary Miller didn’t reveal any secrets to his pumpkin’s enormous size, other than to say it was just “well behaved.”

The biggest pumpkin win netted Miller $6,400.

About 120 growers participated in weigh-off, according to a festival official.

Even with the pumpkin’s great size, it’s not the biggest recorded this year. Word is, a grower in Ohio has cultivated a 1,500 pound pumpkin.