Three’s a crowd at Lucca

I frequented Lucca quite a bit when it first opened – always have high hopes for a new mid- or downtown opening. Aside from the minor missteps of a fresh venue finding its footing, Lucca showed great promise. The bar has the makings of a great Sac hangout: solid wine list, full bar, yummy appetizers (love the escargot) and a good location. And in my book, it gets extra points for offering more than one sparkling wine by the glass/split. The post-work crowd is usually professionals, with some hip midtowners thrown in, so big thumbs up on the atmosphere.

Sadly, the bar is too small for kissmekate’s ideal …
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CHICK-FIL-A OPENED THIS WEEKEND

If you’re not from the East Coast or certain southern states you have no idea what good news this is. Chick-Fil-A has opened in Roseville. Chick-Fil-A is a fast-food delight made famous by its original chicken sandwhich, which consists solely of a perfectly-battered peppery-buttery chicken breast, two pickle slices and a white bread bun. With crinkle fries and a dr. pepper you’ve had the Chick-Fil-A experience. My husband and I stopped in Roseville Friday night on our way out of town to see if the rumored Chick-Fil-A had arrived. As we approached we saw spotlights and joked that they might be for the opening. They were! When we got there the lines made In&Out seem like nothing. There were police patrols to manage the crowds in the parking lot. Serious business, people. Anyway, check it out when you’re up there. Some ground rules, though: A) YES, they only serve chicken. We heard people complaining about this in line and B) they are closed on Sundays.

Hey you! Come back here with my european men’s carryall!!

We see crime stories on TV everyday. But, when it happens to you in person, it’s just not as entertaining. There’s no overly-made up anchor there to tell your story, nor is your story concluded with a jazzy 30 second spot about how you can score a pay-what-they-pay deal on a oversized gas guzzler.

Not to say that I was the victim of a crime, but I did get to watch one unfold almost right in front of me just this last weekend.
Continue reading “Hey you! Come back here with my european men’s carryall!!”

Desario @ Old Ironsides – October 7, 2005

It was a typical Friday night at Old “I” this past week, with the action starting off with a band called “Desario”. The act is comprised with members of past Sac bands The California Oranges, Holiday Flyer, The Sinking Ships and Rocketship. The four piece delivers melodic rock that I would quantify as a mix of The Gin Blossoms, Weezer, and The Killers.

I guess you could describe Desario as “Nerd Rock”, for they look the part, with specs (three Rivers Cuomo look a likes), plaid shirts and crooning rock songs that cry of insecurity and uncomfortability. The tempos and intensities of the songs remained constant for the most part, missing opportunities for contrast.
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News10.net’s straight shooter

I like to poke fun at News10.net. It’s no secret. I also like to reference their Web site a lot, too. I realized today that props need to be handed out. That is, I finally figured out that, while often times typo laden and haphazard, their internet news producer puts out some great “news” and deserves some Sac Rag love. Her name is Elizabeth Bishop. Along with a few other folks, it appears that she writes the copy for the Web site and presumably (because, you know, who watches News10?) provides a different angle than what you would get watching News10 on the TV.
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Finally, the Daisy Spot

Let’s give a big Sac Rag indie bossa nova “welcome back” to Sacto’s quirky pop duo Daisy Spot, who are celebrating the release of their self-titled “debut” album tonight at Old Ironsides with Golden Shoulders and Prairie Dog.

I know they’ve only been gone for a little while but while we’re bringing back cutesy pop m/f duos let’s hear from Park Avenue Music. Man, I don’t know what I’d do if I had people telling me not to name drop.

CBS13’s Newest Face

I caught a newscast with Sac’s newest reporter/anchor Tony Lopez on… it must have been Sunday? Man the days just run together. Anyway has anybody else seen this guy? He’s great in that sarcastic local news anchor role. It made me remember that one of my primary goals with Sac Rag was to gossip about our fabulous local news people: picking up on the belligerence of a Miguel Almaguer, sighting of a Jennifer Whitney on the street, catching alumns when they get picked up by the big networks (ever notice how much Fox loves them some Sacto poaching? Adam Housley and Kiran Chetry are all over the F&B).

A rant of another color

Not to get too rant heavy here at the Sac Rag, but please take a notice of the headlines on News10.net right now. While everyone seems to be up in arms over this missing woman who was last seen at Thunder Valley Casino last week (uh, her boyfriend waits 2 days to go looking for her? for another post…), no one seems to be talking about (notice how it is 3 stories down on the home page) the Rio Linda Foster Mother who has been missing for eight days! Where’s the 40-45 person search party for this foster mother of three? Well, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has taken a missing person report. I’ll let you connect the dots here, but I think News10.net needs call a quick staff meeting and discuss their priorities.