On Saturday, I was privileged to attend the California Brewer�s Festival at Discovery Park. It was a fantastically fun event with a diverse crowd and plenty of beer. For $20, much of which went toward hurricane victims, you got 10 tokens, good for beer samples and the option to purchase more. Since my memory of the event is a little shaky, I thought I�d just post my notes from the event.
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The Not-So-Friendly Skies
Had an opportunity to fly this weekend and discovered a few things that seemed to be sacrocentric (can we start using this new non-word? I kind of dig it). Air travel in general is a stressful experience. Between the delays, the security checks, the tight quarters, it can all wear thin on one’s temper. But at what point do people just flat out give up and start being absolute nut jobs? And do they only lose it in the 916?
My wife and I board our plane from Sacramento to Denver. Everything has gone swimmingly so far and I was actually very impressed by the ease in getting to our terminal from the parking lot. However, this ease was quickly worsened when we attempted to find our seats. Now I have to make some assumptions here. That the folks boarding this plane were from the Sacramento area and not making a connecting flight from some other town. I also have to assume that, being a Saturday morning, these folks were not traveling on business and/or were not otherwise anxious to get to where they were going. That is, I was experiencing people at their best.
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9/11 Fireworks
Driving down the I-80 last night near Truxel around 10 PMish, I and a friend of mine noticed some fireworks off in the distance. We couldn’t figure out why there’d be fireworks, other than for 9/11 commemorations. Hardly appropriate, we thought.
It turns out that the fireworks were actually coming from Raley Field, where the Tacoma Raniers just knocked off the River Cats in the PCL playoffs. The Raniers are now headed to the finals against Nashville, while the River Cats are headed to the nearest golf course.
So, fireworks? Still hardly appropriate, we think.
Crepes: the New Sushi?
Heckasac and Postcards (kudos on the ballsy post title) are discussing the encroachment of a third Crepeville franchise on the grounds of Cafe Melange. Much great discussion at both blogs. (Especially that one commenter on Postcards who notes that what is really needed is a good Jewish deli. One of the only things I miss regularly about not living in Los Angeles anymore is the abundance of deli goodness.)
Before we started The Sac Rag I commented elsewhere on the net when I noticed that two fine foreign food establishments–Shandiz (Persian) and Royal Hong King Lum (Chinese)–went sushi right at the same time. And speaking of deli’s, Max’s at Market Square is of course now a sushi place. At the time I was convinced that sushi was to Sacramento’s eaters what the Kings are to Sacramento’s “people who only pretend to care about basketball.” Not sure what that means but plenty of you out there can figure it out.
Not to mention: I’ve only eaten at the Davis Crepeville but doesn’t Crepeville use crappy cheddar cheese in its crepes? For shame.
Hurricane, Shmurricane
Following CoolDMZ’s post from a few weeks back, I had to comment on this article from News10.net.
It’s a disaster experts know is coming, and it could dwarf the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
We live in earthquake country…sure, we knew that. Is it important to discuss earthquake preparedness? I think so. Is it necessary to bring down the victims of hurricane Katrina along the way? Even if you don’t watch the news regularly, or read the paper, or browse the internet, I think it is safe to say that most Americans, especially those of us out west pretty much get what happened in the gulf coast. There’s no need to “bring it home” by attempting to scare the bejeezus out of us with this doom and gloom, might as well not go to work in the morning, earthquake prediction crap.
Not to mention that it’s pretty insulting to those who have directly suffered from this disaster. You think you have it rough in New Orleans? You ain’t seen nothing yet, in the next 20 years we’re gonna have a tremor that will blow the socks off your little storm…maybe, we think, well, we predict. We’re two for three so far!
“You in Line” at Tortillas?
My encounter at the fine taqueria Tortillas (unfortunate name, but great burritos. It would be like a burger place called “Buns” or, I suppose, an Italian restaurant named “Tomatoes”) tonight with the fam’ was vintage Sacramento. To get there on a workday for early dinner you have to brave the Northbound Howe Ave. rush hour traffic, which is no picnic, but man that pork burrito is worth it. We roll into the joint and are the only ones in line. Now, a family of four basically either has to eat PB&J at home or designate one parent to order food for the group in order to acquire a meal with no fuss, so as I’m standing in line with the baby in her carrier, my wife is taking the toddler (2 1/2 y.o.) to the restroom, I’m conferring with her on what those two ladies would like to eat.
Literally in the middle of that sentence, while I’m standing maybe 3 feet from the cash counter, in busts this very typical Sacramento woman. She gives me the “you in line?” but with that voice that’s maybe twice as loud as it needs to be. “Uh, go ahead” I grumble, and she barges past me and proceeds to order a takeout order for 2 or 3 in that same voice.
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Sports! Sports! Tacos! Sports!
At The Sac Rag, we don’t just bring the snark, we bring you The News You Need. Tonight, if the Sacramento River Cats win their Pacific Conference Championship Series Playoff game against the hated Tacoma Rainers, everyone in Sacramento wins a FREE taco from Jimboy’s. If that’s not a reason to catch Pacific Conference Championship fever, well then I just don’t know anything about public health scares. The taco can be consumed on Saturday. Go Cats!
Speaking of sports, The Sac Rag is now seeking a local blogger to cover prep football. From Del Oro to Sheldon, from River City to Ponderosa, local prep junkies want to know the scoop, and they want their scoop snarky. Inquire at cooldmz-at-gmail.com or through our Contact Us page.
UPDATE: 2-2 in the top of the 5th… Come on taco!!
UPDATE: Uh oh, 3 runs for Tacoma in top 6. Let’s go Cats!
UPDATE: Smell the grease… 5-4 Rainiers going into the last frame.
Is Nothing *Safe*?
Stories like this just warm your heart, don’t they?. What is especially noteworthy about this theft is that the church’s pastor THINKS there were at least two thieves because the safe weighed between 200 and 300 pounds. I smell an inside job. An alarm goes off at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. The guard “didn’t notice” anything missing. Hmmm. Then Monday morning at 1:30 a.m. one of the credit cards was used. So we are to believe that the alarm was triggered on accident at 10:30, nothing was the matter, the guard goes back to, uh, guarding. Then “thieves” break in to the church and steal the safe without triggering the alarm and make off with a 200-300 pound safe?
And lastly, as if this whole incident wasn’t enough to turn your stomach, they end it with:
Cummins says the church will take another collection next week for hurricane victims.
I’m sure folks will dig really deep into their pocketbooks for this one. Here’s a tip Bear Creek Community Church goers, take your chances at www.redcross.org.
I Don’t Feel Overvalued…
I know the overvaluation of our local housing market is not news to most people who care about that sort of thing, and I don’t generally like to obsess about this stuff, because I realize that although I am technically sitting on a big pile of potential cash or potential financial ruin, it is also still the place where my shirts and underwear and bathroom are for the time being. But this caught my eye. #11 with a bullet! Whoo hoo!!
But seriously. There are no cities in California outside the top 53. Hey, can we blame people though? But look closer: I am no urban/ecomonical expert, but how is San Francisco the least overvalued metro area in CA? From what I can tell {PDF file}, the most recent median price for Sacto is $377.4, and the most recent median for SF is $726.9. In other words, the other factors about SF would have to account for that difference and also for Sacto being almost twice as overvalued. What am I missing?
But again, I don’t really care. I’m just median-bashing. I’ll leave the rest of the discussion and the obvious factual errors I’m overlooking to the comments box.
True Love Never Dies…
…it just moves around the corner! Local rock mainstays Kevin and Allyson Seconds have announced that they have signed a lease and will be re-opening the True Love Coffeehouse at 2315 K Street. The True Love closed last year after establishing itself as THE place in Sacramento to see local bands. The new location will have a larger stage area and more room to enjoy the music. But what about the waffles, baby?
The Sac Rag 