Ok, folks, I’m looking for help settling a bet between a couple of buddies. Years ago there was a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store located at Watt & Fair Oaks next to the Casablanca restaurant. I’m looking for an approximate year that the store closed to become one of many cell phone retailers.
In similar news, I had to let go of my memory that there once was a Leatherby’s in Loehmann’s Plaza where Giovanni’s pizza no resides.
As you were.
I was on my way into the State Capitol this morning when I saw a mailbox painted to look like R2-D2 at 11th and N. At first, I thought that it had fallen prey to an incredibly nerdy vandal until I saw the Web site tag. Apparently, the United States Postal Service has teamed up with the Star Wars people to bring you mail service. Hopefully, my Netflix returns will not end up in a galaxy far, far away…
News10.net reports that California is moving to ban the use of trans fats in restaurant menu items.
The bill is being challenged by restaurant owners across California who worry the trans fat ban will force them to use more expensive alternative oils that could change the flavor of their food for the worse.
Why is it that I can hear sac-eats’ stomach grumbling now as it ponders a world without artery clogging, heart attack creating, yet oh so creamy industrially created as a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils – a process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911, trans fatty acids?
“It’s going to be a big fight,” said Terri Mead, manager of Sacramento’s Pancake Circus Restaurant. “We don’t want them telling us what we can and can’t use in the restaurant.”
You tell’em Terri (a nay sayer from the Pancake Circus? Get out…). We don’t want those health freaks telling us what to do. Next thing you know we’ll have the government telling us that we have to maintain a certain level of “cleanliness” and “freshness” in order to “pass” a random “inspection” or face being “shut down”.
As someone who just threw back 3 or 8 zero trans fats per serving Tagalongs, let me just say that I don’t miss the trans fats at all. And if it is good enough for our Girl Scouts of the USA, it’s good enough for me.
Had the sacrag been around 10-20 years ago, we’d surely be writing about the demise of some of these establishments that I’d like to see make a comeback:
Knocked off early at the widget factory yesterday and took the family to Barnes & Noble at Market Square. Gotta love that kid’s section–plenty of fun for the kids, but with only 2 exits it’s super easy to monitor. Afterward, while eating some really authentic Chinese food from a little restaurant I usually just refer to as “Orange Chicken” who walks in to the humble Market Square but NBA superstar Mike Bibby. He did some holiday shopping at B&N, graciously signing a few autographs for his adoring fans, before dining at California Pizza Kitchen. Gods among men. I tried to give him a what’s up nod but believe it or not he was talking on a cellular phone the whole time!
I was bummed today to read this article about the land that used to house the Oakwood Lake Resort in Manteca (aka Manteca Waterslides). As mentioned on this here web log several times over the years, it’s somehow more painful to know the details of its future. I know many of us spent our summer days trying to swap out our colored mats without getting caught. And for those moments of childhood bliss, I say farewell!
Maybe they’ll build a commemorative slide on one of those artificial lakes…
A friend told me about an hour ago that his wife had just spotted Hulk Hogan at a local 24 Hour Fitness, obviously coinciding with his daughter Brooke’s appearance at 107.9 The End’s Halloween party last night. Who among you (okay, among you 25-35 year old males) does not picture him strutting his stuff in the original yellow and red spandex? Ah, nostalgia…
Via Heckasac, a heads’ up from musician/producer J Greenberg:
Wednesday at 7pm, KVIE will air a program that I produced, and that I’m very proud of. If you have an interest in Sacramento History– particularly the strange stuff that doesn’t make it into the history books — then I hope you’ll tune in to Channel 6 for HIDDEN HISTORY…
In this program, hosted by comedian Jack Gallagher, we visit sites like the Old City Cemetery and the Sacramento Archives to unearth strange tales of Sacramento history. Things like…an airship hovering over the Capitol dome seven years before the Wright Brothers made their famous flight. Or an amateur filmmakers’ club that saved the American River Parkway…
Sounds fun!
Updated at 10:35 on 10/19…
If you’ve ever driven on Stockton Blvd around Tahoe Park, you’ve probably seen Capitol Boxing Gym. It was remarkable for its colorful cartoon murals and the fact that it said BOXING in big letters. It was sold in 2004 by the Guevara family that ran it for 35 years (link to a nice News & Review article from 2004), and just this week it has started undergoing some sort of a facelift. Continue reading “What’s to become of Capitol Boxing Gym?”
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)
The Sac Rag 