something cool from J. Greenberg

this is right up some of your alleys:

Hi folks,
I try hard not to let my various endeavors overlap. But tomorrow
night, 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...
I'd be eternally grateful if you tune in tomorrow (Wednesday) night at
7pm...and even more in your debt if you'd e-mail me and let me know
what you thought of the show. We're hoping to produce more of these
programs under the same banner, and viewer feedback woudl go a long way
toward helping that cause...
Take care,
J.

Another cool thing is that Sampino's Towne foods on 16th and F already seems to be more successful than the owner had hoped. Smiller went by there yesterday and the guy was stoked that he had made 178 sandwiches yesterday! He sole us some excellent cod and gave smiller half a chicken for free! It makes me happy to see a new, independent business prosper right off the bat.

Boneriffic

Shortbus was good. I'd recommend it. It was a trip to see orgy scenes set to Animal Collective songs. I mean, that's usually what I'm picturing when I'm listening to it but I didn't know anyone else was. The shocking thing about Shortbus is how it's completely not shocking it is to see real sex on screen. I wish I could live to see the day when most people (and the ratings board) stop tripping on boners (which is a good way to hurt yourself) and when sex scenes can just be integrated into a movie in a way that's more like real life. Stupid Janet and her stupid nipple slip means we're farther away from that than we have been since the sixties unfortunately. Tonight and thursday at eight oclock are the only showings of Talk To Her at the Crest. Tomorrow is the Flower of my Secret.

I tried a new restaurant with GW last night. It's-surprise-a sushi place. It's called Sakura Teppan grill and it's on J between 8th and 9th (or 7th and 8th-can't remember). It's across the street from those brand new luxury lofts. Who the fuck is going to live in those places? I was looking at the floor plans and they just look like apartments to me. I don't understand what makes them "lofts". I think the only thing loftlike is that the floor plan is slightly more open and that Nic Offer lives under the stairs. OK, the restaurant. It's hard to find something to say because it's the same as every other sushi restaurant in Sac. Except that they have lots of expensive grilled items (steak, seafood) that absolutely no one is ever going to order. The server was laughably inexperienced, but in a way that didn't really hurt our dining experience. The stuff on the menu has numbers next to it and she forced us to give her the numbers because she was clearly not familiar with any of the names of the food, even basic nigiri. One annoying thing is that we specifically ordered a big roll because of the types of fish it had on it and they sent out a roll that they might as well call the "whatever roll" because it wasn't very closely tied to the menu description and had a bunch of other stuff on it. Like "they won't care let's just put whatever on it". It's a slight big cheaper than most places, so it has that going for it.

So I spied this market in that horrible tiny strip mall in Alkali Flats next to 16th street the other day and I was curious. Smiller checked it out after I sent him this thing off Chowhound and he said it seems really cool. The guy that runs it is a seafood supplier for a bunch of fancy places and he says they are going to get quality fresh fish every day and that he roasts his own roast beef and stuff. One problem is right now he's planning on closing around five, which is a terrible idea for a market. Usually when I'm making dinner after work I do the shopping after work (obvs). Hope he extends his hours.

party report

That's right, I went to a party. Shocking, I know. And there's another party this weekend! The Heritage Party 2: These colors don't run. Anyway it was a birthday party for Ms. M. My first thought (and one of my last of the night) when I entered her apartment was "this chick has some nice stuff". Her apartment will make any thrifter jealous. And just when I was ogling all her dinnerware I spied the best thing of all, which was a picture of the young lass with a smiling (of course) Luis of Luis'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best things I've ever seen. Other than that things are pretty blurry. There was a game going on in the kitchen with a world map where some geography dorks would turn their back to the map and someone would yell out a country and they'd have to find it. I didn't do too well at this game even though I was given my favorite country, Uzbekistan. It's right under Kasakhstan, so I should have been able to get it. G-bomb was sporting a very flattering makeover courtesy of Midtown Monthly (check the new issue on november 1st). I blurred my way home around midnight and woke up crying from the headache pain. Red wine: my worst enemy and best friend.

Other than that I took a thrifting trip to Stockton this weekend and totally scored! Thrifting there is so fun and you see about as many thrift stores as there are Starbucks in midtown. And Mexican restaurants everywhere! And Vietnamese and Korean ones, too. And it's not as far as you think.

p.s.-has anyone seen shortbus? is it worth going to?

The Kabinet is back!

Hi folks,
Well, our "summer sabbatical" lasted a bit longer than anticipated.
Thanks for your patience. We're well rested now, and eager to resume
our Sunday night screening series. We kick things off this coming
Sunday, October 29th with a special Halloween DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
First up is a film by a true master of cinema: Carl Theodor Dreyer,
best known for the wrenching and austere PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC. But
he followed that film with VAMPYR -- his first foray into sound cinema,
and a genuinely creepy, even disorienting, foray into the supernatural.
A young aristocrat wanders into a sparsely populated village where
time seems to have stood still...and ghosts and vampires hold such sway
that they traipse about even in brightest sunshine. The sketchy,
scratchy soundtrack only adds to the eerieness of the dreamy images;
picture a minor key 78rpm record playing over the film-within-a-film of
THE RING and you get a sense of VAMPYR's mystic power...
Next up is an even rarer flick: the first film directed by the son of
the brilliant and blasphemous Luis Bunuel. Jean-Louis definitely
shared some of his father's outre sensibilities -- but in RENDEZVOUS
AVEC LA MORT JOYEUSE (Rendezvous with Happy Death!) he employs those
talents to scare rather than shock his audiences. This film was
clearly the template for Spielberg/Hooper's POLTERGEIST; seriously,
Bunuel could have easily won a lawsuit... It's also one of Gerard
Depardieu's first screen appearances; all in all, a must-see film for
any fans of French film or horror cinema!
And please note: since we're doing a double feature this Sunday, the
screening will start at 7:00 PM! And depending on the mnood and the
weather, after the films are over, we might just do another installment
of "Ghosts of the Air": a shortwave seance...
Hope to see you there...
Take care,
J.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kabinet presents a DOUBLE FEATURE...
Sunday, October 29th AT 7PM!
VAMPYR
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer (1930)
...and...
RENDEZVOUS DE LA MORT JOYEUSE
Directed by Jean-Louis Bunuel (1973)
@ HQ: Headquarters for the Arts
1719 25th Street (25th & R)
Midtown Sacramento
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Also, Viva Pedro continues at the Crest (the link has the schedule). Hopefully I'll be seeing one tonight, although I'm still sick!

city council watch

I've had the flu the last coupla days. That picture you see are some tattoos that a couple of Chicago Bananas fans got recently! How cool is that? Personally, I'm saving up for a full-color banana on my lower back (and a tiny dolphin on my ankle).

While I was recuperating I have been reading the Magic Mountain (no, not the history of the amusement park), which is the perfect book to read when you're sick because it's about a guy in a TB sanitorium in the Alps. I also read the new New Yorker cover to cover (the media issue) and it is a corker, let me tell ya. The Mitford sisters (guphy, take note), an awesome article about Christopher Hitchens (where he declares the four most overrated things in life to be: lobsters, champagne, anal sex, and picnics-which made me laugh really hard). Buy it, it's the best issue in ages. Oh and I saw The Departed, which is Scorcese's best movie since Goodfellas (OK, I haven't seen the Age of Innocence). And possibly the best movie of the year behind Jackass 2 (JK).

Speaking of movies, it's very exciting that this friday the Almodovar fest starts at the Crest. I will be checking some of those movies out, using Dan's article as my guide. Looks like tomorrow All About My Mother is playing at 5:40 and Women on the Verge is at 8:00. Shortbus is starting tomorrow, too, and I don't have very high hopes but I will always take any chance to see a boner on the big screen.

Guess what the city has been sneaking around doing behind everyone's back? Everyone is so distracted by this arena debacle (oh yay the Maloofs have deigned to come back to the negotiating table) that the city was able to give eleven million bucks to a developer who is building a "lavish" (this just in: "lavish" in, "luxury" out-luxury is so 2005) hotel on 18 floors of one of the towers they are building. Why? Because of high construction costs and a "slumping housing market". You might ask what a slumping housing market has to do with a hotel and I wouldn't have an answer for you. You might also ask (wisely) if Sac needs many more hotels (they're already building that "boutique hotel" by Temple) and I would answer "probably not", but I'm not running things around here. Tucked into the last sentence is the note that with this money gone, there is now 12 mill left in the city redevelopment fund. So they just gave away half the fucking fund to some non-local major developer who already fucking started construction on the goddamn behemoth! Are you telling me they would have just shut construction down if the city didn't give them this handout? The city council voted unananimously on this. Other highlights from the article? The developer blaming hurricane Katrina and Rob Fong referring to them as the Twin Towers, which has a pretty ominous ring. This is a fucking joke, this developer is rich as fuck and everyone knows he did not really need this money. What's an 11 million dollar overrun on a 500 million dollar project?

boooring sorry

hmm..no new posts because although I had a very fun weekend, it mostly involved cooking and watching Caligula and who wants to hear about that? Cooking tip: if you are making cranberry sauce at home (it's fun! the berries explode!) put in some orange chunks, orange zest and chopped ginger. I know, you're snoring.

So I have been hearing about this market in ads on the radio and they make it sound like a new Denios. Has anyone been there? It's only been going for a couple weekends. I think it's really funny that a comment on the article is "get your damn kids off your commercials" because the Chevy dealer guy that started the market has annoying commercials that his kids are in.

A sac band is kinda making it big lately, I think I've mentioned them before, they're called Bright Light Fever. Listen to some songs here.

I'm going to see the U.S. vs. John Lennon tonight but no way will it be as good as Jackass 2. There were actually quite a few similarities between Caligula and Jackass 2 but I won't bore you further by going in to them here.

spaghetti factory article

OK, it's not the most interesting article every, but Jenny's mom is quoted in it!

totally wired

I am toooooo caffeinated this morning (thanks to some sort of special kind of espresso large cappucino from Temple that is blowing my mind). How do I know I have had too much caffeine? Because I am furiously making all sorts of hectic plans. Don't tell Miller cuz he doesn't know yet that we are going hiking tomorrow. And possibly butchering a goat and sewing our own pants. Shh, it's a secret. I have also been bidding on absurd things on ebay, including that cat pillow you see in the picture. I'll try to calm my jangling nerves.

I ate at Jamies Bar and Grill last night and it was top-notch. You can read the full story in next months midtown monthly (and hopefully it will have online content soon?). I'll just say this: second best burger in sac, GW gave her burger an 8 out of 10. I will be eating the much vaunted dim sum at New Canton today, also to be reviewed in the rag.

Don't forget that movie tonight at fools and the show! And go see Jackass 2 it's really funny and so is the Science of Sleep. I'd say the second half of the year is shaping up to be much much better for movies than the dismal first half.

cameltoe contest hopes dashed again

When o when will some porn impresario organize a cameltoe contest so that I (well, my blog, not me personally) will stop being the number one hit for this internet search? There are hundreds of males who anxiously await this sexy fictional contest, mouses clutched in their sweaty fists. Who will quench their thirst to see female (or male, to each his own) genitalia oh so clearly outlined through pants, shorts and/or skorts? I pray it will happen soon.

If anyone is interested, here's a really good recipe for a butternut squash stew thingy. It was easy, and it's not your run-of-the-mill pureed squash soup that everyone makes. Despite the continuing heat I am pretending that it is fall because I want it to be fall and on a color scale I am a fall and it is my time to shine, goddamnit! Necessary modifications to this recipe:
1)used canned kidney beans, for gods sake unless you are the type who makes your own butter and home cures meat in your bathtub
2) this one is the most important, use soyrizo, the fake chorizo, it's probably even better because it won't give your soup a ring of grease on the top
3)if you want to make it veggie, use vegetable broth, i used beef broth and i don't think it made it any better
4)i said fugeddaboutit to the pepitas (pumpkin seeds) because i started shelling them and it was hard and i started eating every other one. it was still good.
5)still reading or have I lulled you gently to sleep? this soup looks really spicy but it's not. add some hot peppers or pepper flakes or something

Dan and Pedro

I guess I can end my hunger strike now that Dan has a big article in the News and Review this week. That's good because everyone I saw was starting to look like a giant turkey and I tried to bite one of my coworkers a few minutes ago. This article is great, and I like how it's not an unqualified rave about every movie. I am very, very excited that these Almodovar films are coming to Sac. This is the kind of film event that should be happening all the time but never does. I am viewing this as an opportunity to understand why everybody gets so worked up over these movies and I will be going intot the theater with an open mind. Funny thing is, I think I've seen every movie mentioned except two or three and I still don't get what the big deal is. But I'll try.

Lets' talk about the weekend. That might be depressing because it's only thursday but I want to make sure you don't forget about another movie series, Shiny Objects at Fools Foundation. It's friday at seven, it costs five bucks (cheap) Here's the description, sounds good:

10/13 Independent America: The Two Lane Search for Mom & Pop
These days, you have to go out of your way if you want to do business with Mom & Pop. One couple has taken that notion a little bit farther, 13,000 miles farther to be exact. Independent filmmakers and award-winning journalists, Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes, take the road less traveled in a thought provoking new documentary, which uncovers the growing opposition to big box retail across the U.S. and the often desperate fight being waged by independent retailers to stay alive. Independent America: The Two Lane Search for Mom & Pop is an entertaining account of Hosein and Hughes’s expedition through 32 states as they look for an America unchained by corporate retail. Self-imposed road rules bar them from major highways and corporate chain retail. Traveling on alternative roads, the duo can only do business with Mom & Pop.
What the filmmakers find during their travels is the re-emergence of independent retail as individuals and communities band together to preserve not only their livelihoods but also their local communities. Pockets of resistance across the country add up to a nationwide opposition: Starbucks is vandalized in Colorado. Supporters of an anti-big box law in Arizona are compared to Nazis. A rebellious Texan city forces Borders Books into retreat. Patriotic residents of America’s "Fourth of July" capital in Nebraska start to turn on their new super center. And an entire town in Wyoming goes into business for itself after it’s abandoned by its chain department store.

After that, get your folk on with the excellent Wooden Wand. Starts at ten at Fools. No cracks about freak folk anybody! It's one of the only things going these days so get with the program.

Wooden Wand is playing again on saturday at Delta of Venus, which will probably be a great show.

leave the theater alone!

Man, everbody is using the Tower records closing as a chance to bust Tower theater's chops left and right. The womens bathroom is normal, is the mens bathroom still totally nasty? I don't think people understand that the Tower was not built to be a picture palace like the Crest or the Alhambra (remember!). And why does this editorial specifically target the theater but lets Robbie Fong off scott free? That idea about a Powells book store is stupid. Sac can barely supposrt the used bookstores we have! We're not the worlds most literate city if they haven't noticed.

Tower district in trouble

An article in the Bee on the possible effect on the "Tower district" of the closing of the Towers. Let's hope Rob Fong gets off his seersucker-striped ass and does something. I'll remind you once again that I never received even an automated response to my letter about El Chico being an eyesore. Can an area really have too many restaurants? I don't think it can, but we'll see what fills the space. It's too bad that there's already a Starbucks across the street so they probably won't open another Starbucks, but you never know. The mayor probably has her fingers crossed for a Z gallery. Somebody in the comments suggested a Barnes and Noble, to bolster up the instersections strip mall feeling. This article fits well into the topic for my next Midtown Monthly article, which will be an eating tour of Broadway, focusing on some of the lesser known lights rather than the well-established places. So business at the theater is down, eh? First I've heard of it.

short arena bulletin for those who aren't paying attention:
-poll shows that measures Q and R are sucking it
-Graswich reports that the Kings moving to Anaheim is a done deal
-supporters aren't even bothering to spend all their money and Dave Jones is coming out smelling like a rose

lahmajoon!

I was so happy to come in to a few comments during this dry spell that I almost shed a precious tear.

I went to the Armenian food festival this weekend, which was being presided over by the Armeniac's dad, which led to gifts of free lamb skewers (the best thing I ate there) from supplicants. We arrived right in time for the ritual slaughter of the newborn lamb and then all the children took turns making finger paintings in the lambs blood while their moms danced around them. JK, folks, it was really quite a staid event. Suspicially staid, I suspect they were saving the lamb slaughter and the burning of the Turk effigy for later in the evening. I got the kufta, and I will say that DP's pop makes a much superior version, and I got to try lahmajoon (Armenian pizza that has, surpise, lamb on on it) for the first time and that was good. They were also offering the Armenian national drink, Bud Light, so I had a sixer or so of that, which was hard because my goblet made out of a lamb skull kept leaking all over the place.

Last night I tried the new Zen Sushi where the old Zen Toro used to be. So, if I'm right about this (take a deep breath here), the new Zen Sushi is owned by the people who used to own Taka's on 16th and S which had no connection to the actual chef Taka who pulled out as partner years ago but the old Taka's (on 16th and S) will sometime soon become a sushi restaurant at which the actual Taka is the chef (I don't know what this place will be called). Ahem. Well the new Zen Sushi is pretty much exactly like Takas except they classed it up a bit and sadly perhaps did not rehire some of their trashier waitresses? Where is the Kabuki girl? Where is the girl with the 69 tattoo? I did not even see any buttcrack while I was there so it was hard for me to work up an appetite. The most exciting thing that happened was that this guy at the next table (who I'm pretty sure was vegetarian) had talked them into preparing a mushroom dish made with enoki mushrooms steamed in a foil pouch with some broth and he let us try and it was delicious! Very meaty (the highest compliment one can give to a vegetable dish). I will for sure order that next time, but I'm not sure it's on the menu. Also the fresh salmon nigiri was like butter.

R.I.P. Tower

Well of course the big news in Sac is the demise of Tower records, books, and video. It makes me sad especially because I worry about the people in Sac who work for them. Broadway is going to be pretty jacked if those buildings stay empty. With El Chico probably never reopening that strip is going to be like a ghosttown with the exception of the cafe and theater.

I was all set to write about how OpResMaxFreeFour was fun for all (except when certain terrible noise bands were causing me to get extremely angry with them) when I read some rumblings that something very bad happened. The cops shut it down? What happened? Whatever did happened I'm pretty sure Rumsfeld and Cheney were probably involved.

food post

1) A few of us got the chawanmushi at Ricksha last night. This shit is the bomb. If you don't know (which I didn't until last night), it's a savory custard with some broth, some bok choy, and a little bit of pork in it. You have to order two because I think it's labor intensive and it takes a little while, but it's only six bucks total for two cute little individual portions, so try it! We went on dollar nigiri night so we just ate sushi and drank sake while we waited.

2) As the commenter noted, the Armenian food festival is tomorrow. Here's the info:Oct. 7: Armenian Food Festival; 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Greek Orthodox Church, 614 Alhambra Blvd.; free entrance until 5 p.m., $3 after; (916) 443-3633. That's rad that it's free or cheap to get in. I'm going to try to go.

3) If you are in or anywhere near Brooklyn, please go to Al Di La. Go late on a weekday because they don't take reservations. It's comfortable, it's beautiful inside, the food is superb, and it's quite affordable for the quality. Also get bagels at the bagel hole (ignore the idiots that wrote the reviews). I am seriously thinking of having them ship me some bagels because I got so spoiled eating them in NY. Also, I'm happy to say that this place lived up to its review. Sea snails can be delicious, who knew?

3)I don't even know where to start with Montreal as far as food goes, it's pretty much an eating paradise (especially if you're not intimidated to go in the Frenchy places which scared us away). Their unique style of bagels are delicious in their own way (boiled in honey water, baked in wood-fired oven, sesame and poppy only!) This place that Gourmet recommended, Reservoir, served mind-blowingly good salads (how's this for a salad, fennel and greens, lightly dressed, with really good mild blue cheese and all sitting on a fig puree!) and simple entrees. We ate breakfast at Beauty's twice, thanks to Greg's rec.

that's supposed to be a vibe-o-meter

Midtown monthly is looking to hire some more people, and they employ me so you can tell they'll hire almost anyone. Here's the info:

Hey Sacramento People,
The Midtown Monthly is looking for writers and photographers. The mag is in transition, and starting to focus on the cool shit going on in and around Sacramento. Hopefully, the magazine can help cultivate a little more awesomeness -- more bands the basement, more venues, more fucking in the streets. The new issue is out now, with Fools Foundation on the cover, an article on Noisefest, and one on the future of Records on K. It's a work in progress, and only you can make it better.We're looking for people to write about anything and everything. And we're always interested in the photos from your drunk night out. If you're a scribbler or a shutterbug, and you need the world to discover your genius, shoot me an email: monthlies@capitolweekly.net
Keep Hope alive,
Anthony

Now on to other business: You missed out on the Finches show last night. How do I know? Because I was there and Sac was not representing with the exception of Baby Neon who was so stoked that he (or is it she) was clapping from inside the womb. And Larry Rodriguez of course (no, not from inside the womb), but that's a given at any show. I'm not trying to guilt you here but let me just say a fun time was had by all. I can't put my finger on what gives the shows at Delta of Venus vibes that are off the vibe-o-meter but they are usually like that. Bands always seem to remark that it's their favorite show of tour, which gives you a warm glow inside. This guy, Al Duvall played and was quite entertaining in a very old-timey way. The Finches have an awesome new song on their myspace (last favor), check it. I think it's simon and garfunkle-y.

Sooo.....OpResMaxFreeFour is on saturday. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow so it should be fun, but with the exception of th' losin' streaks' I have never heard any of the bands so I can't say yay or nay.

chez panisse article

There was a rad Chez Panisse article in last month's Vanity Fair. The old chef mentions Darrell Corti in it! Here's a link but unfortunately it doesn't have the rad photos.

I'm baaaaack!

Got back in last night. I have a bunch of stuff to take care of at work so I'll just remind you about the Finches show tonight for now. Seriously, if you like beautiful music then this is the show for you. If you like crustcore or acid jazz then you might want to skip it. Delta of Venus, tonight, nine o'clock, free but you better buy some stuff or donate some money.

Did anyone else notice they took this down?

Sacramento Garage Building
Originally uploaded by Indy Camargo.

Why the hell did they do that?

Happy Birthday Ella!!!!!!!!!

This is a grainy but nice photo of Ella in one of her favorite places, Willy's arms (aww...cute JK it's at Poinsettia) Hope you are having a good one!

write about charles!

well......I'm leaving on vacation tonight (or vacay as I like to call it) so I won't be blogging that much for a couple of weeks. Me and smiller are taking that red eye to New York on Jetblue that many of you have probably taken. After that it's Montauk and Montreal. I'm just crossing my fingers that there won't be too much rain! I have plans to eat at Al Di La and probably the Fatty Crab in New York and hopefully some Chinatown eating because we didn't have time last time. We (meaning Scott, and probably me some of the time) will be hitting up Spuyten Duyvil, Bierkraft and maybe eating at Cafe Alsace. I have printed out the tips people gave me on Montreal and of course I have the Gourmet mag devoted to that city. So I think I'm all set.

I dined at Chada Thai again last night with a friend that hadn't been there before and she was remarking on how good it is and that she'll be going back soon. The green pumpkin curry with tofu was off the special board but we asked for it and they made it. It's so spicy and tasty. We also got a baby back ribs special that was fucking great. The only problem is that we wished we had gotten two orders! We also flagged down a friend walking by who always goes to Taste of Thai and urged them to try Chada and they said they would.

I don't know if anyone from the News and Review reads this virtual rag anymore, but if they do I'd really like to urge someone to do a feature on Charles Meyers and Harbor Winery. Yes, I'm writing something for Midtown Monthly that will be out on October 1st, but there is a way bigger story to tell there than I can tell in the little space I have with my meager reporting skills. People are lining up to tell me stories about this guy and I don't have the space to print them all. This winery is an unheralded gem and I keep finding out about more and more wines that he makes or has made in the past. KW? Anyone?

Centro and Taka

Capital public radio had a report on local sushi chef Taka Watanabe, who is an interesting guy.

After reading Mike Dunne's new review of Centro I wanted to give it another try so GW and I went last night. He notes that they finally decided to start giving free chips after twelve years of customer complaints. I agree that this was a good decision because this town has an abundance of super cheap Mexican food and if they want you to pay three times as much they can throw you a few free chips for God's sake. I always order the same thing when I go there (the grilled squid salad and some tortilla soup) but this time I decided to branch out. They have a taco/burrito combo deal that I had never noticed before that is a good deal by the price standards of this restaurant. It's 10.25 for any combo of burrito and taco from a list that includes fish tacos, shrimp tacos, carnitas, chicken, and a few tasty burritos that I can't remember (you know what, as I was typing this I looked at the menu on the internet and this is indeed a new things for them to offer) and it comes with rice and beans. You have your choice of three types of beans, whole black, refried and some kind of whole bean with bacon bits that I got cuz heaven forbid I could eat a menu without bacon. Looking at the menu changes I think they must be consciously changing the menu to make it a better deal. You got so much food with this combo that GW and I were remarking that you could just order two burritos and two people could split it at prices approaching Los Jarritos. I'd probably feel sorry for the waiter if I do this but that won't really stop me. Anyways they have tons of expensive drinks (including the drunk-making fruit infusions) to pad the check.

I'd also like to recommend The Black Dahlia, but only for fans of vintage Brian De Palma. Or fans of seeing Scarlett Johanssen stuffed into ill-fitting bras.

rethinking Davey D

Davey D has always bugged the crap out of me BUT he has been so excited about this bomb reggae concert and this morning he was spinning an AWESOME set of reggae and dancehall and he kept toasting over the tracks and talking about how excited he is and I just can't hate him anymore. Plus it totally cracks me up that the bomb reggae party and the fm 102 tamale contest are the same day and that the bomb keeps dissing on it like "Why pay to eat stale tamales in heat, when you could be partyin’ by a pool at the Bomb’s reggae Summer Splash FOR FREE! "

There's a new Ice Cube/Snoop track that I can't help but like. Snoop's part is weak of course cuz he's completely lost it, but the Ice Cube part is classic. It's called Go To Church but it's not religious. You can hear it here. You probably already have icecube.com bookmarked anyway.

Heckamax beat me to it but I was going to post about the Spiral States/Knock Knock/Pets/Didley Squat (I finally get to see them) show at Marilyn's on saturday at ten to benefit the Maloofs and the Downtown arena (JK it's to buy kids instruments). Christian Kiefer has a show that same night at the Fox and Goose so I wish I could be in two places at once but I caint.

And of course tonight is the big Shiny Objects screening at the Fools at 700. Don't miss this!!! The director will be there. Here's a description:

Once known as the "California Riviera", the Salton Sea is now called one of America’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, coughing up dead fish and birds by the thousands. Yet a few hardy eccentrics hang on to hope, including a roadside nudist waving at passing European tourists, a man building a religious mountain out of mud and paint, beer-loving Hungarian Revolutionary Hunky Daddy, and the real-estate "Ronald McDonald" known simply as The Landman. Through their perceptions and misperceptions, the strange history and unexpected beauty of the Salton Sea is revealed. "Accidentally" created by an engineering error in 1905, reworked in the 50’s as a world class vacation destination for the rich and famous, and then suddenly abandoned after a series of hurricanes, floods, and fish die-offs, the Salton Sea has a bittersweet past. Congressman Sonny Bono himself was once dedicated to saving the lake, until he went skiing one day... Now amongst the ruins of this man-made mistake, these few remaining people struggle to keep a remodelled version of the dream alive. However, this most unique community is now threatened by the nearby megalopolises of Los Angeles and San Diego, as they attempt to take the agricultural run-off that barely sustains the sea. The fate of this so-called ecological time bomb and the community that surrounds it remain uncertain, as the Salton Sea might just dry up.

I have to miss it because I'm going to see this band in San Francisco. They are real good, cereal.

Sac Bee does some real reporting

Did anybody catch this infuriating article in the Bee on sunday? It's weird, the Bee seems have done some for-real investigative reporting. It's amazing how free people will be with money when it's not theirs.

I ate at the new Bernardo yesterday. I liked it. It's pretty much the same as all the Bernardos. I caught a glimpse of celebrity chef Kurt Spataro. This branch seems to be more vegetarian friendly which is good news for some.

stop it kdvs!

Dear KDVS deejays-
I know that you are 20 but someday you will realize that just because a song is in Japanese or French does not make it interesting or good. This is only true for songs in Portuguese.

A prize to the heckasac reader who can make it to the end of this essay and tell me what the hell it is about.

So the news and review has a new editor. Maybe she will step things up a bit. And by that I mean hire the Barnseyard as the full-time movie critic. With lines like this, what's not to love?

Ben Affleck plays Reeves in flashbacks, and while he may be well-cast in the part, bringing the right mix of charm, melancholy, and shallowness to the role, he manages to throughly botch his New England accent. This despite the fact that Affleck actually hails from the Boston area, while George Reeves was born in Iowa and raised in Pasadena (interesting choice on the bad Boston accent, Affleck)!

or this (I can't pick just one):

Cage tries fairly hard, considering that it's Cage, but he looks worse than I've ever seen him - he's become emaciated to an alarming degree, perhaps taking his upcoming role as a CGI skeleton in "Ghost Rider" too seriously.

maloofs quit talks

Maybe you guys have all heard about this but it was news to me. It's crazy! The Maloofs are like petulant children who want it their way or they're going to take their ball and go home. There is so much wrong in this I don 't know where to start but how about this quote from assistant city manager John Dangberg, "We still consider them part of our team, but it is our arena, and we will decide where it goes, and the public has said loud and clear that the best place for the arena is in the railyard," He's putting the ASS back in ASSistand city manager. When did the public ever say that? Isn't that what we're supposed to be voting on soon?

I had also missed this column from the public editor. This sucks. So Graswich gets dinged for writing about being against the arena over and over yet somehow Voisin escapes criticism? How can that be?

trousersnake is back

For anyone who's interested, you can stream the whole Justin Timberlake album here.

don't forget about the Trattoria

I had dinner at the Trattoria last night and was gratified to see that it was hecka busy, with a short wait at times. It is an island of reasonably priced food in a sea of...overpriced food (this sentence isn't turning out all that well). The pizza is really good, I like their salads even though in their simplicity they veer uncomfortably close to a salad I could make at home in ten minutes (but I am lazy so I would rather eat out) and I like their Bohemian potato pancakes with the smoked salmon, capers, red onion, and sour cream. AND smiller declared it his favorite place in town to get a beer, which is a big deal coming from a beer lover of his caliber. By the way, he recently got the loko moko at Junes for the first time so perhaps he could describe it in the comments for those who are curious?

Mike Dunne tackles the problem of oaky chardonnay in todays column. I recently had the misfortune of trying to choke down some of this swill so I agree with him. It's so unrefreshing compared to so many other kinds of white wine. I think for the most part many California viogniers can be lumped in with the chardonnays and shoved out to sea.

promised photos of watt for the ladies

Pronto review

I really hate to say this and I wish it wasn't true but Pronto really sucks. The menu is pretty weird. They're really emphasizing their rotisserie. OK, but every supermarket now has good, whole rotisserie chickens for like 6 or 7 bucks and if I buy one of those I get to keep all the leftovers so what's my enticement for getting one at a restaurant? And then their pride and joy is their "authentic Italian rotisserie roast beef". Since when is that an Italian specialty? Roast beef? Oh yeah, I loved that roast beef pizza I got in Naples. Then they have a bunch of sandwiches, a bunch of salads with tons of bacon and cheese the way everyone likes, but which bummed me out because I wanted something healthy. It was tough but I managed to find two things which didn't sound totally bad for me. I got the polenta pomodoro. If I'm not mistaken (which I often am) pomodoro is usually a sauce that has pretty large chunks of fresh tomatoes. This was three big pieces of polenta with raw, grainy orange Roma tomato chunks on top, giant chunks of RAW garlic, and thin ribbons of basil. The only visible sauce was some thin tomato water at the bottom. Mmm soggy polenta. I like garlic OK (I think it's pretty overused) but I hate eating raw garlic. I had also gotten a tomato soup (I wanted the white bean soup but it had bacon and I was trying to eat just one goddamn meal without bacon in it). It was a gorgonzola tomato but I asked for no cheese on top. Well, from the orangy look of it it either had cheese in it or it was a cream soup. GW got a chicken sandwich and asked for dark meat. They rang her up but then came over to inform her that the sandwich could not be made with dark meat. At a place that has visible whole roast chickens spinning behind the counter? She doesn't like white meat so she got a grilled proscuitto sandwich which was really good and came with house made potato chips. Good, but a greasy gut bomb.

They offer beer and wine. On tap they have Fat Tire, Blue Moon, Bud Light and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (I can feel the rage boiling through Smiller right now). They offer a few red and white wines by the glass and they're reasonably priced. They also have sangria for four bucks a glass (aahh, I remember the day in Naples that I washed down that roast beef pizza with a tall glass of sangria, the Italian national drink), so I had one of those. It was OK. One glass got me a little buzzed.

The place was pretty empty and we were there from seven to eight so it may go the way of Hukilau eventually. If they were smart they would offer more cheap pasta. They barely had any on the menu. I'll go back one more time to try one of their salads.

say what?

Field of schemes posts again on the sac arena (via Barnseyard)

picpicpic

hella !!! photos from the touch and go anniversary show

moistest tamales evs?

We Jam Econo at Fool's totally ruled. I have never liked the Minutemen before but that movie was really inspiring. I have posted the picture of Mike Watt as a monday morning treat for the ladies. The second picture is not so much a treat but is funny because those are bottles of pee. (oh never mind, piece of shit blogger won't upload. I'll try later maybe). This friday is a documentary about the Salton Sea with the director there. Don't miss it! Unfortunately I have to.

I hit up Denios this weekend with pretty good results. I got a menorah necklace charm thingy made of "real" "layered" 24 carat gold. Well, it doesn't turn my neck green so that's good. I also ate those bomb-ass tamales at Auction town. Moistest tamales ever!

I also finally made two of the recipes that I collected for Midtown Monthly, the beet salad from P. Mulvaney and the fish stew from M. Thiemann. They were both the bomb, but the real standout was the stew which was one of the best things I have ever made or tasted and was so simple to make. I will print that recipe here sometime this week and I urge you all to try it out! Seriously it is a mind-blower. Lime, cilantro, beer, Spanish chorizo, sea food, etc., what's not to like?

Lastly on a weekend where I ate everything that came into my sight, we finished up our day of yachting on the Delta (by the way we saw a giant sea lion chilling on a dock, has anyone else ever seen this there? wikipedia says it happens sometimes.) by eating a gargantuan meal at the Freeport bar and grill. If you want a ton of seafood I heartily recommend the critter platter. Watching someone eat it is not a pretty sight as you end up covered in debris from the various crab claws, lobster tails, etc, but it was good. The baby back ribs were really good and tender, too.

birthday wishes

Happy Birthday Scott!!!!!!!!! (or as I like to refer to it, the tragic events of September 10th). I included this picture because I was looking for a picture to go along and I googled nar images and the title of this photo was "nar backstage" and that made me laugh. Is it possible that you're the best? I think it is.

News and review weighs in

So the News and Review has FINALLY weighed in on local development, only it's...restaurant development! Oh well, this is an interesting article, and I understand the point is fine dining, but I still wish that there had been some small mention of the fantastic diversity of restaurants in the outer areas of Sac. Especially in the context of a quote from Mike Dunne saying Sacramentans aren't "adventurous eaters". Well, that depends on who you're talking to. Tell that to someone digging into a bowl of tripe at a local Mexican place or a dish of crispy duck intestines at a Chinese restaurant. You see what I'm sayin'?

Also, KW follows my lead and reviews Birriera Bugambilias. We pretty much concurred on the quality but this review did make me turn a little green with envy at the creativity a real restaurant reviewer can have when writing about food. I feel stymied by that at times. However, I feel that I'm better at a more free-wheeling approach than straight-up reviews. Look now I'm rambling.

sad summer

I told you and now it's official. The New York Times agrees that there have been no good summer hits. I totally agree with this except that they neglected to mention "Blow the Whistle" by Too Short, which should have been the hit of the summer. That album must be out now.

vashti!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vashti Bunyan is tonight at the Great American and I'm very excited. I'm already wearing my Jesus headband and have grown a freak folk beard. Well, actually I just glued some cat hair to my face in an attempt to blend in at the show. Let's hope it works.

Fool's Foundation is showing a movie on friday that I'm going to see. It's a documentary on the Minutemen. It starts at seven and it's five bucks. I ran into J. Greenberg and he said Kabinet would be back this month. Is that true, J? The website hasn't been updated if so. I will be yachting on the Delta that day so I can't attend anyway.

The new Midtown monthly is out with Dave Jones on the cover. My things on the Firehouse and Nopalitos are in there. I'm working on the Harbor Winery article for this month. OK, that's a lie, I interviewed the guy and have done nothing more but it's all up here (I am tapping my head right now). If you are interested in trying an aged white wine go to Cortis and pick up a bottle of his 1989 Semillon for only nine bucks! It is a very interesting wine.

the death of the earl

I also had another superb meal at Mason's on sunday. They are doing some wonderful things with tomatoes there right now and you should go if you can. My favorite things were an amazing cold golden tomato soup with dungeness crap (a lot) and avocado. Another delicious dish is the salmon tartare.

This link comes from Guphy, it's a cap radio piece on a local restaurant being revitalized right out of business. So that makes at least two, this place and Earl of Sandwich, that have been driven out of business by rising rents. I wonder what's going on with Joe Sun right now.

lee sandwich

A friend mentioned that she had seen some sandwich travelogue (anyone know about this?) where Sac was in the segment on banh mi. That got me obsessively thinking about banh mi until I could go get one. So yesterday me and smiller headed out to Stockton Blvd. We were planning on going to Huong Lan, BUT I noticed a big sign that said baguette factory, quickly ascertained it was a Vietnamese sandwich shop and flipped a bitch. It was a local installment of the Lee Sandwich chain (relax, Huong Lan is a chain, too). This place just opened a few days ago and it is sparkling clean and seems to already be packed. They don't have the insane abundance of food that Huong Lan offers, but they do have more kinds of sandwiches. Smiller got the bbq pork, I got the meatball. They were both sooooooooooooooo good. The meatball tasted just like delicious meatloaf. They have all kinds of drinks like tapioca and avocado shake and such. I want to go back and get the tuna, almond, cheese on croissant. Smiller is having the veggie for lunch today so maybe he can tell you veggies how it is. They also had a French-influenced pastry called pate "chaud" which I hadn't heard of but I guess it's pate in puff pastry. I wish I would have gotten that!! And as of yesterday they had two-for-one fresh baked baguettes that are the bomb.

banh mi for you

Once again I have no time to post! It sucks but hopefully I can after lunch. I want to write about the brand new Lee's Sandwiches on Florin.

Olipom message

via writegrrl blog:

A message from Olivia/Olipom, via MySpace:

OLIPOMFLATSPOT!! Come by some shit to support!!
OLIPOMFLATSPOT!! Come by some shit to support!!

So we are doing okay, but are starting to really feel the loss of those daily Olipom sales. We've moved a bunch of goods into Flatspot and will be open for business today. If you want to help PLEASE COME BY TODAY AND BUY SOMETHING LITTLE! I feel bad just taking donations, I will get an insurance settlement eventually, but that doesn't help me pay my bills right now, you know.
OLIPOM IS NOT DEAD PEOPLE...SO GO TO OLIPOM/FLATSPOT!!!!!

old timey as hell

I want to take this tour of the underground city.

let's hope that tamarind will be better than plum blossom. also on this link more news about taka's. i'm stoked it's reopening.

i've lost that fire

Man, I've lost my fire. I was just searching the internet for an mp3 of the Juvenile song I've Got That Fire to bring it back, but alas, all for naught (is that how you spell it). Wow, the words are dirty, though. I always thought he was saying Oscar Mayer and I was right but he ain't talking about baloney!

The Spiral States and Baby Grand are playing tonight. Here's the info

Baby Grand is playing this Friday night, Sept. 1st at the Distillery withthe Spiral States. Erik can't make it so we won't have the piano, but we'llhave our newest member, Christina, rocking the viola. That's right, viola!Come welcome her. It's going to be fun! We'll see you there!

I am probably going to see the hot incest movie at the Tower. Stop looking at me like I am a perv, the trailer is totally salacious and it has the girl from 24 and the weird looking girl from When A Stranger Calls and the cute guy from all those Hal Hartley movies that you loved when you were a teen.

Tomorrow I'm off to Harbor Winery and Bogle, with lunch probably at Dinky Diner. Sunday I'm taking a friend to Masons for her birthday. What are you doing? See, now no one will answer and I'll feel dumb.

wino weekend

I haven't regained by posting fervor but the new News and Review is out today so maybe that will stir me up.

What's really been stirring me up lately (besides the Da Vinci Code) is probably going to be interesting to very few of you. Intrigued? Probably not but nonetheless I have been pondering this: why isn't the director Michael Haneke more acclaimed? I have seen almost all of his movies now and I can unequivocally state that he's a genius and I love him. Me and smiller just watched Funny Games which was disturbing in a way that I often can't tolerate but certain manipulations that he built in made it bearable and then watching the interview with him after was so reassuring and enlightening. He seems like such a rad guy. While writing this I just discovered on imdb that he's currently remaking Funny Games with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, which was a shock to read. It makes sense that he would make an English language movie because his movies have been filmed in quite a few different languages. The imdb message board is already arguing about whether he's a big sellout to do this.

I am meeting with the Harbor winery guy, Charles in West Sac at 9am on saturday. He is 77 and seems like a real character. He doesn't do tours but he will be in the warehouse making wine so he told me to come on over. I hope it goes well! I don't know what I am going to ask yet. And then I'm going to Bogle later the same day! I hope to pick up a bottle of their moscato d'asti if they have any left. Wino weekend! Which doesn't really distinguish it from any other weekend.

boooorrrring

I haven't had time to post this week and I have wednesday off. What if after two years I've finally run out of things to expound upon. It's possible.

safety last

I'm out of the office until this afternoon. Stupid safety class!

bad news

The house that Olipom was in is completely burnt. It looks like the upstairs got the brunt of the damage but I'm pretty sure Olipom is over at that location. I hope no one was hurt. I feel terrible for Olivia. I hope she can bring Olipom back, it seems like it was really successful. I went in there saturday and it was packed as usual. Here's the story in the Bee. Firefighters were hurt, but it doesn't sound like the residents of the house were. Terrible

Hi

I was busy all day with no time to post.

Allen O. Pierloni managed to write a good article about eating on Franklin Boulevard with nothing irritating in it at all. Good job Allen!

The Bananas are playing in Oakland this weekend. I don't know about any other show or stuff going on really. That District B13 movie opened at the Crest. Ive heard good things about it. The movie by the Supertroopers guys is out. Tower has some movie called "once in a lifetime" that I can't even find on imdb.

Go to the fair or something. Have a good weekend!

news roundup

Man, I am so glad I graduated Sac State before this shit got passed. They used to try to trick us into voting to increase our tuition (by over two hundred dollars a year) every year like clockwork for a stupid sports and recreation complex that very few students would use (mostly because CSUS is a commuter school and one with many older reentry students who are not likely to spend extra time on campus). It is even worse now because I think tuition has about doubled since I went there. It was much like the arena in that the school would spend money on polls and focus groups to try to figure out what tricky language to use to get it passed even though it was clearly not a popular notion. We voted it down multiple times but they would not take no for an answer. I guess they finally rammed it through.

The new cover of the News and Review asks if global warming will make Sac unliveable by 2100. Not that this isn't important but the question on my mind is will development make Sac unliveable by 2010? They had an article on Westfield corp's proposal for downtown plaza that could have easily run in the Bee. You know, I take that back, I looked at the article in the Bee and it is actually more critical of the plan than the News and Review is. Are we in opposite land now? The headline said it was met with "mixed reviews" but in the body of the article the mix seems to run from Sandy Sheedy's disappointment that it didn't get a more upscale retailer (although she's quick to praise Target)to Robbie Fong's overheated kudos. Fong pretends that the Target is going to look cool. Sure it will. Nobody brings up the other Target downtown and whether we really need two. The writer, CB, did include some comment from a member of a neighborhood group, but if anything, he's more pro-development than the city council. He must be a homeowner in Alkali Flats who is hoping this will make his home worth more, which is understandable. His quote (which closes the article) bugs me. "Sacramento’s at the cusp of being a cosmopolitan city, but we’re not there yet.” And an upscale retailer is what we need? So that must make Roseville a really cosmopolitan city. And here I thought it was a sprawly dump (Denios excepted, of course) Was there no one who could be quoted who questions the need for a major remodel of downtown plaza? Or who doesn't think it's appropriate for the city to possibly pay 20 million to a private company to fix something that ain't broke?

I enjoyed the review of China Buffet. I briefly contemplated eating there to review it for midtown monthly but then I realized I really, really didn't wanna eat there. Thanks, KW.

new restaurants

Due to the massive outcry about my lack of posts here goes. Just calm down and quit with all the hysterics already, would you? Hopefully you can read through the tears.

I ate dinner at Rolle for the first time the other night. I enjoyed it, but I think it's probably a better lunch spot. The ambiance is more suited to lunch. The poached salmon sandwich was great. I didn't get any wine but I should have because they had a small but good selection, at least of whites. We didn't get a wine list so I don't know. Has anyone had any of their chicken entrees or sandwiches? I am not crazy about their salad mix that's the base for most of the salads. The dressing was sweet and it had too many peppers and big chunks of-gross-celery! That's a pretty minor nitpick, though, and I would like to try their salmon nicoise.

Yesterday morning I ate breakfast at Noplalitos for a little thing I'm writing for midtown monthly. As I've said before, it's the best, and I tried the chili verde for the first time and loved it. However, any time I can make it here for breakfast I'm getting the little cactus special, but if I go for lunch I'll probably go for chili verde.

And then for dinner I went to Kabul Kabob. The three of us were the only people there during our entire leisurely dinner. This is a damn shame. The afghani naan (which was more like a non-oily focaccia) was jaw-droppingly good with a little yoghurt and chutney (which we had to request). They have a big menu and I want to try more stuff. We started with a yoghurt pumkin appetizer called borani kadoo. We scarfed that down. After briefly contemplating a veggie entree to attempt to counteract the pork I had eaten that morning (that's how it works, right?) I went with ground beef and leef-filled dumplings. They were pretty good but I probably should have gone for a veggie dish or just gone all-out and ordered lamb. They seem to be masters with lamb. GW got a lamb curry that was wonderfull and ADK got something that was a pile of lamb, basmati rice, and raisins and other good stuff. The lamb was gamey in a really good way. The dudes running it were ohsonice. I am so happy this place opened dowtown because it's amazing we can get good Afghani food now without trekking to the burbs! The only drawback is that they don't serve alcohol. I wonder if you can bring in your own? Next time I go for dinner I'll ask. Smiller recommends their lunch buffet as well, which sometimes includes pizza.

I cracked the code

I have eaten so much good food in the last two days and read so many chapters of the Da Vinci Code (all 263 of them, in fact) that I am in a pretty good state of mind. All I can think about it Kabul Kabob and the sacred feminine. I'll post in a bit.

More birthdays

Not a lot to say today, I'm pretty busy. But I'd like to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALICIA R. AND JASON D.!!!!!!!

futureheads in sac!

Tickets are now on sale for the futureheads at the library in Sacramento on October 6th. They are really good live whether you like their new album or not (haven't heard it but I love the other one), so everyone should go. They are cute and British and charming and funny. I would give you a link but you try googling the library and let me know what you come up with. Stupid name for a venue in the internet age.

The Bananas sort of almost got mentioned on Pitchfork today. Well, their label and the fest they played at did. But at least there are some awesome this bike is a pipe bomb pictures. Where is the portrait of Terry that is doing all her aging because she sure isn't doing it.

I want to take you to monkeytown

I can't stop eating at Zen Toro and mourning its upcoming demise. I had more excellent sushi and sampled the delicious udon. The only positive thing I can think of about Zen Toro closing is that it has better ventilation than the old Taka's so when Takas opens there I won't get such a bad case of sushi hair. It's a pretty weak plus side, though.

I also went to the zoo yesterday for the first time in a while and Fairytale town for the first time ever. The gibbons were putting on quite a show. They were incessantly swinging as usual, but this time one of them was making an insanely loud, siren-like whoop whoop sound.It was really funny but I fear he is doing it because he has gone insane from boredom. My niece got really excited and shouted out "I like it here in monkeytown!". Pretty cute. Also, that one big orangutan is so crazy-looking that I can't handle it. His red dreads were freaking out I and I. People were taunting the chimps, as usual. Fairytale town was having water day and it was total bedlam, with tons of kids playing in the dirty moat and spraying everything with supersoakers. That place is pretty cool for a little kid. I like how everything was fifties-era. My niece was just running around frantically and climbing on everything but didn't really seem to register that the stuff was related to fairytales. I then treated the whole family to Los Jarritos for a grand total of 24 bucks, including beers (not for my niece, don't worry). You can't beat that price but I am sad to report that the pozole at Los is just so-so. The best I've had is as Alonzo's.

Heard it from a friend who...

heard it from a friend who, heard it from another that it's...

Brew's Birthday!! Happy Birthday!!

That is my weak way of seguing into talking about REO Speedwagon at the fair. They were good and it was rad to see them make so many people happy. There was a rocker family all dancing together with their kid kinda into it but kinda embarassed that was just too cute. Other than that, typical fair experience but with 92% more stunna shades than last year, at least when the sun went down. We also tried to count Scarface shirts and I think saw about ten or so.

Am I missing something here?

Why are 80% of the posts on the Bee's entertainment blog about local news or radio? Who gives a shit if someone on Good Day Sacramento changes her hair style?

the three Bs

I'm going to the ye olde state faire tonight to celebrate Brew's birthday, eat MOTHERFUCKING BRISKET, and see Speedwagon. That's right, brew, brisket and bands, the three Bs of summer. I already have my menu planned: corn on the cob as an appetizer, brisket dinner for the main course, and chocolate covered banana for dessert as a healthy alternative to a fried twinkie. I am challenging myself to ride the zipper but I may chicken out.

Then on saturday, as I already mentioned there is some punk-ass Portland band that has the cojones to call themselves Knock Knock who are all about to be surprised by multiple knuckle sandwiches to their unattractive faces. After that sandwich delivery, I will be at the Distillery from ten until the end of time (that's how all Distillery shows feel) watching the Bananas and Four Eyes.

I went to Zen Toro last night and it was packed no doubt because everyone knows it's closing. I have been kicking myself that I only went there for the first time recently. Everything seems to be really good and now I wish I had time to try all the unusual stuff on the menu. I really want to try their udon and their breakfast. I'm thinking about going tomorrow morning but I'm afraid it will be slammed. At least I can eat at the one in Davis pretty conveniently.

neil hamburger

A Neil Hamburger commercial for the new bonnie prince billy album.

I've caught Gonuls fever

KWs new review is of Gonuls. Anyone been there lately? I'm tempted to try it now. One reason I've never wanted to go is that the name is reminiscent of an STD. Another precious week went by without any comment from the SNR on local development or the arena. Well, there were like two words in Bites about it after a weird, Bono-hating rant. Of course Bono sucks. You were surprised?

Allykat posted this awesome article in her blog. I've never heard of that Russian place on Watt, but I've eaten almost every place mentioned except there and Jamie's. When is Jamie's open?

another target, great

OK, stop thinking about Jonbenet Ramsey for a minute and think about this. This is infuriating. Why do we need another Target downtown? It's not even that far from the other Target. The Target on Riverside is not even that crowded all the time, why do we need another one? Riddle me that, Rob Fong.

I went to Pattaya Thai last night for the first time in at least a year and it did not disappoint. Me and Smiller got the meung kum salad, which is the one of toasted coconut, chopped ginger, onion, jalapeno and lemon served on a lettuce leaf which yummy sauce. Then we got a chicken green curry and a whole roasted fish with ground pork on the top. We fought over the fish carcass. Then we went to the Arbat European deli next door (why are Russian places always called "european" can someone answer this for me?) and got bear salami which I am pleased to report is smoky and delicious.

There are shows this weekend. MikeRMike is double-booked on saturday, playing with both Knock Knock at the fox and goose and the Bananas and Four Eyes at the Distillery. Oh yeah, and REO Speedwagon tomorrow at the fair.

who knew?

I can't resist posting this little bit of local music news. Did you know that legendary E st. band member and worst regular character on the Sopranos (well, besides Janice) Little Steven is a big Th' Losin' Streaks fan? That's why they're playing with the Zombies in SF at his underground garage festival. I heard that OMF has talked to the man a couple of times.

special city council meeting

I haven't posted today because I don't feel like it and also because I'm spending my free time writing the review of the Firehouse for midtown monthly.

There's a special meeting of the city council tonight to address the crime wave that Sac is having. I can't find the article where I read this, but I'm pretty sure that another issue being discussed is a city subsidy of around seven million to put in a live theater and restaurant in the old Woolworth's building.

I have tomorrow off so see you on thursday!

how bazaar

Thanks to an invitation from GW, I hit up the annual bazaar at the Buddhist church right by my house (the one by Target). I would have totally missed it as I was out of town riding the croc all weekend. Congratulations to Connie for mounting the croc in record time and to JM for giving it the old college try and pulling a few muscles in the process. The important thing when you fail is to get back on that croc again. I digress, the bazaar is off the chain! Best udon evs and it looks so cool inside (see picture stolen from their website). I wish we hadn't gotten there as it was shutting down cuz they have little bottles of sake for three bucks. Everything was so cheap. I got sunomono and cabbage slaw for a buck each and good sushi for 3.50. And it was heartwarming to see people of all races come together with smiles abounding.

I also saw Little Miss Sunshine and give it a thumbs up. It's good but is perhaps a tad overrated by the critics.

another cool photo

IMG_10.JPG
Originally uploaded by mopedLauren.

this fisheye lens effect really shows the hard work that goes into the rock

I love the internet

mopedLauren.

Look, there are already pictures up of the Bananas playing that fest in Chicago, which they said was the best! Here's her the address for the rest of the photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/writemealetter

bye bye

I'm leaving to go shopping for camping at Corti's and TJs. I will probably be on an all preserved-meat diet this weekend. Jerky here I come. Please remember to send good vibes and healing white light to the Bananas so that they can rock Chicago properly. So tired. I can't wait for an invigorating hot croc injection.

p.s.-on my way out the door I got a voicemail. Bananas arrived in the windy city (now 12% windier) on time and intact! Yay!

viva la vientiane!

I got to work a bit after 6 am this morning after dropping the Bananas off at the sac airport to play the shows at that fest in Chicago. Hope they have fun and that their hoagie levels don't shoot dangerously high like happened to Mike R. Mike last time. I am happy to report that MRM seemed in surprisingly high spirits despite his apprehension about flying. I reallyreally hope he gets better about that after this safe trip so that the Bananas can tour Italy!

I am also happy to report that Vientiane is still the bomb. Don't listen to what this dumb yelper
(2nd review) says. This is exactly the kind of shit that bugs me,
"The friendly service of yore has been replaced with unfriendly young guys, who don't even smile or say hi and toss the menus on the table."
No, the friendly family "of yore" has been replaced by a new friendly family, including some nice young guys, a teenage girl, and their equally nice dad.

We got the stuffed chicken legs (maybe even better than normal, which would be amazing), the green curry with tofu (it was very spicy and delicious, and I was stoked to get such a good veggie dish at a place that works wonder with meats), the squid salad (so insanely heavily flavored of lemon grass and other good stuff and the same as it always is) and the Asian sausage. Of all these, the Asian sausage was the only dish that suffered slightly. It was smaller than normal, a bit oversalted, and most dissapointingly, not as lemon-grassy as normal. However, even at a slightly lower quality it was still so tasty that it disappeared off the table quickly and I will continue to order it. I'm hoping that it might be back to normal next time. If not, it's still fucking good.

Today is the first day of the state fair. Kenny Loggins plays tonight. Yacht rock! On fm102 they were saying the new treat this year is the krispy kreme chicken sandwich. No burger?

I'm going camping at Lake Janky after work and I'm stoked to ride the crock all weekend.

If you must know!

To help you out with the literary reference, I went straight to Amazon and looked up this book. It's a story of the "beautiful, headstrong, intelligent" (how Mary sees herself) Bathsheeba Everdene, who is pursued by multiple suitors, one of whom is a good, dependable guy (like Mary's bf whats-his-name) one is dastardly (Aldo!) and there's another. Is hottie Mary going to get pursued by someone else now? P.S.-writing about this makes me realize how weak it is compared to the comics curmudgeon but oh well.

barely anything

Hmm...I don't have much to post today. Not yet. I'm eating at Vientianne tonight for the first time since it got new owner/new cooks. I'm apprehensive. I will be sad if it's crappy like that guy on yelp said.

aughhh!

I highly recommend that you start reading Mary Worth because there's a really good plotline going on. This guy Aldo with the funny red bowl cut is stalking Mary and she's getting really pissed about it. As always the comics curmedgeon has written some hilarious posts about it.

If you're not familiar with Mary Worth, here's a summary of it on the king features website:

First appearing in 1938, Mary Worth is one of the longest-running continuity strips, or "comic-page soap operas" — a genre dedicated to the millions of readers who thrive on continued stories told in brief daily episodes with cliffhanger endings.
Contrary to popular belief, Mary Worth is not a continuation of the Depression Era favorite "Apple Mary." The strip was created as a replacement feature offered to newspapers when Martha Orr, who created the dowdy apple peddler, retired. The only thing the new title character had in common with her predecessor was a first name. She appeared as she is today: a well-spoken gentlewoman with a knack for quoting proverbs and surrounding herself with interesting people whose lives reflect the daily concerns of society.
Past stories have confronted such issues as juvenile delinquency, unwed motherhood, drug addiction, spouse abuse, alcoholism, infidelity, concerns of the elderly and the generation gap.
The reader is asked to remember that Mary Worth stories are not about Mary. They are about a continuing parade of people who enter Mary's life. If you look closely, you may recognize one of your neighbors — or even yourself

I emailed this to smiller yesterday and I LOLed when he pointed out that they used the phrase "popular belief" to precede a sentence about the Depression-era origin of Mary Worth. Not exactly something you hear heatedly discussed at parties so popular belief is stretching it.

does the arena have a future?

I meant to link this. It's linked in the sacbee online article. It's Dave Jones' website about the arena. I checked futureofthearena.com to see what it had to say about all this and lo and behold it looks like it's been taken down!!

yelp.crap?

Here's the newest arena news today, about the team that's massing to push this tax through. It's not surprising that Richie Ross is rearing his reptilian head, and on behalf of the Maloofs no less.

I have kinda been ignoring Mike Dunne's blog but maybe I shouldn't. He's got the details on the Biba's temporary price cut on some items, the news that Joey B's is closing (I guess that paper rock scissors tournament wasn't a raging success?), the fact that the Zen Toro in Davis is staying open, and a little story on the bakery that has been opened by one of the original Naked Lounge guys that's in the alley across from 58. He doesn't have anything selling retail yet but Tortuga is buying his rolls, which will probably be an improvement over the greasy rolls they had.

Thinking of food makes me think about yelp. I know some readers of this blog are on yelp and have urged me to get on, but I don't really like it. At least right now there are very few people in Sac on it, so it gives each opinion more weight. And people seem to get on there with an axe to grind or let one experience color their whole judgement of the place and go off on it. That would be fine if people reading it keep that in mind, but if it becomes the site that comes up first in a web search I think it could unfairly hurt someone's business. The gripes are often petty ones about service. Here's a quick example, one I just came up with on the first thing I clicked on but there are many others: The yelp waterboy reviews. There are quite a few and they're generally really positive. But check out Charlie E's review. It was the only time he's ever been there and he says he got bad service. I've been there tons of times and I have always gotten excellent service, usually from the same few people that have been working there for years. Not a big deal, but if this was a less popular restaurant that could very well be the only review and if people searched it they might decide to stay away. BTW, this guy gave Plum Blossom two stars, only one less than the Waterboy. I guess you could level these accusations at any review, including mine, but I think this sort of forum encourages unbalanced rants a la Craigslist.

that's bananas

Congratulations to the Bananas, who just raced past a thousand friends on their myspace and who are getting flown to Chicago this weekend to play the Mauled by Tigers Fest.

vashti tickets

The Vashti Bunyan show at the Great American is creeping ever closer. Sure it might not sell out, but do you want to risk it? And while you're in SF if you're a fancy beer lover you can check out City Beer, the beer store that is setting the bay on fire. This guy will drink beer with you in the store!

montreal recommendations

Soo...Taka's will take the place of Zen Toro. I'm bummed because I just recently discovered I like Zen Toro and now there will be one less good sushi restaurant. I hope something else good opens up where Taka's was. However, I am psyched on the Cafe Bernardo opening up where stupid Icon was. This might mean that Galleria Posada will be able to hang on, too, which is good for them.

I need help from the Heckasac readers. I have a vacation coming up in like a month where I'm spending 4 or 5 days in Montreal. Number one, I need to figure out where I want to stay. I guess I'll be in a B&B cuz it seems like Montreal has a bunch and that they're cheaper than hotels. I don't really want to be in the Latin Quarter. So, does anyone have a rec? And then any other recommendations for places to eat or stuff to do would be great.

I would say that this is bullshit but I already assumed that alcohol was illegal at the river. I thought drinking anywhere in public was illegal.

"It turned my pee pee to pine"-Rex Reed

I give a firm thumbs up to the Descent, in fact I give it one of the firmest thumbs I've had all year. In fact in fact, you can quote me on saying that this movie turned my peepee to pine. It is really really gorey and disturbing. Please don't bring your child to this movie as a few other did at the screening I was at. And don't go if you have a phobia of people crawling through clautrophobically small places, as my viewing partner has. Next he and I will be screening the movie Crawlspace (which I never knew starrted Klaus Kinski till I just now looked it up).

white white wine

A new single is sweeping Sacramento. It's called "white white wine" by the Jay and Joel show. FM 102 only has it in occasional rotation so to hear it go here. I'm surprised that they'll allow lyrics like "look at the behind and your peepee turns to pine" on the radio but I guess those are the times we live in.

Whole Foods is a pretty lame chain but I selfishly would be kinda glad if one opened up at that F st. location, mostly because I might move to that neighborhood next year and I don't want to take that lame bike ride to the old Safeway all the time. I don't know if it would threaten the co-op but between you and me I never go to the co-op.

I took an early trip to the sunday farmer's market and it is even better earlier in the morning. Everyone is so happy looking, it's nice. Beautiful zinnias are in season at the flower booths and I got two kinds of breakfast pork from Bledsoe's (vegetables? who needs 'em?). Their bacon is just normal bacon but the Canadian bacon is something special. It's a slab that you cut slices from and it's really smoky and almost like a pork chop in consistency. There was very little grease in the pan when I was done frying it so I'm going to classify it as a lean health food. Of course we fried the last few slices in bacon fat so they probably weren't as healthy.

RIP Tower Records?

Is this the death knell for Tower?

mariah so crazy!

Oh my God, I love youtube. I finally get to see Mariah Carey go crazy on TRL that one time. Carson seems scared of her and whispers "mariah carey is losing her mind" at one point. The sad part is that when he starts talking to her about how she's sold more records than anyone except Elvis or the Beatles she says "all I want is one day off to go swimming and look at rainbows and eat ice cream and maybe learn how to ride a bicycle." Don't we all, don't we all.

details on yardsale

Hello All!
It's that time of the year when one of my many bands goes on tour. Slightly preceeding that time of the year, is the time of year I have a yard sale to fund said tour-stravaganza
Saturday, August 5th at 8am on the corner of 2nd ave. and Freeport Bvld. there will be lots of cool stuff for sale! t-shirts, records, cd's, books, junk, crap, drum parts, etc. Matt Silver is selling his ENTIRE cd collection. thats 400 cd's! looks like goodtimes folks. I hope to see you all there!

searches I just got...

major boner
the mantles matt roberts (?!)
pictures to cheer someone up (weird, that was the exact title of a post I did)
"I'm On A Seafood Diet... I See Food I Eat It!", T-Shirt (I was the only hit)
aruba, jamaica, come on and i'll take ya
Billy Zane Ian MacKaye (together at last)
chris macias (hello Chris Macias, welcome to Heckasac)
allen maxwell sacramento (also ?!)
viggo's tail (I'm telling you, people are finally starting to notice)
we are the cits so pity us (this is rad, it's the camp song from meatballs)

woodhouse!

Superproducer Chris Woodhouse gets a nod in the new Erase Errata review on Pitchfork!

The arena deal seems to be tanking before our eyes. I have a confession for you, now that it seems to be going so badly I am starting to get sad that the Kings really might leave. There, I said it. That's not the same as saying I would vote yes, though.

awesome friday video!

I can't handle how good this song is. The man's been rapping for 225,000 hours! Am I the only one in the world who thought that that Gnarls Barkley song was being sung by a woman? Even when I was informed last night that it wasn't I didn't believe it but now I see. I still don't like it, though.

So Heckamax is back from his epic tour of Europe and this is what I learned:

-He hung with Nessie (she prefers that nickname to "Loch Ness Monster" which is so derogatory) and Jimmy Page on the shores of Lock Ness. It was so deep he can't talk about it without crying.

-Flea wears a paisley body suit when he plays. Check the newest fleamail. He doesn't mention chkchkchk but it is actually really rad. I know at least a couple of the musicians he is referring to are Jimmy Page and Thom Yorke (who lost his shit during Give It Away)

-He did the Da Vinci Code tour of Italy and stumbled into a secret attic that he wasn't supposed to see and now the Opus Dei are on his ass. So if you're wearing a cloak, make sure you approach him slowly so as not to startle him.

Have you seen the new Alive and Kicking? There is a big article all about Charles. The ancient feud between the Loft and the Other Scene has finally been solved. Phew. He's goingg to work on the situation in Israel next. I guess he's having a yardsale this weekend? I'll try to get the details by calling cuz he rarely checks this blog. I know, weird.

OK, seriously, what's up with the Kabinet? No more movies? Long vacation? What? Maybe he's still on hiatus cuz of the Sacramento Film Festival?

shows!

A friend and I have an ongoing argument about whether America's Favorite Thing (we have this phrase trademarked)is tits or paper towels. If you think it is the former you will enjoy the show that the Bananas are playing in SF tomorrow. It is a very weird show. It is someones wedding reception who the Bananas don't know, they are playing first, and the rest of the lineup is a burlesque show and a Guns and Roses cover band?! Anyone can go, though, it's at a club.

If you don't go to that, the Spiral States are playing on friday at the Distillery. And Rock the Light is playing saturday at the Crest? What's up with that?

Heckasac the magnificent! (J.K.)

Carnac
Originally uploaded by becklerg.

I ate at the Firehouse and holy shit is that place expensive! I spent the entire amount that I'm getting paid to review it plus some and we only had one glass of wine apiece (FFT, this is not to make you feel bad, it was probably the only time I'll get to afford eating there so I was stoked). The filet mignon was like butter, though. It was insane. It did not seem like a piece of meat but more like a gift from Baby Jesus in meat form. I'm using up all my A material here (I know what you're thinking-this is A material?) so I'll save it for the review. The new Midtown/Downtown monthly should be out with my article on eating in Japantown. I haven't seen it yet but I think Dave Jones is on the cover. Speaking of midtown/downtown monthly, big and exciting changes are afoot there.

Have you ever eaten breakfast at Nopalitos? For most of you the answer is probably no because they only serve breakfast M-F 630-1045. I am hereby proclaiming that their little cactus special breakfast is the best breakfast in town. There, I did it, I proclaimed it and it feels good.

Things are not looking so good for the arena. Read this article, it sounds sketchy as all hell. I don't even think that 2/3rds vote law is a good law. If you had some awesome civic program on the ballot it would still be really hard to get that big of a majority to vote for it. R.E. Graswich and even Steve Cohn were bagging on the deal yesterday, too.

Remember last week when I made that crack about local news having cute pet stories and how we wouldn't want the news and review at that level? I'm like Carnac over here.

sorry dudes

I have wednesday off so you're going to have to find some other dumb website to look at. I recommend reading last months Vice about cops, or better yet go back and read the baby boomer one. It's brill! Or go to the cobrasnake and trip on that weird sixteen year old he dates (she's really 16! I read it in the NY Times!).

Gong Li!

Like I said, I don't want to think about any development issues today. The SRD'ers are supposed to discuss it tonight but last I checked no one on the yahoogroup had stepped up to set an agenda.

I do want to think about my plans for tonight, which are to eat at the Firehouse and get a drink at the Backdoor Lounge. Exciting.

I went to see Miami Vice last night. It was not bad. My standards are at a record low this year for current movies so you can take that with a grain of salt. The plot was incomprehensible and the two main characters were pretty much blank slates, so it was all style and visuals. It made me want to go to Cuba even more than I did. I liked that there were multiple sex scenes (although the were very tame) except that the ones with Colin Farrel and Gong Li had embarrassing rage rock ballads playing in the background which made me giggle uncomfortably. Jamie Fox sucks and Colin had a weird fake gruff Souther/Irish accent going on. Sounds pretty crappy, huh? I guess it was. But how about that Gong Li? She's 40 fucking years old if you can believe it! She looks about 23.