I'm bored today. I've found some gems on craigslist personals but too many people have dogged on those posts so I won't bother. Did you know David Cross and Bob Odenkirk have a website? And did you know that David has written an extremely long open letter to Larry the Cable Guy? You didn't? Would you like to read it? Here it is.
The Bee had a thing today about yet another unrealistic proposal for the railyard. They should call this proposal "fantasyland 2015". I like how much of it is devoted to parks, though. It's not so bad except for the downtown arena.
So Beckler, I'm curious - what is a realistic proposal in your opinion? Plans for redeveloping the Railyards have included all kinds of ideas in the past. What do you think would work?
ReplyDeleteHere's my take - The graphic in today's Bee article was the developer's press-release of the full build-out concept. It hasn't gone through the scrutiny of the City's plan review process, nor has it gone through the lenghty environmental review process. So I don't think it's realistic for anyone to expect that what's shown there is exactly what would get built over the long term. Many pieces will change over time. The City will probably approve a modified master plan for the whole concept, but then when individual components move forward in phases, a lot will change. The arena alone is an obvious example -it's shown in the plan now, but for any number of reasons it could be put elsewhere in the 240-acre site or not at all, depending on financing, politics, etc
-Erik
Thank you for posting the link to the David Cross letter. Really, thank you. I think he is damned close to being possessed by the spirit of Bill Hicks. Well written. Never gave LTCG much thought at all. (Maybe if he'd come out when I was 10 and surrounded by rednecks, I would have pretended to dig him, but oh well.)
ReplyDeleteDavid Cross never fails to give me a chuckle.
Ed
I second Ed's comment. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't really a new proposal, the Thomas Enterprises group is the same group that has been working on the railyard deal for several years--they used to be called Millenia. The "Canal District" idea is new--maybe they're just trying to take advantage of the fact that the neighborhood will probably be susceptible to flooding and standing water. It sounds a bit different from the presentation I saw a couple of years ago, but not that different--the plans for restoration of the Shops buildings and turning at least one into a public market are holdovers from the older plan.
ReplyDeleteMoving the railroad tracks is also nothing new--Uncle Pete has wanted to do this for years, to speed up freight trains.
And I third the comment; to say David Cross has said something Hickseian is high praise indeed, but I think he damn well has. I've gotten all my LTCG stuff pretty much secondhand (because I live in an ultra, ultra-blue town in a Blue State where all the rednecks outside the city limits are more the types who grow 800 pounds of dope in the barn and think that any TV comedians might be secretly delivering coded messages from L. Ron Hubbard telling them to trust the Federal Reserve, so they're more prone to sit around and listen to old reel-to-reel tapes of Art Bell for entertainment), but even I know Larry's evil secret -- he ain't even FROM the South (just from the "Boys Don't Cry" state -- which I know is a cheap shot but I've only seen the Cornhusker State looking down from the plane while jetting between Blue States, sipping fine wine as I go, to further my work on The Secret Agenda), and David Cross is a true Son of Dixie. Ouch, Larry. I mean, I know Cross'd tried to go to Emerson College up in that fancy, book-learnin', Pi out-to-the-eight-billionth watzit burg, but even he saw through that.
ReplyDeleteEmerson has some Funny People among its alums and dropouts. I'm starting to wonder if they have something to teach us.
Naaah, probably just coincidence.
SG,
ReplyDeleteI've been on the ground in Nebraska. The city of Lincoln is laid out like a reverse Sacramento. You know, street A would start in the south and street "1" starts in the east. It is totally flat too. Does this say anything about Larry The Cable Guy? I don't think so. About the dopegrowing rednecks: I think I know a few of them, but they _say_ they're off the grid, so maybe not.
Ed
Dang. No more CL links? The only time I read CL is from here, and half the time the ad has been yanked. You need to start posting CL links along with the text.
ReplyDeleteShooting fish in a barrel...that's all I can think about in reading the DC letter. He's too intelligent to bag such easy prey. Maybe I'm just trying to be contrary, but it's along the same lines as saying, "jocks are dicks" and "good bands get no press in the SNR"...true, but too damn obvious to warrant discussion
ReplyDelete-- Patrone
I kind of agree with you Patrone! I think a really short, really harsh retort would have been more the thing to do. But, I guess even David Cross gets dragged into back and forth useless online discussions.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of David Cross, is "Let America Laugh" the same thing Brew played for us in Mono Hot Springs?
-michele
I only remember one person who dogged on the CL posts. If someone doesn't like what you post, they can stick it. Whose blog is this anyway?
ReplyDeleteI really want to like David Cross, as I do agree with a-lot of his politics, but that don't necessarily make him funny and he rarely makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteJeanine Garofalo does it better for my money.
Cross defending his un-p.c.ness illustrated well the problem I have with him. He thinks if he pushes the boundaries of what's allowed to be said while making good points it's automatically hillarious. Not so.
Of course what do I know, I didn't even like Mr. Show most the time. It weren't no Kids In The Hall.
I thought it was Sarah Silverman who assumed that pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable to be said was automatically equal to being funny?
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying she's not funny; she often is. Just maybe not as often as she thinks.
Silverman is actually Cross in drag.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Jesus Is Magic yet. The preview looked dreadful but I hear it's great.
Maybe I'll rent it tonight. Now thats an exciting Friday Night eh?
In fairness, I haven't seen "Jesus is Magic" either. Hell, the last thing I saw Silverman do was emcee the Independent Spirit Awards.
ReplyDeleteAnd I will say "Mr. Show" was no "Kids." I never saw the biggest crouton in th' world crop there.
Patrone and Michele-
ReplyDeletetrue, maybe larry the cable guy isn't worth eleven pages, but if you've ever seen this guy you would know he's truly hateful and yet wildly popular, which makes him pretty scary and worthy of some analysis. I couldn't believe it when I wandered into his act at the Crest. Both shows were sold out and he opened with a bunch of racist jokes. I just remember one about California in which he said "welcome to mex-ee-co" and rattled off a bunch of fake Spanish to the delight of the crowd. I left then cuz it was freaking me out.
And as far as what plan for the railyard I would like, I don't have any major beefs with Fantasyland 2015 except the arena. I dont' think it belongs downtown. But like I said, I like how much park area there is and if any area has to be developed it should be there. However, I would prefer Sac stay the same and that the railyard languish in disrepair forever. I would like to be able to afford to live downtown for a long time to come and as the city gets richer that may not be possible.
Siverman is not funny. Hot, but not funny. Garafalo used to be funny. And hot. Now she's just hot. Cross is occasionally hilarious, mostly just clever. Larry the Cable Guy is an abomination. Like on a Biblical level.
ReplyDeleteAnything else you need clearing up?
-sac
Oh yeah, mingled amongst some of Sac's finest, only not in Sac. In Pleasanton, no less.
Given the New Jersey-level status that railyard has a Superfund site, it might not too bad if it languished in disrepair forever. But I have my doubts it won't.
ReplyDeleteI just found out today from one of my colleagues that based on the latest indicators, Sac is now officially as "unaffordable" as San Francisco. Only 7% of Sacramento households can afford a median-priced single-family house, the same percentage as SF. I guess being able to afford living in this town is already unreality for most from the perspective of homeownership at least. Rents are a different picture, although those are going up fast too from what I understand.
ReplyDelete-Erik