fuck the yellow biplane

Man, I would just like to say fuck the yellow biplane that flies over the causeway!! Who can I fucking complain to to get this shit outlawed? They buzz the causeway and cause huge traffic jams in both directions.

I went on a little Central Valley jaunt with Liv and Lil Becky this weekend.  We saw the heights, and the depths of the Central Valley during those three days.  One height: Manny's California Fresh in Stockton.  Here's the Manny Dog.  It looks like it's saying "I'm delicious"

 Here's the hot tub at the Motel 6 in Madera.  I shudder thinking of this place.  I was so tired I slept in a bed that had dirty sheets without realizing it.  It was filled with...ugh, I can't even talk about it.

more after the jump

If he can't smoke it, drink it, spend it or love it...forget it!

Did you know that English Singles are playing the SF popfest this weekend?  And that the popfest is spilling over into Sac as well?  On Sunday, 14 Iced Bears are playing with English Singles and Fine Steps at the Townhouse. I wish I could be there.  I've never heard 14 Iced Bears or Fine Steps.

If you like country music movies, especially if they don't involve Gwyneth Paltrow singing I recommend "Payday" starring Rip Torn.

check it!

Bows and Arrows' new website is up! Exciting!

simultaneous egasm (sorry)

I am very excited about this.  I need a couch and a rug, STAT.  Smiller and I just emailed each other this article literally simultaneously.

Speaking of stuff I need to buy: Heckasac is in the market for a car or truck.  Please let me know if anyone has anything to sell.  I have a couple of months during which my search will occur.  I want to spend about 2000-2500 bucks.  I am interested in either a Geo Prism from the 90s with the lowest miles possible (stop laughing) or an old Toyota truck, like one of the small ones, not a Tacoma.  I don't know the model of those dinky ones.  Or you know, some other cheap Toyota or Honda. Anybody got anything to unload?

world class wait

I went to the big ol' city this weekend and it's true it does have things we don't have here in this second tier (or lower) cowtown.  Things like Coit Tower.  I think we need to build one of those.  Perhaps we can finance it with some sort of hotel tax?  

 Here are some neat sculptures that were at the ArtMRKT fair in SF.  The woman who made them, Elisabeth Higgins O'Connor went to Davis.  They were really large scale sculptures of dogs made from cut-up afghans and other found materials.  If one had a large foyer, they would really be a home-decor game-changer.  I could picture a space where they would look great, but I don't have one.

This may not look like much but it's kind of my dream come true.  Manzanilla sherry and marcona almonds.  I got it at Heart in SF.  I also got to eat at Pizzeria Delfina after a loooooonnnngggg wait.  A world-class wait.  The pizza was very good but personally I always find it gratifying to confirm that Masullo's pizza can hold its own against the greats.  The crust at Delfina is lighter, light as a feather, but doesn't have the complex flavor that Masullo's has.  AND you don't have to wait over an hour to get in, which is a big plus in my book.  But Delfina has a dizzying array of antipasti and small plates that I would love to get to know better.

Nar at the Hemlock tore it up.  As did the Mantles, but fuck, were they loud.  My ears are destroyed.

Oy! Oy! Oy!

That's what the Jewish ska band yells during the show.

Verge movie night was good.  Chris and Don was very sweet and sentimental . Smiller was pointing out that people might not think it was so sweet if it was a love story about a straight couple that were 30 years apart in age, and that hooked up when one was a teen.  It's true, it's a double standard.  Fuck it!

It's gonna be a big weekend in The City.  It will be a relief for me to shed the shackles of this less than second tier cow town so that I can absorb some real culture for a change.  Psych! I'm gonna get waaasssssted.

When I use the word "shackles" (which is often) I think of this wonderful song.  Here's a nice Friday song for you.  My coworker just asked what this song was and then said "I thought it was Jack Johnson"

Oi! Oi! Oi!

So now that I'm back on the Rollins train (whatever that means) I doubly appreciate this flyer posted in Davis.  Davis Wiki tells me that DCOI is a Davis-based band called "Deadly City Oi"  I can't really google "GDP". If a band isn't google-able it's dead to me.

 Oh yeah, and this was kind of the best thing about the Brewfest.  I'm having some deja vu that I have posted about this damn Garfield tile before.

New Ganglians video

I love this video!  I love the makeup and prosthetics, and I love how the murky look makes it look like it was beamed from some secret VHS stash in a basement.  It rules.

Ganglians - Jungle (official video) from Souterrain Transmissions on Vimeo.

Who's going to the SS Records shows this weekend?  Sac takes over SF!

why so glum? you're banging Linda Rondstadt!

Tomorrow night (Thursday) at the Verge is the next movie night.  I don't even know if I should call it MidMo movie night.  It is MidMo, in the sense that Liv and I both write for MidMo.  This thing has really morphed from its early origins at The Hub.  We are showing "Chris and Don", which is a documentary about the May/September (is that right?) romance between Christopher Isherwood (novelist whose books were the inspiration for the movie "Cabaret) and the artist, Don Bachardy, who painted, among other things, the awesome official portrait of Jerry Brown.

Chris and Don
Thursday, May 19th
VCA (625 S st.)
donation
7:30 pm
free popcorn
drinks for sale

I am verrrryyyyyy jazzed about our June selection, which is another art-related documentary, Marwencol.  It's a riveting story, and we're working on an exciting panel.  I know how panels can be sometimes, but this one is going to be sizzling.  Brain stimulation included in ticket price.  This is going to be on June 16th, so pencil it in.

sounds like a great show

I could watch this forever.  What is this show "Big Shamus, Little Shamus"?

Hunx

FINALLY! Hunx and his punx are going to play Sac.  Not until June 30th, though.  I can't wait.  I was just showing my sister his scratch-off naked 7 inch (heh) cover and his spread in Butt magazine. Is that a weird thing to be doing with my sister? She's an adult.  I was also introducing her to the wonderful world of Tom of Finland.

It kind of sucks for our little movie screening night (this Thursday, the Verge, 730, the movie is Chris and Don) that there are two other good shows that night.  G. Green at the ToHo and Buk Buk Bigups at Old I.  How the heck did they get a show at Old I?  Here's a promo video that Aaron made for the show.  Is that a thing now?  Promo videos?:

bro-fest

Quick post: sooo....I worked the Sacramento brewfest.  I was suprised that I did not see anyone I know.  I guess I don't know that many bros, who made up 80% of the crowd.  I poured a Triple Rock brew and and Iron Springs brew, both were good.  I got to drink a couple of Moonlight brews, the Odonata (the brewery that cannot speak its name) kolsch, an Ale Industries beer (what a terrible brewery name), and a High Water Brewing IPA.  I think that was about it.  It's funny how drunk you can get off of a bunch of tiny little glasses of brew.  It's almost like they add up to one big glass.

How was ORMF?  Was it well-attended?  Are everybody's gardens dead from the hail and downpour?  I have not looked at mine yet because I'm scared to check it out.  It was looking so beautiful.

The next Verge movie night is this Thursday, May 19th.  We are showing Chris and Don.  It's another documentary, and I know you can't get enough of those.  I'm not being sarcastic.  I love them.

What does Rollins eat for breakfast?  Look in the comments to find out.

ha, a bible joke

Wait, what?  Isn't this super old news?  Or is this a new problem for Odonata?  Who do they have brewing for this place, Job?

lame

Have you guys caught wind of this whole scandal?  Sucks! My opinion is that this was a highly improper and power-mad punishment for a paperwork mistake.  A ten day closure could drive some people out of business.  And what if you were the type of business that had contractual commitments for events, like a wedding or something?  You could totally get sued.  How about a 500 dollar fine? That seems more appropriate for a slap on the wrist, plus, then it generates money for the ABC and the state rather than just sucking money out of a business.

One fun fact I recently learned about the ABC: when they send out decoys, if the decoys are asked their age they have to answer honestly.  That's why sometimes your checker/server will just ask you how old you are to skip the checking the ID step.  I always thought that was so weird.

Summer Approacheth

It's weird how blogger keeps swallowing my post from yesterday then puking it back up and swallowing it again.  Kind of disgusting when I put it that way.

 So yeah, I'm pouring at the brewfest tonight.  I'm singing that to the tune of "running with the devil" in my head.  It's going to be that badass.  Or maybe I will rue the day I ever said I would do it.  Or maybe some combination of the two. 

Speaking of brew, I had a couple of real refreshers at The Shack last night.  Perfect for the approach of summer.  This is the 1809 Berlinerweiss  I would kind of like a case of this stuff.  Although I think I prefer the Bruery Berlinerweiss (called Hottenroth) probably because it's more lactic and less subtle, and as an American subtlety is hard for me.  Anyway this brew was so active and bubbly that it put Champagne to shame.  For shame, Champagne.  It was almost frightening to watch the intensity of the bubbling and frothing.

Gary even has some woodruff syrup to add to the brew, which is traditional.  I didn't add enough this time to really get the cotton candy flavor I got when I tried it at the Bruery.  Matt, are you reading?  You love cotton candy! I thought of you when I went to the drive in to see Thor and at the box office they asked if I would like any cotton candy.  The guy also said "just you?" as if I was hiding someone in my trunk.  What, a girl can't go to the drive in by herself?

This beauty is cursed with a silver label, which I think makes beer look cheap.  Also, it is not priced and it's not up on the beer board.  So she is being sorely underappreciated.  Turned out she's $6.50 - fine by me.  She came all the way from Corsica.  When was the last time you had a Corsican beer?  The 12th of never?  She's a very low alcohol white beer who is brewed with tree strawberry, juniper, and myrtle.  Of course my delicate palate detected all of that, it's not that I read it right here.  Bellissima!

This weekend is also ORMF.  Which has a nice write-up in the SNR.  I had hoped that my No Bunny interview would fill this space, but alas, it was not to be.  I'll get him next time . And I guess next time will be soon because this column is reporting that he has moved to Sac?  Is that a fact?  P.S. I am so tired of reading about the In The Flow Festival.  That guy is a PR genius.

Also, I sort of got a letter in the letters section.  It's more about how Renny Pritikin said "fuck" but still, a thrill.

Also, Cosmo busts chops on the "Save The Tower" marquee.  I'm really glad the city didn't do the Cine Arts thing, but now that I'm farther from the debate it reminds me a little more of Paragary trying to throw his weight around to stop food trucks.  Like interfering with the free market.  But it was a stupid idea to begin with.  This town can barely support two art house theaters.

One more thing:  Jonathan Kiefer reviewed Morgan Spurlock's new movie and the headline is "No Shit, Spurlock".  I would like to commend whoever came up with that.  I don't know if you guys realize how hard it  is to come up with headlines, but I am terrible at it. It is hard.

I'm so in love with brew

I'm pouring at the Brewfest at Raley Field tomorrow.  Should be fun.  The website really needs to give more info  about what breweries will be there.  It's 50 bucks for VIP tix fer chrissakes.  I know that Moonlight and Triple Rock will be a couple of the special brews.  I have requested to be pouring something good so I may be involved with one of those.  I better not get stuck pouring Monkey Knife Fight.

Have you guys ever seen the movie Clean, Shaven?  Wow.  Even more impressive when you know the budget was 60 grand.  It's really 90s in a Twin Peaks, good type of way.  Don't watch it if you can't handle watching someone peel their fingernail off.  Actually, I did not watch that part either.

Thor is pretty good, by my radically lowered standards for current releases.  Thor himself is the best part.  He's a great Thor.  Natalie Portman is the worst part. She's a terrible Natalie Portman.  I don't think they exploited the theme of Thor as a fish out of water on planet earth for enough laughs.  We all agreed that if Thor had come out in the 80s Thor would have ended up rapping and/or breakdancing.

And you all know that Saturday is the big ORMFstravaganza.  DJ Rick gave ticket details in the post below, including how to get discounted tickets.

DJ Dealy

There's an interesting DJ dealy going on at the Press Club tonight.  It's three heavy hitters: DJ Hailey, Mike C. and Tim Mantranga.  It's like The Expendables of DJing.  I guess Hailey would be Sylvester Stallone, Mike C. would be Dolph Lungren and Mantranga is Statham?  I thought Willis was in that movie?  PLUS Buk Buk is going to play and Did Is Dead which I have no idea WTF that is.  Sounds fun!  Starts at 9.

May is so off the chain it hurts.  Get back on the chain, May!  No really, I wish you would.   We have Max Freedom this Saturday with local boy made good (no, not Zach Hill) Charles Albright! And No Bunny got added.  I want to interview him, but alas it was not to be.  This time. I'll get him next time.

Then, the weekend after is the big SS records extravaganza in SF, culminating in NAR!

Scanning undietacos there are so many good shows coming up that it makes me want to move away, to some less than second tier city where I can just sit around and read on the weekends.  What would qualify as a less than second tier city?  Tulsa?  Is that the same as third tier or is it more like tier 2.5?

all I want

I know it's kind of weak to just post youtube videos, but this is all I got. From the family who brought you "aint gonna pee pee" here's some amazing stadium rock.  Please watch it all the way through.  Also, please let the Four Eyes cover it.

I will smoke a clove

I read my Neil Hamburger interview in the paper copy of the SNR today and I think that that somehow made it funnier.  I really like it.  Of course, I read it in my head in Neil Hamburger's voice, which makes it better.  His show is tonight at the Comedy Spot.  I bet it will sell out.

Don't forget about the show on Sunday at Sol Collective.  English Singles/Nacho Business/Crystal Stilts.  I don't think the Nacho Business record is out quite yet, is it?  This will be a great show to smoke some cloves at, then some weed, then some more cloves.  How about this: I have never smoked a cigarette, but if you come to this show and bring a clove cig I will try to smoke it and you can laugh at me.  Or are cloves a thing of the past, like Four Loko?

too late

I finally got around to reading NM's food cart story.  Really good.  I didn't realize that Paragary went on the record against them, and I liked Joshua LT saying calling them "roach coaches" was "crypto-fascist".  A stupid commenter on SacPress today said that gourmet trucks should be allowed but "roach coaches" should not.  So dumb.  I think it's sadly funny that I got offered this article that became a cover story.  I don't think I'll ever get a cover story. How long are they?  I think the longest thing I've ever written is maybe 1500 words. I STILL think that the Hmong cookbook story should have been the cover, whether I wrote it or someone else did, even though I was not altogether happy with how that story turned out.  Hmm...I should probably keep all of this to myself.

That's my life!

For your reading pleasure... my Neil Hamburger interview.  There's a typo on that first paragraph, and when I interviewed him we were losing the Kings.  What a difference two weeks makes.

orphans no more

Looks like Rick is having some success finding homes for the orphaned shows.  One show that  has moved is the Crystal Stilts/Nacho Business/English Singles show on Sunday night.  Moved to Sol Collective.  Starts at 8:30.  Bring exact change or you have to pay more.  Sunday night shows are slightly more do-able than Monday nights shows, IMHO, because at least you can sleep in on Sunday?  Do. Not. Miss.

I had so much fun at MOBS on Sunday.  The Quiet Earth was really fun, with a healthy dose of full-frontal male nudity.  It was made in New Zealand, and I spotted the fun trivia fact that director Lee Tamahori (who later went on to direct Die Another Day and one of the Triple X movies) had a part on the crew as an AD.

This Sunday they're showing a documentary on R. Budd Dwyer (perfect for mother's day), if you would rather watch a movie than go to the show, or hey, do both!

shocked

I am shocked (shocked!) that Breton would take this shocking new position.  I have never heard anything like this from him before and again, must say, SHOCKED.

Please someone help me to not sound like the same broken record that Breton sounds like, and Sactown sounds like, with my anti-Kings, anti-downtown-publicly-financed arena stance.  I don't want to just have my regular kneejerk reaction. I'm sick of it. Despite the fact that it was sad to see Jerry and Grant cry, I was happy to see the Kings leave, even though it was starting to be clear that the arena boosters would just switch tactics.  I am just so sick of this.

Here's a developing story, from one of the organizers of the MoFo

While a new ordinance has yet to be drafted, and tonight will not be any sort of vote (as far as I know), Rob Fong tells us that there will be a discussion of reforming the current regulations on mobile vendors at tonight's city council meeting at 6 pm.

If you feel like going and suggesting any features/items you think should be incorporated into the new regulations, please do stop by and speak during the open mic portion.

fashion query

What do you guys think about overalls on men? Grounds for divorce, right?  In fact, I'm inventing a thing called "pre-marriage fashion divorce" to express my feelings about them.*



*j.k. of course I think they're funny.  This emotion was stirred up by Lootenanny fashion

Mobile food reporting

Here's an entertaining article from SacPress about the MoFo.

best Jewish power pop band ever

I'm sure pretty much everyone knows by now how absurdly crowded the Sacto MoFo was.  I took a look and turned right around, although we were lucky to find a parking space really quickly so as not to have wasted too much time.  I instead went to a secret undisclosed Mexican restaurant that is certain to be the subject of my July MidMo column.  Between the MoFo and the Lootenanny, Sac was officially off the chain. Felt like the first day of summer.  I'm sure everyone already heard me bragging but I won so much rad stuff in the Lootenanny raffle!  Dreams do come true=free coffee from Temple

The Dreamdate LP is finally out.  You can find the LP and CD at Phono Select.  If you liked their first two albums you will like this one.  Luckily Rick was able to reschedule their Hub show in Davis.  Wrong Words were excellent also.

The Wrong Words "Wrong Again" from Chris Anderson on Vimeo.
I think their vocals sound a wee bit like best Jewish power pop band ever:  The Wind.  We missed the Croissants which was a shame especially since the show ended 45 minutes earlier than slated.