Blue Thumb Neighbors (BTN) is offering a special workshop to provide Witter Ranch (Natomas) residents with a hands-on opportunity to apply sustainable landscape practices to a neighbor’s yard. Working with the host, the BTN team will develop an action plan for transforming one ornamental planting area with beautiful, low-water use plants and upgrading sprinkler heads in one turf area. BTN instructors, participants and volunteers will then dig in and implement those plans during the Garden Party. The Garden Party will include both instruction and hands-on application on the following topics: Soil and Soil Amendments: Discuss soil health, use of compost and how the site was prepared Hydr

"A Place Called Sacramento" premieres ten new local short movies on the big screen at the Crest tomorrow at 1:00 PM. But be sure to arrive early (1) to avoid the long line that forms every year from folks arrivng at the last minute overwhelming the single box office and (2) "Cheap Therapy" with Charlie Holliday will perform a special improv comedy skit at 12:45 for those early arrivals. After the premiere, stay because the party is just getting started. The Crest Lobby will "jump n' jive" to the harmonizing of "Sister Swing" as the cast and crew from ten wonderful movies mingle and buzz with excitement and camraderie. This is the 12th year for this unique Sacramento based event. In 12 ye

For the twelfth year, Access Sacramento is planning the world premiere of “A Place Called Sacramento” (PCS), a scriptwriting and short film production project for local writers and producers. PCS challenges local scriptwriters to write ten-minute scripts about the people, places, and events that make our community such a unique place to live (submission guidelines on-line at www.AccessSacramento.org). Neighbors and friends will gather at the 2011 World Premiere at the CREST Theatre on Sunday October 2, 2011 at 1:00 PM. $10 (general seating) is a fundraiser for community media. Advanced ticket purchase is recommended at Tickets.com, the Crest Box Office, or the offices of Access Sacramento

The Rock Allegiance Tour pulled out all the stops for the last night of their summer tour. Sacramento’s Power Balance Pavilion hosted an unforgettable evening of loud riffs and primordial deafening screams. Seven bands were schedule to perform. Drive A, Crossfade, Red, P.O.D. and Puddle of Mud were scheduled to perform, as well as co-headliners Buckcherry and Papa Roach. Puddle of Mud was unable to attend due to an illness. Me be thinking hangover, but what do I know? This concert was off the charts with people jumping over barriers to get to the bands and the bands jumping over barriers to get to fans. I didn’t know whether I should be watching the bands or the crowd. Both were entertai

On September 30, 2011, at Beatnik Studios, aspects of Sacramento’s finest culture will come together to support a truly inspiring cause. From 5pm to 9pm entrance is free and guests can stroll the studio looking at P.R. Brown’s photography show “The Known and Travel” while noshing on appetizers. Wine lovers can purchase a souvenir glass for wine tasting and entrance into a gourmet gift basket raffle. 100% of the proceeds are directed towards transforming the lives of orphaned and poverty-stricken children. Guests can further show their support by bidding at the silent auction. After 9pm a suggested donation of $5-$10 is appreciated as the stage opens up to live performances from Katie Jane,

The Witter Ranch neighborhood in Natomas has been selected to participate in “Blue Thumb Neighbors,” a free program sponsored by the Regional Water Authority and City of Sacramento Department of Utilities. The project will teach residents there how to create healthy, beautiful, River‐Friendly landscapes that compliment their homes and neighborhood. River‐Friendly landscaping is a holistic approach to sustainable landscaping that uses resources, like water, efficiently and incorporates practices that foster soil health, reduce waste and prevent pollution of the air and waterways. Each participating household will receive a free at‐home consultation on efficient watering, sponsored by the

The Human League teamed up with Men Without Hats at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort Wednesday night, playing to a less than packed house. Both groups are synthpop bands who got their start in the early ’80s. The Human League has had a number of hit songs since and in March of this year released their 10th album, “Credo,” 30 years after their first album. Men Without Hats kicked off the evening playing a number of their hit songs, including "Moonbeam," "Pop Goes the World" and "The Safety Dance." The only original band member, Ivan Doroschuk, came out donning a cowboy hat. He was bathed in red or blue light almost the entire time on stage. Doroschuk was very energetic, dancing back and

Like its distinctively independent, hyperlocal approach to news coverage and commentary on the Sacramento area, The Sacramento Press delivers Deal Ticket, its version of the national trend in online deals, which is a weekly deal program that offers consumers 51-90% off on Sacramento’s top businesses every Tuesday through Friday. Deal Ticket sales representatives are able to partner face to face with local businesses to produce effective offers for local consumers. “Deal Ticket worked out really well for my business,” said Abraham Sanchez, owner of Article Consignment Boutique. “It was a great opportunity to have not only new people, it worked out for my existing clients to get some good

  I agree with mycologist Paul Stamets when he said  ”We should be very concerned about our future,” in the film “DIRT! The movie.” While the movie focused on the dangers posed by global soil degradation, I find myself concerned about the state of our co-op. As a social worker, I see the recent events in the context of a time when we are faced with the large corporate buy outs of natural food companies and coincidentally higher interest in starting up co-ops than we’ve had since the 1970s, we have both an opportunity and a danger on our hands as co-op members. Our movement is growing and it’s up to us to harness the energy and focus on ways to use that energy in ways that will advance t

The one and only Gabriel Iglesias, better known as Mr. Fluffy, performed at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort on Saturday night, entertaining well over 3,500 people with his hilarious mixture of storytelling, parodies, characters and sound effects. I say well over 3,500 judging by the overflow in the parking lot next to Thunder Valley’s outdoor amphitheater. Just prior to his performance, Iglesias had over 10 chocolate cakes delivered by fans to his dressing room. He said he performed a routine around seven years ago about a chocolate cake, and to this day fans are still delivering cakes to his performances. The record is 27 cakes at one event. Why do people bring him cakes from a joke mad

Years ago when our kids were young, my wife would set their alarm to play Toad the Wet Sprocket’s CD “Fear.” Every morning I was treated to the song “Walk on the Ocean.” Some mornings I would hear just the beginning chorus, and other mornings I’d hear the entire CD. Those were the bad days – not to say the music was bad, but the kids just wouldn’t get their butts out of bed. Well, the kids are all grown up now and in their 20s. Don’t ask me for their exact age. I’m not wired that way. So it was quite a delight to take a couple of them over to Harlow’s in Sacramento to see Toad the Wet Sprocket on Thursday. Seeing the two of them watching the band that started their day, every day as kids,

There are a lot of over 40 stories in this burgeoning halfway point between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe; that will be the basis for this weekly column. With help from overheard conversations and intentionally shared adventures, I’m going to tell them—or make them up. “You should write about that,” is a refrain I hear from friends and family that has become as frustrating as it is flattering. While I consider myself a poet at heart, it’s my tales of online dating and quirky take on midlife mayhem that seems to spark everyone’s interest. I appreciate their enthusiasm, but write about it where? Sacramento Press has been kind enough to provide the forum. Midtown isn’t just for short skirts

When you think about it, Graham Godfrey’s path was not on the fast track. In fact, for a guy that started the season with Double-A Midland, where he is today is a huge leap in the right direction. As Godfrey told me earlier this year, it was just one small mechanical thing he changed and voila, a steady, dominating pitcher was born. With Godfrey pitching nearly lights out, the Sacramento River Cats stayed on the winning side of things with a 7-3 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes at Raley Field on Tuesday evening in front of 10,016 happy fans. The win gives him a league tying 12 and he’s only two away from tying the Sacramento franchise record of 14. What would that accomplishment

      It's a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon and I find myself sitting inside a rehearsal room at Sacramento's House of Hits listening to the spastic, funky sounds of local band Isaac Bear. Drummer Steven Jenkins grimaces in deep concentration and suddenly cracks a smile as he nails a complex polyrhythm on his kit. Bassist Scotty Urquhart sways back and forth to the rhythm, fingers gliding effortlessly across his strings in a trance-like groove. "I wanna go so bad / But it seems I've got to stay / Don't wanna let you down / Guess I'll find my peace / Some other day" wails guitarist/vocalist Keith Filson before dropping into a blistering solo, stomping on a wah pedal for added psychedelic effe

Huey Lewis & The News rocked Thunder Valley Casino and Resort on Friday, playing to a sold-out crowd of over 3,500 cheering fans. It was quite impressive watching as no fewer than 10 people (The News) stormed the stage while a booming heartbeat played in the background. As the crowd cheered, Lewis arrived onstage singing “The Heart of Rock & Roll” with the crowd joining in. The next seven songs were off their new CD, “Soulsville,” which are soul cover songs from the Stax Records catalog. This earned a polite applause from the crowd with some shouts of “Hip to Be Square” and “Heart and Soul.” Starting with “Jacob’s Ladder,” Lewis got a bigger reaction out of the crowd. It was apparent the

On a night that had the Sacramento River Cats thinking about grounding up Round Rock Express pitcher Mark Hamburger, the first time starter was serving up filet mignon as he blanked Sacramento in his four innings of work to help the Express beat the Cats 7-3 at Raley Field on Friday evening. For the home team, Josh Outman started to slip a little in the second when the hitters for Round Rock started taking him up the middle with several solid hits. After Val Majewski and Joey Butler had back-to-back singles, Matt Kata hit into what looked like a tailor-made double play. Cats second baseman Andy LaRoche’s throw was offline and pulled Brandon Allen off the bag. With two men on, one of the

Local guitar heroes Brian Wheat and Frank Hannon from the Tesla showed up to see legendary guitarist Peter Frampton play to a full house of hard core fans Saturday at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort. The audience was chanting “Frampton! Frampton!” in anticipation of the start of the show. Just prior to the start, William Shatner’s voice came on the loud speaker to explain the no photography or video policy, although even before the end of the performance, videos were making their way on to Youtube. Some of you may recall Tesla’s “Modern Day Cowboy” making it onto Guitar Hero 6. Well, they followed their guitar hero, who was featured in Guitar Hero 5 with "Do You Feel Like We Do" off his

The Doobie Brothers performed at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort to a sold-out crowd Friday night. For those of you who don’t know the Doobie Brothers, they are rock group who formed in the ‘70s and were originally called Pud. Yes, I said Pud. One can only thank the heavens they decided to change their name to the Doobie Brothers. And yes, the name comes from that stuff referred to as pot. When smoked it’s also referred to as a joint, reefer, stick, roach, or a doobie. Hey, can you spare a doobie, brother? I know. I crack myself up, too. Opening with “Jesus Is Just Alright,” the eight-man band consisting of two drummers, three guitarists, bassist, saxophonist and keyboardist, kicked it

The Tubes, one of the most theatrical new wave rock bands of the ’80s, brought their sometimes offensive and oftentimes outrageous show to Thunder Valley Casino and Resort Friday. They are best known for their onstage presence and hits like “She’s a Beauty,” “Talk to Ya Later” and “The Monkey Time.” In an extravagant mix of theater, rock and social criticism, Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill started the show with “Haloes,” followed by a rant about the sad state of the economy and how Boehner was going to “f*** us some more.” Almost every other word from him was f*** or b****. There were those in the audience who loved the show and others who seemed to want to bolt out of the room. However,

Grammy awarding winning, Train, not to be confused with the series of connected railroad cars pulled or pushed by one or more locomotives, thundered into town on Sunday and performed to a sold out crowd at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort. Thunder Valley Casino and Resort really scored with signing on Train to perform at their outdoor amphitheater. Train just finished their Save Me San Francisco tour last month. Taking full advantage of their current success, they headed back out on the road with Maroon 5 and Gavin DeGraw for a summer tour. The band actually performed in Southern California Saturday with the others, drove by bus to Sacramento, then headed back down to Hollywood for a Mond