Sacramento, CA

There are quite a few concerts coming to the Sacramento area in early August. The first, Rascal Flatts, is coming to Lake Tahoe on Friday, August 3rd and on Saturday, August 4th as part of their Still Feels Good Tour. The concerts will be at 7:00PM at Harvey’s Outdoor Arena. They will be joined by Jason Aldean who is becoming a bit of a star himself with hits like “Hicktown” and “Amarillo Sky.” Tickets range in price from $65.75 to $132.75. I was just up at Harvey’s this past weekend and I saw the venue. To be honest, it doesn’t look all that impressive…the only upside is that it is VERY small so you should be able to see just fine regardless of where you are sitting. In any case, I still think it may be a bit too much to pay. Having said that, I have seen Rascal Flatts in concert before (a long time ago when they opened for Jo Dee Messina) and they are phenomenal performers. They were probably the highlight of the show back then even though they only sang like five songs. I imagine they have only gotten bigger and better, so, if you can afford it go for it.

On August 4th, Rush will also be performing at the SleepTrain Ampitheatre in Marysville as part of their Snakes and Arrows Tour. The concert will begin at 7:30PM. Tickets range in price from $29.00 for lawn seating to $73.50 for level one reserved seating.

The big concert of early August though–or at least the most talked about–is going to be the Sacramento stop of Tim Mcgraw and Faith Hill’s Soul 2 Soul Tour. The concert is at 7:30PM on Monday, August 6th at Arco Arena. Remaining tickets range in price from $67.50 to $91.50. Don’t forget to bring an extra $10.00 for parking and leave your cameras at home as they are not allowed into the Arena. Personally, the whole idea of them touring together makes me nauseous. The disgustingly cute factor alone guarantees that I will SO not be there…ever…not even if you gave me free tickets…hell, not even if you paid me. However, for those of you who like that kind of thing, they have both gushed countless times on CMT about how romantic it is. In particular, they wax wonders about the power and sexual tension of “I Need You” performed live. I actually loathe and detest that song on moral grounds, but, for those of you who do like it I’m sure it will be…*cough, cough*…“fabulous?”

*Goes off to vomit in the corner from all of the wretched cuteness….*

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I can’t believe I almost forgot this, but The Simpsons Movie premiers tonight at midnight!!! I’ve loved the series since it first premiered all those long years ago and I am simply thrilled that they are coming to the big screen. In addition, it looks like it’s actually going to be a pretty funny movie too. Here is the snyopsis per Cinemark.com:

“Homer Simpson must save the world from a catastrophe he himself created. It all begins with Homer, his new pet pig, and a leaky silo full of droppings—a combination that triggers a disaster the likes of which Springfield has never experienced. A vengeful mob descends on the Simpson household. The family makes a narrow escape, but is soon divided by both location and conflict. The Springfield citizenry has every reason to be out for Simpson blood. The calamity triggered by Homer has drawn the attention of U.S. President Arnold Schwarzenegger and Environmental Protection Agency head Russ Cargill. As the fates of Springfield and the world hang in the balance, Homer embarks on a personal odyssey of redemption—seeking forgiveness from Marge, the reunion of his splintered family, and the salvation of his hometown.”

Anyway, it is apparent that it is going to be completely hillarious and (hopefully) true to the spirit of The Simpsons. It is playing at 12:01AM at Century Stadium 14 at 1590 Ethan Way. Tickets are $9.50 per person (standard) and worth every penny since it is actually (miracle of miracles…) playing at the GOOD theater here in town!!! This si reason enough to go in my opinion since most movies don’t play there–especially not big titles. We had to put up with the crappy United Artists theater for Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so this is definitely a welcome change! =)

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On Sunday, July 29th, Fairytale Town will be transforming into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in honor of the recent publication of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. From 6:00PM to 9:00PM you can immerse yourself in the beloved world of Harry and Co. You can join Dumbeldore’s Army, celebrate Harry birthday, and even participate in classes like potions, herbology, and divination. There will even be people dressed up like the different characters including Harry, Hagrid, and many of the Hogwarts staff members. Tickets are $7.00 per person or $5.00 for members. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Fairytale Town Store or downloaded and mailed or faxed to the park. You can also purchase them in person at 3901 Land Park Drive, across from the Sacramento Zoo. For all of you adult Harry fans, be aware that adults MUST be accompanied by a child due to city ordinances. This makes me sad as it means I shan’t be going…alas, such is the life of an adult! hehehe…

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We went to Joe’s Crab Shack for my friend’s 21st birthday and it was absolutely fabulous. Their menu has a wide variety of choices–even for people who don’t like seafood–but the different crab dishes were probably the best. They had everything “crab” that you could possibly imagine–crab cakes, crab dip, and of course king crab. They also had an extremely wide array of alcoholic beverages to choose from–which was very handy for a 21st birthday party. They have these things called Trash Cans which are basically designed to get you trashed. My friend had one–the Beach Bum–that was kind of like a tropical Long Island. It was so strong you really couldn’t even taste anything but the alcohol. They come in these little collectible trash cans, which I thought was a pretty neat touch. My other roomie had two Pina Coladas which were very, very good. They even had these cute little decorations on the top of them. As for me, I spent the night drinking Lynchburg Lemonades that were completely life changing!

Anyway, we had a really good time. The service was really good, the people were a lot of fun, and the restaurant is right on the river–giving it the most amazing views at sunset! Be forewarned, it is NOT a romantic kind of place…it’s more geared towards big groups, parties, and such. It is VERY loud and VERY busy. Also, since it is busy, you will definitely need to make reservations. It is pretty impossible to get a table without them–even to just sit at the bar! Even with reservations, it still took us 45 minutes to get a table…definitely NOT the kind of place to go if you are in a hurry. If you’re willing to wait–or are going to be walking around Old Sacramento anyway–then it is completely worth the wait. It is located at 1210 Front Street next to the Boat Rentals stand and across from the parking garage. To make reservations, call 916-553-4249.

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So, it occurred to me just today that I somehow managed to forget one of the biggest performances of July last week. Carrie Underwood will be performing at the Dixon Fairgrounds on July 28th at 8:00PM. Tickets are between $39.00 for general admission and $59.00 for reserved seating. It isn’t the greatest venue–it IS at a fairgrounds after all. In addition, they aren’t allowing cameras into the concert–which is kind of ridiculous–most likely because the seats are so close to the stage anyway. However, it’ll still probably be lots of fun and I’m currently trying to obtain tickets if I can scrounge up enough money. There is also a rumor that there will be a special unnanounced guest. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but she has been touring with Rodney Atkins off and on this summer so it could possibly be him. Anyway, have fun and hope to see you out there…

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Today is my friend Megan’s 21st birthday. She wanted to buy her first *ahem* legal drink at midnight so we decided to take her out to one of the countless bars here in Sacramento. We went through a ton of different ones and then stumbled across the Pine Cove on the corner of 29th and E Streets. Everything about it was just very very clever. For instance, the address is 502 29th Street–502 just happens to also be the drunk driving violation number. In fact, they are so against drunk driving that they offer free drinks (non-alcoholic of course) to designated drivers. The bar itself was very quaint and cute with little tables for couples to share (or, for gorups like ours to shove together into larger seating arrangements!). They have a hillarious DJ who can also sing really well and the rest of the staff is likewise worthwhile. They also have karaoke on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Their song book was the fattest one that I have ever seen in my life. They literally have something for everyone–Megan even ended up singing “Part of Your World” from Disney’s The Little Mermaid! Granted, that WAS after drinking seven Long Islands…but still…

Anyway, the atmosphere is great, the people are fabulous, and they have free popcorn and no cover charge. What more could you ask for? hehehe…

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Sorry this is a bit late, but there are a lot of concets coming up in the next couple of weeks that I thought everyone should know about. Thus, it took me a bit more time to get everything researched and written up. Anyway, all of the following shows currently have tickets remaining.

On July 18th, Earth Wind and Fire will be performing at the Sacramento Community Theater as part of their Illuminate Love Tour which is being continued from 2006. They will be performing a variety of songs from their long stint in the music industry, including popular hits like “Shining Star” and “Reasons” as well as some jazzier, more romantic pieces. Portions of the proceeds will be donated to two different charities–the Music is Unity Foundation and the Wright Life Performing Arts Center for the Youth. The concert starts at 8:00PM and tickets range in price from $44.00-$79.00. However, with the way the theater is set up, I highly reccommend that you splurge and purchase more expensive seats if you can afford it. Otherwise, you probably won’t be able to see as well as you would like to.

On July 21st, John Hiatt and Shawn Colvin will be having an acoustic performance at the Sacramento Radisson located at 500 Leisure Lane. The concert begins at 6:30PM and there is no reserved seating so you will want to arrive fairly early in order to get good seating. Tickets are only $39.50 per person and can be reserved either online or by calling the Sacramento Radisson at 916-922-2020. On July 26th, Tower of Power and David Sanborn will also be performing at the Sacramento Radisson. The concert will also be at 6:30PM with no reserve seating. Again, you will need to arrive early. Tickets are $38.50 and are available either online or by contacting the Sacramento Radisson directly. If you are from out of town and are going to be spending the night in Sacramento, I reccommend that you rent a room at the Radisson. They have rooms available starting at $104.00 for both nights still. If you are staying there–and I know this may sound evil–you probably won’t even need to purchase tickets to the concert since you will likely be able to hear them from either your room or the hotel lobby anyway.

There are two really big concerts on July 27th. The first is Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution Tour at the SleepTrain Ampitheatre in Marysville. There will be a wide variety of bands performing in addition to Linkin Park. These include My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, HIM, Placebo, and Julien K. The concert will begin at noon and tickets range in price from $53.00 for lawn seats to $171.00 for Level 1 seats. It is rare to find a concert where all of the bands playing are as popular as these guys are and if I had the money, I would so be there!!! The second concert (and less exciting in my opinion!) of the day will be Fergie as the first performance of The Ladies of Lake Tahoe this summer at Harvey’s Outdoor Arena in Lake Tahoe. Tickets range in price from $45.00 for rear seating and $75.00 for the front center floor. The concert begins at 7:30PM but you may want to give yourself some extra time as I vaguely remember Harvey’s being kind of hard to find.

The final concert of the month will be the July 29th KSFM Summer Fest concert at the SleepTrain Ampitheatre in Marysville. The concert will feature Ludacris , Nas, Baby Boy, and Lloyd. Doors open at 5:00PM with the concert beginning at 6:00PM. Tickets range in price from $20.00 for lawn seating to $69.00 for lower level reserved seating. I kind of think this is too much to spend, but that may just be because I haven’t heard of any of them…hehehe! Regardless, I’d say that this has proven to be a fairly awesome month for concerts here in Sacramento and I hope everyone got to go to at least one…

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My sister, Victoria Garson, tagged me to come up with some of my favorite blog entires. i haven’t been doing this for too long, but these would have to be my favorites so far…

Happy 4th of July!! because I actually put a lot of time and effort into researching that one.

Father’s Day at the Firehouse for pretty much the same reason.

Continental Buffet Inc. because there were so many interesting conversations (and the discovery of a really great Chinese place care of Elisa!!) that came from it.

The Da Vinci Experience because it’s something that I feel everyone SHOULD go and check out as pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity.

and lastly, Raging Waters at Cal Expo, simply because that sun is seriously bad ass!!! hahaha

Anyway, I’d go and tag someone too, but I’m too lazy right now–and I’m supposed to be “working” at my real world job! Maybe later though…

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The newest member of the Sacramento Zoo was born on May 16th but just made his debut in the exhibit on July 12th. He originally had a twin, but the other baby died shortly after birth–an occurrence that is sadly common in this endangered species. His eight-year-old parents also recently gave birth to a set of triplets early last year. Black and White Ruffled Lemurs can have litters of up to six babies, but smaller ones of two or three are much more common.

Plus, if you go on the 20th, they will also have a special showing of Zoovies featuring Charlotte’s Web. Gates open at 6:30PM with the movie starting at 8:30PM. It would be the perfect way to spend the day with your little ones. Ticket prices are $7.00 for adutls and $5.00 for kids from ages 3-12. This is actually not too bad a deal considering they include admission to the zoo itself as well. Also, if you sign up for the VID (Very Important Dog) prgoram, you can receive one free Bar-S hot dog for yourself and up to three guests. Who says dinner and a movie can’t be free?!! hahaha…

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WWE Presents Raw is coming to Arco Arena on Monday July 23rd. The live taping for the USA Network will begin at 5:00PM with doors opening at 4:00PM. Over 30 differenet Raw Superstars will be present including John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Carlito, and the WWE Divas Mickie James and Melina. Be advised though that the line-up is always subject to change without prior notice.

Tickets range in price from $26.75 to $66.75 including the $1.75 usage fee and are still available online. There will also be a $10.00 charge for parking with the tolls opening at 3:00PM. For further event information, please call 916-928-6900. Also, if anyone is planning to atted and wants to leave me a quick little review that would be just fabulous as I’m kind of poor…hehehe!!!

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For those of you who didn’t already know this, I am completely and totally obsessed with the Harry Potter books. Thus, I am very much stoked for tonight’s midnight release of the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I will of course be with all of the other crazies out tonight for the midnight showing. We will be attending the 11:59PM showing at United Artists Market Square at Arden Fair Mall. Sadly, if you haven’t already purchased your tickets then you are pretty much screwed as the theater is completely sold out…

Anyway, I’m hoping they’re going to stick to the book a little more closely than the last two did. In particular, I am hoping for much more of Severus Snape–and that they allow him to be the hero we all know he secretly is!!! I’m madly in love with Alan Rickman and I can’t wait to see his further character development. In addition, Helena Bonham Carter and Imelda Staunton will be joining the cast as Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge respectively. It’s going to be fabulous and hopefully I’ll run into a couple of you there. I will of course be dressing up so I shouldn’t be too hard to find. Look for the girl in the black Dumbledore’s Army shirt with slytherin green nails…hehehe…

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This week’s edition will serve the double purpose of reminding everyone that Ozzfest 2007 will be at the SleepTrain Ampitheatre on July 17th and warning people to be very careful where they purchase their tickets. All tickets for the tour were originally free as a means of revolutionizing the music industry. Unfortunately, all of the tickets have also already been given out. Thus, the only way to get in now is to purchase them from someone else. Sadly, people have also turned this into a means of scamming Ozzy-lovers everywhere. Be especially wary of purchasing tickets online at sites like ebay as there is no guarantee that you will be able to gain admission with said ticket. Scammers have been selling multiple copies of the same ticket or selling the barcode numbers of other people’s tickets which they obtained online as well. Each barcode number can only be used once so it is extremely important to be careful. Only the first person to present that barcode number will be allowed entry!!!

On a happier note, it is sure to be an incredible show if you ARE somehow lucky enough to get tickets. The lineup will include Lamb of God, Static X, Lordi, Hatebreed, Behemoth, Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator, Nile, Ankla, Circus Diablo, The Showdown, 3 Inches of Blood, Chthonic, Death, In This Moment, and, of course, Ozzy Osbourne. Doors open at 12:00PM and the shows will begin at 12:30PM. Make sure to leave early though as traffic going out there is an utter NIGHTMARE!!!! Have a good time…oh yeah, I am SOOOOOO jealous of you right now

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John Barbas WGAS Monster and Tough Trucks are coming to the Dixon Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday as the grand finale of Dixon’s 4th of July celebration!!! The pre-show will begin at 5:45PM with the Monster Trucks coming on at 6:15PM. They are also allowing people to enter the Tough Trucks competition themselves if there are any brave souls out there who don’t mind trashing their cars! To participate, contact WGAS Motorsports at 530-745-0100 or via email. If you come to the stadium early enough, they will also be giving rides in the Monster Trucks–which is always a real crowd pleaser!!! The best part though is that it is relatively inexpensive. Admission to the park itself is $4.00. Then, admission to the show is $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for kids. However, if you purchase them online you get a 30% discount, making them $10.00 for adults and $7.00 for kids. You can also purchase all day wrist bands for Monster Truck rides for $25.00 each. In any case, my roomie works for the Dixon Tribune and was lucky enough to score us free tickets to the event. We’ll be out there on Sunday–probably hanging out by the fried twinkie and fried snickers stand–and hoepfully I’ll see you there! Have a good weekend everyone…

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Elisa over at The Book Stacks let me know that the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival is now open at the William A. Carroll Ampitheatre at William Land Park. This year they are performing Comedy of Errors and Macbeth so there’s something for everyone. Macbeth is personally my favorite play of Shakespeare’s so I will definitely be going out to see it at some point this summer. Performances are every Friday and Saturday (as well as occasional Thursdays and Sundays) until August 5th. The box office opens at 6:00PM and performances begin at 8:00PM. You can purchase tickets online or reserve them for large groups by calling 916-558-2288. Tickets are also relatively cheap at $15.00 for general admission and $10.00 for students, seniors, SARTA members, and the disabled. Children 12 and under are even free!!! There will be some food available for purchase, but picnics are also welcome. Hopefully I’ll see you there sometime this summer as it is bound to be tons of fun!!!

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It’s that time of year again and there are a TON of places to check out some amazing fireworks displays in and around Sacramento. I think the general idea was to guarantee that you could pretty much go outside and see them anywhere in the area–that way they can try and cut down on all of the fireworks related fires. In any case, there are ten within thirty minutes of downtown Sac alone…and even more in the surrounding areas.

There are a couple in particular that look like they would definitely be worth checking out. Citrus Heights‘ celebration will start at 9:40PM which will act as the grand finale for their Sunfest arts and crafts celebration. They are calling the actual fireworks display a sky concert, featuring live simulcast of 98 Rock. It will be located at Sunrise Mall where Shriners Children’s Carnvial will also be enjoying its final day for the summer.

In Rancho Cordova there will be a huge celebration at Hagan Park. Legendary 70’s rock band America, whose hits include “Sandman” and “Lonely People”, will be onstage from 8:15PM until 9:45PM when the fireworks will begin. Admission will be free with an $8.00 parking charge.

The big one of course will be tonight at 9:30PM at Cal Expo. They are boasting the “largest scale pyrotechnics display in the history of the area” so I’m sure it’s bound to be spectacular! Innersoul will also be performing live at 7:30PM. Admission will be free, but there is a $7.00 charge for parking. If you’re not from around the area–or if you will be drinking!!–I suggest that you consider getting a hotel room somewhere in the area. Best Western Expo Inn wll be offering a fireworks special on our queen suites. The discounted rate will be $110.00 plus tax and will include a view of the back of Cal Expo where the fireworks will be set off.

If you’re willing to drive though, I’d reccommend heading up to South Lake Tahoe for Lights on the Lake. It is ranked as one of the top five displays in America by the American Pyrotechnics Association. It will run for over thirty minutes and features a wide variety of patterns, lights, designs, and shapes that are all synchornized to a soundtrack via computer. The accompnaying music can be heard on KRLT-FM 93.9 and KOWL-AM 1490. The fireworks themselves will be launched from an off-shore barge creating the illusion that they are coming from the lake itself. Even with the recent fire troubles in the area it is sure to be a stunning display like no other.

Regardless of what you choose to do, remember to be safe. If your county or city has ordinances regarding fireworks it is FOR A REASON!!!! Please do not disregard them as home fires are a devestating tragedy that no one wants to go through. Just please be careful and have a very happy 4th of July!!!!

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