"A university town is only as strong as its independent bookstores.  They assist in the exchange of intellectual thoughts." - Kim Tanzer                 "The independent bookstore - you know we're almost dinosaurs." - Carl Kroch                It was a beautiful morning.  My girlfriend Jess and I decided to take a bike ride around the neighborhood.  We didn't have any particular place to go, so we went down to Butch and Nellie's, our local coffee shop, to grab a cup of joe and discuss the nature of our ride.  My first thought was the California Railroad Museum, but the little woman wasn't feeling that.  Thus ended the charade that our ultimate destination would be anything besides lunc

"Chicago: The Musical" is returning to Sacramento for an 11-day run starting tomorrow. The world-renowned musical is the sixth-longest running production in Broadway history and was adapted into a movie in 2002, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This is the fourth time the musical will be in Sacramento. It will be performed at the Community Center Theatre as part of the California Musical Theatre's Broadway Sacramento series. "Our goal is to bring Broadway to Sacramento," said California Musical Theatre executive producer Richard Lewis. "'Chicago' represents prime Broadway theatre." The musical takes place in 1920s Chicago and tells the story of two women who try to become

Master Barber Shop was established in 1958 and was acquired by Earlie D. and Mary Brown in December of 1974. During that time, the shop was located on Stockton Blvd. and 7th Ave. Since those early days, Master Barber & Beauty Shop, has had several locations. Each location being better than the last. In 1989, sons Rodney and Marichal, joined the family business. The late owner and master barber, Earlie D. Brown, established business in the hair industry in the mid 1940's with Brown's Barber Shop (two locations, San Francisco and Marin City). What started out as nothing more than a dream and a dime and a nail in his pocket has turned into a family business. He died in February 1998. Mary Br

Julia, a two-and-half year old paints while Johnny Murphy, I Dream of Johnny, looks on. Her painting was photographed and could be turned into wearable art.   ArtBeast children's studio partnered with Sacramento based online retailer Retail Therapy and Johnny Murphy I Dream of Johnny   for an afternoon event, "Where Art meets Fashion", as a fundraiser for the Tubman House, a nonprofit organization serving young homeless parents and their children. It was like a big art party full of paints, colored pens and a large canvas wall. Murphy demonstrated how he has turned art into fashion and worked with children individually to share his vision-turned-clothing.   This young artist wears

Over the last few years, the term "hip hop is dead," has been thrown around more than the neighborhood football. In an age of technology where making a simple beat with a bootlegged audio production application and altering your voice with Auto-Tune in order to sound like T-Pain is enough to get "bedroom rappers/producers/djs" signed, it's no wonder people are beginning to feel like the art is lost. While most people are tossing around this insult to hip hop, few are offering any sort of solution. I say few, because there are some purists out there who are putting in the effort, energy and time to study where hip hop started, where it has been and where it is going. He calls for somethin

Chances are you’ve heard of Etsy. It’s the world’s most expansive marketplace for handmade and vintage items. With neighborhood networks and a shop-local function, Etsy is revolutionizing the way people shop online. I spoke to artist and team leader of SactoMetro Etsy Street Team, Marianne Bland, about her team of local artists and craftsmen representing the Sacramento area on Etsy.com   Tell me about Sacramento’s Etsy Team SactoMetro Etsy Street Team has soap makers, painters, people making spiritual items, fine art…just a huge variety of items. We have people doing it to supplement jobs, full-timers, mothers at home school… It's an interesting group of people trying to help each other

Sacramento restaurateur Ernesto Jimenez was excited, yet afraid to take on the challenge of creating a restaurant in a 6,000-square-foot corner space in the old Arnold Brothers Motor Cars building. He already was the owner of the colorful Mexican restaurant Ernesto's when he and partners bought the 77-year-old building in 2001. And he'd been dreaming about his next restaurant for years. He wanted it to be something special. "It was a beautiful old building, so the restaurant had to match the exterior," he said. "I didn't want it to be just another restaurant. It had to be something beyond that." His visits to the new space at 18th Street and Capitol Avenue told him there was a lot of wo

With the national tour of the smash Broadway musical Rent making its last stop in Sacramento, fans from all over the world are flocking to Sacramento's Community Center Theater to experience it one last time. The tour features a multitude of original cast members, including Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. Some fans wait all day for the $23 rush tickets, which go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the show, and provide the opportunity to see the musical from the first two rows. Morgan Macri, Beth Furmoff and Kayla Guminiak had been waiting in line together since 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. They were visiting California for the first time, and had paid more than $500 to visit Sacramento and see Ren

The pictures in the newspapers, on TV and the Internet are devastating. The massive damage of the 7.0 earthquake is hard to imagine even when faced with screen shots. The international response to pull people from the rubble and get supplies in is heartening as is the millions of dollars raised by individual donors and a national star-studded telethon. At the same time, however, what is disheartening is to see the children. UNICEF estimates 380,000 children had already lost one or both parents before the quake and were left homeless when their orphanages collapsed. Now, as many as one million more have been left without one or both parents following the earthquake. UNICEF has warned the s

New life is coming out of old trees in Sacramento. A foothills woodcarver is finishing a prototype for a collectible wood baseball bat made from a tulip poplar loved by generations as it stood on state Capitol grounds for 129 years. Two Mendocino brothers created a seven-foot-tall abstract tree sculpture from another part of the tree. And a Sacramento sculptor is working on a free-form chair from a California black walnut that marked the site of an old wagon trail for at least 140 years. The wood remains of these old trees are being turned into art, furniture and other new projects to benefit the Legacy Trees Project. Sponsored by nonprofit Sacramento Education Events for Art, the proj

Imagine being a child in a world with endless possibilities for creativity. Welcome to Art Beast, an art studio for children located at 2226 K St. Children of all ages are encouraged to act, paint, color, play and dream inside the sacred walls of Art Beast. Parents and adults feel like the visitors in this magical world. The Art Beast contains three floors and a basement perfect for letting your child's creativity run wild. "Everything is here in this building," grandma Rose Orlandi said as she watched her two grandchildren ages 4 and 2. "Clay. Sand. Paint. They have it all and I don't have to worry about getting it on my carpet. Where else can I play too?" Different floors are dedicate

This Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m., Sacramento's Scottish Rite Center will open its doors for Indy Euphoria, "Sacramento's Vinyl Toy, D.I.Y. & Indy Comix Show." The event will feature live art, a charity auction, film screenings, hundreds of vendors, celebrated comic book guests, seminars and workshops. "Indy Comix" is an umbrella term for projects that fall outside the realm of mainstream superhero comics. According to Indy Euphoria founder, Anthony Leano, it encompasses comics that are "alternative, underground, independents or small press, self-published, new brow, and low brow." The art represented by Indy Euphoria steps away from the mass-produced and toward that of a singular, h

For a number of Sacramento's magazines, the phrase "labor of love" takes on a double meaning. Three of the best-known local magazine publications are run by talented couples. Sactown Magazine is run by husband-and-wife team Rob Turner and Elyssa Lee, and Midtown Monthly is run by married couple Tim Foster and Liv Moe. Sacramento's newest couple-run magazine, Submerge, is run by Jonathan Carabba, 24 and Melissa Welliver, 29, who are unmarried. This Saturday, their biweekly will be celebrating its two-year, 50th issue anniversary with a party at Marilyn's on K. It will feature live music from hip-hop artist TAIS, dub artist CHLLNGR (formerly Dub Defender) and DJ Mike Diamond. "I think (wo

Concert pianist Sachiko Kato will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Sunday, December 20, at 3 p.m. The hour-long performance will take place in Capistrano Hall at Sacramento State. Concerts are free to members of the Crocker Art Museum, $12 for nonmembers and $5 for students and seniors. Free parking is available in Parking Structure I, which is adjacent to the Hall. The Goldberg Variations, composed in 1742, is one of Bach’s masterpieces, but it is not often performed in concert due to the complexity and length of the work. Kato will open the concert with a work by contemporary Japanese composer Somei Satoh titled Hashi (Bridges) II. A native of Osaka, Japan, Kato grew up in Los Ang

I woke up this morning thinking "hey, tomorrow is Second Saturday". Of course I am talking about the monthly Art Walk and experience that happens in and around Sacramento's Midtown area. Even though the forecast is calling for some chance of rain, that should be no excuse not to come to midtown and be a part of the monthly festivities and feel the season in the air. Since last Christmas there have been some additions to the monthly event. For one, Midtown is hosting an ice skating rink between  K St and L St on 20th St. Tickets: Admission: Adults, $8 Children, $5 Skate Rental: $2 Info Phone: (916) 442-1500 Secondly, artist Michael Kennedy opened the new Kennedy Gallery at 1114 20th St

One of the best kept secrets of the South Sacramento area is a small, private school tucked away in the Lanai Shopping Center on Freeport Boulevard, neighboring the Sacramento Executive Airport, where it has existed in rented space for 21 years. Over the years, most of the shopping center tenants have moved away. Meanwhile, countless hours of parent, teacher and student work have gone into transforming a run-down property into a school with colorful classrooms and playgrounds. It has an understated entrance, but Camellia Waldorf School is an oasis for children. The kindergarten yard is home to Mr. Mountain, a big pile of dirt, and Ms. Sandy, a big pile of sand. There are climbing struct

More than 95 regional artists and craftspeople will offer their unique gift items during the Crocker Art Museum’s Holiday Art & Craft Festival at the Scottish Rite Center, located across from the main entrance of California State University, Sacramento, at 6151 H Street. Visitors will support the Crocker and local artists while they shop for everyone on their holiday list with an array of gift items and price ranges. The artist’s creations for sale include jewelry, ceramics, paintings, gourmet food, a variety of unique holiday items and more. You can also capture the holiday season by having photos taken with a Victorian Santa Claus in the front lobby. Attendees will also enjoy free parki

Built Environment/Green Space Presentation November 10, 2009 5:30pm-7:30pm Sacramento Food Bank 3333 3rd Avenue, Sacramento, CA AGENDA Moderator: Charles L. Mason, Jr., Ubuntu Green Confirmed Panelists: Anya Lawler, Consultant, California State Assembly Committee on Housing Graham Brownstein, ECOS Davida Douglas, Alchemist CDC Brandon Kitagawa, Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, Statewide Coordinator of Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA) Constance Slider, Coalition on Regional Equity Invited Panelists: Paul Zykofsky, Director of Land Use and Transportation, Local Government Commission Randy Rosalex, Green Sacramento Builders Darnell Robinson, Clearinghouse CDFI

Sacramento-raised painter David Garibaldi delivered a poignant speech at Wednesday's "For Art's Sake" meeting. The 26-year-old thanked Mayor Kevin Johnson and the city for its support and guidance when he was growing up in Sacramento. While Garibaldi was a high school student interested in the arts, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission recognized his potential and sent him to California State Summer School for the Arts on a full scholarship, he said. Garibaldi credited this and his high school art program with helping him redirect a creative fire that led him to graffiti the streets of Sacramento, inspiring him instead to become a performance artist. The "For Art's Sake" initiativ

Jennifer O’Neill-Pickering As both a visual artist and poet, Jennifer O’Neill-Pickering brings a painterly eye to her words on the page. She shows us “the dark blur of crows,” and comments on “silver threads of light/illuminating something you can’t hold/and therefore can never lose.” From "turquoise unions" to "apricot light," a strong visual sensibility is at work in her poetry. When she was growing up, Jennifer he wanted to be an artist and a poet. Her early years were spent in the rural community of Tierra Buena, fifty miles north of Sacramento, with a view of the Sutter Buttes. Today, Jennifer wears many hats, as artists often do: mother, wife, writer, artist, teacher, graphic arti