Filmmakers took 48 hours to incorporate an object, a name, a phrase and a genre into a four- to seven-minute short film last month as part of the Sacramento International Film Festival. Saturday night, the Crocker Art Museum hosted the 26 completed submissions in the three-hour 48 Hour Film Challenge screening event. The following night attendees found out who won during the awards ceremony on the Delta King. As a first-time filmmaker, W. Mark Dendy found the 48 Hour experience harrowing. “It was managing the whole crew and keeping in contact with them,” he said. “I got a text message at 11 on the second night that one of the main supporting actors was pulling out. We were shooting all

The Sacramento International Film Festival opened to a packed house this last Saturday at the Crocker Art Museum to the film “A California State of Mind: The legacy of Pat Brown” directed by Sascha Rice. The Sacramento International Film Festival, in its current inception since 2003, has three objectives: serve as a skills incubator for the local film community, bring international films to northern Californians, and provide a forum for conversation between independent filmmakers and industry professionals from Hollywood. W. Mark Bendy is a first time director, who participated in Cine Visionaries and the 48 Hour Film Challenge events, shared some of his experiences last night during the

Our world is just too complicated sometimes. We are surrounded by politicians, economists, scientists, and religious leaders who dazzle us with conflicting misinformation about how the world works and what our place in it should be. Nothing is clear anymore. It’s really hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Used to be, it was much easier to know who to cheer for. Take, for example, the legend of Robin Hood. The guy was a clear hero, an outlaw who stood up for the poor and downtrodden against the greed and evil of a corrupt government. He outwitted the minions of darkness and brought hope and security to the powerless and exploited peasantry. He was the champion of the 99% in 13t

Happy Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, as it’s usually known! While today is the official day, celebrations started ahead of time this past weekend. On Saturday, Old Sacramento came alive with the Old Sacramento Mardi Gras event, organized by the Old Sacramento Business Association. Participating locations provided various amenities to ticket holders—including free cover, food & drink specials, and live music (with the occasional strand of beads thrown in). It was great fun to see the streets of Old Sacramento alive and bustling, and attendees getting into the mood with elaborate masks, beads, and Mardi Gras colors. After bopping around from spot to spot for a bit—stopping in at Delta King, Ri

Looking to celebrate the New Year in style? The Sacramento Press has compiled a list of New Year's Eve events that will start 2012 off with a bang. Sacramento New Year’s Eve Dinner Gala Hornblower Yacht 1206 Front Street Boarding at 6:45 p.m. Cruise is from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. $128 per person. Discounts are available for seniors and children Get a private viewing of the fireworks on the river aboard the Hornblower Yacht. Hornblower Cruises and Events offers a three-hour cruise that includes a four-course seated dinner, a cocktail bar that includes dinner liqueurs and house champagne. There will be a DJ on board for guests who have their dancing shoes on. For more information, visit the web

Capital Stage’s move from the Delta King to the heart of Midtown, while a great deal of work, seems to have gone smoothly. The new theater certainly fulfills the part of Capital Stage’s mission about performing “in an intimate, close up setting.” Capital Stage chose “Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts to open its seventh season. It is the first in a theater designed by them to produce the type of shows they like to do. Letts is now best known for “August: Osage County” a major Broadway hit bigger than life in every way. “Superior Donuts” tells the story of Arthur Przybyszewski a classic hippy from the 60s. Arthur now runs the rundown North Chicago donut shop inherited from his Polish emigra

Over 100 people came to Capital Stage’s grand opening gala Friday night to celebrate and support the new theater space. Capital Stage, located on the Delta King for the past six years, has now moved into its own space at 2215 J St. The inside of the new theater is sophisticated and warm. The exterior wall facing J Street is crimson red and a modern metal sign that reads Capital Stage hangs next to the front entrance. On Oct. 7 Capital Stage received its occupancy permit from the city and its new sign arrived. Five days later they put on their first performance, and Friday was the official grand opening. Warm pumpkin-colored walls greet theatergoers as they enter the building, and large

The sixties brought a lot of changes. A new government brought hope, yet an ongoing war and its associated costs brought conflict and despair. New careers were opening up for women in nontraditional jobs, and there was a new sexual freedom in the air. It was an era of loving and being sexually attracted to whoever one found attractive while sharing them with whoever also found them attractive. “Or” celebrates all of this. Liz Duffy Adams’ hilarious play “Or” is the final play of the sixth season of Capital Stage, and their last onboard the Delta King in Old Town Sacramento. This production also brings together Capital Stage’s original founders, Stephanie Gularte, Jonathan Rhys Williams an

Join WEAVE and TheGridLife.com on June 9th for a charity happy hour aboard the Delta King! Enjoy your favorite drink in a great atmosphere and meet some of this seasons Sacramento Mountain Lions Cheerleaders! There will be LIVE music by Hans Eberbach. This is going to be a good time for a great cause! Event Info: 1000 Front Street Sacramento, CA Thursday, June 9th 2011 6:00PM-8:30PM Hosted by: TheGridLife.com Featuring: Sacramento Mountain Lion Cheerleaders and live music by Hans Eberbach Watch the video on YouTube Share the event on Facebook In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes of spreading the word far and wide. We are grateful to Sacramento

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.” ~W.C. Fields     The 18th Amendment, which banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol in the United States, was ratified on Jan. 16, 1919. As a result, drinking in the United States stopped almost completely. Drunk and disorderly behavior went the way of the dodo, crime rates sunk like a turd in a jug and America became an idyllic utopia full of stolid, sober, upright men and women who had finally been saved from that liquid Mephistopheles which had held them captive for so long. "Is this Heaven?" people were known to ask one another. "No, it's just government-mandated Prohibition" s

  Can I really taste oak and butter in my wine? What is really the point of swirling my wine glass around? Who cares if a glass of wine has legs? Those questions, among many others, are what I set out to get answered when enrolling in Wine Tasting 101 taught by wine expert G.M. “Pooch” Pucilowski. Taught aboard the Delta King, the three-part course aims to make wine drinkers more comfortable and confident when choosing and discussing wine. It’s probably important to disclose that two weeks ago the extent of my wine knowledge didn’t go much further than knowing that one too many glasses of red seems to inevitably give me a headache, and that nothing melts a stressful day of work away lik

  FICTION by Steven Dietz at Capital Stage There’s an old adage in theatre that audiences attend with ‘a willing suspension of disbelief’. That is to say that they willingly set aside the truth and accept the fact that Peter Pan can fly even though the wires holding him up are plainly seen. That applies to theatre, film, and especially literature. But what if we believe every word we read? Can fiction become fact? Is something true simply because we believe it? In 2003 author James Frey wrote a memoir of his struggle with addiction called ‘A Million Little Pieces’. He was lauded as a troubled genius with a brilliant future, and America loved him. When the truth came out that a portion of

Love is in the air but more importantly, so is butter. Although Valentine's Day is fast approaching, don't worry. There is still time to book a romantic evening. Restaurants all over town have special menus to mark the occasion. Below are menu samplings from several local restaurants: Paragary's, 1408 28th St., and Cosmo Cafe, 1000 K St., are having a special weekend prix fixe menu in honor of Valentine's Day. Paragay's menu will include an appetizer, entree and dessert. Entree choices are petrale sole or beef short ribs braised in red wine. Cosmo also will offer three courses, with an entree choice of roasted lamb loin chop or grilled Hawaiian swordfish. After your meal at Cosmo, keep t

On June 5, the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation will host a Riverboat Casino Night on board the Delta King Riverboat, providing a colorful look at the world of the riverboat gambler. This event will feature authentic 1850s games of chance, including Chuck-A-Luck, Faro and Shut the Box, as well as more familiar games like poker and roulette. Also featured are a silent auction, live music and entertainment, and food and drink, all appropriate to the Gold Rush era. Re-enactors in period attire will add to the atmosphere of the event. While period attire is not required for those who attend, it is encouraged. Several stores in Old Sacramento, including Sacramento Dry Goods on Second and I St

Singapore. Kailua, Hawaii. And Sacramento? Yes, our hometown has made the Los Angeles Times' "most underrated places of the world" list. Compiled by the newspaper's travel staff, the list includes spots around the world as great places to visit that usually don't make the covers of the glossy travel magazines. But why Sacramento? The Times says it's a great day trip, full of history and beauty. And the newspaper is right: Here's an excerpt from the Times http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-underrated19-2009apr19: Why people ignore it: Just 80 miles from the breezy, self-consciously quaint tourist magnet of San Francisco, Sacramento is anything but. Saddled with hot summers, a dy

In Northern California, vineyards, wineries and the wines they produce are a main stay of our economy. One of the elements of creating a successful wine is creating enthusiastic wine tasters who can appreciate all that goes into making wine. Wine tasting is fast becoming one of the "Great American" past times for those in the world famous California wine producing areas. Whether you live here or are just passing through, taking a day to just get away from everything and visiting a winery or two will do wonders for your five senses and the soul. Whenever I would go wine tasting I would always feel inadequate next to someone who appeared to be a true wine connoisseur. The holding of the g