Sacramento, CA | This weekend, the Garden & Arts Center near McKinley Park played host to the Sacramento Rose Society’s 63rd Annual Rose Show. The show was open to anyone from novices to amateurs. “This year, participants came from as far away as Chico,” said Dave Coop, a member of the Society. The Rose Society this year went with a smaller trophy table than in earlier years to make more room for the floral displays. All winners were to receive gift cards for their entries, but the main winners of the rose show are the Hybrid Tea Roses, which compete for the biggest trophy “Queen of Show”. Judges are looking for form, substance, and if the roses stay true to their variety. Getting roses

Nestled between a Party City and a Sports Authority on Arden Way, Tropicana Nightclub hosted one of the biggest names in underground hip hop Wednesday. Brooklyn’s Talib Kweli performed for a diverse, crowded and engaged audience. The line to get in to Tropicana formed 15 minutes before the announced door-opening of 7:30 p.m. and maintained for over an hour as the nightclub filled out. Stepping in the door, visitors entered a large, open space with vendor booths along the back and side walls and a large stage with two DJ booths. Also on stage was a Roseville tattoo artist named Jonas, piecing together a large, painted portrait of Kweli that reached its completion right as he took the stag

As an (almost) native Californian, I realized long ago that the weather allows us the privilige to take certain things for granted, often to the chagrin of the rest of the country.  Most of us don't own a snow shovel.  We get fresh produce pretty much year-round.  And for the vast majority of us, the double-digit months don't necessarily signal the end of barbecue season.  I barbecue pretty much year round, and why not?   Even when the mercury dips to a chilly 38 degrees (you know, when the rest of the country is in the single digits----hee, hee, hee), what's nicer than warming yourself over an open fire  that also happens to be providing your supper?  And whatever you're in the mood for,