"The crowd was not what one would typically expect to see at a comedy show. This was not the typical venue for a comedy show and Paula Poundstone is not a typical comedian. The Crest Theatre was full to the ceiling on Friday night. The older crowd crammed their way into the tiny seats of the main auditorium. They were likely public radio enthusiasts who had heard Poundstone’s frequent appearances on NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” or the “Prairie Home Companion.” Poundstone ambled onto the stage slightly after seven-thirty after a short hold while patrons who had arrived merely on time were herded to their seats. Poundstone, who has been performing for over thirty years, entered in he

Over 30 teams of bike scavengers took to the streets of downtown Sacramento Saturday in a race against time to interpret clues, hunt for items and complete challenges for the Bicycle Kitchen’s annual Hunt the Grid bike scavenger hunt. If cyclists didn’t know Sacramento before the hunt, they sure do now. The hunt, now in its third year, is an event where teams of four hit the pavement and try to solve clues based on well-known venues and random oddities of Sacramento. Bike Kitchen staff member and event organizer Ryan Sharpe, 32, planned the event with his staff non-stop for six weeks. “No one is going to look at the city in the same way,” he said. The city was broken up into quadrants,

Fifty-eight local Girl Scouts will receive their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouts, during the annual Recognitions of Excellence Ceremony this Sunday. Girl Scouts who earn this award have demonstrated leadership skills, career planning and community involvement. To earn the Gold Award, girls are challenged with the task of choosing a community issue and addressing the root cause with a sustainable solution. Girls choose issues they are passionate about and spend a year or more planning and executing their projects. Nationally, only 5.4 percent of girls eligible to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award actually receive it, so this is a huge accomplishment for these local gir

Once the introductory applause had quieted down in The Crest Theatre, Dave Eggers settled into his chair and asked his audience of literary fans and admirers the score of the Giants/Phillies game. He said he wouldn’t be able to relax until he knew. With similar candidness and humor, Eggers opened up about his latest nonfiction book “Zeitoun,” which documents the life and wrongful imprisonment of a Muslim-American man, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Sharing the stage with Eggers was Sacramento State’s Joseph Palermo, an associate professor of history. Together they discussed what it was like to have a relative wrongfully incarcerated, the mi

Applause filled The Crest Theatre Thursday night when a scene from the documentary “The Next American Dream” displayed an enormous tractor claw demolishing a freeway overpass. The scene symbolized an end to urban sprawl, its destructive effects on nature and its seeming lack of forethought in urban planning. No one specific group, organization or political party took responsibility for the showing of the film. Instead, it was communicated to the audience that the film was being brought to the Crest by a group of people who call Sacramento home. Dustin Littrell, a local architect and designer, ambiguously revealed that the idea for showing the film in Sacramento began among “a group of ca

Eagles bass player Timothy B. Schmit hit the road for his first music tour at about five years old. Schmit wasn't playing the music; he was on the road with his father, a musician active in the Northern California club scene. Schmit's father sold the family house in the Bay Area and moved them into a mobile home, driving from town to town, wherever his band had a show. After several upgrades, the family purchased an "Expando-Home" and settled in Sacramento, where Schmit began his long and winding career in music. Friday night, Schmit will play a show at the Crest Theatre to promote his latest solo album Expando, which was released in October. Americana singer-songwriter Elliot Randall wi

The "Coexist? Comedy Tour" is getting some national attention after more than two years of performing at a number of California comedy venues. About 600 people filled The Crest Theatre on Saturday to view a one-night-only performance that was taped live by filmmaker Larry Brand, producer of HBO's Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl. The Coexist Tour began with an everyday conversation between comedians Keith Lowell Jensen, an athiest, and Tapan Travedi, a Hindu. After speaking about religion, they realized that they were spiritual opposites -- Travedi believes everything is a god, while Jenson believes nothing is a god. They decided making jokes about their religious differences would make

The Messenger Directed by Oren Moverman By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are an Army Casualty Notification Detail, tasked with informing the N.O.K. (next of kin) when their loved ones have been killed in action. It’s a soul-destroying assignment and, as explained by the older man (Harrelson) to his younger colleague (Foster), it’s not one that can be made easier by staged shows of understanding. But it’s a necessary function in a time of webcams and cable news shows. They race to get to the N.O.K. before they hear the news from anybody else. Foster has been on the edge of stardom for a decade and may be best recognized recently as Angel in “X-Men: The Last

The Crest theatre brought back memories for one pair of Sacramentans Tuesday Night. Dick and Joanne Cossairt, both 76, were among hundreds on hand to celebrate the Crest's 60th anniversary with the screening of "That Midnight Kiss." "The new Crest marquee looks the same as when we were kids," Joanne Cossairt said. "They did an amazing job." The evening began around 6 p.m. with many in line at the concessions table for the 60th-anniversary special: ten packs of Smarties candy which were popular in the 1940s, soda and popcorn for $3. Then at 7 p.m., Crest manager Sid Heberger took to the stage to make a presentation. She thanked those who were there at the original screening and a young

As a throwback to the 40s, 60 cents will get you a ticket to That Midnight Kiss. For their 60th anniversary celebration, The Crest will try to recreate the atmosphere of the original grand opening event. After watching a Fox Movie newsreel of the opening night celebration, the audience will watch That Midnight Kiss, the same film screened 60 years ago at the grand opening. Attendees are also encouraged to wear '40s-style clothing and can eat 1940s candy such as Smarties, Flicks and Black Crows, available at the concession stand. The grand opening was attended by then-Gov. Earl Warren, and Sacramento's first female mayor, Belle Cooledge, as well as the film's stars Mario Lanza and Kathryn

There is no place like home, and that is exactly what 12 local filmmakers will prove at the 10th annual "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival hosted by Access Sacramento. PCS challenges local filmmakers to write a 10-minute script about the people, places and events that define our community. "The idea of telling a story and making a movie is, in some ways, the great American novel," said Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento. "For many, making a film is a lifelong ambition. They just need an outlet to succeed." And that outlet is being provided by Access Sacramento. Each year, Sacramentans have a unique opportunity to submit their original work to Access Sacramento, a