In the Middle Ages, traveling musicians called troubadours hopped from town to town, sharing songs of love and praise for townsfolk. In 2010, we may have Last.fm and BitTorrent, but the art of the troubador has been nearly lost. Luckily, there are such modern minstrels as Jonathan Richman. The former singer and guitarist of '70s alt-rock band The Modern Lovers tours the world sharing songs about everyday life, troubles and fantasies. He even played a troubadour role in There's Something About Mary. And tonight he will be sharing songs with Sacramento, at the Blue Lamp on Alhambra Boulevard. Fresh from his first tour through South America in April, Richman is now making the U.S. rounds wi

Thanksgiving normally brings family and friends together around the dinner table, but only a Sacramento Thanksgiving brings them together around the Capitol Mall roundabout, whooping and yelling on bicycles. Give thanks for the Appetite Enhancement Bike Ride. The annual underground bicycle parade attracted over 500 people to the California Stage early Thursday morning. R and 25th streets were littered with road bikes, penny-farthings, low-riders, vintage cruisers, every bike imaginable, plus a giant toaster mobile. DJ Larry Rodriguez' international beats and raffle ramblings rang out over the block. What started out as a casual ride with a dozen bikers 21 or 22 years ago — no one can rea

In a flurry of face paint, furry costumes and fixies, around 50 people raced through downtown Davis on bikes Saturday afternoon, a mad dash to the Death Star — a.k.a. the Social Sciences Building at UC Davis — to find a map that would lead them through the rest of the ride: the Day of the Dead-ly Davis Derby. The Halloween ride was the fifth installment of the Davis Deadly Derby, a DIY bike race that changes form with each occurrence. Usually it involves a scavenger hunt, once it involved music performances at each checkpoint, and always it ends in celebration and beer. The makeshift race was organized by members of the Davis Bike Collective, with donations benefitting their new location

In a lively neighborhood-wide gathering rivaled only by the annual flea market, Curtis Park residents on Oct. 6 encouraged and criticized plans to develop Curtis Park Village in the adjacent, long-contaminated Union Pacific Railyard. Local developer Paul Petrovich, president of the Petrovich Development Company, hosted the community meeting at his Stone Pointe complex on Freeport and Sutterville to explain plans for the development and let residents voice concerns. The atmosphere grew tense as attendees questioned him about everything from toxic-cleanup safety regulations to his taste in public art. Petrovich's proposal is to create a sustainable community with residential and retail z