IMPORTANT BATTLE: Davis VS. Sacramento

I have been to Sacramento approximately half a dozen times: Mayyors show, Crocker Art Museum twice, Bike trip to the drawbridge, Greyhound, Sac Airport, and perhaps another visit during childhood.

I have not left the city-state of Davis in at least 30 days.



Someone once told me at a show, "Davis seems more cultured than Sacramento; the university breeds culture." I am not sure if this is true but the person had come from Sacramento so I will accept the compliment on behalf of Davis.

KDVS is based in Davis, not in Sacramento. To a small group of people this is unimportant.

Davis has some art galleries. Sacramento has some art galleries. Draw.

I am friends with more Davis visual artists, but more Sacramento musicians. Double-draw.

Davis is bourgeois. Sacramento wants to be and sometimes is.

Mexican food in Davis is not good. I have been told Sacramento Mexican food is superior. Which brings me to my next point: I have been told Sacramento is the most culturally diverse city in the United States. Davis has too many white people. Davis legend Robert Roy says, "If you dislike Sacramento, you are a racist."

Arnold Schwarzenegger frequents Sacramento. His face frequently appears in the New York Times, occasionally on the front page. Rob Roy lives in Davis. His face, bike, and words appeared today in the New York Times. Advantage: Davis, as Arnold does not actually live in Sacramento.

Traditionally Davis is viewed as an Agricultural town. Sacramento is stereotypically defined by its Governmental presence.

Davis suffers from too many complaints from residents about not being Berkeley. Sacramento has every desire to become Nu-San Francisco. Sad sad Central Valley Draw.

This Blog is called "The Starving Artist... Sacramento & Beyond" as opposed to "...Davis & Beyond". Larger city takes precedent.

Sacramento currently has two main house-show houses. Davis has two semi-consistent show spots, one of which has been doing shows for almost two decades. Slight edge to Davis for epic consistency of the Dam Haus.

Daviswiki.org is a superior resource to Sacwiki.org

The UC Davis Art Department was famous in the 1970's. Sacramento State University Art Department, hmmm...

There are too many fixies for one city in Davis. I have heard many fixies linger on the grid of Sacramento also.

You fill in the rest...

"Little Paper Airplanes" makes my heart soar!

This is what I love: Artists getting together, supporting one another and selling decently priced prints of their work. Go to Little Paper Airplanes to find cute pieces of art, clothing, adorable accessories/buttons and -- my personal favorite -- zines and papergoods. Most items are around $20, but prices range.

Here's a snippet of info about how the site got going:

Little Paper Planes was started in December of 2004 in Los Angeles. As of July of 2008, Little Paper Planes calls San Francisco its home. Everything is stored/shipped in San Francisco. I started it to have a place where my friends and I can could sell stuff we make to help us make some money while we focus on our painting careers, but now the store has grown so much and is a place for all sorts of artists and designers. I feel honored that all the people who sell on the site are a part of it. Everyone is very talented and I have made lots of new friends. Oh and I love all the customers too, and even some of you now sell on the site! Anyhow I am going on and on, just wanted to say thanks.

Thank you so much for visiting Little Paper Planes. xoxo-kelly

Oh, and they accept solicits from other artists too.

(Props to Hilary Weisert for pointing the site out to me!)

Thirsty?

In Honor of 7/11, 7-Eleven is offering free slurpee's all day!

Tacos make it all better?

If you really have to, you might want to get some gas for your car today rather than tomorrow. Maybe two free tacos from Jack in the Box will stop your sobbing? Just show them your reciept.

Here's Jack (who's voice I absolutely hate, by the way) to explain:

This is what your ramen looks like on drugs?

Addicting and dirt-cheap, ramen is kinda like crack... but safe. When all else fails, break open a pack of that noodle block and you'll be a-okay, budget buddies. I usually crack (no pun intended) an egg into my boiling ramen and add frozen veggies, fresh sliced mushrooms and sometimes bean sprouts and chives (best with Oriental flavor). Add a little soy and maybe some hot sauce and you're good to go.

But today I discovered a Web site dedicated to giving the barren noodles crazy makeovers. Most ask you to ditch the flavor packet (good advice), and many are just frightening in general. Recipe ideas range from the safe Ramen Shrimp Salad and a yummy-looking Ramen Vegetable Soup to the questionable Beef Pie (with the also questionable tag-line "Now that's a real man meal!") and iffy desserts like Ramen Pudding.

Here's one of the weirdest recipes from Ramenlicious.com that I plan on trying, because I bet it's delicious (and unhealthy). I'll let you know how it is after I make it:

Doritos Ramen Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 package of ramen noodles
• 1 bag of Doritos
  
• 1/2 lb. of ground beef
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• Taco seasoning (optional)

1. Cook ramen noodles (On the Web site, it actually had instructions on how to do this. Ha!)
2. Cook the ground beef in a cooking pan and place in bowl.
   
3. Add the ramen noodles and mix it with the beef.
4. Place the Doritos chips around the beef like on the picture ("It looks like a flower!" - Recipe Creator)
5. Break into small pieces the Doritos you have left and put them on top of the beef.
6. Add the shredded cheese and taco seasoning (optional)

Oh, and here is a ramen recipe care of Strung Out guitarist Jake Kiley from one of my favorite cookbooks ever (shown below):

Rock 'n' Ramen

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Creamy Chicken Ramen
• 1 package of Roast Chicken Ramen
• Tabasco Sauce
• Butter
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup milk

1. Make the Ramen and drain.
2. Add the two seasoning packs, 2 spashes Tobasco, some butter, pepper, garlic powder and Parmesan. (Kiley says "How much of these ingredients you add is at your own discretion, but I put in a lot!!")
3. "Mix it up and you will notice it becomes a very dry, clingy clump of ramen. That's where I add in about a 1/4 cup of milk to give this ramen it's creamy, exotic texture."

Bummin' around on Bomomo.com

I just spent way too long creating psychedelic art online. With Safari and Firefox, you can "paint" and print your work here.

I can't really figure out how to control the paintbrushes that fly around, but isn't that the fun thing about it?

If you make something cool, post it as a comment.

All I'm saying is give P.C. a chance.

If you've never been to Pancake Circus, the clown-themed breakfast house at 2101 Broadway in Sac, you've never lived.

Well, that may be a stretch. But, seriously, check it out. As most people feel about clowns, you'll either be scared to death or filled with joy and laughter upon entering the retro diner.

Really, besides the pancakes, the food is pretty average and the prices are decent -- $5 to $12 per person. Still, because I love to make lists, here are some reasons why Starving Artists should visit Pancake Circus.

1. The Ambiance. The place is decked out in orange, brown and yellow with "knock-off" Winnie-the-Pooh pictures, circus animals and lots and lots of clowns in both painting and doll form (the spookiest). They even have some type of glass case with bizarre flea market-esque clown toys as if they are all worth a fortune. This shelf is next to the huge lottery ticket dispenser. Yep. You can gamble at breakfast. There are bingo screens too. To sum, Pancake Circus feels like you've either been transported to the '70s or some dinky town in Arizona… today.

2. The Staff. Think “Napoleon Dynamite.” On Sunday, the host was some 14-year-old who looked like he might grow up to be Kip. All he needed was a ‘stache and an Internet girlfriend (which he may already have… I hope!) The busboys bring forth a necessary inmate-chic aesthetic and the cooks all wear those tall chef hats you'd expect to see at some high-end French fusion restaurant, which is both ironic and adorable considering this is a place that takes pride in its senior meal discounts. Oh, and the service is quick and perfect. We went in on an extremely busy Sunday and our waitress made it her mission to make sure we never saw the bottom of our coffee mugs.

3. The Menu. I've only ventured in for breakfast, obviously. Pancakes are important, which is why four plate-sized cakes come with nearly every meal here. Don't want something sweet? Substitute them for country potatoes and toast for no extra charge. For a basic combo, try the "Circus Special," for $7.75. It comes with a choice of ham, bacon, sausage or beef patty with two eggs and four pancakes. (You can also replace eggs with "egg beaters" for an extra 75 cents). Other items: French toast, waffles, omelets, crepes, eggs benedict and veggie benedict (with sliced avocado, tomato and onion), biscuits 'n' gravy, chicken-fried steak, hot links, pork chops and more.

They've also got the basic diner lunch food. You can replace the beef with chicken on any of their burgers. (The Teriyaki Mushroom sounded good to me.) Some of the more unique options include breaded veal served with mashed potatoes and gravy and the Denver Sandwich (ham, bell pepper, onion and egg on a French roll).

The clown on the menu exclaims via a word bubble that Pancake Circus recently converted to zero trans-fat frying oils. Wait, so does that lower my chances of a heart attack after eating here? Score!

Pancake Circus
(916) 452-3322
pancakecircus@gmail.com

Open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
(Crummy hours, right? This would be fun on a silly drunken evening on the town.)

Craft Idea #1: Boxer Bird

While my buddy Craig tried to fashion a realistic-looking bird out of fabric and a soda bottle for an avian behavior experiment, I made this little guy out of a pair of boxers too tattered to even wear around the house.

It's stuffed with leftover Build-a-Bear stuffing, but you can also use rice, lentils, or chopped up fabric scraps. There's wire sewn into the feet so you can bend them around (and sometimes stand him up).

I'm not skilled enough to actually lay out diagrams or explain each step of making your own stuffed doodad, you just have to wing it. Har har.

The point is this: You can recycle any old fabric! Take old clothes that are too dirty or holey or out of style and give them new life!

(While I'm at it, I started an Etsy store.)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Bananas are one of those cursed fruits that always seem to go bad before you can finish them all. Luckily, there is a delicious solution to this problem. Once a banana gets overripe, just throw it in the freezer, and you can use it to make banana bread or muffins even after it turns completely black (weeks! months!).

Bananas are pretty cheap as it is, but I just learned that the Davis Food Co-op keeps a basket of discounted overripe organic bananas, which you can buy by the banana instead of by the bunch. Yesterday I picked up a couple of those to make this these morning:

Elisa's Modified Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1 or 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 4 oz. chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In another bowl, blend together butter, bananas and eggs, then pour over dry ingredients. You'll probably have to add a little water to get it all incorporated. Don't worry about it being lumpy.
4. Grease the cups of a cupcake pan, and fill them up halfway with the batter.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

This will make about a dozen muffins. You can also add 2 tsp. cinnamon or a 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans, chopped or ground or whole, however you like 'em.

Have one with vanilla yogurt for breakfast, one with vanilla ice cream for dessert, and one in a Ziploc bag for a snack. Hope you enjoy!

I've got gas!

The strangest thing happened this weekend: I drove to Southern California on Friday night, drove back up on Memorial Day afternoon, and... get this... I hit NO TRAFFIC JAMS. Yep, the apocalypse is upon us, ladies and gents; expensive gas is leading to less travel on weekends when roads are typically most-packed. 'Twas weird.

To look on the brighter side, the prices have undoubtedly left some people finding creative ways to get around -- bikes, buses, straight-up staying home. But for those of us who need to fill 'er up, News10 has a pretty great Web site that posts where you can get the cheapest gas in the Sac area.

Maybe we should all get Costco cards, because it looks like that's the best deal around.


As a side-note, doesn't News10's Marcey Brightwell (first) look exactly like John McCain's creepy wife Cindy McCain (second)? AAHHH!!