California Auto Museum 'Woodie' Opening Party Tonight

The Cal Auto Museum (formerly the Towe) is opening their Woodie exhibit tonight from 6-9pm. They'll also be showing Endless Summer and Big Wednesday-- if you have never seen Endless Summer, this is a great chance to see a true classic. I've never seen Big Wednesday (John Milius' debut film) but have heard good things about its depiction of mid-sixties surf culture.

Also on tap will be the Retronauts playing surf music.

Midtown Monthly is one of the sponsors of the exhibit and we'll be there tonight. I'll be there manning a MM table and trying to catch Big Wednesday...

The exhibit, Carved Elegance: Woodies, Wheels, and Waves, opens tonight and will run through September 19.

To most car enthusiasts, Woodies bring back memories of lazy California summer days on the beach, complete with surfboards and campfires. But long before they were considered cheap transportation and an icon of the Beach Boys, Woodies were prized by elite customers for their unique styling and craftsmanship.

“In their early years, Woodies were not produced on an assembly line, but were hand-made by independent craftsmen that added a look of carved elegance to what began as an unfinished body,” said Karen McClaflin, Executive Director of the California Automobile Museum. “Later, U.S. car makers turned to wood to re-create that elegance in cars that stood out from the crowd as buyers were starved for a new, stylish look after years of war when no cars were produced at all.”

The cars in the California Automobile Museum’s exhibit this summer represent that era when car makers embraced the warmth and color of wood to create an upscale, suburban “town and country” look with model names that suggested the affluence of the “Country Squire.” The exhibit includes eight varieties of Woodies including Ford, Pontiac and Dodge models from the early 1930s through the 1960s, detailing the evolution of the Woodie Wagon. To compliment the vehicles, various art pieces, vintage surfboards, and period memorabilia will also be on display.

Record Swap!

The KDVS / Midtown Monthly Record Swap at Luigi's was a total blast!  After a long Friday night in Nevada City I barely managed to get up in time to make the 8AM Saturday opening, but I was glad I did.  I've pretty much given up on 'collecting' records, which means I'm only looking for stuff I'm actually going to listen to.  I made sure my first stop was at Smiller and Becky's table where, sure enough, I scored some great vinyl (Ahmad Jamal- 50 cents!) for cheap.  Woodhouse showed up with a couple of copies of the new Mayyors 12" which were only for show- the for-sale copies are still being stomped on behind Pritchard's house (I'm not kidding).  I picked up a lot of records I've been looking for including the Byrds Pre-Flyte and the Replacements Pleased to Meet Me, but the star of the show turned out to be Bud Fletcher Live at the Outhouse, Volume 2.  This indescribable, unlistenable yet un-turn-offable cajun 'adults only' lp just may be my new favorite artifact of the American civilization.  Hippapotamouse!

Thanks to Tony King for the Record Swap Photo

Record Swap this Saturday!

This Saturday, KDVS and Midtown Monthly present another fantastic record swap! Featuring over a dozen vendors, this swap takes place from 9am-2pm at Luigi's Fun Garden in Midtown Sacramento.

This event is all ages, admission is only $3 and benefits KDVS radio.

Dig through bins of records and find some amazing gems, quarky tunes and all inbetween. There will also be back issues of Midtown Monthly available, zines, KDVS merchandise and much more!

Luigi's Slice will be selling special Breakfast pizza in the morning, so come hungry! Pizza, soda and beer to be sold throughout the day to satiate your record hunting abilities.

Happy shopping!

Pig roast

I know it's been a long time since I posted on the MidMo blog but here I am at work at 6pm trying to avoid writing my past-due MidMo column. Heh heh, hope Tim doesn't read this.

I read on Yelp that Mulvaney's is doing a pig roast on Monday. It's 35 bucks including full meal with dessert. He is cooking a special pig stuffed with chickens! Seating at 7, call for reservations.

Ground Chuck blew my mind!

While sitting in Luna's last night waiting for Ground Chuck to arrive I was reminded of our first encounter some 15 or 16 years ago. My sister and I were eating lunch at Piece's and this hyper skinny frenetic white dude with long hair wearing all black and carrying a boom box that was held up to his left ear kept shooting in and out of the restaurant in fits. Not knowing him, neither of us knew what to expect, although after a few minutes we noticed that he had begun working on a large chalk art mural on the sidewalk outside which peeked our interest. We also noticed that everyone in the place was jazzed to know him and he addressed every customer like they were old friends eventually including my sister and I. I don't remember what we talked about at the time but I remember being charmed by the whole experience.

In the years that have followed I've encountered Chuck more times than I can count. Sometimes he's working on his art, others he's hanging out around town discussing his real love in life... Norwegian death metal. There was even talk at one point of having a fundraiser to send Chuck to Norway. I'm not sure if that fundraiser ever happened...

Flash forward to last night when Keith Lowell Jensen tells me that Ground Chuck will be performing his stand up routine at Luna's during Jensen's new Comedy Night. Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Chuck does stand up? This I had to see.

The night began with all of the fits and starts an amateur comedy night can provide, with some funny moments and some fairly awkward as newbies open the show with untried material. Fortunately, Luna's intimate surroundings were filled with many fellow comedians and other supporters of the scene to cushion the missteps.

Chuck was running late and about three or so acts in I was beginning to worry that I wasn't gonna get what I came for. Fortunately, Chuck walked in at the perfect moment and took the stage like he owned it, kicking things off with a quote that went something like, "alright, y'all I got tourettes so y'all fuck with me here and I'm gonna bolt. I'm fucking serious!" If you know Chuck you know that he is in fact serious. This opening line completely commanded the audience's attention and what followed were fifteen minutes of well written and delivered comedy bits including, anecdotal jokes about growing up addicted to metal music, and "vernacular" snack products. In almost every instance the set-up, delivery, and punch line were perfectly timed. Better still Chuck's refreshing stage presence was unabashed, and abrasive in an almost unselfconscious way. Not bad for guy just starting out.

Chuck was also on Insight yesterday morning along with Jensen and some of the other comics featured on last night show to promote Keith's new Comedy Night Programming at Luna's. You can catch that program here.

The night's headliner was a comedian named Ray Molina who I wasn't familiar with prior to last night's show but was happy I caught. Ray's unassuming stage presence caused his punch lines to sneak up on me, and I found myself laughing unexpectedly on more than one occasion. Funny, funny, stuff. Sadly, the second Pabst I had during the set snuffed my already shoddy memory so I unfortunately, don't remember any of his zingers so I will spare you my ham fisted retelling of his jokes. Suffice to say if he comes back you should be sure to catch him.

Jensen's Comedy Night will be an ongoing affair with Cheese headlining next weeks program. If you're looking for a little midweek entertain this is a fine way to spend $5.

For more info check out Jensen's site at:
rockass.net

or Luna's:
www.lunascafe.com

Thrifting is good for animals and other living things

I have a loose list of my top 10 favorite things ever. Some are lifelong loves: my mother, Sacramento, Rock and Roll. A few may be just what is on my mind today, like a David Sandwich (Folkenflik and Kestenbaum, meow!), but somewhere in there, probably pretty high are dogs (see adorab pic below) and thrift stores. That’s why I will be attending the Annual Spring Boutique Sale at the SPCA Thrift Store this weekend. Buying old crap treasures and helping homeless animals at the same time!? Sign me up! The store will be filled with higher end merchandise and more collectibles than usual. Hopefully that handsome Jack Russell terrier that works there will come out and say “Hi.”

SPCA Thrift

1517 E St, Sac

10am-5pm Sat, 12-5 Sun

916-442-8118

Bittersweet celebration

After a series of trials and tribulations, Niki and Jake, owners and operators of the Javalounge, have decided to bow out of the project and move on. It fills me with great sadness to have to report this as I have looked forward to seeing both of their smiling faces nestled amongst the Skinner murals and coffee pots in search of my morning caffeine fix these past few years. Saturday night will be their last night at the helm and they will be hosting a killer show featuring the Bananas(!), the Foureyes, and Woodpussy. Come out and show them your support.


Good luck you guys!