April Fool’s Day sometimes known as All Fool’s Day isn’t a real holiday, but is celebrated in many countries on April 1st.  It’s a day when it’s not just okay, but almost expected, that there will be all sorts of practical jokes and even elaborate hoaxes.  April 1st is the one day all year that you can play outrageous jokes on friends, neighbors, family members, and even your enemies are fair game.

If you’re a prankster at heart check out this link to the top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time.  My favorite is #8.  In 1998 Burger King purchased a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu “The Left-Handed Whopper”.  The ad stated that the new Whopper contained the same ingredients as the original version (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty etc.) but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for their left-handed customers.  The next day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that even though the left-handed burger was a hoax, several thousand customers had gone into the restaurants to request the new burger. 

Time to pull out the old bag of tricks and have a great day…..Happy April Fool’s Day!

April Fool's Day

Friday, April 3, 2009 from 10:00AM to 5:00PM the Green Home Expo is coming to the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.  The Expo is a place where you can see the latest environmentally friendly products and services for both the homebuilding industry or just for improving the home you have.  Click on this link for a list of the exhibitors.

Admission to the show is free so come on down to the Sacramento Green Home Expo and find out how you can go green without scaring the neighbors.

Going Green Means Different Things to Different People

Tomorrow March 31st is the actual birthday of Cesar Chavez, but since this is the closest Monday to that day we are celebrating the official state holiday in California as well as the City of Sacramento today.

Cesar Estrada Chavez (March 31, 1927 - April 23, 1993) was a Mexican American farm worker and civil rights activist who helped found the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers.  His work helped improve the working conditions for union laborers and his birthday has become a state holiday in eight states including California.  The holiday is celebrated with government office closings as well as festivals and parades in some places. 

Here in Sacramento we have also shown our respect for Mr. Chavez by naming a park in his honor.  Cesar Chavez Park is located at 901 J Street, Sacramento, Ca 95857, and is a small green oasis in downtown Sacramento that is often used by musicians for performing and in season hosts a Farmer’s Market.

On Saturday more than 700 people participated in a march to honor Cesar Chavez that wound from Southside Park past the Capitol and ended appropriately in Cesar Chavez Park across from City Hall.  Parade organizers said the theme of the parade was “Freedom, Justice, and Equality for All”, which is what Chavez stood for when representing the farm workers he worked so hard to organize.

Cesar Chavez Park

I went to meet a friend at Chili’s on Truxel Road for lunch the other day and had a nice surprise when I found the little gem next door.  Yo-Go Frozen Yogurt, 3889 Truxel Rd., Sacramento, CA 95834, is a bright cheerful place with just what you need to satisfy that urge for just a little something special.

Every time I go to LA I find that I really “need” to go to Pinkberry every day.  Pinkberry started as one small frozen yogurt store in 2005 and they became so popular that they now have a bunch of stores in LA and even in New York, and I think they are selling franchises too.  The point is not to tell you how much I like Pinkberry, but to let you know that we have something that may be real competition for it right here in Sacramento.  The thing I like about Pinkberry is their yogurt is tart, not quite as sweet as the normal run of the mill frozen creamy stuff.  At Yo-Go they have a flavor called “Tart” that is the only one I have found to compare to the Pinkberry flavor.  Besides having the “Tart” flavor they have several others if you would rather just have sweet and creamy.  Not only that they have lots of toppings including a great selection of fresh fruit just like the ones at Pinkberry that everyone likes so much.  Another great thing that is even better than Pinkberry is that you help yourself and they just weigh it and charge you accordingly.  If you feel like just a little more you don’t have to pay for the next size up, or if you want just a little of three different toppings you just pay for what you get instead of a whole serving of each one.

Besides all this good stuff it is a locally owned Sacramento business.  I met the owner who along with the rest of his staff was friendly and helpful.  Another bonus is they give you a punch card so that after you buy eight times your ninth one is free. 

The motto on their website is “You can never have enough of the good stuff!” and I agree.

Yo-Go Frozen Yogurt

If you want to see these fast handed kids you need to come to the 4th Annual City of Sacramento Sport Stacking Tournament.  This high handed sports exhibition is free and it’s happening this Saturday, March 28th and Sunday March 29th from 8:00AM to 4:00PM at Didion Elementary School, 6490 Harmon Drive, Sacramento, CA. 

Sport stacking consists of contestants stacking and unstacking cups in predetermined sequences…the 3-3-3, 3-6-3, and cycle with blazing speed.  This weekend’s two-day sport stacking tournament featuring five to twelve year olds will help crown local champions and finalize the team that will represent Sacramento at the World Sport Stacking Championships this April in Denver.

If you are like me and a little skeptical about whether this stacking stuff is for real or will possibly cause death by yawning, check out this video for an example of the fast stacking of cups called Sport Stacking that is sweeping the country.  This is Steven Purugganan, world champion stacker courtesy of YouTube:

Great news for Sacramento!  The Volunteer-a-thon on Good Day Sacramento teamed up with Mayor Kevin Johnson and got pledges of over 100,000 hours of volunteer service for organizations in our community.  Click on this link to see the story on the Good Day Sacramento website.

Good Day Sacramento Volunteer-a-thon

All the speeches and ribbon cutting stuff starts at 10:00AM but if you want to sleep in and just come for the fun, there will be a community festival on the bridge from 11:30AM to 1:30PM tomorrow, Saturday, March 28, 2009.  There will be food vendors, exhibits and entertainment by the “Dam Road Closed” Band as well as others.  Don’t worry, this is not a “go play in the traffic” event, the cars and trucks are off limits until 4:00PM after the party’s over.

By the way the official name of the bridge is “Folsom Lake Crossing” which was picked for over 800 name suggestions submitted in a contest to name the bridge. 

So come on over and check out the view from the new $132 million bridge before the wheels start to roll when it opens for traffic at 4:00PM.  For information about parking and shuttle information click on this link for bridge info.

Folsom Lake Crossing Under Construction

President Obama had an internet town hall meeting today.  I tuned in and was impressed to see the newest version of the FDR fireside Chats.  There were almost 100,000 questions submitted and over three and a half million votes from all over the country to decide what Americans want to talk with their president about.  In case you missed it but are interested you can go to whitehouse.gov to read their blog entry about the town hall meeting which even has a full transcript if you want detail.

One of the questions that hit home for us here in California was about legalizing marijuana to create revenue.  Last month Democratic State Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano, introduced a bill that would legalize pot and allow the State of California to regulate and tax its sale.  His thought was that it would bring billions of dollars to our cash strapped state.  President Obama didn’t agree with that theory.

Courtesy of YouTube here is his response to the question about legalizing marijuana:

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, from 10:00AM to 2:00PM the California Museum, 1020 O Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, will celebrate Barbie’s 50th with a book-signing for Robin Gerber’s newest biography, ”Barbie and Ruth”.  The book tells the story of Mattel founder Ruth Handler and the creation of Barbie.  From 11:00AM to 12:00PM, Gerber will lead a discussion on Handler and Barbie’s legacy of the last 50 years and then sign her new book, which can be purchased in the Museum’s store.

The Museum will also have a display of about 200 Barbies, ranging from vintage to designer, as well as the only Maria Shriver Barbie Doll which is housed in the Museum’s vintage Barbie display.  

There will also be arts and crafts projects for the family.  This is a great chance for a day of mother-daughter bonding, as well as an interesting close of Women’s History Month.

California Museum

The Sacramento Super Heroes defend the River City against the economic trifecta of tragedy!

Check it out courtesy of YouTube: