The Great Rose Bowl Adventure: Take Two

For the past three years, I have started each new year with an adventure. Journeys that were meant to demonstrate all that is right and true in the world. Voyages into the unknown that were intended to start the year off on a high note. It's been rough...

2010: Oregon vs. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Oregon lost.

2011: Oregon vs. Auburn in the BCS National Championship. Oregon lost.

Now 2012 was upon us, and coach Chip Kelly had led the Ducks to an unprescedented third conference championship in a row (in his third season as head coach). I'd gone this far, but could I really suffer at the hands of another crushing loss... in person?? The time, the effort, the cost... all factors that weighed heavily on my mind. But in the end, I decided I couldn't give up on my boys now, so we booked a flight to Pasadena and took a mulligan on the Rose Bowl!

I gotta say, it felt great to be back, and there was definately a different vibe in the air. We'd done this before. We'd gone beyond this to "The Natty". Now, we're back in familiar teritory and ready to give it another go.

I was also reminded about the drawbacks of playing at the Rose Bowl. Most notably: the stadium. It's a cool, historic place, but it is a bitch to get in and (especially) out of there. And then there's the seats... benches with numbers on them that seem to get closer every year. When everyone is standing, it was often necessary to stand sideways in order to fit. When people sat, there wasn't enough room for everyone and somebody had to remain standing. Ridiculous.

But little mattered aside from the final score. I'd been through the ringer twice before, and honestly this was probably going to be the last bowl trip for me, at least for a while. It is such an exhausting trip, and the pain of losing makes the whole journey seem wasted. I can only take so much pain before I have to consider how nice it would be to sit at home and watch the game without some jerk crowding my seat.

But finally, after years of torment, the Ducks pulled it off. And it was glorious.

So, after 3 years, I can FINALLY declare that I've seen the Ducks win a bowl game in person. FINALLY. And on top of that, I can FINALLY start a year off right! 2012 is shaping up nicely, and has already made 2011 and 2010 look stupid in comparison.

Bring on the new year! Go Ducks!

Occupied in Davis

Just when you thought things were starting to wind down... a trigger happy campus cop goes and sets off a pepper-infused firestorm. Here we go again...

Suddenly the spotlight has been nudged East of Oakland to neighboring community Davis, where... well... this happened.

And while it did give birth to a hilarious internet sensation, it also pissed a lot of people off. A LOT of people. Like... this many:

Thousands gathered in the campus quad to collectively proclaim "Don't taze me, bro" (with pepper spray), and to demand that chancellor Linda Katehi resign. It was quite the scene.

Well, to cut to the chase (literally), my week or two of chasing after Katehi for interviews landed me in the line of sight for several national news outlets. See if anybody looks familiar:

It's nice to finally get a little screen time! Like a much more attractive version of Where's Waldo (if I do say so myself...). This is easily my biggest role since 2005's "Guy Buying Sink Parts" in a Roseburg, OR Ace Hardware commercial. Oh yes, this star is gonna shine!

Key to the City! (Featuring Tesla)

I've always heard about important people receiving a "key to the city"... a key that may or may not be able to open any door within the city limits. I never believed the legends, because no man could possibly be trusted with such power. I mean... they could get into candy stores after hours! Pet any of the animals at the zoo! Release all the prisoners in the jail and force them to perform some sort of Michael Jackson dance routine! If this were true, who could possibly be trusted to wield such power?

I know who you're thinking of, so let's say it at the same time. Ready? One... Two... Three!

TESLA!!

Wait, who did you say? Oh come on, I would trust Tesla over Batman any day of the week!

That's right, Sacramento's hometown heroes received the Key to the City from superstar mayor Kevin Johnson, who even went as far as to declare the day "Tesla Day" in Sacramento!

This is easily the biggest day in Sacramento history since the mayor declared "Wendy Williams Day" back in September! Golly, the 2012 calendar is going to be full of holidays next year!

So congratulations to Tesla, who are celebrating their biggest moment since July's nationally televised interview with famed journalist Alfonzo Beta. Just keep that damn key away from my house (and the numerous treasure chests I keep in my garage)!!

Occupied in Oakland

The day finally came last week when I drew the short straw and was shipped off to cover the war zone known as Occupy Oakland. With my trusty camera and urine-resistant shoes, I was ready for deployment...


The Occupiers are a strange race: a mix between disenfranchised blue-collar workers and militant anarchist hippies. The ability for these two to cohabitate in one area is a fascinating sight... one filled with music, singing and the undeniable stench of marijuana, referred to in the camp as "The Devil's Lettuce".


Wandering through the makeshift city, one will find a variety of explanations for this movement: We need jobs! Banks are responsible for the recession! Death to capitalism! 9/11 was an inside job! Legalize the Devil's Lettuce! For what they lacked in direction, they made up for in gumption. And gigantic signs.


Without any general leader, planning seemed to be achieved through rumors and the occasional flier circulating through the crowd. Today's goal: March on the Port of Oakland and shut that sucker down! The problem with this style of planning is that it isn't very precise, leading many to wander along the 2 1/2 mile port looking for the designated site.


Eventually the entrance was discovered, and thousands converged on the port. To be honest, it was a somewhat frightening sight... that bridge was the only way in or out, and if the teargas started flying, it could get ugly really quick. Suddenly storm coverage doesn't seem worth complaining about anymore.


The best part of the day for me came shortly after this, as 10,000 people marched past my live truck (which says FOX on the side) and hurled F-bombs at me. Few stopped to talk and discover that a FOX affiliate is not the same thing as The Fox News Channel, but those who did shrugged off the answer and laid into me with some more anger and hatred. You know, I'm part of the 99% too, people! I just have a job.


But the port was eventually shut down as protesters swarmed the trucks and shipping crates. A line of cops kept them from entering the port itself, but otherwise they held back from engaging the crowd. It was a largely peaceful demonstration, and as the sun began to set, most of the folks made their way back out into the community.


Later in the night, some anarchists started breaking windows and the teargas began to fly... but fortunately my tour of duty had concluded, so I was on my way home for the victory parade. At the end of the day, they managed to keep a bunch of truck drivers from getting paid (part of the 99%), restaurants and stores in downtown Oakland are being forced to close (part of the 99%), and I cried myself to sleep after being cussed out by an army of my friends and neighbors. Also someone pissed on our live truck and a drunk guy almost pulled his wang out during our live shot.

Stay classy, Oakland.

The Day Foo Came to Town

Lets say that one day I become the drummer of a famous band. Let's also say that the singer of this band will be treated like a god. I gotta say, I might get a little jealous and wonder why I hadn't done things differently. Continuing with this hypothetical, let's say the afore mentioned singer leaves (one way or another) and the band breaks up, essentially granting me a mulligan. When forming a new band, should I continue with my drumming ways that led to my fame and fortune, or should I step out front and join the ranks of the mighty rock gods? Fortunately I have no musical talent, so this isn't a situation I ever imagine myself wrestling with.

On a completely unrelated note, ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl brought his little song-and-dance production known as the Foo Fighters to town on Tuesday, where he was met by a respectably sized crowd at Sacramento's Power Balance Pavilion... and judging from their enthusiasm, Grohl should be considered among the top in his game.

Although I must admit, when compared to every other rock frontman on the scene today, Dave Grohl probably comes across as the biggest dork among them. I don't mean that in a demeaning way, I'm just saying that when he tries to banter with the crowd or chat with his bandmates, I can't help but picture an awkward, dorky guy in high school who is trying to act cool. This was punctuated by the fact that he would tuck his hair behind his ears every time he dropped an F-bomb.

But then he'd start playing one of their songs, and his rock god status seemed much more justifiable. Where'd that dorky guy go?

For over two hours, they tore through their catalog dating back to the mid-90s. There was a good amount of new stuff, which is usually a burden on any concert... but when the new stuff is solid (and is recognizable through regular radio play), there's really no reason to complain.

But make no mistake, Grohl was the one in charge on stage. Aside from some chatting and singing from the drummer, the rest of the band remained in their spots and had minimal interaction with the audience. Dueling guitar solos between Grohl and lead guitarist Chris Shiflett was an entertaining interlude half way through the show, but otherwise this was primarily the Dave Show.

That's not to say the rest of the band didn't sound great, especially when cranking out recognizable hits like "Monkeywrench" and "Pretender". After a 23 song set, including a 5 song encore that concluded with "Everlong", these guys justified their recognition in the world of rock. Really a solid, high energy show that left the audience more than satisfied.

Not bad for a dorky ex-drummer. Now if we could just get Krist Novoselic doing something again...

The Day Batman Came to Work

I always get a little nervous when I pull into a parking lot and see the flashing lights of a police car or ambulance. Clearly someting's going down, and (unless I'm on the clock) I don't need to be any part of it, so I have no problem turning around and peeling out to a safer location. That being said, I wasn't sure how I should react when I saw this parked out front of the office today...

At first I was excited, as I am a fan of Batman and his extensive catalog of work (excluding Batman & Robin, of course). But then I realized Batman doesn't usually make public appearances, so perhaps he was here on business? Could a local TV anchor have a super-villan alter ego? Perhaps The Newsmaker, who goes out into the world and creates chaos so that there will be stories for him/her to cover in the evening news? It was so stupid, it just might be true....

But of course it wasn't, because nothing cool like that ever happens in the real world. Turns out there's a local guy that built this sucker as a hobby, dedicating it to the men and women of the US Armed Forces. It regularly makes appearances at fundraisers and such, along with local TV morning shows.

But that's not the guy's only ride... He's also got this beauty, tricked out in Fire Engine Red and dedicated to the fine folks in the line of duty for police, fire and EMT.

This one was always my favorite Batmobile. All the others seemed kinda silly, but this one was actually a car that I would be proud to drive. Tough to park, I'm sure, but when you've got machine guns mounted on the hood, no two-bit jerkwad is gonna be cutting me off in traffic!

A few years back I got the chance to check out the original Batmobile and chat with legendary designer George Barris. While I haven't seen the "Forever" model in person yet, I think I can honestly say that this ride was his finest work, and while the "Begins" model has its perks (that motorcycle is pretty sweet (this replica did not have one, by the way)), this classic is flat-out Batmobile perfection.

Batman was nowhere to be seen, but I know he's a busy guy and doesn't have time to meet all of his fans. At least, I assume that's why he hasn't returned any of my letters...

The rest of the work day was much less eventful.

Incubus Returns

Back in high school, I was a regular patron of rock concerts that came to town. In my various outings, I came across a band called Incubus twice... once as a member of the OzzFest 2000 line up, and once a year before as an opening act for the Black Sabbath reunion tour (along with Pantera). Both times they were outweighed by their metal counter-parts, and both times I was a little underwhelmed with their performance. To be honest, all I really remember is some dreadlocks and a bongo drum or two...

But that was a different time. I was much more of a metal-head back then, and it'd be nearly impossible for any young band to go on before a legend like Pantera and leave with any sort of dignity. That being said, I was curious to see how they'd do a decade later when they made an appearance here in SacTown.

I wasn't really sure what to expect all these years later... and to be fair, I often confused them with The Deftones (who I saw at OzzFest '99, around the same time). They managed to draw a decent crowd for an outdoor concert in October (it rained the day before). Several thousand showed up for the gig, and they seemed pretty amped to check out the band.

Screams of "Take off your clothes, Brandon!" were heard as I mingled about during the performance. I'm not really sure who Brandon was (I assume a member of the band?), but I am pleased to report that all males in the vicinity remained fully clothed.

And speaking of the audience, I couldn't help but notice that pretty much everyone in the crowd was at least in their 20's. That made me feel a little bit better, in that I'm not the only one who hasn't heard much from these guys since high school. But then, music these days isn't what it used to be... perhaps I'm just getting old?

But I will say... after checking out their performance, these guys have aged well. Their sound was solid and tight, with a good amount of energy and some quality audience interaction. I recognized a good handfull of their songs, which is saying a lot considering I was never really a fan, and those songs that I recognized sounded great.

They've got a long way to go before they reach Pantera Status (and let's be honest, they never will)... but they made fine background music to a beautiful Fall evening under a full moon in Northern California.

Plus I got my ticket free, so it's hard to complain! Check out my full photo gallery here.