Les Miserables - Sutter Street Theatre - September 26, 2026

Videos of the Cone Incident

To preface everything, Fuck SacPD! 

 I missed the Thursday evening (Sept. 24th) events at the John Moss Center in downtown Sacramento by about half an hour. SacPD keeps trying to enforce their idea of how we should use traffic cones. Even though SacPD is not supposed to be working with ICE, everything they do supports ICE. 

 I don't know why Faygo put music here. It wasn't funny. Faygo asks the officer if she's going to have any emotional breakdowns. We've noticed she doesn't seem well-suited to this kind of police work.

 

In many ways Allen's video is better. Allen speaks though most of the video.  Trouble and Jaxon were arrested and kept in jail overnight.

 

A Vigil

Joining the group tonight (*Sept. 24th) at the Sacramento County Jail. Two of our group were rather-brutally arrested tonight for cones intruding into the traveled way. SacPD at their petty best.

A Minor Incident On The Couch

Several Limericks

Here are several limericks in honor of things I've seen around Sacramento this week. 

First, I saw a drone hovering over Fair Oaks Blvd. just west of Watt Avenue, for no apparent reason: 

Once there was a drone named Dot 

Floating at Fair Oaks and Watt 

Dot hovered so well 

Above that streetwise hell 

That I stared and thought "That's hot!" 

Second, after nightfall, I was driving on the eastbound Highway 50 to the northbound Capital City Freeway transitional ramp when a large rat crossed hastily: 

I've seen them in the ivy 

Rustling, chittering be 

Rats astound and boss 

But why do they cross? 

The highway for all to see? 

Finally, Jasper and I saw these turkey vultures circling around the Land Park neighborhood, where they often roost. 

Turkey vultures of Land Park 

Roosting in trees before dark 

They circle and sit 

They care not a whit 

For cowed walkers on a lark

Buster in the Bunker

Road Closed To Thru Traffic

Sloat Way here is a cul-de-sac. It's always been closed to through traffic.

Hanging Out At The Dentist

The plushest dentist in all of NorCal! Been going to Dr. Amy Woo and associates (all women) since, oh, 1991, or so. Dr. Brewer detected a cavity. I said, "No way! This is going to interfere working on the jigsaw puzzle!"

Freedom

At the vigil for our people at the Sacramento County Jail last Thursday night (Sept. 24th), we witnessed several heartfelt reunions, as people were released and greeted by loved ones. Nice! What got my attention, though, was a solo man, tall and big, who knelt on the sidewalk, quietly prayed, and then kissed the humble dirt next to the I Street curb, before slowly walking away. It says it all!

Snow Tha Product - "Sabado"

We live in a new universe of protest music. I really like this song (turn on Closed Captions - cc - for English subtitles).

 

Omen of the Dove

When I returned home after having walked my dog Jasper this morning (Sept. 27th), I found a wild dove writhing on the floor just inside my back door. Before I could react the dove quietly passed away. 

I hadn't seen the dove before and I had a million questions. How long had the dove been hiding inside my house? Where had the dove been hiding out? Did I inadvertently kill the dove when I opened the door, or was the dove already fatally ill? Did the dove try to get help from me for its problems and did I fail to notice? Did Jasper know about any this? Am I going to get West Nile fever now? 

The ancient Greeks and Romans watched birds for omens about the intentions of the gods. Having a bird die just inside my house strikes me as a particularly bad omen.

Memorial Service For Rich Kulmann - September 20, 2026

Tracia Barbieri leads the choir, which includes Ben and Noel Bruening.

The service was held at United Methodist Church, near the intersection of Anderson and Covell, in Davis, CA.

Rich was very active in both Davis Comic Opera Company (DCOC) and Davis Musical Theatre Company (DMTC). I'm surprised have active Rich was at DMTC.  Here are his contributions to DMTC:

 

Rachel Rycerz at Twin Lotus Thai restaurant - September 17, 2026

Exercises For Fouette Turns, With Anastasia Smirnova

@ne_balerinochka Как вам такой формат тренировки с более подробным разбором движения? Или сделать более короткие версии? И что обычно мешает в fouetté? По поводу поднятия выше ноги в сторону я помню 😂🙏🏻 #балет #ballet ♬ оригинальный звук - Anastasia Smirnova

The Iconic Greek-Goddess Trio

Still thinking along Greek thoughts, since I'm in Gabe's "Classics Book Club." 

I love these musical-theater performers, part of a much larger musical performance, held just before dawn at the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily. They portray three Greek goddesses, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

 

@paoloitalyanca Il Risveglio degli Dei @ilrisvegliodeglidei   Director: Marco Savatteri @marcosavatteri   Video owner: @_vaan_21 ENG   At the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily, a unique dawn performance takes place, titled Il risveglio degli dei, directed by Marco Savatteri.   Spectators arrive hours before sunrise to witness the beginning of the performance in the dead of night.   The narrative culminates precisely as the sun rises, symbolizing the awakening of the Greek gods.   The stage brings to life the cause of the Trojan War, focusing on the moment when Paris must decide which goddess—Athena, Aphrodite, or Hera—deserves the golden apple.   The actors perform this piece of Greco-Roman culture with an impeccable pronunciation and diction, making it a great listening experience for those learning Italian. ITA Nella Valle dei Templi di Agrigento, in Sicilia, si svolge uno spettacolo all'alba intitolato Il risveglio degli dei, diretto da Marco Savatteri.   Si arriva ore prima del sorgere del sole per assistere all'inizio della rappresentazione nel buio della notte.   La narrazione culmina proprio mentre il sole sorge, simboleggiando il risveglio delle divinità greche.   In scena viene rievocata la causa della guerra di Troia, con il momento in cui Paride deve decidere a chi donare la mela d'oro tra Atena, Afrodite ed Era.   Gli attori interpretano questo pezzo di cultura greco-romana con una pronuncia e una dizione ideali anche per chi vuole ascoltare e imparare l'italiano.   #ilrisvegliodeglidei #italian #learnitalian #italyanca #ایتالیا ♬ original sound - Paolo Italyanca

@giulia_fanciullo Il trio iconico 🏛️🤍 #ilrisvegliodeglidei #agrigento #valledeitempli #alba #fyp @Giulia Tarantino @000fabycoluccia ♬ audio originale - Giuliettaaaaaa🌙

Been Busy

Once again, it's necessary to binge-watch "Breaking Bad." I need to clearly see where these Jungian conjunctions are.

Peter Sellers Bloopers

9/11 Remembrance

September 11th is a day of remembrance. I hazily remember sharing the infamous Dr. Loganbill's freshman English class at NM Tech in Socorro in the spring of 1975 with Victor Saracini, pilot of United Airlines flight 175. In Tech parlance, Victor was a Townie. He didn't live on campus, and thus wasn't known well by many of the other students. Still, I recall liking him.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 6abc (@6abcactionnews)

Charlie Kirk - One Year Later

The martyr didn't martyr like they hoped:

But when I survey the legacy of that fateful day in Utah from the vantage point of 2026, something else becomes clear. What conservatives thought they might harvest from the death of Kirk—a soft-power cultural mandate, broad bipartisan empathy, perhaps an assertion that it was liberals who were the real psychopaths in the room—never came to pass. Instead, ironically, I’ve concluded that Kirk’s killing represented the tipping point of Peak MAGAdom, a breaking of a certain fever. It had been less than a year since Trump had retaken the presidency—and unlike in 2017, in 2025 the masses were grappling with whether Trump’s movement was culturally ascendant. Kirk’s murder proved that it was not.

I Want To Get Better At [X]

I returned to the Montessori School on Thursday, substituting as an instructional assistant in a different lower EL (grades 1-3) class than I had been in on Wednesday. The teacher here was more focused on compliance than the teacher on Wednesday had been. I was puzzled, because I thought this class was better-behaved than the other had been. I had no strong opinions on how the class should be managed, but there certainly were strong opinions out there. No one has a stronger opinion on a class than the students taking the class. 

At lunchtime, I led the class to the cafeteria and we waited in line to enter. One of the students, who apparently has autistic tendencies, complained that several girls had cut the line when I wasn't looking. He seemed genuinely hurt, not so much by being pushed to the back, but by the injustice of disorder. I heard his complaint, and tried to comfort him. 

Because of the heat wave, outdoor recess was cancelled, so recess was held in the classroom. The teacher said there were various games in the classroom, but she wouldn't be there - she had a teacher meeting to attend - so It was up to me and another substitute to find these games. One of the older girl students knew where the games were located, so she retrieved them, and borrowed my authority to impose her vision on how indoor recess should be conducted. 

Every Montessori class has a Singing Bowl, used with a striker to get the students' attention. I rang the Bowl. The girl announced that there were to be no more than four people per game. Seemed reasonable. I showed her how to ring the Bowl - it's a bit of skill - and she rang it more times, with a commanding, almost-cruel edge to her voice, to announce that certain online learning games were allowed and others were forbidden. This was a level of detail I didn't understand, and judging from the students' reactions I think they didn't understand it either. The girl rang the Bowl more times, and learned that if you ring the Bowl enough times, no one pays attention to you anymore. 

The teacher returned, and another teacher got added during rotation. Some non-compliant behavior emerged in the afternoon. Kids get cranky when they get tired after lunch. 

At the end of the day the teacher assigned a sentence for the students to complete: "I want to get better at [x]." She offered several suggestions for "x", like "soccer," or "helping others," or "dancing," etc. I heard a slight undertone in the class, adding a "t" to the word "soccer," to get "stalker." I'm not even sure that was deliberate - young kids sometimes have trouble with words. 

There wasn't enough time available to finish the sentence, so the teacher suggested thinking about it as homework for tomorrow. This caused a panic for some of the first graders, because they had never written a sentence down before in their lives. They didn't know how to write down the word "want." They didn't know many things. Could I write the sentence down, so they could at least copy it? Poor guys! I know that academic panic well! 

At day's end, I put my cap on my head. I recalled my musical-theater training and placed my nearly-empty water bottle on top of my head, balancing it there a la "Fiddler on the Roof." Four students who had been watching me closely immediately placed whatever they had in their hands on top of their heads. Cute!

The Time to Start Paying Attention is Coming

The Atlantic hurricane season has been remarkably quiet this year, but there are signs it's beginning to awaken. The water is certainly warm enough; all you need is reduced wind shear. 

The long-range GFS model forecasts have been suggesting a major storm will come out of the Caribbean in about two weeks time. It's still way too early to know if there is anything to this or where it might go - Texas, Mexico, Florida, Cuba - but when long-range weather models begin to predict a specific outcome over consecutive runs something of the sort usually occurs. So, the time to start paying attention is coming.....

I am a SECOND GRADER!

Once again, I was a instructional assistant (IA) substitute for Lower EL (grades 1-3) at the Montessori School today. The teacher was doing a lot of individual assessments today just outside the classroom, so it was the job of us two IAs to keep the students on task. This was frustrating, mostly because of four squirrely students. That's the way it always has been, and always will be. 

We had a cursive know-it-all moment at the start of class. Among the first rituals of the day is having a chosen student write down the date on the whiteboard. At first, she forgot to write down the year, but when prompted she wrote down "2026" with two cursive twos. Another student objected, saying these weren't twos at all, but rather two cursive capital Q's. I thought this was a curious argument. Even though the figures did resemble cursive Q's, the cursive twos were perfectly fine as they were. The teacher had a similar reaction, and the know-it-all student did not have the satisfaction of triumph. 

Lunchtime brought me into contact with more Lower EL students. Lunchtime is always loud and boisterous. One student remembered playing keep=away with my cap about six months ago and he resumed this game with enthusiasm. I kept my cap, though. 

Outside post-school recess was abbreviated by the rapidly-rising afternoon heat. Students were sent into the cafeteria. The students rapidly-improvised a game of tag that was almost frightening in its vigor, just as my energy was flagging from hours on my feet. 

One girl playfully hid behind me, giggling and tapping my shoulder, and moving with my movements in order to avoid detection. Later, she reminisced, "I used to see you a lot when I was in kindergarten - now I'm in second grade." And she was right! Time is whipping by. Two minutes later, a playmate shouted in her face, and collided into her, intruding into her personal space. She summoned her personal dignity, and announced, "I'm not just some kid. I am a SECOND GRADER!" 

And she is! 

Here's something more on the theme of the know-it-all student.

 

Courtney Barnett - "Avant Gardener" - Sacramento, CA, August 24, 2026

I failed to get this on video, but this person succeeded:

 

Howe at Arden Protest - Sacramento, CA - September 5, 2026

Good energy today at Saturday's weekly Anti-ICE protest at Howe and Arden in Sacramento (12-2 pm). 

Today's focus was to gather diapers - very useful for families in hiding and hard to get because of their cost. This pile of diapers here likely costs more than a thousand dollars! 

NorCal Resist will be accepting all sizes of diapers and wipes on Monday, September 7, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Address: 2775 Cottage Way #15, Sacramento.

 

"Coyote vs. Acme"

I saw "Coyote vs, Acme." Pleasant movie, not an epic, but it holds its own. The jailbreak from Warner Brothers - an important story on its own - saved this movie. And most important, a celebration of Albuquerque! 

Pleased to see Alex Gianopoulos was one of the location managers. Looks like they used places near San Ysidro for outdoor locations. Law office near Taco Sal. John Cena was great! 

To my surprise, this was the closing music:

 

We’ve Had Our Asses Kicked

And because the press is fully throttled we hear almost nothing about it.

The Consistent C.T. Weber

Today (August 29th), I went to Sacramento’s Southside Park to attend a commemoration of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium, a Vietnam protest in East Los Angeles where 20K-30K marched (and three were killed by police). A number of anti-ICE activists were present, and Aztecan dancers danced. 

I didn’t expect C.T. Weber though! For decades he has been a consistent advocate for California’s Peace and Freedom Party. He was brought forward to share his memories of the events of that momentous day. 

I fondly remember C.T. as one of the 135 registered candidates (154 total who received votes) in the 2003 California Gubernatorial Recall Election, won by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that election, C.T. placed 50th with 1,626 votes and I placed 41st with 1,840 votes. 

May we all be as consistent as C.T. Weber!

Courtney Barnett - "Avant Gardener"

At the concert on Monday I failed to capture Courtney Barnett singing "Avant Gardener," so here is her video, plus lyrics. This is my favorite song of hers! Such intelligent songwriting is rare.

Brief Australiana: Forty degrees Celsius equates to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so very hot. Triple-zero is the emergency number, equivalent to 911. Weet-Bix is a whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal.

[Verse 1]

I sleep in late, another day

Oh, what a wonder, oh, what a waste

It's a Monday, it's so mundane

What exciting things will happen today?

The yard is full of hard rubbish, it's a mess and

I guess the neighbours must think we run a meth lab

We should amend that, I pull the sheets back

It's forty degrees and I feel like I'm dying

Life's getting hard in here so I do some gardening

Anything to take my mind away from where it's supposed to be

The nice lady next door talks of green beds

And all the nice things that she wants to plant in them

I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps

Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn and radishes

I feel proactive, I pull out weeds

All of a sudden, I'm having trouble breathing in

[Chorus]

I'm having trouble breathing in

I'm having trouble breathing in

I'm having trouble breathing in

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 2]

My hands are shaky, my knees are weak

I can't seem to stand on my own two feet

I'm breathing but I'm wheezing, feel like I'm emphysem-ing

My throat feels like a funnel filled with Weet-Bix and kerosene and

Oh no, next thing I know, they call up triple-0

I'd rather die than owe the hospital 'til I get old

I get adrenaline straight to the heart

I feel like Uma Thurman post-overdose and kick start

Reminds me of the time when I was really sick and I

Had too much pseudoephedrine and I couldn't sleep at night

Halfway down High Street, Andy looks ambivalent

He's probably wondering what I'm doing getting in an ambulance

The paramedic thinks I'm clever 'cause I play guitar

I think she's clever 'cause she stops people dying

Anaphylactic and super hypochondriactic

Should've stayed in bed today, I much prefer the mundane

I take a hit from an asthma puffer

I do it wrong, I was never good at smoking bongs

Back at the Montessori School For The Fall Semester

I'm back at the Montessori School for more thrills and spills with the young crowd.  There has been much new construction over the summer - new classrooms, new landscaping, new furniture arrangements, new software - and it will take some getting used to.

The kids are getting taller.  I even remember some of their names.

On Tuesday, my first day back, I was sent out as an instructional assistant to a classroom of kindergartners.  The kids were fun as always, but there is also a sense of the repetitive with the littles.  The kids were being slowly familiarized with the school's method of assigning work and having the school's representatives check on the results.  I was paired with a somewhat cantankerous four-year-old with attention issues and a pacifier.  It's hard to outwit such a child, and keep them from making too much noise, but I tried.

With other teaching assistants, I supervised kindergartner lunch and watched the kids play.  Several kids were trying to find suitable roles for helping the adults.  One girl I recall from last school year, almost too ethereal to be on this plane of existence, assigned herself the task of catching kids coming down the slide so no one would get hurt.  She was just trying to help.  We'll all get through recess together.

Afterwards, at my lunch, I found a convenient picnic table for my sandwich.  Away in the distance, from the playground swings, I heard a familiar voice: "Hey, Old Man!  Old Man!  Look, there he is!"  It was one of my biggest fans among the older students.  I jumped up, theatrically ran around in a little circle, then ran away, and hid.  There will be time enough for him later.

In the afternoon, I watched the kindergartners at recess and also after school.  I talked with a new teaching assistant and compared notes with an older one.  I supervised play and started to become familiar with some of the new kindergartners.  One girl left without her bracelet and I hope to return it to her sometime soon.  I was so tired, and I began making mistakes.  It was time to go home.

On Wednesday, I was assigned to be Substitute Teacher for one of the Upper Elementary teachers, on a short day.  I worry about being Substitute Teacher, because there is a lot than go wrong, but the long-time instructional assistant, and another instructional assistant assigned to one student, knew exactly what to do, so there were few difficulties.  It also helped that I already knew about a quarter of the students from playground and lunchroom and classroom supervision last school year.  The biggest problem of the day was an unexpected fire drill.  All the classes filed out onto the playground.  I did not have the sense to bring the class roster to take attendance, but the instructional assistant did, and so that was good.  No one was lost.

A lot of work coming up this school year!

Sacramento's Light Rail and the Sunday Evening Freight Train - August 23, 2026

Watching trains at the X Street crossing near 19th Street, in Sacramento, California.

 

Courtney Barnett "Creature of Habit" Tour - Encore Songs - August 24, 2026

Great concert! Australian Courtney Barnett's songs are clever and fun.

Encore of Courtney Barnett's "Creature of Habit" Tour, Sacramento, California, August 24, 2026. 

First song is "Canned Tomatoes (Whole)," with opening act Zoh Amba sharing the stage with Courtney Barnett. 

Second song is a real favorite, "Pedestrian at Best." 

Third song is "Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party."

 

Also, "Another Beautiful Day."

Courtney Barnett "Creature of Habit" Tour Came To Sacramento - August 24, 2026

Opening act Zoh Amba. 

(more)

Speed Bumps and ICE - A Community Meeting with Rick Jennings' Representative

 (more)

Final Performance of This Production of "Grease" - Woodland Opera House - August 22, 2026

 Great show! Lots of final-show energy.

Final bows.

Final bows.

Looking out over the waiting crowd from the stage door after the show.

Director Erik Catalan and Rachel Rycerz (Miss Lynch).