Starting tomorrow, thousands of law students will decend on convention centers around the state to sit for the July 2006 California State Bar Examination. Included in that number will be a large group out at CalExpo braving heat and long lunch lines at TGIFriday to take their chances against the gruesome exam. Among them, our own James Lynch. In the past, the exam has been given at the convention center - around which should really have been strung yellow caution tape. If you happen to be around CalExpo tomorrow, keep an eye out for people munching on number two pencils and muttering to themselves. They may be crying or laughing hysterically. Whatever you do, do NOT approach these people. They are unstable and could go at anytime - faster than a Malibu hillside in January or the power grid in July.

Conversely, on Thursday night, at the conclusion of the exam, you should line the streets around CalExpo and pass out celebratory beers, flowers, and oxygen. Hold signs. Welcome them back to the real world. And continue to help then drink enough to erase the experience from their minds as quickly as possible.

Pity the exam is at CalExpo - the convention center downtown is so much closer to watering holes.

Good luck all!

Oh, and by the way, if you have a friend taking the exam, protocol and good manners dictate that you refrain from contacting them until Friday morning (post hang-over hours) or later, unless they call you first. Some people like venting or Monday-morning-quarterbacking, others would rather slit their wrists with a scantron form than utter a peep about the experience. Consider yourselves warned.

Watching the temperature and Cal-ISO’s pleas for conservation rise, I felt compelled to call Downtown Plaza’s management company, Westfield, to ask if they were asking retailers to get a clue and shut their doors in the open air shopping mall.

The very polite manager I spoke with said that, while there is a policy and, she implied, a contract provision, requiring common-sense energy conservation by Westfield tenants, they made sure to issue a memo just this morning to retailers reminding them to keep the doors closed, turn off unnecessary decorative lighting, and turn up thermostats to the Cal-ISO suggest 78-degree range. She also reported that she found about 98% of Downtown Plaza stores complying with the edict as of an hour or so ago and of the stores with doors still open, at least a few were experiencing their own AC issues.

So, if that’s the case, bravo Westfield for being good community citizens. But I urge readers to keep them and other retailers on their best behavior. Apparently, other shopping centers are as ill-behaved as Downtown Plaza was last week.

We’re on a roll, or you’re on a roll, or either of us might be.

You might have noticed among the handy items in our sidebar a wee button marked “Blogroll.” Go look for it, we’ll wait.

Tick, tick, tick.

Okay, now that you’ve found it, you have probably also clicked on it and - presto! It reveals a few sites which we’ve included in our blogroll so far. Feeling left out? We’re new here and we’d love to know about your Sacramento-related site. Drop us a line about newsworthy stuff via our “Suggest a Story” link, also in the sidebar. We don’t guarantee to link to you, but we’re always looknig for a good Sacto-read.

Of course, it’d be neighborly if you linked back as well. No pressure.

Either way - make sure you check out our various sidebar offerings - with contact info, recent comments, upcoming events, and more, there’s always something new to see.

Earlier today, my boss asked me to look into possibly hiring a gymnast for an event (weird, I know, but totally legitimate I assure you). We only needed the person for basic tumbling, but still — it was weird.

I didn’t really know where to start, but I thought craigslist might have something for me. After searching through both the “gigs” and “community” sections (I avoided the personals…), I came up empty.

So I posted a request on the gigs section, thinking it would be a long shot at best. Who tumbles in their spare time? Apparently, a lot of people in LA (I’m guessing aspiring actors … but that’s just a guess). In three hours, I’ve received 7 responses to my post. Some have included links to web sites, head shots, and one had a myspace link, too.

Craigslist: bringing all things absolutely bizarre home to you.

Or at least shut off your lights if you have windows in your office or home to provide natural illumination:

Stage 2 emergency declared for Northern California
(07-24) 14:08 PDT SACRAMENTO — California’s electricity grid operators declared a Stage Two emergency this afternoon, cutting power to large businesses that had volunteered to lower their energy use, as officials prepared for the possibility of rolling blackouts for the first time in Northern California since the 2000-2001 energy crisis.

For those of you who can turn off neither the computer, nor the lights, may we recommend you use those Ctrl+S keys even more frequently today as the chance of rolling blackouts will only increase as the afternoon temperatures continue to rise.

Please, Flex Your Power.

Wanto to know if you’ll be needing the flashlight or if you’ll get sprung early from work? Sign up for notifications from Cal-ISO here.

Our neighbors over at The Sac Rag posted an interesting commentary about how the gas stations may not be able to provide gasoline during the widely-anticipated rolling blackouts, thanks to the computerization of the pumps. This led me to thinking (mainly because part of my day job involves disaster planning) about what alternatives there could be if we do indeed reach a level the power grid can’t support.
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If you don’t have plans for Friday night, may I suggest checking out the band that takes fun fake fro wigs to a whole new level? That’s right, Wonderbread 5 are in town at Harlow’s. Described on the Harlow’s site as 80s and 90s Dance, Wonderbread 5 is so much more than your average cover band. These guys can cover pretty much everything you can think of - and they do cover pretty much everything you can think of, plus at least an hour of what you never would’ve thought of. As long as you can stand the vapid groupies who toss themselves up on stage, at first to the amusement of the band and then, seemingly, to their chagrin, you’ll love the rest of the show - the music, the spectacle, the, did I mention, fros.

Tickets are $15 and you can grab them online here.

Take me out to the Wal-Mart, take me out to the store. Buy me some candy and applejacks…I don’t care if my kid’s eating that. And let’s root root root for the Chinese. If they don’t make it — a shame– and it’s 1-2-Visa you’re out at the cashier stand!

Yesterday, my kids and I got in the car and scouted out a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Antelope. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been in a Wal-Mart in more than a year, and most people who know me know why. That would be under politics instead of shopping.
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So, the federal government tells us we can do a better job than we think in dealing with a catastrophic event. Can anyone say…quake, fire, flood…or maybe levee? I am sure the Feds were being optimistic, so it’s business as usual for them. As for me, my money’s on the local assessment…but I still think the local assessment is optimistic. Do you really think the health/medical system here can deal with a huge incident when it has trouble with day to day reality? Better buy yourself a first aid kit and cross your fingers, because all bets are off.

I recently made the switch to Sirius Satellite Radio, but I am sure that Sacramento radio stations, from THE END to THE BEAT are playing the same six songs all summer long…

Let’s get some reader feedback…what is your vote for SONG OF THE SUMMER????

Are you Promiscuous like Nelly?? Do you like JT’s SexyBack?? Are you blind for Paris’ Stars???

MakeDamnSure you leave your comment and we’ll tally the votes, and the winner will have bragging rights (and by bragging rights, I mean the tons of money they already have)!!!