Born in Sacramento in 1936, and appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1988 by President Reagan, Justice Kennedy has proven himself to be more than just a man who looks good in black - he’s a swinger, baby - yeah!

His interests include states’ rights, gay rights, abortion rights (but not partial), Boy Scouts’ rights, first amendment rights, due process rights, and most importantly for our purposes, McGeorge School of Law - located here in Sacto.

Given his lack of objection to looking beyond our borders towards international trends when fashioning his opinions, coupled with his all-over-the-map track record of conservative-liberal voting, Justice Kennedy is, truly, our gift to the word.

For the next seven days, the Metroblogging sites around the globe will be unveiling seven gifts their cities can share with the world - one gift a day for seven days (to see what the rest of the world is contributing, click here.

Pushing this blog’s jurisdiction to its logical boundaries, and hereby laying claim to Roseville, I offer to you the greater Sacramento gift of Molly Ringwald.

Molly Ringwald brings sushi to the Midwest.

Always from the wrong side of the tracks, pouty and pretty in pink, giving her panties to nerds, yes, she’s our girl. More than just a gift to the world, Ms. Ringwald contributed to a generation’s worth of developing teenagers. How else would we have realized the full potential of leggings and felt hats? How else would we have known how to apply lipstick correctly.

She paved the way for good girls everywhere to go after the bad boys, the rich boys, and the richer boys. So light those cake candles, call your crush, and celebrate our pop princess gift to the world!

I used to love to fly. SMF was my gateway to a world beyond California. To Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, New York, all kinds of magical places. Today, though, it was another matter. We checked in with plenty of time to spare, and entered the secure area gingerly. My jacket and shoes off and placed in a plastic bin, my laptop in another bin, my bag in still another bin, my boarding pass in hand and my pants around my ankles, I approached the metal detector.

I watched as the family in front of us moved through. Mom first, then Dad picked up their 2 year old toddler to take her through. He made it one step before the TSA goon instructed him to back up and to remove her shoes. Dad looked incredulous, and the goon repeated himself. Not wanting an anal probe today, he removed his daughter’s shoes, to the girl’s incredible trauma. She was crying, and frankly, I’d have been bawling too. Through security they went Dad comforting daughter that the mean TSA goon wasn’t out to get them.

What kind of world is this if we expect the shoes of two year olds to be carrying explosives?

On a side note, when I went through today, I presented my Library of Congress Reader Card as Identification. I was rebuffed by the TSA checkin woman who told me it was no good there. The regs on the TSA site say: “We encourage each adult traveler to keep his/her airline boarding pass and government-issued photo ID available until exiting the security checkpoint.” I’m fairly sure that Congress constitutes part of a “government” and they were the ones issuing the card, so it really shouldn’t have mattered. But it did.

What’s really funny? I can check out from the Library of Congress a multitude of heirloom-grade archival resources, spend time viewing all manner of invaluable documents, but I can’t get on an airplane. What a topsy-turvy world this is.

The City of Sacto is looking for YOUR input on how to revamp their website. And, in case you haven’t been there in a while, it needs it. Here’s what to do:

Go to the city’s website, or get there fast.
Click on the link at the top/middle of the page, or get there fast.

I think it’s terrific that Sacto is looking for input on this matter — California cities’ web sites are all over the map (er, web) in terms of design, content, and layout. In fact, looking to even a few other cities’ sites might lend guidance on how to reshape our city’s online image. For example:

Davis. Front loads on the links, but very simple to read and navigate.
Camarillo. Pretty blue color. Images of C-rillo’s most notable architecture. Quick links. Probably good for a city, like this one, that doesn’t have a lot going on most of the time. Probably not a good template for a city like Sacto.
Los Angeles. The town is made of money, and their web site proves it (complete with pop-up ad!). This site has color, loads of quick links, highlights, features . . . this could be the mecca of all city web sites.

P.S. How ’bout a final word on whether city web sites should follow a uniform URL pattern: Davis and Los Angeles (who rarely have anything in common) both opted for the .org identity; good ol’ conservative Camarillo went for the more professional ci.cityname.ca.gov approach.

Which is your preference, and do you think all cities should follow the same format?

For the next seven days, the Metroblogging sites around the globe will be unveiling seven gifts their cities can share with the world - one gift a day for seven days. Metroblogging Sacramento starts of with Biba Caggiano.

Since moving to Sacramento in the late sixties, Biba Caggiano has started a nationally-renowned Italian restaurant, conceived seven best-selling cookbooks and starred in her own cooking show on TLC and the Discovery Channel.

For locals, Biba’s culinary creations can be found at 28th & Capitol, but fortunately the rest of the world can order up her latest cookbook, Biba’s Italy.

Tags: Metblogs7Gifts 7Gifts Metroblogging7Gifts

…so you don’t have to. Got a flyer for Sacramento Magazine’s “Best of Sacramento” event on Thursday, November 30. It’ll run from 4:30 PM to 10PM and I should say that tickets aren’t cheap. Proceeds, however, will go to benefit the March of Dimes. You can find more about this event and past winners of the “Best of” competition on Sacramento Magazine’s website.

Wow, if you think cooking for your new mother-in-law on your first Thanksgiving as a married couple is stressful…try looking for a new home. We’ve been sorting through properties and companies over the last couple of weeks. There are definitely some turkeys in the bunch. And we’re only looking for a house rental.

Consider this. If you’re a property owner and you hired a company to manage and rent out your property, you’d expect the property manager to return calls and e-mail from prospective renters–especially if they were very much interested in the home. I won’t name the company that has completely failed on all levels…yet. Once we find a place, I will be giving you a list of turkeys and of those that were professional and reasonable. This in the interest of protecting other potential renters from the angst we’ve had to suffer.

Meanwhile, we’re still driving around looking for a good place to live, and a good company to back it up. Do you know of any in the Pocket/Greenhaven area?

Boy, I sure do! Check out this 20.7lb broad-breasted turkey from Branigan’s! Branigan’s Turkeys have been a staple of Bridge-family Thanksgiving since time immemorial. The first of the broad-breasted turkeys was bred by the Branigan family, with the assistance of several folks at the University of California Farm Extension at Davis. The turkey has become the American Standard for roasting turkeys, and the hallmark of our Thanksgiving.

So, get out to Branigan’s in Woodland tomorrow morning early, or head out to the various retailers (there’s a set list on their homepage), and get yourself a turkey!

If your thoughts of Homeland Security have recently been limited to the ban on liquids at the airport, the Sacramento Bee has two stories that made me stop and think. The first is about peace protesters in Sacramento being monitored by the Pentagon. It’s hard to believe that scarce intelligence resources are being squandered on monitoring small peace groups.

The second seems innocuous, but will likely have more lasting impact–fixed cameras on the K Street Mall. These days K Street isn’t exactly the most desirable place to be, but what happens when cameras are expanded to other areas of the city? What do you think, Sacramento?

… but it’ll be different and you won’t be sure if you like it.

Hi, I’m Tom Bridge, I usually write over at Metroblogging DC, but I grew up right here in the Central Valley, and I’m home for the long holiday week. We stepped off the plane into the terminal at SMF, and made our way down to the baggage claim and the giant piles of luggage sculpture called “Samson.”

Catching I-5 toward Woodland and Davis, I was surprised to see how far these once-small farm towns have spread their borders ever closer. Sure, there are empty fields between these bedroom communities, but those are growing ever smaller. Driving through town today, pondering some lunch, we stopped in at Woodstock’s Pizza. Now, back east, we’re mostly stuck with the major chains, but even our local shops can’t keep up with the classics around here like Steve’s Pizza or Woodstock’s. It’s one of things that draws me back here to the Sacramento area, right up there with In-n-Out Burger, The Governator, Winter in California, and more.

But it’s not always that easy. Riding in on Southwest, I ran into a classmate from high school. It reminded me just how far I am from my native state, from my California heritage. From the local politics that govern the town I grew up in. It’s funny how something that mattered once is fading from my list of important things. Sure, the pizza’s as good as you remember, and the smell of fall on the Delta will remain one of the sweetest you’ll know, but things will change when you’re not looking each day.