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Business Journals
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Journals
Times Like These at the 2025 California State Fair!
171 Years of California State Fair! We are celebrating 171 Years of the California State Fair. Each year, for 17 days of summer, the CA State Fair brings together the best of what the Golden State has to offer agriculture, technology, entertainment, and family fun. With the theme: 'Times Like These', we pay homage to a nostalgic past that has brought us a prosperous present which leads to a promising future. Important dates and info: NEW HOURS: Monday-Thursday Gates open at 4 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m. Media Day: Wednesday, July 9, 10:30 a.m.- 2 p.m. Opening Day: Friday, July 11, 2025, 10 a.m. Closing Day: Sunday, July 27, Gates close at 8 p.m. No re-entry after 6 p.m. Ways to Save! • Costco 'Times Like These' Packs • Kids' Day/$2 Rides- Kids 12 and under get in FREE and rides are only $2 for everyone! • NEW – 'Family Discount Day' Mondays - For the two hours of the Fair (4-6 p.m.), tickets are $2 for everyone! • NEW – 'Ride and Save Day' Wednesdays - Butler Amusement will provide a $10 discount on ride passes. • Save Mart – Discount Admission Tickets & Carnival Ride Wristbands • Senior Day Friday • SMUD Giving Fridays (July 11, 18 & 25) – Bring 5 non-perishable food items and receive a FREE Ticket to the Fair New This Year: • Butler Amusement- NEW RIDE! The Invader- Imported from the Netherlands and standing an impressive 45 feet tall, The Invader is not for the faint of heart. This ride will have you gripping your seat as six, four-passenger pods of a total of 24 seats spinning at a breathtaking 24 RPM, generating intense centrifugal forces that will leave you breathless. • The Budweiser Clydesdales (July 11-13 and 17-20, 6-8pm) • 'CaLOWfornia Love' The Lowrider Culture Exhibit - Immerse yourself in California car culture with a showcase of vibrant lowriders, custom paint jobs, and hydraulic-powered rides. • DJ Diesel (July 11) - "Shaq's BASS ALL-STARS". • SMUD Giving Fridays (NEW DAY!) • CA State Fair BBQ Competition (July 12) – Last year was just a taste-test! The 2025 California State Fair BBQ Competition turns up the heat as top pit masters battle for the Golden Bear trophy! Guests get to taste and vote in the People's Choice judging. • 2025 Series Daily CA State Fair Themed Cancellation Stamps – Collect Fair memories by sending an official California State Fair Station cancellation stamp. There is a new design each day. • CA State Fair Inaugural Film Festival (July 11) - The film festival was open to California residents 18 and older, this new festival showcases original short films and animations. Entries were judged on storytelling, cinematography, directing, acting, editing, and artistic impact. Discover bold new voices in California filmmaking! • Commercial Craft Beer Awards Luncheon at Rock and Brews (NEW LOCATION!) • POPnology - Explore the intersection of pop culture and technology with hands-on exhibits inspired by science fiction, innovation, and imagination. • Truck and Tractor Pulls– (July 19) Watch raw power in action as roaring engines and heavy-duty machines battle in a high-powered showdown as trucks and tractors compete in a thrilling test of strength and horsepower. • Water Wonders Fountain and Light Show - Enjoy a spectacular light and water show. • Wild Science - Discover the wild side of science with exciting, interactive experiments and jaw-dropping demonstrations for all ages. All About the Kiddos! • Butler Amusement Kids' Park • Captain Jack Spareribs • California Fresh Exhibit • CA Junior Chef Cooking Challenge (July 22) • CA State Fair Farm • Incredible Me • Life's Big Ag-Venture • Wild Science • Wild World Adventure • Youth Mariachi Competition sponsored by T-Mobile, California Lottery & Cricket • Tree Circus Time for Adult fun! • CA Cannabis Exhibit • Estrella Jalisco Cantina 1854 • Don Julio Outlaw Country & Western Bar • Michelob Ultra Sports Bar • Crown Royal SacTown Social Bar • Save Mart Wine Garden • Twists and Hops - Pretzels and beer New Food • Boba King – Boba and spam fries • Chando's Tacos • Dubai Chocolate Cups • Island Fin Poke • Rescafe Coffee • Woodfired Flatbreads featuring CA sourced ingredients • Fire Roasted Artichoke with Lemon-Chive Aioli & Garlic Butter • "Celebration of Sourdough!"-Fire Roasted with Dipping Sauces & Accompaniments • "The Best of the Wurst"-Silva Sausages from Northern California with Homemade Warm German Potato Salad-Bratwurst, Sweet Chile Mango, Beef Hot Link & Chicken Apple • Golden Fry House-"House of Sauced & Tossed!" Fries & Tenders-Fried in 100% Beef Tallow-Garlic-Parmesan, Buffalo-Blue with Celery, Honey Sriracha BBQ, Korean Gojuchang, Carolina Gold BBQ, Chile-Lime, Thai Street Fries.
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Sufferin' succotash, it's a a Looney Tunes movie to love!
This movie is different. Director Peter Browngardt and his 11 (!) writers pay loving homage to Termite Terrace (the place on the WB lot where the original cartoons were drawn). There are several in-jokes that honor directors like Bob Clampett One of the earliest Looney Tunes characters, Beans the Cat, gets a shoutout as well. The filmmakers even mimic music director Carl Stalling's use of the Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie." Warner Bros. Animation Advertisement Most importantly, 'The Day the Earth Blew Up' puts three Looney Tunes characters at the center of the story. They're the heroes, and their personalities are recognizable from all the old cartoon shorts they appeared in back in the day. The 2-D animation is also a welcome throwback. Fans of Bugs Bunny will be disappointed — he's nowhere to be found here. But his absence makes sense. Unlike the other Looney Tunes characters, Bugs exists on a higher plane of power. He's pretty much invincible (except when directed by Clampett), and easily bests his foes. In this story of an alien invasion taking over the Earth, Bugs would save the day without much effort. Instead, our heroes are the far more fallible Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both expertly voiced by Eric Bauza) — Termite Terrace's first big breakout stars. In a prologue, they're discovered as orphans by a gigantic farmer named Farmer Jim, who looks like a hirsute advertisement billboard. He bequeaths his house to them, which they let slip into disrepair. Unfortunately, the duo forgot the upcoming inspection by the town's meanest property inspector, Mrs. Grecht ('Saturday Night Live' alum Laraine Newman), a blond woman whose shapely, R-rated body is poured into a PG-rated pink outfit. Making matters worse is that neither Porky nor Daffy has noticed the gigantic, slime-covered hole in their roof made by a meteor the night before. Advertisement Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie." Warner Bros. Animation Given one week to make the necessary fixes to keep their home from being condemned, Porky and Daffy have to do something no Looney Tunes character has done before: get a job. They find one at a bubble-gum factory, where Porky falls for his usual girlfriend, Petunia Pig (Candi Milo). She's a scientist trying out new flavors of gum using some rather disgusting ingredients. The gum factory's newest flavor (actually, an old flavor with a new name, as Petunia angrily points out) is getting a rollout on the same day the alien who sent the aforementioned meteor plans to use it to control the populace. And no, it's not Marvin the Martian doing the takeover; it's The Invader, a creepy green menace voiced by Peter MacNicol in a nod to the sci-fi movies of the 1950s like 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.' Daffy catches on to the sinister bubble-gum alien plot early, but since he's a conspiracy theorist (and, as his theme song goes, he's also loony), nobody believes him initially. Once the possessed townspeople offer proof, it's up to Porky, Petunia, and Daffy to save the day. Daffy Duck in "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie." Warner Bros. Animation 'The Day the Earth Blew Up' keeps the dynamic between Porky and Daffy that appeared in such cartoons as Chuck Jones's 1953 space opera 'Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2th Century' — Daffy's the loudmouth wannabe hero while Porky's the more level-headed (and smarter) sidekick. There's also a touch of the Porky-Sylvester the Cat cartoon pairings where a terrified 'fraidy cat' Sylvester notices something evil well before a disbelieving Porky does. Advertisement The fact that this film makes reference to such inside baseball-style details and touches shows how deeply it wants to impress Looney Tunes fans. And it's pretty funny, too, quick and loose like the old-school cartoons but with a feature-length plot. Come to think of it, there really hasn't been an original Looney Tunes movie. The ones from the 1970s and 1980s, like 'The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie,' were compilations of the old cartoons stitched together by the barest of plots. And the other movies were mixes of live action and animation that didn't focus entirely on the characters. So, in a way, 'The Day the Earth Blew Up' is the first true example of these characters controlling their own original storyline on the big screen. This Looney Tunes mega-fan went in fearing the worst, and came out happy that I ★★★ THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE Directed by Peter Browngardt. Written by Browngardt, Alex Kirwan, Katie Rice, Darrick Bachman, Andrew Dickman, Eddie Trigueros, David Gemmill, Ryan Kramer, Johnny Ryan, Jason Reicher, Michael Ruocco. Starring Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Laraine Newman. At AMC Causeway 13, suburbs. 91 min. PG (cartoon violence — that's all, folks) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
