Everybody’s business

The Amanda watch
For readers following the career of actress and Chico native Amanda Detmer (pictured center), you can catch her on the made-for-TV movie Picking Up and Dropping Off, premiering at 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, and repeating through Dec. 25 on the ABC Family Channel. She plays a “recently separated mom” who meets up with a divorced dad (Scott Wolf , of Party of Five) at an airport. Romance ensues. Ain’t divorce cute? The movie, shot in Calgary, is being produced by Friends’ Lisa Kudrow .

This season, Detmer has also been on Miss Match, starring Alicia Silverstone (Detmer’s character sued a guy who called off their wedding).

I figured Detmer long ago reached the point in her career where we can play “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon ” with her. So, CN&R Art/Calendar Editor Jason Cassidy and I set out to link Detmer and the prolific Bacon through film in the classic game invented in 1996 by two computer science graduate students. It took us three steps: Detmer was in Big Fat Liar with Frankie Muniz , who was in My Dog Skip with Bacon. But the Oracle of Bacon site maintained by the University of Virginia, using something called “shortest-path algorithms,” came up with a “Bacon number” of two: Detmer was in The Majestic with Chelcie Ross , who was in Novocaine with Bacon.

The cheese watch
About a year ago, I visited and wrote about the Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Co., where an Orland family crafts a variety of specialty cheeses in small batches. It was fun and tasty.

Now, owner Tim Pedrozo is teaming up with an author and local restaurant for a Dec. 11 cheese event.

That Thursday, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Zucchini & Vine on Second and Main streets, Laura Werlin will sign The All American Cheese and Wine Book, which features Pedrozo cheese on the cover. Then, starting at 5 p.m., Black Crow chef Jeff Anderson will host a $40 artisan cheesemakers’ dinner, with a cheese in every course, along with a talk on food and wine pairings. Included are: Pedrozo’s Black Butte Reserve, Bravo Farms’ Bandage-wrapped Cheddar, Marin French’s Le Petit Bleu and Sierra Nevada Cheese Company’s Traditional Cream Cheese.

France conquers Germany
Where Sam’s House of Hof Brau once was, at 134 Broadway, will be Bella’s Bistro.

Reportedly…
Wayne Cook and his investors are very close to securing the Oser’s building at 140 Main St.

Radio song
KCSC, the Chico State radio station, wants to get back on the airwaves, but with both the local FM and AM bands full, it keeps getting outbid. The Associated Students government, which administers funds to the station, is trying to help.