Ten things in Sacramento MythBusters should hit with a cannonball

MythBusters has been a staple on the Discovery Channel for nearly a decade now. Blending science and entertainment, the five-member team—led by special-effects experts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage—tries to debunk or prove urban legends and other popular assumptions. The MythBusters team has tried to scientifically prove such important myths as: How can you beat a speed camera? Can you fool a lie-detector test? And what’s the best cure for a hangover?

When not filming for the show, Hyneman and Savage hit the road and perform a live stage show, which visits the Community Center Theater this Friday. Called MythBusters: Behind the Myths, the show will feature on-stage experiments, audience participation and a sneak-peek at some behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Perhaps they’ll comment on their December accident: While testing a myth, they shot a cannonball under the supervision of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, but missed their intended target, a wall of water barrels and cinder blocks. Instead, the cannonball flew over the target, hitting two homes and smashing through a parked minivan.

Which got SN&R wondering: What should they hit with a cannonball here in the Sacramento area?

Here’s SN&R’s top 10 list:

1. That bro-friendly fresco (brosco?) featuring God, guitar and man at Pizza Rock, because it’s just plain tacky.

2. DeMarcus Cousins, not in a mean spirited way, but just to see who would win. My money is on Cousins, because maybe he’s more willing to play with a cannonball than a basketball.

3. The downtown ice rink Zamboni, because the holidays are nearly over and it would make for a cool end to ice-skating season.

4. The city’s new ballistic armored tactical vehicle, or Sacmobile. Last we heard, it was scheduled for delivery last summer. And you know it needs to be tested against cannonballs.

5. A levee: Just to be extra sure that we can bust up a wall if we need to drain a flooded city (Natomas, anyone?).

6. K Street Mall: Because it jams up the flow of traffic around K Street.

7. The Capitol dome: It’s an historic and beautiful work of architecture, no doubt—but it’s what’s inside that counts, and nothing is ever accomplished in there.

8. UC Davis students: Because cannonballs just might be the next pepper spray.

9. That gigantic chrome horse in front of the Safeway on 19th and S streets.

10. Those antequated air-raid sirens that go off in Midtown once a month. No explanation needed.