coming up

tomorrow you can probably count on a blog about the second leg of the chelsea v liverpool game. if anyone wants to try and catch some with me, it's on @ 11:45.


you can also expect another few posts from me this evening, as i'm t.a.'ing for class and am doing a whole lot of nothing.

flare

"who's the big winner? mikey's the big winner!"

well, actually, this time i am, although it's not all that big. you see, the junior college i work @ was having a visual arts contest open to students, faculty and staff. there were prizes for the top student work, and one for faculty/staff. the voting was open for a month, you could vote as many times as you wanted. frankly, i was a little nervous about submitting a piece for the show. i'd like to think i'm an artist, and to lose could damage my fragile ego. i was especially worried because abstract art isn't always understood or well received. but, i submitted two pieces anyway.

and the winner was...me! yeah me! hurray. here's the piece that won me a small cash prize: the one on the far right.

liberation & basketball

two unrelated topics

first, i wanted to present an interesting piece from hometown baghdad. it's called liberation. i felt that it was a good reflection on the situation, especially presenting a few, brief ideas about the history of the situation while still presenting the question of, "where is the liberation?"



second, it was somewhat surreal, sitting @ home, surfing the 'net, watching basketball, and then watching that video (among a few others i hadn't watched yet on their site). i had already planned a post about basketball, and decided to make it a brief double post. so, here's my basketball take: congrats to my favorite team, the bulls, for sweeping last year's champ. the bulls lost last year to the heat in round one in a hard fought, 6 game series. one year later, we're ending their season in 4. awesome. nicely done gents. nicely done. something that inspired me very early on to post about this game is how lame pro sports can be, especially trying to motivate fans. american fans are relatively uninspired, show up late, and only cheer when told to. this always bothers me. anyway, something that i noticed was that miami's fans were all in white. i'm sure they bill this as some sort of, "you're wearing the same color as the home team." also, miami's other color is red (the bulls away color) so you don't want your fans all decked out in red. but, here's what i also think is motivation for having your fans wear white. the seats are white. so, for the first five minutes of the game, i played an enjoyable mental game of differentiating between the people dressed in white and the empty seats. and you know what, the seats were winning for a good while.

r.i.p.

this guy died. it makes me want to watch this film.

stealing art

apparently, todd goldman is an art thief. i was telling adam, nick & kasey about this lhttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifast night, and thought i'd post it up here, too. adam even has a that goldman knocked off (scroll to the bottom of that one to see the shirt adam has).

chelsea vs liverpool

second verse, same as the first: uefa champions league.

"didier drogba unsheathed the dagger and joe cole plunged it into the heart of liverpool"

29 minutes in, chelski 1, liverpool nil.

chelsea is owned by roman abramovich, mentioned in this link (see the story on rich russians)



the wisdom of a fortune cookie, from the lunch i ate while watching footy.

so, we're to half of a relatively mild game. been some flashes, like cole's goal, but otherwise not too much happening. although, to be truthful, i did miss the first 20 minutes of the game while i was getting a haircut.

in the meantime, i thought i'd show you that lady from yesterday's fresno famous link myspace page. yeah, i think she may have some issues. to illustrate my point, i want to show you pictures she uses to "prove" her case about buildings being moved, and some guy that is secretly behind so much of it



this one is my favorite. remember, this is supposed to show a real person who is behind it all.


i sort of feel bad about highlighting this stuff. but, the lady is all over the place. she posts this stuff on fresno famous, on the tower district myspace group, anywhere she can.

i was really excited to watch a good bit of this game and to catch the result later. i've been a long time bulls fan, this may be the first playoff series win since jordan left.

hey, not that we care, but rosie is leaving the view.


so, maybe you've figured out by all the other sideline comments that the game isn't very interesting. you'd be right. yesterday's match had much more drama (at least so far). neither side seems to be playing very inspired soccer.

another brit, banksy, is doing very well for himself right now.

inside the final minute, chelsea still leading...oh wait, two minutes stoppage time...during which nothing happened.

chelsea 1, liverpool 0.

facist horizon?

"Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled."

wow.

"I am arguing that we need also to look at the lessons of European and other kinds of fascism to understand the potential seriousness of the events we see unfolding in the US."

okay, let's look and consider. this author suggests there are 10 steps towards facism
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
well, okay. done.
2. Create a gulag
yep. we have gitmo. and then we found out about the real hidden cia prisons in poland and whatnot.
3. Develop a thug caste
the author here points to the mercenaries, err "contractors" we use in iraq as well as "groups of angry young Republican men, dressed in identical shirts and trousers, menaced poll workers counting the votes in Florida in 2000." i'm not as convinced that these two groups equate w/the blackshirts in facist italy or the brownshirts in germany. but, i do think that we are employing mercenaries of companies like blackwater. and, i strongly oppose the idea that they should be immune from prosecution should they do illegal & immoral things (which bush has proposed).
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
well, the gov't says they're only listening to you if you're talking to terrorists. so, we know they're listening. but we don't really know how much.
5. Harass citizens' groups
yep. peace fresno gained some national attention when it was discovered that they had been infiltrated by the local police.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
i remember reading stories about "arabs" being detained after 9/11. the author points to the "no fly" lists, something i don't immediately associate w/detaining. but, i do think you're often being arbitrarily denied or at least harassed.
7. Target key individuals
there's been pressure here. the author also links the recent lawyer firings to this. i'm not so sure that it's the same.
8. Control the press
well, this is happening @ least in parts. one example is the pentagon denying the right to show photos of coffins returning from iraq. there's a journalist in sf in jail for refusing to turn over video of an antiwar demonstration.
9. Dissent equals treason
how cow. i've heard this tons of time. i've had it said to me (although not using them thar fancy words.) i've had students tell me this and they can't see any possible way why it wouldn't be true. the author points out another aspect that continues to frighten me, "when Congress wrongly, foolishly, passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - the president has the power to call any US citizen an "enemy combatant". He has the power to define what "enemy combatant" means. The president can also delegate to anyone he chooses in the executive branch the right to define "enemy combatant" any way he or she wants and then seize Americans accordingly."
10. Suspend the rule of law
"the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or any 'other condition'." this is a change in policy, and some say it even violates the constitution.

so, by just looking @ this article, the author, in my opinion, had pretty good footing for 8 of the 10. and the shaky 2 aren't that far off. the author continues by saying,
"Of course, the United States is not vulnerable to the violent, total closing-down of the system that followed Mussolini's march on Rome or Hitler's roundup of political prisoners. Our democratic habits are too resilient, and our military and judiciary too independent, for any kind of scenario like that.

Rather, as other critics are noting, our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion."

see, i'm not all that convinced that it couldn't also happen the first way. it's definitely happening the latter way already, but i don't think that means the former won't as well.

ac milan vs manchester united

ah, time for another post that only dana, nick and my brother may care about. (but i'm sprinkling in other junk to make the rest of you read too!)today's semifinal match up in the champions league. i'm getting to watch ac milan vs manchester united. i may even be able to watch tomorrow's match of chelsea vs liverpool. sorta crazy that 3 of the four remaining teams are from the premiership. it can really stake the claim as the top notch league of the world.

4:52, man u just scored a ridiculous goal on a set piece. and i don't mean ridiculous in a good sense. well, the corner was good, and christiano ronaldo had a nice header into the keepers neck/shoulder. then it just sorta flew into the air and dida tipped it into the net. kinda ugly. of course, gabriel heinze was there as well and probably would've put it home had dida not.


(btw, i'm surfing the net while watching the game. from sports gal's review of bachelor last night, "What qualifies for a connection these days? Sharing a drink over 10 minutes of awkward conversation as 12 other girls lurk in the background? This show continues to make women proud." that's just awesome. and, "When they arrived in Tahoe, the women shrieked with excitement when they saw their suite at Harrah's. It's a bed covered with cigarette burns! Woo hoo!" hey, i made a joke about how these tramps are so excited to enter a room.)

"and with blinking of an eye, ac milan have that priceless away goal!" kaka just buried an absolutely sick goal, low to the back post. disgusting.

and @ the 36th minute kaka doubles up with another sweet goal. three manchester defenders in the area, two collide, the other one didn't really have much of a chance, and he sends it past van der saar.

so, over on fresno famous, there's this lady that always puts up crazy posts like this one. i am constantly restraining myself from responding.


59th minute, rooney scores his for the third game in a row. came off of some good team work, chopped it in.

69th minute, scoles fouled about 20 yards out. free kick. giggs bends a sick ball around the wall...just wide.

it's been a tail of two halves. milan definately looked better in the first, manchester in the second. even the fouls matched up that way. 1st, milan got all the calls. 2nd, manchester.

christiano ronaldo just had such a sick play that resulted in a corner. 83rd minute. i literally dropped my jaw open on that. he worked it around several players, ripped a fierce shot towards the near corner that was just touched by dida. it still ended up in the outside netting. wonderful stuff.

just inside stoppage...giggs long run...feeds rooney...who drives it home! his second of the night. what a strike.

and man u has won every single home game during this champions league season.

solar state

wow. i'm impressed with fresno state for once. well, not everything they do is misguided (like the campus pointe project), but it just seems like they're usually screwing the pooch (how many scandals do you want me to list from their athletics?). but here, they may be on the right page. chevron and fresno state are working together to create a parking shelter for 700 cars that will be fitted w/solar panels. that's a great idea. i honestly think fresno, as a city, should be very proactive and require all new homes to have them installed. and, fresno unified should put them on all the schools. and, the city of fresno should have them on theirs, too.

but, of course, it's not that easy. but i can dream.

great thoughts on hip hop

so, i'm a little behind on all of this. but, i saw a story today chanced a rabbit down a hole. it was interesting and thought it was worth sharing. now, i can't give it all to you, because it's super long.

but it all starts with this: oprah. oprah doesn't like hip hop. she hasn't hid it. and that's footage from her town hall meeting. (and i don't like her. this doesn't make us even though. and hip hop will get her. maybe it will be o'shea.)

saul williams, noted poet, responded with this.
choice quotes:
"One of my first theater professors, Pearle Cleage, shook me from my adolescent dream state. It was the year that Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" was released and our introduction to Snoop Dogg as he sang catchy hooks like "Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks..." Although, it was a playwriting class, what seemed to take precedence was Ms. Cleages political ideology, which had recently been pressed and bound in her 1st book, Mad at Miles. As, you know, in this book she spoke of how she could not listen to the music of Miles Davis and his muted trumpet without hearing the muted screams of the women that he was outspoken about "man-handling". It was my first exposure to the idea of an artist being held accountable for their actions outside of their art. It was the first time I had ever heard the word, "misogyny". And as Ms. Cleage would walk into the classroom fuming over the women she would pass on campus, blasting those Snoop lyrics from their cars and jeeps, we, her students, would be privy to many freestyle rants and raves on the dangers of nodding our heads to a music that could serve as our own demise.

Her words, coupled with the words of the young women I found myself interacting with forever changed how I listened to Hip Hop and quite frankly ruined what would have been a number of good songs for me. I had now been burdened with a level of awareness that made it impossible for me to enjoy what the growing masses were ushering into the mainstream."

"The genius, as far as the marketability, of Hip Hop is in its competitiveness. Its roots are as much in the dignified aspects of our oral tradition as it is in the tradition of "the dozens" or "signifying". In Hip Hop, every emcee is automatically pitted against every other emcee, sort of like characters with super powers in comic books. No one wants to listen to a rapper unless they claim to be the best or the greatest. This sort of braggadocio leads to all sorts of tirades, showdowns, battles, and sometimes even deaths. In all cases, confidence is the ruling card. Because of the competitive stance that all emcees are prone to take, they, like soldiers begin to believe that they can show no sign of vulnerability. Thus, the most popular emcees of our age are often those that claim to be heartless or show no feelings or signs of emotion. The poet, on the other hand, is the one who realizes that their vulnerability is their power."

"We cannot address the root of what plagues Hip Hop without addressing the root of what plagues today's society and the world.

You see, Ms. Winfrey, at it's worse; Hip Hop is simply a reflection of the society that birthed it. Our love affair with gangsterism and the denigration of women is not rooted in Hip Hop; rather it is rooted in the very core of our personal faith and religions. The gangsters that rule Hip Hop are the same gangsters that rule our nation. 50 Cent and George Bush have the same birthday (July 6th)."

"Name calling, racist generalizations, sexist perceptions, are all rooted in something much deeper than an uncensored music. Like the rest of the world, I watched footage on AOL of you dancing mindlessly to 50 Cent on your fiftieth birthday as he proclaimed, "I got the ex/if you're into taking drugs/ I'm into having sex/ I ain't into making love" and you looked like you were having a great time. No judgment. I like that song too. Just as I do, James Brown's Sex Machine or Grand Master Flashes "White Lines". Sex, drugs, and rock and roll is how the story goes. Censorship will never solve our problems. It will only foster the sub-cultures of the underground, which inevitably inhabit the mainstream."

"Hip Hop, like Rock and Roll, like the media, and the government, all reflect an idea of power that labels vulnerability as weakness."

"Censoring songs, sermons, or the tirades of radio personalities will change nothing except the format of our discussion. If we are to sincerely address the change we are praying for then we must first address to whom we are praying."


russel simmons, hip hop mogul, responded with this.
"We are consistent in our strong affirmation, defense, and protection of the First Amendment right of free speech and artistic expression. We have recently been involved in a process of dialogue with recording and broadcast industry executives about issues concerning corporate social responsibility.

It is important to re-emphasize that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about censorship. Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people of color, African American women and to all women in lyrics and images."

russ goes on to suggest that we bleep out and consider these sorts of terms as extreme curse words, to be avoided @ all cost.


i don't hear either of these guys letting hip hop off the hook. but, i do hear mr. williams saying something much different. i hear mr. williams pointing towards our greater societal problems, and many types of music, as well as art, reflecting the culture/society we live in. mr. simmons, on the other hand, is representing industry. he is representing his financial institution. in my opinion, he's protecting his checkbook.

perhaps i'm being jaded. but i'm much more in line w/saul williams than russ simmons, even if i did appropriate his idea of wearing adidas @ his wedding.

how many calories is ink?

a good chance you're in for a lot of posts tonight. i'm working as a t.a. @ the university. it'll be interesting for the next 6 mondays, i'll be here from 6-10. so, that means a bit of down time for me. the requirements are slim for what i've got to do for the class. i'm somewhat interested to do this, especially because this current class i'm sitting in is one that i've taught. so, i get to hear another person's take on the course.

but, i saw this cookie, and thought, "yum." must go on blog.

rage against the machine

so, i've been a huge fan of rage for a long time now. i was extremely excited that they were reuniting to play coachella, but as always, i wasn't going to be able to go to the show due to track commitments.

well, God bless their little hearts, they've announced some more dates they'll be playing. there's a show on saturday, august 11. i think i may be picking up tickets in the next few days. well, maybe. the ticket levels are $76 and $151 + fees. yikes! so, the "cheaper" tix are $90. hmmm, i've got to mull this decision over.

Lineup: Rage Against the Machine, Wu-tang Clan, Cypress Hill, The Roots, Mos Def, Nas, EPMD, Pharoahe Monch, Mf Doom, Felt, Immortal Technique, Jedi Mind Tricks, Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Living Legends, The Grouch & Eligh, Cage, Hangar 18, Blueprint, Mike Realm, plus very special guest Public Enemy. Hosted by Supernatural, Rahzel and Hi-Tek Vip includes: Official Rock The Bells backpack, official concert tee, poster, souvenir laminate, 2 drink tickets, access to the VIP lounge area and amenities.

(although i think all that vip stuff comes only @ the 151 level.)

newsy

so, i thought i'd give some links to articles through snarky quips


surprise! a kenyan won a marathon.

shocking! russian rich people live in palaces, outside of the big city.

wha? alec balwin is like a lot of other parents and said something stupid about his kid?

jobless? it could be your own fault. apparently, bad resumes make good comedy.

shark snacks on dolphin, punished for act by being caught. big, bad shark may be a record. gotta love florida.

china is developing abilities that we already have. of course, we're afraid. countdown to attack has begun.

really? the state that allowed polygamy still is a little resistant to federal rules? funny quote in story, "by dang we're not going to give them up."

is a female king a queen?

the high school in my neighborhood is making some national headlines. i think it will be interesting to follow this story, see what happens with this election.


in other news, i don't even remember who was the prom king or queen either of the years that i went.

i heart chris parnell

maybe he didn't write this, maybe he did. but, i do miss his comedy on snl.

i was cleaning out the closet and...

so, um, yeah. i just read this story after seeing a clip on the news about it. wow.

does anyone know of something that i can buy for about $200 that can later be sold for about 3 mill.?

ozomotli

so, i was on emusic today, looking to finish up my monthly downloads of stuff. i had picked up this album by pedro the lion, and a few tracks from rjd2. that completed the 15 i had remaining. then i saw it...


i know what i'll be downloading in a few days when my account refreshes

zach & tom

blog in hiding

friends et al,
my blog may be in hiding for a few days more. i'm super busy grading papers and such. but, it looks like the light @ the end of the tunnel is friday. but who knows, i may just pop on and hit up something brief in the meantime

vegas 1, hyundia santa fe 0

so, today was an afternoon of accidents of sorts.

i was going to track practice, and was riding my bike on the freeway. as i exited the freeway i took my normal offramp. the street that it dumps you on is currently under construction (again). well, traffic was backed up on both the offramp and the street. so, as i was going down the offramp and coming to a stop i was in pretty heavy traffic. the vehicle in front of me, one hyundai santa fe, was trying to move over a lane, while it was also slowing in traffic. the traffic in front of it came to a quick stop, and so they did as well. uh oh! ed's following a little too close, and is trying to avoid locking up the brakes and sliding into the santa fe, or just outright crashing into it. what will happen next to our hero?

well, i didn't lock them up, and i didn't slide. unfortunately, i bumped the santa fe, leaving a little bit o' tire and some wear marks (scratches?) on the bumper. dang. double dang. but, my bike seems to have emerged from the incident unscathed. so, we traded info and off i went to practice. when i got there, i called my insurance agent to let them know to be expecting a call. i figure it'll be a bumper repaint. of course, in today's world, some company will charge a grip of money for that.

at track, one of the other coaches tried to cut or smash my finger off. you see, due to idiocy, we share the infield of the track with the soccer programs. so, despite it being our season, there are a few scrimmages scheduled. this doesn't really seem like a problem, except that it means we have to take down part of our discus cage. and, due to further idiocy, we've had to build a cage that has poles that aren't sleeved into the ground. apparently, having concrete 6" under the grass was unacceptable to the soccer coach. too dangerous. so, we have these 20' poles that are attached to rolling bases that weigh about 75-100lbs. but, with the netting up, there is a danger of it toppling over in a strong breeze (it's like a sail). so, we drive these 2' metal stakes through the bases to further anchor them down. to get the stakes out, you take down the net, and then rock the pole until they're loose and can be pulled out. pretty simple, right? well, we were taking out the first set of stakes, and i had already rocked the base/pole until the stakes were far enough out. i had even pulled one of the stakes completely out already. as i grabbed the second stake, the other coach, thinking that it wasn't free yet, pulled back on the pole to rock the stake loose. yow! finger smashed in between metal stake top and base of pole. so, for the next 30 minutes or so, my finger was feeling pretty numb. fortunately, it only bled a little, and it seems mostly alright now. heck, i'm typing right now.

life is funny. you can be pretty attentive to things most of the time. but, in those instants where you may zone out a little, it can turn sour quickly. now, i was actually paying pretty close attention during both of these situations, but still i almost ended up worse off.

and you thought soccer was low scoring

so, i had a few minutes between one job and another today, and i flipped on the tv, knowing that there was some champions league soccer on. uhhh, what the heck happened to roma? they won 2-1 @ home last week against manchester united. i turn on the match and it's 4-0 manchester, a few minutes into the 2nd half. as i dilly dallied about the house, it quickly became 5-0. and then 6-0. it's freakin 6 to nil with 30 minutes remaining in the match! so, manchester is currently up 7-2 on aggregate scoring. i think they'll be advancing to the champions league semifinal.

r.i.p.

o'shea jackson.

okay, you're not really dead, but don't count on me ever buying another one of your albums. this is what put the final nail in your cofffin.







who am i kidding? i would probably get your next stupid album, too. but i won't be seeing that p.o.s. or the prequel to it.

skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight

so, today i decided to order some pizza for lunch. i had a coupon, so i got a large pepperoni & an order of wings. the food was as good as always, but it also came with something funny: excessive condiments. you see, they usually give you a little bag that contains some parmesan cheese, some crushed red peppers, some ranch, & jalepenos. today they went a little overboard



that's 12 parmesan cheese packets, 9 crushed red peppers, 3 ranch cups, 2 jalepeno cups. uhh, i ordered a large pizza, not 6.

i loved you in that

so, i'm watching dead man walking right now, to prepare for my ethics class tomorrow. today we discussed reward and punishment in class, and had a movie scheduled for today. so, i was interested in showing a movie that dealt with prison, sentencing, and the death penalty (all good ethics issues). last time i taught the class i showed the movie redemption around this time. it featured jamie foxx as stanley "tookie" williams. it was alright, but i thought maybe i'd switch it up this time. so, the next movie of the genre that popped into my head was dead man walking.

so, off to blockbuster to rent it. i start watching the movie, and see a young girl, playing susan sarandon's character as a child. and i think, dang that's a dead ringer for her, it must be her daughter. and it is. you may also remember her from saved.

now, it wasn't all that surprising to me that her daughter was in the movie. but, as i scrolled the cast list, i did find it funny to see this guy. and, this guy, too.

a post for heather

hey, there is no doubt that i'm a huge fan of the sports guy's writing. and, his wife was pretty funny during football season when she got to write a regular little section in his column. well, now she's scored a regular column, writing about the newest season of the bachelor. this is a terrible show. but, i find it pretty funny to read one woman's perspective on it. i figured heather might like it too. sara also appreciated the sports gal's stuff i've put up here before, so hey, this post is for her, too. heck, it can be for all of us who've ever felt like a woman. crank up the shania.

whachu gonna do with all that junk?

steve provided me with this funny little song. i'm impressed with alanis. i didn't think that she'd do something like this:

brazzaville review

so, last week, fresno famous was advertising the chance to win tickets to a concert on saturday night. brazzaville, an internationally known group, was coming to fresno and playing w/3 local acts. it was a fundraiser for 90.7, kfsr. kfsr is the local college station, and has been a source of tremendously great & diverse music in my life. my brother used to record music from there, which in turn exposed me to lots of new stuff. anyway, back to my story. basically, i'd never heard of brazzaville. but, one of the local acts (el olio wolof) is a favorite of mine, so i wanted to go to the show just to see them. so, when i saw the contest, i started entering. the contest was to create a snazzy tag line for their evening eclectic show. i bombarded them with slogans. shoot, i wouldn't be surprised if i won based on the amount of entries i had.

i had sort of forgotten about the contest, and hadn't been on the computer in two days. while i watched ucla lose in the final four (dang), i decided to check my email, blogs, fresno famous, etc. and what do i see? i won tickets for two. sadly, i couldn't give the other ticket away. it seems that people had other plans, were out of town, or not interested. and, i couldn't think of who else to invite. so, i went alone. but, i was armed with my trusty camera, a pen, and a piece of paper. i figured, hey, i'm going because of fresno famous, i might as well review the show for them as well. granted, these aren't the longest or most in depth reviews, but whatever. and, i've got videos! (speaking of which, i apologize in advance for the shaky camera work and the poor sound quality at times. it was louder than my camera wanted to accommodate.)

first up was patrick contreras. i'd never heard him, but there's been a lot of buzz going around about the rock and roll violinist. it was dang good music. i preferred the instrumentals to the songs with vocals, but maybe that's just me. this guy has spunk, and his band is fun to watch, too. patrick ended w/a led zepplin song that was really well done.
patrick contreras video

(on a side note, how do drink prices go up during a show? i don't think i arrived during a happy hour, when i came at 8:20ish. but, the price of the drink i had started @ $3.50. i think i was charged $5 the second time, a bit later and slightly after the show started. the rest of the night i think they charged my $4 for it. wha?)

next on tap was el olio wolof. as i mentioned before, i've seen them before, i really enjoy their music, and pretty much went to the show to see them and to hear brazzaville. el olio didn't disappoint. they're always great. el olio reminds me of a pentecostal tim burton carnival, whatever that means. i highly recommend that you go see them @ the undercurrent benefit show on sunday april 29th @ club fred (hey, you should subscribe to undercurrent as well. so should i.)
el olio wolof 1
el olio wolof 2
el olio wolof 3
el olio wolof 4
el olio wolof 5

third on the bill was the same shape. the same shape reminded me of early radiohead, and i mean that in a good way. i really like radiohead, so i'd take this as a compliment. i don't thing they're trying to bite their sound though. they also had some tunes that reminded me of cream. good stuff, and they played well to the crowd.
the same shape 1
the same shape 2
the same shape 3

(i should mention that the sound guys seemed very helpful to all of the bands. and, i thought that the overall sound quality of the venue was good. always nice when a venue actually has good sound.)

finally, we get to the headliner. i didn't know much about brazzaville before the show. all i had heard was that they were from spain. and that they were good. since the show, i've done a little reading up on them. anyway, they more than lived up to the simple billing that i heard. (and their name is not brazilville, like this doofus next to me kept telling people around him.) brazzaville's sound reminded me of david bowie, and a tad bit of pete yorn. mostly, it was mellow but highly entertaining. these guys were definitely professional, but they were also quite personable. they didn't have "rock star" attitudes on stage. i would recommend them to anyone that likes music.
brazzaville 1
brazzaville 2
brazzaville 3
brazzaville 4
brazzaville 5
brazzaville 6

*disclosure, i'm posting this on my blogspot blog as well as on my fresno famous blog. i hope a lot of people read my meager review, and are influenced to check out & patronize all of the musicians. oh yeah, and listen to 90.7 kfsr. heck, email them and let them know that people want more shows, and more of evening eclectic. i know, i know, people like jazz and it's good that we have a quality station playing diverse jazz. but dammit, i want more "college" radio as well.