Monday, November 30, 2009

monday haiku



thirty days grow beard
now i will shape it up nice
like colonel sanders

Friday, November 27, 2009

usa supporter's world cup shirt

every so often you hear about cool things that are worth supporting. sometimes, those things also benefit you. as you should know as a regular reader of this blog, i love soccer. i love watching soccer. i love supporting the usmnt and have even joined a supporters club, the american outlaws. (btw, if you're interested, i'm still hoping to start a fresno chapter - need 25 people signed up.)

i was checking out the american outlaws site today, and saw one of those cool things worth supporting that benefits me as well. the american outlaws have teamed up with sam's army and little feet to put out shirts for south africa 2010. here it is in gameday red (the also have an away gray)



now, the shirt is a little pricey @ $25, but, the price is worth it. here is why: you're supporting an agency, little feet, that does humanitarian work through soccer. for every shirt that is bought a soccer ball will be donated to a child in south africa. pure dope. the balls will be distributed after the december 4th draw. and, you'll also be supporting u.s. soccer, which is also awesome.

i bought two - one for me, one for my bro. you should buy one as well, and when we get together to watch the u.s. team as the have a break out world cup we can wear the shirts in solidarity.

*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

the matrix in lego

saw this over @ boing boing and thought i'd share. super dope.



cool info about the clip over at lego matrix.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

super badass thanksgiving concerts

looking for something to do over the thanksgiving holidays? why not check out some great local, live music @ tokyo garden. all shows are scheduled for 9:30 & $5.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25th

Primer Skyline
Abigail Nolte
Circles + Circles

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27th

Badlands
The Quiet Americans
Rademacher

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28th

Blake Jones
It'll Grow Back
Racelegs
Trumpet Solo
Wheels of Fortune (solo)

for more info check out a great podcast episode featuring malcolm sosa, who put this all together.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

mls cup 2009

i've been waiting with great anticipation for the mls cup 2009. you see, i am an l.a. galaxy fan, and have been since their inception. i've gone to games when they played in pasadena, and even have been to a mls cup game (we bought tix when it looked like the galaxy would make it but they didn't). the galaxy completed a very good season and played well throughout the playoffs. when they qualified last friday night i was ecstatic. not only was the team i loved capping off a enjoyable year, it was made even better knowing that the team didn't even make the playoffs the last three years.

i started off my day in normal fashion for the average american male, watching american football. i enjoyed the games, but i knew that i was saving up all my nervous energy for the mls cup this evening. i didn't have any plans for the game, other than watching it. as the afternoon wound on i texted some friends and invited them to come over and watch with me. i didn't even think about trying to go to sequoia or hero's or some other sports bar because i doubted i could secure a tv away from sunday night football, even if it was a crap matchup (imho - bears vs eagles). sadly, no one was available so i watched the game by myself. that's fine, i'm focused on the game. i just wouldn't have anyone to shout with on shots or saves, no one to ask questions to when people made terrible passes, and no one to celebrate with should the galaxy win.

as the game was starting, i was impressed by the noise generated by the seattle crowd. what an amazing soccer city seattle has become. honestly, i would love for fresnans to also do things like have a march to the stadium before fuego games. i'd love to see the fuego fans become more passionate, develop chants, or even show up for games. however, it did bug me that they were doing seattle chants. i know you're seattle fans, and it's in seattle, but your team isn't there. pick a team and cheer for them. i don't care if you all choose to chant for real salt lake, just stop cheering for your side that isn't there.

the first half was a bit choppy. the galaxy dominated possession, but there wasn't that much offense generated. however, their possession and play was eventually rewarded by a very nice goal from mike magee. a nice string of passes were finished off by a well place shot. a few minutes later the half ended and the galaxy led 1-0. i was elated.

the second half was a much different affair. real salt lake dominated possession, moved the ball all over, and started putting a olot of balls into the box. on one play, a collision occurred between findley of rsl and the galaxy's keeper, ricketts. it's never good when your goalkeeper's hand is injured, but he pressed on. a few minutes later findley found himself with the ball after a scramble in the box and he slotted it home. ricketts immediately left the field and after he removed his glove you could see how swollen and jacked up it looked. and on came a replacement goalkeeper.

seven minutes of stoppage time. that is a huge amount, but there were several injury stops and substitutions. would we see a winner now, or would we head to added periods? added periods. man, i sat on the edge of the couch for the last twenty minutes of the game (+ stoppage time). that galaxy rallied back, and the play on the field was much more end to end and wide open. it was tense, and neither team could finish it out, so more time to work on my ulcers (or to start one). anything could happen in with another 30 minutes on the clock. who would step up? myself, i feel like the galaxy need to score in the first fifteen. we don't want penalty kicks as rsl has a keeper with a sick knack of blocking pk's. but hey, the back up keeper for the galaxy may be secretly dope.

the majority of the first fifteen minutes were dominated by real salt lake. they put two in the side netting, and both times the galaxy were lucky it wasn't in the back of the net. i felt like the galaxy escaped the first fifteen without surrendering a goal.

both teams looked exhausted in the second overtime period. there were flashes but not a whole lot of sustained offense. real salt lake did have a nice bit of pressure but the galaxy managed to hold them off. with ten seconds left rsl pressed for one more shot, but couldn't quite get a foot on it at the end and the match headed to penalties.

round 1:
beckham vs rimando - beckham scores
mathis vs saunders - mathis scores
1-1

round 2:
berhalter vs rimando - berhalter scores
findley vs saunders - findley scores
2-2

round 3:
kirovski vs rimando - rimando save - oh crap
beckerman vs saunders - saunders save! freakin yeah!
2-2

round 4:
donovan vs rimando - donovan shanks it over the bar.
grababoy vs saunders - grabavoy scores
2-3 rsl

round 5:
magee vs rimando - magee scores
williams vs saunders - saunders save! holy isht, 2 saves from a keeper that doesn't play!
3-3

round 6:
klein vs rimando - klein scores
wingert vs saunders - wingert scores
4-4

round 7:
buddle vs rimando - rimando saves
russel vs saunders - saunders scores

5-4 real salt lake, your mls cup 09 champs. now, i'm saddened that my team didn't win. but, you gotta love rsl's story. they qualified for the playoffs on the last day in near miraculous fashion. they beat the defending champs in a home/away series. they won last week in pk's and their keeper blocked 3. and this week, they came back from 1-0 to tie and eventually win. their keeper had 2 saves + a shank and they slotted enough home to win. congrats to them.

congrats to the galaxy on an enjoyable season. i hope donovan doesn't have any lingering mental issues from that miss, we've got a world cup to win next summer. and really, they accomplished a lot on the field. maybe next year.

maybe next year i'll watch the final with a crowd as we cheer on the galaxy to a victory.

*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

best of fresno



last night i had the pleasure of going to fresno magazine's "best of fresno" awards party. and, it was a very pleasurable event. now, i'm not going to go into too much detail here, but you can listen to a podcast featuring three guys that went to the event. we talk about the event in detail, and we also talk about the best of fresno list. (you can also go over here and read other thoughts on the list)

what i do want to say is that the event was fun. it reminded me of sudz in the city or a wine tasting event. it was packed while i was there, so that's good. and, i enjoyed the food vendors, and i would even say that some of them could go with a smaller sample portion size (shocking!). whether or not i agree with their list, they throw a pretty good party.

one big complaint - this comes up in the podcast, but i'll bring it up here, too. why did they have a journey cover band?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

random tuesday musings

so, i meant to write this post this morning, but didn't. oh well. here's a bunch of random stuff floating around my mind today:

it was freaking cold today. i need to put the windshield on my bike. however, i'll probably just sit around and not do it.

going to fresno mag's best of fresno event tonight. i've already chuckled at the list (available at the beehive) but figure it'll be interesting. and, free samples and junk sounds cool. plus, it's giving us some potential podcast material.

i've shaped the novembeard a little. nothing radical, just took a little out of the sides. looks a little more maintained and groomed.

i wonder if the new cantina tacos from taco bell are any good. btw, it took me twenty minutes to figure out they were called cantina tacos. i took a nap and my head is in a bit of a fog.

speaking of that nap, i fell asleep during a soccer podcast, when it ended i put on a fantasy football one. after i woke up i had to replay the football one. may replay the soccer one later. i love me some podcasts.

i heard a rumor about the united states men's national team may play mexico in a friendly at the l.a. coliseum. if this happens, i will go. and, i know at least 3 other guys that would go in a heartbeat. man, i hope this happens.

have an own goal


good gawd i'm appalled by this danish pop up game.

speaking of the danes, the u.s. plays them tomrrow in soccer.

Monday, November 16, 2009

monday haiku

sixteen days since shave
now start shaping novembeard
silly look coming

Friday, November 13, 2009

juggalo drug bust

i was talking to corin hoggard last night, and he told me about this story.









"validated juggalo gang member." janet stoll lee, how do you live with your lies? the juggalos are not a gang. i repeat, they are not a gang. they are not formed for the intention of committing criminal activity. they are people who like the insane clown posse. while i may disagree with their taste in music, and their affinity for wearing clown make up, they aren't a gang.

the attorney interviewed has it right. they're calling them a gang so they can slap an enhancement on the charges.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

cold november rain

i am an everyday rider. that is, i pretty much ride my motorcycle every day. and, i've been doing this for the last few years. warm, hot, cold, foggy, rain, whatever, i'm riding. when it gets colder, i put the windshield on the bike to cut the airflow a bit. i need to do this soon as it is crazy chilly in the morning and less wind on the body would help. when it rains, i have some rain pants that go over my regular pants, and a raincoat that goes over my jacket and they keep me nice and dry.

my rain gear was getting a little tattered, so yesterday i went and got some new duds over @ cycle gear.

my new overcoat



yeah, it's bright, but you will see me.

my new pants



pretty basic, but will keep me dry.

anyway, i purchased these items yesterday, and then last night i saw on the news that there was a chance of rain today. how fortuitous! but, angelo stalis seemed to downplay the storm a bit and it seemed, or at least i understood, that the storm would hold off until later in the day. so, i decided i probably would not need to wear the rain gear today. this morning, i didn't wear it.

so, of course, when i was going to leave work, it was raining. fortunately, it was just spitting a bit and not pouring. i made it home rather dry. this time.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

taste fresno or yelp

for quite some time i've posted food reviews here @ my blog. i also post them at sites like fresno famous and yelp. lately, a revamped version of taste fresno (see sidebar for link) launched, and it has my interest piqued.

now, i'll openly admit that the new taste fresno isn't my favorite. it has a very nice look to it, and feels very accessible, which is good. i really like that james is trying to put together a community cookbook based on local recipes. what i don't particularly care for is the review aspect of the site. there are pages and pages of reviews, which is good, especially for a relatively new, and small site. however, the site only shows four reviews per page. and, when you click on a review, it's solely the review from one user. that's standard, although it seems that other sites compile & average the scores given. i will say that most of the restaurants reviewed have only been done by one person, so there wouldn't be that many to compile. what i do like about the reviews is that they are all very honest. no one is trying to blow smoke up a restaurant's rear, or be overly critical. and, that honesty, if it keeps up, may keep me coming back to taste fresno.

you see, i love yelp. they're big. they're everywhere. they've ironed out kinks. but, there are also a lot jerks on yelp. really, here in fresno, it seems like there are regular posts from people who live in "big" cities that feel the need to talk crap about fresno in their review of a restaurant. "i never expected to find good ______ in podunk fresno," or "i'm surprised that they have (insert some ethnic food here) restaurants in fresno," or, i remember after the meet in the middle event how many travelers commented on the quality of the gay nightclubs and friendly establishments in this hick town. unless i want to flag these sophomoric reviews as abusive, there isn't much you can do to reply to the backhanded complements.

and now it seems that fresno yelp has developed it's own brand of a-hole. recently there have been several fresno yelpers that feel the need to constantly talk about how they know everything, that their palette is so refined, and that other yelpers (and fresnans) are idiots. this seems especially true of sushi restaurant reviews lately. this one reviewer has posted about several sushi restaurants, maybe most of them in town. and, in every review he goes on about how he knows sushi, how sushi has been bastardized and americanized and how sushi in fresno is about oversized roles and sauces and blah blah blah. these same statements are literally in every review done by this guy. however, his condescension and expertise don't just extend to sushi. this review is a jackhole of all trades & foods. and now, it seems that his reviews have rubbed off on another sushi "expert" who is throwing in very similar assessments in his reviews.

i know that no website or system are going to be perfect. i hope taste fresno continues to grow in reviews and is refined to be a little more usable, imho. i also hope that yelpers would stop thinking that they're some sort of real critic and just give honest review of the food and service of fresno restaurants.

UPDATE - i didn't realize that joan obra from the bee posted a write up of the site earlier today. seriously, i'm seven hours behind her. so, click over to the beehive and read what someone who is paid to think about these things thinks.

Monday, November 09, 2009

monday haiku

novembeard week two
doesn't keep my face warm yet
blurry eyed picture

Saturday, November 07, 2009

stereotypical cadillac

i saw this car the other day and had to break out the phone.



the car made me chuckle because in some ways it seemed like a stereotypical older cadillac. it had these huge pipes, was sittin low, and had the naked ladies on it.

what wasn't stereotypical was the two ladies driving. and the license plate. now, i'm not 100% sure, but i think the license plate has something to do with being homosexual (2bqb401 - 2 be queer before '01?). it was also accented with little rainbow sticker parts.

i gotta say, i wouldn't have expected to see two middle aged white women driving a late model caddie with naked lady silhouettes and big pipes.

the other twelve hours

toothpastefordinner.com
toothpastefordinner.com

Friday, November 06, 2009

espn takes notice of fresno

over at the beehive the do a re-occurring post called 'did they just say fresno?' it's a good little feature, and often highlights ways that fresno is being noticed by the world at large. well, they missed one, and i thought i'd post it.

i was watching espn's e60 on tuesday, november 3rd, and one of the stories near the end really caught my attention. here it is:



that's right, mutton bustin @ the big big big big big fresno fair. take notice fresno, we are on espn's radar.

*cross posted @ wideworldoffresnosports

Thursday, November 05, 2009

dr. sketchy's roadshow in fresno

so,i check out a lot of different websites and blogs on a routine basis. most are somehow culture related, as that's a fascination of mine. well, i was on boing boing on 10/30 and saw this thing called dr. sketchy's roadshow, and it was touring through california. i thought i'd check out the website, and holy cow, they are coming through fresno on 11/9.

Monday, November 9, 2009 – FRESNO, CA: High Class Tattoo (7:00 PM)

what is the dr. sketchy roadshow? from their faq

Q: What is Dr. Sketchy’s?

A: Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is an alternative figure drawing salon. The original Dr. Sketchy’s was founded by Molly Crabapple in New York. Today, there are nearly 100 Dr. Sketchy’s branches worldwide.

Q: So is the Dr. Sketchy’s Roadshow an art class, or a workshop, or a meetup, or what?

A: The Dr. Sketchy’s Roadshow (like Dr. Sketchy’s Los Angeles) is a pop-up social club where artists and art lovers can gather to create and celebrate art. The club’s mission is to host alternative life drawing salons that offer top-notch models, refreshments, prizes, and casual networking opportunities… all wrapped up in an entertaining package.



it's $10, but it sounds pretty interesting. so, check it out if it sounds like your sort of thing. it's unlikely i'll go, but it sounds cool. (just to be clear, i doubt i would go because this isn't really how i go about creating my art. if i were a photog or actually sketched, this could be pretty cool for inspiration, but it's not how i work.)

the invasion

have a laugh as you consider the renaissance



oh, all's faire, well played.

things for today

things i should do:
work on paintings for rogue 2010
do more recruiting of rogue 2010 visual artists

things i might do:
go for a bike ride
go to art hop
pass out some of the recruiting flyers for rogue

things i probably will do:
sit on couch
watch tv

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

34

so, yesterday i turned 34. i wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who wished me well, or came over for cake, or bought me a drink, or gave me a present. i appreciate them all. and, if you see me around any time soon and still want to buy me a drink or say happy birthday, i'll take it.

it's funny, some people really stress out about birthdays, lie about their age, and generally have a problem with getting older. not so much me. birthdays are nice, but really, i don't make a big deal about them. i mean, i've had parties before, and some of them were a blast, but generally, i like hanging out with people and so any chance to hangout is welcomed.

nothing is new in life at 34, at least not for me. l i v i n.

Monday, November 02, 2009

monday haiku

novembeard started
from a clean shaven face, oh
will it look sexy?

Sunday, November 01, 2009

green eggs & the met - a recap

friday night was a great night for fresno. i mean, the weather was crisp, it was the beginning of the weekend, and the met was hosting green eggs & the met, which i was going to attend.

the evening got off to a great start with dinner over @ oggi. i had the lasagna and enjoyed it. i also was pleased that they were serving minestrone that night. it doesn't seem like much of a surprise that an italian restaurant serves minestrone, but the minestrone here is delicious.

after dinner, we headed down to the met. for the last event, we parked on the street, but tonight we decided to hit up the parking lot, which, btw, was free. it would've been free on the street, too, but i like pointing out that you can park in the met's lot when you're visiting. and, you should go visit. not only do they have the artwork of dr. seuss, but they also have shows by matisse and chagall right now.

speaking of the work of dr. seuss, it blew me away. of course, there are drawings from his books, but his other pieces are great, and interesting. i didn't know that he did work for the u.s. military under director frank capra. and, many of his pieces of that era show the foolishness of bigotry while being visually intriguing. i also enjoyed the taxidermy pieces.

and now onto the event. remember how i went to dinner before the event? i wish i hadn't eaten so much because the hors d'oevres looked amazing. i talked to people that had some, and they seemed to enjoy them all. i did have one of the seuss-y cocktails before switching to well drinks. i had a "sneetch on the beach" which was like a sex on the beach. pretty good, but not a type of drink i would normally order. but i enjoyed it enough. the bartenders for the evening were very nice, and i'm glad that i could tip them. i also want to congratulate the met for pricing their drinks very reasonably ($3 beers, $6 cocktails).

the decorations for the event were immaculate and really did help set the mood for the bands. ass mentioned in our podcast before the event, ceilidh wanted to transport people into the world of seuss, and i think she accomplished that very well.

finally, to the bands. first up was yesterday's chonies, who i think i've mentioned before here that i don't care for their music. but in this venue it seemed very appropriate and interesting. i still wouldn't book them for my birthday party, but it worked for that night. wheels of fortune went on second and played a good set. their sound was a little different because their bass player was sick and not there. a good set, but i think i've seen better from them. up third was uni and her ukulele. i didn't hear all her set, but thought that what i did hear was fun. it takes guts to get up in front of a big crowd with just you and a ukulele, but uni does it well. finally, el olio wolof was up. honestly, el olio pretty much was what sold me on the event. i love el olio, and haven't seen them in ages (the sort of broke up but have reformed). el olio was as good as ever, and i had such a great time listening to the music and even dancing a bit. i haven't danced in ages, but how can't get up and move to such good music. anyway, i recorded el olio's last song, and present it to you.



not really good quality sound, but whatever. you can also see one of the sets that was done for the evening in the background.

it was a great night, and the met staff is doing good things. congrats to everyone that had a hand in putting on this event. i can't wait for the next one to come along.