new years eve

looking for something to do in fresno on new years eve? something other than just hanging out at a bar? well, the treasury has something you might like.



our good friend woody is one of the dj's at this event, so say hi to him.

monday haiku 12/27

christmas has gone by
but friends are still around us
so enjoy them now

sfw

this post is safe for work

true grit review

tonight, we went and saw true grit. and, i've got more to say then in my last review, mainly because i was blown away by black swan, and true grit...well, didn't have the same effect.

overall, i enjoyed the movie. i think the actors all do a fine job, and i liked matt damon's quirkiness. and, some of the bit characters, the background people were really intriguing to me. the movie is also beautifully shot, although the snow seemed very cgi to me, and it bugged me.

two things surprised me: 1. josh brolin is in the movie a lot less than i expected. i haven't seen the original, so i didn't know how big or little that role is. the billing and commercials made me think it was a bigger role than it was. this isn't a bad or good thing, just and observation.
2. for being a coen brothers film, this was a pretty straight take. yes, there are a few strange bits, but overall it was pretty much a normal movie. i'm fine with them breaking their mold, but i guess i just expected something more dark or bizarre from them.

again, overall i think the movie was good and you should see it. you could probably wait for video if you're inclined.

black swan review

my take on black swan: wow. amazing movie. extremely well made. beautiful art.

dubstep christmas

another funny video from england. this one is done by some comedians, goldie lookie chain.

8 bit safe sex ad

pretty funny little safe sex psa done by a anti-teen pregnancy group in leicestershire, england.

obama's failure

there are people out there, democrats, that are saying this presidency is a failure. that president obama, as he works with the republicans is a failure because he's not sticking to his guns. if there is a failure, it is our failure.

greedy democrats have wanted to shove it down the republican throats, to run up the score. since he hasn't, we're pissed. but you know what? that's not how it's supposed to work. the parties are supposed to work with each other, while checking each other's power as well. our government shouldn't work with a motto of, "we're in power so we're going to do whatever the eff we want."

i don't care if we feel that the other side did it when they controlled the house & senate. that doesn't mean that's how we should have been working.

now, i also don't think that the president or the democrats should give up on all of their ideals or plans and just give the republicans whatever they want. and, i also think that if the republicans are going to just drag their feet on everything we need to do a better job exposing that, letting the public at large know that nothing is happening because people being unwilling to work together to make a better america.

anderson cooper disproves birther rhetoric

thanks, anderson.



what scares me is that this guy is a congressman texas state representative who is either willfully ignorant or just a blatant liar.

rademacher show review

so, i only managed to make it to one of the thanksgiving shows down at tokyo garden, and it was the last one. the show was supposed to be brother luke & the comrades, archaeology, and rademacher. the funny thing is, archaeology was nowhere to be found. it's as if they didn't even know they were supposed to be in fresno and not their native portland, because they posted something online about being done with rehearsal and heading to a show to watch & listen.

so, i headed out to the show, and only made it for the last song or two of brother luke. that's okay, i wasn't really going to see his set, not that i have anything against that group. there was a decent crowd for a show at tokyo, and it did seem like some out of town folks had managed to incorporate the show in their visit home plans.

rademacher is playing again as a five piece, and they are really starting to click again. i saw them in this set up a few weeks back in visalia, but this time the sound was much better. and by that, i mean there was no feedback. and you could hear the keyboards. they're currently playing a set list that's mostly from stunts, which is good, but i was surprised when mike mentioned during the show that it came out in 2006 (i think it actually was released in 2007). holy crap, time flies. as i enjoyed the music, i pondered where the years had gone. and why good bands like rademacher, the sleepover disaster and el olio wolof toil away without getting big enough to really get noticed and "make it." and perhaps now, with this line up, rademacher can grab someone's ear because they sound really good. it's a very focused sound, a well oiled machine. honestly, they sound as good as they ever did, and hopefully they'll be able to keep it up.

thanksgiving greatness @ tokyo garden

Looking for something to do over the thanksgiving holidays? Why not check out some great local, live music @ tokyo garden. All shows are scheduled to start at 9:30PM and all the shows cost $5.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24th

UNDERCURRENT BENEFIT!!!

College Kids (Acoustic)
High Winds (Solo)
Brian Kenney Fresno

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26th

Aesop Fables
SOMOS 1
Destructo Bunny

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27th

Brother Luke + The Comrades
Archaeology
Rademacher

monday haiku

clear skies in the 'no
tons of great rain this weekend
i slept through the hail

slow down poster

i'd like to blame my lack of posting on my computer being in the shop, which it is, but that's not really why. i'm just lazy.

national unfriend day

why can't we unfriend?



for those that don't know, jimmy kimmel has declared nov. 17 national unfriend day on facebook. he's encouraging people to ditch or unfriend people that aren't really our friends. i'm in. now, i'm not going to get rid of everyone, but have realized there are people that i'm "friends" with that i've never met, have no desire to meet, and am not even always sure how we became friends. so, i'll be weeding them out.

i'm also going to slim down my twitter roster. there are some people's tweets & posts i just don't care to read.

monday haiku

it's light in the morn
now, helps me wake up and go
too bad it's for work

if you got some magic

last friday we went down to visalia to see rademacher & the dodos at howie and sons pizza. i decided to shoot a little video of rad rad rad. enjoy the salad bar shot.



btw, i thought both rademacher and the dodos were fabulous. however, the sound guy sucked crap. really, there was feedback on almost every rademacher song, you couldn't hear the keyboards at all. and, it didn't get any better during the dodos. they didn't have as many feedback issues, but they were still there.

man up

i'm not sure if california did this, but it's funny.

colbert says man up

monday haiku

giants win it all
party in san francisco
grizzlies play super

monday haiku

saw review on yelp of
k f c and they said it
was greasy. morons.

upcoming and interesting

so, there are a lot of cool shows coming to fresno and the area in the next month and beyond. this is great news for me, as i haven't been to a show in ages and have missed hearing live music.

nov. 1 - the generationals & el olio wolof @ audie's olympic. i've never heard of the generationals, but they have a pretty cool sound. sort of reminds me of old motown, but not totally. anyway, i'll be at this show without a doubt because it's el olio's last fresno show ever. i don't know why it's their last show, but whatever. i love their music, and will be there to give them one last cheer.

nov. 5 - the dodos and rademacher - my love for rademacher is well documented, so it shouldn't be too surprising that i'm interested in going to a show of theirs. really, i'm pumped to see them open for a big, touring band. and, several of my friends are really into the dodos, so that's good for them. this shows in visalia @ howie & sons pizza, where i've never been, but i hear decent things about the place.

dec. 18 - the grouch and brother ali @ the cellar door. brother ali has got to be my favorite hip hop artist. i love his cadence and vocals, and his lyrics are amazing. this shows a ways out, but that gives you time to save up the $22 for tickets. also, it's @ the cellar door, so it'll be a great, intimate venue.

swings at the big fresno fair

college kids on the dope slope

do you wake up early. i do.

do you watch kopi & the great day crew? me, hell no. i hate that crap. but, this almost makes me want to tune in. almost.

our friend malcolm sosa, from rademacher, and his new band college kids on the dope slope will be on great day tomorrow morning. they'll be doing a few songs.



if you like more sensible time slots and share a dislike for kopi, you can also hear this band on the view looks good from here, fresno podcast. we're scheduled to record with them thursday evening and you'll be able to download after that.

thanks clawson & redline

if you've ever read this blog, you should know that i really like to shop local when i'm able. today, i needed to get some things done, and it really paid off, in my opinion, that these were local shops.

first up was clawson motor sports. a while back they became the licensed victory dealer & service department for the area. i was happy about this because the previous one was down in fowler, and if i could avoid driving a bit of distance to get service done on my bike, great. and, clawson is right around the corner from one of my jobs so it usually makes it easy for me to get it over there. anyway, last week my headlight was having issues. it turned out that one of the two bulbs, the high beam one, was dead and if you tried to use it the fuse would blow. this would mean no headlight at all, which is illegal. i generally run with the high on for more visibility on my bike, but was fine running with just the regular until i could the other fixed. but, i didn't know why the light was out, and i didn't realize it was a blown fuze due to the other bulb. i took the bike into clawson, but unfortunately they didn't have the bulb in. they didn't know that at first, and had the bike in for a while which caused me a labor charge. anyway, they ordered the new bulb, which came in yesterday, and so today i went by with the bike to get the bulb changed. i'd already paid for the bulb, but i knew i'd be paying a little more labor for the install. i waited as the work was done, and when the finished, the service rep comped it. when they said it was zero i was a bit confused, because i was counting on the labor charge. the rep nicely explained that it wasn't my fault they didn't have the bulb in the other day, i paid for labor then, so she didn't think it was fair/right for me to pay the labor again. super nice! i already planned on bringing the bike back there for future service, but this really seals the deal.

after clawson, i figured i would run one more stop before home. the other day i lost a little ball that goes on my earrings, basically locking it on my ear. i hit it while taking off my helmet, so i wanted to replace it. i had originally bought these rings at redline tattoo and piercing, so i figured they would have the replacement ball i needed.



anyway, i arrived at the shop, and they were hanging out, talking and waiting for customers like often seems to be the case at tattoo shops. i explained what happened, and the owner (i'm assuming) told the piercing guy to just comp me a replacement. sweet. the piercing guy searched for the right sized ball, and not only gave me one that he thought was the right size, he also gave me two others that were a little bigger and may stay on better. free. since i was planning to pay for the part, i gladly accepted them for free, and tipped the guy a few bucks out of thanks. that made him happy.

all in all it was a great afternoon. now, i'll get ready for my next local experience over at...the local. that's right, it's almost time for pub quiz at landmark tonight.

.22 fresno

.22

.22

.22 is much higher the .08. in fact, it's just under 3 times higher than the legal limit to drive.

.22 came up in two stories that i read today.

the first was about a student, a young man that was shot by the fresno police. his bac was said to be .22. now, this isn't a precise science, and his bac may not have been exactly that when the police shot him.

i haven't commented much on that story because i know the guy. i saw him about 3.5 hours before he was killed by fpd. at the time, he seemed to be in good spirits, we joked about some things, he said by and walked off with two other people i know. a few hours later, i received some phone calls about the situation. as i think about it now, i still have a lot of questions about what happened, and we'll never fully know what went down. i doubt the veracity of the official version, although i don't doubt that this young man made some terrible decisions that involved drinking and holding a weapon in the presence of fpd. this young man is now deceased, and there are seven officers on paid leave. at least chief dyer is concerned about the number of shots his cops let fly into a neighborhood filled with children and right next to a school - 63. i mean, he's not expressing his concern that officers fired under questionable circumstances from 70-100 feet away, but it seems he's at least concerned that his trigger happy cops dumped so many shots in a school zone.

the other story went down much differently. this second story was about one of fresno's finest, one of the boys in blue that also had a .22 bac. this officer was driving a giant weapon drunk, and was simply arrested. he's now on modified duty.

that arrest happened on the heels of another fpd member being involved in a dui hit & run. that cop was cited and released to a "responsible adult." the article doesn't say the bac, and i wonder if they actually gave a breathalyzer or just did field sobriety tests. the end result, another cop on paid leave.

so, when it's all said and done, we have 1 dead, and 9 cops on leave. all involving alcohol. but, good old jerry isn't pushing for alcohol to be made illegal, or telling his officers not to drink. or, maybe he is.

corin hoggard day

it's time for my annual proclamation...

corin hoggard day at the fair!



friend of this blog corin hoggard will be at the abc 30 booth of the big fresno fair on saturday, october 9, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. slanging pictures, shacking hands, kissing babies, and whatever else. if you're a c.h. groupie or follower, why not stop by and say hi to the man, the myth, the reporting legend corin hoggard.

then, go enjoy the rest of the fair.

i-sleep pro black noise

snl featuring brian cranston was alright. it had some moments, but in general it wasn't that stunning. however, one of the last things they did was a spoof ad that cracked me up.



love it. it almost reminds me of tracy morgan asking, "ooh baby, do they have buttermilk?"

comings and going

i thought i'd share some cool stuff going on around fresno in the next few days:

quiz on



the juggernaut that is fresno pub quiz continues on tonight. our attendance is still around 100, which is a great number and provides quite a diverse group of players and skill.

(on another f.p.q. note, i would hate to schedule against us. we bring in a lot of fresno people that get out and do stuff. it's not everyone available obviously, but still, it's got to be tough to draw on wednesdays from 7-10 imho.)

UPDATE: i realize the preceding paragraph sound jerkish. i really don't mean it to be.

get blended



friday is the next creative fresno blender. if you recall, we went and had a good time last month, enjoyed dinner, and met some people. this month's venue is over at a new venue, urban salvage central valley. here's the description of the event from cf's website:
The October Blender will be a special event for a couple of reasons: First, we're celebrating the grand opening of Urban Salvage Central Valley, Downtown Fresno's premier architectural salvage center and second, this is the site for our next mural!

Along with the treasures of Urban Salvage we'll have some fiery entertainment provided by Creative Fresno's own Jaime Holt and the awesome music of local favorites Blake Jones and the Trike Shop! You really must be there!

Connect with artists, entrepreneurs and other creative professionals over a cocktail and complimentary appetizers. Great conversations and great fun! Join us won't you?

The Blenders, which take place on the first Friday of the month, are Creative Fresno's social mixers of professionals, artists and entrepreneurs whose exchange of ideas are an effort to revitalize the urban life and landscape of the Fresno region.

When: Friday, October 1
Where: Urban Salvage Central Valley - 1515 Broadway Street
Time: 5 - 8 p.m.
Web: www.creativefresno.com


and, if you want to read more about urban salvage, here's a blog post written by dominique, one of the bloggers over at i heart fresno. btw, monticore and i met her last month at...the cf blender!

get your war on



this weekend is the annual civil war reenactment over at kearney park. and, thanks to our friends over at fresno famous, i've got some tickets. who's in?

monday haiku

sports trivia at
the landmark tonight during
football game halftime






stupid hot weather
over hundred degrees and
almost october

fresno and detroit

so, meg whitman made some remark comparing fresno to detroit. of course, it's getting a lot of press in fresno. we have a chip on our shoulder, and since the statement was part of an interview to a newspaper in san jose, it feels sorta like the big city snobs looking down their noses at us again, taking shots.

now, honestly, there are some parallels that we could actually discuss. detroit is an economically depressed area, and fresno county/the central valley is an economically depressed area. and, we can talk about the fact that it was just a sound byte we're hearing and there is a bigger context we can talk about. but, it's not like we're getting any concrete plans from whitman on how we can change our economic situation here in the valley or here in california. i mean, her commercials tell me that her #1 priority is to bring jobs to california, but nothing about how. and that bugs me.

but i'm not interested in having a huge political discussion here. what it made me thing was, "i wonder if fresno will become a hipster hotbed like i've heard about detroit becoming."

i heard about this blog and a documentary about detroit being somewhat revitalized by hipsters, artists, and other people of that sorts. i'm intrigued.

if you have a long time, watch these segments. or, watch one part, and come back and watch the others as you have time.

don't forget the tower

it's going to be difficult to get around the tower district for a little while. you see, they're changing out some water piping, and then they'll be doing a remodel on the curbs and intersection as a pilot program for what they hope will be the future, special look of the tower.

in the meantime, business are going to suffer. they are going to struggle. so, i encourage us all to try and spend when and where we can. i know times are tough on us all, but these businesses are essentially having a leg cut off while the race is still going on. not good. so, go buy some coffee beans at cafe corazon. stop in at twee (i'm getting a bunch of buttons for fresno pub quiz). go eat at any of the restaurnats on olive or the surrounding area. and then, go back and do it all again once or twice more in the next month or so. the businesses will love you for it.

meze house dinner review

tonight we ate dinner @ a new mediterranean restaurant in the tower. we had heard about it, and had heard good things, but hadn't been able to get over there yet.

first off, i love how they've transformed the place. the decor inside and out is very nice. the patio area is great, and we ate our there tonight as the weather was great.

i ordered the lamb kabob dinner plate. first, it came with a salad that blew me away. i'm not a big salad guy, and i usually don't like leafy greens, but for some reason i tore this one up. the dressing was a nice balsamic vinaigrette that work well with the kalamata olives and the feta. i even shocked myself by eating the cucumbers, something i rarely do. the lamb was very good, and i enjoyed it with some tahini and hummus on a pita. the pilaf under it all was good, too. i suppose i would've liked more lamb, but after it was all said and done, i was full.

monticore had a falafel that looked good, and was a pretty large portion. she enjoyed it, and i had a bite to taste the chickpea goodness. i thought it was nice, but i'm not sure it's what i would pick when we go back for more. she also ordered a side of fries which were simple little shoe string fries, but the spices they had on them made them scrumptious. seriously, i was full but i kept grabbing more.

it was a very good meal, and the family running the place seemed very nice. we'll definitely go back and try more of the menu.

552 E Olive Ave
Fresno, CA 93728
(559) 266-6393

yep.

every so often i miss days (a week) of blogging. i feel bad, i promise i'll be more consistent in my writing...and then it happens a month or so later.

this time, i say whatever. i've been busy lately. i'll have time, and then i'll get you some good quality material. today, i'm just letting you know that i'm thinking about you, loyal readers and people that click onto this blog looking for pulp fiction images.

if it's any consolation, i haven't been reading blogs much lately either.

me on film

i managed to get on the news last night, which is always nice. i'm part of a fantasy football league, and we were having our draft at a local restaurant (me n ed's victory grill). this is actually the third year we've had the league, and the draft there.




let me break down the video for you:
20 seconds in - the show me on camera, and say my name. yep, that's me crossing off picks in the first round.
28 seconds in - the interview. brief, only a fraction of what i said. that's how tv news rolls (at least they used some of me. mike oz, who set up the league didn't even get on at all).
60 seconds in - the pan across our draft, you get to see my back.

and there you go. now, go back and watch my interview and see if you can see my comical mustache. it's faint, but you can see it on my upper lip. you also catch glimpses on my cheeks of the swirl part of the mustache. it sorta looks like shadows on both cheeks or maybe dimples. nice. i shaved a comical mustache purely for the fun of the draft, and end up in an interview. of course, i'm a camera whore so i jumped up to be interviewed. one of the last times i did a stupid mustache was for the rogue festival 2 years ago, same result, interviewed.

shepherds inn - a dinner review

i hadn't been the shepherd's inn since...well, since it was the santa fe basque, and that trip was probably 14 years ago. i don't remember much about that meal.

creative fresno, a local group that i've attended some events from, was having their monthly evening blender (get together) there last friday so i thought i'd give it a shot. now, i didn't check out the whole place, and we didn't eat in the proper dining room, but i'll give you my review as it was.

first of all, the bar was very nice. honestly, the decor of the bar itself is amazing. the bar tender was friendly and helpful, and the drinks were very reasonably priced. cocktails were around $5, and beers were cheaper. they have a decent amount on tap, and a whole ton in cans/bottles.

creative fresno had some free appetizers provided. i missed out on the wings, but there were still breaded/fried mushrooms which were delicious. man, they were breaded nice, and still nice and juicy.

we knew that appetizers weren't going to be enough, so we sat down with some friends at a table. our group of five was looked in on fairly quickly, the waiter was helpful, and honestly, the meal didn't take too long from order to arrival.

two of my friends had cheeseburgers. they were rather basic, but both liked what they had. from my seat, these burgers looked pretty nice. the fries were tasty but simple - i know because i had them with my meal as well.

one of my friends had their signature thick rib eye (i forget exactly the name they use). it was cooked to his order, and he dug it.

i just had the regular signature rib eye, and i thought it was very good. i eat a fair amount of steaks at restaurants, and i think this was better than most that i've had lately (richards, landmark, livingstones - not that i'm saying those were bad, just this was better). my meal came with clam chowder & salad (signature items get both, normal meals one or other) but i only ate the soup - needed to save room. one of my cheeseburger friends ate the salad. i thought the clam chowder was pretty good, but more or less standard clam chowder. the steak came topped with grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms which was a great addition to the steak, which tasted great. there was a choice of pilaf, potatoes, fries or veggies, and i went with fries.

finally, my wife ordered a house salad and the cheese plate appetizer. i was rather impressed with the look of the salad. it wasn't too fancy, but it had actual greens in it - not just some chopped up iceberg lettuce. it also didn't just look like some "bag" salad thrown in a bowl. the cheese plate was only decent, but that was because it was just one cheese - they were out of the other type that normally comes on it. but it was still fairly cheap for a cheese plate.

overall, we had a great time at the restaurant. while it won't become my every week haunt, i'd definitely go there for another dinner.

935 Santa Fe Ave
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 266-2228

whitney avalon & cee lo - thoughts

so, the other day i tweeted about how cee lo's new song, f--k you isn't good. a few people i interact with tweeted how they liked it, and i made a response back about how the lyrics were weak, the music was mediocre and all that it had was being catchy. then i tweeted that herpes was catchy and stayed with you as well. all good fun.

since then, i actually looked up the lyrics, and they're aren't as bad as i thought, but i still don't think they're great. i also still stand by my assessment that the song isn't very good. but, if you like it, fine.

today i saw a rebuttal to the song, done by whitney avalon. honestly, i think it's on par with cee lo's song.




i don't have anything against cee lo. he was a great part of goodie mob, and has been on some of my favorite outkast songs. i dug the stuff he did with gnarls barkley. i just think he can do better.

hunter shoots a bear

this is a great web campaign. the initial video is just a starter, and i wonder how far it can go.



basically, you'll choose your own adventure with the hunter, but then you get to type in what they'll do next. pretty cool. my first was hug the bear. what'll happen if you get frisky?

creative fresno september blender

i feel like i might be forgetting something. oh yeah, this is what it was:



creative fresno is having a blender this friday. the blenders have been a little hit or miss for me. i mean, sometimes i go, most of the time i don't. here's why: i end up talking to the same people, and it's mostly just my friends that i probably came with. what good is that? i can do that on my own over drinks, and not have potentially awkward conversations with strangers.

but i'm interested in this blender. why? well, i'm not exactly sure, but i think that creative fresno has been doing a lot of cool stuff lately. maybe i'm more aware of the org because of the kickstart campaign (see to the right - you can still donate) or maybe because i know a few more members, or maybe it's because of twitter. i dunno, but cf has been more...on my mind lately. not in a creepy way. so, when i saw they were having a blender @ the shepherd's inn, i thought, "why not?"


"September(Fun) + Great Conversation + You/Blender = Shepherd's Inn. This is Creative Fresno's equation for a kick-off a long weekend while enjoying the final days of summer at a downtown icon good time! Join us won't you?

Connect with artists, entrepreneurs and other creative professionals over a cocktail and complimentary appetizers. Great conversations and great fun!

The Blenders, which take place on the first Friday of the month, are Creative Fresno's social mixers of professionals, artists and entrepreneurs whose exchange of ideas are an effort to revitalize the urban life and landscape of the Fresno region.

When: Friday, September 3
Where: Shepherd's Inn - 935 Santa Fe Avenue
Time: 5 - 8 p.m."


and, if you go to the blender, you can join, or rejoin creative fresno. i use their website occassionally (rarely) but think i may actually re-up. i was a member years ago, but didn't see much benefit/reward to paying for membership over not paying for membership. this year, there is a lot more to membership. and, i'm sorta involved with their kickstarter campaign by giving and retweeting (and harassing the fuse fest & cf twitter accounts).

karl pilkington: an idiot abroad

this post is mainly for heather, because she loves karl pilkington. i'm sure we'll be trying to watch this.

fierce creatures on the view looks good from here, fresno

we captured (not really) two of the fierce creatures and recorded a podcast. check it out. and, if you haven't already, pick up a copy of their ep. it's available at shows, on itunes, on emusic, and probably somewhere else. definitely worth the $.

unbranding

i was telling some friends about this interesting article and trend that i saw. let me share with you:

"Allegedly, the anxious folks at these various luxury houses are all aggressively gifting our gal Snookums with free bags. No surprise, right? But here's the shocker: They are not sending her their own bags. They are sending her each other's bags! Competitors' bags!"

this is interesting and awesome. fashion houses, and i might suspect other companies as well, are sending gifts to less desirable "stars" like snooki from the jersey shore. they figure that people of haute couture don't want to be associated with a drunk mini-person that is pretty much the antithesis of fashion.

argyle pimps at the starline

tonight could be a very good time. you see, the argyle pimps are playing a show. i'll admit, i think i've only seen them play once, which is sorta surprising for a fairly well established fresno band. i enjoy their music, have their album, but just never really saw them play. along with the pimps will be fresno's latest buzz band, fierce creatures. i saw part of a creatures show, but wasn't in the mood for it so i didn't stay for the whole set. but, i also have their ep release and it is rather good.

another reason why this show could be intriguing is that starline is no longer 18 & over. that could cut down on the annoying kid factor. hey, i'm 34, i admit that i think of shows in a different way than when i was 18, 19 or 20. sure, it's unfortunate that there are less venues when younger patrons can go, but that also means there will be less people clogging up the bar, ordering soda or water, or taking up seats. and since there will be less people there, i'm a little more inclined to be there and show some support.

protect your neck - busker style

not exactly sure where this guy is (i sorta think england) but he does a fairly good version of wu tang's protect your neck

i'm voting tea party

i love finding funny websites, even if i'm not going to buy their stuff.



click over and check out several very funny t-shirt ideas.

stormtrooper singing in the rain

the good folks over at the dumb drum bring you "real" posts about star wars with content releases. well i say pishaw! i give you videos of stormtroopers dancing!

fred the raver

so, this kid is like our friend woody, but much younger. and blond.



but, it reminds me of seeing his daughter sing along to songs.

have another

meaty spaghetti sauce

so, i've been wanting to me a little more inventive with my cooking lately. not to crazy, but just actually using recipes for grilling and cooking. yeah, i know, crazy. anyway, i was thinking about making spaghetti & sauce for a meal, so i started poking around the 'net and found this one at cooks.com:

2 lbs. hamburger
1 lb. bacon
1 onion (medium)
4 cans reg size tomato soup
1 can contadina tomato paste w/ italian seasonings
dash worcestershire sauce
dash white vinegar
Cut bacon into bite size pieces. Chop up onion. Fry onion and bacon
together until onion is tender and bacon is cooked thoroughly. Drain.
Brown hamburger. Drain.
Mix all remaining ingredients together with onion/bacon mixture and
hamburger.

it looked interesting, but i decided to bastardize it and make it my own. here's approximately what i did:

1/4-1/3 lb of fresh bacon from butcher
onion powder to taste

1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tsp of garlic

1 can of campbells tomato soup
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
dash of worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper & basil to taste

i followed the prep directions pretty much in the original order. the ingredients above are grouped how i put them in.

the sauce as it finished cooking



some wheat spaghetti that i prepared



the finished product with a bit of grated parmesan



i'm pretty happy how well it turned out. honestly, as the sauce got hot and i was tasting it in its final stages i kinda just wanted to eat sauce. the flavors came together rather well, and i liked the ratio of sauce and diced tomato - i'm not a big fan of big tomato chunks. surprisingly, the bacon almost disappears in this mix and isn't a heavy hitter in the overall flavor, but when you bite in a chunk as your going it's a nice surprise.

fresno urban sound experience kickstart

the fresno urban sound experience (fuse 2010) is back again. last year we had a great time downtown, and we froze our butts off on the spiral garage seeing the sleepover disaster. if you want to see a list of confirmed artists for this year, you can click over to the fresnan, and watch for updates there as well.

anyway, they're raising ca$h for this year's festival and thought i'd share that with you (as if you didn't know that already). if you donate, creative fresno will share some goodies with you, depending on donation level. pretty cool stuff, and you're helping the festival come together.

on top of that, local newshound mike oz is doing funny stuff for donors. pretty cool, eh?

so, you can give some $ to help fund a great festival, which is good. then, you get some swag from creative fresno, double good. add in mike oz's bonus, triple goodness for everyone.

i say you do it. even if it's only a small donation - every cent is needed (and it's tax deductible).

skating vacant fresno pools

every so often a new video pops up with skaters draining pools in or around the fresno area. some are good, some are bad. i was perusing laughing squid today, and saw this one and was really impressed with the production of the video.

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

it also got me to click over to the source of the video, california is a place. i tweeted their video honey pie, but hadn't seen their other vids. rather nice site, and i'm curious how many more videos they'll do.

and, demonstrating my short memory, mike oz posted this very video back in may. stupid brain.

stump removal

saturday i lured 3 friends into my backyard with pizza and beer for the task of removing a stump. the job before we started:



and with the magic of photos, here's the hole after we pulled the stump. there are a few remaining roots that i'm hoping are small and deep enough to not matter.



here's the pile of roots & stump that we removed:



and here we have the debris along with the filled in hole, all nice and smoothed out:



big thanks to adam, corin and mike for lending hands. these guys rocked, and without them it would've taken me a lot longer to get the job done, and my yard would've been a mess. i also learned that it's been a long time since i did manual labor, and my hands are very used to their white collar life.

twitter: the movie

i'm actually interest in seeing the social network (the movie about facebook). i think the story is interesting, and i think jesse eisenberg is a fine young actor. so, i'm pretty sure i'll check out that flick. until then, i'll just have to enjoy parodies like this one about twitter.

blake jones & the trike shop at tokyo garden

hey, if you're not going to see exit through the gift shop tonight, go see blake jones & the trike shop along with bad andy & the sunburns, and old toy trains. they're playing over @ tokyo garden. tell blake you saw a cat playing a theremin.

exit through the gift shop

i've been to many fresno filmworks presentations, but it's been a while. and, it's been a while since i've been as excited to see a film.



i love banksy's work, and this film has got me all twitterpated. okay, i'm not that giggly and whatnot, but i am excited to see the film. pretty sure we're going to the 8 pm show, feel free to join us.

denny's fried cheese melt

yeah, denny's must of been jealous of kfc and their double down sandwich, because they're rolling out something as heart attackingly "delicious." it's called the fried cheese melt.



so, you've got 4 mozzarella sticks inside of a grilled cheese sandwich. yep, sounds about right.

i can't get too high and mighty on this, because i've got to admit that i have eaten a similar hamburger at red robin that had mozzarella sticks on it (it wasn't very good).

diversity committee screw up

so, it seems that this is arab american heritage month, which sort of makes sense since ramadan started today. anyhow, at my work they have a bulletin board to celebrate it or whatever. i'm not exactly sure who put up the billboard and it's items, but they seem to be a little bit culturally ignorant or perhaps insensitive. or maybe i am.



maybe it's just me, but i'm guessing most arab americans wouldn't be too keen on the israeli flag & american flag together on a bulletin board celebrating arab american heritage. you know, since arabs generally aren't israeli (i know there are a some arabs in israel, and if i remember correctly they're mainly arab Xians). whomever did this billboard may want to rethink that picture.

bigger job than i thought

yesterday i wrote a haiku about going to remove a stump from my back yard. i had success removing a small set of roots a while back in july, and thought this may be another small remnant of a tree. damn if i wasn't wrong.

i started digging around 1 pm and it consumed my afternoon. i began digging where some tree sprouts were coming up and quickly saw that it was bigger than i had initially thought. so i uncovered more. and more. and more. here's where i am now:



yeah, i've uncovered a massive stump with thick roots. the remaining base of the tree that was is about three feet across. no lie. it's big. so, now i've got to figure out if i'm going to bring in a pro to pull this thing out, or try to see if it can get it out myself. i'm not exactly sure how deep the roots go, but i think when whatever happens, i'm going to have a deep hole in my backyard that needs to be filled.

monday haiku

went to work today
time for some lunch and then i'll
dig up a tree stump

nerdcore for life

i think them fellas over at the dumb drum need to put on a showing of this:

toothpaste for dinner!

i hadn't read toothpaste for dinner in a while, and chuckled about these gems today.


toothpastefordinner.com


toothpastefordinner.com


toothpastefordinner.com


toothpastefordinner.com


toothpastefordinner.com

weekly preview

man, i just realized that it was art hop & post art hop this week. rademacher has been playing a residency down in l.a., so i'm imagining they'll be sorta polished & ready. not sure who's playing with them, but we'll see.

i think i'll be out art hopping this month. there is at least one show i want to see - there's some cool looking stuff at the k-jewel gallery.

before thursday, well, it's pub quiz on wednesday. big jackpot this week, and i think 1/5 odds of winning it. last week we had our highest attended week with 120 players & 25 teams. i would be it will be similar this week. i advise people to show up early to get a seat.

after thursday, well who know what the week will bring. hopefully the weather will be nice (i've been out of town the last two weekends, and the weather @ both locales was awesome. don't do me wrong, fresno.)

show review: the sleepover disaster @ the big takeover

it really almost was a sleepover disaster this weekend.

how's that? well, we'll get to that in a second.

you see, this last weekend, i had the pleasure of taking my wife out to brooklyn, new york. while we'd been to nyc, we hadn't been to brooklyn, and we had the opportunity to go. you see, our good friends in the sleepover disaster were playing at the big takeover's anniversary festival. the show was 2 days long, and had like 16 bands playing. we knew we wouldn't attend the whole show, but we would see many of the acts on saturday when sleepover was playing. we secured free entry to the gig by being the merch people for sleepover - a fair trade in my opinion.

monticore & i flew out of fresno, and had a decent set of flights. nothing noteworthy, but we did enjoy sending joking texts to our colorado friend jay while we were in the denver airport.

anyway, we arrived in ny, checked into our hotel and began to wander the neighborhood a little bit. thursday night we ate some delicious gourmet pizza at a little place, found a spot for some libations and called it a night.

the band was flying in friday evening, so we planned to do some touristing in the area & then meet up with the band later. they were staying at the same hotel as us, and we thought we may be able to catch a drink after they were in. so, we headed out exploring, focusing mainly on the area of prospect park. we hit up the brooklyn museum, which was great, and the brooklyn botanic garden, which was pretty cool as well. after a lot of walking, we decided to go chill at the hotel for a bit before dinner & the band showed up. this is where the disaster begins to filter in.

you see, the band missed their flight. due to some terrible l.a. traffic (fly fresno, boys!) the band didn't get on their scheduled bird. of course, it was one of those classic situations where they got to the gate, the plane was still there, but the doors were closed and they couldn't board. so, they got put on standby for the next two flights that night. both were full.

the next morning, i got a text from vince and he told me that there were 3 possible flights they were trying to get on. they had stayed the night in the airport and were hoping to still make the 6 hour flight from l.a. to n.y.c. this meant more chance for monticore & i to take in some sights. so, we headed back to prospect park and went to the prospect park zoo. it's a bad sign if no one knows there is a zoo in your town (brooklyn) and even worse if you're within like 4 miles of said zoo and the cab driver doesn't know where you are. so, we helped our cabbie get us close enough. the prospect park zoo is pretty small, but it wasn't bad. and, it made me really value our zoo here in fresno. really, many fresnans don't realize we have an excellent zoo. when you get out and see zoos in a lot of cities (we love zoos) you understand what we have.

eventually, we heard from the band - they had managed to all get on the very last possible plane ride out. seriously, any other flight would've put them into n.y. after their set.

so, the band showed, taxied to the venue to drop off gear, and then met us at the hotel to check in. they got ready for the show & we walked the 10 blocks to the show. i think we arrived at the venue two acts before sleepover went on.

when they went on they killed it. really good. it's been a while since we've seen sleepover, as they've been on a bit of a hiatus. and honestly, this is the last sleepover show for the foreseeable future. eric is focused on family & recording and has left the band (ronald dzerigian played bass - he did some of their early stuff), luke is focused on the quiet americans, and vince is writing some stuff on his own. the band isn't officially dead (last time i heard) but it isn't looking like they'll be playing fresno any time soon.

anyway, sleepover was really good. ronald was a little tentative, but that's understandable when you're filling in. luke and vince were great together, and i loved their set. they had a good mix of their faster, more rocking stuff and some of the slower, more melodic as well. i'm not positive, but i think they stuck to material from the hover full length release and the oceanographer ep. in looking around the venue during the sleepover's set, it seemed that everyone else was digging it, too. really, people liked the band enough that they sold out of all of the cd's they brought, and a bunch of shirts. i'd take credit for my awesome merch selling skills, but the band and their performance is really what sold it all. sadly, the set was a little shorter than planned (i think they cut 2 songs) because the festival was running behind schedule. i got a little bit of video to share with you all:

friend



oceanographer - partial



hold my tongue



the venue, the bell house, was a rather nice venue. the main show space was probably about the size of audie's, and had a bar in there of about the same size. the stage was bigger & higher. they also had a lounge space that was a pretty good size, with another bar.

after the show was all over i was able to chill out with the gents and some friends that ronald had in the brooklyn area. great time.

sunday, monticore & i jumped on a plane home. that was almost a disaster, too. we literally sat on the runway @ laguardia for between 1.5-2 hours while we waited to take off. fortunately, that didn't screw our other flights completely, and we made it home safe.

monday haiku

another weekend
out of town missing the heat
vacations are fun

ocd arguments via teh interwebs

lately i've had several discussions via twitter and a few blogs. it's been fun, and generally good conversation, in my opinion.

the problem i run into is that i just want to check them incessantly. and when you're involved in a few at a time, and have a bit of time, you can just keep going and going and going.

but, internet discussion often doesn't work that way. not everyone is so...involved.

patience.

art deco motorcycle

wow, this is a lovely bike from the 1930's. had to share.



you can read about the bike here.

jane austen's fight club

this bad girl is making its way on teh internets today and so i thought i'd share because i love fight club so and thought this take on it rather droll.

monday haiku

sunburned this weekend
just need to hit gym and do
laundry - g t l

episode 47 of tvlgfhf

hey podcast loving friends, we've got a new episode of the view looks good from here, fresno podcast up and available. it's a fun little interview with scott carter, who runs the promotions for the grizzlies. check it out.

fay wrays free for all

our good friends, fay wrays, are trying to get on the bill with this festival. do them a favor and click over and vote for them. get fresno, and the fay wrays on the free for all festival.

tuesday lunch

who makes ny strip w/grilled mushrooms for lunch?

this guy.

get yourself high - the chemical brothers

check out this dopeness from the chemical brothers featuring k-os.

advice from the little mermaid

monday haiku

some days are cooler
some days are really too hot
i think most are fine

weekend recap: inception & cyrus

this weekend was hot. so, we went to some movies. friday, we went and saw inception. it was really good. the visuals of the movie are stunning, and i found the plot to be interesting, as well as different than your usual hollywood stuff. i'd recommend seeing it, and i'm sure i'll go see it again. i also recommend seeing it on the big screen, just so you can take in the effect of the movie in a larger than life setting.

saturday was movieless.

sunday, brought more heat, and so we looked to escape to another movie. i hadn't heard much about the movie cyrus, other than it was get mixed reviews. the synopsis online was intriguing, and strange. so, off we went.

now, i will say that i enjoyed the film. john c. riley is a good actor, and he has a quirky sensibility about him. you don't expect him as a leading man, or as a love interest, and i think he pulled it off well enough. sorta. it's still a bit difficult to see john c. riley as a love interest, but in this quirky role i can move past it. and jonah hill and marisa tomei both play their respective roles well. cyrus wasn't a great film, and you could see it on video, but it's worth seeing.

ferris club

i used to watch fight club on most fridays...



maybe i'll watch ferris bueller's day off today.

mel gibson vs christian bale

it's strange making light of crazy mel gibson's situation, but somebody did a mashup of mel gibson and christian bale. and it's awesome. what a great 2 minutes of insanity.



monticore says that we only need alec baldwin mixed in.

show review: el olio wolof, rademacher, admiral radley

saturday night we were able to attend our 2nd love the captive show. this time it would be at the star palace, a place both monticore & i have been to something or other at (we think) but we couldn't remember exactly what (maybe some fpu event?).

the doors were supposed to open at 8, and el olio wolof was supposed to go on at 9. we showed up a little before 9, and there were still people waiting outside. this wasn't just some stragglers that were having a smoke, this was everybody. and, at the time i didn't see anyone i knew, so it was unclear what was going on. all we knew is that doors hadn't opened yet.

so, we wondered around a little, and eventually a friend had showed up and had run into conlan from ltc. it was explained that there were some sound issues and that the doors would open soon. well, soon is a pretty relative term, and the doors did eventually open. here's my thought on the issue: put a sign up on the door explaining the issue & keep it updated as frequently as possible with times. not everyone is an extrovert that is going to ask anyone near the door what is going on. i'm fairly outgoing but still won't do that. btw, thanks to conlan for putting up with my jokes about this throughout the night.

once inside, i made a b-line over to the bar. i wanted to see drink prices and such, and they weren't bad. $5 may be a little high for a bottled beer, but it's not terrible. and, the cocktail prices were decent enough as well. the two guys tending bar were personable enough, and it was a decent fit for the night.

el olio wolof was on first, and due to set up were on the floor, rather than the stage. i'm a big fan of el olio, and i thought they played a very good set. sadly, it was shortened due to the late start, but we understood. i mean, i still shouted for another song or two, but udnerstood when r.c. shut that down. here's el olio wolof performing their song "red witch of my dreams,":



rademacher was up second, and they were also on the floor level. if you've ever read this blog before you know i'm a rademacher fanboy, so i won't take up a lot of space gushing about them here. i thought they played a nice (also time shortened) set. here they are with their song, "roll,":



this brings us to our headliner, admiral radley. i should've spent some time last week listening to ad/rad. shoot, ltc sent out links to where i could've listened for free last week. i figured that since i enjoy earlimart and enjoyed grandaddy that it would be some seamless transition for my ears and enjoyment. sadly, it wasn't as smooth as hoped. they weren't bad, i just didn't quite get into them, and unfortunately we had to check out early so i didn't get to see their whole set. so, i can't really give a qualified review of the biggest part of the show. here they are playing:



finally, let's have some overall reflections on the night:
-venue: i like star palace. it's got the cool, black & white checkerboard floor. it's got huge windows that you can peer out of onto fulton & spy on people. i also imagine that for jam packed shows these windows will be a real enticement as people see from the street how packed it is, how alive downtown can be. i also liked the silhouettes of celebs on the walls, they give the feel of something different than most fresno venues.
-bar: as i said earlier, it was decently good. a little more diversity in beers would be good, and maybe a slightly larger plastic cup on the mixed drinks could be given, but these are small suggestions. i wasn't there for the bar, i was there for the show.
-sound: something that i noticed, and i don't have an answer for, was the fact that both of the opening acts only had one microphone, and it seemed that it was one borrowed from the headliners. venues need to provide quality equipment, and in enough numbers. both rademacher and el olio do quite a bit of off mic singing as well as backing vocals, something that was lost with only one mic.
-crowd: i thought the crowd that was there was rather good. they seemed pretty into the bands, cheered after songs, and some sung along when appropriate. the drawback to the crowd was that it wasn't big enough. my estimate was that there were 70-80 people there (maybe i'm underestimating, i don't know). if you were in the front (& not looking back) or just at the back of the crowd, it was a good crowd. if you were 30' back, or at the back windows, you realized how many more people could, and should, have been there. it's going to take time for ltc & their shows to grow and attract consistent numbers, so i'm not criticizing them at all, i just wish that more had been there on saturday night.

anyway, good night overall, and i am interested to see more shows at star palace, frank's place, or wherever else love the captive books a show.

monday haiku

shockingly fresno
will be hot from now until
october 31

target trip

i needed some things from the local target, so i drove on over. on my way, i saw this guy sitting on the corner.



i couldn't tell if he's seeking change or what not, because his cardboard sign has a picture of cactus and other stuff on it. no words, and he was also sitting on a corner where it would be extremely difficult to actually give him change. so, i thought it was odd that a guy was sitting on a corner, under an umbrella, drinking a beer (sitting on the curb in the pic), with a sign that has cactus on it.

at target, it took me a while to find things, but the guy was still there on my return trip. but before that, i saw this:



the target cash registers are a real pos! for those that have never used the expression, pos is a piece of isht. i'm sure in their case it's point of sale, but it cracked me up and i thought i'd take a picture.

this weekend

this isn't an exhaustive list, but here are some of the things i'll be doing this weekend:

saturday



i love rademacher. i love el olio wolof. that alone was probably enough to get me to this show, but i'm also quite curious about admiral radley. they're a combo of earlimart and grandaddy, two bands i enjoy. and, i'm also excited to see a show at the star palace. this is another love the captive show, and i'm happy to help them get more music here in fresno.

sunday

the world cup finale. i'll be cheering for the netherlands. really, i've already gotten out my orange scarf. i don't care that it says fresno pacific on it, and that it'll be around 100 degrees in fresno during the game, i'll be sporting an orange shirt and have my orange scarf on. it's likely i'll watch the game at bobby salazar's, as it's been a good spot to watch the cup with other people.

hopefully you'll be able to join me for something this weekend, even if it isn't one of these activities. or, just do something fun yourself and tell me about it.

lego shoot out

i really like a well crafted stop action animated piece. and this is a rather well done one.



i also admit that this makes me want to go play some airsoft.

patience for lunch

i'm a fairly patient guy. and, maybe it pays off sometimes. today, i went to me n ed's after picking up some coffee beans at cafe corazon. the lunch special is quick and cheap and is a decent size lunch.

except it's not quick when the people making the pizza get confused about orders being taken and orders about to go out. i happened to order a personal all meat just as one was coming out. i didn't get that one, as it wasn't mine.

thirty minutes later i decided to see what was up. yep, didn't make it. more waiting in my future. fortunately, they offered to upsize it and give me
my money back. i told them not to worry about the money back.

so, i'm still hungry, but i'll have leftovers.

first world problems - mc frontalot

i've enjoyed the nerdcore music of mc frontalot for a while now, and he's coming back onto the scene with a new album. here's the first of it:



i wonder if he listens to adam carolla, as first world problems is a bit he does.