monday haiku

iphone 4 works great
cures cancer and will also
bring world peace through me

weekend musings

what a nice weekend. me, i went out of town with almost my entire crew. we booked a cabin up near shaver lake which was spacious, had two great decks and worked out great. really great. we had a fun time each day, and each day brought something different.

having said that, and still being fully satisfied and impressed with my weekend, i know i missed out on a lot of cool stuff in fresno. i know love the captive got it's shows underway down at frank's place with two good looking events on friday and saturday. i'm excited for the first show that i can attend down there.

i know i also missed the closing party for ashtree studios. ashtree's been a great piece of the fresno visual art (& performing arts, too) scene for years, and it's unfortunate that we're losing a spot. all the best out to aileen & tony in their future endeavors.

so, we returned to fresno and guess what, it's hella hot. and you know that. and i know that. whatever, that's not news. what is news, entourage is back. heather's not a fan, but i've enjoyed the show. we'll see if this new season is better than the last, which was pretty mediocre in my opinion.

the week ahead:
-work. yep, gotta go back tomorrow. but, i'm subbing some time this week which means extra cash, which is always a plus.
-pub quiz on wednesday - this is still a very good time each week. i love running the quiz, and like the 95% of the people are having fun, too.
- post art hop show on thursday - rademacher, of course will rock the house, but i'm excited to also see ibid again. i've loved his hip hop stylings for a while now, but haven't seen him rock the mic in a while. so this will be cool. bad andy is also playing, and we'll see what that's about.



-brock lesner vs shane carwin on saturday night. this fight has a lot of buzz. lesner has plowed through the ufc heavyweight division to the title, and carwin has pretty much done the same to the a title shot. i haven't looked at the undercard, but i'm sure it'll be a good night. and, with fedor getting submitted, his claim of being the best heavyweight seems foolhardy at best, and this match could show us who the true best heavyweight in the world is.

love the captive weekend

if you're in fresno this weekend, you should go see at least one of the love the captive shows at frank's place. or go see them both. go. listen. enjoy.

let's go USMNT

(cross posted from wide world of fresno sports and american outlaws fresno)

holy cow, so ecstatic that the usmnt has not only moved on, but won their group in amazing fashion. really, it doesn't get much more suspenseful than winning the group in stoppage time. i mean, we won our qualifying group on a stoppage goal, and now this? call 'em the cardiac kids.

great goal by landon donovan. it's too bad dempsey's goal was disallowed, but i'm glad we managed to eek through.

something to mention: we've been working on an american outlaws chapter here in fresno. if you've watched any of the u.s. games you've probably seen the outlaws featured heavily in the crowd - they're the crazy fans with flag bandannas and what not. most of the crowd shots from bars in the u.s. have been american outlaw bars, with tons of outlaws on camera. currently, we've got a handful of members, but we need more. in fact, we need at least 25 members signed up with us (+ a supporters bar but we're pretty sure we've got that worked out) to be an official chapter. we've got 5 so far. so, what am i asking? well, i'm asking you to join the american outlaws if you live in the fresno area. it's only $15 a year and you get an official t-shirt + u.s. flag bandanna. and, you'll have friends nationwide cheering along with you as well as a group here in fresno. if you're an outlaw member they also have discount rates on flights to u.s. games, on sales of gear online, and more. seriously, it's not a bad deal at all if you like soccer and follow the u.s. team.

so, enjoy the rest of the cup. if you can, join the american outlaws and come watch a game with us.

the american outlaws official site
american outlaws fresno chapter blog
american outlaws fresno chapter facebook
american outlaws fresno chapter twitter

monday haiku

my avoiding scores
going pretty good only
heard result one day

fresno musical renaissance

it may not be totally true, but it feels like fresno is exploding with music. i've said it before, there are a lot of great fresno bands, and more keep coming up. and now, we've got a good local show "facilitator" in love the captive. sure, there have been and are other local promoters, but these guys are bringing in touring bands and matching them with local talent. (you can hear johnny q from love the captive on our most recent podcast.)

add to those two factors new venues - frank's place & the captive. the star palace & warnor's were already around, but they're seeing new life, but frank's place sounds like it's going to be a jewel of a venue. we'll see, and soon. i know i'm planning on being there on july 10 to see admiral radley with rademacher and el olio wolof.

it's looking good fresno. and it seems like it's going to get better.

a place to bury strangers @ audie's olympic

you may have already seen this on the fresnan or the beehive today (or previously here) but you should make every effort to go see a place to bury strangers on saturday night.



we've got a fairly big band & a good local group opening + love the captive promotions = it's something you should go to.

and i do want to say that love the captive is doing very good work right now in fresno. bringing shows that others haven't been. support the scene!

pub quiz 6/16

if you're in fresno area and have ever wanted to come to pub quiz, tonight should be your night.



seriously, the jackpot is huge. we don't discuss #'s on online, but it's a lot. and, there are some pretty good questions tonight. and, the musical questions have an interesting twist - they're all famous covers. should be good.

hope to see you there. registration starts @ 7:30, game starts @ 8.
teams of 1-6, $5 a player.

first world problems

it's only been two days, but it's been tough not being able to check all the social media that have worked their way into my life. i hadn't realized how much i check twitter and facebook during the day now. and, other news websites and espn are pretty much out the door as well. must not find out results.

so, i click on sites and try and find whatever i'm looking for without seeing anything else. so far so good, but it's driving me a little batty.

monday haiku

glad we managed
a draw against england
can't wait for friday

come on scaredy cat

The Secret Powers of Time - Philip Zimbardo

man, i love thinking about how culture works. this video is an animation of a speech given by famed sociologist philip zimbardo (stanford prison experiment).



i think this gives a great application for teachers, especially how we view & understand students.

u.s. vs england

hey, i'll be watching u.s. vs england @ bobby salazar's in the tower on saturday. you should come watch it with me. game time is 11 a.m.

the usmnt will be wearing blue jerseys. i'll be wearing a blue jersey. i suggest you wear blue in support of our side versus england (i think the 3 lions will be in white).

a month of avoiding media

yep, it's going to be a long month for me. i've got to avoid facebook and twitter for long stretches, be very careful what i sites i visit on the internet, and so on.

you see, with the world cup being in south africa, and the matches being played during our a.m. times, i'm recording a lot of matches. so, after work, or when i wake up, i'll be watching stuff and i don't want the results spoiled.

which also means that i hope no one dm's me on twitter or texts me results. hopefully i won't screw anyone else in a similar fashion.

a place to bury strangers @ audie's olympic

this show's just over a week away, but it'll be dope and you should buy your ticket in advance.



and, you can hear one of the concert facilitators, johnny q on a great podcast over here.

monday haiku

ike bruce retired
last l.a. ram around is
now a memory

city council candidate fail

this was stuffed into my door today:

yeah, i know, you can't really read that. so, i'll type it up for you:
"lawrence cano
fresno city council, district 1 candidate

i am running as an independent because fresno needs a change. my decisions will be based on the important issues for the voters not for certain parties. i received my bachelo9r of science degree in business administration from sacramento state university after i graduated from fresno city college and fresno high school. along with a good decision making ability, i am highly organized and confident of my skills and believe i am a viable candidate for this position. we need change to bring jobs to build fresno's future.

my slogan is strength, hope and honesty
issues i will fight for:
1. your children: recreational centers should be constructed so children have a safe place to go and learn.
2. schools and neighborhoods: rebuild schools in our district and create jobs. reduce crime. fix streets and clean up neighborhoods.
3. teachers: hire teachers who care and have a passion for teaching and i will implement random drug testing for all school district employees.
4.law enforcement: i will make sure that they do their job correctly and fairly. use traffic fine revenue for more police officers.
5. safety: accidents are growing and more deaths occurring. this is due to cell phones, not paying attention and speeding. we must increase the fines for cell phones to $250. this type of nonsense must stop.
6. tax breaks: give residents $250 tax break if they switch from cable to dish network. cost is high and taxpayers deserve a break.
7. jobs: ban cell phones at places of employment to increase productivity.
8. granite park: given the opportunity i can make granite park a successful place, for the community, the residents and most of all for the city of fresno.

as your city councilman i will not wait for the last year of my term to start doing things for our district. i will not use this tactic to get re-elected. i believe in being voted in by the people so i will work for the people. change is good.

lawrence cano, district 1 candidate. canolawrence64@yahoo.com"

and then, hand written, "sorry i missed u. www.facebook.com"


so, let me break this down. the whole opening really has the feel of a resume, and a cheesy one at that. it's like something i would've written in college.

to his 8 points (btw, who has an 8 point agenda? what, couldn't make 10?)
1. okay, fine.
2. hmm, building schools is the districts job, not the city's. know your role homie. and i like that he's going to reduce crime. two words accomplishes a job.
3. hey, once again, you don't know your job. hiring teachers is the job of the district, not the city. and frankly, i'm very offended that he assumes that the current teachers don't care or have a passion for teaching. seriously.
4. okay. aren't we already using traffic revenue to fund city expenses, like officers?
5. blaming cell phones for increases in deaths? come on. and isn't the fine for use while driving set by the state, not the city? once again, know your role.
6. wtf? tax breaks for satellite over cable? and do i get the break every year? do i get it since i already have satellite? does it only count if i use dish network like his plan says?
7. ban cell phones at work? huh? how the eff is the city going to ban cell phones at work? how do you enforce that? and really, how does banning cell phones help jobs? yes, it may make people more productive. how many people really talk on the phone at work while they're not on a break? and this plan doesn't do anything to create jobs.
8. how? and why is this the job of the city, instead of a private investor?

i love that he has a yahoo.com email address. really? you couldn't get your own domain? that is pathetic. and you couldn't even get just your name. you had to have your last name, then first, and 64. weak sauce.

"sorry i missed u." what, are you twelve? did you text or tweet me that message? it's spelled y o u.

"www.facebook.com" um, should i just hit up facebook? or did you want to direct me to your page?

wow, i'm glad i did miss this "candidate." if i had talked to him i would've clowned on him for his wack platform. the funny thing is, i was at home. i didn't hear any knocks on the door (i did have headphones on for like 8 minutes this afternoon, and it's hard to believe that he came by in that 8 minutes).

a place to bury strangers @ audie's olympic

this show is still a bit away, but it's going to be hella good. shoot, i've already got tickets. get yours here now.



to hear a place to bury strangers, click over here.