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.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
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.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
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.
get yourself high - the chemical brothers
check out this dopeness from the chemical brothers featuring k-os.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, July 16, 2010
ferris club
i used to watch fight club on most fridays...
maybe i'll watch ferris bueller's day off today.
maybe i'll watch ferris bueller's day off today.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
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.
monticore says that we only need alec baldwin mixed in.
Monday, July 12, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, July 09, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
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.
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.
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.
i wonder if he listens to adam carolla, as first world problems is a bit he does.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
viral video 4th of july
just wanted to wish you all a happy fourth. i hope you don't, or didn't if you're reading this on monday, blow any parts off. enjoy yourselves!
Friday, July 02, 2010
post arthop show 7/1/10 review
i was too lazy to actually get out and go art hoppin', but i'm always down for the post arthop show. on last night's bill was badandy, ibid, and rademacher.
badandy, who is the bass player for wheels of fortune, had a full band with him, loosely called the badandy's, but they also joked about looking for a new name during their set. i thought they were pretty good, and the sound reminded me quite a bit of ted leo & the pharmacists, but not in a rip off way. i didn't take any video of badandy.
ibid was second on the bill, and i was excited to see him spit rhymes. i talked to him before the show and he told me that it owuldb e a mix of old and new stuff. ibid hadn't performed in like two years, and he was feeling nervous and rusty. as they sound checked, i was also very happy to see destructo bunny on the turntables. i've always thought they worked well together, and they did last night.
here's some vid from last night from ibid:
and this brings us to rademacher. they continue to be on point, and i hope their month long residency in l.a., along with their other shows, help to push them to the next level.
badandy, who is the bass player for wheels of fortune, had a full band with him, loosely called the badandy's, but they also joked about looking for a new name during their set. i thought they were pretty good, and the sound reminded me quite a bit of ted leo & the pharmacists, but not in a rip off way. i didn't take any video of badandy.
ibid was second on the bill, and i was excited to see him spit rhymes. i talked to him before the show and he told me that it owuldb e a mix of old and new stuff. ibid hadn't performed in like two years, and he was feeling nervous and rusty. as they sound checked, i was also very happy to see destructo bunny on the turntables. i've always thought they worked well together, and they did last night.
here's some vid from last night from ibid:
and this brings us to rademacher. they continue to be on point, and i hope their month long residency in l.a., along with their other shows, help to push them to the next level.
district 11
enjoy this world cup inspired spoof
now, go watch netherlands vs brasil. let's go orange!
now, go watch netherlands vs brasil. let's go orange!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
i found your stump
yeah, we've almost owned our home for two years now. we moved into our place in august of '08, and we've still got stuff to get done to really make it our own. i find that the list is endless, but fortunately, we own the place so we've got time.
yesterday, i was doing a little yard work. i mowed down the weeds in the front, and kicked up a bunch of dirt. we haven't watered the front lawn, mainly out of laziness, but also out of a plan to do something different with it. we've been thinking about gravel or some sort of ground covering with native grasses and other drought resistant plants interspersed.
no the back lawn, that's entirely laziness that has me not watering. i like the back lawn. it's been the site of many great croquette games, backyard bbqs and more. i didn't have the time or energy to mow the back lawn, but there were some little trees budding in a part of the lawn i thought i'd pull out. i've had to do this a few times before, and usually they come out easily. i began pulling out these volunteers, and got to one that was a little thicker and it didn't want to budge. i got the rest out, and then went to work on this one. as i tugged, i could tell that this one had a little bit of root established so i went and grabbed my shovel, figuring i'd just easily pop it out from below.
nope. turn out there was quite a stump hiding a few inches under the surface. the previous owner cut down a tree, but didn't remove the stump. dammit. so, i ended up spending the next thirty or so minutes digging out this stump. it wasn't huge, but it was more work than i had hoped for. i know i didn't get all the roots, but i'm hoping they won't grow into anything. and, i'm hoping that there aren't any others buried around my yard.
this isn't the first time we've come across this. there was a small, re-occuring hole in our front flowerbed. heather saw this hole a few times, and just sort of filled it in. but it kept coming back. so, we thought maybe it was a small animal. with that in mind, i flooded the hole one day, and just let the hose run for over an hour without the hole flooding. this worried us, and made us think that perhaps we had a sinkhole developing. there had already been an uneven spot near that, so it wouldn't have been completely crazy. one morning i got my trusty shovel out and started digging in the area. and that's when i came across a root. it was probably about 2" in diameter. but, there isn't a tree anywhere around there. so, i'm pretty sure that there was a tree there, that was removed, and they didn't properly fill in the dirt. now, i've got a sinking lawn that's dead.
some day, and maybe soon, i'm going to go rent a tiller and churn up that whole patch of lawn. perhaps that's when i'll put in the native grasses and what not. and maybe another tree.
yesterday, i was doing a little yard work. i mowed down the weeds in the front, and kicked up a bunch of dirt. we haven't watered the front lawn, mainly out of laziness, but also out of a plan to do something different with it. we've been thinking about gravel or some sort of ground covering with native grasses and other drought resistant plants interspersed.
no the back lawn, that's entirely laziness that has me not watering. i like the back lawn. it's been the site of many great croquette games, backyard bbqs and more. i didn't have the time or energy to mow the back lawn, but there were some little trees budding in a part of the lawn i thought i'd pull out. i've had to do this a few times before, and usually they come out easily. i began pulling out these volunteers, and got to one that was a little thicker and it didn't want to budge. i got the rest out, and then went to work on this one. as i tugged, i could tell that this one had a little bit of root established so i went and grabbed my shovel, figuring i'd just easily pop it out from below.
nope. turn out there was quite a stump hiding a few inches under the surface. the previous owner cut down a tree, but didn't remove the stump. dammit. so, i ended up spending the next thirty or so minutes digging out this stump. it wasn't huge, but it was more work than i had hoped for. i know i didn't get all the roots, but i'm hoping they won't grow into anything. and, i'm hoping that there aren't any others buried around my yard.
this isn't the first time we've come across this. there was a small, re-occuring hole in our front flowerbed. heather saw this hole a few times, and just sort of filled it in. but it kept coming back. so, we thought maybe it was a small animal. with that in mind, i flooded the hole one day, and just let the hose run for over an hour without the hole flooding. this worried us, and made us think that perhaps we had a sinkhole developing. there had already been an uneven spot near that, so it wouldn't have been completely crazy. one morning i got my trusty shovel out and started digging in the area. and that's when i came across a root. it was probably about 2" in diameter. but, there isn't a tree anywhere around there. so, i'm pretty sure that there was a tree there, that was removed, and they didn't properly fill in the dirt. now, i've got a sinking lawn that's dead.
some day, and maybe soon, i'm going to go rent a tiller and churn up that whole patch of lawn. perhaps that's when i'll put in the native grasses and what not. and maybe another tree.
dust in the wind
you may not realize this, but there are a lot of trucks that carry sand or gravel on hwy 41. seriously, at most points of the day you've got a strong chance of encountering one of these trucks as their rolling down the road. this isn't necessarily a bad thing for most people.
myself, it's a bit of a pain in the...face. you see, i first noticed the number of trucks once i started riding a motorcycle and wearing an open faced helmet. most of the time i enjoy the wind on my face, but when there's a gravel truck anywhere within a mile in front of you it can be a whole load of suck. the trucks keep in the rocks and gravel, but sand does tend to blow out. not large amounts, but just enough. and when this little bits of sand whip into your face at 65+ mph it can really sting. so, i'll be riding along and all of a sudden i'll feel the little pings of sand. then, i do a little 2 step move of cover my face with my left hand and start scanning for the truck. basically, i want to see how far ahead of me it is and if i can manage to get around it.
i guess this is a small penalty to be cool as hell on my motorcycle.
myself, it's a bit of a pain in the...face. you see, i first noticed the number of trucks once i started riding a motorcycle and wearing an open faced helmet. most of the time i enjoy the wind on my face, but when there's a gravel truck anywhere within a mile in front of you it can be a whole load of suck. the trucks keep in the rocks and gravel, but sand does tend to blow out. not large amounts, but just enough. and when this little bits of sand whip into your face at 65+ mph it can really sting. so, i'll be riding along and all of a sudden i'll feel the little pings of sand. then, i do a little 2 step move of cover my face with my left hand and start scanning for the truck. basically, i want to see how far ahead of me it is and if i can manage to get around it.
i guess this is a small penalty to be cool as hell on my motorcycle.
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