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.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query back to the future. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query back to the future. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, August 02, 2010
Sunday, September 02, 2007
vma 2007
so, next sunday, september 9th is the latest round of mtv's video music awards. now, i'll be honest, i don't watch mtv anymore. heather does though. well, to be honest, it's not mtv, because then we would have to be watching the hills, real world, or some other non-video television. heather watches mtv hits and mtv jams. me, i watch videos occasionally while she watches. then i get tired of seeing the same videos
over and over. but anyway, back to the purpose of this post. next week is the vma's and i thought i would try and pick the winners, or at least let you know who i thought should win.
best group:
-fall out boy - mainstream emo, all polished and shiny. let me give this analogy: f.o.b. = emo as good charlotte = punk.
-gym class heroes - it's fall out boy with a hip hop feel. this band is pretty much doing the puffy. that is, taking the hook from 80's hits, barely making any changes, and calling them their own
-lincoln park - so, every time i hear the song 'what i've done' i think to myself, what you've done is put out a mediocre song. fort minor was an interesting side project though.
-maroon five - your mom and dad think these maroon five kids really make nice music.
-the white stripes. - a lot of people i know love, and i mean, love this album. i've only heard a little, but enjoyed the song.
please, lord, let it be the white stripes. i haven't heard more than a lick or two off their new album but i guarantee it's better than the other four.
best new artist
-lily allen - brit pop singer trying to make it big here. it is what it is, unashamed popiness. but, i'll give you that some of the lyrics on this album are deeper than they seem
-gym class heroes - see above review of this group
-peter bjorn & john - i like pete yorn. peter bjorn & john are getting by on a jetta (or whatever car) commercial. you can file them under: whatever happened to _____.
-carrie underwood - maybe she's best new american idol winner, but she's not great. well, she's decent at making this new country garbage about breaking the headlights on your ex's truck, but whatever. she's also good at getting linked in rumors to pro football players.
-amy winehouse - they tried to make me go to rehab, i said 'no, no no.' how's that working out for you amy? take some advice. go to rehab. you've got a nice voice that you're only going to trash with your crazy lifestyle. get help so we can enjoy music from you in the future.
i'm going with the poppy lily allen here. i have the albums from both of the english birds in this category, and lily's is better. amy winehouse's has a nice-retro motown feel and is good, but it also seems a bit boring.
female artist of the year
-beyonce - she just played in fresno. i didn't go. her mom needs to make her some better outfits because the ones she does are u-g-l-y. and beyonce needs to make some songs that don't all sound the same.
-fergie - fergie yoko'd the black eyed peas, imho. sure, they haven't broken up, but they went from being a decent hip hop act to will.i.am and fergie + 2 other guys in the background putting out rip off songs. awesome. and her solo music is a hobo's gwen stefani album.
-nelly furtado - remember her early stuff. it was light, but it was also hip hop. her new stuff, just dance pop. which is alright. it's fine to change up your style. but, it seems that this album relies a bit too much on timbaland.
-rihanna - i've heard one song (not the one nominated below) and it was like they were trying to pass rihanna as some sort of pseudo rock act. it wasn't convincing or good. and, to me, if you're going to be female artist of the year you probably should have had more than one "hit".
-amy winehouse - see above thoughts on ol' wino + the hit thing in my rihanna review.
of these, beyonce will win. i don't know if she's the "artist" of the year, but she's good. i like nelly furtado's recent stuff, as well as winehouse's. i implore the mtv decision makers to let this be anyone but fergie.
male artist of the year
-akon - i only know akon's old song. so, it's obvious i don't listen to mainstream radio because he's had 3 #1 hits this year.
-robin thicke - alan's son. he's apparently sexy.
-t.i. - his current album has a t.i. verses himself theme to it. so, my take is, crappy rap vs. crappy rap. and crappy rap wins in a landslide.
-justin timberlake - michael jackson used to be way better than j.timberlake could ever be. but, this is decent pop.
-kanye west - "george bush hates black people." kanye's always got interesting quotes. sadly, i think his stuff still is mainly boring. so, you speed up records from the 70's and early 80's? wow. your new song is basically a daft punk one that you rap on? wow.
i'll be honest, i'm not sure how kanye is nominated. did he have an album out this year? his comes out next week. akon and t.i. suck, especially t.i. robin thicke's earlier stuff was nice, neo-soul sounding stuff and he looked dirty. now he's all polished, whatever. i'm picking j.timberlake.
monster single of the year
-daughtry - home - i remember seeing clips of this poseur from am.idol. he's sucks as a supposed "rocker"
-fall out boy - thnks 4 th mmrs - does that mean thanks for the mammary?
-avril lavigne - girlfriend - this song is terrible and it's shameful that anyone would think this pop punk dribble would inspire anything.
-lil mama - lip gloss - heather says that at least this song seems age appropriate. i say it's not good. lil mama also did a remake of girlfriend with avril lavigne.
-mims - this is why i'm hot - you're hot because people have bad taste in music. crap is pushed out by the industry all the time and you're a good example of the garbage that sells.
-plain white t's - hey there delilah - ooh, it's emo acoustic. played a million times.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella - i'll admit, i've never heard this song. and i'm not going to play the video now to find out. (update, i watched the video because it was nominated for best video. not bad, just not that great either.)
-shop boyz - party like a rock star - hmmm, see my criticism of mims? now, multiply that by ten for this one.
-t-pain feat. yung joc - buy u a drank - this song is boring. it tries to have a snappy anthem but fails, just seems to be a rehash of cliches from other songs of this ilk.
-timbaland feat keri hilson, d.o.e. & sebastien - the way i are - what's up with the title of this song. i are? tim, i know you speak better english than that. this song reminds me of the stuff he's done with nelly furtado. except this doesn't have nelly furtado. average timbaland stuff. and the video confuses me because there are guys inexplicably juggling a soccer ball. and, the song, well it says the way you are a lot. huh?
i'll go with rihanna because...well, because i think these all are pretty bad. so, why not pick the one that hasn't bothered me?
most earth shattering collaboration
-akon feat eminem - smack that -
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar -
-gwen stefani feat akon - the sweet escape -
-justin timberlake feat timbaland - taking sexy back - i'm not really all that sure how this is a collabo. i mean, timbaland is the producer and raps a little. it's pretty much just a timberlake song.
-u2 feat green day - the saints are coming - u2 & green day make a song for new orleans. and the video is supposed to be inspiring. in my opinion, it's a mediocre song.
to me, this category comes down to the last two, mainly because i haven't heard the first three songs. but, timberlake's song was so overwhelming in the public consciousness that it will win. i mean, which of us out there haven't claimed that we were talking sexy back? blame justin.
quadruple threat of the year
-beyonce - singer, actress, clothing line. that's only three that mtv gives you. i'll throw in dancer because i hear you do that @ your shows. and fall down stairs.
-bono - singer, activist...that's only two. i'll throw in speaker to politicians and...?http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
-jay z - rapper, ceo(?) of rockafeller & def jam records (whatever that means), part of ownership group of nba team, clothing line, nightclub.
-justin timberlake - singer, dancer, actor, restraunteur. and you date "hot chicks".
-kanye west - rapper, producer, clothing line, and they say you started your own foundation. and are anti-homophobia in hip hop. and, your big mouth & ego definitely make you a threat.
i want to go with bono, because it seems like he's really trying to make a difference in the world. but, i think kanye wins it. then again, maybe mtv picks bono just so he can show up and say something about aids, poverty and africa.
video of the year
-beyonce - irreplaceable - in this video beyonce throws out her man. that's a new concept. wait, no it's not. at least it's not just some remake of a movie.
-justin - d.a.n.c.e. - t-shirt art. well done. average song, but the video stands out.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella -this video is boring as all get out. the concept seems to be rihanna moving around mostly by herself on a sound stage. and some water effects thrown in. and the video is supposed to be sexy because rihanna is barely dressed in it.
-justin timberlake - what goes around...comes around - hey, a video actually with a storyline. wow! it's almost 9 minutes long, but it's decent. well made, good visuals. and, the story of the video works well with the theme of the song (novel idea these days it seems.) and timberlake as a "tough guy" is a crack up, so there's a bonus.
-kanye west - stronger - kanye makes a futuristic video that seems to be set in japan. but, there are no japanese people there. and, i guess, in the video kanye is crazy. well, he's crazy boring at least. kanye is good at saying names of brands though.
-amy winehouse - rehab - this song is catchy. the song did get me to buy the album, which was worth the purchase price. but if you ever see her perform, she looks half awake. little entertainment value here. the video is almost interesting, but then again, it's not.
best choreography
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar - a lot of posing about and shoulder shakes from two ladies known as good dancers. and whipping hair around. the last minute offers a bit of choreographed dance but not very impressive stuff.
-chris brown - wall to wall - i don't like chris brown. but, i know he's a good dancer. this video has: vampires, little kid versions of chris brown dancing along with him, big group dancing.
-ciara- like a boy - ciara's first album produced a lot of internet rumors that she was a post-op transexual. in this video, she dresses as both a man and a woman. and i think that's reggie bush in the video. pretty good solo & group dancing.
-eve - tambourine - the video is visually cool, especially the use of color. and, the song is enjoyable. the choreography is minimal and isn't that interesting.
-justin timberlake - my love - justin nods his head. justin snaps his fingers. justin dances by himself and with a group. t.i. shows up and waves his hand about and pops his collar.
to me, this category is kinda stupid. you're judging how well the dance routines in a music video are. the timberlake, c.brown and ciara entries here a way ahead of the other two in the category. i'm picking ciara's as the best.
best director
-christina aguilara - candyman - christina in full pin up mode. not sure what was directed here. now you're a pin up from this era. now this era.
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar - not sure what was actually directed here. you two, dance around a little.
-kanye west - stronger - kanye, act crazy. well done. now, stand there and rap. move your head back and forth.
-lincoln park - what i've done - band, play the song. you, jump into the air. cue clips of hitler. cue clips of world destruction. show the band. more clips.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella - not sure what was the direction here. dance around by yourself with an umbrella. sit there naked painted gold.
-justin timberlake - what goes around...comes around - since this video actually has a storyline to it, it has a bit more direction. justin, steal this girl away. now, make out. we see you're devoted to her, but you've got doubts. have your friend watch her. find them making out. now, act tough. chase after her. look devastated. good.
uhh, i'll go with justin timberlakes entry.
best editing.
-beyonce + shakira - beautiful liar
-gnarls barkley - smiley faces
-lincoln park - what i've done
-justin timberlake - what goes around comes around
-kanye west - stronger
you thought i didn't care about the last category. i care even less about this one. really, how well did you put the video together is a category? i'm not even going to break these videos down, and will just pick the gnarls barkley song because it's not nominated for anything else.
so, there it is. the mtv music video awards has 9 categories. and the show will take at least 3 hours. i suppose i'll watch some of it. maybe i'll torture myself, and you, with a running diary.
over and over. but anyway, back to the purpose of this post. next week is the vma's and i thought i would try and pick the winners, or at least let you know who i thought should win.
best group:
-fall out boy - mainstream emo, all polished and shiny. let me give this analogy: f.o.b. = emo as good charlotte = punk.
-gym class heroes - it's fall out boy with a hip hop feel. this band is pretty much doing the puffy. that is, taking the hook from 80's hits, barely making any changes, and calling them their own
-lincoln park - so, every time i hear the song 'what i've done' i think to myself, what you've done is put out a mediocre song. fort minor was an interesting side project though.
-maroon five - your mom and dad think these maroon five kids really make nice music.
-the white stripes. - a lot of people i know love, and i mean, love this album. i've only heard a little, but enjoyed the song.
please, lord, let it be the white stripes. i haven't heard more than a lick or two off their new album but i guarantee it's better than the other four.
best new artist
-lily allen - brit pop singer trying to make it big here. it is what it is, unashamed popiness. but, i'll give you that some of the lyrics on this album are deeper than they seem
-gym class heroes - see above review of this group
-peter bjorn & john - i like pete yorn. peter bjorn & john are getting by on a jetta (or whatever car) commercial. you can file them under: whatever happened to _____.
-carrie underwood - maybe she's best new american idol winner, but she's not great. well, she's decent at making this new country garbage about breaking the headlights on your ex's truck, but whatever. she's also good at getting linked in rumors to pro football players.
-amy winehouse - they tried to make me go to rehab, i said 'no, no no.' how's that working out for you amy? take some advice. go to rehab. you've got a nice voice that you're only going to trash with your crazy lifestyle. get help so we can enjoy music from you in the future.
i'm going with the poppy lily allen here. i have the albums from both of the english birds in this category, and lily's is better. amy winehouse's has a nice-retro motown feel and is good, but it also seems a bit boring.
female artist of the year
-beyonce - she just played in fresno. i didn't go. her mom needs to make her some better outfits because the ones she does are u-g-l-y. and beyonce needs to make some songs that don't all sound the same.
-fergie - fergie yoko'd the black eyed peas, imho. sure, they haven't broken up, but they went from being a decent hip hop act to will.i.am and fergie + 2 other guys in the background putting out rip off songs. awesome. and her solo music is a hobo's gwen stefani album.
-nelly furtado - remember her early stuff. it was light, but it was also hip hop. her new stuff, just dance pop. which is alright. it's fine to change up your style. but, it seems that this album relies a bit too much on timbaland.
-rihanna - i've heard one song (not the one nominated below) and it was like they were trying to pass rihanna as some sort of pseudo rock act. it wasn't convincing or good. and, to me, if you're going to be female artist of the year you probably should have had more than one "hit".
-amy winehouse - see above thoughts on ol' wino + the hit thing in my rihanna review.
of these, beyonce will win. i don't know if she's the "artist" of the year, but she's good. i like nelly furtado's recent stuff, as well as winehouse's. i implore the mtv decision makers to let this be anyone but fergie.
male artist of the year
-akon - i only know akon's old song. so, it's obvious i don't listen to mainstream radio because he's had 3 #1 hits this year.
-robin thicke - alan's son. he's apparently sexy.
-t.i. - his current album has a t.i. verses himself theme to it. so, my take is, crappy rap vs. crappy rap. and crappy rap wins in a landslide.
-justin timberlake - michael jackson used to be way better than j.timberlake could ever be. but, this is decent pop.
-kanye west - "george bush hates black people." kanye's always got interesting quotes. sadly, i think his stuff still is mainly boring. so, you speed up records from the 70's and early 80's? wow. your new song is basically a daft punk one that you rap on? wow.
i'll be honest, i'm not sure how kanye is nominated. did he have an album out this year? his comes out next week. akon and t.i. suck, especially t.i. robin thicke's earlier stuff was nice, neo-soul sounding stuff and he looked dirty. now he's all polished, whatever. i'm picking j.timberlake.
monster single of the year
-daughtry - home - i remember seeing clips of this poseur from am.idol. he's sucks as a supposed "rocker"
-fall out boy - thnks 4 th mmrs - does that mean thanks for the mammary?
-avril lavigne - girlfriend - this song is terrible and it's shameful that anyone would think this pop punk dribble would inspire anything.
-lil mama - lip gloss - heather says that at least this song seems age appropriate. i say it's not good. lil mama also did a remake of girlfriend with avril lavigne.
-mims - this is why i'm hot - you're hot because people have bad taste in music. crap is pushed out by the industry all the time and you're a good example of the garbage that sells.
-plain white t's - hey there delilah - ooh, it's emo acoustic. played a million times.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella - i'll admit, i've never heard this song. and i'm not going to play the video now to find out. (update, i watched the video because it was nominated for best video. not bad, just not that great either.)
-shop boyz - party like a rock star - hmmm, see my criticism of mims? now, multiply that by ten for this one.
-t-pain feat. yung joc - buy u a drank - this song is boring. it tries to have a snappy anthem but fails, just seems to be a rehash of cliches from other songs of this ilk.
-timbaland feat keri hilson, d.o.e. & sebastien - the way i are - what's up with the title of this song. i are? tim, i know you speak better english than that. this song reminds me of the stuff he's done with nelly furtado. except this doesn't have nelly furtado. average timbaland stuff. and the video confuses me because there are guys inexplicably juggling a soccer ball. and, the song, well it says the way you are a lot. huh?
i'll go with rihanna because...well, because i think these all are pretty bad. so, why not pick the one that hasn't bothered me?
most earth shattering collaboration
-akon feat eminem - smack that -
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar -
-gwen stefani feat akon - the sweet escape -
-justin timberlake feat timbaland - taking sexy back - i'm not really all that sure how this is a collabo. i mean, timbaland is the producer and raps a little. it's pretty much just a timberlake song.
-u2 feat green day - the saints are coming - u2 & green day make a song for new orleans. and the video is supposed to be inspiring. in my opinion, it's a mediocre song.
to me, this category comes down to the last two, mainly because i haven't heard the first three songs. but, timberlake's song was so overwhelming in the public consciousness that it will win. i mean, which of us out there haven't claimed that we were talking sexy back? blame justin.
quadruple threat of the year
-beyonce - singer, actress, clothing line. that's only three that mtv gives you. i'll throw in dancer because i hear you do that @ your shows. and fall down stairs.
-bono - singer, activist...that's only two. i'll throw in speaker to politicians and...?http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
-jay z - rapper, ceo(?) of rockafeller & def jam records (whatever that means), part of ownership group of nba team, clothing line, nightclub.
-justin timberlake - singer, dancer, actor, restraunteur. and you date "hot chicks".
-kanye west - rapper, producer, clothing line, and they say you started your own foundation. and are anti-homophobia in hip hop. and, your big mouth & ego definitely make you a threat.
i want to go with bono, because it seems like he's really trying to make a difference in the world. but, i think kanye wins it. then again, maybe mtv picks bono just so he can show up and say something about aids, poverty and africa.
video of the year
-beyonce - irreplaceable - in this video beyonce throws out her man. that's a new concept. wait, no it's not. at least it's not just some remake of a movie.
-justin - d.a.n.c.e. - t-shirt art. well done. average song, but the video stands out.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella -this video is boring as all get out. the concept seems to be rihanna moving around mostly by herself on a sound stage. and some water effects thrown in. and the video is supposed to be sexy because rihanna is barely dressed in it.
-justin timberlake - what goes around...comes around - hey, a video actually with a storyline. wow! it's almost 9 minutes long, but it's decent. well made, good visuals. and, the story of the video works well with the theme of the song (novel idea these days it seems.) and timberlake as a "tough guy" is a crack up, so there's a bonus.
-kanye west - stronger - kanye makes a futuristic video that seems to be set in japan. but, there are no japanese people there. and, i guess, in the video kanye is crazy. well, he's crazy boring at least. kanye is good at saying names of brands though.
-amy winehouse - rehab - this song is catchy. the song did get me to buy the album, which was worth the purchase price. but if you ever see her perform, she looks half awake. little entertainment value here. the video is almost interesting, but then again, it's not.
best choreography
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar - a lot of posing about and shoulder shakes from two ladies known as good dancers. and whipping hair around. the last minute offers a bit of choreographed dance but not very impressive stuff.
-chris brown - wall to wall - i don't like chris brown. but, i know he's a good dancer. this video has: vampires, little kid versions of chris brown dancing along with him, big group dancing.
-ciara- like a boy - ciara's first album produced a lot of internet rumors that she was a post-op transexual. in this video, she dresses as both a man and a woman. and i think that's reggie bush in the video. pretty good solo & group dancing.
-eve - tambourine - the video is visually cool, especially the use of color. and, the song is enjoyable. the choreography is minimal and isn't that interesting.
-justin timberlake - my love - justin nods his head. justin snaps his fingers. justin dances by himself and with a group. t.i. shows up and waves his hand about and pops his collar.
to me, this category is kinda stupid. you're judging how well the dance routines in a music video are. the timberlake, c.brown and ciara entries here a way ahead of the other two in the category. i'm picking ciara's as the best.
best director
-christina aguilara - candyman - christina in full pin up mode. not sure what was directed here. now you're a pin up from this era. now this era.
-beyonce feat shakira - beautiful liar - not sure what was actually directed here. you two, dance around a little.
-kanye west - stronger - kanye, act crazy. well done. now, stand there and rap. move your head back and forth.
-lincoln park - what i've done - band, play the song. you, jump into the air. cue clips of hitler. cue clips of world destruction. show the band. more clips.
-rihanna feat jay z - umbrella - not sure what was the direction here. dance around by yourself with an umbrella. sit there naked painted gold.
-justin timberlake - what goes around...comes around - since this video actually has a storyline to it, it has a bit more direction. justin, steal this girl away. now, make out. we see you're devoted to her, but you've got doubts. have your friend watch her. find them making out. now, act tough. chase after her. look devastated. good.
uhh, i'll go with justin timberlakes entry.
best editing.
-beyonce + shakira - beautiful liar
-gnarls barkley - smiley faces
-lincoln park - what i've done
-justin timberlake - what goes around comes around
-kanye west - stronger
you thought i didn't care about the last category. i care even less about this one. really, how well did you put the video together is a category? i'm not even going to break these videos down, and will just pick the gnarls barkley song because it's not nominated for anything else.
so, there it is. the mtv music video awards has 9 categories. and the show will take at least 3 hours. i suppose i'll watch some of it. maybe i'll torture myself, and you, with a running diary.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
my awaited reading of simmons on kobe (how's that for a title?)
"On his 666th regular season game (seriously), Kobe scored 66 percent of his team's points. For the first time in the post-Shaq Era, Kobe has an identity beyond "Selfish gunner who destroyed a potential dynasty." He's the most exciting player in any professional sport."
hmm, maybe kobe's real name is damien, and the endless seas referred to in the omen is professional sports. could he be the antichrist?
"Not only is Mamba hogging the ball to a historic degree, just about everyone else on the Lakers seems OK with it. It's their only chance to win.
(One player seems to be resisting: Poor Lamar Odom, who's going to bludgeon himself to death with Phil Jackson's blank clipboard soon. When they're running the offense in which Odom sets up Kobe from the top of the key and then stands in place like a third base coach, I keep waiting for Odom to rear back and fire line drive baseball passes at Kobe to try to knock him unconscious. Frankly, there's still time.)"
poor lamar. he got his career on track, moved back to l.a., onto a team that has such great history. he was given a chance to play in a great market for a great franchise. unfortunately, he plays with a guy that won't give him the ball.
"The game made me feel the same way I felt while watching "March of the Penguins." I had always wondered what a penguin's life was like; once I knew how depressing it was, I wanted to sit in my garage with the car running. Sometimes it's almost better not to know these things. And Kobe's 81-point game was a little like that. For a perimeter player to score that many points, you have to hog the ball to a degree that's almost disarming to watch; it almost stops resembling a basketball game. More than Kobe's rising point total, Dad and I found ourselves fascinated by his icy demeanor, the lack of excitement by the guys on the Lakers bench, even the dysfunctional way that his teammates were killing themselves going for rebounds and steals to get him more shots."
i wish i'd seen the game, because i'd like to have seen how his team reacts to him. and really, is the game plan by chief triangle, "just get the ball to kobe, or you're on the bench,"?
"The best reaction belonged to Jackson, who seemed amused, supportive and somewhat horrified, like how Halle Berry's husband probably looked after sitting through his first screening of "Monster's Ball.""
that's a great line.
"...when I was watching ESPNEWS, and the graphic from the Lakers game popped up on the bottom of the screen. They flashed the Lakers final score, followed by something like, "BRYANT: 81 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists."
And I remember thinking two things:
1. "Holy crap! 81 points! 81 freaking points! Wait, that's a lot of points!"
2. "Two assists ... now that's comedy."
Maybe this was Mamba's ultimate destiny: One-man scoring machine, gunner for the ages, the real-life "Teen Wolf." Future generations will remember him for the 81-point game and his awesome 2005-06 scoring binge, not for being the second-best player on three championship teams. Hey, that's what they should remember. After all, plenty of NBA players have three rings. Only two NBA players have ever scored 81 points in a game. One is dead. The other lives on."
second best player...awesome. wait and see if he can do more.
hmm, maybe kobe's real name is damien, and the endless seas referred to in the omen is professional sports. could he be the antichrist?
"Not only is Mamba hogging the ball to a historic degree, just about everyone else on the Lakers seems OK with it. It's their only chance to win.
(One player seems to be resisting: Poor Lamar Odom, who's going to bludgeon himself to death with Phil Jackson's blank clipboard soon. When they're running the offense in which Odom sets up Kobe from the top of the key and then stands in place like a third base coach, I keep waiting for Odom to rear back and fire line drive baseball passes at Kobe to try to knock him unconscious. Frankly, there's still time.)"
poor lamar. he got his career on track, moved back to l.a., onto a team that has such great history. he was given a chance to play in a great market for a great franchise. unfortunately, he plays with a guy that won't give him the ball.
"The game made me feel the same way I felt while watching "March of the Penguins." I had always wondered what a penguin's life was like; once I knew how depressing it was, I wanted to sit in my garage with the car running. Sometimes it's almost better not to know these things. And Kobe's 81-point game was a little like that. For a perimeter player to score that many points, you have to hog the ball to a degree that's almost disarming to watch; it almost stops resembling a basketball game. More than Kobe's rising point total, Dad and I found ourselves fascinated by his icy demeanor, the lack of excitement by the guys on the Lakers bench, even the dysfunctional way that his teammates were killing themselves going for rebounds and steals to get him more shots."
i wish i'd seen the game, because i'd like to have seen how his team reacts to him. and really, is the game plan by chief triangle, "just get the ball to kobe, or you're on the bench,"?
"The best reaction belonged to Jackson, who seemed amused, supportive and somewhat horrified, like how Halle Berry's husband probably looked after sitting through his first screening of "Monster's Ball.""
that's a great line.
"...when I was watching ESPNEWS, and the graphic from the Lakers game popped up on the bottom of the screen. They flashed the Lakers final score, followed by something like, "BRYANT: 81 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists."
And I remember thinking two things:
1. "Holy crap! 81 points! 81 freaking points! Wait, that's a lot of points!"
2. "Two assists ... now that's comedy."
Maybe this was Mamba's ultimate destiny: One-man scoring machine, gunner for the ages, the real-life "Teen Wolf." Future generations will remember him for the 81-point game and his awesome 2005-06 scoring binge, not for being the second-best player on three championship teams. Hey, that's what they should remember. After all, plenty of NBA players have three rings. Only two NBA players have ever scored 81 points in a game. One is dead. The other lives on."
second best player...awesome. wait and see if he can do more.
Sunday, January 09, 2011
el olio wolof final concert review
i know i've blogged a lot lately about el olio wolof, but i don't mind. they were a great band, and i think have had big impact on the fresno & greater valley indie scene over the last six + years. when i heard they were moving on to other things, i knew i wanted to see them every chance i could get. i saw their last fresno show, and when i talked to r.c. and he told me about their very last show ever, i knew i needed to at least try to be there. there partisan in merced is just a hop, skip, and a jump away, so that and a $5 ticket price assured i'd be there saturday night. for a fan of this band, what was more important than their finale last night? all members, past or present, were going to play as el olio navigated through their entire history and catalog of music (one ex member didn't make it).
i could tell you about the two opening acts, but that's not why i went to the show. i will say that both neal jackson and willy tea were both very interesting and talented musicians. the crowd was especially familiar and responsive to willy tea.
the crowd overall had a very good, friendly vibe. most everyone there knew who el olio is, and was there to send them off in style. of course, there were also people there that didn't know el olio, and there was your handful of annoying people that are there, taking up space, talking loudly, and not paying attention to the show. (sidenote: why pay $5 to get into a concert and not pay attention at all?) but really, it was a very warm feeling in the partisan last night. during some songs you could just feel the energy as people sang along and the floor bounced with movement.
when el olio started, i was sorta in the back of the crowd. but, as people moved in and out of the crowd i was able to move forward, eventually ending up about five feet from the stage. consequentially, i didn't take any videos of their very early on music.
although you don't see it in any of the videos, r.c. sort of narrated the changes in the band through the show, along with some of the people they met along the way. kinda nice to see who they started with, who was added when, and to watch the band literally change on stage to reflect the band changes. but, eventually you had all of the members, past and present, on stage.
there were a lot of photographers, both the fan variety and what seemed like more professional variety there on the night. this is alright, but the "pros" seemed to feel like they had priority on being close to the stage. i often observed photogs weaseling their way to the front, taking up space where people were enjoying the music, to get their shots. i suppose they're doing there job, but i found it a tad annoying trying to watch the show through people's cameras. btw, my videos were all shot while i was leaning on a wall. no one's view was obstructed by my shots. during this third video you'll see a photog enter the frame, take some shots, etc. enjoy looking at his california baseball cap.
i will admit that the flashes from cameras did create a magical, firework-esque effect combined with the house lights.
and now for my favorite el olio song, tree shakers/tree climbers. there was no way that i wouldn't be recording the last ever performance of this song.
sorry about the video on this last one. i forgot that while you can rotate the camera, it stays recording the same way.
what a night. i hope all the best for the members of el olio wolof in their future endeavors. and, if you ever get a chance to go to a show at the partisan, you should.
i could tell you about the two opening acts, but that's not why i went to the show. i will say that both neal jackson and willy tea were both very interesting and talented musicians. the crowd was especially familiar and responsive to willy tea.
the crowd overall had a very good, friendly vibe. most everyone there knew who el olio is, and was there to send them off in style. of course, there were also people there that didn't know el olio, and there was your handful of annoying people that are there, taking up space, talking loudly, and not paying attention to the show. (sidenote: why pay $5 to get into a concert and not pay attention at all?) but really, it was a very warm feeling in the partisan last night. during some songs you could just feel the energy as people sang along and the floor bounced with movement.
when el olio started, i was sorta in the back of the crowd. but, as people moved in and out of the crowd i was able to move forward, eventually ending up about five feet from the stage. consequentially, i didn't take any videos of their very early on music.
although you don't see it in any of the videos, r.c. sort of narrated the changes in the band through the show, along with some of the people they met along the way. kinda nice to see who they started with, who was added when, and to watch the band literally change on stage to reflect the band changes. but, eventually you had all of the members, past and present, on stage.
there were a lot of photographers, both the fan variety and what seemed like more professional variety there on the night. this is alright, but the "pros" seemed to feel like they had priority on being close to the stage. i often observed photogs weaseling their way to the front, taking up space where people were enjoying the music, to get their shots. i suppose they're doing there job, but i found it a tad annoying trying to watch the show through people's cameras. btw, my videos were all shot while i was leaning on a wall. no one's view was obstructed by my shots. during this third video you'll see a photog enter the frame, take some shots, etc. enjoy looking at his california baseball cap.
i will admit that the flashes from cameras did create a magical, firework-esque effect combined with the house lights.
and now for my favorite el olio song, tree shakers/tree climbers. there was no way that i wouldn't be recording the last ever performance of this song.
sorry about the video on this last one. i forgot that while you can rotate the camera, it stays recording the same way.
what a night. i hope all the best for the members of el olio wolof in their future endeavors. and, if you ever get a chance to go to a show at the partisan, you should.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
tri tip hamburgers
i've had an idea in my mind for a little while. i think a part of it goes back to the book fast food nation, and the idea that a burger at a restaurant or ground beef at the market could have meat from 100 cows in it. i realize the claim wasn't intended to be a fact, but it did get me thinking, and sorta stopped me from eating burgers fro a while. in time, and after watching a lot of food network, i started to think about grinding meat and making my own hamburgers. this lead me to thinking about burgers made from high quality cuts of meat. this isn't that crazy of an idea, so i bought a meat grinder.
but we live in central california, where tri tip is king. it seems like a local law that bbq places must serve tri tip in some form. sliced tri tip, tri tip steaks, tri tip sandwiches, even tri tip salads. but for the life of me, i've never seen a tri tip burger. i started floating the idea out there among friends and everyone thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. one friend did bring up the idea that it might be dry, as tri tip isn't the fattiest of cuts. but, i solved this issue by getting a cut of tri tip that was untrimmed (i usually buy it this way, it's a little cheaper and i can trim the fat and decide how much i want to leave on for flavor in cooking). i trimmed of the silver skin and away we went.
before grinding meat, it's suggested that you chill it in the freezer for a while. this definitely made it easier to cut the meat into small chunks. they also recommend you put the parts of the grinder in the freezer as well, although i'm not really sure why. i still did it though. speaking of the grinder, i considered a grinder attachment for our kitchen aid stand mixer. however, i eventually purchased a standard, hand crank grinder. it was a little cheaper, but also bigger. i'm not sure which i will prefer in the long run, but the grinder was easy to use, and fairly easy to clean up afterwards. while grinding the meat, i added a few cloves of garlic. that was pretty cool, just drop in a clove every so often while your grinding and it's in the mix. i didn't add any other seasoning to this point. after the meat was all ground i added a bit of pepper that i folded into the meat before shaping into patties. here's the meat as i was finishing up grinding:
now, here's the part where i'm a bad blogger. i didn't take pictures of the patties. i was going to do it after they chilled and before i put them on the grill. didn't. then, i was going to take some pictures of the cooked patties. didn't. nor did i take a shot of the finished burger. lame, lame, lame. what i can let you know is that they looked nice. i made most of the patties about 4" across, with a bit of a dimple in the middle. they cooked up rather well and at the normal rate for most burgers. i also grilled a bit of romaine lettuce to go on the burgers.
to the flavor: the burgers tasted good. i slightly overcooked them, which was my own fault, but they still stayed juicy enough. i'm not sure that you could really taste that it was tri tip, but i still like the idea of a higher quality cut of meat. overall, the process was worth it and i'll be grinding more meat in the future.
but we live in central california, where tri tip is king. it seems like a local law that bbq places must serve tri tip in some form. sliced tri tip, tri tip steaks, tri tip sandwiches, even tri tip salads. but for the life of me, i've never seen a tri tip burger. i started floating the idea out there among friends and everyone thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. one friend did bring up the idea that it might be dry, as tri tip isn't the fattiest of cuts. but, i solved this issue by getting a cut of tri tip that was untrimmed (i usually buy it this way, it's a little cheaper and i can trim the fat and decide how much i want to leave on for flavor in cooking). i trimmed of the silver skin and away we went.
before grinding meat, it's suggested that you chill it in the freezer for a while. this definitely made it easier to cut the meat into small chunks. they also recommend you put the parts of the grinder in the freezer as well, although i'm not really sure why. i still did it though. speaking of the grinder, i considered a grinder attachment for our kitchen aid stand mixer. however, i eventually purchased a standard, hand crank grinder. it was a little cheaper, but also bigger. i'm not sure which i will prefer in the long run, but the grinder was easy to use, and fairly easy to clean up afterwards. while grinding the meat, i added a few cloves of garlic. that was pretty cool, just drop in a clove every so often while your grinding and it's in the mix. i didn't add any other seasoning to this point. after the meat was all ground i added a bit of pepper that i folded into the meat before shaping into patties. here's the meat as i was finishing up grinding:
now, here's the part where i'm a bad blogger. i didn't take pictures of the patties. i was going to do it after they chilled and before i put them on the grill. didn't. then, i was going to take some pictures of the cooked patties. didn't. nor did i take a shot of the finished burger. lame, lame, lame. what i can let you know is that they looked nice. i made most of the patties about 4" across, with a bit of a dimple in the middle. they cooked up rather well and at the normal rate for most burgers. i also grilled a bit of romaine lettuce to go on the burgers.
to the flavor: the burgers tasted good. i slightly overcooked them, which was my own fault, but they still stayed juicy enough. i'm not sure that you could really taste that it was tri tip, but i still like the idea of a higher quality cut of meat. overall, the process was worth it and i'll be grinding more meat in the future.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
things i'm geeking on
ah, fall is almost in the air. who am i kidding, fall is nowhere close. we'll see fall in november. but i am excited about a lot of things right now. of course, now that i'm trying to list them i will only be able to think of two or three.
so here's what i'm geeking on:
-united states men's national team. our side is doing well, and looks like we should qualify for south africa in twenty ten. but, more to the point, i get to see my first qualifying game ever. i've seen the usmnt play in a friendly (usa vs brazil in the rose bowl) but i've never been to a game that really mattered. so i'm stoked that i get to go to rio tinto stadium in salt lake and see them play. and, i've got sick seats for a fairly inexpensive price.
-road trips - well, i get to road trip to the above game with my brother, which will be cool. i think i'm going to go up through sacto and head to slc via route 80, which i've never done. not like i've driven to slc ever, but i did roll sorta that way on a trip to colorado, but we took 15 through vegas. not really wanting to roll through vegas if i don't have to, even though i loves the vegas. speaking of vegas, i'm already geeking on my planned vegas trip for new year's. it's going to be a blast.
-fantasy football. mmmm, the ffl season is about to start. my long time league is about to have our draft this friday night. it'll be good to see some guys i haven't seen in a bit, and i'm excited to see how our auction draft turns out. and, i'm also prepping for the second fresno blogger bowl. adam and i chatted quite a bit last night about ffl, and i imagine that he, i and mike wise charlie will have more in the future.
-finals. today is the last day of a term @ my job, which is always nice to finish up. next week, new classes.
-family. for those that don't know, my brother and his family are in fresno for like the next ten months. it's cool, and they'll soon be living pretty close to me (walking distance). it's always nice to have family around, and my bro and i haven't lived in the same town since 95ish. i'm excited to spend a lot of time with them before the head back to south africa. also, monticore's brother, sister in law and their twins are living in fresno now. that's cool. it's been fun to spend time with them, and i love that on facebook he calls the twins midgets. i think this next year with all sorts of family around will be very nice for us.
-refinancing. we're in the process of refinancing our home loan which is going to save us some cash. always good.
UPDATE: sheesh, i forgot that i'm also geeking on track and field right now. it's the world championships so i've been able to watch a lot of track lately. it has me excited for our off season training sessions. seriously, i was spellbound watching the top hammer guys throw the other day, even if it was only briefly shown.
so, what are you geeking on?
so here's what i'm geeking on:
-united states men's national team. our side is doing well, and looks like we should qualify for south africa in twenty ten. but, more to the point, i get to see my first qualifying game ever. i've seen the usmnt play in a friendly (usa vs brazil in the rose bowl) but i've never been to a game that really mattered. so i'm stoked that i get to go to rio tinto stadium in salt lake and see them play. and, i've got sick seats for a fairly inexpensive price.
-road trips - well, i get to road trip to the above game with my brother, which will be cool. i think i'm going to go up through sacto and head to slc via route 80, which i've never done. not like i've driven to slc ever, but i did roll sorta that way on a trip to colorado, but we took 15 through vegas. not really wanting to roll through vegas if i don't have to, even though i loves the vegas. speaking of vegas, i'm already geeking on my planned vegas trip for new year's. it's going to be a blast.
-fantasy football. mmmm, the ffl season is about to start. my long time league is about to have our draft this friday night. it'll be good to see some guys i haven't seen in a bit, and i'm excited to see how our auction draft turns out. and, i'm also prepping for the second fresno blogger bowl. adam and i chatted quite a bit last night about ffl, and i imagine that he, i and mike wise charlie will have more in the future.
-finals. today is the last day of a term @ my job, which is always nice to finish up. next week, new classes.
-family. for those that don't know, my brother and his family are in fresno for like the next ten months. it's cool, and they'll soon be living pretty close to me (walking distance). it's always nice to have family around, and my bro and i haven't lived in the same town since 95ish. i'm excited to spend a lot of time with them before the head back to south africa. also, monticore's brother, sister in law and their twins are living in fresno now. that's cool. it's been fun to spend time with them, and i love that on facebook he calls the twins midgets. i think this next year with all sorts of family around will be very nice for us.
-refinancing. we're in the process of refinancing our home loan which is going to save us some cash. always good.
UPDATE: sheesh, i forgot that i'm also geeking on track and field right now. it's the world championships so i've been able to watch a lot of track lately. it has me excited for our off season training sessions. seriously, i was spellbound watching the top hammer guys throw the other day, even if it was only briefly shown.
so, what are you geeking on?
Thursday, January 25, 2007
stupid music meme
frankly, i'm not a fan of memes. usually, when i see several blogs taking them on, i tend to read but ignore. so, when adam put up his little musical history, i didn't really even give it a thought for my blog. then heather did it. then jay. then lefty. and not only did he do it, but he also called me out by name.
now, i'm no michael j fox in back the future, going stupid everytime someone calls me chicken. but, i like music. so, screw it, here we go:
if i were to describe my musical tastes throughout the years with one word it would be schizophrenic.
when i was a child, i listened to music like a child. i think i listened to oldies. but, i do remember that my step dad had styx on vinyl, and so we would always rock out to mr. roboto and look @ the bizarre photos on the album sleeve.
really, i don't remember too much music, until about fifth or sixth grade. what happened then? well, frankly, my brother had impeccable music taste. and, i, of course, got to listen to what he was listening to. so, he listened to the local college radio station and i listened to the local college radio station. so, i remember walking to school, listening to mix tapes on my walkman. songs like blister in the sun (which i loved to recount with glee when my friends in high school finally caught on to that song), bands like suicidal tendencies, and a fair bit of reggae. there was other stuff as well.
it's also @ this time that i was exposed to a few things. the first was the beastie boys. license to ill began their illustrious career that i've loved.
the next thing that came into my life around this time was metal. now, guns n roses was the introduction, and they aren't the hardest of metal, but they opened the door. within a year (junior high), metallica would kick that door wiiiide open for me.
but, at the same time i was also listening in to eazy e's first album. and the cure. and run dmc. but, metallica stuck with me through it all. i listened to other metal, and kept up with other musical genres as well, but metal was my "go to" guy. soon, i fell in love with a band out of nyc. i challenge anyone to not get amped up by the opening drums on anthrax's song "indians." anthrax, be musical innovators, created rap rock. if anyone tells you different, slap them. you could try and make a case for run dmc's walk this way, but really, that song is more a demonstration on how hip hop was sampling everything at the time, particularly rock. yes, they played it together, but it just wasn't the same. anthrax hooked up with public enemy, another favorite of mine (love politically charged music). they not only did a song together, but they went on tour together (it came to fresno but i couldn't go).
so, through high school i listened to mostly rap and metal, and some other random stuff that doesn't stick out. i wasn't really a fan of some of the big bands @ the time (nirvana, soundgarden). i did like stp though. it's also @ this time that i transitioned a bit from metal towards hardcore music. lots of the same energy, a little less noodlin about on the guitar, imho.
and then college. college is what you make of it. or something like that. anyway, in college, i started to listen to a whole bunch of other stuff. i still loved the beasties and they still weren't disappointing. but, i also started to listen to bands like the allman brothers and the greatful dead (thanks steve). i went to a few allman shows, but jerry garcia passed on before i could hit a dead show.
i also really fell in love with a little band called rage against the machine. now, when their first album came out, i didn't hate it, but just wasn't into it. whatever i was into at the time seemed more important. but by their second album i was sold. (i was very excited when rage & beasties were going to tour. then stupid mike d had to go and break his shoulder just before the tour. postponed. then rage broke up. dag nabbit.)
now, i'm not saying that my musical expansion stopped with rage. but, frankly, i've lost steam for this list. so, here's where i throw out some names of bands/acts that i enjoy:
hip hop: outkast, common, talib kweli, ice cube, jurassic five, dj qbert, dj shadow, krs one, tribe called quest, the coup, dead prez, the roots
rock: sublime, nofx, unwritten law, p.o.d., radiohead, sometime sunday, the smiths
etc: johnny cash, david allen coe, elvis, ozomotli, christina aguilara
when i look at most of those names, i see how a lot of them are big moments in my musical life. but, as i said, i've lost steam. i want to talk abou thow i got into them all, or what was going on or what each piece led to, but meh.
and, my musical library keeps growing. lately, i've been digging on astronautalis, sufjan stevens, derek webb, barzin, and rademacher. it's definately more on the indie tip.
now, i'm no michael j fox in back the future, going stupid everytime someone calls me chicken. but, i like music. so, screw it, here we go:
if i were to describe my musical tastes throughout the years with one word it would be schizophrenic.
when i was a child, i listened to music like a child. i think i listened to oldies. but, i do remember that my step dad had styx on vinyl, and so we would always rock out to mr. roboto and look @ the bizarre photos on the album sleeve.
really, i don't remember too much music, until about fifth or sixth grade. what happened then? well, frankly, my brother had impeccable music taste. and, i, of course, got to listen to what he was listening to. so, he listened to the local college radio station and i listened to the local college radio station. so, i remember walking to school, listening to mix tapes on my walkman. songs like blister in the sun (which i loved to recount with glee when my friends in high school finally caught on to that song), bands like suicidal tendencies, and a fair bit of reggae. there was other stuff as well.
it's also @ this time that i was exposed to a few things. the first was the beastie boys. license to ill began their illustrious career that i've loved.
the next thing that came into my life around this time was metal. now, guns n roses was the introduction, and they aren't the hardest of metal, but they opened the door. within a year (junior high), metallica would kick that door wiiiide open for me.
but, at the same time i was also listening in to eazy e's first album. and the cure. and run dmc. but, metallica stuck with me through it all. i listened to other metal, and kept up with other musical genres as well, but metal was my "go to" guy. soon, i fell in love with a band out of nyc. i challenge anyone to not get amped up by the opening drums on anthrax's song "indians." anthrax, be musical innovators, created rap rock. if anyone tells you different, slap them. you could try and make a case for run dmc's walk this way, but really, that song is more a demonstration on how hip hop was sampling everything at the time, particularly rock. yes, they played it together, but it just wasn't the same. anthrax hooked up with public enemy, another favorite of mine (love politically charged music). they not only did a song together, but they went on tour together (it came to fresno but i couldn't go).
so, through high school i listened to mostly rap and metal, and some other random stuff that doesn't stick out. i wasn't really a fan of some of the big bands @ the time (nirvana, soundgarden). i did like stp though. it's also @ this time that i transitioned a bit from metal towards hardcore music. lots of the same energy, a little less noodlin about on the guitar, imho.
and then college. college is what you make of it. or something like that. anyway, in college, i started to listen to a whole bunch of other stuff. i still loved the beasties and they still weren't disappointing. but, i also started to listen to bands like the allman brothers and the greatful dead (thanks steve). i went to a few allman shows, but jerry garcia passed on before i could hit a dead show.
i also really fell in love with a little band called rage against the machine. now, when their first album came out, i didn't hate it, but just wasn't into it. whatever i was into at the time seemed more important. but by their second album i was sold. (i was very excited when rage & beasties were going to tour. then stupid mike d had to go and break his shoulder just before the tour. postponed. then rage broke up. dag nabbit.)
now, i'm not saying that my musical expansion stopped with rage. but, frankly, i've lost steam for this list. so, here's where i throw out some names of bands/acts that i enjoy:
hip hop: outkast, common, talib kweli, ice cube, jurassic five, dj qbert, dj shadow, krs one, tribe called quest, the coup, dead prez, the roots
rock: sublime, nofx, unwritten law, p.o.d., radiohead, sometime sunday, the smiths
etc: johnny cash, david allen coe, elvis, ozomotli, christina aguilara
when i look at most of those names, i see how a lot of them are big moments in my musical life. but, as i said, i've lost steam. i want to talk abou thow i got into them all, or what was going on or what each piece led to, but meh.
and, my musical library keeps growing. lately, i've been digging on astronautalis, sufjan stevens, derek webb, barzin, and rademacher. it's definately more on the indie tip.
Monday, March 30, 2009
rademacher changes
so, i was listening to a podcast today and it was talking about the fine line between journalism, blogs and the personal connections to the people being talked about. how much does your knowledge of a person jade or change what you may or may not say about a person or team or thing.
as i listened, i thought about my relationship as a blogger and friend to the band rademacher, as well as a few other fresno bands. and, i'm not trying to say i'm bff with any of these people, but i do sit and talk with many of them. we trade text messages. they've been to my house, i've been in some of theirs. i hear things from bands, or people in bands about what's going on in their lives, both private and public. as i blogger/citizen journalist/gossip, i want to immediately write stuff. as a friend/person/good human being i want to handle material with appropriate sensitivity and timeliness. so when i hear potential bombshells, i run a bunch of filters and decide what to say about these people and bands.
a little while back, i heard that eli would be rejoining the band. shoot, i heard he was first leaving the band and had to wait to talk about it because i wanted to do it right, to get the band's perspective, to get eli's perspective, and to write it well. so, when i heard he was coming back i didn't mind waiting a few days to be able to write about it here and be respectful to the band and to my friends.
recently, i heard that greer was leaving rademacher. she was going to do a final few tour stops, and then was moving on, both from the band and in life. she had some gigs lined up with a band she toured with last year and was moving from fresno. now, i must admit that at this point i haven't talked to greer about this. i've heard it from several reliable sources, and the news of this has been circling fresno long enough that i felt that it might be okay to talk about here (even without talking to her or the band specifically about it).
i wish greer all the best in her future endeavors. i've enjoyed the few times she's come on the podcast and i definitely enjoyed her music. she's a tremendous bass player, a great musician, and an all around cool human being. and i loved her on the tiny tots piano. i'm sure she will do well in her next things.
so, what does this all mean for rademacher? well, that's up in the air from what i've hear. malcom may play bass and bring in another guitar player. maybe they'll find a bass player here in fresno that is tour ready, although fresno seems scarce of those. maybe eli can play bass and drums? or maybe they'll go as a two piece.
will this hurt rademacher's chance of making it big? well, only time will tell. i know that as they went out on tour a little bit back with airborne toxic event and henry clay people i really felt that they were about to get huge. then they didn't play sxsw and have made changes. who knows?
finally, will this stop bands from talking to bloggers? i highly doubt it. my blog is far from grandiose enough to make that happen, and i doubt i'm really stepping on any toes.
as i listened, i thought about my relationship as a blogger and friend to the band rademacher, as well as a few other fresno bands. and, i'm not trying to say i'm bff with any of these people, but i do sit and talk with many of them. we trade text messages. they've been to my house, i've been in some of theirs. i hear things from bands, or people in bands about what's going on in their lives, both private and public. as i blogger/citizen journalist/gossip, i want to immediately write stuff. as a friend/person/good human being i want to handle material with appropriate sensitivity and timeliness. so when i hear potential bombshells, i run a bunch of filters and decide what to say about these people and bands.
a little while back, i heard that eli would be rejoining the band. shoot, i heard he was first leaving the band and had to wait to talk about it because i wanted to do it right, to get the band's perspective, to get eli's perspective, and to write it well. so, when i heard he was coming back i didn't mind waiting a few days to be able to write about it here and be respectful to the band and to my friends.
recently, i heard that greer was leaving rademacher. she was going to do a final few tour stops, and then was moving on, both from the band and in life. she had some gigs lined up with a band she toured with last year and was moving from fresno. now, i must admit that at this point i haven't talked to greer about this. i've heard it from several reliable sources, and the news of this has been circling fresno long enough that i felt that it might be okay to talk about here (even without talking to her or the band specifically about it).
i wish greer all the best in her future endeavors. i've enjoyed the few times she's come on the podcast and i definitely enjoyed her music. she's a tremendous bass player, a great musician, and an all around cool human being. and i loved her on the tiny tots piano. i'm sure she will do well in her next things.
so, what does this all mean for rademacher? well, that's up in the air from what i've hear. malcom may play bass and bring in another guitar player. maybe they'll find a bass player here in fresno that is tour ready, although fresno seems scarce of those. maybe eli can play bass and drums? or maybe they'll go as a two piece.
will this hurt rademacher's chance of making it big? well, only time will tell. i know that as they went out on tour a little bit back with airborne toxic event and henry clay people i really felt that they were about to get huge. then they didn't play sxsw and have made changes. who knows?
finally, will this stop bands from talking to bloggers? i highly doubt it. my blog is far from grandiose enough to make that happen, and i doubt i'm really stepping on any toes.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
american outlaws
back in my salt lake city/usmnt recap i talked about walking in behind a supporter group that i initially thought was sam's army, but it turned out to be the american outlaws. they were spirited, they had chants, songs, and even some musical instruments. they definitely provided a lot of heart for the u.s. crowd at that game.
after i found out who they were, i decided to check out their website and see what they were about. their core values and history are this:
Mission:
To support the United States National Team through a unified and dedicated group of supporters.
History:
The American Outlaws started in Lincoln, NE as a local supporters group. Throwing viewing parties at local bars and attending every game possible sparked excitement amongst some of the leaders of the group, who felt like they could do more. In attending these games, a lack of consistency was observed from game to game with regard to the level of supporter organization, particularly with events surrounding the game (ie tailgates, parties, etc.). We then decided to make AO a nationwide, non-profit supporter group. a country as big as the United States, organization is a critical aspect to creating a unified culture of soccer fans. The more the fan base is unified, the greater the fan presence, the more intimidating the atmosphere, which finally leads to better results on the field. This is the goal of American Outlaws.
this sounded really cool to me. i like the organizational idea, providing a unified fan experience, having local chapters be "experts" on where to party, tailgate, etc. and, i hope to attend more national games in the future, even if they're only friendlies leading up to next year's cup. so, i joined the american outlaws. for $15 a year, i thought it could be worth it. camaraderie is definitely nice, but they're also getting hook ups, like discount flights from continental airlines. the $15 also gets you some gear: a t-shirt & a bandanna.
today my gear arrived:
i know it's a stretch, but i'd love to see a fresno chapter start up. what do we need for that?
Chapter Criteria
* A minimum of 25 paid American Outlaw Members
* Have a "home base" bar, where fans can expect to meet to watch each game
* Host a viewing party at said bar for EVERY GAME
* Complete the AO Chapter Registration, which will be mailed to you
* Inform national AO of new members as they sign up
in my mind the real difficult part of this might be to get the 25 paid members. because i'm pretty sure that we can find a bar (sequoia, hero's, some other place) to watch all the games at/host viewing parties.
why would we want to be a chapter?
Benefits of Chapterdom (if that is a word)
* Chapter awarded free banner from national organization
* Chapter receives discounts on merch, as well as benefits in other areas
* Chapter receives free promotional swag from organizations, such as NIKE
* Chapter events receive national recognition to all AO members nationwide
sounds good, right? and, i also think that if we could get a chapter together it would help out the fuego support. so, get yourself over to american outlaws. sign up. let's get our chapter on and support the usmnt.
*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.
after i found out who they were, i decided to check out their website and see what they were about. their core values and history are this:
Mission:
To support the United States National Team through a unified and dedicated group of supporters.
History:
The American Outlaws started in Lincoln, NE as a local supporters group. Throwing viewing parties at local bars and attending every game possible sparked excitement amongst some of the leaders of the group, who felt like they could do more. In attending these games, a lack of consistency was observed from game to game with regard to the level of supporter organization, particularly with events surrounding the game (ie tailgates, parties, etc.). We then decided to make AO a nationwide, non-profit supporter group. a country as big as the United States, organization is a critical aspect to creating a unified culture of soccer fans. The more the fan base is unified, the greater the fan presence, the more intimidating the atmosphere, which finally leads to better results on the field. This is the goal of American Outlaws.
this sounded really cool to me. i like the organizational idea, providing a unified fan experience, having local chapters be "experts" on where to party, tailgate, etc. and, i hope to attend more national games in the future, even if they're only friendlies leading up to next year's cup. so, i joined the american outlaws. for $15 a year, i thought it could be worth it. camaraderie is definitely nice, but they're also getting hook ups, like discount flights from continental airlines. the $15 also gets you some gear: a t-shirt & a bandanna.
today my gear arrived:
i know it's a stretch, but i'd love to see a fresno chapter start up. what do we need for that?
Chapter Criteria
* A minimum of 25 paid American Outlaw Members
* Have a "home base" bar, where fans can expect to meet to watch each game
* Host a viewing party at said bar for EVERY GAME
* Complete the AO Chapter Registration, which will be mailed to you
* Inform national AO of new members as they sign up
in my mind the real difficult part of this might be to get the 25 paid members. because i'm pretty sure that we can find a bar (sequoia, hero's, some other place) to watch all the games at/host viewing parties.
why would we want to be a chapter?
Benefits of Chapterdom (if that is a word)
* Chapter awarded free banner from national organization
* Chapter receives discounts on merch, as well as benefits in other areas
* Chapter receives free promotional swag from organizations, such as NIKE
* Chapter events receive national recognition to all AO members nationwide
sounds good, right? and, i also think that if we could get a chapter together it would help out the fuego support. so, get yourself over to american outlaws. sign up. let's get our chapter on and support the usmnt.
*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.
Monday, July 23, 2007
au revior notre amie
so, this last weekend, heather and i went with adam up to oakland. why? were we seeing mc hammer or oaktown 357? perhaps taking in an a's game? looking for the raiders? no, none of those. our little friend is moving to a city where her coke for breakfast routine will fit right in.
while we were there, we ate some grubbin pizza @ a place called lanesplitters. my first thought was bowling, but the decor was more racing, like splitting lanes with a motorcycle. but, they also had bowling pins on their menu. sorta split personality. but the food was good. after that, we walked back to the apartment and went up to the roof. i heard that this was a cool hangout, but it was super nice. good breeze, beautiful scenery. here's photos:
i wanted to also get some daytime pics so you could see what those lights were
almost dead center of this pic is the golden gate. yeah, it's small, so what?
this is the view going the other way, towards the hills.
saturday we went to this great ice cream place. i had eaten a sensible lunch at a nice tapas place, and then gorged myself on frozen milk. i also got it on my shirt.
did you know oakland has a lake in downtown? i didn't. it's sort of natural, but still. of course, i didn't actually take a picture of it. nor did i take a picture of the sushi place where we had dinner. or, the parkway speakeasy theater. instead, i took a place of the place across the street from the theater, woody's laundromat.
about the parkway, i'd heard it was a really cool place. everything i'd heard was true. imagine, seeing a movie sitting in a nice recliner, drinking a beer in a glass. you can order a pizza, made somewhat to order. i watched them ladling butter onto popcorn. now, we didn't have pizza or popcorn because we were stuffed from dinner, but still. it was super cool. it makes me really yearn to win the lottery and open something similar in fresno. anyhow, we watched knocked up, which cracked me up. i had pretty low expectations for this film, but i completely enjoyed this. it had a good story, lots of witty dialog, and plenty of gags. funny stuff. and i got to enjoy it with adults. good times.
the iphone pics were alright, but i wished i had remembered to take our real camera all weekend. especially for those night shots.
so, goodbye eleanore. we'll miss you falling asleep at landmark. we'll miss your snappy wit. we'll keep reading your blog but it won't be the same. and we'll see you sometime in the future. enjoy atlanta. and if you see mike vick, go the other way.
while we were there, we ate some grubbin pizza @ a place called lanesplitters. my first thought was bowling, but the decor was more racing, like splitting lanes with a motorcycle. but, they also had bowling pins on their menu. sorta split personality. but the food was good. after that, we walked back to the apartment and went up to the roof. i heard that this was a cool hangout, but it was super nice. good breeze, beautiful scenery. here's photos:
i wanted to also get some daytime pics so you could see what those lights were
almost dead center of this pic is the golden gate. yeah, it's small, so what?
this is the view going the other way, towards the hills.
saturday we went to this great ice cream place. i had eaten a sensible lunch at a nice tapas place, and then gorged myself on frozen milk. i also got it on my shirt.
did you know oakland has a lake in downtown? i didn't. it's sort of natural, but still. of course, i didn't actually take a picture of it. nor did i take a picture of the sushi place where we had dinner. or, the parkway speakeasy theater. instead, i took a place of the place across the street from the theater, woody's laundromat.
about the parkway, i'd heard it was a really cool place. everything i'd heard was true. imagine, seeing a movie sitting in a nice recliner, drinking a beer in a glass. you can order a pizza, made somewhat to order. i watched them ladling butter onto popcorn. now, we didn't have pizza or popcorn because we were stuffed from dinner, but still. it was super cool. it makes me really yearn to win the lottery and open something similar in fresno. anyhow, we watched knocked up, which cracked me up. i had pretty low expectations for this film, but i completely enjoyed this. it had a good story, lots of witty dialog, and plenty of gags. funny stuff. and i got to enjoy it with adults. good times.
the iphone pics were alright, but i wished i had remembered to take our real camera all weekend. especially for those night shots.
so, goodbye eleanore. we'll miss you falling asleep at landmark. we'll miss your snappy wit. we'll keep reading your blog but it won't be the same. and we'll see you sometime in the future. enjoy atlanta. and if you see mike vick, go the other way.
Friday, September 19, 2008
delorean, me n ed's coney island & back to the future
last night i went and wastched back to the future over @ edward's theatre. it was cool, i enjoyed it. lots of people taking photos of the car out front. i got mine well before the show.
also, before the show, we went to a new me n ed's (new to me at least) in riverpark. it's called me n ed's coney island. pretty nice space, you can get pizza by the slice, and they have hot dogs. i had a combo slice, which surprisingly didn't come w/a thin, ny style crust. it had a thicker, herb crust which was very nice.
the funny thing about my experience there was that my slice of pizza cost more than the 20 beer i had. huh? that's quite a deal.
also, before the show, we went to a new me n ed's (new to me at least) in riverpark. it's called me n ed's coney island. pretty nice space, you can get pizza by the slice, and they have hot dogs. i had a combo slice, which surprisingly didn't come w/a thin, ny style crust. it had a thicker, herb crust which was very nice.
the funny thing about my experience there was that my slice of pizza cost more than the 20 beer i had. huh? that's quite a deal.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
flashback feature of back to the future
so, they've been showing older movies over @ the edward's theeeeeater one night a week, one show. tonight, they're showing back to the future. while i'm not all that excited about that particular film, i think i'm going to go. why? bloggeraderie.
i've met some cool folks through teh internets, and tonight's a chance to hang out, have a drink and a slice of pizza, and then watch a movie.
thanks to brodiemash over @ the dumb for instigating the get together.
i've met some cool folks through teh internets, and tonight's a chance to hang out, have a drink and a slice of pizza, and then watch a movie.
thanks to brodiemash over @ the dumb for instigating the get together.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
pi day at tony's pizza
someone told me one time that if you're trying a new pizza place, get the cheese pizza. i have no idea who told me this, but i did it tonight. i mean, i kind of knew it would be good because:
i've heard several people i know recommend it.
it's been the same family running it for like 40 years. or, maybe some new people bought it a few years back from the original but it's still the same.
it's currently running at 4.5 stars on yelp with 54 reviews.
the place for tonight's pizza, pi day edition:
tony's pizza.
located in a sorta beat up strip mall, tony's is a walk in and order or phone ahead take out pizza place. there are like three tables so maybe you can eat there? they are also cash only, which can be a pain if you let it. since i knew that, i stopped at the atm & got some cash. when i placed the order they said 20 minutes, i arrived about then and they were slicing and boxing it up. oh yeah, i ordered a medium cheese and a large pepperoni. i don't remember them quoting me a price on the phone, but on yelp there were pictures of the menu so i had an idea of what it would cost. this may be my main point of contention with tony's pizza - the pictures were accurate, they are of the menu's on the counter. however, the prices don't match up. according to the menu, my order should have been $25.50 + tax. it was $29.50. uh, what? if tax is 9.75%, that means the pizzas were $26.88. i'm fine with price increases, but adjust your menu. i didn't make a big deal about it, but i can see how it could get under someone's skin if they brought it up and didn't get a good explanation. (now that i think about it, if you're a cash only business, you need to do a better job letting people know the cost at time of order, or having accurate prices online.
now to the pizza!
the pizza is a thinish crust, and it seemed to have brushed olive oil on the crust. they remind me of mike's pizzeria, or maybe diciccos in style in contrast to a me n eds, pacifica or round table. both pizzas needed to be cut a little more cleanly, but that's no biggie, and not uncommon. the cheese pizza was pretty darn good. nice balance of cheese, sauce & crust. i added some red pepper flakes on my second piece, but in hindsight it was better just on its own. as for the pepperoni, you would think that the pepperoni would be better, since it's a cheese pizza with one ingredient. but, it just seemed okay. it was good, but not great. i would be more likely to have the cheese pizza again.
overall, i would order food from there again, and a lot of reviews say to get the calzone, and i really like those, so that may be in my future. however, i'm far more likely to call mikes or pacifica for my next pizza.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
future of fresno
a few weeks back i was having a conversation with some friends. we were all discussing the need for younger members of fresno to really start stepping up and organizing and working toward a better fresno. one thing i knew about organization is that it's often easier to piggy back off someone else's work, to use a ball that's already rolling rather than trying to start something new. so, i started suggesting some of the fresno's public arenas that are already out there.
we talked about creative fresno, and how it offered some of this, but that it didn't have some of the things that we were looking for. i offered that i heard they were restructuring some, and that perhaps it would change in this direction. but, creative fresno, due to it's nature, is focused on drawing in creatives, boomerangs and fighting the brain drain of fresno. definitely worthy causes.
so we chatted on more, and i remembered that i knew a guy who had started a website called future of fresno, and it was intended to cover the mayoral election process. i wondered what had become of it since the election, and we all really dug the name. so, i sent him an email and inquired about the site. we've dialogued a bit, but the site is currently being used for the purpose of..."Future of Fresno is a local social network for civic-minded citizens, professionals, and business owners who are invested into our city's development and progress."
hmmmm, sounds a lot like what we were talking about. i invite you to check out the site and comment here on whether or not you think it could be a viable network to help instigate change in fresno.
we talked about creative fresno, and how it offered some of this, but that it didn't have some of the things that we were looking for. i offered that i heard they were restructuring some, and that perhaps it would change in this direction. but, creative fresno, due to it's nature, is focused on drawing in creatives, boomerangs and fighting the brain drain of fresno. definitely worthy causes.
so we chatted on more, and i remembered that i knew a guy who had started a website called future of fresno, and it was intended to cover the mayoral election process. i wondered what had become of it since the election, and we all really dug the name. so, i sent him an email and inquired about the site. we've dialogued a bit, but the site is currently being used for the purpose of..."Future of Fresno is a local social network for civic-minded citizens, professionals, and business owners who are invested into our city's development and progress."
hmmmm, sounds a lot like what we were talking about. i invite you to check out the site and comment here on whether or not you think it could be a viable network to help instigate change in fresno.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
dinner review qn4u
so, i'd heard a lot of good things about qn4u. a friend of mine, who came with me, had previously eaten there and wanted to go back and try a few more things. we grabbed another friend and off we went. qn4u is sort of on the edge of old town clovis, and is kind of far from our part of town. no worries though, that's what they make cars for.
we were quickly seated and the waitress got us drinks in short order. in fact, the service on the evening was great. tons of refills, she checked on the quality of our meals often, and pretty much did everything to make sure we had a nice experience.
we started our meal off with the "pig candy" appetizer. they take little smokey hot dogs, wrap them in bacon, roll 'em in brown sugar and then bake them. ah, sweet decadence.
i figured i was @ a bbq joint, so i ordered the ribs, especially because they're award winning. full rack. i knew there was no chance i'd actually eat them all, but that meant leftover ribs would be in my future. it comes with two sides, and i went with sweet potato fries and beans. the portion size for the sides was appropriate, while the entrees are a bit excessive. but, we're americans, we like things big. i enjoyed the ribs. they were tender, but not quite fall off the bone. this helped because i was able to actually pick the ribs up and more or less suck the meat off them. good times.
my one friend ordered the texas tommie. it's a huge hot dog, probably around a pound, that's sliced down the middle, stuffed with cheese and green pepper, wrapped in bacon and then cooked. this massive dog comes in a roll, and a side. so much food.
my other friend ordered the bbq chicken, which is three large pieces, covered in bbq sauce. it also comes w/2 sides. he went with the sweet potato fries (copycat) and the cole slaw. the cole slaw was interesting as it had bits of apple and some other fruit along side of the normal cabbage and what not. his chicken was good, although i actually think he was a bit more impressed with the slaw.
so, from my experience:
good food
nice place
great service
we were quickly seated and the waitress got us drinks in short order. in fact, the service on the evening was great. tons of refills, she checked on the quality of our meals often, and pretty much did everything to make sure we had a nice experience.
we started our meal off with the "pig candy" appetizer. they take little smokey hot dogs, wrap them in bacon, roll 'em in brown sugar and then bake them. ah, sweet decadence.
i figured i was @ a bbq joint, so i ordered the ribs, especially because they're award winning. full rack. i knew there was no chance i'd actually eat them all, but that meant leftover ribs would be in my future. it comes with two sides, and i went with sweet potato fries and beans. the portion size for the sides was appropriate, while the entrees are a bit excessive. but, we're americans, we like things big. i enjoyed the ribs. they were tender, but not quite fall off the bone. this helped because i was able to actually pick the ribs up and more or less suck the meat off them. good times.
my one friend ordered the texas tommie. it's a huge hot dog, probably around a pound, that's sliced down the middle, stuffed with cheese and green pepper, wrapped in bacon and then cooked. this massive dog comes in a roll, and a side. so much food.
my other friend ordered the bbq chicken, which is three large pieces, covered in bbq sauce. it also comes w/2 sides. he went with the sweet potato fries (copycat) and the cole slaw. the cole slaw was interesting as it had bits of apple and some other fruit along side of the normal cabbage and what not. his chicken was good, although i actually think he was a bit more impressed with the slaw.
so, from my experience:
good food
nice place
great service
Monday, September 20, 2010
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.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
iron bird cafe
so, i was hungry for some lunch today and sent out a tweet for suggestions for a downtown lunch. i received several good responses, but one stuck out to me - iron bird cafe. i hadn't been there yet, so i decided to give it a shop. i like coffee (i'm a little jittery from today's excessive coffee input), and i knew they had food. so off i went.
upon entering, i was impressed with the clean, modern look. there are couches, tables, chairs, and it all looks nice. i appreciate the art on the walls and even hope to maybe show here some time.
i perused the menu and decided on the chicken sandwich. it's got grilled chicken, tomatoes, mixed greens & cheddar with a pesto aioli spread on toasted sourdough. the sandwich came out in a decent amount of time, and i enjoyed it. i will say i'm still a little hungry. maybe some chips or something on the side would help it out.
the coffee was good, and i tried out both varieties. i think i'm going to hit up a cup of the decaf before i leave.
i love it that they've got free wifi. and, the staff is very friendly (much better than the coffee shop in my neighborhood).
i'll definitely go back in the future. their hours are great. who stays open downtown until 11:30 at night? iron bird does. awesome.
upon entering, i was impressed with the clean, modern look. there are couches, tables, chairs, and it all looks nice. i appreciate the art on the walls and even hope to maybe show here some time.
i perused the menu and decided on the chicken sandwich. it's got grilled chicken, tomatoes, mixed greens & cheddar with a pesto aioli spread on toasted sourdough. the sandwich came out in a decent amount of time, and i enjoyed it. i will say i'm still a little hungry. maybe some chips or something on the side would help it out.
the coffee was good, and i tried out both varieties. i think i'm going to hit up a cup of the decaf before i leave.
i love it that they've got free wifi. and, the staff is very friendly (much better than the coffee shop in my neighborhood).
i'll definitely go back in the future. their hours are great. who stays open downtown until 11:30 at night? iron bird does. awesome.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
rudy jr.'s chicken man
about a year ago someone told me about the goodness that is chicken man. it wasn't far from my house, but i'd never heard of it. so, i filed that recommendation away in my head for future use. yesterday, i finally made it over.
honestly, this place is tucked away between streets. it's unassuming location and building might fool you into thinking that the food might not be so good. you'd be wrong to think that. their food was amazing. and, the quality of food is why a odd location and building don't hurt the business. seriously, it's that good.
i went with two friends who had eaten their before, one who had been eating there for quite a long time. they both had the sourdough burger with cheese. the burger looked great, and comes on slices of sourdough bread. they also both ordered a piece of chicken on the side. myself, i decided to order some jalapeno poppers and the four piece chicken. the poppers were awesome. these weren't some store bought, frozen poppers. these were fresh, made right then in the restaurant poppers. and a bunch of them. when the chicken arrived, the waitress let me know that they threw in an extra piece. who does that? super nice. and wow, the flavor on the chicken was great. yeah, it's fried chicken, but it wasn't overly greasy. i mean, there's grease because it's fried, but it wasn't gross.
none of us finished our lunch, but we all took home our food for a tasty meal for later. me, i took home three pieces of chicken that heated up for a nice lunch today. i'll definitely go back and try more of the menu - like the burgers & ribs.
honestly, this place is tucked away between streets. it's unassuming location and building might fool you into thinking that the food might not be so good. you'd be wrong to think that. their food was amazing. and, the quality of food is why a odd location and building don't hurt the business. seriously, it's that good.
i went with two friends who had eaten their before, one who had been eating there for quite a long time. they both had the sourdough burger with cheese. the burger looked great, and comes on slices of sourdough bread. they also both ordered a piece of chicken on the side. myself, i decided to order some jalapeno poppers and the four piece chicken. the poppers were awesome. these weren't some store bought, frozen poppers. these were fresh, made right then in the restaurant poppers. and a bunch of them. when the chicken arrived, the waitress let me know that they threw in an extra piece. who does that? super nice. and wow, the flavor on the chicken was great. yeah, it's fried chicken, but it wasn't overly greasy. i mean, there's grease because it's fried, but it wasn't gross.
none of us finished our lunch, but we all took home our food for a tasty meal for later. me, i took home three pieces of chicken that heated up for a nice lunch today. i'll definitely go back and try more of the menu - like the burgers & ribs.
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