rademacher live blog

lots going on in fresno. fuego played chivas usa. you'll have to see adams blog for a recap of that. van halen is playing at the save mart center, see the fresnan for that. me, I'm seeing rademacher, ibid and another band. i'll be trying to live blog this.

ibid opened the show. for you emusic fans, go over there and download
his album. You'll luke it. trust me. great lyrical hip hop out of merced, ca. i've seen him several times and always enjoy the show. tonight was solid, and ibid drew me in with each song.

the next band was the monolaters. energetic, poppy, punkish indie rock. very fun stuff. the crowd was really into the energy. Of this band, as was I. Cool set, I'll have to try and find them on myspace or something. If you hear that they're plating near you, go see them. Adam says, "they were fun. I enjoyed that set. They were enjoyable." then he went on about something of simple accolades for a simple band.

rademacher is up third, and they are fan freakin tastic. i've really
enjoyed them, but these last few shows i've seen them they have really stepped up their game. tonight did not disappoint. such a good time. crowd had fun, looked like the band had fun. my only request: arguments. it's a song off of one of their e.p.'s and i never hear it anymore at shows. damn i want to. but beside that, really well done tonight rademacher. hearts to you. and facebook tells me that brad <3 greer. well, it told me they are engaged so i'm making that assumption.

kitten vs ferret

week 13 nfl picks

thursday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
green bay	+6.5	dallas	dallas

weekend games

san diego	-4	kansas city	san diego
houston	+3.5	tennessee	tennessee
jacksonville	+7	indianapolis	jacksonville
buffalo	+5	washington	washington
san francisco	+3	carolina	san francisco
detroit	+3	minnesota	minnesota
ny jets	+2	miami	ny jets
atlanta	pick	st. louis	st. louis
seattle	+3	philadelphia	philadelphia
cleveland	+1	arizona	cleveland
denver	-3	oakland	denver
ny giants	-1	chicago	chicago
tampa bay	+3	new orleans	tampa bay
cincinatti	+8.5	pittsburg	cincinatti

monday night

new england

-20

baltimore

new england

snoop dogg sensual seduction

so, i wanted to post the new snoop dogg video here, but universal music group has disabled the ability to embed video. so, i'll just give you the link so you can watch it at youtube.

the video & song are an obvious homage to zapp & roger, but also to bootsy collins and more.

the song, well, it reminds me of a rip off of kanye west, who i don't think is that good. if you make it all the way through the video, i salute you. i was unable.

frank tv

so, the writers' strike has me feeling like an episode i saw yesterday of the family guy. that's right, i'm comparing my life to an episode of tv that i watched as a rerun last night. anyhow, tv was out on family guy, and so they were finding other ways to kill time.

my life, we're enduring a writers' strike that has most new television in the bag. sure, there are reality tv and sports, which are two of my favs. but i also enjoy the scripted. i've seen that a few networks are rolling out shows that they had in the can and are bringing out. i won't say they're all bad, but i'm guessing that shows you weren't planning on airing aren't top notch.

this brings us to frank tv. did you know there was such a show? i did. mainly because you're bombarded with ads for this p.o.s. during sports, especially on fox. or on the nba, which is often shown on the same network. ads for this show actually go back pretty far, because i remember them during the baseball playoffs, which also had a few series on tbs. tonight, i decided i would catch an episode.

to be truthful, i admit i had a pretty low opinion of the show coming into it. if you're not familiar with frank caliendo, he's been on madtv and picks during fox's nfl sunday. he does impressions of famous people. in my opinion, very sucky impressions. so, i've been a little curious to know exactly what he'd be doing. would it be all sketches of him impersonating jack nicholson, al pacino, george bush, john madden, etc?

guess what he opened with? jack nicholson. sketch two, trump. three, g.bush.

the show is done in front of an audience, but that sure sounds like a laugh track.

i'm halfway through. not sure i can make it. man, i miss new tv shows.

guess who's up now. pacino. and deniro. frank does both characters. half the time, his deniro slips. a quarter of the time, terrible. final quarter, weak. his pacino is worse.

next commercial break. starts with a commercial for this crap show. so to recap, they opened with a skit. commercial. two skits, commercial. skit. commercial. i wonder if they can fit in another commercial break in the remaining 4 minutes. i hope so. i just saw an ad for tyler perry's house of payne. i won't be giving this a try. but they ended the break with another commercial for this show.

the show ended with a bit for sean connery's voice for men. actually not bad. witty even. and thankfully the show ended.

so, to wrap it up, i thought this should would suck, and it lived down to that expectation. don't watch it. ever.

a dinner review of marsol

we've been eagerly anticipating the opening marsol and its new orleans & southern cuisine. i've seen the signs, and have waited and waited. we even went there twice before they were opening, just hoping that it would be open (and i had smelled the food & seen the smoke from their test runs of the kitchen). so, tonight, we decided to stop in for a meal because i had heard they were open, even though their grand opening isn't until december 7 (they get their liquor license on december 5).

as you enter, you'll notice that this is a huge restaurant. really, the main seating area probably will accommodate 150, they have a small seating area for about 20 near the bar, and a private room that i would estimate will sit 40-50 more. the decor is nice, and it'll be pretty cool when they have live music (the waiter said they will on weekends after their grand opening).

to start, we ordered the sampler appetizer plate. it comes with cajun fried shrimp, southern fried wings, and cajun rolls. the plate came with a sweet chili sauce and a cocktail sauce, and our waiter also brought out a "buffalo" sauce as well. i thought the shrimp tasted good, and they were pretty large prawns. the southern wings were full on chicken wings, not just the little bits you normally get with a wings order. they were average. the winner of the plate were the cajun rolls, which were like egg rolls. they were filled with cabbage and a ground, spicy sausage. they were very well complimented by the sweet chili sauce. i'd say 4 or more people should order this appetizer, because it comes with a lot and we actually didn't eat it all because we realized we were filling up before the main course.

for our main course, we thought we'd go out on a limb and see what sort of special dishes this place had to offer. i ordered the alligator, which came with cole slaw and steak fries. heather ordered the crawfish etouffe.

here's where the meal came off its wheels a bit. not bad, but just not great. i would say our mains were mediocre. to me, the alligator, which was lightly breaded and fried, had a consistency and taste similar to pork. but, some of the pieces were also sort of fishy tasting, which wasn't good. most didn't, but some did, and those ones left me reaching for something to clear the palate. heather didn't care much for the etouffe. it's a little unclear on what she expected from the dish, but it's not what she got (i would say it's what i thought from the description). i tasted and liked it, which is good because i'll be eating the leftovers. anyhow, heather didn't care much for it, but she was also filling up from our appetizer dish.

for dessert, we split their whiskey bread pudding. the waiter raved about "how if you weren't a drinker you might need a designated driver." hmm, not so much. don't get me wrong. i actually thought it was quite tasty. and, i liked the raisins and pecans in it. i just wouldn't say i could really taste the whiskey, let alone think that i'd need a d.d. after.

overall, i was surprised at how little spice the food had. i figured that new orleans cuisine would be plenty spicy, but this wasn't really the case. some had decent spice (the etouffe & the cajun rolls) but i just expected more i guess. in my opinion the food was mediocre. it's definitely worth another try, and the menu has a lot of options so i will have no problem finding something to eat. probably a little less exotic than alligator. i'm pretty sure i'll take a group in after they have their grand opening and the bar is open. oh yeah, they're going to offer an express lunch (11-2p) for around $10 which may be worth checking out, when they start doing it.

*cross posted @ fresno famous & yelp (why aren't you yelping?)

"impeach them now"

dennis kucinich wants to

we're building empire

no, this isn't a post about queensryche, although i do admit i enjoyed their albums empire and operation mindcrime.

i ran across an op-ed piece in the l.a. times that piqued my interest. i mean, i've harbored thoughts that our leaders, especially in recent years, have been building a de-facto empire. and, i know that at previous points in u.s. history we definitely have worked at building empire. so, i wanted to read this article with the provocative title of "at piece with pax americana."

(for those that don't know, pax romana = the roman piece, a term used to describe the roman empire and it's reach across the mediterranean world.)

i think the article may be best summed up with these three quotes:

"Critics of American foreign policy point to the fact that the U.S. does many things that empires once did -- police the seas, deploy militaries abroad, provide a lingua franca and a global currency -- and then rest their case. But noting that X does many of the same things as Y does not mean that X and Y are the same thing. The police provide protection, and so does the Mafia. Orphanages raise children, but they aren't parents. If your wife cleans your home, tell her she's the maid because maids also clean homes. See how well that logic works."

"The second verse of the anti-imperial lament, sung in unison by liberals and libertarians, goes like this: Expansion of the military-industrial complex leads to contraction of freedom at home. But historically, this is a hard sell. Women got the vote largely thanks to World War I. President Truman, that consummate Cold Warrior, integrated the Army, and the civil rights movement escalated its successes even as we escalated the Cold War and our presence in Vietnam. President Reagan built up the military even as he liberalized the economy."

"Whatever sway the U.S. holds over far-flung reaches of the globe is derived from the fact that we have been, and hopefully shall continue to be, the leader of the free world, offering help and guidance, peace and prosperity, where and when we can, as best we can, and asking little in return. If that makes us an empire, so be it. But I think "leader of the free world" is the only label we'll ever need or -- one hopes -- ever want."


now, i find these quotes very compelling, especially in dispelling the idea of american empire. just because it has feathers doesn't mean it's a chicken. then again, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, maybe it's a duck.

the second quote, while historically accurate, seems to deny, disregard or ignore what is currently happening. those in power acknowledge that our freedoms and civil liberties are being hedged due to the war on terror. it isn't a complete loss, but there still are changes happening for the purpose of safety, and definitely may be aiding the creation of empire.

my final thought, for now, on empire and the article is the idea of change. we may not be an empire like rome, england, or the u.s.s.r., but it just may be the case that empire has changed. x may be similar to y but not the same and that could be due to the fact that the definition, the reality has changed. his hopes of just being the "leader of the free world," even if that makes us an empire, really hits the nail on the head. you can lead without creating empire. and, you could create a ideological empire and lead. and, the u.s. has done this very well. we've californicated the world. and, that's helped to lead to the war on terror as a particular culture fights against the "west." but just because we create an ideological empire doesn't mean should be invading other countries (iraq), or supporting military coups in others (venezuela).

peppered pageant queen

it's not as spectacular as miss south carolina's stumble through topics such as "the iraq and south africa" but the miss puerto rico contest had some spice. literally. the winner broke out in hives, and it was determined that someone had doused her gown and make up with pepper spray. this lady is a trooper. not only did she have to deal with this, but her bag was also stolen from the competition, containing some dresses, make up and credit cards. sheesh. and she still won.

in other strange pageant news, miss mexico had to tone down her dress. it wasn't too revealing or sexy, it was too violent. one of the images on the dress was of a guy facing a firing squad. and a bullet studded belt. that's one crazy dress!

this sure will be an intersting miss universe pageant (although i'm not sure if the mexico story is about a contestant in the 2008 pageant).

tunneling for evidence

so, the l.a. times had an article about chinatown's tunnels. in the article, they mention a bit of controversy. i find this interesting, because i've never heard of any controversy about the tunnels. i've heard discussion about how extensive the tunnels may be, but i didn't realize there was any controversy. some quotes about it:

"Experts on Chinese American history say Chinatowns across the nation -- including in many California cities -- have always been rumored to have tunnels, but no proof exists that they were anything more than connected basements. They say the hype surrounding the legends revives misconceptions that fanned xenophobia in earlier times."

and:

"The 19th century was an extremely racist climate," said Phil Choy, past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America and a skeptic of tunnel lore. "There had always been an attempt to remove the Chinese. You had this population of undesirables. The more mysterious they make us, the better."

hmm, interesting. i understand that other tunnels have existed, or weren't as spectacular as billed. and, i guess i wouldn't be that surprised if in the past there was fear, xenophobia and suspicion about people different than the mainstream. but how much of this applies to now and exploring whether or not there are tunnels in fresno.

more from the article:
"But Fresno is different because the tunnel tales are more than just rumors. Over the last few months, a handful of old-timers have stepped forward to say they saw the tunnels in action. Their oral histories have given a sense of urgency to the city's archaeological effort."

and:
"One of the first was Rick Lew, who grew up in Chinatown in the 1950s. Lew said his grandfather was a well-known figure in Chinatown's early history, running gambling operations and selling liquor."

i wonder what mr. choy would say? i mean, here we have a guy basically confirming the urban legend. sure, it's not scientific proof, but that doesn't mean it's not true. we'll see what is discovered as they use radar and continue to explore.

cross posted here

the moon

so, we stepped outside tonight and happened to glance up @ the moon. we were amazed by how it looked.





really cool stuff. just loved the ring. i've seen this type of thing before, but never so big and far away from the moon.

gilbert arenas black president

gilbert arenas is doing some interesting stuff these days. he's a long time blogger, which is pretty interesting for a nba player because he's quite candid. anyhow, he's got a new shoe out, by adidas. what's interesting is that he's do twenty different versions, each in it's own little homage to something in his life. here's one i enjoyed:

all the news that's (not) fit to print

i <3 the news. it's so predictable. today is the day after thanksgiving. without even looking, i could tell you what's going to be the "big" story on every news outlet: shopping.

so, as i began to see what was happening in the world, i hit up the online news sources i check. and yes, black friday was tops. what was it above? real news, of course. like:
5 dead in a murder suicide
peace talks between israel and palestine
the search for a missing teen
a ship off antartica

and, this isn't just an issue for our local fish wrap. oh wait, it is. i went to the l.a. times page and they have actual stories about news. what a novel idea. i didn't see any stories about shopping there until i scrolled to the very bottom of the page, where i saw one on the a.p. wire, where it was appropriately listed first. right before the ship, the murder/suicide and a bombing that killed 26 in iraq.

happy thanksgiving

i hope yours has been well. ours was nice. 1 down, 2 to go.

today, we went up to beautiful vallejo, ca. really, it was purdy up there. i took photos from my aunts back porch. her 2 bedroom apt up there costs the same as some stuff fresno. craziness.



anyhow, i wanted to mention the route we took there and back. in all actuality, i went this route a few weeks back when i went to the raiders game, but since i wasn't driving i didn't actually pay attention to how long it took. it seemed fast, but i didn't know how fast. it took under 3 hours. and really, it should because it's only 188 miles.

the route: 99n to 120w (manteca)
120w to 5s, although you're only on 5 for like a mile
5s to 205w
205w to 580w
580w to 680n to 780w

and you're there.

i liked this route because it avoids the slowness of los banos. and it was hecka fast. if you're going to, say, oakland, you just stay on 580w.

week 12 nfl picks

picks are coming out early. some interesting match ups this week. i'm especially interested to see if the rams can continue winning, and keep my impossible dream of them finishing 8-8 after starting 0-8. also, i've only got the lines for the thanksgiving games. i'll update this post after i've got the lines. so, really these are only my picks for thursday. for now.


thanksgiving day games

away team	spread	home team	my pick
green bay	-3	detroit	green bay
ny jets	+14	dallas	dallas
indianapolis	-12	atlanta	indi

weekend games

away team	spread	home team	my pick
seattle	-3	st. louis	st. louis
minnesota	+7.5	ny giants	ny giants
buffalo	+7.5	jacksoville	jacksonville
new orleans	-3	carolina	new orleans
washington	+3	tampa bay	washington
houston	+3.5	cleveland	cleveland
tennessee	-1	cincinnati	tennessee
oakland	+5	kansas city	kansas city
san francisco	+10	arizona	arizona
baltimore	+9	san diego	baltimore
denver	-2	chicago	denver
phildelphia	+22.5	new england	new england

monday night

miami

+16

pittsburg

pittsburg

amen break

UPDATE - I HAVE THE DATE ON THIS POSTED FOR WEDNESDAY - NEW POSTS FOLLOW BELOW...

got 18 minutes? and speakers?

enjoy music? like thinking about usage, copyright and sampling?

well, i'm posting this video mainly for woody. so, you had better watch it.

it's about the "amen break."

lunch review ribs & tips

okay, so i was looking for something different and new, but still on the edges of my neighborhood. i thought i had seen a place that was south of me, towards downtown. so, i went in search of. and i found it: ribs & tips. i almost feel bad about reviewing another place that's some sort of bbq...then again, i love bbq so i don't feel bad at all.

as i pulled up, the bbq outside was smoking away and it smelled nice. i came into the restaurant, which used to be some sort of chinese/thai buffet. it's a big space, with 10 or so booths and seats at least 40. it wasn't too busy, and it seemed that all the staff was in the back working. it took a moment to get helped. but after that things went smoothly. while i waited for service, one of the other customers told me how good the tri tip was. he wasn't sure if it was their marinade or what, but he said he really liked it. on his way out, he told another first time customer that they'll be back.

so, i perused the menu, and actually ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, the big sampler plate. i figured why not try all the meats o the menu and really get a good idea of their food. the sampler plate comes with chicken, ribs, and tri tip, along with 2 sides and bread. for my sides, i picked the potato salad and the ranch beans. i ordered @ 12:19 and my food was up by 12:26.

i started with the tri tip. wow. holy cow. this was good stuff. so flavorful. it was a tiny bit dry, and this made it just a little tough, but outside of that it was delicious.

the chicken, well, i'm not sure what piece i had. it looked like part of a breast & thigh. but the flavor was good. the sauce on it was a tangy, spicy sauce. good stuff.

the ribs were good and smoky. i'm glad i saved them for last to try, they were worth it. they were worth cleaning the bones as well as licking my fingers.

i appreciate that they had 3 different flavors of sauce & seasoning on the meats. or, at least they all didn't taste the same on each meat. because really, the sauce shouldn't be the same.

as for the sides, the roll was just a store bought type (i think) but it was good for soppin'. the potato salad was sorta bland, but not bad. the beans...now these were good. spicy, but not too hot, i ate them all.

for some, there may be some turnoffs to the restaurant. it's not a "classy" joint. it's not in the best neighborhood. but honestly, i've been to world famous (presidents & celebs eating there) bbq joints in kansas city that were in bad 'hoods. this place is totally manageable for everyone. others might be turned off by plastic silverware. i wasn't. and, most of their customers seemed to be to go orders. but, if this place stays open, it'll be a great bbq joint, right next to all the new downtown housing.

one final word, the website has an old address & phone # for them. and, yelp has an old address. not sure why, but they've been @ this locale since july 07.

ribs & tips
575 divisadero (at h street, next to the lampost)
222-4204

their hours are also sketchy. on the window they have 10am-2pm painted, their to go menu says 10-6 M-F. their website, i think, says something different.

go to my yelp review (which is exactly the same here & on fres fam because it's cross posted) and see pictures of the menu & food.

a challenge

so, i was thinking about those different venues that post goodness about fresno. i love to read them, and i try to take part in the online community. as i journeyed through virtual fresno today i thought, "these people are making virtual fresno good. i'd love for them to join me in making actual fresno good."

so i'm throwing down the virtual gauntet. i've brought out the slapping glove. however you want to think of it, i'm issuing a challenge to:
the beehive (specifically mike oz & heather mac)
the fresnan
famous whitewater

now, i know you all don't live in the tower. but you all visit here enough because you know we're the hotbed of fresno cool. so, i'm challenging you to join me @ this saturday's tower beautification. more details here. or here. or here.

and, oh yeah, if you're reading this, you're welcome to join as well. consider yourself challenged as well.

*i'm cross posting this challenge @ my blog, fresno famous, and in a mike oz post on beehive.

tower beautification

so, after you've had your fill of family, food, and giving thanks, come out and do some thankless work.

that's right, the tower district of fresno, ca needs your love & help.

join us for our monthly gathering to clean up. we'll pick up trash, cigarette butts, whatever has been heaped on our beautiful neighborhood.

FOURTH SATURDAY TOWER BEAUTIFICATION NOVEMBER 24TH, 2007

aka WORK OFF A WEDGE OF PIE MORNING AFTER THANKSGIVING



* * * *

8:00-10:00 A.M.

MEET: Wishon and Olive, Chicken Pie Parking Lot

BRING: Winter fur caps, mittens, boots; oops, just gloves

WE PROVIDE: Vest, grabbers, bags, some tools, insurance

WHO: Volunteers

really, please wear some gloves for safety's sake.

optical illusions

this is a cool little video about optical illusions. pretty well done, and i like the soundtrack. i wonder if it's brazzaville.



okay, in the comments, someone says the song is golden cage, by the whitest boy alive.