julia dawn's holiday extravaganza

last night was a really fun time. it's too bad more of our immediate crew couldn't have been there, but heather, adam and i had a blast.

nick nocketback opened up the show with some comedy stylings. this is tough, because you're doing comedy and everyone is there for music. and, it's at a club, so everyone is sitting around talking and not paying attention to you. nick was as shocking as he could be, but he still struggled to really grab a hold of them. but a good effort none the less.

ibid came on next. before ibid's set, i spoke we julia dawn and she mentioned that they had some technical difficulties but they were all worked out now. well, there were still a few bugs in the system as ibid's music wasn't working. so, short delay. i've seen ibid several times, at both tokyo garden as well as at club fred. he's a wonderful mc. i think the crowd gets into him a little more @ tokyo, while it's more intimate, you're jammed against the stage feel. i feel like i lose ibid's stage presence @ club fred. outside of that, i felt this may have been the best sound quality i've heard from ibid, but i still would've turned his vocals up a bit.

next on stage was tommy delgado and armen nalbandian. they had a real nice sound, real laid back. tommy played drums and some guitar and armen was on the keys, as well as a few other instruments sporadically. i actually think they would have been a little better suited to open the show, let the crowd kind of come into the music. but anyway, these guys played some good, interesting jams and had a good time on stage.

finally, everyone got what they came to see, julia dawn and her o.g. hump day band. julia always puts on a great show, and i'm constantly amazed that such a big voice comes out of such a little lady. and, her lyrics are soulful and deep. this concert showcased those elements of julia, but also her fun spirit and her talent as a performer. julia belted out several of her older tunes, some of them with updated style. she also played a few new tunes which i enjoyed. of course, her ensemble cast was amazing, and showcased what fresno has produced and what they are still producing. jason jurzak, eva scow, randy stindt, jeff simpson all ripped up the stage with julia.

click over and watch some videos of julia's set, including a great vid of nick nocketback's mad skillz as a dance machine.

extravaganza tonight

looking for something to do in fresno tonight?

hit up club fred for some great, live music.

tommy delgado
ibid
julia dawn

it'll be a blast

viagra makes me angry

i want to punch whomever owns the rights to elvis' songs in the face. i've been thinking about this for several weeks now, and have finally gotten around to posting this.

why would i want to inflict harm on another person? well, it's because...

viva viagra.

that's right, viagra bastardized viva las vegas. now, this wasn't my favorite elvis song or anything. and, although i'm known to belt out an elvis tune or two @ karaoke, i'm not the biggest elvis fan. but, i do like elvis.

(even if he was a hero to most but he never meant...)

anyway, let me get back to my point. viagra has screwed the song for us all. yeah, i know, i said that.

now, every time you hear the song, you'll think, viva viagra. when i go to las vegas, and think of that song, i hear, viva viagra.

i hate you viagra ad team. and i want to punch someone in the face for disgracing that song. i'm thinking it's nick cage. it seems like something he'd do.

now, i'm going to go sit in a claw footed tub in the middle of the countryside because i just got done rocking out with my buds in the garage.

legalized absinth

the ban has been lifted. apparently it's legal to sell absinth(e) in the states. and, i actually saw a bottle the other night @ my local. i was surprised, and asked the bartender about it. she said they mistakenly ordered it, their supplier misheard when she asked for something else while ordering.

the article from salon (linked above) is somewhat interesting, but i honestly think the wiki on it's a bit better. i also like that many people compare the alleged madness that absinth causes with "reefer madness." which, you can rent at blockbuster, btw.

and i'd put myself in the camp of people that don't believe in the hallucinogenic properties of the drink. i've had it before, and although it was a strong drink, i didn't see any fairies and such. drink too much, you're going to have some issues. that goes for any alcohol.

i'm your huckleberry

it's funny, sometimes you see a movie is on, and no matter how many times you've seen it, you'll watch it if it's on. tonight, i stumbled on one of those movies for me.

tombstone is on.

now it helps that there is pretty much nothing else on tv, but i am tuning in. the good thing about watching a movie you've seen a ton of times is that you can change the channel when there are lame parts on. like most of the ones involving dana delany.

here's a youtube clip from the movie. one of my favorite parts of the movie starts @ 3 minutes into the clip and goes to about 5:15. great stuff.



what movies will you watch every time you see they're on?

$100 wager

last night, i made a bet about hillary clinton vs john mc cain.

if these are the candidates, which they won't be, i have her beating him. i've got a c note on it.

here's to hoping that neither are the candidate.

good cop, baby cop

it came from teh intertubez

consumerism the musical

now go buy something for me online. there's a link to my amazon wish list to your right.

just kidding. about buying me something.

you must prove your love

okay, you don't actually have to prove that you love the tower district.

but, you could come help it out. especially because you know you'll be hanging out here over the next few weeks as you destress from all the family gatherings.

this saturday, december 22 is our monthly clean up get-together. we're out there from 8-10ish.

we meet @ the northeast corner of olive & wishon, in the chicken pie shop parking lot and then spread out to clean up the tower. give it a little spit shine.

provided for you are:
trash bags
trash grabbers
snazzy orange vest that proclaims your tower volunteer status

you must bring:
you
some gloves (we sometimes have latex ones, but any gloves will do)
a decent attitude

really, you should spare 2 hours of your life to help make our beautiful area even better looking. or, you can just pick up a few of the cigarette butts you've thrown down outside of the bar.

saturday, december 22
8-10 am
meet @ the corner of olive & wishon

we'll be there unless it's pouring down rain.

blue man in madera

last night i heard the song blue, but that has nothing to do with the title of this post. this post is about a story that i was talking about with some friends. it seems a guy has moved to the valley, madera specifically because people in oregon (i think it was portland) were too mean to him. why were they mean? well, his skin is blue. that's right, blue. his skin has turned blue due to some home remedy type drink.

well, today i saw the story hit big time. boing boing has a post up about it.

the condition is called argyria, and it happens when you ingest silver into your system. the guy, paul karason, says that it happened because he rubbed his treatment onto his skin. hey, i'm not a doctor, but i would imagine it has more to do with the daily drink of colloidal silver. whatever it is, it's an interesting story, and i think mr. karason for bring our area some attention. and, it shows we're nicer than people in oregon.

dude put down that joint

more science about how the doobies are bad for you. not the brothers, but the marijuana cigarettes.

here's some data skimmed:
research found 20 times as much ammonia, a chemical linked to cancer
five times as much hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides, which are linked to heart and lung damage respectively
in the case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the toxin linked to infertility, the researchers found concentrations were actually higher in cigarette smoke (this one's about second hand smoke).

yowza. the article did point out that tobacco smokers tended to smoke more, which could equalize the effects.

week 16 picks

thursday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
pittsburg	-7.5	st. louis	st. louis

saturday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
dallas	-10.5	carolina	dallas

weekend games

oakland	+13	jacksonville	jacksonville
philly	+3	new orleans	new orleans
kansas city	-4.5	detroit	detroit
cleveland	-3	cincinnati	cleveland
green bay	-9	chicago	green bay
ny giants	-3	buffalo	buffalo
houston	+7	indianapolis	indianapolis
atlanta	+10	arizona	arizona
tampa bay	-6.5	san francisco	tampa bay
baltimore	+10.5	seattle	baltimore
miami	+22	new england	miami
ny jets	+9	tennessee	tennessee
washington	+6.5	minnessota	minnesota

monday night

denver

+9

san diego

san diego

fresno rain

no, not chocolate rain. fresno has been under the clouds these last few days and they have delivered. today, we got over 1" of rain, which i hear is some sort of record.

it made for a nice day. i could hear the rain falling outside and hitting the roof, could hear wet tires on the road, and occasionally looked out to see the water. i chilled out inside most of the day, but then i decided t head out and go for a bike ride. hadn't been on the bicycle for quite some time, so it was fun to ride again, although i had to be quite cautious due to the slick conditions. and, my back brakes were really off. somehow, they had come to need a real adjustment, and i didn't realize this until after i had started riding. i still had breaks, but had to squeeze the brake handle quite a while before it finally caught. when i got home i adjusted to a better spot.

the rain supposed to let up by tomorrow morning, which is good because i've got to go into work in the morning. if it's raining, this can mean wet motorcyclist.

gift idea

if anyone is looking for a great, last minute gift for me, here it is:



it is:
a kershaw, ken onion knife. i love these
matte black. love this color.
labeled "ward of evil." how cool is that?

the bad thing, that will probably prevent you from getting it for me:
$150.

that's 2.5x what the non-special edition kershaw costs.

Xmas by mail

christmas is almost always an enjoyable time of year. you've got friends, family, and yes, presents. in the past few years, i've done much of my shopping via the internet. it's easy, i can compare prices, and if it's not clothes, i'm not too worried about sizes.

internet shopping also combines another small joy of life, getting things in the mail. i'm home this week, and have been excited to know that there are packages coming. now, they're not really for me, but it's still fun anticipating when this or that package will show up. or, looking at the label of what came and thinking, "what's this one." or knowing what it is and who it's going to. and then thinking about how much the person will enjoy the gift.

today, a green fairy, amongst other things, arrived.

almost Christmas with rademacher

fresno favorites rademacher are officially releasing their album stunts. yes, you could buy it online, at shows and a few other places already, but it's out now and they're doing a cd release party in los angeles. now, i know you may not be in l.a., and wonder why you might be interested in it. well...

"So our official CD release is coming up. It is at the Echo on Friday and we're making a live record of the event. Maybe some video or something. We hope ya'll can come out and have a good time. We'd appreciate the support and we'll do our damn best to play an awesome show."


hmm, sounds cool to me. my only dilemma is that on saturday i have to be @ a family Xmas. i totally want to see if i can make both. any takers? it would be a leave friday night, roll to los angeles, come back real late friday night/early sat morn.

dream interpretation

you know, sometimes i wonder what dreams mean. other times, i just want to know what someone said. this morning, i was dreaming (not when i wrote this, so you can't sue me if it goes to fast). in my dream, a friend of mine was explaining something to me. i didn't understand what was being said, so i asked for further explanation. and then i woke up.

ding dang y'all. now i'll never understand. because frankly, the person in the dream wasn't really telling me this thing. i can't call the person on the phone and ask them to explain why i should move my car so the squirrels can eat that stuff off it.

steroids in baseball hullabaloo

yesterday, major league baseball released the findings of their investigation into the use of steroids, called the mitchell commission report. this report, that cost around $20 million to compile is worthless. that's right, it is without merit.

now, i'm not being naive, or pretending that there isn't a steroid problem in major league baseball. and, barry bonds (former giant) probably did use some sort of performance enhancing substance. and, according to this list (summarized from the report) so did many other players.

but, this report is little more than fluff. it is conjecture. it is second and third hand reports. really, this report isn't based on any positive tests. it isn't based on interviews with any of the actual players named, with the exception of jason giambi. it's based on jose canseco. really, canseco? that's one of your reliable sources. or some guy that worked in some capacity for the new york yankees? or some minor leaguer that swears that this or that guy admitted to him that he took steriods?

well, most of those are shot down by a simple statement from the player, "no, i didn't do it." your word against mine.

and on bonds, the report seems to have some credibility. the report talks to his former trainer. but, the trainer didn't give him steroids, the cream, the clear, etc. the trainer says that greg anderson gave bonds a cream and some clear liquid. so, although this seems a little better, it still doesn't prove much because neither anderson or bonds will confirm this. in fact, i'm pretty sure that both have denied it.

here's what really interesting about the report: it doesn't mention the guys that actually have tested positive since steroids were outlawed by major league baseball. so, you have this "report" on the use of performance enhancing substances and you don't name the guys that have actually been caught? instead, you run with gossip and hearsay? it seems that mlb wants to have a big public show, pretend that it's "getting tough" and "cleaning up the league" but really won't do much else. because i'm pretty sure you can't hand out penalties based on unproven accusations. in fact, the report doesn't even suggest punishment, it does recommend that, "The commissioner should give the players and everyone else the chance to make a fresh start," Mitchell said, "except where the conduct is so serious that he must act to protect the integrity of the game."

for it's part, mlb says it will review the players mentioned on a case by case basis. but, i highly doubt any will admit to it, and unless you've got more evidence than the report, not much can come of the reviews.

now, they can pretend they've looked into and solved the problem. future big leaguers will never use any performance enhancing substances.

yeah right.

public service announcement - cooties

video game causes sword attack

fresno, my beloved, continues to impress me with stories. a 31 year old man was arrested for assaulting his roommate after they got into an argument over a video game. the victim was stabbed in the leg and had some cuts on his fingers.

the weapon of choice: samurai sword. that's right, the assailant went all kill bill (i'm not sure which volume) on his roommate. or, maybe he went fresno state basketball on him. i forget what late '90's fsu player was also arrested for attacking a guy w/a samurai sword, but i think it also started over video games.

i wonder what they were playing. obvious choices would be:
heavenly sword
dragon quest sword
prince of persia: rival swords
red steel

less obvious choices:
tiger woods gold
rayman raving rabbits
cooking mama: cook off

come on gamers, learn to settle your differences in the game, not by stabbing each other over the game.

sometimes i think i'm big time

booyah! i'm coming up big on cnn's website right now. if you read this story about the australian rape case and scroll down to the bottom & click on the blogs, commentary, etc button i'm the first to show up. my first post on it.

in all seriousness, i still can't believe that the judge handed out that sentence. i saw another case about a rape in the u.a.e., where two men raped a teen boy, and they were given fifteen years. now, this case has some interesting twists because it involves the rape of a boy, so some may say that justice cares more for males. also, the family is crying out because one of the men has aids, and new it, so they feel he should have been given a much longer sentence.

asinine.

week 15 nfl picks

a few games on alternate nights this week

thursday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
denver	+1.5	houston	houston

saturday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
cincinnati	-9.5	san francisco	san francisco

weekend games

jacksonville	+3.5	pittsburg	jacksonville
atlanta	+12	tampa bay	tampa bay
seattle	-7	carolina	seattle
green bay	-9	st. louis	green bay
baltimore	-3.5	miami	baltimore
new york jets	+24.5	new england	new england
arizona	+3.5	new orleans	new orleans
buffalo	+5.5	cleveland	cleveland
tennessee	-4	kansas city	tennessee
indianapolis	-10.5	oakland	indi
detroit	+10.5	san diego	san diego
philly	+10	dallas	dallas
washington	+4.5	ny giants	ny giants

monday night

chicago

+10

minnesota

minnesota

instant coffee = yuck

today @ work they ran out of coffee filters. this meant no coffee in the lounge. but, everyday a catering truck comes around 9. i figured they might have coffee and i'd be fine. i went out there, saw that they had coffee for sale for 75 cents and thought i was in luck.

i ordered, and the guy said, "here's the stuff, you make it." so, yeah. it's that instant coffee, crystals just add water crap. i put in the right amount, add hot water and off i go, back to my desk.

holy crap. this stuff is terrible.


but of course i'll drink it. i'm just wondering if it's sanka, which is decaffeinated. that would be the worst, because i'd be suffering through terrible coffee w/o the mild pick up.

art!

art happenings:
new post here
prepping for show @ the philharmonic @ the end of january
prepping for rogue 2008 - will be showing @ ashtree

should be posting more regular art updates on art blog as i'm actually working right now on stuff. love to work under a deadline.

update on australian rape case

apparently not everyone is australia is retarded. the attorney general of the state said that the punishment was "manifestly inadequate," and, ""Any child under the age of 12 cannot legally give consent to sexual intercourse, so the relevance of the judge's remark mystifies me." well, i guess that also helps us know when one can consent in australia as well.

(and, yes, retarded works there because it means delayed or slow, which apparently some of their judges are working on some 18th century definition of rape. you, know, when they were still all criminals there.)

i really feel badly for this girl, because it seems this wasn't the first time she was victimized.

"Meanwhile, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh confirmed reports that the girl was first sexually assaulted at Aurukun in 2002 by several juveniles. They were not charged.

Ms Bligh said the girl was placed into foster care after the incident but was returned to the settlement in April 2006, where she was gang-raped shortly after. "

damn. sad, sad state of affairs. reprehensible.

6 rapists slapped on the wrist in australia

"Judge Sarah Bradley told them that the victim 'probably agreed to have sex with all of you".

probably? no, i think it's whether or not she actually did agree. that's one of the big issues whether or not it's considered sex or rape, consent. so, either she consented or didn't. which is it?

"Judge Bradley later defended her sentencing, telling The Australian that the sentences were "appropriate" because they were the penalties sought by the prosecution."

well, then the prosecution are idiots, too. what does the law say should happen in this case? i doubt that the law says that convicted rapists should be given sentences ranging from probation to six months in jail.

at least activists have some sense about them, exhibited here:
"There is nothing culturally, there is nothing morally, there is nothing socially and there is definitely nothing legally that would ever allow this sort of decision to be made," she said, the she being Boni Robertson.

now, i agree with the last statement, but this case does demonstrate some of the difficulties of living in a society that is made up of different cultures. i don't know if australia is considered a "melting pot" like the u.s. fancies itself, but i do imagine that they do have a fair amount of diversity. and, it seems that this is a little bit (big bit) of cross-cultural dilemma,
"The case comes six months after a high-profile inquiry into child sex abuse in remote northern Australia said it found problems in every Aborigine community visited by researchers."

so here we have a case of sex between 6 males, 4 of which were minors, and one female. one ten year old girl. let me say that again, a ten year old girl. it seems that we may have some issue in aboriginal cultural of when is the appropriate age of sex. i although i admit to my ignorance here, i'm going to go out on a limb and say that ten is too young, and would imagine that their culture would agree, too.

so, ask yourself, judge sarah bradley, was she:
1. consenting?
2. able to consent?

if you can't answer both of those with a legal yes, than it's rape. and they should be punished appropriately, even if the prosecution isn't asking for it.

one fnial quote to throw into the mix,
"The offenders came from some of the most powerful and prominent Aboriginal families in Cape York, while the victim's family had a lower status, the Australian reported."

ah, yes, this may not actually have anything to do with cross cultural values. it's got to do with justice being blind for the right price, now isn't it?

david beats goliath at basketball

UPDATE: here's the story from the perspective of the l.a. times.

call it what you want, i'll call it a victory. when i heard that fresno pacific university, with it's undergrad student population of about 1000, would be playing usc in basketball, i figured it would be a massacre. i didn't think the sunbirds had a snowballs chance in, well, hell. i mean, this is the university of southern california. the trojans. the trojans whose head coach used to be in charge of the chicago bulls. the trojans who have a guy who may be the next big thing, o.j. mayo. usc! fresno pacific has got to lose to them, right?

i was wrong. tonight, the sunbirds pulled off a minor (major?) shocker by defeating the trojans 65-44. now, it should be noted that usc, realizing that they were playing a naia school in an exhibition game did not play their starters. but you know what, it's not like the other athletes on usc's roster are a bunch of losers. they play division one college basketball, the top tier for the men's college game. and they were playing against a little naia school that doesn't even have full ride scholarships for all it's team.

david beat goliath. i bet that was a fun bus ride back to fresno.

recognize fresno. there's some basketball being played in a small gym in southeast fresno. it's worth checking out. the tickets cost less, the crowd can be just as into it, and hopefully you'll have a good time.

(oh yeah, congrats to the sunbirds volleyball team. national champs. national champs.)

(and the men's soccer team finished in the quarterfinals of the national tournament, which is dang good, too.)

big ced's famous bbq & cafe corazon - what a saturday!

check out my reviews of big ced's famous bbq and cafe corazon. (i yelped 'em as well.)

el olio wolof

take some time, and enjoy a little bit of el olio wolof, recorded thursday @ tokyo garden.



now enjoy the rest of your day

week 14 nfl picks

thursday game

away team	spread	home team	my pick
chicago	+3	washington	chicago

weekend games

miami	+7	buffalo	buffalo
st. louis	+7	cincinnati	st.louis
dallas	-10.5	detroit	dallas
oakland	+10.5	green bay	green bay
san diego	pick	tennessee	san diego
new york giants	+2.5	philly	philly
carolina	+10.5	jacksonville	jacksonville
tampa bay	pick	houston	tampa bay
minnesota	-8.5	san fran	minnesota
arizona	+7	seattle	seattle
kansas city	+6.5	denver	kansas city
pittsburg	+10.5	new england	pittsburg
cleveland	-3.5	ny jets	cleveland
indianapolis	-9	baltimore	indi

monday night

new orleans

-4

atlanta

new orleans

art hop + post art hop plans

a couple of photos to share before i...


(photos may or may not be added later. blogger is quirky and won't let me upload photos.)



tell you all to go out and see some art tonight. we're headed out to tower mosaic, then over to broadway studios, and then corridor (i forgot the numbers). nick potter has a show over @ corridor, which i'm excited to see. if you're interested, we're meeting up @ tower mosaic @ 6:30.

then, i'll head home, watch survivor & an office rerun. then, off to the post art hop show @ tokyo garden. malcom sosa solo set, el olio wolof, good times, great music.

crime doesn't pay

especially when you're stealing hats.

seriously, these guys were stealing hats from a sports store in visalia. hats? i hope you got a whole rack of yankees caps (i figure this is the crap hat people would steal). and how many hats can five guys steal? i'm guessing at least four.

the thing is, they crashed their getaway car and were all caught. brilliant. i wonder if they stole ginormous hats and it covered their eyes?

post art hop show

a fire breathing dragon blows into town on thursday night. that's right, el olio wolof will be playing @ tokyo garden after art hop.

malcom sosa, of rademacher, will also be playing a solo show.

and a two other bands, one named myriad encephus, one named wheels of fortune.

it's only $3. you should go.

r.i.p. pimp c

pimp c, aka chad butler was found dead in a sunset strip hotel in hollywood. this is sad news. pimp c and bun b make up the group u.g.k. (underground kings), an influential houston rap group.

u.g.k. had been on the shelf for a few years as pimp c was in jail for a few years for not paying child support. but, he had been released in the last year and they had a #1 album.

although i wasn't a huge fan, i did enjoy many of the songs they had collaborated on such as jay z's big pimpin. their current album had a song on it w/outkast that was very nice. i'm going to have to pick that up now.

it's still unclear how pimp c passed, but we'll know more in time. rest in peace, pimp c.

alan autry is a stone cold killer

here it is, proof you don't want to mess with bubba.

banksy's new west bank art

english artist banksy has always impressed me with his subversive work. previously, he had done a series of pieces on the wall separating the west bank in bethlehem. recently, he did a new set which include the following (from bbc news).

rademacher video

starting to upload some video i took at a recent rademacher show @ tokyo. i'll be uploading more @ youtube over the next few days, so check my youtube link later.

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.

amazing race

so, it's the third week of amazing race. mike lost a team in the first week. heather lost a team in the second.

SPOILER ALERT








in tonight's episode, all the teams ended up getting stacked together on the same plane to burkina faso. and then on the same train out to the middle of nowhere. then, there was some challenges, and lorena & jason, the team picked by both mike and i sucked. really, they were bad. and, it was mainly lorena. but, they managed to pull it out, and finish in second to last tonight. so, mike's still in it. i've still got two teams, and heather's got one.

mls championship game

take heart, dana. i know they're not the san jose squad you used to love, but sort of are. houston has repeated as champions of major league soccer. and, for the second year in a row, they've beaten new england.

it was a game of halves. new england controlled the first, and went up 1-0 on sweet header by taylor twellman. the revolution had a ton of chances and i knew that if they kept at it they would score. and they did.

but, there are two halves in every game. and the second belonged to houston. the dynamo completely reversed things and controlled the pace and all the shots in the second. houston equalized on a low, driving shot. then dewayne derosario had his own sweet header to put them ahead in the 74th minute.

down 2-1, new england threw everyone forward for the last fifteen minutes in an attempt to equalize. one of the defenders had a point blank, diving header that should have gone in, but somehow pat onstad had a kick save reaction.


so, congrats to houston. back to back champions. and, you kept the new england area from winning every professional championship this year.

now we can swim any day in november

wow. it's rather nice outside today. in fact, i think it's been in the 70's in fresno for a large part of november. it is november, right? and we're half way through the month, right? today, i walked down the street in shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops. and it's not just that i'm a big guy. the mail carrier was wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt.

the forecast doesn't have us hitting the low 60's (daytime high) until the middle of next week. the forecast for thursday, thanksgiving, is also 60. 60. sheesh.

but i'm not complaining. i don't mind a mild fall season. i would appreciate a little more rain over the next month though. especially since i don't have to drive my motorcycle too much over the next 5 weeks.

toothpaste for wii

wii-licious


toothpastefordinner.com

week 11 nfl picks

here we go again, another week's worth of pics vs the spread. i'm not doing that bad on the season. i'd guess that i'm picking about 65-70% correct.

weekend games

away team	spread	home team	my pick
arizona	-3	cinci	cinci
cleveland	-2.5	baltimore	cleveland
ny giants	-2.5	detroit	ny giants
carolina	+10	green bay	green bay
kansas city	+14.5	indianapolis	indianapolis
miami	+10	philadelphia	philadelphia
new orleans	pick	houston	houston
tampa bay	+3	atlanta	tampa bay
oakland	+6	minnesota	minnesota
san diego	+3	jacksonville	jacksonville
pittsburg	-10	ny jets	pittsburg
chicago	+5.5	seattle	seattle
st. louis	-2.5	san francisco	st. louis
dallas	-10.5	washington	dallas
new england	-15	buffalo	new england

monday night

tennessee

+2

denver

tennessee

in other news, barry bonds has been indicted for federal perjury and obstruction charges. and, my hopes that the giants would sign a-rod seem to have been dashed as well.

and, the mls championship game is this saturday @ noon. check it out. it's a rematch from last year, houston dynamo (formerly sj equakes/quakes/clash) and the new england revolution. if new england wins, that means that the boston area will have won the world series, & mls championship, and are well on their way to superbowl & nba finals victories, too. oi.

and for you readers in south africa, we're going to kick your rears on nov 17 in soccer. trust me. if you get a chance, watch the match. jozy altidore is the real deal. and u.s. has looked generally nice under bob bradley's management.

rademacher anyone?

okay, i know i've flaked out of several of the recent rademacher shows. tonight, i think will be different. it's been awhile since i've seen them and...they finally have their cd out! i repeat, their cd has been released. so, i want to go to the show, see rademacher and others, and buy their cd! and hey, check out their website.

youtubey goodness

i love this commercial



seriously, i crack up every time, especially when the kid runs at the end. it's a combo of his straight leg, half run, and the fact that he hits the tee, not the ball.


here's a vid for dizzee rascal's song flex. i dig this song a bunch.



the album, maths + english is definitely worth picking up. i have all 3 of his albums, and i think that this one is the best of the bunch. really, the first two had some good tracks, and "fix up, look sharp" from the first album is amazing, but there was also a lot of stinkers on those albums. this, damn fine all the way through.

i-screwed

no, my computer's not messing up again. i just thought it was catchy, and it's from this parody of the one of the newer ipod commercials from mad tv.



who even knew mad tv was still around? i sure didn't.

here's a one from jason sedulkis of snl, that's a bit funnier for the iphone.



pig punch videos, meth high.

nice.

goodbye friend

you were our host on my first visit.

you fed me thanksgiving dinner.

you provided some "special" memories. some good, some bad. well, several bad. (and keep em to yourselves, this is a public space.)

you gave me some enjoyable times, in several different places.

goodbye, new frontier, goodbye.

106 year old hybrid car

here's another reason to hate car companies: in 1901, porsche put out a hybrid car. yep, the old gas/electronic combo has been around for over a century. but you don't care. you're too busy lusting after some piece of crap, 2.5 ton s.u.v. that gets 18 mpg. sure, it will hold a million things and will run over everything else on the road, but so what? it's not like gas is over $3.25 in fresno. what's that you say? $3.25 would be a good price?

when the civic first came out in 1972, it got over 40 mpg standard. so, let me get this straight, in the last 35 years, your car got less efficient? i know the car was smaller, and the current models do get good mileage, but isn't fuel injection inherently more efficient than carburetion? the standard civic sedan gets an estimated 26 city and 34 highway. that's ridiculous.

hey, i'm not saying i'm perfect, or any better than you. honestly, i still want to own my bike, a classic car, and a jeep. fortunately, i only own the first of those three, and it gets about 40 mpg. and, that's with a ginormis engine. if i had a bike with smaller engine i could probably getting 50 mpg. i'm not bragging, just speaking the truth. but, i keep telling myself i'm not getting anything else until they wake the f up and make a jeep that gets over 35 mpg (which is over double what my last one got). because, really, 35 mpg isn't all that great. unless it's also a zero emissions vehicle (like our civic hybrid).

privacy is nonexistent

so, i realize that this is a blog, and everything i put on it is public material. and can be accessed by anyone. this is why i've a little to limited personal info and things of that sort. i don't give out sensitive info.

but, the goverment would like you to know that nothing is private anymore. donald kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence would like you to know that privacy no longer can mean anonymity. instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.

here's a direct snip from him:
"i think all of us have to really take stock of what we already are willing to give up, in terms of anonymity, but (also) what safeguards we want in place to be sure that giving that doesn't empty our bank account or do something equally bad elsewhere."

so, you (the gov't) and corporate amerikkka can spy on me, but just not tell anyone else about it? not too comforting. and, yes, if i flaunt my identity on the internet (or elsewhere, it's not like these snoops are just spying in the medium) then okay, i guess i'll accept that you're collecting it. but i don't see how sending an email to someone in another country warrants suspension of my rights.

yeah, yeah, terrorism. be afraid.

oh yeah, and thanks to boing boing for providing me with this seditious information.

chicago vs oakland

so, tomorrow i'll be experiencing another first: my first nfl game. mike, our friend josh, and myself are heading up to oakland to watch the bears play. mike's a bears fan, so we got together and bought him a ticket to the game (and ones for ourselves as well).

although i've considered the raiders my afc team (i'm a rams fan) i'll be rooting for the bears. and hoping that raider fan doesn't punch me in the face or throw bear on me.

week 10 nfl picks

weekend games

away team	spread	home team	my pick
falcons	+4.5	panthers	falcons
vikings	+6.5	packers	vikings
broncos	+3	chiefs	chiefs
buffalo	-2.5	miami	buffalo
st. louis	+11.5	new orleans	st. louis
cleveland	+9.5	pittsburg	pittsburg
jacksonville	+4	tennessee	jacksonville
philly	+2.5	washington	philly
cinci	+4	baltimore	cinci
detroit	+1	arizona	detroit
dallas	-1.5	ny giants	dallas
chicago	-3	oakland	chicago
indi	-3	san diego	indi

monday night

san francisco

+10

seattle

san fran

btw, the sports guy has a great column about the pats game & it relies heavily on one of my favorite movies, victory.

saturday morning

today i'm playing paintball for the first time. here's to hoping i don't get me ears shot off.

lunch review savannah's brazilian soul

so, this morning i woke up and thought, "it's going to be a nice day in fresno." i think i've been proved right. as i got ready, i listened to local musicians rademacher. soon, i was ready to figure out what i wanted to eat for lunch.

i decided to head downtown, and see if i spotted anything new, or at least someplace i hadn't been before. i took wishon south, and ended up on van ness avenue. from there, i headed east on kern street. this was a good decision, as it helped me find something new. as i drove down the street, i spotted a bbq going, and knew it was for me. savannah's brazilian soul. located @ 901 L St, it used to be something different. currently they're only open m-f from 10-2, but they have plans to be open from 6-2, with a friday night fish fry from 5-9.



i parked @ a meter spot and was fortunate that it had time on it. i plunked in a nickel to give it the full 30 min for the area. 30 min is the meter limit on most of the meters in this area. it could be a drawback.

anyhow, i went in the restaurant, and it's got pretty nice decor. it's sort of a mix between african and brazilian art. the service was very nice and friendly. it seems to be a family run business. i like local businesses.

as i was at the counter ordering i noticed that they have a deal worked out with i.r.s. workers. show them your irs badge and they'll rush your order so you can eat and go within your alloted 30 min lunch. i thought this was cool because there's an irs office right by there. i don't work for them, but this is a good recognition that your "neighbor" needs to eat fast, and if you can help them out they'll frequent your establishment.

anyway, i looked over the menu. and decided i would go with the 3 rib meal. it comes with bread or cornbread and 1 side. i chose cornbread and the black eyed peas. with a soda (1.29) my total was $8.29. the restaurant seats probably 30, and they have seats for maybe 5 or so on their small patio. i ordered and sat inside about 12:48.

so, my food came a little over 10 minutes later, which isn't bad for a small operation. it seems that they probably have most of the meats precooked, and heat them up on the bbq. that's cool, especially if they don't get dried out.



so, to the meal. the black eyed peas were good tasting, and were nice and warm. maybe they could have been just a tad warmer, but not bad. i appreciated that they weren't soggy, which let me know that they weren't just sitting on boil all day getting mushy. the cornbread was good. it was simple and tasty. could have been a little warmer to help my butter melt.

now, to the ribs. phenomenal. so tasty. the sauce that they gave me was just alright, but the ribs themselves were great. and, they weren't dried out at all. in fact, they were nice and tasty. did i say tasty?

overall, i had a very good experience at savannah's. i imagine as they are open longer things will run a little smoother in there, and they cooks won't feel as rushed. but dang, they know how to cook.

television writer's strike

a little perspective on the television writer's strike from your friends @ the office.




thanks to the beehive for showing it to me first.

welcome home

got the laptop back today. so, now i'm busy putting data back on it from my backup drive.

oh the joys.


but, it's nice and clean, and running smoothly.

get me some aqua dots. i need something. my head is spinning because good
old pat robertson is supporting guiliani. politics does make strange bedfellows.

feedback loop

so, i'm feeling a little caught.

you see, the last few days i've been a little under the weather. not feeling ill per se, but definitiely stressed. this has got my neck and back kind of stiff. which has made my chest feel tight. then, i start thinking, what does a heart attack feel like?

but i know it's not that.

but then, my pulse is up.

and i'm sweaty.

now my neck feels tighter.

and my back is worse.

which makes me think more that i'm having a heart attack.

but i know i'm not having a heart attack.

stupid brain.

stupid, stupid brain.

one thing, one thing, leads to another.

but, i don't think i'm having a heart attack. just a little stressed, and tight. tomorrow's another day.

and another chance for the feedback loop.

what would Jesus buy?

check out this trailer for a documentary to hit the theaters just in time for your seasonal shopping fix.

i especially love the idea of getting some Xmas rims.

hitting theaters on nov 16.

thanks to laughing squid.

top 11 unsexiest men

okay, i hate title of this post, but it's based on aol's list, and that was their title. i would have called it hollywood's 11 least sexy men. whatever.

why do i care? well, i don't care that much. but, our friend kasey got a little bit of discussion going about the maxim 5 unsexiest women. so, i thought i'd give the counter piece.

the list:
11. ben stiller - hell, i'd put him here because he is not funny. i repeat, not funny. but he's not an unactractive man.
10. eric dane - i don't know who this guy is, but he looks nice in the picture
9. ryan phillipe & josh hartnett (tie) - they're both sort of odd looking, like i get the feeling when i look @ them that something just isn't right
8. pete wentz - ashlee simpson's man. he looks like he could wash his hair right now. and then again. but, i'm pretty sure he's going for that look.
7. james blunt - he's got a nice beard, good indi look
6. kevin connolly - i don't watch entourage, and he doesn't look particularly unsexy. their comment essentially comes down to 'he's average looking.' well, now, if that isn't a great description of unsexy i don't know what is.
5. howard stern - okay, here's the first on the list i'd really agree with. and so would he. he talks about how lanky he is, how big his nose is, etc.
4. simon cowell - yeah, that tight, euro t-shirt on a flabby body isn't that nice looking. we don't all have to be the ripped adonis that i am, but randy "dog" jackson seems to dress for the show without looking like cowell.
3. wilmer valderama - wha? dudes nice looking, snags hot chicks, is an actor, and had some show on mtv.
2. brandon davis - no idea who this guy is. but, he looks chubby and greasy, not very sexy. unless you're into that. (i've been informed that he's some sort of psuedo socialite, that called lindsey lohan firecrotch.)
1. pete doherty - i thought this was a list of stars? being in some barely known english rock band doesn't make you a star. dating a supermodel doesn't make you a star.

yep, that list sucks. where's dr. phil? where's horatio sands? and really, i would only say that anyone says 3 of the 11 are supposed to be attractive/sexy men. and several aren't even close to being stars.

lame.

the amazing race

tonight, the amazing race started. i've always enjoyed this show, and have been anticipating the start of this season. tonight, mike came over and watched the first episode with me.

@ about fifteen minutes into the show, i think we're ready to make our picks about who's going to win. to refresh your memory, i'm not terrible at picking teams. last time, i picked the winner. so, i'm hoping to win again.

so, we'll pick two teams.
i pick kynt & vyxsin and lorena & jason. i gave a lot of thought about picking ,jennifer & nathan, but they were arguing in the first episode and she seemed like she was already physically unable to keep up.

mike is picking jason & lorena and ari & staella.

heather picks rachel & tk and kate and pat.

this looks like it could be an interesting season.

SPOILER ALERT



mike lost a pick already. ari & staella got bounced.

american gangster - a short movie review

american gangster delivers. it's well written, beautifully shot, and definitely well acted. of course, denzel washington and russel crowe are supurb. but i was really impressed with all of the supporting cast, guys like common, t.i., and the rza. especially rza.

and, it's a very interesting story.

so go see it. it's a must see if you like gangster films. even if you don't, but enjoy good movies, you'll like this one.

birthday post 2

so, lunch was good. as we ate, we talked about how the neighborhood where the popeye's is located has changed. in fact, we're pretty sure that there are only 3 things in the 4 corners at the intersection that are the same: the popeye's, a carl's jr, and the wolverine boot store. everything else has changed as the neighborhood has changed through the years. heather grew up not too far, so she had a much better idea about what stores were where.

after lunch, we ran some errands. one of the things i got for my birthday was the last issue of mario kart for the game cube. now, i don't have a game cube, but the wii is, in fact, backwards compatable. i used to love playing mario kart over @ brian's place. it's such a simple race game, but it can produce really competitive matches. i was excited to get home and pop it in the wii. when i did, i discovered a small problem. the wii plays the game. the wii remotes, on the other hand, do not work with the game. so, i need to figure out exactly which remote i need to use. is it a specific wii remote for gamecube games, or can i just get some gamecube ones? i can't remember what the connectors for game cube looked like.

i'll need to head over to nintendo.com to see if i can locate proper info.

birthday post 1

today's my birthday, and i'm going to try and hit sporadic, short posts during the day.

for lunch, i'm going to popeye's chicken. i love popeyes. the spices, the sides, so good. there's only one location in fresno, and it seems like it's always packed. which is sorta weird for a fast food chicken place.

then we're going to target. you know, busy saturday. got to run some errands

week 9 nfl picks

weekend games

>

away team	spread	home team	my pick
green bay	+1	kansas city	kansas city
denver	-3.5	detroit	detroit
san fran	+3	atl	atl
washington	-3.5	ny jets	washington
carolina	+4	tennessee	tennessee
jacksonville	+3.5	new orleans	jacksonville
san diego	-7	minnesota	san diego
cinci	+1	buffalo	buffalo
arizona	+3.5	tampa bay	tampa bay
houston	+3	oakland	houston
seattle	+1	cleveland	seattle
new england	-5	indi	new england
dallas	-3	philly	dallas

monday night

baltimore

+9.5

pittsburg

pittsburg

and for those that are local, i think we're going to get together @ one of the tower establishments to watch the pats/colts game. we'll have to find a spot with direct tv's sunday ticket, because sadly our local cbs affiliate will be carrying the raiders game. (i think sequoia brewery has it, and maybe bobby salazar's).