friday night was a great night for fresno. i mean, the weather was crisp, it was the beginning of the weekend, and the met was hosting green eggs & the met, which i was going to attend.
the evening got off to a great start with dinner over @ oggi. i had the lasagna and enjoyed it. i also was pleased that they were serving minestrone that night. it doesn't seem like much of a surprise that an italian restaurant serves minestrone, but the minestrone here is delicious.
after dinner, we headed down to the met. for the last event, we parked on the street, but tonight we decided to hit up the parking lot, which, btw, was free. it would've been free on the street, too, but i like pointing out that you can park in the met's lot when you're visiting. and, you should go visit. not only do they have the artwork of dr. seuss, but they also have shows by matisse and chagall right now.
speaking of the work of dr. seuss, it blew me away. of course, there are drawings from his books, but his other pieces are great, and interesting. i didn't know that he did work for the u.s. military under director frank capra. and, many of his pieces of that era show the foolishness of bigotry while being visually intriguing. i also enjoyed the taxidermy pieces.
and now onto the event. remember how i went to dinner before the event? i wish i hadn't eaten so much because the hors d'oevres looked amazing. i talked to people that had some, and they seemed to enjoy them all. i did have one of the seuss-y cocktails before switching to well drinks. i had a "sneetch on the beach" which was like a sex on the beach. pretty good, but not a type of drink i would normally order. but i enjoyed it enough. the bartenders for the evening were very nice, and i'm glad that i could tip them. i also want to congratulate the met for pricing their drinks very reasonably ($3 beers, $6 cocktails).
the decorations for the event were immaculate and really did help set the mood for the bands. ass mentioned in our podcast before the event, ceilidh wanted to transport people into the world of seuss, and i think she accomplished that very well.
finally, to the bands. first up was yesterday's chonies, who i think i've mentioned before here that i don't care for their music. but in this venue it seemed very appropriate and interesting. i still wouldn't book them for my birthday party, but it worked for that night. wheels of fortune went on second and played a good set. their sound was a little different because their bass player was sick and not there. a good set, but i think i've seen better from them. up third was uni and her ukulele. i didn't hear all her set, but thought that what i did hear was fun. it takes guts to get up in front of a big crowd with just you and a ukulele, but uni does it well. finally, el olio wolof was up. honestly, el olio pretty much was what sold me on the event. i love el olio, and haven't seen them in ages (the sort of broke up but have reformed). el olio was as good as ever, and i had such a great time listening to the music and even dancing a bit. i haven't danced in ages, but how can't get up and move to such good music. anyway, i recorded el olio's last song, and present it to you.
not really good quality sound, but whatever. you can also see one of the sets that was done for the evening in the background.
it was a great night, and the met staff is doing good things. congrats to everyone that had a hand in putting on this event. i can't wait for the next one to come along.
Showing posts with label fresno metropolitan museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fresno metropolitan museum. Show all posts
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
green eggs and the met
i've said it already once this week, but you should be at the met tonight for this event. it's going to be major.
i'm stoked to see what hors d'ouvres and cocktails they come up with.
i'm stoked to see what hors d'ouvres and cocktails they come up with.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
green eggs & the met
looking for something fun to do friday night? here is your solution:
for more details, click over to the view looks good from here, fresno and listen to episode 38 where we talk to one of the event coordinators.
for more details, click over to the view looks good from here, fresno and listen to episode 38 where we talk to one of the event coordinators.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
let them eat cake! - a review
so, yeah, the blog has been dominated by this little event this week. i admit, i was excited about it and wanted it to succeed. so, here are three shots taken of the bands last night and some thoughts on it all.
i didn't really know what time the bands were playing, but since the event was only four hours long i figured they had to come on sort of early. but then again, there were only 3 bands, and i knew the dj's would be spinning on a different floor. so, we showed up around 8:30 and had a bit of hanging around to do. but, that allowed us to eat some candy (banana runts i believe) and sample the vittles. i was right that they had cupcakes from cupcakes bakery, and the one i had was delicious. very creamy frosting. but, i was wrong up charlotte's bakery providing stuff. the memory failed me on that. instead, they had food that was donated by veni vidi vici's. it was good stuff.
after a little while the aircrash played:
i've seen the aircrash a few times now, and their sound is growing on me. they remind me of someone, but i can't exactly remember who. i guess it's good that they have a sorta familiar sound because it draws you in. they also feature two songs where they are clapping. i thought this a bit odd, but monticore assures me it is because chicks dig songs with clapping.
next up was rademacher:
yes, yes, i know, i'm a rademacher fanboy. but you know what? this wasn't their best show. in fact, they played a great set on wednesday night and this was nowhere close to that. eli was out of town for a fay wrays gig, and eden davis, who had a brief stint with the band, sat in on the drums. she's not the reason the show wasn't the best, as she filled in fine. i'll just say that it seemed the band enjoyed the met's hospitality and it affected their set. having said all that, the band seemed to get better as the set went along, and they closed out with a very good rendition of 'they are always into that' which i always think is called 'cool kids.'
the last band to go on was le switch, whom i took a very poor picture of:
i admit, i didn't see all of their eclectic set. the songs i heard were cool, but i was ready to do something different.
now, for the rest of it. i thought this was a pretty cool event. i know the staff all worked their tails off to make it fun, and to get a ton of stuff donated. honestly, i'd love it if the met did stuff like this once a month, or maybe every other month. at least quarterly. i'm not sure how they are measuring the success of it, but in my opinion it was. people seemed to be having fun, enjoying the food and drinks, and the bands. sure, there could have been more people, but it did draw a nice crowd. and, if you had dropped a bomb on the place you would've wiped out many of fresno's bloggers. one last thing: i love being able to look out over fresno. we were only four stories up, but i still was able to look out and see our skyline. nice view from the met.
what could have been better? well, the sound was a little mushy in the main room. and the dj aspect seemed sort of unincorporated in the night. but other than that i thought it was a nice night.
i didn't really know what time the bands were playing, but since the event was only four hours long i figured they had to come on sort of early. but then again, there were only 3 bands, and i knew the dj's would be spinning on a different floor. so, we showed up around 8:30 and had a bit of hanging around to do. but, that allowed us to eat some candy (banana runts i believe) and sample the vittles. i was right that they had cupcakes from cupcakes bakery, and the one i had was delicious. very creamy frosting. but, i was wrong up charlotte's bakery providing stuff. the memory failed me on that. instead, they had food that was donated by veni vidi vici's. it was good stuff.
after a little while the aircrash played:
i've seen the aircrash a few times now, and their sound is growing on me. they remind me of someone, but i can't exactly remember who. i guess it's good that they have a sorta familiar sound because it draws you in. they also feature two songs where they are clapping. i thought this a bit odd, but monticore assures me it is because chicks dig songs with clapping.
next up was rademacher:
yes, yes, i know, i'm a rademacher fanboy. but you know what? this wasn't their best show. in fact, they played a great set on wednesday night and this was nowhere close to that. eli was out of town for a fay wrays gig, and eden davis, who had a brief stint with the band, sat in on the drums. she's not the reason the show wasn't the best, as she filled in fine. i'll just say that it seemed the band enjoyed the met's hospitality and it affected their set. having said all that, the band seemed to get better as the set went along, and they closed out with a very good rendition of 'they are always into that' which i always think is called 'cool kids.'
the last band to go on was le switch, whom i took a very poor picture of:
i admit, i didn't see all of their eclectic set. the songs i heard were cool, but i was ready to do something different.
now, for the rest of it. i thought this was a pretty cool event. i know the staff all worked their tails off to make it fun, and to get a ton of stuff donated. honestly, i'd love it if the met did stuff like this once a month, or maybe every other month. at least quarterly. i'm not sure how they are measuring the success of it, but in my opinion it was. people seemed to be having fun, enjoying the food and drinks, and the bands. sure, there could have been more people, but it did draw a nice crowd. and, if you had dropped a bomb on the place you would've wiped out many of fresno's bloggers. one last thing: i love being able to look out over fresno. we were only four stories up, but i still was able to look out and see our skyline. nice view from the met.
what could have been better? well, the sound was a little mushy in the main room. and the dj aspect seemed sort of unincorporated in the night. but other than that i thought it was a nice night.
Friday, August 28, 2009
let them eat cake!
i'm reposting!
this week the met will be hosting a cool musical event, perhaps the first one since the re-opening shows (i can't remember). if features a cool out of town band, le switch, along with several notable fresno acts, like rademacher and the aircrash. the bands will all be playing on the fourth floor, and i hear that they will positioned in front of 180 degree western windows that will be open to show off fresno's night time skyline. the dj's, taffy and heinz, are two of the dj's that have hosted fresno's longstanding dance night of meatball magic.
cool music, and i hear there will be some delicious treats. i've forgotten exactly what the rumor i heard was, but i think it was desserts from charlotte's bakery and cupcakes from, well, cupcakes. but i may be remembering that wrong. what i do remember was that they'll have $5 drink tickets that can be used for cocktails. yeah, boy!
make some plans, you're headed downtown to the met this friday night.
this week the met will be hosting a cool musical event, perhaps the first one since the re-opening shows (i can't remember). if features a cool out of town band, le switch, along with several notable fresno acts, like rademacher and the aircrash. the bands will all be playing on the fourth floor, and i hear that they will positioned in front of 180 degree western windows that will be open to show off fresno's night time skyline. the dj's, taffy and heinz, are two of the dj's that have hosted fresno's longstanding dance night of meatball magic.
cool music, and i hear there will be some delicious treats. i've forgotten exactly what the rumor i heard was, but i think it was desserts from charlotte's bakery and cupcakes from, well, cupcakes. but i may be remembering that wrong. what i do remember was that they'll have $5 drink tickets that can be used for cocktails. yeah, boy!
make some plans, you're headed downtown to the met this friday night.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
let them eat cake!
this week the met will be hosting a cool musical event, perhaps the first one since the re-opening shows (i can't remember). if features a cool out of town band, le switch, along with several notable fresno acts, like rademacher and the aircrash. the bands will all be playing on the fourth floor, and i hear that they will positioned in front of 180 degree western windows that will be open to show off fresno's night time skyline. the dj's, taffy and heinz, are two of the dj's that have hosted fresno's longstanding dance night of meatball magic.
cool music, and i hear there will be some delicious treats. i've forgotten exactly what the rumor i heard was, but i think it was desserts from charlotte's bakery and cupcakes from, well, cupcakes. but i may be remembering that wrong. what i do remember was that they'll have $5 drink tickets that can be used for cocktails. yeah, boy!
make some plans, you're headed downtown to the met this friday night.
Friday, May 15, 2009
friday downtown
fridays are usually a pretty chill day for me. i teach monday through thursday, and fridays are a day for meetings, faculty development, or not much at all. during track season, i'm often traveling on fridays. today, no meetings and the track season is done (except nationals) and so i had/have free time on my hands.
i decided to spend my early afternoon downtown. i remembered that being friday it was the brown bag lunch day @ the met. so, i showered, grabbed my $5 and hopped on the motorcycle. i do love how the restored fresno bee building looks. i know it has the met in a huge financial hole right now, but the renovations are very nice.
i actually didn't bring a lunch with me, but wanted to spend some time out of the house, and wanted to see the current exhibit on the cheap. so, this $5 brown bag lunch option is a good way to do that. the met has these cool clips that you wear on your collar to show who paid, and i suppose who didn't. i'm not sure if you're supposed to give them back, but i forgot and left with mine still attached to the collar (free souvenir!).
today's show was dogs of war, an old, silent little rascals/our gang film. there were also some animated shorts. you know, adding sound to films really helped. talkies, as there were called, are waaaaaaayy better than silent films. now, i do want to question their film selection here. why are you showing movies from the 1920's? who are you trying to draw in with these films? or are you trying to draw in people? or, are you just picking films for the people that are showing up? i'm not exactly sure who is coming to these movies in general, and i know they've only done a few, but the majority of the patrons were older women. and by older, i mean i think there were three people under 55 in the room (me, the guy in charge, and another younger lady). so maybe picking films for senior citizens is the right move if they are the ones that are going to come. but, if you want to draw in younger people, or really attract professionals on their lunch hour, i think you need something different. but, i'm not exactly sure what you can show that's going to be under an hour.
i thought about picking up something on the way, but i lagged so i figured i'd eat something downtown after the show. i thought about coney island, but decided i'd hit up milano for a slice of pizza and a soda. when i came in, kendall had a combo pizza up that had salami, olives and artichoke hearts. this was really tasty. i had a nice conversation with kendall and a lady whose name i didn't catch but she had something to do with downtown about many things. we talked about other museums doing similar things, about the megazone and how yes, someone had eaten it in 8 minutes, and what brings people downtown. and, i set up an art show @ milano in july (july 2nd art hop). setting up a show is always the spark i need to work, so i'm glad i had this conversation. kendall also hooked me up with a free soda if i promised to go down to the new downtown farmers' market. i'm not sure on all the details of this farmers' market, but i guess that some or all of the products are organic.
i took a nice stroll down the mall, which btw is not scary at all and anyone that thinks so should be immediately told they are wrong, and found the farmers market. they had smartly set it up in the shade. i perused the offerings, and settled on a half pound of snap peas ($1) and a half pound of green beans ($1).
finally, i strolled down van ness to return to where i parked the vegas, and then drove on home. all in all, a nice two hour trip. now i need to get my butt to work on some paintings.
i decided to spend my early afternoon downtown. i remembered that being friday it was the brown bag lunch day @ the met. so, i showered, grabbed my $5 and hopped on the motorcycle. i do love how the restored fresno bee building looks. i know it has the met in a huge financial hole right now, but the renovations are very nice.
i actually didn't bring a lunch with me, but wanted to spend some time out of the house, and wanted to see the current exhibit on the cheap. so, this $5 brown bag lunch option is a good way to do that. the met has these cool clips that you wear on your collar to show who paid, and i suppose who didn't. i'm not sure if you're supposed to give them back, but i forgot and left with mine still attached to the collar (free souvenir!).
today's show was dogs of war, an old, silent little rascals/our gang film. there were also some animated shorts. you know, adding sound to films really helped. talkies, as there were called, are waaaaaaayy better than silent films. now, i do want to question their film selection here. why are you showing movies from the 1920's? who are you trying to draw in with these films? or are you trying to draw in people? or, are you just picking films for the people that are showing up? i'm not exactly sure who is coming to these movies in general, and i know they've only done a few, but the majority of the patrons were older women. and by older, i mean i think there were three people under 55 in the room (me, the guy in charge, and another younger lady). so maybe picking films for senior citizens is the right move if they are the ones that are going to come. but, if you want to draw in younger people, or really attract professionals on their lunch hour, i think you need something different. but, i'm not exactly sure what you can show that's going to be under an hour.
i thought about picking up something on the way, but i lagged so i figured i'd eat something downtown after the show. i thought about coney island, but decided i'd hit up milano for a slice of pizza and a soda. when i came in, kendall had a combo pizza up that had salami, olives and artichoke hearts. this was really tasty. i had a nice conversation with kendall and a lady whose name i didn't catch but she had something to do with downtown about many things. we talked about other museums doing similar things, about the megazone and how yes, someone had eaten it in 8 minutes, and what brings people downtown. and, i set up an art show @ milano in july (july 2nd art hop). setting up a show is always the spark i need to work, so i'm glad i had this conversation. kendall also hooked me up with a free soda if i promised to go down to the new downtown farmers' market. i'm not sure on all the details of this farmers' market, but i guess that some or all of the products are organic.
i took a nice stroll down the mall, which btw is not scary at all and anyone that thinks so should be immediately told they are wrong, and found the farmers market. they had smartly set it up in the shade. i perused the offerings, and settled on a half pound of snap peas ($1) and a half pound of green beans ($1).
finally, i strolled down van ness to return to where i parked the vegas, and then drove on home. all in all, a nice two hour trip. now i need to get my butt to work on some paintings.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
brown bag lunch at the met
in an effort to bring more people through the doors, the fresno metropolitan museum is trying a lot of innovative methods. one of those methods is a brown bag lunch on friday at noon.
you bring your lunch, and $5 and you can get into the met. even better, you can watch a movie for that price. this week is dogs of war. it's only an hour, so you can eat and go back to work after, if you want. you're also welcome to browse the met's galleries.
you bring your lunch, and $5 and you can get into the met. even better, you can watch a movie for that price. this week is dogs of war. it's only an hour, so you can eat and go back to work after, if you want. you're also welcome to browse the met's galleries.
Friday, November 14, 2008
prehistoric crappy hour
dear creative fresno,
you lied about several things for your prehistoric happy hour.
1. you advertised $3. margaritas were $5, beer was $4.
2. you said 21 & over and yet there were a ton of kids.
seriously, this sucks.
you lied about several things for your prehistoric happy hour.
1. you advertised $3. margaritas were $5, beer was $4.
2. you said 21 & over and yet there were a ton of kids.
seriously, this sucks.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
beautiful losers
as a part of this big metropolitan museum reopening, fresno filmworks has a 10 pm show on saturday of the movie beautiful losers. this is a movie i have been pretty interested to see, and now i get a chance to do it for free. it's a documentary, so if you're not into that, well, i got nothing for ya. but i'll be there.
Beautiful Losers
Saturday, November 15, 2008
10:00 p.m.
Fresno Metropolitan Museum
1555 Van Ness, Fresno
Admission is free
and the trailer:
Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.
and a little synopsis:
In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, BEAUTIFUL LOSERS focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.
Directed by Aaron Rose
USA, 2008
90 minutes, NR
Beautiful Losers
Saturday, November 15, 2008
10:00 p.m.
Fresno Metropolitan Museum
1555 Van Ness, Fresno
Admission is free
and the trailer:
Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.
and a little synopsis:
In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, BEAUTIFUL LOSERS focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.
Directed by Aaron Rose
USA, 2008
90 minutes, NR
prehistoric happy hour & mindforum @ the met
it's tuesday, but i'm already looking forward to the weekend. maybe it's because we've got the day off today, but i'm ready for some fun at the met on friday and saturday.
Creative Fresno teams with Met
for Two Fun & Fabulous Events
Prehistoric Happy Hour
We invite you to indulge in a Happy Hour among Feathered Dinosaurs. Partake in the complimentary appetizers and delight in our dinosaur themed drinks at the no-host bar! This party is reserved for Met enthusiasts over 21.
The Prehistoric Happy Hour is presented in conjunction with the Met and is free as part of the 55-hour grand re-opening.
Drink tickets are $3 each.
Friday, November 14, 2008
4–7pm
MindForum: The Greenest Building
is The One Already Built
Creative Fresno bring together a panel of distinguished local architects to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of reusing (not tearing down) our historic buildings, many of which have outlived their original function. In designing it for a new function (often called adaptive reuse) new life can be given to the urban landscape.
Join Creative Fresno and the Met in learning about saving our existing urban fabric and living in a cool urban lifestyle.
Panel:
Russ Taylor, Taylor Teter Partnership
Chris Johnson, Johnson Architecture
Anthony Pings, Anthony Pings and Associates
Paul Miller, The Vernal Group
As part of the the Fresno Metropolitan Museum's 55-hour grand re-opening, this event is free.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Noon–2pm
Creative Fresno teams with Met
for Two Fun & Fabulous Events
Prehistoric Happy Hour
We invite you to indulge in a Happy Hour among Feathered Dinosaurs. Partake in the complimentary appetizers and delight in our dinosaur themed drinks at the no-host bar! This party is reserved for Met enthusiasts over 21.
The Prehistoric Happy Hour is presented in conjunction with the Met and is free as part of the 55-hour grand re-opening.
Drink tickets are $3 each.
Friday, November 14, 2008
4–7pm
MindForum: The Greenest Building
is The One Already Built
Creative Fresno bring together a panel of distinguished local architects to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of reusing (not tearing down) our historic buildings, many of which have outlived their original function. In designing it for a new function (often called adaptive reuse) new life can be given to the urban landscape.
Join Creative Fresno and the Met in learning about saving our existing urban fabric and living in a cool urban lifestyle.
Panel:
Russ Taylor, Taylor Teter Partnership
Chris Johnson, Johnson Architecture
Anthony Pings, Anthony Pings and Associates
Paul Miller, The Vernal Group
As part of the the Fresno Metropolitan Museum's 55-hour grand re-opening, this event is free.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Noon–2pm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)