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.

stuffwaffle.com

so, i was checking myspace today, which was a rarity, and saw a friend request from stuff waffle, which was formerly chameleon's cafe, fresno's home for chicken & waffles. anyway, i was checking their site out, and saw that they've got a review of mine under press. nice.

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.

riverpark death knell

so, i heard these stories on the news last night about stuff closing over in pinedale...err...riverpark, and thought about righting a post about it. but i didn't, and our good friend the fresnan wrote up a smashing post on the topic. it's all very tongue in cheek. and the early commenters got it. but some of the later, not so much. i know that all of my regular readers hit up the fresnan, but i recommend that you click over there and read it.

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.

where are you from?

where are you from?


i find that to be a very interesting question. i think that how you answer the question can reveal a lot about a person. sometimes. i also know that the context of asking the question can change the answer. if i'm in brazil and someone asks where i'm from i'd say the united states. if i was in missouri, i'd say califoria. if i was in pasadena, i'd say fresno. in fresno, i say the tower district.

today, i asked the question of my students and received varying responses. most were pretty standard responses, but a few were mildly creative. nothing memorable though.

as i was driving home and thinking about the question, i remembered a college dorm mate from my freshman year named hans. hans stevenson go go. (i'm not sure if that's how his name was spelled, but good enough). hans had a lot of interesting qualities. he loved basketball. he said one time that eating too much ice cream would give you diabetes. he also said that it was hotter on top of mountains because you're closer to the sun. no lie, he said these things, and really believed them. he wouldn't stack plates on his tray or the table in the cafeteria because that meant you had as many wives as plates stacked (i realize that this was a cultural thing). it went on and on. we made a list of hansisms and put it on a bulletin board in the lobby of our dorm. hans had a very thick accent. he had a pretty different name, as you've probably noticed. he was also a shorter, asian looking man. so, at the start of the year i asked him where he was from. he said new york. that didn't seem like the full answer, so i asked again. turns out he was from the philippines. lived there pretty much all his life. six weeks before he started college he moved to new york to live with family. then, he came to california for school. for hans, the last place he was from, even if it was only a brief time, was where he was from.

this still intrigues me.

so, where are you from?
companion question - why are you here?

monday haiku

grizz home game tonight
second to last game of season
re-fi stadium?

infowars

i was walking to the post office today and saw this poster:



now, i don't think it's racist or anything like that, although some people are claiming that. i clicked over to the associated website, infowars.com, and although i haven't really dug into it, it's pretty conspiracy theater odd.

ted leo & the pharmacists in visalia!

continuing his impressive work bringing acts to visalia, aaron gomes hits us with another i think i'm going to have to go to.

Tuesday, August 25
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
@ The Cellar Door
(101 W. Main St., Visalia )
$10 (21+) 9:30pm
tickets: www.ticketweb.com

star wars design fails

most people i know enjoy the star wars movies, although there are always little digs you can get in about aspects of the films. a blogger over @ amc has created a list of the biggest star wars design fails. pretty funny stuff.

things i'm geeking on

ah, fall is almost in the air. who am i kidding, fall is nowhere close. we'll see fall in november. but i am excited about a lot of things right now. of course, now that i'm trying to list them i will only be able to think of two or three.

so here's what i'm geeking on:
-united states men's national team. our side is doing well, and looks like we should qualify for south africa in twenty ten. but, more to the point, i get to see my first qualifying game ever. i've seen the usmnt play in a friendly (usa vs brazil in the rose bowl) but i've never been to a game that really mattered. so i'm stoked that i get to go to rio tinto stadium in salt lake and see them play. and, i've got sick seats for a fairly inexpensive price.
-road trips - well, i get to road trip to the above game with my brother, which will be cool. i think i'm going to go up through sacto and head to slc via route 80, which i've never done. not like i've driven to slc ever, but i did roll sorta that way on a trip to colorado, but we took 15 through vegas. not really wanting to roll through vegas if i don't have to, even though i loves the vegas. speaking of vegas, i'm already geeking on my planned vegas trip for new year's. it's going to be a blast.
-fantasy football. mmmm, the ffl season is about to start. my long time league is about to have our draft this friday night. it'll be good to see some guys i haven't seen in a bit, and i'm excited to see how our auction draft turns out. and, i'm also prepping for the second fresno blogger bowl. adam and i chatted quite a bit last night about ffl, and i imagine that he, i and mike wise charlie will have more in the future.
-finals. today is the last day of a term @ my job, which is always nice to finish up. next week, new classes.
-family. for those that don't know, my brother and his family are in fresno for like the next ten months. it's cool, and they'll soon be living pretty close to me (walking distance). it's always nice to have family around, and my bro and i haven't lived in the same town since 95ish. i'm excited to spend a lot of time with them before the head back to south africa. also, monticore's brother, sister in law and their twins are living in fresno now. that's cool. it's been fun to spend time with them, and i love that on facebook he calls the twins midgets. i think this next year with all sorts of family around will be very nice for us.
-refinancing. we're in the process of refinancing our home loan which is going to save us some cash. always good.

UPDATE: sheesh, i forgot that i'm also geeking on track and field right now. it's the world championships so i've been able to watch a lot of track lately. it has me excited for our off season training sessions. seriously, i was spellbound watching the top hammer guys throw the other day, even if it was only briefly shown.

so, what are you geeking on?

it's a wonderful world...with zombies

this post is for jay, who loves the zombies.

barney frank schools lady at town hall meeting

barney franks gets all, 'oh no you didn't' on some lady @ a town hall meeting.

monday haiku

watching track world champs
steeple chase is going on
love the water jump


bolt nine point five eight
insanely fast new world record
he can go faster

dog vs man break dance battle, brother ali's new song

so, here are two videos to check out, and they actually work pretty well together. the first is the official first song off brother ali's next album (thanks mike oz's twitter!).

i recommend you start the song playing, and then scroll down and load the next video:



this next video doesn't really have sound worth listening to, hence the brother ali track to enjoy, but there was a dog (guy in a suit) dancing on a corner, as what i assume was an add for some pet shop or something. dude runs up and starts a break dancing battle against the dog (thanks boing boing).



what a battle. the dog is rather impressive for being in a big mascot suit.

u.s. men's national team vs el salvador

anyone interested in a road trip sept 4-6 to utah?

the u.s. men's national team is playing there against el salvador.

tickets as low as $38.

twelve hour drive.

tempting, yes?

frank black in visalia

i had a really great time in visalia last night. black francis, aka frank black was amazing. so many good songs. and radioactive cauliflower was hella cool as well. anyway, this isn't an in depth review or anything, just a brief holy crap that was fun. and woody shook frank black's hand as he was leaving the stage.

here's two photo's of frank black's gear.



i took this second photo because i wanted to get in the wine glass. apparently, black francis drinks wine during his set. different sort of rocker.

pet pigeon

2ND UPDATE: the pigeon is alive. there is a metal latticey thing on our back fence, which creates a space between it and our back fence. there is some dead grass, and the pigeon was hiding in there. heather says that the pigeon has found its own pigeon coop.

UPDATE: the pigeon is gone. and there are a few stray feathers, so i think one of the neighborhood cats "adopted" him.

yesterday i noticed a pigeon chilling out on my back porch. because i'm a mean jerk, i decided i would shoo the pigeon away. when i opened the door and went out there, the pigeon started to run away, but he couldn't fly. it seems the pigeon may have something wrong with a wing. i wasn't going to pick him up and throw it out of the yard, but i did figure it was only a matter of time before the pigeon would be gone. i mean, there are a lot of cats in our neighborhood, not to mention the one that lives in my house. (remember this post?)

but, the pigeon remained. last night, i was looking for our cat and checked the back yard. she was back there, not too far from the house, rolling in the dirt. and about mid way across the yard sat the pigeon.

today, the pigeon was still around. in fact, the pigeon made it all day long without our cat, or any other, having it for a meal.

tonight, i needed to water the lawn, so i set up the sprinklers and turned the water on. i wondered what the pigeon would do? would it try to fly off? would it just find a spot in the yard outside of the sprinklers?

it seems the pigeon was thirsty, because it pretty much just chilled out by the sprinkler, drinking water off the ground.



so, anyone want a pet pigeon? it seems pretty docile, and may be losing its fear of people.

frank black in visalia

umm, so frank black, aka black francis, the lead singer of the pixies is playing in visalia tonight. opening for him is r.c. (radioactive cauliflower) from el olio wolof. $12.

and yet i'm not sure if i'm going. i should be. i mean, this is an amazing opportunity. but will i go?

i think i will. especially if i can find some chums to carpool with.

work related grrrr

the stupid is overwhelming me today.

most days i can put up with the people i have to work with. really, i generally enjoy my job and the work that i do. but sometimes, it kills me to be here. today is one of those days.

(hmm, how to say this without going into too many details that could get me in trouble?)

i emailed a set of directions to a group of people. they are pretty simple directions that involve uploading a document (like attaching something to an email). so far, about 40% of them have been able to follow the directions without any problem. 10% have needed some help to follow the directions. 5% have needed a little more help than the previous group. 5% seem to be almost unable to use a computer, which is essential for these directions, and this baffles me. the other 40% have yet to upload anything so i don't know what's going on with them.

i just want to go home right now and pretend that everything is alright. sadly, the work day is not close to being done.

riverpark word assocation

let's do a little word association for my fresno based and fresno familiar readers. what's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word, "riverpark?"

please leave an honest answer of your first thought as a comment.

deceptive deceptions

what if all the conspiracy theories were true?

and connected?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

oh college humor, you silly people.

it's an icicle's last show

there are last shows, and then there are last shows. which one is this going to be? i don't know. but i saw a myspace bulletin that this would be fresno indie band it's an icicle's last one.



don't have any details why, or if it's completely over for the band, but it's too bad, they had an interesting sound and it seemed they were on the rise in the fresno scene.

jamaica my weekend

it's jamaica my weekend and i don't care.

let me explain: for the last eight years i lived in an apartment that we loved most of the time. it wasn't ours, there was noisy nights, and some other random stuff. but we did enjoy the place.

however, the back yard of our duplex backed up to a little green area in the tower district, which is owned by st. theres' church. every year they rent out the lot to a reggae concert called jamaica my weekend. it's a cool show if you're into reggae. but if you're a neighbor it can be a bit of a hassle. why?

well, like all concerts it can be pretty loud. that's a bit to be expected, but it sucks when you're sitting in your home and can't really watch your own tv, carry on a conversation, or maybe even think. it starts with sound checking around 3 pm and carries on until after 10 pm when it shuts down. then you noise of everyone walking away from the event.

even though it was loud and annoyed me, i lived with it. you accept these sorts of things to live in the most vibrant neighborhood in fresno.

about a year ago we moved a few streets over from our apartment into a lovely little house. i've been relaxing on my couch all afternoon and decided that i wanted to go out and turn on my sprinklers in my back yard. what did i hear?

reggae music. from blocks away. and i remembered it was jamaica my weekend. and it didn't bother me at all. what a nice feeling.

the high cost of free parking

generally i don't like to just cut and paste articles or blog posts from other places, but i saw this post on boing boing and thouht it was an interesting piece and worth considering in fresno's parking question

UCLA urban planning teacher Donald Shoup's book The High Cost of Free Parking makes the case that urban parking has a high, hidden cost:

The free parking that Americans love isn't really 'free' at all. A recent parking garage project in New Haven, Conn., for example, cost more than $30 million for almost 1,200 spaces - that's more than $25,000 per space. If you were to finance it using a mortgage, the actual cost would be over $40,000 per space. This breaks down to roughly $135 a month, or $1,600 a year per space - not including externalities like the air pollution and congestion created by increased trips drawn by cheap parking. Even when garages and meters charge for parking, they rarely charge the real value of the parking space. (In Vauban, by contrast, drivers must purchase a parking space in the garages at $40,000 each.) All this amounts to a massive subsidy. Shoup calculates that in 2002 the total subsidy just for off-street parking was between $127 and $374 billion (for comparison, the budget for national defense that year was $349 billion).

Who pays for this? Everyone. The cost of building all that parking is reflected in higher rents, more expensive shopping and dining, and higher costs of home-ownership. Those who don't drive or own cars thus subsidize those who do.

Free parking can become a drain on city coffers. According to a study (PDF) by Bruce Schaller, deputy commissioner of planning and sustainability at the NYC Department of Transportation, the city was losing more than $45 million in parking meter revenue annually as a result of the free parking privileges commonly offered to city employees. But the costs are more than economic: free parking also changes behavior, encouraging us to take more trips and drive alone more often. According to the same study, without that free parking, 19,200 fewer vehicles would enter Manhattan every day, easing congestion.

first disclosure - boing boing's original source. it goes in much more depth and is really worth checking.

second disclosure, i posted this over @ fresno famous, and if you'd like to comment, feel free to do it there (and here if you want).

post art hop dub step show @ audie's olympic

lotta cool stuff going on around fresno tonight. here's one of the things i'm going to:



and i'm completely serious when i say hd4000 is one of the world's best dj's.

his master's voice

today in my classes the students were reading an essay by maya angelou title, "champion of the world." it's taken from i know why the caged bird sings, and is about listening in a group to joe louis fight.

in the essay she uses the phrase "master's voice" in an apparent allusion to the old rca promotional slogan "his master's voice" featuring the dog sitting and listening to the old timey phonograph. anyway, i had the students answering a question about the phrase and its context in the story. as the students were discussing it became apparent that some were familiar with the ad, and some were probably even unfamiliar with rca as a company. for the sake of disclosure, i actually own an rca television, but i'm not sure they're still making them.

during my second class i decided to draw the ad to aid their discussion:



so, i was an art major in college, but i was working with white board markers, and wasn't all that concerned with perfection. however, when i started drawing the dog i realized that i didn't really know how to draw a good dog. i put up what i thought might look like the dog in the ad, but when i looked at the finished product it reminded me more of a chihuahua.


i also thought i'd share a pic i took last night. rademacher played @ audie's olympic for free, and i had been told they'd be playing around ten. i thought it would make for a nice evening. unfortunately, rademacher didn't actually go on until 11:43. the good thing was that it was a really nice set. and, a song that that has felt pretty slow and dragging during recent sets, arkansas, popped up in pace. not quite as fast as it appears on the live album, but maybe a hair faster or at pace as it is on stunts. overall good set. the picture is eli's new drum head (adam bought it) that features a print of animal from the muppets on it that i screened. looked pretty good in the club, if i do say so myself.

tv in my head?

i admit, sometimes i wonder if i'm going nuts. i'll be in parts of my house, which isn't very big, and think i hear a radio or tv on. there isn't. but it's like i can faintly hear one, but can't locate it. and i'm 99% sure it's not some neighboring tv.

maybe my fillings have decided to start picking up radio frequency.

or i'm nuts.

cheetah at work?

what's that you say, you're a cheater at work? lionel machida was at your job?

no, no, there was a cheetah at my work today.





do i know where it came from? well, not exactly. there were signs around work, but i didn't actually read them. all i know is that the students had raised money for it's haven.

monday haiku

podcast with fay wrays
recording in a few hours
will scharton be next?


paintings off the wall
at milano and in storage
wishing i sold some

jon stewart on birthers

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Born Identity
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

sit-com episode #2 - fat wife

i think fox may pick this up for next year!

lesson in bay area slang

i enjoy learning new slang, and i'm often curious about the etymology of words. this doesn't give all that, but it does learn you a lot of fun words. read quickly.



getbacknews.blogspot.com

rubber hose chair

this post is mainly for justin and adam. i challenge one of you two (or anyone else) to make me a rubber hose chair like this. if it's comfy, i'll buy a set from you. i realize it's more likely adam will take on this challenge, but i know justin appreciates a fine chair.



i think this would make great lounge furni for my back yard.

here's a boing boing post and a indestructables article that gives you some instructions.

odd photos - discovered at the landmark and snarky note

last night at the local i saw something on the wallpaper that i'd never seen before. this always amazes me because i frequent the local, and use the restroom. how have i not seen this little line drawing before:



i thought it could be someone's original doodle, but no, it in fact is part of the wallpaper and repeats.

this next photo i took at work today. there is a board on the fridge so people can leave a note about food they're sharing. i didn't like the use of quotation marks on the watermelon note so i had to add my own two cents.



i'm a jerk. what's your excuse?

william shatner recites sarah palin's farewell speech

i admit i haven't stayed up and watched conan host the tonight show, but i've seen a few clips and it looks pretty fun. good funny ideas executed well.

in this one, conan got william shatner to recite sarah palin's farewell speech like a beat poem. brilliant.



but really, that was her speech? what the eff? bizarre.

the great fresno tweetup

ah, twitter. i know that some of you, along with myself, joke about twitter. one of the best descriptions i've heard or seen lately about twitter is that it is a great marketing tool masquerading as a social networking site. and i see a lot of local folks using their tweets to advertise their job skills, their businesses, their blogs, and so on. most tweets aren't just the stereotypical "pooping, then a shower, and maybe some lunch at el torito."

twitter is also becoming a way of organizing people. i wonder how future protests might use it to organize meet ups and avoid police. i know ithttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=14878403 was used somewhat in iran recently for this very idea. locally, and on a much smaller scale, the fresno grizzlies and the beehive have joined forces to gather local twitter users for a game.



so, i've already rsvp'd myself for the game. $5 ticket, + i get a $1 drink coupon. it's thirsty thursday, so my first beer is on them. sweet. and, as many people as want can come along (although i'm not sure on the drink tix thing).

so, who wants to brave the heat and see the grizzlies play?

monday haiku

mowed the lawn today
also a little late seed
croquette maintenance




one hundred three does
not feel as bad today. am
i heat adjusted?

happy birthday

on 7/27/05 this blog started. now it's turning 4.

so, what are we going to do? celebrate?

tower community meeting

i'm pretty impressed with fresno right now. you all know i love this city, but sometimes they do things that really make me hopeful. the other day the city held a meeting about downtown improvements. i didn't go to it, but i'm hopeful that those that did contributed to a healthy discussion.

this weekend the city is having a meeting to discuss my neighborhood, the tower district. what can we do to improve olive, van ness and the surrounding streets? will more bike racks help? should we have more public art? something else?

you have an opportunity to add your voice.

TOWER STREETSCAPE PLANNING MEETING, 10A.M.-2P.M.

A TOWER COMMUNITY VISIONING AT COOL ROGER ROCKA'S,

A CHANCE TO BRING IDEAS FOR A MASTER PLAN UPGRADE OF THE OLIVE AVENUE COMMERCIAL AREA.

(sadly, i have a previous commitment on saturday and won't make it to the meeting myself. but i'm for bike racks!)

extreme office parkour

fresnan et al,
in response to this video, i give you this one.

erin andrews nude, ben roethlisberger rapist?

two brief posts up over @ wide world of fresno sports. thought starters mainly. and, the fresnan put up a good one, too (that was also featured at his site).

monday haiku

heat is crushing me
repeated wake ups during
night. just awoke from nap.

m.c.a. from the beastie boys has cancer

wow, shocking news from the beasties camp. mca has treatable cancer, and the album & tour are being pushed back (understandably).

one day vacation trip reflection

ah, back from an enjoyable 24ish hours off the grid. no cell phone coverage, no internet, no facebook, twitter and whatever else. it's weird, we have coverage just about everywhere now, so when you hit a spot that doesn't it's sort of nice, just lets you enjoy what is happening around you.

stayed the night at camp fresno with some friends. a few refreshing beverages, couple hours of poker, good times around the camp fire.

speaking of camp fires, along with "normal" wood we also burned a broken chair from my buddy's back yard. went up quick, burnt hot, looked cool.



camp fresno is a dinkey creek, is rather rustic, but was a nice get away.

miracle at st. anna

today i watched miracle at st. anna. i have many thoughts, and thought i'd share them in a brief fashion:

why didn't this movie receive all the life like war acclaim that saving private ryan did? race?

dave chappelle/david alan greer black actor theory - cast of the wire + remember the titans - okay, a little bigger than that, but still, a lot of the same faces.

germans speaking german, italians speaking italian. how novel for a war movie.

germans using the idea that "terrorists" (partisans) not protected by geneva convention - very familiar

same prayer in multiple languages great touch

spike lee's best movie to date

lunch experiment

i do enjoy to experiment a little in the kitchen when i have some time. today was such a day. i had been kicking around several ideas for lunch, and settled on this one.

we bought these noodles the other day for some sort of spicy asian salad thing. they sucked in that capacity.



you see, these noodles are a mung bean noodle that are rather bland when you boil them as prescribed. so i figured that i would try something different with them. the package says you can fry them, and i thought i'd give that a try.

but what to put in them? let's think veggies. ah, we have broccoli!



you soak the noodles for a while, and then i boiled them a bit. you can see in this pic how transparent and sort of nothing these noodles are.



i let the noodles boil a bit and then added the broccoli to let it cook a little.



after boiling, i drained my noodle/broccoli concoction, put a little olive oil, pepper and garlic powder in the pan to let it all warm, and then dropped in the noodles. i also added some teriyaki sauce and some soy sauce, which gave the noodles a little color and flavor.



i let it all fry for a bit to get that pan fried noodle feel and taste. this was a bit tricky because i didn't want to burn the noodles, and i also didn't want them to stick to the pan.

here's the finished product:



post meal thoughts: nothing special. the noodles still sucked texture wise, although the stuff i added gave it a decent, familiar taste. i can't say i'd make this again. not exactly a lunch fail, but not a win either

what is it?

let's play a little game, which i know isn't original to me: what is it? i saw this today, and thought i'd snap of photo because i thought it looked interesting. but, can you figure out what it is?



leave your answer in the comments.

concert review: abigail nolte, niilo smeds & wheels of fortune

it's funny how things happen sometimes. you meet people and stay vaguely connected. i met niilo and brianna smeds at a friend's apartment a while back, and we had rather nice conversation. i wouldn't say we hit it off, and hang out all the time. we have sat at a bar once (maybe twice) since then and had a drink, but that was more random chance than some sort of meet up. anyway, i eventually became facebook friends of them both in time, and so i see their status updates. btw, this sounds extremely creepy as i write this.

anyway, i saw a status update the other day from niilo, about an upcoming show featuring r.c. from el olio wolof and my friend abigail nolte at audie's olympic. the show was only going to be $2, so i figured i would go. at the time, i thought it was that night, which sounded great - something to do, and monticore could go as she was on vacation. a few minutes later i reread the post, and noticed that the show was actually sunday night, which ruled out monticore coming along as she was returning to work today and needed to sleep.

as the weekend went along, my excitement for the show began to lag, and on sunday i noticed that niilo had again updated, and that r.c. had canceled out. that sucks, and it pretty much put me into a spot where i figured i might not go.

then, about 8 i received a text from abigail. she wondered if i had a capo, and if i could bring it to the show. i said i did, and would. i'm glad i did.

abigail started the show off, using my capo on the second song, as well as others. abigail is a great talent, has an awesome voice, and is a good song writer. i've talked about her here before, have enjoyed her rogue shows, and so on. last night she impressed me even more by doing something that is rarely seen: she shut up a crowd of dudes talking at the bar. and she didn't just yell, "stfu!" she stunned them into silence with her voice and songs. and this happened in the first two songs. she even got two guys playing pool to stop playing, sit down, and pay attention. the rest of her set was well done and much appreciated by the crowd. and, she bought me a beer for bringing the capo.

the rest of the show was an interesting mix of stuff. basically, all the guys of wheels of fortune played solo sets, and then the band played a set as a group.

james brittain gore went first. i've seen james play a few times, and he received a lot of local press last year about this time as he was releasing his solo cd. anyway, james has a nice voice, and is an all around talent. he did four songs (i think) that were nice. btw, the drunks started talking again. i guess it pays to be an attractive female with a big voice.

dylan tidyman jones was next. he's played in a ton of local bands, and i know he does solo stuff that i've seen but i can't remember the name he uses for that solo stuff so i can't link to him. anyway, he's got a quirky voice, and had the sound guy and reverb and echo to further trip it out. i enjoyed his set, but his vocals needed to be a little louder, or guitar quieter. wait, i finally tracked down a link, he performs as succulent.


andrew carlos bunnell is a guy i heard and met last night for the first time. honestly, i'm forgetting his set right now. ah, wait, he did songs that were a nice mix of pace, sort pop-rocky. i don't know if that's a fair assessment or not. after his first song, he said it was a cover of a swedish (?) band and he had translated it from swedish. then he said that wasn't true. pretty funny.

niilo smeds, (read a nice interview w/him from mike oz here) no longer has a myspace account. or at least he deleted the one that he had that i was going to link to. he does however have a ton of talent. i've seen him play solo, and enjoyed the show, and was sorta disappointed he only played one solo song before the whole band joined him. as a band, i don't think i'd seen this group, but maybe i had because the songs had a very familiar feel to them. maybe that was from seeing niilo solo, whatever. it's a good familiar feel, like something you've listened to a dozen times and want to keep listening to. which, if you look @ my itunes and see how often something gets played, there's a lot of 1 or 2 played songs, but only a handful of ones that get more than a dozen. i think wheels of fortune could be one of those bands for me. the band played a nice set and left me wanting to hear more.

so, where does this leave us? well, abigail nolte: see her. in fact, she hosts an open mic on mondays @ starline grill for free. wheels of fortune: see them. see them, along with the sleepover disaster & rademacher @ the post art hop show on august 6 at tokyo garden.

two final notes - i was sitting with malcolm sosa from rademacher @ one point, and he said, "club fred makes him feel old and sad." this cracked me up, and when i pressed him for why he didn't specify. however, he tweeted this which i think sums it up, "Is watching my old heroes play to an uncaring room for a two dollar cover." (you can catch rademacher @ the partisan this saturday with the sleepover disaster & downtown/union.)

later, i was sitting with vince from the sleepover disaster, and we were chilling, enjoying the show. abigail texted us both and said we make an adorable couple. i thanked her, vince texted that i was taken. you can see the sleepover disaster on tuesday night @ audie's olympic with geographer (from san fran).

auto-tune the news: vol 6

so, these guys have made several of these, but this was the first i'd seen, and thought i'd repost it here.



while it makes me laugh, it also reminds me that all songs with auto-tune are crap. the awards at the end of the vid are the bestest.

monday haiku

michael bisping, chris
tucker has something for you
knocked the eff out


notown derby is
always fun and exciting
can't wait for next match

create your own flyer

i saw this while i was walking home from scoops, enjoying some delicious ice cream.

i'm sure that when it was posted it had something written on it, but it's long since gone. it's funny because it's written on lined paper, like they posted a letter or something, not a flyer.

now, you can let your imagination run wild and create your own flyer.

nude flight safety video

air new zealand has done an interesting little safety video for their flights. rather than have some boring old flight attendant drone away about the exits and what not, they've put together a video featuring flight attendants...nude.

okay, they're painted, and the paint job is actually pretty good and looks like their uniforms.

enjoy

blake jones @ tokyo garden

received an email from the master of the theremin and thought i'd pass along the info to you:

Saturday, June 11th at Tokyo Garden.
Three bands bring some sweet coolness
to your summer Saturday night:

Opening the show is:
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop

Second up , from San Francisco, it’s :
Griddle
(indie-rock/prog w/ a sense of humor)

!!HEYA!! ---Come on out; let's give these out-of-town bands
a great Fresno audience and show 'em that this is a place to
mark on their map for further shows!


Closing things off, it’s Fresno’s own:
It’s an Icicle

First band (Trike Shop) is up promptly
at 9:30.

Come drink in the sounds of local and
not-so-local music as you lounge under
the comfort of Toshi and Tomi’s
inflatable Godzilla.
See you Saturday night!
5 bucks (cheap!)
p.s.
promotions go to local TV:
check :
Central Valley Buzz on Thursday, June 9th
from 4-6pm for live music, witty banter, and more

united breaks guitars

for more details on the story of united airlines breaking $3500 guitar by recklessly throwing it around, click.

metric fail update

remember this post? it seems that someone may have heard about it. whatever the case, we now have a better fitting title.

living with first person shooter's disease

if you're not careful, video games can have very drastic results on your life

show review - rademacher & these united states

let me start out by saying that i'm only review two of the three bands that were actually on the bill. i missed the headliner because i was getting a little tired and didn't want to fall asleep on the drive back from visalia.



this was the first show i've seen at the cellar door, and i like the venue. it's a nice, wide open space, although the stage/dance floor sort of dominates it. if you're not up on the floor, you're looking up @ the bands, which isn't a problem unless it's packed and that area is full and you're not on it.

rademacher opened the show, and malcolm said that the 9:30 time slot was the earliest he'd ever played at the cellar door. ah, the joys of opening. i thought rademacher started their set very well. the first few songs had me enthralled enough that i tweeted "rademacher sounding nice at the cellar door right now." and i meant it, the sound was real nice, the band was playing with good energy. i was really starting to believe a theory i had about rademacher playing stellar shows outside of fresno. and then malcolm flubbed the lyrics to "if u got some magic." and rademacher's set sort of had an ebb and flow of goodness after that. some songs sounded nice and had me loving it, others dragged. i have really enjoyed the addition of jonathan hadden, and i think he is getting more comfortable in the band and is adding to the rademacher sound. the last show i saw, at tokyo garden, really rocked and i think jonathan was a big part of that. tonight, he seemed a litle lacking, and his solo on their newer song lacked. but, i really like that song and want to keep hearing it. one last thing, malcolm on the keyboard: i don't mind it, but it seems to distract him from singing & playing bass. maybe put the keyboard right in front so it doesn't have to be a big transition between playing it and singing. or maybe get a keyboard player?

these united states - i dug these guys, but don't have quite as much input for them because i haven't heard them as much as rademacher. these guys hail from washington, dc and kentucky, although i'm not exactly sure how that works. but, they have a sort of alt-country sound that definitely feels more kentucky than dc. the music had a lot of layers, but that should be expected when you have 3 guitars, a bass and drums. and, one of the guitar players worked a lap slide for quite a bit of the show, which was a nice sound. from the band side, the only issue i had was that the lead singer seemed to mumble his lyrics quite a bit, as well as some of the between song banter and it was a bit difficult to understand. on the cellar door side, there was a lot of feedback during this set, and i know the sound guy was working his hardest to eliminate the squeal but it persisted long enough to be a bit of a distraction to the set.

overall, i enjoyed the show, even if i didn't stay for the main act. the cellar door is a pretty cool spot. i continue to enjoy rademacher's music and hope they continue to work on their sound. and, i'm going to have to look on emusic and itunes for these united states - shoulda bought an album from them last night.

eric frimpong

i encourage you all to read this interesting piece on rape, athletics, race and the justice system from espn. it's only one side of the story, but it is a very compelling read.

michael jackson

i appreciated the music of michael jackson. i think he was a fine talent, although his latter work tailed off in my opinion. nonetheless, his early musical career is something to be respected, admired, and possibly even used as a road map for success.

having said all that, i also recognize that he was a man with a lot of issues. and, his issues often took on a very public nature. there were rumors, tabloids, papparazzi, and everything else. and then there were the trials.

when he first passed away, i felt bad for the man and his family. and, like many, i just wanted to focus on his musical career. not that i wanted to dismiss the allegations, but i wanted to remember why i had enjoyed his music and keep that memory of this public figure.

but now, with all of hoopla surrounding his burial, memorial, etc. i'm a bit disgusted. he may have been the self proclaimed 'king of pop' but he wasn't an actual king or head of state. there is no need for his body to be viewed by thousands at the staple center. there is no need for his memorial service to be broadcast on several networks. there is no need for the rampant speculation about where his body will be laid to rest.

and the further it goes the more it goes the more it bothers me that we are sweeping under the rug the fact that he was accused of child molestation, and that it was widely speculated that this was a repeat occurrence. i watched the martin bashear documentary where michael talked about how sharing his bed with a child was the most beautiful thing. something wasn't right in how this guy treated children, and he settled out of court so we'll never have a verdict to prove what was really going on.

michael jackson was a great entertainer.
michael jackson was a troubled individual.
michael jackson was a star.
michael jackson was a pariah.

we must hold all of these paradoxes in their tensions, and never forget what we know about michael. i'm not saying he should be laid to rest unceremoniously, but we should keep it in perspective.

monday haiku

nice weekend for us
few bumps but still lots of fun
roman candle duds




rest in peace mcnair
unfortunate end to your life
respect lost titan




happy birthday wiens
nephews turned one today
twin boys are trouble

red pepper pizza and birding cat

two funny photos from thursday evening:

the first came from my art hop show. my buddy mike wise charlie wanted a little red pepper flake on his pizza. in true comic fashion, he ended up with plenty on it.



for those that missed the art hop reception, don't fret. you can stop by milano any time during the next month and see the paintings. 1243 fulton mall.

the second picture is funny because in her old age, our cat has decided to be a bird killing cat. or, at least she is trying to pretend that she is. there were two dead birds near our house, and i guess it's possible that she killed them. she brought one of them to the door step last night. we've had the cat like thirteen years and this is the first time she's done this:

a post for brodiemash

have some cat drifting

stupid protest sign

"if you like foreign oil you'll love foreign food"

as i read a story online about a water protest in downtown fresno i saw a photo of that statement on a protester poster. then, as i read the print copy i noticed that the photo was front and center.

to me, the statement is ridiculous. the two things are totally unrelated, especially when you are at a rally for water in our state. whether or not the federal and state governments regulate water has nothing to do with importing oil.

seriously, the more i try and make a connection, the more my head hurts. our farmers want water. if they don't get enough water, food production will be done. and how do we make the jump to oil?

let's try the other way. i like foreign oil. so, maybe i like foreign food (which i actually do). how does this relate to california water?

can anyone help me out? am i being obtuse? does the sign make sense to anyone?

not my class but i want to kill someone

so, as some have gathered, i don't have a class currently @ one of my jobs, so i'm on a "vacation" for five weeks (this is week 3 of it). but, that doesn't mean i'm not working. i'm doing a bunch of sub work, mostly in what's called the student center. it's a computer lab where students can work on papers, get help with math & english work, etc. but, it's also used by classes for lab time.

due to this, i get to watch the interaction between instructors and their students. one particular instructor has a very different class management style than i do, and that's fine. but, some of his students treat him with such disrespect that i want to slap them. really. i've mostly bit my tongue, but today a particular student got the best of me.

he came to class an hour late, and then went to use the restroom. then, he basically sat and did nothing while he pretended to work. as the instructor explained an upcoming paper, he asked what double space was. is it pressing space twice after each word or each line?

i had enough. okay, i actually had enough when he came to class and then announced he was going to the restroom. i challenged him with, "really, you come to class late and then go to the restroom?" so when he asked about double space i asked him if he really didn't know. he said he didn't because he doesn't use windows. he uses mac. to which i explained that double space is pretty much the academic format for everyone, everywhere. windows, mac, doesn't matter.

so, instead of jumping up and trying to kill this fool, i'm blogging about it.

july art hop

Pizza.
Paintings.
Pints.
All Free*.

Milano restaurant - 1243 Fulton Mall






*free is relative. you're free to look at and enjoy the paintings, and even free to purchase them. the pizza, well there will be free pizza while supplies last. then you can buy some. the pints, from the get go you're free to purchase that.

cats in costume

interested in seeing a poor lot of cats dressed hilariously? i am. click over here and enjoy.

web site story

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

monday haiku

confederation
cup loss not all bad to brazil
u.s. room to grow


read full review over
at wide world of fresno sports
cross promotion works

fresno bee ad takeover

so, i happened to sit down with the actual morning paper today. the "a" section was pretty hefty, and i was sorta impressed. that's a lot of news. 22 pages long. then, i opened it up, and fifteen and a half of those 22 pages were ads. fifteen full page ads and a half pager (okay, one of the fifteen was like 4/5 ad, and the half pager was a little more than half and i rounded those together). now i know that selling ads keeps the paper printed, and affordable, but that seems a bit excessive to me. at least the local section was a little better, with only four of ten being full page ads.

detail of the sistine chapel - God and adam touching hands

i saw an interesting take on michelangelo's piece from the sistine chapel

debunking canadian health care myths

i know that many people out there don't believe in socialized medicine. and, if you talk about it, they're throw out a bunch of tired lines about slower care, higher taxes, and more. i came across a great article about the issue, focusing on canada and the myths that persist about their health care system from the denver post.

i suggest you read the article, but here are some key points gleaned out:
"It is becoming increasingly more difficult to dispute the fact that Canada spends less money on health care to get better outcomes."

"Myth: Taxes in Canada are extremely high, mostly because of national health care.

In actuality, taxes are nearly equal on both sides of the border. Overall, Canada's taxes are slightly higher than those in the U.S. However, Canadians are afforded many benefits for their tax dollars, even beyond health care (e.g., tax credits, family allowance, cheaper higher education), so the end result is a wash. At the end of the day, the average after-tax income of Canadian workers is equal to about 82 percent of their gross pay. In the U.S., that average is 81.9 percent."

"Myth: Canada's government decides who gets health care and when they get it.While HMOs and other private medical insurers in the U.S. do indeed make such decisions, the only people in Canada to do so are physicians. In Canada, the government has absolutely no say in who gets care or how they get it. Medical decisions are left entirely up to doctors, as they should be.

There are no requirements for pre-authorization whatsoever. If your family doctor says you need an MRI, you get one. In the U.S., if an insurance administrator says you are not getting an MRI, you don't get one no matter what your doctor thinks — unless, of course, you have the money to cover the cost."

"Myth: There are long waits for care, which compromise access to care.There are no waits for urgent or primary care in Canada. There are reasonable waits for most specialists' care, and much longer waits for elective surgery."

"It is not a perfect system, but it has its merits. For people like my 55-year-old Aunt Betty, who has been waiting for 14 months for knee-replacement surgery due to a long history of arthritis, it is the superior system. Her $35,000-plus surgery is finally scheduled for next month. She has been in pain, and her quality of life has been compromised. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Aunt Betty — who lives on a fixed income and could never afford private health insurance, much less the cost of the surgery and requisite follow-up care — will soon sport a new, high-tech knee. Waiting 14 months for the procedure is easy when the alternative is living in pain for the rest of your life"


if people are going to just throw out their pre-scripted talking points, let's hit them back with knowledge. socialized medicine isn't the bogey man. it's not evil. it is about providing health care for all our citizens in a humane manner.

steak and broccoli lunch

some days when i'm home for lunch i think, "i just don't want another quesadilla or sandwich. i think i'll make something different and better." today was one of those days.

so, as i did things this morning, i decided to thaw out a steak i had in the freezer and to grill it up. i had recently heard adam perry lang on both the adam carolla podcast and the b.s. report talking about bbq so i had some ideas and techniques i wanted to try out. i also had recently been to lowes and bought some grill prep pads that you use after cleaning the grill but before you put the meat on.

after thawing the meat, i rubbed in salt, pepper and a little garlic powder on both sides. i then took the meat to the grill and put it on. in the past, i've stuck to the idea that steaks you don't want to turn a ton of times. in fact, i usually would turn a steak like this once. adam perry lang disagrees, and does it more than i do, and did today. i seared one side of the meat for 30ish seconds, then flipped it to let it cook on the other side. in the mean time, i went back inside and grabbed a few things to put on after the next flip. when i came back, it had been a minute or two and was ready to flip. i turned the meat, and on the up side gave it some more salt and pepper, and a few slices of butter. i let the meat cook a short while, and repeated this process once more on the next flip.

as the meat progressed, i wondered what in my fridge would go well with this and still not be an overly big lunch? i looked and saw a bit of leftover broccoli that we had steamed for dinner two nights ago. i popped it into the microwave and let it heat back up. as that finished i went out and pulled the meat off the grill and onto a plate to rest. i then came back inside and paired the steak with the broccoli florets.

i felt it needed one last thing, and remembered some blue cheese crumbles that we bought for use with salad. admittedly, i am not really a big fan of blue cheese, but often enjoy it on steak. and, this particular cheese has ended up being pretty mild, which is good for me, not so good if you like it sharp. so, i took a handful of blue cheese crumbles and applied it liberally to the steak and broccoli. see here:



wow. this ended up being a really flavorful and enjoyable lunch. the one drawback was that the steak ended up being cooked a little longer than i generally prefer, but that could be remedied by having all my ingredients ready before and not doing minor prep work during the cooking. whatever. it was still good. and now i'm full, but not too full, and ready to get on with the rest of the affairs of my day.

alcoholic monkeys of st. kitts

check out this funny/strange/sad piece the bbc did about monkeys stealing alcohol and drinking in the little island of st. kitts.



i wonder if this sort of behavior is found elsewhere?


for more funny monkey behavior, here's a link to a monkey that peed on the president of zambia during recent press conference.

twitter

ugh. i feel so dirty right now.


i signed up for a twitter account.


@edwardstewart for those who might wish to follow.

metric fail

i saw this sign at work today, and it started to trouble me. i don't know who made, or what purpose it exactly is for, but it's not right.

you see, those top few things, not metric. they should be talking about millimeters, centimeters and meters. and i'm pretty sure liters is the metric measure you'd use instead of pints and quarts.

rottweiler vs cat

this cat just jacked up your rot. and, yes, i know, the rot is on a leash and might have behaved differently if it wasn't, but it still took some abuse from a cat that's probably 1 10th it's size.



and yes, i'm posting vids i saw elsewhere.

billie jean officer

get some, officer

80's toys movie trailers

i love movies made about things i loved growing up. wait, no i don't. i thought transformers was alright, but g.i. joe looks like crap. these trailers look a little better:

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

care bears vs my little pony, cabbage patch, smurfs were interesting, but wes anderson doing teddy ruxspin looked hilarious.
play doh looks as boring as ever.
david lynch's koosh ball speaks for itself.
the best: john carpenter's alf.

atom films.

a post for my math nerd friends

i'll be honest, i have no idea what this comic is about, but i have some friends that i know will find it humorous.


toothpastefordinner.com

also, there's a new episode of the podcast up. go and enjoy.

yawn

so, i've been on "vacation" for a week but today i'm doing some sub work. man i wish i was asleep right now.

61 year old man killed over bicycle

i don't have much commentary to bring to this story, but you're a real piece of crap if you kill a 61 year old over a bicycle.

cowards.

monday haiku

u.s. advances
confederations semis
spain on wednesday




podcast recording
tonight featuring cyclists
any questions from you?

momo doves, rademacher & david dondero @ tokyo garden

if you aren't already planning on being at this show, you should be.



special shout out to kaylee benwa for putting this flyer together.

the queers @ audie's olympic

june 17, 2000

happy anniversary

han solo p.i.

this has been around for a few weeks, but i'm just finally getting around to publishing this very well cut spoof of magnum p.i.'s opening.



get'em han.

monday haiku

thought father's day was
yesterday but it's next week
sheesh i'm a moron.


lulu has a nice
house on a quiet street, we
congratulate her