fresno grizzlies season opener

little write up over here about my experience @ the season opener for the grizzlies last night. why not check it out?

fresno culture

today i was talking about culture to two groups. we discussed what culture was in general, what characterized american culture, and what characterized the culture of fresno/the valley. two interesting lists developed. i didn't prod, or prompt the lists, although i did condense some phrasing. these lists basically developed on their own, from the group.

list one (typed version below):



for those of you that have trouble reading my chicken scratch handwriting, that's:
ag/farming
immigration
std's (specifically chlamydia - i guess we lead the nation in that)
teen pregnancy
-bulldogs
-fresno state athletics + band
-"aggressive" police
-poverty/unemployment
-tacos
-meth
-violence/crime
-fulton mall (okay, i suggested this one)
-segregated
-distinguished high schools
-swap meet/malls
-religious variety but also bible belt
-casinos
-the chuck (even if they called it grizzlies stadium)
-tower district


list two:



-dirty air
-ag/farming
-diversity
-unemployment
-immigration
-gangs
-nothing to do
-teen pregnancy
-drugs
-graffiti
-arts - arthop, tattoo expo
-music
-hot weather, cold weather, fog
-fresno state school + band
-the chuck' (once again called grizzlies)
-crime/violence
-aggressive/model police
-farmer's market
-rodeo
-"hick"/small town mentality
-cruising
-rules
-fresno fair
-raisins
-riverpark
-hospitals
-casinos

i thought it was interesting that two groups would have some similar visions of fresno. both groups were around 20 in size and most are under age 25. both lists tend to be a little more negative, but they're also pretty frank assessments. but, they started me wonder, what are the positive elements of fresno culture? what's your take on the lists?

Happy Birthday Heather

Happy Birthday to my wife, Heather. I hope you have an enjoyable day.

monday haikus

the rumbling is true
fresno blog scene at war
join the army now!



n c 2 a game
tonight at hero's downtown
tipoff is at six



enjoy your life now
enjoy your life tomorrow
just enjoy life soon

flutter

forget microblogging, i'm ready to nanoblog. this is the next big thing...flutter



who needs vowels?

ncaa championship meet up

interested in meeting up for the men's basketball championship game? click over here and see a fresno option.

tauntaun sleeping bag

i love think geek. seriously, i wish i could just spend money on the crazy crap they have.

i'm sort of considering this for my eldest nephew



Product Features

* Classic Star Wars sleeping bag simulates the warmth of a Tauntaun carcass
* Built-in embroidered Tauntaun head pillow
* Glowing Lightsaber zipper pull
* Great for playing pretend "Save Luke from the Wampa" games
* Teach your children about the best Star Wars movie ever
* Fully Licensed Lucasfilm™ Collectable
* Fits children (and small adults)
* 100% Polyester construction, Machine washable
* Exterior Dimensions - 32" x 60"


awesome.

ah crap. i just saw on some blog that think geek did this as a april fool's joke. however, they are trying to actually get it licensed, some maybe it will work.

turtle eating a pigeon

that's right turtle, you teach that flying rat a lesson. drag it off to its watery grave.



thanks neatorama.

wilkinson sword: mow the lawn

ah, saturdays. a day for many to go and mow the lawn. why not click over here and enjoy a funny video about mowing the lawn. i don't advise you watch it at work, or if you think that slightly risque humor is inappropriate.

mcc sale time in fresno

as usual, it's another busy weekend in fresno. there's tons of live music, there's roller derby, and there is the mcc sale over @ fresno pacific.

i've blogged about the mcc sale in the past, but it's always good to throw things out there. the sale, which is actually called the west coast mennonite relief sale and auction is put on by the mcc, or mennonite central committee. the sale & auction are used to fund the work of mcc worldwide. the sale takes place every year over @ fresno pacific.

i jokingly refer to the event as the big mennonite yard sale, but i really do like the idea of people trying to raise money and change the world. since it's a yearly event, it also takes on a family reunion type feel as well. i know that if i head over there on saturday i will see a ton of classmates, people i met before or after college, and even some actual relatives.

my favorite part of the sale is the used books. you can find all sorts of strange books, outdated ideas, and funny titles. and, you can find some really good books. some of my best art books were purchased at the sale for cheap.

others consider the food to be the best thing about the sale. i dig it, but since my wife's mennonite, i occasionally get to eat the best mennonite foods at home.

so, if you have some free time on saturday, why not head over to fresno pacific, eat some good grub, maybe bid on a quilt or something, check out the world crafts in the ten thousand villages tent, and support good works worldwide.

btw, my buddy travis oberg will be playing music @ the sale from 11:45-12:45 in the cafeteria.

there's a blog war a coming

first there was this.

then there was this.

that was followed by this.

and finally, this.

a blog war has broken out. where will you, fresno readers, fall in? will you go the establishment, the man? or will you go with the underdog?

i say follow your hearts. you've been here. support indie bloggers.



*this was cross posted here. and, it's a lighthearted joke. seriously, i'm just having some fun in our fresno blogosphere and hold no ill will towards the beehivers. we're chums.

old school lunch

so, i was thinking about hitting up one of the many new restaurants downtown, but in the interest of the bank account, i decided to make something at home for lunch. the other day, while grocery shopping, i saw a bit of a throwback item and decided that i would pick up some to have at lunch occasionally. i'm eating lunch like a little kid in the cafeteria:



that's right, fish sticks. properly eaten with ketchup. yum. these particular sticks are made by van de kamps, who have a really nice website. seriously, check out their website. the sticks themselves are alright, with maybe a little too much breading and not quite enough fish, but still decent.

fortunately, the box of 44 sticks was like $3, so i pretty much had lunch for about $1 today. and, i've got another meal or two out of the box.

adidas vespa sprint veloce

got these bad boys the other day. from the originals collection, they're inspired by vespa style.

creative fresno blender

looking for something to do friday evening? why not check out a creative fresno blender?



this month they'll be in the tower district, over @ karsh's grill (across from revue, west of teazer's). i've eaten @ karsh's and thought it was decent smoked meat (yeah, i said smoked meat). that was quite a while ago, so i can't speak to how it is now.

but, the blenders are a cool way to meet people, network, and have a drink or two. the blenders themselves are free, but drinks cost money, of course.

saltwater merchant @ audie's olympic

looking for something to do this evening? well, how about you jaunt on over to audie's olympic and see something different. i'm a fan of loud music, but sometimes you have to mix it up. and sometimes you have to do something other than the post arthop show at tokyo. i think tonight is the night for both.

why you ask? well, my friend travis oberg, who plays under the name saltwater merchants, is playing @ audie's. he is a delightful individual, a charming man, an excellent guitarist, and has the voice of an angel. he also smelled nice last time i saw him.



travis even has his own album available on itunes (search his name) and probably tonight @ the show.

driving rant

twice today i almost got smacked while driving. both times, it almost was caused by jackholes passing me on my right.

the first occasion was this morning, on my way home after teaching my morning class. i was headed toward freeway 41 on fresno street. i was about to get in the right hand turn lane so i could turn onto bullard, and get on the freeway when this truck pulls past me...on the right. huh? i'm in front of you. neither of us is quite to the turn lane yet, and i'm starting to move that direction. that means you wait your turn.

the second time was as i was getting on 180 after my afternoon coaching. the onramp is two lanes, then goes to one, then back to two, then to one as you actually get on the freeway. i was already in the final section where it has gone back to one lane, and was behind a car. the lane is wide at this point, although it is clear that it is only one lane. and as i'm driving behind this car, a s.u.v. comes flying up past me, forcing me to slow enough to avoid a wreck and allow jackhole number two in.

during both of these incidents, the other driver happened to have their window down, so i'm pretty sure that they heard me yelling "what the hell?" at the them. i also know that they both realized that they were in the wrong because both did the hands locked on the steering wheel, eyes locked forward, no way i'm looking over when i pulled up next to them after being cut off.

and it's not like there's any chance that they didn't see me. i'm 6 ft tall, and when i'm sitting on my bike i'm not that short. add in the fact that i'm about 250 lbs, sitting on a 600+lb cruiser bike it's even harder to believe that i wasn't seen. and it's not like my bike is quite, even if it isn't bone rattlingly loud. these jackholes saw me, figured they could cut by, and i'm lucky neither took me down.

sheesh.

blogger olympics

dear fresnan,
i hear that you and i didn't get invited to the cool kids party this year. i wonder who else didn't make the cut?

i guess bloggeraderie is dead.

fresno derby girls

is fresno big enough for two roller derby teams?

we will soon see. in fact, we'll see this weekend because valley fever roller derby will be playing a match downtown @ the exhibit hall. can they pull anything near the 800+ that were at the notown derby match?



now, i have admit i'm a bit skeptical about how this debut match for valley fever is going to go. this isn't me hating on them or anything, this is me, someone who tries to stay fairly connected to what's going on in fresno not having heard much at all. like, zero promos for this match. not on the beehive. not on fresno famous. not on the fresno blogosphere. the only reason i knew about this team is because they had posted some comments on notown roller derby posts on fresno famous. and, i only knew they had a game because someone not affiliated with the team mentioned on famous that there was a match this weekend. and $15? a little steep. i know it's only $5 more than notown matches, and $5 more than what smog city was running, but it's still more expensive to see a team i've never seen, that i don't know anything about.

but i do hope that their match this weekend goes well, and that they bring in some more people to the derby scene.

i've also heard some rumblings about yet a third team in the works. wow, 3 teams? i know fresno & the surrounding area have enough people to support multiple teams, but are there enough people interested in roller derby to support it? i'm not sure.

here's what i would like to see: all these teams are successful and around long enough that they play each other at least once. really, let's get a match going between notown & valley fever.

black car ban & rush limbaugh lies

ah, as usual, conservative blowhard rush limbaugh is telling half truths, or perhaps even outright lies and sticking to them. you see, his website proclaimed that "tyrants want to ban black cars." rush falsely claims that california lawmakers want to ban black auto paint due to the fact that it's hotter, and will cause more people to use a/c and thus be less fuel efficient.

the problem with his claim: it's bullshit. it's an attempt to start a fire where there isn't even smoke yet. it's rush trying to say, "look at these crazies in california, interfering with your freeeedom. they're socialists."

but even in his own article, he shows how he is full of it. he gives part of what is actually proposed for cars, and here it is, "California Air Resources Board. CARB wants to mandate the phase-in of heat-reflecting paints on vehicle exteriors beginning with the '12 model year, with all colors meeting a 20% reflectivity requirement by the '16 model year."

hmm, where does that say black? oh, that's right. it doesn't. it says that we should use more reflective paint. that doesn't rule out any color, but rather pushes for paints of all colors that reflect energy.
his kicker...obama and stars drive black cars, so them crazy liberals can't even do it themselves.

but here's the truth about what the california air resources board was studying and proposing, "One solution: lower the temperature inside parked cars, thereby reducing the amount of air conditioning — and engine power and gasoline — needed to keep the occupants cool and comfortable.

CARB looked at two possible ways to achieve this: mandating the use of reflective paints that reduce the amount of solar heat absorbed by a vehicle, and requiring manufacturers to install glass with reflective coatings to achieve the same purpose."

reflective glass and reflective paint. nothing about color. and, when the air board realized that paint technology wasn't efficient enough they just went with the reflective glass coating, which adds about $30-$50 per car. not much money to keep your car a lot cooler.


*this is cross posted over @ left turn only, a new blog that i'm a co-author on. check it out.

road to nowhere

if you see me at your show, know that i may be recording some music to share with the world. monday evening, i went to an almost acoustic show and saw rademacher frontman malcom sosa doing a few songs. it was a nice set, even though i missed part of it. here's one of the last songs of the evening, maybe even the last one

it's malcom sosa live - road to nowhere.

you can see, and hear malcom sosa live & solo on april 18th at tokyo garden. or, there's always a chance you can randomly catch him @ one of the local open mikes, but that's less likely than seeing him for sure on the 18th.