No, no, Fresno roller derby hasn't gone away. It just has a new name. No Town Roller Derby is trying to make sure everybody knows that just because the Smog City Roller Grrls are no more, that derby is still alive. Thus, this party on Saturday night.
According to No Town's Red Bully: " All funds will go towards the 2009 season which starts March 21st against the Battle Born Derby Demons of Reno, NV at the fairgrounds. Tickets will be sold at a reduced price and parking is free!" And before you ask: Yes, Betty Rocker is still skating!
Barack Obama is looking for food that tastes good for a good price
Hey look! It's our president-elect, a man who isn't afraid to discuss a love of peach cobbler and Johnny cakes on cable access.
Here is Barack Obama reviewing the Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop on a Chicago television program called "Check Please!" circa 2001. I have a feeling we're going to see more of these Obama gems unearthed in the coming months.
How can you resist ABC's "The Bachelor" when he's Mr. Nice Guy and single dad Jason Mesnick? (I know, I know. The show's track record stinks.) But he's the one who "Bachelorette" DeAnna Pappas rejected last season for now unsurprisingly ex-fiance Jesse Csincsak. At the time, I thought Jason was too boring for DeAnna.
Monday's premiere was the usual mix of strutting out 25 women in a parade of classy to brassy to slutty evening dresses. My fave highlights included dental hygienist Shannon, who told Jason all about the research she did on him but twice added that she's "totally not a stalker." (Yeah, using the term "stalker" on a first meet is always a charming way to break the ice.)
There also was Renee, who uses "vision boards" to determine her life, and poor Sharon who quit her teaching job to meet Jason (not really a smart move in this tough economy.) The saddest case might have been Jackie, a wedding coordinator who got tipsy-wobbly at the party. She was one of the 10 sent home Monday and lamented her fate as a woman who says too many men tell her that she's great but "just not great enough."
Jason didn't pick Renee either, but Shannon (unbelievably) and Sharon got roses to stay.
So I'm hooked, especially since the season preview showed DeAnna popping up in a future episode. Can't wait to see what that's all about.
It's been a good 20 minutes and I still can't remove the scrunched up stinky look that I fear is now permanently plastered on my face after listening to his horrible singing. I was fooled by the album cover. I thought, "This has to be a joke!" Someone making fun or the American Idol loser.
But, no. It really is coming out Jan. 20.
I'll tell you what, the only thing Sanjaya has close to right is the song title, "I got it for you." Got it in for me.
Please, please go away, Sanjaya, and never come back to torture me again.
I gave local folk the New Year's resolution of being better Fresnans in my column last week, even supplying 20 steps to do so.
The list included stuff such as: "When you hear someone put down Fresno, stick up for your city. At least once" and "Flip your radio dial away from those big corporate stations once in a while, and try community stations KFSR (FM 90.7) or KFCF (FM, 88.1)."
My suggestions drew ire, appreciation and a hunger for more.
First, the angry anonymous caller who took issue with my inclusion of the Reel Pride Film Festival:
"Go to a gay film festival? I think what I'm going to do to become a better resident is stop reading your articles. You guys are ridiculous."
People die. Such stuff is the backbone of literature, of course, and the theme of mortality is so deeply entrenched in our storytelling that we consider it to be a given, like the air. If you are a regular theater-goer, you likely will have seen scores of characters meet their ends on stage. Traumatic, yes, and sometimes wrenching, but often not unexpected. And very cathartic.
Towns die, too. When they do, it's incredibly poignant -- maybe even more so than when a person dies, at least in a fictional world. Perhaps it's because towns wither away and disappear far less frequently than people. We don't expect them to go. We think of a town as something that lives on for future generations.
Horton Foote's classic "The Trip to Bountiful" finds the feeling and the tenderness in this theme, and it's a testament to its quality that the play holds up so well over the years. Joyce Anabo, who directs the accomplished new Good Company Players production at the 2nd Space Theatre, matches this distinguished pedigree with a warm, smart vision. Anabo highlights an exquisitely sweet performance by community-theater veteran Mary Piona as the inimitable Mrs. Carrie Watts, the frail long-timer who wants nothing more than to return for a last time to the tiny Texas town where she grew up.
Normally, I would not condone violence. But, if I ever track down the person who created the infuriating system where you have to push various numbers to navigate through a telephone maze, he's going to need to "push one if you need the hospital."
This confusing telephone system is being used by a variety of businesses. They are all a variation of if you would like to do one thing push this number. But if you want to do something else push another. Often, after pushing 157 buttons, the whole process starts again. It is maddening. Toss in a battle with cable and it was not a good night.
The most recent encounter of the telephone kind came Friday. I got home and I had no cable service. You have to remember, not having cable for me is like telling the contestants on "The Biggest Loser" they can't have food for three days.
The only thing worse than having to navigate through the button pushing was having to deal with Comcast.
Sure, it's 2009, but it's OK to still talk about 2008 music -- thus the third and final part of my 2008 music survey.
Today, it's a bit of a questionnaire, asking you to dig deep into your iPod playlists and answer questions like which song annoyed you the most. It's all the stuff we didn't cover in the posts for favorite albums and favorite songs.
The questions are below. And I'm also giving you guys some year-end stats from Nielsen SoundScan, if you need to jog your memory.
UPDATE 5:16 p.m.: And that winner is Janet Heidinger, who upon learning that she won the tickets wrote "OH MY GOD, DONALD!!!! I HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING IN THE LAST 25 YEARS!!! I AM SIMPLY ECSTATIC!!!" And she doesn't usually write in all caps.
See how the Beehive can change your life?
UPDATE 4:30 p.m.: Looks like we have a winner. I have an email out to confirm. Thanks for playing.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: I've got a nice pair of tickets to give away to the next Broadway in Fresno touring show. The tickets are for Tuesday (Jan. 6), opening night of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," 7:30 p.m. at the Saroyan Theatre. (The show continues on Wednesday, Jan. 7.) They're good orchestra seats: row N!
I'll be giving the tickets away to the seventh commenter to this post (no multiple entries, please). Include a valid email address so we can verify the winner. I won't post any of the comments until the winner is determined. Rules are posted on the jump. If you win, you'll need to pick up the tickets at The Bee on Tuesday.
A little about the show: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" opened on Broadway in 2005 and starred John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz. It's based on the 1988 movie about two con men who have a chance meeting in the lavish world of the French Riviera. (That movie, incidentally, was itself based on the 1964 film "Bedtime Story" starring David Niven and Marlon Brando.) This version you'll see in Fresno is an Equity production (a relatively rare occurrence here) and is presented by a Canadian theater company called Drayton Entertainment. I interviewed him in Friday's issue of 7, so if you want to know more about this production, check it out.
The Guys Who Like to Eat show us they're also in the business of washing things down. Their newest installment takes the guys to a favorite drinking hole of ours, Full Circle Brewing Co.
Did you know there's a "Hello Ashley, Bye Bye Bubba" event scheduled for tonight? It's called "Fresno: One City. One Future" and is being billed as a "community-wide inaugural event." It's cool they're trying to have a party -- and one with "live entertainment including live bands" -- but I really feel like it needed a better name. I like Bubba Bash '09.
You can actually buy tickets on Ticketmaster. Though I'm waiting to hear which live bands will be playing before I decide if it's worth $15 and a $6.50 Ticketmaster charge.
Jobs several years ago battled pancreatic cancer. He apparently had a rare form of the disease that could be treated with surgery. But, within the last year, Jobs has been looking increasingly gaunt (this photo is from September), setting off alarm bells about his health and stories like this one in June. Then, a few weeks ago, Jobs said he wouldn't show up for the Macworld Expo, which sparked renewed talk that all was not right with Jobs.
So Apple's leader released a letter today that included this:
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause--a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.
Don't get me wrong -- I love my iPod nano, envy my friends who have the iPhone and greatly respect Jobs -- but do you think Jobs is being straight with Apple fans and stockholders? Does he have a responsibility to the popular company to clearly designate a successor?
Don't believe everything that tweets your way. The Huffington Post is reporting that a number of prominent high-profile Twitter accounts were hacked today, most prominently the Fox News account, which declared on Monday morning that Bill O'Reilly is gay.
The post has since been removed.
Among the other victims:
CNN's Rick Sanchez, a prominent Twitter user, was also hacked. His malicious tweet read, "i am high on crack right now might not be coming to work today."
Britney Spears's Twitter also fell victim, with hackers announcing that her vagina is "4 feet wide with razor sharp teeth."
And the Washington Times reports that Barack Obama's Twitter account got hacked, too.
You think the Beehive's Twitter account is safe? All I know is that you should be extremely wary if you get a tweet proclaiming that Heather hates "Mad Men" and Jon Hamm.
I'm sorry, Anne Hathaway, I can't let this go
Apple unveils ... The MacBook Wheel
Seeing Ty may take a little planning
"The Bachelor:" OK, I'm suckered in again
THEATER REVIEW: 'The Trip to Bountiful'
