September 2, 2010 10:40 AM

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In my monthly ArtHop preview in today's Life section, I focus on Rebecca Caraveo's 20-year retrospective show at Spectrum Art Gallery. An adamant Francophile, she's always been in love with Paris, and many of her hand-painted photographs reflect her passion for the city.

Other ArtHop picks: Steve Norton at Gallery 25, Stephanie Pearl at City Arts Gallery and Aileen Imperatrice at the law offices of Dean Gordon.

As always, check the official ArtHop website for venues and details.

Feel free to add your own ArtHop plans as a comment on this post.

Donald Munro

September 2, 2010 8:56 AM

GROENING THE GREAT.JPG "Futurama," 10 p.m. Comedy Central: This is both the 100th episode and the sixth season finale of the animated series. The episode, "The Mutants Are Revolting," has Leela leading an army of underground mutants in a revolt against the surface people.

The series follows the life of Philip J. Fry (voiced by Billy West), a pizza delivery boy who falls stumbles into a freezer in 1999 and wakes up a thousand years later. He gets a job working for Planet Express.

When the crew's hired to make a 100th delivery, Bender decides to throw a huge party. The only problem is that while at a fund-raiser, Fry accidentally reveals Leela's a mutant who's illegally living above ground.

Comedy Central revived this series after it had been off the air for almost seven years and it's been a ratings success for the cable channel.

Rick Bentley

September 1, 2010 6:28 PM

UPDATE: In case you haven't heard, the great plastic bag debate is dead for now -- at least in the state legislature. More info here and here.

Expect the fight to move to California cities and counties. As one of the stories states:

In recent weeks, some local government officials said they would take matters into their own hands if the bill failed. According to Heal the Bay, officials in Los Angeles County, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica said they would pursue individual city- and countywide bans in the coming months.

ORIGINAL POST 8/12: Here's a freebie that's timely, considering all the recent talk about a proposed law that would ban plastic bags in California's markets and convenience stores.

Bee reporter Tim Sheehan explains why some folks are in favor of Assembly Bill 1998, while others are against it.

It's clear that Save Mart falls in the camp that supports the bill. Today, 17 Save Mart stores in Fresno and Clovis will distribute more than 5,000 free, re-usable shopping bags. (Each store will give away bags to its first 300 customers.)

Save Mart touts these benefits of its re-usable bags: A single bag can replace up to four single-use bags during checkout. Bring it to the supermarket 50 times, and you'll have saved 200 single-use plastic bags.

And for folks who say the re-usable bags get too dirty and downright unsanitary, Save Mart has this tip: Turn the bags inside out, spray them with disinfectant, and allow them to air dry.

Want one? Here's the list of stores giving them away:

Joan Obra

September 1, 2010 3:38 PM

2358_D030_10553_jpg_rgb.JPG Michael Sheen - star of such films as "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon' - has had a very busy year as a voice actor. First, there was the White Rabbit in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." Next up is the direct-to-video release "Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue" where he voices the workaholic Dr. Griffiths.

Although recording the audio for the "Tinker Bell" tale took months of work because the script continued to change, Sheen says voice work's a great job. It's far more appealing to him than his first go around with Peter Pan while growing up in Wales.

"When I was 14, my local youth theater did a production of 'Peter Pan.' I played one of the Lost Boys - the first twin," Sheen says.

That wasn't the hard part. When he wasn't in a scene, Sheen would rush backstage where he would climb to the top of a tall ladder.

"I had to jump off holding a rope," Sheen says. "My body weight would bring it down and that would make Peter Pan fly across the stage. I had a very important role."

Sheen came to that performance not only with enough body weight to send another actor flying but a knowledge of Peter Pan initially through the Disney movie and then the book.

Rick Bentley

September 1, 2010 1:35 PM

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Because I can't just suggest random bands every day, and because some of the other options tonight are straight up ugly -- y'all should go swinging tonight.

Ewww, no, not that kind of swinging. I'm talking about dancing.

So if you wanna dance, then know there's a place where you can learn swing dancing every Wednesday night -- with Fresno Swing Dance at Studio 65. You don't need experience or even a partner to attend.

(More info on the poster; click to enlarge)

To make things even sweeter tonight, there will be live music from hot jazz/swing band Scats on the Sly. So bring your dancin' shoes, Daddy-O. You might be up to speed in time for the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert in November.

Mike Oz

September 1, 2010 12:19 PM

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My review is in print and online today for George Clooney's "The American," which manages to even make a gorgeous Italian hilltop town seem glum:

If the idea of watching Clooney rub his brow a lot -- and sit around in gorgeously silhouetted moments while glaring at the harsh, rugged, friendless Italian rustic scenery -- sounds appealing, then you're probably on the same wavelength as director Anton Corbijn. For me, however, the film winds up little more than a vapid vanity project, a somber way for the star to "stretch" himself in a spaghetti-Western-tinged project reeking with melancholy.

Interesting, too, that the studio decided to open this film the Wednesday before Labor Day, which isn't exactly prime movie-release real estate. Not even George's name could secure a better spot.

Related tidbit: If you aren't convinced already that at least some people in this country see EVERYTHING through a polarized political/cultural lens, consider this comment on my review from a reader named "rebelmountain":

Glooney is one of the biggest hypocrites, he is very antigun ownership, but always plays an armed action hero.

Really? That's your stab at film criticism?


Donald Munro

September 1, 2010 9:26 AM

101589891RD002_2010_CMT_AWA.JPG "CMA Music Festival: Country' Night to Rock," 8 p.m. KFSN (Channel 30.1): Tim McGraw hosts the concert special filmed June 10-13 during the annual "CMA Music Festival." The first festival in 1972 attracted a total of 5,000 fans. More than 50,000 fans showed up each day for this year's event.

The festival gives country music fans a chance to get autographs and hear 100 hours of live music.

Some of the artists to be featured in the ABC special include Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band.

Rick Bentley

September 1, 2010 8:58 AM

This sorta local accidental-death story is zipping around the country today, and the Santa/Darwinian jokes are flying. At least it happened in Bakersfield and not Fresno:

Police say a California doctor apparently tried to get into the home of the man she had been dating by sliding down the chimney. Her decomposing body was found there days later.

Talk about bizarre.

Donald Munro

August 31, 2010 8:43 PM

If opening day is any indication, Charlotte's BakerEatery will be a hit in its new spot. The lunch crowds filled the space, and the shop ran out of bread, says Charlotte's co-owner Susan Rocha. Not bad.

In case you haven't stopped by yet, here are a few photos.

1. Charlotte's still doesn't have a real sign, so this does in a pinch:
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Joan Obra

August 31, 2010 5:47 PM

If this isn't the nail in the coffin of the rags-to-riches tale about finding Ansel Adams negatives at a garage sale, I don't know what is: The Bee picked up a New York Times wire story today reporting that a leading member of the expert team that declared glass negatives bought by a Fresno man at a garage sale were the lost work of Ansel Adams has changed his mind. From the Times story:

Robert C. Moeller III, a former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and one of the experts hired by Fresnan Rick Norsigian to evaluate his find, said that after further review he had decided that at least some of the images Norsigian bought were taken by an unheralded photographer, Earl Brooks.
"I made a mistake," said Moeller, who was part of the team that in July announced the discovery of what it called Adams' "lost negatives."

Which makes it even better for Fresno State that the university was able to avoid a tentative commitment to exhibit the disputed negatives. That exhibition isn't going to happen, The Bee reported last week.

Such an exhibition would have raised issues about the propriety of an academic institution giving legitimacy to disputed works of art still fresh in the throes of a vigorous public debate.

The official line I was told by university officials is that all possible spaces on campus that could have been used for the exhibition were already booked. In a slightly different version of events, Norsigian's lawyer told another Bee reporter that he was the one who withdrew a request to exhibit the plates at Fresno State. (He cancelled a screening of a documentary film about the negative controversy that had been planned for the university's Satellite Student Union as well.) Whatever the exact chronology, it's apparent to me that the university lucked out by not getting involved with either the screening or exhibition. A potentially problematic issue was avoided.


Donald Munro

August 31, 2010 5:10 PM

UPDATE: Did they just say Fresno (boobies)? Indeed. Fresno's boobies bracelet debate continues at Jezebel, where a post on The Bee's story already has 87 comments. It's worth taking a look.

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ORIGINAL POST: If you're looking for a fun discussion to jump into, check out the comments on today's Bee story about schools reacting to the popular "I ♥ boobies" bracelets for breast cancer awareness. In brief: Clovis Unified banned them; Fresno Unified banned them, but then decided they were OK.

So, are the bracelets harmless? In poor taste? Would it matter if they said "I ♥ balls" for testicular cancer? Should schools allow them or ban them?

Personally, I think the bracelets are cute. The saying has kids interested. It's better than them being oblivious. As someone who knows several women who have battled breast cancer in recent years, I'm glad young people have embraced the fad. Kids love to make adults squirm. What's the harm?

Kathy Mahan

August 31, 2010 3:50 PM

Brazil Avatar.JPG I've seen actors get jealous over the number of lines in a script, automobiles, dogs, wardrobes and even the size of a trailer. When Jamie Lee Curtis shows up to talk about her new movie "You Again," she reveals a whole new Hollywood status symbol.

Before she even sits down, Curtis pulls two items from her purse. One is an action figure toy from the movie "Virus." The other is a much smaller action figure for the movie "Avatar."

"Sigourney Weaver was in the most successful movie of all time and she will tell you that over and over again," Curtis says in a heavily sarcastic tone. "My action figure from the piece of \[expletive deleted\] 'Virus' is bigger than hers. That's all you have to know."

Curtis starred in the 1999 science fiction movie about a crew of an American tugboat that finds an abandoned Russian research vessel. There's an alien life form on board who thinks of the crew as a virus that needs to be destroyed. Weaver, who stars with Curtis in "You Again," is in the biggest movie of all time with "Avatar."

Here's the kicker. Weaver's action figure carries a huge red 50% off sticker. Curtis says she bought her action figure for "$8.96 on eBay."

To be fair, while the action figure is smaller, "Avatar" pulled in more than $750 million at the box office in the United States while "Virus" made $14 million.

Rick Bentley

August 31, 2010 3:45 PM

If you're new to the Fresno Urban Sound Experience and my rewards program for donors, start off by reading this and this. All caught up? Good. Here's the second wave of rewards.

But first some good news -- the festival has met its goal of $2,500. Many thanks to all who contributed. But that doesn't mean it still doesn't need help. So keep donating, if you can. (And remember to send me your donation confirmations to get your silly prizes).

If I haven't gotten to you yet, please be patient, I'm getting there. For now, enjoy these.

VIDEOS
For the people who donated $20+ -- which as you can see, is a lot of people.

Mike Oz

August 31, 2010 1:15 PM

Thanks to Beehive reader and frequent commenter Kiel for handing us our 50,000th comment! For his effort, Kiel will receive this fabulously amazing prize package:

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The package, culled together by Beehivers Mike, Donald, Rick, Joan and Kathy (because nobody sends me anything but hate mail), includes the following:

Heather

August 31, 2010 12:03 PM

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Some good stuff happening in the Fresno area on this Tuesday night. Here's a rundown ...

  • In Fresno, the hippest show in town is over at Audie's Olympic, where The Growlers are playing. They've played in Visalia in the past, even opened for Vampire Weekend. They've got a crazy sound that's tough to classify -- surf meets country meets pop. Also on the bill are local faves Quiet Americans and El Olio Wolof. 9 p.m. $6.

Mike Oz

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