On the occasion of Fresno County's 150th birthday -- which will be celebrated in grand fashion this weekend -- I put together this extended shout-out to the great things I've encountered in Fresno for my column today. Surely my 150 things are just the cusp of the great stuff Fresno and the county have to offer.
Since I know that anybody that reads that will undoubtedly have something they want to add, I figured we should make another list. Maybe we could get to 150 again. I'll start it off with a few things I left out of the column, but wanted in there.
1. The fact that we may have the last Tower Records and Wherehouse locations in existence. (OK, not really, but when was the last time you saw one somewhere else?)
2. The Sound Pollution podcast.
3. The Dorktown podcast (warning: it's R-rated)
4. Silver Dollar Hofbrau.
5. The guy who sells bootleg DVDs at Chris Meat Market.
Your turn. Add one, or five, or 50 or 145....
6. ?
7. ?
8. ?
6. The lemon drop martinis at M in the Tower.
The spinach and cheese croissants at Charlotte's Bakery
The Farmers Market on Fulton on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
The disc golf course at Woodward Park
The burritos at Chris Meat Market
Revue and Teazers
jennifer brice! holla!
- I know it's cliche, but Art Hop really is my favorite thing to do in Fresno... great excuse to wander downtown, drink wine and pretend to know anything about art
- Being in the middle of California. Who else can say they are within a short road trip of Yosemite, San Francisco, L.A., Monterey...? Hey... even Las Vegas is drivable.
- Summer nights. Not summer days, though.
- The bevy of local ethnic restaurants we have springing up all the time. Much better than the Cheesecake Factory or Elephant Bar!
- I concur on Teazer's!
- 90.7 KFSR Fresno State radio. The only radio station in Fresno worth listening to, pretty much.
mike oz's column in the bee every friday
^^ Tracy, you are too kind.
Since nobody is numbering, my count put us at 20. I'll add some more.
21. Christmas Tree Lane (I blanked on this -- actually I thought about it earlier in the week, but I wasn't somewhere I could write it down).
22. Post-ArtHop shows at Tokyo Garden.
23. Fresno Famous.
24. Fresno Filmworks (for Jefferson)
25. Fresno Doesn't Suck Clothing.
26-27. The graffiti walls at Calwa Park and behind the Greyhound Station.
28. That old Miller's Outpost sign that's still outside of Manchester Mall.
29) Has someone mentioned Spinner's Records on Olive?
All vinyl record collector's shop complete with staff that'll engage in endless friendly conversations about
music loves and obsessions.
Blake: I mentioned Spinners in the column. But it hasn't been mentioned on the blog yet...
Jose DeLoza, hello!!!
AMAZING talent!! He'll be playing at Full Circle Brewery on Friday, October 6th at 5:30 pm!!!!!
Ok, yup, I just re-read it. You got Spinner's.
How 'bout CHICKEN PIE SHOP!!! MMM, starchy good comfort food.
Did I miss the FAIR????? That's gotta be good for a few:
-Cheap concerts
-Cinnamon rolls
-Fried EVERYTHING
-So many more...
Falltini
Safari Night
kiss Country's 5 dollar concert series
Oh Yea,
The Million Elephant!! Great Thai food. And I am so glad you mentioned Pete's Teriaki and the Hook and Ladder two of my favorite places.
There's also the return of Taco night at the Red Wave. Don't forget about the mondo beers too!
Beerocks & Frito Boats which most people outside of the valley don't even know about. Also Roeding Park, Story Land, the internationally known Underground Gardens and Satterstrom's Haunted Forest in October. Raisin Day(Dinuba), Fiesta Days(Reedley), and all the other agriculturally based celebrations in the valley.
Miguel Cortez is an amazing artist, he will be playing with Jose DeLoza at Full Circle Brewing on Friday the 6th. Check him out, trust me you will add him to your list!
Blake, how I love Spinners! I usually head on over there after work on my paydays and talk it up with Don and spend way too much money feeding into my vinyl habit. I was going to shed a tear if it wasn't mentioned on the list.
Here are a few of my favorite things (cue cheesy "Sound of Music" track):
-Roger Rockas (Top-notch productions and great food)
-Whole Foods (I don't even know where the nearest store is located?)
-Selma Band Festival (Showing some home-town pride)
-KJewel 99.3
-Fresno Fish Co.
-Having an area (Riverpark) with about 5 Starbucks locations within 5 minutes.
-Being mentioned in two episodes of "House" (the two latest episodes, did anyone catch this? I'm surprised I haven't read about it on here yet)
I forgot:
-The Carousel at Manchester Mall. How many of you had your picture taken on that when you were 7 years old?
45. MindHub.org
46. Art Under The Stars (at the Fresno Art Museum)
47. First Friday Films (Fresno MET)
48. the growing number of "Galleries that are avtually OWNED BY artists"
49. OKA Sushi Bar (Bullard and West) It's all about the GODZILLA ROLL.
50. Bangkok AUTHENTIC Thai Cuisine (Ashlan and Blackstone, next door to 7-11) Ask for the chicken Khao Phat. [said- COW-fought]
51. Mike Oz himself. (I think his colums definitely qualify as number 18 or so up there too, though)
52. The many people I've met lately who see this Fresno glass as half-full.
Ugh. what a dork. MindHub's already on the list. Allright...switch out number 45 for
45. YoshiNow! in Downtown Fresno (Broadway and Mono) The only can you get something inexpensive for a Friday night costume party, as well as something inexpensive for a Saturday night on the town!