Well, her show is. Wilcox is a first-time Rogue performer who came from London to perform her show, "The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over." As she says in this video, she plays more than 20 characters in it:

Just a warning: I saw her preview and she says the "F" word a lot. But with a British accent, so that's not as offensive, right? "The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over" plays twice today: 2:30 and 8:30 p.m., then at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday. All shows at Dianna's South, 726 N. Fulton St.

Caught up with Baba Brinkman outside of Starline Grill on Friday night. Brinkman gave us the previous Rogue hit "Rap Canterbury Tales" and he's back this year with "The Rap Guide to Evolution."

Brinkman's only here the first weekend of the Rogue, so there are only three more chances to see his show: 4:45 p.m. today and twice on Sunday, at 2:45 and 9:30 p.m. All showings are at Severance, 1401 N. Wishon Ave. Here's our review of "The Rap Guide to Evolution."

Stuff collector Barry Smith tells us all about his Rogue show, "Barry Smith's Baby Book."

There are four chances left to see the show: 10 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Sunday, and 1 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. March 7. All are at Starline. You can read The Beehive review of the show here.

"Rose & Clarice's Las Vegas Room Revue" reminds me of a "Saturday Night Live" skit going on and on for far too long.

You know the type: It has a few funny moments and an all right premise, but then you're left wondering "When is this going to end?"

If you believe the background story of the show, Rose and Clarice are two of "America's greatest treasures." They're song and dance duo whose cruise ship performance once got so popular it sank the cruise ship. So now they're performing in the Las Vegas Room at the Gardenia Falls Motor Lodge.

Baba Brinkman's "Rap Guide to Evolution" is not as good as the masterful "Rap Canterbury Tales" he's brought to past Rogue Festivals -- but it's still an entertaining and provocative show at which Fresno is getting an early look.

The backstory goes like this: Some scientists overseas heard about Brinkman's hit show "Rap Canterbury Tales" -- in which he re-tells the Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" in rap form -- and asked Brinkman to "do for Darwin what you did for Chaucer."

So Brinkman worked for months to find the intersections between rap and evolution and wound up with "Rap Guide," which he debuted in England recently. His four-show run at the Rogue is the show's North America debut and Friday's opening was only his fifth time performing "Rap Guide."

I caught up with Rogue queen Renee Newlove (aka Beehive commenter Renee N.) last night at RogueHop and asked for her Top 5 Rogue shows for this year:

If you're not down with the Rogue Festival ...

1. GET CHARMED: This Charming Band will play all your favorite Smiths songs and probably sell out Club Fred. So you should get there early.

Welcome to another week of Post No Bills, the biggest collection of Fresno event fliers and posters anywhere on the Internets, brought to exclusively by FresnoBeehive.com.

Looking for concerts and clubs? You're in the right place. Take a look below and it'll shatter any beliefs about Fresno having nothing to do.

There's lots of great stuff happening this weekend. And that's not even counting the Rogue Festival! Check out Post No Bills: Rogue for some fliers for the festival.

As always, we welcome contributions from bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.

As you probably know by now, the Rogue Festival really gets going today. Donald, Felicia and I offered up some of our festival picks in today's issue of 7.

So if you're looking for guidance, that's a good place to start.

But the Rogue also functions on word of mouth. So I'm just opening this up to anybody: What are you seeing at this festival? What should other people see?

(If you're a performer, feel free to shamelessly plug -- but try to balance it out by also recommending a show that you're not in).

I'll start! Shows I wanna see:
- The Rap Guide to Evolution
- Ryan Paulson: I'm Uncomfortable
- Barry Smith's Baby Book
- Bipolarity of Life
- The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over
- Valley Burlesque Society

REMINDER: We'll be out reviewing many Rogue shows this weekend, so come back to see what we like. We'll also be welcoming your reviews.

So Bee reader Steve liked my column this morning, but he still doesn't think very highly of me, if this e-mail he sent is any indication:

wow! u finally wrote a decent column. who helped u with it? u ought to celebrate and have another taco fatboy.

oh, by the way, walnut creek isn't the Bay Area.

take care loser

I don't know what Walnut Creek has to do anything. And I'm pretty sure Steve didn't hear that I made the 40 Under 40 list -- I may have a taco in honor of that.

PREVIOUSLY: I Hate You, Mike Oz: Vol. 1 | Vol. 2

Today begins the eight year of the Rogue Festival -- one of the jewels of Fresno's arts and entertainment scene. As much as we love Rogue, we know it's still a mystery to many Fresnans. Even to some of you plugged-in reading this very blog.

So if you're wondering "What the heck is this Rogue Festival I keep hearing about?" -- we have answers. Below you'll find a Rogue FAQ. It's something Donald Munro and I put together for last year's festival and it still works for answering many of the basic questions about Rogue and helping Rogue rookies get acquainted with the festival.

Everything gets going tonight with RogueHop and continues on with a packed weekend of shows. Check out tomorrow's issue of 7 for some of our festival picks.

QUICK PLUG: Before we go further, I want to make sure everybody knows that The Beehive's Rogue page is at fresnobeehive.com/rogue. You can also click that Rogue logo to the right and it'll take you there. On the page, you can even see some of the reviews and features from last year's festival. Soon that page will be flooded with reviews and news from this year's Rogue. If you see a show, head over to the Rogue page and give us your review.

Now that we have that out of the way, here's our Rogue FAQ:

Another day, another concert announcement -- this time Fresno is getting some classic rock from REO Speedwagon, STYX, and .38 Special.

The kicker here is that they're calling it a "Rock n Roll Stimulus Package," as ticket prices will be as low as $13.50 in most markets. "Most" is the key word there, as specific ticket prices for individual shows haven't been announced yet.

A date has been released, though. This "Can't Stop Rockin' Tour" will be at Save Mart Center on May 17. Tickets are to go on sale March 20, according to a tour press release.The tour is co-sponsored by Rock Band and VH1 Classic.

The May 17 date is two days before No Doubt, and another addition to what's looking like a busy few months for the Save Mart Center. Recently we've had concert announcements from Dave Matthews and New Kids on the Block as well.

Just to help you sort out all of these on-sale dates:
- NKOTB goes on sale Saturday.
- No Doubt goes on sale March 7.
- Dave Matthews goes on March 13.
- REO Speedwagon/STYX/38 Special show goes on sale March 20.

So I totally love that our Worst Flier of the Week feature has inspired local designers to do their Worst. I loved the first Best Flier Ever entry and I guess you can say the second is close to my heart.

Shout out to our boy Tweed from Soular Power for trying to use The Beehive, our love for bad fliers and my likeness to get people out to his gig. Behold his masterpiece and don't hate on my clown suit.

UPDATE III: OK, so Live Nation just gave me word that the prices have changed. New prices: $39.75, $59.75 and $80. Also the Save Mart Center has officially announced the show.

UPDATE II: There's also a $49.75 ticket price.So: $39.75, $49.75 and $70. All floor seating is GA. Everything else is reserved. All this according to Live Nation.

UPDATE: Just got word -- ticket prices are $39.75-$70, according to promoter Live Nation. Tickets will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. March 7. There are a number of pre-sales, though -- so hungry No Doubt fans should be aware of those.

ORIGINAL: No Doubt has announced dates for its long-awaited reunion tour and Fresno is its third stop. The band will play the Save Mart Center on May 19.

No Doubt will play at two festivals before coming here, making Fresno almost the de facto tour kick-off. Our date will also be the first in California. Plans are to have Paramore open the tour, start tickets sales tour-wide on March 7. The Save Mart Center has yet to release local ticketing details.

Props go Mike Scott at CBS 47 for beating me by a couple hours on this one.

It's Fat Tuesday, which means parties are happening all over this city tonight. If you're looking for something to do, we've got plenty of options for you.

We'll start in Fat Tuesday central, aka the Tower District, where these parties are planned:

A packed house filled the Visalia Fox Theatre to see Modest Mouse on Monday night. You were there. We weren't. So let's hear your reviews.

We they modest? Mousey? Better than their Fresno show a couple years ago? Did you like the set list? Openers? Did they sound good? Give us your take on all that and more.

If you're looking to successfully navigate the Rogue Festival, the most important thing is to get your hands on a Rogue Map. It tells you about all the 70+ shows, dates, times, places, all that. And good news Rogue-goers -- the Rogue Maps are out. You can pick them up at Starline Grill, Tower Theater, Ashtree Studios and Revue.

Expect The Beehive to turn into Rogue Festival-central later this week. For now, here are some handy links to get you ready:

• Not schooled in the ways of the Rogue? Read this preview from Sunday's paper to get up to speed.
• Here's the Rogue Post No Bills page, which I updated this morning with new fliers.
• The Rogue starts off with Rogue Hop on Thursday. Get more info on that over at Famous.

We see what you're doing here, Jack FM. Last week you threw a little "Mike Oz (Who?)" into your Web poll about about Fresno celebrities and The Beehive powers activated and thrust me to victory. Your Webmaster likes our hits, huh?

Now this week, you have a new poll out about Fresno blogs, pitting the mighty Beehive against Famous, Fusion and The Fresnan. Lemme guess, Jack, you're thinking that all the bloggers will post it and instead of getting traffic from one blog, you'll get traffic from four. You think you can exploit our blogger egos to get people to come to YOUR site. Well, you're right.

And since I have your attention, Jack FM -- I also want a plaque or certificate or a voicemail from Nicole stating that I am better than K-Fed, Kip and Kid Snowboarder.

BTW: Everybody vote for The Beehive.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats to Megan!

ORIGINAL: We've got a pair of tickets to giveaway for Tuesday night's Little Big Town concert at Table Mountain Casino. Yep, finally something for you country music fans!

The FIFTH commenter will get the tickets. As usual: No multiple entries allowed. We'll publish all the comments once we have a winner. While you decide when to comment, check out Little Big Town's latest music video, "Good Lord Willing."

I loved this picture from the Fresno State baseball opener on Friday night. When I saw it on the front of The Bee on Saturday morning, I stared at it like it was a "Where's Waldo?" book -- trying to spy as many great things as possible.What's the best thing about it? I'm still not sure.

1. Girl with sign telling off all the bandwagon fans.

2. Andy Samberg reference. Hope dude's wearing his flippy floppys.

3. Girl in tube top (in February) next to girl blowing her nose.

4. "I told you we should have bought red shirts!"

[photo: Darrell Wong / The Fresno Bee]

OK, so honestly, I wasn't even going to do Worst Flier of the Week this week. I was gonna give all the crappy promoters with the wack fliers a week off. Then somebody sent me something.

It's below. I have no words.

I give you no choices this week. No chance to vote. I just give you this, the Worst Flier of the Week:

Welcome to another week of Post No Bills, the biggest collection of Fresno event fliers and posters anywhere on the Internets, brought to exclusively by FresnoBeehive.com.

Looking for concerts and clubs? You're in the right place. Take a look below and it'll shatter any beliefs about Fresno having nothing to do.

This week I'll give you a warning -- get ready for NEXT weekend, 'cuz there's is A LOT to do between what's in here and the Rogue Festival. Start planning wisely.

As always, we welcome contributions from bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.

Because I said so. And apparently my word means something around here.

1. CELEBRATE WITH SOME MOFOS: MoFo Party Band -- are they the best Fresno band ever? -- is celebrating its 20-year anniversary on Saturday night at Club Fred. They're on the front of 7 today, so read about their history and all that before heading out to the show. 9 p.m. $10.

In my column today, I gush the praises of Twitter -- the microblogging/social networking site that's poised for a big 2009. Twitter wins points with me for being quick and low maintenance, a good way to share information, thoughts, links and more -- especially when mobile.

Fresno's Twitter community has grown enough as of late to warrant a Tweet Up -- that's just a Twittered-out turn of phrase for meet up-- which is happening at 5 p.m. today at Daily Grill.

One of the most important parts of Twitter is having a good network. So if you're looking to give Twitter a test spin, or if you want to dig deeper into the Fresno Tweetworld, I put together this Fresno Twitter Starter Kit.

THE BEE'S TWEETS
Fresno Bee | The Beehive | Opinion Talk | Central Valley Moms | Fresno Famous | Vida En El Valle

MORE LOCAL MEDIA
ABC 30 | KFSR | KVPR | Alice 96.7 | The Fresnan | The Dumb Drum | CBS 47 | San Joaquin Valleyfornia | Late Update | Kopi, Kim & Liz from "Great Day" | Pollstar |

I love these white boys! Chester French is a duo of Harvard-educated lads who hooked up with Pharrell and whose music marks the place where '60s pop intersects with the dance-pop of today. I've been jockin' them for a while, and now their album is on the brink of release. It's called "Love the Future" and drops March 31. Here's the video for "She Loves Everything."

They have a song called "Jimmy Choo's" that I like even more and has more of that '60s feel. Peep it.

PREVIOUSLY: You Should Be Listening To ... Ray LaMontagne

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats to christina.

ORIGINAL: Don't even say we don't love you! For you, Beehive readers, we have one pair of tickets to the sold-out Modest Mouse concert on Monday at the Visalia Fox Theatre. I've heard of them going for more than $100 on the secondary market.

The TENTH commenter on this post -- yep, we're making you work for it -- will score the tickets. As usual: No multiple entries allowed (and yeah, we check IPs) and we'll publish all the comments once we have a winner. So choose wisely when you comment. Good luck to all in this Modest Mouse ticket lottery. Official rules are below ...

UPDATE: Tickets will go on sale locally at 10 a.m. March 13, per the Save Mart Center. All seats will cost $65.

ORIGINAL: It's the news you've waiting years for, Fresno fans of Dave Matthews. Dave & Co. will play the Save Mart Center on Aug. 30, according to a new summer tour itinerary released this afternoon.

The band is releasing a new still-untitled CD on June 2 and backing that up with a summer tour. For the tour as a whole, tickets will go on sale March 12-14, according to Dave's people. No word yet on a local on-sale date and ticket price. There will be a special "online ticket request period" from Thursday though March 2 at warehouse.davematthewsband.com, which is the band's members-only fan club site.

Word is that the Adam Corolla morning radio show -- which is broadcast out of L.A. and piped into Fresno -- has been canceled. The details are still a bit sketchy and I'm not sure what 104.1 (that's KFRR, FM, if you're keeping track of such things) will do to replace it.

I'm actually somewhat of a radio station flipper in the morning -- going back and forth between numerous stations, looking for something interesting. I recently started listening to Corolla a little more and he's grown on me. Too bad he's gonna be gone now. I liked when he has Joel McHale on. One less station to flip, I suppose.

Yes, I love the Rogue Festival so much that it deserves its own Post No Bills-style promo gallery. But I'm gonna need your help gathering the Rogue fliers. If you've got a Rogue show coming up, you can post your flier here.

Not familiar with the Rogue? You better read up, fool! Not sure what's happening yet this year, check out the schedule and show list at roguefestival.com. Here's one of the shows you'll see -- it's very blogger friendly, with Famous Whitewater and our own Will Albritton behind it.

Wondering if the Snuggie hype has gone too far? Proof: The Snuggie Pub Crawl.

Grown people over the legal age of alcohol drinking, thinking it's a good idea to go from bar to bar in Snuggies? So far 1,976 Snuggie crawlers are registered for the Chicago event, which is scheduled for April 18. Yes, this is real.

Ten other cities are on the Snuggie Pub Crawl bandwagon, though only San Francisco has scheduled a date -- March 20.

I thought we were in a recession. I thought people didn't have any money. The Snuggie has changed that?

I suppose the powers of the Snuggie do deserve some props. It's gotten people to shop at Gottschalks again. It's helped raise money for good causes. It's inspired a drinking game. And then there's this.

All I know is that the people who invented The Slanket must be pissed.

PREVIOUSLY: Who needs a Snuggie when you can have a WTF blanket?

Just got alerted to my presence in today's Web poll at 1059jack.com. They're asking "Who's your favorite Fresno-born celebrity?" I got a "who?" next to my name, but it's all good. I'm honored to be mentioned alongside the great Kevin Federline and, to a lesser extent, Kip from "Napoleon Dynamite."

Disclosure: I'm sorry to say I was born in Hayward, Calif. But you can still head over the site and vote for me (it's in the bottom right corner of the page). If you want to vote for K-Fed, I understand. We all know he's the true winner.

UPDATE: We've got a winner. Congrats to Alex

ORIGINAL: It's time for another ticket giveaway from your pals at The Beehive. This time we have a pair of tickets to see Reverend Horton Heat on Wednesday night at Tower Theatre. The FIFTH commenter on this post will score the tickets. Two FYIs: No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have the winner.

Shouts out to promoter Tim Gardea for the tickets. Check out his site for more upcoming concerts in our area. Official rules for this giveaway are on the jump. Good luck, Rev fans.

UPDATE: OK, it's time for the big reveal. Find out the answer after the jump.

ORIGINAL: Since you guys had so much fun with our name-that-crappy-band post last week, I figured some fun might be had with this one. Can you name this once-famous rapper who had a No. 1 in the early 90s?

There's no prize for knowing -- other than a Beehive High-Five. If you've already read this another blog, don't spoil it for everybody else.

Here's a concert announcement for the all-ages rock crowd -- The Used is coming back to Fresno and bringing Saosin, Alesana and Drop Dead Gorgeous with it. The show is April 2 at Crest Theatre. Here's a flier that looks like Bert McCracken colored it himself.

Also on the bill: I Set My Friends on Fire, Fear Before, Sonny (ex-lead singer of From First to Last) and Goodbye Hidden Betty. Tickets cost $27 and go on sale Friday at timgardeapresents.com. and Monday at Valentino's.

In other concert news pertaining to promoter Tim Gardea -- his next show is Wednesday night's Reverend Horton Heat show at Tower Theatre. We'll be giving away a pair of tickets to that later this afternoon. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: If you were trying to buy tickets to this, but couldn't -- it's because the on-sale date got switched to tomorrow.

ORIGINAL: Critical darling indie/folk singer M. Ward is the next big name coming to Visalia. He's scheduled to play the Visalia Fox Theatre on May 15, a Friday night, thanks to the peeps at Sound N Vision -- also responsible for the Bright Eyes show in October and the Modest Mouse show in a few weeks.

Mega promoter Aaron Gomes called from the road to deliver the news to The Beehive first. Tickets will cost $25 and go on sale Tuesday, the same day Ward's new album "Hold Time" hits stores. Tickets can be purchased at foxvisalia.org, the Fox box office, Velouria Records in Visalia, The Cellar Door in Visalia and Valentino's Rock 'N Apparel in Fresno.

The place to be today if you're a rock connoisseur or a wine connoisseur is Whole Foods Market, where Maynard James Keenan will be hosting a wine gathering and bottle signing.

Keenan -- best known as the frontman for hard rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle -- is also an upstart wine maker, owning and operating Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars near his home in Arizona.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m. and is sure to be packed until it's 7:30 p.m. finish. Keenan will be joined by his business partner Eric Glomski. You can read my interview with Keenan where he talked about what to expect from today's event, his turn to wine making and more.

If you're going today, come back and tell us what it was like.

It's time for a new installment of the Beehive feature local promoters hate most -- Worst Flier of the Week. This week I pulled four fliers out of Post No Bills that straight up made me dizzy. Look below and tell us what you think is the worst.

If your flier is on the list, don't get all mad at me. Consider hiring some better graphic designers.

Valentine not required ...

1. GET FUNKY: Bungalowdowns are good. Super Lucky Catz are good. The B-Downs + The Catz = a very good funky, soulful night of local music.

Welcome to another week of Post No Bills, the biggest collection of Fresno event fliers and posters anywhere on the Internets, brought to exclusively by FresnoBeehive.com.

Looking for concerts and clubs? You're in the right place. Take a look below and it'll shatter any beliefs about Fresno having nothing to do.

Another big update this week -- including a packed weekend of happenings, plus stuff stretching all the way until May.

As always, we welcome contributions from bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.

So, ummm, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. Thankfully, The Warfield, Goldenvoice and KMEL had enough forward-thought to know that my wife looooooves both Robin Thicke and San Francisco, and were able to make happen a Robin Thicke concert in San Francisco. So I'm set. But what about you?

I hope nobody was planning to go to Pangea for dinner. Feel free to talk about your V-Day plans/suggestions -- or, conversely, your V-Day horror stories. Or you can cuss out cupid, rant about Hallmark holidays, write a haiku -- whatever's on your mind on this Valentine's Eve.

Since that voicemail last week was such a hit, I'm bringing back "I Hate You, Mike Oz" for a second go-around. This time it's not a voicemail, but rather a huffy and puffy, caps lock MySpace message from a local promoter guy who doesn't care for my Worst Flier of the Week feature.

I'm not gonna call out dude's name -- but let's just say he's so unoriginal that he takes his moniker from a famous rapper.

WHO THE F#%* ARE U NOBODY CARES WHAT U HAVE TO SAY ...HOW ABOUT HATER OF THE WEEK HEADLINING U..LAST TIME I CHECKED LETS SEE, 300-350 PAID AT $10= $3500 CASH FOR ONE NITE = $14,000 A MONTH... I DO TWO NIGHTS,LOL,, HOWS YOUR BANK ACCOUNT LOOKING????? AND THATS NOT MY DAY JOB BUDDY

If you're wondering, here's what dude has going on tomorrow night:

UPDATE: Because it is now abundantly clear in the comments, the crappy band pictured is Limp Bizkit. Now feel free to debate how they compare to other crappy bands, such as Creed.

ORIGINAL: An annoyingly crappy band announced it was getting back together today. And I figured this was a good instance for a game. (You remember the Jude-Law-in-a-wig-game, right? That was fun).

There's no prize for knowing the name of this crappy band (that really should just go away forever) -- maybe you'll get a Beehive High-Five or something. Oh, and if you've already read the news, don't spoil it for everybody else, smart aleck.

Looking for love, peace and harmony this Valentine's Day? I can help you with one of the three. If you need a good last-minute gift idea, how about giving the gift of barbershop quartet harmonies? The Gold Note Chorus will serenade your sweetie and you'll look like a champ. Here's their info:
I'll admit, I get a total kick out of barbershop quartets. For a refresher on what these guys do (and because I can never watch it enough), check out this video of them serenading members of the Smog City Roller Grrls.

Camera in hand, we were snappin' flicks at Tuesday night's J. Dilla tribute at Starline for another installment of the Beehive Society Page.

We saw all sorts of cool folks -- musicians, bloggers, eaters, Tweeters, poets and more.

Striped-shirt crew: Ryan Jones, Punit Dhesi, H-Mac and Sam from FTK

UPDATE: This is one of the top headlines on CNN.com and it's the front page of Digg. Here's the latest from The Bee.

ORIGINAL: "The Today Show" was running in the other room as I was getting ready this morning. My ears perked up when I thought I heard Ann Curry say "Fresno." I truly had a "DTJSF" moment.

So I headed over to the TV to see what the fine Ms. Curry was saying about our fair city and ....

Ugghhh, it wasn't too good. "The Today Show" was showing a video of a couple Fresno police officers beating up a homeless man, which had been recorded by a citizen and obtained by KSEE 24.

You'll have to go to their site to watch the video. And here's more on the story from today's Bee.

It's been a stellar run of late for Fresno PD when you consider that last week criminal charges against three narcotics officers made Police Chief Jerry Dyer shut down the department's top drug unit.

PREVIOUSLY ON 'DID THEY JUST SAY FRESNO'
- Did They Just Say Fresno? Fresno + Leno IV
- Did They Just Say Fresno? 'Prison Break' edition

Here are a three videos from the J. Dilla tribute event at Starline on Tuesday night. First is Fashawn covering "The Light" with Armen Nalbandian, Kevin Hill and Ray Moore backing him up. Next is the band jamming out on its own. Then there's a spoken word piece by Devoya Mayo, also backed by the band.

It was a good night all around. Promoter Johnny Q says he talked to Dilla's mom today, who thanked Fresno for its support. Money from the event is going to her.

Fashawn covering "The Light" (NSFW)

So I saw two inflammatory, anti-Fresno posts on my Twitter feed in a matter of minutes. You know what they say: One hatin' on Fresno tweet is an anomaly, two hatin' on Fresno tweets will get you on The Beehive.

(OK, I know people don't say that. But they should.)

First, from local artist Nigel Robertson, comes this:

I absolutely HATE FRESNO! Fresno is Hell and everyone is burning in it. I feel terrible that anyone should have to live in LAME ASS FRESNO.

"I have to go to the pit of civilization (aka Fresno) today."

"Finally going to lunch in this godforsaken city. I hate Fresno."

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say if a city can have that much of an effect on you, there's something wrong with YOU.

RELATED: Are you following The Beehive on Twitter?

Here's a new video from the Fresno Grizzlies. No Parker this time, but I promise it doesn't disappoint. I won't spoil anything for you, so just watch it.

For the record: This guy hecka reminds of me of Charlie from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Here's some Fresno music from a couple of my ArtHop stops last night. First is Bellarios playing at the awesome new KYNO/KJWL studios. Then we got Patrick Contreras and Steve Ono teaming up at DCAC. For more ArtHop, check out The Beehive's February ArtHop review.

I think we have enough hip-hop heads on The Beehive that this could get interesting. Leading up to tonight's J Dilla tribute at Starline (on the anniversary of his death), I've been listening to a lot of Dilla beats and pondering his place among hip-hop's best producers.

Some people will probably say he's the G.O.A.T., but I won't go that far.

1. DJ Premier - To me, a Premo beat is what hip-hop sound like.

2. RZA - From "Enter the Wu-Tang" to the first solo albums from Method Man, Ghostface, Raekwon and Ol' Dirty Bastard, RZA had quite a streak of greatness.

3. Dr. Dre - You can't deny his overall influence on West Coast rap, but there are too many ghost-producers doing work for him and not enough output anymore.

4. Pete Rock - Straight-outta-the-crate samples, lots of funk and soul influence, plus a great résumé.

At this point is where I think Dilla enters the conversation, along with Organized Noize, Just Blaze, Kanye West, DJ Quik and Khayree (Hey, I'm from The Bay, I have to) to flush out a Top 10. I'd like to see yours lists and reasons.

Info on tonight's Dilla tribute show is after the break ...

While I think the odds are low that anybody reading The Beehive is going to pony up tens of thousands of dollars to buy the 1869 baseball card uncovered recently by a Fresno antique dealer, I figured an update was in order.

Tomorrow is the final auction day for Bernice Gallego's card of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, who are considered baseball's first professional team. Likewise, the card is also considered by hobby experts to be the first. The story of this find has made national news and earned Gallego a spot on "The Tonight Show."

Current bidding on the card is $31,573, well below the six figures that its owners were hoping it would fetch. But this is an online auction, and as anyone who has bought or sold on eBay can attest, things can get wild on the last day.

We'll have more on Gallego and the card once the auction ends on Tuesday.

My Grammy hangover is just about gone. That was a loooong, not-so-good show last night.

Traditionally for me, the day after the Grammys is filled with hella press releases from the publicists of every artist who won anything.

This, of course, just adds to the regret of wasting my night watching the music industry pat itself on the back.

Nonetheless, here's another post of Grammy tidbits.

BLINK 182 IS BACK
Here's a statement that was sent out last night from Blink 182's peeps:

Word is that Pangea has shut its doors over at Fig Garden Village, another victim of the poor economy. ABC 30 and CBS 47 are reporting the closure (and I got a text message about it) but both Pangea's phone and Web site are still working.

I'm sure we'll hear from Joan Obra on this soon.

Your take: Big loss for Fresno? Or their bad for charging $31 for a steak?

OK folks, we're just a few minutes away from the 2009 Grammy Awards. Settle in front of your TV, grab your laptop and follow the awards right here with me. We can bounce jokes off each other and laugh at how out of touch the awards are.

It'll be fun, I promise. Can't say the same about the awards, though.

8:00 p.m. -- Did they just call the Grammys a once-in-a-lifetime event?

8:02 -- U2 is out to start things off, playing their new single. They've put the words on the screen because you probably don't know them yet. Ohhh, now they're trying to hypnotize us into thinking U2 songs don't get really annoying.

8:04 -- Whitney Houston? She's still alive?

8:06 -- Oh there's the Whitney we know, looking a little glassy eyed and too happy. When she was talking about Clive Davis she was probably thinking to herself, "Smile! Smile! Pretend everybody's a crackpipe."

I'll be here tonight to live blog the Grammys, so join me if you want to share in the hilarity that is the music industry patting itself on the back.

For now, though, I offer you this challenge: Can you beat me in Grammy predictions? In today's Bee I offered my take on 13 categories -- the four big ones plus nine others.

The categories are below and my picks are bolded. If you can get more correct than me, you'll win a very prestigious Beehive high-five, which will make you the envy of all your Facebook friends.

It's been too long since we've done a Worst Flier of the Week, hasn't it? Today I have three more options for you.

They're all aesthetically ugly -- but they all also could have used some spell checkin'.

If you like all these, head over to Post No Bills and find something that's worse. Oh, and if your flier is on the list, consider hiring some better graphic designers.

Since that Fresno Phil/Beatles thing is sold out ...

1. BLEND & TWIST: It's another month and another mixer for the Creative Fresno folks. This time it's at Twist. Bring your business cards!

Welcome to another week of Post No Bills, the biggest collection of Fresno event fliers and posters anywhere on the Internets, brought to exclusively by FresnoBeehive.com.

Looking for concerts and clubs? You're in the right place. Take a look below and it'll shatter any beliefs about Fresno having nothing to do.

This week, we've got another big update of February events, and a growing number of options for March and April.

As always, we welcome contributions from bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.

I love the angry voicemails I get. Mainly because people tend to unload when they know I can't talk back to them.

For example, this voicemail I got the other day about my recent "Deranged about DTV" column. Now, this person never actually says "I hate you" -- but does call me plenty of other names.

The call starts by asking if I have the guts to listen to the whole thing. Sure I do. Too bad the caller didn't have the guts to leave a name. I shall ask the same to you: Do you have the guts to listen to this?

LISTEN: I Hate You, Mike Oz! (mp3)

If you haven't heard, Johnny Q and his Love the Captive crew at planning a Feb. 10 tribute to producer/rapper J. Dilla (aka Jay Dee). It's happening at Starline.

I'm actually a part of the night. I'll be playing a little bit of music there -- but that's not the point here. It's seem like there's a whole lot of rapper tributes happening in this town lately. Tomorrow night there's also a Notorious B.I.G. tribute night at Club Habanos trying to tie into the Biggie movie, no doubt.

Rain or no rain, today is one of those Thursdays where there's a whole lot going on in Fresno. It's ArtHop, ArcHop, and lots of shows. If you're looking, we got plenty of options right here.

If you got something we should be doing, let us know in the comments.

ARTHOP
I got a few fliers for ArtHop stops below. You can also read Felicia's February arts preview for more of what's starting up tonight. One place I'm excited to see is the new KYNO/KJWL studios, which will have the artwork of Karen and Karl Kallmann, plus live music from Bellarios. I also want to head over to the Downtown Community Arts Collective event. I'm thinking of doing a "Place I've Never Been" ArtHop tonight. Suggestions?

John West, a Beehive fave since we teamed up with him for that Palomino's show, is back in Fresno on Friday, playing at Black Light Poetry event at The Loft. If you like soulful, jazzy acoustic music then West is a dude to check out.

Me and him traded e-mails on Wednesday.

So, Mr. West, what have you been up to since we last saw you around Fresno?
I'm finishing a new EP with my friend Emile Kelman, who also works as a sound engineer for T-Bone Burnett. Also plotting out a tour schedule for 2009 and I finally have T-shirts!

I know you've been playing outside of a California a lot lately. Is the rest of the country taking notice of you now?
Ha, well I have a lot of MySpace friends in Australia, but on the touring front it's been good to get to the east coast a little more often. My plans in the next six months are to get to Florida, Chicago, and overseas in the summertime...

I found much enjoyment in a new song I heard today. It's called "I'm on a Boat," by The Lonely Island, which is Andy Samberg-led comedy troupe that gave us "D in a B" and "J in my P." Lest you think this is just another joke -- they actually got an album coming out next week. It's called "Incredibad."

Looking to give this is a little more real-life rap cred than an SNL skit, The Lonely Island boys got T-Pain to co-star. I'm curious to know whether T-Painful was in the joke, or if he'll just do a song with anybody. Warning: NSFW

PREVIOUSLY ON THE BEEHIVE
- Joaquin Phoenix is actually a pretty decent rapper

Black Light Poetry is back for installment No. 3 on Friday night and, in my opinion anyway, this latest event looks to be the freshest of the bunch.

I'll give you three reasons why I'm psyched for this: (1) It's at The Loft in the old Security Bank Building, which is supposed to be super nice. (2) The Javon Davis Trio is performing and they're fresh. (3) Our man John West has been added as a performer. You remember him, right?

There are people who work while the rest of us sleep, tasked with keeping the Internets full of wonderful things for average joes who clack away at keyboards all day long. They might not wear capes, but these people are super heroes too.

Thank you to whoever put together this marvelous and TOTALLY NSFW mash-up:

[from Heather, via Gawker]

PREVIOUSLY ON THE BEEHIVE
- Batman flips the #*%$ out: The Remix
- Jessica Alba thinks Bill O'Reilly is 'kind of an a-hole'

In the last week we've given you Fresno concerts news about boy bands, indie rock outfits, space-age rappers and a Smiths cover band. Feeling a bit left out, Fresno headbangers? Well here's one for you:

In case you can't read that small print, this Lamb of God/As I Lay Dying tour stops at Crest Theatre on April 5. You can buy tickets through online though Vallitix or in person at SBI and Valentino's.

In recent years Club Fred has become a hotbed for touring Smiths/Morrissey tribute bands. A few weeks back, L.A.-based Sweet & Tender Hooligans played at Fred's and drew well. Now comes word that This Charming Band, a S.F.-based Smiths tribute, is coming back on Feb. 28.

The same thing happened last year -- Sweet & Tender Hooligans played at Club Fred in March and This Charming Band followed in July. If you're wondering which band is better, local blogger Ed Stewart started the debate after the recent S&TH show.

UPDATE II: It's confirmed -- tickets will go on sale Feb. 28.

UPDATE: Tickets won't be going on sale Saturday, as announced yesterday. The Save Mart Center just announced there will be a new on-sale date and ticket info to come, but the date and time still remain the same. Not sure why, but stay tuned.

ORIGINAL POST: Been Hangin' Tough, hoping for a New Kids on the Block concert date at Save Mart Center? Here's the Right Stuff:

I wasn't alive when Ritchie Valens was, so I learned his story like many people my age did -- through the movie "La Bamba." It was one of the my favorites when I was kid and I still can't watch the end of it without getting a little choked up.

If you didn't know, today is the 50-year anniversary of the plane crash that killed Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper, also known as The Day the Music Died. So on my mind today -- the end of "La Bamba."

Ahh, man, here my eyes go again ...

Word from Visalia megapromoter Aaron Gomes is that tickets for his Feb. 23 date with Modest Mouse are just about gone. Says Gomes: "With the exception of about 50 tickets still at Valentino's the Modest Mouse show is already sold out! You may want to point Fresno to Valentino's for tickets."

So there you have it folks -- you better not wait much longer. Oh, and further proof of The Beehive's awesomeness -- Gomes has hooked us up with a pair of tickets to give away in the coming weeks. Watch for that.

By now you've probably heard about Crhistian Bale's profanity-laced tirade on the set of Terminator Salvation, where he drops the F word 37 times. (Who's gonna bite on that 'Clerks' bait?)

Even better than Batman going ballistic is what the Internet has done with the clip. Our friends at The Dumb Drum have brought to our attention this equally NSFW, but hecka awesome dance remix. Bless you, Internet.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE BEEHIVE
- Breaking bat news

When it comes to Did They Just Say Fresno, Jay Leno is our most common invoker. Last night, he of the big chin uttered our favorite F word when talking about the Kern County sheriff's office and its "We'll kick your ass" slogan. (Thanks to Marty on the head's up)

This makes --and let's count 'em off -- one, two and now three times Leno has made it into "DTJSF," and four if you count his recent exchange with our own Bernice Gallego. Thanks, Jay. I may not find you the least bit funny, but I appreciate your dedication to saying Fresno.

DID THEY JUST SAY FRESNO BONUS: Did you see the Fresno connection to hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger? It's on the front page of The Bee today and is making national news.

Are you fed up with the constant reminders that the analog-to-digital TV transition coming up on Feb. 17? Do you think that anybody who hasn't heard about this yet doesn't deserve to enjoy the goodness that is TV?

Then join me in being Deranged by DTV. It was the topic of my column last Friday and this video I caught recently on KSEE 24 shows how ridiculous this whole saga has become.

Seriously, is there anybody out there who saw this and was like, "You know, I've been ignoring the other 2.873 reminders I got this month, but after hearing Gilbert talk about it, I really need to figure out this DTV thing."