August 19, 2009 Archives

August 19, 2009 5:43 PM

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The Fresnan reported last week that Zapp's Park, the beloved tiny music venue at Olive and Blackstone, would be closing. That's sort of true, but after talking to co-owner Pete Mejia, there's more to the story.

Mejia says he and his business partner, who took over Zapp's in 2005, are not planning on renewing their lease when it ends in a couple months. Instead, they want to look for a new, bigger location.

"The place is too small," Mejia says. "It reached a point where it's not going to work with a smaller venue like that."

Of course, he says, he'd take the Zapp's Park name with him. To not take the name would "ridiculous" he says, citing its history as one of the longest-running venues in Fresno's local music scene.

Mike Oz

August 19, 2009 4:59 PM

Baskin-Robbins_web.jpgSo we've already established that Baskin-Robbins' ice cream is not your favorite.


But if you're a supporter of Children's Hospital Central California, then put aside your love of Thrifty, La Reina de Michoacan, Fresno State ice cream and even Superior Dairy for a few hours.

From 6 p.m. until they close tonight, participating Baskin-Robbins stores throughout the state are giving 20% of sales to nine Children's Hospitals. Local stores will send their donations to Children's Hospital Central California.

Of course, eating ice cream isn't the only way to support Children's Hospitals. If you'd rather skip the cold stuff but still want to donate, just go here.

Joan Obra

August 19, 2009 4:14 PM

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UPDATE: We got our winners -- and pretty quickly. Thanks for all who tried. Winners have been notified by e-mail.

ORIGINAL: All right, baseball lovers -- this one is for you. We've got a bunch of tickets to give away for the Fresno Grizzlies game on Sunday against the Tacoma Rainiers. It's the third-to-last game of the season and we want to send some of our loyal readers to see it.

We're giving away six four-packs of tickets. Each prize will also come with a parking pass. So bring your fam, bring your friends, whatever. And free parking means more money for other stuff.

We'll give the tickets to the FIRST SIX commenters on this post. FYI: I won't post any comments until we have winners. You'll have to come pick up the tickets here at The Bee. Complete rules are on the jump.

Mike Oz

August 19, 2009 3:53 PM

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for menu_cake-thumb-200x221-24066.jpgUPDATE: In case you haven't seen today's paper, here's why I asked for your reaction to the calorie counts at chain restaurants. Thanks again for your help!


ORIGINAL POST: Remember Donald's astonishment at the calorie counts of Claim Jumper's dishes?

Well, it's been about a month and a half since some chain restaurants were required to supply nutritional information about their dishes.

No doubt, many of you have peeked at the info while dining out. So here are my questions to you:


  1. Do you change what you order based on the information?

  2. Do you split dishes, put half of your meal in a take-out box, skip dessert or order less food to keep your calorie intake down?

  3. Do you say, "to hell with the nutrition police" and eat whatever you want?

  4. Or do you have a different reaction?

Your input helps me on a story. Thanks in advance for playing!

Photo source: Claim Jumper

Joan Obra

August 19, 2009 2:59 PM

AP_on_TV_Top_Chef.JPG "Top Chef: Season Six," 9 p.m. Bravo: The new season of the cable cooking competition series will have 17 chefs battling for top honors. And this season, they will do all of their cooking against a Las Vegas backdrop. What this show has over "Hell's Kitchen" is that all of the competitors have solid cooking skills. That means each competition on "Top Chef" will be a real test of abilities. Padma Lakshmi returns as the host to presides over the judge's table of Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Toby Young. The likes of Wolfgang Puck, Natalie Portman, Penn & Teller, Hubert Keller, Laurent Tourondel, Tim Love, Tyler Florence, Charlie Palmer, Paul Bartolotta and Jerome Bocuse will stop by to help with each week's competition. Bon appetite!

Rick Bentley

August 19, 2009 2:26 PM

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Patrick Fischler is one of those actors who is in everything. You might not recognize his name, but you definitely know his face.

I was watching the movie "Something's Gotta Give" (skip to minute 6:45) on TNT recently when it occurred to me that Patrick Fischler has appeared in a ton of films, as well as on most of my favorite television shows, including "Bones," "Angel," "Lost" and "Mad Men." His list of credits on IMDb is impressive, and yet he is largely unknown.

The now mostly-defunct site Fametracker used to have a feature called "Hey, it's that guy!" (created for the original "Hey, it's that guy," J.T. Walsh, may he rest in peace) that gave name recognition to actors like Patrick Fischler. No doubt if Fametracker was still in the Internets game, Fischler would have been included long ago.

So this post is a shout-out to Patrick Fischler, and to the other steady-working actors who may never reach the so-called heights of a Brad Pitt, a Tom Hanks or a Meryl Streep.

Hats off to you, sir!

Heather

August 19, 2009 12:27 PM

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The Vans Warped Tour trucks into Fresno today, bringing more than 60 rockin' bands on seven different stages to Save Mart Center's parking lot. The show is going now and runs until right around 9 p.m. tonight.

We'll update this post throughout the day with any worthwhile info, but we'll start with some handy links:

Mike Oz

August 19, 2009 11:23 AM

Octuplets.JPG "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage," 8 p.m. KMPH (Channel 26): This is why network television is dying such an ugly death. Two hours of prime-time programming is being given to a woman whose one and only talent is she can give birth. Maybe there's a reason this footage is unseen - there are some people who don't care. Nadya Suleman is a parasite living off the unexplainable fascination the media has heaped on her and her litter. She's not the only one to blame. It is far easier for the media to create its own celebrities than to find real and interesting stories about actual celebrities. There is only one way to stop this madness. Do anything but watch this pathetic excuse for entertainment. As long as we keep watching, these headline making fake celebrities will not go away.

Rick Bentley

August 19, 2009 10:56 AM

Remember early last year, before she was under the care of her father, the things Britney Spears did that signaled the crazy train was leaving the station?

The crazy, disheveled hair, frequent trips to Starbucks, hanging out with skanks like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, walking around in public showing off her mommy parts, going into stores in one outfit then coming out in another, randomly dying her hair brown, making appearances on David Letterman's show when she had nothing to promote ...

They were fairly innocuous-sounding activities that ultimately indicated manic behavior. Take a look:

The messed up weave

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Heather



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