Oh man, here's how I started this Thursday: Stephen Colbert rapping, a Nas guest spot on The Colbert Report, Bill O'Reilly hate, Fox News rants ... pure gold!
Here's Part Two, with Colbert rhyming and the Nas interview:
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas ... until it comes to Lemoore
My first reaction upon hearing about Therapy, a new pool party at Tachi Palace that starts Sunday, was "Oh, that's a cool idea."
It's an obvious take-off of Rehab at Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, but it seemed like a good fit. Nice pool. Hot weather. Swimsuits. Something a little different than the typical nightclub. DJs, live music and (I'm guessing) drinks. What's not to like?
The more I thought about it, though, the more I wondered whether people would go. If you live in Lemoore or Hanford, then OK cool. If you're partying at Tachi at Saturday night, stay overnight and want to keep it going on Sunday, OK cool.
But will people drive 40 minutes from Fresno and pay $20 to go to something like this?
Maybe they will. Or maybe this is something that works within the wildness of Las Vegas.
UPDATE: The Bee's Denny Boyles gives us an update from today's city council proceedings. Thumbs up to Andy Souza, who defended the MMA event's right to happen. Thumbs down to Brian Calhoun, who said it "demeans Fresno."
ORIGINAL POST: Last week when I saw an ABC 30 story that asked whether an August mixed martial arts event was too risqué for Woodward Park's Rotary Amphitheater, I thought it was the typical controversy-stirring you often see on TV news.
Then on Saturday, I saw a story in The Bee about one woman who is making it her mission to stop this cage-fighting event by appealing to City Council. I just had to shake my head at Christine Arbuckle.
From Denny Boyles' story:
"I'm really amazed it goes to this point without anyone complaining about it," Arbuckle said. "There has to be a better place than the park to host these fights."
Arbuckle said she thinks parks are where children should be taught to play. "Now we're talking about holding a blood sport there?" Arbuckle said.
1. Go see the only living Beatle who will come to the Fresno area. Ringo Starr -- with his All-Starr Band in tow -- perform at Tachi Palace in Lemoore tonight.
Some tickets are still available, I called and asked. You're welcome. Here's a pre-show primer. You're welcome again. And yeah, Paul, you could stop at Save Mart Center one of these days.
We talked to Rodriguez as he was getting ready for the big show and now we're getting his post-Coldplay thoughts -- backstage encounters, an almost-exploding heart and everything else.
So what was it like?
It was amazing! Everyone treated us really well, including Coldplay. Performing in front of all those people was a dream come true. I can't wait to do it again.
You know, in case we haven't talked about stuff to do enough in this post or this post.
1. Sing along to the songs of The Smiths with This Charming Band, a San Francisco-based Smiths cover band that performs at Club Fred on Saturday. The band has been in Fresno in the past and the locals have indeed been charmed.
Did They Just Say Fresno? Vol. 15: Rainn Wilson, Pinball Wizard
At VH1's Rock Honors show for The Who, which aired Thursday night, Rainn Wilson (a.k.a. Dwight Schrute) gave us a very Fresnish turn on "Pinball Wizard." He changed the lyric "From Soho down to Brighton" to "From Scranton to Fresno." Scranton and Fresno together? Aye! We're blushing.
Welcome, Beehive fans, to another Post No Bills -- our goliath weekly look at what's going on in Fresno. No reason to go through all those MySpace bulletins. We do it for you. You're welcome.
Below you'll find the largest collection of Fresno concert, club and event fliers anywhere on the Web. It's our way of proving every week that anybody who says there's nothing to do in Fresno is either crazy or lazy. So grab your calendar and start making plans.
As always, we welcome contributions bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.
What I'm listening to this week: The Mike Oz Muxtape
In the column today, I rattled off 10 new (or new-to-me) artists who have my iPod rockin' so far in '08. If you checked out my Bartender Challenge mix or read The Beehive, you might already know some of the names on the list.
Since I'm constantly trying to hip people to new music, I'm taking that a step further on The Beehive. I'm introducing my own Muxtape site that I will updating from time to time and share with you all. You can count on new artists, new music and occasionally some old favorites that I might be feeling at the time. Here's the first mix.
Among others, it includes Miguel, Chester French, The Ting Tings and Santogold, all of whom were mentioned in this morning's column. If you're not familiar with Muxtape, it's a site where people upload 12-song mixes for the site's visitors, who can easily stream the songs. All you gotta do is click the song titles. Go have a listen. It's better than the radio.
If any of you are using Muxtape, drop your links and let's start sharing new music recommendations.
The Nine Million Dollar Coach: "We can rebuild her."
From the wacky world of sports, comes delightful news that Stacy Johnson-Klein has gotten a new job, as the marketing general manager of a minor league men's basketball team.
Between the Cincinnati Bengals and now the Oklahoma Cavalry, who will be paying SJK "six figures," other sports teams seem happy to scoop up some of Fresno's most infamous.
But sources close to The Beehive (who, by the way, are totally not credible) are telling us that SJK applied for the following positions (and was denied) before settling on her new gig:
Fresno: The 19th Most Walkable City -- are your feet happy?
Since it was kinda cool outside last night , my wife and I went for a walk. Until recently, we lived in an apartment near River Park, which didn't motivate us to go for walks too often. The walk in our new neighborhood was a nice little excursion -- we passed neighbors also on walks and kids outside playing.
Why am I telling you this? Going for a walk not as cool as Dancing With A Star? Nay, good Fresnans, you'll be happy to know that at least one Web site dedicated to walkable neighborhoods thinks Fresno is a relatively good place for walkers. We were named the 19th most walkable city in a list released by WalkScore.com.
With a score of 54, we finished one place behind San Jose and Las Vegas (both 55) and a little further behind Portland, Long Beach and the No. 1 city, San Francisco. According to WalkScore's calculations, our Central, Fresno High and Hoover neighborhoods scored the highest.
Most interesting? If you look at WalkScore's Fresno map, its Central designation is the triangle area formed between the Highway 180, 41 and 99 intersections. Yep, Downtown. On its own, it scored an 81, which would have put it between Boston and New York. You go, Downtown Fresno!
The Fresno High area, which was second of the Fresno neighborhoods, covers Ashlan Avenue to Highway 180, north to south. Basically the Tower District and its outskirts. If you're curious about how this all works, check out this explanation.
Oh, and before I walk away, I got four words: Take that, River Park.
Viva La Vida: How a Fresno musician got to open for Coldplay
Eat your heart out, other Fresno musicians -- Rico Rodriguez is opening for Coldplay.
Rodriguez, a Fresno boy, plays drums in the Bay Area-based rock band Picture Atlantic, who won the opportunity to open for a little ol' band named Coldplay tomorrow night at HP Pavilion in San Jose. Did we mention the band was hand-picked by Chris Martin & Co? Yeah, that's cool too.
Though he recently moved to Santa Clara to focus on the band, Rodriguez (pictured second from right) is a veteran of Fresno's local scene and was in town this week visiting his family. We caught up with him to get some details, thoughts and exclamations as he preps for Friday's show.
How did your band get to open for Coldplay? Live 105 and Coldplay hosted a contest where bands would submit videos to be judged by the radio station. They picked 15 videos that they like and those were put up on a website to be voted on by the public. Of those 15, three videos were sent to Coldplay and they personally picked the band they liked the most.
I already gave tonight's Mucca Pazza show my you-should-do-this seal of approval, but I'm so interested in this band I had to do another post. And really, since there are 32 people that means Mucca Pazza is like eight bands in itself, so two posts ain't bad comparatively. Right? Right.
I really dug the above promo video of the band. Totally gives you a feel of what it's all about -- craziness. Check the 1:28 mark, when Mucca Pazza is marching down the street in NYC before a show. Word is band members will be doing something similar in downtown Visalia at around 6:30 tonight before they play at The Cellar Door at 9:30 p.m. So if you see a crazy marching band along Main Street, now you know what's up.
OK, maybe I'm just trying to overcompensate for when I lost in Battle of the Bartenders. Regardless, thanks to all who came out, listened to the music, chatted it up with me and supported Creative Fresno. I gave out hand-numbered CD copies of my mix last night to 12 lucky people, instructing them to come here for the track-listing to my 28-song mix. It's after the jump, along with some pictures from the event.
For anybody who wants a digital copy, I got your back. You can listen right here. Warning: Language NSFW
UPDATE: I added 12 photos from today's Mayhem Fest at Save Mart Center, courtesy of Bee photographer Darrell Wong. Here's one below. The rest are after the jump.
Did you partake in the Mayhem? What did you think? Leave a comment with your Mayhem Fest impressions. If you got links to pictures or videos, shoot me an e-mail and I'll add them to this post.
1. Have you ever seen a 32-piece live band perform at a nightclub?
Exactly, that's why this one is worth the trip to Visalia.
Mucca Pazza, a "circus punk marching band" that hails from Chicago is playing at The Cellar Door. All 32 of them. With uniforms, cheerleaders and everything.
Wild, right?
In addition, the show has one of the cooler fliers I've seen in a while.
I swore off guest bartending after participating in Creative Fresno's Battle of the Bartenders series last March and getting sonned. But that doesn't mean I won't help out a fellow BOTB participant when it comes to serving up some tunes.
The whole thing gets going at 6:30 p.m., which is when I'll start my one-hour stint playing music. Vance will have a guest DJ spinning after me. Then both Devoya and Vance will spin. To get an idea of what you'll hear from me, check my latest offering at Muxtape. More details on the event ...
Before the members of The Stone Foxes were sharing a house in S.F.'s Sunset District, three-fourths of the band was growing up in the Fresno area. Vocalist/guitarist Aaron Mort is from Clovis, while brothers Shannon (drums/harmonica) and Spence Koehler (lead guitar) are from Tollhouse.
In anticipation of Tuesday's homecoming gig, the Stone Foxes gave The Beehive an exclusive download -- "Lookin' Real Good," off the group's coming-in-August new album. The song definitely showcases the band's classic rock/blues influence.
So if you're liking that fuzzy rock with harmonies from guys who sound much older than they are, check this band and this track out.
DOWNLOAD: The Stone Foxes - Lookin' Real Good (mp3)
Why I don't have an iPhone or ... Why AT & T kinda sucks
Today I should have come to work with an iPhone. I should have been able to toy away with it all weekend. I should have already loaded up on apps, added some music and been able to blog from wherever I happened to be. None of this has happened. Why? Because AT & T is stupid.
Let's start on Friday morning. I woke up around 7:30 a.m., not thinking there would be a super rush for iPhones, since it's just a new model. Wrong. When I arrived at Fashion Fair just before 8:30 a.m. the line at The Apple Store went down to Gottschalks.
I wasn't playing that. So I turned around, thinking I'd hit one of the local AT & T stores, where people on Twitter had been saying the lines weren't as bad. I passed two stores along Blackstone (the one near Shaw and the one near Herndon) before stopping at the store across from Manchester Center. I was quite excited to see no line out front.
Thinking I scored, I proudly marched to the front door, where I was greeted and asked why I was there. I could have told the guy I was selling Girl Scout Cookies, but I played it straight and said "iPhone." I waited a few minutes before I was let inside. There, I stood next to a woman with the word "manager" on her nametag, waiting for an open register.
Below we got candid moments from backstage, scenes from the crowd and performances from the artists. That's full circle coverage, y'all. Pics by myself and Ms. Heather McLane. The video is all H-Mac.
Did you miss your weekly dose of Fresno Fliers? Eh, you were probably too busy lighting off fireworks to even notice that Post No Bills was on hiatus last Friday. Well, we're back this week, with all kinds of new stuff.
Below you'll find the largest collection of Fresno concert, club and event fliers anywhere on the Web. It's our way of proving every week that anybody who says there's nothing to do in Fresno is either crazy or lazy. So grab your calendar and start making plans.
As always, we welcome contributions bands, artists, venues, promoters and regular joes. Send flier links to mosegueda@fresnobee.com.
I had heard about Engelmann Cellars for many years, but I'd never actually been there until last week, as we were prepping some coverage for the Best of Fresno Music Festival. (Peep today's issue of 7 to see what I'm talking about).
Proprietor Bret Engelman -- yeah, only one N, not two like the place's name, I learned that thanks to Bee copy editors-- likes to tell stories about people calling and asking, "So you're in Madera?" No, he tells them, the winery is Fresno, a few miles west of the Shaw Avenue exit off Highway 99.
Driving there, I got to see a side of Fresno I don't usually see. It's almost like leaving our fair city for a country winery. I can't lie, I was a little scared that I missed some turns and was about to get lost (you gotta go south on Rolinda Avenue after going 4.7 west miles on Shaw -- check the directions and watch for the signs), but I got to Engelmann just fine.
What I found was a hidden treasure. It's this very spacious winery that's just tucked back there. There's a huge green lawn that measures an acre-and-a-half and that will host the concert. Wine barrels both decorate the property and tempt you to taste some of Engelmann's wines. I didn't, so I can't comment on those, but I hope to go back soon for that aspect of the Engelmann experience.
What I can say is this: The venue for the Best of Fresno Music Festival is going to be a cool one. Too bad I can't say the same thing about the weather.
Sizing up this year's Big Fresno Fair concert schedule
By now, we know what to expect from The Big Fresno Fair's annual concert series: A couple older acts that can still draw, some newer acts who are (or were) hot on the radio, some fair-circuit staples, a couple country, Christian and Latin acts, and something aimed at the kids.
FresTube: Baseball celebrations, "American Idol" madness and bad bets
You see all kinds of interesting stuff when you search "Fresno" on YouTube. Trust me, I do it a few times a week. This week I found ...
1. Three girls dressed in the colors of Red Wave, shotgunning beers and belching to celebrate Fresno State winning the College World Series. Stay classy, Fresno
This kid Asher Roth has been building quite a buzz lately, thanks, especially, to his "Roth Boys" video, a take on Jay-Z's "Roc Boys." The video is amusing. Asher's flow is dope. And the Eminem influence is obvious.
Rather than having that early-Eminem craziness, Asher is a little more Zack Morris-prepster. Still, he got signed by Steve Rifkin (of SRC Records and ex of Loud Records). Check out the "Roth Boys" video. Warning: Language NSFW.
I'm putting together a list of 10 cool new artists I've discovered in 2008 for an upcoming column/blog plot. Asher is on it. If you're feeling him, you can download his "The Greenhouse Effect" mixtape with DJ Drama for free @ thedailykush.com.
The nine-act, all-day festival (pray for 95 degrees) sports a genre-spanning roster of rock, blues, soul, ska, country and fusion acts. But there are more than nine great bands in Fresno.
So now the big question: Who was snubbed? The names that come to mind immediately are Rademacher, Eva Scow, Flight 409 and MoFo Party Band -- though MoFo is out of town this weekend. And, of course, Let's Go Bowling should get permanent "Best of Fresno" status, but LGB doesn't play a whole heck of a lot anymore.
Don't get me wrong. I think the lineup is a good representation of Fresno talent and the show should be a good one, but I also know that these sorts of topics always bring out some good debate.
So let's hear it — who are your Best of Fresno snubs?
Did they just say Fresno? Vol. 13: The viral video edition
UPDATE: People keep e-mailing me and asking, "Did you see the ball girl video?" Yes, I did. And I posted it on The Beehive two weeks ago. Now it's big on Digg, YouTube, ESPN and Good Morning America, and garnered stories in the L.A. Times and our own Fresno Bee. So before this slips into Beehive oblivion, here's my original blog post from June 23.
ORIGINAL: The Chuk + Gatorade + Great catch by the ball girl = 300,000+ views on YouTube
A post about ArcHop that should have had a video with it
Once upon a time last month, I was at Tokyo Garden talking to Kiel Famellos-Schmidt, the curator of ArcHop. I had the bright idea to videotape him discussing this month's event and post said video here for the wonderful readers of The Beehive to get familiar with ArcHop, an ArtHop spin-off dedicated to architecture.
The batteries in my camera being depleted, I asked my always-kind blogging cohort Ms. Heather McLane to use her video camera, a request to which she obliged. It wasn't until a few weeks later, when I realized I soon needed to post the footage, that I learned a horrible truth: H-Mac deleted my video!
While I place all the blame firmly on Ms. McLearnWhenToDelete, I feel that I owe some Beehive love to Thursday's ArcHop event. So instead of a video, here are a couple of fliers and a post that Famellos-Schmidt wrote on Mindhub this week.
It's a big day for Earlimart -- the band, not the city.
For the unaware: The indie duo is headed by Fresno-bred Aaron Espinoza, who used to play music and tend bar at The Fulton before he was even old enough to drink. But that was like 10 years ago.
Today marks the release of Earlimart's new album, "Hymn and Her," the first on its own Majordomo Records. To whet your appetite, Earlimart's publicity team hit off The Beehive with the album's first cut, "Song For," which we're giving up to you guys as a free download.
If you want to read more about what Espinoza is up to these days, I suggest this recent piece from L.A. Weekly that talks about his work at The Ship recording studio, his label deal and even name-checks Fresno and Rademacher.
I didn't see a single person talking with a cell phone to his or her ear on my way to work this morning. Score one for Johnny Law, I guess. Speaking of talking: My column last week on the issue had people talking to me -- mostly telling me I was wrong for my this-is-stupid stance on the law.
We'll start this mailbag with the cell-phone chatter and continue with some more of what's landed in my inbox lately.
From Paul:
From your writings you seem to be a nice young guy but today you slipped back to being a kid who thinks only about himself. The facts are cell phones in your hand do kill people.
Beehive Poll: Who annoys you more, Kanye West or Amy Winehouse?
In a battle of two musicians people are already tired of hearing about, Amy Winehouse is beefing with Kanye West. Over the weekend -- when she wasn't trying to punch fans -- Amy called Kanye West the C-word. Yep, that C-word. Kanye kinda shrugged it off. But big brother Jay-Z has stepped up to say Amy's wrong and Kanye's a "great guy."
All this made me wonder which drama case people would root for in this spat -- or perhaps un-root for -- the crackhead or the big mouth?
If there was a Miss Roller Derby to be crowed that night, it was Smog City's Betty Rocker.
The speedy Ms. Rocker was at her best, skating laps and laps around the Prison City Derby Dames. She and the rest of the Smog City squad sentenced Prison City to a 50-point defeat, 121-70.
In today's paper, I have a feature story on the Ditch Bank Okies, a band that people who have been around the local music scene since back in the mid '90s might remember fondly.
The Okies were a country/rock band with a definite sense of humor. The band's "Fishing Song" was a hit on KRZR's morning show and the group's popularity quickly spread beyond. After going their separate ways in 2000, the group members got back together for a show last summer and are now reuniting again this weekend for back-to-back shows in Fresno.
Tonight, Ditch Bank Okies are playing at Club Fred for the 21+ and then on Saturday at Starline, which is open to all-ages. At the Starline show, the band is recording for a live CD/DVD.
To get you warmed up for this Ditch Bank weekend, the Okies served up an mp3 of that famous "Fishing Song" for Beehive readers.
Once again, Stephen Colbert has made my day
In last Friday's issues of 7, I had 
DOWNLOAD: 
As you probably already know (and saw splashed across 
