No, no, Fresno roller derby hasn't gone away. It just has a new name. No Town Roller Derby is trying to make sure everybody knows that just because the Smog City Roller Grrls are no more, that derby is still alive. Thus, this party on Saturday night.
According to No Town's Red Bully: " All funds will go towards the 2009 season which starts March 21st against the Battle Born Derby Demons of Reno, NV at the fairgrounds. Tickets will be sold at a reduced price and parking is free!" And before you ask: Yes, Betty Rocker is still skating!
I gave local folk the New Year's resolution of being better Fresnans in my column last week, even supplying 20 steps to do so.
The list included stuff such as: "When you hear someone put down Fresno, stick up for your city. At least once" and "Flip your radio dial away from those big corporate stations once in a while, and try community stations KFSR (FM 90.7) or KFCF (FM, 88.1)."
My suggestions drew ire, appreciation and a hunger for more.
First, the angry anonymous caller who took issue with my inclusion of the Reel Pride Film Festival:
"Go to a gay film festival? I think what I'm going to do to become a better resident is stop reading your articles. You guys are ridiculous."
Sure, it's 2009, but it's OK to still talk about 2008 music -- thus the third and final part of my 2008 music survey.
Today, it's a bit of a questionnaire, asking you to dig deep into your iPod playlists and answer questions like which song annoyed you the most. It's all the stuff we didn't cover in the posts for favorite albums and favorite songs.
The questions are below. And I'm also giving you guys some year-end stats from Nielsen SoundScan, if you need to jog your memory.
The Guys Who Like to Eat show us they're also in the business of washing things down. Their newest installment takes the guys to a favorite drinking hole of ours, Full Circle Brewing Co.
Did you know there's a "Hello Ashley, Bye Bye Bubba" event scheduled for tonight? It's called "Fresno: One City. One Future" and is being billed as a "community-wide inaugural event." It's cool they're trying to have a party -- and one with "live entertainment including live bands" -- but I really feel like it needed a better name. I like Bubba Bash '09.
You can actually buy tickets on Ticketmaster. Though I'm waiting to hear which live bands will be playing before I decide if it's worth $15 and a $6.50 Ticketmaster charge.
New Year's Resolution: Give you more Fres-Know -- news you should know, echoes from the blogosphere and so on:
LATE PASS: We're a little late on this, but this flick from Bee There deserves some action here. Sorry, I guess we had our heads up our .... ya know. [Bee There]
TAKIN' BACK THE MALL IN '09! Lawsuits are expected today against two Fulton Mall building owners who the city says have let their buildings become dangerous eyesores. Might I add: About time! [The Bee]
GOODBYE '08: Fresno Famous put up its Faves and Raves from the year that was in Fresno. There's also an accompanying podcast -- perfect for catching up on all those e-mails this morning. [Famous]
ONE MORE TRY: Timmy T and his crazy fans are Fresno's bloggiest moment of the year, so says The Fresnan. I would have bet on Cabo Wabo, but I can't hate on the Timmy T call, as it did spill over to at least three local blogs. Does that mean: Timmy T > Sammy Hagar? [The Fresnan]
FOODIE FINDS: TasteFresno names North India Bar & Grill its "favorite find of 2008." Any other favorites of '08, Fresno foodies? [TasteFresno]
CREAMY: Speaking of local grub: Jenny Toste asks "What's the best local ice cream?" I'm surprised no one's said Cold Stone yet. Well done, Fresnans. [CBS 47]
AUSTIN BOUND: It looks like both Rademacher and The Sleepover Disaster are headed to South By Southwest this year. [More Cowbell]
OK, Diamondheads, who rung in 2009 with Neil Diamond at Save Mart Center? Tell us what you thought of the show!
Chime in on whatever topics you wish: set-list, theatrics, stage presence, crowd response, overall entertainment factor. It's all fair game. But most of all, did you dig the show? Was it worth the money? Has it inspired you to have an awesome 2009?
If you still need something to do for New Year's Eve ....
Warning: Shameless self promotion to follow -- If you're still looking for a spot to ring in 2009, yours truly will be playing some music over at Palomino's tonight. Beehive commenter Mr. Incognito put together the party tonight and recruited me to spin some tunes, along with Justa and F-Plus -- who are undoubtedly better at that kinda stuff than me.
On this, the last day of the year, we'll look back at the year that was at The Beehive, thanks to some nifty stats from our Web staff. You can see our most commented posts, most viewed posts and top commenters. Enjoy!
BY THE NUMBERS # of posts: 2,041 | #of comments: 12,234
Bernice Gallego, 72, is the least likely protagonist ever for a rare-baseball card story. She's never even been to a baseball game. But recently she discovered, in a box of junk, what experts call the first baseball card -- an 1869 advertisement that features the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
Read the story of Gallego and the 139-year-old baseball card at fresnobee.com. It's full of fun details -- like when she kept the card in sandwich bag, push-pinned to the laundry room wall.
Welcome to the final Worst Flier of the Week for 2008. Today we're looking at New Year's Eve fliers -- as if they were any doubt. Once again, I'm leaving it up to a vote. Our contenders are from three categories:
You gotta do something for New Year's Eve, right? And by something, I mean not sitting at home and watching Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark.
Below is a Post No Bills-style look at NYE events in and around Fresno. So check out the fliers, if you need some ideas.
Since it is New Year's Eve, every promoter in town thinks they're party is the biggest in town. If you're looking for a filter, check out my list of the Top 10 New Year's Eve options -- it also has some stuff not in the fliers.
Part two in my year-end music survey asks for your favorite songs of 2008. Like I said in the best albums post, I find myself listening to more random songs than albums this year. I guess that's the iPod effect.
As you'll see from my list, my favorites were all over the place this year -- lots of electro-ish pop, new artists, a good chunk of hip-hop and some indie rock.
I couldn't do a top 10 or even a top 20. So I figured a top 28 of 2008 was a good way to go. Even then, my initial playlist was 80 songs. I whittled it down to these 28:
The Beehive takes another step toward taking over downtown Fresno
We haven't talked much on The Beehive about Mayor-elect Ashley Swearengin's new "downtown czar," as Opinion Talk and Fresno Famous pretty much covered it. But today Swearengin named her downtown team and one of our frequent commenters deserves a shout-out.
It was former city councilman Craig Scharton who was named "downtown czar," or his more fancy official title -- director of downtown and community revitalization.
Part of Scharton's team is Beehive commenter Travis Sheridan, who will be the local business initiatives manager. He'll also, I'm sure, act in the best interests of Scoopy's plans for downtown domination. In all seriousness, though, it's cool to have someone in the city ranks who makes Swedes and reads blogs.
You can read about the rest of the new downtown team, which was announced this morning, at fresnobee.com.
I'm still sketchy on the details, but Fresno's DJ Shaq passed away over the weekend. He was a regular on the club circuit around here, so chances are you saw him behind the turntables at some point. He was also a member of the Union Crew of DJs, which also includes DJ Erb, Puba Funk, DJ Wonka and DJ XL.
I didn't know the guy, but A LOT of people did, judging from the number of MySpace bulletins I've seen about his death.
When you think back about the first time you ever did what your doing now, you always remember those days when you met the first DJ, Record Shop Owner, Coach, Teacher, Boss whatever it is. Well Central Cali lost a true OG in the DJ game yesterday. RIP to DJ Shaq.
I remember 10 years ago grabbing my first records through him and Puba and dude was one cool cat. Didn't have an ounce of hate in him. Always giving me advice and putting me on game. Which is very rare these days. If you're a true DJ in the area you know what I mean. We lost a good dude for sure. You'll always be remembered.
Hey, Fresno made it into the New York Times again! This time in a story about skateboarders draining the swimming pools of foreclosed homes and using them to skate.
On a recent morning, a 27-year-old skateboarder who goes by the name Josh Peacock peered into a swimming pool in Fresno, Calif., emptied by his own hands -- and the foreclosure crisis -- and flashed a smile as wide as a half-pipe.
"We have more pools than we know what to do with," said Mr. Peacock, who lives in Fresno, the Central Valley city where thousands of homes, many with pools behind them, are in foreclosure. "I can't even keep track of them all anymore." ...
In these boom times for skaters, Mr. Peacock travels with a gas-powered pump, five-gallon buckets, shovels and a push broom, risking trespassing charges in the pursuit of emptying forlorn pools and turning them into de facto skate parks.
Skating pools, of course, is nothing new for Fresno. The pool at the Vagabond Hotel (pictured) was a legendary draw for skaters. People would come from other states and sneak into the fenced-off, rundown hotel to skate its drained pool, until the site was leveled in 2004 to make way for the Vagabond Lofts.
After my holiday trip home to the Bay Area last week, I came up with this list of things that made me realize I wasn't in Fresno anymore.
5. Apartment parking lots are filled with BMWs, Benzs and Lexi (is that the plural of Lexus?) Guess that's how it is when normal houses cost like $750,000 $650,000.
2. Carpool lanes -- having only gone home a few times this year, I had almost forgotten these existed.
1. Tom Shane is on the radio. If you've ever listened to the radio in the Bay Area for any amount of time, chances are you've heard Tom Shane shilling for his jewelry store, The Shane Company (with locations in Cupertino, San Mateo, Novato and Walnut Creek!) on just about every radio station that will take his money. Oh, Tom -- as annoying as you were, I do miss ya sometimes.
If your holiday journey led you somewhere else and you got some "You're not in Fresno" signs of your own, drop them in the comments. First person who says "There's stuff to do" gets smacked!
Apple unveils ... The MacBook Wheel
