Dear reader of the old Fresnan blog, hosted here on Typepad. I am back blogging and posting on The Fresnan. Only it is not here. I moved over to Wordpress. You can find me posting away about Fresno at thefresnan.com. I would hyperlink it but Typepad seems to be preventing me from doing it. So just type in thefresnan.com in your bar and you should go over to the new blog.
Super stoked to be back. Go on over to thefresnan.com, subscribe and kick ass!
Cheers!
-Mikey
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Hi Fresnans. Welcome to the last official post on The Fresnan.
We... alright, it's time to drop the "we" bullshit... I will no longer write new posts on The Fresnan. A little local blog journey (that never felt like it got out of "beta mode") has come to an end.
I feel douchey doing a closing post but I always hate it when things I like (blogs, TV and radio shows, whatever) just end without a goodbye or a series finale. So this is for that little group of readers that happen to have liked this blog through the years.
WHY IS IT ENDING?
There are several reasons I feel it's time to stop The Fresnan. The biggest reason is I've blogged myself into a corner, so to speak.
The main content for the blog has evolved, over time, into posts about the music scene. Mostly posts about what show is happening that particular night. This requires me to be writing on a near nightly basis (Friday and Saturday usually being an exception). That kind of blogging schedule is not sustainable for me. With work and family, the only time I have to write is late at night. I simply can't keep up with it any more.
Now maybe changing the format back to the way The Fresnan was in the begining (more posts about general Fresno culture and media) would free up some nights here and there. Problem solved, right? Not really. I seemed to have lost the ability, or energy, or drive, to write about that stuff. Just lost it.
Facebook and Twitter have robbed a lot of that spark blogging once had as well. And that's a factor. But really that's a cop-out excuse. Good blog content can still trump social media, I just can't come up with enough good content to be relevant anymore.
Which remides me, I've always wanted to write more things like profiles of Fresno bands and bands that were coming to town. More journalistic style local content of stories that don't ever reach the media. But lack of skill and time always prevented me from that.
STATS
To those that don't know, asking a blogger about their stats is kind of frowned upon. It's a un-written rule amongst bloggers to not push other bloggers into revealing how many readers they have (no matter how much you want to know or think you know). But since we're done, I'll tell you that there are currently 152 subscribers to The Fresnan and the blog averages 156 unique views a day.
I've never actually turned a profit doing this. There have been a couple years when links or banner ads have paid for the site, but I have never earned a dollar in my pocket.
The biggest post ever on the Fresnan was when I (in a tounge-in-cheek way) said that we should open up River Park to traffic. It was a attempt to make the argument for opening up the Fulton Mall to traffic look silly. It got about 750 hits in 12 hours. One of the few things that went locally viral on this blog.
BLOGGER RESPECT
Over the years many blogs have come and gone. I'm not proud to admit it but I always enjoy it when new blogs come out strong then fade out just as quickly.
I know what it's like, you get that early little bit of success and recognition, think you're hot shit, then realize it takes a lot of grinding, day after day, to keep a blog relevant. Then you give up. I guess that's what I'm doing now, I just grinded it out a lot longer than most.
Much respect should be given to local bloggers Mike Oz, Joshua Tehee and Heather McLane. Through the years they (and some others) have motivated me to be a better blogger (not so sure it's worked but they motivated me). They've been doing it for as long as me and GET what blogging is. It's not a article, it's not a column, it is its own thing. Glad to know they are still out there fighting the good fight.
Bryan Harley needs to be recognised too. He did The Fresnan logo for free and was also part of the Dumb Drum blog that was a motivator as well. Old timer bloggers like Ed Stewart also pushed me. Incredible people and commentors, Blake Jones and Dale Stewart, I really have to stop and say thanks to as well.
In the early years, the biggest motivator and influence for local blogging, for me and for most everybody else, was Jarah Euston and Fresno Famous. This was the beginning of blogging for Fresno and I can still remember her writing a "how to blog" post that I used to teach myself how to actually do this.
BANDGEEK
If there will be a gap left by The Fresnan not posting anymore it's the end of the Friday "Bandgeek" posts. This one I feel the most guilty about abandoning. It was personally rewarding but took two to four hours to write every Thursday night. It was tough. I remember some times too when I would lose the post (delete it accidentally or have it freeze up and go away) after writing for two or three hours straight then have to do it all over again.
If you want sources to find out what's happening in music on the weekends, make sure to check:
There's more but that will get you started. By the way: SUPPORT FRESNO'S MUSIC SCENE! There is a lot of talent around here, especially for a small city, get out there and see it.
OTHER PROJECTS
Sorry but I will not be off the indie media radar totally. I still love doing the long runing podcast I'm a part of: Dorktown. I will be recording shows like always and posting Dorktown and podcasting related material on the blog.
This is easier for me to do because it can be done when time allows rather than having to make time for it on a nightly basis. Plus, I get to podcast with two of my best friends in the world (Producer Becky and "Bells") so it's easy to motivate myself to do it.
I also plan to still use my spot on Fresno Famous (I use the handle "Wiffle") to post stuff when inspired to and have re-booted Flowing With Famous podcast with Josh Tehee. Additionally I will keep the Fresnan Twitter account active (ironically) by RT-ing and linking to relevant Fresno stuff.
I will keep The Fresnan going in 'archive mode' for a while too and try to keep the links updated.
So please support that stuff and Dorktown Podcast if you're a supporter of The Fresnan. Support for Dorktown especially would mean a lot! I hope that not posting on this blog will force more creative content on Dorktown. Time will tell.
FRESNAN OUT
So thank you so much for reading this. Fresno is a good city that has potential to be amazing and that's what I love about it. Support things like Creative Fresno and anything and everything creative in Fresno.
Thank you thank you, thank you.
-Mikey "The Fresnan"
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It took many many years and a 64 ounce soda but the Fresno Bee's Mike Osegueda finally visits Dorktown... errr Legit Town. Lots of Fresno-y things were dorked about, stuff like this:
Listen by clicking this below:
MikeOzLegitTown110.mp3
Also, make sure to listen to Ozmosis, go to the Beehive Party and check out ValleyWho.
Dorktown on Facebook and on iTunes. Email the show: [email protected].
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Hey, Fresno's Internets, Happy New Year and all that junk!
So yeah, after about seven or so years of blogging about Fresno in some shape or another, I decided to get a logo. Thanks to some other local Internet nerd named "Bryan" for the help.
No big shits, just saying what's up and stuff. I'd like to be one of those people that say "2012 is going to be so awesome, guys! Can't wait to show you all the new stuff we have in store for you!" Yeah I'd like to but really it's going to be the same crap. We try, at least.
Yep, expect posts about local music happenings - blended with some Dorktowns and random Fresno stuff - to dominate as always.
I wish it was like the old days, before Twitter and Facebook, when blogs ruled and there were more posts here. It's not. And yeah, blaming Twitter and Facebook is a cop-out, but there it is.
It's cool, I still like hanging out here - quiet as it may be. As always, thanks for reading.
-Mikey
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In case you haven't seen over at Dumb Drum or The Beehive, the Fresnans from DumbDrum.com and creators of Swede Fest made a Sweded version of the trailer for The Avengers movie and released it before the festival to get some buzz going.
They got it.
It's all over the Internet now (like, the other Internet, not just Fresno's). The video has 70k views and counting and has already appeared on sites like:
Mad props (wait, does anyone say 'mad props' still? ... fuck it we're going with it) mad props to the Dumb Drum/Swedefest folks.
Here is the actual trailer followed by the sweded version. PRO TIP: Play them at the same time and you can see how well they match up. Nice work!:
Swedefest 8 is coming November 5th and there's still time to get your own Swede in.
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We miss blogs and message boards. They were the place to have nice threaded conversations, until Facebook and Twitter came along. Problem with Twitter is good info/convos can go unnoticed if you weren't around at the exact time they're happening. So maybe we're starting a new feature here with "Twitter Threads". Or this may be the first and last. Anyhoo...
There was a good Twitter convo on Wednesday as some news leaked out that ... we'll let some dude's tweets explain:
Yes. It looks as if Fresno PD is "requesting" Tower businesses to "Pay us or else!" Which sounds like...
The Mob. It sounds like something the Mob would do. And something they sorta tried before and it didn't work so well.
Really though? Bravo, Fresno PD. Genius. You gave us a great idea to finally start making some money on The Fresnan. From now on, anytime a venue or band is mentioned in a post, they owe us $16.
That's right, The Bel-Tower, Audie's Olympic, Rademacher, Fierce Creatures, Fulton 55, Strange Vine and so on. Get ready to pay for publicity, bitches!!
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Who has been doing cool junk with Fresno's internets over the past year? That's what the Frebby folks are wondering. They would like you to tell them. Like, maybe go so far as to nominate folks for whatever cool thing it is they're doing. So go here and do that.
Tonight (Friday) at midnight is when nominations end so... get drunk and start nominating some crazy ass stuff.
Watch the videos for more info:
Frebby Nomination Week! from James Collier on Vimeo.
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Yeah? Thought so. Just checking.
xoxo,
Fresnan Staff
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UPDATE: There is now a winner for the pair of tickets to Thursday's event: Angel. His name was drawn out of our Oakland A's hat (for realz), so congrats. And special thanks to all of your email comments, I enjoyed them greatly and I'll be paying my $5 along with you tomorrow.
Our Brothers In Blog, Fresno Beehive, are organizing another one of their Tweetups at The Chuk. It's Thursday and should be good. Highlights for us include a Tweetup goers only Thirsty Thursday booth, and the likelyhood of Barry Zito (and his pretty curveball) making a rehab start that night.
Breakdown of the whats:
WHAT: The third annual Great Fresno Tweetup, a face-to-face meetup for Fresno's local Twitter community. It includes baseball-watching, networking, games, prizes, cheap beer, possible heckling and, of course, lots of Tweeting,WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday, 'til whenever the game is over. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m., but our event starts at 6, which is when $1 Thirsty Thursday beers are available. Not a coincidence.WHERE: Chukchansi Park, downtown Fresno. At the "Tweetdeck," our private party deck overlooking left field.WHY: Because Fresno's Twitter community is: (a) Awesome, (b) Growing, (c) Full of fun people and (d) Somehow well-behaved enough that we haven't been 86'd from The Chuk after the previous two Tweetups. Also, word is that Barry Zito of the Giants will be pitching on Thursday, so that's pretty rad.HOW: RSVP on Twitter with @fresnogrizzlies to get your special $5 tickets (which include your first $1 beer). Make sure you're following @fresnobeehive for contests both at the event and leading up to it. Keep an eye on the #GreatFresnoTweetup hashtag to stay current on the all chatter.
Follow what the Beehive is doing for more info. Hey, Thomas Neal will be there (well, he kinda has to be):
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Call us old or something but we still enjoy a good local radio show. Especially when it's a local program that talks about Fresno a lot. One of those is KFSR 90.7's The Pulse.
It's a weekly show hosted by Dr. Timothy Stearns of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State. It's a show about "...innovators and entrepreneurs who are reshaping the Central Valley."
Fucking hideous self promotion alert!: Dr. Stearns had Fresno's Town Goob on last weekend. You probably missed it because The Pulse is on at times normal people don't listen to radio. Lucky for us the new fangled Internet lets you you download recordings of such programs so you can listen whenever.
Last weekend's show has a full discussion about Fresno's music scene, a little bit of what it's like blogging against the Big Shots in town and how this whole local blogging thing started.
Listen on KFSR's site. Or download or stream here:
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Video by Religious Appeal. Music by Elmo Marconi (we remember their original goodbye). Still wish those crazy kids would get back together for realzies.
By the way, gotta give it up to all the great posting the local music blog, Religious Appeal, has been doing lately. Makes this blog look like shit.
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Very much enjoying the uptick in posting from John Esquivel over at Religious Appeal. Keeping us updated on RA shows and sometimes giving us an insider's look at some of the shows he puts on or attends. Like the New Year's Eve show at the house/DIY venue "The Ranch", with a special re-uniting of one our favorite local bands of all-time: Elmo Marconi.
Video of that is below and it looks like a damn fine time. The kind of fun that eveybody should have, like, every weekend of their lives:
*Source video from this channel.
Yes, Fierce Creatures fans that are new to the music scene. That's Mike Adame fronting Elmo Marconi - he of keyboard playing in Fierce Creatures fame.
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The Fresno bloghistoric site, Fresno Famous, got a remodel on Tuesday. We approve. It's a nice mix of its original conception as a online magazine, and its most recent version as a community blogsite. Folks on its main rival, The Beehive, even seem to like to the change.
For those new to Fresno's blog history, Fresno Famous was Fresno's first cool website. It was started by Jarah Euston who was frustrated by not being able to find out about the good stuff going on in Fresno's creative scene. So she made a site about just that. It soon became Fresno's beacon for hipness, community involvement, blog wars, started Fresno's first podcast and even spawned a Modesto Famous.
Eventually Jarah sold the site to the Fresno Bee. Ironically about the time that the Fresno Beehive sorta took the reins as Fresno's go to website. The Beehive's rise along with Facebook's world domination, more Fresno-y blogsites thinning the waters, and Fresno Famous was in danger of becoming irrelevant.
Luckly Famous Whitewater never gave up his post as resident blogger, keeping Famous' heart beating. That commitment may be finally paying off as the new version of Famous could get the site back in the blogosphere's higher conscience again.
Yeah, she never really left, but we're glad to have the old gal back.
*Disclosure: We're a featured blogger on Fresno Famous and think Joshua "Famous Whitewater" Tehee is one cool dude.
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Glad to see Religious Appeal make a return to his blog with a great post Monday that pertains to the above awesome pic:
"Life has been absolutely crazy. I’ve had very little time for anything outside of school and work. This past weekend, I remembered what it was like to have fun. I forgot all of my stress and worries and just acted like a kid. The above picture shows some of the people I have met through shows and whatnot. We are a minority. We’re a bunch of kids who don’t really give a fuck about how old we really are. We party through our love of music and good people…who cares about the rest."
Well said. If we catch a little bit of lighting in a bottle at this year's F.u.S.E. Fest, like this show did, we've done our job.
*Pic by Bueno Power Photography.
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It's pretty likely you've seen the whole Starline being shut down for the under 21 crowd, thing. And you probably have also seen that, come to find out, it was local promoter, Rick Mirsnitchian, pulling Starline's Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and alerting local authorities that Starline (and some other places that have dancing like Rick's clubs do) may be technically pushing the boundaries of their permits.
We say bravo to Mirsnitchian. That's capitalism (or something). Get in good with local officials then, you know, maybe, politely point out some things your competition is doing that may be questionable. Concerned citizen. How nice and civic.
So then we're thinking "how do we incorporate this business model to the local blogging world? How do WE handcuff our blogging competition?"
Step one: Get in good with local government. Well, we're totally Ashley Swearengin's friend on Facebook and there's this one time we met Councilman Henry T, so we're in. Step two: Open up the books on all our blogging competitors and point out to our government-y friends, the violations we see:
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