THE FRESNAN

The End Of One Long Fres-Nerdy Era

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:

• Mike Oz's posts and Post No Bills.
• Joshua Tehee's reviews and posts
• Audie's Olympic Facebook page.
• Fulton 55's website.
• Kuppajoe's Facebook.
• CYC's Facebook.
• Love The Captive.
• Art Silva.
• Laura Splotch.
• Pink Teeth.
• Religious Appeal.

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"

Post Takeover - FUSE Fest 2012: It Begins

FUSE Fest 2012. It all starts tonight with a festival pre-party happening at The Hashtag on Wishon Row. See various FUSE Fest artists doing hella short sets, plus get your festival passes for Friday and Saturday along with FUSE Fest merch.

You can also get a sweet program you can use to start planning your festival routing. It's music nerd stuff and it's fun as hell. If you don't get a program you can start planning with this.

Get hyped by listening to all the pre-festival podcasting:

• Flowing With FUSE Fest 2012.
• Ozmosis FUSE Fest Special.
• Josh Tehee talking FUSE on The Drive.
• Omar Nare and Before Perils on Radio Bilingue.
• Werebear on Dorktown.

It's like Christmas Eve for Fresno music nerds. Can't wait for it to start.

 

Nobody In Fresno Is Happier To See Pat Hill Fired Than Fresno's 'First Dude' Paul Swearengin

If you've made friends with Paul Swearengin on Facebook, than you know this week might be the best sports week of his life. Ever since he quit his morning radio show on ESPN 1430 - no longer having to interview or look Pat Hill in the eye - he's been relentless in his frustration of Pat Hill's team.

For example:

Good Or Bad?: Granville Tearing Down Old Fresno Houses To Make New Townhouses

Here is something that may get Granville some negative downtown street cred. They want to demolish two 100-year-old homes to make way for another housing project in the Mural/Cultural Arts District. In the past they have used empty lots or dilapidated/non-descript businesses for their loft projects downtown. For the most part these have been very positive and welcome things.

But their latest one calls for the removal of some irreplaceable old downtown homes.

Agreed that you could wait forever to get people in those homes that would bring them back to their former glory. But not sure why Granville feels this particular spot is a must to build on, homes be dammed, especially when there is still plenty of empty lots and unused non-historic buildings to remodel downtown ... and they just want to replace these homes with townhouses.

Make sure to read G-Hos' article in the Bee to find out the whole story - council voting on this today.

Tuesday In Fresno: A Fresnan Quad' Header

>>>Begin your day of being a well rounded Fresnan with a Town Hall Meeting in the Tower District at the First Congregational Church. Mayor Swear' will be there, Blong Xiong too. Tell them what's what with Fresno. It starts at 6:30.

>>>Continue your Fresday with a drink battle at the Creative Fresno Bartender Challenge. "Design heavy weights Bruce Batti of Jeffrey Scott Agency and Layne Lev of Hundred10 behind the bar of the Elbow Room to see who can translate design excellence into bartending excellence." Yeah, we don't know who those dudes are either, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the tips go to fund Creative Fresno's Mural Project. It goes from 5 to 9.

>>>Keep it rolling at the Fulton 55 with blues/jazz/country/alt guy, Jackie Greene. It's nice stuff:

The Jackie Green show starts at 8pm with Fresno's Glen Delpit opening up. Cost is $20 (yikes).

Finish off the night at Audie's Olympic with Lance Canales & The Flood:

 


You do all that and you recieve a perfect score for being an awesome ass Fresnan.

Fresno Film Commission and Creative Fresno Make A Deal... and Then Make 'Variety'

A year ago due to budget cuts, the City of Fresno had to release it's Film Commissioners office. Luckily, the non-profit organization, Creative Fresno, took in the Fresno Film Commission so it could stick around and do some of the good work it was doing fostering filmmaking in Fresno.

But working under a non-profit's umbrella meant that the Commissioner, Ray Arthur, would have to pretty much do the same job he had been doing, only not get paid for it.

Well now the office and Creative Fresno are liking the deal so much they've signed up for three more years. This is big enough news that it made the pages of Variety, Hollywood's biggest trade paper. Cool stuff. And in the article, we learn that Fresno's had a good year, film wise:

In the interim the Fresno Film Commission flourished on the production side, with 33 film shoots in 2010, a 27% increase over 2009.

In case you're thinking "I guess it's a good thing the City Of Fresno dropped the Film Commissioners office." Well, in the article, our Commish explains why that isn't true:

Film commissioner Ray Arthur noted that it is not all good news, however. "While the number of productions has increased, the amount of revenue from those productions has fallen," he said. "Without marketing or operations budgets we are, unfortunately, unable to attract the number of Hollywood-based productions that we have in years past."

Much respect to Ray for the work he and all the Fresno filmmakers have done in the past year without getting paid. Hopefully at the end of the agreement with Creative Fresno, the city can afford to have the film commission around again.

*If you'd like to read the press release about the new contract that the Film Commission and Creative Fresno have, download this file: Download FFC P R 12411

Fresnans Aren't Waiting To Find Out Walmart Sucks At Math

As you know, Fresno finished second to Salt Lick City in the battle for Walmart's money. But, Fresno still has a shot at the million. Walmart started making up some shit rules on the last day of the contest, deciding all the mass "lik-ing" wouldn't count. Dicks.

Hopefully, when the final count is done on Wednesday, SLC will be proven bigger cheaters than us and Fresno will get a million bucks to feed its hungry. But, some awesome Fresnans aren't waiting around for Walmart's ass. They started this website: fightinghungerfresno.org to try and gather money without any big-box store marketing campaigns. Just go to the website and join fellow Fresnans raising money for food.

If you would like to help in person, Fresno's Community Food Bank is having a fundraiser Tuesday. From 7am to 6pm they will be on the Southwest corner of Blackstone and Shaw at 4880 N. First Street (just South of Shaw) taking food donations and any money you can spare.

You gotta love Fresno's small-town style in times like this.

If Anyone Deserves Walmart's Money, It's Fresno

UPDATE: This thing has gotten pretty insane over the last couple days. It's passed the local viralness of the Google Fiber thing at this point. As of 12:37 Thursday morning, Fresno is in the lead over Salt Lake City by about 170,000. But they keep dogging us, plus their comment total is almost matching Fresno's. So keep at it and get commenting... and like-ing... and sharing.

SIDE NOTE: It's been pretty awesome to see Fresno's "small town" pride really pushing this thing and getting us to first (for the moment). And seeing Fresnans helping Bakersfield and Sacramento rise up in the ranks is pretty awesome too.

SIDE NOTE #2: Check out Paula Lloyd's Fresno Bee article in Thursday's edition about the latest (also look to the left of the article for more "liking" tips).

ORIGINAL POST (DEC 27TH):
Walmart is run by a bunch of bastards. Their *cough* alleged *cough* predatory pricing practices have probably put more small businesses out of business than any one thing in retail. Plus they smell. But if they're going to give out some of their dirty money to fight some hunger, we want that. Fresno needs that.

Unless you've been in a self-imposed local media/Facebook blackout, you know about the whole fighting hunger Walmart million bucks thing. Can't imagine there isn't somebody local on F-book that's not "liked" Fresno yet. But if you haven't...

Make sure you're logged into your Facebook. Then go here and "like" Fresno, make a comment, post on your wall annoying telling your friends so they can do the same (even the non-Fresnan ones). Maybe you'll pull us out of 2nd place, re-passing Salt Lake City.

Yeah, Walmart giving a million dollars out is equivalent to you giving a nickle to a Tower Rat. But it's something and would go a long way in Fresno. The "liking" finally ends on Friday.

Yes, The Roeding Family Is Old And Sweet And All, But We Gotta Do This Bigger Zoo Thing

 

Look at sweet old "Kiri", the Fresno Zoo's Malayan tiger. Check her out the next time you go and you'll see how bored off her fucking ass she is. She needs some space to run, maybe pounce on a gopher or two. She'll get that space if the Zoo is able to go through with its expansion plan.

The Roeding family is not happy with this. They came down from their Bay Area homes, as they do when these things come up, and said that Roeding is meant for grass and trees and stuff. That's nice, we like grass and trees too - they're pretty awesome and Fresno could use more. But, frankly dudes, you haven't lived in Fresno for a generation or two or something, so we kinda don't care what you have to say. Roeding Park is Fresno's, not some San Francisco family's.

While we do agree with some of the comments on the fresnobee.com thread, saying it would be better to take up some of the land on the other side of Belmont for parking and what not. But we don't agree with the batshit crazy Northies that want the Zoo moved, well, North.

If we want a better Zoo and we need to eat up some grass and trees to do it, we will. We don't feel good about it, being Tree Fresno supporters and all, but we're doing it. It's what Kiri would want.

*Photo stolen from Wendell Paypa.

Fulton Corridor Meetings: Wait. There Were No Brawls? Nobody Even Acted Buttholish? Well That's Boring

Nope. Nobody threw down Monday night at the Fulton Mall workshop. In fact, some were impressed by how non-buttholish everyone was. The main wow factor item unveiled was the Eight Fulton Mall Alternatives:

1. Do nothing (hey, it's already budgeted)
2. Restore it.
3. Restore it and open up cross streets.
4. Keep south and center closed.
5. Keep the center closed.
6. Reconnect to grid 1.0 (small street through the mall).
7. Reconnect to grid 2.0 (bigger street).
8. Reconnect to grid 3.0 (say bye bye to Fulton Mall).

Number two seems ideal to this blog, but number three sounds interesting too. Let's just hope it's not number one or eight and go from there. But really, if there was money to throw at the mall, our humble suggestion is to make living in and renovating spaces above the Fulton Mall, the easiest thing there ever was to accomplish ever in Fresno. Then get crackin' on fixing the mall part.

For those that missed the Fulton Mall workshop, lots of nerds bloggers were there Monday, even if one douchey nerd wasn't, to get you up to speed. We know that James already has a post up. Maybe Conlan? Those Beehivers probably will. Dumb Drum perhaps? Funny man Travis? Famous Whitewater is famous for Fulton talk. And Archop must have one coming.

The workshops continue tonight with "Limited Economic Resources: What is the Development Strategy for Fulton District, Cultural Arts District, South Stadium, Chinatown" ZZzzzzz ZZzzzzzz

Battles!: Save The Fulton Mall Fresnans vs. Traffic The Fulton Mall Fresnans

 

Tonight. From 5 to 8. Two rival Fresno gangs (Save The Fulton Mall Gang and Fulton Mall Traffic Gang) will be locked into one room (probably not locked) at the Downtown Holiday Inn, to finally end the debate for good (nothing will be decided). End the debate of whether or not the mall should be pulled out so cars can drive down the Fulton Mall.

Yeah, okay, so the debate won't end after Monday's meeting (it's really a workshop and less of a debate). But both groups will surely be there and they don't seem to like each other that much and they're going to be forced to "workshop" together. Should be fun. Speaking of fun or whatever, did you see the meeting/workshop on Saturday that kicked off this whole week of Fulton Corridor Plan talk stuff? It turned into a Social Studies class out of nowhere. Seriously, we took this class at City, like, twice. James Collier did a nice live blog post of the whole thing, if you haven't seen. They made people do stuff (HA ha).

The Fulton Mall is maybe the most polarizing (whatever that means) issue in Fresno (well, outside of the debate: Which is better teppanyaki: Yoshino's or Edo-Ya?). It should be a fun night of talking about the mall, even if we're all sick to FUCKING DEATH OF TALKING ABOUT IT.

Focused On Fresno: Taking Over, One Corner At A Time

UPDATE 5/3:
Not sure that this qualifies as a facade "improvement" (like what happened recently at the Kress Building on the Fulton Mall) but you can see the OG facade now at the Foodland/Las Palmas center. Can't say we remember an auto parts store being there:

 

ORIGINAL POST 4/28:
One guess why there is heavy equipment and a cyclone fence at the southwest corner of Shields and West.

You have your guess? Okay. It's because...

Top Five Awesome By-products Of The San Joaquin River Now Making It Out To The Ocean

As a result of the restoration of the San Joaquin River, the SJR once again makes it all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It's been quite some time since that happened.

So this basically means the water running along side Fresno's NW border, is deeper and filled with wild possibilities for Fresno area folks. These are the five most awesome possibilities:

• River Boat Gambling. It's a fight between Chukchansi and Table Mountain to see who gets the first black jack table on the water.
• Ability for our garbage to float into the San Fransisco Bay. The Bay Area's smog has been floating into our valley forever, time for some payback.
• Firebaugh will become the new Lake Havasu. Seriously, Firebaugh could totally be the spring break capital, just like Lake Havasu. The Eastern border of Downtown Firebaugh is the river. We're buying our Firebaugh house to rent out, right now.
• Frankenfish. Forget some whale finding its way upstream, we think there's a Frankenfish sighting in Fresno's future... or a really bigass catfish.
• Speed boat rides to San Fransisco. Yeah, a high speed rail coming through town would be great, but would it be better than cruising to the bay Miami Vice Style.

The Central High Tree Cutters Needed Some Google Fiber

We thinks the Central High Tree Haters (need to come up with a better name for them) got in all  this trouble not because what they did was so bad (kinda was) but because IT WASN'T FUCKING FUNNY. If you're funny, you can get away with all kinds a stuff.

Somebody in that group should have nip that tree cutting prank idea in the bud. This is how it should have happened:

Level Headed Teen: We need to do some sorta prank. Something to mess with the Juniors.
Tree Hater: How about we cut a couple campus trees down? That would be freakin' funny.
Level Headed Teen: Whaa? Why is that funny?
Tree Hater: You knowww... cause like, they all like stand under them and stuff. And if we cut them down they wouldn't be able to stand under them. And they would all like show up like the next day and be all like "Oh man, weren't there trees here yesterday?" [laughs to himself] Holy crap that would be funny.
Level Headed Teen: We're not cutting trees down. And you're an idiot.

Dammit guys. All you would have needed to do is use Google to search for "top ten Senior pranks". Then you wouldn't be in all this legal stuff.

Will Fresno's FUSE Fest Bow Down to Fuse TV?

The 2009 version of the FUSE Fest is coming October 3rd (Fresno Urban Sound Experience) and we're pretty damn excited about it.

There will be over 30 Fresno area bands/performers (that doesn't even include the DJ venue) invading Downtown Fresno this year. The venues are mostly focused on the Fulton Mall area so festival goers can walk around to the different spots throughout the night - and downtown businesses can be highlighted.

Yep, those that went to the first festival may have noticed there are many more bands than last year. Speaking of more, the amount of venues have double (that is if a replacement for the loss of Milano can be found).

Things seem to be building from last years success.

So much so it's caught the eye of Fuse.TV. You know, that music television network that's buried in your 500-plus channels so deep you don't even know it's there.

Well, they and their lawyers have sent a cease and desist letter to FUSE Fest. Fuse TV believes Fresno's FUSE is a copyright infringement on their use of Fuse Fest, saying they had it first (even though Fresno's version owns the website) and they're bigger and junk, so give it up.

In other words: Fresno's FUSE Fest comes up first when you google "fuse" and "fest" and that's not cool with a big-old national network.

Creative Fresno (the engine powering this festival) and the FUSE Fest team are currently weighing their options.

MORE FUSE FEST 2009 INFO

• Yes, you heard it right, new this year is the DJ venue. That will be at The Loft and it will be a nice addition, highlighting the deep DJ pool Fresno possess.
• Also new is a pre-party on Friday night (October 2nd) at Full Circle Brew in Chinatown. Many of the bands playing Saturday will have a chance to play a couple stripped down versions of what we can expect the next night. It's also a chance for musicians from different styles to mingle and talk shop in a cool, beer filled, atmosphere.
• Expect the ticket price to be up from last year's, but not much. It's all going back to the bands (and DJs) anyway so feel good about it.
• The after party is again at Tokyo Garden and is expected to be overflowing and awesome.
• Venues currently (subject to change) are: Friday night: Full Circle. Saturday: The Loft. Smokehouse. Club One. Joe's Steakhouse. Hero's. Saturday night: Tokyo Garden.
• The festival is always looking for volunteers.
• The list of bands is being kept a semi-secret so there can be a big "reveal day" - that day is coming soon.

Whatever option is taken by (or forced upon) Creative Fresno and FUSE Fest, it is certain there will be a FUSE Fest this year and in years to come. It just might be named FUSE Fest, RE:FUSE Fest or something completely different.

Doesn't matter, it'll still be our favorite Fresno festival.

[Disclosure: We are on the FUSE Fest commitee and are members of Creative Fresno.]