All Good Things...

Alternate titles for this post:

• The Great Experiment... Failed
• Good News
• Unsubscribing
• Fun While It Lasted
• Not That Fun While It Lasted
• Blog, Interrupted (I don't get this one)
• The Question Is Not "Where Have I Been?", but "Where Am I Going?"
• A Good Week For Leaving
• Thanks For All The Fish
• Fresno, How I Love You So
• Don't Let The Blog Hit You On The Way Out
• My Way Or The Information Superhighway
• See You In Hello, Goodbye
• I Can't Take it Anymore!
• I Can Still Take It, I Just Don't Want To
• If You Haven't Guessed By Now...
• I'm Leaving FMB
• The demands of Life, coupled with my aspirations for this blog
• have made it impossible for me to continue
• Because you, and Fresno, deserve better than a subpar Fresblog
• We had some good times, didn't we?
• For Now, just check the blogroll in the sidebar
• You know where to go for your Fresblogginess
• Anyway, Whatever

Now, onto the actual post:

You should go check out the Open Mic tonight at Starline grill. The best mic is an open mic (this is not strictly true).

Oh, and also, this is my last post ever on FMB (barring any unforeseen circumstances). It was fun, but I wasn't able to commit the time to turn it into the magnificence I saw in my head. Rather than produce shoddy blogsmanship, I've elected to kill it. At least for me. What I mean is, it's dead to me.

It's possible it could be reborn without me, but—let's be honest—the best part about it was me (Conlan). I wouldn't want to be the act that has to follow me, would you? I digress. That issue will be taken up by more important people than I.

Fear not, FMBerinos. I'll still be around at my home, This is Conlan. If you're into it, Twitter me. And who knows where I'll turn up in the future?

I suppose that if you were here right now, I would probably tell you that it all worked out. And that, "I’ll be bringing you some salmon rolls right away!" In heaven.

In closing, if I may even flatter myself, I hope my work on this blog may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that it may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of Portland intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended Fresnanism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which it has been dictated.

Farewell. Continue Reading...

Yes, Virginia: Music, Tonight, Go

Listen, just go here tonight, OK?

The Fresnan has links and stuff.

Continue Reading...

A Good Night For Music: Tonight

OK, hi, everybody. I don't have the time for a full week's worth of music right now, but I will tell you what you need to do tonight.

Fresno's Wheels of Fortune, a band I've personally been digging a lot, is anchoring a solid acoustic, kinda-folky, kinda-rocky show with Merced's Joey No Knows and touring Portlanders Y La Bamba. Where is this quirky collection performing? None other than Aqua Shi at the corner of Champlain and Perrin (map). That's right: whatever you want to call it—Woodward Lakes, the North Side—some indie rock is making its way north of Herndon.



Time: 9pm. Cost: $5. Age restrictions: Unknown. Continue Reading...

Hump Day Links, Vol. 7

Hump.

I've got to get better about saving the sweet, sweet Fres-links I come across during the week. But here's a poo-poo platter sampler:

• I don't love Chinese food. But you do, and Joan Obra over at the 'Hive has got a lively Best Chinese Food in the Valley thing going. Put in your two cents. Aw, heck; make it three!


• What I do love is some independent coffee locales. Famous has the skinny on a new thang downtown. Check it out and let us know what you think.


• Enough with the food stuffs. Let's get to the real dirt. Literally. Our pal Mikey the Fresnan has a little write-up on our own Forestiere Underground Gardens. I'm ashamed to tell you I've never been there. But it's low on my list of shames, so I'm not too upset.


• Last and—let's just be honest; no offense intended, but really, admit it... when something is last, it is, by definition...—least, Archop has a lot of info on the progressing Archop Park. (How do they get this kind of inside information!?) What's that, you say? You don't know what Archop park is? Then make haste, my friend. Follow the link to your bliss!

OK, that's all I got. I'll try to do better next time, but not much better. After all, my work here is just a non-union labor of love. And I'm no scab.

Hump. Continue Reading...

A Good Week For Music: Rock, Retro, Retcetera [Updated] [Updated!]

Your week in music:

Monday, June 15. Nothing. But there might be some acoustic stuff happening at Starline Grill, I don't know.

Tuesday, June 16. UPDATE: THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO VAN BREAKDOWNAGE.The Starline's (map) typical Tuesday indie-ness takes a break this week. Instead, they've got loud, rocking, metallic types like Sky Eats Airplane, In Fear & Faith, Eyes Set to Kill, and The Word Alive. This looks to be a pretty cool show if you're into this genre. Take a listen through the links. The start time of this show is iffy, and so is the cover, but I'm guessing: 9pm, $5 or $6, All ages

Wednesday, June 17. Music on a Wednesday? It's true. In fact, too much!

First, Y101 is bringing some more 90's icons to town. Sugar Ray will be playing at Twist at Palm & Herndon. The show starts at 7pm and it's 21 and over and it's free, but here's the twist: if you want to go, you need to score some "VIP" tickets. There are two ways. Either listen to Y101 (it's a radio station) and call in at the designated times, or enter to win though their website. I don't know, but I suspect your chances of winning are good. So get to it. UPDATE: Also, apparently you can just pick up free tickets at The Laundry Room.

OR

For those of you who aren't fans of Access Hollywood (or whatever show that guy's on), Audie's Olympic (map) promises some Wednesday Goodness. They've got Capillary Action from New York, Nurses of Portland, and Prussia from—where else?—Detroit. Plus, San Diego's Bitter Sober. All of these bands have a semi-quirky, lo-fi, eclectic mishmash of sounds, which I think is awesome. Plus, a buck-twenty-five per band is what I call value. That's why I dub this show, Conlan's FMB Pick of the Week! Time: 9pm. Cost: $5. 21+

Thursday, June 18. Audie's Olympic (map) switches to punk mode this Thursday with the latest incarnation of pop-punk icons The Queers. Furthermore you've got The Mansfields, Atom Age, and Fresno's Giddy-Ups. But I'm most excited about an appearance by The Hot Toddies. See what I have to say about them here. Time: 8pm. Cost: $12. 21+

BONUS! Our pal Patrick Contreras is shutting down the Tower District (pretty much) on Saturday, June 20 to celebrate the release of his new CD The American Rock Violinist. His band will be playing in the parking lot behind the Tower Theater. Time: 8pm. Cost: $10. All ages (Seriously: kids 9 and under are free.) Check the flier:


Then check this neato video:

Looks like fun, right? See you there! Continue Reading...

Here we are.

Hi. Sorry. I should have told you I was going on vacation. I should have told myself too. Anyway, if you're looking for this-weekend-stuff, of course I'm sending you back to The Fresnan. He says everything I wish I could say, and more. Plus, notice the post was published at 6:30am. Gross.

Anyway, stay tuned for programming changes here at the old FMB. I tried, but I can't keep up this breakneck, linking-to-The-Fresnan pace for much longer. So, changes are afoot. Which is a way of saying we're gonna kick into gear (because of the "foot", see). Actually, I don't know. Just check back next week.

In the meantime, since we're talking about change, can I borrow 50 cents? No, I'm just kidding (I only take bills). Since we're talking about change, what changes would you make to ol' FMB if you had the chance? Continue Reading...