Fresno is about to “open up” because…[really I’m just too exhausted to get into it and you probably are too].
Above is a picture I took yesterday of the cantina from Casa Corona (no relation) at Bullard & West. In the times before COVID 19, it was always packed (even with its crap beer selection – OHHH sick burn).
It is a fun and lively bar, even with the lack of craft beer (burn #2), and it will be nice to see it return… I guess. You won’t see me sitting down inside a bar or restaurant any time soon, but if you need this in your life right now, have at it. Enjoy that freedom to acquire the COVID.
But yeah, anyway, I will miss it. The quiet.
I will miss sitting outside and not hearing much traffic at night. I will miss riding and walking around the neighborhood with few vehicles to contend with.
Empty parking lots. Less smog. More people walking. Enjoying their front porch. Bikers. Runners. I will miss it. I will miss the quiet.
It’s has been talked about during this Pandemic, as we use food delivery service up the ying-yang, that Door Dash, Grub Hub and maybe Postmates too, kinda suck as employers. That and restaurants make little to nothing using them.
There was even this post about how Door Dash will deliver food from places that don’t deliver, lose an ass-load of money doing it, just to later convince a restaurant to use them as a delivery service.
My personal morals tell me to not use these delivery services, but I still do… sometimes.
I don’t feel good about it. Makes me uncomfortable every time I do. Not only because I know the restaurant isn’t making nearly as much as it should, but because having a third party handling my food slightly skeezes me out.
The thing I tell myself to make me feel slightly better is that I only use these delivery services for places I would have never ordered from anyway. I still go and pickup takeout from my normal places.
This week, we ordered some Quesadilla Gorilla using GrubHub. I only eat there when I happen to be around Fresno High, it’s slightly outside of my takeout routes.
It was freaking delicious as always. I would not have ordered it otherwise. So why do I feel guilty still?
Would it be better not to use these delivery services at all, or does it make it ok if I’m buying from a local place that I would not have otherwise?
Fresno’s Bitwise Industries has a virtual festival happening Saturday called No Place Like Home. It starts at 9 am and goes till 10 pm.
Go here to sign up. I “bought” three tickets. They’re free but you still need to sign up. If you want to go all the way with it, you can buy a box that has swag to maximize the festival experience.
I might be more interested in the box Tioga has put together for it with the new and exclusive Valley Sunrise:
How the hell is this gonna work?
I assume there will be a constant Main Stage channel to watch and maybe some Stage B and C action to look at if you feel like flipping back & forth, I don’t really know dude.
They are going to stream stuff to the Internets and we’ll watch, nuff said.
I plan on having it in on the background on a screen somewhere in the house, all day, with focused stops to watch some of the more interesting acts.
I’ll be looking out for the music acts for sure:
SAGEY. Everything I have seen from these guys have been creative so I am willing to bet they have something cool planned.
PATRICK CONTRERAS: He has been keeping his chops up with his driveway concerts, he’s gotta be ready for this.
OMAR NARE & JASIMIN LA CARIS.
MERLINDA ESPINOSA.
ZEE WILL.
EDWARD HERNANDEZ.
HOPE GARCIA.
RAY’S BOOM BOOM ROOM. With a name like that there is no way his feed won’t be interesting.
How the hell is there food availible for this?
Organizers have teamed with Fresno Street Eats to have festival vendor food sent to your safe place. Not real sure how all that will work, but I guess we’ll find out Saturday.
I hope I don’t run into any people I don’t want to talk to. Or end up kicking myself for not remembering their name, or die of lameness for making bad awkward comments to people, or get drunk and… oh wait, virtual, I almost forgot. I’ll only be embarrassing myself at my own house like I do every day. Neat.
I’m sure Fresnans will still complain about parking though. And not enough bathrooms, which, actually, I have a complaint about… oh dammit, VIRTUAL, *bangs forehead* Mike, virtual festival.
In fact, if Bitwise wants to make it feel like a real festival, it will start an hour late and fall further behind schedule as the day goes.
Seriously, props to Bitwise and everyone involved in putting it together. I’m actually slightly pumped to see this thing. And thanks for giving me something to drink beer to while staring at stuff.
I’ll leave you with some Sagey to pump you up. Please mosh at home responsibly.
Bandcamp is the definitive place on the Internet for small and local acts to release their albums to. Bands are even able to make a little bit from this, at least enough to generate some operating cash, if nothing else.
Normally Bandcamp takes a fee from the band when someone buys a song or album. Lately, with everything being shutdown and bands not able to generate any revenue besides the selling of merch, Bandcamp has been choosing certain days to wave their fees so bands can get as much cash as possible.
So, I guess, watch Bandcamp to know when those days are or just buy as much as you want when you want.
Speaking of, as a way to support Fresno area bands, I have compiled SOME of the local acts with albums on Bandcamp. It’s a mix of my own suggestions and Fresno Twitter suggestions.
Since (like maybe most of the world now) there are so many people out walking (sometimes just to get the hell away from the house), I feel the need for a walking in Fresno… post.
I’d really like this to be a definitive Walking Guide To Fresno, but that is too daunting. Consider this post… *strokes beard and thinks about it* … consider it a walking prompt.
Fresno doesn’t have many places that will kick your ass. Pretty damn flat. There is one good place within the city limits though. You can go out to Woodward Park and use all the hills there if you would like a good ass-kicking of a walk.
Of interest to me are the hidden ones. There is a website in Los Angeles that features some hidden stairs to walk.
I don’t imagine Fresno has many hidden stairs. I rode my bike down a “hidden” path once. Okay, not hidden, but one that not that many people know about.
The only thing close to a hidden one on my usual route is a path behind some oleander bushes that people use instead of going out on the street;
So okay, maybe this post isn’t an official walking guide for Fresno but that doesn’t mean you can’t make one up on your own. You can start by mapping your walks and giving them names.
I use Cyclemeter for my walks or bike rides, save the route and name it something nerdy. There is also a cool trail-based app that even shows topography in Fresno called Topo Maps. Apparently the hill on Palm Ave (near Clinton) is 305 feet in elevation, btw.
If your neighborhood walks have turned boring, here is a nerdy suggestion: Do a themed walk. What the hell is a themed walk? Choose something specific to look for or think about. Like:
Cats. How many cats you see.
A color. Look for things in blue or something.
Trucks with lightbars (I’m joking…sorta).
Fruit trees. “Today is lemon tree day, brats!”
How many different kinds of birds are in your neighborhood – don’t mess with the crows, they’ll murder you.
Basketball Hoops.
I can count one putting green on my walks.
I have been passing by this house for years, always looking at the putting green in the front yard. I have seen the dude out there using it only twice. Still, it seems like a real nice place to lockdown at.
Speaking of, we’re going to be in near lockdown mode all Summer, despite what Clovis Unified thinks. Gotta start making longterm adjustments, like taking regular nerd walks.
So get the hell out there and do some walking stuff!
Stole this from the Vintage Fresno Facebook page because this is rad and rad things get lost on Facebook. Presenting a super cool transformation of a OG Fresno house.
First, the before picture.
Built in 1917, this was originally the house of historic Fresnan, John Euless (more on him in a sec). Eventually, lawn parking enthusiasts took it over.
Then. Something magical happened. Here is the after:
I’m not big on watching home restoration/flipping shows because it points out the flaws of my weak home remodeling skills and laziness, but if this house would have been featured in an episode, I would have been glued.
The house is located in the Sunnyside area at 373 S. Peach. It is available to purchase at around $574,000. You can check it out here, if you’re looking out for something overpriced awesome. It’s a pretty big property and house, which I imagine is why it’s priced so high.
Yes, the house was once owned by the dude that Fresno City’s baseball park is named after. John Euless was important to the early days of organized baseball in Fresno. You can find a little bit more info at Historic Fresno.
The transformation is pretty damn stunning. There a lot of hidden gems around Huntington Blvd and Sunnyside in general, glad to see somebody is out there shinning up some.
