Playlist: Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Liev Tuk / Rom Sue Sue "Dance Soul Soul"
Thom Yorke / All For The Best
Flying Lotus feat. Thom Yorke / And The World Laughs With You
Goldfrapp / Head First
Delorean / It's All Ours
Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi / Tightrope
Gorillaz feat. Lou Reed / Some Kind Of Nature
Kate Bush / Sat In Your Lap
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti / Can't Hear My Eyes
CocoRosie / The Moon Asked The Crow
Jonsi / Grow Till Tall
Gil Scott-Heron / Me And The Devil [NYC orchestral version]
Black Keys / Unknown Brother
Sleepy Sun / Wild Machines
Neverever / Young And Dumb
Flaming Lips & Stardeath and White Dwarfs / Breathe
The Like / He's Not A Boy
22-20s / Latest Heartbreak
Dave Clark Five / I Know You
Art Museums / Oh Modern Girls
Adam Green / Breaking Locks
Harlem / Faces
Animal Collective / Fireworks
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse feat. James Mercer / Insane Lullaby
Sleigh Bells / Crown On The Ground
New Pornographers / Moves
The Sea-Ders / Undecidedly
Cibo Matto / Spoon
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / Give It Back
Wolf Parade / What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)
Gaslight Anthem / American Slang
Born Ruffians / Oh Man
Damien Jurado / Cloudy Shoes
Pavement / Heaven Is A Truck
Band Of Horses / Laredo
Foals / Miami
Blitzen Trapper / Love And Hate
Little Dragon / Constant Surprises
The Walkmen / We've Been Had
Low / Transmission [Joy Division cover]
Hunters & Collectors / Is There Anybody In There
Admiral Radley / The Thread
Fierce Creatures / Satan Is A Vampire

No ifs, ands or butts

Cigarette butts pile up in a makeshift ashtray next to the technology building at Fresno City College. According to the campus smoking and drug abuse policy, "In order to provide a healthier climate for teaching, learning and study, smoking is prohibited in all campus buildings. Additionally, tobacco products are not sold on campus." No more than four feet away, a sign on the fence reads, "No smoking in this area." Shot 23 June 2010.

Playlist: Tuesday, June 22, 2010

David Byrne / Don't Fence Me In [Cole Porter cover]
Ozomatli / Are You Ready
Admiral Radley / Ghosts Of Syllables
Earlimart / Answers & Questions
Panty Lions / Dedication
Grandaddy / Pre-Merced
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse feat. Julian Casablancas / Little Girl
Jesus & Mary Chain / God Help Me
Archie Bronson Outfit / Wild Strawberries
Flying Lotus feat. Thom Yorke / And The World Laughs With You
Devo / Fresh
Tame Impala / Alter Ego
Tokyo Police Club / Bambi
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti / Fright Night
Joanna Newsom / Good Intentions Paving Co.
Trumpet Solo / Hard Working Economy
Coliseum feat. Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Skeleton Smile
Scout Niblett / Duke Of Anxiety
Black Keys / Never Gonna Give You Up
Sleigh Bells / Kids
M.I.A. feat. Jay-Z / XXXO
Head Like A Kite / Director's Cut
Slug & Murs / Henrietta Longbottom
u-Ziq / The Hwicci Song
Flaming Lips / Worm Mountain
White Rabbits / Percussion Gun
Sloan / People Think They Know Me
Akron/Family / River
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Trouble In Your Mind
Big Pig / Hungry Town
Band Of Horses / Compliments
Blitzen Trapper / Below The Hurricane
Dead Weather / Blue Blood Blues
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / The Game Gets Old
New Pornographers / Crash Years
Dum Dum Girls / Bhang Bhang, I'm A Burnout
Rafter / Animal Feelings
Thomas Dolby / She Blinded Me With Science
Delorean / Stay Close
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Say No To Love
Wheels Of Fortune / Give It All Back
Foals / Total Life Forever
Neverever / Young And Dumb
She & Him / Lingering Still
Harlem / Spray Paint
Male Bonding / Year's Not Long

Fierce Creatures live tracks

In a shameless attempt to attract more page views to my little blog, I am posting three live tracks from the Fresno art-pop band Fierce Creatures here for downloading, courtesy 90.7 KFSR. They have a pretty loyal local following for being such a new band and that's sure to be stoked by the release party for their debut EP, I Mostri Feroci, on July 6 at The Captive, a new Tower District venue run by Johnny Quiroz and his hard-working Love The Captive promotions crew. I recently had the band live and unplugged in the studio on my Evening Eclectic show and they were a real treat. RIYL Arcade Fire, hand claps, sunny afternoons.

Fierce Creatures - Phantom Athletes [Live on 90.7 KFSR]

Fierce Creatures - The Great White [Live on 90.7 KFSR]

Fierce Creatures - The Brut and the Beast [Live on 90.7 KFSR]

Note for hardcore FC fans: If you tried listening/downloading these before on KFSR.org and they didn't work, you might have to empty your browser's cache before trying to listen/download to these. The previous files have now been replaced.

An afternoon with my brother

I've always kind of wanted a brother, someone to talk to about dude stuff. I already have a little sister who is a schoolteacher in Las Vegas. But she and I don't talk much. So when Eric Parker came along a few years ago, I got my wish. Not only does the guy wash windows (above), write a great blog (here), and regularly rub elbows with literary greats (here and here) but he has also has been just about the best brother I could have asked for.


Eric grew up in Clovis, lived in San Diego, and got both his BA in English and his MFA in creative writing here at Fresno State. He currently lives in San Diego where he blogs and is working on a book project. Ever since I met him in 2004, Eric and I have talked about doing some daytime tours of the little towns that surround Fresno. Even though both of us have lived in the central San Joaquin Valley off and on for most of our lives, there are so many people and places right under our noses here that we want to check out and immerse ourselves in--a la Gay Talese or Susan Orlean, two of our favorite writers--just to see what we find.


Eric was in town this past week or so doing research for his book. We had a couple chances to get together for meals and to catch up. This past Tuesday afternoon, Eric and I went on a quickie tour of spots in Minkler, Reedley, Dinuba, Kingsburg, and Selma. Our first stop was the Minkler Cash Store on Highway 180 northeast of Sanger. We bellied up to the bar and visited with the owner, Mary, whose mother Sylvia knows my dad from his days as a truck driver at the former Central Valley Ready-Mix, and a local, Jeffrey, who was playing the piano when we got there. Mary said she remembered me from when I was a kid. We had a great visit with them and loved the organized clutter of the store.


Next stop was Uncle Harry's restaurant on G Street in Reedley. This is not the Uncle Harry's that most people know as a bagel shop. This is the Uncle Harry's of Harry Horasanian, a longtime restaurateur and a friend of my mother's family for generations. His Armenian food is well known by folks all over the valley and even my vegetarian brother Eric went animal style with the turkey kabob sandwich during our visit. He said when you're going local, you've got to do what the locals do. I'm pretty sure he didn't regret it.


We motored into Dinuba to visit my parents next. Eric snapped this shot of me and my mom before we left. But mostly, Eric and I hung out in the garage with my dad, playing billiards and ping pong. The results? Well, my dad did a lot of shit talking and beat everyone in billiards. But no one could touch me in ping pong. Eric held his own in both and he even shared a can of Olympia with my dad. I've never been a beer drinker and I think my dad has sometimes wished I was. But two out of three dudes (67%) kicking back an Oly on a hot summer day worked better for us than one out of two (50%).


We rounded out the tour with a stop at the Sun Maid raisin plant just outside of Kingsburg and a quick drive down Golden State Boulevard through Selma, past the famous Wilkins Drive-In, on our way back. The Sun Maid plant was a little disappointing because only the gift shop is now open to the public. No tours inside like back in the old days. But at least there were free samples, good conversation, and a few photo opps for two brothers who made time to take their own little tour of a couple places that had always been there.

Playlist: Monday, June 14, 2010

The Breeders / Fate To Fatal
Papercuts / Jet Plane
Kid Mud / Federated
Black Keys / Tighten Up
Portugal. The Man / Guns And Dogs
Delta 5 / Anticipation
Animal Collective / Guys Eyes
Rademacher / Today Is Different
Vivian Girls / Where Do You Run To
Circulatory System / Until Moon Medium Hears The Message
St. Vincent / Save Me From What I Want
Aesop Rock feat. John Darnielle / None Shall Pass
Ghostface Killah feat. Cappadonna, U-God & Masta Killah / Winter Warz
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Elmo Delmo
Xiu Xiu / Dear God, I Hate Myself
Of Montreal / Gallery Piece
Home Blitz / Stupid Street
Trumpet Solo / Mamma's Kiss
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop / Sing Along
Mountain Goats / Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident
David Byrne / Things To Do (I've Tried)
The Smiths / How Soon Is Now?
Mos Def / Casa Bey
Gil Scott-Heron / On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 2)
Blakroc feat. Mos Def & Jim Jones / Ain't Nothing Like You
Moby / Shot In The Back Of The Head
Black Lips / Elijah
The Vaselines / Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam
Hot Chip / Wrestlers
Morning Benders / Temptation Inside Your Heart [Velvet Underground cover]
Crystal Stilts / Shattered Shine
Earlimart / Song For
Passion Pit / Cuddle Fuddle
Gorillaz / Pirate Jet
Massive Attack feat. Hope Sandoval / Paradise Circus
Charlotte Gainsbourg / Trick Pony
Scout Niblett / Cherry Cheek Bomb
Fay Wrays / This Song's About Brotherly Love
Beach House / Real Love
YACHT / The Afterlife
Women / Cameras
Cold Cave / I.C.D.K.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Isis
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / Mama Don't Like My Man
Ozomatli / Aqui No Sera
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Cornbread And Butterbeans

Playlist: Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Joanna Newsom / Easy
Bill Callahan / The Wind And The Dove
Scout Niblett / Duke Of Anxiety
Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang / Kids
The Breeders / Fortunately Gone
Mountain Goats / Genesis 3:23
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti / Bright Lit Blue Skies
The National / Lemonworld
Male Bonding / Franklin
The Vaselines / Dying For It
Foals / Miami
Blitzen Trapper / Laughing Lover
A Place To Bury Strangers / Everything Always Goes Wrong
Wheels Of Fortune / SF Wind
Head Like A Kite / Director's Cut
Admiral Radley / Ghosts Of Syllables
Yo La Tengo / Here To Fall [De La Soul remix]
Cave Singers / Beach House
Helium / Leon's Space Song
New Pornographers / Your Hands (Together)
Black Keys / Ten Cent Pistol
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Trouble In Your Mind
Magnetic Fields / We Are Having A Hootenanny
Tori Amos / You'll Be Taken Care Of
Beck / He's A Mighty Good Leader
Karl Blau / Crucial Contact
Angelo Spencer / Shivers
Hornet Leg / Disco Junkie
Solillaquists of Sound / Fittin' In
Jason Lytle / This Song Is The Mute Button
Neko Case / Magpie To The Morning
Dr. Dog / Where'd All The Time Go
Broken Social Scene / Texico Bitches
Feist / My Moon My Man
Amy Millan / I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Los Campesinos! / I Warned You: Do Not Make An Enemy Of Me
Le Loup / Family
Unnatural Helpers / Girl In The Window
The Dutchess and The Duke / Scorpio
Golden Triangle / Jellyroll
Chemical Brothers / Setting Sun [feat. Noel Gallagher]
Royksopp / This Must Be It [feat. Fever Ray]
Bat For Lashes / Daniel
Hot Chip / I Feel Better
Music Go Music / Thousand Crazy Nights
Yeasayer / Ambling Alp
Damien Jurado / Arkansas

Playlist: Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Carolina Chocolate Drops / Why Don't You Do Right?
White Stripes / Jolene
Black Keys / Howlin' For You
Clinic / Welcome
Four Tet / Angel Echoes
Owen Pallett / The Great Elsewhere
Archie Bronson Outfit / Run Gospel Singer
The Fall / Y.F.O.C./Slippy Floor
Vampire Weekend / Horchata
The xx / VCR
Gotan Project / La Gloria
Jonsi / Animal Arithmetic
Gil Scott-Heron / The Crutch
Beach House / 10 Mile Stereo
Sebadoh / Mind Reader
Male Bonding / Weird Feelings
CocoRosie / Lemonade
Avi Buffalo / Coaxed
School Of Seven Bells / IAmUnderNoDisguise
Kate Bush / Hounds Of Love
Fierce Creatures / Satan Is A Vampire
Racelegs / Fine Pines
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop / Your Sad Party Dress
The Suppressors / Marcus Wesson
Trumpet Solo / Hard Working Economy
Let's Wrestle / I'm In Love With Destruction
Arcade Fire / Antichrist Television Blues
Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band / Big Black Nothing
Tracey Thorn / Why Does The Wind?
She & Him / Gonna Get Along Without You Now
New Pornographers / Moves
Harlem / Spray Paint
Pavement / Cut Your Hair
Shearwater / Castaways
Cold Cave / The Trees Grew Emotions And Died
Xiu Xiu / This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy)
Sleater-Kinney / Good Things
Elliott Smith / No Name No. 3
Horse Feathers / The Drought
Quasi / Bye Bye Blackbird
Cake / Alpha Beta Parking Lot
Apples In Stereo / C.P.U.
Cyndi Lauper / Eleven Days

Playlist: Monday, June 7, 2010

Kate Bush / Sat In Your Lap
The Greenladies / Foxxes
Black Keys / Never Gonna Give You Up
Janelle Monae feat. Saul Williams / Dance Or Die
Sleigh Bells / Tell 'Em
Sleepy Sun / Rigamaroo
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Say No To Love
Neverever / Coconut Shampoo
Foals / Miami
Dan Black / Symphonies
Crystal Castles / Fainting Spells
Besnard Lakes / Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent
Gorillaz feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack / Stylo
Beach House / D.A.R.L.I.N.G.
Dirty Projectors / No Intention
Sigur Ros / Vid spilum endalaust
Local Natives / World News
Fierce Creatures / Phantom Athletes [Live in KFSR studio]
Arcade Fire / Wake Up
Broken Social Scene / All To All
Fierce Creatures / The Great White [Live in KFSR studio]
Rafter / A Frame
Darwin Deez / Bad Day
Fierce Creatures / The Brute and The Beast [Live in KFSR studio]
Smoosh / La Pump
Animal Collective / Fireworks
Radiohead / Down Is The New Up
Times New Viking / Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) [Arcade Fire cover]
David Byrne & Brian Eno / Everything That Happens
Head Like A Kite / Let's Start It All Again
A Place To Bury Strangers / Everything Always Goes Wrong
Off With Their Heads / Drive
The National / Terrible Love
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine
Blitzen Trapper / Destroyer Of The Void
Band Of Horses / Factory

Eating out: Jasmine Garden (Fresno, CA)

Tracy and I spent most of our weekend hanging out at home. We've thankfully found ourselves with a couple weeks off between spring and summer teaching terms. So what's the first thing we do when we've got any free time on our hands? Eat out, of course! On Saturday, we were craving something fresh so we decided to hit our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Jasmine Garden at Shaw and Woodrow near Fresno State.


I ordered my old stand-by: the house special no.7, which is called kra-tiem prik tai. It's a Thai black pepper and garlic dish with green onions, sauteed in a brown sauce and served over a bed of romaine lettuce. This day, I ordered it with chicken and at medium hot. (I've also had it with tofu and with beef, each good.) When you tell the folks at Jasmine Garden that you want medium hot, I've found that most of their dishes aren't very hot. But with this particular dish, because of the combo of pepper and garlic, a medium hot order will set your mouth on fire for a while.


Tracy ordered the C2 chicken pho, a hearty noodle soup that's pronounced kind of like "fuh" and is served with rice noodles, broth, and a selection of the diner's fresh ingredients. Here, Jasmine Garden offered Tracy a bunch of possible additional fixin's for her pho including mint, basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño peppers, and lemon. The broth included lettuce, green onion, pearl onion, and tons of slow-cooked spices.


A fair number of reviewers on Yelp and similar sites give Jasmine Garden a bad rap because their food is apparently more pan-Asian than it is pure Vietnamese. The owners, reportedly, are Hmong. But to me, that's Fresno--a place where flavors and influences come together in unusual (and very American) ways. Hardcore pho enthusiasts in town would point to the central Fresno area roughly bounded by Clinton Avenue to the north, Fresno Street to the west, Olive Avenue to the south, and Chestnut Avenue to the east, where there are at least eight pho restaurants, as the best options to find the classic Vietnamese soup. But Tracy and I love the comfort of Jasmine Garden.

Jasmine Garden
2633 E. Shaw Ave., Fresno, CA 93710

Playlist: Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Architecture In Helsinki / That Beep
Sonic Youth / Sacred Trixter
The National / Bloodbuzz Ohio
Gil Scott-Heron / New York Is Killing Me
M.I.A. / Born Free
The Sea-Ders / Thanks A Lot
Broken Bells / Mongrel Heart
Black Keys / Next Girl
Beck / Lost Cause
Kid Mud / Modesto [Beck cover]
Earlimart / We Drink On The Job
Unnatural Helpers / Claim It Mine
Nirvana / Blew
The Dutchess and The Duke / Reservoir Park
Scout Niblett / Lucy Lucifer
John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey / That Was My Veil
Delta Spirit / Bushwick Blues
Wheels Of Fortune / Give It All Back
Colin Meloy / Pregnant For The Last Time [Morrissey cover]
Dr. Dog / Jackie Wants A Black Eye
Cat Power / Wonderwall [Oasis cover]
Archie Bronson Outfit / Run Gospel Singer
Gotan Project / El Mensajero
JJ / My Life
Pavement / Spit On A Stranger
Neutral Milk Hotel / Now I'm Going Down
Elliott Smith / Drive All Over Town
Black Tambourine / Lazy Heart
Fay Wrays / Broken Wings
Dylan Tidyman-Jones / Usulut
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop / Out & Free & Faraway
The Suppressors / Real Rock
Royksopp feat. Robyn / The Girl And The Robot
Kleerup feat. Robyn / With Every Heartbeat
Health / We Are Water
Pissed Jeans / False Jesii Part 2
Ryan G. Tallman / Hatchet Job
Aphex Twin / Flim
Mountain Goats / No, I Can't
Hoppi Potti / Fox Lox
Dan Black / U + Me =
A Place To Bury Strangers / Ego Death
Head Like A Kite / We're Always On The Wrong Side Of Sunrise
Grandaddy / I'm In Love With No One
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / Where Was My Brain?
She & Him / Over It Over Again
The Blow / Let's Play Boys Chase Girls

Eating out: Teazer World Tea Market (Fresno, CA)

For a long time I've had a hypothesis that a person's tea or coffee order had some kind of unintended deeper meaning, a sort of predictor of the drinker's personality. Earlier this week, my wife Tracy and I had a chance to meet up with a trio of friends at the Teazer World Tea Market in downtown Fresno. Since it was the Memorial Day holiday, it turned out to be an unusually quiet afternoon at the normally bustling Galleria center, on Capitol between N and O streets. It was the perfect opportunity to not only enjoy some good company but also to get back into the swing of observation and test my theory.


Our friend Marcus wasn't quite sure what to order, overwhelmed a bit with Teazer's impressive tea selection. With input from Tracy and the bartender, he picked an elephant chai, which is a vanilla chai drink lightly spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. Marcus, who is a graduate nursing student at Fresno State, was kind and gregarious enough to share a sip of his drink for anyone at the table who wanted one. Someone said that Marcus's drink was the best at Teazer.


Tracy ordered her usual: the razmatazz, a black tea drink with raspberry, key lime, and lemongrass. I also ordered my usual: the limey, a black tea drink with lots of key limes. Tracy and I do love to try new local places to eat out all the time, but we also tend to stick to our comfort orders when we return to those places. I think I've ordered the limey every single time I've been to Teazer, in fact, even though they offer more than 200 teas.


Our friend Reaz told the bartender that he wanted a drink that was more like a dessert. The result: the monk's blend, a black tea drink infused with vanilla and grenadine. Reaz, who teaches journalism at Fresno State and is also a classical music composer and short-story writer, powered down his drink efficiently, a clear nod of approval to our hosts at Teazer in his first ever visit.


Our friend Susan ordered a tangerine dream, a drink known for its tang and vigor. Susan, who teaches journalism at Fresno State while also knitting, spinning, and researching social media, perhaps summed up the day best with her response to my question of how she picked her drink. "I wanted something cool and refreshing on a hot summer's day." While her thought initially reminded me of an old Nestea Plunge commercial, I later realized that my afternoon of observations made a lot of sense.

Teazer World Tea Market
2405 Capitol Street, Fresno, CA 93721