Fresno Famous

So, I blink somewhere mid-August, open my eyes a couple days short of December, and it’s cold and there’s fog and Christmas music on the radio and I’m wondering if time has always passed so quickly or if I’m just getting old. That’s an old-person thing to think, right?

Issues with time aside, the holidays are here and we might as well embrace it. So, we called some friends and posed these holiday-related questions.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?

I’m not big on turkey ... Over the last few years it has been roasted duck ($15 over at Pho 75#2) ... or roast chicken with an Egyptian marinade.
— Marcel Nunis, playwright, director, designer, blogger, www.marcelnunis.com

Favorite “holiday” movie?

“Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” I love this movie and try to watch it once a year. The actors (Steve Martin and John Candy) have some of the best timing. I always thought that David Spade and Chris Farley used this as their guide when doing films like “Tommy Boy” and “Black Sheep.” Also, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” is a John Hughes joint, and being a child of the ’80s means that an affinity for John Hughes is part of my DNA.
“Planes, Trains and Automobiles” has it all, and tells a familiar story. Now, I really don’t try that hard to make it home to see my family every year, but it is nice to watch a movie in which the characters display more determination that the US Postal Service. By the way, John Candy makes one hell of a shower curtain ring salesman.
Best holiday movie by far … My second choice is the original “Die Hard.”
— Travis Sheridan, Member Services Director, Central Valley Business Incubator

Thanksgiving is done. Then what?

As I think about this I realize that I have no idea how I’m supposed to fit in all the things I’m supposed to do the day following Thanksgiving. I never shop that day … so at least that part’s easy. At some point (I don’t think we’ve defined a time yet), I will be going to Reedley for Thanksgiving number two with my mom and stepdad and countless other Johnson-ish faces. Always a good time. I will then return to Fresno and figure out how to split my time between: A.) The Black Friday Art Show at Broadway Studios (which begins at 8 p.m. and will feature many, many visual artists such as Robert Amador, Shannon Johnson, Ramiro Martinez, Vicente Aello, myself?, and musical talents including Mike Mancillas and Niilo Smeds) and B.) Thanksgiving number three … the grand tradition that is “Kids’ Thanksgiving” to which we all as longtime friends bring leftovers from our family Thanksgivings and reunite to eat, drink and celebrate. A turkey is usually sacrificed to the deep-fryer, too.
— Brianna Johnson Smeds, painter, LEED-AP, Assoc. AIA, Darden Architects Inc., www.briannajohnsonsmeds.com

Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day?

Definitely Black Friday for me. Yeah, the deals are great and all, but for me it’s the whole experience — the chaos that ensues when 500 people rush to get that “Hackers,” DVD for $3 (of which they only have four in stock). Being in line with your friends, bull-sh****ng through the night, sending friends on coffee and snack runs, getting to know perfect strangers with you in line — all as you wait for the mass confusion of sprinting through the store’s aisles like you were searching for that mythical pot of gold. PLUS, you get to see humanity at its finest, as grandma gets into a shouting match with a dude for that last $10 MP3 player for her grandson. Although with money being tight all around, it’s going to be interesting to see if people come out in droves like years past (in searching BFads.net, I haven’t seen anything that compels me to brave the cold this year ... not yet, at least). But everyone wants a $500 40-inch LCD TV, and they’re willing to spend money that they don’t have — myself included.
— Roque Rodriguez, aka Brodiemash, filmmaker, blogger, www.dumbdrum.com

What are you thankful for?

It’s cliche, but I’m thankful for realizing how important close friends and family are. Thankful for music and thankful for new horizons. Cheezy? ... Eh, oh well.
— Patrick Contreras, musician, performer, self-promoting machine, www.myspace.com/patrickcontreras