so, turns out First Friday was last week. :haha:

Amazing how calendars work, eh?

Any baseball fans go to Fanfest at the Convention Center? The Baseball Hall of Fame and Negro Leagues displays almost make it worth the price of admission. Definitely not as much of a ripoff as the NFL Experience.

There's also a pretty cool exhibit on the history of the Diamondbacks, including some items from the 2001 World Series (jerseys, bats and other items used by Schilling, Johnson and Gonzo) as well as the 2001 World Series trophy.

i went today, it was great and will be going again tomorrow! Great exhibits and good times, and the weather was not bad considering it's mid july.

That was the money shot! Anyone else see the helicopter aerial of downtown during the middle of the 1st of the all-star game? It looked dense/awesome!

I saw helicopters all afternoon hovering around, I assumed at least one of them was getting scenes of downtown.

Agreed. So far the aerials are making Phoenix look really good. At least it's not a smoggy day, they had a shot of Camelback that looked stellar.

Its driving me crazy that the roof is closed though. They said its 99 there, even if it is humid there's lots of games every year in Atlanta, Washington, etc that are warmer than that or as warm.

Maybe they'll open the roof during the 7th inning stretch, I imagine the sun will be down by then. That would be good.

Copied from my Facebook:

It's bullshit that PHOENIX has the MLB all star game yet the TV keeps showing shots of Old Town Scottsdale saying it's a beautiful part of Phoenix. News flash, media: no one in Phoenix wants to be associated with Scottsdale.

I second that.

I also got annoyed reading the AZ Republic about all the celebrity appearances in Scottsdale.

Like it or not, Scottsdale is the major destination of Phoenix for outsiders. I have no problem with the best parts of PHX being showcased to the world, even if it happens to fall in the city limits of Scottsdale.

Yea I don't mind it either...works in our favor this time really. Usually they show some place in Phoenix and say it's in Scottsdale so it's nice to see Phoenix get the credit for once.

I'm not thrilled that a lot of the party action is over in Scottsdale instead of near the game, but it's refreshing to have parts of Scottsdale misattributed to Phoenix for once. 99% of the time, it's the opposite with everything east of 40th St. thought incorrectly to be in Scottsdale.

This is an interesting article and video on "the high cost of free parking"

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/07/...ive-us-cities/

Add "branding/marketing" to Phoenix's myriad list of woes.

Did anyone take any pictures from MLB All-Star week?

Here are a bunch of pictures

Fanfest
Softball Game
Home Run Derby
All Star Game

I took some from Fanfest as well, but they came from my camera phone, so the quality kinda sucks:

2011 All Star Fanfest in Phoenix

^^Thanks for sharing guys!

Anyone want to recommend a good Chinese restaurant in central/downtown Phoenix. As much as I love Pei Wei I'd like to try some local places.

I don't know how authentic or good or if there are better ones, but China Chili on 3rd Street north of Thomas south of Osborn is pretty good.

I haven't been in a while, but how about Sing High? Last time I went food was good.

I'd definitely recommend China Chili. Good specials & "secret menu" with items beyond the usual American Chinese fare.

Sing High is a place I can recommend only for its history & kitsch. The food has never impressed me.

For Asian tapas, many with Chinese influences, you might also want to try Sens on 1st St.

I'll co sign on the china chili recommend.

Mu shu on 15/Thomas is great as well

Another vote for China Chili.

My Chinese coworkers all say that South China (7th Ave and the canal) is the most best Chinese food in town. However, you need someone who knows Chinese to get that menu. Otherwise, you are eating more standard Americanized fare. China Chili is also good, but again, you are best served having a non-pale face with you.

I didn't know China Chili had a secret menu....that place is tasty though.

I once took a Korean (American, just of Korean decent) gal there that I was dating once and they all started speaking to her Chinese and even gave her a menu in Chinese. I thought the Asians would be able to tell the various Nationalities apart but I guess its as mysterious to them as it is to whitey.

I'm probably exaggerating a little by calling it a "secret menu," but at China Chili, look for the hand written sheet with specials instead of relying just on the standard menu.

Here's a mini-review of Sing High from last week:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bel...ey_house_c.php

Sadly, I must agree. This is the type of place that has a lot of charm as one of the few remnants of Phoenix's long-gone Chinatown. I'd love to see someone buy it, get a liquor license, and hire a great chef to turn it around.

Thought some of you might be interested in this: I came across a couple old photographs of some interesting points in Phoenix's history..

Burning of the original St. Joseph's Hospital:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...rep/photo2.jpg

If you look closely, you can see some fire fighting equipment and people running in and out of the hospital carrying bed frames and stuff.

Burning of the original Hotel Adams:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...rep/photo3.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...ep/photo-1.jpg

I want to say both events happened in 1917, but one may have been 1914, the other 1917. I can't remember.

Sorry the quality kind of sucks, the fire pictures are pictures of photocopies of the original photos.

Bianco to offer pizza at second midtown Phoenix location
by Howard Seftel - Aug. 12, 2011

Don't want to wait two or three hours to get pizza at Pizzeria Bianco? By October, you'll have an alternative.

James Beard Award-winner Chris Bianco will soon be sliding pizzas out of his oven at another location. He's signed a lease to take over the old Lux Coffee Bar, which is next to his midtown Phoenix sandwich shop, Pane Bianco. (Lux moved a few yards south into larger quarters and became Lux Central on August 8.) Along with pizza, Bianco's new spot will also be offering two or three daily dinner specials.

And the wait may get shorter at Pizzeria Bianco for another reason: starting Aug. 15, Pizzeria Bianco will be open on Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Bianco is also about to go international. In a story first reported by Britain's "Morning Advertiser," Bianco has teamed up with British superstar chef Jamie Oliver to form Union Jacks, a project that Bianco calls "a cool, cool thing." While he won't yet provide the details, the restaurant's job posting website calls Union Jacks a place "where wood-fired flatbreads meet great British flavours."

The website continues: "Our incredible flatbreads and wood-fired cooking methods nod to traditions that are universally loved, and nearly all the ingredients for the toppings are unabashedly local." The flagship site is scheduled to open in the posh Holborn area of London (near the British Museum) in October 2011.

There are no plans to open Union Jacks in Arizona.

http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/...er-london.html

The Adams Hotel burned down in 1910.
Where did you get the picture of the building. Its a really good photo.

It's the beginning of Bianco Hut. I wonder if he will do a buffet at lunch.

Just wait until buffet's become the new food trucks. Bianco will be looked upon as a pioneer

Not that anyone cares but, it seems that I've talked my GF into moving back to Phoenix! When our lease expires in June here in Boston it looks like we'll head back west. She wants to transfer her credits from the pricey BU to the more cost effective ASU and I may enroll at ASU as well and finish out a degree, likely in Urban Planning or in their Urban & Metropolitan Studies program.

Now to find an apartment between Camelback, 7th St, 3rd Ave & Missouri...

^ That's a pretty narrow area. You expand just a mile in any direction and you will have a lot more opportunities.

Yes, you could drive to the park and ride at 3rd Ave & Camelback, and then take the train to ASU. Not a biggie...

900 square foot one bedrooms are $575 to $625 in my complex, and that includes all utilities. Two bedrooms with a small yard are a little bigger and more expensive.

--don

Who needs more opportunities when you know what you want?

FWIW though HooverDamn, you've just described an area that I don't think has any apartments.

Had enough of Boston already?! When I moved to AZ from Boston, I spent two years dicking around at Mesa Community College to make sure I became a resident to get in-state tuition rates at ASU.

Looks like there are numerous apartments/condos in the area on Google Maps. Why not rent a house with a nice yard? It's cheaper than anything in Boston anyways.

It is, but my GF grew up in (suburban) Phoenix (near Horizon HS) and hated it & I know what sort of neighborhood she'd like, and Uptown fits the bill. I'll basically have a year to convince her that gross summers and all, Phoenix is a place she could live her life. She never imagined herself living back there, so as much as I'd like to be an Urban Pioneer and be more Downtown, moving her into a neighborhood full of dirt lots wouldn't be a good idea.

There aren't any real big complexes, but there are some. There are also some condo complexes that people rent units out in. Medlock and Pasadena between 3rd Ave and Central have a few units, plus there's a bunch of cool Mid Century modern complexes directly West of 3rd Ave on those streets as well (behind Beefeaters).

Yah that may be an option as well. Its a ways away, as long as I can find something nice for $1,100 or less per month (should be easy) I'll be a happy camper.

What we pay in rent in Boston would be a mortgage payment on a real nice house in PHX, its insane out here.

Its less of that and more that I just miss home. I'm clearly a West "coast" person and the impending winter is terrifying me.

Is the cost of living the main reason you're moving back or are there others?

Its among others. They include:

*50% of the population of Boston are gigantic assholes.

*The comedy scene out here isn't what I expected, its a bit bigger than Phoenix's, but really no better. If I'm going to have to "start over" in comedy anyway, I might as well go PHX to LA, PHX to Boston wasn't enough of a jump.

*ASU, my GF can get in state tuition there (even though she's been here 6 years she never changed her permanent address! :P ) and finish up her degree

*I could go to ASU as well and get a degree. I dropped out of school in StL midway through my Senior year when I got a job working on the feature film "The Kingdom" in Phoenix/Mesa. I've since fallen out of love with film production and need to get on some kind of track to have a 'real job' if comedy doesn't work out.

*I miss the West, the geographic diversity, everything out here looks the same.

*We'd both be closer to our families

*I enjoyed being involved in the urban/development/whatever you call it community in Phoenix, I miss that.

EDIT: On an unrelated note, everyone here should pick up a copy of "Triumph of the City" by Edward Glaeser I just read it and its fantastic.

Have you noticed that everyone from Boston is extremely loud, or is it just me?

And I have to ask... your rants (like the one you just posted) are always so serious. Why are they serious? you are a comedian right? make us laugh when you rant about stuff!

Date tonight wants Sushi, not Japanese food in general, but sushi. I was thinking Kyoto in Old town, but I though it would be neat to find some place closer by. We both live near 40th st and Thomas, but we both work in Uptown, so anywhere near there and in between. Any recommendations?

I wouldn't send my worst enemy to Kyoto. My over opinionated, self absorbed ass thinks it's the know-it-all of Japanese cuisine.

If you want really knock your socks off sushi, Hana at 7th avenue and Missouri is your ticket. They are a BYOB, and an extremely no frills place. If you want a little more atmoshphere at the sacrifice of food quality, Stingray at Biltmore Fashion Park isn't terrible.

If you don't mind the drive, Roka Akor at Indian Bend and Scottsdale was named one of the top 10 sushi restaurants in the country by Bon Apitite Magazine last year.

Thanks, sounds like Stingray is the best fit. Leaving straight from work as I work late today (6pm) so I would rather not have to consider BYOB. Will have to check out Hana and Roka Akor some other time.

Hana is awesome...it's very good and I love their food presentations...

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._4163701_n.jpg

They are a bit pricey I thought, compared to other sushi places.

you get what you pay for...

On the subject of those sushi boats, I wonder how they get away with using them... they look very difficult to get completely sterile.

This is generally true, they're also very impatient. If you're at the front of a line of cars waiting at a Red light and it goes green, you better floor it the microsecond it turns green. If you wait a half second they flip.

I've also heard Bostonians try to defend their brash behavior and claim "people in other places just don't get our sarcasm"---no, if everyone else doesn't get it, it means you're not funny, you're annoying. Its not as if the rest of America is out of the loop on sarcasm.

Well I just don't want to come across as being "on" all the time, that can grow tiring pretty quickly.

That was the first thing I noticed in Boston. We get out of the airport at Logan and as soon as one person honks their horn at slow traffic, the whole mess of cars did. It was a huge turnoff coming out of the airport into the city and hearing that mess, and the bad taste never left my mouth.

i love Boston.

I feel the same way about Boston as I do Portland (Oregon). The built environment is terrific and beautiful. If only you could drop a chemical bomb on each city and wipe out the people who inhabit those built environments.

For different reasons of course, Bostonians are overly aggressive, entitled, rude and arrogant. Portlanders are trying WAY too hard to be cool and "ironic" with everything and it comes across as a place where no one is real or willing to act like a normal adult human.

E: VVV When it comes to that sort of thing I agree with Barry Goldwater who said you could "disagree without being disagreeable," I find the people here in BOS to be disagreeable. It seems like they're often aggressively ignorant and just looking for reasons to shout/fight/whatever. I prefer the more laid back West 'coast' sort of person, though they can often be a bit fake. St Louis and the Midwest is where I've found the nicest mix of people being real, but also being polite.