WOODEN ALLIGATOR only $8.95

NEW PRODUCTS. 15-inch Wooden Alligator. Check out our website DandL CREATIONS

We also have many other products to choose from. Puka shell necklaces, clam shell, lovely cowrie shell chokers, semi-precious necklaces and a lot more. Shoulder bags and wrap-around skirts.

Pleae visit our website

New Products for DandL CREATIONS

We have several new designs on our website. Stop by and take a look. Fast service, custom sizes, superior workmanship. DandL CREATIONS. The design on the left is a necklace made with hematite and howlite. Sizes from 13 inch to 24 inch are available. The necklace on the right is hematite with Mother of Pearl.





We offer a great selection of inexpensive shell and semi-precious necklace.

GROUPIES SWARM ROCK DEALER IN MONTEREY

I have written a number of ficticional pieces on my website Starving Vendors and I would like to share them with you.

One time I visited a rock and gem show in Monterey and ran into a dealer there who claimed that he had 'groupies' that followed him from show to show. That was hilarious. I wrote a little story about what this topic.

GROUPIES SWARM ROCK DEALER IN MONTEREY
Monterey, CA As Jason Ringsby drove his beat-up 1978 orange van through the gates of the fairgrounds, he was able to escape from the reaching arms of over 200 screaming girls who had followed him in their cars from his previous show in Sacramento. With many of them running up to the fence and yelling at him, Jason drove past the security guard and proceeded to the space that had been reserved for him to prepare for this weekend's gem and mineral show.He is truly a rock star and noted expert in his field.

Widely known for his awesome stone jewelry and minerals, Jason has a strong following of young ladies who tail him from one location to another buying from him wherever he goes. Occasionally, some of these ladies will strip down in front of his booth and toss their undergarments at him. "I've got 5 boxes of panties and bras," exclaimed Jason with a huge smile on his face. "I'm thinking about putting them on my counter and selling them."

"That's one of the hazards of being a vendor," Jason added. "These girls follow me all over the place. They tail me to my hotels and wait out on the sidewalk for hours just to see me come out. I must sign over 500 autographs every day. My hand is getting tired. I need to take some time off to rest." Jason has been selling his minerals and jewelry at shows like this for the past 28 years and he really can't recall how and why this has been happening to him. "Yah, I've got my groupies following me all over the place. Sometimes these people will camp out for days on end. They stay in motels, their cars. Wherever they can bed down for the night." As for his night life, Jason certainly has no problems and is obviously the envy of the other vendors. "Yah, at the end of the day I usually pick out one or two and they take me to dinner and ... well, you know what I mean."

Ukiah Country Pumpkin Fest

Oct 17-18, 2009. Ukiah, CA Ukiah Country Pumpkin Fest

The crowds came out on Saturday for the parade and there were quite a number of people by closing time at 5:00. Food lines were not very long throughout the day and doesn't appear that they spent a lot of money. Entertainment throughout the day may have kept some of the people there. I was entertained by the assortment of characters coming in out of the woods or wherever they hide during the week. Sales were somewhat okay for me on Saturday and much slower on Sunday. Crowds very small on Sunday and that lends to the low booth fee. Maybe 75 booths and 10-12 food booths. Not much money to go around and quite a number of vendors did poorly. I'll bet they roll up THESE STREETS by 5:00pm during the week. They did an excellent job with the event and placement of the vendors and the food area was good. Booth fees were very reasonable and I am sure that everybody agrees with that.

Please click here to read more about the event

Antioch Holiday Craft Fair

Just received a form letter from the Antioch Holiday Craft Fair (or Contra Costa County Fall Fair or whatever you disguise this pitiful event as). It said:

We have received your application for the 2009 Fall Faire and appreciate your interest in our Faire. We regret to inform you that at this time we will not be contracting your services. Unfortunately, we feel that our product() are not suitable in nature for this event.

I sent in my application for this event five weeks ago and they have taken this long to get back to me. I emailed them several weeks ago and had no response. I called them last week and was told that somebody would return my call. Never happened.

Faced with the possibility of having to find another event, I called them on Monday and was told that they had not received my photos. Been doing this event for several years now and was there for two excruciatingly terrible weekends last year. So, I played the game and sent them in. Today I received the rejection letter - FIVE FREAKING WEEKS AFTER I SENT IN. They are being very inconsiderate toward the vendors and they could care less about us. Their show stinks. It sucks. They've been having it for two three-day weekends for many years and vendors have sat for hours and hours with no sales. So they changed it to one two-day weekend this year and called it by another name. It's a terrible show. The crowds were much smaller last year and if you are located in one of the two 'slow traffic' buildings you are totally screwed. Nobody comes to the last building and few go to the middle building. The show stinks. Not worth the money. They really gave a bunch of vendors the shaft this year.

Meridian Square Fair/Bazaar, San Jose, CA

Vendor's Needed for Meridian Square Fair/Bazaar on Oct 31, 2009 in San Jose. Click on image for more details.

COSTCO CARAVAN CANOPIES

Here's a picture of our COSTCO CARAVAN Alumina CANOPY. It just collapsed, plain and simple. Luckily nobody was around. Please be sure to check out http://www.starvingvendors.com or go to http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Alma_Heights_CA_flea_market.html to see more images of this durable, reliable canopy.

Telephone Rip Off Calls

Just received a call on my cell phone. Now there are like 4-5 people in this whole wide world that have my cell phone number. They tell me to press number '1' so I did. Kind of curious. The lady told me that she wanted to give me updated credit card rates. I asked her how did she get my number. She then told me that she got it from the Merican Credit Buuu. What? The Merican Credit Buuuu. Oh gosh, are you trying to say "bureau?" Yes, The Merican Credit Buuu. She then started telling me about credit card rates and I then axed (get it?) her how she got my number and she hung up. Her number? Of course I will tell you. 228-209-9560. Did a search on the number and there is a lot of info on this. They are trying to get your credit card numbers, etc. or try to swindle you in some other way, shape or form.

San Juan Bautista Chicken Festival

San Juan Bautista Chicken Festival, Sep 19-20, 2009.

This was not a very good show for the vendors and you know something was wrong when they lowered the booth fee. This town has several events during the year and sometimes vendors do somewhat okay. Such was not the case for this event and we could say that perhaps 3,500-4,200 people attended the event over the two days. Not really a spending crowd and I don't think that this event draws very many tourists. With proper advertising and a 'good drawing card' you could pick travelers off the highway. There were around 60-70 vendors and 4-5 food booths along with a little bit of entertainment, which livened things up a little bit. Perhaps the highlight of the event was the Chicken Dance contest and that certainly isn't going to draw people there. Seemingly a local crowd with maybe people from Hollister and Gilroy. Booth fees were reasonable, but there was a reason for that. Never travel far for this one, I didn't.

Please click on link to read more about the event.

http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_chicken_festival_2009.html

Manteca Pumpkin Fair - Oct 3-4

Manteca, CA

The annual Pumpkin Fair presented by the Manteca Sunrise Kiwanis, will be held on the first full Saturday and Sunday of October in downtown Manteca from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Street Fair portion complete with pumpkin patch, kids zone, truck show, car show, motorcycle run, three stages and over 150 vendors will once again be located in downtown Manteca near Library Park.

To read more about the event, please click on the link below:

http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Manteca_Pumpkin_Fair_2009.html

Cherry's Jubilee at Laguna Seca Raceway

Salinas, CA. Sep 26-27. We sold our goods at Cherry's Jubilee Motorsports Festival in the 'paddock' area of Mazda Laguna Seca Track. Here's a portion of our review of the event.

We left Hayward and arrived at Laguna Seca around 7:15. I was told yesterday that there could be a long line of cars waiting to get in. Yah right. We zoomed up the zig-zag road up and over the hills and on to the paddock area where the show was being held. No cars yet for the show. Pulled up alongside our space and emptied out a couple things from the van and had my son drive it up to the vendor parking area. The first thing I did was to take down our covers, which surrounded our canopy and folded them up. We then proceeded to put up our merchandise as other vendors arrived and did the same.

Click on link below to read our complete review of the event

http://www.starvingvendors.com/Events_Cherry

Vacaville Harvest Days - 2007

UPDATE: Just remembering when we did this event. Beware. The amusement park has now closed and things might be worse... or they might be better. Moi? Uh uh.

Oct 2007. As we are getting closer toward Halloween, I recall spending a couple weekends at this Vacaville event. Let's share the horrors of two weekends at the Vacaville Harvest Days.

Vacaville Harvest Days. Very bad show!! Never again. This event was held over two weekends at the Nut Tree in Vacaville, adjacent to Highway 80. Long ago, there was a restaurant, etc., there by the name of Nut Tree and it was a great stopover for travelers. People that traveled Highway 80 between San Francisco and Sacramento back in the 70's and 80's would remember the place dearly. Very nice place to take the kids, grab some snacks, etc. However, it hit hard times a number of years ago and closed because people had other places to go. October 20-21 and October 27-28.Anyway, they have capitalized on the Nut Tree name and built a number of stores there. Vacaville Harvest Days was poorly organized. On the first weekend it was held in front and there was virtually no foot traffic. Heavy winds at night blew over our canopy and when we came back the following morning, everything was a mess.

You can read this story on the Do You Remember page of our website. Also, read about the heavy winds we had to endure there and at other shows on our Flying Canopies page.
Also, please refer to entry made on Oct 1 on this blog: http://thisaintparadise.blogspot.com/search/label/vacaville%20harvest%20days

Thank gosh we had taken our merchandise home from the Vacaville Harvest Days event because we were aware of the local riff-raffs!!! On the second weekend, it was held in the back in the Pumpkin Patch, which turned out to be even worse. Everybody had poor sales. Everybody!!! Very poor traffic flow and people just were not interested. Take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch, grab a pumpkin and drive away. We were forced to walk a very long ways to the bathrooms. Promoters claimed they couldn't put porta potties back there for our convenience. City this, city that, fire department this, police department that.... they were ready to blame the failure of Vacaville Harvest Days on everybody else except themselves. So, people the moral of the story is to never do this event. You are not going to make any money, There is no paradise there...keep on truckin!!! And the other moral of the story? If you are ever going to leave your canopy up overnight, either put up all or none of your side panels. Mistakenly, I only put up 3 and the canopy caught the wind over night and toppled over. What a mess in the morning!! Vacaville Harvest Days ... what a mess.

Vendor News Forum

Hi People. Don't forget to come on down and check out our forum. Many topics discussed with regard to Arts and Crafts shows, festivals and other events. Something that you dare not miss.

http://davejs.proboards.com/index.cgi

Stop by Starving Vendors to read up on the latest reviews of our shows we have done. You will enjoy many of the features that this sight has to offer.

The Craft Fair - Casa de Fruta

Sept 5-7, 2009. Located at Casa de Fruta in Hollister on Highway 152 (Pacheco Pass).

This was a three-day show at Casa de Fruta in Hollister. Very nice place to stop over for tourists, but expensive. Around 35 booths there with a variety of merchandise. The people came out during the latter part of each morning and continued until around 2:00 each day. Then it turned into a ghost town. However, they were very hesitant to buy and purchased little from the vendors, most of whom did not fair very well over the weekend. People just not buying, period. Some entertainment. The weather was okay with occasional breezes some gusts now and then. The price for this event, along with others here is quite reasonable, so I'll continue coming back and I guess, so will many of the others. The economy will turn around and we'll just keep on hoping that the coming week's bring a lot of customers that spend money.

To read more about the event, please stop by our website for a complete evaluation of the event.

Remembering 9-11

I think we all have not-so-fond memories of that eventful day. I had just taken my son to high school that morning. I dropped by 7-11 to pick up a newspaper (what's that?). They had a TV on over there and I looked up at it and they were showing clips of the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center. Unbelieveable. Truly remarkable. I hurried home and stayed glued to the TV set throughout much of the day.That following weekend, we did the Atwater Fall Festival and the mood was somewhat somber as people were still pretty much in shock. Thinking back, you wonder why they didn't cancel the event, but I guess so many people were already committed (and I had paid my booth fee) to it and it was a source of income for community organizations. The show must go on?

It was in a park there and I guess the vendors didn't really do all that well. Fortunately, I was selling patriotic t-shirts, which were bought by many of the people that attended. In the oncoming years, we never returned to that festival, as we did one closer to home on that weekend, Castro Valley Fall Festival. Our 'fondest' memory of the event was that the music was not very good at all and the singing was out of synch.... and they didn't have these 'idol' contests back then. I know that we need to encourage our singers, but really. Maybe some of those people should have tried an instrument if they 'think' that they are musically inclined. Know what I mean?

South Lake Tahoe Lake in the Sky Air Show

Lake in the Sky Air Show
Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 8 AM 'til 4 PM'

It’s the Lake Tahoe Air Show's 20th anniversary. Join us in the celebration - at the biggest and best air show in the High Sierra! The Lake In The Sky Air Show at the Lake Tahoe Airport, in South Lake Tahoe, CA on Saturday, August 29th, 2009.

Be here at America's High Altitude Air Show for all the action! You’ll see many of the country’s top aerobatic performers including living legends Bill Cornick and Jon Melby. Plus you'll see the amazing Spencer Suderman defying gravity in his famous Pitts.

http://www.lakeintheskyairshow.com/

Vendor spaces: $50. Att: 10,000

A taste of Russia

Here's an interesting Festival I came across. No way I would do it, but it's something different.

Taste Of Russia- 09" Saturday, August 29, 11:00 AM

St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church 3873 Cherokee AvenueSan Diego, CA 92104(619) 284-9476

Come join us at "The Taste of Russia". Satisfy your pallet with intoxicating traditional Russian dishes like pirogies, katletki and borsht! Watch on- going preformances from a 25 person Russian orchestra and folkloric dance. Enjoy street vendors and a beer garden on a warm Saturday afternoon. Finish the night off with a authentic Russian style "discoteck" The only thing Russian about you can just be rushing over here!! This is a free event and is benefiting "St Nicholas Church".We will see you there! Dosvinayo ( Russian for until we meet) Booth spaces: 10x10 $125

Newark Summerfest

Held during the weekend of August 22-23, 2009 at Newpark Mall in Newark, CA. The promoter's of this event is Festival Productions. A first time event that needs a lot of work to be done.

Dropped by there on Sunday to check it out. Looks like it could be a nice event for people to attend. However, crowds weren't that great and vendors weren't making much money. I drove down Mowry and headed for the entrance to the Mall. I spotted a bunch of booths and headed over there. Lots of traffic congestion and it took me several minutes to get a parking spot. I walked over and discovered that it was a farmer's market and it was hopping. There were quite a few booths there, but the craft fair was not located around there. Went back into the van and drove all the way around the mall until I saw more canopies. They had several food booths, entertainment (?), beer, wine, sufficient number of porta potties and of course, a bunch of vendors and not a whole heck of a lot of shoppers. I am not crazy about 'mall shows' and this one was no exception. This is the first year for the event and from a vendor's standpoint, not very good. Not enough people and not too many buying. I did feel 'energy' there, but it sure the hell wasn't coming from shoppers.

click here to visit website, etc.

Vendor Terminology

Have composed a listing of terminology used during the course of a day selling at events.

Baby-sitting. The act of watching a particular person in your booth, either keeping an eye on somebody who looks like he is about to steal or to keep tabs on little kids grabbing stuff and playing around. Example: I've got to baby-sit these 5 kids looking at the necklaces. Cup of Noodles. This is what I say I am going to eat after a rough day at an event. Example: Well, it looks like I'm going to have Cup of Noodles tonight.

Don't Tell Anyone. A phrase used by a fellow vendor, explaining to you that he/she found a show that's really good and doesn't want any other vendors to know about. Example: I'm doing the xxxxx festival next month and it's really good. Netted a couple thousand. It's not in Craftmaster's. Don't tell anyone. Disclaimer: I'm not lucky enough to come across these kind of shows. But, please if you find one, let me know AND I will definitely not tell anyone.

Doozie. The name for a show that is extremely slow and you are sitting there for hours at a time with virtually no customers

Drink and pee festival. When the temps get pretty hot, you end up drinking a lot and making numerous bathroom trips throughout the day. Example: Hardly anybody buying here. It's so stinking hot. Another drink and pee festival.

Hella tight man. Used by teenagers a couple years ago when they saw something they like. Example: Wow man, that's hella tight, dude.

I can do that. A term used by people when they see their friend or family member interested in buying something unique in order to pursuade them not to buy.

Take the money and run. A common practive amongst a number of promoters whereby they charge high booth fees and provide little in return. Very little money spent on advertising. Also these promoters can be referred to as 'rip-offs'.

Click here to read more.

Dave's Doozie's

This is the newest page of the website and it is appropriately named 'Dave's Doozies' which is a listing and overview of the worst shows that we have ever done in the 17 years we have been doing events. Click here to read about the worst events we have ever done.

The Best of Starving Vendors

Now you can read some of the most hilarious and outrageous material in our Starving Vendors website. It's all there, someplace in the reviews, etc. I have gone through many of the past reviews and have extracted the most interesting. I hope that you enjoy reading these pages and I expect to update periodically. The Best of Starving Vendors

MOONWALK MARVIN. I had some of my Michael Jackson shirts hanging in front. A guy comes over and grabs one of my hats, glances down at the shirts and then places it upon his head. Suddenly, he begins to gyrate and skipping backwards with his version of MJ's moonwalk. Funny, Hilarious, Priceless. You just don't know what you are going to see next.

A Mexican couple came over to our booth and they asked the price of one of our knives. "Ten Dollars," said my wife. The guy looked at my wife. "How about seven dollars?" he asked. My wife then said "No way, Jose." The guy was surprised and his wife suddenly gave him a weird look. "How did you know my name?" he said. "I don't know" my wife said as the wife appeared to be very upset.

A lady came into our booth with a cell phone sticking in her right ear. She walked through our booth and continued talking. She had the 'speaker' on and we could hear the other person talking. Believe me, it was not an interesting conversation. Not hot, not juicy....just kind of babbling. Louise did this...Helen did that.. Well anyways, she continued walking around, not even glancing at our stuff, but she just kept on talking and walking all around our booth....once, twice, three times...... still talking on the phone. She just kept on going around in circles in our booth... It was crazy. In on one side, through the booth and out the other side. Walked around, entered again, etc. Finally after 3 or 4 laps, she finally left and walked down the aisle still talking, still babbling. I certainly hope that she does not use her cell phone while driving or even crossing the street.

Annual Craft Fair and Gift Show - Santa Rosa, CA

Santa Rosa (fairgrounds) Annual Craft Fair and Gift Show Nov-Dec 2009

While looking through Craftmaster, noticed that Santa Rosa is going to have it's the annual Christmas Craft fair and Gift show in December, which will run for three weeks in November and December. Saw that they are getting 500 vendors (doubt it-we haven't forgotten how bad that show was), but that is way too many. They did not have this show the past few years, but we did it before during the middle week of the three and it was bad. Too many vendors and not enough money to go around. Now, we have the poor economy, so that makes it worse. I'd stay the heck away from this one. Three weeks? Uh uh. If you want to see how organized they are, try going to their website. http://www.santarosacraftfair.com/. It's out of whack and so is the show. Maybe they are waiting to get money from vendors to pay for their website, etc. Advisable to stay away from this one.

For more info on shows, events, festivals and a whole lot more, please visit Starving Vendors

Hayward Zucchini Festival - Aug 15-16

Hayward Zucchini Festival, Hayward, CA August 15-16, 2009

THE REVIEW. More vendors this year than last and that led to false beliefs that this show might be better. Art and Soul Festival in Oakland was moved to this week from Labor Day for unexplained reasons and could have affected attendance here in Hayward. Crowds were substantially lower on Saturday than last year and Sunday's crowd showed a decrease also. The weather was great and should have brought out more people from their cribs, especially since the Raiders and Niner's were not playing. Many unhappy vendors around as we all had to sit around for hours and hours with few sales.

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

Tillamook County Fair - August 5-8

Tillamook County Fair, OR August 5-8

REVIEW of the fair: A brutally agonizing show for vendors to do. I found out that a good number of the vendors were new, especially in the area where I was located, near one of the gates where people enter and exit without turning their heads as the passed by. Seemingly, attendees were much disinterested in what we are selling. Fair is quite expensive for them and after paying for admission, food, rides and games, there just isn't money left over. A lot of people for this one and it's upsetting to have so few people actually come into your booth or look at your goods.

To read more, please click here.

Meridian Square Bazaar/Fair in San Jose, CA

Salida Town and Country Fair and Festival

Salida, CA Saturday, August 22.


The booth fees for this event were quite reasonable. $75 for commercial, like us and $50 for A&C. Can't go too nutso over that? The information for the show said that it starts at 11:00 am and ended at 4:00 pm. So, we left home at 6:45 and drove down to Winchau's Donuts (spelling is correct.... formerly Winchell's but Chinese took it over) in San Lorenzo and picked up a bit to eat on the way. Salida is located on Highway 99, just south of Ripon and we arrived there around 8:00 So, if the show starts at 11:00 that meant we had 3 hours to set up. However, as we approached the event, I saw that 90 percent of the people were already set up and open for business. I most definitely didn't miss a darn thing. Amazing. I checked in and got my space number and was given directions to our space. I guess there were about 2 1/2 blocks of booths and I would say that 40-45 of them were vendors There were other non-profits and 5 food booths.





click here to read more on Starving Vendors

Sunk in the Lake

LAKE COUNTY FAIR. Just heard from them last week after giving them more than a month to decide. Fair is Labor Day Weekend. I sent in my application and they took their time responding. Several weeks ago, I was told that they had a 'new administration' and they were taking a long time deciding. After that, I attempted to get a decision by them and emailed them several times. Finally, last week I recieved a response:

I apologize for not meeting your expectations. However, at this time, we do not have a space for your merchandise. For a better chance in finding booth space at this fair, I would suggest putting in your application much sooner than the middle of July. Many of our vendors place an application with us just after they are posted on our web site in January. Thank you for your interest in our fair. ...... Ray

and I responded:Why didn't you tell me this in the first place? (no space) I am not impressed at all with the way this was handled and I really have no interest in ever doing your fair. Gosh, do you treat everybody like this? You people are terrible and quite inconsiderate and of course, I will pass this information on to my fellow vendors.

NOTE: If you hang on to an application longer than a week, then one would assume that they have been accepted. If you are filled with vendors, all you need to do is to inform people that you are full and that's the end of it. This is not a rocket science, you know. I am not somebody who is going to get three, maybe four spaces and I am sure that you would handle things differently. But me, I am a struggling vendor trying to make ends meet just like everybody else out there and I wish that you would treat us with a little dignity and respect instead of tossing our paperwork aside. I don't appreciate that and I am sure you wouldn't either if you were put in the same situation. Don't bullshit me, okay? One of these days, when you are struggling to find vendors, don't ever come looking for me. Seriously, if you treated me like this now, I can only imagine getting even more shafted if I were there. Hasta la vista, baby. And I speak for all the vendors around that have ever had this happen to them....You can kiss my ass!!

I have talked to people who are familiar with Ray and the Lake County Fair and they basically gave me good reports. But as far as I am concerned, their reputation is tainted and this could happen to you. I would like to encourage vendors to contact any event they submit applications for after one week has elapsed. Most importantly, ask them when their decision will be made.

Jefferson County Fair

Madras, OR July 22-25

We are presently selling at the Jefferson County Fair and it has been terrible. Nobody around and a number of us are in a very bad area of the fair. People can't see us. Don't really expect much to improve and I just have to watch out when I cross The Mine Field in front of us where the cows take dumps.

Monday, July 20. We arrived in Madras and quickly found the fairgrounds and went to the office at 12:00PM and checked in and got our space number in the RV Park a couple hundred yards away from our space. We also got our booth number out in the fairgrounds.. We then drove over and found our space. They had an area with two rows of around 8 booths each, one vertical, one horizontal. We were located in the second space of the farther row against the fence. The spaces weren't marked, so I had to pace off a 10x10 area. Even though we are two days early, we decided to get our canopy, grids and tables up. This area is scorching hot during the day time and we planned on returning either Tuesday morning or evening to get our things set up.

Please click here to read more about the Jefferson County Fair

Mount Shasta Fourth of July Festival 2009

We just did the 3-day festival up in Mount Shasta City.

On Wednesday, we left Hayward around 10:10 and had a few stops to make along the way. We arrived in Weed at 4:15PM and checked into our Motel and took a little rest. As we left the motel there were some drops of what I originally thought were rain on my windshield. But believe it or not, it was actually snow because of the shape of the crystals. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. Maybe 5-10 small flakes that melted immediately. I looked over in the direction of Mount Shasta and saw some really ugly dark, ominous clouds surrounding it. We arrived in Mt Shasta City at 5:30 and began setting up our canopy. We stuck around until 8:00PM and didn't really accomplish very much since it was still quite warm. We also encountered a few sprinkles of something here and there and we had some threatening cloud formations. We closed everything up and headed back to the motel for the night.

To read more about the event, please click here.

Mount Shasta 4th of July Festival

Mount Shasta City, CA July 2-4, 2009

DandL CREATIONS will be located on Castle Street for all three days. Come on over and check out our shoulder sling bags, wrap-around skirt, tote bags, hand-made shell and semi-precious necklaces; great looking turquoise and agate necklace sets-affordable. We also sell parasols, garden sticks, small stools (great for the parade), shell creations and a lot more.

Thank gosh the weather will not be as hot as it was a couple years ago. It's a great festival and gets loads of people attending on July 4th and hopefully people will visit the many booths on the days prior, Thursday and Friday.

click here to read what I had to say about last year's event.

For you crafters, vendors, etc. that subscribe to Craftmaster News. Recognize the picture? This is one I took a couple years ago from about 20 feet up from my booth. This photo was on the cover of the April/May issue. Isn't that a beautiful place? Looking at the mountain, you might think that it's kind of cold there? Uh uh uh. That day it was 106 degrees...at least. It can hot there.

Pinole Cruisin in the Park

On Sunday, June 29, we were vendors at the 'Cruisin in the Park' car show at Fernandez Park in Pinole.

Left home at 5:10 and arrived at Fernandez Park around 5:45. I had to seek out Kathy, who showed us where our booth was to be located. I then drove the van over and we began setting up. This was in a ball field...deep second base just into right-center field. At least we weren't way out in left field, which was actually the far end of the show.We were able to park the van behind the booth. They had a lot of cars on display in the event....perhaps a hundred on the field in front of us and more off to the left. There were many more spread througout the event all the way over to San Pablo Avenue.

To read more about the show from a vendor's perspective, please visit my website:
http://www.starvingvendors.com/Events_Pinole_Crusin_in_the_Park_Car_Show_June_2009.html

Vendor News

I have just started a new Forum for people selling at festivals, arts and crafts shows, etc. Please stop by and contribute. The old forum that we were using had a lot of problems and this looks like it's going to run a lot more smoothly,

Vendor News

Free Overnight Parking at Indian Casinos

I have found a website that I would like to share with you that lists FREE RV PARKING at Indian Casinos throughout the country. A lot of times when I travel in my motor home, I spend the night at one of these. The ones that I have stayed at are pretty safe and there are other RV's parked around.

http://www.casinocamper.com/States.htm

I am going to compile a listing of places where you can park for free in the Western States. I believe that a lot of Wal-marts allow parking still.

Listen to this 14-year old female sensation

Nikki's new single is out - 'When I look in your eyes'

Check out this young sensational up and coming female vocalist. Only 14 years old and she's going to be pretty good. Downloads are available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/nikkiamber or you can visit her website http://www.nikkiamber,net/. You may contact her on myspace www.myspace.com/nikkiamberbabyy.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING HER.

Isleton Crawdad Festival Cancelled

Isleton Crawdad Festival Cancelled!!!

The city of Isleton has cancelled its annual Crawdad Festival this year.
The event had been scheduled for June 19-21. It typically features crawdads - crayfish - prepared in all manner of ways, Cajun music and plenty of vendors.

City Manager Bruce Pope told News10 a drop in vendor participation prompted the decision. With the festival requiring a sizable financial investment upfront, Pope said the Chamber of Commerce determined the risk was too much for the town.

However, City Councilman Jim Corsaut said last year's experience was a bad one for vendors.
"A lot of them said they wouldn't be back this year," said Corsaut, because of "the way they were treated by the fire chief."Chief Bob Bartley says he was merely enforcing the fire codes required by law. http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=59803

MY 2 CENTS WORTH: Thank you vendors for not giving in and giving away your money. I am not aware of all the facts, but I am pretty certain that the fire chief is not at total fault for this. Fees were kind of high $450, but I don't think that was the main reason for vendors not participating. Can anybody give me some input on this?

31st Annual Hercules Cultural Festival

Saturday, June 6, 2009, 10:00am-7:00pm and Sunday, June 7, 2009, 10:00am-6:00pm.

This will be the 31st Annual Cultural Festival which is held in our beautiful tree lined Refugio Valley Park located at the corner of Refugio Valley Road and Sycamore Avenue in Hercules. This festival was established in 1978, in conjuction with local community organizations, in order to celebrate the rich ethnic diversity within our community. The event has grown over the years and is always held the first weekend in June. This two day event is our marquee event serving nearly 10,000 people from all around the Bay Area.

DandL Creations will be there selling their popular shoulder sling bags in space#32. Also many varieties of shell and semi-precious necklaces, tote bags and a whole lot more. Check them out.

To read more about the event, please click here.

Please join the Starving Vendors Forum where you can see what others are saying about events, etc., and give your two cents worth. Of course, please check out Starving Vendors website where you can read many reviews of shows and get info.

Dogs at Festivals, Arts and Craft Shows, etc.

This weekend I was a vendor at the Foster City Arts and Wine Festival and there were lots of people and pretty much a decent event.

However, there appears to be a huge dog population in the area and many of the owners like to take their 'significant mutters' to the event. I have seen loads of dogs at many events and I can't understand why any normal person would want to bring their dog to such a place.

What really bothers me is that there are many instances of dogs urinating in people's booths and a lot of the vendors do not realize where those puddles in their booths are coming from. A friend of mine noticed that a dog had urinated on his table covers and had to throw it away. I had a mysterious puddle in my booth and it wasn't until later that it dawned on me that the only way that could have appeared in my space was for a dog to have relieved itself. This is digusting people. Have you no shame? You bring your mutts to these shows and you are so uncaring that you allow 'that thing' of yours to urinate around people's belongings. I have seen your dogs pee in front of my booth on many occasions throughout the years. Leave your damm dogs at home, okay? I'm not even going to mention about your dogs sticking their noses on our clothing, etc. after they have walked around sniffing other dog's booties.

38th Annual Foster City Arts and Wine Festival

Foster City Arts and Wine Festival

May 30-31, 2009. Sat 11-7; Sun 11-5

Come on down and enjoy the festival, located on Shell Blvd., in Foster City. Our booth is located in space #257 (DandL CREATIONS) and we sell shoulder sling bags, wrap around skirts and much more. A number of years ago, we had done the July 4th event at the Community Center and it was quite enjoyable and we are pleased to return to Foster City and hopefully we shall be doing this event for years to come.

This community event will be held beside the lagoon in Leo Ryan Park, at the corner of E. Hillsdale Blvd. and Shell Boulevards includes free admission and free parking at Parkside Towers. Festivities will include arts and crafts for your home, great food for your palate, beer and boutique wines, a variety of entertainment, a carnival, lagoon cruises, and more - something for the whole family. This year the festival introduces a “Green Street” with various booths promoting sustainability information, services and products for our community.
The festival will welcome over 25,000 visitors. Entertainment has been expanded to include three performance areas – the Meadow Stage will be alive with popular music for all ages and the Shell Performance Area for more intimate performers, and the Lagoon Amphitheater for local community groups including, dancers, YAC talent show, martial arts demonstrations, and a K9 demonstration will also be featured throughout the weekend.

Mother's Day Weekend.

THIS WEEKEND'S EVENTS. There are a number of events this weekend, but probably nothing very profitable. I will be at the NEW Roseville Strawberry Festival. I have a lot of friend's doing the Mother's Day in the Park in Los Banos, Casa de Fruta and also there is the 4-day May Fair in Dixon. Then, there's always the one-day festival in Windsor. Anyhow, on Monday, I would like to see some entries on the STARVING VENDORS FORUM so everybody can see what the shows were like. Now's your chance. I'll make a new topic called - This week's shows May 9-10 and you can enter your comments there.

30th Annual Castroville Artichoke Festival

Sat/Sun May 16-17. This event is held in Castroville which is located approx 20 miles north of Monterey on Highway 156. We will be there selling shell necklaces, shell creations, wrap-around skirts & sarongs and a whole lot more. DandL CREATIONS

On May 16 and 17, 2009, they will be celebrating the 50th annual Artichoke Festival in the community of Castroville, in Monterey County, California. This two-day festival draws large crowds of people who enjoy arts & crafts, tasty food, musical entertainment, cooking demonstrations, a car show and a parade. Last year’s festival was their best yet! Click here for vendor application.

AGRO ART Competition: AGRO art is 3-dimensional fruit and vegetable artwork. This quirky competition fosters imagination, creativity and fun for both participants and the viewing public.
PARADE: Our sanctioned parade is one of the largest and most colorful of its kind.

MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT: Two days of live music! Everything from Swing to Mariachi, Country to 50's Rock & Roll.

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES: Games, face paints, clowns, stilt walkers, puppets and more!
FOOD: Artichokes fried, sautéed, grilled, marinated, pickled, fresh, and creamed in soup. Plus foods from the many ethnic groups that give this area its character.

COOKING DEMOS: The area's finest showcase the versatility and unique techniques for preparing and using artichokes.

WINE TASTING: Sample the best from the area's award winning producers.

ARTS & CRAFTS: Unique gifts and apparel crafted by artisans from throughout the country. Plus artichoke souvenirs galore!

FARMERS MARKET: Artichokes and more, fresh from the heart of the salad bowl.

FIELD TOURS: Hop a bus to the artichoke patch for grower talks and photo ops.

Please No Pets. (I second that motion!)

Please visit Starving Vendors where I have placed many of my reviews of events that we have done. Check out our new forum, where you can comment on shows, promoters, etc. Brand new.

A New Forum

I have just created a new forum where vendors. promoters, etc., can tell about their experiences. There aren't too many posts yet, but I just started it. You can tell about bad experiences, weather problems, events, insurance, your worst neighbor, favorite promoters, bad promoters, music, etc. Anything related to the shows. Come on down and leave your comments. Thank you

http://starvingvendors.createforum.net/viewforum.php?f=2

The NEW 2009 Roseville Strawberry Festival

Signed up to do the Strawberry Festival in Roseville on May 9-10. It's Mother's Day Festival. Very interesting. The promoter provided smaller fees for 'at home commercial' which is what we are. Great concept and I want to encourage other promoters to follow through.

So, come on over to the Placer County Fairgrounds and check it out. Looks like great weather as the forecast is showing temps in the low 80's and sunny. I can handle that. Look for my review of the event on Tuesday, May 12 in Starving Vendors. Here is the link to the review. Be sure to look at some of the other reviews of events that I did also.
Follow menu 'Guide to Shows>reviews>dates

Here's a link to info on the show.

Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival

Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival, Memorial Park, Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA (just across from DeAnza College). Sat/Sun April 25-26.

The city of Cupertino will be hosting it's annual Cherry Blossom Festival on April 25-26 at Memorial Park. This event draws large crowds and is promoted by Festival Productions We have particpated in the event for many years.

People come to hear and see them play the large drums, which is one of the highlights of this event.Majority of the food booths are volunteers and serve up various Japanese foods, in line with the theme of the festival.

Last year, there was a smoothie booth there and their drinks were sensational. I had a pina colada smoothie and I wish I would have brought a small bottle of rum with me. Very refreshing. I've seen quite a number of refreshment booths and this one is excellent.

Be sure to stroll on over to our booth (#1 in the far corner by the parking lot) and see what we are selling. The name of our business is DanL CREATIONS and this is our 16th year in business. We sell shell necklaces, shell creations, shoulder sling bags, fannypacks, wrap around skirts, sarongs and a whole lot more. Come on down. Be glad to see ya. Mention this blog and I'll give you 10 percent off your purchase.

The Search for the Great California Philly Cheesesteak

STEVEN'S PHILLY CHEESESTEAK, Sunnyvale, CA. Stopped by there on my way home and picked up 3 of them. A small line, but it only took about 3 minutes to place my order. I waited for them and then drove 40 minutes back home. They were only $6.75 and are a little small for a hungry appetite. Okay for the price, though.

I love my cheesesteaks with the onions and peppers cooked separately and slopped on top. However, they mixed all the ingredients together...steak, cheese, onion, peppers, etc. and I will deduct 3 points right off the top for that. I can get cheesesteaks like that at any festival. The rolls were somewhat okay and the meat definitely was not rib eye or round. The sandwich had it's own distinctive taste to it and I just thought it was okay. I am very fussy with my cheesesteak's and I take them seriously.

If I rated my last one at Amato's as a 5.5, then I will give this one a 4.75, but let's give them another .5 because they are priced accordingly. Overall score: 5.25. They had drinks available, but you had to purchase in the can from the fridge. Credit cards not accepted, but they have a separate ATM machine beside the counter. I have a couple more places in mind in the San Jose area and I will try another one in May sometime as I search for the Great California Philly Cheesesteak.

Let's hear your comments on Steven's and other Philly cheesesteak shops in California.

Beware of Scams

Just received my daily dose of spams in my email. I get dozens each day. Here's the latest:

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract file presently on my desk, and I found out that you have not received your payment.due to necessary Verifications & Procedures. After the board meeting held at our headquarters, we have resolved in finding a solution to the issue, and as you may know, we have arranged your payment through our SWIFT CARD PAYMENT CENTER in Europe, America,Africa and Asia Pacific, etc.

Decided to do a search on spams and came up with a terrific website devoted to phony scams, etc. Please click here to read more info. They explain what is happening and how they are trying to con you along with samples of emails. Interesting. They look really familiar.

American Idol

It just dawned on me that Adam is not going to win. Just keep in mind that the person with the most votes at the end may or may not win the finale. I strongly think that it is actually up to the producers to determine the 'most marketable' and 'versatile' performer and that may not be him. It's all about money. Just about everybody thinks that Adam will win. Great singer. Fantastic performer and very charismatic. He makes sure to give kudos to somebody involved with the show each weekend. However, he will not win. Just about every week, he rolls over everybody and to continue the spirit of 'competition' while keeping viewers watching you must throw in the unexpected. You must show the other competitors that there is always hope, no matter how good the performer is and to keep their hopes alive. You need to create controversy. THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT. Your winner? Adam and Danny are top 3 finalists, for sure. Watch out for that third person, who will probably finish number 2. It's all about entertainment, making money, keeping the viewer$ and $ponsor$ in the game. Maybe I am wrong. All said, Adam is truly the best.

Street Fairs, Events, Festivals

Hi People. How about letting me know how you did at your events (vendors). I'd really like to hear from you and you can email me at starvingvendors@aol.com. My website is http://www.starvingvendors.com/ and I have many reviews of events to read.

There are many shows each weekend and I'd like you to share that information with me on how you did, problems, the good things, the nightmares, etc.

I just heard from a lady that did the Central Valley Pizza Festival (Lemoore) and she hit the hammer right on the nail. Some of her comments were: we did it for the first and last time!!! There was only four to six "crafter's" there...... the rest was resale and food. Weather was HOT and as another vendor said people were walking around like they were in a daze...... I will give the award for the rudest kids to this street fair...... As a matter of fact, rude is too nice of a word to use. This is the first place I have ever had to ask anyone to leave my space...... There was a guy walking around with the huge snake wrapped around his neck. I saw one girl who was trying to get away fall over a bike..... also saw a vendor fall and they had no way to get an emergency vehicle in there.... but they did walk in to help him.... Also, porta potties were about half way back in the parking lot... and by noon they were filthy.... two porta potties at the end of the street I was on (the carnival end)... Was told they were too expensive to have any more than the two. BTW, I look at your site daily and love it!!

You know what? I believe her because we were vendors last year at this event and I had many of the similar occurences. Click here to read my review of the Pizza Festival Seems like they have to get a whole new bunch of vendors every year.

I would love to hear from other people. Let's hear about the Chandler Ostrich Festival in Arizona. Anybody else do Manteca? Clovis?

Starving Vendors website

Hi. I have a website called Starving Vendors and it contains a lot of information for vendors who sell at shows and festivals in California, Arizona and Oregon. However, one of the best features of this website is Your Daily Dose, which contains various tidbits of interesting information along with links to more information.

Some of this week's recent stories and newsclips, etc.

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT producer Simon Cowell is trying to bring together the winner of their 2007 contest.

ASTRONAUT EDGAR MITCHELL: UFOs ARE REAL

PEREZ HILTON. He proceeded to inquire about her views on same-sex marriage. He blasted runner-up MISS USA contestant (Carrie Prejean) for her answer.

RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR. Oh gosh. SF mayor Gavin Newsome

BRIDGE PRICES GOING UP. Prices to cross our Bay Area

MELISSA HUCKABY. CBS News reported Wednesday that Huckaby had been hospitalized

ASTEROID HEADING OUR WAY AGAIN.

Head on over to Starving Vendors 'Your Daily Dose' to read more on this headliners. Check it out.

Carrie Prejean vs Perez Hilton

Miss USA pageant held this past weekend.

I guess that you now have to support gay marriages in order to win beauty contests. Judge Perez Hilton proceeded to inquire about her views on same-sex marriage. He blasted runner-up MISS USA contestant (Carrie Prejean) for her response. She answered that it was "great" that the option is available in some states, but that "in my country and in my family, I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman -- no offense to anyone out there."

According to Shanna Moakler "she lost the crown because she wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that as MISS USA she would be representing. and if YOU like it or not, gays and lesbians make up this country as well. THIS is why we have judges so they can find the RIGHT woman who obtains these qualities. I think that the judge who posed the question to her wanted to put her on the spot and not have her win.

Miss California answered the question and the way I look at it this it was a 'no win' situation and the question should not have been asked. If she said that she supported gay marriages, then she would have been desecrated by many more for those beliefs. You put her on a spot. And now, Hilton is capitalizing on this by making a big deal over this issue in interviews and on his blog.

I consider my marriage to be sacred. You have to refer to these bonds between gay men or women as something other than 'marriage.' Sorry. I really do not have any hatred or anything toward gays and I think that most of them are quite nice. I don't care what they do, just don't call it marriage, please. Show me that respect. You know, whatever side you take on this issue, it controversial.

Los Banos Street Faire - April 18, 2009

We arrived at our space and set up. It was 7:00 and it was already getting warm. Crowds were late and very light throughout the day, as compared to other year's here. There were way too many booths for the amount of people attending and the people around here do not have much money. Sales were down this year for us, but we didn't do 'terrible' like some of the other vendors.

I can't understand why you have 4 blocks of vendors, etc. and you are only providing 6 porta-potties. Three on a side street in the middle of the show and another 3 at the far end (our end, luckily) at a car show across the street. Still a long walk. To read my review of this event and many others please click here.

BOOTH FEES: $50 for one space; $80 for two. Anything goes. Excellent. When people are buying, the 'value' of the show is $80-$100. Note: This event is held in mid-April, right on the outer fringes of our rainy season and weather could be a problem. Thus, perhaps the reason for low booth fees.

PROMOTERS: They handle the show pretty good and there is a good police presence throughout the event. Very nice. However, they do not send confirmation of acceptance and need to work on the porta-pottie solutionn.

THE GOOD: Cheap. Spaces are 15 feet wide. Great for us and others who need to display ln side of canopy. Parking not a problem, at least on the far end. They had people sit in for vendors leaving for toilet and food breaks.

THE BAD: Porta potties. Car show in separate area across the street. Food booths spaced amongst vendors. Might be better to put them all in a separate area. There were a number of non-profit hot dogs, etc. I don't know if they would do any good if they were together with other food vendors.

Nikki Amber CD

Check out this 14-year old up and coming Filipina solo artist from the Bay Area. Nicole Amber Lansang picked up her first microphone at the age of 3 and sang her very first song; Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Realizing at that tender age that Nikki had an incredible voice, Nikki‘s parents began her vocal training with renowned singer and voice coach Margo Leduc. Now at age 14, Nikki Amber is unstoppable! Since age 10, Nikki Amber has sung at local restaurants and was asked to perform as a special guest at the Margo Leduc Foundation’s annual toy drive. Nikki was showcased at the 2007 and 2008 Adobo Festival, which features the best of the best Filipino singers. click here to read more

Please click here to see and hear her video - 'When I Look in Your Eyes'

Casa de Fruta A&C Show - April 11-12

Casa de Fruta Arts and Crafts Show. Easter Weekend. Hollister, CA

We will be at this show over the weekend. Come on down and check out the vendors and spend part of this lovely weekend with us. Our business is DandL CREATIONS and we sell shell necklaces, lovely shell creations, shoulder bags and a lot more.

San Francisco Arts Commission - Street Artists

About 25 years ago, somebody gave me a cup that said 'The Whole World is Crazy but you and me".

I have a lot of vendor friends and one of them told me that he sells a couple of his products as a Street Artist in San Francisco. To get approved you have to submit your application and you then are put on the list to be reviewed on the 4th Thursday of the month.

Today, we went over to The City, drove around, paid $12.00 for a parking spot and then hauled my wife's shell creations and jewelry across the street, into the building and then downstairs to their room for review. When my wife's name was called, I assisted her in setting up her things. I arranged her shell creations on the table and she did the jewelry. I then walked over to the rest room and came back. The judge, jury and executioners were talking to my wife and she had handed over one of the catalogs to them, showing where we order our shells from. They wanted to know. They start telling us that they will not approve my wife's shell creations (handmade with shells....picture frames, flower pots, etc.) because of the way they suspected that the shells were harvested. They mentioned that these shells are obtained by dynamiting the ocean floor and scraping the bottom of the water collecting the shells. I showed them an email I received from the company where I purchased the shells saying they were obtained safely, etc. Then one of the ladies said 'that will not do...anybody can type this up.' Another lady was looking through the catalog and saw some shell necklaces similar to the one's my wife makes...... 'oh look at this, this looks just like the one over here (pointing to one of my wife's)... look...same type, same clasps. You got this from here. You didn't make these.'

I looked at her. Wow. What a bitch. How could you tell me that my wife did not make that? I was pissed. This lady has no consideration for people's feelings. Judge, jury, executioner. "I'm sorry...my wife made those necklaces. You are so wrong.' What a bitch!!!

I will tell you that the picture that she was referring to was one of a clam shell necklace in the catalog. The actual necklace that she had in her hand was a '70s Style Puka' and was not the same. Same clasps...barrell clasps, which are standardly used in making a huge percentage of necklaces. Wow. How could you make a fool out of yourself like that? My wife and I laughed at her all the way home.

The two ladies then paged through the catalog making one negative comment after another about the shells which were being sold by the company. That really made me feel offended and they made me and my wife (who put in many hours on her creations) feel so small. Do they do this to other people? I am sure that happens. You can tell when a person has had a job or position too long.

I returned to my seat and I heard my wife say something to them. I looked over at my wife and commented..."well...it looks like it's one of those times when you are guilty until proven innocent'' One of the ladies (ladies?) then commented about protecting the environment, etc. That's fine with me. But don't treat us so brutally. We are retired and trying to make a living selling our products and were under the mistaken impression that we would be allowed to sell our products. We didn't realize that these snobs would dump on us like that.

My wife was so disgusted at these people that she felt like just packing up the jewelry and leaving. I had already packed her shell creations. Okay...so we got around to the review of the jewelry. My wife set aside the shell necklaces, etc. and just showed them the semi-precious ones. They held up a turquoise necklace. "Where are your pieces to make this." My wife pulled out a bag that she had her turquoise nuggets. Okay fine. "Where are your receipts?" We didn't have any, but it was obvious that my wife had made these herself. They picked up more necklaces....'where are your receipts for these beads' she was asked again. We explained that we did not have the receipts as we purchased our beads, stones, etc., at different times over a period of years. "Well...that's no good. Need receipts. You have to match up every necklace with the loose beads and a receipt." Talk about frustration. You know, I really don't mind this part about the necklaces. At this point both my wife and I had give up hopes of getting an 'artists permit' and they could take it and stick it, as far as we were concerned. Damage done. It is what it is. You do what you do. My wife made the stuff, period. Come on ladies (ladies?), lighten up.

But I just don't like the way we were treated. These people are so against individuals using any type of shell. But, my wife pointed out after we left that one of these ladies (ladies?) was actually wearing a shell necklace. Hellooooooooo! You are here condemming things made of shell but you are wearing shells?

About 15 minutes prior to my wife's review, there was a guy that was going to demonstrate how he drew his caricatures. He came alone, so he would need somebody. So one of these ladie's (ladie's) looks at me points her finger at me. "How about you....you aren't doing anything?" I guess I volunteered, huh. I had no problem posing for the guy whatsoever, but I do not like the way the lady (lady?) told me to do it.

You say that these ladies are part of the S.F. Arts Commission? I think you are missing an 'f' before arts. I am sorry. These rejects are lucky that they have jobs. Jobs? Well, actually I don't think that's really a job...... that's not a job. Can you prove that's a job?

I feel very sorry for my wife who worked so hard on all this stuff and I am proud of her. She did a fantastic job. I don't want any part of SNOB, USA.

Mar 27. I am most appalled that the City condones their behavior. These ladies (ladies?) were very abusive and an apology would never suffice. They overdid it and I am sure a lot of other individuals who have gone before them have suffered what constitutes verbal abuse. Moreover, I have checked through the ordnance and have seen nothing about shells not being allowed.

Chabot College Flea Market

Come on down to the Chabot College Flea Market on Saturday, March 21. Looks like the rains will hold off until the evening time. We are DandL CREATIONS and are located in spaces B-397-399. We will be selling our shoulder bags, fannypacks, shell creations and a whole lot more. Check out our website www.dandlcreations.com if you wish to order custom-sized, hand-made shell necklaces. Great buys.

Alameda for Lunch - Dimitra's Sandwiches

Took a spin over to Alameda today and picked up some sandwiches at Dimitras on Park Street. Been getting sandwiches from there now for 35 years. Still around. At one time, there were at least 3 Dimitra's around, but they closed two of them. The owners have retired and sold the one on Central Avenue a while back and it's now a pizza place. After getting our sandwiches, we drove through South Shore, which was renamed 'Town Center' a couple years ago. Construction continues there as several new stores have opened up. It's one of your better 'open-air' malls around. Drove over to the old Naval Air Station, where I have loads of memories from my 'squid' days. Parked near the water and looked across the Bay, etc., and had our lunch.

I read a bunch of Yelp reviews on the place and there are mixed feelings about Dimitra's. I think that the sandwiches are pretty decent...Hungarian, Texarkana, California Split, Dimitra's sub, the Grecian, and of course, the O.D......I've had a bunch of them through the years. I think that they were a little tastier back in the 70's, but still okay.

click here to read the remainder

Top 10 European Flea Markets

Came across a listing of the 'Top Ten European Flea Markets'. Thought you might be interested.

1. Waterloo, Belgium
What a great market this is. Held every Sunday morning in the car park of the Carrefour supermarket in Waterloo, there is plenty of parking, and a good fast-food restaurant. The 300 or so stalls are all laid out in an orderly grid so it’s easy to cover the whole market and not get confused about the location of a particular trader.

2. Turin, Italy
Carmagnola market is about a 20-minute drive south of Turin and held every second Sunday of the month (except August). Be prepared for a trek through this one: there are over 250 stalls laid out in the main square and winding pedestrian streets of the pretty town centre

To read more about the Flea Markets, please click here.

Very Funny Price is Right

FUNNY ON PRICE IS RIGHT. I am rolling over laughing at this lady. Just before she placed her bid, her glasses fell apart. She had the best bid and ran up to Drew Carey and her lens fell on the floor. I'll bet she bought them at Lenscrafter's. The same thing happened to my wife and the same thing happened to me. Lenses popped out of both of them. Lenses popping out all over the place. Their quality really sucks.

One time when I went for new glasses there, they gave me a bull shit story that they could not use my old frames AND I WOULD HAVE TO PURCHASE NEW ONES. However, the next time my wife needed glasses, we went to Kaiser and NOOOO PROBLEM. They used her old frames. Lenscrafter's really is bad. Cheap. Bad Quality. Liars. They try to sell you their most expensive lenses. I have nothing good to say about them. NO...THE PRICE IS NOT RIGHT!!!

Riconada Hills Bazaar

Going to do the Riconada Hills Bazaar in Los Gatos. I guess this is a new location for this promoter's show and is held the last Saturday of the month from 9AM-4PM. Located at 1500 Pollard Road at the shopping center. click here for more info. Alpha Zeta Events.

Evidently, this show was held at a different location previously. Can anybody give me some info about it? Thank you...dave

check out Starving Vendors where you can see reviews from many of the events we have done. Also listings of European, Philippine Festivals and a whole lot more. Great site!! You'll love it.

American Idol 13 Finalists

Voting for Idol No. 13: The Call of the Wild. Back when Fox executives were high-fiving each other for deciding to turn "American Idol's" traditional top 12 finalists into the top 13 finalists -- to really shake things up on the singing competition -- no one thought to send a memo to the Senior Executive Vice President for Reality Series Viewer Voting Phone Number Checking. That is too bad, because then they might have found out earlier that 1-866-Idols13 is a porn number. I'll bet that a lot of people will now dial that number out of curiousity.

For all these Idolettes, the show continued to assign the traditional 1-866-IDOLS01 through 1-866-IDOLS12 phone numbers via which viewers got to vote. The 13th and final performer Alexis Grace got a distinct phone number. Click here to read more and Idol's Busy Circuits (from Feb, 2007)

ADAM LAMBERT gave another strong performance. Excellent. Lil Rounds did good also and it looks like they are the two best and I expect to see them in the finals. However, it looks like Danny recieved the most votes, or should we say the most busy signals on the phone. He was excellent. Scott, the blind performer is a front-runner also and look for these four contestants to be in the Final-5, along with a 'darkhorse' who improves down the stretch.

Info on Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Did a little research on GPS and thought I would share this with you.

What's the signal?
GPS satellites transmit two low power radio signals, designated L1 and L2. Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz in the UHF band. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains.

A GPS signal contains three different bits of information — a pseudorandom code, ephemeris data and almanac data. The pseudorandom code is simply an I.D. code that identifies which satellite is transmitting information. You can view this number on your Garmin GPS unit's satellite page, as it identifies which satellites it's receiving.

Ephemeris data tells the GPS receiver where each GPS satellite should be at any time throughout the day. Each satellite transmits ephemeris data showing the orbital information for that satellite and for every other satellite in the system.

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Bok Kai 2009 Parade and Festival

Feb 28, 2009. Marysville, CA. Just returned from doing the festival up in Marysville. It was nice and the weather was great. Temps in the mid 60's and a few clouds here and there.

We spent Friday night in Motel 6...a very noisy place, to say the least. We began setting up for the festival around 6:45 on Saturday morning and by 9:00 we were ready to 'rock n' roll' or whatever you want to call it. People began arriving around then and most of them, were positioning themselves for the parade that would start around 11:00AM.

click here to read the story about the Bok Kai Festival and our review of the event

Craft Show Vendor Liability Insurance

I have been compiling a listing of companies that offer insurance for vendors at craft shows, festivals, etc.

Specialty Insurance Agency. I looked at their website and it's hard to find info about policies. The policies run from September to August and it's roughly $350 per year. You really need to wait until September in order to get your money's worth. I have a friend who is insured through them and he says they are excellent. They also have an ad in Craftmaster News (pg 121 Feb/Mar issue) paper issue. You may subscribe to this publication. Best around.

Center West Insurance Agency. Tel 800-455-6974. centerwestinsurance@lanset,com I saw their ad in Craftmaster and looked at their website but didn't see anything about specific policies. Recommend emailing them for info.

RLI Home Business Insurance. This looks like it might be decent. Check it out.

To see more, please visit my website for the complete listing

If you know of any others, please let me know.... thank you

Lockeford Sausages

LOCKEFORD SAUSAGE. Ripon Almond Blossom Festival is coming up and two things I will miss over there (not selling there this year) are my friends and the Bratwurst Sausages. I guess that we run into them maybe 5-6 times during the year at a numbe of events we do. Went out to Food Maxx last week and picked up some Bratwurts along with onions and 'kraut. Also got some French rolls, but they are way too small. Ate one for lunch today but nowhere's near as good as the ones that we get at the shows. Lockeford must have the best sausages at any show. Huge Brat with loads of kraut and onions overflowing. Mmmmm. Delicious.

The first time I ever had a Lockeford Sausage was at a street festival we did over there about a dozen years ago. They also had a 'company' store there on the main street where you could buy sausages.

Lockeford Meat & Sausage Service(209) 727-5584 19775 N Cotton St, Lockeford, CA 95237

For more info on events, vendors, etc. please check out Starving Vendors

Ripon Almond Blossom Festival weather report.

RAINS FORECAST FOR 2009 RIPON ALMOND BLOSSOM FESTIVAL. It looks like this is going to be a weekend of rain again for many vendors. Weather.com shows rain on Fri-Sat-Sun. I think that you had better read AccuWeather's forecast, which sounds better. No rain Friday; cooler and periods of rain on Saturday; and it's Bye-Bye Balboni on Sunday. There's Weather Underground to check also, but their forecasts are only five days ahead. DISCLAIMER: Of course, nobody is crazy enough to actually believe that these long range forecasts are accurate. They are for amusement purposes only!!!

Be sure to read my review from last year's event. You'll love it.

Dates for 2009: Feb 27-28 and March 1.

THE ANNUAL BLOSSOM FESTIVAL & CARNIVAL HOURS ARE:

Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Carnival Only)
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 12:00pm - 9:00pm
Saturday February 28, 2009 - 10:00am - 9:00pm
Sunday, March 1, 2009 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

Tough times - the life of a vendor.

Here's something you might enjoy reading. I just wrote it this morning. I really don't think anybody knows how tough it is for 'vendors, etc.' to be doing all these shows day after day, week after week.

It's a crazy lifestyle doing these events. Sometimes you go bananas when there's a lot of people at a show and nobody is buying. But if you are sitting around in your house, you find yourself 'craving for the action.' You feel like you 'have to' do a particular event even if you know that you might do poorly. Just to be out there around people and trying to sell your things. The 'dreams' of making a couple grand on any given day. You're excited when you see the beautiful weather and it energizes you and you think that you are going to make 'the big bucks'. It's like you've got it in your blood. I love the blue skies, the green money, Benjamin Franklin ($100 bills), the huge crowds (that used to be) gathering around our booths. But it's agonizing when you have so many people, but they are just walking around like stinking zombies.

You meet each and every event with new enthusiasm, thinking that this is going to be THE day. Then you get the sprinkles of rain and the cold gusts of wind blowing in your face. Reality. You approach your other vendor friends and see that they are not getting very many sales that day also. You look farther down and you see that people are buying another vendor's products left and right and that drives you up the wall and you begin to wonder what you are doing wrong. 'Stick with my products or go out and find something new' you say to yourself. Even though nothing is really wrong at times, you drive yourself bonkers trying to think of what to do and then begin cussing yourself out for paying so much for that particular event.

There was a day that whenever you paid a higher booth fee, you usually ended up with a nice space and a load of people. Not anymore. Even the best of shows have gone downhill because the people just are not buying like they did several years ago for a variety of reasons and of course, the promoters keep jacking up their fees and finding ways to extract more money from you by adding on extra fees. How about a $2.00 surtax for ass-wipes. It's like a roller-coaster ride. There's more vendors at a lot of these shows because people seem to think that they can make a quick buck selling anything and everything at these events. So they go out and get a bunch of socks, sunglasses, etc. and set up. People like you and me used to get by and not have to do a show every weekend. Now with profit margins so low, we are forced to do more events trying to make the same kind of money as before to make ends meet. It can be a dog-eat-dog kind of life out there in the streets.

Stop by and read my website, Starving Vendors. I have loads of information on here and you can read reviews on shows we have done over the years and see what it's like. I'd recommend that you start with Your Daily Dose

Facebook could raise health problems

Facebook 'could raise cancer risk' Social networking sites such as Facebook could increase the risk of health problems such as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia, a doctor has claimed.

Such popular sites, also including the likes of MySpace and Twitter, are putting users in danger by reducing levels of face-to-face contact, according to psychologist Dr Aric Sigman.
He believes this could have biological effects, altering the way genes work, and upsetting immune responses, hormone levels and the function of arteries.

Dr Sigman spells out his warning in the latest issue of Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology. He maintains that social networking sites have played a significant role in people becoming more isolated. He said: "Social networking is the internet's biggest growth area, particular among young children. "A quarter of British children have a laptop or computer in their room by the age of five and they have their own social networking sites, like the BBC's myCBBC. It's causing huge changes."

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