Patterson Apricot Fiesta - May 30-31, 2009

The 2009 Patterson Apricot Fiesta will be held on May 30-31, 2009. click here for application

Here is our review of the 2008 event:

Very nice weather this time with temps in the low 80's and a very pleasant breeze. It is usually much hotter this time of year. We have had temps in the 100's most of the year's we did the event. Decent crowds on Saturday; substantially lower on Sunday. Many vendors did pretty decent on Saturday and darn lousy on Sunday. The Chamber of Commerce needs to listen to the vendors. They moved a huge number of vendors to an adjacent street and sales were down for all of them and it was difficult for our returning customers.

to read more, please click here

Ceres Street Fair - Ceres, CA May 3-4, 2009

The Ceres Street Fair is coming up on May 2-3, 2009. Ceres Chamber of Commerce Contact them if you are interested in being a vendor.

Read our review of last year's event:

This is a small-town street fair that draws good-sized crowds from surrounding towns. Perhaps in the 30-40,000 range. I really praise the promoters of this event. This is a very smooth-running event which is always enjoyable to do. It was a little warm over the weekend and somewhat breezy at times. However, over the years, we have had temps up around 100 and super-hot; have had rain and even a Sunday completely rained out a couple years ago.

click here to read more

Up Against Wal-Mart

At the world's largest and most profitable retailer, low wages, unpaid overtime, and union busting are a way of life. Now Wal-Mart workers are fighting back

I ran across this website which tells a lot about life at a Wal-Mart and is several years old. However, I find it very interesting and it gives a lot of insight into the many problems this retailer giant causes. I am sure that very little has changed there over the years. Shoppers just look the other way, knowing very well that the workers are not unionized, payed low wages and have few benefits, if any. Many comments by workers, etc. You know, I cringe whenever I see a new Wal-mart going up because it affects smaller businesses that can not compete and have to close as a result and people lose their jobs. I know that it's very hard not to shop at Wal-Mart because they undercut any competition, but gosh, people actually lose their jobs because of them. I know that this nation has bigger problems with major corporations going under. banks closing, losing investments, etc. and maybe people are just glad to have a job. I guess it's like a double-edged sword?

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/against-wal-mart

Casinos warned: An iPhone application created to count cards

Casinos warned: An iPhone app created to count cards

LAS VEGAS — Nevada gambling regulators have warned casinos about a card-counting program for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch that can illegally help players beat the house in blackjack

Next time you want to hit the blackjack tables in Vegas you may want to check your iPhone is off and out of site before some burly bouncer throws you out on the Strip, or worse confiscates your trendy $300 Smartphone. Turns out the gig is up for those that used a special program that illegally worked out how to count cards.

Counting-cards, a technique used to predict the value of the card using probabilities, is not illegal in Nevada when using the old gray matter between your ears, however using a program, or any device used to record the cards or predict the value of the next card is. click here to read story