Fresno Famous

It’s Christmas crunch time and for all you who think that it’s better to give than receive, you’ve got a few more days to get your bases covered. We’ll make it easy with this quick list to get you started.

Music (put it in your ears)

This is probably a bit of choir preaching, but if you’re not hearing local music someone should slap you in the ears.
It’s cold out. It will hurt.

Let’s start with Fashawn. The dude is killing it right now. He's got his own Wiki page). He’s one of the Top 10 hip-hop artists of the year on the culture Web site URB — along with guys like Drake and Raekwon — and just finished a tour with Ghostface Killah. His album Boy Meets World, features local favorites like Eva Scow and Devoya Mayo. I haven’t gotten around to getting my copy, you know, if you’re my secret Santa.

Also on the hip-hop front is Chuck Dimes, who’s holding a release party for his album Social Studies, Dec. 19 at Aqua Shi (Champlain and Perrin avenues).

If that doesn’t do it for you, Love the Captive has a good rundown of some local downloads.

Books (they’re my favorite)

Some people aren’t into music. I don’t trust those people, but OK. Let’s talk books.

The price war is over and you missed getting Sarah Palin’s book for $8. Get over it. Make yourself feel better with these local choices (not to harp on the local) from Kathi Lamonski at the Fig Garden Bookstore.

Mother Goose in California, by Doug Hansen on Heyday books
This is the children’s book you wish you’d had.

Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies from the Land, by David Mas Masumoto, Free Press/Simon and Schuster
The Los Angeles Times called Masumoto a rockstar farmer who “uses his farm as Thoreau did his Walden Pond.”

West of the West, by Mark Arax, PublicAffairs
Buy at Fig Garden Bookstore and Arax will even sign the book for you, Lamonski says. For a gift, that’s a nice gesture, a little extra something to show you care.

The Rise of the Bulldogs: The Untold Story of One of the Greatest Upsets of All Time, by Dan Taylor, Harper Collins
The story of how Taylor got his book deal is a stars-alligned kind of thing. Maybe we can get him to share it sometime.

Crafts (she’s crafty)
We’ve talked about ">Fresno’s Etsy Team before, but we’ll mention it again because we value good craftsmanship and one-of-a-kind stuff and the group is hosting its Cirque du Noel, 6 to 11 p.m. tonight at the Big Red Church. This is a last-minute gifters goldmind, with vendors hand-making everything from soap to jewelry.
From the group’s blog: You will have the opportunity to purchase unique items that were handcrafted by local people, rather than people in a foreign sweatshop! You are giving back directly to artists and their families rather than a soulless corporation.