With plenty of trouble about Alpha Centauri lately.

Apparently having a newsletter that anyone can freely sign up for (albeit with a few form problems on the website, but this email always works as long as I'm near the Internet!), a Twitter Account, and having the events written up weekly in Timeout, BC Magazine, the SCMP, I Love Soho, our own website, and occasionally HK mag, is considered to be elitist since there's no way to find out what's going on at Fresco, according to a comment on a recent article on Fresco in the Asia Sentinel about HK's nascent Jazz scene. And I've even been good about getting the word out on time every Monday lately!

Well, we can't please everyone. But if you're in town, looking for a bit of Christmas cheer, and.. ahem.. want to know what's going on at Fresco this week, we have a few special events for the holidays and to help close out 2009 (Dec 21 - Dec 27):

• Monday: We might have a last minute cancellation for the Viking this Monday, but I'll make you the same deal as I did last week - if they're otherwise occupied, the Tuesday Music Crew will be performing rock and pop later tonight[1] (9:30PM)
• Tuesday: Open Mic is free as in libre, albeit not beer (9:30PM)
• Wednesday: The Soul Crusaders will be incorporating the organ trio sound to a set of holiday favorites (9:30PM)
• Thursday: Singer/Songwriter Gigi will be performing a special Christmas Eve set with Al and Bob; see below (9:30PM)
• Friday: We're open the night of the big day with a holiday performance from Mia Samira and Jim Schneider; see below (9:30PM)
• Saturday: Allen Youngblood is back with a day-after xmas performance, with his brand of Caribbean themed jazz (9:30PM)
• Sunday: Chill out after the madness is done, with our last improvisational session of the HK pros for 2009 (8:00PM)

A Gigi Christmas Eve:

A Mia Christmas:

And the penultimate Trivia contest for the year.
Last week:

1. Q: Before the song was remade for the 1988 film Rain Man, rumor has it that this French Creole inspired song partially served as coded signals between groups of slaves around the time of the American civil war; what song tells us of warring grandmothers?
   A: Iko Iko
2. Q: Despite the near brush with disaster, what task does Arthur Dent set the Sirus Cybernetics Nutrimatic to calculating to which is produced a product almost, but not quite, entirely unlike what is requested?
   A: Making a cup of tea

And the second to last call:

1. Eventually having a global language institute and a complete translation of Hamlet, to what language does Avatar linguist Paul Frommer refer to as "the gold standard of alien languages" after constructing a new language for the Na'vi?
2. Thought by some to be the final resting place of the lost city of Atlantis, which sea is considered to be the shallowest in the world?[2]

Our big year end party looms close - stay tuned for updates our year end musical blowout... For the elite only, of course ;)

Seasons greetings,
Guy Cirino
Chief Bacchanalian Officer

along with:
Joyce Baker
Chief of Art and Design

Rob Baker
General Manager

[1] I will be unavailable for comment on The Ballad of the Gummy Bears, however. Thanks Roo!

[2] Thanks to Jenn for the question idea!

• Trivia contest rules:
  1. Limit one entry per person.
  2. Any single serving drink off the bar menu may be selected (bottles of wine and champagne are expressly excluded, normal idea of a "single serving" applies here guys ;)
  3. Free drinks cannot be redeemed for cash, exchanged, or refunded.
  4. This may not be combined with other offers.
  5. The bartender or server may request to see photo ID if they do not recognize you.
  6. Free drinks from this contest will only be given if the winning contestant is physically present at the bar.
  7. The offer for a winning contestant is only valid for 30 days from the date Fresco sends notification that they have won.
  8. Employees of Fresco are not eligible contestants.
  9. Contestants may win no more than once in any four consecutive contests.
  10. Answers must be deemed correct as judged by Peel Fresco Music Lounge staff conducting the contest.
  11. The contest is complete on the Sunday following the day in which the questions are announced. No further submissions for that contest will be accepted for winning consideration.
• Open Source Discount Membership rules:
  
  in refinement - program is active at the register, please mention OSS. At the moment we're only collecting information from potential applicants that think they'll be up to the (unannounced) standards based on the above. Suffice it to say, it'll be something like "verifiable nontrivial commits to projects with any license recognized by the Open Source Initiative" with the rules subject to change as we work out what seems within the right spirit. Joining does include one free geek drink in addition to the usual discount (ever taste a Blue Screen of Death?).