Community Shred Day This Saturday

This weekend Comerica and Iron Mountain are providing free document shredding services between 9am and 3pm at Comerica's Winchester Banking Center (1245 S. Winchester Blvd). If you ever had the displeasure of having your identity stolen, then you know how important it is the shred anything that has any personal information, including mail that has your name and address printed on it. All of the details are down below:

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Comerica Bank and Iron Mountain Team Up to Offer Free, Secure Document Shredding on Saturday, June 4

Shred Day Bay Area: Protect Your Identity. Promote Recycling
Comerica Bank and Iron Mountain are teaming up to host “Shred Day Bay Area,” a free, one-day event allowing consumers and business owners to securely shred sensitive paper documents by stopping by Comerica’s Winchester Banking Center on June 4, 2011.

The “live shredding” site, where guests will be able to view documents being destroyed onsite, will be open between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Comerica’s Winchester Banking Center (1245 S. Winchester Blvd., in San Jose.)

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the U.S. with more than nine million victims each year. Shredding personal documents is one of the best ways to ensure sensitive information doesn’t make it into the hands of an identity thief or “dumpster diver.”

What should be shredded?
 
- You should shred any document that has a piece of your personal information on it. This includes your name, address, phone numbers, date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, PINs (personal identification numbers) and/or passwords.

- Documents that you should consider shredding include: financial records, bank statements, old bills, credit card statements and even medical records – anything that may contain a piece of your personal information.

- Depending on the type of document, the timeframe to keep records may differ. You should always consult with your tax or legal advisor to determine the appropriate time to keep a document.

Consumers can watch their paper documents be shredded on the spot. All shredded materials will be recycled. Only paper documents will be allowed. Up to four boxes or bags of paper documents per vehicle will be allowed. All paper documents collected at Shred Day Bay Area will be recycled by Iron Mountain.

Susan Siravo
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Comerica Bank
333 W. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA
office (408) 556-5111

Music in the Park Kicks Off Today!

June 2:  Greg Kihn Band with The Houserockers.  Classic Rock KFOX 98.5 / 102.1

June 9: The Original Stone City Band (Funk / R&B - Rick James' original band).   With So Timeless.  Sponsored by KBLX 102.9FM.

June 16: Freddie McGregor (Reggae).  With Tchiya Amet.  Sponsored byAlice @ 97.3

June 23:  White Album Ensemble (Beatles tribute).  Two full sets.  Sponsored by 94.5 KBAY.

June 30:  Natural Vibrations (Hawaiian Reggae / Rock / Soul).  Opening: The Bangerz.  Sponsored by LIVE 105.

July 7:  Led Zepagain (Led Zepplin Tribute).  Supported by ZeBop!.  Sponsored by Classic Rock KFOX 98.5 / 102.1.

July 14:  Special artist to be announced June 5. With 5606. Sponsored byMix 106.5 and S*ALT.

July 21: English Beat (Ska/New Wave). Sponsored by S*ALT and Alice @ 97.3

July 28:  Cracker (Alternative Rock / Americana.  With KFOG "Local Scene 8" artist.  Sponsored by KFOG 97.7 SJ / 104.5 SF and S*ALT

August 4:  Dredg (Alternative Rock).  With The Holdup and Trophy Fire.  Sponsored by LIVE 105

August 11:  Marcia Griffiths (Reggae).  With Reggae Angels.  Sponsored by 997 NOW

August 18: Sergent Garcia (World / Latin / Reggae).  With Los Hot Boxers.  Sponsored by 93.3 LaRaza. 

August 25: Pete Escovedo Orchestra (Latin/Jazz).  With The Mystique Band.  Sponsored by 98.1 KISS FM   

SubZERO 2010 Walkthrough

With SubZERO coming up this Friday, I thought it might be nice to take a walkthrough of last year's event:

Photos of Evergreen Village EPIC Festival

The Evergreen Village EPIC Festival last weekend was vibrant and lively. The crowd was bustling and kids were playing everywhere. It was a great day for some photos.

Lori and RJ hosted the event. You need to be a bit young to remember them. They use to host FOX Kids and the weekday cartoon lineup. What a flash back. I kind of miss watching cartoons.

The balloon artist was pretty cool. He was making neat multicolored multiballon animals and flowers. The T-Rex was pretty cool.

There were also various dances and some martial arts demos. Unfortunately, the stage was really hot due to the sun and so some of barefoot dances had to be done on the grass. But I think it turned out nicer dancing out on the green grass.

It was a great time. Also meet with Steve Natale from the Examiner who was doing some photos as well for the Evergreen Village site. Had a nice time chatting about photography gear and some classic cars.

The Evergreen Village will also be holding summer music and movie nights in the coming weeks. So, if you’re in the area, drop by and check it out.

To view the rest of the photos head on over to the album here.

Froyo Delight is Now Open!

Today was Froyo Delight's first day open for business. I randomly stumbled upon this as I saw a line of people out the door as I was driving to a meeting. When I drove back to try it, they were sold out of yogurt but at least I did get to talk to one of the workers there. Froyo Delight is immediately next to Dac Phuc on Santa Clara Street (in fact I think they have the same owner). They have several varieties of frozen yogurt, smoothies, and espresso. Looked like a nice little shop.

They are open from 8am - 8pm every day, and for this week only all of the yogurt is free from 8am-noon! They also mentioned free parking in one of the 2 spaces in front of the adjacent dry cleaners building (which I think they own as well).

SubZero is THIS Friday!

The mother of all South First Fridays is coming this week. Prepare yourself for tons of art, live music, vendors and even a flock of food trucks. If you only go to a single South First Friday this year, this is the one. If you feel like showing off how awesome Downtown San Jose is to disbelievers, this is the event to bring them to. More specifics below from the SubZERO Facebook page:






Last year- SubZERO Festival was the single most exciting South Bay event I participated in all year. The 4th Annual SubZERO Festival returns on June 3rd.

This year, KSCU 103.3 FM and Grand Fanali Presents have put together a stage of entertainment for you. It's a FREE event downtown and our stage is just one piece of a larger collaboration with many artists, vendors, musicians filling the South First Street area that night. Check the SubZERO website for more info.http://www.subzerofestival.com/


KSCU 103.3 FM and Grand Fanali Presents stage at SubZERO:
Friday, JUNE 3rd 6pm-midnight
added crashfaster: (SF 8-bit) http://crashfaster.bandcamp.com/

final line up-

KSCU Stage:
DJ K-VON 6:00-7:00
goodriddler 7:00 - 7:40
San Francesca 8:00 - 8:40
DJ Jeff Jagged 8:40 - 9:30
crashfaster 9:30 - 10:00
The Glowing Stars 10:10-10:50
DJ K-VON 10:50 - 11:30
@ South First Street (between San Carlos & Reed Streets)
FREE - 6pm-midnight - ALL AGES - http://www.subzerofestival.com/

OTHER STAGE PREFORMERS include:
Battlehooch
Corpus Callosum
Ben Henderson
Jhameel
The Emerald Hill
Red Paintings
Black Lotus Fashion Show
http://www.subzerofestival.com/stages-2011.html

MORE ABOUT THE PERFORMERS ON KSCU / GFP STAGE:
The Glowing Stars:
http://theglowingstarsband.wordpress.com/
There are many chiptune artists, but not a lot of chiptune bands. The Glowing Stars — guitarist/vocalist Lizzie Cuevas and drummer/Game Boy synth programmer Matt Payne — combines the clicky waveforms and perfect arpeggios of 8-bit processors with the fury of live drums and distorted guitars. Influenced as much by Frank Zappa and Freddie Mercury as Mega Man and Metroid, the band’s wistfully emotional lyrics are more boy-meets-girl than Game-Boy-meets-end-boss. With customized game hardware sharing the stage with 100-watt half-stacks, The Glowing Stars are half Weezer, half Wario – in other words, utterly unique.

crashfaster:
just added crashfaster: (SF 8-bit) http://crashfaster.bandcamp.com/

San Francesca:
http://sanfrancescamusic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/sanfrancesca

Goodriddler:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/goodriddler/113393282006642
http://www.reverbnation.com/goodriddler

DJ K-VON:
http://makeyousick.com/

KSCU 103.3 FM - Santa Clara:
http://kscu.org/

MORE ABOUT SubZERO FESTIVAL:
Focused on emerging and present subcultures thriving in our region, SubZERO is a diy, artistically bent, hi/lo-techno mashup where street meets geek. Come downtown on June 3rd to San Jose's SoFA District from 6pm 'til midnight for an inspired evening of arts & culture. In addition to the South FIRST FRIDAYS monthly art walk you'll find outdor stages of entertainment plus artists, performers & musicians celebrating the indie creative spirit!

FRIDAY JUNE 3, 2011 from 6pm-midnight
SoFA district in downtown San Jose
(on South First Street between San Carlos & Reed Streets)
Event website: http://www.subzerofestival.com/
For more information or to participate please email us: info@subzerofestival.com

Memorial Day - Thank You to those that Fight for our Freedom

Future Vision for North San Jose

Below is an excerpt from the San Jose Department of Planning regarding the future vision for North San Jose. I really hope this comes to fruition soon as San Jose commercial development needs to catch up to residential (we have more employable residents than jobs at the moment within the city limits). For the full page, click here.

Above and Below: Images of North San Jose today and in its potential future

Images courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) & Silicon Valley Action Network

Key Vision North San Jose Goals

Vision North San Jose is a long-range planning effort, addressing future potential growth and development needs. The key goals for the effort are to:

• Proactively plan for growth to allow more industrial development in a way that benefits current San Jose residents.
• Allow up to an additional 27 million square feet of research and development and office space in North San Jose.
• Bring up to 83,000 new jobs to San Jose, providing additional job opportunities for San Jose residents.
• Concentrate up to 16 million square feet of the new research and development and office space in a 600 acre Urban Corporate Center core area along the North First Street light rail corridor, between Brokaw Road and Montague Expressway.
• Develop an average 1.2 FAR in the core area with typical buildings of 6-10 stories.
• Focus on high-tech and corporate headquarters development.
• Create a rich pedestrian environment within the core area to encourage use of the transit system.
• Generate approximately $520 million in funding for the construction of local and regional transportation improvements.
• Provide new high-density residential development (up to 32,000 units) in close proximity to employment centers.

Saturday Stats - Quick Bytes

2 quick stats from the San Jose wiki page for you today:

1.) San Jose residents produce more U.S. patents than any other city.
2.) Thirty-five percent of all venture capital funds in the U.S. are invested in San Jose and Silicon Valley companies.

New Art Reception @ The Usuals Tonight

The Usuals present

New artwork by Michael Buscemi

With a short performance by Mara Hruby

Opening Reception
Friday, May 27th
7:00p - 10:00p
On view thru June 20th

Join us for snacks, music, art, and a live performance in the Backroom.

In the Backroom, introduce yourself to up-and-coming Bay Area artist, Mara Hruby! Join us for her sneak peek performance. Mara has a live performance later in the evening at Party Favors at Xanh Lounge in downtown Mountain View.

Fanime Weekend

This weekend is FanimeCon in Downtown San Jose, the largest anime convention in Northern California and one of the top 10 in the US. If you're wondering what thousands of people are doing running around in funky costumes, well you'll just have to click this link. Also, show your FanimeCon badge at any of the restaurants below and you'll get a 10% discount:

Shop	Address	Item
The Cheese Steak Shop	76 E. Santa Clara	Authentic Philly Cheese Steaks
Peggy Sue’s	185 Park Ave	Burgers and Milkshakes
Tengu Sushi	111 Paseo De San Antonio	Sushi Boat
Philz Coffee	118 Paseo De San Antonio	Coffee House
Good Karma Café	37 S. 1st St.	Vegetarian Fast Food
Smile Sushi	86 S. 1st St.	Sushi Boat
Pho 69 Noodle	321 S. 1st St.	Fusion Noodle House
House of Siam	151 S. 2nd St.	Thai Cuisine
Icebee Frozen Yogurt	151 S. 2nd St.	Do-It-Yourself Yogurt
Pita Pit	151 S. 2nd St.	Wraps and Sandwiches
Psycho Donuts	288 S. 2nd St.	Specialty and Custom Donuts
Bo Town	409 S. 2nd St.	Regional South East Asian Cuisine
Hydration Coffee & Tea	310 S. 3rd St.	Pearl Tea and Snacks
Pagoda Restaurant	170 S. Market St.	Upscale Chinese

Zanotto's Downgrading to Deli

So the bad news is that the 15,000 sqft Zanotto's grocery store downtown is shutting down. I'm sure few people are surprised as The Market is just down the street. The good news is that they are planning to open a 2,000 sqft deli at 80 S. First Street, which is the old La Nostra Pizza space. I'm sad to see the grocer go but am glad that they will still keep a presence downtown. For more info, click here.

Think Bigger San Jose!

I have some great news! Yesterday a new blog was launched to help promote our city called Think Bigger San Jose. The focus is on new ideas that will help improve San Jose with a historical context. An added bonus, the proprietor is a long time reader of this blog (Mark). Best of luck and thank you for joining the San Jose blogging community!

Here is a direct link to Think Bigger San Jose, and I've also added a handy link to the right in the San Jose Blogs section.

San Jose Greek Festival June 3-5th!

The San Jose Greek Festival is just over a week away! I must admit that I have never attended this one, but the letter from Georgia below sold me on this event. I'm definitely putting this on my calendar and am hoping to get some good pics to share.

Oh, and you can print out the image below for free admission!



Hello Josh!

I hope this email finds you well! I wanted to submit news for the San Jose Greek Festival coming up the first weekend of June, on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of the month. Hopefully if you've been you know what it's like. There's always fresh food at the stands outside, especially the sweets/desserts, but the real and more authentic Greek specialties are found in the community center near the dancing area. People who are first time visitors never seem to remember to go in there since at first glance it seems like it's just an indoor dining area, but is has such great food in there too (a good spot to avoid the sun, or as of late, the rain!). Gyros are considered Greek fast food which were popularized in the late-middle part of the 20th century when there was a tourism boom. The souvlaki, sausages, salads, tzaziki sauce, and roast lamb (both at the main food line/stand and the Evvia booth) are more like every day eatings when you go out, but the dining hall is like Greek comfort food, what your mom makes/the stuff you grew up on.

One of my favorite things to do at the festival is to get some fries, and loukaniko (Greek sausage) or the souvlaki that has been bbq'd, drizzled in olive oil, oregano and lemon juice and sip on a glass of Retsina, a specialty wine from Greece. It's an acquired taste since it's made in pine barrels (the wine absorbs some of the flavors to give it a unmistakably unique taste), but best and usually only enjoyed ice cold under the hot sun.

The inner courtyard has umbrealla tables and a coffee shop set up as well where people can get a frappe, a modern coffee drink that everyone drinks in Greece. And I mean EVERYONE. It's truly something I miss from Greece: sitting outside a cafe with my parea (my group of friends) while sipping my frappe as long as I want and people watching.

A lot of people say it's hard to enjoy the festival if you are young, that it's for an older set of people or people who are more laid back, but the food is fantastic, the people are so welcoming, and with the right friends and attitude it's a great way to start off the summer in San Jose.

I've uploaded a flyer here which can be printed and used for free admission: http://i54.tinypic.com/140lj6.jpg It's usually $3 for students, $5 for adults. There's plenty of free parking and free shuttle service that drops off right at the entrance.

I'd advise that pets aren't allowed, however!

Best regards,
Georgia

Sharks Lose Game 5 and Series in Second OT

All Sharks fans alike watched in disbelief. While many in San Jose had likely been gearing up for Game 6, either looking on Craigslist to find the first available tickets for sale or looking contently at their already obtained stubs, the Vancouver Canucks tied the game with only ten seconds left in the third period to send the game into overtime. (This, of course, being made possible by a controversial icing call that tipped off of a Canucks player and should have been waved off.)

The Sharks, then with a perfect 5-0 overtime record in the 2010-2011 playoff season, looked to have the edge, even as the overtime period began as the Sharks dominated with puck control and putting massive pressure on the Canucks’ defensive line, especially their goaltender Roberto Luongo.

Unfortunately, even with the Sharks’ offensive effort, a weird bounce during the second overtime gave the Canucks’ defenseman Kevin Bieksa a grand opportunity to take a slapshot from the point, which he did – the shot careening past a stunned Antti Niemi for the game and series win, pushing his team to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they are to face either the Boston Bruins or the Tampa Bay Lightning from the Eastern Conference.

Even though the result was unsatisfactory, the Sharks arguably played a very strong series against a very hot team. In an unusual series of events, the Sharks entered the series as the underdogs, having been seeded lower than the Canucks in the regular season. While I can point out the Sharks’ difficulties of getting players well positioned to get quality shots on net and positioning the defense to watch for open members of the opposing team in the defensive zone, the Sharks undoubtedly worked extremely hard in their forechecking, puck possession, and takeaways (most of the time while applying a physical style of play).

I want to congratulate the Sharks for a wonderful season, and hopefully they may regroup, train hard, and give us fans a heck of a 2011-2012 season, and hopefully a successful post season push.

As for now, we fans must continue our hardened and enthusiastic support for our great local team: the San Jose Sharks!

Onward to next season. Get some rest, boys. You will need it!

GO SHARKS!

Dishcrawl - S'Mores Tea Party with Satori and Li'l Puffs - Jun 5th

Dishcrawl is starting to bring some slightly different events to Downtown San Jose than the usual 4-5 meal food-fest. They're bringing together Satori--probably the best tea shop in Silicon Valley--and the marshmallow artisans over at Li'l Puffs to create a S'Mores and Tea event on June 5th. I'm sure this will sell out, so if you are interested it would be good to buy tickets sooner rather than later! The ticket link is right over here.

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Imagine a fantasy land where artisan marshmallow meets hand blended teas.  Celebrate the coming of summer with a S’mores Tea Party!

Satori Tea Company, a personalized and artsy tea bar and Li'l Puffs, gourmet artisan marshmallows, team up for an experience in the heart of Downtown San Jose.

Satori Tea and Li’l Puffs will dazzle you with an array of deliciousness to "create your own" s’mores. Among the treats will be Li’l Puffs gourmet vanilla and fruit flavored marshmallows, premium chocolates, and Satori tea blends to accompany your s’more creations.

S’mores and tea lovers can expect a fun, engaging evening creating and savoring their own creations with enthusiasts. This event is family friendly, and open to all ages. To reserve your seats, please register quickly before the event sells out.

For those of you lucky to get in, see you soon for an evening of fun!


**TO NOTE***

We're sorry, but cancellations are only taken if done 48H in advance. Thanks for understanding!

Visit dishcrawl.com for more info or email hi@dishcrawl.com with questions.

About Li’l Puffs

Li’l Puffs is a San Jose local food company offering the highest quality, all natural, and great tasting artisan marshmallows in a variety of fruit flavors and chocolate. Li’l Puffs marshmallows are made in small batches and without any flavor enhancers, coloring, or preservatives to bring you the freshest and purest products possible.

About Satori  Tea Company
Satori Tea Company offers the world's most popular drink without the fuss or pageantry , serving inspired teas blended and brewed by the discriminating palate of a world-traveled tea mistress. The Satori Tea Company specializes in bringing organic, fair trade loose leaf tea to tea drinkers and enthusiasts. Our teas are always fresh and packed with flavor.

KGB Deals: San Jose

Today I ran across a deal for one of the retail stores downtown, Bronze Beachwear & Tanning. To check out the deal click here. I didn't even realize there was a place that sold swimwear downtown.

2011 San Jose Jazz Festival!

Our good friends over at WMS Media have provided us with a little preview of the San Jose Jazz Festival, which is happening from August 12-14. This is one of the largest Jazz festivals on the west coast and is definitely worth checking out!

San Jose Has the Best Wages on the West!

You can get all of the details from this San Jose Business Journal article, but I'm going to ruin the suspense and post the best part:

"The following are the 10 Western metros with the highest annual average pay for all occupations:

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., $66,780
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif., $61,940
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif., $54,590
Boulder, Colo., $53,640
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., $53,240
Anchorage, Alaska, $49,730
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., $49,010
Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif., $48,940
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif., $48,860
Denver-Aurora, Colo., $48,560"

Fresco World Market is Coming to Eastridge

Eastridge mall is getting a new anchor tenant in September! Fresco World Market will feature 34,000 sqft of fresh produce, seafood, and a deli. It's even going to have aquarium tanks with live fish and shellfish. However, what really excites me about this tenant is how eclectic the selection is going to be. There will be imported brands from South America, Mexico, India, and all over Asia. It's a market well catered to the South Bay, one of, if not the most diverse place on the planet.

For more details, just head over to the San Jose Business Journal.