More One South Market Renders!

Nathan Donato-Weinstein from the Silicon Valley Business Journal hooked us up! Check out the very latest renders for the 23-story One South Market residential building in Downtown San Jose. Several things to note:

• The entire Santa Clara Steet side is retail/commercial space with support for three separate storefronts.
• The garage entrance is now on South San Pedro instead of Market Street (sweet!).
• The Market Street side has some retail, the lobby, and the leasing office. 
• Remember that huge teal line running up the building? It is planned to be LED-based, meaning it can be any color.

My favorite render is the night shot at the very end. I am getting really, really excited about this building. The day this thing breaks ground, we'll have to celebrate at the San Pedro Square Market!

START Program in Evergreen

A native San Josean and current teacher in Evergreen has kicked off the START Program at Silver Creek Academic Academy. If you have middle school or high school kids in South San Jose, this will be worth a look!

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The START Jr. and START Program

High school and junior high can be a difficult sea to navigate. Now that the college admissions process is as competitive as ever, students must take advantage of every opportunity presented to them. To better serve all of our middle school and high school students at SCAA, we are offering a program that is designed to help guide and advise them through junior high school, high school and into college. This exciting program will provide your child with the tools and resources needed to help maximize their potential for admittance to their selected college choices. If you are interested in receiving more information about this addition to SCAA, please email us today at Info@TheSTARTProgram.com. 

www.TheSTARTProgram.com

GO NINERS!

San Jose Stage Company Presents John Logan’s Tony Award Winner: Red

San Jose, CA --- January 14, 2013 – The color red conjures up emotions of passion, love, lust, anger, and creativity.  The Stage production of John Logan’s Red has all that and more. “What do you see?” is the opening line that lays the philosophical foundation for the evening.

 

The intimate Stage theatre serves as the studio of artist Mark Rothko during the late-1950’s as he was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the snazzy Four Seasons restaurant in New York City. Along with his new assistant, this bio-drama investigates the relationships of life, art, and each other. Red opens February 6.

 

“John Logan's Red is an incredible exploration into the genius and soul of a revolutionary artist that truly reflects the struggles and ambitions of all artists and art forms,” says Artistic Director Randall King.

  

Set to a soundtrack of symphonic classical scores, Red allows the audience to peer into the soul of the artist as well as his work.

 

Performances are on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Red runs through March 3.

 

Tickets range from $20 – $45 and are available at www.thestage.org or by calling the box office at 408.283.7142. Visa and MasterCard are accepted, and discounts are available for groups, students and seniors. The theatre is handicapped accessible.

 

The Stage is located at 490 South First Street at William Street in downtown San Jose’s South First (SoFA) area.

 

# # # 

 

The Cast of Red:

 

Randall King* (Mark Rothko) is the co-founder and Artistic Director of San Jose Stage Company. He was most recently seen as Jack Lawson in Race, Dodge in Buried Child, Johnny Friendly in On The Waterfront, The Waiter in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Sharky in The Seafarer, Ariel in The Pillowman and Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross.

 

Aaron Wilton* (Ken) returns to San Jose Stage Company, where he played James Monroe and Red Eagle in the Regional Premiere of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Katurian in The Pillowman. His regional credits include performances at Regional credits include George Street Playhouse, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, Theatre Rhinoceros, Capital Stage and Sacramento Theatre Company.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

 

Kenneth Kelleher (Director) has directed over twenty performances for The Stage, includingReckless, Buried Child, On The Waterfront and Rock ‘n’ Roll. He is currently the Artistic Director of Pacific Repertory Theatre and Resident Director of The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. He has also directed for San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, California Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Sacramento Theatre Company and B Street Theatre.

 

The other members of the show’s creative team include designers Richard C. Ortenblad(set), Jean Cardinale (costumes), Michael Palumbo (lighting) and John Koss (sound).

  

   # # # 

 

 

About San Jose Stage Company:

 

Now in its 30th season, San Jose Stage Company is recognized as The Bay Area's Premiere Off-Broadway Theatre. The Stage is known for its devotion to new and cutting-edge work and for its commitment to showcasing high-quality local talent.

 

Ranked 3rd largest theatre and 9th largest performance arts organization in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal (May 2012), San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in the community. The Stage has earned a reputation for artistic excellence by providing high-quality, edgy theatrical experiences that engage, educate and provoke audiences. The Stage has produced 143 productions, 44 new works and 11 world premieres.

 

The Stage also offers five core educational and outreach programs, including National High School Top Honors Awards, and has housed over 200 independent performance groups in its theatre. The Stage is located at 490 South First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. For more information: www.thestage.org   Box Office: 408.283.7142

Saturday Stats: San Jose Commute Times

Do you think that your commute in Silicon Valley is pretty bad? Well, it turns out that it is probably less worse than in other major metros in California. The average commute in San Jose is 24.4 minutes. This compares to 28.8 minutes in San Francisco (the worst of ALL major metros), 28.3 minutes in Los Angeles, and 25.9 minutes in Sacramento. San Diego tied with San Jose at 24.4 minutes. As much as we complain, it is at least 18% worse up north.

Source: SVBJ

South First Friday Tonight!

The very first South First Friday of 2013 kicks off tonight, and it looks like there are several new participants in Downtown San Jose's premier art crawl. This is the first time I have even heard of the Seeing Things Gallery on 30 North Third St., same with the LGBTQ Youth Center. I also don't remember The Studio Rock Climbing Gym or Pagoda officially participating in the past. It should be a lot of fun, so come on down and check out some cool art at 21 venues Downtown! For more info click here.

New Feature Exhibits at KALEID Open February 1st

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

Two new KALEID feature exhibitions help kick off the 8th year of the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk!
Join us for opening receptions for KALEID artists Melanie Sharr, and Jeff Hemming, two talented painters each unique in their narrative and aesthetic style.


LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION by Jeff Hemming


Houses In My Dreams by Melanie Sharr

Opening Reception Friday, February 1st, 7-11pm
Free & open to the public


88 South Fourth Street (@ San Fernando)
San Jose, CA 95112
info@KALEIDGallery.com
408-947-1785
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, noon -7pm
Free admission

San Jose Sharks Update – 1/30/2013

To say the Sharks have had an unbelievable start to the “2012”-2013 season is quite the understatement.  For those of you who have been in suspended in hypersleep for the last ten days, the Sharks are now 6 (wins) – 0 (losses) – 0 (overtime/shootout losses), already the best undefeated start to an NHL season in franchise history.  In fact, the Sharks have been so dominant, fans and commentators from all around the country have been chiming in to comment on the Sharks’ sheer force, and even to the point of joking how forward Patrick Marleau hit a “slump” when he only scored one goal against the Vancouver Canucks last Sunday.  (This of course, refers to Marleau tying a 97-year-old NHL record of most consecutive multi-goal games to start a season, with four.)

The most evident improvement of the Sharks’ effective play is, by far, their chemistry, the most visible of which being executed by the top line of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Joe Pavelski.  If statistics are an additional indicator, Marleau, Thornton, and Pavelski are all currently within the top five highest point getters in the NHL so far this season, with Marleau and Thornton tied for #1.  In addition, Marleau is leading the league in goals, with nine (almost double the second highest), and Thornton is leading the league in assists.  Watching Sharks coach Todd McLellan’s assembled lines work in the offensive zone is simply incredible.  Occasionally, watching the Sharks execute an offensive zone cycle and fighting in the corners while even strength is like watching the Sharks execute a power play.  While the Sharks have been lacking in power play production in prior seasons, they currently lead the league in capitalizing on power play opportunities – burying the puck over 35% of the time.  Watch the team work on their power plays.  The tape-to-tape passes are crisp.  The puck movement is fluid.  Pretty rare to see when playing against the best skaters in the world.

If anyone is to understand how the best hockey is played, it is all about chemistry between the players.  Many fans believe that stacking a team with superstars or with young players is the key to victory, but history proves otherwise.  How well can a team pass to one another?  Can players effectively receive bad passes?  Is it easy for players to get open for passes or shot opportunities?  Can the team play well defensively?  These are questions that require answering when it comes to assembling (and executing the abilities of) an elite team.  Through personal experience and through historical data, the best performing teams have been defensive minded teams with strong abilities to move the puck and have amazing chemistry.  Just look at the recent Stanley Cup winning teams as examples.

While the Sharks have recently shown an impressive offensive campaign in these first six games (possibly excluding last night’s game versus the Anaheim Ducks), the defense has been equally impressive.  Besides outstanding goaltending performance (I mean, look at Antti Niemi so far this season), the defensemen have done a wonderful job as well.  One statistic many defensemen pay attention to is blocked shots, a somewhat recent statistic the league has actively recorded, but probably one of the most important overlooked statistics by fans and commentators alike.  Blocked shots have changed the game in a significant way, often having teams rely on elite snipers or masterful tip-ins to score goals.  A common defensive zone strategy is to crowd the net, since, well, the puck cannot exactly go through players.  Even while listening to play-by-play announcer Dan Rusanowsky, the frequency with which I hear “blocked shots” are increasing.  It seems Coach McLellan is learning from the success of other defensively minded teams who have adopted an aggressive “cut off all angles” defense strategy.

(Another note on defense strategies – I will try not to often mention the cheap 1-3-1 defense strategy overwhelmingly executed by the Tampa Bay Lightning, as much as I can help it.  That’s a different story for another day)

Overall, I firmly believe the Sharks have developed a successful strategy, and it has shown.  While currently holding a 6-0 undefeated record so far this season, it is also important to note the great majority of the games have been completely dominated by the Sharks, as they currently have been outscoring their opponents 26-10.  This is in direct contract to the equally undefeated Chicago Blackhawks, who have a less impressive 22-13 margin, and in the opinions of many, have been terrific, but not completely dominant, with wins primarily with one goal differences.

Hopefully, over time, I will be able to update more frequently and to provide a game-by-game analysis.  My direction is more to analyze significant statistics and to look at overall team strategies.  If any of you want to see, specifically, who won games, who scored, read obvious information, and to read about bandwagoner/fair-weather “fan” rants from local kids and/or beat reporters, go ahead and use a search engine to find a whole pile of lackluster articles – there’s plenty of those.  The perspective I hope to push is one of playing analysis for the die-hards like myself, the same people who attended games since the Cow Palace days, and have been supporting the Sharks through good times and bad.  I hope you all appreciate this direction, and please feel free to message and/or provide commentary to help me direct my analysis.  As I may have mentioned before, I have created a statistical chart that I am only now starting to use and will eventually post it on this blog publicly for you all to use and manipulate.

The Sharks are at home again, tomorrow night, where they face the Edmonton Oilers (for the second time).  As many of you remember, the Sharks scored six within the first period last week in Edmonton in front of their sellout crowd.  Hopefully, the Sharks can continue their winning campaign at home again, and to beat the Oilers – again.

For those of you itching to see scores and statistics, I will list some below for you to marvel at.  What a tremendous start to the season!

Current record: 6 (wins) – 0 (losses) – 0 (overtime losses), 1 shootout win (an important statistic when it comes to tie-breakers, as a regulation and/or overtime win are more desirable).

Statistics with which either the team or team player leads the NHL:
- Point standings – 12 (tied with Chicago Blackhawks)
- Goal differential – 26-10 (San Jose Sharks)
- Points – 14 (Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton)
- Goals – 9 (Patrick Marleau)
- Assists – 11 (Joe Thornton)
- Power Play Goal % - 35% (San Jose Sharks)
- Penalty Minutes – 37 (Ryane Clowe)

(Got to love the last one!)

Until next time, fellow die-hards!  Go Sharks!