Lots of Posts Coming Up

Usually I try to have one scheduled post every single day, but due the the sheer amount of things going on right now I'm going to have at least 2 scheduled each day over the next week. Just a quick heads up!

New Orchard Supply Opens in South San Jose

Orchard Supply is one of the oldest San Jose companies still around. It was here long before there was even a semblance of Silicon Valley. It looks like they are going back to their roots and are being spun off from their parent, Sears. They are also launching a new concept store right here in South San Jose, at the corner of Meridian and Blossom Hill in Princeton Plaza (formerly a Mervyn's). The 60,000 sqft space will have a new layout, canopy facade, and even clothing.

For more info, click here.

Crewners Barbershop Opens in the San Pedro Square Market

You have to check out this vintage single chair barber shop in the San Pedro Square Market! You can't miss it right by the entrance on San Pedro Street.

*************************************

from feed/http://www.sanpedrosquaremarket.com/CMS/UI/Modules/BizBlogger/rss.aspx?tabid=211291&moduleid=341923&maxcount=25 by Michael Maida

Today is a great day at the San Pedro Square Market. Our newest vendor, Dan Dixon of Crewners Barbershop, has opened for business. Crewners is an upscale barbershop, providing fashionable and stylish haircuts and the highest quality full barbershop services. Vintage decor blended with modern equipment creates an atmosphere that is warm, welcoming and invites customers to relax, refresh and reminisce.

Dan found his barber chair in Las Vegas, Nevada and took it to be refurbished by the boys at American Restoration. Dan is just another example of the entrepreneurial spirit that in Silicon Valley. Dan is an asset to the project and an amazing person. We are so happy to welcome Crewners Barber shop to the San Pedro Square Market family.

                            

Before the restoration

The Finished Product 

Location & Hours
San Pedro Square Market | 87 North San Pedro Street #107 | San Jose, California 95110 | Phone:408.663.1813 |
 Hours:
Sunday              Closed
Monday              Closed
Tuesday             10am - 6pm
Wednesday         10am - 5pm
Thursday            10am - 6pm
Friday                 10am - 8pm
Saturday             8am - 5pm

TechShop Grand Opening Today!

Come out to 300 S. 2nd Street between 10am-6pm to check out the new TechShop Downtown! I have no "handiwork" skills whatsoever but was still fascinated by the tour I got a couple of weeks ago. They have a lot of really cool machines in there like laser cutters, pipe benders, and whatever else you might need to build a physical product. This place should fit in nicely into SoFA and provide an invaluable resource for the Arts organizations there!

TechShop San Jose Grand Opening Festival: Saturday September 24 from 10 AM – 6 PM

 

Get ready to party in DIY style! TechShop, the first member-based do-it-yourself workshop and fabrication studio, invites you to the grand opening celebration of our new location in San Jose. Come take a tour of our cutting edge facility: Learn how a laser cutter works and watch another machine cut through inches of steel with a stream of water. Take a look at what our members have been up to—from creating popular marketable products, to arts and crafts, to the development of a real working JetPack. Special offers on memberships and classes will be available for a limited time. Moveable Feast San Jose will be rolling through with a variety of their famous gourmet food trucks, so bring your appetite! The opening ribbon—made of cold-rolled steel—will be plasma cut at noon by Carl Bass, President & CEO of Autodesk followed by a keynote address. At 3 PM we present a live performance of explosive proportions by YouTube sensation EepyBird, creators of The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments. The celebration is free and fun for the whole family. Come and see what TechShop has to offer you, and prepare to be inspired!

 

Schedule of Events

 

All Day - Free Tours, Equipment Demonstrations, Membership Specials.

 

10 AM - Celebration begins!

 

11 AM - Food Trucks arrive from San Jose's Moveable Feast!

 

12 PM - Ribbon cutting ceremony with Carl Bass, President & CEO, Autodesk Inc.

 

 

Carl Bass is president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk is the leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Formerly he was Autodesk’s chief operating officer, responsible for worldwide sales, marketing, and product development. Earlier roles included CTO and EVP of product development. Bass co-founded Ithaca Software, the developers of HOOPS, which was acquired by Autodesk in 1993. Bass serves on the Board of Directors of Autodesk, E2open, the Art Center College of Design, and the Rocky Mountain Institute.  He is also a member of the Executive Advisory Boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science and UC Berkeley School of Information. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Cornell University.

 

1 PM - Keynote speech by Carl Bass

 

1:30 PM - DIY Party in Full Swing!

 

3 PM - LIVE performance by EepyBird: The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments!

 

6 PM: Celebration concludes.

Glamour is a Rocky Road exhibit by Michael Foley

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

"Glamour is a Rocky Road" a collection of new works by San Francisco Bay Area artist Michael Foley.

Featuring new Acrylic, oil, Sumi ink paintings and illustrations depicting the trials and tribulations of trying to make it in this world and the consequences of the journey. A celebration of failures and success with a hint of biting sarcasm.

Find yourself swimming in the glitter of the velvet goldmine while avoiding the
the refuse of desperation to maintain image beauty and fame.

Opening Reception: Sept. 23rd, 7–10pm
(on view through October)

The Usuals
1020 The Alameda
San Jose, CA

Lost San Jose Launches a New Photo Blog!

Lost San Jose is one of, if not my favorite photography site focused on San Jose. What I didn't know until this weekend was that in addition to doing guerrilla photography, Josh Marcotte is also a writer and poet. He's put together a pretty compelling blog for San Joseans and it is being updated regularly.

Check it out right over here!

Content Magazine Kickstarter

To put it bluntly, Content Magazine is the highest quality publication I have ever seen regarding San Jose culture. I think it perfectly encapsulates what San Jose is all about, and where we're going as a community. The last issue featured articles on The San Pedro Square Market, Dishcrawl, Higher Fire, the San Jose Fire Museum, and Sally Ashton (Santa Clara County Poet Laureate). If those sound familiar, it's because those are exactly the types of topics that are promoted on this blog. The difference is that Content Magazine has in depth writing and stunning photos on every page. Come to think of it, it's one of the nicest looking magazines I've seen period.

Content just put up a Kickstarter page to help launch the print version of their next magazine. Please have a look below and enjoy a 90 second video that sums up the project and then read all about what they are planning to use the money for. If you are ready to make a small contribution and get some free swag in the process, just head right over here!

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

San Jose has long been the hub of tech innovation.  This same type of creativity has also fueled a different side of San Jose--the side that has moveable feasts, fashion shows, artists, tea bars, photographers, and speakeasies, to name a few. 

As residents of San Jose, we started Content Magazine, a life & style magazine unlike any of its predecessors, to tell the stories of these inspiring individuals and businesses in San Jose. It's honest, visually appealing and highlights this creative side of San Jose.

It’s been great publishing online and using Print-on-Demand, but in a world of electronic-this and electronic-that, a physical magazine continues to elicit feelings that an e-reader simply can’t.  Digital is great…but every time we show our pretty iPad friendly version to people, the response is always the same:  "How can I get that in print?" 

So, we're ready to take the next step: to print a magazine that doesn't compromise on the aesthetics.  

We're grass roots.  We’ve defined our vision.  We're building our brand.  But, we aren’t too proud to admit that the time has come to ask for a little help. 

Why should you contribute?

• You love San Jose, and you want your city to have a magazine with a quality and style that actually represents the people of San Jose. 
• You think "hyper-local" is a great thing. We like to say we are "for the people of San Jose and by the people of San Jose," so clearly, we do too.    
• You love supporting emerging artists and celebrating local cultural creatives.  
• You believe that behind every shop owner, designer, artist and engineer is a story that is waiting to be told.  
• You like the idea of a localized magazine inspiring you to explore all that San Jose has to offer.
• You believe that a quality publication has the opportunity to positively influence the way people think of San Jose. 

Where's the money going to go?

We're raising money to:

• Print the launch issue of Content Magazine with the quality and aesthetic we've always imagined.  
• Reduce the purchase price for our readers.  
• Provide printed copies of Content Magazine to local businesses, potential sponsors and city influencers, demonstrating the potential of a quality magazine in San Jose.   
• And, since you asked, while I'm sure our dedicated contributors have loved eating homemade pastries in exchange for their hard work, we'd love to pay our artists for their time and talent.   

We hope you can see the passion we have for the city of San Jose and the people that inspire us.  Thanks for supporting the vision of our magazine through your contribution.   

Be Content.

"what's inside matters" 

San Jose Arts Groups Get $1 Million to Fund Projects

This is pretty substantial news. Five Bay Area arts organizations were selected for national grants. 1st ACT Silicon Valley and ZER01 each collected $500k, meaning that San Jose raked in more arts-related funds than either SF or Berkeley from this program.

I'm particularly excited about what 1stACT is planning to do with their grant. Read below!

San Jose, CA: 1stACT Silicon Valley

The development of Gore Park into an urban plaza and outdoor living room in the SoFA (South First Area) district of downtown San Jose will connect four significant local arts institutions and advance the evolution of Silicon Valley's urban center. The Park is the capstone of a project that includes the ArtPlace-supported ZER01, transforming the SoFA district and leveraging more than $60 million in City of San Jose redevelopment funds.

"The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art has been committed to the SoFA district for more than 30 years. This project will allow us to extend our programming and our motto, 'make art here,' beyond the walls of the building to activate the entire district." - Cathy Kimball, Executive Director, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art

"SoFA is beginning to pop and transforming Gore Park will take the work that's been done to a new level." - Connie Martinez, Managing Director/CEO, 1stACT Silicon Valley

"The transformation of Gore Park into an 'outdoor living room' for the arts organizations in SoFA will create a unique gathering place in downtown San Jose for both residents and visitors. It will leverage the investment that the City and our partners have made in cultivating a vibrant arts and entertainment district in the Downtown and realize a major element of the vision for SoFA." - Kim Walesh, Director of the Office of Economic Development, City of San Jose

---------------

Joshua Russell

Director of Communications & Emerging Initiatives

1stACT Silicon Valley

408-200-2020 ext. 104