Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wednesday Wishlist: LED Architecture

In the 19th century, San Jose had a massive electric light tower Downtown... a landmark I often wish we managed to keep. Awesome lighting I think is a great way to brand a city, especially one in the middle of Silicon Valley. With the latest generation of LED lights, you can do some pretty incredible things. Below is a cathedral called the Luminarie Cagna in Belgium. This is one of many spectacles in the city in preparation for the 2nd annual "Festival of Lights." Over 200,000 visitors are expected for the event.

As insane as the cathedral looks, the 55,000 LED lights only use about 20 kilowatts of power. Imagine something to this scale in San Jose with interactive elements (think The 88's lighting system).

Source: inhabitat



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

TWO BUCK Tuesday Today!



TWO BUCK Tuesdays is coming up soon, join us for a great night of live art, demos and music!


Shannon Amidon will demonstrate how to make non toxic, eco- friendly oil and egg tempera paint.

Paint By Color! (Interactive)
Collaborate on a pre-drawn original art piece with Lara Sophia


Brande Barrett will demonstrate how to make art into glass pendants.

LIVE ART by: Nik Caesar, 
John Hageman
, Jean Davis, 
Jehoiakim Santos
, Joanne Yada
, Courtney Thiesen, 
Leeonnista, 
Al Preciado & 
students of Bellermine and Notre Dame

MUSIC by: J Swizza

If you'd like to join in as an artist, performer or musician, email us: info@KALEIDGallery.com

Tuesday February 21st, 7-10pm

KALEID Gallery
88 South Fourth Street
Downtown San Jose

Monday, February 13, 2012

Fundraising Saved San Jose's Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park

One of the largest skate parks in the US has just been saved by parents getting together and raising $30,000 to keep to park open a midst non-stop budget cuts. I have to be honest, I didn't even know this park existed before reading this article, but it looks pretty incredible. Definitely a hidden treasure in San Jose.

At 68,000 sqft, it is the largest skate park in California. It also features the world's largest "cradle," the largest full-pipe feature, and the tallest vertical wall in any skate park. It opened up in 2008, cost $6.4M to build, and now attracts over 40,000 visitors a year. To find out more about the park and it's "Women Skate It Up" contest, just click the source link below.

Source: The Merc

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Photolog: Moveable Feast in Willow Glen

Food so nice, you’d sit on buckets for it. Seriously, buckets. They were handy, just flip & now you’ve got a garbage can. Of course, they also had regular seats, but with there being so many people buckets were the next logical choice.


The turn out was huge. There was probably even more people there, if I hadn’t shown up late. The line at Scoops was massive.


I dropped by the Hiyaaa truck for a Chicken Quesadilla while the line was still short. The quesadilla wasn’t bad, the side salad with it was limp.


A friend got some sweet potato fries at Sanguchon. It was different; I have never seen fries served with chopped salad in the mix with cheese. The rest of us were in line at KoJa. I was quite happy with the KoJa short rib burger due to its cleverness & nostalgic effect. The toasted rice buns reminded of when my mother uses a clay pot to cook rice & the rice at the bottom would become toasted & crunchy. I also ordered the Mochimisu, which just seemed to be a tiramisu with mochi chunks.


Overall, this moveable feast wasn’t bad. It was only my first one though. But it’s still a fun event to be out at. It’s a nice change of venue now & again instead of just a loud restaurant.



On a side note I had just finished a photoshoot with Ruak Styling using Oxford flats & so it was nice to see some girls out there wearing Oxford flats.


You can checkout more photos on the tru2lifepix FB page or thesanjoseblog FB

San Jose Stage Company presents Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize Winning Buried Child


San Jose, CA  January 26, 2012
 
Buried Child is the play that launched Sam Shepard’s career as a playwright with the Pulitzer Prize Winning story of the powerful exploration of the American Dream.
 
The San Jose Stage, the Bay Area’s award-winning off-Broadway theatre, holds the opening Gala on Saturday, February 18 at 8 PM with preview beginning Wednesday and Thursday February 15 and 16 at 7:30 PM and Friday, February 17 at 8 PM.
 
This powerful and brilliant play probes deep into the disintegration of the American Dream. Winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize, Buried Child is set in a squalid farm home, occupied by a family filled with suppressed violence and an unease born of deep-seated unhappiness, all the while harboring a dark secret.
 
“This ferociously comic play set in the rural economic slowdown of the 1970’, Buried Childseems pertinent to today’s global”, said Artistic Director Randall King, “and reflects the frustrations of the America’s 99%. Buried Child has been called a masterpiece.”
 
Directed by Kenneth Kelleher the cast includes Lyndsy Kalil*, Randall King*, Michael Navarra*, Tim Hart, Stephen Massott, Judity Miller, and Harold Pierce.
 
The Stage is located at 490 South Frist Street at William Street in downtown San Jose’s South First (SoFA) area. Tickets are available through the Box Office by calling 408 283 7142 or online at www.thestage.org between $20 and $45. Visa and MasterCard are accepted, and discounts are available for groups, students and seniors. The theatre is handicapped accessible.
 
   # # # 
 
 
*Member of Actors Equity Association
 
About San Jose Stage Company:
Founded in 1983, San Jose Stage Company is recognized as The Bay Area's Premiere Off-Broadway Theatre, and known for its devotion to new and cutting-edge work and for its commitment to showcasing high-quality local talent. In 1986, San Jose Stage Company set precedence as the first arts organization to negotiate and receive support from the Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Jose when over $500,000 was appropriated in support of the development of a new 200-seat theatre featuring a 3/4-thrust stage, which opened in 1990. Now in its 29th Season, SJSC continues to center its operations in this facility and has successfully produced over 138 productions and premiered 44 new works, including 11 world premieres and is acclaimed for maintaining high artistic standards, investing in local talent and supporting the region’s community of working artists while taking artistic risks. In addition to its core programming, San Jose Stage Company offers five core education and outreach programs and has housed over 200 independent performance groups. San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in the community and has earned a reputation for artistic excellence by providing high-quality, edgy theatrical experiences that engage, educate and provoke audiences. San Jose Stage Company serves an audience base of 30,000 and is recognized as a leader in the arts for a theatre of its size. For more information www.thestage.org  

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the Best City to Find a Job

Here is another reassuring stat that the San Jose economy is picking up steam. Not only is the rate of unemployment dropping precipitously in the San Jose area, but now we're being ranked as the best city to find a job based upon the number of available job openings. Here is the list of how many job postings each city had for each 1000 residents between October and December 2011:

#1 - San Jose: 130
#2 - Washington, DC: 89
#3 - San Francisco: 54
#4 - Boston: 53
#5 - Baltimore: 52
#6 - Raleigh: 50
#7 - Seattle: 42
#8 - Columbus: 38
#9 - Atlanta: 36
#10 - Minneapolis/St. Paul: 35

As you can see, not only were we #1, but we absolutely dominated this list. In fact, there are not enough unemployed people in San Jose to fulfill all of the outstanding job openings based on that stat (there is an issue of qualifying for these jobs, but that is another story). Expect the unemployment rate here to drop substantially over the next 12 months.

Source: Forbes, Dan thanks for the tip!

No. 1 easiest city for finding a job: San Jose, Calif.
Getty Images

Friday, February 10, 2012

Feathers of Fury: A Valentine's Weekend Pillow Fight in Downtown San Jose

Looking for something unique and fun to do this weekend? How about a massive pillow fight? That is exactly what's going down this Sunday at high noon somewhere in Downtown San Jose. To find out exactly where, you'll have to hit up this website sometime after 12:01am Sunday morning.

For a little preview, check out the video below from last year's event. I'm sure it'll be a great time for all. When else can you what a perfect stranger wearing a Santa Claus outfit in the face with a pillow?

For all the details either check out this blog or head over to their Facebook page!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

2012 US Figure Skating Championships Drew 100,000 People to San Jose

A whopping 102,619 people showed up for the US Figure Skating Championships in Downtown San Jose in late January, well above the 80,000 that were estimated. The effect was obvious, there were way more people walking around Downtown than normal and the restaurants were definitely more full that week. According the Team San Jose, around 8,400 hotel room nights were booked and $12.5 million was pumped into the local economy.

Now imagine the impact of 3,000,000 visits a year to Downtown if the A's move to San Jose.

Source: SJBJ