The San Jose Blog: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

San Jose Sharks "It Gets Better" Video

I'm trying to avoid making too many political statements on this blog, but since it is pride month I thought I'd share the following petition form to get the San Jose Sharks to be the first NHL team to make or sponsor an "It Gets Better" video. Several Baseball teams (including the Giants) already have such videos. Here is a link to the petition.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

@First Coming Along

It looks like several of the retail spaces in the @First development (First St. and 237) are just about done. There are signs up for Union Bank, Panda Express, Five Guys, and Chipotle. There are also 2 buildings going up fast right next to the Target.

Santa Clara County Poet Laureate: Sally Ashton

I've been meaning to post about this for several weeks now, but am a little bit behind (okay a lot behind) with my planned posts. :/

Since April 1st, Sally Ashton has been our Poet Laureate. This is a role I didn't even know existed until a reader submitted the link I'm about to share, but it's an interesting role indeed. Sally's lob is to elevate the awareness for poetry in Santa Clara County; advocate for poetry, literature, and arts; make poetry more accessible; and contribute to Santa Clara County's poetry and literary legacy. Sally also teaches at San Jose State University and have a phenomenal blog.

Click here for the NBC story about our Poet Laureate.
Click here for Sally's blog featuring the favorite poems of Santa Clara County residents.

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

San Pedro Square Market has an Official Launch Date: September 10!

The market is opening just in time to catch some warm summer weather! September 10 is the official date, although there will be soft openings for several vendors before then. I also wouldn't be surprised if there is an epic SJ Eats event to coincide with the opening.

Also, check out this great blog post about the market at the Silicon Valley Lofts & Condo's blog right over here.

CORRECTION: This is not the official launch, but a sneak preview!

Monday, June 27, 2011

DRUM! Night Benefit

Enter Music Publishing is sponsoring its 2nd Annual Benefit DRUM! Night on Friday, Aug 12th at the San Jose Rep! All proceeds will be donated to the Performing Arts Music Program at Lincoln High, which has over 40 course offerings in dance, music, and theater. For all the details, read below:

For Immediate Release

Enter Music Publishing Plays In The Community Again With Its 2^nd Annual DRUM! Night: A Benefit For The Lincoln High School Music Programs

San Jose, Calif., -- Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip drumming magazines online and offline, isn’t just obsessed with selling magazines. The company has a strong commitment to the community and drummers in need.

Last year, Enter Music Publishing, in conjunction with the San Jose Jazz Festival, sponsored Rhythm Night, a benefit for the family of deceased Little Feat drummer, Richie Hayward. The night was a tremendous success with more than 500 drummers and fans attending.

This year, Enter Music Publishing is sponsoring its second annual benefit, DRUM! Night, which promises to be an exciting drumming festival with a diverse lineup of drummers and percussionists. On Friday, August 12, drummers will descend on the San Jose Repertory Theatre in the heart of Silicon Valley to witness an evening of amazing drum clinics and performances by Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck), Thomas Lang (Spice Girls, Tina Turner, Stork), and Santana’s fiery percussion section: Karl Perazzo & Raul Rekow, with special guest Armando Perraza (formerly of Santana).

The event will actually be kicked off at 4:30 in the afternoon when Street Drum Corps puts on a street concert outside the venue.

All proceeds generated by 2011 DRUM! Night will be donated to the Performing Arts Music Program at Lincoln High, a San Jose magnet school. With over 40 course offerings in dance, music and theater arts, more than 900 Lincoln High students of all ability levels study and learn to attain the highest levels of achievement.

“We’re really enthused to be sponsoring this event to assist music education in schools,” said Phil Hood, publisher and co-founder of Enter Music Publishing. “San Jose schools have a great reputation when it comes to the performing arts and we’re dedicated to supporting the arts through events like DRUM! Night.”

Doors will open at 5:00, an hour-and-a-half before show time, allowing

attendees to have their stick grips analyzed and tuned-up by local drum teachers, witness music demos, test new drum gear, and get in on a special autograph session featuring Brian “Brain” Mantia (Guns ’N Roses, Primus), Jimmy DeGrasso (Megadeth, Alice Cooper), and other notable Northern California drumming dignitaries.

DRUM! Night raffle tickets will go on sale shortly. Entrants for a chance to win a full custom drum kit featuring Mapex drums and Sabian cymbals, as well as a host of additional prizes from companies like Gretsch, DW, LP, Gibraltar, Vic Firth, Craviotto, Remo, Vater, and more. Winners will be drawn and announced at the close of the show. All proceeds go to Lincoln High.

Like last year’s Rhythm Night, DRUM! Night will help kick off the 22nd Annual AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival, one of the largest open-air jazz festivals in the world. SJJF closes off the entire downtown area, erects multiple outdoor stages, and draws up to 100,000 music lovers who converge from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening to enjoy jazz, blues, salsa, Latin, R&B, electronica, and many other forms of contemporary music.

General admission tickets for DRUM! Magazine Rhythm Night are $20 apiece (each additional ticket is $15). Ticket ten-packs are available for $125. Premium tickets are available for $25. Cosponsors for DRUM! Magazine Rhythm Night include Roland, DW, Sabian, Remo, LP, Mapex, Vater, and Vic Firth.

For additional information, please visit www.drummagazine/drumnight.

About Enter Music Publishing

Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of hip, drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. Enter Music Publishing, Inc. also publishes great content on its website, drummagazine.com. Over the company’s history, Enter Music Publishing has pressed other well-respected publications, such as How To Play Drums, and TRAPS magazine. The company’s mission is to be the best source of drumming news and info on this planet and others as they become populated. The company’s founders, Phil Hood and Andy Doerschuk, are well-respected drum industry veterans with more than 50 years of experience in the field.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

thinkbiggersanjose.blog.com

If you haven't done so already, I would highly recommend adding Think Bigger San Jose to your list of blogs to read each day. They have only been around for a month, yet the content they're pushing out is consistently outstanding. One more time, here's the link!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Vegan Cosmetics Company "100% Pure" Moves to San Jose

100% Pure--which sells "cruelty-free" vegan cosmetics--is moving from Oakland to a much larger 140,000sqft headquarters in North San Jose. They also plan to hire 100 new employees over the next 3 years. 100% Pure does a huge chunk of their business online, but also have retail stores in Santana Row and Berkeley. For more info, click here.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Dine Downtown City Bites Walking Map

Today you can sample food from 22 different restaurants throughout Downtown! To help kickoff Dine Downtown (San Jose's Restaurant Week), most of the participating restaurants are giving people walking by a taste of their cuisine between 4 and 6pm. Below is the walking map for the event, just click to enlarge and print out.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Video of the First Annual San Jose Pillow Fight

I'm glad I stumbled upon this one... looking forward to next year's event!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Dine Downtown San Jose: Restaurant Week June 22 - July 7

Dine Downtown San Jose is back for 2011 and has an outstanding lineup of participating restaurants! Each venue will offer a $20, $30, or $40 fixed price three course menu. I'll also point out the the Capital Club is a member-only club, so restaurant week is the only time of the year where anyone can go up and sample their dining room on the 17th floor of the Knight Ridder building. Dine Downtown kicks off today and you can find the participating restaurants below. For more details on all of the restaurants and menus, click here.

Dine Downtown $20 Prix Fixe Menus

19Market Restaurant - 19 N. Market St.; 280-6111
Azúcar Latin Restaurant & Lounge - 71 E. San Fernando St.; 293-8482
Billy Berk's - 99 S. First St.; 292-4300
Britannia Arms Downtown - 173 W. Santa Clara St.; 278-1400
Eulipia Restaurant & Bar - 374 S. First St.; 280-6161
Habana Cuba Restaurant - 238 Race St. ; 998-2822
Loft Bar and Bistro - 90 S. 2nd St.; 291-0677

Mezcal Restaurant - 25 W. San Fernando St.; 283- 9595
P.F. Chang's China Bistro - 98 S. Second St.; 961-5250 ($40 for two people)
Pagoda Restaurant - in the Fairmont San Jose, 170 S. Market St.; 998-1900
Sonoma Chicken Coop - 31 N. Market St.; 287-4098

Dine Downtown $30 Prix Fixe Menus

19Market Restaurant - 19 N. Market St.; 280-6111

71 Saint Peter Mediterranean Grill - 71 N. San Pedro St.; 971-8523

Affinity - in the Downtown Hilton, 300 Almaden Blvd.; 287-2100

Azúcar Latin Restaurant & Lounge - 71 E. San Fernando St.; 293-8482

Bella Mia Restaurant & Bar - 58 S. First St.; 280-1993

Billy Berk's - 99 S. First St.; 292-4300

Emile's Restaurant - 545 S. Second St.; 289-1960

Eulipia Restaurant & Bar - 374 S. First St.; 280-6161

Fahrenheit Restaurant & Lounge - 99 E. San Fernando St.; 998-9998

Il Fornaio - in the Sainte Claire Hotel, 302 S. Market St.; 271-3366

Loft Bar and Bistro - 90 S. 2nd St.; 291-0677

Los Gatos Brewing Company - 163 W. Santa Clara St.;292-9928

Mezcal Restaurant - 25 W. San Fernando St.; 283- 9595

San Pedro Square Bistro & Wine Bar - 20 N. Almaden Ave.; 298-9463

Dine Downtown $40 Prix Fixe Menus

Arcadia Modern American Steakhouse - in the San Jose Marriott, 100 W. San Carlos St.; 278-4555
Azúcar Latin Restaurant & Lounge - 71 E. San Fernando St.; 293-8482
Billy Berk's - 99 S. First St.; 292-4300
The Grill - 172 S. Market St.; 294-2244
Loft Bar and Bistro - 90 S. 2nd St.; 291-0677
Morocco's Restaurant - 86 N. Market St.; 998-1509
Morton's The Steakhouse - 177 Park Ave.; 947-7000
Paesano Ristorante Italiano - 350 W. Julian St.; 217- 9327

P.F. Chang's China Bistro - 98 S. Second St.; 961-5250 ($40 for 2 people)
Paolo’s Restaurant - 333 W. San Carlos St. # 150; 294-2558
Silicon Valley Capital Club - 50 W. San Fernando St. #1700; 971-9300

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Music in the Park Continues on Thursday!

Up this week for Music in the Park is a Beatles tribute band from Santa Cruz / Monterey called the White Album Ensemble. The show is completely free and well worth a trip to Plaza de Cesar Chavez. See below for more information on this week's band and the full 2011 lineup!

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June 23: White Album Ensemble (Beatles Tribute)

They will perform "Beatles and Beyond" a hodgepodge of Beatles classics through the ages, with some solo favorites too. Hits such as Imagine, Maybe I'm Amazed, My Sweet Lord and Dark Horse.
Band will perform two hour-long sets
Seventh Music in the Park appearance in eight years, taking a year off in 2010.
At Music in the Park, WAE covered The Beatles' "White Album" in 2004, "Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Heart Club Band" in 2005, “Rubber Soul and “Revolver” in 2006, “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be” in 2007, “The White Album” again in 2008 and “Across the Universe” in 2009.
The band consists of top Santa Cruz and Monterey-based musicians and vocalists for bands such as the Doobie Brothers, Quicksilver, Snail and The Little River Band, including: Dale Ockerman keyboards; Ken Kraft, guitarist and vocals; Richard Bryant, vocals; Tiran Porter, bass; Timb Harris (violin and trumpet). Omar Spence, son of Moby Grace's Skip Spence, will perform some of the vocal work.
Not branded as a look-alike or tribute band … more like a symphony or orchestra playing timeless pieces.

Opener: Forever Young

Pay tribute to the music of Neil Young