History San José Highlights Both Historic Locations in August

 ‘Happy Birthday Car 124’ at History Park on Sunday, August 12

& the Annual Fandango! at the Peralta Adobe

in the San Pedro Square Market on Sunday, August 19 

San José, CA – July 26, 2012

The second of the series of the History San José’s Family Days will be on Sunday, August 12, Happy Birthday Car 124!, a celebration of Trolley #124’s 100^th birthday party at History Park. A great place for a birthday party, this signature red trolley will be running on its track, there will be a trolley car drawn by a horse, and visitors can pump themselves a ride on a vintage hand-car. Vintage vehicles on display will include fire engines, an electric car, and Model T’s.

There will be crafts for the kids, live music featuring the Peninsula Banjo Band. And what a birthday party---cake included! Even the San Jose Giants will celebrate. Party-goers can stay, picnic and watch the fireworks after the baseball game. Food typical of the Gay Nineties will be available for purchase all afternoon.

Then on the following week, Sunday, August 19, is the annual Fandango! at the Peralta Adobe, in the heart of the new San Pedro Square Market.

This date is significant in that it commemorates the death 161 years ago of Maria Luis Peralta. He was the Californio who lived in the Peralta Adobe with his family, and was one of the first Accolades (mayor) of Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe.

Typical of that era, there will be music and dancing, as well as a descedant of the original horses that were brought by the Spanish explorers. Children will have the opportunity to make adobe bricks, corn husk “pocket buddies”, candles, rope a steer and learn more about the mission and rancho period of California.

Then mark all calendars, as Saturday, October 13 is the last in the series of Family Days. Filipino-American Heritage Day, celebrating Filipino American Month in October, will honor Filipino Americans and the current exhibit, Through My Father’s Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado (1914 – 1976). The exhibition is in the Gallery at the Pacific Hotel, and is a collection of 50 photographs chosen from more than 3,000 discovered by his daughter, Janet Alvarado after his death. This exhibit offers a rare view into the daily life of the Filipino-American community in the post-World War II era in the Bay Area. That celebration will include filipino foods, dancing and music, and other activities.

The series of Family Days at History Park is supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José.

Upcoming events include:

·      Haunt History Park, safe trick-or-treating, on October 28;

·      Happy Birthday San Jose! At the Peralta Adobe and Fallon House at the San Pedro Square Market on Sunday, November 18;

·      Children’s Holiday Festival with Santa Claus at History Park on Saturday, December 8;

·      the Heritage Holiday Tea is on December 1 at the Fallon House.

General admission is $8 per adult, $5 for seniors and students with a valid ID and children under five are free. Admission is free to members of History San Jose.

For more information call 408 918-1047 or visit www.historysanjose.org

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About History San José: 

History San José is a non-profit organization that collects, preserves and celebrates the stories of diversity and innovation in San José and the Santa Clara Valley. HSJ manages one of the largest and most comprehensive regional history collections in the State of California, from 1784 Spanish governmental records to twenty-first century Silicon Valley technology. 

History San José     1650 Senter Road     San José, CA  95112       408.287.2290

For GPS tracking, History Park is at 635 Phelan Road in San José, CA  95112.

www.historysanjose.org

StartOrganic Announces Northern California Growth Plans

San Jose, CA - July 9, 2012 - Building healthy communities just got a little bit easier in the Bay Area with the successful launch of startup, StartOrganic.  A fresh-faced, service-based organization, StartOrganic provides turnkey residential gardening services in which they build, maintain and harvest organic gardens for residents across the Silicon Valley.  

Far from your run-of-the-mill gardening service, StartOrganic is a values-based organization founded by two University of California, Santa Barbara alumni and long time friends, Josh Levine and Troy Smothermon.  With a shared passion for driving widespread cultural change Smothermon speaks to their mission, “With a health crisis that has reached critical mass, greater transparency across the food chain, and sustainability increasingly woven into the country’s social fabric, individuals, families and communities are armed with information and hungry for change.  StartOrganic is empowering people to take their food supply into their own hands and homes.” 

Converting virtually any usable space, from backyards to front lawns, into productive organic gardens, Levine and Smothermon attribute the rapid expansion of StartOrganic to its largely grassroots fanfare.  “When we work with customers, it’s amazing to see the organic gardening experience take hold in their community.  Instantly, friends and neighbors are talking about our gardens and asking how they can grow one of their own,” says Levine. 

Taking the process a step further, Levine and Smothermon have also established produce share events in which customers are invited to bring gardening surpluses to a community produce exchange, simply trading one’s own crop for another’s.  Produce, not dollars and cents, is the only thing that changes hands.  

As the market for organic, sustainable products continues to mount, StartOrganic provides a simple, yet innovative, solution.  Grow your own.  Equipping customers with the infrastructure and ongoing service required to be successful, StartOrganic brings new meaning to localizing the food source.  Looking ahead, Levine says, “Backyard gardens are for everyone, and our mission is to pollinate StartOrganic principles within our local community and beyond.”

About Start Organic
Founded in 2011 by partners Josh Levine and Troy Smothermon, StartOrganic provides residential organic gardening service to the Silicon Valley, with plans to expand throughout the California market.  With a hands-on approach, StartOrganic works with customers to build, maintain and harvest organic home gardens, enabling gardeners of any experience level to enjoy the fruits of their labor – homegrown, pesticide-free, seasonal produce throughout the year.  
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Link:
http://startorganic.org/StartOrganic_Announces_Northern_California_Growth_Plans_2.html

Bent Knee Comes to San Jose Aug 11th

Bent Knee is a Boston-based alternative rock band that is kicking off their third west coast tour in Downtown San Jose at SLG Publishing's Art Boutiki and Gallery (cool venue inside of a comic book publishing house). To sample the band's music click here, or watch any of the Youtube videos below.

Event Details:
Date:  Aug. 11th, 2012
Location:  SLG Publishing's Art Boutiki and Gallery
577 S. Market St San Jose, CA 95113
Bands:  Bent Knee, Contra Ville
Time:  7pm-11pm

Wednesday Wishlist: Downtown Electronics Store

One of the top items on my wishlist is some sort of electronics store in the Downtown area. There are a couple repair shops, but they are not true electronics stores where you can walk in and browse a traditional assortment of electronics. It doesn't have to be a Fry's (although I wouldn't object to one), but just a small 4,000 sqft boutique store with great customer service and late hours would do. 

Speaking of late hours, not a single 24 hour electronics store exists in the Bay Area. New York has several, including an Apple store and Best Buy. If someone could manage to open a gadget shop Downtown that was open around the clock, there could be a market for this given the strange hours of Silicon Valley engineers. I know I've had times in my career where I could have used a USB cable or extra Hard Drive at 2am. We are in the middle of Silicon Valley and the entrepreneurial center of the universe... we need to have instant resources available for those the people that are changing the world (or those that simply want to buy gadgets in the middle of the night).

Santana Row Timeline

The 10 Year Anniversary of Santana Row is coming up this November and their marketing staff was kind enough to send over a historical timeline. Santana Row has become one of, if not the most successful mixed-use project in the world and that is surely something for us to be very proud of.

Particularly interesting in the timeline below is the part labelled "FUTURE." We knew about the 220,000sqft office building and 600 parking spaces, but what is new to me is the "Capstone Building" at the very end of the Row which will feature a plaza, additional retail, more office space, and underground parking. This will be visible from just about any point along the main street, so I'm expecting an impressive building to cap off one of the most active streets in San Jose.

Please click the image below to expand it (and make the text legible).

"Epic" Apartment Complex Begins Phase 2 in North San Jose

A 769 unit apartment project on River Oaks Parkway in North SJ is starting it's second phase. This will add 289 new units to the 280 that already under construction and are expected to start leasing in May 2013. No news on when the third and final phase is estimated to start. All of the units are either studios, 1 bedroom, or 2 bedrooms. The entire project is going to cost $192M.

This along with the many other massive apartment projects in the area will help us get toward the density we need in North San Jose in order to justify pedestrian-oriented retail and expanded transit.

Source: SJBJ

A10 Networks Has a New San Jose HQ

A10 Networks is an application networking company that was recently named the 2nd fastest-growing private company in Silicon Valley. They have just moved into a new North San Jose Headquarters at 3 W. Plumeria Drive. The office is 79,800 sqft--double the size of their previous home--and with the new space comes additional headcount. They are planning to hire over 100 new workers over the next year. It's always great news to hear about additional workers in San Jose, especially denser areas with transit like North San Jose.

Source: SJBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose Area Tops US Pay by Huge Margin

The private sector in the San Jose area is on fire right now. I have done quite a few Saturday stats proclaiming how our salaries have nudged out other regions such as New York and San Francisco. However, today I'm not just going to tell you that our salaries are the top in the nation... no, I'm going to tell you that they are higher by a substantial and perhaps even dramatic margin.

For private sector jobs, average pay in New York is $63,400. For our neighbors in San Francisco pay sits at $64,800. The runner up, Bridgeport-Stamford, Connecticut, raked in $76,700 per private sector employee.

San Jose? A staggering $85,100 average salary per private sector worker. This is substantially higher than last year's record breaking number, which was also set by San Jose: $75,800.

Now the challenge is going to be keeping as much of that money as possible invested in San Jose instead of having all that wealth being handed to other communities outside of Santa Clara County.

Source: SJBJ

Nanosolar Prints Out $70M

A hot San Jose greentech company that specializes in printing solar sheets that are as thin as aluminum foil has just grabbed a cool $70M in their latest round. Not only are they producing the thinnest solar "panels" around, but they also claim to have the least expensive in the world. Perhaps one day you'll even see these types of panels outside of the residential/commercial energy space. I could see wrapping handheld electronics, laptops, cars, and even airplanes with this tech.

Source: SJBJ

Bay Area Native, Alexandra Starlight Returns to Perform At Streetlight Records

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Alexandra Starlight bears the lucky distinction of being as captivating as she is talented. Her singing style rivals the greats like Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. And she's got the swagger of a thousand men.”- Guitar World Magazine
 
On Saturday, August 4th Alexandra & The Starlight Band will perform at San Jose’s Streetlight Records alongside San Jose local Stock Foto. The show will be in support of Alexandra’s latest release, Alexandra & The Starlight Band, which already has critics buzzing, hailing the gritty & sultry songstress as the new, 21st century Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Along with CD, Alexandra & The Starlight Band is being released in a never-before-made combination of clear vinyl/rainbow glitter, each painstakingly custom made & hand numbered. Entirely crowd-funded, the release garnered an overwhelming response on the creative platform Kickstarter—resulting in over 205% funding and the limited edition 7” being nearly sold out, months before its release.

For this recording, Alexandra Starlight worked at Henson Studios in Los Angeles alongside Bob Cutarella (Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper, Madonna, Joss Stone, Keith Richards), engineer Paul LaMalfa (Brian Wilson, Colbie Caillat, Sheryl Crow, Loretta Lynn, Mariah Carey), Kevin Mills (Michael Bublé, Tom Morello, Céline Dion, No Doubt, Bruce Springsteen, Velvet Revolver, Gwen Stefani) and Lena Horne’s former band leader, Lou Forestieri (Tori Amos).

"Rushes through the speakers and has all the strength and emotion of Motown’s finest, but also bears its soul with the intimacy of a Southern gospel record...then, Starlight’s smoldering vocals kick in. And I try to pick my jaw up off the floor. It’s just that good." -Guitar World Magazine

Sonically, the 5 song EP presents a fresh spin on classic American music; hearkening back to the golden period in the 1970’s when rock ‘n’ rollers were looking to the sounds of Motown, R&B, funk and soul for inspiration. In the swinging “Without My Sunshine,” Starlight muses on the proverbial calm after navigating a stormy sea of heartache, with a bittersweet sense of gratitude, set to the sounds of gospel backing vocals and a classic Stax Records style horn section. Yet Starlight stands strong and never plays the victim; in the funky & heavy-hitting “T.T.M.F.” she trash-talks her two-timing ex-lover, positioning herself as the victor in her own superhero-esque survivor theme song. The result is a collection of songs that are at once triumphant and vulnerable, introspective and searching, strong and sassy.

"The moment Alexandra belts out her first syllable the audience is under her control. The band stands out partly because their sound is hard to explain, think white Tina Turner, with some Janis Joplin and Joan Jett thrown in for good measure." - Desert Star Weekly Newspaper

Alexandra Starlight’s live show matches the intensity of the songs, earning her a reputation as an artist to watch. She has played alongside artists such as Semi-Precious Weapons, Kate Nash, Trixie Whitley, Intronaut, Jhene Aiko, Vanaprasta, Harriet & Black Math Horseman, at notable venues such as The Troubadour, Hotel Café & The Satellite. Earlier this year, she performed at SXSW for a showcase curated by the Miles Davis family.

For more information visit:

http://www.alexandraband.com