Tokyo Flight Is Back On!

ANA is resuming direct flights from SJC to Japan starting on June 1st on shiny new (and hopefully battery-problem free) Boeing 787 aircraft. They have also upped the ante with five weekly round trips as opposed to four. Sometime in September the service will expand again to daily flights (seven each week).

Hopefully they will have some good promotions to welcome the route back to San Jose! Any guesses as to which international route SJC will land next?

Source: SVBJ, What a Trip

A Must Win Situation

The NHL playoff series many have dubbed "The Homer Series," due to all wins occurring on home ice, is back in San Jose, and with the series on the line this afternoon, the Sharks must win to force a Game Seven in Los Angeles.

Despite the Kings being ahead in the series 3-2, their Game Five victory was quite possibly the first time one could suggest they outplayed the Sharks.  The Sharks need to eliminate their bad mistakes (e.g. some terrible giveaways that lead to goals) and figure out Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (the reason the Kings have made it this far) so they can win the next two games.  The path to victory is not unattainable.  If there is one team that can beat the Kings, it is the Sharks.

Here is why the fans should care this year, more than any time in the past.  The winner of this series will be a favorite to win the Stanley Cup.  I do not state this simply because the Los Angeles Kings won last year.  The reason is both the Sharks and the Kings have strong defensive strategies, coupled with dangerous special team outputs (i.e. are particularly successful on both power plays and penalty kills).

It it interesting to watch, year after year, how much attention is given to the Eastern Conference, in particular the bold predictions how a team out of the East will be the most successful in the playoffs.  Currently, there are two teams left in the East: the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team with flashy young players, and the Boston Bruins, a rugged team with plenty of talent who won the Stanley Cup only two years ago.

The problem with the East is the focus on offense.  Undoubtedly, the goal output from that conference is high, and it is common for players to score multiple points per game.  It is easy to see why some would pick an Eastern team to win.  They can score.

Now, try to match up an Eastern Conference team with a Western Conference team and see how well they play.  For example, on one of the more rare occurrences during the regular season when the Sharks match up against a team from the East, the Sharks normally win.  The problem the East has is their inability to score against a team with an actual defense.  This is where teams like the Penguins and the Bruins will fall short.

(I have to say, though, it is nice seeing ex-Shark Douglas Murray playing so well.)

With all this attention brought to the Eastern Conference, what about the Western Conference?  Two additional dynamite teams, the Presidents' Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings are still fighting to win as well.

Despite being an unstoppable force for the past two decades, winning four Stanley Cups, the Red Wings are now considered to be making a Cinderella run so far this post-season, knocking out the second seeded Anaheim Ducks, and are currently at an advantage over the first seeded Blackhawks, putting them on the brink of elimination. 

If the Sharks can manage to beat the Kings, they're up against one of two teams in the Western Conference Finals: a beatable Red Wings team (just look up the Sharks's recent history against the Red Wings), or an under-performing Blackhawks team that has yet to face the revamped Sharks team.

The Sharks team has said it themselves by stating the reason their "at home success" is so high is because of the fans.  Let us all get behind our team today, tomorrow, and for as long as you can!  We must win!

We need to get in that advantageous third round position.  GO SHARKS!

Communications Hill Project is Moving Forward

If you live in South San Jose, you may want to attend a June 10th community meeting for a huge Communications Hill project. The plan involves 4,000 densely-packed homes, 60,000 SQFT of retail, a 50-acre industrial zone, and open space/trails (more steps perhaps). The meeting is taking place at 2933 St. Florian Way (Fire Station 33) at 6:30pm.

Thanks to Rob Sidhu for the tip!

TO: Residents of Chianti at Tuscany Hills Homeowners Associations.

We were just made aware of a meeting to provide an overview of the development project planned on Communications Hill will be held on:

Monday,

June 10, 2013

at 6:30pm

at 2933 St. Florian Way

San Jose (Fire Station 33)

Officials from the City of San Jose and KB Homes will be at the meeting to present the plan and answer questions. The complete plan for Communications Hill includes 4,000 residential units, 60,000 sq ft of retail, a 50 acres industrial park and areas of open space and trails. The overall vision is a dense neighborhood that is very walk able.

We do not have any further details about the development or meeting, but we wanted to make you aware of this upcoming meeting.

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the Happiest City for Young Professionals!

CareerBliss has proclaimed San Jose as the happiest city in the United States for young professionals (those with less than 10 years of work experience). They analyzed employee surveys from 2012 to compile the results. The metrics included company culture, growth opportunities, work-life balance, a person's relationship to their boss, and compensation. After tallying the results San Jose came out on top. The #2 city? San Francisco. Washington D.C. came up third, Chicago grabbed fourth place, and San Diego rounded out the list in fifth.

Another interesting stat is that 294,400 of San Jose's population consists of residents aged 25-44, the group responsible for the majority of young professionals. SF only has 208,400 in that bracket. That means that San Jose roughly has 41% more young professionals than SF. The news of young talent migrating north has been greatly exaggerated.

Source: SVBJ

Dishcrawl Debuts Dine Downtown Dishes: Sneak Peek 8 Restaurants for Dine Downtown

The San Jose Downtown Association and Dishcrawl are teaming up to provide a sneak peak for the Dine Downtown Restaurant Week! This is the ultimate way to sample a bunch of different foods in one night and plan out your dining adventures. Tickets are only $5, and you can get them right over here. In addition, Discrawl will be donating a portion of each ticket sold to the Oklahoma Relief Fund to benefit those affected by the tornado (use the promo code "oktornadorelief"). The promo code will work until June 1st. More info below:

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Dishcrawl Debuts Dine Downtown Dishes
Sneak Peek 8 Restaurants for Dine Downtown

San Jose, CA – Dishcrawl, popular for providing local food adventures, will be hosting a sneak preview to the annual Dine Downtown event. Join us in downtown San Jose on Wednesday, June 19th from 5-8pm, we invite you to engage your taste buds as we explore the many special offerings of our local favorites two days early.

“With participating locations like Fahrenheit and Billy Berk’s, Dine Downtown is sure to be a successful restaurant week and Dishcrawl is giving people a VIP exclusive,” says Kirby Ptacek, Dishcrawl ambassador.

With the destination set at serving quality dining experiences, the San Jose Downtown Association seeks to highlight the quality and diversity of dining options in downtown San Jose. This year, Dishcrawl will feature 8 of the participating Dine Downtown venues and dish out a unique and memorable way for people to connect over food.

A ticket grants entry to the event, a cupcake, and the chance to win up to $500 of prizes courtesy of the San Jose Downtown Association. Tickets for menu offerings will be available for purchase on day of event. Entry tickets are $5 and now available for purchase here.

RetailNext is Expanding in Downtown San Jose

RetailNext is a "big data" startup that has just raised an extra $15M and is about to sign a lease for a new space Downtown. They will be doubling their footprint from around 8,000 SQFT to between 15,000 and 16,000 SQFT. Their CEO said they like it Downtown, and cited the improving restaurant scene, proximity to the airport and hotels, and how affordable it is compared to other business districts in the Valley.

With the larger office comes more jobs. They are expecting to add 15-20 more people to the current 50-person team over the next year or year-and-a-half.

A smart strategy for Downtown would be catering more towards startups like RetailNext that could grow in San Jose as opposed to trying to hook the largest fish in the ocean with whole-building leases. We already have tons of incubators and organizations like NextSpace Downtown, plenty of infrastructure, and some success stories like Pinger and Intacct. These companies are the future of Silicon Valley, so I hope to see many more of them making Downtown their home.

Source: SVBJ

Doctor Faustus is Playing at The Rep

A World Premiere Adaptation of Marlowe's Classic

Experience the fantastical world of "Medieval punk" (think Steampunk, but Medieval instead of Victorian) in this re-imagined adaptation of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

This world premiere adaptation of Marlowe's Faust conjures a darkly bawdy, delightfully mischievous world using stylized, state-of-the art stagecraft, and leading-edge light and sound gadgetry to spirit the viewer right out of this world – projections, shadow puppets, life-size cage puppets, and actors playing multiple roles, sometimes simultaneously. All of the normally hidden aspects of a play will take place on stage – you'll see the stagehands and wardrobe folks, costumes changed, and props provided, making this not just the telling of a great story, but of how the story is told. If you love theatre that tells bvc a great story while pushing boundaries and demonstrating how theatrical theatre can be, this is one you will want to see.

Bold, ambitious, and stirring... Brandt has become a disciplined and inventive theatrical storyteller. -- San Diego Union-Tribune

Click here for tickets.

TWO BUCK Tuesday Tonight at KALEID

from Phantom Galleries by PG

Join us at KALEID Gallery for this upcoming TWO BUCK Tuesday, May 21st, 7pm-10pm!

Come enjoy an inspired evening of performances, live painting, $2 art, drop-in sketching table & quirky people get together! It’s open to all ages and free!

Here are some of of the participating artists who will be joining us this time:


Artists Murphy Adams and Christine Benjamin whose feature show “The Weird and the Wonderful” is up in the main gallery will be there doing collaborative drawings which they’ll have for sale. They’ll also be on hand to answer questions about their work. Each artist will start a drawing then switch, coming up with something completely unique in the spirit of the Exquisite Corpse.


This upcoming Two Buck, get a dose of the high fashion that will be featured at the Blitz Runway show that will be on the main stage of the upcoming 6th Annual SubZERO Festival!  Lacey Bryant, one of the collaborating artists for the fashion show, will be practicing some of the face paint techniques that we will be showcasing on the runway in exchange for donations! Help us put on this awesome event and get some cool designs on your face at the same time!


The San Jose Yarnbombers will be working on their upcoming yarnstorm.  Stop in and knit or crochet a 6 inch square and you can be a part of the action!  You can also help us stitch squares together into patchwork.  We'll bring the yarn, you bring your needles or hooks.  If you have squares to drop off, this would be a great time to bring them by, too!


Lara Sophia will host a meditation, yoga, martial arts themed drawing session.  Bring your sketch pads and draw folks in poses of concentration or take a turn posing yourself while others draw you.

Live Art By:

David Mejia

Erica Atreya

Jeff Bramschreiber

Nik Caesar

Felipe Jimenez

John Hageman

Al Preciado & friends
Enjoy Live Music By Rebelskamp!

TWO BUCK Tuesday is May 21st, 7pm-10pm!


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