This year’s San Jose Jazz Festival features everything from funk gods George Clinton, Maceo Parker and Tower of Power, to a whole stage devoted to blues, to salsa, to…oh, yeah, jazz! Besides the Mothership landing, highlights to watch for include bassist and producer Marcus Miller performing the music of Miles Davis.
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Looking for a new home in San Jose? This is when to buy. Real estate search company Trulia reports a 13 percent increase in price reductions in July and August. Discounts are highest for luxury homes, valued at $2 million or more, where prices have gone down by as much as 14 percent.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped by the San Jose-Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday to get some ideas on how to handle the state’s budget crisis. Despite the economic crunch, San Jose and Silicon Valley are the most important sectors for growth in California’s ailing economy, with green tech creating ten times as many jobs as any other sector in the state over the past ten years.
San Jose Giants second baseman Charlie Culberson was drafted by the same organization that drafted his father. Baseball is a family affair for the Culberson family. His father and uncle both played baseball professionally, and they are just two of many who provide Culberson with support from his hometown in Calhoun, Ga.
Coming out of the folk moment of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, Joan Baez became the voice of a generation of activists. She is also has one of her generation’s flat-out best voices, wielding it on a string of gold records that helped popularize her favorite songs by other artists through the years, from Dylan (who she helped launch to stardom) to Steve Earle.
Bloggers across the internet are suggesting that Google has replaced its corporate logo of “Do no evil” with the somewhat more ominous “Do no evil on wireline.” It comes in response to the announcement by Google and Verizon that they envision a two-tiered internet for the future.
McDonald’s is about to take a hit. A new ordinance in unincorporated parts of Santa Clara County prohibits the inclusion of toys in most kids’ meals. The law will affect all restaurants where the meals contain over 485 calories in which 35 percent of the calories come from fat.
Larry Pegram, head of the Values Advocacy Council, has received the backing of Mayor Chuck Reed in his bid for a City Council seat. Pegram will be facing Don Rocha, Business Development Officer for San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency. “I need his help at City Hall in the difficult budget years ahead,” Reed said.
Lee DeWyze’s father was a postman; he has the lyrics to “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens tattooed on one arm, perhaps in relation to arguments he had with his father about whether he should risk becoming an indie singer or go into the family business. Lee took the other path, and his post-American Idol album is due this fall.
The crowds that visited the San Jose Convention Center for the medical marijuana fest this weekend were not able to smoke pot on the premises. Authorities denied organizers the right to set up a self-medication tent on the premises. There were, however, plenty of other ways for visitors to get a buzz.
