San Jose Community Information

A FREE-FLOATING columnist can find the muse in any crowd, whether it’s billionaire pioneers of the computer industry or Finnish astrologer/filmmakers who write books expanding on Timothy Leary’s eight-circuit brain model for intelligence increase. And in the last few weeks, that’s exactly what I did. » Read More

HAD THIS WEEK’S COLUMN occupied the inside back cover of Mad magazine, the author would have opened with “Here we go again with another ridiculous review of an Arcadia Publishing photo book.” Or something along those lines. Instead, he will state upfront that yet one more San Jose–related book from Arcadia’s Images of America series, simply titled, Silicon Valley, has been unleashed upon the public. » Read More

APROPOS of this week’s issue—Metro’s annual Best Of installment—allow me to yak about a few events taking place this weekend honoring the legacy of world-renowned skateboarder and San Jose local Tim “Beans” Brauch, who departed this life 10 years ago. On May 9, 1999, at the young age of 25, Tim passed away of sudden cardiac arrest, but by that time, he had pretty much already conquered the skating universe. » Read More

IN CASE YOU weren’t there, the urban-blight exploration junkie played his greatest hits on Auzerais Avenue, Stockton Avenue, 24th Street and in the parking lot of the Pink Elephant Center. The junkie had recently been in recovery, but after reading the wonderful book Touring Historic Willow Glen: Ten Walking Loops, he immediately relapsed and needed to kill the pain at all costs. » Read More

THE END OF SUMMER brings the consolation of a three-day weekend full of outdoor activities. The big dog for the end of the dog days is San Jose’s Tapestry Arts Festival, whose roots go all the way back to 1976. The three-day affair shifts its footprint a bit this year, moving eastward into Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The family-friendly event features music on the Plaza Stage, plenty of arts-related fun stuff for kids, and food and crafts booths. » Read More

LAST WEEKEND saw another zenith in what seems like a long string of reunions celebrating San Jose’s music scene of 20 years ago. This time, we’re talking about the last half of the ’80s and the legendary alternative club One Step Beyond. Known throughout the land as “One Step,” the place was a haven for many alternative types in those days: punks, goth kids, ’80s New Wavers, mods, rockabilly dudes, metalheads or basically anyone subjugated in high school by the jocks and cheerleaders and who wanted to fine-tune his or her teenage angst for use later in life. » Read More

LAST WEEK saw yet another intradimensional moment in San Jose history as the Rosicrucian Order AMORC held a special ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of H. Spencer Lewis’ initiation into the Rosicrucian tradition in Toulouse, France. It was in 1909 that Lewis made contact with the European leaders of the Rosicrucian Order, and on Aug. 12 of that year, he officially received the mandate to lay the foundation for the order’s resurgence in North America. » Read More

IN MARCH 2006, I grumbled in this column about San Jose’s lack of literary masterpieces that take place in the gritty underbelly of this city. At that time, the movie version of John Fante’s 1939 novel Ask the Dust was finally emerging. Fante was the quintessential downtrodden Los Angeles pre-Beat-era scribe, beautifully depicting the wreckage of ’30s-era skid-row L.A. in his books. » Read More