San Jose Inside

Silicon Alleys

FREMONT resident Xavier Nuez specializes in urban blight photography. For 17 years now, he’s slithered into desolated wastelands across America and documented rundown shipyards, busted fire escapes, defunct ballparks and deserted alleyways. He makes photographic monuments out of ruins. “Long after dark, I venture into bleak urban settings, seeking out dramatic stories and elusive splendor,” he asserts on his website (http://www.nuez.com). Since Nuez shoots only in film and only at nighttime, the photos have a surreal, almost sinister look about them. When seen in large format, the details are staggering.

Food for Thought

Let me start off by saying that I am against violence of any kind except in extraordinary circumstances where it is imminently necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury. I am also against the torture and harmful abuse of animals for medical and scientific experiments and for the development of products to feed our out-of-control consumer society. That being said, the recent firebombings of the homes of two UC Santa Cruz professors, in one case endangering the target’s children, were appalling acts, whether you are against animal testing or not, and it is my hope that those responsible are caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Lest anyone think the title of this guest column is intended as a general admonition, be assured it’s not. It was, in fact, what I said to myself the other day as I clapped my forehead and realized a personal “ah ha” moment.

Last week was a big one in the history of card clubs and gambling in San Jose. Historically, in restaurants and small entertainment venues, such clubs thrived. In the old Garden City Hofbrau on Market Street, the card tables were an interesting sideline in a very small room, just like the old liquor store on the corner. Food and music were the main items. That changed as the potential for additional revenues grew, and the appetite for more and better venues became paramount at Garden City, whose building was condemned in a strange city building fervor. 

If all goes well, San Jose could be the headquarters of the world’s coolest car company. The maker of high performance electric cars is interested in a piece of land near San Jose’s Water Pollution Control Plant for its central manufacturing and R&D facility. On Aug. 19, the city council is slated to vote to direct the city manager to pursue a deal with Tesla Motors.  The facility, according to insiders, would directly employ more than 1,000 workers and create an ecosystem of more than 10,000 jobs.

My friend Gem has bruises on her arm and cuts on her ankles. She’s beaten up, and lovin’ it. She is in training to join a new ground-breaking team and sport in San Jose—the Silicon Valley Roller Girls (SVRG), the only all-female, flat track, contact sport played on quad roller skates. And for those of you who think this is just a hip, retro fad, please believe this sport is for real. The team is launching their first San Jose home game at the San Jose Skate, formerly known as the Aloha Skate, on August 30, 2008, called “Hot August Fights.” And from the way they train, looks like it’s going to be a high-speed, high-impact battle.

I love the Olympics. Every two years, whether it’s winter or summer, I am glued to my TV. I love the beauty, drama and competitive spirit on display each day. Here are just some initial observations about the games so far:

How do San Jose city services compare to other South Bay cities?

City Hall Diary

After nearly four hours of back and forth, the council emerged with measures for the November 2008 ballot. The first is the reduction and update of the telecommunications user tax. This would allow the city to capture new telephone technology like Voice of Internet Protocol (VOIP). The second is a reduction of the 911 system support fee which would result in stronger legal footing of our 911 fee that pays for the 911 call center. Years ago, the 911 call center moved from the California Highway Patrol and was given to local government to oversee, with no funding, of course. The money collected is to be cost recovery only for 911 call center staff and equipment. It appears that if both do not pass it would hurt the city with a loss of $48 million annually.

What’s up with everyone this week? Use this weekly open forum to tell us all about it.

Says Galvanizing Searches Might Help Find Bin Laden

In a speech on Thursday in Beijing condemning China’s human rights record and it’s restrictions on internet access during the Olympic games (scooped on SanJoseInside.com last week), President Bush took an opportunity to address the “War on Terror” by proposing an Amber Alert system in the Middle East to help catch Osama Bin Laden.

Silicon Alleys

THE URBAN BLIGHT exploration junkie is currently on sabbatical documenting a recent bender that you will see shortly, so until then he has appointed his cousin, the industrial wasteland explorer, to humbly provide a substitute travelogue.

Food for Thought

Like our use of gasoline, natural gas, electrical power (Did you know 50 percent of the electricity on the national grid is generated by coal?) and oil-based products like plastic, we Americans use water with reckless abandon. Yet, water is becoming a scarce commodity in the Bay Area these days, made worse by the drought conditions we are experiencing.

San Jose Vice Mayor Dave Cortese recently fired off a guest column in the Evergreen Times, hammering the Valley Transportation Authority (he sits on the board) for suspending progress on the Eastridge light rail extension in his district. Cortese says the $334 million project was promised to voters when they approved Measure A, the sales tax measure for a variety of transportation projects, in 2000.