San Jose City Living

Erik's DeliCafe Napkin? You've got mustard on your face dude!

Ok, well maybe I went once with my buddy Bennie after a Sharks Game.

You know, as grateful as I was that they were open (we were hungry) I still can’t seem to think of how smart of a business decision it is to be open THAT late after a Sharks Game or any day in general.  It is a lunch time specific sandwich shop right?  Togo’s isn’t even open that late most stores.

The way I see it is that most people eat before and during a Sharks game.  They aren’t really going to have the munchies afterward I’m sure.  I could be wrong though!

The downtown Erik’s Deli at 2 North Market St. got lucky with us.  We were the only one’s in there and they had a staff of 3 and a half people (one didn’t seem all together with it if you know what I mean).  It just didn’t seem wise to over staff so late at night.

Erik’s sandwiches are actually pretty good though!  If you haven’t tried it or it has been a long time since you have, I personaly DO recommend it.  I’m not trying to put them down by any means.  Is it just me though, or are there really not that many people that go there?  Each time I’ve been there (or any Erik’s) for the past 5 years has been practically empty.  And I’ve gone and prime lunch times.

So is it just me or is Erik’s hitting a decline in customers?  Give ‘em a shot folks.  It is actually pretty good for a decent value.  You also get a MONSTER pickle slice with your sandwich too.

So what’s your take?  Any thoughts?

Kids Need Options is the title of Joseph Di Salvo’s recent article on the San Jose Inside website.

Mr. Di Salvo wrote about how there is a rising gang-related violence in the suburbs of San Jose.  Basically as he talked about the rise in crime he also talked about how “kids need options” and that the typical intervention programs don’t seem to “do the trick” and are more costly than prevention methods.

Long story short he wanted to hear the readers views on alternatives for kids.  My reaction wasn’t really an alternative for kids, it was an alternative to the parents!  Responsibility has to be put back on the parents.  And here is where I sort of got aggressive with it.  Here was my response in full:

“Is it too much to say there should be some sort of limits to how many babies we can have?

Maybe throw an income factor into the mix?  A credit report maybe?  If you can’t afford them, don’t have them maybe?  Just a thought as I see fellow young adults with no college degree, no jobs but a boyfriend making less than 30k a year and living with parents, popping out kids like its required of them.

And what about teaching these kids some self control?  IT IS OK TO SAY, “hang on babe, I need to put the condom on”.  Why not make that a cool thing to do!

I mean heck, if we can make cigarettes look like a swell idea, we should have the talent and skill to make wrapping it up “cool”.

On another note relating to over population, we are currently taking up WAY too much of the natural habitats of animals in order to make more room for us.  This is also ever more relevant in some parts of Africa.  Maybe the guilt of taking their land and stressing their survivial might encourage us to stop making so many kids that are practically doomed to fail from the get go.” <- I recently watched the animal planet…

So tell me, what do you think about my reaction?  Valid? Too much to ask?  Isn’t there some sort of medium we can reach in concerns to the over growth of the population?

As I visit one of my favorite hiking spots, Castle Rock, up HWY 9, I look down at the city in sheer disgust.  Though I love San Jose, it truly just looks like we’re this destructive fungus that infects an area, kills the foliage, and just takes over without much thought to the effect we have on our surroundings.

Keep in mind, I feel the child limit ban that is in effect in China is a bit much and a weak, unplanned preventative measure, but there has to be a compromise in the middle right?

So tell me your thoughts on my response to Joseph’s solution plea.

You can read Joseph’s article directly at http://www.sanjoseinside.com/sji/blog/entries/kids_need_options/.

This video is of a group of hikers romping around Stevens Creek County Park as well as Fremont Older Open Space near Saratoga, Ca:

The London Fog Tea Latte at Starbucks is FANTASTIC!   Sure at first it smells and tastes like sweaty socks, but then it sort of grows on you.

Don’t ask me what it is that makes it so great (Tea, steamed milk, and some vanilla) but it sure hits the spot, especially on a foggy day.  I’ve been up all night working on the computer and now at 9am I am going to treat myself to a fantastic sip of yumness.  I highly recommend it folks.  Give it a shot.  But by all means make sure they stir that stuff up.  Last thing you want to do is to add a bit of Splenda to it and over do it.

Just make sure they stir it up a bit and you’re golden.  Also, off and on I get told that we’re supposed to let it sit for 10 minutes to enhance the flavor?  Who is actually going to order, then stare at it for 10 minutes.  Not I said the sheep!

I’m off to the Starbucks on 2nd street, downtown next to the camera 12 theaters (which don’t let you bring in your damn latte – lame) with my pal Eric.  He’s a great photographer and flash developer so check out his work at dizzypixel.smugmug.com.

Ciao fellow San Jose folks.  Let’s have an amazing day shall we?  I’ll post a photo of the latte on twitter.

Title: Monday Night Madness Karaoke
Location: Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge
Link out: Click here
Description: Join us for our award winning karaoke from 9pm-1am brought to you by Avent\’s Empty Band. New singers get a complimentary beer or well drink on us!

Also featuring $3 Beers & $3 Wells all night long.

Now featuring Guitar Hero & Rock Band every week in the upper lounge!
Start Time: 20:00
Date: 2009-03-02
End Time: 23:45

Title: Wondercon 2009
Location: Mascone Center San Francisco
Link out: Click here
Description: Major Comic/ Sci-fi convention. Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher will be there. Cost is only $30
Start Date: 2009-02-27
End Date: 2009-02-28

San Jose PD blocking off side walks on 2nd street during Mardi Gras

Downtown San Jose’s Mardi Gras party was just as dead as last year.  This time though, there were a record low number of arrests, 18 to be exact.

I’m even amazed they got that many arrests in the first place.  On my street corner last night, a Dodge Viper (verrry sexy) did a small burnout RIGHT IN FRONT OF A COP!  The cop didn’t do a single thing but watched it happen. Person on sidewalk signals to “burn em up” (the tires) and the driver looks back at the cop, hits the gas, drives off, and no pursuit.  I’d been waiting for something exciting to happen and finally thought I had my chance to catch something good.  But no.

Oh well, glad there weren’t any damages in San Jose this year.  Unlike a few years back when groups of idiots ran around breaking windows and vandalizing San Jose.

All in all it was a laid back evening.

Santa Clara street during Mardi Gras - busy but not too bad.

It’s true, San Jose’s Downtown Mardi Gras was absolutely boring.  Sure it was a Tuesday night but come on!

Not only did the police OVER populate and ruin any chance of a good time, most of the stores closed early, and there really wasn’t anything exciting going on.

I spent about an hour scoping the scene with some friends trying to find the fun stuff to do.  Unfortunately for us, we aren’t really the “thug money” types that head into Tunes and get plaster faced while getting man-squished by “Man Jose’s” residents and visitors.

To add to the boringness, SJ Bar and Grill, Gordon Biersch, and other regular fun spots were either closed or just not exciting.  In the whole night I could probably count only 30 beaded necklaces.  San Jose definitely doesn’t hold a torch to… I won’t even say New Orleans because it’s obvious we don’t come close.  Modesto probably had a better time!

I do have to say though, I am excited at the small fact that the place didn’t get torn up.  Sure some police horse poo on the ground, dumbass flyers of stuff we could care less about littered on the ground, but that’s a given on just about any night.

All that seemed to walk the streets tonight was the police, the gangster wanabes, and the drunk girls with short skirts that couldn’t entice a goat.

That’s my opinion.  What’s your’s?  And here’s some photos of downtown as we saw it:

I recently commented on Pierluigi Oliverio’s awesome “City Hall Diary” post regarding a recent City Hall brainstorming session on ideas to help Downtown during the recession.

While his idea of bringing a cardroom back to Downtown had some merit, I felt there could be better ways of bringing in money without taking it away from those who probably need it most. So along with some other suggestions, I came up with I thought of starting a SanJoseCityLiving.com Night Out!

The goal here is to choose a night for all the locals to head out to a chosen spot for a some awesome grub and a good night out on the town. Consider it a way to drive more business to local venues, potentially invigorate fading hot spots, and to help stimulate the local economy all while having a great time with other local residents of Downtown.

So what do you think? Does a weekly night out on the town with everyone else that enjoys a good time sound like a good way to have fun and help Downtown during this recession? I know I do.

Vote on your opinion in this poll and comment to tell us what you think about the idea.

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Coffee Society in The Pruneyard is an awesome place to go if you need to get out of the house or office in order to get work done.

I personally can’t think of a better place to get work done when I either can’t focus, need a caffeine pick me up, or just need to be around other people.  Great perks include Free Wifi which is usually very strong, amazing gourmet coffee, seriously good iced tea (great pick me up), great music (sometimes loud so bring headphones if you want to tune it out), and just a great ambiance.

Coffee Society is also located in Cupertino at 21265 Stevens Creek Blvd (across from De Anza College) and has just as nice an ambiance as the Pruneyard spot.  But I still enjoy Campbell over Cupertino any day.

One other key review is the hours!  Open till 11am even on Sunday.  Don’t ask me how early they open as you won’t catch me awak before 9am.

Visit their website if you want to know more Coffee Society Website.

I’ll be here till they close tonight so feel free to stop by.  I’m the tall handsome guy in a long sleeve white shirt.  Very sexy

Andrew