Hey lady, I saw you speed past me on Penitencia Creek Road, passing on my right in a school zone. You were doing about 40 mph in your granite Toyota 4-runner, with a “Baby on Board” sticker in your back window. My first thought was, “What an asshole,” then I thought maybe you were a mother rushing to get your baby home, so I cut you some slack. Then, three blocks away, as you turned onto McKee Road, you ran over three baby ducklings who were trying to cross the street with their mother. My wife, daughter and granddaughter were all witnesses to this, unfortunately. I don’t know if you heartlessly crushed those ducklings on purpose, but my wife was incensed. She summoned all her gypsy lineage and cast a curse on you and yours. Better slow down and keep your head on a swivel, madam.
I Saw You is an anonymous “man on the street” column. Email your rants and raves about co-workers or any badly behaving citizens to [email protected], or send to 380 S. First St, San Jose, 95113. Submissions should stick to about 100 words.
Two and a half minutes into Life Size Models’ new single “Polar Nights,” something truly unexpected happens. Continue reading »
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Metro Staff on May 16, 2019
As a kid, the Hong Kong-born standup comic Jimmy O. Yang says he never really considered a career in show business. As he told Conan O’Brien last summer, “My dad always said pursuing your dreams is how you become homeless.” But after he moved to the U.S. Yang developed an independent streak. He scored smaller TV roles before his big break on the hit HBO sitcom Silicon Valley, where as Jìan-Yáng he regularly delivered some of the show’s most absurd jokes. He appeared in Crazy Rich Asians and has a book—How To American: An Immigrant’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents. Continue reading »
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Erika Rasmussen on May 16, 2019
Getting around San Jose—with its car-centric infrastructure—isn’t easy for those relying on non-motorized modes of transportation. Viva Calle invites the Capital of Silicon Valley to consider what a bike-friendlier city might look like. This year’s springtime celebration of cycling, skateboarding, walking and just moving slower features live music, cultural performances and food outposts, all along a car-free route that privileges people-powered locomotion. Hubs include St. James Park, Plaza de Cesar Chavez, Parque de los Pobladores and Emma Prusch Farm & Park. Catch a flash mob and devour flavorful bites while getting to know the city better. ¡Que viva San Jose! More info at vivacallesj.org. Continue reading »
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Erika Rasmussen on May 16, 2019
Technicolor skirts fly in a swirling kaleidoscopic motion, swaying hands flicking at the floral fabric of the jubilant Jalisco dresses. Bright and cheerful trumpets punctuate the sonorous thread woven by the violins. Feet in heeled black leather stomp a spirited rhythm into the floor as the revered guitarrón lays a deep bass and the vihuela works out a galloping melody. This presentation by Grupo Folklorico Los Laureles of Silicon Valley revels in the marriage of baile folklórico and mariachi, and all that is magic about the people, lands and spirit of Mexico. Continue reading »
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Erika Rasmussen on May 16, 2019
Silicon Valley warmed up quickly this spring—just in time for the grand reopening of Frost Amphitheater. New stage and canopy, new audiovisual system, same beloved Frost. Singer-songwriters Jorja Smith and Kali Uchis are the first to play the renovated space for the annual Frost Music & Arts Festival. Smith, a 21-year-old Brit, has already nabbed a Grammy nomination for her R&B- and pop-inspired tunes. Colombian-American Kali Uchis has been distinguished as “genre-defying”; her songs incorporate doo-wop harmonies, reggae flows and flirtatious vocals. Continue reading »
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Metro Staff on May 16, 2019
The late Ruth Tunstall-Grant was a true alternative hero who made a lasting impact on the local creative community. This exhibition celebrates Tunstall-Grant’s life and legacy as an artist and advocate for children’s rights and social justice issues in Santa Clara County. She led the charge on bringing arts education for San Jose’s underserved schools and worked to introduce an art program at the Santa Clara County Children’s Shelter—just two of the many initiatives she fostered in her lifetime. The reception runs from 6pm-8pm. Continue reading »
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Erika Rasmussen on May 16, 2019
Thrift shop art is often bad, but some is downright inspiring. The comedy duo of Jordan Cerminara and Jeremy Talamantes draw big laughs by taking aim at the Goodwilled misfits of the art world. Talamantes is from San Jose, but this is the pair’s first time bringing their Art Critique Comedy Show to town. In the past, they’ve ruminated on a “very nicely done” painting of Bruce Willis—with a demon peeking out where his bald head should be—and a cheap acrylic that Cerminara mused may have come from an “amateur tattoo artist’s sketchbook.” A pre-show Happy Hour and “Title This” competition at SJICA starts at 5pm. Continue reading »
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Erika Rasmussen on May 16, 2019
Though it was spawned from a roiling fusion of sludgy blues riffs and occult imagery, heavy metal music shares more common threads with Vivaldi and Wagner than with Johnson and John Lee. Case in point: Tobias Sammet’s metal opera supergroup, Avantasia. Led by former Edguy frontman Sammet and featuring the likes of Mr. Big’s Eric Martin and Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche, Avantasia takes swirling symphonic textures and smashes them together with piercing guitar leads and gritty vocal lines. Avantasia comes to town this weekend on the heels of Moonglow, their eighth LP—which features a head-banging rendition of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac.” Continue reading »
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Metro Staff on May 8, 2019
Raul Malo, the former singer and primary songwriter for Grammy-winning band The Mavericks, has stayed busy producing solo material—even as his genre-bending country, Tex-Mex and Latin-tinged group have alternated between bursts of activity and hiatus. Recently, the Miami-born Malo (known for such hits at “Here Comes the Rain” and “Crying Shame”) has struck out on his own. Alone on stage, with just his acoustic guitar and smooth baritone, he has proven he can captivate an audience with the bare-bones power of his songcraft. Alih Jey will open the night with her gliding, rosy vocals and fiery Dominican rhythms. Continue reading »
