Gary’s excellent post reminded all of you to register before Oct. 20. Go do that. Now. You should also be informed about what you’re voting for, so here’s where to go for information. (If this list is too overwhelming, I would stick with smartvoter.org, easyvoter.org and politifact.com.)

LOCAL

Smart Voter
Enter your address and see everything that will be on the ballot in your neighborhood — every person running for your district, every measure that applies to your area. If you did not already get your voters’ guide in the mail, this is the perfect place to start.

County election offices
Since this blog covers much of the South Bay, you may be located in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo or Alameda counties. Here is where you can register to vote, check if you’re registered and download information on local elections.

San Jose Mercury News Elections section
You can make an argument about bias one way or the other, but never mind that — it does have good information that could help you decide on local issues.

STATE

California Voter Information Guide
The official voter guide from the Secretary of State. This is the online version of what you should have received in your snail-mail box.

Easy Voter
A plain-English site that spells out nicely who is running, what the California propositions mean, and who is opposed to what and why.

Secretary of State elections
This site outlines how to get ON the ballot, whether as a candidate or introducing an initiative. It’s too late for this election, naturally, but a good resource nonetheless.

NATIONAL

Politifact
If you’re tired of trying to figure out which national candidate to believe, this is a great resource to see quickly who just lied about what.

Factcheck
Another great fact-checking resource From the Annenberg Public Policy Center. This goes more in-depth than Politifact.

Open Secrets
Follow the money: see who is donating to candidates and elected officials.

EDITED TO ADD:

Project Vote Smart
Look up your candidates and current office-holders by zip code, then easily find their voting record, public statements, speeches and videos. This site excels with the lesser-known local and state representatives. An invaluable resource.

Glassbooth
Still not sure who you’re voting for in the presidential race? This site will quiz you on your core values and match you with a candidate.

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You haven’t heard from me lately because I’ve been out of town for a couple of weeks. When I got back, probably the best thing waiting for me in the stack of accumulated mail (alongside the pile of bills) was the latest newsletter from PAC*SJ, the Preservation Action Council of San Jose.

The Fall 2008 newsletter (PDF) is exactly the kind of thing I joined PAC*SJ for. It has an update on the organization’s efforts to work with the SJ redevelopment agency to make a survey of the city’s mid-century buildings as they begin to achieve historic status, notes from a meeting on the fate of Mountain View’s historic Hangar 1 blimp hangar, a list of endangered historic buildings, and articles on the former San Jose Martin Luther King Library and on Brutalist and Googie style buildings in the San Jose area.

Most importantly, the city of San Jose is planning to demolish the 1970 Martin Luther King, Jr., library building. Although many people would currently think of this building as merely dated and not historical, in fact there’s several reasons to think we’ll regret it if we demolish the building. It was the largest public building constructed by the city when it opened, and is an example of the brutalist style that was prevalent during a period of major growth for the city. For a more detailed argument for saving this building, see the newsletter.

If you’re interested in preserving San Jose’s (and the South Bay’s) architectural history, you should consider supporting PAC*SJ by taking an affordable membership, or at least check out their newsletter.

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Just collecting a few random flyers around downtown and SJSU and passing the info on to you. This stuff ranges from comedy to theater to nightclub events to ballroom dance lessons to talent shows to… well, you’ll see. There’s got to be something here you’re interested in. I’m also splicing in some events I found here on the San Jose Downtowner e-mail newsletter, and a couple of gems I saw on Artsopolis.com. I wish I could do this more often. Alas, school.

Wednesday, Oct. 1

Comedy at the Improv: Komedy Kegger – San Jose Bar and Grill teams up with The Improv to supply top notch laughs and affordable drinks and appetizers.  Tickets are good for buy one get one drink at San Jose Bar and Grill after the show.  8 pm.  62 S. Second St.  $10, 280-7475 or www.symfonee.com/Improv/sanjose/home/index.aspx

Thursday, Oct. 2

Groove Suite — An Open Turnatble Gathering: Every first Thursday of the month. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. at SFB Lounge, 420 South First St. All styles and genres welcome. Featuring a heavy monthly line-up of local and international guest DJs, live art, vendors, billiards, arcade/gaming area, food and drink specials all night. All sets are recorded live and will be available free to download at http://www.groovesuite.podomatic.com/. Resident: ThatGirl. Guest list free all night: thatgirlmelanie@yahoo.com. Email for priority open turntable sign-up.

Ma’BOO’Hay Talent Showcase: In celebration of Pilpino History Month, Akbayan presents their 8th annual talent showcase. Pilipino artists from around the Bay Area perform for a night of great music and fun, with proceeeds going to Bantay Bata 163, a charity that serves sick and abused children. Sponsored by the Akbayan Filipino-American Organization of SJSU. Tickets are $8 presale and $12 at the door. Doors open 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m. Email maboohay2008@gmail.com for tickets or more information, or visit http://akbayansjsu.wordpress.com/.

Comedy at the Improv presents Henry Cho: (Thursday-Sunday) Cho is going to star in his own sitcom based on his life as a Korean-American born and raised in Tennessee.  He has also been featured on Comedy Central and several films like “Material Girls,” “Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation” and “Say It Isn’t So.”  8 pm Thurs; 8 pm and 10 pm Fri; 7 pm and 9 pm Sat; 7 pm Sun.  62 S. Second St. $16-$18, 280-7475 or www.symfonee.com/Improv/sanjose/home/index.aspx

City Lights Theatre presents “Noises Off”: A funny story of an English acting ensemble that is touring a production of a farce called “Nothing On.”  Thursday-Saturday through October 19. 8 pm Wed-Sat; 7 pm Oct 5; 2 pm Oct 12 and Oct 19.  529 S.  Second St.  $15-$40, 295.4200 or www.cltc.org

Friday, Oct. 3

South First Fridays: Downtown art venues are free and open to the public late into the evening, every first Friday of the month. You can also ride the new rickshaw service between galleries. See highlights, read about the venues and download a map at http://www.southfirstfridays.com/

Ballroom Dance: Take lessons every Friday from now to Oct. 24. This Friday and Friday Oct. 10 both focus on the Bolero. Oct. 17 and 24 teaches Salsa, Nov. 7 is the Foxtrot and Nov. 14 and 21 are East Coast Swing. No dance experience necessary! Cost is $25 for a semester or $3 for drop-in. Beginning classes are at 7:30 p.m. and intermediate is at 8:30 p.m. Visit the Ballroon Dance Club’s website at http://studentorgs.sjsu.edu/sjsubdc.

SiliCon 2008: Through Oct. 5. The SiliCon 2008 Convention for Fans of Science, Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror features seminars covering hard science, science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Some of the topics covered include astronomy, robotics, and other scientific areas, as well as writing, painting, costuming, singing, model making, computer graphics, and film studies, along with diabetes education and outreach. SiliCon is a non-profit organization devoted to science education and raising funds and awareness for diabetes education and research. Info: http://www.siliconventions.com/2008/

Death of a Salesman: October 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 at 7 p.m., University Theatre, SJSU. Tickets are $10 students/seniors, $20 general admission. For more info or to order tickets online, go to http://www.tvradiofilmtheatre.com/.

San Pedro Farmers’ Market: Fresh produce, food vendors and live music, takes place each Friday to Dec. 12 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. along San Pedro Street between Santa Clara and St. John streets. http://www.sjdowntown.com/eve_eve_far.html.

WAIT! There’s 7 more events behind the jump!

Read more

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To the runners preparing for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Half-Marathon this Saturday, Oct. 5: Good luck!

To the motorists planning on driving through the city this weekend: Good luck! You will meet plenty of road closures, clogged freeway exits and a lot of athletic-type people running around. They get their exercise while you continue to pollute, which makes these traffic headaches even more guilt-inducing.

But never fear! Here’s a map to help you avoid running over those athletic-types with your SUV (click to enlarge, and notice I said AVOID):

And here’s more traffic information I got via the marathon’s Web site:

Freeway Information

No freeways will be closed on race day; however, expect delays on Highway 87 near downtown and Highway 880 near Bascom Avenue due to the close proximity of the race course to those roads.

Specific Access Routes
Fairmount Hotel / St. Joseph’s Basilica:
Due to close proximity to the finish line at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, allow extra time for alternate access and expect delays before the race starts (7- 8:00 am). Use the following access route during the race (8:00 am – 12 Noon): From San Carlos Street, use 1st and 2nd Street to connect with San Fernando Street. Hotel guests will be metered in/out on Market Street.

Hotel DeAnza
Please notify the hotel’s valet parking service on Saturday night if you will
be leaving between 7:00 and 10:00 am. The race organizers have arranged
for hotel parking on Notre Dame, between Santa Clara and Carlysle
Streets. From this parking area, you will be able to drive north on Notre
Dame, turn left on Julian Street, and access Highway 87/Guadalupe
Parkway. To access the San Jose airport, follow directions above to
Highway 87 north and follow signs to airport. Prior to the complete
reopening of Santa Clara Street/The Alameda at 12:30 pm, use Highway 87
to return to the Hotel De Anza before 10:00 am. From Highway 87, exit east
on Julian Street, turn right on North Almaden Blvd, left on Carlysle Street
and right onto Notre Dame Ave.

Cory Neighborhood
Residents between Newhall and Hedding, Monroe and Bascom, can use
Cherrystone Drive to exit this part of the route between 7:00-11:30 am.
Roiscrucian Neighborhood – YMCA, Calvary & Scientology Churches
Residents, YMCA patrons and church visitors can use Park Avenue for
inbound access and The Alameda for outbound access between 8:00 am
and 12 Noon.

For more assistance regarding road closures and alternate access routes, please
email SJCommunity@eliteracing.com. Please provide as much information as pos-
sible, including your starting and ending destinations, so that we can more readily
assist you.

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We at Metroblogging San José write about what’s happening in the greater South Bay area. If you take a look at our blogroll - bottom of the page - you will notice that we link to several local neighborhood and community sites. A visit to them will take you back to the days of chit-chat over the garden fence.

Northside Neighborhood Association 

Willow Glen Extra

Willow Glen 2.0 is proclaiming: Help Your Neighbor Day.

 

Do you have a local neighborhood-community site or blog?

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Hi everyone!

I’m Sarah, a new author for the San Jose Metblog. I’m very excited to contribute and to start off, I’d like to tell you a bit about myself (it’ll be short - I promise!)

- Journalism was my first love. I studied Journalism at SJSU, graduated with a degree in the fabulous subject in 2005, worked for local weekly newspapers for two years, then decided to leave the business. Not because I didn’t love reporting, but because I figured I should get out while I still had the choice. Anyone who’d like to have a conversation about the current state of Journalism in the Bay Area is absolutely welcome to leave a comment and let me know. :)

- I’m currently back at SJSU in the teaching credential program to be a high school English teacher. Yes, I left a poverty-inducing career where getting laid off is a possibility, to enter another poverty-inducing career that is also in danger financially. But what isn’t these days?

- And last, I love photography. I take photos around San Jose all the time, so I’m making it a mission to bring photos to each of my entries, starting with this one!

OK, enough about me. What I really want to tell you all about is the Spirit of Japantown Festival that is planned for next Saturday, Oct. 4. As a Japantown resident, I love telling people how much I love it here and how they should come by and check out some of the delicious food. Sushi Maru is my personal favorite, but Japantown has lots to offer.

The Spirit of Japantown Festival will go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the heart of Japantown (Jackson and Fifth streets) and will be packed with activities for people of all ages. Shoppers will enjoy the Main Street full of Japanese fine arts, crafts, food for sale, as well as wares from other local merchants. Festival-goers will be able to enjoy entertainment that ranges from a hula to bellydancing on the Main Stage (Jackson Street between Third and Fourth streets), as well as Martial Arts demonstrations, free Anime movies, and other activities for kids. The San Jose Taiko group is scheduled to perform on the Main Stage, and I have to say they are a must-see. I’ve watched the group perform at the last two San Jose Obon Festivals and they are phenomenal.

While there is usually plenty of street parking in the area, during festivals, the streets fill up fast. However, those who are lightrail savvy will be interested to know that the Japantown/Ayer stop is just a few blocks away from the action. The stop is on First street near Jackson, so just a quick walk and riders can be in the heart of the action.

So if you’re interested, I’m sending you a personal invitation to my neighborhood to enjoy all it has to offer. See you at the festival!

For more information about the Spirit of Japantown Festival, visit their website.

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The 2nd Annual Let the Children Play Music Festival, a benefit concert for Feed the Children and Milagro Foundation is this Saturday.

There will be continuous live entertainment on the main stage, a variety of food, arts & crafts, and numerous activities for the kids including games, activities, interactive booths, and prizes in the Radio Disney area.

Proceeds from this years benefit concert will help in the goal to feed a million meals and more to those in dire need in the Bay Area and in the U.S disaster relief zones.

Heart of Chaos artists will be creating a mural themed Feed the Children and collaborating with Heart of Kids artists on a separate mural themed Let the Children Play. Attending children are encouraged to participate in an open themed community mural. The Heart of Chaos and Heart of Kids murals will be auctioned off during the event. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to Feed the Children.

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm — Radio Disney Camp Rock Party
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm — Main Stage: Rose Royce, Con Funk Shun and Bobby Caldwell

Last year the event was free, this year it is $5.00 (children ages 12 and under enter for free).

2nd Annual Let The Children Play Music Festival
Guadalupe River Park, Discovery Meadow
W San Carlos Street and Woz Way, San Jose

Saturday, September 27
11:30 am - 8:00 pm

Admission: $5:00 - free for children ages 12 and under

VTA - Light Rail exit at the Children’s Discovery Museum Station or Bus Lines 23 or 81

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The Smithsonian Magazine is hosting a Free Museum Day across the nation this Saturday, Sept. 27. And plenty of Bay Area museums are participating, like:

• Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education in San Mateo
• Peninsula Museum of Art in Belmont
• The Exploratorium in San Francisco
• Berkeley Art Center in Berkeley
  
• Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek
• Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos
• Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek

All you have to do is fill out this card for your free admission.

I confess, I didn’t know half of these museums existed until just now, so if the Smithsonian’s sole goal is to expose the public to museums, it already worked.

There’s more on this California list of participating museums, including some heavy-hitters like the J. Paul Getty Museum in L.A. and Mission San Juan Capistrano. Or you can find other museums nationwide that are participating, including (obviously) all the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.

It’s unfortunate to not see any San Jose city museums participating, but such is life. I know of at least one SJ museum that will be very busy this weekend.

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If Metblogs is a city, hub.metblogs is the playground. We kept hearing from people that one of their favorite parts of Metblogs was meeting and interacting with readers and writers from other parts of the world, as well as getting requests for more ways that readers could be involved besides just posting comments. We thought about this for a while and decided that with a network like this, a giant community area where folks from all over the world could hang out, post photos and videos, talk with each other, form groups, play games, send messages, and do about a million other things was probably a pretty fun idea. The Hub is that.

If you have any tech ideas or suggestions join this group and speak up. See you on hub.metblogs!

San Jose Group

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For those who want to get drunk for a good cause Saturday night: Starting at 10 p.m. at the Britannia Arms in downtown San Jose, the San Jose Earthquakes’ soccer stars will be guest bartending at the outdoor patio bar. For a small tip, Earthquakes players will make you a drink, and for a larger tip, they will pose for pictures, sign autographs, and who knows, do a little jiggity-jig or something. All the funds go straight to the Earthquakes Community Fund, and all these festivities are following the game they will have just played (and hopefully emerge as the victors).

Oh yes, the game. For those who don’t know/remember, the Earthquakes left the area for 2 years, migrating to Houston and changing its team colors, logo and name to the Dynamo. Well now we have our Quakes back, and now they’re playing their Texified former selves Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara University, at 7 p.m.

The Quakes are unbeaten in eight games, which is a tiny miracle thanks to our boy Darren Huckerby. But the Dynamo are dynamite at the moment, sitting comfortably at the perch on top of the Western conference. Should be a tense and dramatic game, and the Quakes need to win as many games as they possibly can to earn a spot in the playoffs. The problem is, with so many of our old quality players decked out in Dynamo orange, which side will the fans be cheering for?

And who would have thought our little expansion newbie team would be considering the playoffs in its first season back? Wow…

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