When I was a young girl Halloween was a one day event mostly for children. It was a Jack O’Lantern glowing on our porch, and the aroma of pumpkin seeds toasting in the oven. It was being dressed up in odd (we thought) clothing found in the back of our parents closet. It was being out alone in the scary dark. It was bringing home a bulging pillowcase of candy.

Things sure have changed. Reportedly Americans now spend over 3.5 billion dollars a year on Halloween.

In 2004 Victor Navorsky (Tom Hanks) gets stuck at JFK when he finds that he is a man without a country. You must have seen ‘The Terminal’.

Could we have a similar situation going on right here at SJC? The first and second time that I saw her she didn’t seem all that out of place. She was pushing around a $3 Smarte Carte (baggage cart) loaded up with a couple of bags. Now its’ cargo has grown to include a couple of Styrofoam ice chests, and a tall tube-ish box which looked to have a drink cup dispenser attached to it. She now resembles a genuine homeless person.

When she became aware of my interest she quickly held a newspaper up to cover her face, and darted out into the parking garage. She often pretends to be making a phone call or other ‘normal’ activity.

An airport official told me that they were aware of her. Because SJC is a public property and until she becomes a nuisance there is not much that can be done. I wonder?

The current BART extension plan calls for six BART stations in the South Bay. Six. Of those six stations, four are in San Jose and of those four stations only one is technically downtown.

The downtown station will be located on East Santa Clara Street, between Market Street and 3rd Street. Another station will be located near the the Arena and the Diridon train station. Some say that area is part of downtown; I say it is a stretch. The other two stations are on the east side of San Jose, Alum Rock and Berryessa.

The Alum Rock station will be located at East Julian & North 28th Streets, near 101.

The Berryessa station will be located in the Flea Market area. The city wants to flatten the Flea Market and replace it with housing. Just think of all the people who would come down to the Flea Market from around the Bay Area to spend their money. But, no! Put in housing so those residents can take BART out of the area.

There will also be a station in Milpitas (Montague/Capitol) near the Great Mall and there will be a station in Santa Clara near the Caltrain station.

With these exciting San Jose station locations, where will we be going in San Jose? Could it be that there will be a great deal of ridership between the Alum Rock and Berryessa stations? Maybe downtown residents will hop on BART at the downtown station so they can go up to the Great Mall in Milpitas. The city will want to get those Shop San Jose posters up in the stations.

I did not mention the really exciting news, the Santa Clara station will have an Automated People Mover system that would connect to the Norman Y. Mineta International Airport! Wow! Now everyone in the Alum Rock, Berryessa, and Milpitas areas can haul their luggage on BART and a people mover to the airport! The ease of it all. Wait a minute. The Santa Clara station would be on the west side of the airport and the terminals are on the east side of the airport. That Automated People Mover will cost a pretty penny to build/operate.

So, you want to use BART to get the heck out of San Jose you say. Currently there are plans for 5,000 paid parking spaces with plans to increase that to 10,000 by 2030. VTA claims there will be over 100,000 riders (Yeah, right). Let us assume half that number will leave San Jose, how are they getting to one of the stations? Well, VTA would love for you to take one of their buses or light rail. However, will VTA be able to handle/afford the increased demand? Are you willing to spend most of your life on public transit?

We could save money by forgetting BART and electrifying Caltrain for a great deal less money. Electrified Caltrain would be environmentally good and the trains would be faster (faster to SF than BART). Not to mention we would only have to pay for the Caltrain portion in Santa Clara County.

Stuff to read: Transbay Blog, BayRail Alliance, and VTA.

I didn’t. I didn’t know there was an ordinance passed that you can’t feed the animals at City and County Parks here in Santa Clara County.

When my sister in law was visiting from  Northern Ireland in September, we were out and about with the kids, just chilling and having a good time.  I had gathered a wee bit of old bread, and made a plan to take us over to Central Park to feed the ducks and geese.  It seemed like a nice place for photo ops and just some bonding time between my SIL and her nieces. 

So we get there just after lunch, it was a fabulously sunny and warm, and walk around the path towards the duck ponds.  My children were all excited about the ducks, and eagerly reached into my backpack to get the bread.  Not thinking hard about it,  I broke up the bread and tossed some crumbs into the water for the few ducks that had gathered at waters edge.  Well, one duck leads to another, then the geese and pigeons get involved, and  soon we had hundreds of webbed toed friends squawking at us for the morsels. My children squealed and jumped around with delight.  Well, so did my SIL and I, its amazing watching two little kids have that kind of fun.

I guess our commotion attracted a City worker, which brought him over in a huff. “Please don’t feed the animals”  he said.   I replied, half joking, half smart-ass “Technically they aren’t animals, they are waterfowl” He raced back to his truck and continued his work.

We turned back to the birds, and by this point the bread was nearly gone, maybe a few handfuls, and we were taking family type pictures.  While the girls were still laughing wildly, the City worker came back with an awful stance, and basically told us, we were disturbing the peace.  Now, mind you, there were only maybe 5 or 6 other people in the area of the park we were in.  He was probably  pretty mad at my remark, I thought. 

Just as we were finishing up, and talking about going to the playground, a Police Patrolman strode up behind us to demand stopping our activity.  He stood a few inches from my face, reprimanding me for our behavior, ignoring the posted signs and ignoring the City worker.  He wasn’t civil about it, nor did he back down when I took my sunglasses off (out of respect), and agreed I understood what he was saying.  He offered up a couple of reasons as to why we should stop. He said something about recent animal poisoning, the mess the birds make, and something about the ordinance.  But he got so intimidating that his words became fuzzy, and I just wanted to get my family out of there.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been a smart-ass to the City worker, my bad I know.  But why should they reject ten minutes of pure pleasure for two little kids?  Why did that City worker have to call the police?  Why did that Policeman have to be so bad-ass to WOMEN AND CHILDREN feeding the ducks?  Now when my oldest sees any policeman she asks

You can take a photo, but don't feed!

if he’s going to yell at us too.  So, in the end we were banned from that part of the park.  We could go to the playground as long as all food had been tossed away.  No, we left the park, I don’t think we’ll go back. If I see that City worker face to face, I might throw some bread at him.

While out making the political rounds, I found myself at the Vote No On Prop 8 HQ here in San Jose.

I am one conservative who urges a No Vote On Prop 8.

Same-sex couples should not be treated differently under the law.

Yes Rosanne, now you are famous! Thanks for holding up the sign.

The Vote No On 8 site.

I get the willies* when I go by 1009 W. San Carlos at Lincoln and see Coconut Willie’s. It has looked like this since August 15th of 2004. A two-alarm fire shut down the cocktail lounge when it suffered an estimated $650,000 in damages. Back then the San Jose Fire Department offered a $500 reward for information. Has that amount been adjusted for inflation?

It was reported that then owner Ron Lucatelli would reopen within 6 months. I would be interested in knowing if Mr. Lucatelli still owns the property; if so does he have plans to rebuild. My attempts to reach Mr. Lucatelli have gone unanswered. Is the City of San Jose OK with this mess?

*willies - 1896, “spell of nervousness,” perhaps from the woollies,

David Sanborn

I arrived just as John Densmore was preparing to go on stage. Once a member of the ‘Doors’, this drummer now surrounds himself with tribal inspired musicians that make up the earthy rhythmic sound of Tribaljazz. John dedicated ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’ to drummer Stewart Copeland of the ‘The Police’ saying, “He came to my rescue in a legal matter once…”

Eddie Gale was jamming a traditional style of jazz at the San Jose Rep. Gale didn’t perform to the audience; it was as if he allowed us to sit in on a private session.

I felt privileged to be up front when David Sanborn blew the proverbial roof off the main stage. As he looked out over the crowd, he mentioned how happy it made the old man to see so many [people] there for the music. (David turned 63 on July 30th) My personal thanks goes out to the San Jose Jazz Festival for securing David Sanborn as a headliner. I will treasure the experience.

The politics:

Say it ain’t so to the rumors that the Jazz Festival Board members wish to rename the festival tying it to Silicon Valley. Name recognition is crucial for San Jose’s economic growth.

Somehow the Festival was able to make up the monies that were so foolishly withheld by the city, but what about next year?

The once largest free jazz festival in the world that began to charge a $5 entry fee a few years ago, now requires $10. I would be willing to spend up to $20 if it guarantied more big name performers.

flickr set

I recently paid $150.00 for a business license (taxi) but, until I sent in an additional $22.00, the city held it hostage! The city needs my help with the budget deficit, but they are unwilling to help me out with the cost of gas.

Because everything in the city seems to be going up, except my taximeter, it only makes sense that the San Jose City Council members would like to see their salaries go up too. Their request may be on the November ballot.

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