Saturday, April 22 is Record Store Day.

“This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records.”

The artists releasing special vinyls include Madonna, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, Willie Nelson, David Bowie, and others.

Participating Stores (Not all of the stores will choose to participate in all promotions, or carry all releases. Call store!):

Needle to the Groove
410 E Santa Clara St
San Jose, 95113
408-418-3151

Needle to the Groove
131 I Street
Fremont, 94536
510-371-8027

Needle to the Groove
3780 Peralta Blvd.
Fremont, 94536
510-574-0766

On The Corner Music
530 E. Campbell Ave
San Jose, 95008
408-871-0305

Streetlight Records
980 S. Bascom Ave.
San Jose, 95128
408-292-1404

Streetlight Records
939 S. Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, 95060
831-421-9200

Rasputin Music and DVDs
1820 S. Bascom Ave.
Campbell, 95008
408-558-0781

Rasputin Music and DVDs
1939 W El Camino Real
Mountain View, 94040
650-965-8030

Rasputin Music and DVDs
15590 Hesperian Blvd.
San Lorenzo, 94580
510-276-8921

The Record Man
1322 El Camino Real
Redwood City, 94063
650-368-9065

Vinyl Solution Records
151 W. 25th Ave
San Mateo, 94403
650-571-0440

Metavinyl
320 Cedar St.
Santa Cruz, 95060
831-466-9027

The Bay Area Pet Expo at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is Saturday and Sunday, March 11 &12.
Admission to this indoor event is free (Parking $8.00) and non-aggressive, well-behaved pets are welcome — all pets must be on a fixed lead or in a carrier with proof of appropriate vaccinations.
You will be required to sign a pet waiver at the entrance or you may fill your pet waiver form out in advance here (pdf).

The Expo features pet-friendly exhibitors, pet care tips, grooming, pet behavior & training, along with free nail trims, discounted vaccinations.
Don’t have a pet? Pets are available for adoption.

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
344 Tully Rd
San Jose, 95111

Admission: Free
Parking is $8

Saturday, March 11 — 10:00am to 5:00pm
Sunday, March 12 — 11:00am to 4:00pm

The Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at Santana Row Tuesday, November 15, 2016 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

The event includes photos with Santa Claus, live music, performances by local theater groups and at 7:00 pm the lighting of the 40-foot Christmas tree.

Starting at 5:00 pm take a photo with Santa Claus, listen to live music in Park Valencia, performances by local theater groups and much more.

Tree Lighting Ceremony
368 Santana Row, San Jose, 95128
408.551.4611

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 from 5:00 pm
Free

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.

Día de Los Muertos Celebration at San Jose Museum of Art
Saturday, October 29, 2016 from 11 am to 5 pm.

The celebration at San Jose Museum of Art will have live performances, cultural demonstrations, and artmaking experiences for the whole family.

Admission is free; however, reservations are recommended.

Schedule of Events:

11 AM – 4:30 PM
Hands-on artmaking for all ages

11 AM – 5 PM
See two hand-made, paper mache skeleton sculptures

11 AM – 5 PM
Local artist Lissa Jones will display a traditional altar, or ofrenda, in the cafe area of the Museum

11:30 AM
Spanish-language family tour of the galleries

12 – 1:30 PM
Take your photo with roaming skeleton performers

12:15 – 1:15 PM
Music by Mariachi Azteca

1 – 3:30 PM
Ofrenda demonstration by Phyllis Carrasco

1:45 PM
El Día de los Muertos festive wear competition

2 PM
Spanish-language tour of the exhibition Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial with curatorial associate, Marja van der Loo

2 – 3:30 PM
Take your photo with roaming skeleton performers

2:30 – 3:15 PM
Participatory dance performance with traditional folklórico ensemble Los Lupeños Juvenil

4 PM
Spanish-language family tour of the galleries

San Jose Museum of Art
110 South Market Street. San Jose

Saturday, October 29, 2016 from 11 am to 5 pm.
Admission: free, reservations are recommended.

2015 Northern California Tournament this Saturday, April 18, from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm at NASA Ames Research Center. FREE to watch.

The robot compete by performing various tasks which are judged for speed and accuracy: however, during the head-to-head competition, the robots can be programed to sabotage their competitors.

Event Schedule:
8:00 AM – Registration / Open Practice

10:00 AM – Seeding Rounds Begin

1:00 PM – Lunch Break

2:00 PM – Double Elimination Rounds Begin

5:30 PM – Awards Presentation Begins

NASA Ames Research Center, N152 Conference Building, Room 171
Moffett Field, CA 94035

April 18, 2015
from 10:00 am
FREE to watch

Event Directions:
Go on US 101 freeway to the Moffett Field exit, then:
Show your drivers license to the guard at the gate, and say you are attending the Botball Tournament in the NASA Conference Center, N152. Drive straight, down Clark Road to just before the Shuttle model, turn right on Wescoat Road, then in a couple blocks, turn right on McCord Ave, and in one block, stay right at the ‘Y’ (note sign to N152) to Dailey Road for another block and you’ll see N152 on the right. The parking is on the left, across the street.

What’s not to love about a bacon festival with fireworks too? July 4th and 5th is the second annual Movable Feast Bacon Festival on the Plaza de Cesar Chavez. They’ve expanded to two full days of food, entertainment, music and SJStreet Mart vendors with everything from henna tattoos and organic indigo to jewelry, clothing and more.

The food
Throughout the day there will be a load of food trucks including the famous Bacon Bacon and Baconbot trucks. Even if bacon isn’t your favorite thing there are plenty of other options from Grilled Cheese bandits, Madd Mex Cantina, Tastee Bytes, Chromatic Coffee, Treatbot and Fairycakes. Here’s the list of food vendors.

Entertainment
Kick up your heels to Yeshua and the Hi-Tones, Anya and the Getdown, The People and The Honey Wilders and watch the Pro Wrestling Revolution at several times both days. Silly Ricky the stilt juggler will be there as well as Brian the Bubble guy to entertain the kids. This is definitely a family friendly event.

Fireworks will start at 9:30 on July 4th courtesy of the San Jose Rotary Club

Here’s the full schedule and be sure to get tickets in advance at a discounted price. (Kids tickets are free online)

Longboarders from across California take over Steamer Lane each Memorial Day weekend, as nearly 200 contestants compete for top honors in divisions from youngsters to surfing legends 70 years of age and over.

The competition May 24-25 begins at 7 a.m. Saturday with heats running through 5 p.m.

Spectators are invited to watch the surfing and enjoy commentary, music, refreshments, T-shirts and raffle drawings.  The awards ceremony follows the last heat Sunday. You need not be present to win at the raffle, but you must be able to pick up your prizes in Santa Cruz. Raffle drawings go on throughout the weekend.

The Santa Cruz Longboard Surf Contest is the longest-running longboard surf contest on the West Coast.

Santa Cruz Longboard Surf Contest
West Cliff Drive & Pelton Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Saturday, May 24, 2014 | 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 25, 2014 | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free to watch from the shore

Maker Faire is back at the San Mateo Event Center May 17, 18 and well worth taking some time away from watching the grass grow in the back yard!

What is Maker Faire you ask? It’s actually hard to fully describe it. Sure, there are tons of do-it-yourself robot competitions, workshops and kits and 3-d printers galore, but this isn’t strictly a faire for geeks and techies. Basically it’s a place for all ages, kids and adults to go and learn about everything from crafting and up-cycling, creating art from recycled materials and a lot of ingenuity and electronics of all kinds. Where else can you learn to make a tub of grass play music?

I spent the better part of the day there on Saturday and I saw:

• A dramatic dragon sculpture you can ride
• A fire breathing Pegasus on wheels
• A race of up-cycled kids toy cars
• Crafting from making tie-dyed t-shirts to jewelry, scrapbooking,  knitting and tapigami.
• Robot wars
• A number of flying drones, one even had a facial recognition scanner (scary!)
• Do it yourself kits to build computers, robots and 3-d printers
• Kids creating their own rockets, computers and making music
• Kids and adults alike playing like kids in a candy store.

There is so much to do here plan to spend some time. Many of the exhibits are hands on. You can really play with the toys and learn.

Getting there
I highly recommend taking Caltrain to the Hillsdale station. From there it’s a short walk to Maker Faire. If you absolutely must drive I saw lots of parking at the Caltrain lot, but anywhere else within a mile of the event is nearly impossible and the traffic was quite heavy coming in.

Tickets
Ticket prices vary, check Eventbrite for buying online. I also recommend getting your tickets in advance. You can then easily scan your phone at the entrance and skip the lines.

When and where?
Maker Faire is at the San Mateo Event Center Saturday May 17 10AM-8 PM and Sunday 10AM-6PM.

Maker Faire is brought to you by Maker Media.  Maker Media publishes MAKE magazine, produces Maker Faire, and offers DIY electronics, tools, kits, and books through its online and pop-up Maker Shed stores.

On May 3rd, 2014 you can see some of these wild horses up for adoption, and maybe even take one home from the Santa Clara County Horsemen’s Association. 20350 McKean Road, San Jose, Ca. 95120. The SCCHA Juniors will be holding a flea market sale on the same day, in case you need some new tack for that adopted horse!

If you can’t make it to the adoption at the SCCHA, you can see a list of adoption events here, or visit  the Litchfield or Ridgecrest Corrals Monday through Friday during business hours.   It’s a good idea to download and fill out your adoption application prior to arrival.  You can also fill out the adoption form at the SCCHA adoption event.

IMPORTANT NOTE:   Adoptions are open from 8 am to 5 pm on the day of the adoption.   For all adoptions, after the silent bidding has concluded, any remaining animals will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ryan Viri worked at Johnny V’s downtown, where he protected patrons and tried to keep everyone safe while they spent time downtown listening to music.  On the morning of February 12, 2014, he was fatally stabbed after work by someone he had previously thrown out of the bar and on whom he had called the San Jose Police.  Crye Wulf BPM is putting on a free show at Johnny V’s to help raise money for Ryan’s funeral and medical expenses.  The show is February 20, at Johnny V’s, and it’s for ages 21 and over.  Funds will come from the bar profits, and a donation jar will also be available.

If you can’t make that show, or the music isn’t your type of thing, you can still donate to the cause at GoFundMe.

Metblogs sends its condolences to the family of Ryan Viri.  My son was friends with Ryan, and he and many others have been crushed by the loss of a good person with a big heart.  Let’s hope the mayor can get this type of crime under control, as the loss of life in San Jose recently has been far too tremendous.

DONATE HERE
February 20, 2014
Johnny V’s
31 E. Santa Clara Street, San Jose
Doors open at 9pm