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

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

Bark in the Park is a fundraising event with more dogs than you could shake a tail at. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Humane Society Silicon Valley and San Jose Animal Care Center.

Ongoing throughout the day: Dancing Dogs, Dog Water Park, Free Dog Agility Course, Flyball Canine Relay, Performing Dogs, Grooming, Training Tips and Herding Demonstrations. Yes, Duck Herding Demonstrations!

Special Event Highlights: Dog Costume Contest, 11:00 am, Silly Dog Tricks, 12:00 pm and Pet/Owner Look Alike Contest 1:00 pm.

In addition, 99 cent Rabies Vaccinations, Low Cost Microchipping, Dog Related Vendors. Moreover, what would an event be without Kid’s Activities?

There will be Live Music along with Food and Beverages.

Bark in the Park is the biggest dog festival in the US.

Important: All pets must be on a leash. Pick up after your dog.

Bark in the Park 2008
William Street Park, San Jose
Corner of William and S. Sixteenth Streets

Saturday, September 20
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Admission: Free - $5 donation per dog is encouraged

Parking: Attendees may park in the Naglee Park neighborhood, please do not block the driveways. There will be a drop-off location at the park and directions to nearby parking areas.

408-793-5125

West Wind Capitol 6 Drive-In San Jose is celebrating the end of summer with a “Customer Appreciation Night” showing a choice of three movies for free: “Iron Man”, “Kung Fu Panda” or “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

No tickets required, no advanced reservations required, just show up with as many people crammed into your car as possible (well, safety first).

Allegedly, there will be $1 Nacho Specials All Night.

West Wind Capitol 6 Drive-In
3630 Hillcap Avenue, San Jose

Thursday, September 18
Gates open 6:30 pm

Admission: Free

408-226-2251

The American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is a noncompetitive walk and event in San Jose to honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors, educate women about the importance of early detection and prevention, and raise money to fund lifesaving research and support programs to further the progress against this disease.

The inaugural Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Saturday, October 25 is a 5 kilometer (3.1 miles) walk that begins and ends at the Arena Green and travels along the Guadalupe River Park trail and through downtown San Jose. The event is held rain or shine.

Anyone can participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer; open to men, women, and children of all ages. It is important to remember that men get breast cancer too. The walk does not have a registration fee or minimum fundraising amount.

There will be informational tents set up including Survivor and Friends, Youth Against Breast Cancer, and Hope Starts Here.

Even though the event is not until October 25, you may wish to prepare early - register, join a group, start a group, or decide to participate as a group of one.

More information here.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Event
Arena Green, HP Pavilion

Saturday, October 25
Registration begins at 8:00 am

1-877-906-7222

This Sunday noon to 5:00 pm is The 8th Annual Antique Autos in History Park. There will be vintage autos (1900 to 1945), bicycles, motorcycles, fire equipment, early day gas engines which will power saws, washing machines and other tools needed in the early days, and more lining the streets.

There will also be children’s activities provided by Schmahl Science Workshop, vintage clothing and handcraft demonstrations. Movies which include early day automobiles will be shown in the hotel. Of course, there are the historic buildings to visit and the trolley to ride.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Ford Model T and there will be a short presentation to commemorate the event followed by the assembly of the Model T in less than 6 minutes.

For more about History San José check this earlier post.

History San José
Kelley Park, 1650 Senter Road

Sunday, September 14
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Free Admission, Parking $6.00

I heart me some MLK library. Here’s what’s going on there right now:

• The library is celebrating its 5th year anniversary all month. The big kickoff event was on the 6th, and naturally I miss it. Happy birthday to the largest library west of the Mississippi River, and the only library in the nation that is both university- AND city-owned!
• Guest speaker Ralph G. Latza will help explain to parents the steps they need to take to fund their child’s education. Free. Tue, Sept. 16, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM; Room 255, 2nd Floor.
• For the business-minded amongst you, the Entrepreneurial Society will host Tony Calleja and Jayan Ramankutti, both seasoned entrepreneurs who will impart hard-earned wisdom, I’m sure. Mon, Sep 15 6:15 PM - 8:00 PM; 2nd Floor, Rooms 225/229, check http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/svce/events/. As a side note, the Entrepreneurial Society is the student group responsible for putting on the Silicon Valley Neat Ideas Fair, which showcases SJSU student innovations and business ideas. It’s actually very interesting, each and every year.
• As I previously (barely) mentioned, there is a teen digital photography exhibit called “My World, My Community” that is on display until Sept. 30 on the 4th floor. Teens spent 10 weeks in the summer exploring their surroundings and taking pictures. And as you can see from my very digital, very not-quality camera phone, it has a lot of creative energy , and it’s the kind of project that reminds you why people delve into visual arts in the first place. So go see it in person and support the youth of the community. NOW!

Yesterday word got out about San Jose State’s foray into the digital world, of which they’re supposed to be located smack dab in the middle but still find creative ways to be behind.

A bit of that is changing now. I am talking about SJSU’s entry into iTunesU, a section of iTunes that offers podcasts and videocasts from over 100 institutions of higher learning, from Stanford to Yale to Berkeley. Professors can choose whether to publish their podcasts to the knowledge-thirsty public, or distribute their lectures to too-lazy-to-go-to-class students. And although I lovingly chide SJSU about its ironic techno-lag, credit must be given to SJSU for being the first in the California State University system to partner up with iTunesU.

Right now, SJSU doesn’t have many full lectures per se, although a physics teacher has been getting busy with the lecture podcasting. But most downloads available are more like short snippets of audio information, ranging mostly from 3-20 minutes long. Still, much of it is interesting, from the economics professor to the library grad students to counseling, recreation and career center services.

SJSU is also unique in that it is one of two universities on the iTunesU network to be fully accessible by those with disabilities. Namely, PDF transcripts are posted alongside the podcasts if you’re hearing-impaired. (Read more about it here.)

Not only can you read what’s being said, but professors can also post additional material, flyers and handouts in their virtual classrooms.

Exciting stuff. I’ve been a fan of iTunesU even before I was officially a student. I already downloaded several fantastic podcasts from the Stanford iTunes U site, so it’s great to see SJSU joining the bandwagon. Its offerings are a bit meager at first, compared to Stanford’s at least, but no one here is comparing SJSU to Stanford. I’m just excited to see the huge potential for the public who want to learn but don’t have the time or the funds.

Click here to see everything iTunesU has to offer, or click on the button below to see SJSU’s offerings for yourself. (Note: Both links will open your iTunes.)

I received an e-mail form letter from U. S. Senator Barbara Boxer informing me that new federal funding had been granted to the City of San Jose. I’m not sure how she came up with my address, because I have never mailed her. Anyway, she was announcing that the Feds would be helping San Jose out with the Weed and Seed Program. What? Medical marijuana gratis D.C.?

On further reading, I discovered that the Weed and Seed Program has actually been in operation for four years, and that it has nothing to do with lighting up. The program’s purpose is to weed out crime and plant programs for healthy neighborhoods. Considering the recent number of homicides, those new ’seeds’ better get here quickly.

Department of Justice’s Weed and Seed Program

Photo courtesy of The Fairmont Hotel

We have all heard the recent call for change. The Fairmont Hotel wants change too, your pocket change that is. Visitors to the Fairmont will have the opportunity to rid their pockets of those funny looking foreign coins and currency collected on summer travels. Now through November 19, 2008 donations (American coins and cash, too) can be left in the decorated suitcase located in the Fairmont’s Fountain Restaurant. On November 20, 2008 the money raised will be awarded to the Courageous Kids of American Cancer Society.

The Courageous Kids of American Cancer Society is a volunteer group providing services for children who have had their lives affected by cancer. Your generous donations may help change their lives.

Fountain Restaurant - The Fairmont Hotel
Daily from 6:30am to 2pm
Saturdays and Sundays from 7am to 3pm.