Issue 4.3 BRANDING

SAN JOSE’S INNOVATIVE & CREATIVE CULTURE

CONTENT Issue 4.3 BRANDING SUMMER 2012

This Issue:

branding featuring:

Dan Pulcrano / Danny Le / Jim Stump

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CONTENT

Issue 4.3 “Branding�

Summer 2012

The Makers: Sarah Garcia Marketeer

Gillian Claus Contributing Writer

Sarah Hale Sustainer

Mark Haney Contributing Writer

Stacy Ernst Shaper/Blogger

Ed Matlack Media Advisor

Mary Matlack Editorial Manager & Writer

Jeff Gardner Designer

Steveyann Jensen Contributing Writer

Daniel Millan Designer

Shannon Amidon Contributing Writer

Charlie Thayer Designer

Victoria Felicity Contributing Photographer

Britt Clyde Proofreader

Ryan Brown Contributing Writer

Aleksandra Bulatskaya Contributing Writer

Flora Moreno de Thompson Writer/Editor

Olivia Dickerson Intern Daniel Garcia Cultivator

To participate in Content Magazine: editor@content-magazine.com Subscription & Advertising information available at sarahg@content-magazine.com

IN THIS ISSUE Dan Pulcrano /Danny Le / Jim Stump

Content Branding

4.3

Summer 2012 San Jose, California

DISTRICTS 6

Districts 9 & 10

DESIGN Dan Pulcrano, pg. 46

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12 14 18

What Does Your Home Say About you?

The Electrical Light Tower 3.0 SJ Billboard The Garden City

PROFILEs 20 24 28 30 32 36

Artist, Donny Foley Artist, Andrew Marchbank Art Boxes Stylist, Nicole Blair Busch Culture Creative, Danny Le New Branding, Bryan Kramer

Features 38 42 46 50 52 Donny Foley pg. 20

Nicole Blair Busch, pg. 30

Mad Man, Tim Hendrick SJ Giants Pitcher, Shawn Stanford Metro Founder, Dan Pulcrano Chef & Restaurateur, Jim Stump Chefs Illustrated

Writings

56 Bookstore, Hicklebee’s 58 Author, Tim Myers

FASHION

60 Unbounded Reverie, Paul Ferradas 66 Style San Jose, Ruak Styling 68 Contributors 68 Cultivator’s Notes

Chefs & Tatts, Andrew Nguyen pg. 52

Content Magazine is a bi-monthly publication about the innovative and creative culture of San Jose. To participate in the production and distribution contact: editor@content-magazinecom

237

ALVISO

MILPITAS 680 237

880

101

SUNNYVALE ALUM ROCK

SANTA CLARA SAN JOSE CUPERTINO

EVERGREEN

280

85

WILLOW GLEN 87

CAMPBELL

SEVEN TREES

SILVER CREEK

CAMBRIAN PARK

SARATOGA 17

LOS GATOS

SAN JOSE

ALMADEN

BY THE NUMBERS

SANTA TERESA

San Jose’s rural nature contrasts dramatically with the idea of Silicon Valley, our high-tech hub famous the world over. We think of the urban-suburban sprawl, freeways mini-malls and corporate campuses.

And when we hear of people moving to the hills of Almaden, we think of new houses and new developments. In fact, one of the oldest areas of San Jose is New Almaden - the small mining community that supported the New Almaden Mercury Mine for over 140 years.

Sure there are new houses out there, but taking a drive out of town into Districts 9 and 10 has kind of a “back to the future” quality. Some developments are quite new, but the heart of the farming and ranching community that San Jose was built on is alive and well. In the Cambrian area of District 9, homes are passed down from generation to generation and backyard fruit trees drip with the reminders of a different era – a time of farm families, ranch hands and miners. Today we still find farmers and a few ranchers, but the miners have been replaced by scientists and the cattle are few and far between.

From Phil Cosentino’s honor system orchard stand, to the IBM Research facility, the area is rich in history and promise.

Take a drive, explore the past and get a glimpse of the future with the last two districts of San Jose.

Written by Mary Matlack

district aka Cambrian, Little Branham, Pinehurst

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MORGAN HILL

Nestled into Blossom Hill, bordering Los Gatos, Campbell, Almaden and Willow Glen, District 9 was settled by Welsh farmer David Lewis who named the area after his homeland (Cambria being the Medieval, Latin name for Wales.) This area is residential, suburbia at its finest. The parking lots are spacious and most houses have been built in the California ranch style. Many homes have been in the family for 35 years or more and children often return home to roost – to that familiar, suburban neighborhood of their youth – because they know not much has changed. Because of the aging population, Councilmember Rocha is focused on the need for senior services, efficient transportation and accessible open space.

Councilmember Donald Rocha Serving since 2010 Prior to Politics Rocha worked for politicians at the state and local level as well as the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.

Claim to Fame Rocha served as a school board member in the Cambrian School District beginning in 2008. Having attended Del Mar High School and Archbishop Mitty, Rocha has always lived in San Jose. www.sanjoseca.gov/district9

Cambrian Park Plaza If the name of this shopping center doesn’t remind you of the past, the jaunty 30-foot carousel on the sign will certainly conjur up images of mini-malls before the term existed. The plaza is old-school hip with the well used Cambrian Bowl on one side and a 30-year-old veteran of the San Jose Fashion scene -- Eleanor’s Fashions: “We Take the Stress out of Buying Dress” on the other.

Every Wednesday night (May-September) the suburban parking lot turns into a vibrant Farmers’ Market. Go for the carousel statue but stay for the eclectic mix of merchants. www.eleanorsonline.com www.cambrianbowl.com

district Xilinx Tucked in next to Highway 85 on Logic Way, the Xilinx corporate campus sits in the midst of a very suburban neighborhood.

With 2,340 employees, Xilinx is the 10th largest employer in San Jose and a good neighbor in District 9, providing volunteer hours, donations and technical expertise to the community. A true valley success story, the company reached $550 million in revenue in 1995, just 10 years after having invented the first Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and selling programmable logic devices. If you’re wondering what all of that tech-speak means, you’re not alone, but go ask a neighbor. You’ll find one who knows. www. xilinx.com

We and Our Neighbors On the busy corner of Union Avenue and Los Gatos-Almaden Road, next door to an opthamologist and a dentist, stands a brickred Arts and Crafts bungalow with a sign out front reading “We and Our Neighbors.”

In 1892, a group of farm wives got together for tea and the day was so pleasant, they decided to do it again. And again. Still going strong today, “We and our Neighbors” is the oldest woman’s club in Santa Clara County and their cute bungalow was declared a San Jose Landmark and entered into the National Registry of Historic Places. Back then the ladies were interested in social ties, intellectual and cultural pursuits, charitable deeds, and recreation for the farm families of the neighborhood. Not so different today – just no farms. www. weandourneighbors.org

From Cosentino’s to Lunardi’s to The International Food Bazaar Cosentino’s recently closed after a long run in San Jose. In 1947, the Cosentino brothers opened a produce stand in The Valley of Heart’s Delight, eventually turning it into one of the best grocery stores in San Jose.

Lunardi’s moved in when Cosentino’s moved out and now the location is busy again.

There is another grocery delight around the corner – The International Food Bazaar.

Featuring Middle Eastern foods like cheeses, olives and more varieties of flat breads than you even knew existed, the bustling market is friendly and very popular. Arrive early on the weekends. Although parking is limited, the produce is always abundantly visible from the street. Looking for a halal butcher? They’ve got one and a goat’s head to go along with your Sunday soup. www.lunardis.com

Branham Lounge This is a bar. Call it a dive bar if you like, but the character is as thick as the smoke you could imagine in olden days. The décor is classic vinyl, hide-everything carpet and dim, dim lights. The metal on the brick sign outside reads: “Cocktails and Dreams.” There’s enough neon spattered around inside to find

your way through the bar – even at midday.

But you can tell, given the line-up of nightly music and the small, yet dedicated crowd on a Monday afternoon that this place rocks.

On Thursday, come for country music and “Daisy Dukes and Cowboy Boots.” Come for Sunday Funday with beer pong, board games, Jenga and a BBQ. The entrance isn’t grand, sandwiched between Round Table Pizza and Taco Bell, but you can tell most folks know what they are looking for. www. thebl1969.com

Capitol Expressway Auto Mall Just when we thought auto malls were a thing of the past, Capitol Expressway Auto Mall is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance.

With a 70-acre auto row, the dealerships certainly have plenty of space for bouncy houses and giant blow-up animals, not to mention rows of cars for our suburban lifestyle. The Normandin family (Chrysler Jeep) started out as buggy-makers from Montreal in 1875 and now a 5th generation Normandin is at the helm. The Del Grande Dealership Group (DGDG) owns just about every other dealership on the mall. Throw in the new Capitol Fiat, and it’s an automobile lover’s delight. www. delgrandedealergroup.com www. normandinchryslerjeep.net

The Last Working Orchard in Santa Clara Valley You might have to pinch yourself when you find your way to the J&P roadside stand and pick up a basket of olallieberries and pay using the honor system – put your money in the slot and push it down with a woodenmoney-pusher. Phil Cosentino, also known as “Mr. Produce” on 1590 KLIV, is the man in charge. You might see him or you might not. It doesn’t matter though because the fruit is sweet – picked at its prime. Sometimes you can have a taste and sometimes the fruit is all gone. It’s never certain, but it is honest. If you don’t find what you need, come back later and you could get lucky. www.jandpfarms.com

dist aka Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley Sometimes it’s hard being last, but San Jose’s District 10, stretching from the Los Gatos hills and Santa Cruz Mountains down toward Morgan Hill, doesn’t seem to be worried about its place in the line-up. Not only is natural beauty abundant, but also present are lovely homes and high-performing public schools. A realtor’s paradise with parks and open space to share, taking a trip out to Almaden may amaze you. It is hard to believe the rural ranching community, complete with active 4-H and Santa Clara County Horseman’s Association HQ, is just 10 minutes from downtown. San Jose’s roots are in the farming community and cruising the outer limits of District 10 will remind you of that. Printed vinyl signs are quickly replaced by hand-written signs offering everything from fresh eggs to hay for sale, horse boarding and even an occasional tractor. The crisp golden hills contrasted with the evergreen mountains - all visible from foothills in District 10 - give the area a special bucolic charm.

Councilmember Nancy Pyle serving since 2005 Prior to Politics Pyle worked for San Jose Unified School District and logged 25 years as a classroom teacher.

Claim to Fame Fluent in French, Nancy Pyle is an avid traveler and has visited over 44 countries. As president of the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Committee, Pyle has collected over 24 years of Waterford Crystal gifts and displays them proudly in her council office.

Pyle is also famous for wearing a different suit every day, earning her the moniker ‘Nancy Pyle, Queen of Style.’ www.sanjoseca.gov/district10

Blue Rock BBQ A crowd-pleaser for sure, Blue Rock BBQ is the kind of place where everyone can find something delicious from the smoked baby back ribs and the Tennessee pulled pork to homemade sides like mac’n-cheese, potato salad and cole slaw. Now they freely admit to a passion for “Barbecue without Borders” so don’t expect to find a particular style at Blue Rock, instead soak in the owner’s collective carnivorous habits. Owen and Marie Jobson are there cooking most days and certainly happy to strike up a conversation, find out what you like and remember you on your next visit. Save room for homemade sweets and pecan pie! www.bluerockbbq.com

Challenges Shrinking city budgets have taken a toll on parks and open spaces in San Jose. District 10 is particularly challenged due to the abundance of parks and commensurate lack of funds for maintenance. Public-private partnerships have proved very effective in keeping parks open, clean and well-maintained.

Almaden Lake If you heard that there was a beach and a lake in San Jose - a lake made for swimming - would you believe it? Lake Almaden is the only open water lake and beach in the South Bay. There’s a seasonal snack bar and lifeguards, too. Pack a picnic and go jump in a local lake. www.sjparks.org/regional/almadenlake.asp

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t rict Blossom Hill Retail Corridor What brings in over $5 million dollars in retail sales and outperforms any single mall or auto row in San Jose? According to the councilmember’s office, it’s the stretch of retail along Blossom Hill between Snell and Gallup near Almaden Expressway. There are big fish like Westfield Oakridge, Whole Foods, Home Depot and Costco, but it’s the little guys like The Fish Market, Mancini’s Sleepworld and Aqui Cal-Mex that keep us coming back. The dragons and castles of Golfland are still a reasonably-priced adventure before you hit the sales – just watch out for the windmill.

Martin/Fontana Parks

of PhDs. These chemists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and physicists are all working to advance fundamental scientific understanding, as well as helping IBM make a buck every now and then.

In August of 2009, PG&E came into the Almaden area and planned to cut down 140 trees in TJ Martin and Jeffrey Fontana parks.

The locals wouldn’t stand for it and immediately called in Councilmember Nancy Pyle.

PG&E and a rapid-fire succession of meetings and memos followed, resulting in the establishment of Martin Fontana Parks Association just a year after the first chainsaws roared through the park. The battle was far from over, but the outpouring of community support for the trees and the civic pride in these neighborhood parks has proved the area’s enduring legacy. Jeffrey Fontana Park was named after a fallen San Jose Police Officer killed during a routine traffic stop after only ten days service. TJ Martin Park was named after the man who developed the area.

www.almaden.ibm.com

www.saveourparktrees.wordpress.com/

www. wholefoodsmarket.com

IBM research facility Tucked up against the Santa Theresa foothills, not visible from the valley below, IBM Research-Almaden employs 800 men and women in one of eight research facilities operated by IBM worldwide. IBM’s long history in San Jose began in 1943 with the new IBM Card Manufacturing Plant Number 5 located at 16th and St. John Streets in downtown. IBM bumped around in San Jose for many years before buying up three rural ranches in the Almaden Valley and creating the research facility that exists today. According to their website, “A number of sites in California were considered before deciding on San Jose. The site selection committee reasoned, ‘The decision was unanimously in favor of San Jose because of its being a home community with good schools and its advantageous location and facilities.’” Today the facility is really a small town with everything from a movie theater to a water treatment plant. The 540,000-square-foot town and accompanying 650 acres are home to heaps

was used to line the sluices of the gold rush, aiding in the extraction of gold and silver.

The mine is a significant in the telling of the history of San Jose, but the environmental legacy of the mine continues today. In a letter dated June 6, 2012, the Santa Clara Valley Water District reminded residents, “Every day since the 1800’s, it’s estimated that as much as 200 pounds of mercury enters the San Francisco Bay from the Guadalupe Watershed where the mines once operated.” It isn’t in our drinking water, but the legacy of the historic mines keeps the water company very busy and taints many of our local rivers and creeks. www.sccgov.org

Capitol Drive-In

Whole Foods At last, San Jose has its own Whole Foods.

Many residents were undoubtedly driving to Campbell or Los Gatos to shop, but now we can claim our own store - all 50,000 feet of it. The Blossom Hill store is impressive. It has the “new” Whole Foods look to it and makes the Los Gatos and Campbell locations look outdated. The bakery and prepared foods row is abundant with wood-burning ovens for pizza as well as standard sandwich, burrito and sushi stations. But it’s the open, fresh feeling in the store that can turn shopping from a chore to a pleasure.

Blossom Hill Whole Foods 1146 Blossom Hill Road

Just when you thought drive-in movie theaters were a thing of the past, San Jose’s own Capitol Drive-In is alive and well. For just $7 per person, a whole car full of people can enjoy a double feature every night. Crank up that car stereo or bring a boom box with an FM tuner. Just leave the dog and the alcohol at home before venturing out to the drive-in.

Sadly, bench seats are a thing of the past but it’ll still be fun, just like the movies.

And if movies aren’t your thing – during the day, the Capitol Drive-In becomes The Capitol Public Market. It is open Thursday - Sunday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. So, instead of driving the garage sales one weekend, come to this San Jose tradition and spend your gas money on cool stuff. www.westwinddriveins.com

Quicksilver Not only is Almaden Quicksilver County Park great for hiking, horseback riding, biking and dog walking (on-leash only), it is also ripe with local history. Just 5 minutes on the trail will bring you to remnants of the New Almaden Mine, the oldest and most productive mercury mine in the United States. Mexican Cavalry Officer Captain Andres Castillero had the first claim on the mine in 1845. The Quicksilver Mining company closed the mine in the early 1920s, but a few old-timers remained up in the hills. Mining continued sporadically until the county bought the land, closed the mine and created a park in 1976. The community of New Almaden lives on through historic houses and a mining museum that reveal the community of 1800 miners and their families. The mine operated for 135 years and produced 83,974,076 pounds of quicksilver.

Otherwise known as mercury, the metal

La Foret When the miners came to the New Almaden Mine, they needed a boarding house and the Hacienda Hotel served that purpose. Built in 1848, the Hacienda has the distinction of being the first two-story hotel in California.

In the 1930s, the boarding house shut down and a popular cafe took its place. In 1979, La Foret moved in and fancy French took over from the once rustic family style of the original boarding house. La Foret is a calm oasis with leaded glass windows that look out onto the lush greenery of New Almaden. The food is old-world European with game and seafood specialities and the service is formal.

On Sundays, the place is full of well dressed families - multi-generational gatherings seeking formality for children alongside familiarity for grandparents. www.laforetrestaurant.com

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What Does Your Home Say About You? Written by Steveyann Jensen

In this day and age of social media, we are no strangers to creating and sharing our identity with friends and the world. With Pinterest, Facebook, blogs and websites, we are constantly posting what we like, what inspires and defines us, and what makes us recognizable. Whether it’s the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, or the company we keep, our identities are widely wrapped up in our social environments and activities. But what about our physical environments? Our personal spaces?

Homeowner: Jamie Samples pompandcircumstance.wordpress.com Photographer: Amy Billings of Aim & Arrow Photography aimandarrow.com Styling: Steveyann Jensen & Jamie Samples

Intentionally or not, our physical environment says something about who we are. Do you remember the MTV show Room Raiders? For those of you who never had the pleasure of watching it, the show consisted of three contestants that had their rooms raided by another person who, based on what they found, would pick one of the contestants to date. They never met the person or saw any pictures of them before their decision was made. It was based entirely on what they found and observed in their room and usually their assessments were pretty right on. It’s unlikely that the show produced any long-lasting relationships, but the point is, we can actually tell a lot about an individual and their personality from the spaces they inhabit.

Just as we create social environments that reflect and reinforce our identities, we also construct physical environments that do the same. Our spaces express what we value and who we are. If our personal spaces are a window into who we are and how we identify ourselves, then what does your home say about you? Here are a few hints into what it might be communicating to your visitors.

Books Look around your home. How many bookshelves do you have and what books are on display? If you have a variety of books and magazines on display with a few classics thrown into the mix, it communicates that you’re well read and intelligent. Topical books on photography, architecture or travel show guests that you are well-rounded and interesting.

Plants Having a little greenery in your home shows people that you are a nurturing person and you enjoy taking care of others. Do your plants flower like an orchid? Are they hard to grow, exotic? Or do you prefer cacti which don’t need a lot of attention but look interesting? Did you know that fake plants are the lazy man’s guide to greenery?

Clutter Clutter can indicate to your guests that you are willing to go with the flow and take life as it comes. Too much clutter can indicate a hard time staying on top of daily tasks, but a little bit of clutter can make a house feel like a home. Is your home completely spotless at all times? This may appear to others that you feel the need to control your environment.

Walls If you have art and photographs on your walls, it shows that you feel settled in your life and that your surroundings are important to you. A cultivated original art collection says that you are contemplative and cultured while photographs can show your guests how you spend your time and who is important in your life. Photos show your hobbies and the places you have traveled. The more variety, the more dynamic you will seem.

Kitchen Do you have a kitchen with appliances, utensils, and cookbooks? If so, your guests may presume that you are a very domestic person who enjoys cooking and entertaining.

Don’t have a blender or a cookbook to your name? Visitors may assume that your cooking abilities don’t go far beyond boiling a pot of water. What about your fridge? If it is stocked with vegetables and fruits aplenty, it shows that you are a very health-conscious and self-sufficient person. If it is filled with condiments, beverages and a few old take-out containers, your visitor might get the idea that you eat out a lot, you don’t take great care of yourself, and you are dependent on others.

Color If you decorate your home with rich, warm colors like creams and earth tones you will likely be perceived as warm, welcoming, energetic and extroverted. If you look around your home and see cool colors like blues and greens your friends may see you as encouraging and insightful. They might assume you are introverted or that you have a hectic life and you desire a space where you can relax and rejuvenate. If you gravitate more toward neutrals, that can tell your guests that you are balanced, that you admire simplicity and that you have a classic style.

So what is your home saying about you? Is it representing you accurately? If you feel like it has completely missed the mark, then personalize it. What are your interests, passions, and values and how can you translate that into your space? Putting a little extra effort into the design of your physical environment will not only show your visitors who you are, but it will make you feel more at home as well. Our spaces should be ones where we express ourselves and feel inspired.

Let your space reflect you.

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PROJECT

SAN JOSE The Electrical Light Tower 3.0

Re-Creating an Icon Written by Mark Haney Renderings by Adam Mayberry

When you look at pictures of San Jose from the late 1800s to around 1915, the most prominent feature of the downtown landscape was the electrical light tower over the intersection of Market and Santa Clara Streets. In December of 1881 when the tower was first lit, San Jose gained instant fame, becoming the first city with an electrical lighting system west of the Rocky Mountains.

It was through the work of visionary J.J. Owen, a New York state transplant, and the editor and publisher of The San Jose Daily Mercury, that the tower was built. Because of his direct access to the local paper, he helped sway public opinion with his strong endorsements for the electrical light tower.

This was much to the chagrin of the companies who supplied the gas for the outdated gas street light system. Owen argued that electricity would be the energy of the future and that, with properly placed electrical light towers throughout San Jose, electricity would supersede the current gas lamp system. Unfortunately, the tower network never came to fruition. San Jose’s first electrical light tower turned out to be San Jose’s only tower. Despite never living up to its technological potential, the tower was the center of civic pride and accomplishment and was always included in parades and city celebrations.

Over the years there have been many stories — some quite humorous — attributed to the tower. A beat favorite among the police force, officers would collect any ducks that had struck the tower and take them to local restaurants to be served to patrons. The tower also became a challenge for many of the locals after a night at the bars. Numerous bar patrons attempted to climb up the tower, only to succeed in getting stuck and needing help down by the fire department. But the stories came to an abrupt end in 1915. After three decades of rain, strong winds finally toppled the rusted-out tower, which had been constructed before the invention of galvanized steel. Yet, eight decades after its demise in 1990, the story of the tower turned bizarre.

The city of San Jose sued the city of Paris, claiming the Eiffel Tower was a copy of the tower built in San Jose. In the end, Paris won the suit. However, there are many people who still believe it was a copycat because of the similarities between the two towers and the fact that San Jose’s tower was built in 1881, eight years before the Eiffel Tower.

Ever since its fall, many of San Jose’s citizens and groups have clamored to rebuild this great tower. In 1977 the City of San Jose rebuilt a half-scale tower in History Park at Kelley Park. But why not re-brand San Jose’s skyline by adding this iconic piece of historical innovation, at full height, and place it near the intersection where the original once stood? There are many ways to accomplish this project, but here are two options to consider. One way is a cost-effective, minimalist recreation. The other is a more elaborate, less historic attraction.

The minimalist version would rebuild the tower as a complete 237 foot replica with a metal frame and iconic original bulbs. This version of the tower would be a more practical and feasible project that could be built rather quickly and in a cost-effective manner. Due to its minimized footprint of

only four anchored feet, multiple options are available for placement. This version allows the tower to once again be placed over an intersection, like West San Carlos and Market Streets. Here VTA light rail and buses, cars, pedestrians, and cyclists would all pass under its metal frame. Standing at the end of Cesar Chavez Park next to major hotels and museums, and the SoFA arts district, it would capitalize on the foot traffic already in the area, leaving that iconic impression on visitors that San Jose has always lacked. And it could once again be included in parades, festivals and city celebrations.

The modernized version of the tower would be a more costly, larger project. It would be made with the creativity and innovation San Jose is known for, incorporating things like a LED light display, made from 100% recycled or reclaimed materials, and it would be lit at night with 100% renewable resources such as solar energy. By building this version of the tower, San Jose would not only be embracing its innovative past, but also inspiring future generations to become pioneers in the world of technology.

In an ideal scenario, the tower would start from a similar metal skeleton. Additions would be made such as a podium level at 150 feet with 360 degree views, a restaurant and museum, and an outdoor green roof with an observation deck.

The restaurant could double as a museum by showcasing pictures and memorabilia about the original electrical light tower and the stories/planning of both versions of the tower. There could even be a zip line down to the park during the summer months and a stage at park level which could be used for outdoor summer music concerts, Starlight Cinema movies, or stage performances. The possibilities are endless, but in this version the tower would become more of an attraction.

The location of the modern version would be more limited due to its amenities and resultant larger footprint. Placing the new tower in St. James Park could help improve the park’s image and make it more attractive to the public. As is the case for the minimalist tower scenario, placing the new tower directly in the middle of the park means that bikers, mass transit passengers, and drivers may be more drawn into the core of downtown.

The lighting of the electrical light tower 130 years ago was the symbolic genesis of San Jose’s association with technology that has seen the city grow into the technological hub it is today. Now, San Joseans are looking for an iconic structure to define their city. By rebuilding some form of this tower, whether architecturally exact or modified with amenities, importance should be placed upon creating a lasting icon that can be both a symbol of homage to the past, while focusing on the technology of the future.

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billboards If San Jose had a billboard advertising campaign, what would it look like?

Some of the leading San Jose creative agencies gives us their vision.

kh zooka Zooka is a hybrid agency with a deep expertise in

consumer marketing. Almost all of our clients are selling a product online and/or in a retail store.

We combine social, mobile, web, and traditional in-store marketing to create powerful and effective campaigns. In addition, our multi-channel approach makes Zooka uniquely qualified to drive consistent messaging across multiple marketing channels. Our cross functional approach ensures there is consistent messaging and communication across packaging, displays, web marketing, social media, email, and mobile. Our team of gifted strategists, designers, and programmers have won more than 50 awards including a National Gold Effie award in Shopper Marketing. Send a note to Steve@zookacreative. com or call (408) 400-9665 and tell us your big challenge or goal.

Who worked on project:

Sean Lopez - Art Director and Designer

Why sean did what he did:

San Jose is a melting pot of cultures. There is a huge confluence of people with varying ethnic backgrounds which makes it super-culturally diverse. It’s also a very expansive city, stretching across most of the South Bay, making the use of public transportation timely from one end of the city to another. In my opinion, San Jose (which I believe is a valid one since I was born and raised here) is definitely a commuter city structured around the major surrounding freeways and outlying districts. The 680/280/101 interchange can get you to any part of the Silicon Valley/Bay Area be it the coast, Peninsula, San Francisco, or East Bay. People call it the “Heart of the Silicon Valley” as well as the “Gateway to the Bay.” I see it as a city with loads of potential, safe and

family oriented, with an underlying hotbed of art and diverse culture making it truly unique., a sort of undiscovered metropolis gem with tons of low-key things to do (along with 300 days of sun).

Everything in this design was made up from scratch, except the small type you see under the San Jose logo. Since San Jose (and the Silicon Valley) is an area that is ripe for things created from scratch, I also felt this logotype is very fitting of a city spanning out in multiple directions with a touch of art, sun, and, of course, the bay (and our infamous Sharks—thrown in for good measure).

qq WEBENERTIA:

Who worked on project:

Steve Ohanians - Partner & Creative Director Danny Halvorson - Interactive Director Daniel Millan - Graphic Designer

Why we did what we did:

Our business is deeply rooted in San Jose. Both of our founding partners grew up in the area.

Many of our team members graduated from San Jose State University. Our office is located right in the middle of downtown. So, when Content approached us with this fun idea, we jumped at it!

Our campaign builds on familiarity with the beloved song "Do you know the way to San Jose?" We call the campaign "We Know the Way" and it’s designed to feature prominent local figures such as artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, professionals, and others that have made a big impact, as well as up-and-comers that are doing great things now. The call-to-action would be to visit the website SJKnowsTheWay.com where we continue the story and build pride by starting the conversation about who and what makes our city great.

t t t

Established in 1999, WebEnertia is a leading interactive agency based in San Jose, California, that delivers strategy, creative, technology and marketing solutions to local and national clients.

With a deep love for all things digital, WebEnertia's team includes experts with unique skills, talents, and experience in digital brand strategy, user experience design, user interface design, development, social media, and client services.

WebEnertia's work has been recognized for excellence in major regional and national competitions, including the ADDYs, the world's largest advertising competition from the American Advertising Federation. For more information visit: www.webenertia.com

Image Credit. Grant Brittain www.jgrantbrittain.com Color: Scott McDermott www.scottmcdermott.com

Coakley Heagerty

Arguably, the single biggest challenge for the San Jose brand is the lack of a clear, articulate expression of who we are as a city and culture. From a branding perspective, this perpetuates a slight identity crisis. Because of this leading factor, the Coakley Heagerty (CH) team chose to create a billboard experience that builds civic pride.

To gain an insider’s perspective on the nascent San Jose brand, CH interviewed its own staff as well as Councilman Sam Liccardo and Arts Commissioner Nicholas Adams.

Those interviews informed our creative brief for the project and led us to the insight that formed the foundation of our creative exploration.

Who worked on project: Tom Zazueta - President/CEO John Avilla - Creative Director

Why we did what we did:

We propose the creation of a digital, interactive billboard experience at street level that encourages its viewers to see San Jose in a more creative light. We will take over a vacant storefront in a high traffic downtown street. At first glance, it is a moving graphic that inspires people to think and act: Spark something creative, Spark something musical, Spark something social… cool, exciting, bold, innovative, etc.

Beans & Croydon

Beans & Croydon is a Marketing & Design Agency focusing on branding and youth culture.

The old saying of “Youth is wasted on the young,” never applied to them. Recklessness, irresponsibility, rebelliousness, and beauty, are characteristics of Youth that inspire their work.

The theme of “old and new” is also carried over to their clients, featuring the intersection betweenraditional marketing and Modern branding. Known for their strong visuals and content creation, they place a high value on honesty and authenticity. The group has worked within numerous niche cultures, moving freely from industry to industry leaving an indelible mark wherever they go.

Who worked on project:

Geoffrey Nguyen - Creative Director Girafa - Arist Richard Vo - Project Manager

Why we did what we did:

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interests, and different ideas of what San Jose means to them. In modern-day, most would note San Jose’s rich history in technology, and being the Capitol of Silicon Valley. Knowing that, we made the foundation of our idea, innovation. One of the most truly innovative ideas of our lifetime is social media. It is a blend of technology and the basic human need to share. That’s when we came up with the #SanJose hash tag. It is truly the most current way for people to view and experience the city as others do. We worked with Girafa on the design as he is a San Jose born artist. Though his work is quite famous amongst his fans, like San Jose, you won’t see the beauty in it unless you know what you’re looking for.

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Since January 1, 2012 the population of San Jose is 971,372 persons. Each coming from different socio-economic backgrounds, with different

Then something unexpected happens: some thought bubbles migrate toward and follow each pedestrian who walks in front of the billboard.

As the pedestrian stops, she can interact with and pop the bubbles to reveal a piece of information, an event, or idea that uniquely represents San Jose culture, such as the Subzero festival, or the fact that San Jose is the home of the world’s first radio station. QR codes offer the viewer a chance to take the information with them as well as give San Jose a measureable response mechanism for the billboard. As the pedestrian walks on, the bubbles continue to follow until they bounce off the billboard’s edge and once again randomly move about the space.

Image Credit. B&W: Björn Olsson Color: Anirudh Koul

garden

Back when few Americans knew how to pronounce the name “Jose,” local boosters sought a flattering municipal nickname.

Written by Bonnie Montgomery Images provided by

Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History Department of History San Jose State University

CITY

Garden City Casino is no more.

The card room on Saratoga Avenue will close, and the re-branded Casino M8trix will open near the airport. Retiring the brand is a break with San Jose’s past. Back when few Americans knew how to pronounce the name “Jose,” local boosters sought a flattering municipal nickname. “Garden City” meant something to the nineteenth-century American mind. Like a garden, such a city prospered because its best citizens cultivated it. “The myth of the garden of the world,” Berkeley scholar, Henry Nash Smith called it.

Chicago was the first American place to call itself the “Garden City.” Its founders in 1837 adopted the Latin motto Urbs in Horto, “city in a garden.” Back then, Chicago was swampy lakefront and prairie grass.

A Chicago newspaper editorial in 1895 summed up why the city eventually deserved its name. “It is because its people, as alive to beauty as anxious for wealth, have interspersed it with gardens. Chicago is not a city in a garden. It is a city full of gardens created from a wilderness.” The fantastic success of Chicago inspired a “Garden City” settlement in just about every state in the nation. Most date their name back to the 1860s and 1870s.

Some were no larger than villages, others, like Garden City, New York, became well known.

The name San Jose dates to 1777 when the Spanish founded the pueblo. But if the city could re-brand itself, locals thought “Garden City” most fitting. Horace S. Foote argued the case in 1888. “During the Spanish and Mexican administration, which covered a period of more than half a century, not more than a dozen buildings were erected in the pueblo, and these were of the rudest character. Within twenty years after the Americans took possession, the pueblo had become a

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thriving city, with substantial business blocks and beautiful residences, and has already become known as the ‘Garden City.’” Foote wrote this in his book, “Pen Pictures from the Garden of the World.” A descriptive history of the Santa Clara Valley, Foote marketed the area as a genuine Garden of Eden.

Give credit to San Jose pioneer Charles Watrous Pomeroy for San Jose being the Garden City. A Gold Rush pioneer of 1849, C. W. Pomeroy settled in San Jose in 1854.

Back in Indiana, he had been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.). Pomeroy joined the first San Jose lodge. The Odd Fellows were once the largest fraternal organization in the United States. Their symbol was a three-link chain representing the unity of friendship, loyalty and truth. In 1868, Pomeroy led a second group of Odd Fellows to establish what he called “a new and progressive lodge.” At Pomeroy’s suggestion, they called themselves the Garden City Lodge.

In 1884, the Odd Fellows sold stock to fund a building dedicated for the two Odd Fellows lodges in downtown San Jose. That landmark stands today at the southwest corner of Third and Santa Clara streets. Hank Coca’s furniture store has long been the ground-floor tenant. The two upper floors were once lodge rooms, and the letters I.O.O.F. grace the roofline.

The Odd Fellows of Garden City Lodge were business and professional men. Some held public office. All were boosters for San Jose. Charles Wesley Breyfogle was all that and more. A physician who came to San Jose for his health in 1871, Breyfogle was San Jose’s mayor in 1886 and 1887. He organized the Garden City Bank in 1887 and was its first president until his death

in 1895. His successors in 1907 erected a seven-story steel-frame bank building at the corner of San Fernando and First streets.

Then the tallest building in town, the bank wedded the name” Garden City” to San Jose.

At the turn of the 20th century, Garden City was a popular local brand. A brewery, a hospital, a commercial college, and businesses large and small used the name.

A cycling club called the Garden City Wheelmen was San Jose’s ambassador at races across the state. In 1901, the Garden City Pottery Company began making garden ware and stoneware dishes in Japantown.

The international Garden City movement also grew up at the turn of the 20th century. Founder Ebenezer Howard was an Englishman who worked as a clerk in Chicago during the 1870s. He was familiar with its Garden City nickname. His 1902 book Garden Cities of To-morrow advocated combining the best features of town and country by surrounding new cities with rings of fields and forest. District of Columbia suburbs such as Greenbelt, Maryland, and Reston, Virginia, were founded on Howard’s urban planning principles. San Jose promoters could not make the long-established site a built garden city, but they could claim that the Santa Clara Valley, ringed by mountains, was in the center of nature’s own greenbelt.

In the 1920s, San Jose businesses using the “Garden City” brand began to close.

Prohibition shuttered the Garden City Brewery. In 1922, the Garden City Bank merged with the Mercantile Trust Co. of San Francisco. In 1923, the Garden City Sanitarium yielded to the new San Jose Hospital just a few blocks away. A new generation promoted Santa Clara County as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight.” It was

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no longer the “Garden of the World.”

A little pool hall was the vehicle that brought the association of San Jose with the Garden City into the 21st century. The Boitano brothers opened the Garden City Billiard Parlor at Market and Post Streets in 1926.

Shortly after World War II, the three Dalis brothers bought the billiard tables and brought to the address a card club license.

The 1952 San Jose city directory lists five Dalis Brothers’ businesses in that block of South Market street. A barber, billiards hall, card room, restaurant, and tobacco shop, all used the Garden City name. Within ten years, the Garden City Casino and Hofbrau became fixtures at Market and Post streets.

As Silicon Valley grew, downtown redevelopment erased evidence of the Garden City name. In 1972, the demolition of the Garden City Bank Building made way for the Knight-Ridder Building. In 1975, the Garden City Casino and Hofbrau razed their downtown location. It reopened at Saratoga Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard. In 1987, the Garden City Pottery factory disappeared from Japantown when a redevelopment project took its place.

When the owners of Casino M8trix retire the Garden City name, it will leave San Jose with only one major business so branded. Garden City Construction has been rehabilitating historic San Jose buildings since 1991. Its logo resembles an old-fashioned engraving of the Light Tower that once stood at Market and Santa Clara Streets. So if the name “Garden City” is part of San Jose’s past, how appropriate that a construction company preserve the name in its mission to keep San Jose’s historical landmarks standing proud.

Written by Shannon Amidon sanjosecreatives.blogspot.com Photography by Daniel Garcia

Welcome to the wonderfully whimsical, twisted, and delightfully inappropriate world of Donny Foley, aka Donbon.

This Donny does it all, comics, painting, children’s books, vintage resale, cartoons and more. He is not out to change the world with his art, he just wants to make people laugh and brighten their day.

What do you do?

I mainly work in digital art, it’s much more forgiving. I do a lot of things like clocks, calendars, stationary, but I’m mostly known for my comics. Recently I finished my first children’s book titled “Khristina and the Lost Imagination;” it’s a very cute story about a little girl and her cat. My buddy and I started a cartoon called “Vitamin D.” I’m very excited about this because I’ve always wanted to make cartoons since I was a child. I also help run a vintage resale business with my girlfriend and her best friend called, Out of Print Vintage.

Where can we find your work?

I’m featured all over the place currently, for instance: KALEID Gallery and... actually that’s about it. My website is full of goodies though www.DonbonsUniverse.com.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?

I’ve met a ton of people in my life who do what I do, just hella better. But, they’re content just throwing it all away for some crap job that makes them unhappy. I don’t want to be like them so that usually gets me motivated.

“I’ve always wanted to make cartoons since I was a child” What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/ process?

Personally I think the content is the most important part. If your content sucks then your technique and finished products will do nothing but just look good.

“I used to make all these over the top and stupid comic strips in high school that everyone loved” Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?

Mike Patton, Jhonen Vasquez, my girlfriend’s cat, Spot, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, the people of Pixar, Winsor McCay (Little Nemo), J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka (Legend of Zelda), a lot of my old bosses (because they’re something I strive not to be), and a bunch of my friends who I won’t name because if they read this, I’m sure it will go to their heads and their heads are just fine the way they are.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?

Little Nemo, that kid had some sweet adventures.

When do you get your best ideas?

Ha ha randomly my most genius ideas come to me while I’m in the shower. Then I get exited (not too excited) about this new idea and can’t wait to work on it. I think it’s because I have nothing to do in there but think. Oh and clean.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?

My good old reliably unreliable computer, mouse, and wacom tablet. (All of which are falling apart.)

Are you self-taught or formally educated?

How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?

For the most part I’m self-taught. I’d be lying if I said I never had anyone give me a bunch of pointers. I even took a photoshop class once to sharpen my skills. But the teacher was never there so I didn’t really learn a whole lot.

I think not having formal training is nice, I’m able to form my own style that wasn’t some teacher’s that cost me a lot of money and time to mimic.

If your creative work was edible what would it taste like?

I would like it to taste like rocky road cereal from the ‘80s followed up with an amazing high five. But it would most likely taste like snail urine.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?

I usually go to hospitals and punch babies in the face, maybe drop an atomic elbow or two.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?

I used to make all these over the top and stupid comic strips in high school that everyone loved. The more positive reactions I got, the more confident I’d get. Negative reactions are great too, sometimes they’re even better. They show you what you didn’t see and can help you improve.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?

Go to a nice a quiet graveyard all by yourself, find a peaceful shady spot and make yourself comfy. Look around and tell yourself, “I can draw better than everyone here.” www.donbonsuniverse.com www.outofprintvintage.com www.vitamindshow.com

Written by Shannon Amidon sanjosecreatives.blogspot.com Photography by Daniel Garcia

Andrew Marchbank is an ambitious young entrepreneur who is highly creative and motivated. He recently graduated from Los Gatos High School and is well on his way to a successful career in art and design. In addition to his talents in using ink, spray paint and acrylics, he has his own clothing brand “2elevated.”

What do you do?

I am a young aspiring artist with a focus in graphic design, painting, drawing and running my clothing brand, 2elevated.

Where can we find your work? www.2elevated.com www.youtube.com/user/IITHINKII What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?

I am inspired by the things I see everyday from packaging on wrappers to formations in nature. I am particularly motivated to design for my clothing brand. Everyone’s individual style is expressed in what we wear everyday out into the world. I want to make clothes that express my style and will inspire people to care about what they wear. I have huge ambitions and have always been very self-motivated. It is the goals I have set for myself that motivate me. The level of success that I have planned for my brand and myself require me to think big and to work hard at what I do. There is no time to stop when things get tough.

When and how did you first become interested in creating? How long have you been doing it?

I have always had a desire to draw even as a young kid. Things went to a different level for me when my parents gave me a book on San Francisco graffiti for Christmas in 2008.

I immediately fell in love with the different styles and color combinations that made up these cool urban works of art. I was intrigued by the edgy artistic expression and the diverse nature of graffiti. I learned everything I could from YouTube videos and books. Graffiti led me to drawing with a bigger purpose and eventually moving on to more elaborate paintings using oils and acrylics on canvas.

From there I launched my brand 2elevated in 2010. I’m a young artist with confidence but humble enough to know that I have a lot to learn and am excited about my future.

“There is no time to stop when things get tough” What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/ process?

Both are important, however, I am more about the content/finished product. I enjoy the process, yet at times I get frustrated, as I am incredibly impatient with my work. I tend toward clean lines and clear messages in my graphic design. My paintings and drawings have a bit more leeway as some of my creations are very imaginative and can be “busy.”

Doodling on the sides of assignments and backs of worksheets is where some of my best ideas are formed

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?

Well my favorite artists are Greg Simkins, Alex Pardee, and James Haunt. These artists are extremely unique with their style. Their level of creativity inspires me to dig deep to find my own unique style and creative expression. Scott Sasso (10 Deep), Nick Tershay (Diamond Supply Co.), Jonas Bevacqua (LRG), Ryan Mante and Christian Lilleland (Breezy Excursion), all inspire me with their brands and how they created something so wonderful and passionate out of nothing. I can only hope to reach their level of success.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?

Tony Stark, a.k.a. Ironman. Just ‘cause who doesn’t want to fly around in a metal suit and fight crime?

When do you get your best ideas?

In class mostly. In fact it was in my sophomore English class where I created the first 2elevated logo and everything developed from there. Doodling on the sides of assignments and back of worksheets is where some of my best ideas are formed.

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What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?

My MacBook is probably the tool I use the most. From Cinema 4D to Photoshop and Illustrator, I use it for all my graphic design needs.

Are you self-taught or formally educated?

How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?

For graphic design, I am self-taught. I started to first work on Photoshop a couple years ago messing around with effects and trying to make logos. Later I started to use Illustrator and by looking up tutorials online and through trial and error I have made all the logos for 2elevated, our website, and other local companies. By doing it this way it forced me to find out new things on my own to better develop my style. As for drawing and painting, I had two art classes in high school so I got to learn more about colors, values, and more concrete things like that in a traditional way. However, I hate drawing still life and boring things for assignments even though I know they will make me a better artist in the long run.

What would your creative work taste like?

I would assume like a pear because I like the finished product to be crisp with clean lines. I am also a perfectionist and that can be both a good and bad thing, but it makes my creations come out as clean and solid as possible, like a pear.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?

Spend time with my friends mostly. Going to the beach, movies, barbeques, parties, or any other social gatherings. I also enjoy snowboarding and biking.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?

Once I started creating and getting positive feedback my confidence reached a new level and so did my art. Whenever I get a compliment on my art or clothing designs it pushes me to continue to create and share with more people. My confidence comes from the people around me and I can’t thank them enough. www.2elevated.com

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“My confidence comes from the people around me”

Backesto Park Antonio Castro

13th/Hedding Sara Tomasello

Julian/Alameda Trudy Levy

Minnesota/Lincoln Vanessa Stafford

Modern life can be so beige.

We become accustomed to the sidewalks and cement, stumbling through familiar routines with senses on autopilot. Then, one morning, life gets a little more colorful.

artboxes

Written by Gillian Claus Photographs by Daniel Garcia

“There’s something about coming around a corner on a path that you walk every day, and seeing something that wasn’t there yesterday.

For that split second, it’s amazing. We need about a thousand more seconds like that during the day,” says Cherri Lakey, artist liaison for the Art Box Project in San Jose.

Like secret Easter eggs, the art pieces are City of San Jose utility boxes that have been repurposed to become canvases for bright, eye-catching artwork in unfamiliar settings.

As their tagline reads, Art Box Project is beautifying San Jose neighborhoods by bringing artists and communities together.

Lakey has been helping connect project founder Tina Morrill with local artists.

Morrill created the Art Box Project after seeing Gary Singh’s postings of similar boxes in Edmonton, Canada and betting him that it could happen here in San Jose. Singh took the bet and hooked Morrill up with Lakey from Anno Domini.

Because Lakey had been doing artwork in vacant storefronts and other nontraditional spaces for the past ten years, “it just was a no-brainer,” she says. And since connecting with Morrill, their repainted utility boxes have been splashing color all over the city.

While interning at the City of San Jose, Morrill saw the red tape involved in public art. “I’d see firsthand the big projects with a ton of bureaucracy. That takes a very long time. A lot of times the artists aren’t local.”

“I think people appreciate the fact that it doesn’t cost millions and millions of dollars and it’s not this thing that was just plopped down.” In fact, sponsorship of an art box costs just $200.

The process Morrill and Lakey use to match particular boxes to local artists is a simple one.

“We make sure that we send artists that seem appropriate.

I mean, every community has their vibe. Are they historical? Conventional?

Contemporary? And so we try to give them a pool that’s appropriate.”

There are several hundred City of San Jose utility boxes available for sponsorship. Morrill is making it her mission to visit each council district, and it is working. “Pierluigi Oliverio and Sam Liccardo were [the] first two who backed the project and gave some money. Then, Kansen Chu, Nancy Pyle, Rose Herrera...

Pierluigi will be sponsoring six more. He has been bitten by the bug. Three boxes have just sprung up in Japantown. I have probably ten

Rather than pushing for more downtown locations, Lakey would like to get more out into the suburbs. “Bring art to them rather than always making people come to downtown for their art and culture,” she adds.

From the artist’s side, it is great to get into the community and connect with people directly, explains Lakey. “They’ll be out there for sometimes two to three weekends and half the fun is the passerby. Talking to the community, talking about their artwork, introducing what their artwork is about. Two hundred dollars is incredibly modest, but they put in way more of their time and supplies.”

Once a sponsor steps up and selects a box, the process moves quickly. Morrill photographs

project, as well as identifying the sponsor and the artist.

Do local neighborhoods want to buy boxes?

Morrill has been asked why local students couldn’t paint the boxes, reducing the costs and creating a free program. Her answer: “High school students can submit ideas as long as it is up to grade and quality. There are a lot of boxes going up by the Meadowfair Community Center and they would actually like to use that as a learning opportunity for kids. It is also a learning opportunity on how to get permission to do something and then do it, versus going out with a can of spray paint.”

Lakey adds, “On the flip side, the art is right there in their neighborhood and their kids are going to see it and maybe get inspired by it... or they are already killer [artists] and [all it takes] is one email or phone call to get involved.”

As for the cost of the boxes, Morrill stresses that, “artists need to know that their work is valued.” The monetary honorarium is a gesture of appreciation and respect. Creating art is real work and they hope to reinforce that idea with the project.

San Jose’s Secret Easter Eggs

the box and the artists scrape and prep it.

Unlike public art, art boxes are fast and immediate. The work is not happening away in a studio and then placed there, painting happens onsite. “That was really important to us,” Lakey says. “There’s a missing component I think that people need and they appreciate and it helps them realize that we do have artists here because for about ten years, the conversation was that we don’t. And it is absolutely not true, they’re just squirreled away.

Trying to survive, I think.”

Sometimes a group of neighbors bands together to sponsor a box. “This is something that everybody can do that is not that big of a deal that could really enhance day to day life here,” says Lakey.

So will projects like Art Box become more viable than public art in the future? “It’s a balance,” says Lakey. “It’s not one or the other. It is fine if you want to do these huge projects, but I think there needs to be community input. It should be citizens that brand cities and not the other way around.”

To sponsor an artbox: artboxsj@gmail.com View map: http://bit.ly/ArtBoxMap

As the final touch, Morrill applies a UV

“It should be the citizens that brand cities and not the other way around.” boxes that are going to be ready to go once I look at the boxes and send Cherri my list of wants as far as artists are concerned.”

Many of the boxes are in District 3 and District 6. There are five boxes in District 7.

anti-graffiti coating to the finished boxes which should last for a few years. There’s the option to then paint it with a new image, if the neighborhood wants it, or back to beige.

Each box has a tag identifying it as part of the

“I finally found what I was passionate about and thought, my god this is it.

This is what I’m destined to do.”

Style With Heart Written By Aleksandra Bulatskaya Photography by Daniel Garcia

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“It’s such a privilege to help people discover how beautiful they are again.”

“I’m too selfish to have kids!” says Nicole Blair Busch, a vision of timeless style in white skinny jeans and a cashmere sweater draping her taut, petite figure.

The personal stylist and professional image consultant has advised the likes of Brandi Chastain and just about anyone in the Bay Area looking to make a change. Be it mid-life crisis, divorce, weight-loss or just a desire to shake things up, Busch will help find and perfect a personal style. Her real job, she says, falls somewhere between psychiatrist and life coach.

“When you get right down to it, it’s so much more than clothes. My job isn’t to dress people, it’s to help people accept their own flaws and discover who they are,” says Busch.

Self-acceptance is something that Busch knows a lot about from personal experience.

“Choices I made when I was younger, like dropping out of high school, living with my husband when we first met and experimenting with drugs made me who I am today. I know I would not be the same person,” says Busch, without regret.

The daughter of a nurse and an executive, she spent her childhood in Middle Village, Queens, New York.

There she watched her mother struggle to raise three kids on her own.

“I would always see her eating in the car. I only recently realized that she was eating because that was her lunch break.

She would leave work, come home and drive us around to where we needed to go and then go back to work again,” says Busch, whose mother worked long shifts as a registered nurse at Astoria Hospital.

Although her mother later made the

decision to move the family to Florida, Busch describes her childhood in Queens as, “the best. Growing up in New York City was an amazing experience. We were always outside playing baseball, making all four corners of the street our bases... not like kids these days – always inside.”

says Busch. “It was as if they didn’t truly believe that they had changed so much.”

Although her parents divorced when she was nine years old, they never spoke badly of one another. In fact, they formed a united front when she dropped out of high school and together encouraged her to find a trade.

“It sounds cliché, but doing the show made me realize that I finally found what I was passionate about and thought, my god this is it. This is what I’m destined to do.”

In spite of their distant relationship, when Busch’s father died suddenly in a plane crash, it came as a huge shock to her.

“He had a very full life and loved us the best way he knew how,” says Busch. “It was hard to accept his death because he worked a few buildings down from the Twin Towers on 9/11. He survived, only to die a few months later.”

While her father preferred to not show affection, her mother was the opposite. Perhaps that’s why mothers are Busch’s favorite clients.

“Moms, whether they are stay-at-home or working, always give so much of themselves to their families. Many times they come to me and feel defeated. They’ve given up on taking care of themselves because they’re usually too busy taking care of others, when they are the ones that deserve to be taken care of most.”

She realized how much she enjoyed helping others while working as a personal trainer. While helping people lose weight, she noticed many of her clients continued to wear clothes that didn’t fit their new bodies.

“Even though they looked different, they still felt the same on the inside,”

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In response to this realization, Busch organized a fashion show with her clients as models. Producing the show and helping people complete their physical transformations had an unexpected effect on her.

When her husband became a goalkeeper with the San Jose Earthquakes, she took the opportunity to pursue her dream and enrolled in styling school. However, her lifelong struggle with ADHD and dyslexia made completing the courses a challenge.

“I had so many tearful phone calls with my mother, thinking I couldn’t keep going. I didn’t want to use my learning disabilities as a crutch to get a free pass, and I didn’t want to take medication,” says Busch.

“It took me longer than some people, but I did it, and I did it on my own.”

For someone who enjoys controlling her own destiny, Busch is a big believer in fate. At the moment, having children is not in her cards, but she has always said that kids would be welcome if they come along one day.

“We tried and things just weren’t going as planned, but I believe that when you don’t or can’t have kids, it’s for a reason.

If it’s meant to happen – it will.” www.nicoleblairwear.com

K “the mayor”

DanDiggity

Danny Le

Interview by Kat Bell Photography by Daniel Garcia

K

Google: “Blind I for the Kids,” “Treatment Sound System,” “Substance,” “Cukui,” “PLSTK,” or “South East Beast” and you will just scratch the surface of Dandiggity. Get involved in San Jose and eventually you’ll meet him. Declared by his friends to be the Mayor of the San Jose scene, Dandiggity is a key player in what many consider to be the city’s cultural renaissance.

Elements of art, music, writing, philosophy and community come together in his laundry list of mainstays and bylines. Blogs, music collaborations, stores, galleries, design houses, dance crews, poetry, and activism are portions of his multifaceted persona. Try to label or define Dandiggity and you will quickly realize there may be no definition for what he does. Creator, organizer, and director all seem to fall short of capturing the energy and initiative that have made him one of the most diverse people you will meet.

Flash forward to the Diggity most people know today and it is hard to believe he once considered himself an “observer” or that he ever had a shell to come out of.

Upon meeting him you quickly realize his enthusiasm is contagious and his positive energy almost tangible. If San Jose is in the midst of a cultural renaissance, Diggity is the city’s Da Vinci. “It’s about creating community through culture,” he says. “Everything I think about telling the world—I have to share myself, as much as I can share myself.”

Born in Oklahoma City, Danny Le, aka Dandiggity, or Diggity for short, moved to San Jose at age 10 and spent his formative years in the large Vietnamese community here. Diggity was strongly influenced by his entrepreneurial father; through observation, he learned the value of defining your own career. “To be fully happy you have to be your own boss,” he says. “To be able to take control of your dreams and not have somebody take control for you is the hardest path, but also the most fulfilling.”

From his involvement with Japantown’s Cukui Clothing & Gallery to his unique approach to social justice through South East Beast, Diggity’s presence can be felt in person and through the online sphere. He easily navigates the worlds of fashion, music, and art and manages to blend them into a seamless experience.

With a click and a follow on any major social media network, San Joseans can quickly enter his world.

Throughout his childhood Diggity kept this philosophy in the forefront and began writing poetry. Immersing himself in spoken word and eventually travel, Diggity was exposed to ideas and cultures beyond the close-knit Vietnamese community. Through local events and church functions he quickly discovered his penchant for organizing and his enthusiasm made him a natural talent.

His willingness to share and collaborate has made him the figure he is today. “I am enthusiastic about helping people develop their dreams and encouraging them to pursue them,” he says. Diggity also has some advice for fellow thinkers:“First rule of anything, it’s not because you thought of it first, it’s what’s put out there first. If you’re an ideas guy, you have tons of them, ship it out, let somebody refine it for you.” And that is just what he has done; redefining what many would

“The forces of the world tell us that you have to be in a cush job with security, you have to pay off this debt. I say this: be healthy, be aware, be out there, be involved. You will always be happy and you will always have enough.”

consider the traditional model of success: owning and running one company. Instead, Diggity has collaborated to create a diverse portfolio of talents and pursuits.

“The forces of the world tell us that you have to be in a cush job with security, you have to pay off this debt. I say this: be healthy, be aware, be out there, be involved. You will always be happy and you will always have enough.”

So what is next in his journey? “Lately, I have been learning to take on less; as someone who loves to be involved, you can wear yourself thin,” he says. “In 2012 I told myself: teach yourself to say no.”

Dandiggity isn’t taking a break. Rather, he is taking the time to gain focus and turn his attention to the projects he is the most passionate about.

“San Jose is experiencing a renaissance,” Diggity says. “We are on this threshold. Most people don’t see it, because usually they see it after the fact, but we’re not at the end, we are still at the beginning.”

“I am excited because people are a catalyst for other people, it’s like a virus. People see things they want to do and be involved in.” On his friends and fans dubbing him the “Mayor of San Jose,” Diggity laughs. “I believe everyone can be mayor of San Jose, or mayor of their town,” he says. “You just have to support one another. Don’t make excuses. Just go. You’ll have much more fun, and you’ll run into people everywhere.” www.dandiggity.com www.facebook.com/dandiggity www.plstk.com

Bryan Kramer president of Pure Matter, an integrated marketing company in downtown San Jose celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and A past president of the Silicon Valley American Advertising Foundation, Kramer has been working in the advertising business in San Jose for more than 25 years. Since founding Pure Matter in 2002, his company has been named one of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s fastest-growing private companies for over four years running.

Interview by Giillian Claus Photography by Daniel Garcia

What do you think of the term Silicon Valley?

I think we’re one of the most innovative places to live and when I see that the most is where I venture out of San Jose or California. I think where it’s challenging is that when you’re inside San Jose or inside Silicon Valley, its not really a term that anybody turns on or has a warm discussion over coffee.

San Jose is more of a creative hub than people realize. Three of the biggest world companies are here. Google, Apple, and Intel. The list goes on, but you look at the main power of the world’s superstars and they’re here in Silicon Valley. They’re not in China. They’re not in Wyoming. They’re here.

Before that, nobody knew much about San Jose... except for the song.

It’s pretty interesting how the brand is developing and I think it is also interesting how San Jose and San Francisco have developed as different cities over time. Call the centrepoint wherever you want, but it is by nature closer to San Jose because of where the companies are.

And how is the work of an agency evolving?

Agencies are starting to lose their identity because we’re not selling just an ad in a newspaper or something that’s creatively tangible. The smaller agencies with young talent, like San Jose State students, have the ability to create the skill sets needed to be able to serve the new media that’s coming out of Silicon Valley... from Mad Men through the dot.com era and now we are in the new media era. It’s something that larger agencies in big cities like San Francisco are having a challenge with.

Maybe the new social media will help San Jose focus itself since there are many parts of the city. We’re a bit scattered but maybe we can use that to our own advantage?

There’s a culture in SJ—we’re working on a campaign with IBM right now called Gen C. It’s Generation Connect—there’s no more Gen Y. Demographics and psychographics used to be able to define exactly who our audience was with any kind of advertising campaign and this is probably one of the most connected cities in the country, if not the world. A majority of the people here is very comfortable being on social media on the whole so we’re becoming the beta testers of social media tools.

Do you think the big companies here use San Jose agencies or are they more likely to go with bigger fish?

The Adobes and Apples of the world use large agencies for big brand awareness and channel marketing. For one-to-one and one-to-many sales or marketing initiatives,

they’re using companies like mine. Smaller initiatives yield sales results that they need.

We’re small and fluid enough to get a campaign through the door.

Social media is now becoming the thing that agencies in San Jose really start to serve, because we understand what’s going on and I think we are starting to see the way to give these companies things that other cities can’t.

So more immediacy as you’re right inside it?

You don’t have to do the research.

Research is being driven by social media now as well. No more focus group, sit behind glass and eat M&M’s and listen to what they have to say. You can go to Twitter and type in the word and see what everyone is saying. It is all accessible through social listening. How do we manage this mass quantity of conversations going on and still do our day job? It’s going to be real interesting to see where that goes in the next couple of years and I am really excited about it.

San Jose has no single defining image.

How is it sold?

We are all in Silicon Valley, we should all get together and shake hands and have some fun.

Maybe in this whole big neighborhood of Silicon Valley we are that beta-testing backyard? The place where you can get more hands-on people who aren’t afraid to try new technology?

Exactly. I think everybody moves here— new business ideas and thinking and getting out of your way and letting everyone be a part of something bigger.

So do we have an identity crisis?

We don’t have an identity crisis outside of San Jose. Everyone looks at San Jose and says wow they have their stuff together.

They know how to innovate. In this new media era—they get it. Before the recession, we had already gone through that with the dot.com and here we are in a new media era. Everyone just kind of goes with it.

Because this area is so used to the ups and downs. It’s just part of who we are.

With so many options, you’ll have to spread your net pretty wide?

Right. In five years, social media could be called something completely different and where I think it’s heading is Social 360 CRM, where you are truly seeing everything in the world that belongs to you. All the people, all the companies, where they’re enjoying your content and where they’re not.

Looking at the positive and negative tones so you are able to see in real time what people are saying right now about you or about your competitors. Before, you didn’t even know half of that—it wasn’t like a Batphone went off and and you could hear

39

what they were talking about. Now we’ve got that listening platform that is more important than the engagement factor.

It probably took quite a long time to judge the success of a campaign in the old days?

In the Mad Men days, how did you come up with your message? They weren’t listening to people on the street saying here’s what we want to do, they did as much research as they could but at the end of the day they were trying to get in the heads of the consumer and now we are actually in the heads of the consumer looking out.

Now we’re actually seeing metrics because we can see clicks, we can heat map a website. Which icons are laid out first so you know exactly where your eye should go to.

It’s used all over the place for great results.

Would Mad Men ever do heat-mapping?

I mean, back then, when you did your print campaign, poster, newspaper... you had to wait to see how it sold. Now, is there a danger that you judge it too quickly and too often?

The other part is that brand awareness isn’t gone. Everyone is so data-centric but you want to make sure that people really understand what your brand is about and what you are trying to say. That won’t ever come through in sales numbers for you.

That’s branding.

It sounds like an exciting time to be in marketing.

I know – especially with what’s going on right now. I’m really excited. I am working on a book about how to create shifts in a multi-media enabled world that has so many options. How do you focus on the one or two that will make a bigger difference rather than the 20? Embrace that complexity that’s out there and accept it.

Don’t be scared by it. Hone in on the one or two things that will make 180 degrees difference.

And how do you pick those?

You hire an agency.

Read Bryan Kramer’s take on Gen C and new media at purematter.com/blog/

Tim Hendrick: San Jose’s Mad Man Tim Hendrick is currently Professor of Advertising at San Jose State University after enjoying a fluid career in client relations in the advertising field.

Interview and Photography by Daniel Garcia

In people’s lives, there are circumstances that lead them to their current place in the world, unfolding like a scene in a movie. Some people subconsciously seek the approval of peers or a parent to achieve goals, while others are motivated by the great fulfillment that comes from helping others.

For most, it is a mysterious mixture of these behind-the-scenes elements that direct us as we navigate through life. But, for the young Tim Hendrick, he just wanted to wear nice suits.

“I was managing a flower shop when a gentleman wearing a really nice suit came in, so I asked him what he did. He said ‘advertising.’ And I thought, ‘that’s it for me.’”

To be fair, this is the simplified version of how Hendrick launched into the advertising world. After receiving his undergraduate degree in psychology, he realized that he no longer wanted to pursue a career as a therapist. His love of business drew him into the world of advertising.

That formative incident in the flower shop is straight out of the pages of a Hollywood movie script. It’s a scene we’ve

all seen before: the son of the blue-collar worker working at a retail store has a chance encounter with the “millionaire” and this single event changes the protagonist’s life course. It sure changed Hendrick’s.

If his life was indeed a Hollywood movie, the next scene would show Hendrick as an ambitious young man in his early twenties, delivering mail and schlepping art boards at Erwin, Wasey & Company.

He would roll slide projectors to and from conference rooms as the agency was pitching to companies like Carnation, Gallo, Gulf Oil and Yamaha motorcycles.

“I had never seen such a large table, everyone was wearing really nice suits and seemed very important,” says Hendrick.

“I was in charge of the 16mm projector, but didn’t thread the take-up reel correctly. So at the end of the film, I looked down at my feet and there was the entire film piled on the floor. Then they asked to see it again. I thought, ‘That’s it. I’m done. I would surely be fired.’ But, I held my breath, attached the lead to reel and it worked!”

He remained employed and continued gathering opportunities to see the ad-

vertising business from the inside. It wasn’t long before he worked his way up to manage client accounts and began to work with “Creative” to build campaigns and advertising strategies for companies like Avis Rental Car, Peugeot, and Alfa Romeo. Through hard work and a desire to continue to learn, Hendrick began to reap some of the perks notorious to the ad business.

“I had the best car stereo systems. I even had this huge mobile telephone that took up the entire center console of my car, but no one to call since I was the only one with one [a car phone],” says Hendrick with a chuckle, recalling some experiences the advertising business brought his way.

Hendrick remembers being backstage with Ringo Starr and George Harrison, “having a normal conversation.” He had the opportunity to fly in a corporate jet to a private museum to view a Faberge Egg collection. Hendrick modestly adds, “I have been to parties at the Playboy Mansion many times” making a point to explain he was, “at the Mansion, not the club.”

Behind it all, Hendrick learned very early that this was a job, a career. Although wining and dining clients was fun and exciting, at the end of the meal he would still have to return to the office to work.

The perks of the job were great and the suits were nice, but it was Hendrick’s passion for his work and the business that kept him motivated.

Hendrick is not the Don Draper character out of AMC’s Mad Men. He is not a thrill seeker or “bad boy.” He is someone who is really passionate about the adver-

tising industry and took his job seriously.

Seeing the ad campaigns, print ads, and media spots come to reality were the type of thrills that keep Hendrick going in a business where ad people change companies as frequently as every three years.

Hendrick himself has had his share of job changes, transfers, and lay-offs reading like a survey course in Advertising History 101, including companies like BBDO and Bozel. He even found himself right in the middle of the dot.com boom with a new company called Netscape, “that

had this new World Wide Web technology that none of us really understood or could have predicted its influence.”

“Everything was booming in Silicon Valley,” Hendrick says. “We were turning away business either because we didn’t like the viability of a company’s business plan or we just didn’t have the time to do the work.”

Fast forward to the movie montage of a well-dressed Hendrick laughing and meeting clients, flying with his wife to

“It’s the only industry where the product goes home in the elevator.

Because the ‘Creatives’ go home every day.” the advertising department, just as the Silicon Valley advertising scene was starting to dry up.

And now with tenure at San Jose State, he is a little surprised that he is a professor.

“I would have never thought I would be here and teaching. But I never expected some of the clients that had called to give us their business. We did the work, but I never saw it coming. You never do.” Just like in his career, Hendrick acknowledges that a willingness to learn and grow has kept him a float. Coupled with his ability to adapt, Hendrick continues his love for the “business.” Now, expressed in a new way.

private homes for dinners and pitching ideas to 3Com, Applied Material, and other Silicon Valley tech companies. But unlike Don Draper, Hendrick has the rare gift of foresight. At one point during the boom, he recalls telling his wife, “this is all great but it can’t last.”

And he was right. Just as the dot-com bubble was beginning to burst, San Jose State invited Hendrick to teach a class on the advertising business. Seeing the writing on the wall, Hendrick agreed. He was eventually asked to become the head of

The movie has changed scenes again, this time showing an older, wiser Hendrick sharing his knowledge for the advertising industry with his SJSU students. Hendrick has traded in the fancy suits and ties for a more casual professor’s attire. As he declares, it’s “a new wardrobe for a new phase of life.”

He remains connected with the industry through the AFF and colleagues. The days of the nice suits and schmoozing with clients might be over, but Hendrick’s love of the advertising industry is not.

Bringing up a new generation in the ad business is exciting for Hendrick. “When

I see their creativity and some of the work that the students are doing, that is really rewarding,” says Hendrick. “But most of all, [it’s] their passion. Some of them really have it, and in this business you need a strong passion to survive.”

According to Hendrick, one out of 15 pitches are accepted. “There are times when you have to tell Creative that their idea, that they have spent weeks on and probably stayed up all night to finish gets rejected,” says Hendrick. “You need a passion to keep you going. The moment you lose your passion for the business is the moment you need to get out.”

It’s easy for Hendrick to encourage his students to be passionate about advertising, because it’s something he’s always been. “I have been fortunate enough to get up everyday and do what I enjoy,” says Hendrick, “I tell my students the first day of class, ‘Show me the passion.’ When you do what your passionate about, the money will come. If you do what you love, that’s success.”

GIANT

DREAMS Written by Ryan Brown Photography by Daniel Garcia

Like many baseball players, San Jose Giants pitcher Shawn Sanford has his own pre-game rituals. On the days of his scheduled starts, he wears an old, faded t-shirt to the ballpark and hangs a special jacket in his locker. In every inning he pitches, he carves a word into the back of the pitching mound. Unlike some rituals born of superstition or habit, Sanford’s actions honor the person he considers to have had the biggest impact on his career.

The shirt, faded to light blue, that features a Superman logo, was a gift from the man he once idolized as his own personal “Man of Steel.” The jacket belonged to the coach of his championship Pop Warner football teams, and the word he carves in the back of the mound reveals who his hero and coach was: “Dad.” In 1996, Sanford’s father Jimmy was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors at the time told the Sanfords he had just six months to live, but with the support of family and friends, not only did Jimmy see his son graduate high school in 2006, but he also lived to see him drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2009.

Growing up in Washington Township, New Jersey, sports were a big thing to the locals. Shawn recalls how, at a young age, it was his athletic talents and bright orange hair that set him apart from players.

By the time his family moved to the much smaller town of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, he was a star in both football and baseball, with college scholarship offers to play either sport.

Well-respected schools like Virginia Tech, Georgia, Penn State and Rutgers were all interested in his abilities, but Shawn unexpectedly decided to sign his letter of intent with the lesser-known University of South Florida.

It was that year that his father’s cancer hit harder than ever and the Sanford family had felt it best to move to warmer weather. They owned an investment property in Tampa, Florida, so plans were made to move further south.

Wanting to spend more time with his father, Shawn and his mother purchased a book titled “Colleges of the U.S.” Sanford had never heard of USF, but found that the Tampa University had a Division 1 baseball program. His mother called the number she found in the book and after being transferred through “20 different connections,” finally got in contact with the Bull’s baseball coach, Eddie Cardieri. After a brief conversation, Cardieri decided to look up Sanford’s scouting profile. When he returned to the phone, his next question was, “When can he come for a visit?”

He was offered a full scholarship after his first workout in front of the team, and he arrived at USF in the summer of 2006. For the next two years, Shawn’s father didn’t miss a single home game. When Shawn speaks about his father, you can feel the pride. “He gave me 15 more years than the doctors said he would,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. “That motivates me to go out and do anything I set my mind to.”

After completing his junior season at USF, Sanford was drafted by the San Francisco Giants’ franchise in the 13th round of the 2009 draft and decided to go pro. He began his career pitching for the club’s Arizona Rookie League affiliate, where he made 20 appearances as a relief pitcher.

The next year, he moved up to the Northwest Class-A short-season league, pitching for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. The Giants were still using him as a relief pitcher at the

“The only thing I want to be besides a minor league baseball player is a major league baseball player. I don’t want to do anything else” time, but Sanford did make his first three minor-league starts while with the Volcanoes.

Going into his third training camp, tragedy struck. On March 5th, 2011, his father passed away, more than 15 years after being diagnosed with cancer. Sanford took time away from the organization and his teammates, returning with the Augusta GreenJackets’ consent just before the 2011 season was set to begin.

He responded by dedicating the season to the memory of his father. Beginning in the bullpen again, Sanford worked his way into the starting rotation and by the end of the year, led the league in most major pitching categories. After a stellar first full minor league season, he was informed in late August that he had won the South Atlantic League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher award. That night, he went out and pitched eight perfect innings, before surrounding his first hit in the ninth inning. “It was almost the perfect story,” said Sanford.

The “Sally League” is home to some of the youngest prospects in the minor leagues, featuring players just out of high school and college. A 13th round pick, Sanford was somewhat of a surprise winner of the award, which generally goes to high-profile prospects like Bryce Harper, the winner of the of the league’s Most Outstanding Major League Prospect award and a player who has already made his way to the Major Leagues.

Unlike Harper, Sanford has had a steadier climb to baseball’s highest level. He spent the entire 2011 season with Augusta, finishing the year with 30 appearances, 25 as a starter.

After joining the major league’s for Spring Training, he was assigned to San Jose along with most of his GreenJacket teammates.

He arrived in San Jose with about a week left before the start of the season and was surprised by some of what he found. Unlike Augusta, where he lived with teammates in apartments, he was told the San Jose Giants players are housed in local homes and he would be living with a host family. His hosts, Nora and Henry Denzel, live in Saratoga, about 30 minutes from the stadium, and are one of 11 families hosting players this season.

The Denzels saw the opportunity to house a San Jose Giant in a Mercury News advertisement. In just a few short weeks, they became like a second family to him. Sanford says, “When you’re out here and you’re grinding it out everyday, sometimes you miss home.

It’s nice that Nora and Henry are there.

You don’t feel as stranded.” He feels like he “won the lottery” when the Denzels came to pick him up. Nora does his laundry, and their home in Saratoga has a hot tub and patio, overlooking a couple of vineyards.

“It’s a beautiful home,” Sanford says.

He also admits that San Jose has been a bit of a culture shock overall. He found the area is a “melting-pot of cultures,” something he hasn’t really experienced before. The players don’t get a lot of free time, but during his first few weeks in the Bay Area Sanford spoke with students in local schools and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Mostly, he spends his time near his host family in Saratoga, visiting local coffee and lunch spots.

There is one thing he’s hoping to do before leaving the area. “I’ve heard the beaches in Santa Cruz are beautiful,” Sanford says.

What he loves most though, since coming to San Jose, is the Giants fans that come to the games. He was surprised by the amount of people at the games and how knowledgeable the fans are. He said that while playing at Augusta and in Tampa for USF, it was rare for the stands to fill up, and the environment there just didn’t compare to San Jose.

Sanford says “the San Jose Giants are about winning,” even more than most teams, and he thinks that’s what makes the team and fans so great. Sanford had hoped to be a part of another San Jose championship, but it seems the Giants had other plans for him.

On May 25th, Sanford had been promoted to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Fresno Grizzlies. In his first start there, he pitched six innings, allowing two unearned runs and recording a loss in the Grizzlies five to one defeat. After struggling through three more starts without recording a win, Sanford was

sent back to San Jose, making two appearances out of the bullpen since his return. While it is Sanford’s ultimate goal to make it to the major leagues, he knows the Giants’ management are watching out for his best interests.

He says, “Last year in Augusta, I was irritated.

I was leading the league in every major category, and I wasn’t going anywhere. I looked back at the end of the year and we squeezed into the playoffs and I won pitcher of the year. If I had left a month early, I wouldn’t have gotten a chance at either of those.”

He is prepared to do everything the Giants ask of him, because he knows it will help him reach his goal. “The only thing I want to be besides a minor league baseball player is a major league baseball player. I don’t want to do anything else,” Sanford says.

Not only is it what he wants, but it’s also what those closest to him wanted for him, too. He recalls instances of his father tearing up, just from watching his son take the mound. “If I don’t get it, then there’s going to be a piece of me that isn’t complete.”

Though his happy ending of making the Majors has not been written yet, Sanford’s story has all the elements of a Hollywood movie. He’s a small town kid overcoming difficulties with the charm of a celebrity.

But that’s what makes the San Jose Giants so appealing. All the players have personal stories and journeys that are unfolding before our eyes. The popping of the catchers’ mitt, the crack of the bat, and the roars from the crowd all contain the hopes of reaching the next level. But, behind the scenes, are the lives of young men playing out their dreams and honoring their families, their hometowns and their dads. www.sjgiants.com ..

Metro Dan From mimeograph to media mogul: Dan Pulcrano’s love affair with alternative press lead him from a basement in New Jersey to the streets of San Jose.

Written by Mary Matlack Photography by Daniel Garcia

If San Jose ever elects a media mogul, Dan Pulcrano will certainly be a strong contender.

As the founder and owner of Metro, the alternative weekly newspaper, Pulcrano’s 26 years of work in San Jose might just earn him a pair of big shoes—right alongside the Guadalupe River Park’s Tony Ridder “Big Shoe” sculpture. Of course they’d be well worn, pointytoed lace ups or perhaps a pair of classic Doc Marten Creepers.

Growing up in suburban New Jersey with his educator parents, his dad an administrator and his mother an art teacher, Pulcrano’s penchant for alternative press began with an underground newspaper. “I was running it out of a basement. For extra money, my parents ran a day camp with a mimeograph machine.

I used to volunteer to run it. The last thing they wanted to do was to get all inked up and, for me,” Pulcrano laughs, “that was heaven.”

Together with a few buddies from school, Pulcrano’s entrepreneurial spirit and love for journalism began. “I was ten or eleven years old.

I went to an East Coast prep school where we had to wear a tie and a blazer everyday. I think we endorsed write-in candidates for student council and we made fun of the vice president of the United States, things like that. We were in favor of long hair and they wanted everyone to get their hair cut. They didn’t actually throw me out, they said it would be better if I didn’t come back to school. I was actually happy about that. I didn’t want to go to an all-boys school anyway.”

His New Jersey accent shines when he tells of his boyhood foibles. “I loved communications. I remember destroying a pair of shoes one time. I had a pair of boots, and I destroyed them because I was trying to build a phone into ‘em—like Get Smart. I disassembled a handset and put a miniaturized dial in the shoe and was trying—it never really worked.

Like Maxwell Smart—you know he’d take off his shoe and go ‘hello’, and I always thought that was really cool. Now all of that has come to pass. We have cell phones and internet.”

When his family moved to the West Coast while Pulcrano was in high school, he began writing the news for a radio station in Escondido. It was a great way to skip class and gain experience interviewing the likes of George Moscone. Pulcrano graduated at 16 and landed a job with the San Diego Reader. Following eerily in the footsteps of journalist Cameron Crowe, Pulcrano’s early accomplishments smack of a potential journalist-prodigy. He refuses to confirm or deny, but blushes as he tells the story of going to work for The Reader, “I went to the same college as [Crowe]. I was in the same journalism program, like a year or two after... and he went on to write for Rolling Stone.”

Pulcrano didn’t go to work for Rolling Stone, but he did transfer to UC Santa Cruz and in the summers sharpened his pencils at several independent newspapers, including the LA Weekly. “I was recruited by the guy who was in the process of starting the LA Weekly. I got to actually see the start-up of a weekly newspaper. So, I was the first employee at the LA Weekly,” remembers Pulcrano.

It was a formative experience watching the alternative weekly bring awareness to a budding punk music scene and indie movie producers while having a hand in revitalizing parts of Los Angeles. The transformation of Melrose Avenue from a place “you took your washing machine to be repaired” into a haven for artists and fashion designers was pivotal.

Pulcrano says, “that is what kind of lead me to believe that just maybe something like that could happen in San Jose as well. Because when I started trying to open an alternative newspaper here, I had been through two startups and I was like, ‘this weekly newspaper thing is working.’ They are opening up in cities around the country. They had them in Seattle, Chicago, Boston, LA and I was hunting for a city that didn’t have a weekly yet. San Jose stuck in my mind. It was not the place I would have chosen to go to after college, but,” he says with a shrug, “the market was available. And that was disputed by a lot of people. People said this is an area where people mow lawns on the weekend and coach Little League. There’s no real culture here.”

Pulcrano’s contemporaries weren’t sure about his choice. San Jose’s reputation was well known. “I remember the guy from Chicago Reader, Bob Roth, told me he wouldn’t go to any place that didn’t have a theater district or a gay district. And I said ‘well listen, you didn’t have them in Chicago before The Reader. You helped make those things happen.’ You know, he’d forgotten that. I said San Jose can do it.”

Starting the Metro in his early twenties along with the San Jose Downtown Association meant Pulcrano was busy. “I came into San Jose and First Street was basically a red light district with street walkers and about five porn theaters. We organized the Downtown Association which has had a transformational effect on downtown. I was the first president. I incorporated it. I did the initial bylaws.” Pulcrano remembers that Ray Rodriguez was looking for a group to represent small businesses.

Pulcrano recommended a downtown association and the two went door to door. “So we just went up and down the street collecting $35 checks to build a membership base. We went to the city and asked to be recognized as the voice of downtown. Then we recruited guys like this young lawyer, Chuck Reed, to help us. We were joking that we needed adult supervision. We were all in our twenties.”

Today The Metro is San Jose’s mainstay alternative weekly, but Pulcrano has not stayed chained to his mimeograph machine. He is also the founder and owner of Boulevards New Media, an internet company that specializes in intuitive city domain names and city guides. “I thought we should own Sanjose.com since we are a business here,” says Pulcrano. “I looked it up, and I saw this guy who was selling all of these names he bought up: LosAngeles.com, Dallas.com. So I cut a deal to buy it off him. I was probably the first person to plunk down real money for portfolio domains at a time when everybody thought that was crazy. Everybody thought that I had a screw loose. But that’s proved to be a good investment.”

Pulcrano still lives in San Jose. “I didn’t think I would like it this much. I thought I’d stay a few years, but I wound up really liking the place.” When asked about the secret to San Jose’s success, he doesn’t hesitate, “San Jose needs to champion its authenticity. This is a community where the soul and attraction of it is not on the surface. When you drive in here, it looks like a bunch of crummy short buildings, not well paved streets and beige houses in the suburbs and a tangle of freeways. San Jose is a beautiful city. We’ve got great mountains, wonderful climate and greenery and many nice things but in terms of a city, we’re not as charismatic visually as San Francisco or culturally, on the surface. But, when you peel back a couple of layers and you start to dig into the neighborhoods and the cultures and the people, you realize that this isn’t just some one-dimensional place.”

“You can participate in the transformation of a community by entrepreneurial journalism. And the alternative press is fortunate because we can engage in advocacy. We can champion issues.

We can show perspective.”

As Pulcrano describes San Jose, it’s clear that his underground roots have taken hold here. “There are people doing amazing things in their backyards, their attics,” he says. “There’s creativity happening all over this place. So I think that we need to champion that authenticity. I think we need to look at the city from the bottom-up, not the topdown. There’s a lot of people who are trying to install top-down models of creative development here. They refer to SOFA as ‘quirky’ and develop these grand art schemes for it that are well intentioned but you know, ‘quirky’ comes across as a little condescending. I think we need to discover these hidden gems. You’ve got a hair salon on The Alameda that has a David Choe mural. David Choe is now one of the most successful artists in the history of humanity, on an economic level, because he painted the Facebook mural. This was a guy who was probably painting the wall for free because he was in love with one of the hair dressers there a few years ago. True story. There’s just gem after gem here.”

With a weekly publication and a flourishing internet company under his belt, Pulcrano has added “father” to his resume and describes his journey in true start-up junkie fashion. “I always wanted to have kids but I didn’t get around to it for a longtime because the paper was my baby.” He quickly steers the conversation from baby to business.

“Having a daughter has changed me in one way: I’m probably going to be working in my 70’s. It’s very lucky that I love what I do. People always say ‘how did you get into newspapers?’ and I say, ‘well I didn’t get into newspapers, they got into me.’” www.metronews.com www.metroactive.com www.sanjose.com www.boulevards.com

“I was reading Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet,” to my daughter, which I think is a little advanced for her, but she seems to like it.

It calms her right down.”

C

Jim Stump Comes to The Table Written by Mary Matlack Photography by Daniel Garcia

“I always look to evolve and I’m always thinking about evolving as a person and a chef.”

Executive chef and restaurateur Jim Stump is no stranger to San Jose. These days, though, Stump’s world is full of hard hats, business plans, paint swatches, and furniture design. He’s adding another feather to his cap and it’s called The Table.

Jim Stump recalls that he was “looking to sow seeds for my future. Los Gatos Brewing Company, I own it and all that, but I wanted to do something different, originally something simple—just yummy food with good service...affordable. I wanted to be sure I was in a neighborhood. That’s how you make it in my business...one of the keys.”

Several years ago, Stump was lucky enough to run into some investor types while manning his own booth called JT’s Slider Shop at a function for Bellarmine College Prep. “I was making tuna sliders, pork sliders. That was going to be my business.” When local real estate developers saw Chef Stump with his head down, flipping sliders, they wondered what his plans were and quickly swept him up and into Willow Glen.

“It was a hideous building, but the community was great,” says Stump. On the corner of Willow and Lincoln, the building was formerly a bike shop and a coin shop, and is owned by Michael Mulcahy of SDS NexGen Partners. “So I met Michael,” Stump said. “He’s very much aware of what Willow Glen is, obviously. He started telling me what the community didn’t have here which was a neighborhood restaurant that serves good casual food that is creative, serves later at night and serves families.

Kids are part of everything that I do.”

So Stump went back to the kitchen, whipped up a business plan and “went out and started beating the drum—to get investors, and Michael has been very much a part of that. He’s an investor and he believes in me. So that’s been pretty cool.”

The Table is a small space—even in the construction phase, it is easy to see that this is no AP Stump’s or Los Gatos Brewing Company. Chef Stump seems ready for a change of pace. Growing up all over the West—from Idaho and Utah to Oregon and eventually San Jose, Stump graduated from Westmont High School, but he knew well before high school that he wanted to be a chef. “I wanted to be a chef since I was in third grade. Lucky,” he says with a shrug and a smile. “Some guy decorated a cake in front of us and I was like, ‘That’s cool.’ I remember the whole deal.” So he started working in kitchens around the South Bay and quickly found “that I wasn’t getting any good training. I wasn’t working with good guys and I knew it. When I quickly became the best cook when I was a young kid—I thought that there was something wrong there.”

So Stump quit cooking and took a job as a hot mopper, working with molten tar and a big mop. He sealed decks and bathrooms for the hot mop company, and somehow managed to keep all of his fingers, toes, and enough money to go to the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. There, Stump had the good fortune to work with famed chef Hubert Keller of Fleur

de Lys. “I didn’t really work with Hubert long enough to say that he changed the way I cook, but I worked with him long enough to realize what a gentleman is and a chef is. You are somebody because of how you live every single day not because you have a title. He was awesome.”

Stump also met restauranteur Don Durante and worked at Durante’s formal French restaurant, Le Mouton Noir in Saratoga. In 1988, when Durante opened Birk’s in Santa Clara, he brought Stump along as sous chef. “Three months later they terminated the chef and promoted me to executive chef,” recalls Stump. “I was running a giant kitchen at 26, and it was really a big job. I didn’t know what I was doing. So, after two and a half years, I was burned out, completely burned out. I made all the recipes. I established it into what it was.”

Stump went back to Le Mouton Noir and eventually met Andy Pavicich and Los Gatos Brewing Company was born.

“Wolfgang Puck had just opened Eureka in Los Angeles and breweries were cool.

I said to Andy, ‘The food is going to be serious, right? We can make good food here, right? I can’t do beer pub.’ It happened and it was wildly successful and it was crazy busy... unbelievably busy.”

Building on that success, Pavicich and Stump were looking for something better and the partners opened AP Stump’s in downtown San Jose. “In the back of my mind, I knew it was gigantic. As a chef? Oh, God. Its never going to be great. It will be really good.” AP Stump’s opened it’s doors in 1999 and took its place as San Jose’s entree into the celebrity chef world. Stump grew up in an era when becoming a chef was a joke. “People laughed at me for wanting to be a chef, in high school. We had a great chef at culinary school who said that the chef was going to be famous...on TV. We were like, ‘What’s this guy talking about?’”

But with his background and the opening of his namesake restaurant, Jim Stump became a chef for San Jose. “It’s funny, huh?

I never started out doing that, but I’ve stuck around a long time so...it’s a brand.”

AP Stump’s had an 11-year run and for that, Stump is grateful. “It was great in the beginning. We were humbled by the dot-com bursting. We were humbled by 9/11. We were humbled by a fire. We were humbled by the crash in the market in 2008. We had a lot of humility given to us and so we closed for a year and a half.” Reopening as Los Gatos Brewing Company, the old AP Stump’s location is active again. “We’ve been pretty well received. Downtown is predicated on the arena and conventions, so it’s definitely hard to strike a balance there.”

Stump admits, “On a Shark’s night, we’ll do 400 in less than two hours and there are just things that happen that are out

of control. I’m really a perfectionist when it comes down to it. I love food. I think about what I’m going to have after I eat. Ok, what’s my next meal? Cool—I get to eat something cool again.”

It is this search for perfection and love of food that has brought Stump back to The Table. “I always look to evolve and I’m always thinking about evolving as a person and a chef. About seven years ago, I realized for me to be successful at the level that you see these other chefs expanding...you have to find people and trust people,” says Stump.

If you’re lucky enough to grab a seat at The Table in the opening months, you may see Stump in the open kitchen but he has spent his career investing in people to help him.

“I’m not an easy-going person at all. So I attract a certain type of person that works with me, and we are the ones that care. I have a great working partner. I will be in the kitchen cooking at the beginning but... eventually, it is truly a young guy’s game to cook twelve hours a day. So I can do it but when I get home my kids will say, ‘Dad, you gotta stop cooking everyday.’ There’s definitely a stress level that comes with it.”

Chefs are known to be intense, demanding and Stump is no exception. “If you’re not playing the game the way it needs to be played, like hard and focused and doing the job the way it needs to be done, respecting the ingredients,” he pauses, “The customers don’t forgive you. They don’t care. I think in this business customers judge you more harshly than in any other business.”

With reclaimed wood tables, a warm color palette and an intensely puckish, brighteyed chef Stump behind the counter, The Table has yet another secret weapon in Brian Nicholas. Currently the General Manager of Bradley Ogden’s Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, Stump and Nicholas worked together at AP Stump’s. “I need someone who can live and breathe it with me. [Brian] is going to be the front of house guy. He smiles when you’re angry. I don’t. It’s a super rare quality. It’s the most important one,” Stump says in all seriousness.

Stump also knows his audience. “We are San Jose and San Jose was originally a farming community, and it’s in the blood.

I’m definitely not going to try to be San Francisco, I know exactly where I am.

But, the quality is all it comes down to.”

So, when neighbors join together at The Table at the end of the day, Stump promises, “We are going to be a great neighborhood restaurant. We’re going to smile at you when you walk in the door and deliver good food to you. Because it’s so small, I can focus on the minute details that will make it really great.” www.thetablesj.com

Chefs Illustrated culinary tattoos

Ink meets food. Culinary tattoos have exploded into modern kitchens, seasoning the traditional white staRched coats with a more rebellious note. What is up the sleeve or pantleg of your favorite chef? Which tool of the trade is dearest to their heart?

Profiles by Giillian Claus Photography by Daniel Garcia

Cindy Maikhoi Huynh Sous Chef, Cin Cin Los Gatos Foodie Tattoos: Double cherries Shop: Temptations Artist: Glory

Cindy was born in San Jose and attended Sunnyvale Art Institute. She was surprised to discover that female chefs are a minority in South Bay kitchens. Many of her fellow students dropped out soon after they got jobs. “Maybe the glamor of the idea does not match the reality. You need a certain mentality to stay strong in a kitchen full of men and not let things phase you. You walk in with not a handicap per se, but you are an easy target. When you’re in the trenches, you really have to love the job,” Cindy says.

The delicate tattoo of a double cherry behind her ear is visible when she pulls her hair back for work as a sous chef. Cindy got hers done in Hayward by an artist named Glory. She chose cherries because a close friend had explained that the fruits were a rebellious symbol. In the 1950s, good girls would wear them on their poodle skirts while rebels would have them on their handkerchiefs. “I have another bigger cherry tattoo on my hip. The third one I will get when I feel like life is really lucky.”

Dominique Faury

chef Twist Café, Twist Bistro, Cre Paris,

(and a new gastropub coming soon in Campbell)

Foodie Tattoos: Forty different images depicting a huge food fight.

Shop: Lucky Star Tattoo Artist: Martin Robinson Chef Dominique made the decision to get forty tattoos to celebrate his 40th birthday. He loves the tattooed food fight because it is happy and that makes him smile.

That smile is infectious and he has charmed his way into the hearts of his customers in two locations: first in his Twist restaurants, so named because his cuisine is classic French with an American twist, and now in his short stint at Bret Hoefler’s Cre Paris in San Pedro Square Market. Dominique has just signed the lease on a brand new gastropub in Campbell, adding to the impressive lineup of food on Campbell Avenue. The gastropub will serve bistro lunch, three main courses and tapas. Service will be quick and, as one of the largest restaurants on the street, the new space will accomodate lots of hungry patrons.

Dominique’s newest restaurant will have a huge selection of beers on tap, wines from France and California, and cocktails. The pub, slated for a January 2013 opening, is applying to the city of Campbell for a much-coveted license to stay open until after midnight.

Although Chef Dominique has tattoos all over his body, the woman on his heart is his wife, Eileen. After studying and cooking for many years in his native Paris, he met his future wife while working at The Drake Hotel in Chicago.

Andrew Nguyen

Sous Chef, Little Chef Counter, San Pedro Square Market, San Jose Foodie Tattoos: Crossed knives beneath a skull Shop: State of Grace Artist: Jill Bonny

Andrew decided to get his tattoo to coincide with the opening of his friends Chef Robert Dasalla and Steven Le’s new restaurant, Little Chef Counter. The tattoo on his calf is a culinary play on the traditional skull and crossbones–a sugar skull over two crossed knives. Born in San Jose, Andrew returned home after college in San Diego. When presented with the opportunity to cook with friends, he grabbed it. Andrew went to Jill Bonny at State of Grace in Japantown where he has had all his ink done.

Andrew suggested the design and Bonny free-styled it, as she does all her work. “The sugar skull is part of me – the part I like. I doodle and sketch a lot of sugar skulls.” Andrew is the sole sous chef at Little Chef Counter, where their kitchen is extremely tight quarters. Because space is so tight, the whole staff must be proficient in every type of prep work. (The kids from Content Magazine love the hamburger at LCC.)

Monique Fujimoto Line Cook, Cin Cin Los Gatos Foodie Tattoos: Artichokes & hibiscus Shop: Guru Tattoo Artist: Dave Flowers

Monique grew up in Mountain View. When she was ready to have her very intricate tattoo done, she went to Dave Flowers at Guru Tattoo in San Jose. The whole piece took three years to complete. The tattoo involves a tiger and a geisha, but it is the artichokes that show under her coat when she is prepping her charcuterie. Monique chose to incorporate a hibiscus, also on the menu at Cin Cin, as a homebase reminder of the huge hibiscus plant in the backyard of her first home in San Jose. After attending Sunnyvale Art Institute with Cindy, Monique began work as a Line Cook last year. In her role as Chief Charcuterie, she prepares generous platters of meats to be shared during happy hour.

Jonny Scoggins

chef Firehouse No. 1, San Jose Foodie Tattoos: Strawberry Shop: Current Tattooing

Chef Jonny cooks all day long at Firehouse No. 1.

Always experimenting with food, he plans to develop the restaurant into a gastropub soon, complete with delicacies infused with whisky. As a dedicated vegetarian, Jonny is not sad to see the decline of foie gras nor will he be embracing the current craze for serving shots through bone marrow. He studied at the Culinary Institute of America during the era when “French chefs would walk by and hit your knuckles with ladle,” he says. “I saw people in those days get sautée pans thrown at them.”

But his kitchen is a kinder, gentler place. “Good teams make good food.” Because the strawberry is his favorite ingredient, he had a large one tattooed inside his forearm two years ago. He also has a Hello Kitty with a pitchfork.

“Barbecue,” he says with a big grin...

Joey Elenterio

executive chef Chez TJ, Mountain View

Foodie Tattoos: ‘Stop Tofu Abuse, Eat Foie Gras’ on his fingers, ‘Eat Pig’ on his wrists, Steak and eggs Shop: Marks of Art Chef Joey has had his tattoos for four years. He even hoped to get a new one in time for this article of the logo from Opinel, France. Representing his tool of choice, the knife company’s logo is a crowned hand from the coat of arms of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Although he acknowledges his tattoos began as “stupid, young decisions,” Joey says, he recognizes that he is past the point of no return. The knuckles were the most painful spots to get tattooed but the “Piss Off” inside his lip didn’t hurt a bit – it represents his “liking Gordon Ramsey” phase. The slogan across his index fingers, ‘Stop Tofu Abuse, Eat Foie Gras’ came from a t-shirt he really liked. For the photo shoot, he prepared Copper River salmon with a nori aigre-doux, red-wine braised apples, roasted garlic and little pearl onions, bacon and seared foie with herbs from their onsite garden. Burrata mousse with a peach foie gras puree of porcinis and charred corn – burrata is buffalo mozzarella with a creamy center. Chez TJ is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary. Joey came to the restaurant two and a half years ago, and has served as executive chef for just over a year.

Hicklebee’s Written by Kat Bell Photography by Daniel Garcia

Walk into Hicklebee’s at 1378 Lincoln Avenue, downtown Willow Glen, and you’re entering a child’s imagination. Here, the best in children’s literature lines the shelves and the characters peer out from the walls. From the worn cushions to the mismatched chairs, Hicklebee’s is every bit an independent bookstore. There are no gleaming register lines or stacks of discount buys, instead there is a bathtub filled with pillows (for reading in, of course) and Clifford the Big Red Dog’s collar.

Take a look at the walls and you will see a collection that can only be deemed “Hicklebee’s Museum.” Framed original illustrations, from Rosemary Wells’ “Ruby and Max,” occupy a place of honor next to a model of the plug from “King Bidgood’s Bathtub.” A sign hangs nearby reading “Diagon Alley” right next to Charlotte spinning a web. Walk further in and you quickly realize what wall space remains is covered in signatures and drawings from almost every famous author or illustrator in children’s literature including Jules Feiffer, illustrator of the classic “Phantom Tollbooth” and “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling. Yet, what makes the illustrations all the better is that many of them are scrawled across bathroom doors. It’s bathroom graffiti for children.

Enter Valerie Lewis, the last remaining founder and current co-owner of Hicklebee’s.

“Sometimes we have a hard time explaining to them (the children) why they can’t write on the walls at home,” she laughs. Lewis points out more artifacts littering the tops of shelves and signatures along doorways from authors and illustrators who have visited the store over the years. “We never know what they’re going to sign or what they’re going to do,” she says. “I always think to myself, ‘I know this person and they just drew their character on a toilet.’”

When Hicklebee’s began over 33 years ago the walls were blank. “It was like the artist looking at a canvas.” Lewis remembers, “I love the fact that I had this store and no experience and a zillion possibilities, and that there was no end to the possibilities. I loved that idea.” Over the years these same possibilities have shaped what has been recognized as one of the nation’s best children’s bookstores. Hicklebee’s stands alone in a market where the gap between quality

children’s literature, found in the libraries of academia, and the overly-commercialized form of children’s entertainment, found in modern book stores, looms large.

In the beginning, however, it was simply the collective dream of four friends who had no experience owning book stores. “We all came in my house and sat in the kitchen and everybody brought their favorite children’s books,” Lewis recalls. “I would open them up and see this one is from Harper and Row, and I would call information in New York.” Eagerly, Lewis would contact the desired publishers for catalogues. “We would think, ‘they are going to be so excited when they find out about us,’” she says.

As straightforward as Hicklebee’s beginning was, the way it has unfolded and transformed has been anything but simple.

Rather, Hicklebee’s has metamorphosed into something more complex over the past decades through the collective efforts of authors, illustrators and even the readers.

During a tour, Lewis gently pulls down an unassuming brown shopping bag labeled “Ollivanders” from a top shelf. A child who frequents the store brought it back from a trip to England and gave it to her for the museum. Peeking inside the bag, customers can see a magic wand nestled among the tissue paper wrapping. “We just started it.” Lewis emphasizes, “It was the authors who did the additions.” She points to a 3-foot-tall cardboard cut-out of a gorilla hanging from the ceiling. “See that ape?” she asks. “Well, Peggy Rathmann is a Caldecott award-winning illustrator. One day, she and her husband drove up. They opened the door, pulled out a ladder and a rope and hung that.

“Let’s go hang it at Hicklebee’s” is the quintessential thought behind this local treasure.

With the opening and subsequent closing of the big chain bookstores, and the advent of discount online shopping, this small independent store has weathered the storm of consumer habits. Lewis and the shop’s associates can tell you they often observe patrons browsing books, scanning their bar codes with pricing apps from their smart phones, and then walking out the doors, perhaps only to order the same book with next-day free shipping and no sales tax from the internet.

Some even download them straight to their devices. Lewis comments powerfully on the recent trend, “When people compare electronic books for children and picture books for children, they are comparing apples and artichokes,” she observes. “An electronic book is no more a book than a radio, or a television is a book. They are all telling stories, but a book looks like that, in my opinion.” Lewis points to a stack of books with crisp white pages, nestled between bright covers. One can’t help but think of the difference between seeing a photograph of a painting and being able to see the texture of the brush strokes on the original in a gallery.

Yet, Lewis remains optimistic, “We are not against electronic books; we are just pro-paper,” she laughs. So what’s next in Hicklebee’s storyline? More author visits and children’s story times. More craft days, reading clubs, and of course additions to the walls and shelves. Customers continue to come in for the magic and wisdom that can only be found at the heart of Willow Glen and at the hands of Lewis’ expert staff, so she is not too worried. “In the end, however we get our stories, the important thing is to keep passing them on.”

To learn more about Hicklebee’s or order books online visit www.hicklebees.com

“In the end, however we get our stories, the important thing is to keep passing them on.”

Valerie Lewis Founder and co-owner of Hicklebee’s

tim myers local author

Tim Myers is a writer, songwriter, storyteller, and lecturer at Santa Clara University. His children’s books have won recognition from the New York Times, NPR, the Smithsonian, and others. He’s published 120 poems and won first prize in a poetry contest judged by John Updike.

Myers has won a major prize in science fiction, and has many other publications including a poetry chapbook. He won the West Coast Songwriters Saratoga Chapter Song of the Year award and the 2012 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for Fiction. Myers can also whistle and hum at the same time.

His ebook Glad to Be Dad: A Call to Fatherhood will be available in August wherever digital books are sold. It focuses on the challenging and often hilarious world of modern parenting – and is for women as well as men. www.TimMyersStorySong.com

He Said He said, I want to show you something, drove her a mile or two from their place, pulled into the driveway of a big empty house for rent on a tree-shaded main street.

As traffic gunned past, guttural hiss of busy city, he took her hand, led her close to a low-hanging chestnut branch, pointing to a crook of branch and twig, There—can you see?

As her eyes focused, leaf-shade, barred sunlight, suddenly: in a white nest no bigger than the end-joint of her man’s thumb: green-backed hummingbird mother nestled in that tiny fluff-lined pocket, sun glinting emerald off her shoulders, beak held high, silent, riding the breeze-lift.

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“The mainstream American family is, obviously, under stress. Mothers who work outside the home are knocking themselves out trying to run two shows at once; for many of us, daily life has become ‘routine panic.’ And the most logical resource to help deal with all of this remains largely untapped: men.

We need more than time-worn images of fatherhood that focus only on taking kids fishing, or teaching them how to play catch, or baking the occasional casserole. We need more than humorous, self-deprecating admissions of non-involvement and domestic ignorance. We have to go to the depths of the thing— because that’s where we find a guiding vision as to the real breadth of what fatherhood can be.”

“Life at home will always be challenging in its own way. But there will always be those other times too: Shilly-Shally and I lying on our backs in the grass, talking quietly or just drinking in the silence, watching clouds...Me holding her, pressing my face into her fragrant hair with its little-girl smells...Or she’s standing in the backyard at twilight, gazing at the evening star, when the automatic sprinklers suddenly come on, and she screams--the closest sprinkler thirty feet away from her--and I come running, pick her up, within seconds she’s smiling, wiping tears away and telling me, with big solemn eyes, the story of the startling sprinklers...”

“No matter what happens, sit down regularly with your spouse and talk about how things are going. This is as necessary for a parent as having air to breathe. You may have to go to amazing lengths just to get a chance to converse--but go to those lengths. Husband and wife must always be able to compare notes, track progress, re-assess, support each other, and share all the humor, frustration and delight that come with parenting.”

“The other night I had a heartbreaking dream.

My wife and I, somehow, miraculously, were alone in a private place. The intoxication of this intimacy was too much for us; we began to kiss, long and lingeringly at first, but gradually with more and more excitement. Soon we were down on the bed in each other’s arms, passion sweeping us away, and I began to undress her. But just as certain highly interesting articles of clothing came off...

...a whole busload of tourists arrived. Talking, gawking, and dragging luggage, they trooped right past us on their way to their rooms.

On waking I realized bleakly that you simply couldn’t find a better metaphor for the sexual-romantic life of people with children. The irony, of course, is that the ‘tourists’ are of our own making. My wife and I love to be together, to talk, to share, to do things as a couple, to make love and then talk some more: to act, in short, just like lovers, which, despite our many years together and the mob-like presence of our kids, is exactly what we are.

What we’ve actually become, however, is Lovers Interrupted by Tourists.”

“And there are lots of practical things a couple can do to keep their romance alive. The most important is to actively pursue it! I don’t mean all that foolishness about her dressing in saran wrap, or him coming home in a Zorro costume. But of all the crucial aspects of a busy family’s life, what tends to get pushed to the back burner? Mom and Dad’s love-life. The kids simply can’t exist without constant affection and attention, and all the practical chores are mandatory; husband and wife often find that their own relationship is the only thing they can skimp on. But that can be dangerous. Even though it’s a lot of work and you’re already working hard enough--even though you may not feel like it at the moment--even though you think you’ve given all you have to give--you must fight to be a couple, to have time alone together, to truly share yourselves amid the endless booming distractions of family life.”

Excerpts from Tim Myers’ Glad to Be Dad: A Call to Fatherhood Publisher, www.familius.com

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Dress by Renata Gar Necklace & Headdress by Taxil Hoax

Photography Assistants Make-up Hair Headdress Designer Styling Styling Assistant Models

Paul Ferradas Nic Nuyten and Kevin Osmond Man Regard Tang Mikel Sessions Laura Vicknair Taxil Hoax Renata Gar Jenny Lopez Victoria Hall HMM/Ford LA Baylee Hunt Look

Baylee (left): Dress by KAS Designs.

Victoria (right): Dress by Sonoma.

Necklace by Taxil Hoax.

Victoria: Headdress by Taxil Hoax Baylee: Dress by Renata Gar Headdress by Taxil Hoax

Dress by Soprano.

Headdress by Taxil Hoax.

Stylists: Ruak Styling facebook.com/ruakstyling Photographer: Rummy Makmur rummymakmur.com

Make-Up: Inna Mathews

innamathews.com

Model: Morgan/Stars Models

starsmodels.com

I

SJ

Local stylists Sona Minhas and Jasmine Warraich teamed up with photographer Rummy Makmur to bring together various items from their closets for this shoot showcasing their “brand� of South Bay style.

Contributors Kat Bell A Southern California transplant, Kat has been living in San Jose since 2004. She graduated from San José State University with a Bachelors degree in Pictorial Arts, and is an Alumni of Alpha Omicron Pi Women’s Fraternity. Currently, Kat resides in Japantown with her boyfriend and a very enthusiastic Corgi pup named Edwin.

JEROME SEVILLA Jerome is a knitter and occasionally a graphic designer. He runs an online shop that he can’t seem to keep full. When he’s not knitting hats or drawing silly pictures, he can be found rummaging through piles of clothes at the flea market, or spending hours on end playing video games.

BONNIE MONTGOMERY Bonnie has been an historian of the Santa Clara Valley for the past decade. She’s brought to light the history of San Jose’s bowling alleys, motels, garbage collection, mid-century furniture stores, and much more. This summer she is going subterranean, working with the Stanford Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project. Next year her research for UC Davis Professor Cecilia Tsu culminates with the publication of Tsu’s book on Asians active in agriculture in the Santa Clara Valley before 1940.

Cultivator’s Notes I am tired of people saying that San Jose has an identity crisis. Paul Bradshaw of Full Orange Films heard it called “Down-South Syndrome.” I believe that the diversity of cultures and the vast geographic reach of our city are the very things that make up our identity. So, in Issue 4.3, we wanted to explore the idea of Branding – highlighting the people that either are in the business of branding and marketing, or individuals that are making a mark by who they are and what they do. In addition, we wanted to see what professional marketing agencies would do if given the chance to promote San Jose. What would these industry leaders create when thinking of San Jose as a “brand?”

One of the most inspirational speakers I’ve met is Erwin McManus, who has said about character, “It is not just who you are, but who you want to become.” And I think that is the way we do Content Magazine. It is not just an outpouring of who we are, but it is always striving for what we want to become: a community who celebrates each other and the creative culture that makes San Jose unique.

Daniel Garcia Cultivator daniel@content-magazine.com

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