ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries author Marge Piercy writes, “I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again.” According to my analysis […]

The post Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: April 20-26 appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

In what now seems like the vanishing Wild West, the San Jose Earthquakes were winning Major League Soccer championships and setting records.  With coach Frank Yallop at the helm, San Jose won MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003. Then when Yallop came back in 2008, he led the squad to the league’s best record in […]

The post Memorable MLS appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

For poet Janice Lobo Sapigao, the word “from” has transformed in meaning over the years. The shift began while writing her first book, Microchips for Millions, a collection centering on immigrant women workers in San Jose, a group the author’s mother was once part of. “With Microchips, I was really invested in learning what Silicon […]

The post Janice Sapigao and Yosimar Reyes appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

In therapy, there is a thought experiment known as the “miracle question”: If everything were to change for the better tomorrow, how would you know? “I like the question because it’s focused on what’s good, on what you want to see in the world and not what you don’t want to see,” says Jenna Marx, […]

The post Joyride! Miracle Question appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

When I began loosely experimenting with cannabis as a 16-year-old, cannabis culture naturally came with it. And the ringleaders, Cheech and Chong, reign supreme, whether you indulge, previously indulged or simply enjoy comedy. At the time, I wasn’t sure what category my dad, who was a lawyer for more than 40 years, fell into; all […]

The post The Chong Show appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I have lived my life according to this principle: If I’m afraid of it, then I must do it.” Aries author Erica Jong said that. Since I’m not an Aries myself, her aspiration is too strong for me to embrace. Sometimes I just don’t have the courage, willpower and boldness to […]

The post Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: April 13-19 appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

“I consider myself responsible to the coming generations, which are left stranded in a blitzed world, unaware of the soul trembling in awe before the mystery of life.” —Oskar Kokoschka Casey Sonnabend’s name might sound familiar. You’ve seen his work. He might even be a genuinely important American artist. Yet, outside of certain lofty circles, […]

The post Purity in Obscurity appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Every month, the San Jose Inside Power Poll asks questions of influential people with a wide range of viewpoints to help advance informed dialog about the city. In April, poll results show that an overwhelming majority of respondents believe that San Jose should employ substantially more police officers than it does today. Those surveyed were […]

The post Polling for City Council Race appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

The story of Silicon Valley can be understood as a road from cattle to Apple. Literally. If one desires the grand sweep of local history—as it was, as it is now, and also what lurks at the end of the road—the traveler should begin his voyage in the Berryessa Hills. In this case, the journey […]

The post Cattle to Apple appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

The city of Tacoma, Wash., is also known by the oracular nickname “City of Destiny.” For the two San Joseans who make up playful psych rock group Funny Face, that name proved true in more ways than one. Earlier this year, Funny Face released Dog In Hell, their second full length and the first recorded […]

The post Funny Face’s Dog In Hell appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

For professional gamer Zac “SFAT” Cordoni, exactly one thing is at stake at this weekend’s Genesis 8 Super Smash Bros. tournament. “Pride,” SFAT says. “When it comes to winning, we want to win it for pride.” All weekend in San Jose, thousands of players will put their competitive pride on the line. The storylines that […]

The post G8 Hits SJ appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

When constantly faced with rejection, sometimes the best move is to pivot — but to pivot to an entirely different identity? Now that’s something for the stage. Beginning this coming Tuesday, April 19, the tale of struggling actor Michael Dorsey—better known as “Tootsie,” from the 1982 film starring Dustin Hoffman—will take center stage at San […]

The post Tootsie at Center for the Performing Arts appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Tony Lindsay, a treasured Bay Area performer, is bringing his smooth style and tenor vocals to downtown San Jose’s Poor House Bistro for a soulful and silky night of elegant music. Lindsay has recorded or performed alongside several artists, including Santana, Curtis Mayfield, Tevin Campbell, the O’Jays, Al Jarreau, Steve Winwood, Johnny Gill, Teddy Pendergrass, […]

The post Tony Lindsay at Poor House Bistro appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

When they coined the phrase “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” everyone knows the city they were talking about was Santa Cruz, California. Everyone’s favorite beach hamlet has a rich musical ecosystem and those that rise out of it do so having already proven themselves to a discerning audience. Anthony […]

The post Acoustic Sunset at Club Fox appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Anyone who grew up as one of 13 siblings knows they need to stick out in some way. Harlem-born and Los Angeles-based Zainab Johnson used her talents as a comic and actress to do just that. This weekend, Johnson will take the San Jose Improv stage for four shows to showcase her comedic chops, pulling […]

The post Zainab Johnson at The Improv appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Last month, talented local writers—ages 13 to 18—applied to become the next Santa Clara County youth poet laureate. This week, judges announced seven finalists for the honorary post: Samantha Hsiung, Minerva S.M. Kamra, Sarah Fathima Mohammed, Jacqueline Pham, Myesha Phukan, Michelle Qiao and Anna Yang. A panel of judges—five local leaders with roots in education, […]

The post Santa Clara Youth Poet Laureate appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

TheatreWorks director Tim Bond has been wondering something recently: how those of us “in the Bay Area can become more embracing and more inclusive.” It’s a challenge, he thinks, that can only be met through the transformative power of art. “Art is a connector and creates a platform for voices that haven’t always been heard,” […]

The post TheatreWork’s Gem of the Ocean appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

San Jose’s streets are rich in art. A walk through downtown or Japantown rewards pedestrians with stories-high murals and colorful utility boxes. Online, San Jose’s Public Art Program boasts 250 public artworks across 130 locations. On the other hand, the city’s website offers contact information for agencies you can call for graffiti removal along with […]

The post Making Their Mark appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

On a cool Thursday evening in late March, a man walks into Nirvana Soul in San Jose’s SoFA District, writes his name on a sheet of paper and orders a hot coffee, black. Drink in hand, he finds a vacant table to the side of the barista counter with a full view of the shop’s […]

The post Christian Rivera Nolan’s Long Way Home appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Tank and the Bangas’ latest single “Why Try” is a question posed ironically—this group knows firsthand the virtues of trying. Trying brought them from New Orleans open mics, to NPR Tiny Desk concerts, Grammy nods, all the way to their present when they’re collaborating with international stars like ?uestlove and Wayne Brady. The group’s love […]

The post Tank + the Bangas at The Ritz appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Canadian journalist Alanna Mitchell’s one-woman show Sea Sick combines scientific research, theatrical storytelling and memoir to reframe the climate crisis with a focus on humanity’s impact on the global ocean. The play’s evolution began over a decade ago with the 2009 publication of Mitchell’s award-winning book of the same name, which attracted the attention of […]

The post Sea Sick at Bing Studio appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

For almost a full week now, Cinequest’s online festival Cinejoy has been streaming new works for savvy cineastes to enjoy at home. But with more than one hundred films to choose from (44 features and 71 shorts), the list can be a lot to take in. Fortunately, this year, the fest has films organized by […]

The post Cinequest’s Cinejoy appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

From fish heads to Slayer albums, the present merged with the past during a recent revisit to Oakridge Mall. As I’ve said, the suburban traveler’s journey is not just a spatial endeavor. It should also be historical and literary. And since the Asian grocery store 99 Ranch is easily the best addition to Oakridge Mall […]

The post A Mall Evolves appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Win tickets to San Jose Earthquakes vs. Colorado on May 7. Drawing May 2, 2022.

The post Tickets to San Jose Earthquakes vs. Colorado appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Win tickets to San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle on April 23. Drawing April 18, 2022.

The post Tickets to San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

There are documentarians, and then there is Jay Rosenblatt.  Other doc-makers tend to migrate from the general to the specific in their work, moving from a broad scope down to the personal in telling their subjects’ stories. Rosenblatt takes almost everything personally from the beginning. The award-winning San Francisco-based writer-producer-director-editor, who serves as the program […]

The post Out of the Past appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): To provide the right horoscope, I must introduce you to three new words. The first is “orphic,” defined as “having an importance or meaning not apparent to the senses nor comprehensible to the intellect; beyond ordinary understanding.” Here’s the second word: “ludic,” which means “playful; full of fun and high spirits.” […]

The post Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: March 30-April 5 appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Bay Area-born musician and composer Samora Pinderhughes works across disciplines in The Healing Project to address the violence of the United States prison system. Pinderhughes, who has worked under the mentorship of playwright Anna Deavere-Smith, layers audio interviews and testimonials atop piano, vocals by himself and sister Elena Pinderhughes (also on flute) and spoken word […]

The post Samora Pinderhughes at Bing Studio appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

The vibrant and heartwarming comedy of errors La Cage Aux Folles has been adapted across languages and mediums for its cheeky celebration of queer family, including 1996’s The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. San Jose Playhouse opens this year’s season with the musical adaptation of the original French play about Georges and Albin, […]

The post La Cage Aux Folles 3Below appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

The illustrious Craig Robinson will grace the San Jose Improv stage this weekend with multiple shows running Friday through Sunday. Known for his highly comedic roles in films like Pineapple Express, This Is The End, Hot Tub Time Machine and Knocked Up (among many others), he’s also known as Darryl Philbin on NBC’s The Office, […]

The post Craig Robinson at The Improv appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Symphony San Jose ushers in a blossoming April with a select program of the American Masters, including Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes (On the Town) and Duke Ellington’s Black Brown & Beige. Led by the internationally acclaimed Tito Muñoz, the orchestra aims at a rendition of a handful of enduring pieces easily accessible […]

The post American Masters at Center for Performing Arts appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

As drivers zip through the Monterey and Curtner intersection, they may or may not notice the presence of four new black security cameras, each equipped with an individual solar panel. Regardless, those cameras will certainly notice them, or at least their car’s license plate, color, and any bumper stickers it may have. These are automatic […]

The post Flock Catchers appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

On a Friday morning, patrons at Roy’s Coffee sit on the patio laughing and basking in the first solar waves of spring. Half a block away, folks anxiously wait outside Shuei-Do to order manju—a Japanese rice dessert—before it sells out.  Lining a single block of Jackson Street in San Jose’s Japantown are sushi and ramen […]

The post Body of Work appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Dusty slides from worldly adventures in 1965 provided exactly the intergenerational Kodak moment I needed to contextualize my own travels around San Jose.  I was not even alive in 1965, but my parents were. That year, they escaped San Jose for three glorious months, traveling all over Japan, Hong Kong, Rome, Naples, Florence, Paris, Germany […]

The post Snapped Back appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

After two years of postponed, online and scaled-down events, there is no more appropriate performance title this spring than Fast Forward. Canceled in 2020 and then forced online in 2021, the yearly showcase from San Jose’s New Ballet finally returns to in-person performance this weekend. On Saturday, the contemporary dance company brings its fifth installment […]

The post Fast Foward at Hammer Theatre appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Literary Foundation continues its mission to create a space for the literary community to discuss and inspire with a webinar with some of genre fiction’s most towering giants. Between the two of them, Janet Evanovich and Nelson DeMille have published almost 100 novels, with several weeks of #1 bestsellers peppered throughout those careers. The craft […]

The post Janet Evanovich with Nelson DeMille appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Randall King has been thinking about four pages of dialogue for the last four years. “There’s not a word in it that isn’t pivotal,” he says,  The pivotal words come from former professor and poet Beverly Weston in the play August: Osage County, opening this week at San Jose Stage. The Weston family patriarch’s pensive […]

The post August: Osage County at San Jose Stage appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

This Friday, dulcet jazz vocalist Amy Dabalos (aka Amy D) and vibraphonist Dillon Vado bring their new collaborative project to Art Boutiki. Both veteran performers, their recent duo work is focused around emotional connectivity and reflection. Stemming from a shared interest in topics ranging from poetry to Brazilian rhythm, the pair create music that aims […]

The post Amy D + Dillon V at Art Boutiki appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Win tickets to see Zainab Johnson at the San Jose Improv. Drawing April 12, 2022.

The post Tickets to Zainab Johnson appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

In the mid-1980s, when Metro came into being, pre-redevelopment downtown San Jose was a far different world. Metro shared a wall with the Pussycat Theater; across the street was a sex club that became the home of the Cactus Club, one of the early arrivals in the new downtown scene. There to witness the changes […]

The post Former Metro Columnist Carlos deVillalvilla Passes at Age 61 appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Win a $50 to Scott's Seafood in San Jose. Drawing May 11, 2022.

The post $50 to Scott’s Seafood appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Carib people from Surinam quote their mysterious Snake Spirit as follows: “I am the force of the spirit of the lightning eel, the thunder ax, the stone. I am the force of the firefly; thunder and lightning have I created.” I realize that what I’m about to say may sound […]

The post Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: March 23-29 appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Rec Room is one of the newest additions to the lively bar culture of downtown SJ and they have taken very little time to prove how serious they are about bringing the party to locals. When not offering their forward thinking food and cocktail lists, Rec Room is busy dealing in vibes. Their new “GOOD4U” […]

The post GOOD4U at The Rec Room appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Whoever said “there’s nothing new under the sun” clearly never listened to Eichlers. Their loss, too, because it’s not everyday that a new musical subgenre is created, especially one like hyperska. “I feel at its very core [hyperska] is hyper punk and ska,” says Russ Wood, the artist behind Eichlers. “But there’s a lot of […]

The post Eichler’s Head Check appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Newest K-pop sensation and Gen Z icon P1 Harmony is ready to deliver the K music craze to the South Bay after “[blowing] the roof off New York City’s Town Hall” just a few days back, in the words of Broadway World. The incredibly named “P1ustage H: PEACE in USA” live tour is the South […]

The post P1 Harmony at San Jose Civic appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Multimedia artist Soo Sunny Park found inspiration while reflecting on light during a series of nighttime drives.  Park, whose installation exhibit Viewing Filter (Veil of Vision) opens Friday at ICA San Jose, began incorporating retroreflective materials into her work while living in New England, completing a residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in […]

The post Soo Sunny Park’s Viewing Filters appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Pop music makes the world go round. This Sunday, Dua Lipa brings her futuristic pop sound to the South Bay with a San Jose stop of her Future Nostalgia arena tour. On her second album, the 26-year-old has truly come into her own, with massive singles like “Levitating” and “Physical” breaking chart records and making […]

The post Dua Lipa at San Jose appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Finding a place to call home can be challenging, especially for two Vietnamese refugees in 1975 Arkansas. Vietgone tells the story of Quang and Tong as they make their way through the American Midwest looking for their new stomping grounds. The unpredictable and comedic play by Qui Nguyen has just about everything: hip hop classics, […]

The post Vietgone at City Lights Theater appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Whoever said “there’s nothing new under the sun” clearly never listened to Eichlers. Their loss, too, because it’s not every day that a new musical subgenre is created, especially one like hyperska. “I feel at its very core [hyperska] is hyper punk and ska,” says Russ Wood, the artist behind Eichlers. “But there’s a lot […]

The post Eichlers’ Head Check appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.

Multimedia artist Soo Sunny Park found inspiration while reflecting on light during a series of nighttime drives.  Park, whose installation exhibit Viewing Filter (Veil of Vision) opens Friday at ICA San Jose, began incorporating retroreflective materials into her work while living in New England, completing a residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in […]

The post Soo Sunny Park’s Viewing Filters appeared first on Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley’s Leading Weekly.