The Hidden City

Posted by Gary Singh on Thursday, August 14, 2008

Silicon Alleys

FREMONT resident Xavier Nuez specializes in urban blight photography. For 17 years now, he’s slithered into desolated wastelands across America and documented rundown shipyards, busted fire escapes, defunct ballparks and deserted alleyways. He makes photographic monuments out of ruins. “Long after dark, I venture into bleak urban settings, seeking out dramatic stories and elusive splendor,” he asserts on his website (http://www.nuez.com). Since Nuez shoots only in film and only at nighttime, the photos have a surreal, almost sinister look about them. When seen in large format, the details are staggering. 

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The Last Orchard

Posted by Gary Singh on Thursday, August 07, 2008

Silicon Alleys

THE URBAN BLIGHT exploration junkie is currently on sabbatical documenting a recent bender that you will see shortly, so until then he has appointed his cousin, the industrial wasteland explorer, to humbly provide a substitute travelogue. 

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Dr. Seuss’s Political Art

Posted by Gary Singh on Thursday, July 31, 2008

Coinciding with the 2008 presidential election, Dr. Seuss has posthumously thrown his hat into the ring with a new art show, “Dr. Seuss for President,” at the Peabody Gallery in Los Gatos, featuring never-before-released politically charged prints of Seuss’ work.

Unbeknownst to some, several of Dr. Seuss’ books contain deftly veiled sociopolitical commentary in-between the lines. The Lorax, for example, was a seminal piece of modern-day environmentalist literature, written in 1971 an as argument for corporate responsibility and resource conservation. Years earlier, 1958’s Yertle the Turtle was an argument against fascism—Seuss even once admitted he modeled the Yertle character after Hitler himself.

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St. James’ Curse

Posted by Gary Singh on Thursday, July 24, 2008

Silicon Alleys

THE San Jose Redevelopment Agency has now released preliminary documents related to the relandscaping of St. James Park in downtown San Jose, a project intended to give the much-maligned park a new face-lift while preserving its historic character. Since this park was San Jose’s original town square in the 1880s, I have a few thoughts on the park’s crazed history.

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Local Chefs Say Eat Me

Posted by Gary Singh on Thursday, July 17, 2008

Silicon Alleys

SAN JOSE’S own Joey Chestnut once again won the world-renowned Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest this last July Fourth, and his “bib sheet” on the International Federation of Competitive Eating’s website rattles off an impressive list of his gluttonous conquests—records like 8.8 pounds of deep-fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes or 56 sausage-and-cheese kolaches in eight minutes. Advocates of clogged arteries from coast to coast are hailing the dude as a true hero and a national treasure. He’s as American as apple pie.

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