After a Friday night out in San Jose that consisted of a Sharks game and a trip to O’Flaherty’s for a few drinks, my group of friends and I decided that we wanted to go dancing. But, since it was nearly one o’clock in the morning, did the desire to dance in San Jose mean I needed to take my life into my own hands?
As we took the ever-interesting stroll down Santa Clara Street—braving the cruisers, the cops and the bums hanging out at the VTA office—I tried to envision where we should go. I glanced over at the Vault and the first thing that popped into my head was, “I am way too young to die,” and blurted out to my friends, “Oh we can’t go there, people get shot.” A couple of people standing in line were within earshot and slowly slinked out of line.
Then we walked a little further up the street and I saw Studio 8 on my left. There wasn’t much of a line so we approached the ropes to get in. (Out of principle, I cannot wait in line to get into a place that I don’t really want to go to. I mean, what is this, Studio 54?) Once inside I saw a plaque that read “Cover Charge - $15,” and thought to myself (well, actually, I am sure I blurted it out loud), “What are they thinking? Let’s see, is it $15 to get groped by some meathead? Or is it $15 to sweat like I am in a Jazzercise class?” Just as I was about to leave, my friend, who is a fireman, pulled out some kind of “I am a Fireman, Hear me Roar and Let Me in Free” card, and we were in! (I am not sure how it happened, but I wasn’t complaining.)
As we walked in, there were girls in black bikinis and long, black boots (a great combo, I must say) dancing in cages on the wall, and the DJ was playing fun music that we could dance to. The only downside was going to the restroom—a 40-minute excursion watching girls getting sick, passing out on the floor, and waiting in the longest line imaginable. They even had to have a bouncer shuttling people in and out of the bathrooms because, apparently, many people could not be left to their own devices to relieve themselves.
Despite the fact that it was about 102 degrees, I laughed and had a great time. If you go into this club just expecting to talk to the friends you came with, it can be a lot of fun. So maybe the key elements for having a great night clubbing in San Jose are: don’t wait in lines, go with a friend that can get you in free, keep to yourself and stay away from the bathroom.
Because sometimes a Single Gal just has to dance….
Can we have a blog from David Pandori?
David and I went to SJSU together, he worked for Tom, represented district 3 and then worked for the DA’s office. Except for the last blip, not bad resume.
Anyway, I was interested in hearing his views and the platform he brings to the SJ Mayors race.
Ah, there you go again, Rich. Wanting to bring issues and substance to SJI. It appears we are doomed to watching the slow demise of SJI as they continue to produce column’s like today’s.
Apparently the days of discussing the more critical issues of the day have been replaced by land use issues like the length of the line for the women’s restroom.
RIP SJI.
My what a diverse site I find today. Single Gal complaining about people puking in a public restroom and Mr. Robinson wanting to hear about a candidate for mayor.
Just a suggestion but, I think we shall hear from Mr. Pandori soon enough and Ms. Gal, have your fireman friend escort you to the men’s room. Shorter lines you know.
Does anyone know where I can find San Jose Inside? I seem to have stumbled upon some college kids MySpace site by accident.
“The only downside was going to the restroom—a 40-minute excursion watching girls getting sick, passing out on the floor, and waiting in the longest line imaginable. ”
I sure hope SanJoseInside is not read in Islam. Imagine the reaction of all those backs-against-the-wall culture defenders should they discover that the decadent Western culture they’ve been fighting to keep at bay is far worse than they ever imagined. If the repugnant lyrics and gutter values coming out of the American entertainment industry were enough to outrage some Muslims into donning explosive attire, just think how much harder they’ll fight when they discover that our young adult women—the mothers and grandmothers of America’s future—are so devoid of self-respect that their passing-out drunk in public has become passé.
This is a culture to share with the world? I would suggest that we should be ashamed of ourselves, except that shame died in America about thirty years ago.
Haven’t visited the site for a few months but its good to see some things haven’t changed. The Sharks still suck and FenFen still is up on his soapbox bloviating his cannons of hate.
I blame the problem of alcohol abuse at clubs partially on dry college campuses. If a college student has never been” over-served” during the formative (and relatively protected) college years, they never get the opportunity to determine any drinking limits. This is an important gauge to have in the “grown up” world, when laying on a bathroom floor in a pool of one’s own sick is generally frowned upon at the Apple XMAS party.
And I think Fen Fen’s Puritan timeline of shame is 10 years off, as is evidenced by the bare-breasted, drug induced love-fests of the 60’s.
Lupe Carvajal
When Chuck Reed becomes Mayor, how will his seat in the city council be replaced? Will there be a special election or will an interim council member be appointed?
I get the fact that you want the blog to be well rounded and that is why single gal gets to post her two cents, but why not ask someone in the know to post on the nightlife topic? Dan Dougherty?
I agree with Rich. Ask Dave to replace Single Gal next Tuesday.
In the Merc today, a letter writer asked the candidates to “stand up” and tell us what they would do as mayor. I looked at the web sites for the leading three: Chavez, Cortese, and Reed. None of the web sites have any schedule of events where San Jose residents can learn more about the candidate. Why not? Are there not any upcoming candidate forums?
Reed’s Council Seat Won’t Be Vacant
With any luck at all, San Jose will not have to fill Chuck Reed’s council seat following the mayoral election in November 2006. In fact, he should be knocked out of the race in the primary election in June 2006.
By this summer, his “commitment” to openness and honesty will have been shredded and exposed for the Victor Ajlouny-crafted campaign theme that it is.
Reed has picked a tough platform to run on. He’s like a candidate running on a “family values” platform when a mistress is discovered living downtown while a wife & child reside in the suburbs. The problem will not be too many values, it will be too many families.
Reed’s claim to the high moral ground will be repidly undermined as information about his real nature surfaces. His long term attachment to one of the worst campaign consultants (Victor Ajlouny) speaks volumes about Reed’s true governmental philosophy.
Tom, John etc
I agree with the many comments that SJI is drifting away from it’s stated purpose of directly ” encourage political debate, discussion and change”
We don’t lack numerous stated and not well known challenges and issues, but we lack participation by most local business, community, educational, labor and political leaders and their specific proposals to these challenges that would contribute to a vigorous public discussion.
San Jose faces many challenges that most residents are not aware of or have not been discussed on SJI :
1) Very low local job creation rates ( only 2000 jobs in Silicon Valley in 2005 , we lost over 200,000 in dot com downturn ) due to aggressive job outsourcing by local companies to lower cost states and countries who are making historic high profits brings into question our local economic development policies and where we spend our tax dollars to encourage local job creation and tax revenue growth
2) Our historic low jobs per employed residents have slowly improved ( less than 1 job per employed resident .93 versus Santa Clara County average of 1.23 and many other local cities over 25,000 population have 3.1 to 1.21 jobs )
3) Our very low tax revenue per resident ( $ 254 versus other local cities over 25,000 population having $ 517 to 354 tax revenue ) which significantly affects our city service levels, city employee staffing and responsiveness ( San Jose is the #10 largest city but #34 in city staffing ) and other programs
4) We lose about 25% of our resident’s retail sales dollars to other local cities and in neighborhoods on our city border or having higher incomes possibly 30-40% or more. If we retained more sales taxes could pay for more city services
5) Exactly how our approved public policies / development policies / proposed transit / total not single city development fees and resident objections to some developments are impacting our current and future job creation, city tax revenues, and future traffic problems that shape the character, quality of life and future of San Jose
The few Blog writers who have been asked and commented are to be congratulated but other leaders need to be asked, step up and make specific proposals for solutions and engage in the our public discussion or clearly state why they will not comment on SJI or other public forums.
Many of us enjoy Leonard’s history and Single Gals comments since he gives us historical and local perspective that is valuable in understanding current events and planning our future.
Lately it seems that these indirect Blog topics are too numerous and we are not directly addressing the numerous well known and more important public topics.
John’s well thought out humor and the Open Forum encourage direct discussion and debate and if SJI lacks Blog content these are good to encourage discussion if the topic emphasis in on making clear concise solution proposals.
Tom, are you having difficulty in getting community, development, political and business leaders to write SJI Blogs about their viewpoints and perspectives about San Jose ?
Have they been asked without topic limitations or conditions or have either refused, been reluctant since their comments and ideas would be aggressively critiqued with negative comments and personal attacks without specific counter proposals that Blog writers can respond to, said they were too busy or they have not been asked ?
We all need to realize that our comments maybe interfering with Tom’s ability to get additional Blog commentators to discuss important public topics. Most people do not enjoy being attacked without the opportunity to respond to specific proposals.
So ask yourself – Do you value making personal attacks and very negative comments more than getting additional Blog commentators to contribute to the SJI discussion and public debate
People I would like to see write Blog specific public policy and spending proposals rather than vision or vague proposals comments are the other 4 Mayor candidates – Cindy, Michael, David Pandori, J Manual and further specifics by Chuck and David Cortese
Business leaders – Pat ,Carl, Scott as well as our development and not well known small / neighborhood business leaders since their job creation is part of the solution. Labor Leaders – like Phaedra and Bob Academic / Education leaders – Terry , Larry, Mike and others
Political Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District Attorney especially on government ethics, public participation and sunshine laws as well as our contested City Council races
Most importantly we need their specific ideas, viewpoints and proposed solutions for the challenges that San Jose faces today and in our future as a community
Where is the love on Valentine’s Day? Geez!
Politics and politicians are about love? Mostly self love and sex scandals
Maybe about who has a mistress or whatever the term for the male equivalent – a mister ? and what they gave them for Valentines Day , sleeping with staffers and lobbyists, who got caught doing embarrassing love / sex if such a thing still exists and lobbyist’s Valentine gifts to influence public policies, development approvals, city contracts or tax subsidies and who they actually went to.
Although some days it seems as if some of our opinions about our local politicians and what we want for them could best be stated as – F*** you, not exactly a loving comment
This is not a GP rated family channel or a dating service – It’s politics – Sorry mostly self love and sex scandals
Ed,
You may be on to something about your listed people who should be blogging here are not welcome by SJI.
Does someone know who is responsible for the following website?
http://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com/index.html
All you complainers are exactly why San Jose is so lame. One day a week she writes about stuff that is for people in their 20’s and you all whine and complain like it is somehow ruining the site. Get over yourselves.
Sorry, I thought the decline of our city and attempts to make it better was for people of all ages. Didn’t realize that certain topics were age specific.
There is more to San Jose than just the Mayor’s race. I enjoy reading about the night life of San Jose, including the bars that I will probably never go to in person. (I prefer old farts bars with bottles of pig lips on the counter, but I am curious about other places.) Happy Valentine’s Day Single Gal.
Eric ug Carlson
A modest proposal to the folks who run SJI:
Most of your readers seem to have a strong interest in local politics and issues. Why not focus on those subjects early in the week to coincide with the Tuesday City Council and Supervisors meetings? It would give people a chance to voice their thoughts on issues facing local government in a timely way. Local leaders might even take some of the opinions expressed here into account, although I’m not holding my breath.
As the weekend approaches it might be a better time to discuss San Jose’s nightlife, sports and other entertainment fare.
John’s Friday satire, of course, is a keeper.
Just my two cents.
#17:
What makes a city great is not simply who is sitting in the Taj. Reflecting on the downtown “scene” is important for any “town” that aspires to be a “City.” As far I know there are many people here that would like to see downtown turned in to a “City.”
Now whether the Vault (which, since we’re gettting age specific, it’s a nightclub) looks more like Bay Boys Bail Bonds than a decent club is important. It (and the rest of the restaurants and bars) will factor in to many people’s decision to live or play downtown.
Your arrogance only demonstrates the same shortsighted thinking that has plagued our “town” for years.
It’s great to have a discussion about who should be mayor and whether the DA’s office is acting ethically, but it is also important to look at whether SJ can offer a good time for young people that does not involve staying on your friends’ couch in SF.
Stay at your friends couch in SF
Because SJ Sucks and SJ Downtown sucks
I am leaving SJ to a new job and better life in SF.
Good Bye Jo-town
#19—Looks like you better invest in a dictionary. There was nothing arrogant about my response. In fact, except for your nasty edge, I agree with what you say.
GirlFromthenet,
One of my friends from band camp went to San Francisco, and liked it. Then went there again a straw got stuck in her nose. Now she like San Jose. except she went to a club, and people were passed out in the bathroom. then she went outside and 100 police officers were yelling at everyone to leave. Now she likes san francisco again.
Dale,
Just because you get an hard on each time CR’s name is mentioned does not mean we are excited. Get off the Victor thing and start making some sense. Chuck is awesome. Best thing at City Hall.
#20.
That’s funny. A friend of mine who lived in San Francisco his whole life decided to move down here to San Jose. He was living with his mom up there and commuting to San Jose. He got an appartment here for a while because the drive was to much. Then he ended up going back to San Francisco and said he liked it down here better and that it’s to fast pased up there and now he’s buying a house down here. He said it was wierd going back to SF after living in San Jose..
J. Walker,
you have some pretty wierd friends, and if your still going to band camp, I don’t konw what else to tell you..
RGC is right. We don’t have to have this blog be merely a sounding board for the same old folks who flay each other.
This blog was becoming moribund (except for John McE, who consistently puts out incredible satire)until Single Gal came along. She provoke more comment than most of the rest of us were provoking at the time, and that’s what it’s about. She has a valid place here, along with the Ajlouny-bashers, know-it-all Richie, a way TOO frustrated finfan, Leonard McKay, gelvey, Malcontent. They all have something worth saying, and worth reading. Whether one agrees with them or not is an entirely different matter. Thus the flurry of responses some bloggers generate.
Perhaps it is because there are so relatively few bloggers speaking consistently on the issues that the mayoral candidates don’t bother to post here regularly. After all, running for mayor is about big numbers, getting the most bang for the buck, and the number of bloggers who post is very small. There is no accurate way to guage how many readers there are who do not deign to post.
Or maybe Gonzoogle has censored them.
Hello:
I run http://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com. Thanks for the plug! (see also http://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com/id95.html)
The site is targeted at the self-serving genuis(es) running city government & claiming to know what’s best for people without actually asking them (or even telling them, judging by Gonzalez’s recent non-apology).
Obviously, the risk of sudden new rules & regs, or the council’s beholden to labor groups, impacts the willingness of businesses to locate in San Jose.
If you want more (or less) of something in San Jose, it seems the first step would be to flush out the current city council & start over.
Regards,
View from Silicon Valley
Instead of going to one of those crowded clubs, why not go to a nice restaurant downtown, of which, there are many, and dance. Bring in your Ipod hook them up to your ears and dance away. It would be a lot more fun, you could still talk to each other, not to loud, you could get in restrooms, no lines, and the police wouldn’t be waiting for you when you came out. This could be the start of something new. Fun in nice restaurants without hassles.
HJ
LOL, how crazy will you look doing that, somebody will think that you were off your meds.
Nice restaurants? I am sorry but Gorden Bierch or Johnny Rockets gets kind of old, after a while. ITS DOWNTOWN SJ not Downtown San Francisco.
LOL