I had this great idea for a blog post: the AllCamino Gift Guide. This is the season for a lot of things, not the least of which is giving. I thought I’d make a little list of lovely El Camino gifts, either stuff related to or available on our favorite road. That’s when I hit a snag. Whom is this list for? If, like me, you have an abiding affection for The Royal Road, then of course you read this blog avidly and you’re reading this post at this very moment, which means the surprise will be ruined for you if you are lucky enough to receive anything on this list. All I can suggest is that you stop reading now, but we both know that’s not going to happen. On the other hand, if you’re shopping for the El Camino enthusiast in your life, then you’re probably married to me, and remember we agreed on a dollar amount limit this year, Dear.
Joking aside, these are some items off the top of my head that I think would make great gifts now or anytime. It’s limited in geographic scope because I do spend most of my time in Santa Clara County, so that’s what I know. Over time I hope to find treasures in other regions. I’ll let you know in next year’s list. These are presented in no particular order.
I ♥ SJ Gear
Get your tee shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies at The Usuals on The Alameda in San Jose. This iconic design by Mike Millares of Deadstök is blowing up; don’t miss the excitement. Here’s a challenge: upload or email to The Usuals an unusual photo of yourself wearing your shirt. We’re trying to start a movement. (This picture of me doesn’t count as unusual; the movement hadn’t started yet when we took it.)
As it just so happens, The Usuals is hosting a party Friday, December 10 from 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM showcasing favorite Deadstök designs. It’s a sign! Beats by The Bangerz and grub by the WOW Truck.
Simon Malls Gift Card
I know, I know, gift cards are the last refuge of the uninventive and the desperate, but you know they work and they’re always appreciated. Here’s the beautiful thing: if you get a Simon gift card, the recipient can use it at either the Great Mall or Stanford Shopping Center, both of which are within the AllCamino jurisdiction. They’re good at Gilroy Premium Outlets too, which is pretty darn close to Monterey Road. How Camino is that?
Mixed Pastel Chocolate-Covered Fruits from Olson’s
Ah, C. J. Olson Cherries, jewel of Sunnyvale. I’m crazy about the summer fruit they sell at the fruit stand, but when winter rolls around I’m all about their dried fruit. In particular I love the mixed pastels: Bing cherries, pears, blueberries, and Olson’s famous apricots dipped in creamy chocolate and sealed in a color-coded candy coating. Toothsome and tasty. Look for them at the San Jose and Oakland airports if you need to grab a quick gift on your way out of town.
This one is for the real El Camino afficionado: the book California’s El Camino Real and Its Historic Bells by Max Kurillo and Erline Tuttle. This is the only book I’ve read to date solely about the road and it contains history and photos you won’t find anyplace else. You can order it directly from California Bell Company.
Stanford University is a hotbed of collegiate a cappella music with nine diverse groups on campus at last count. They all have recordings available, and I’m pretty sure you can find their latest and greatest CDs at the Stanford Bookstore. If not, you can contact the groups directly, and some even sell their recordings through Amazon.com and other outlets. Check out “Through the Roof” by my old group, Fleet Street. Yes I’m shameless, but it’s my blog and I’ll plug if I want to.
Ah, I just thought of something from San Mateo County! See’s Candies is headquartered in South San Francisco right on El Camino. Their retail stores, of course, can be found everywhere. I’ve actually never had their Polar Bear Paws but they sound awesome: white chocolate, roasted peanuts, and caramel. The perfect holiday treat.
I’m still trying to catch my breath from the crazy start to this week. Halloween! Giants! Election! Oh my! Take it down a notch and relax at some of these upcoming El Camino events this weekend. As always, be sure to check out the El Camino Calendars page for a list of venues which always have a variety of activities going on.
Tragically somehow I accidentally deleted my “El Scare-Mino Skull-endar” posting from last week, which listed a bunch of Halloween events. C’est la vie. In the future I’ll be more careful.
South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk
November 5, 2010
JOIN US for the next South FIRST FRIDAYS art walk on NOV 5th!
8pm til LATE ART WALK venues are free and open to the public
SoFA District (So. First Street between San Carlos and E. Reed streets)
San Jose http://www.southfirstfridays.com/
Modern Primitive Cocktail Society and Tiki Art Show
Friday, November 5 · 8:00pm – 11:00pm
SLG Art Boutiki
577 S. Market Street
San Jose, CA
The SLG Art Boutiki and Gallery, home of Club Tiki Press publishers of the famed Beachbum Berry Tiki Drink books, celebrates November with a Tiki art show celebrating, well, tiki’s and our love for them.
Live music and all of the normal South First Friday Art Boutiki good times.
Thursday, November 4 · 6:00pm – 9:00pm
San Jose Museum of Art
110 S Market St.
San Jose, CA
Hang with friends (and meet new ones) at ArtRage. Do some in-person social networking! Admission $5.
Local neo-soul/funk/hip hop favorites “So Timeless” will get you moving.
Catch the “Glow Show” by Nocturnal Sunshine
Capture the ArtRage with your friends in the (free) photobooth
Ride Rebar’s “Juicecycle” and juice local fruit for your cocktail
DIY Art: make an LED light sculpture
Join Meals on Wheels organizations from seven Bay Area counties and fabulous partner restaurants throughout your community for the first annual Bay Area Dine Out for Meals on Wheels on November 9, 2010. Combined, these Meals on Wheels organizations provide nearly 3 million meals each year to over 8,500 local seniors in our communities in need of a hot, nutritious meal and companionship each day.
Multiple locations!
Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 3740 El Camino Real | Palo Alto
Hobee’s California Restaurants | 4224 El Camino Real | Palo Alto
China Stix Restaurant | 2110 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
Country Inn Cafe | 2008 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
La Paloma Restaurant | 2280 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
Mountain Mike’s Pizza | 390 El Camino Real | Belmont
The American Bull Bar & Grill | 1819 El Camino Real | Burlingame
British Bankers Club | 1090 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
Cedro Ristorante Italiano | 1010 El Camino Real #140 | Menlo Park
Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 1850 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
Oak City Bar and Grill | 1029 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
Round Table Pizza | 1225 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
Chantilly Restaurant | 3001 El Camino Real | Redwood City
John Bentley’s Restaurant | 2915 El Camino Real | Redwood City
Max’s of Redwood City | 1001 El Camino Real | Redwood City
Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 201 El Camino Real | San Bruno
Meet Bobbi Brown, the world’s most celebrated makeup artist and bestselling author.
Thursday, November 4th
5:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m.
Stanford Bookstore, Textbook Level
Give her 5 minutes. She’ll show you how to break some rules.
Come meet Bobbi Brown, who will be at the Stanford Bookstore to sign her new book, Beauty Rules. Stanford Bookstore
Annual Holiday Open House
Ah Sam Florist
Celebrating 77 years serving our community.
Come join us for our annual holiday open house
November 5th – 7th
Friday: 6:30 – 9 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 6 pm
Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm
Saturday, November 6 · 2:00pm – 4:00pm
The Shops at Tanforan, Lower level in front of Old Navy
Children will compete and perform for a chance to win mall gift cards. First place will receive a $150 mall gift card! Come and support these talented rising stars!
The Ultimate Gaming Experience!
Get your hands on the hottest games and more.
Be the first of your friends to play some of the most talked about unreleased games.
Great Mall
Sat, November 6, 10 AM – 9 PM
Neiman Marcus Last Call Court
447 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035 http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=1250
Diwali Gala Buffet
Vedas Indian Restaurant Presents the Diwali Gala Buffet
Nov. 5, 6, 7
Come Celebrate the Light
Handmade Sweets by Chef Kumar
560 N. Abel St., Milpitas http://www.vedasrestaurant.com/
We’re a little light on Calendar entries this week, and oddly enough all three are in Palo Alto. Maybe it’s not surprising since Stanford Homecoming is this weekend. In any event, be sure to check out the El Camino Calendars page for a list of venues which always have a variety of activities going on.
Huang Engineering Center Open House, Tours, and Reception
Visit the new home of Stanford Engineering: the Huang Engineering Center in the Science and Engineering Quad.
Friday, October 22, 2010
3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
We hope you will join us for self-guided tours to see exhibits featuring the School’s rich history, learn about access to “intelligent information” in the new Terman Library; and to visit with the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Management Science and Engineering, and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering.
Sportissimo is hosting a Running Clinic Oct 27 at 6:30pm. Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP by Oct 22. Also did you know that throughout the month of October – Sportissimo will donate 10% of your purchase to Breast Cancer Connect when you mention them at the register? Look good while getting in shape and support a great cause!
Sportissimo
855 El Camino Real
Town & Country Village #36
Palo Alto, CA 94031
Some great events coming up this weekend are listed below in geographical order. Be sure to check out the El Camino Calendars page for a list of venues which always have a variety of activities going on.
Festivities will take place before first home game on Oct. 16
The San Jose Sharks will kick off their first regular season home game against the Atlanta Thrashers with a pre-game street rally on Saturday, Oct. 16. The rally will be open to the public from 5-7 p.m. and will take place next to HP Pavilion on Autumn Street between Santa Clara Street and St. John Street.
Festivities for the Opening Night rally will include performances by a BMX stunt team, carnival games, music and a live DJ from Sound in Motion, giveaways, face painting, slap shot booth and more.
Sunday, October 17 · 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Plant 51
734 The Alameda
Experience Plant 51 living with an afternoon gathering in our expanded outdoor courtyard, along with some great food & drinks. Its your chance to see this vibrant community in person and get a sense of its incredible energy and character. http://plant51.com/
Hobee’s California Restaurants Please join us this Friday night (10/15) and help support Breast Cancer Connections. Simply enjoy a fabulous Hobeemade dinner at Los Gatos, Pruneyard, Palo Alto, Stanford or Sunnyvale and mention BCC. We’ll then contribute 20% of your bill to this vital charity. It’s easy to make a difference! http://hobees.com/ http://www.bcconnections.org/
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is on campus today and tomorrow! We will be livestreaming all of the speaking events, so you can follow the webcasts here: http://dalailama.stanford.edu/webcast/
Live Webcasts | Dalai Lama at Stanford
dalailama.stanford.edu
Schedule: Public Talk (Oct 14, 9:30 – 11 am PDT) | Rathbun Lecture (Oct 14, 2 – 3:30 pm PDT) | Conference (Oct 15, 9am – 4 pm PDT)
Now entering its 12th year in the Silicon Valley, the Light The Night Walk has been an inspirational evening of healing and hope for local patients and families affected by blood cancer.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Palo Alto High School
50 Embarcadero Road
Palo Alto, CA
Menlo Park plays host to the 14th Annual Sidewalk Fine Arts and Crafts Fall Fest Friday, October 15 through Sunday October 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This art-filled family event will give visitors the opportunity to browse and shop among the many one-of-a-kind creations perfect for home, office or gift giving displayed by a variety of talented artists.
Taking place along Santa Cruz Avenue off El Camino Real, the Sidewalk Arts and Crafts Fall Fest is free to the public and features an exciting array of original works perfect for holiday shopping by more than 90 artists and craft makers including paintings, jewelry, photography, unique wood sculptures, clothing, accessories, toys and much more. http://www.menloparkchamber.com/news/93-14th-annual-menlo-park-sidewalk-arts-and-crafts-fall-fest
A must to put on your calendar–THIS FRIDAY, October 15–LIVE MUSIC–Clint Baker’s Dixie Land Jazz celebrates 20 years at Borrones! Gaucho will be featuring singer Tamar Korn!! Both will take turns with sets from 6:00 pm-10:30 pm. This is going to be a memorable night!!! Dinner specials start at 5:00 pm.
On September 22, Metro, Silicon Valley’s weekly newspaper, put out their “Best of Silicon Valley” issue, 2010 edition. It contains the readers’ choices and editors’ picks of the best locations, goods, and services available in Santa Clara County and beyond. Of all the “Best of” lists out there, Metro’s is the one I’ve always valued the most partly because it always brings the wacky with unique categories like “Best Place to be a Scarecrow”and “Best Place to Buy an Accordian,” but mostly because it delivers. Some of my favorite joints in the South Bay proudly display coveted Metro “Best of” placards. They have weight with me, and they’ve earned my trust.
It’s no surprise Metro is so in tune with quality in the Valley. As it so happens this is their 25th annual list, a noteworthy milestone. They know what they’re doing and they do it well. You might even say too well: the sucker is pretty large. This year the printed list is 80 pages long. I scanned every page with glee but quickly realized what the problem was. They covered the entire Valley including, shockingly enough, businesses and locations that are not on El Camino Real. Yeah, I know, right? I understand their reasoning. Conceivably someone could find themselves on, say, San Carlos Street and they can’t easily get to El Camino and they desperately need to buy some sporty sunglasses. In such a scenario a two-dimensional “Best of” list could hypothetically be handy. All the same I took it upon myself to scour the list and extract for you the best of the “Best of,” the winners which are located on extended El Camino Real.
The list is below, presented not by category but in rough geographical order. Winners that are tagged with “#2” or “#3” came in second or third in the readers’ polling; otherwise they came in first or were simply awarded by the editors. This was a big copy-n-paste job so I apologize in advance for any errors I might have injected.
As I was putting this together I noticed that the list is heavily weighted towards Downtown San Jose. Then I remembered: Metro Silicon Valley is headquartered on El Camino, at 550 South First Street, in San Jose’s SoFA district. Now we know why the list is so good.
Rosso’s Furniture
#3 Best Furniture Store
6881 Monterey Road, Gilroy
Tony Di Maggio’s Pizza
Best Stromboli
3852 Monterey Hwy., San Jose
Road Rider
#2 Best Motorcycle Shop
2897 Monterey Hwy., San Jose
Southern Lumber
#2 Best Alternative to Home Depot
1402 Monterey Hwy., San Jose
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art
Best Art Gallery
560 S. First St., San Jose
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
#3 Best Art Museum
520 S. First St., San Jose
San Jose Stage Company
#2 Best Theater Company
490 S. First St., San Jose
WORKS/San Jose
Best Gallery for Weird Art #3 Best Art Gallery
451 S. First St., San Jose
I’ve been to WORKS three times in the past month, every two weeks, and each time the exhibit has been completely different. They turn this place over fast and frequently. I loved the most recent (OP)Space installation.
South First Billiards
Best Place to Play Pool
420 S. First St., San Jose
Miami Beach Club
#2 Best Latin/Salsa Club
417 S. First St., San Jose
Bayonne
#3 Best New Restaurant
399 S. First St., San Jose
This is high on my list of places to try, featuring lighter Southern fare.
Agenda’s Wednesday salsa night
#3 Best Latin/Salsa Club
399 S. First St., San Jose
Wet
#3 Best Big Dance Club
396 S. First St., San Jose
Cherri Lakey & Brian Eder
Best Cultural Guerillas
Anno Domini, 366 S. First St., San Jose
I was unaware until now that this pair deserves a lot of credit for the cool, creative vision which San Jose’s SoFA district has become recently.
Brix Nightclub
#2 Best Gay or Lesbian Bar
349 S. First St., San Jose
California Theatre
Most Romantic Movie Watching Spot
345 S. First St., San Jose
Symphony Silicon Valley
Best Symphony/Classical Group
325 S. First St., San Jose, performances at the California Theatre
Original Joe’s
Best Moderately Priced Italian Food Best Late Night Eats Best Martinis
301 S. First St., San Jose
Four Points by Sheraton
#3 Best Boutique Hotel – San Jose/Los Gatos
211 S. First St., San Jose
Soula Power Yoga
Best Yoga Studio
200 S. First St. #70, San Jose
San Jose Taiko and the Bangerz
Best Collaboration
SoFA District, San Jose
So sad I missed this live. Check it out on YouTube.
SubZero Festival
Best Urban Uprising
San Jose
Children’s Musical Theatre San Jose
Best Children’s Theater
271 S. Market St., San Jose, performances at Montgomery Theater
Tech Museum
Best History/Specialty Museum
201 S. Market St., San Jose
Tech Museum Store
#3 Best Toy Store
201 S. Market St., San Jose
San Jose Museum of Art
Best Art Museum
110 S. Market St., San Jose
San Jose Museum of Art Museum Store
#2 Best Gift Store
110 S. Market St., San Jose
Dang, now my Christmas gift-buying secret is out!
McCormick and Schmick’s
#2 Best Seafood Restaurant #2 Best Happy Hour
170 S. Market St., San Jose
The Fairmont
Best Hotel Best Luxury Hotel – San Jose/Los Gatos
170 S. Market St., San Jose
Fairmont Hotel Lobby Lounge
#3 Best Jazz/Blues Club #3 Best Hotel Bar
170 S. Market St., San Jose
The Grill on the Alley
#2 Best Martinis
172 S. Market St., San Jose
Music in the Park
Best Local Festival
Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Jose
A couple years ago I took my son to Music in the Park to see his first live rock band, Smash Mouth. He’ll always cherish that night.
San Jose Jazz Festival
#2 Best Local Festival
Various venues, downtown San Jose
Linda Ronstadt
Best Official South Bay Cultural Treasure
Mexican Heritage and Mariachi Festival artistic director
I include her as an El Caminoan because the 2010 San Jose Mariachi Festival culminated at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, which I also count as El Camino. It’s a long story.
Bill’s Beer Steamed Hot Dogs
Best Bacon Hot Dogs
Market and Santa Clara streets, San Jose
Hammer & Lewis Fashions
Best Name for a Downtown Store
19 S. First St., San Jose
It’s a San Jose thing. You wouldn’t understand.
Good Karma
Best Vegetarian Overall #3 Best Asian Vegetarian
37 S. First St., San Jose
E&O Trading Company
Best Asian Fusion #2 Best Malaysian Restaurant
96 S. First St., San Jose
Mmm…corn fritters…
Umbrella
#2 Best Hair Salon – San Jose/Sunnyvale/Los Gatos
2 N. Market St. #100, San Jose
Erik’s Deli
Best Deli/Sandwich Shop
2 North Market St., Suite 105, San Jose
717 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale
1350 Grant Rd., Mountain View
Multiple locations
Ballet San Jose
Best Dance Company
40 N. First St., San Jose
Picasso’s
#3 Best Tapas/Small Plates
62 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose
San Pedro Square Farmers Market
Best Farmers Market
San Pedro and Santa Clara streets, San Jose. Fridays, 10am-2pm
O’Flaherty’s
Best Irish Pub
25 N. San Pedro St., San Jose
Peggy Sue’s
#3 Best Local Burger Place
29 N. San Pedro St., San Jose
Sonoma Chicken
Best New Restaurant Best Dining Value Best Family Restaurant
31 N. Market St., San Jose
Multiple locations
I’m not sure how this counts as new, but I don’t argue the other awards. Apparently they dropped the “Coop” from the name.
Satori Tea Company
Best Place for a Destroyed Nervous System
37 N. San Pedro St., San Jose
Britannia Arms, San Jose
Best British Pub #2 Best Sports Bar #2 Best Pre-Sharks Game Spot #2 Best Restaurant Patio #3 Best Happy Hour
173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose
Metro readers really really like this place. Can you believe I’ve never been there?
Hotel De Anza
#3 Best Luxury Hotel – San Jose/Los Gatos
233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose
Hedley Club Lounge (Hotel De Anza)
#2 Best Hotel Bar
233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose
Schurra’s
Best Chocolate Shop
840 The Alameda, San Jose
A surprise win, but well-deserved. It’s special to me because I stopped by Schurra’s for an ice cream cone the day I created this blog. Sadly Bill Mundy, former owner of Schurra’s and father of the current owner, passed away last month, another sad loss to The Alameda.
The Watergarden
#3 Best Gay or Lesbian Bar
1010 The Alameda, San Jose
Recently I walked by this place, heard water running, and wondered what it was. Now I know.
The Usuals
Best Boutique-Gallery Crossover
1020 The Alameda, San Jose
The now classic “I heart SJ” tee shirts made them a lock for this prize. Congratulations to Mari and Mike, friends of AllCamino!
Recycle Bookstore
#2 Best Local Independent Bookstore
1066 The Alameda, San Jose
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines
Best Local Winery
1000 Lenzen Ave., San Jose
Also a great place to throw a party. We held my wife’s birthday party there a few years ago and it was a hit.
Tee Nee Thai
Best Thai Restaurant Beer and Wine List
1423 The Alameda, San Jose
Near and dear to me, the subject of my very first blog post.
Planned Parenthood
#3 Best Organization Making a Difference
1691 The Alameda, San Jose
YMCA
#2 Best Health Club
1717 The Alameda, San Jose
Various locations
KSCU-FM (103.3)
#2 Best College/Independent Radio Station 500 El Camino Real, #3207, Santa Clara
The Off Ramp
Best Bicycle Shop
2369 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
2320 El Camino Real, Mountain View
Funny how similar the two addresses are, but they’re nine miles apart. That’s El Camino!
Russell’s Furniture
Best Furniture Store
2645 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
Santa Clara Ballet
#3 Best Dance Company
3086 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
Orchard Supply
Best Alternative to Home Depot
3615 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
777 Sunnyvale Saratoga Road, Sunnyvale
Multiple locations
Fish Market
Best Seafood Restaurant
3775 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
This is going to be a big weekend for women’s soccer on El Camino Real. Friday, October 1 the Ohlone College Renegades are leaving their home field above Mission San Jose in Fremont and traveling around the Bay to play the Mission College Saints in Santa Clara. Yep, it’s Mission vs. Mission. One can only assume the Renegades will be following El Camino de San Jose to get to Santa Clara. They may consider stopping at Penitencia Creek in Milpitas the way the padres did back in the day to confess their sins.
Saturday, October 2 American soccer legend Brandi Chastain is celebrating her retirement from professional play by hosting a testimonial all-star game at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara on El Camino Real. The game starts at 6:00 PM but festivities start at 3:00 PM with family activities and a sold-out youth clinic. It’s unknown whether Brandi will be ripping her jersey off at the final whistle Saturday as she did when she famously scored the penalty kick that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup 1999 for the U.S., but knowing her, anything is possible.
Menlo College will be quite busy. They’re showcasing their stamina by hosting not one but two women’s soccer matches this weekend on El Camino Real in Atherton: Saturday at 1:00 PM against the Bethany University Bruins (Scotts Valley), and Sunday at 12:00 PM against the Chapman University Panthers (Orange, CA). The mighty Oaks are looking to build momentum from their decisive 7-0 trouncing of the Mills College Cyclone last week, Menlo’s first win of the season.
Sunday, October 3 at 1:00 PM, in a marquis matchup the Santa Clara University Broncos are heading up The Royal Road to face off against the Stanford University Cardinal. Both teams are hot this year. The Cardinal are undefeated with a 8-0-2 record, but Santa Clara nearly matches at an impressive 7-2-2. ([Update] Here’s a great article about the history of the Santa Clara-Stanford rivalry.) The Stanford women are undoubtedly buoyed by the fact that four of their alums are on the hometown FC Gold Pride squad that won the Women’s Professional Soccer championship last week, defeating the Philadelphia Independence in Hayward. Actually that’s an accomplishment that everyone in the Bay Area can be proud of.
Last November I took a bus ride up El Camino Real from San Jose to San Francisco and blogged my impressions and observations. To avoid giving myself whiplash, that day I only looked out the right side of the bus at the eastern side of the street and doggedly ignored the left side so the job was only half done. Last Friday, September 3, 2010, I completed the task, taking the reverse bus trip from San Francisco down to San Jose, observing the west side. Back in November I scribbled all my notes on the bus by hand in a notebook and ended up taking four months to type them all up. It’s not that I’m a slow typist, it’s just that the scope of the project was much larger than I anticipated. For the second trip I found a more efficient way: I live-tweeted my journey.
If you’re unfamiliar with tweeting, it means I used my cell phone on the road to type and send text messages to the Twitter service. Twitter messages, or “tweets,” are limited to 140 characters each so it enforces brevity. A great advantage is that every message was timestamped and geocoded by GPS so I have a complete record of what I saw, when I saw it, and where I was. I tried to live in the moment and just write what was on my mind which means whatever happened to catch my eye out the bus window. I know it’s a pretty pedestrian read (irony intended) but I hope I conveyed a sense of El Camino’s diverse profile.
Below are my 167 tweets from that day from my brand new @allcamino twitter account. It took some effort to extract them all from Twitter’s web site. There are web apps that do this but they didn’t work for me because they rely on Twitter’s search engine which failed me, returning only six tweets (?!). I wrote a Perl script to convert their HTML to the format I wanted for the blog. To improve the readability I put each time stamp and location stamp against the right margin above each tweet. You can click the location links to open a Google map. My live-tweeting strategy worked great. Last year it took me four months to finish the writeup. Here I’ve done it in less than four days.
I cleaned the text up, fixing obvious two-left-thumb typos and grammar issues, but the content is largely raw and uncut. I’ve put a few editor notes in [square] brackets and added hyperlinks for your reference. I’ve written broader post-trip comments in between tweets in italics. You’ll see a bunch of the photos I took, many from the windows of the buses. Please excuse their quality. (more…)
Eight young American women kicked butt in the 2010 China Girls Mathematical Olympiad held August 9 – 13 in Shijiazhuang, about 100 miles from Beijing. They brought home to the USA five gold medals, one silver medal, one bronze medal, and one honorable mention. Four of the girls are from California, three from right here in Silicon Valley. One of the gold medalists, Lynnelle Ye, proudly represents El Camino Real; she just graduated from Palo Alto High School, she’s been taking advanced math courses at Stanford University since her junior year, and she’ll be attending The Farm in the Fall.
The China Girls Mathematical Olympiad is an international event where young women attempt to solve six math problems in nine hours split over two days. No calculus is required but the problems are…challenging. Here are a couple samples I found from a similar competition.
Prove that for each positive integer n, there are pairwise relatively prime integers k0, k1, …, kn, all strictly greater than 1, such that k0k1 … kn – 1 is the product of two consecutive integers.
At a certain mathematical conference, every pair of mathematicians are either friends or strangers. At mealtime, every participant eats in one of two large dining rooms. Each mathematician insists upon eating in a room which contains an even number of his or her friends. Prove that the number of ways that the mathematicians may be split between the two rooms is a power of two (i.e., is of the form 2k for some positive integer k).
Ironically as you see the competitors are given the answers; they have to provide the proofs. It’s the mathematical equivalent of essay questions.
I’m the romantic fluffy type who wants to talk about the scenery, because Hong Kong is the coolest place on Earth. So cool that I even bought a few refrigerator magnets. I think I’m going to build my castle here when I grow up.
Yesterday, we went to Ocean Park for most of the day. It was awesome! We got to see a lot of animals, including giant pandas, red pandas, sea otters, chinese alligators/crocodiles, dolphins, and sea lions. My favorites were by far the giant pandas. They were so cute! (I wish that I could hug them 🙂 ).
So, today’s classes were lots of fun. First we had Polynomials with Po-Ru, where I got to brush up on interpolation. Then we did awesomely awesome constructions problems with Ian. Finally, in the afternoon, Carlos showed us some really cool angle-chasing problems. In fact, one of them is now my new favorite math problem!
Congratulations to these exceptional young ladies! They’ve got math skillz, and they’ll go far.
El Palo Alto, the giant redwood that gave the city its name, has been tagged by graffiti vandals. I am disgusted. This is so wrong on so many levels I hardly know where to begin.
This towering redwood stands over the bank of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto near the county line. It’s over 1,000 years old. According to lore it’s where Don Gaspar de Portolá and his expedition camped in 1769 after having discovered San Francisco Bay. It was said to be the tallest tree for miles around so it’s always been a landmark, a defining feature of the region. It dominates the seal of Stanford University and leads the band out onto the field at football games. (If that makes no sense to you, just Google it.) El Camino Real lays beside this majestic tree, humanity’s parade paying tribute as it marches by.
I suppose I shouldn’t judge, but it’s deeply disappointing that someone could deface a historic landmark like that. The police are investigating but I suppose the perpetrator may never be caught. At least we have philosophy. The tree has withstood a lot in the last millennium. It used to have a double trunk; one was lost in a violent storm. Pollution from the nearby Southern Pacific railroad nearly poisoned it, but still it stands. The senseless graffiti will fade as will the vandal who put it there, but what El Palo Alto teaches us is that goodwill always endures.
The 39th Annual Stanford Powwow is happening this weekend, Friday May 7 through Sunday May 9, 2010 (Mother’s Day!) in the Eucalyptus Grove at Stanford University, near the Stadium. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never been, but I’m making plans finally to go this year. It’s billed as the largest student-run Powwow in the nation. The focus is Native American drumming and dance competitions, but I expect also to be dazzled by an array of arts, crafts, cultural displays, and food vendors. I’m really excited to try frybread. I don’t know what it will taste like but really with a name like that, you can’t go wrong.
There are interesting intersections between Stanford University and local Native American history. Thousands of years before the Spanish arrived, the Muwekma Ohlone people occupied the entire Bay Area in an interwoven complex of tribal clusters. They left behind archeological remains and the vast Stanford land alone holds more than sixty excavated sites. Young Leland Stanford, Jr. used to enjoy collecting arrowheads and mortars and pestles from the property. In the 1930s the students adopted the Indian as the athletic teams’ mascot. In 1946 the “Mad Indian” logo was created, featuring an Indian caricature with a big nose. In 1952 Timm Williams (pictured), member of the Yurok Tribe (um…best tribe name ever), began appearing at sporting events as Prince Lightfoot in full Native regalia, and continued his appearances for nineteen years. In 1970 during the midst of the Indian occupation of Alcatraz, newly organized Native American students and staff petitioned University President Richard Lyman to put an end to the mascot appearances, feeling they were a mockery of Native American religion. Discussions, negotiations, and further petitions over the next few years led to the abolition of all uses of the Indian symbol and mascot, the reasoning being that they were at best insensitive and unworthy, and at worst offensive and racist. This issue continues to be controversial among alumni of the era who cherished the old mascot without meaning to give offense, and defended Williams’ sincerity.
This blog is another reason I want to go to the Powwow this year. Obviously it promises to be a spectacular El Camino event. More than that though, I hope it will help me on the difficult path of reconciling nostalgia over a romantic notion of California’s mission days with the painful reality of the suffering and injustice the Spanish and later the Americans brought to the Native inhabitants. I can look at California today and easily see the Spanish, Mexican, and Yankee influences. This weekend I want to start opening my eyes to see the Native spirit, the sublime and the profane, that dwelled in this land before the others came, and to learn to recognize how it manifests today.
No Faire?
This is the Powwow’s 39th year. This should also be the Stanford Spring Faire’s 40th year, but I can’t find any evidence that it’s happening this year or happened last year. For as long as I can remember the Powwow and Spring Faire have happened together, every year during Mother’s Day weekend. The Faire is an arts, crafts, and entertainment festival in White Plaza benefiting The Bridge, Stanford’s peer counseling service. I’ve been to the Faire many times, and every time I promise myself I’ll go to the Powwow next year. Well I’m finally going to the Powwow and go figure…no Faire. I haven’t confirmed if it’s on or off so if you know something about the Stanford Faire, tell me.
Get your tee shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies at The Usuals on The Alameda in San Jose. This iconic design by Mike Millares of Deadstök is blowing up; don’t miss the excitement. Here’s a challenge: upload or email to The Usuals an unusual photo of yourself wearing your shirt. We’re trying to start a movement. (This picture of me doesn’t count as unusual; the movement hadn’t started yet when we took it.)
I know, I know, gift cards are the last refuge of the uninventive and the desperate, but you know they work and they’re always appreciated. Here’s the beautiful thing: if you get a Simon gift card, the recipient can use it at either the Great Mall or Stanford Shopping Center, both of which are within the AllCamino jurisdiction. They’re good at Gilroy Premium Outlets too, which is pretty darn close to Monterey Road. How Camino is that?
Ah, C. J. Olson Cherries, jewel of Sunnyvale. I’m crazy about the summer fruit they sell at the fruit stand, but when winter rolls around I’m all about their dried fruit. In particular I love the mixed pastels: Bing cherries, pears, blueberries, and Olson’s famous apricots dipped in creamy chocolate and sealed in a color-coded candy coating. Toothsome and tasty. Look for them at the San Jose and Oakland airports if you need to grab a quick gift on your way out of town.
Stanford University is a hotbed of collegiate a cappella music with nine diverse groups on campus at last count. They all have recordings available, and I’m pretty sure you can find their latest and greatest CDs at the Stanford Bookstore. If not, you can contact the groups directly, and some even sell their recordings through Amazon.com and other outlets. Check out “Through the Roof” by my old group, Fleet Street. Yes I’m shameless, but it’s my blog and I’ll plug if I want to.
Ah, I just thought of something from San Mateo County! See’s Candies is headquartered in South San Francisco right on El Camino. Their retail stores, of course, can be found everywhere. I’ve actually never had their Polar Bear Paws but they sound awesome: white chocolate, roasted peanuts, and caramel. The perfect holiday treat.
This towering redwood stands over the bank of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto near the county line. It’s over 1,000 years old. According to lore it’s where Don Gaspar de Portolá and his expedition camped in 1769 after having discovered San Francisco Bay. It was said to be the tallest tree for miles around so it’s always been a landmark, a defining feature of the region. It dominates the seal of Stanford University and leads the band out onto the field at football games. (If that makes no sense to you, just Google it.) El Camino Real lays beside this majestic tree, humanity’s parade paying tribute as it marches by.
There are interesting intersections between