This past week I spent some time in the San Jose Convention Center, giving me a refreshed appreciation of our hometown's facilities. The occasion was the VON -- voice on the 'Net -- conference.
Unlike the Santa Clara Convention Center, San Jose's operation has all the convivial charm of, well, the set of a low-budget slasher flick. It's big, barn-like, frigidly cold -- literally -- and eerily empty.
But the piece de resistance is that parking costs you $1 every 20 minutes. So if you spend an afternoon at a trade show, the tab is $20 or more. Adding insult to injury, half the time the clever little machines that take your money (don't expect to find a human being on the premises) spit out your credit card with a cheery message that your credit card is unreadable. Ditto for the $20 bill you try as an alternative.
By the end of the day -- and this may sound corny, I know -- I was homesick for Santa Clara's Convention Center with its bright, sunlit spaces and ample free parking. The irony is that the VON show started in Santa Clara but outgrew our exhibition space.
I can't wait for the expansion to be completed.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Practiced Deceits
First, link love to James Rowan at Mission City Lantern for a nice mention of my last post about the old Kaiser hospital site.
Practiced Deceits
Sometimes you go to the theater and simply enjoy the show. Other times the performance sucker punches you, lays you out flat and sends you home feeling transformed. The Greeks, who invented theater, called it catharsis.
It doesn't happen often -- at least not for me -- but when it does, I wallow in it. Like last Friday night at the opening of Santa Clara University's current show, Dangerous Liaisons, Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel.
Staged by San Francisco director Tracy Ward, this visually sumptuous production hit the ground running the minute the house lights dropped and didn't let up until they went up.
Liaisons tells the story of aristocratic French libertines, Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont. Members of a social class with no legitimate occupation – today's Hilton sisters -- society is their playing field and other people their chess pieces.
The pair devotes considerable talent, wit, dissembling skill, and all their waking hours to this game. (It's something with lots of resonance today, when most of us have forayed at some point into cyberspace's fluid identities, alternative realities or e-romances.)
As the story opens, we see the two betting whether Valmont can seduce the virtuous Madame de Tourvel. The Marquise, meanwhile, sets Valmont on young Cecile de Volanges, recently graduated from a convent school to marry one of Merteuil's former lovers.
When Cecile falls in love with her music teacher, Chevalier Danceny, Merteuil and Valmont step in, ostensibly to help -- setting up the young couple as pawns in their ongoing game.
As diabolical as it sounds, the story is more Moliere than Marquis de Sade.
Hilary Tarver (the Marquise) and Alexander Tavera (Valmont) glitter as the "virtuosos of deceit," delivering the rapier-sharp dialog with panache.
Tarver bewitches as the predatory Marquise. This young woman has something better than Bette Davis eyes -- she has Bette Davis stage presence. She is dead-on in her rendering of a woman who, brought up to be society's victim, becomes a master predator among the predatory. Tarver puts every movement, every gesture and every inflection to work, putting spectators as helplessly under her spell as her onstage victims.
As Valmont's valet and accomplice in seduction, Chad Eschman hit exactly the right balance of slapstick and satire. The company ably brought the play's comedy to life, with the sex jokes -- and there are plenty, like Valmont's "Latin lessons" for Cecile -- drawing plenty of belly laughs.
But while sex is the story's language, it's not the subject, and Ward's staging and direction deftly unravels the subtext prowling below.
The erotic power struggle between Merteuil and Valmont smolders continuously at the edges of the action. But because the first to yield loses the game, so neither can ever drop the mask. In the ensuing tragedy, the winner loses by winning and it turns out that the greatest lie isn't professing love you don't feel, but denying love you do.
Written on the French Revolution's brink, Liaisons is often probed for social commentary. I'll leave aside the very obvious one about women's education and social position.
What interested me more was the way Ward gave us another drama in the intervals between scenes -- which also keeps the action going during a multiplicity of scene changes. As the servants move the props between scenes, they show us their hidden lives. Ward's staging makes us "see" the people who exist for the privileged classes only insofar as they're needed for life's dirty work. Until, of course, they turn murderous.
While Hampton's script ends with a guillotine's shadow falling across the stage, Ward wisely declines this particular lily-gilding device. Instead she chooses a more ambiguous ending -- a more ambiguous one than Laclos' own, which always seemed to me like an afterthought. Instead, Ward leaves it open. Does the Marquise continue her villainous career? Repent and join a convent? Lose her lovely head in the Revolution? Or escape the mob and fetch up on the shores of the New World, ready to reinvent herself yet again?
Ward lets us consider all the possibilities.
Dangerous Liaisons is playing at SCU's Mayer Theatre, Wed. through Sat. at 8pm through March 8. Admission is $5-$16. Call (408) 554-4015 for tickets. This show isn't appropriate for children. For more information, visit www.scu.edu/cpa.
Practiced Deceits
Sometimes you go to the theater and simply enjoy the show. Other times the performance sucker punches you, lays you out flat and sends you home feeling transformed. The Greeks, who invented theater, called it catharsis.
It doesn't happen often -- at least not for me -- but when it does, I wallow in it. Like last Friday night at the opening of Santa Clara University's current show, Dangerous Liaisons, Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel.
Staged by San Francisco director Tracy Ward, this visually sumptuous production hit the ground running the minute the house lights dropped and didn't let up until they went up.
Liaisons tells the story of aristocratic French libertines, Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont. Members of a social class with no legitimate occupation – today's Hilton sisters -- society is their playing field and other people their chess pieces.
The pair devotes considerable talent, wit, dissembling skill, and all their waking hours to this game. (It's something with lots of resonance today, when most of us have forayed at some point into cyberspace's fluid identities, alternative realities or e-romances.)
As the story opens, we see the two betting whether Valmont can seduce the virtuous Madame de Tourvel. The Marquise, meanwhile, sets Valmont on young Cecile de Volanges, recently graduated from a convent school to marry one of Merteuil's former lovers.
When Cecile falls in love with her music teacher, Chevalier Danceny, Merteuil and Valmont step in, ostensibly to help -- setting up the young couple as pawns in their ongoing game.
As diabolical as it sounds, the story is more Moliere than Marquis de Sade.
Hilary Tarver (the Marquise) and Alexander Tavera (Valmont) glitter as the "virtuosos of deceit," delivering the rapier-sharp dialog with panache.
Tarver bewitches as the predatory Marquise. This young woman has something better than Bette Davis eyes -- she has Bette Davis stage presence. She is dead-on in her rendering of a woman who, brought up to be society's victim, becomes a master predator among the predatory. Tarver puts every movement, every gesture and every inflection to work, putting spectators as helplessly under her spell as her onstage victims.
As Valmont's valet and accomplice in seduction, Chad Eschman hit exactly the right balance of slapstick and satire. The company ably brought the play's comedy to life, with the sex jokes -- and there are plenty, like Valmont's "Latin lessons" for Cecile -- drawing plenty of belly laughs.
But while sex is the story's language, it's not the subject, and Ward's staging and direction deftly unravels the subtext prowling below.
The erotic power struggle between Merteuil and Valmont smolders continuously at the edges of the action. But because the first to yield loses the game, so neither can ever drop the mask. In the ensuing tragedy, the winner loses by winning and it turns out that the greatest lie isn't professing love you don't feel, but denying love you do.
Written on the French Revolution's brink, Liaisons is often probed for social commentary. I'll leave aside the very obvious one about women's education and social position.
What interested me more was the way Ward gave us another drama in the intervals between scenes -- which also keeps the action going during a multiplicity of scene changes. As the servants move the props between scenes, they show us their hidden lives. Ward's staging makes us "see" the people who exist for the privileged classes only insofar as they're needed for life's dirty work. Until, of course, they turn murderous.
While Hampton's script ends with a guillotine's shadow falling across the stage, Ward wisely declines this particular lily-gilding device. Instead she chooses a more ambiguous ending -- a more ambiguous one than Laclos' own, which always seemed to me like an afterthought. Instead, Ward leaves it open. Does the Marquise continue her villainous career? Repent and join a convent? Lose her lovely head in the Revolution? Or escape the mob and fetch up on the shores of the New World, ready to reinvent herself yet again?
Ward lets us consider all the possibilities.
Dangerous Liaisons is playing at SCU's Mayer Theatre, Wed. through Sat. at 8pm through March 8. Admission is $5-$16. Call (408) 554-4015 for tickets. This show isn't appropriate for children. For more information, visit www.scu.edu/cpa.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
On the Street Where I Live
Last week I had an interesting conversation with Kevin Park of Concerned Santa Clara about Fairfield's development proposal for the old Kaiser hospital site — 900 Kiely. One of the things that we talked about was the fact that the plan doesn't include any retail space — which we both agreed was a mistake.
One of the surest ways to get people out of their cars and onto their feet is to bring everyday services and shopping into their neighborhoods. From that perspective I have an enviable address.
In the 21 years that we have lived in our townhouse, a lot of people have come and gone. Young people buy here with the grand plan of moving to a free-standing house in a more "residential" area as soon as they can. But to me, this address is a destination.
First, I'm in the City of Santa Clara -- the little city that works.
Second, I'm right across the street from Lucky's, Long's, Starbucks, San Tomas Liquors, Carl's Jr., a pizzeria (not to be compared with Slice of NY, but still, it's right there), a drycleaner, and a sushi bar. Walk another block, and there's a 7-11, Vanna Nails (where I've been going for 15 years and which is one of the most expert nail salons around), 4-5-6 Chinese food, a laundromat, a shoe repair, three hair salons, the Pruneridge golf course, and, if you hustle pool, the Sportsman's.
We used to have one of Santa Clara's best restaurants, Brigitte's, until the building owner jacked up the lease beyond what the traffic could bear. That piece of real estate acumen sure paid off — the space has been vacant for 18 months.
Not only does neighborhood shopping make you feel virtuous about all the $4-a-gallon gasoline you're not burning, it also builds community. You see and talk to people. You get to know something about the people you share your neighborhood with. Sure I wish this was a more attractive, downtown-like spot. But I'll take the cash and let the credit go.
I like having people around me. I like casual conversation — the kind women used to have over the backyard clothesline and neighbors shared sitting on the front porch (we called it a stoop in Brooklyn) on hot summer evenings.
It makes me feel sorry for people living in Los Altos or Woodside. How dull to be cocooned in your one-acre lot and multi-million dollar house, having to fire up the Mercedes just to be able to while away a rainy afternoon with a book and a cappuchino, watching the world go by. Sitting by yourself in your private media room is not the same thing — not at all.
I'll be following the 900 Kiely proposal as it unfolds. And I suspect that, as usual, I won't make any side of the question entirely happy with my coverage. And I'm sure that the final development won't be perfect — like everything else in this less-than-perfect world.
But some shops and cafes would sure make it less imperfect.
One of the surest ways to get people out of their cars and onto their feet is to bring everyday services and shopping into their neighborhoods. From that perspective I have an enviable address.
In the 21 years that we have lived in our townhouse, a lot of people have come and gone. Young people buy here with the grand plan of moving to a free-standing house in a more "residential" area as soon as they can. But to me, this address is a destination.
First, I'm in the City of Santa Clara -- the little city that works.
Second, I'm right across the street from Lucky's, Long's, Starbucks, San Tomas Liquors, Carl's Jr., a pizzeria (not to be compared with Slice of NY, but still, it's right there), a drycleaner, and a sushi bar. Walk another block, and there's a 7-11, Vanna Nails (where I've been going for 15 years and which is one of the most expert nail salons around), 4-5-6 Chinese food, a laundromat, a shoe repair, three hair salons, the Pruneridge golf course, and, if you hustle pool, the Sportsman's.
We used to have one of Santa Clara's best restaurants, Brigitte's, until the building owner jacked up the lease beyond what the traffic could bear. That piece of real estate acumen sure paid off — the space has been vacant for 18 months.
Not only does neighborhood shopping make you feel virtuous about all the $4-a-gallon gasoline you're not burning, it also builds community. You see and talk to people. You get to know something about the people you share your neighborhood with. Sure I wish this was a more attractive, downtown-like spot. But I'll take the cash and let the credit go.
I like having people around me. I like casual conversation — the kind women used to have over the backyard clothesline and neighbors shared sitting on the front porch (we called it a stoop in Brooklyn) on hot summer evenings.
It makes me feel sorry for people living in Los Altos or Woodside. How dull to be cocooned in your one-acre lot and multi-million dollar house, having to fire up the Mercedes just to be able to while away a rainy afternoon with a book and a cappuchino, watching the world go by. Sitting by yourself in your private media room is not the same thing — not at all.
I'll be following the 900 Kiely proposal as it unfolds. And I suspect that, as usual, I won't make any side of the question entirely happy with my coverage. And I'm sure that the final development won't be perfect — like everything else in this less-than-perfect world.
But some shops and cafes would sure make it less imperfect.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Strange Bedfellows
Truly the end times have arrived. The lion is lying down with the lamb.
I am, of course referring to the January 15 City Council meeting where Chris Stampolis and Miles Barber came down on the same side of an issue; namely the 49ers stadium.
When did you last see that happen? It's certainly something to think about.
I am, of course referring to the January 15 City Council meeting where Chris Stampolis and Miles Barber came down on the same side of an issue; namely the 49ers stadium.
When did you last see that happen? It's certainly something to think about.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Stadium Follies
After the Oct. 23 City Council meeting, I can only assume the Santa Clara Plays Fair advocacy group intends the word 'play' in its theatrical sense. In which case, its troupe might do better to tour its act on the comedy club circuit rather than at City Hall.
Its show bombed when the anti-49ers stadium group flung its fanfold computer paper petition across the width of the Council Chambers in streamer after streamer. It reminded me of the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera when Groucho, Chico and Harpo all try to get through customs with Maurice Chevalier's passport.
The performance wasn't improved by a spontaneous encore from the city's reigning municipal rage-monger, a guy with comedian Lewis Black's psycho delivery but none of Black's cleverness or wit.
Perhaps you shouldn't judge the message by the messenger. On the other hand, as Marshall McLuhan famously said, the medium is the message.
Belligerence, confrontation, adolescent antics, clumsy sarcasm, and snide -- and not-so-snide – insults all telegraph a clear message, although probably not the one SCPF intended.
The message that came through is a zero-sum power play: I win, you lose. It denies compromise and consensus. It's the Bush-Cheney modus operandi. It leads to waterboarding, not fair play.
And tactically, it makes no sense to alienate people right out of the box. Take me, for example.
I have no opinion about the proposed 49ers stadium project. I'm not a football fan. I will probably never set foot in the stadium. If anyone has no horse in this race, it's me.
But after last week's meeting, although I remain undecided about the stadium, I sure do have an opinion about SCPF.
And that's a lose-lose. I didn't gain any more insight into the question and they lost the opportunity to gain a vote.
There are other ways to do things. In fact, there's someone right here in town whose name is synonymous with win-win politics: retired State Senator John Vasconcellos.
The senator was a master at finding consensus with people of widely disparate views. In the process he racked up significant legislative achievements. Since retiring, he's been actively advancing his approach through his non-profit Politics of Trust foundation.
Its guiding principal is simple: "Human beings are innately inclined toward becoming affirming and constructive, responsible and trustworthy." So far the organization has launched three projects to coach and mentor elected officials and advocacy groups in the art of influencing and governing through building common ground.
What does that have to do with the price of a 21st century sports stadium?
Vasconcellos' approach suggests, for a start, assuming that those who disagree with us are honest and want the best for Santa Clara, just as we do. That precludes last week's sideshow.
Second, let's keep the discussion on the issue facing us: Is it a prudent investment for the City? Asking why the Yorks don't ante up to fill the $200 million funding gap is specious. Cities have revenue streams that private businesses don't – taxes.
How does tax revenue look 10, 20, 50 years into the future? Can the stadium help the City reduce its vulnerability to the boom and bust cycles of technology and real estate? Because this would be a regional asset – and a regional sales tax generator -- shouldn't the rest of the region contribute?
These are some of the questions I look forward to hearing answers to as analysis goes forward. However, I'm not likely to tune in to reruns of the Santa Clara Plays Fair show any time soon. Maybe TV Land will air them, right after All in the Family.
Its show bombed when the anti-49ers stadium group flung its fanfold computer paper petition across the width of the Council Chambers in streamer after streamer. It reminded me of the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera when Groucho, Chico and Harpo all try to get through customs with Maurice Chevalier's passport.
The performance wasn't improved by a spontaneous encore from the city's reigning municipal rage-monger, a guy with comedian Lewis Black's psycho delivery but none of Black's cleverness or wit.
Perhaps you shouldn't judge the message by the messenger. On the other hand, as Marshall McLuhan famously said, the medium is the message.
Belligerence, confrontation, adolescent antics, clumsy sarcasm, and snide -- and not-so-snide – insults all telegraph a clear message, although probably not the one SCPF intended.
The message that came through is a zero-sum power play: I win, you lose. It denies compromise and consensus. It's the Bush-Cheney modus operandi. It leads to waterboarding, not fair play.
And tactically, it makes no sense to alienate people right out of the box. Take me, for example.
I have no opinion about the proposed 49ers stadium project. I'm not a football fan. I will probably never set foot in the stadium. If anyone has no horse in this race, it's me.
But after last week's meeting, although I remain undecided about the stadium, I sure do have an opinion about SCPF.
And that's a lose-lose. I didn't gain any more insight into the question and they lost the opportunity to gain a vote.
There are other ways to do things. In fact, there's someone right here in town whose name is synonymous with win-win politics: retired State Senator John Vasconcellos.
The senator was a master at finding consensus with people of widely disparate views. In the process he racked up significant legislative achievements. Since retiring, he's been actively advancing his approach through his non-profit Politics of Trust foundation.
Its guiding principal is simple: "Human beings are innately inclined toward becoming affirming and constructive, responsible and trustworthy." So far the organization has launched three projects to coach and mentor elected officials and advocacy groups in the art of influencing and governing through building common ground.
What does that have to do with the price of a 21st century sports stadium?
Vasconcellos' approach suggests, for a start, assuming that those who disagree with us are honest and want the best for Santa Clara, just as we do. That precludes last week's sideshow.
Second, let's keep the discussion on the issue facing us: Is it a prudent investment for the City? Asking why the Yorks don't ante up to fill the $200 million funding gap is specious. Cities have revenue streams that private businesses don't – taxes.
How does tax revenue look 10, 20, 50 years into the future? Can the stadium help the City reduce its vulnerability to the boom and bust cycles of technology and real estate? Because this would be a regional asset – and a regional sales tax generator -- shouldn't the rest of the region contribute?
These are some of the questions I look forward to hearing answers to as analysis goes forward. However, I'm not likely to tune in to reruns of the Santa Clara Plays Fair show any time soon. Maybe TV Land will air them, right after All in the Family.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Carmelite Convent - Santa Clara's Oasis of Tranquility
A few days ago, someone told our Weekly photographer Christy Kinney that he was delighted to read this week's cover story about the Carmelite Monastery on Benton St. The reason was that he had just visited it for the first time and found a wonderful tranquility in the grounds and the church.
That's what makes our efforts worthwhile.
The convent is one of my favorite spots around Santa Clara. I discovered it shortly after moving here in 1983 and often went there on Sunday afternoon for vespers. It was very healing for me at a time when I often felt disoriented after moving from upstate New York to work for a now long-defunct Silicon Valley startup.
The Carmelite convent was also a favorite of my mother's. When she visited, we often walked in the olive orchard and sat by the shady, secluded shrine of Virgin Mary. Afterwards we would ride out to Alviso for a light supper at Val's and a walk past the now "high and dry" early 20th century yacht club.
As soon as we crossed the border into Alviso, my mother would announce, "Well now we're in John Steinbeck's California." She liked that California better than Silicon Valley. She would be sad to see relentless gentrification pushing ever deeper into the faded, sleepy little town at the tip of the Bay.
Alviso has a close connection with Santa Clara history.
Santa Clara pioneer Harry Wade built a wharf in Alviso to accommodate freight shipping from South Bay locations to San Francisco. Harry's son Charles married Estafina Alviso, daughter of Ygnacio Alviso, majordomo fo the Santa Clara Mission and grantee of the Rancho Rincon de los Estros — where today's Alviso stands.
We don't do the best job in Santa Clara of promoting the historic charms of our city. One of the few times they get in the spotlight is the Historic Home Tour in December. I'd love to see a Santa Clara history and neighborhood tour. What are your favorite spots around town? Maybe we can talk it over some time over a cup of coffee at Val's.
That's what makes our efforts worthwhile.
The convent is one of my favorite spots around Santa Clara. I discovered it shortly after moving here in 1983 and often went there on Sunday afternoon for vespers. It was very healing for me at a time when I often felt disoriented after moving from upstate New York to work for a now long-defunct Silicon Valley startup.
The Carmelite convent was also a favorite of my mother's. When she visited, we often walked in the olive orchard and sat by the shady, secluded shrine of Virgin Mary. Afterwards we would ride out to Alviso for a light supper at Val's and a walk past the now "high and dry" early 20th century yacht club.
As soon as we crossed the border into Alviso, my mother would announce, "Well now we're in John Steinbeck's California." She liked that California better than Silicon Valley. She would be sad to see relentless gentrification pushing ever deeper into the faded, sleepy little town at the tip of the Bay.
Alviso has a close connection with Santa Clara history.
Santa Clara pioneer Harry Wade built a wharf in Alviso to accommodate freight shipping from South Bay locations to San Francisco. Harry's son Charles married Estafina Alviso, daughter of Ygnacio Alviso, majordomo fo the Santa Clara Mission and grantee of the Rancho Rincon de los Estros — where today's Alviso stands.
We don't do the best job in Santa Clara of promoting the historic charms of our city. One of the few times they get in the spotlight is the Historic Home Tour in December. I'd love to see a Santa Clara history and neighborhood tour. What are your favorite spots around town? Maybe we can talk it over some time over a cup of coffee at Val's.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Getting Connected
Let's face it -- City Council meetings are pretty dull most of the time.
You've got to hand it to Council Members, whatever you think of them or their politics. It takes a special dedication to plough through those meetings every two weeks -- not to mention enduring verbal rotten tomatos thrown on a regular basis by Santa Clara's unhinged and perennially malcontent. Like I once read about the Queen of England: She attends more boring events in a month than most people do in a lifetime.
However, for those of us who find it necessary on occasion to be physically present at a meeting -- instead of watching it on TV -- things have gotten better recently.
I'm referring to the free WiFI Internet access that the City provides as a courtesy in the Chambers. Now while you're waiting for your agenda item to come up, you can handle your email, IM your buddies, post to your blog, do your Christmas shopping or Google your ex-husband.
Also worthy of mention is that the City recently added an electrical outlet for the press table so members of the fourth estate can charge up their laptops during marathon meetings.
Now if we could just click "close" on some people's mouths....
You've got to hand it to Council Members, whatever you think of them or their politics. It takes a special dedication to plough through those meetings every two weeks -- not to mention enduring verbal rotten tomatos thrown on a regular basis by Santa Clara's unhinged and perennially malcontent. Like I once read about the Queen of England: She attends more boring events in a month than most people do in a lifetime.
However, for those of us who find it necessary on occasion to be physically present at a meeting -- instead of watching it on TV -- things have gotten better recently.
I'm referring to the free WiFI Internet access that the City provides as a courtesy in the Chambers. Now while you're waiting for your agenda item to come up, you can handle your email, IM your buddies, post to your blog, do your Christmas shopping or Google your ex-husband.
Also worthy of mention is that the City recently added an electrical outlet for the press table so members of the fourth estate can charge up their laptops during marathon meetings.
Now if we could just click "close" on some people's mouths....
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