Former 49'ers Quarterback, Steve Young, Sports 'No On 8' Signs Outside Home

Former San Francisco 49'ers Quarterback, Steve Young, puts up several 'No On Prop 8' signs outside his Palo Alto home.

Interestingly enough, he's Mormon. His wife apparently donated $50,000 to No On Prop 8.

Watch the CBS 5 Video Here:
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=41267@kpix.dayport.com

No on Hate, No on Prop 8 - Cupertino, CA Rally 11.1.08

A large contingent of No on Prop 8 supporters stood out in the rain to get out the word on No on 8. We stood at 4 corners at the intersection of Stelling & Stevens Creek. We had representation from Campbell City Council Member Evan Low, Cupertino Mayor Dolly Sandoval, Vice Mayor of Mountain View Margaret Abe-Koga, Congressman Mike Honda and Paul Fong. We got lots of love and honks. A few haters, but that's to be expected.

Pictures on Facebook

Congressman Mike Honda speaks out against Proposition 8

Cupertino Mayor Dolly Sandoval Speak Out Against Proposition 8

Silicon Valley Leaders Take A Stand Against Proposition 8

Kara Swisher, writer for the blog Boomtown at All Things Digital, uncovered a huge ad meant for the San Jose Mercury News.  The ad lists Silicon Valley Leaders who take a stand against California's Proposition 8 and why they do so.

Read the article here: http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081030/silicon-valley-leaders-say-no-to-proposition-8/

The honorary co-chairs of “Silicon Valley Leaders Say NO on Proposition 8″ include:

Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder

Bill Campbell, Chairman, Intuit

David Filo, Founder, Yahoo

Chuck Geschke, Founder and Chairman, Adobe Systems

John Morgridge, Former CEO and Chairman, Cisco Systems

Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman, eBay

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google

Jerry Yang, Founder, Yahoo

LEADERS (partial list):
Deborah Barber, Principal, Jackson Hole Group
John Battelle, Chairman and CEO, Federated Media
Larry Birenbaum, Former Senior Vice President, Cisco Systems
Lorna Borenstein, President, Move
Larry Brilliant, Executive Director, Google.org
Owen Byrd, President, Byrd Development
John Chisholm, Chairman and CEO, CustomerSat
Barry Cinnamon, CEO, Akeena Solar
Tod Cohen, Director of Government Affairs, eBay
LaDoris Cordell, Administrator, Stanford University
Sue Decker, President, Yahoo!
Jack Dorsey, Chairman, Twitter
David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development & Chief Legal Officer, Google
Donna Dubinsky, CEO, Numenta
Alan Eustace, SVP, Engineering and Research, Google
Naomi Fine, President & CEO, Pro-Tec Data
Rachel Glaser COO/CFO, Reunion.com
Carl Guardino, President and CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Andre Haddad, CEO, Shopping.com
Jeff Hawkins, co-Founder Palm, Handspring, and Numenta
David Karnstedt, Investor
Scott Kaspick, Managing Director, Kaspick & Co.
Steve Kirsch, Serial Entrepreneur
John Koza, CEO, Third Millennium
Ross LaJeunesse, Head of State Policy Western US, Google
Gary Lauder, Managing Partner, Lauder Partners Venture Capital
Laura Lauder, General Partner, Lauder Partners Venture Capital
Len Lehman, Investor
John Luongo, Former CEO, Vantive Corporation
Roger McNamee, Managing Director & co-Founder, Elevation Partners
Ken McNeely, President, AT&T California
Michael Moritz, Partner, Sequoia Capital
Susan Packard Orr, CEO, Telosa Software
Randy Pond, Executive Vice President, Cisco Systems
Amy Rao, Founder & CEO, Integrated Archive Systems
Jana Rich, Managing Director, Russell Reynolds
Miriam Rivera, Former Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Google
Dan Rosensweig, Investor
Dan Rubin, Partner, Alloy Ventures
Hilary Schneider, Executive Vice President US Region, Yahoo
Len Shustek, Chairman, Computer History Museum
Jeff Skoll, Former President, eBay Inc.
Stephanie Tilenius, SVP, eBay North America
Joy Weiss, President and CEO, Dust Networks
Steve Westly, former California State Controller & former SVP eBay
Evan Williams, CEO, Twitter

The Newest Silicon Valley Blog Sensation: FuckedStartups.com

Over the past few days, there has been an enormous amount of buzz on FuckedStartups.com.

Essentially, it features tech companies that are either:
1. Going to lay off people or
2. Tipped that a company may (not confirmed) lay off people or
3. Are basically closing up shop

You'd be surprised the number of companies that are folding/laying off day after day. It's sorta shocking, even with the greater economic turmoil that's happening.

Every day, I thank my lucky stars that I still have a job. These is seeming to really feel like the early 2000's tech/internet bubble burst. Ugh.

Recently featured companies:

• Xanga
• Spotrunner
• Power Reviews
• Revision3
• Vendio
• Elance
• Evo.com
• Helium.com
• SuggestionBox.com
• Yahoo
• Eons.com
• Broadsoft
• ManiaTV.com
• WildTangent
• MySpace.com
• Pricegrabber.com
• Shopzilla.com
• Xerox
• AffinityCircles.com
• iMeem
• Mahalo.com
• Veoh.com
• Wikia.com
• E-diets
• Pandora.com
• Zillow
• SearchMe.com
• Heavy.com
• Jaxtr
• Appcelerator.com
• Sirius XM
• Adbrite
• hi5.com
• Zivity.com
• Tesla Motors
• Jive Software
• Redfin
• Seesmic
• eBay
• Gawker Media (home of the beloved Silicon Valley Gossip Site Valleywag.com)
• Nvidia
• Break.com
• Ticketmaster.com

Scary, huh?

Leadership Reflection

I must admit, it's a bit strange seeing your old fearless leader now spearheading the newest 'technology media darling.'

When Sheryl Sandberg left her VP position in OSO (Online Sales and Operations) at Google to be the COO of Facebook, my heart sank a bit. By that point, I'd been at Google for over 2 years and she was pretty much all I knew in terms of head leadership. When you see your head in command leave, it's a bit disheartening.

One thing I will say is that Sheryl is inspirational and an amazing speaker. When she's on stage, you listen. Not only do you listen, but you absorb. I miss seeing her around the office. I practically saw her every day because she sat on my floor. It's weird to pass by her office and see it empty.

The good news is that I love her 'replacement.' David Fischer isn't no much of a replacement for her as a continuation of a good thing. What I really love about David is the fact he worked his way up and earned every promotion. Not only that, he knows the business and its workers for that reason. I remember the day he shadowed me working on the phone with advertisers. I was nervous as hell, but I remember thinking, when do you ever have a director get to shadow your work? I won't ever forget that personal time. You can see David in action in this YouTube video.

I realize how important leadership is, especially is a large-ish organization. Not only are they strategic thinkers and executers, they have to inspire you to work your best for the interest of the company (and it's users/stakeholders).

I've always had a dream of becoming a leader in highly visible company. I do want to work in people management one day and have carved out a path to hopefully get me there.

This is how we roll in Suburbia

So it's Friday night. What can you do in Suburbia? Movies... dinner... shopping... strolling...

KARAOKE!

A mess of co-workers and friends of co-workers headed out to dinner and asian-style karaoke. I didn't join in for dinner (A & J's at Cupertino Village) but I did Karaoke it up at Gamba in Cupertino.

Nai and I got there on time, a rare occurence. But no one else showed up until about 20 minutes later. In the complex where the karaoke place was, there happened to be some martial arts going on too. We were sitting in Nai's car (it was chilly outside) watching young kids do martial arts. I mean... two dudes, staring at kids, on a friday night... kinda creepy, no? Who cares. We were highly amused and loved the fact that the girls were totally kicking the little guys' butts. :P

Now let me tell you... this place is hella ghetto fabulous! I mean, the decor, signage, and technology is so old school that it's fabulous!

I went here back in December of 2006. I remember it being cooler with fancy 'bar scanning' technology. Alas, they downgraded all of their equipment, but that's okay! We made the most of it. (Damn Windows XP crashing a billion times...)

The night was chock full of Disney songs, Boy Band dancing (thanks Arneil!) and all of those guilty pleasures you won't admit loving but sing in the shower anyway.

Alastair was also kind enough to inform me that Yogurtland is open in Cupertino! I'm so excited! Bring on the 1lb full of random flavored yogurt! ;)

Photo Album:

Karaoke Night 2008 - Gamba Cupertino with Googlers

Out to Eat 2008: Fundraiser for Project Outlet

I had the privilege of being invited to a Google sponsored table at this year's 'Out to Eat' event, a fundraiser for Project Outlet. My friend Ty is very involved with the organization and asked 10 Gayglers (Gay Googlers) or those that are Gay-friendly, to come to the event and represent Google at their table.

According to their website, Outlet's mission statement is:

Outlet supports and empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth ages 13 to 20 living on the Peninsula and South Bay. Through our range of support services, leadership training, community education and advocacy, Outlet successfully increases youth confidence, builds personal assets and creates healthier communities.

I would have LOVED to have an organization like this when I grew up in LA. I think the work they're doing for LGBTQQ youth is fantastic.

This year's MC's were Greg and Fernando, famous for their Energy 92.7 Morning Show. The event was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. I haven't been in that building before, but I felt at home because it was a former SGI building (as are most current Google buildings).

The event consisted of a silent auction, dinner, presentations from LGBT youth and members of the organization, a live auction and dessert to end the evening.

The celebrity guest for the evening was Jennifer from this Season's Top Chef: Chicago. She was very generous to offer her time and 3 prize donations of 'Cooking at Home.' She's an Executive chef at San Francisco's COCO500. When I went up to her and asked to take a picture she immediately said 'Have we met before? You look familiar.' I actually get that a lot. So I get this weird dichotomy of 'you look so unqiue... what's your ethnic background?' and 'you look really familiar!' I find that pretty interesting...

I had a great time at the event. I brought along my friend Nai and he also had a good time. I bid and won an item at the silent auction. What is it you might ask? It's actually a 2 hour coaching experience from Jamie Moran 'focusing on increasing your knowledge, insight and skills in flirting and dating and connecting with others.' I thought it sounded interesting and useful. :)

For All Event Photos, visit my Web Album.

New South Bay Gay Night!

As everyone knows, the South Bay is kinda lacking in gay-ness. I mean besides the handful of gay bars in San Jose (Hunter's, Splash, etc.), Ikea in East Palo Alto, Santana Row on the Weekends, and the staff of the Cheesecake Factory in Palo Alto, it's very difficult to guarantee your gaydar being set off in the South Bay.

Don't fret! A new weekly, yes-- not monthly or semi-annual -- gay night is exploding on the scene. It's called Oops! and takes place on Thursdays at Fuel in San Jose. This week has a hip-hop theme. Last week was Madonna Night to celebrate her CD being released. I haven't been yet, but I hear it's fun!

More Info:
Cover: None
Hours: 7pm to Midnight
Specials: Happy Hour 7-8pm, 2-for-1 drinks
Day: Every Thursday at Fuel
Address: 385 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose, CA 95128 (Across from Santana Row) MAP

Come join the party!

Downelink site

Red Mango Invades Yuppieville

I happened to be roaming Downtown Palo Alto for a late lunch at Pluto's, my favorite customizable salad joint when I noticed some new University Ave. signage.

One would have thought Pinkberry (originating in West Hollywood, CA) would have beat the 'original' Red Mango (originating in Korea) fro yo chain to Nor Cal. Alas, Red Mango acquired some prized University Ave. real estate and looks to be opening shop soon. The only other real competitor is Fraiche Yogurt, the yummy organic mom and pop shop over on Emerson. Of course, you know I've been raving about them for ages...

Making It On Valleywag

Every day I usually check Valleywag.com, the Silicon Valley's answer to Perez Hilton. In fact, their tagline is 'Silicon Valley's Tech Gossip Rag.'

Yesterday, I saw a post on Fraiche Yogurt in Palo Alto being the new 'hangout' if you're looking for Venture Capital (VC) money. I looked at the entry and noticed the photos looked familiar. It's because they were my photos! Whoa! Super cool. =)

I was excited they credited me too. It was just a nice surprise to my day.

Check out the entry:
http://valleywag.com/371610/fraiche-yogurt-palo-altos-new-vc-hangout

Silicon Valley Weekly Yelp!

I'm thrilled Yelp decided to add a Silicon Valley edition of their Weekly newsletter, The Weekly Yelp.

I usually get good ideas from it about fun things do do around town. Previously, I was only reading the San Francisco version, but now I can do stuff around my neck of the woods with the Silicon Valley Edition.

Suuuuweeeeet!

The Fray Concert Aftermath

The Fray Shoreline Headliner
Originally uploaded by wkivinski.

The Fray concert on Saturday night was soooo fun. I only knew like 3 of their songs before going to the concert, but the test of true artists is the ability to make you like all of their material. I loved their music sooo much. It was amazing performed live. All 4 members have the ability to sing... which is rare for a group.

I ended up going with Steph K., Danny, Steph W., Theresa, Mahin and Hilary. We camped out in the lawn section. I was prepped with my blanket, jacket, bottle of water and contraband bottle cap. Why a bottle cap? Last time when I was seeing Gwen Stefani, you couldn't bring water with a cap on it. They took it away from you. Lol.

The lawn section is cool because you can just be silly, lounge, eat some munchies and lay down and watch the stars. We also dished about boys much of the time. I felt bad for Danny, but that's what happens when you go to a concert with a bunch of girls and a gay guy.

The demographics of the concert were a bit of a surprise. I was expecting it to be an 'adult contemporary' crowd (you know... 21ish to 40). To my surprise, the crowd was mostly comprised of teens. I felt like I needed to be going through puberty or something to get in. It also reminded me a lot of Orange County for some reason. I dunno, it was a mix of the venue, crowd and weather.

I wish I was holding a boy during some points of the concert. The music was just that beautiful. Steph W. and I gave each other hugs when we were both thinking the same thing (wishing we were with a sig ot.)

My favorite moment of the night was when The Fray did an acoustic cover of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie.' It was pure genius. A great mix of humor and actual talent. I also liked when the lead singer brought up his daughter near the end of the show. That was super cute. Oh... Joe King (one of the guitar players) is a total hottie.

Pics for your pleasure:

Hairspray Screening in MV

Although I didn't get a chance to see Hairspray in Monday in San Francisco, I was able to catch a screening in the South Bay. I guess New Line gave Google a bunch of passes to some Thursday evening showings at Century Theatres.

I brought Ty along because I knew he'd have a good time. I also went with Nai and Audrey. It was cool seeing the movie with a bunch of co-workers.

I typically don't like movie musicals. I feel like the music tends to not fit well with the overall movie. Hairspray changed my views on this. It was brilliant little film. It was fun, the cast was fab and the film just made you smile. The lyrics to the songs were really catchy. I left saying... damn... I want to sing along next time. I know... super gay of me. I even bought John Travolta as a woman... eventually.

I think this is a film even straight men could love. Come of straighties... enjoy it. :)

Weekly Recap: 7/9 to 7/15

• Hit my 1 year anniversary at Google. Yay for more perks!
• Lunch on Monday with Tin and Megan to celebrate our 1 year. We went to my favorite Cafe- 5ive. Always solid, simple, and elegant food. We talked about boys boys boys. Yes!
• I visited one of only 12 7-Eleven turned Kwik-E-Mart's. This one happens to be by my work in Mountain View, CA. Very cool indeed. It even has Yelp reviews. Lol. More pictures on Flickr.
• On Tuesday night, I headed to dinner to celebrate the re-arrival of two of my favorite guys- Calvin and Roy. They both returned from being ambassadors in different Google offices abroad. Calvin went to India and Roy went to China. We had a great meal at this Mexican place right next to my apartment called Casa Lupe. It's a nice family run restaurant with solid food. We had a fun convo- mostly consisting of trash talking. But who doesn't love doing that on occasion? We were the last ones in the restaurant and they didn't kick us out. Haha. We then suffered a minimal amount of PLS (Parking Lot Syndrome.)
• This week I tried the equipment at the new gym on my part of the Google Campus. It's pretty big- although not as large as the main campus' gym. However, we have some cool tricked out gym equipment. It has super high tech vibramachines, quadmills and arc trainers. Love it! This will help add a little bit of flavor to my workout routines. Not to mention it's in the building next door- which makes a quick cardio workout a lunch totally do-able.
• Friday night I headed to SF with Mike. We went out to dinner at McCormick's and Kuleto's in Ghirardelli Square. Yes... a seafood restaurant. I ate Grilled Halibut, which I've grown fond of over the past year. We then ate a bit of dessert at Ghirardelli's next door. We tried this new Dark Chocolate Raspberry Sundae. I only had a few bites and let him do most of the eating. Haha. But it was super yummy. We then headed to the 'stro to dance at Badlands. I was happy to see Tommy back as the Bouncer. YEA! The music kinda blew, so we headed to Dragon in SoMA around Midnight. It was 'Flip The Dragon' night. That meant the music on the dancefloors flipped. Hip Hop was on the bottom floor and the dance music was on top. That just made the first floor super crazy. It was nice to see Ty and the gang, though.
• Saturday was super chill. I had a lazy afternoon and eventually added some spice to it. I met up with some Chris M. and James S. at this dive bar in Portola Valley called the Alpine Inn. We sat in outside in vast back patio area. The weather was great to just sit back and have a beer. The weather in the South Bay has been fab. Nothing like a Fat Tire with some straighties. After that, I headed to Palo Alto for some grub at the Counter, my favorite burger place.

• The rest of my weekend consisted of watching trashy TV and making a new music mixes. I totally have fallen in love with this new TV show on A&E called 'Confessions of a Matchmaker.' I also made time for some laundry and working out. Yay!

Two Weekends of Fun

Since I forgot to post an entry about my adventures last weekend, I thought I'd give my journal a double decker of an entry.

Last Weekend (5.29.2007 to 6.1.2007):

• On Friday, I went with Nai to Downtown Palo Alto for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We failed to remember the release of the iPhone. Thus it took a good 30 minutes to go 1/2 a mile on University Avenue because of crazy Apple fans causing a commotion at the Palo Alto Apple store. Crazy amounts of press were there too. I fail to remember that I live in the Silicon Valley... the heart of world of Technology.
• On Saturday, I had a chill day. Yes!
• On Sunday, I had a fabulous day. It started out by carpooling to the Millbrae BART station. This was my first BART trip to SF. It was quite pleasant. The end goal was getting to Dolores Park for Steph K.'s Birthday Picnic. Good food, wonderful friends, and pleasant views make for a fun afternoon in the park. We walked around, boy-scouted, played with dogs, listened to the Energy 92.7 DJ play music in the park, hula-hooped and lounged around. You can view pics here.
• After Dolores Park, I went to the final showing of Norm's show, Boylesque. It's not totally as scandalous as you think it might be. It was totally fun and a nice diversion in the early evening. After that, I went with a group of his buddies for dinner at Thanh Tam 2, a Vietnamese place in the Mission. It was really tasty food. We stayed away from the Pho and got other dishes. After that, Norm, Ninad, Aisha, Tu and I went to do a little dancin' at Badlands in the Castro. A few pics can be found here.

This Weekend (6.6.2007 to 6.8.2007):

• Friday evening I ate dinner at Tomatina with Elizabeth, Lauren, Steph & Becca. Afterward, we saw Ratatouille. That was a super cute film. It made me want to go to Paris and learn how to be a chef. Haha. It actually reminded me of very early Disney cartoons. It was modern, but not in that annoyingly CGI way.
• Saturday afternoon I met up with Norm and had lunch in Downtown Palo Alto. He was choreographing a show in San Jose, so he passed by my neck of the woods when traveling back up to Pacifica/SF. We went to Pluto's, my good ol' standby. After finishing our food, we went to the bathroom... you know, the type where only one person can enter at a time. So the Men's restroom was occupied and out comes a woman. Norm shouts, 'You don't have a Penis!' That made me chuckle. We strolled around town a bit and got some frozen yogurt at Fraiche. It's nice spending time with him.
• Sunday was all recovery! Working out, grocery shopping, and laundry too. I talked to Kenny for a few minutes. He was flying off to Dallas this week for work. We'll meet up next week for dinner.

Fraiche Yogurt (Palo Alto) Review

My Review (As Seen on Yelp.com)

I'm from Southern California (don't hate) and am all too familiar with the 'Tart Fro-Yo' craze. This isn't your 80's Penguins Fro-Yo people. It's fresh (hehe!) simple yogurt with actual fruit toppings. I've been to Pinkberry and Barenaked Yogurt in So Cal. They're both good and much more tart than Fraiche Yogurt. I'm also familiar with the war going on with the original Korean Red Mango. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, I know who will win the 2007 Fro Yo War... and that's Fraiche Yogurt in Palo Alto, CA. George Bush should devote troops to this war because it's gonna get C-R-A-Z-Y.

Push aside the soccer moms screaming 'It only has @% calories!' and the yuppies in those designer jeans. Order yourself a regular cup with two fresh fruits of your choice. It's a nice size and make you feel oh so Fraiche and so clean afterward. You could even be adventurous and go for the soy or chocolate versions.

It's true, it's a bit pricey. Even more so than the powdered stuff in So Cal. But since it's organic and made fresh on-site, I'll forgive 'em.

The first time I went was when Apple released their iPhone. I think one day the lines will be just as crazy because it's THAT yummy. I predict security will be outside soon guarding the doors...

I just got back from my second adventure there. It was just as tasty. If it were closer to Sunnyvale, I'd go daily. I'll have to settle for two times a week. Boo ya!

Bonus: The interior is very Zen. Nice brown leather booths, fun pillows, and an eye poppin' curvy white wall.

Minus: No option for pineapple as a topping. :/

Pictures can be seen on my Picasa Web Album below:

Fraiche Yogurt Palo Alto

After my second visit, I left a suggestion in the suggestion box near the entrance. I got a yelp.com message from one of the co-owners this afternoon:

Hi Will,
I just peeked in our suggestion box and got your message, and then saw your review on Yelp.
I just wanted to say thank you, and I'm glad you liked our yogurt and store so much!

Regards,
Jessica (co-owner, Fraiche)

Gwen Stefani Concert (6.19.07) at Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View, CA

I headed to Shoreline Amphitheatre to see Gwen Stefani in Concert a few days back. The good thing is that I can walk from work directly to the amphitheatre without having to drive. The downside is that getting out of the area after the concert is crazy madness. I think I'll have a couple of tricks up my sleeve next time around.

Anywho, We got to the concert on time and found out that there is a 'no cap' or 'can' policy when entering the show. Apparently the rules get stricter depending on who's performing.

The concert was really fun. I know all of her solo stuff, so I was familiar with all of the tracks. She was really interactive with the audience and seemed to love to be in Nor Cal. At one point she went into the audience, grabbed a girl's purse, and proceeded to open up and take a look at what was inside. That was really funny. Oh... and Gwen has quite the potty mouth. It was funny cause some of the parents would cover their children's ears. We were sitting near the 'family section' on the lawn.

Here are a few pics:

Hunters Nighclub / Video Bar - San Jose, CA

Friday night was the 'pre-party' for San Jose pride at the new gay bar in San Jose, Hunters. The only other gay club that really competes is Splash.

To tell you the truth, I don't go out socially in San Jose that much. If I did, it would probably be at the more posh (i.e. straight) Lounges and Clubs around the city. I don't mind shopping or having a nice meal in San Jose because it's a pretty nice city. However, I usually keep it low key in Mountain View, Sunnyvale or Palo Alto. If i'm really clubbing, It's in SF.

Who did I go with? Well, I met up with someone I knew in High School, Kyle. He doesn't look the same at all. He brought some of his friends along, like Rick, Mike, David, etc. Someone asked if he knew I was gay in High School. He was like 'Um... Ya! Hello!' We then started to say who we knew was gay at Alemany. Lol. Fun Times.

It was nice to hang out with a new set of people. It's refreshing to have people in the South Bay to hang out with. Kyle and I will probably grab dinner and watch a movie one of these days to catch up. I also (albeit at the last minute) went up to a guy I thought was cute. We gave 'the look' to each other quite often but never went up to each other. While outside, I asked him his name and he wanted my number. He's a nice guy and we chatted for a few minutes tonight on the phone.

About Hunters:

• Parking is okay in the area. You can park at the garage at 2nd and San Carlos with no problems.
• The club has only been open for two weeks but has got some local press.
• The line situation is okay before 10:30pm. However, I hear that around 11 it got really whack. 30-45 minute waits were typical, even, when it wasn't all that packed in side.
  
• The sound system isn't all the good. When I walked in, I was pretty shocked. I think eventually they were able to get the sound levels right.
• The LCD TV's are a nice touch, but often times the 'VJ' playing the Videos had some technical issues.
• There are two patio areas. A small one in front and a large one in back. I wonder if there will ever be a 'front patio scene' a la 'Rage' or 'Fiesta Cantina' in Los Angeles. Places in the Bay don't tend to have a front patio due to space issues and rent prices. I'm also sure Zoning is also involved.
• The main bar area is nice, although slightly small. There is also a nice front section with seats to just chill.
  
• The bar hasn't quite found a personality yet. I'm sure that will come over time. I wonder if they'll have theme nights in the future. (A Dragon-type night would be FANTASTIC!)
• There is small open area for dancing, although no-one really started to dance until midnight.
• They had trashy Go Go boys. Although, none were my type.
• The crowd is really all over the map. I would say the crowd reminds me of Badlands in SF, but with less white guys.
• Drinks are slightly more expensive than the gay bars in SF, but they use better alcohol.
• I'll be back for sure.

Pictures:

Hunters Nightclub - San Jose, CA

John Mayer / Ben Folds Concert (Tuesday June 5th, 2007)

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing both John Mayer and Ben Folds in concert at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

I drove up from LA and made it to the South Bay around 6pm, which was a perfect amount of time to meet up with Nai and drive to the concert. Nai was a bit sick, but I still think he had fun.

The Highlights:

• Saw the one of the Google VP's I know at the concert.
• Ben Folds using a synthesizer to cover 'Such Great Heights.'
• John Mayer babbling about random 80's nostalgia.

The Set List:

John Mayer's set list was pretty phenomenal. I liked how he did a mix of new and old. Past concerts tend to lean toward new stuff. According to his website, this was his set list:

Belief
No Such Thing
Good Love is On the Way
Gravity
Bigger Than My Body
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
Vultures
I Don't Need No Doctor
Wheel
Why Georgia
Waiting on the World to Change
-- encore --
Slow Dancing (acoustic)
83 (acoustic)
Who Did You Think I Was (acoustic)
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Some Pictures:

John Mayer & Ben Folds - June 5, 2007

Fun Week Ahead

So the next week or so will be great. I'm looking forward to a few things in particular:

• Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards stops by the headquarters of Google in Mountain View, CA today.
• The grand opening of Hunters Nightclub in San Jose on Friday.
• Driving to Los Angeles on Saturday morning. Just a random weekend visit. You can probably catch me roaming WeHo at night.
  
• Possibly meeting up with my old US Chamber of Commerce boss, Brent, in San Diego this weekend. I haven't seen him in about a year.
• Working from the Santa Monica Google Office on Monday 6/4/07 so I don't have to use a vacation day. I love this office!
• Going to the Spanish Art Gallery at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA for the annual UCR Highland Banquet on Monday 6/4/07.
• The John Mayer Concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Tuesday 6/5/07. Ben Folds 5 is the opener. Yay!