John "shakspearian-know-it-all" P.'s Profile
DateSunnyvale, CA 94085
(408) 245-4712
Savory & Sweet Catering
Categories:
Caterers,
Party & Event Planning
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 999-0288
The Mmoon
Categories:
Argentine,
Latin American
I can't say enough about the outdoor layout of the place. The indoor looked nice as well but to be outdoors on one of the last summer late afternoon, evenings in the shade of another building when the temp was hitting about 90' was perfect. A couple of landing aircraft and a firetruck made some noise, but that is the trivial noise you get anywhere in San Jose outside. I appreciated the cute fountain structure they had with flowing water. Made me feel cooler just by looking at it.
Back to the food. Aside from the baked (yay baked!) empinatas, they had salads and their own version of Ranch dressing and Raspberry Vinaigrette. I don't normally like any vinaigrette but I loved this one. I'm a raspberry fan though so that probably had a lot to do with it.
If I could have added anything (and please don't kill me for saying this) I would have had some Tabasco or other kind of hot sauce available. For this evening though and for the ability of actually tasting what I was eating, it was better there was no hot sauce. The flavors of these Emps are wonderful without and it's my own masochistic nature that demands bringing the heat.
I recommend this place for Friday after work and weekend easy bites. There is a convenient parking garage right across the street as well as the back lot parking of the San Pedro establishments just down the road.
Staff? Friendly and smiles. Someone probably fed them an empinada prior to the opening :)
You want a good black and tan? They got it. You want authentic UK pub? There are others in SJ that I'd suggest first. As to food? It's Santana Row. I wouldn't go to the Row and choose this spot to dine. That's me though.
14 actors who were all giving it 110% vocally. Also, 14 singers who can be paired or grouped in any way shape or form and still sound like a symphony! The cast selection was AWESOME!
I didn't know the story of Rent and have never seen it prior to this night. It was as everyone has ever said, a story worth knowing. I cannot think of any better place to experience it than City Lights either. The new setup of seats and the newly remodeled bathrooms were both a plus too. I love my little theater!
I would like to put out a special shout to Terre P and my friend from Yelp, Jeanette, who was one of the cast members.
If you like musicals or you like Rent, you are going to LOVE this performance. I would not mind seeing this one three or four times just to take in the singing again. Such a superb job. Kudos to all who worked behind the scenes to make this happen, and to the band playing the music. I loved it!
4 Previous Reviews:
-
7/19/2009
Once again, the City Lights organization puts together a knock out. I was with a small group of friends and we enjoyed the rock opera Tommy with music written by The Who, directed by Kit Wilder. City Lights had a rock band playing and a good sized cast to fullfill the needs of tormenters and worshipers.
This is a wonderful performance but in comparrison to the last three I've seen here this one had some challenges that made me have to rate it a four instead of five stars. The singing parts are difficult to follow at times due to the audio balance. The singer you are supposed to be hearing, you may not hear. For me, not so bad as I know the Tommy story, but for the people who asked me "So what is Tommy?" I figured they'd be missing some parts. I know I did.
For the parts I missed, there were some standout rolls I'd like to shout out. 1: Young Tommy, Nicholas Sancen. He sang, he acted, and he was Tommy. 2: Old Tommy:, Isaac Benelli Yes, he is a sensation and a new vibration. Great voice, very lively on stage and a real treat to watch. 3: Captain Walker, Michael Rhone: Great voice. 4: The acid queen, Raegena Raymond: a total freak as she was supposed to be. I loved watching her whole segment. 5: Mrs. Walker, Molly Thornton: you could see the torment and joy on her face. Wonderful voice and an expressive personality. 6: Cousin Kevin, Jason Arias: A true thug portrayed enjoyably. But only because he had no one to play with today, now that the parents have all gone away. Props to the dancers and their choreography which was done by one of my City Lights Favs Amanda Folena who also was assistant director.
There were some fairly major alterations to the story line to help it fit to a live stage venue. I am not a complete WHO maniac but changes can upset me. These did not. Kit Wilder did this and also The Three Musketeers and with both, he exercised surgical precision in his alteration of the story. Just as much as needed. Smooth out rough edges. I'm amazed he can do this without upsetting the balance of the story one iota.
About the theater. As I've said before, parking across the street is easiest. Drinks are affordable. This place can get hot during spring and summer months so bring a fan. Everybody is friendly and it is a cozy theater with the players right in front of you. Twice I had to make sure my legs were not obstructing actors and actresses.
About Tommy. Released in 1969 I believe it to be the last amazing story out of the 60s. The album was written mostly by Pete Townshend. In 1998 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" (from Wikipedia) -
5/30/2009
What a story!
Diana Son, the playwright of "Stop Kiss" which is playing until June 14th 2009, has come up with a very original story of love, discovery and life. I'm going to have to flirt with general thoughts so that I do not get into giving her story away. Just in case you read no more than this, GO SEE IT.
I loved the two main characters. Callie is played by Michelle Beyda (who gets to fly in a helicopter!). Oh damn, I just said something from the story. Gotta watche that. Callie meets a new friend of a friend of a friend who may turn out to be a dud. This person is Sara, played by Veronika Olah. These two women are so different, but so obviously matched. Their on stage chemestry was fun and very believable. I enjoyed their times together on stage. Oh, I have to give away more. Sara totally turns out not to be a dud. There! I said it. It's out there. But thats it. No more prying into the story, I swear! Oh, And I saw them both partially naked. Thats it, the last bit of the story. I'm not saying any more.
The cast is small but powerful. Linda Piccone played two roles and I didn't realise it at first due to her acting. She was perfect for both parts of good samaritan and nurse. I wish I had a next door neighbor like her.
K. Michael Riley was Detective Cole. Not too much time on stage for him, but his role helped him to narate parts of the story line. He's a detective so he gets to ask questions. The answers filled the audience in on the story. A nice plot development tool by Diana Son and a wonderful digging-for-info cop played by Mr. Riley.
Troy Kristoffer played Peter. He comes to the big apple from a small town. He played the roll of Mr. Smallville well. Strange things were afoot at the circle K and I felt the confusion, pain and total frustration of just not understanding what the hell was going on from Troy.
Alex Hero was George. He played the perfect best friend that would take your last beer from the refridgerator and only drink half. If you went through a messy break up, he's the guy that would rub your nose in it. And after all this? He is the kind of best friend we are so lucky to have because he loves unconditionally.
So I loved the play. I'm so happy I saw it because a good original story played with believable emotions is not often found.
The scene changes, lighting and sound all went off without a hitch. Kudos to the crew and anyone behind the scenes for being unseen.
The venue is a small theater with fairly comfortable seating. I'm always glad to come here. There is a $5 parking lot immediately across the street from the theater making it convenient as heck and not pricy at all. Beer and wine are cheap to buy. As opposed to tips, they have a box that donates the money to the theater. After the play, you get to meet the cast as you are leaving. This makes leaving hard as you really want to just talk to them for a bit.
It was good to see fellow yelpers Jeremy, Tracy and Kevin there. My own date was the lovely Terre P. I wait to read their reviews :)
To the cast crew and writer of Stop Kiss, I say thank you. You were the perfect icon of what I hope to find when I think about the theater. -
3/21/2009
Before I get into any details, I'm going to say this. If your life lacks swordfighting, drinking to excess, true love, good enough love, and being very angry with your Cardinal, you have to see the Three Musketeers before it is gone from this theater. Skip what I'm writing below, but SEE THIS PLAY!
I can't talk about all the actors or actresses although every one of them deserves a write up. I'm already going to go over my time with who I just have to blab about.
The actors and actresses of this production and the keeping to the story line are a credit to some amazing acting and do a true homage to Alexandre Dumas and to Theater Companies.
Last night I went to see The Three Musketeers. This is a classic story from Alexandre Dumas about a young man named D'Artagnan, played by Thomas Gorrebeeck, who is befriended by three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, played by Kit WIlder, John Romano and George Psarras.
This amazing book has been made into movie form five or six times. The movies are always great and fun, but they always lack some major elements of the book which makes me regret the liberties moviemakers must take to keep the story within budget and time constraints.
Back to this amazing play. Through some rather skillful adaptation of the book by Kit Wilder (Athos) they are able to cover great areas of the book. Kit Wilder also was the fight director which probably included the sword play choreography. With sometimes what seemed like 15 people in a sword fight, on a stage surrounded on four sides by audience, this could have been no small feat. Toss on to that he adapted the play and played an amazing roll of the shadow of a man's honor keeping the body going after the spirit of the man died with his love for a marked woman.
Porthos and Aramis. The two best friends who love to hate each other. Porthos was played to the complete excesses of the Porthos character by John Romano. Every time he spoke I heard "I love life" and "Don't I look good?". He was hilarious but not to the point of being a clown. His character just really believed in how great he was. A wonderful performer. This was the second time I watched George Psarras here. He was also in First Person Shooter with multiple roles. This time he got to stick with the one. He always looks as if he enjoys all of this. It's harder to stick out from three musketeers when you play the one who is going to become a priest whist still hitting up on every lady patron you can find. He had a quiet roll and played it with panache.
Finally to our D'Artagnan and Constance. Thomas Gorrebeeck and Amanda Folena. Both also played awesome rolls in First Person Shooter. I just love watching these two actors interact. I really loved Amanda's Constance character. Thomas had the additional job of script reading to allow us to jump from place to place in the story. An amazing and well done job, but hey, he's D'Artagnan right? That's what he does. This added a light humor to the play and allowed for some well organized re-staging between short scene breaks.
Enough. For those of you who have read this far, I'm sorry. I'm verbose but this story is one of my favorites and these guys nailed it big time. I love our little San Jose City Lights Theater and I hope it is here for my lifetime. I'm looking forward to Stop Kiss and The Who's Tommy this year, and have seen next year's list. They are doing my other all time favorite by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac. If you're from City Lights and you are reading this, throw The Scarlet Pimpernell into the box for me :). -
1/23/2009
Tonights event, First Person Shooter, written by Aaron Loeb and Directed by Lisa Mallette, was nothing short of wonderful. I'll preface this with my own shortcomings to show my bias. I love plays, theater and have been gaming online for years. When I read the description of this play, I wasn't looking forward to going as I really thought it would be another soap box monologe on gaming violence. I was extremely wrong and am so glad I decided to take this book beyond the cover. I'm not going to get into anything that is spoiler related. You can find out what the story is about online. I will say that it has constant strong language and deals with many issues including race. With all that said, this show RoXxOred the BoxXor with an Xtr3ml3y 733t cast (elite speak from gaming). 14 characters played by six extremely talented people. Extremely believable performances by all. I felt pain from Thomas Gorrebeeck's and Jose Martinez's loss. I felt the stress and anger from George Psarras and Amanda Folena's situation. I saw the horror and self loathing from Terry Ma and what he had found himself in the center of. And Rachel Bakker is so fast with character changes and portray's both sides of the emotional spectrum within minutes of each performance that I would have thought her to be twins.
The City Lights Theater is about a 125 person venue with affordable consessions. Domestic beer being under $4 for a bottle and a glass of wine similarly priced makes this place 1/3 the cost of neighboring night clubs and you have an excellent show to entertain you too. The show is $40 per person. I've always loved when the actors are so close you can almost touch them. I love that San Jose has a place like this to brag about. Good Theater like this beats out TV any day (yes that includes Lost). Personally I'll be going back for other shows in the future.
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 965-7112
Kevin's Auto Repair
Categories:
Auto Repair,
Smog Check Stations
My 2005 PT needed a new battery. This is something I could easily do with almost any car. So I went out, found a battery and bought it. When I came home and popped the hood, I realized already that I was in over my head. The Battery was jammed under the sidebody of the vehicle and requires that something be removed to get it out. I tried anyway and failed miserably. The next day I did a quick search on Google and found a place that quoted me just under $90 to do it and said I could leave my vehicle with them on Friday and they'd get to it sometime in the day on a first come first served basis. I needed the car that night so I had to get this done on Thursday. No go with my first guy. So with Friday as my backup date, I check Yelp. My first choice is not rated well at all, but just around the corner is Kevin and he has some good reviews. So I call him and explain my issue. He says bring the car by and I can have one of my guys do it while you wait, no charge. I explain the issue to him again because I don't want to take advantage of anyone and I am willing to pay for what I need. He assures me it's a non-issue and to just come by.
He looks at my battery and shakes his head a bit and comes over to talk to me. I say "it's bad right"? and he tells me that it will be easy. So I have him do the oil as well because it was over the need to be done.
I go to Costco and come back about thirty minutes later. The oil and battery are done. The old battery core is sitting in plastic and cardboard so I can take it back to the battery place for my core charge. The oil is changed and is synthetic (which I have always wanted to try). Kevin is an easy going man of his word and thats where my car will go for as long as I work in Mountain View.
San Jose, CA 95132
(408) 259-5066
Bollywood Fashions
Categories:
Fabric Stores,
Fashion
This place is jam packed with product so if you are doing some quick shopping for style, I'd easily say make a stop and ask questions.
Date wise, I think this would be an excellent spot. Also good for groups because even with the place full, you can hear each other quite well. They had a sectioned off room that must be where they do all the weddings I'm reading about in other reviews so that is a plus.
Because of location, ambiance and food selection, I'd recommend this place gladly.
The ambiance of the place is very posh upscale warehouse. Meaning it's large and covered in very warm dark woods and has a full bar as well as a second story loft dining area. It's just gorgeous.
Service? Top notch. My ice tea was never empty. Both times I ordered meat because that is just how I roll. The second time it was rack of lamb. Oh wow.. it was great! Tim, my boss, loves their guacamole so he always orders three or four bowls for the table. between that and the hot sauces that come with their multi colored chips, I was in heaven. With my dinner came some asparagus spears but my wife copped most of them from me, so for the one or two spears I had, they were perfect and tender. I also had a ton of garlic mashed potatoes. Those were perfect too!
I give up. There is only so far I'm going to work at not giving five stars to a place that deserves it from more than one angle. I can see why Tim and Stacy come here often. It's a great place. Right around the corner is a large underground parking structure which makes this place easy to get to and ditch your car.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 323-7723
Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery
Categories:
American (Traditional),
Seafood
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San Jose, CA
Yelping SinceMay 2008
Things I Love Find Me InSilicon Valley
My HometownSan Jose, CA
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I'm yipping
Why You Should Read My ReviewsRead it or don't read it. It's what happened and I am only speaking out.
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadAtlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
My First Concert1979 - Day on the Green #2
My Favorite MovieV for Vendetta
My Last Meal On EarthPrime Rib and Sushi with a nacho dip of Velveta, JimmyDean Sausage n Wasabe
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...I'm a Taco Bell junkie
Most Recent Discovery Current CrushStill and always my wife.
My office had a catered lunch of Fajitas brought to us by the Savory and Sweet crew. Both the steak and chicken were beyond excellent. All of the tortillas were fresh and soft (exactly as I love them) and the rest of the food from rice to vegetables was amazing. We had so much left over I took a couple of plates home with me for dinner with the wife. She loved it too. Then today, we have some left overs at the office and day old and cold they are even better. I love when some specific foods actually taste even better the next day like this. I am so sorry these guys don't have a restaurant as I'd be a regular for sure.