It may be possible that here in the heart of Silicon Valley that there are a few fans of the Star Trek franchise. OK, it may be possible that a few of the denizens of the local high tech companies are not fans. The Tech museum in San Jose announced a special exhibit that will feature props and moments from the various Star Trek shows in a 15,000 square foot exhibition. Paraphernalia from all five TV series and all eleven films will be represented.

STAR TREK: THE EXHIBITION features over 200 artifacts including:

• An authentic replica of the bridge from the U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701 as featured in the original Star Trek television series
• Iconic gadgets from the Star Trek universe: a tricorder; a phaser, and a communicator – all from the original series. Devices that have inspired innovators of today.
• The actual shooting model for the Borg Cube, as seen on Star Trek: the Next Generation, Voyager and in the movie Star Trek: First Contact
• A chance to ride through a Star Trek adventure in a full-motion flight simulator extra fee

Ticket Information & Prices

Special Exhibit Hours - Monday – Wednesday: 9:00am – 5:00pm, Thursday – Sunday: 9:00am – 8:00pm

• Adults: $25
• Seniors 65+ / College Students with ID: $22
• Children ages 3-17: $19.00

Admission to STAR TREK: THE EXHIBITION also includes admission to all of The Tech Museum’s normal exhibits (but does not include the IMAX and simulators).

Set your phasers on fun!

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

Originally uploaded by NandorFejer

When tourists come to the San Jose area one site they often want to see is the majestic redwood trees. The best known grove in the San Francisco Bay area is Muir woods just north of San Francisco. Muir woods are indeed a beautiful site but are also clogged with tour buses and loads of tourists. South of San Jose in the Santa Cruz mountains near the sleepy town of Felton is a better place to see towering trees without the crowds – Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

The best feature known of the park is the .8 mile short nature trail that winds through the old-growth redwood trees which is flat and wheel chair accessible. We took my grandmother on this walk when she was in her 80s. The walk winds through the oldest trees in the park. The tallest tree in the park is 285 feet tall although at least one tree, the “neck breaker”, was much taller before losing its top in a storm. Because the lowest branch of a redwood tree may be 100 feet above the forrest floor the forrest has a very different look than most evergreen forests.

For people who want a more serious hike there are 20 miles of trails in the park, many of which are not 80 year old grandmother friendly. Dogs are also welcome in the park on both the Meadow Trail and the Graham Hill Trail but must be kept on a leash. Click for A map to the park.

Campsites are also available in the park. Reservations for camping in all California State Parks can be made by phoning ReserveAmerica at 1-800-444-PARK or visiting the reservation webpage.

The park is also located next to the Roaring Camp steam railroad and visitors can walk from one parking lot to the other.

The park is near Felton on Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Traveling from San Jose to the main entrance: Take Highway 17 toward Santa Cruz. After you go over the mountains, turn right on Mt. Hermon Road. Follow Mt. Hermon road until it ends at Graham Hill Road. Turn right, and go to the next stop light (Highway 9). Turn left on Highway 9 and go through downtown Felton. The park entrance will be a half mile down on your left. You can park outside and walk a half mile into the park, or you can drive in and pay a fee.

If you live in or near San Jose and you happen to be undead then tonight there will be an event custom made for you – Zombie-O-Rama.

The SLG Art Boutiki will have a special Zombie Art show going on to mark the event and we will also be offering our galleries performance area as a staging spot for people who do not want to apply their zombie attire on close to the scene. The Zombie rally point will be Gore Park (of course) and a route will be mapped out to take you to places offering happy hour specials or free gifts, then back to the movie site for Shaun of the Dead which will be preceded with live music.

That’s what San Jose needs… more zombies. If you are going to the event then practice your zombie shuffle and bring canned food as they will be collecting for Second Harvest Food bank at the event. Please do not bring canned brains.

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San Jose – California
Originally uploaded by Luciano Stabel

When I was a kid growing up in central California, downtown San Jose was a place to avoid. A number of years ago Mayor Tom McHenry started a project to revitalize downtown that has given birth to a wonderfully new or refurbished neighborhood. San Jose is the largest of the cities in the Bay Area that bears the name of its sometimes rival to the north San Francisco. San Jose has both a greater number of people and a much greater land area than San Francisco.

One of the most recent additions to San Jose is the new city hall with a clear dome that invokes an image of transparency in government like that (on a smaller scale) of the Reichstag in Berlin.

Many visitors to downtown start as visitors to a convention at the San Jose Convention Center named after former mayor Tom McHenry. This modern facility helps draw visitors to the downtown neighborhood.

The HP Pavilion also gave locals and visitors alike a reason to return to downtown. The HP Pavilion is located just on the other side of highway 87 from the rest of the downtown area but it is an easy walk from one to the other. In addition to being the home to the San Jose Sharks the Pavilion is also a popular concert venue.

You don’t have to be a fan of hockey to enjoy the energy of the teal-clad San Jose Shark fans. In preparation for a Sharks game practice this move.  Place both arms out straight in front of you, one above the other, palms facing each other. Move your arms apart and together and you are ready to “chomp” the other team.

San Jose’s other popular sports team is the single A farm team for the San Francisco Giants, the San Jose Giants that play at municipal stadium just south of the downtown area. If you have not had the chance to watch a minor league baseball game picture the movie “Bull Durham” with billboards for local businesses on the fence. This being Silicon Valley some of these local businesses are advertising databases instead of steaks. Go to watch kids race the mascot around the bases or contestants trying to knock out the headlights of a truck with a fastball to win a prize.

Since San Jose gets 300 sunny days a year a great place to catch a meal is at a sideway café at San Pedro square but many other restaurants are also in downtown. For a budget meal try a burrito at La Victoria or a kabob at Askew. For a fancier meal one of my favorite classic San Jose restaurants is Paulos.

A great hands-on museum for young kids is the Children’s Discovery Museum on Woz Way (named after Apple founder and big kid Steve Wozniak). Older kids and adults will also enjoy the Tech museum downtown which celebrates the science and innovation that created the marvel that is Silicon Valley. The Tech also has an IMAX theatre.

My favorite venue for live theatre in downtown is the San Jose Rep which puts on around 6 plays a year in a spectacularly intimate theatre.  There are no bad seats at the Rep. If comedy is more to your likeing then check out the comic styling of Comedy Sports.

Downtown San Jose is reachable by car or via both CalTrain, Amtrack and bus.

One of the more interesting tours available in the San Jose area is to look down on the city from a lighter than air ship. Unlike the Goodyear blimp, Airship Ventures is using zeppelin. A zeppelin has a rigid frame while a blimp is mostly just a bag of gas. (Unlike the most famous zeppelin, the Hindenberg, this zeppelin is filled with helium which is not flammable.)

The Airship tour is one of the newer guided tour options in San Jose. Airship Ventures’s zeppelin (named Eureka) arrived in 2008 at its home base of Moffett Field which is just north of San Jose just off of highway 101.

At 246 feet, Airship Ventures’s craft is just a little longer than a Boeing 747, but holds only 12 passengers and 2 pilots in the cupola. The Eureka flies lower (500-1000 feet) and much slower than a plane which makes it a great experience for photographers.

San Jose Tours

Because of the small number of passengers the tour is not inexpensive. Tours start at $199 for a 30 minute tour of San Jose and the Silicon Valley. They also offer a longer Geek cruise which flies over familiar companies in the Silicon Valley.

San Francisco / Monterey Tours

Cruises above San Francisco or Monterey are $495 (Buy one ticket at regular price and receive $100 off the second ticket. This special is good through 12/31/2009 and is valid on regular priced fares only). Cruises for San Francisco leave from Oakland North Field and for Monterey they leave out of the Monterey Peninsula airport.

What’s it Like?

Airship Ventures says:

Cruising at around 1300 feet, you are high enough to be non intrusive, but low enough to see amazing details. Your speed is around 35mph, which is a stately and serene speed to view the world at. Take off and landing are very rapid and you are only in your seat for the minute or so it takes us to reach cruising altitude.??Surrounded by huge windows, two of which open, and with the comforts of leather seating and an onboard restroom, this is a real skybox!

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