fish
Mar-21-2004, 06:25 PM
In my quest to find shots appropriate for this week's photo assignment (which I totally whiffed), I decided to drive around downtown San Jose and shoot a bunch of stuff in and out of the cage (mostly in). Please come with me as I show you parts of San Jose in this exercise of quantity over quality.
We'll start with your typical mall. This used to be Oakridge Mall...now it's Shoppingtown or some crap like that. Here is the new parking structure where the Montgomery Wards was.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987296-M.jpg
Yep...we got lots of concrete spaghetti here too.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987297-M.jpg
Children's Discovery Museum. I have no idea what the duck is all about. Elmo was sitting up there last time I went by.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987298-M.jpg
Part of our scenic skyline. SJC is very close to downtown, so there are lots of airplanes around all the time.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987299-M.jpg
The top of the historic Hotel De Anza...an art deco hotel from a long time ago that was shuttered for several decades and recently reopened as a posh hotel with a fancy italian restaurant on the first floor. There used to be a cool painting of a woman diving into a pool on the side of it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987300-M.jpg
We have lots of palm trees and airplanes downtown.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987301-M.jpg
There's a river running through the middle of downtown called the Guadalupe River. It's more like a creek, but apparently steelhead used to go up it. Now, mostly homeless people camp near it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987303-M.jpg
This is the San Jose Arena, where the Sharks NHL team plays (or pretends to play). Compaq bought the naming rights a bit before their merger with Hewlett-Packard. Now it's called HP Pavilion (like their PC line). Clever.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987305-M.jpg
Dang...I should use this one for the transport in motion assignment. This is a look from the Arena downtown toward Market St. There's always construction going on.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987307-M.jpg
And airplanes.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987309-M.jpg
Those big buildings in the background are the Adobe Systems HQ. You know...Photoshop. Nice flax, huh?
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987311-M.jpg
The San Jose Water Company building is pretty cool...art deco too, kinda.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987313-L.jpg
Kinda funny how the fountain in front of the water company doesn't work :lol
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987315-L.jpg
Oh look! Now there's something you don't see every five minutes :bluduh
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987317-L.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987319-L.jpg
They installed some really cool retro streetlights downtown a few years ago. With the palm trees, I think.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987321-L.jpg
Another shot of the Hotel De Anza.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987324-L.jpg
The lesser known Hotel Anaconda. I think it was closed down by either the health department or the vice squad.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987326-L.jpg
A neato church near the center of town.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987328-L.jpg
Here's a statue of quetzalcoatl. Who is the god Quetzalcoatl? Very little has come down to us 500 years later. The physical evidence of stone carvings and glyphs is weathered and often extremely difficult to decipher, the written evidence has been destroyed, altered or perhaps never existed at all. A long-nosed god appears on stelae at Tikal and Quiriga and several other Maya sites, perhaps as a direct influence the Olmeca-Xicallanca, but this god may not be Quetzalcoatl and indeed has few of the monumental aspects of the flying serpents of Teotihuacan. The descendents of the builders of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon carved snake heads surrounded by feathers on their Quetzalcoatl Temple, but had no identified system of writing which might have cast light on the role of the worship of the plumed serpent in their gigantic city of Teotihuacan ("where the gods were made"). What is clear however is that the plumed serpent was a symbol of political power, and wherever he appeared carved in stone, signs of ritual human sacrifice would be found nearby. Many researchers who had believed in a more peaceful, mercantile-based society at Teotihuacan were startled by the discovery of over 200 sacrificial victims buried at the corners of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl in 1988, most warriors with their hands tied behind their backs. It is clear that by this time (c. 250 AD), Quetzalcoatl had assumed major importance and a military cast, being the god of warriors rather than priests. It appears that Quetzalcoatl continued to be the focus of religious worship until the fall of the city sometime in the 8th century, an event which is considered to be the birth of the Fifth Sun, the Sun of the Toltecs.
We affectionately refer to it as "the turd".
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987330-M.jpg
Directly behind the statue is the famous Hotel Saint Claire. Recently renovated and bought by...um...Hyatt, I think. It has a trendy italian restaurant on the first floor.
Another aspect of the renovation of downtown SJ is the water fountain. Kiddies love it. The Tech Museum of Innovation is behind it (brown) with an IMAX theater. Very cool.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987333-M.jpg
We have tall buildings too. Not as tall as SF, but so what.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987335-M.jpg
The old main post office.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987337-M.jpg
One of the lightrail stations at the park on St. John St. Lightrail has been called the transit solution that starts nowhere and goes nowhere. Some people ride it, but apparently not enough. It's in a financial crisis.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987340-M.jpg
Some neat old houses northeast of downtown.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987343-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987346-M.jpg
Here's the place to go for your bling-bling hubcaps and used tires.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987350-M.jpg
One of the last reminders that this used to be fruit orchards, not stucco-ville.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987354-L.jpg
We have a thriving Japantown too, with some excellent eating establishments.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987357-M.jpg
Here's one of them.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987359-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987362-M.jpg
The famous fiberglass horse in front of Winchester Western Wear on W. San Carlos.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987366-M.jpg
San Jose BMW Motorcycle dealership.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987370-M.jpg
Santana Row. This used to be a Town and Country Center, but they turned it into a trendy upscale shopping/living place with 17mph speed limits. I've never actually been in there.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987374-M.jpg
The Winchester Mystery House...surely everyone has heard of it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987380-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987384-M.jpg
There used to be dozens of funky A-frame Pool Stores all over SJ. Now most of them have been converted into chinese restaurants or cellular phone stores.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987388-M.jpg
World famous San Jose Camera. Prices are very close to bhphoto.com, but you get instant gratification (and sales tax, of course). They have a reputation for snubbing n00bies, but now that I've spent my children's inheritance there, they seem to humor me a little more than they used to. Actually, there are a couple of guys that work there that are pretty cool.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987393-M.jpg
We have lots of freeways in SJ. They're crowded most of the time, but nothing near like it is in Los Angeles.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987396-M.jpg
On the way home, I noticed a cool Bultaco with brand new knobbies, and just had to take a pic of it. This image pretty much represents San Jose. An old, decrepit city, with a fresh coat of paint, stickers, and new shocks. It's trying hard. While I make a lot of fun of San Jose, it's one of my favorite cities in the world. For a large city, it feels pretty much small town. And of course the weather is fantastic.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987399-M.jpg
So that's about it. Believe it or not, this is about 25% of the shots I took today. I hope you enjoyed our little cruise around San Jose. Let's see your town!
We'll start with your typical mall. This used to be Oakridge Mall...now it's Shoppingtown or some crap like that. Here is the new parking structure where the Montgomery Wards was.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987296-M.jpg
Yep...we got lots of concrete spaghetti here too.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987297-M.jpg
Children's Discovery Museum. I have no idea what the duck is all about. Elmo was sitting up there last time I went by.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987298-M.jpg
Part of our scenic skyline. SJC is very close to downtown, so there are lots of airplanes around all the time.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987299-M.jpg
The top of the historic Hotel De Anza...an art deco hotel from a long time ago that was shuttered for several decades and recently reopened as a posh hotel with a fancy italian restaurant on the first floor. There used to be a cool painting of a woman diving into a pool on the side of it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987300-M.jpg
We have lots of palm trees and airplanes downtown.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987301-M.jpg
There's a river running through the middle of downtown called the Guadalupe River. It's more like a creek, but apparently steelhead used to go up it. Now, mostly homeless people camp near it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987303-M.jpg
This is the San Jose Arena, where the Sharks NHL team plays (or pretends to play). Compaq bought the naming rights a bit before their merger with Hewlett-Packard. Now it's called HP Pavilion (like their PC line). Clever.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987305-M.jpg
Dang...I should use this one for the transport in motion assignment. This is a look from the Arena downtown toward Market St. There's always construction going on.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987307-M.jpg
And airplanes.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987309-M.jpg
Those big buildings in the background are the Adobe Systems HQ. You know...Photoshop. Nice flax, huh?
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987311-M.jpg
The San Jose Water Company building is pretty cool...art deco too, kinda.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987313-L.jpg
Kinda funny how the fountain in front of the water company doesn't work :lol
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987315-L.jpg
Oh look! Now there's something you don't see every five minutes :bluduh
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987317-L.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987319-L.jpg
They installed some really cool retro streetlights downtown a few years ago. With the palm trees, I think.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987321-L.jpg
Another shot of the Hotel De Anza.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987324-L.jpg
The lesser known Hotel Anaconda. I think it was closed down by either the health department or the vice squad.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987326-L.jpg
A neato church near the center of town.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987328-L.jpg
Here's a statue of quetzalcoatl. Who is the god Quetzalcoatl? Very little has come down to us 500 years later. The physical evidence of stone carvings and glyphs is weathered and often extremely difficult to decipher, the written evidence has been destroyed, altered or perhaps never existed at all. A long-nosed god appears on stelae at Tikal and Quiriga and several other Maya sites, perhaps as a direct influence the Olmeca-Xicallanca, but this god may not be Quetzalcoatl and indeed has few of the monumental aspects of the flying serpents of Teotihuacan. The descendents of the builders of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon carved snake heads surrounded by feathers on their Quetzalcoatl Temple, but had no identified system of writing which might have cast light on the role of the worship of the plumed serpent in their gigantic city of Teotihuacan ("where the gods were made"). What is clear however is that the plumed serpent was a symbol of political power, and wherever he appeared carved in stone, signs of ritual human sacrifice would be found nearby. Many researchers who had believed in a more peaceful, mercantile-based society at Teotihuacan were startled by the discovery of over 200 sacrificial victims buried at the corners of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl in 1988, most warriors with their hands tied behind their backs. It is clear that by this time (c. 250 AD), Quetzalcoatl had assumed major importance and a military cast, being the god of warriors rather than priests. It appears that Quetzalcoatl continued to be the focus of religious worship until the fall of the city sometime in the 8th century, an event which is considered to be the birth of the Fifth Sun, the Sun of the Toltecs.
We affectionately refer to it as "the turd".
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987330-M.jpg
Directly behind the statue is the famous Hotel Saint Claire. Recently renovated and bought by...um...Hyatt, I think. It has a trendy italian restaurant on the first floor.
Another aspect of the renovation of downtown SJ is the water fountain. Kiddies love it. The Tech Museum of Innovation is behind it (brown) with an IMAX theater. Very cool.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987333-M.jpg
We have tall buildings too. Not as tall as SF, but so what.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987335-M.jpg
The old main post office.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987337-M.jpg
One of the lightrail stations at the park on St. John St. Lightrail has been called the transit solution that starts nowhere and goes nowhere. Some people ride it, but apparently not enough. It's in a financial crisis.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987340-M.jpg
Some neat old houses northeast of downtown.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987343-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987346-M.jpg
Here's the place to go for your bling-bling hubcaps and used tires.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987350-M.jpg
One of the last reminders that this used to be fruit orchards, not stucco-ville.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987354-L.jpg
We have a thriving Japantown too, with some excellent eating establishments.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987357-M.jpg
Here's one of them.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987359-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987362-M.jpg
The famous fiberglass horse in front of Winchester Western Wear on W. San Carlos.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987366-M.jpg
San Jose BMW Motorcycle dealership.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987370-M.jpg
Santana Row. This used to be a Town and Country Center, but they turned it into a trendy upscale shopping/living place with 17mph speed limits. I've never actually been in there.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987374-M.jpg
The Winchester Mystery House...surely everyone has heard of it.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987380-M.jpg
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987384-M.jpg
There used to be dozens of funky A-frame Pool Stores all over SJ. Now most of them have been converted into chinese restaurants or cellular phone stores.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987388-M.jpg
World famous San Jose Camera. Prices are very close to bhphoto.com, but you get instant gratification (and sales tax, of course). They have a reputation for snubbing n00bies, but now that I've spent my children's inheritance there, they seem to humor me a little more than they used to. Actually, there are a couple of guys that work there that are pretty cool.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987393-M.jpg
We have lots of freeways in SJ. They're crowded most of the time, but nothing near like it is in Los Angeles.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987396-M.jpg
On the way home, I noticed a cool Bultaco with brand new knobbies, and just had to take a pic of it. This image pretty much represents San Jose. An old, decrepit city, with a fresh coat of paint, stickers, and new shocks. It's trying hard. While I make a lot of fun of San Jose, it's one of my favorite cities in the world. For a large city, it feels pretty much small town. And of course the weather is fantastic.
http://fish.smugmug.com/photos/2987399-M.jpg
So that's about it. Believe it or not, this is about 25% of the shots I took today. I hope you enjoyed our little cruise around San Jose. Let's see your town!