I wasn't really expecting to see the row of TV trucks outside City Hall. I asked a reporter what was going on, and he explained that a big march was due soon, coming from East San Jose.

  

4th St. Pizza used to be a market. I don't know why they haven't painted over the "STATE MARKET" yet.

     

The main reason I went to San Jose was to do First Friday, an event where all of the Art Galleries open for the evening. Some of them have live music, lots of the artists show up to get feedback on their work, and it works out to a great evening out.

        

There are lots of people that are fun to hang out with there to. I took the above pictures in Kalied, a gallery where the attitude is "we like having our pictures taken." Some of the other galleries said "No!" The woman in the quilt museum explained that an artist had been made furious by seeing pictures of his work taken at the gallery on the web. Obviously I can't show you that beautiful fiber art.

     

        

The woman playing the violin was only part of what I was hearing, even though she was all of it. She would play for a while, maybe twelve bars or something like that. Then she would push a button on that box with the wires coming out of it. Then the machine would play that back while she added another line the same length and pushed the next button. After all of the things buttons had tracks playing she would swap them out to raise the mood of the piece. Some tracks she bowed, some she plucked, some she made music other ways. Her sound was edgy and fresh.

     


     

Aside from the real galleries, many of the empty storefronts had art in the windows as "Phantom Galleries". It gave the whole area a "one big art instillation" feeling.