

By Jolene Rose Russell (http://www.jolenerussell.com).
Traveling around in #SanJose and #NearbyToSanJose at 825 mph on our spinning planet.
San José is an old city for the west coast of the USA, beginning as the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe in 1777. It’s largest school district, San José Unified School District, began as the San Jose City School District in 1863 and still has its written records from the late eighteen hundreds.
By artist Desi Mundo (https://www.desimundo.com). Beautiful mural with much to take in. There is more info here: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/3194/1396?npage=3
Mural by Richard Moore in a San Jose State University science building depicting his interpretation of PUGWUS, a deity of the sea to the Tlingit tribe in Washington state. Richard Moore was a SJSU student and painted this mural around the elevator in 1974.
This new mural is up at the Santa Clara County Fair Grounds to celebrate the fair’s 80 years. Mural by @1984.yo.
This year’s fair, going on now, has rides, pig races, fighting robots, and lots of farm animals. I enjoyed the displays of handmade items by county residents of all ages like blankets, jams, artworks, clothing and more. And the geology exhibit and reptile exhibits had friendly people from whom I learned new things.
There was also this art gallery exhibit with lots to appreciate.
Out and about, some other things you may see are at the fair are…
Krazy George riding around in an old San Jose fire truck! That is Krazy George, inventor of The Wave that you see at sporting events, in the red shirt on back of the truck.
Bike tricks that were super impressive and which photos do not capture well…
And more art like this one by AugieWK (https://www.thejamsbrand.com/augiewk).
This artwork is called “Triumph Pelt” and is hanging on the DMV in south San Jose. It was created by artist Dustin Shuler in 1986 (https://dustinshuler.com/pelts.html).
Mural by Augie WK (https://www.thejamsbrand.com/augiewk).
Mural by Force129 https://www.instagram.com/force129/.
Mural by Mister E (https://www.instagram.com/mist3r_e_/)
Mural by DAWLL (https://www.instagram.com/d4wlll/)
Mural by Lila Gemellos (https://www.gemellosmurals.com/). That is herself painting her name under the red ribbon.
Looking down the hall of the 2 mile long straight building at Stanford’s linear accelerator. Straight, not level. The guide said if it was level it would follow the Earth’s curve and at 2 miles long it would then be about 12 inches off of straight at the end. This building was designed to be straight because a couple of stories below ground, under this support equipment that the building is housing, is a long tube that is designed to accelerate particles very near the speed of light. And those particles go straight. You don’t get too many opportunities to look down so perfect an example of a diminishing perspective through distance.
This is the outside of the building, looking down the exact same stretch as seen in the inside photo above it. You can see highway 280 going over the linear accelerator as a bridge not too far ahead in the photo.
Our tour guide took us to a newer building added down the end of the accelerator where x-rays generated by the accelerated particles are used for modern research. The accelerator was running throughout this whole visit, and does so through most hours of most days of the year. And so, behind the tour guide in the above photo, here a few stories under ground, x-rays are flying through the labs in a horizontal tube that I pointed out with the added blue arrow. These x-rays are used in the various experiments going on in the numerous rooms of SLAC.
There is something wonderful about humans working together on huge ambitious projects to advance our understanding of the universe. And it is pretty great to get to look at these projects and to consider what they do and how they do it.
Coming back up to the surface, surrounded by California.
These murals were painted live in front of the community while enjoying the 2023 County Fair.
By Hector Covarrubias (https://www.instagram.com/cova____/).
By Dee-meh (https://www.instagram.com/ladimeuna/), Priscilla Marquez (https://instagram.com/priscillasarte/reels/), and Yazmin Shi Shi Madriz (https://www.instagram.com/shishi.madriz/).
By Driftin (https://driftin.one/produce).
By Arsenio Baca (https://www.abacaart.com/).
By Jessica (https://www.instagram.com/jcaoart/).
By Eddie Ramirez (https://www.eddieramirezart.com/).
By Demetris BAMR Washington (https://www.bamrtheartist.com/).
By Ricardo Richey – APEXER (https://theapexer.com/).
By Robert Nexus-Nexx Ortiz (https://www.instagram.com/og_nexus_408/).
By Jesse Hernandez – Urban Aztec (http://www.jessehernandez.net/).
Norman Chuck – Vogue (https://www.voguesworld.com/).
By Raiz (https://www.pablosomething.com/) and Pancho Pescador (https://www.instagram.com/panchopescador/).
By Elba Raquel (https://www.elbaraquel.com/).