Who knew that Aqui Cal-Mex’s wildly popular Industrial Strength Swirls would be a flashpoint in the South Bay’s battle against coronavirus? People rejoiced on social media when word spread that the slushy frozen margarita combos — with names like Deep Eddy Mango and Blueberry Guava Hurricane — were being made available for takeout from the restaurant chain’s five locations.
But they might have rejoiced a bit too much — and too close together. San Jose bar manager Josh Kwok posted a photo on Facebook’s Willow Glen Neighbors page that showed nearly two dozen customers inside the Lincoln Avenue location seemingly much closer than social distancing would allow, and the post garnered nearly 500 comments from people mostly upset about the customers’ reckless behavior.
The good news is that by the the time I paid a visit Monday, Aqui had taken steps to keep customers apart with X’s taped on the ground (and staff firmly but politely reminded customers who got too close to keep their distance). Hours for the Swirls are also limited to late afternoon and evening. But, I have to admit, the Swirls were a delightful addition to our dinner that night.
FROM A DISTANCE: Other people are managing to maintain their social distance while still keeping their neighbors’ spirits up: Our neighborhood email list has been getting a daily dose of verse from poet and retired teacher Laurence Snydal, as well as a brief haiku exchange that included this verse: “Social distancing,/ Self-isolation is good,/ We will get through this.” A good message, though not as funny as one of the others: “Haikus are easy/But sometimes they don’t make sense/Refrigerator.”
Meanwhile, Nancy Franich found some stress-reducing messages during her walk in Grant Park near her home in Los Altos. Someone wrote messages like “Breathe” and “March Madness” on rocks and seeded them around the park. Let’s just hope March Madness doesn’t give way to April Anxiety.
And Leah Toeniskoetter has been sending messages to neighbors strolling by her second-floor place using office supplies. She’s created hearts and messages like “Hi!” with colored sticky notes. Maybe somebody will write back on the sidewalk.
VIRTUAL DISTRACTIONS: For parents looking to add a splash of creativity to their week, artist and art teacher Sam Price has teamed up with the Palo Alto Art Center to give parents and kids aged 5-10 a free collage art class steamed through Zoom at 11 a.m. on Fridays through April 10. The classes will be co-hosted by Price’s 6-year-old daughter, Simone, who her dad says “loves art and has a knack for the camera.”
“The Bay Area community needs solutions now, and this problem is not going away for parents,” said Price, who hopes the 20-minute workshops help break up the daily monotony and relieve some stress for parents. You can sign up at www.paacf.org/collage-with-sam-price.html.
Another option for parents is the Magical Bridge Foundation’s selection of family-friendly performances, streamed daily at noon on its Facebook page. Upcoming performances include a virtual singalong with Matt Fernald (March 26), Julian Hornick‘s Broadway musical concert (March 27) and a concert by Andy Z (March 28).
JAZZING IT UP: With Cafe Stritch and other jazz venues closed for the time being, San Jose Jazz is helping people scratch their live music itch with a new weekly streaming series called “Live From Home,” with artists — who would normally be touring right now — performing 30-minute concerts on Mondays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. The series opened with hometown favorite Jackie Gage (March 26) and continues with keyboardist Bennett Roth-Newell on March 30 and vocalist Shayna Steele on April 2.
“We are very fortunate to have an audience base that really enjoys exploring new music,” San Jose Jazz Executive Director Brendan Rawson said. “We hope that we can be a conduit for people to directly support the hard working musicians that bring us such great joy throughout the year.”
Performances will be streamed on San Jose Jazz’s Facebook events page, and a donation link will be set up with all proceeds going to the artists. Go to www.sanjosejazz.org/events for links to each show.