King Pins Luxurious bowling alleys
hit the Bay Area.
Bowling conjures up many sights and scents – stale beer, greasy food, those
rented shoes, perhaps images from The Big Lebowski. But glamour? Stylish
is not a word typically associated with ten pins and alleys – until now.
Bowling is going glam, and on a global scale. In London, boutique bowling club
All Star Lanes has reportedly lured the likes of Madonna with its luxurious amenities.
In the Philippines, where bowling is a beloved national sport, architects for
Manila’s SM bowling club designed an avant-garde venue that looks more contemporary
art gallery-cum-club than bowling alley.
Silicon Valley is now rolling on the cutting edge of this luxury lanes trend.
Mid-July saw the opening of Strike Cupertino – a decidedly upscale venue
from New York-based Strike Holdings. Founder and CEO Tom Shannon thought Silicon
Valley was the ideal spot for the company’s first California venture. “People
here work hard and like to play hard, and the culture in Silicon Valley is certainly
one of achievement,” Shannon notes. “We tried to build a venue that
reflects the innovation and forward thinking that Silicon Valley is known for.”
This multimedia playground features 32 glow-in-the-dark bowling lanes, each boasting
its own moviescreen, semi-private banquette, and food and beverage service.
There’s also much talk about L.A.-born Lucky Strike Lanes’ plans for
a large-scale venue in Downtown San Jose. Upon opening in Hollywood in 2003, Lucky
Strike’s fusion of a contemporary lounge bar environment with the revamped
retro elements of Hollywood’s old-school alleys proved an instant hit with
celebs and Lebowski fans alike.
But are Bay Area bowlers ready to trade the traditional local alley elements of
domestic beer, defective scoreboards, and deep fried mozzarella sticks for bowling
that’s more cocktails, canapés, and cover charges? Shannon thinks
so, judging by what he dubbed an “overwhelming” response on Strike’s
opening weekend. “Several thousand people visited the property during the
first weekend and the party inquiries, both corporate and birthday, have been
pouring in. I think people have really been blown away by the ambience and service.”
It’s time to shine those designer bowling shoes. Strike Cupertino is located at Cupertino Square, 10123
N. Wolfe Rd., Cupertino. For more information, visitwww.strikecupertino.comor call (408) 252-BOWL.
Allah My Children How many British boys
are named Mohammed? (Hint: more than you think.)
If you think all British males have stodgy names
like Basil and Cyril, prepare for a mild shock. As reported by The Times
in early June, the name Mohammed, with its 14 different spellings, is the second-most
common name for newborn boys in the U.K. Last year, 5,991 little Mohammeds were
born in England, outnumbered only by the 6,928 baby boys who were given the name
Jack. Close behind Jack and Mohammed were Thomas, Joshua, and Oliver.
So is England now a mecca for Muslims, so to speak? Not really. Muslims represent
only three percent of the British population, but their birthrate is approximately
three times the national average. Add to that the fact that the name Mohammed
is far and away the dominant name for Muslim males (all told, it’s “probably
the most common given name” in the world, according to the sixth edition
of The Columbia Encyclopedia), and we begin to see where the figures
are coming from.
If the popularity of the name Mohammed (meaning “one who is praiseworthy”)
continues to grow at its current rate in Britain (it increased by 12 percent in
2006), it’s likely to knock Jack from the No. 1 spot by year’s end.
Any speculation of Jill coming tumbling after is premature at this time.
Incidentally, in California, the most popular name for boys last year was Daniel.
Emily for girls.
Boy or Girl? Find out in six weeks
with a simple blood test.
Until recently, parents-to-be had to wait until
four months into pregnancy to find out their bundle of joy’s gender. Not
any more. Sunnyvale’s Consumer Genetics has developed a breakthrough gender
test, Pink or Blue, that will pinpoint the baby’s gender just six weeks
into the pregnancy.
The product proved so popular, the company was inundated with submissions upon
its release in May 2006. “We didn’t know that all of a sudden it was
going to skyrocket,” product manager Lily Nguyen recalls. The test requires
merely a few drops of the mother’s blood, via a quick prick of the finger
that doesn’t even require a doctor. “You can do this at home –
so it’s convenient and private,” explains Nguyen.
Pink or Blue is just one offering among a growing number of DIY DNA tests that
give consumers a glimpse into their genetic makeup. While modern science hasn’t
quite reached the Gattaca-esque level, where we can sneak a stray hair
from a potential mate to obtain a detailed DNA analysis, there are a slew of at-home
genetic tests targeted at letting folks know, for example, if they should be quaffing
those double lattes or glasses of Cabernet with such carefree abandon.
CaffeineGEN, another Consumer Genetics product, needs only a simple cheek swab
to tell test subjects if they have a slow or fast variant of the gene that breaks
down caffeine. According to a 2006 study published by the American Medical Association,
says Nguyen, people with the slow version of the gene were at a higher risk of
heart disease. “Their chances of a heart attack increase as they drink more
than two to three cups of coffee a day,” Nguyen explains. So, latte fiends
with the slow gene can still drink coffee moderately, but this knowledge will
allow them to make lifestyle changes to better their health. “It’s
nice to know,” Nguyen notes. “If you’re more of a health-conscious
person, you can definitely take some precautions.”
Due for launch in September is WineGEN, a similar test that analyzes genes that
break down alcohol. Based on how a person’s body processes alcohol, drinking
moderately can actually lower cholesterol levels and risks of heart attack, and
also, in some cases, have more toxic effects that could lead to an increased risk
of stomach and liver cancers. A simple saliva swab is all that’s required
for people to make a more informed decision about ordering that next round. For more information on any of the tests go to www.consumergenetics.comor phone (866) 694-2878.
Club Creation Bay Area inventors can
“work out” ideas at Tech Shop.
“To say that we’re going to change the
world with this is really a literal statement,” says Tech Shop founder Jim
Newton, clearly somewhat in awe of his own invention. This open-access workshop
is a facility its staff compare to a gym, only instead of treadmills and weights,
it houses tools, equipment and machinery. Lots of machinery.
In over 15,000 square feet of workshop space, Newton has amassed an impressive
array of machinery and equipment of every kind imaginable. Plasma cutters, 3–D
printers and laser cutters are popular with many members, then there’s gear
for welding, woodworking, metalworking, fabricating electronics and much more.
Whether you’re a casual tinkerer, a passionate hobbyist or madman with a
head full of wild inventions, you’re sure to find what you need to, as the
Tech Shop tagline states, “build your dreams here.”
As is so often the case, this place was born of necessity. Having previously had
access to a wonderland of workshops as a BattleBots builder and a scientist for
TV’s Mythbusters, Newton needed a place to work on his own projects.
“I started looking around for a place that I could work, and I couldn’t
find anything. And I was kind of astounded actually, that there wasn’t anything,
anywhere in the country.”
So, Newton opened Tech Shop in October 2006 and has been astounded with the interest
it has received. “It turns out I’m not the only one that wants a place
like this,” he says with a shrug. The facility already has close to 300
members (he’s set a cap at 500), each of whom pay $100 a month for unlimited
access to this house of tools and technology. And it’s not just a tech-savvy
Bay Area phenomenon – Newton has had literally hundreds of requests from
people all across the country keen to open Tech Shop franchises.
“I guess I never really thought it would have such a big impact on so many
people,” adds Newton. “A lot of people have said that in five years
we’re going to look back at Tech Shop and compare it directly with the HP
garage or Xerox PARC, in terms of what we’ve enabled our members to come
up with and the ideas that have come into the world as a result of them having
access to this place,” he continues. “That’s pretty exciting.”
Tech Shop is located at 120 Independence Dr., Menlo
Park. Open daily, 9am - Midnight. www.techshop.ws(800) 640-1975. Classes are available, and are sometimes mandatory on more
complex machinery.
*This Article appeared in Volume 7, Issue 08 of The Wave Magazine.
