Short Takes Short Takes (January 12, 2005)

Straighten up and drive right

Spotted on Woodside Road in Redwood City last week: a beige Toyota sporting the curious license plate "ALIGNR."

Upon closer inspection, all was revealed. The plate's frame was an advertisement for Oak Grove Chiropractic in Menlo Park.

Carbs count for charity

Assuage your sweet tooth and help raise money for tsunami victims. Using the time-honored technique of mothers everywhere, the Palo Alto/Menlo Park Mothers Club is holding a fundraising bake sale in front of the Menlo Park Trader Joe's, 720 Menlo Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, January 15. Proceeds go to UNICEF's tsunami relief fund.

Tapping in the new year

"Shall We Dance?" is the Peninsula Symphony's remedy for the January blues.

Tap dancer Sam Weber and friends, along with Peninsula musicians, are putting on a toe-tapping performance of symphonic music at 8 p.m. Saturday, January 15, in the Fox Theatre in Redwood City.

Tappers will dance in and around the orchestra's percussion section in what's billed as "a wild display of rhythmic dexterity" to a new "Concerto for 2 Tap Dancers" by Andreas Danel. They also will tap to old favorites, inspired by legendary hoofer Fred Astaire.

For tickets -- $27 for adults, $21 for students and seniors -- call 941-5291 or check www.peninsulasymphony.org. On Friday, January 14, the same program takes center stage at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center.

Maybe next year there'll be a video

Still not spotted on the Top 40: "The Riskmaster," a tune penned by Menlo Park venture capitalist Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The firm sent out CD singles of the song as a holiday greeting, according to an article posted on its Web site.
Edited by Andrea Gemmet. Send ideas for items to agemmet@almanacnews.com.

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