Cover Story: Mind Over Metal
Thanks to Jack Houck's psychokinesis parties, even a 97-pound weakling can bend a spoon with the power of his mind.

Gas and Chips: If San Jose gas stations are allowed to sell groceries and alcohol, mechanics will be replaced by Twinkies.

Public Eye: A new East Side schools superintendent digs deeper into the district's financial practices under predecessor Joe Coto.

Biter: A soccer fan tries to keep cool at the Quakes game.

Techsploits: Could worms actually be making computers safer?

The Weight of Fate: Three tortured souls can't escape destiny in Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu's leaden '21 Grams.'

Anti-Santa: Billy Bob Thornton's debauched Kris Kringle lights up the season in 'Bad Santa.'

Cate in the Hat: Gunfight at Archetype Junction: 'The Missing' is Ron Howard's kettle of 'Prairie Chicken Soup for the Soul.'

Scratchy: Why are cute animals born to suffer? 'Spike and Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2003' knows the answer.

Supermom: Jonathan Karsh's documentary 'My Flesh and Blood' looks at an extraordinary family.

Words of Stone: San Jose poet and jazz musician Roberto Tinoco Duran serves up a thought-provoking slice of homemade 'Poetry Pie.'

Aural Fixation: Lit road-tested new songs at the Edge.

Spirited Display: Solo violinist Lara St. John emphasized technique in guest turn with Symphony Silicon Valley.

Smoke, She is A-Rising: Fire horse women and picture brides are the stuff of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's 'Legend.'

Whitewashing The Holidays: A tale of the first Thanksgiving--the way it really was.

Gospel Guffaws: 'The Bible' gets a trim job at City Lights.