Iran has released Sarah Shourd, one of three University of California at Berkeley graduates detained in the country for more than a year. 

Shourd, 32, was captured in Iran on July 31, 2009, along with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28. The hikers' families and friends say they were detained after they accidentally crossed an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. 

Iran accused the three of espionage and said it planned to prosecute them, although no formal charges have been filed. 

Shourd's mother, Oakland resident Nora Shourd, said last month she was concerned about her daughter's health because her daughter told her that she discovered a lump on her breast. 

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the judge in thecae decided to allow Shourd to be released on $500,000 bail "because of her ailment," but said the arrest warrant for Bauer and Fattal has been extended for an extra two months. 

The families of the three hikers released a statement in response to the news that Shourd would be coming home. 

"All of our families are relieved and overjoyed that Sarah has atlas been released but we're also heartbroken that Shane and Josh are still being denied their freedom for no just cause," the statement read. 

Nora Shourd said in a separate statement, "I've hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days and I cannot wait to wrap Sarah in my arms handhold her close when we are finally together again." 

The White House released a statement from President Obama this morning lauding Shourd's release but calling on Iran to release the other two hikers. 

"We salute the courage and strength of the Shourd, Bauer, and Fattal families, who have endured the unimaginable absence of their loved ones," Obama said. "We have gained strength from their resolve and will continue to do everything we can to secure the release of their loved ones." 

U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said, "I have long argued that the detainment of these three young American citizens is illegitimate and contrary to a basic respect for human rights. 

"As we look forward to welcoming Sarah home, we must acknowledge that this tragedy will not be resolved until she is joined by her friends...who remain unfairly imprisoned and separated from the outside world," Lee said.

U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein’s hubby Richard Blum has bought more than a million dollars worth of stock in UC Berkeley professor and federal-sponsored agrofuel scientist Jay Keasling’s Amyris Technologies, reports The Hill. 

That makes the powerful Democrat a business partner of Bill Gates, who provided the funding Keasling used to launch his company, which was originally billed as a firm that would use genetically modified bacteria to produce anti-malarial drugs. 

Amyris, once headquartered in Berkeley, has been commercially repurposed as a company that seeks to use GMO technology to produce agrofuels, transforming plants into transportation fuels. 

The company’s CEO, John Melo, came to Amyris from an outfit formerly known as the Anglo Iranian Oil Company and better known today as BP. 

Keasling was a lead player in UC Berkeley’s successful bid to win a $500 million agrofuel development grant from BP, and he’s done well by Melo, who was rewarded with a compensation package of $829,950 last year despite the company’s losses of $120.4 million over the last three years, according to Green Energy Reporter. 

Amyris also shares the same building with another Keasling-headed agrofuel venture, the federally funded Joint Bioenergy Institute [JBEI] which operates out of the fourth floor of the building where Amyris occupies the ground floor, making an easy commute for Keasling between his public and private operations. 

While JBEI is entirely federally funded, Amyris is also tapping into the public purse, landing a $25 million grant in December, as Josh Richman reported for the Bay Area News Group’s Political Blotter: 

 

Emeryville-based Amyris Biotechnologies Inc. will get a $25 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a pilot plant producing renewable fuel – a diesel substitute – by fermenting sweet sorghum. The Energy Department doled out $564 million last week to 19 such bio-refinery projects nationwide; Amyris was the only Bay Area recipient. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hope the projects will help lay a foundation for full commercial-scale development of a U.S. biomass industry, reducing the nation’s foreign-oil dependence while creating jobs. 

Amyris’ plant will also be able to co-produce lubricants, polymers and other petro-chemical susbstitutes. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said the plant “would create approximately 75 new jobs in the area and propel Amyris’ cutting-edge renewable fuel technology. 

 

Feinstein ranks in tenth place on The Hill’s list of rich federal lawmakers, most of whom managed to boost their wealth while the rest of us were getting poorer, report Kevin Bogardus and Barbra Kim. 

In March, 2009, Biofuels Digest reported that Feinstein had introduced legislation to cut import duties on Brazilian ethanol: 

 

In Washington, six senators from both parties introduced legislation to reduce the ethanol tariff from 54 cents per gallon to 45 cents, to achieve parity with the recent reduction in the ethanol blender’s credit. The blender credit for first-generation fuels was reduced from 51 cents to 45 cents. One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Diane Feinstein, said that the high ethanol tariff limits Brazilian ethanol imports and encourages the use of gasoline. Feinstein (D-CA), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Susan Collins (R-ME), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mel Martinez (R-FL.) are sponsors of the bill.  

Things get interesting when you realize that Amyris has launched a major effort in Brazil to use its technology to transform sugar cane into ethanol and from there into other fuels. 

According to the company’s website: 

 

Amyris Brasil is expanding our production capacity by working with Brasilian sugar and ethanol producers to produce Amyris fuels and chemicals through a “capital light” production model. Under this model, these producers will invest a substantial portion or all of the capital needed to build the Amyris facility for production of our renewable products while Amyris will provide technology, plant designs and technical expertise. Amyris Brasil will then market and distribute the products to end customers. Our first such arrangement is our joint venture with Usina São Martinho. The joint venture, SMA Indústria Química S.A., was created to build the first facility in Brasil fully dedicated to the production of Amyris renewable products.  

In December the company signed an $82 million agreement to buy a 40 percent share in a Brazilian sugar cane mill, according to Reuters. 

In June, a French investor bought a large piece of Amyris, according to Green Energy Reporter: 

 

Paris-based oil and gas major Total has invested an undisclosed amount for a 17 percent stake in second generation biofuel developer Amyris.
-
The investment makes Total Amyris’s largest shareholder, ahead of Khosla Ventures, which has a 15.4 percent stake. Other investors include Texas Pacific Group and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Since its 2003 launch, Amyris has raised around $165 million. Amyris, using a process developed at the University of California Berkeley, has created a sugar-based hydrocarbon molecules that can be converted into greener jet fuel, industrial chemicals or biodiesel. 

In a press release issued yesterday Total and Amyris said they planned to jointly-develop and commercialize renewable fuels and chemicals. Although based in Emeryville, Calif., Amyris does a bulk of its R&D work in Brazil. 

>snip< 

Last spring Amyris filed an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that seeks to raise about $100 million. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are lead underwriters. 

 

Another major league backer of Amyris is Vinod Khosla, one of the leading sources of green venture capital. National Review blogger Greg Pollowitz offers this quote from the billionaire: “When I met them they were working on malaria drugs,” he said of Amyris’ founders. “Six months later the same genetically engineered bugs were producing diesel.” 

According to a 13 May 2008 National Review post by Noel Sheppard, another Amyris investor was Al Gore. 

And for another look at Blum profits from government, see this choice bit about his role as a buyer of foreclosed properties. 

 

Richard Brenneman's regular blog is Eats, Shoots 'N' Leaves. 

When I first saw the news of the gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno on September 9, 2010 it seemed very close to home.

I grew up a couple of miles away from there, but the home I thought of first was my current Berkeley residence and an eerily similar situation that had played out along my block, fortunately without disastrous consequences, several years ago. 

Several of us smelled gas along our south central Berkeley block. The smell was faint and seemed to come and go but we smelled it frequently enough that it became a topic of sidewalk conversation. People checked around their homes and couldn’t find anything amiss. The smell was always outside along the street, not near the houses. 

We called PG & E and workers came to investigate with little hand held devices that “sniffed” up and down the cracked pavement (the street has since been repaved). Eventually, larger crews came and started trenching. They dug up much of the center of the street. 

It was then we learned that a large gas pipeline servicing southeast Berkeley ran up the middle of our east / west block. It was buried several feet deep. The trench was impressive, especially as the crews kept extending it along the block exposing more and more of the pipe as they looked for the exact source of the elusive leak. 

My recollection is that the workers said it was either a 16 or 19 inch diameter pipe. That’s not much more than half the size of the one that blew up in San Bruno but it still seemed a shocking size for a Berkeley residential street. None of us had known previously what was buried under our pavement. 

Eventually the crews found something. I think it was a small crack or seam through which gas had seeped out and into the soil above, eventually reaching the pavement and open air. It was repaired, the trench was filled in, and the excavation repaved. 

I don’t remember any formal communication to the neighbors from PG & E during this event. Everything we heard came from conversations with the workers who were doing the actual investigation and repairs. 

Today, I imagine, PG & E workers and contractors would probably be warned not to say anything to the neighbors, and some official spokesperson might appear with soothing words. 

Our block, in retrospect, was fortunate. Our incident came and passed in almost a routine manner. But the explosion in San Bruno and the resulting deaths and devastating fire there should be a caution to us all. 

Reportedly it took hours to shut off the gas fueling the enormous blowtorch that incinerated part of the Crestmoor neighborhood and kept firefighters back from the center of the explosion area. And, also reportedly, residents of the area had smelled gas outside, just as we did, and wondered where it was coming from. 

San Bruno is a relatively suburban city. Most of the homes are smaller single family structures spaced out along wide streets. The area where the blast and fire occurred also had a fair amount of undeveloped open space separating the residential blocks from adjacent areas. 

Berkeley, in contrast, is a very densely built city. A similar explosion on a Berkeley block affecting a similar area might burn or damage scores of buildings and hundreds of housing units and spread for blocks across narrow streets where the buildings are closely spaced. 

It was reported this week that PG & E has been ordered to inspect its enormous network of natural gas pipelines in California. Authorities in Berkeley should be vitally interested in this work. 

Berkeley has experienced at least one fatal gas leak and explosion in the past. December 4, 1931, an abandoned residential gas line left over from, and forgotten after, the 1923 Berkeley Fire began to leak and filled a newer house at 2600 Cedar Street with gas. The Berkeley Fire Department responded and a crowd gathered on the adjacent streets, attracted by the fire engines. A huge explosion killed one fireman and a 16 year old spectator, and seriously injured many others, including more than a dozen firemen and Chief George Haggerty and numerous children. The house and two fire trucks were wrecked and debris was thrown hundreds of feet, damaging houses blocks away  

Fortunately, there was no fire, probably because the force of the blast blew out any flames and the little residential gas line was itself too small to re-ignite the area. 

To avoid disasters similar to that in San Bruno, at the least, the City of Berkeley should know—or should find out—the following: 

- Where are the larger gas mains that run through Berkeley and what are their capacities? There may be one down your street, just as we found there was one in ours. * 

- The age, status, condition, and PG & E inspection and repair schedule for those mains. 

- Emergency procedures for dealing with a gas explosion and fire of this type. 

- PG & E procedures for shutting off the supply to larger gas mains in the event of a leak or fire. Why the main in San Bruno burned so long is the most troubling question for me to come out of this disaster. 

In the meantime, if you smell tell-tale gas outside, call PG & E. If they are not of assistance, I would suggest calling the Berkeley Fire Department or the Department of Public Works to ask what they advise. For a time at least, before the inevitable fading of disaster memories, people and agencies may be attentive to this issue. 

 

* A report on the Berkeleyside website, posted September 13, shows the approximate locations of two large pipelines that run north / south through West Berkeley but missed the smaller, but still substantial, east / west pipeline through my Berkeley neighborhood.

Police in Berkeley are asking for the public's help identifying a suspect who shot and killed a man walking home with his fiancee after a party in the city early Sunday morning.

An Associated Press report in the San Jose Mercury News said that the victim was a 35-year-old Chilean man who had moved to California to be with his American-born fiancee.  

Berkeley police officer Jamie Perkins told the AP that Adolfo Ignacio Celedon was shot several times as he and his girlfriend, a UC Berkeley graduate student, were walking home from a party early Sunday, which was his birthday. He died in a hospital later that day. 

The couple were walking near Adeline and Emerson streets at around 3:40 a.m. when they were approached by two male suspects who tried to rob them, Berkeley police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said earlier, 

During the crime, one of the suspects shot the victim and punched the victim's fiancee. The woman suffered minor injuries. 

The victim, who had reportedly moved to Berkeley in February, was taken to a trauma center by fire department paramedics. 

The suspects got into a two-tone older model sport utility vehicle and drove away, traveling west on Ashby Avenue. 

Police did not release the victim's name to the local press pending notification of his family and confirmation of his identity by the Alameda County coroner's bureau. 

The Berkeley Police Department is urging anyone who might have knowledge of the homicide or the suspects to contact the police homicide unit at (510) 981-5741 or the 24-hour police non-emergency number (510) 981-5900. Calls can be made anonymously at (800) 222-TIPS.

Cheerleaders, fire engines, bicycle police, electric go carts, bands, fencers, gymnasts, samba dancers, and assorted local politicians marched, danced, or rolled their way down Solano Avenue in the traditional parade that kicked off the Solano Stroll on Sunday, September 12. 

It was the 36^th year of the annual event. The 2010 iteration was entitled “A Global A-Faire”. The Stroll is hosted by the Solano Avenue Merchants Association. 

A mile of the Avenue running through Berkeley and Albany, closed to traffic for the day, was lined with scores of booths of non-profit organizations, craft sellers, local businesses, and cultural and activity groups. 

The thousands who showed up could get a slice of Zachary’s pizza, ride a ferris wheel, buy a historic postcard, or find out about the myriad community groups and causes in the area.

During my years of teaching writing, and long afterward, writers would ask me for advice on or reaction to their work. What most of them were really asking for was publishing contacts, and, when I honestly said I couldn’t help, they didn’t believe me. Even those who were more concerned about the writing itself believed that the stamp of quality on their work must be, could only be, its appearance in print by a commercial publisher. They were deaf to my insistence that writing is art and publishing is business; that 99% of commercial publishing is like dropping a book over a cliff, lost and forgotten in record time; that they were aware only of the 1% that became best sellers and movies—never a reliable measure of the quality of the art. 

I usually ended my unheeded speech with an equally unheeded exhortation: you want a generation of readers who will treasure your writing? Who will pass it on, quote it, keep it in print? Then write your life for your children. No children? Then write for your cousins’ children or your neighbors’ grandchildren—for the next generation and the next, who will prize it even more. You want immortality? There it is. 

As I got warmed up, I would tell how often I wished I had listened to my grandmother’s stories of crossing the Atlantic with her ten-year-old son, both of them without a word of English, trying to find their way to Butte, Montana to join my grandfather, already coughing after a few years’ work in the copper mines. But, when I was ten, my grandmother’s stories were boring, old-country, un-American. And by the time I had grown up enough to value her stories, she was dead. I would conclude my harangue by urging my writing students to start—NOW—to put down memories of their daily lives, to question older living relatives or neighbors before it was too late, to get this precious literature down on paper. 

I am still nagging writers with this advice. Many now agree, and some have even joined writing groups for encouragement. But few write much, and those few spend too much time polishing up successive drafts. They may also be discouraged by a self-imposed requirement that they organize, outline, get their recollections in chronological order—a “proper” autobiography. But that’s not the way memories work. They fall on us like leaves from here and there, blown by sudden breezes, from one direction, then another, from something that happened last week, which evokes a sudden memory from when we were three years old. which leads to remembering some valuable advice given by the one high school classmate we detested. Does it matter if these memories don’t come in chronological order? 

So get a notebook and write them as they come. (Even your penmanship might be an interesting artifact to a descendent.) Record your first memory; your worst memory; the happiest incident; the most frightening; the most boring; the best lesson you ever learned; the best teacher; the worst; a stupid, shameful thing you did, a portrait of a close relative you hate. Something you saw and did that no one can do or see now. (It was unimportant? That might make it especially interesting to your grand-nephew.) One short memory written down in twenty minutes will nudge another one forward—and everyone can spare twenty minutes a day for posterity. 

As I typed that last sentence, Bob looked over my shoulder and said, “Right, even you. With all your years of writing, you’ve sneaked a few experiences into your fiction, but if they weren’t “usable” you didn’t write them down anywhere for the next or the next generation.” He’s right. So, I’ll set an example with a few unimportant experiences. 

I learned to swim in Fleishhacker Pool, an Olympic-size outdoor swimming pool, water pumped in from the ocean, next to the San Francisco Zoo. Long gone, of course, because, well, whose brilliant idea was it to build an outdoor pool near SF Ocean Beach, where the summer temperature might hit the high fifties on a REALLY warm day? I also took a life-saving class there from Charlie Sava, trainer of once-famous swimmer Ann Curtis, and learned how to get in and out of a life-saving canoe, in the water, an exercise that, as I remember, left me black and blue from head to foot. I also swam at the legendary Sutro Baths, the elegant, glassed-in palace of pools set halfway out into the Pacific on rocks at the northwest tip of San Francisco (you can still look down on what’s left of concrete pool rims). Sutro Baths was near to closing when I swam there, and the wooden walkways around the pools were rotting, moldy and smelly, but I wish the City had taken over what had become a white elephant and fixed it up—before a suspicious fire finally destroyed it. 

Like many people, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing—fretting over my divorce—when the assassination of John Kennedy came over the radio to remind me that there were more important things in the world than my own guilty misery. I also remember my 3^rd grade teacher, even her name, Miss McLeod, one of those much-maligned old-maid schoolteachers, who happened to be a gifted puppeteer. The rear of our classroom was a marionette theater. We each made our own marionette to act the part we memorized and spoke as we manipulated the marionette; the high point of my life was creating and playing Snow White in our class production, attended by every class in the then-Le Conte School of the SF Mission District. We certainly learned the reading and math expected for our grade level, but I remember only the creative joy of our marionette theater. 

I remember growing up in a San Francisco of parades on all holidays, including Hallowe’en. One Hallowe’en night, our next-door neighbors insisted that both families pull out all our sheets, dress up as ghosts, and walk up (less than a mile) to Market Street to join the parade. (Mothers and children only; my father worked late, and the father next door was drunk, as usual.) We marched, ten abreast, a row of white-sheeted ghosts, in the huge mob of ordinary folks that stretched all along Market Street. No police in sight. No drunkenness, no brawling, no danger. All perfectly safe fun, marching down Market Street, then walking home in the dark. 

There are sadder memories, angry memories of hurt and betrayal, just like the ones everyone has. Don’t leave anything out; that’s the blessing of limited, selective publication. Yours may be a vital side of a picture your readers deserve to see whole. 

This is not just an old geezer’s game. If you’re sixty, you can remember the mudflat, scrap sculpture in the tidelands before the Eastshore Freeway was built. If you’re under fifty, you can drive out to the Albany Bulb and document the scrap sculpture left from industrial dump days there. (If you’re new to California, you have even richer comparisons of sights and customs to document.) Under forty? Describe what pre-internet schooldays were like. Under thirty?—your first time behind the wheel of a car, which car? Under twenty? your first great passion: sexual, artistic, sports, exploratory. Or your first great loss. 

Okay, now, let’s all get at it. Twenty minutes a day, a precious treasure for the next generation.

Join State Senator Leland Yee in kicking off Jesse's positive, progressive re-election campaign this Saturday, September 18, from 11:00am - 2:00pm, at 2242 Bancroft Way (very BART accessible) just past Oxford. 

There will be fun, food and great company! Also, come get your lawn sign and help walk some precincts after the event! 

Over the past year and half, Councilmember Jesse Arreguín has been a strong progressive voice on the Berkeley City Council, standing up and spea...king out for progressive change. He has authored legislation on issues ranging from LGBT rights, a just immigration policy, affordable housing, the environment, UC accountability and workers rights. 

He has also used his office as a platform to advocate for social change and not only talks the talk but also walks the walk, walking in picket lines and getting arrested for political causes. 

As a lifetime activist, Jesse has been an outspoken progressive voice and has never been afraid to stand up for what is right. From an early age, Jesse has been passionately committed to fighting for social change. At the age of 9, Jesse became active in the campaign to rename a street in San Francisco after his hero, Cesar Chavez. For the past fifteen years, Jesse has been involved in political advocacy and bring his years of experience as an activist, city commissioner, City Council aide and elected official to the City Council. 

 

Contacts: 

Anthony Sanchez, Jesse Arreguin 

www.VivaJesse.com 

Recent Daily Californian front page stories reporting violent events in People's Park have sparked a barrage of flaming comments on-line. 

The following blow-torch comment is typical: "...but for the bums who insist on having their drugs and booze handy at all times, screw 'em--let them sleep on concrete or, better still, run them out of town." 

People's Park, always the eye of a hurricane, has become a political hot-potato in the November elections for the district 7 council seat. 

Two of the candidates' stated positions would bring sweeping changes to the troubled park and adjacent neighborhoods. Although couched in code, like "multi-use," and even "soccer field," such proposals sound suspiciously like "run them out of town." 

As a Berkeleyan living a half block from the park for 30 years, I walk through or around the park daily. Thirty years of personal experience with the park, plus informal interviews with former park activists, park users, and park neighbors have emboldened me to speak out. 

I say "emboldened," not so much as pose, but to suggest that saying anything about People's Park is sure to bumble on someone's toes. 

By the early Nineteen 70s, the park site had become a dusty pit. And too hot to handle. 

It then stewed and percolated until a committed group of park activists donated thousands of hours of landscaping to create a tropical outer periphery. 

Restrooms and a custodian's office followed. Dust became lawn, and it all seemed good. A children's playground was added. A basketball court proved popular. 

But a volley-ball sand pit and nets were wildly unpopular. Protests led directly to the removal of the sand pits and nets. They were replaced by a grassy meadow. 

 

Perhaps volleyball courts were seen as too reminiscent of the playing field that had sparked riots in '69, which led to a National Guard occupation of Berkeley, a death, a blinding, and injuries to 128. 

Note that District 7 candidate, George Beier, proposes to construct a soccer field in the park. Note it in context with the park's bloody history! 

From its beginnings the park has been haunted by violence, surveillance, and suspicion. No one is really "shocked" that inter-park skirmishes break out regularly. 

I see troubled interactions in the park so often that I barely notice; although I would have certainly noticed, had I been there, the incidents of violence, assault, and intimidation of park workers as reported Aug. 30 in the Daily Cal. 

Many of my friends who donated the thousands of hours of landscaping that gives the park the look we now know, have soured on the park.  

The park, formerly well within its own borders, has spilled into adjoining streets, like mine. By day and night, Hillegass and Regent have become a People's Park annex where unwanted items are abandoned and business, arguments, and fights are conducted. 

Often, a narrow strip running from Hillegass to Regent on Dwight Way is filled with shopping carts stuffed sky-high, mattresses, books, bottles, blankets, and moldy food. 

Regulars, barred from the park at night, camp up and down Hillegass and Regent. Mostly, this arrangement, uncomfortable for everyone, is barely tolerable. But it may not always be tolerable at all.  

Especially if changes to the park leave regular users nowhere else to go. Make no mistake, they will not leave town, nor will they ever opt out of a migration going back at least to the sixties. 

Would Willard park neighbors take an outpouring from People's Park in their backyards? 

While candidates Beier and Cecelia Rosales bellow change, incumbent Kriss Worthington continues working with university committees and city agencies to improve the park and neighborhoods. 

Fourteen years of negotiating with the University, may be keeping Worthington from airing half-baked proposals. He may know better. 

As national politics amply shows, proposals for change are not the same as actual results. Changes in the park have occurred slowly, and fitfully. Typically, in response to or initiated by public action. 

Changed ordinances, a Beier goal, depend on enforcement. 

But the city's outside smoking ordinance is not enforced. Know anyone who has been ticketed for cell-phoning while driving? Or drunk and disorderly and blocking walks... while smoking?  

In the meantime, residents of bordering neighborhoods are turning against the park, as my own findings and the Daily Cal's Peoples Park posted comments confirm. 

The cauldron that is the park continues to boil. 

Perhaps we've moved beyond the "can't we all get along here?" to "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"  

Ted Friedman, a 40 year Berkeley resident, has lived 30 years a half block from People's Park. 

A reader sent this link to an interesting Daily Cal piece on city politics affecting the upcoming election: Election Politics May Have Swayed Council Pool Vote 

And for various Daily Cal stories about the council election see this page. 

Please do forward links to articles your fellow readers might appreciate and we'll post them here.

The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) is offering three Fall Walking Tours of Downtown Berkeley to prepare voters for Measure R, the latest Downtown Area Plan proposal.  

These tours are FREE of charge. 

Thursday, 30 September, 5:30 pm-7 pm 

Main Street South: explore the expanded downtown area that is encroaching upon old residential neighborhoods.
Leader: Susan Cerny
Meet at the Downtown Berkeley BART plaza. 

Sunday, 3 October, 11:00 am-12:30 pm 

Civic Center: Berkeley's only designated Historic District in the downtown area.
Leader: Daniella Thompson
Guest Co-leaders: Henrik Bull & Marie Bowman
Meet by the Civic Center Park Fountain. 

Sunday, 17 October 2010, 11:00 am-12:30 pm 

Acheson Block Neighborhood:The historic heart of downtown amid 21-century developments.
Leader: Lesley Emmington, Meet at the northeast corner of University and Shattuck avenues. 

For further information, visit the BAHA website (http://berkeleyheritage.com), e-mail baha@berkeleyheritage.com, or call (510) 841-2242. 

BERKELEY—Berkeley residents are invited to join the tens of thousands of California volunteers who will help clean up our local beaches, bays, and waterways during this year’s Coastal CleanUp Day, September 25.  

The California Coastal Commission is working to make California Coastal Cleanup Day even "greener." What does this mean? The Cleanup brings out tens of thousands of Californians who remove more than a million pounds of debris from our beaches, rivers, creeks, lakes, and waterways - so, the net environmental impact of the event is tremendously positive. However, the event itself has an environmental footprint.  

For example, in 2009, Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers used more than 130,000 plastic bags and 135,000 plastic gloves during Coastal Cleanup Day. Cleanup sites held barbeques, lunches or snacks for volunteers, and many of these generated additional packaging and food-related waste. Thousands of volunteers drove cars to their cleanup sites around the state.  

The Coastal Commission is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of Coastal Cleanup Day, but we need your help to do so! Please join our efforts this year by turning out to the Cleanup with a "Bring Your Own" philosophy. Here's some quick tips on what you can do:  

· Bring a bucket or reusable bag to the Cleanup for collecting trash (most Cleanup sites are equipped with dumpsters or roll-away bins so you can dump what you collect and bring your bucket or reusable bag back home).  

· Bring a lightweight pair of gardening gloves from home, instead of using the disposable plastic gloves we provide.  

· Bring a filled, reusable water bottle to the Cleanup.  

· Use public transportation, bike, or carpool to your Cleanup. Use the pedestrian overpass and the Bay Trail to reach the staging area and the many locations we will be cleaning, or take the 51B bus to University Ave. and Frontage Rd.  

Volunteers help compile data about garbage for the largest research project in the world. The data that is collected is used to change laws and to educate people about how to be conscientious consumers.  

New- SF Estuary Partnership Sponsored Pharmaceutical take back . Bring your expired, unused and unwanted pharmaceuticals for recycling and keep them out of our waterways. No controlled substances will be accepted.  

 

Only groups of 10 or more need to preregister by calling 510-981-6720.  

 

Individuals and small groups please arrive promptly at 9:00 a.m., sign waivers, and receive an educational safety training.  

 

At the end of the Cleanup, when you return the filled out data card, you will get a raffle ticket for some great prizes.  

 

ü Meet behind the Sea Breeze Market and Deli on the corner of West Frontage Rd. and University Ave. in Berkeley.

 

Other Locations: If you are interested in cleaning up the Emeryville shoreline, show up at the Firehouse on Powell St. at 9:00 a.m. For Albany, go to Albany Beach at the foot of Buchanan St. in Albany at 8:30 a.m.

Chicago has often been called “The City That Works”. 

Of course, since it’s a spunky city full of contentious people, any time that soubriquet is quoted, someone will pop up to say “Does Not!” Also true. 

But in all the years I’ve been visiting Chicago, going way back to childhood trips from St.Louis, it’s always been an impressive, vital city, full of beautiful buildings, dynamic museums, lavish parks, and yes, those scrappy citizens. 

My knowledge of historic Chicago comes from a long line of gritty fiction by the likes of Upton Sinclair, Richard Wright and Saul Bellow. My main source for background on the down and dirty side of latter-day Chicago politics has been the stories written by Sara Paretsky about V.I. Warshawski, a tough-gal private eye who’s half-Italian, half-Polish—and the feisty half of both. Paretsky’s tales of V.I.’s adventures spotlight how Chicago really works, with the villains the mobsters, developers and politicians (and some who are all three) whose fingerprints are found on many a civic project. 

And yet, Chicago, warts and all, has mostly worked, in its own way. 

Years ago, a friend who lived in that city told me a quintessential Chicago story. His motor scooter was parked on the street outside his apartment. A driver ran into it, and totaled it. 

A woman who witnessed the accident called the police, who took his license number and that of the car which hit the scooter. Then they called him and asked how much it was worth (then about 200 bucks.) 

An hour or so later a police officer knocked on his door, and when he opened it handed him 200 dollars in small bills “for your accident”. Case closed. Presumably the policeman pocketed a healthy cut of the proceeds, and a rude form of justice was served. 

A recent weekend in Chicago has persuaded me that it’s a bit unfair to call the loose organization that controls politics around here a “machine”. That’s actually too generous, because a machine at least takes care of its wardheelers. 

I went for the birthday party of a friend, a retired labor organizer whose union protégés were featured in a recent Michael Moore movie where they took over their factory when owners threatened to move operations offshore. 

She lives in a Northside neighborhood of leafy streets lined with three story brick apartment buildings with one spacious turn-of-the-last-century flat on each floor and colorful gardens in front and back. I was billeted with one of her old Movement friends from the sixties, who lives in a single-family house not far away which she said had been bought for about $80,000 not too many years ago. 

Despite the verdant atmosphere of Midwestern late summer, it’s a distinctly urban environment, with supermarkets, farmer’s markets, public transit and every other kind of city amenity within easy walking distance. The weekend I was there happened to coincide with the annual block party on the street where I was staying, also green and leafy , which has many young families in the older houses and ambitious flower displays replacing what used to be lawns in front. The ends of her street were blocked off with cars, and many families had lawn chairs, picnic tables and even barbecues set out on the sidewalk. 

The kids were out in force. My hostess, a retired English prof now enjoying a new career as a landscape gardener, called them the “river of children”—they streamed up and down the block with enormous enthusiasm. They rode their bikes in the street, having races and doing wheelies, until almost midnight in the warm evening. 

The alderman for the district happened to live on her block. Aldermen in Chicago are like councilmembers in Berkeley, except that there are 50 of them, so no individual has too much power on his or her own. This one held court outside his house with his family for most of the day and night, drinking cold beer and chatting with his constituents. As the night went on, his favorite refrains were repeated more and more often, his signature quote being “I’ve had to fight block-by-block to downzone this ward!” 

And therein lies the difference. An old-school big city organization—or machine, if you will—takes care of its own. Just as in many places, Developer Democrats call the tune in downtown Chicago, but in the neighborhoods it’s what the residents think they need that counts. That’s what keeps it a yes—liveable—city (much abused and misspelled though that word has been around here). 

Down-zoning in this Chicago ward has meant three-story height limits, and it is credited with preserving the human scale that makes all the difference. It’s what’s kept families from fleeing to the suburbs, since there’s still room and sunlight for trees and gardens even on small city lots and even for apartment dwellers. 

Residents might get a bit of argument on the exact number three from urban visionaries like Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander, but both agreed on the concept. The latter was willing to allow four stories, but that’s about it. 

A famous section of his seminal book A Pattern Language was headed “There is abundant evidence to show that high buildings make people crazy.” It went on to say that “High buildings have no genuine advantages, except in speculative gains for banks and land owners. They are not cheaper, they do not help create open space, they destroy social life, they promote crime, they make life difficult for children, they are expensive to maintain, they wreck the open spaces near them, and they damage light and air and view.” 

The people in this Chicago neighborhood evidently agree with Christopher Alexander, and their alderman takes care of the zoning for them, because that’s his job. Calling a political organization a machine sounds pejorative, but what we’ve ended up with in Berkeley doesn’t even work as well as Chicago does, because the citizens are consistently shortchanged when the goodies are handed out. We’d be better off with a real machine. 

The current majority members of the Berkeley City Council seem to have missed the memo. 

Measure R, placed on the ballot for November by the majority of the incumbent Berkeley councilmembers, is a flagrant example of what’s wrong. It’s the worst kind of greenwashing, asking the voters to give the mayor and his cronies a blank check to create whatever kind of plan they want for the center of Berkeley, complete with high buildings which only produce speculative gains for banks and land owners. It’s developers in the saddle, citizens be damned. 

Two incumbent Berkeley councilmembers now up for re-election, Kriss Worthington and Jesse Arreguin, have respected the opinions and needs of the downtown dwellers they’re supposed to represent and deserve to continue in office. They oppose Measure R. 

But two others, University of California retirees Gordon Wozniak and Linda Maio, have paid little attention to the needs of their constituents. They’ve endorsed Measure R, as well as endorsing the various shills who have been put up by the Mayor’s organization in the attempt to defeat independent progressives Worthington and Arreguin. 

Wozniak’s and Maio’s former employer is the major landowner in downtown Berkeley, and as such stands to benefit from Measure R both directly and indirectly. Wozniak has two viable independent challengers, Stewart Jones and Jacquelyn McCormick, either one of whom would do more than Wozniak’s done for District 8 and the city as a whole. 

There are two strong challengers to Maio as well (the third seems to be keeping a low profile). Jasper Kingeter, whom I met for the first time over the weekend, displays a grasp of the key issues in his district which is remarkable for someone of his age (22) or any age. Merrilie Mitchell has made it her avocation for many years to keep up with important city issues, almost more than anyone in Berkeley. 

Either of them would make an excellent replacement councilperson in District 1, and so we’re endorsing both of them. If you live in District 1, you can decide which to rank as number one, but make the other one number two, and skip the number three slot altogether. 

One more warning: endorsements from the local machine and its tributary organizations are now flooding the mails, both snail and electronic. There’s even a rumor that one of the Democratic clubs, the one dominated largely by survivors of the Old less-democratic (small-d) Left, allowed the ballot counters to take the endorsement ballot box home overnight while the count was still in progress, something they’d never get away with in Chicago. 

My first political job was as a Democratic precinct captain in Ann Arbor. I was trained by someone who had worked in Chicago’s Hyde Park, and she knew how elections could be stolen. On election day she would lie down on the floor on her back and wiggle underneath the mechanical voting machine to see if it had been rigged, outraging the genteel Ann Arbor Republican ladies who couldn’t even imagine such a thing. 

I’m not exactly saying that club officers here (or any other endorsers) rig their counts—I have no way of knowing that. But they should all avoid even the appearance of impropriety if they want voters to take them seriously, and even that might not be enough if they're consistently suckered into acting as the tools of the dominant financial interest when they endorse candidates.

 

 

 

The Bible 

Please understand that any distortion of the Bible where parts of the bible are picked out and place to suit the religion is not biblical. That is exactly what the Koran does. The Bible has specific warnings against the adding, subtracting or changing the Bible which is clearly what the writer of the Koran has done. ( Revelation 22:18,19, Deuteronomy 4:2 ) The Koran specifically denies Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Unlike the Torah which is part of the Christian Bible. 

Please be correct in your article when you try to link the Koran and the Bible. The Koran is clearly using some of the Biblical words but picks and chooses what to put in clearly distorting Bible. Primarily the denial of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and that He is God. 

Where burning the Koran is disrespectful to those who believe in the Koran, however those Muslim believers in Afghanistan cannot make any complaints about Koran burning in The U.S. because they burn Christian Bibles and our American troops cannot have a Bible of their own. Why then can they be intolerant of Christianity and then complain when other people want to do the same thing to their religion. 

Furthermore, if we stop to utilize our freedom because of Islamic radical threats and violent behavior then they have power over us. We need to show then they have no power over us. 

Milagros Perez 

Throwing in the reality towel 

 

It's been tough giving up my idealism, my underlying hope that the world can be made a better place if we just stay active and convince others to believe in and work for economic, social, and political justice. Even though there appears to be no perfect or near-perfect society on earth, it always seemed rational to believe that there is no reason why there can't be such a place. I was 14 when JFK was elected, and it was easy to believe that the world really could change for the better. How wonderful that feeling of hope was, and going off to the Peace Corps when I graduated from college reinforced my outlook that I could be part of that change. When Reagan was elected and the 1980's turned into a nightmare of wars and social injustice, I worked hard to change our country's policies at home and abroad. As bad as things looked, there still seemed to be a corner our country could turn to get on a better track. I think that may have been the last time I entertained any such optimism. The 8 years of George W. made me realize that there are simply too many Americans who fundamentally do not believe in the same things I do.   Evolution? Hogwash. God? Everywhere. Climate change? A conspiracy of radical scientists out to dupe us. The scientific method? Out the window.  The night Barack Obama was elected was a wonderful respite, a breath of fresh air after a near lifetime submerged in the pollution of greed and ignorance. Hope at last? Oh, how we wished it were so. But nearly two years later it is now clear that that hope was tragically transient. In these 20 months the world seems to have been turned back upside down. What has seemed perfectly clear, rational, and just is portrayed as the opposite by a Congress and media that seem absurdly Republican-influenced. The fact that Republican obstructionism in Congress can and might lead to Republicans gaining a majority in the next election is mind boggling. 1 + 1 now equals 3.  With such denial by so many people that what is right in front of our eyes is not really there, how can my generation of activists hold out hope any longer?  With fervor I want this not to be true. Please Berkeley Planet readers, lead me back onto the path of hope. There must be a way.    Mal Singer

Correction 

In reading your 8/17 reader commentary by Richard Thompson titled, "The Unreported Consequences of New Trends in Graduate Education," I came across a factual error regarding Applied Materials. The last paragraph references a recent announcement that the headquarters of Applied Materials being moved to China, when in fact, this is not the case. Applied Materials, Inc. remains headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. While we do have an R&D facility in China, in addition to R&D facilities across the globe and here in Silicon Valley, our headquarters has not moved. 

Amaya Wiegert
Media Relations, Corporate Affairs | Applied Materials 

Social Security 

Seventy-five years ago this month, during the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law one of the most significant pieces of legislation in American history: The Social Security Act of 1935. Not only did it create a government insurance program to provide incomes for seniors, it also set up a national unemployment-insurance program and provided aid to the children of widows and single mothers. Social Security was as controversial in its time as health care reform is today. Social Security was strongly opposed by the Republican Party and the mainstream business community who predicted that it would bankrupt the country and condemned it as a "compulsory socialist tax." The GOP candidate for president at that time called Social Security a "fraud on the working man." Some things never change. The GOP and Tea Party Republicans of 2010 are saying the same things, and some of these politicians even want to dismantle this long-standing and successful government program. Today, Social Security is a fundamental component of the nation's social contract. The lesson of Social Security at 75 is clear: Government programs that can rectify the imbalances of unbridled corporate greed are good for all Americans. 

Ron Lowe 

Mosque 

Building a mosque (or Islamic cultural center) near Ground Zero is a brilliant, Gandhian gesture, and one which all people of faith and conscience should embrace. 

Remember Gandhi’s, “I know a way out of hell” speech? A Hindu confronts Gandhi and confesses that after his son was killed in a Hindu-Muslim confrontation he wantonly killed a young Muslim boy. “I’m going to hell for this,” he tells Gandhi. 

“I know a way out of hell,” Gandhi replies. “Find a Muslim orphan, about your son’s age, and raise him as your own….except raise him as a Muslim.” 

In other word, the way “out of hell” is to live your life by God’s principles; dogma is much less important than the actions you take on behalf of humanity. 

Permitting a “mosque” to be built near ground zero signifies that a) Islam did not cause the 9/11 bombings any more than Christianity caused Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Oklahoma federal building; b) religious tolerance is a prerequisite to surviving in our multinational society; and c) that we as a people know how to look towards the future not the past. 

If we care so much about the people whose loved ones perished at ground zero, let’s get them the best medical care in America, let’s compensate them for their losses, and let’s do our best to make sure their children can grow up in a world without oppression or terror. Building the mosque is a gesture in the right direction. 

Larry Hendel 

Tax Cuts The cuts enacted by President Bush are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans, led by House Minority Leader John Boehner, have called for extending the $700 billion in tax breaks for the rich. Not being discussed in all of this are two crucial issues. One of them is how much those tax cuts cost us. Basically, all the income taxes that everyone in America paid in January and February of this year only went to cover interest on the money borrowed for the Bush tax cuts over the last decade. Just interest on those tax cuts 

The second issue not being discussed is that this top tax rate, the two that President Obama wants to have go back to the Clinton-era level, they cut in at a quarter-million dollars and about $400,000 of taxable income. In fact, we have a large number of people in this country now who are making multimillion-dollar annual incomes, and we’re not talking about a higher tax rate on them. We’re starting actually at a very low level. 

And the very highest-paid workers in the history of the world, hedge fund managers, at least twenty-five of whom made a billion dollars last year, pay a current tax rate of zero. The news media keeps saying 15 percent. They pay the 15 percent, when they cash out, which could be decades from now. None of that is on the table. 

Ted Rudow III,MA

The United States Supreme Court is once again deciding how much freedom to permit us. Old rules do not apply, it seems, in the age of the “war against terror.” Our government needs a whole new set of restrictions on speech and advocacy: see the decision in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, handed down 21 June. 

This was nostalgia week for some of us. 

When we left-wing intellectuals were being fired in the 1950s, I remember a snooty characterization by a senior administrator at the University of Michigan. Let us call him Dean Abbott (I prefer not to disclose his identity, but anyway I don’t recall his name). He assured a meeting of the faculty that they didn't need to waste their sympathy for those who might be attacked in the Red-hunt, for “these people are not important.” 

I didn't stand up—a 27-year-old neophyte scientist—and argue that I was so important. I did right not to. The firings, and the Congressional panels and prison sentences that accompanied them, were important all right. But not mostly because they punished our dissent. The main thing was that they put a chill on dissent by everyone. Loss of our services to the American academy was much less important than the quenching of criticism there; and the loss of whatever criticism we might have made was enormously less important than the loss of criticism from our colleagues who remained in the academy, but muted. 

Later, when I refused to testify before one of the Red-hunting committees of Congress, the press had it that I was defending my right to free speech. Over-simplification! Almost missing the point! Congressman Clardy’s Committee was intimidating my fellow citizens, who were more important because there were more of them. I thought the courts ought to outlaw the intimidation, so I chose to defy it. The only way the courts could have kept me out of prison, I figured, was to rule that the committees were overstepping their authority. The courts didn’t rule as I had hoped—not until a decade later. 

When I was starting my prison term, I cockily put it this way to a reporter: “Six months of my life is not too much to give in the service of my country.” Another reporter asked me at the last minute, “If you're willing to serve six months in prison, why did you appeal your conviction?” He really didn't get it! I explained, as the federal marshals whisked me away, “If I had won at the Supreme Court, the hearings would have been outlawed. That would have been a bigger contribution.” 

Not to my freedom of speech, which is no more important than any other individual’s: but to the freedom of general speech, exchange of views, by which democratic decision can occur; without which it can not. 

And here we are again. Fifty-one years after the McCarran Act (1950), here comes the so-called “Patriot Act.” Fifty-one years after the Supreme Court ruled against Lloyd Barenblatt and me (1959), the Supreme Court rules against Ralph Fertig. We are supposed to shrug: after all, some of the thousands whose right to due process is annulled are probably guilty of something. If Ralph Fertig is prevented from helping some Kurds, even though he offers them no weapons but only teaching in non-violence, why worry: after all, some of them are supposedly guilty of something. But Dean Abbott, however unfair his scorn was, had it right in spite of himself. The targets of political repression may not be important. The repression is much more important than any individual target, because it is an attack on the life of society. 

As my fellow defendant Pete Seeger puts it—When will they ever learn? Will it take the Supreme Court another ten years and another score of cases to re-learn what it finally came to see in the 1970s? 

 

Mathematician and author Chandler Davis was fired from his teaching job at the University of Michigan in the late 1950s for refusing to testify about his political beliefs before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He cited the First Amendment in his defense, and went to jail for contempt of the committee when he lost his appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court.  

I am outraged by the Center for Independent Living (CIL)'s latest move, backed (or instructed?) by the City of Berkeley, in an effort to obtain City funding to supplement its programs. After announcing to the City and Easy Does It Emergency Services (EDI) on August 13 that they were withdrawing their application for Measure E funding, then retracting that withdrawal a few hours later, CIL has now modified its proposal for the Measure E contract. This revised proposal has been accepted by the City and forwarded to the Commissions on Disability and Aging, who will be voting to recommend a vendor for the Measure E Contract on September 15. 

 

I am asking you, as elected officials, to help answer the following questions: Why is CIL allowed to change their proposal repeatedly without any other bidders' involvement and public notification? What process was used by the City of Berkeley to receive CIL's improved proposal for Measure E funding, while the opportunity was not offered to competing vendors? Who quietly approved CIL's revised proposal to be forwarded to the Commissions on Disability and Aging, and the City Council, for evaluation and decision? 

 

Is this the City of Berkeley's common practice for awarding its contracts--hand picking a vendor, railroading the approval process, and, when failed, forcing the selected vendor to stay in the bidding? CIL announced its application withdrawal after the community voiced their concerns regarding CIL's lack of experience and qualifications to provide emergency services. Since June, CIL has repeatedly stated that they wouldn't have applied for the Measure E contract if the City hadn't told them to do so, and that they never wanted the emergency components of the contract, which is the mandate of Measure E! CIL entered "collaboration" negotiations with the intent to "split" Measure E funding for its non-emergency programs, then decided to withdraw once they realized that there's no money to be split in Measure E. 

 

It now appears that the City thinks they have a way to manipulate the funds after all... How else can anyone explain CIL's erratic behavior throughout the process, and the City's unyielding willingness to accommodate this behavior? Did the City orchestrate CIL's retraction of its application withdrawal, and its most recent proposal modification? Does the City really have the power to do whatever they want, whenever they want, in any manner they choose, thinking that the citizens would just let it happen without saying anything?! 

 

Is the City doing this because it has given CIL (and the Ed Roberts Campus) so much money that they need to guarantee CIL's financial viability? That's great, but HOW--by killing another community agency who is perfecting its emergency services program, who is strongly supported by the community members, who called/wrote letters to their representatives, and showed up at several Commission and Council meetings to speak out? Or, by killing the emergency services program, forcing 2 agencies with different mission and scope to share the Measure E contract? By mixing non-emergency with emergency related activities, unnecessary resources would be spent by the City and the agencies, in order to justify using Measure E funds, etc., and this will only cause both agencies to fail. What would the City gain by destroying the program and putting the burden back on 911 and other emergency City personnel?  

 

How many more City contracts will be awarded without merit but based on personal preference, political interest, or sheer ignorance, before the practice is stopped? Will the Council stop the outright corruption in the City's RFP process? I am asking you to stand up to the Mayor and the City Manager--by questioning the process and rationale for recommending an agency who is clearly not qualified to deliver Measure E mandated services, who never even wanted to deal with emergency services, and attempted to withdraw their application altogether. It would be a very unwise decision for the City Council to award CIL the Contract against the disability community's will. 

 

Sincerely,
Morning Shu, Berkeley property and business tax payer  

*****See bullets below for a chronology of events.***** 

Below is a chronology of the events leading to this letter which demonstrate CIL's ever changing position. After the "History of CIL's Inconsistent Position", I have copied the public events listed in my letter to the City's General Services Manger Sharon Thygesen on July 18 questioning the City's RFP process for your reference. 

 

*****Click on the link to see blog posts for more information.***** 

http://www.citizenspeakout.org/rfp-process/measure-e-contract-selection-process/  

 

History of CIL's Inconsistent Position Regarding Measure E Contract 

 

The executive director of Center for Independent Living (CIL) Yomi Wrong has publicly stated that CIL never would have applied for the Measure E contract, if the City had not invited them to do so (and by all indications, promised to award them the contract--before any proposals were even submitted)! 

 

§ On June 8th, in a meeting between Easy Does It (EDI) and CIL, with community member Alana Theriault present, Yomi Wrong stated that CIL had only bid for the contract at the City's request, and the City is putting them in a position to be a "hammer...", and that they never wanted to administer emergency services--referring to the program as a "huge headache". However, they did want Measure E funding for wheelchair repair (and disaster registry). 

§ On July 14, at the Commission on Disability Meeting, CIL's contractor represented the agency to announce its "alternate proposal"--stating that they do not want the attendant and transportation components of the Contract that were included in their initial proposal (essentially withdrawing that portion of their bid.) The process question was raised but not answered by the City personnel. 

§ On July 15, EDI and CIL met to discuss collaboration possibilities at the City Manager Phil Kamlarz's request. Four City staff were present at that meeting: Phil Kamlarz, Jane Micallef, Drew King, and Jennifer Vasquez. Yomi Wrong emphasized that they never wanted the attendant and transportation components of the Contract, which are the core services mandated by Measure E. She characterized the service disparagingly, calling the program "a huge headache" and "an eight hundred pound gorilla" (an incorrect use of the phrase). She also repeated the hammer comment, this time, appearing to be willingly playing that role. The meeting ended with the City Manager telling the two agencies to "work it out, or I will work it out for you". 

§ On July 20 (and one other meeting) where CIL met with John Benson from EDI to discuss possible "collaborations" on wheelchair repair, CIL claimed that the City is giving CIL 10% of the Measure E funding, that they have a "green light", and that "it's a done deal". 

§ On July 29, EDI and CIL met with the above same 4 City staff to continue their discussion. They agreed that when they were to meet again on August 13, both agencies' should have a Board representative, in addition to the ED and relevant staff. When it was pointed out that the group was not allowed to use City property for this meeting due to "furlough" closure, Phil Kamlarz asserted that he had the authority to override the safety officer's order. 

§ On August 13, EDI's 2 board members Don Brownell & Debby Graudenz (took time off from work), executive director Bonnie MacFadyen (calling in from her vacation), bookkeeper Nancy Ferreyra (volunteering her time), and transportation/repair coordinator John Benson (on his day off) showed up at the meeting only to hear Yomi Wrong announce that CIL was “walking away from the table,” and that pursuing a slice of the Berkeley Emergency Services contract was costing CIL too much money and hurting their reputation in the community..."
But a few hours after EDI was approved by the City Contract Manager Drew King to announce the meeting's outcome, Mark Burns, deputy director of CIL, posted on the Berkeley Disabled Community list-serve that he "misspoke". Mark said he misspoke when he said that "CIL was withdrawing from the RFP process”, and that "Our (CIL's) original proposal remains on the table..." 

§ On September 9, one of EDI's board members discovered that CIL's proposal posted on their website has been revised, and that the new proposal has been included in the Commission on Disability's September 15 meeting packet for their vote on who to recommend be awarded the Measure E funding. The new proposal was never announced publicly 

 

The saga is not over--the Commission on Aging will meet on the same day, September 15, to do the same, and the Contract will be awarded by a vote of the City Council at one of their meetings in late September or in October--agenda to be proposed by the City Manager, likely with minimal notice to the City Council and the public. Will the City Council Members look into the City's contract selection practice and ask Phil Kamlarz the real reason why he is recommending CIL, after members of the disability community strongly recommend the Measure E Contract be awarded to EDI? 

 

Public events involving the RFP process for Measure E Contract 

 

(Extracted from my letter to the City's General Services Manger Sharon Thygesen questioning the City's RFP process.) 

 

§ April 7 Pre-Proposal Meeting 

§ April 27 Proposal due 

§ May 6 Oral presentation 

§ An agenda item to award the contract to CIL was placed by the City staff on the June 1st City Council Meeting agenda. On May 25, due to a deluge of phone calls and letters from community members to the Mayor and Council Members, the agenda item was changed to extend EDI’s contract for 4 months, while the City “receive community input”. 

§ June 1 City Council Meeting–community members spoke at public comment period in support of EDI retaining the contract 

§ June 9 Commission on Disability Meeting–large number of community members came out to support EDI retaining the contract, and express concerns about the recommended vendor’s ability to provide emergency services. 

§ June 22 City Council Meeting–Council Members unanimously voted to extend EDI’s contract for 6 months, instead of proposed 4 months. 

§ June 23 Commission on Aging Meeting 

§ July 14 Commission on Disability Meeting–due to lack of quorum, the Commission was not able to vote for a recommendation. Community members were again there to support EDI, and had a good discussion with the Commissioners. CIL’s contract representative announced its “alternate proposal”, stating that they do not want the attendant and transportation components of the Contract that were included in their initial application. When the process question was raised, City personnel was not able to explain whether CIL’s alternate proposal qualifies other applicants to modify/resubmit their proposals. 

§ July 15 (At the City Manager’s request in June) EDI and CIL representatives met to discuss collaboration possibilities, with City personnel in attendance–Phil Kamlarz, Jane Micallef, Drew King, and Jennifer Vasquez. The Exec Director of CIL emphasized that they never wanted the attendant and transportation components of the Contract, which are the core services mandated by Measure E. They want to “leverage” their wheelchair repair service program (being developed using a new grant from FEMA) to provide emergency wheelchair repair service–realizing that EDI is best suited to provide onsite and “after hour” emergency repair, as it often overlaps with emergency attendant & transportation calls. The discussion ended with the City Manger instructing the two vendors to work out a solution. 

 

 

I'm currently reading a book called "The Holocaust," and in one of its first chapters the author describes Adolph Hitler's rise to power in Germany — wherein, in the early days of the National Socialist party, Hitler's Brown-Shirts were thugs and bullies whose main policy was to pick only on vulnerable little guys. Apparently, Hitler's SS-in-training only went on the attack when they knew that they were significantly more powerful than their opponents. Their main targets were always elderly people, women, minorities and isolated random individuals out on the street by themselves.  

This same policy seems to be currently popular here in America now too.  

A major policy of America's many right-wing hate-machines seems to be one of never attacking any of the rich and powerful corporations, bankers and weapons manufacturers who blatantly receive government welfare — billions of dollars at a time. No, the highly vocal right-wingers only attack those who cannot defend themselves — such as the vulnerable salt-of-the-earth Americans who are now forced to apply for a "welfare" helping hand after their jobs have been shipped overseas by wealthy corporatists who also enjoy receiving the government dole. 

How come it is considered to be a wonderful thing for the rich to receive welfare — but if the middle-class or working classes apply, they are ridiculed and shunned? Why don't bankers and weapons manufacturers who live on the dole get that same scorn heaped upon them? 

Recently a friend of mine was forced to apply for food stamps after having been laid off when the small company he worked for went belly-up due to lack of customers. My friend was a middle-class, middle-aged man steeped in the American tradition of self-sufficiency, and you could tell that applying for food stamps had been a decision that had humiliated him a lot. 

"So why did you do it?" I asked. 

"I'd been laid off my work, my unemployment benefits were tiny and my house payments were huge. And after my car broke down...." He shrugged. "It was either get food stamps — or no food." 

"And what was it like?" I meant what it was like applying for food stamps. I already know what it was like to have to make choices between other things and food.  

"Humiliating. Guilt-producing. Embarrassing. I kept looking around to make sure there was nobody at the food stamp place that I knew." 

"Where did you apply?" 

"At the county agency. I walked into this building, into a huge room, where I saw about ten people standing in line — so I got in line behind them. Wrong thing to do. 'Ex-CUSE me!' shouted a very angry lady behind me. 'This is NOT the end of the line.' The lady then gestured behind her and I saw approximately 150 more people standing in line behind her, snaking down and across the room and back up the other side — waiting." 

"Waiting for what?" 

"Waiting to get a number. And after about a half-hour, I came to the head of the line and was given my number too. I had stood in line all that time just to be given a number? This was worse than the DMV. It was the waiting line from hell." 

"Then what happened next?" I asked, curious. 

"I people-watched for about another hour. And felt even more humiliated. And there was a police contingent in one corner — like they were expecting us to riot or something. And everyone else looked as humiliated and downtrodden as I did. They could have at least put up a sign at the door telling us what to expect." 

"So. Did you get your food stamps?" 

"I waited around in the waiting room — with about 300 other people — until my number was called. But, you know, once I finally got to talk to a real person, it was okay. The employees were really helpful and nice. They must have to deal with hundreds of people every day — yet they were still very nice. I was impressed." 

"Then did you finally get your food stamps?" 

"No. I was given an appointment to come back the next week." 

This is what you have to go through to apply for welfare if you are a middle-class American citizen — in order to receive perhaps as little as $35 a month in food stamps. However, if you are a RICH American and want to receive BILLIONS (if not trillions) of dollars in welfare from the United States government, you only have to place a few calls to your lobbyist or Congressman and you will get immediate service — and probably valet parking as well. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the super-rich American corporatists who are now receiving government hand-outs by the truck-load were required to report to their county social services office and be forced to stand in line, be humiliated, feel guilty and take a number too? 

Jean Quan has gotten endorsements from neighborhood activists, and others praying for change, ANY change for the better, in Oakland. She’s the default candidate people return to after considering the others in the race. Don Perata’s victory isn’t assured, as evidenced by Rebecca Kaplan’s entrance into the race (and triangulating for votes on issues like Nic-Nak Liquors). Quan is a determined precinct-walker (the lawn signs dotting front yards show that), and this outreach may be interpreted by some as respect and appreciation for the grass roots and local communities, which would persist if she were elected. 

We have also heard defenses of Quan’s leadership on the school board, a rationalization of her stewardship as the school district careened into bankruptcy and state receivership, even as she was jumping ship to run for City Council. 

The truth is, based upon some pivotal land-use decisions made while she was on the school board, and her trumpeting of “smart-growth” to rationalize pro-developer positions while on the City Council, she isn’t that different from Don Perata.  

The Montgomery Ward Building Mess 

As critics have noted, there are very short memories in politics. Bush & Co. had forgotten all about the Vietnam War quagmire, as they invaded Iraq. While certainly not on the scale of those mistakes, the Ward case history —involving key players on the School Board, City Council, and Mayor’s office —offers lessons still applicable today. Too often, botched, notorious contretemps get pushed under a rug. No one afterwards claims ownership, since many would just like to forget the mess. Not surprisingly, similar mistakes recur.  

Therefore, Quan’s role in the Ward case is too important to ignore, too timely to dismiss.  

The Sordid History: 

One of the most important decisions Quan made on the school board was to promote the demolition of the Montgomery Ward Building on International Blvd., to build a new school in that location. The Montgomery Ward Building, which was owned by the City, was a “blighted” target to Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) which wanted it torn down, as did the district Councilperson, Ignacio De La Fuente. They ignored the adaptive reuse possibilities of the reinforced concrete building, and examples of other repurposed, income generating Ward Buildings in cities like Portland and Chicago.  

Budget Busting 

De la Fuente and OCO, with the support of then City Manager Robert Bobb and brand-new Mayor Jerry Brown, crafted the “solution” of selling the site to the School District for a new school for 600 students. This was a politically-inspired “solution” —school districts often prevail in battles of these sorts, whatever the overriding highest and best use for the sites in contention. (The Ambassador Hotel demolition in Los Angeles is a recent example, with the brand-new $578 million “Taj Mahal” school building replacement, in a school district with a $640 million budget shortfall and layoffs of 3000 teachers over 2 years.) Although it was outside her school district in the hills, Quan played a passionate leading role in seeing the Ward Building come down. She never equivocated, or sought common-ground.  

The loss to the City, in terms of the bottom line, was substantial: one-time school impact fees of $850,000 and approximately $650,000 in property taxes to the City’s coffers every year if the building had been renovated as live-work lofts under a serious offer on the table. School districts don’t pay property taxes. 

At the end of the day, the new school cost over 48 million, way above the original estimated $10-15 million price tag.  

The battle to save the Ward Building was a long one, with the school district hiring expensive outside legal consul, the firm of Goldfarb & Lippman. Round One was lost when the City issued a “negative declaration” allowing the demolition, saying the National Register-eligible building (although with no official landmark status) could be demolished without any environmental review. Noted environmental attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley took the case to court, and the Court of Appeals ruled against the City. The decision had statewide importance —local jurisdictions, including Oakland, began to mandate EIRs for demolitions of A or B-rated (significant, landmark-eligible) buildings. 

Global Warning: Not to Worry! 

A real developer (unusual for Oakland, which often attracts “developers” with hands extended for subsidies) was interested in renovating the building with his own capital. The developer, San Francisco-based Emerald Fund, partnered with a big national developer, Forest City, which went on to do the Uptown project. Emerald Fund proposed sharing the site with the school they would build, in addition to 414 units of housing —167 live/work lofts and 247 apartments —in the 8 story, 900,00 square foot building, at the time, the largest remaining industrial building in Oakland. The Ward Building was a 5 minute walk from the Fruitvale BART station and transit village, something a smart-growth aficionado like Quan has since been promoting fervently on the City Council.  

Quan Crosses Sierra Club  

The simple logic of creating housing at the Ward Building, if lost on the politicos, made a lot of sense to the Sierra Club. In a Nov. 7, 1998 letter to Brandt-Hawley, the Sierra Club waded into the battle:”.... support(ing)... more inner city infill housing and development instead of suburban sprawl, especially projects near existing transit lines ...demolition of large existing buildings creates great waste disposal problems and expense...(and) new construction projects exert economic pressure to log precious public and private forests...”  

Then Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope spoke out forcefully and attended pro-Ward Building events. De La Fuente threatened to retaliate, calling out the Sierra Club on economic injustice issues. (One wonders if Quan will revisit this history as she seeks the Sierra Club endorsement for Mayor.) 

Ultimately, in 2001, after a second lawsuit, years of delays, rejection of alternate sites by the School district and thousands of dollars in legal fees, the Ward Building came down. Quan, taking the lead along with the other school board members including the Fruitvale District rep (and City employee) Noel Gallo and Kerry Hamill, Perata’s former chief of staff, had prevailed, even though, by this time, the Ward Building had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. But not before the developer reportedly made numerous large contributions to the political campaigns of local politicians —the usual pay-to-play that Oakland is notorious for. (An interesting footnote: Paul Cobb, who had been appointed by Mayor Brown as one of three new school board members in his attempt to makeover the School Board, defected from Brown on this issue and rallied against the demolition). 

Environmental Disaster  

The lead paint from the building in the dirty, fast, and cheap demolition was scattered to the winds and waters of the Bay, with no tarping or any special care taken to protect nearby residents or the environment. Paint was blasted off the facade with high-pressure water hoses, where it collected in gutters, sidewalks, and streets before scattering to the winds or running into the Bay. A City fire marshal was brave enough to write up a complaint and verify the lead toxicity, but the estimate for a lawsuit by the environmental group Baykeepers STARTED at $10,000. Needless to say, the City’s Environmental Affairs Office kept its distance from the toxic, political mess!  

The upshot: the school was built on toxic soil, next to busy streets, where accidents including fatalities to pedestrians are a common occurrence, and in a polluted atmosphere —dangerous for children with asthma —next to the heavily-trucked 880 freeway.  

Too late to do any good, the powerful Spanish Speaking Unity Council, which steered clear of the battle, lamented the lack of a diversity of incomes in the Fruitvale, which would benefit businesses. The Ward Lofts would have helped fill that need. 

Before the housing crash, with numerous controversial condo projects in Temescal coming to the City Council, Quan was vociferous in promoting dense housing development on transit corridors, in one instance, citing word for word the language of SB 275, the state law which encourages dense transit development at the local level. Yet when she had the chance to promote a housing development in an existing landmark and structurally sound building, sharing the site with a school, funded with private capital, next to a BART station and alongside a major arterial, she made the easy, calculating, politically-expedient call.  

Vaulting to the City Council as the school district slid into bankruptcy, she defied Colin Powell’s infamous Pottery Barn rule: if you break it, you own it. 

Another wrong-headed land-use choice involved her support for the expansion of redevelopment to all of North Oakland. Because we’re so blighted, right? This effort, which would have committed even more money to redevelopment at the expense of the General Fund (police, fire, libraries, etc.), was luckily doomed, coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision. Before Councilperson Brunner pulled the plug on the effort, Quan was openly horse-trading to commit a stretch of MacArthur in her district, too, to redevelopment. 

Lately, in election mode, Quan has modified her sanctimonious smart growth rhetoric, suggesting “her constituents didn’t want concrete canyons on their streets necessarily, either.” One is left wondering just what she does believe. 

Rebecca Kaplan is another example of an Oakland politician who advances without any blowback from the awful state of the organization they’re vacating, In Kaplan’s case, AC Transit, which —despite infusions of taxpayer money for operating expenses from the VV bond measure —is nearly on life support, cutting service drastically, and clinging for life to the BRT dream and federal money.  

As a nearly 40 year resident of Oakland, I am familiar with the perennial need to see our politicians through rose-colored glasses, hoping for the best. I even wrote copy for a “Sheila Jordan for City Council” campaign piece, describing her as a “reformer!” But any illusions or hope I might have had for Jean Quan were buried under the Ward rubble. 

I read the obituary on Silber in the NY Times and its limited focus on Sing Out! It mentioned he was in the Communist Party and left it, but didn't discuss his editorship of the National Guardian and creation of the Guardian Clubs that later turned into Front Line clubs. The most interesting part would be to hear from people who were in Front Line to explain what they meant by a pre- Party Organization. There were similar attempts like the Committees of Correspondence to form a party that was not in the same mode as the CPUSA or the SWP, October League, RU, et al--a non-party party?  

It would be helpful to recount some of that history, to explain what people were doing in the 80s and 90s. 

I knew of the National Guardian (NY City) before going to the big hippy meeting in Vermont to hear guru Baba Ram Dass in the 70s. A hundred from the West Coast traveled on an airplane rented by a wealthy hipster/rock promoter to meet the guru. Silber showed up one day, as I remember, in spanking white shorts, white sneakers, shirt and hat ready to play TENNIS. I loved him at first sight. A few others gathered around him at lunch listening to him chat about Marxist politics and theory. Then we went to a few sessions with Ram Dass with bells and chants. It was a unique event. 

Later I was invited to go on a Guardian tour to China with 25 others, organized by Harold Leventhal, yet another old CPer who was agent for Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Arlo Guthrie (the family) for many years. He later put together a concert with Pete and Arlo, attracting the 80 year olds and the 8 year olds. Leventhal was good, and better than Bill ‘Big Bucks’ Graham. 

So where did Front Line go? 

I came a cropper with them in a solidarity organization, Friends of Nicaragua, but that’s an old tale. Silber organized Front Line, it was active for a while, but what was the line? Anyone able and want to fill in – please do. (If the Editor will so allow). 

This would be what Irwin Silber was good at, explaining how opposition to capitalism functions.

I am a Co-Secretary on the Board of Directors for Easy Does It Emergency Services. On Friday, August 13th , I took a half-day off work to be one of five representatives from Easy Does It to attend a pre¬scheduled two-hour negotiation/collaboration meeting with CIL representatives and Drew King from the City of Berkeley. We were surprised when right at the beginning of the meeting Yomi Wrong, the Executive Director at CIL, announced to the room that CIL was "walking away from the table," and that pursuing a slice of the Berkeley Emergency Services contract was costing CIL too much money and hurting their reputation in the community, that their only reason for pursuing part of the contract was in the interests of the community and not the funds, and that they had their funding for their repair shop and that the shop would go ahead, regardless. We were out of the meeting in 40 minutes and there was no discussion about a negotiation because it appeared that CIL was no longer interested in Measure E funds. In previous meetings, CIL continually stated that they wanted no part of the Emergency Attendant or Emergency Transportation elements of the program.  

The challenge of maintaining our funding was seemingly over, but the relief was sadly short-lived. EDI felt that we could once again focus entirely on our development as an agel:lcy with projects like enhancing our database and increasing our outreach to provide our excellent services to a broader community, but a few hours after we were approved by Drew King to announce the meeting's outcome, Mark Bums from CIL posted on the Berkeley Disabled Community list-serve that he misspoke. Mark said he misspoke when he said "that ClL was withdrawing from the RFP process," and went on to explain that, "We [CIL] have not done that. Our original proposal remains on the table and we'll respect whatever the end result may be."  

EDI had previously presented a lengthy list of in-kind collaborative proposals that did not involve any exchange of money, because sacrificing any part of our funding would result in the deterioration of EDI as an agency. We have offered for example a Community Training for Wheelchair Awareness by EDI at CIL; Training CIL staff to do assistive equipment repair; Free (to CIL) transportation and dispatch for community members needing to go to the new CIL shop; Access to loaner chairs (3); Access to EDI assistive equipment parts/inventory (listed in EDI proposal); and New equipment training (as new equipment becomes available). We simply do not want to sacrifice the integrity of the services we already provide by segregating or dissolving services so we offered these collaborative ideas.  

This entire controversy over the Measure Econtract comes at a time when EDI is at its strongest because of the long term efforts by the Board of Directors to make the agency a more professional organization. We recently achieved a milestone with the hiring of our Executive Director, .Bonnie MacFadyen, who has efficiently reorganized the administrative office and given our wonderful field staff a substantial and eamed wage increase. We are continuing to meet with our (largely volunteer) consultants in order to further train our Board to be the best it can be. We plan to conduct outreach and fundraising events and submit grant applications, but as long as we are embedded in the struggle to maintain Measure Efunds, we cannot move forward.  

In the weeks ahead, we will be attending meetings for the Commission on Disability and the Commission on Aging to plead our case and offer even more education on the necessity of our program in the community. We also have a meeting scheduled with the City Manager and a possible vote by the City Council may be held this month.  

If any of you feel, as I do, that EDI should continue to serve the Berkeley community, please attend the public meetings (times listed below) and write your City Councilpersons. Additionally, if you cannot attend the Commission on Disability meeting email Secretary Paul Church with your comments at PChurch@ci.berkeley.ca.us. If anyone has further questions or input to what I've written here, please write me and I will do my best to answer.  

Sincerely,  

Don Brownell on behalf of the EDI Board of Directors Co-Secretary and Communications Committee Chair Easy Does It Board of Directors
Commission Meetings and Information:
Commission on Aging Meeting September 15th, 1:30 pm South Berkeley Senior Center (corner of Ashby & Ellis St.)
Commission on Disability Meeting September 15th, 6:30 pm North Berkeley Senior Center (corner of MLK & Hearst)
Save Easy Does It!

On September 14, 2001, the U.S. Congress voted almost unanimously to hand President George W. Bush its constitutional power to declare war. Not a single senator and only one representative opposed a resolution that mentioned no enemy country and left it up to the president to fight anyone he decided had anything to do with the terror attacks of the 11th. He decided on Afghans. 

The lone nay-sayer was Barbara Lee, the representative of California’s 9th Congressional District (including Berkeley and Oakland). She reminded colleagues on 9/14 that in 1964 Congress had allowed President Lyndon Johnson “to take all necessary measures” to repel any attack on U.S. forces. (The so-called Tonkin Gulf Resolution followed what later proved to be an imaginary attack by North Vietnamese boats on U.S. naval ships.) “In so doing,” she said, “this House abandoned its own constitutional responsibilities and launched our country into years of undeclared war in Vietnam.” 

In 1964 Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, backed only by Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska in opposing a blank check for presidential warmaking, said that “history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution….” Barbara Lee commented, “Senator Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today.” 

Convinced that military action would not prevent further terrorism, she cautioned that it could spiral out of control to rush to judgment and respond to an unconventional attack in a conventional way. “If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that women, children, and other noncombatants will be caught in the crossfire.” In a further display of prescience, Representative Lee warned that it would repeat past mistakes “to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.” 

When she walked off the House floor that day, colleagues urged her to change her vote. Hostile mail arrived and threats against her life made security measures necessary. 

A talk on war and peace 

The action begun by Bush on Oct. 7, 2001, in Afghanistan and now expanded to Pakistan — though none of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers was either Afghan or Pakistani — bids to become the longest war in American history. (On October 18 it will exceed the length of the overt U.S. war in Indochina, counting from Johnson’s first bombing of Vietnam to Nixon’s last bombing of Cambodia.)  

Barbara Lee is no longer alone among members of Congress in opposition to the war. Last March a concurrent resolution by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio to withdraw forces from Afghanistan drew 65 House votes (including five Republicans). Representative Lee’s stand has become a cause for honor more than hostility. She is in demand as a speaker and has acceded to the request of several local peace groups that she expound her views. 

So at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, at Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar Street at Bonita Avenue in Berkeley, Barbara Lee will reflect on war and peace, the war power, and the congressional actions she has taken accordingly. Questions and answers will follow her main talk. Admission will be free. The hall is the meeting place of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU). 

Each day it’s becoming more apparent that Democrats are headed for a whipping on November 2^nd unless they get their act together. While it’s Barack Obama’s job to rally voters, a lot of Dems aren’t sure he can do it. We feel that somewhere over the course of the last 20 months, Obama lost his mojo and, as a result, doesn’t remember what he stands for or what the Democratic Party stands for. If Dems are going to pull victory out of the fire, we’re going to have to see passion from Obama; he’s going to have to take off his gloves and fight.

 

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. identified Obama’s central problem: “The president's efforts to lay down a consistent rationale, argument and philosophy have been sporadic. He has created a vacuum…” The Candidate who many of us believed was a master communicator has failed, as President, to articulate his vision for the US.

 

As Drew Westen and George Lakoff observe, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have lost control of the national narrative. Instead of being told that government can be a vital force for good, voters are inundated with conservative messages that government is the problem. Instead of being reminded that too much economic inequality is a bad thing, that it undermines our economy and democracy and violates our moral principles, voters are told taxation is unfair and beguiled by the failed promise of trickle-down economics. Instead of being informed that the success of the United States has been based upon a strong public enterprise and a humane form of capitalism, voters are seduced by the image of an open market and privatization of public services.

 

It’s not too late for President Obama to seize control of the national narrative, but many of us are beginning to doubt whether he has the stomach for it.

 

Academic and political consultant Drew Westen argued that Obama’s job is apparent: “What Democrats have needed to offer the American people is a clear narrative about what and who led our country to the mess in which we find ourselves today and a clear vision of what and who will lead us out.”

 

Academic and political consultant George Lakoff agreed with Westen, adding it’s vital to recognize the role of values: “Candidate Obama made the case that American is, and has always been, fundamentally about Americans caring about each other and acting responsibly on that care… Winning this election will require the right policies and actions, but it will also require moral leadership with honest, morally-based messaging.”

 

There are several competing theories about why Barack Obama has lost control of the national narrative. One blames his staff and suggests that Obama got good advice during the campaign but bad advice from the presidential staff. For the past twenty months, the economy has been the central issue and the President lost control of that narrative because he listened to the wrong guys.

 

Another theory argues that once he became President, Obama received poor communication advice. The White House lost control of the national narrative because they wandered into wonk land and forgot the importance of framing their agenda in terms of vision and values.

 

The most common theory is that the problem lies within Barack Obama. One explanation is that Obama is by nature a conciliatory person and has had a hard time accepting that he’s in a situation where his adversaries have no interest in finding common ground. Another is that Barack believes that Americans elected him to set a new moral tone in Washington and try to bring the two Parties together. Still another explanation is that Obama is an intellectual and doesn’t have the taste for street fighting that’s characteristic of successful American politicians; he’s soft.

 

There’s a simpler explanation: Barack is an idealist. He believes in what Robert Reich identified as a core American myth: the benevolent community, the story of “neighbors and friends who roll up their sleeves and pitch in for the common good”

 

But sometimes idealism isn’t enough. Reich identified a flip side of the tale of the benevolent community: the story of the mob at the gates; the forces of darkness that threaten American democracy. One of the differences between an idealist and a realist is recognition that sometimes we have to fight to keep the mob from storming the gates. That’s what happened after Pearl Harbor.

 

That’s what needs to happen in the Fall of 2010. Barack has to become a realist.

 

Because of blind political ambition and staggering stupidity, Republicans have unleashed the forces of darkness and now the Tea Party mob is hammering at the gates of America.

 

It’s good that Barack Obama is an idealist. It’s good that he wants to be a conciliator, believes that there should be a new moral tone in Washington. But now is the time for realism. Now is the time for the President to stand at America’s gates and defend us from an angry, hate-filled, nihilistic mob. Now is the time for Obama the fighter.

 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net

 

 

“I just love Sleeping Beauty! The music, the sets, the costumes. It's so romantic!” declares Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw… “You only like it because she sleeps for a hundred years and doesn't age” responds chum Stanford Blatch. 

Years ago, “Intimacy, love and friendship after 50” was the subject of one of the courses offered by a Bay Area community college with the goal of “mainstreaming” seniors. (Did seniors want to be in the mainstream? Do they now?) “Contemporary moral issues” and “Freud and the neo-Freudians” were also on the menu. 

In their fifties, some people may experience a reawakening of sexual interest because they no longer need to prevent pregnancy, and the pressures of child rearing are past. Sexual problems are not necessarily a natural, irreversible part of aging. It is important to distinguish among the effects of the aging process itself, hormonal changes as women go through menopause, and illness, disability and relationship difficulties. 

What about impotence and older men? By their mid-to-late fifties, one of four is impotent. By their mid-to-late sixties more then half are impotent, and by their mid-seventies most are impotent. In March 1999, Viagra exploded onto the market, and in 2006, one of every four men was taking it. Viagra has a high effective rate. It works in 90% of sexual dysfunctional cases that have biological causes and has a 60-70% effectiveness rate overall. 

Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra and various trade names, is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It was developed and is being marketed by Pfizer pharmaceutical company. It acts by inhibiting an enzyme that regulates blood flow in the penis. Since becoming available in 1998, sildenafil has been the prime treatment for erectile dysfunction. 

Avis Yarbrough in Health & Wellness reported on “STDs and AIDS in Senior Citizens”(www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net). There is a widely held belief that as you get older, your sex drive diminishes. But the invention of Viagra has made this not the case. She provided these data: Venereal diseases are spreading more than ever among senior citizens. People age 50 and older make up more than 10 percent of total AIDS cases in this country, and HIV cases are increasing among people in their 60’s and 70’s according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has been reported that during the last decade, the number of HIV cases has risen 500 percent among senior citizens, and AIDS cases among over-50 people have risen from 16,00 in 1975 to 90,00 in 2003. Currently, nearly 27 percent of people living with AIDS in America are 50 and older. 

Leonard Hayflick, in his popular “How and why we age,” describes changes in sexual activity. Relative frequency of sexual activity does not change with age-- the men who are most sexually active in their seventies were also highly active sexually in their twenties. A slightly higher level of testosterone is present in men who are more sexually active. Sexual activity decreases with age despite maintenance of normal levels of sex hormones. Enlargement of the prostate gland is common in men over age 60; it is unrelated to the amount of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, or length or stability or marriage.  

“If there is one style of consciousness that will surely have to change radically in the elder culture, it is that of the alpha male,” writes Berkeley author Theodore Roszak in his new book, “The making of an elder culture.” In speaking of the end of sex (Chapter 9, ‘Love, loyalty, and the end of sex,’ ) he is using end in the sense of a goal, rather than a finish. 

xxxx 

Columnist Carrie Bradshaw observes: “When you're young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don't leap at all because there's not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there's no safety net. When did it stop being fun and start being scary?” 

Why are senior citizens contracting STD’s or HIV? They did not come of age when sex education was being taught in public schools, and they are likely to be uninformed about Aids and HIV and how to protect themselves. Due to divorce or a partner dying, they now find themselves dating again and are unfamiliar or not used to protecting themselves. A lot of older men date more then one woman at a time. Some older women, no longer able to get pregnant, see no need to use any type of birth control, which includes condoms. 

Sexual abuse is one of the several types or forms of elder abuse. It includes molestation, rape, sex acts and sexual touching as well as such things as showing an elderly person pornographic material, forcing him/her to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress. Watch for torn or bloody clothing, unexplained venereal disease or genital infections, or genital or anal pain, itching, bruising, bleeding. Be aware that some seniors will be too embarrassed to report this, they may have received threats, or if they suffer from some form of dementia, they might not even recall that the sexual abuse took place. Sexual abuse of an elder often constitutes domestic violence. The elder abuse site at HelpGuide.org is worth checking out. 

xxxx  

Good news: “Senior entertainment back in the black.” Other media comments about 2008’s “Cloud 9” (“Wolke Neuin”) include “A story of new love in old age,” “German romantic drama,” “seniors sex dramedy”, and “critical raves and a clever marketing campaign aimed at geezers turned Andreas Dresen’s ’Cloud 9’ into a certified sleeper.” (Berkeley Public Library dvd; English subtitles. Note: This is not the 2006 Burt Reynolds “Cloud 9” motion picture. Far from it.) 

Here's what the future might hold if you're lucky: being naked and old and making ecstatic love in a sun-drenched room. Karl (Horst Westphal), 76, is unattached, 60ish. Grandmother Inge (award-winning Ursula Werner) is married to Werner (Horst Rehberg), and they care for each other. Inge's affair with Karl and the inevitable confrontation. Several scenes take place in a senior center-like environment. Ursula is shown singing with what Werner refers to as “your women’s chorus.” The lyrics are metaphoric for her love life. The ending might be predictable, but it shows that you're never too old to enjoy the bliss of love — or suffer its pains. 

xxxx 

Attention, candidates… Running for election in the November election? You are invited to email to Senior Power (pen136@dslextreme.com) a statement of your “platform” in regard to senior citizens, e.g. housing, health, transportation. If you are running for re-election, please describe the highlights of your record on issues important to seniors. Keep in mind that Early Voting begins on Monday, October 4, 2010. 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Newfield, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, has recently published an article called “Bain’s Blow to Berkeley”. It’s a gloomy analysis of how cost saving measures being implemented at UC Berkeley are likely not only to harm the University’s teaching mission, but in fact to increase rather than diminish costs. It’s a moving work. 

Some of you won’t have heard of Chris Newfield (I hadn’t) and some will (he’s a famous author and well known within the UC system). I am thinking that perhaps more people should know of him. After all, few people can write 27 paragraphs – 2500 words – of financial facts and figures alongside careful application of management theory and receive responses like this comment: 

“Anonymous said... Professor Newfield, as a staff member who has been through a take no prisoners downsizing and admin unit merge, I read your report with tears forming in my eyes. I think it is very `right on’. I hope your report is sent to all Chancellors, EVCs, VCAs, and Senate Chairs.” (emphasis added.) 

The new Newfield article is about a rather ironic development at UC Berkeley. Chancellor Birgeneau, faced with cuts in money provided by the state, began to seek ways to save money and prepare for massive budget reductions. He did what any high level executive might do: he paid a consulting firm, Bain and Co., three million dollars to look the place over and make some cost saving suggestions. Oddly enough, “Avoid paying someone three million dollars to tell you how to save money,” was not among the suggestions in Bain’s report. Newfield goes to town on many of the suggestions that are in the report. 

I’ll give you a taste of Newfield’s “read it and weep” analysis of how Bain and Birgeneau haven’t quite nailed this cost saving plan down all that well but, before I do, how about a brief introduction to Newfield? 

In October of 2008, shortly before the national election, Newfield wrote, Public Universities at Risk: 7 Damaging Myths. To set the stage, he predicted an upswing in government spending on vital infrastructure: 

“The presidential election has generated new proposals for reinvestment in America's basic social infrastructure: roads and bridges, health care, job training and employment, renewable energy, and education. Barack Obama's campaign has called for a ‘National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank,’ which has growing Congressional support, and last January mayors and governors from both major parties formed a coalition to start the rebuilding process.” 

(The current bill to implement such a bank (H.R. 2521) is pending in the Senate. Government infrastructure spending has also increased by other means.) 

Newfield has his optimistic side. He continues: 

“The current financial crisis will undoubtedly cause short-term public budget cuts as government officials figure out how to pay a staggering bailout bill. The current financial crisis will undoubtedly cause short-term public budget cuts as government officials figure out how to pay a staggering bailout bill. But in the long run, it will reduce many leaders' confidence in market forces and encourage greater interest in public investments in the economy. People will be increasingly reluctant to let financial markets determine their standard of living.” (emphasis added.) 

I’m not sure I yet see a popular push for increased government spending to insure standards of living against the vagrancies of financial markets but perhaps that’s just around the bend. Nevertheless, it brings us to what I most wanted to share: 

“Yet even though higher education is an important source of economic and social progress, public investment is not keeping up with increased enrollments or the costs of high-quality teaching and research — and the future doesn't look any brighter. [….] 

“Why is public education the poor pupil of public investment? Part of the explanation is political: A quarter-century of culture wars has undermined the egalitarian values and tax-based public infrastructure that made America a mass middle-class society after World War II. Since 1980, stratification by income has steadily worsened, and higher education has been caught in an ideological crossfire between traditional supporters and conservative elites who want to set that broad middle-class majority back. [….]” (emphasis added.) 

There’s my friend. See what he did there? The problem isn’t, in his view, that public universities are the inevitable, necessary victims of government budget reality. Rather, he believes that they are under budgetary attack precisely because they help to create a middle class rather than a beaten down proletariat. And they have been for a long time. And he can prove it. 

It’s not a statement he makes lightly. Around the time he published the above statements about class warfare, he’d published “The Unmaking of the University: The Forty Year Assault on the Middle Class”, a nearly 500 page book , very well reviewed, exploring the topic. 

I can not concisely do full justice to Newfield’s full analysis of the Bain cost saving report. He argues in some detail, drawing upon his extensive research into how University’s work, that Bain is proposing to save costs by creating stronger centralized management, reducing the freedom of individual departments to address their specific needs directly, and imposing new and greater administrative costs. These are the kinds of words that bring tears to the eyes of an anonymous staffer on the inside: 

“The image [depicted by Bain] is the bureaucratic version of the alien ship in Independence Day, a looming, inverted pyramid in which top dwarfs bottom and threatens to swallow it whole. Everything flows top-down, and the administrative content takes the form of goals-metrics-evaluation which are communicated to units (metrics –assessment of performance), on down to supervisors (accountability functions) and then finally to individuals (performance metrics tied to unit goals.) Relationships are reduced to the abstract modalities of compliance embodied in assessment procedures. Management is not support for the university’s necessarily diverse creative functions but is a state of permanent evaluation. There is no respect here for the autonomy of the units – departmental staff, student services, and technical staff for laboratories – that are close to the `customer’ (cf. `autonomous culture’ as a source of inefficiency in procurement, slide 35). The tone is of control through communication, through finance, through even more of the endless audit and evaluations to which UC employees are already subject. The implicit diagnosis is that Berkeley’s employees are inefficient because they are insufficiently assessed, measured, and financially incentivized.” 

Back to work, droids. And knock it off with the teaching, already. 

Until next time, do be in touch: lord@emf.net 

"A NIGHT AT THE OPERA," -- Sept. 17. Martinez Opera Contra Costa  

presents tenor Antonio Nagore, soprano Duana Demus, mezzo soprano Jennifer  

Kosharky and baritone Torlef Borstine. Event takes place at Crow Canyon  

Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Dr., Danville. 

$65.6:30 p.m.www.mtzo.com.< 

 

HERTZ HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY --  

"Annual Noon Concert Series," Sept. 22, Noon. University Symphony  

Orchestra performs "Symphony No. 5'' by Tchaikovsky. David Milnes conducts.  

Free.  

University Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, 8 p.m.  

"Symphony No. 5,'' by Tchaikovsky. David Milnes conducts. $5-$15.  

Bancroft Way and College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 642-4864,  

http://music.berkeley.edu.< 

 

LIVERMORE VALLEY OPERA --  

"Opera Live! At the Livermore Public Library," Sept. 19, 2 p.m.  

Meet and hear the stars of Livermore Valley Opera's season opening  

production, "Don Giovanni.'' Concert takes place at the Livermore Library,  

Civic Center Branch, 1188 S. Livermore Ave., Livermore. Free.  

Livermore Performing Arts Theater, 600 Maple St., Livermore. (925)  

960-9210, (925) 417-5070, www.livermorevalleyopera.com.< 

 

ST. ALBAN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH --  

Rita Lilly and Tim Rayborn, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. Works from medieval  

Portugal and Spain. Presented by MusicSouces. $15-$20.  

St. Alban's Episcopal Church,, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. < 

 

ZELLERBACH HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY --  

"Kronos Quartet," Sept. 26, 11 a.m. Works by Osvaldo Golijov,  

Aleksandra Vrebalov, Raz Mesinai, Maria Schneider and Bryce Dessner. Free.  

UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley.  

(510) 642-9988.< 

GOLDEN GATE PARK MUSIC CONCOURSE --  

"Golden Gate Park Band" Sept. 19, 1 p.m. The band performs the  

work of the great German opera composer Richard Wagner. Free.  

www.goldengateparkband.org. 

"Golden Gate Park Band" Sept. 26, 1 p.m. Celebrating Irish  

patriot Robert Emmett Day, with traditional Irish music. Free.  

Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way, San Francisco. < 

 

HERBST THEATRE --  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Sept. 24, 8-10 p.m. Works by  

Mozart. Nicholas McGegan conducts. $25-$85.  

401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 392-4400,  

www.cityboxoffice.com.< 

 

LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM -- DOCENT TOUR PROGRAMS -- Tours of the  

permanent collections and special exhibitions are offered Tuesday through  

Sunday. Non-English language tours (Italian, French, Spanish and Russian) are  

available on different Saturdays of the month at 11:30 a.m. Free with regular  

museum admission. (415) 750-3638.  

ONGOING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM --  

"Doing and Viewing Art," For ages 7 to 12. Docent-led  

tours of current exhibitions are followed by studio workshops taught by  

professional artists/teachers. Students learn about art by seeing and making  

it. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon; call to confirm class. Free with museum  

admission. (415) 750-3658. 

ORGAN CONCERTS -- 4 p.m. A weekly concert of organ music  

on the Legion's restored 1924 Skinner organ. Saturday and Sunday in the Rodin  

Gallery. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3624. 

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors  

on Tuesdays. Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and  

Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 750-3600, (415) 750-3636,  

www.legionofhonor.org.< 

 

OLD FIRST CHURCH --  

Rebecca Rust, Friedrich Edelmann and Dmitriy Cogan, Sept. 19, 4  

p.m. Performing works by Genzmer, Schaffrath, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and  

Strauss.  

San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. Works  

by Bay Area composers. Mark Alburger, musical director.  

Thomas Schultz, Sept. 26, 4 p.m. Works by Hyo-shin Na, Schubert  

and others.  

$14-$17; children 12 and under free. 1751 Sacramento Street, San  

Francisco. (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstconcerts.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC --  

"Chanticleer presents Out of This World!" Sept. 17 and Sept. 19,  

8 p.m. Fri.; 5 p.m. Sun. The renowned 12 member male chorus performs a  

concert focusing on music inspired through the ages by the cosmos. $20-$44.  

www.chanticleer.org. 

$15 to $20 unless otherwise noted. Hellman Hall, 50 Oak St., San  

Francisco. (415) 864-7326, www.sfcm.edu.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA --  

"Aida" by Giuseppe Verdi, through Oct. 6. A bitter love triangle  

plays itself out against a backdrop of war and cultural oppression in this  

compelling tale of conflicting loyalties and forbidden passion. Sung in  

Italian with English supertitles. Sept. 10, 8 p.m.; Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.;  

Sept. 19, 2 p.m.; Sept. 24, 8 p.m.; Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 2, 8 p.m.; Oct.  

6, 7:30 p.m. $20-$320.  

OPENING - "Werther" by Jules Massenet, through Oct. 1. A new  

production of the Massenet's strongest and most involving tragedy, with Tenor  

Ramsn Vargas and mezzo-soprano Alice Coote. Sung in French with English  

supertitles. Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 18, 8 p.m.; Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m.;  

Sept. 26, 2 p.m.; Sept. 28, 8 p.m.; Oct. 1, 8 p.m. $20-$360.  

"Le Nozze di Figaro," by Mozart, Sept. 21 through Oct. 22. Nicola  

Luisotti conducts. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Sept. 21, 8  

p.m.; Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 25, 8 p.m.; Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 3, 2  

p.m.; Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 10, 2 p.m.; Oct. 16, 8 p.m.; Oct. 22, 8 p.m.  

$20-$360.  

"Opera at the Ballpark," Sept. 24, 8 p.m. A live simulcast of  

"Aida'' by Verdi, shown at AT&T Park, San Francisco. Free.  

$25 to $245 unless otherwise noted. War Memorial Opera House, 301  

Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY --  

"Quiet City," by Copland, Sept. 22 through Sept. 25, 8 p.m. Wed.  

and Sat.; 2 p.m. Thu. Michael Tilson Thomas conducts. $15-$140.  

$25-$130. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.  

(415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org.< 

 

ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL --  

"Sunday Afternoon Recitals," 3:30 p.m., unless otherwise  

noted. Sept. 5: Travis Baker.  

Sept. 12: Christoph Tietze.  

$5 suggested donation. 1111 Gough St., San Francisco. (415)  

567-2020, www.stmarycathedralsf.org.< 

 

THICK HOUSE --  

"Dieci Giorni -- 10 Days," through Sept. 12 and Sept. 17 through  

Sept. 12, 8 p.m. Inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's "Decameron,'' this new  

collaborative opera is directed by Jim Cave with music composed by Erling  

Wold, Lisa Scola Prosek, Martha Stoddard and Davide Verotta. $25. (415)  

282-5616, www.diccigiorni.org. 

1695 18th St., San Francisco. www.thickhouse.org.< 

ARTHAUS --  

"The Back Yard," through Sept. 30. Works by Chris Schiavo.  

Free. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 411 Brannan St.,  

San Francisco. (415) 977-0223, www.arthaus-sf.com.< 

 

GEORGE KREVSKY GALLERY --  

"Summer Reading," through Oct. 2. Works by Lawrence Ferlinghetti,  

Helen Berggruen, Ken Kalman, Rockewell Kent, Clifford Odets, Man Ray, Raymond  

Saunders, Ben Shahn and others.  

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 77 Geary St.,  

San Francisco. (415) 397-9748, www.georgekrevkygallery.com.< 

 

LOST ART SALON --  

OPENING -- "Adine Stix: A Retrospective," through Oct. 31. An  

extensive survey of paintings from the 1960s.  

245 S. Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 861-1530,  

www.lostartsalon.com.< 

JULIA MORGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS --  

"Spirit of Mexico," Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Sat.; 2 p.m.  

Sun. Ballet Folklorico Costa de Oro presents a journey through music, song  

and dance showcasing Mexico's vibrant culture. $23-$30; children under 3  

free. (510) 316-3237, www.bfcostadeoro.com. 

2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.org.< 

 

ZELLERBACH HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY --  

Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.  

$20-$48. www.calperformances.org. 

UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley.  

(510) 642-9988.< 

 

COUNTERPULSE --  

"2nd Sundays," 2-4 p.m. Sun. Sept. 12: Philein Wang,  

ZiRu Tiger Productions, Tammy Cheney, Lenora Lee. Free.  

1310 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 626-2060,  

www.counterpulse.org.< 

 

COWELL THEATER AT FORT MASON CENTER --  

Zhukov Dance Theatre, through Sept. 18, 8 p.m. Award-winning  

choreographer Yuri Zhukov presents new works with dancers including Katja  

Bjorner, Darren Devaney, Joshua Haines, Allie Papazian and more. $25.  

"Westwave Dance's 19th Season of Contemporary Choreography,"  

Sept. 20, 8 p.m. Performances by Amy Seiwert, Kat Worthington, Katie Faulkner  

and Stacey Printz. $18-$25.  

Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, San Francisco. (415)  

345-7575, www.fortmason.org.< 

 

DANCE MISSION THEATER --  

"Passages," Sept. 24 through Sept. 26, 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 2:30  

p.m. Sun. Choreographed by Lenora Lee. $14-$20.  

3316 24th St., San Francisco. (415) 826-4441,  

www.dancemission.com.< 

 

FLORENCE GOULD THEATRE AT THE LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM --  

"Dancing Poetry Festival," Sept. 18, Noon-4 p.m. Featuring  

international dance companies and poets; a fusion of dance with poetry.  

$12-$15. www.dancingpoetry.com. 

Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. (415)  

392-4400, www.avedisconcerts.org.< 

 

PENA PACHAMAMA --  

"Flamenco Thursdays" with Carola Zertuche, 8:30 p.m.  

Thursdays Music and dance with performers of traditional flamenco. $10.  

Brisas de Espana Ballet Flamenco, 6:15 and 7:15 p.m. Sun.  

$10-$15.  

For ages 21 and older. 1630 Powell St., San Francisco. (415)  

646-0018, www.penapachamama.com.< 

A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS --  

Yiyun Li, Sept. 17, 7 p.m. "Gold Boy, Emerald Girl.''  

Monique Truong, Sept. 24, 7 p.m. "Bitter In The Mouth.''  

6120 LaSalle Ave., Oakland. (510) 339-8210, www.ggpbooks.com.< 

 

BOOKS INC., ALAMEDA --  

Tom McCarthy, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m. "C.''  

Free. Readings at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 1344 Park St.,  

Alameda. (510) 522-2226, www.booksinc.net.< 

 

BOOKS INC., BERKELEY --  

Dr. Linda Hawes Clever, Sept. 20, Noon. "The Fatigue  

Prescription.''  

Reese Erlich, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. "Conversations with Terrorists:  

Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire.''  

Mae Ngai, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. "The Lucky Ones.''  

 

James Ellroy, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. "The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of  

Women.''  

Irene Butler, Sept. 23, 7 p.m. "Trekking the Globe with Mostly  

Gentle Footsteps: Twelve Countries in Twelve Months.''  

Charles Yu, Sept. 24, 7 p.m. "How To Live Safely In A Science  

Fictional Universe.''  

1760 4th Street, Berkeley. (510) 525-7777, www.booksinc.net.< 

 

CONCORD LIBRARY --  

Gary Bogue, Sept. 20, 7-8 p.m. "There's a Hummingbird in My  

Backyard.'' Free, no reservations required, ages 4-8.  

2900 Salvio Street, Concord. (925) 646-5455.< 

 

DIESEL, A BOOKSTORE --  

Brad Warner, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. "Sex, Sin & Zen.''  

Pseudonymous Bosch, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. "This Isn't What It Looks  

Like.''  

Jory John and Avery Monsen, Sept. 26, 3 p.m. "All My Friends Are  

Dead.''  

5433 College Avenue, Oakland. (510) 653-9965.< 

 

MRS. DALLOWAY'S --  

Claire Marcus, Sept. 19, 4 p.m. "Iona Dreaming.''  

Monique Truong, Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. "Bitter In The Mouth.''  

Mona Simpson, Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m. "My Hollywood.''  

2904 College Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 704-8222.< 

 

OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BRANCH --  

Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada, Sept. 19, 2-4 p.m. "Three  

Ways To Make Yourself Irresistible to Agents and Editors.''  

www.cwc-berkeley.com. 

Free. Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.;  

Wednesday-Thursday, noon-8 p.m.; Friday, noon-5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-5  

p.m. 125 14th St., Oakland. (510) 238-3134, www.oaklandlibrary.org.< 

 

ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH --  

Isabel Wilkerson, Sept. 23, 7 p.m. "The Warmth of Other Suns.''  

114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. < 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE --  

"Compulsion," through Oct. 31, 8 p.m. Tue. and Fri.; 7 p.m. Wed.;  

2 and 8 p.m. Thu. and Sat.; 2 and 7 p.m. Sun; check website for special  

matinees. A new play featuring Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Mandy  

Patinkin. $14.50-$73.  

2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949, (888) 4BR-Ttix,  

www.berkeleyrep.org.< 

 

EAST BAY IMPROV --  

"Tired of the Same Old Song and Dance?" 8 p.m. East Bay  

Improv actors perform spontaneous, impulsive and hilarious comedy on the  

first Saturday of every month. $8.  

Pinole Community Playhouse, 601 Tennent Ave., Pinole. (510)  

964-0571, www.eastbayimprov.com.< 

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER --  

"Scapin," by Moliere, through Oct. 10, 8 p.m. Tue.-Sat.; 2 p.m.  

Wed., Sat.-Sun. Check website for exact dates and times. Directed by Bill  

Irwin. $10 and up; check website for special deals and events.  

Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. (415) 749-2228,  

www.actsf. org.< 

 

BEACH BLANKET BABYLON -- This long-running musical follows Snow  

White as she sings and dances her way around the world in search of her  

prince. Along the way she encounters many of the personalities in today's  

headlines, including Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Arnold Schwarzenegger,  

Harry Potter, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, Dianne Feinstein,  

Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, George and Laura Bush, Michael Jackson,  

Martha Stewart, Tom Cruise, Angelina, characters from Brokeback Mountain and  

Paris Hilton. Persons under 21 are not admitted to evening performances, but  

are welcome to Sunday matinees. 

"Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon," 8 p.m. Wed. -  

Thurs.; 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Fri. - Sat.; 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sun.  

$25-$78. Club Fugazi, 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (formerly  

Green Street), San Francisco. (415) 421-4222, www.beachblanketbabylon.com.< 

 

CHANCELLOR HOTEL UNION SQUARE --  

"Eccentrics of San Francisco's Barbary Coast," 8 p.m.  

Fri. -Sat. Audiences gather for a 90-minute show abounding with local  

anecdotes and lore presented by captivating and consummate conjurers and  

taletellers. $30.  

433 Powell St., San Francisco. (877) 784-6835,  

www.chancellorhotel.com.< 

 

CLIMATE THEATRE --  

"The Clown Cabaret at the Climate," 7 and 9 p.m. First  

Monday of the month. Hailed as San Francisco's hottest ticket in clowning,  

this show blends rising stars with seasoned professionals on the Climate  

Theater's intimate stage. $10-$15.  

285 Ninth St., Second Floor, San Francisco.  

www.climatetheater.com.< 

 

CURRAN THEATRE --  

"Dreamgirls," through Sept. 26, 8 p.m. Tue.- Sat.; 2 p.m. Wed.,  

Sat.- Sun. The Broadway musical sensation comes to San Francisco, based on  

the book by Tom Eyen, with music and lyrics by Henry Krieger. $30-$99.  

445 Geary St., San Francisco. (415) 512-7770, www.shnsf.com or  

www.bestofbroadway-sf.com.< 

 

KIMO'S BAR --  

"Fauxgirls," 10 p.m. Every third Saturday. Drag cabaret  

revue features San Francisco's finest female impersonators. Free. (415)  

695-1239, www.fauxgirls.com. 

1351 Polk St., San Francisco. (415) 885-4535, www.kimosbarsf.com.< 

 

THE MARSH --  

"The Mock Cafe," 10 p.m. Saturdays. Stand-up comedy  

performances. $7.  

"The Monday Night Marsh," 8 p.m. Mondays. An ongoing  

series of works-in-progress. $7.  

EXTENDED -- "The Real Americans," by Dan Hoyle, through Sept. 25,  

8 p.m. Thurs. and Fri.; 5 p.m. Sat.; 3 p.m. Sun. Hoyle connects liberal city  

life with small-town America. $20-$50.  

1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. (415) 826-5750,  

www.themarsh.org.< 

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO COMEDY COLLEGE CLUBHOUSE -- (800) 838-3006,  

www.clubhousecomedy.com.  

"Hump Day Comedy," Host Rich Stimbra and a variety of  

stand-up comics will get you over the Wednesday work hump. BYOB for 21 and  

over. Wednesday, 8 p.m. $5. 

"Naked Comedy," A comedy showcase featuring some of the  

best comedians in San Francisco. BYOB for 21 and over. Saturdays, 9 p.m. $10. 

414 Mason St., Suite 705, San Francisco. (415) 921-2051,  

www.sfcomedycollege.com.< 

 

SHELTON THEATER --  

"Shopping! The Musical," by Morris Bobrow, A quick-paced  

musical about those obsessed with buying things. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.  

$27-$29. www.shoppingthemusical.com. 

Big City Improv, 10 p.m. Fridays. $20. (510) 595-5597,  

www.bigcityimprov.com. 

533 Sutter St., San Francisco. (415) 433-1227,  

www.sheltontheater.com or www.sheltontheater.com.< 

 

VICTORIA THEATRE --  

OPENING -- "Jerry Springer the Opera," through Oct. 16, 8 p.m.  

Wed.-Sat. The hilarious and award-winning musical about the outrageous talk  

show comes to San Francisco. $25-$36. www.jerrysf.com. 

2961 16th St., San Francisco. www.victoriatheatre.org.< 

"BAY AREA HEART GALLERY," -- Exhibit consists of  

photographs of children, youth and families, accompanied by their compelling  

stories. The joint exhibit opens in the Alameda County Administration  

Building, 1221 Oak Street, Oakland and at the Eden Area Multi-Service Center,  

24100 Amador Way, Hayward. 

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon. - Fri.< 

 

BEDFORD GALLERY --  

"Unbound: A National Exhibition of Book Art," through Sept. 19.  

Works by Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, Sas Colby, Lisa Kokin, Francesca Patine,  

Maria Porges, Nancy Selvin, Richard Shaw and others.  

$3 general; $2 youth ages 12 through 17; free children ages 12 and  

under; free Tuesdays. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday, noon-5 p.m.;  

Thursday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Dean Lesher Regional Center for  

the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. (925) 295-1417,  

www.bedfordgallery.org.< 

 

COMPOUND GALLERY --  

"Habitual Homesteaders," through Sept. 19. Works by Gina Tuzzi  

and Tyler Bewley. Opening reception: August 14, 6-9 p.m.  

1167 65th St., Oakland. (510) 817-4042.< 

 

FLOAT --  

"Jabberwocky," through Sept. 18. Works by Cheryl Finfrock and Liz  

Mamorsky. Opening reception, August 14, 6-9 p.m.  

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; by appointment. 1091  

Calcot Place, Unit 116, Oakland. (510) 535-1702, www.thefloatcenter.com.< 

 

GALLERY CONCORD --  

"Summertime Hues," through Sept. 25. Works by Irene Brydon and  

Susan Helmer.  

1765 Galindo St., Concord. (925) 691-6140.< 

 

HALL OF PIONEERS GALLERY --  

"Oakland Chinatown Pioneers," Twelve showcases, each  

focusing on historic leaders and personalities of the community.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Chinese Garden Building, 275  

Seventh St., Oakland. (510) 530-4590.< 

 

HEARST ART GALLERY AT SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA --  

"Superbly Independent," through Sept. 19. Works by Annie Harmon,  

Mary DeNeale Morgan and Marion Kavanagh Wachtel.  

$3. Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 1928 Saint Mary's Road,  

Moraga. (925) 631-4379, www.gallery.stmarys-ca.edu.< 

 

SUN GALLERY --  

"High Art," through Sept. 25. Works by local high school students  

and high school homeschoolers.  

1015 E. St., Hayward. (510) 581-4050, www.sungallery.org.< 

 

TRAYWICK CONTEMPORARY --  

"2-D/3-D," through Sept. 18. Works by Mari Andrews, Jessica  

Martin, David McDonald, Aurora Robson and Lucrecia Troncoso.  

895 Colusa Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214.< 

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT OAKLAND -- The  

Oakland Public Library's museum is designed to discover, preserve, interpret  

and share the cultural and historical experiences of African Americans in  

California and the West. In addition, a three-panel mural is on permanent  

display. 

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5:30 p.m. 659 14th St., Oakland.  

(510) 637-0200, www.oaklandlibrary.org.< 

 

ALAMEDA MUSEUM -- The museum offers permanent displays of  

Alameda history, the only rotating gallery showcasing local Alameda artists  

and student artwork, as well as souvenirs, books and videos about the rich  

history of the Island City. 

Free. Wednesday-Friday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4  

p.m. 2324 Alameda Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-1233, www.alamedamuseum.org.< 

 

BADE MUSEUM AT THE PACIFIC SCHOOL OF RELIGION -- The museum's  

collections include the Tell en-Nasbeh Collection, consisting of artifacts  

excavated from Tell en-Nasbeh in Palestine in 1926 and 1935 by William Badh,  

and the Howell Bible Collection, featuring approximately 300 rare books  

(primarily Bibles) dating from the 15th through the 18th centuries. 

"Tell en-Nasbeh," This exhibit is the "heart and soul"  

of the Bade Museum. It displays a wealth of finds from the excavations at  

Tell en-Nasbeh, Palestine whose objects span from the Early Bronze Age  

(3100-2200 BC) through the Iron Age (1200-586 BC) and into the Roman and  

Hellenistic periods. Highlights of the exhibit include "Tools of the Trade"  

featuring real archaeological tools used by Badh and his team, an oil lamp  

typology, a Second Temple period (586 BC-70 AD) limestone ossuary, and a  

selection of painted Greek pottery.  

"William Frederic Bade: Theologian, Naturalist, and  

Archaeologist," This exhibit highlights one of PSR's premier  

educators and innovative scholars. The collection of material on display was  

chosen with the hopes of representing the truly dynamic and multifaceted  

character of William F. Badh. He was a family man, a dedicated teacher, a  

loving friend, and an innovative and passionate archaeologist.  

Free. Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Holbrook Hall, Pacific  

School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0528,  

http://bade.psr.edu/bade.< 

 

BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE --  

"Thom Faulders: BAMscape," through Nov. 30. This commissioned  

work, a hybrid of sculpture, furniture, and stage, is the new centerpiece of  

Gallery B, BAM's expansive central atrium. It is part of a new vision of the  

gallery as a space for interaction, performance, and improvised experiences.  

"Himalayan Pilgrimage," through Dec. 19. Exhibition features  

sculpture and painting dating from the ninth to the eighteenth centuries and  

drawn from a private collection on long-term loan to the Berkeley Art Museum  

and Pacific Film Archive.  

"Hauntology," through Dec. 5. Drawn primarily from the museum's  

recent acquisitions of contemporary art, this exhibition explores a wide  

range of art through the lens of the concept of "hauntology,'' a term coined  

by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida in 1993 to refer to the study of  

social, psychological, and cultural conditions in the post-Communist period.  

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. < 

 

BLACKHAWK MUSEUM --  

AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent exhibition of  

internationally renowned automobiles dated from 1897 to the 1980s. The cars  

are displayed as works of art with room to walk completely around each car to  

admire the workmanship. On long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institution is  

a Long Steam Tricycle; an 1893-94 Duryea, the first Duryea built by the  

Duryea brothers; and a 1948 Tucker, number 39 of the 51 Tuckers built, which  

is a Model 48 "Torpedo'' four-door sedan.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"International Automotive Treasures," An ever-changing  

exhibit featuring over 90 automobiles.  

"A Journey on Common Ground," An exhibit of moving  

photographs, video and art objects from around the world exploring the causes  

of disability and the efforts of the Wheelchair Foundation to provide a  

wheelchair for every person in need who cannot afford one.  

ONGOING EVENT --  

Free Public Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Docent-led guided  

tours of the museum's exhibitions. 

$5-$8; free for children ages 6 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10  

a.m.-5 p.m. 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. (925) 736-2280, (925)  

736-2277, www.blackhawkmuseum.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY --  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of walking tours that  

explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran tour  

guide Gary Holloway. Walks are given on specific weekends. There is a  

different meeting place for each weekend and walks take place rain or shine  

so dress for the weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place  

will be given with confirmation of tour reservation. Call for details.  

678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848,  

www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER -- State-of-the-art facility  

unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive  

exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing  

and films. 

"Beyond Blastoff: Surviving in Space," An interactive  

exhibit that allows you to immerse yourself into the life of an astronaut to  

experience the mixture of exhilaration, adventure and confinement that is  

living and working in space.  

"Chabot Observatories: A View to the Stars," Explore the  

history of the Chabot observatories and how its historic telescopes are used  

today. Daytime visitors can virtually operate a telescope, experiment with  

mirrors and lenses to understand how telescopes create images of distant  

objects and travel through more than a century of Chabot's history via  

multimedia kiosks, historical images and artifact displays.  

EVENTS --  

"Galaxy Explorers Hands-On Fun," Saturday, noon-4 p.m.  

The Galaxy Explorers lead a variety of fun, hands-on activities, such as  

examining real spacesuits, creating galaxy flipbooks, learning about  

telescopes, minerals and skulls and making your own comet. Free with general  

admission. 

"Live Daytime Planetarium Show," Saturdays, 2:30 p.m.  

Ride through real-time constellations, stars and planets with Chabot's  

full-dome digital projection system. 

"Daytime Telescope Viewing," Saturday and Sunday, 11  

a.m.-5 p.m. View the sun, the moon and the planets through the telescopes  

during the day. Free with general admission. 

Center Admission: $14.95; $10.95 children 3-12; free children  

under 3; $3 discount for seniors and students. Telescope viewing only: free.  

Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday,  

11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000  

Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

HABITOT CHILDREN'S MUSEUM -- A museum especially for children ages  

7 and under. Highlights include "WaterWorks,'' an area with some unusual  

water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a  

child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior  

thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Waterworks." A water play gallery with rivers, a pumping station  

and a water table, designed to teach about water.  

"Little Town Grocery and Cafe." Designed to create the ambience  

of shopping in a grocery store and eating in a restaurant.  

"Infant-Toddler Garden." A picket fence gated indoor area, which  

includes a carrot patch with wooden carrots to be harvested, a pretend pond  

and a butterfly mobile to introduce youngsters to the concept of food,  

gardening and agriculture.  

"Dramatic Arts Stage." Settings, backdrops and costumes coincide  

with seasonal events and holidays. Children can exercise their dramatic flair  

here.  

"Wiggle Wall." The floor-to-ceiling "underground'' tunnels give  

children a worm's eye view of the world. The tunnels are laced with net  

covered openings and giant optic lenses. 

"Architects at Play," This hands-on, construction-based  

miniexhibit provides children with the opportunity to create free-form  

structures, from skyscrapers to bridges, using KEVA planks.  

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$6-$7. Wednesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Friday and  

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Closed Sunday-Tuesday. 2065 Kittredge St.,  

Berkeley. (510) 647-1111, www.habitot.org.< 

 

HALL OF HEALTH -- A community health-education museum and  

science center promoting wellness and individual responsibility for health.  

There are hands-on exhibits that teach about the workings of the human body,  

the value of a healthy diet and exercise, and the destructive effects of  

smoking and drug abuse. "Kids on the Block'' puppet shows, which use puppets  

from diverse cultures to teach about and promote acceptance of conditions  

such as cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, leukemia, blindness, arthritis and  

spina bifida, are available by request for community events and groups  

visiting the Hall on Saturdays.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"This Is Your Heart!" An interactive exhibit on heart  

health.  

"Good Nutrition," This exhibit includes models for  

making balanced meals and an Exercycle for calculating how calories are  

burned.  

"Draw Your Own Insides," Human-shaped chalkboards and  

models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their  

bodies.  

"Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention," An exhibit  

on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent  

cancer. 

Suggested $3 donation; free for children under age 3.  

Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510)  

549-1564, www.hallofhealth.org.< 

 

HAYWARD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM -- The museum is located in  

a former post office and displays memorabilia of early Hayward and southern  

Alameda County. Some of the features include a restored 1923 Seagrave fire  

engine and a hand pumper from the Hayward Fire Department, founded in 1865; a  

Hayward Police Department exhibit; information on city founder William  

Hayward; and pictures of the old Hayward Hotel. The museum also alternates  

three exhibits per year, including a Christmas Toys exhibit and a 1950s  

lifestyle exhibit. 

EVENTS --  

50 cents-$1. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 22701 Main St.,  

Hayward. (510) 581-0223, www.haywardareahistory.org.< 

 

JUDAH L. MAGNES MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent collection  

includes objects of Jewish importance including ceremonial art, film and  

video, folk art and fine art, paintings, sculptures and prints by  

contemporary and historical artists. 

"Projections," Multimedia works from the museum's  

extensive collections of archival, documentary and experimental films.  

Located at 2911 Russell Street.  

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$4-$6; free for children under age 12. Sunday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-4  

p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. CLOSED APRIL 3-4 AND 9-10; MAY 23-24 AND 28;  

JULY 4; SEPT. 3, 13 AND 27; OCT. 4; NOV. 22; DEC. 24-25 AND 31. 2911 Russell  

St., Berkeley. (510) 549-6950, www.magnes.org.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"NanoZone," Discover the science of the super-small:  

nanotechnology. Through hands-on activities and games, explore this  

microworld and the scientific discoveries made in this area.  

"Forces That Shape the Bay," A science park that shows  

and explains why the San Francisco Bay is the way it is, with information on  

water, erosion, plate tectonics and mountain building. You can ride  

earthquake simulators, set erosion in motion and look far out into the bay  

with a powerful telescope from 1,100 feet above sea level. The center of the  

exhibit is a waterfall that demonstrates how water flows from the Sierra  

Nevada Mountains to the Bay. Visitors can control where the water goes. There  

are also hands-on erosion tables, and a 40-foot-long, 6-foothigh, rock  

compression wall.  

"Real Astronomy Experience," A new  

exhibit-in-development allowing visitors to use the tools that real  

astronomers use. Aim a telescope at a virtual sky and operate a  

remote-controlled telescope to measure a planet.  

"Biology Lab," In the renovated Biology Lab visitors may  

hold and observe gentle animals. Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 1:30 p.m. to  

4 p.m.  

"The Idea Lab," Experiment with some of the basics of  

math, science and technology through hands-on activities and demonstrations  

of magnets, spinning and flying, puzzles and nanotechnology.  

"Math Around the World," Play some of the world's most  

popular math games, such as Hex, Kalah, Game Sticks and Shongo Networks.  

"Math Rules," Use simple and colorful objects to  

complete interesting challenges in math through predicting, sorting,  

comparing, weighing and counting.  

 

"Animal Discovery Room,,' 1:30-4 p.m. Visitors of all  

ages can hold and touch gentle animals, learn about their behavior and  

habitats and play with self-guided activities and specimen models.  

"Forces That Shape the Bay," This science park shows and  

explains why the San Francisco Bay is the way it is, with information on  

water, erosion, plate tectonics and mountain building.  

"Ingenuity in Action," Summer 2010. Enjoy the best of  

the Ingenuity Lab. Engage your creative brain and use a variety of materials  

to design, build and test your own innovations.  

"Kapla," Play with simple, versatile building blocks  

that can be used to build very large, high and stable structures.  

"KidsLab," This multisensory play area includes  

larger-than-life blocks, a crawl-through kaleidoscope, the Gravity wall, a  

puppet theater and a reading area.  

"NanoZone," Discover the science of nanotechnology  

through handson activities and games.  

"Planetarium," Explore the skies in this interactive  

planetarium.  

"Science on a Sphere," Catch an out-of-this-world  

experience with an animated globe. See hurricanes form, tsunamis sweep across  

the oceans and city lights glow around the planet.  

EVENTS --  

"Scream Machines -- The Science of Roller Coasters, through Jan.  

2. This head-spinning, stomach-churning exhibition for thrill-seekers  

features interactive exhibits, artifacts and images to explore.  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132,  

www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM -- This is the oldest and largest wildlife  

rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned  

animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum  

offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals  

to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum  

includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent  

exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild  

animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital  

complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory  

facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping  

and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The  

hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned  

animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there  

are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

EXHIBITS --  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. June 16-Sept. 15: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

Wed.-Sun.; Sept. 16-June 15: noon.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.  

1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

MEYERS HOUSE AND GARDEN MUSEUM -- The Meyers House, erected in  

1897, is an example of Colonial Revival, an architectural style popular  

around the turn of the century. Designed by Henry H. Meyers,the house was  

built by his father, Jacob Meyers, at a cost of $4000.00. 

EXHIBITS --  

$3. Fourth Saturday of every month. 2021 Alameda Ave., Alameda.  

(510) 521-1247, www.alamedamuseum.org/meyers.html.< 

 

MUSEUM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE VILLAGE --  

A science museum with an African-American focus promoting science education  

and awareness for the underrepresented. The science village chronicles the  

technical achievements of people of African descent from ancient ties to  

present. There are computer classes at the Internet Cafi, science education  

activities and seminars. There is also a resource library with a collection  

of books, periodicals and videotapes. 

$4-$6. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-6 p.m.;  

Sunday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. 630 20th St., Oakland. (510) 893-6426,  

www.ncalifblackengineers.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF CHILDREN'S ART -- A museum of art for and by children,  

with activities for children to participate in making their own art.  

ART CAMPS -- Hands-on activities and engaging curriculum for  

children of different ages, led by professional artists and staff. $60 per  

day.  

CLASSES -- A Sunday series of classes for children ages 8 to 12,  

led by Mocha artists. Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  

OPEN STUDIOS -- Drop-in art play activities with new themes each  

week.  

"Big Studio." Guided art projects for children age 6 and older  

with a Mocha artist. Tuesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. $5.  

"Little Studio." A hands-on experience that lets young artists  

age 18 months to 5 years see, touch and manipulate a variety of media.  

Children can get messy. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5.  

"Family Weekend Studios." Drop-in art activities for the whole  

family. All ages welcome. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. $5 per child.  

FAMILY EXTRAVAGANZAS -- Special weekend workshops for the entire  

family.  

"Sunday Workshops with Illustrators," Sundays, 1 p.m. See the  

artwork and meet the artists who create children's book illustrations. Free. 

EVENTS --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For children ages 2-5. Free. 

Free gallery admission. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.;  

Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 538 Ninth St., Oakland. (510) 465-8770,  

www.mocha.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF THE SAN RAMON VALLEY -- The museum features local  

artifacts, pictures, flags and drawings commemorating the valley's history.  

It also houses a historical narrative frieze. In addition to a permanent  

exhibit on the valley's history, the museum sponsors revolving exhibits and  

several guided tours. The restored railroad depot that houses the museum was  

built on the San Ramon Branch Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad 108 years  

ago. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

Free. August: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The Depot, West  

Prospect and Railroad avenues, Danville. (925) 837-3750, www.museumsrv.org.< 

 

MUSEUM ON MAIN STREET -- Located in a former town hall building,  

this museum is a piece of local history. It has a photo and document archive,  

collection of artifacts, local history publications for purchase, and a  

history library. It is supported by the Amador-Livermore Valley Historical  

Society. 

EXHIBITS --  

$2. Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.;  

CLOSED DEC. 23-JAN. 8. 603 Main St., Pleasanton. (925) 462-2766,  

www.museumonmain.org.< 

 

OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA --  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Art a la Carte," Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m. Art docents offer a  

variety of specialized tours focusing on one aspect of the museum's permanent  

collection. Free with museum admission.  

"Online Museum," Thursdays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Explore the museum's  

collection on videodisks in the History Department Library.  

Docent Gallery Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. 

"Explore our New Gallery," through Dec. 2. The new Gallery of  

California Art showcases more than 800 works from OMCA's collection-one of  

the largest and most comprehensive holdings of California art in the world.  

"Gallery of California History," through Dec. 2. This new gallery  

is based on the theme of Coming to California.  

OPENING -- "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation," through Jan. 9.  

Exhibition presents an unprecedented look at the Emeryville-based animation  

company.  

$5-$8; free for children ages 5 and under; free to all on the  

second Sunday of the month. Special events are free with museum admission  

unless noted otherwise. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5  

p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 1000 Oak St., Oakland. (510)  

238-2200, www.museumca.org.< 

 

PARDEE HOME MUSEUM -- The historic Pardee Mansion, a  

three-story Italianate villa built in 1868, was home to three generations of  

the Pardee family who were instrumental in the civic and cultural development  

of California and Oakland. The home includes the house, grounds, water tower  

and barn. Reservations recommended. Group tours may be arranged between 9  

a.m. and 4 p.m. Tues.-Sun.  

Private Tours and Teas: Take a private tour followed by tea in the  

Pardee family dining room (available for 4-12 persons).  

Tour with light tea: $12 per person  

Tour with high tea: $25 per person.  

High tea without tour: $20 per person. 

$5-$25; free children ages 12 and under. House Tours: 10:30 a.m.  

every Wednesday and second Saturday of each month; 2 p.m. the second Sunday  

or each month. 672 11th St., Oakland. (510) 444-2187, www.pardeehome.org.< 

 

SAN LEANDRO HISTORY MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY -- The museum  

showcases local and regional history and serves as a centerpiece for  

community cultural activity. There are exhibits on Ohlone settlements, farms  

of early settlers, and contributions of Portuguese and other immigrants.  

There will also be exhibits of the city's agricultural past and the  

industrial development of the 19th century.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Yema/Po Archeological Site at Lake Chabot," An exhibit  

highlighting artifacts uncovered from a work camp of Chinese laborers,  

featuring photomurals, cutouts and historical photographs. 

Free. Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 320 West Estudillo Ave., San  

Leandro. (510) 577-3990, www.ci.sanleandro.  

ca.us/sllibrarymuseum.html.< 

 

SHADELANDS RANCH HISTORICAL MUSEUM -- Built by Walnut Creek  

pioneer Hiram Penniman, this 1903 redwood-framed house is a showcase for  

numerous historical artifacts, many of which belonged to the Pennimans. It  

also houses a rich archive of Contra Costa and Walnut Creek history in its  

collections of old newspapers, photographs and government records. 

EXHIBITS --  

$1-$3; free-children under age 6. Wednesday and Sunday, 1 p.m.-4  

p.m.; Closed in January. 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek. (925)  

935-7871, www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us.< 

 

SMITH MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY,  

HAYWARD -- The museum houses significant collections of archaeological and  

ethnographic specimens from Africa, Asia and North America and small  

collections from Central and South America. The museum offers opportunities  

and materials for student research and internships in archaeology and  

ethnology. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Meiklejohn Hall, Fourth Floor,  

25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward. (510) 885-3104, (510) 885-7414,  

www.isis.csuhayward.edu/cesmith/acesmith.html.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY  

--  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Native California Cultures," This is an exhibit of some  

500 artifacts from the museum's California collections, the largest and most  

comprehensive collections in the world devoted to California Indian cultures.  

The exhibit includes a section about Ishi, the famous Indian who lived and  

worked with the museum, Yana tribal baskets and a 17-foot Yurok canoe carved  

from a single redwood.  

"Recent Acquisitions," The collection includes Yoruba  

masks and carvings from Africa, early-20th-century Taiwanese hand puppets,  

textiles from the Americas and 19th- and 20th-century Tibetan artifacts.  

"From the Maker's Hand: Selections from the Permanent  

Collection," This exhibit explores human ingenuity in the living  

and historical cultures of China, Africa, Egypt, Peru, North America and the  

Meditteranean. 

$1-$4; free for children ages 12 and under; free to all on  

Thursdays. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4:30 p.m. 103  

Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 643-7648,  

http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY --  

 

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Tyrannosaurus Rex," A 20-foot-tall, 40-foot-long  

replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of  

the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana,  

the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone  

missing.  

"Pteranodon," A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile  

with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as  

the dinosaurs.  

"California Fossils Exhibit," An exhibit of some of the  

fossils that have been excavated in California. 

Free. During semester sessions, hours generally are:  

Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5  

p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-10 p.m. Hours vary during summer and holidays. Lobby,  

1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, #4780, University of California,  

Berkeley. (510) 642-1821, www.ucmp.berkeley.edu.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM -- Come aboard this World War II aircraft  

carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched  

in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was  

never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of  

enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11  

space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later  

recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic  

Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today,  

visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and  

experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are  

being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear  

comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in  

layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for  

the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not  

allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Limited Access Day," Due to ship maintenance, tours of  

the navigation bridge and the engine room are not available. Tuesdays.  

"Flight Deck Fun," A former Landing Signal Officer will  

show children how to bring in a fighter plane for a landing on the deck then  

let them try the signals themselves. Times vary. Free with regular Museum  

admission.  

"Protestant Divine Services," Hornet chaplain John  

Berger conducts church services aboard The Hornet in the Wardroom Lounge.  

Everyone is welcome and refreshments are served immediately following the  

service. Sundays, 11 a.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Closed on New Year's Day. 

"Family Day," Discounted admission for families of four  

with a further discount for additional family members. Access to some of the  

areas may be limited due to ship maintenance. Every Tuesday. $20 for family  

of four; $5 for each additional family member. 

"Family Overnight Experience," Sept. 17 through. Enjoy the  

ultimate family experience by spending the night onboard the aircraft carrier  

USS Hornet. Tour the ship at night, hear fascinating ghost stories, sleep in  

bunks and have fun learning about history! Call for reservations. (510)  

521-8448 X280. 

"History Mystery After Hours Tour," 7 p.m.-10 p.m.  

Explore the USS Hornet after hours and learn the history of this ship while  

it is illuminated in red lights used for "night ops." Also, hear stories  

about the ships' legendary haunts. Reservations required. (510) 521-8448  

X282. 

"Flashlight Tour," 8:30 a.m. Receive a special tour of  

areas aboard the ship that have not yet been opened to the public or that  

have limited access during the day. $30-$35 per person. 

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily,  

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda.  

(510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.< 

ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO -- The Asian Art  

Museum-Chon-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture recently unveiled its  

new building in San Francisco's Civic Center. The building, the former San  

Francisco Public Library, has been completely retrofitted and rebuilt to  

house San Francisco's significant collection of Asian treasures. The museum  

offers complimentary audio tours of the museum's collection galleries.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"In a New Light," There are some 2,500 works displayed  

in the museum's new galleries. They cover all the major cultures of Asia and  

include Indian stone sculptures, intricately carved Chinese jades, Korean  

paintings, Tibetan thanksgas, Cambodian Buddhas, Islamic manuscripts and  

Japanese basketry and kimonos.  

ONGOING FAMILY PROGRAMS --  

Storytelling, Sundays and the first Saturday of every month, 1  

p.m. This event is for children of all ages to enjoy a re-telling of Asian  

myths and folktales in the galleries. Meet at the Information Desk on the  

Ground Floor. Free with general admission.  

"Target Tuesday Family Program," first Tuesday of every month.  

Free with general admission.  

"Family Art Encounter," first Saturday of every month, 1 p.m. to  

4 p.m. Drop in to make art related to the museum's collection. Children must  

be accompanied by an adult. In the Education Studios. Free with admission.  

DOCENT-LED ART TOURS -- The museum's docents offer two types of  

tours: a general introduction to the museum's collection and a highlight tour  

of specific areas of the collection. Free with museum admission.  

ARCHITECTURAL GUIDES -- Tuesday through Sunday at noon and 2:30  

p.m., Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Learn about the former Main Library's  

transformation into the Asian Art Museum on this 40-minute tour. Free with  

museum admission.  

RESOURCE CENTER -- Tuesday through Sunday, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  

Watch a video, or learn more about Asian art with slide packets, activity  

kits and books. Free with museum admission. 

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Free with general admission unless  

otherwise noted.  

"Japan's Early Ambassadors to San Francisco, 1860-1927," through  

Nov. 21. Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the  

ship Kanrin Maru and the first Japanese embassy to the United States, this  

thematic exhibit focuses on some of the first Japanese diplomats and cultural  

emissaries in San Francisco, and how they responded to the experience of  

being in America.  

$7-$12; free children under age 12; $5 Thursday after 5 p.m.; free  

to all first Sunday of each month. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday through  

Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 200 Larkin St., San  

Francisco. (415) 581-3500, www.asianart.org.< 

 

BEAT MUSEUM -- Formerly located on the California coast in  

Monterey, the Beat Museum now sits in historic North Beach. The Museum uses  

letters, magazines, pictures, first editions and more to explore the lives of  

leading beat figures such as Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen  

Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and many others. A gift shop and bookstore are open to  

the public free of charge. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"North Beach Walking Tour,", A 90-minute walking tour of  

North Beach with Beat Museum curator Jerry Cimimo. See the bars,  

coffeehouses, homes, and other Beat-related highlights of North Beach. Call  

for info. $15. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$4-$5. Monday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. CLOSED MONDAY. 540 Broadway,  

San Francisco. (800) KER-OUAC, www.kerouac.com.< 

 

CABLE CAR MUSEUM -- The museum is located in the historic Cable  

Car Barn and Powerhouse. Visitors can see the actual cable winding machinery,  

grips, track, cable and brakes, as well as three historic cable cars, photo  

displays and mechanical artifacts. The best way to get to this museum is by  

cable car; street parking is practically non-existent. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

Free. April 1-Sept. 30: daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 1-March 31, 10  

a.m.-5 p.m. 1201 Mason St., San Francisco. (415) 474-1887,  

www.cablecarmuseum.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES --  

"Nightlife," 6 p.m. Thursdays. Every Thursday night, the  

Academy transforms into a lively venue filled with provocative science,  

music, mingling and cocktails, as visitors get a chance to explore the  

museum.  

"Where the Land Meets the Sea," Exhibition features  

sculpture by Maya Lin.  

BENJAMIN DEAN LECTURE SERIES --  

$14.95-$24.95. Daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Golden Gate Park, San  

Francisco. (415) 379-8000, www.calacademy.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY --  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of monthly walking tours  

that explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran  

tour guide Gary Holloway. Walks take place rain or shine so dress for the  

weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place will be given  

with confirmation of tour reservation. Tour price includes admission to the  

Museum.  

MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent collection is made up of  

the Fine Arts Collection, consisting of 5,000 works of art that represent the  

history of California from pre-Gold Rush days to the early decade of the 20th  

century; and The Photography Collection, containing nearly a halfmillion  

images in an array of photographic formats documenting the history of  

California in both the 19th and 20th centuries. The Library and Research  

Collection contain material relating to the history of California and the  

West from early exploration time to the present including texts, maps, and  

manuscripts.  

"Landscape and Vision: Early California Painters from the  

Collections of the California Historical Society," open-ended. An exhibit of  

oil paintings including a large number of early landscapes of California,  

from the museum's collection.  

"Think California," through Feb. 5. Exhibition features artworks,  

artifacts and ephemera exploring California's colorful history.  

$1-$3; free children under age 5. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-4:30  

p.m. 678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848 X229,  

www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CARTOON ART MUSEUM --  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"An Exploration of Cartoon Art," This exhibit explores  

the history of cartoon art including works from the most renowned and  

creative cartoonists of the last century. The exhibit traces the evolution of  

cartooning through its many forms including animation, comic strips, comic  

books, editorial cartoons and underground cartoons.  

CARTOONING CLASSES FOR KIDS -- Saturday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. For  

children ages 6 to 14. Call for schedule. Free with admission. 

"60 Years of Beetle Bailey," through Sept. 19. Exhibition  

showcases the comics of Mort Walker.  

$2-$6; free children ages 5 and under; the first Tuesday of the  

month is paywhat-you-wish day. Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 655 Mission  

St., San Francisco. (415) 227-8666, www.cartoonart.org.< 

 

CHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA -- The CHSA Museum and  

Learning Center features a permanent exhibition, "The Chinese of America:  

Toward a More Perfect Union'' in its Main Gallery, and works by  

Chinese-American visual artists in its Rotating Galleries.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Leaders of the Band," An exhibition of the history and  

development of the Cathay Club Marching Band, the first Chinese American band  

formed in 1911. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$1-$3; free children ages 5 and under; free for all visitors first  

Thursday of every month. Tuesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon-4  

p.m. 965 Clay St., San Francisco. (415) 391-1188, www.chsa.org.< 

 

CONTEMPORARY JEWISH MUSEUM -- The museum, formerly known as the  

Jewish Museum San Francisco, has a new addition designed by Daniel Libeskind  

and is dedicated to exploring the richness and diversity of Jewish thought  

and culture.  

GALLERY TOURS -- Sunday and Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. Free. 

"As It Is Written: Project 304,805," through Oct. 3. Exhibition  

centers around a soferet (a professionally trained female scribe) who writes  

out the entire text of the Torah, at the Museum, over the course of a full  

year. She will be one of the few known women to complete an entire Torah  

scroll, an accomplishment traditionally exclusive to men.  

"Reinventing Ritual: Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish  

Life," through Oct. 3. The first major international exhibition to examine  

the reinvention of Jewish ritual in art and design.  

"Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)," through  

Oct. 26. The first major museum survey of the award-winning illustrator,  

author and designer.  

$4-$5; free for children under age 12; free third Monday of every  

month. Sunday -Thursday, noon-6 p.m. DEC. 25, NOON TO 4 P.M.; CLOSED JAN. 1.  

736 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 655-7800, www.thecjm.org.< 

 

DE YOUNG MUSEUM -- The art museum has now reopened in a new  

facility designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog and de Meuron and Fong  

and Chan Architects in San Francisco. It features significant collections of  

American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries; modern and  

contemporary art; art from Central and South America, the Pacific and Africa;  

and an important and diverse collection of textiles. 

ARTIST STUDIO PROGRAM -- 1-5 p.m. Wed.- Sun. A monthly  

interactive program during which the public can meet and work with a featured  

artist. Demonstrations take place in the Kimball Education Gallery, which  

does not require paid admission. (415) 750-7634. 

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES --  

"Children's Workshops: Doing and Viewing Art and Big Kids-Little  

Kids," Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon and 1:30-3 p.m. Family tour and  

art activity for ages 4-12. 

LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA --  

LECTURES BY DOCENTS -- These lectures are free and are  

held in the Koret Auditorium unless otherwise noted.  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Poetry Series," 7-8:30 p.m. $8-$12. (415) 750-7634. 

"Friday Nights at the de Young: Cultural Encounters,"  

5-8:45 p.m. The de Young stays open until 8:45 p.m. each Friday night and  

hosts special events including live music, dance, film, lectures and artist  

demonstrations.  

Aug. 22: "Cultural Encounters presents Hot Brazilian Nights.''  

Event features music by Forro for All and art-making for the  

entire family.  

Aug. 29: "Cultural Encounters.''  

Event features live music by the Scott Amendola Trio. Free with  

admission. 

"Photo/Synthesis," through Oct. 3. Exhibition highlights the  

dynamic trend in the field of contemporary photography, collages,  

assemblages, and other multi-part or composite photo-based projects.  

"Pat Steir: After Hokusai, after Hiroshige," through Jan. 30.  

Exhibition shows the continued influence of the Japanese print on Western  

artists into the late twentieth century.  

OPENING -- "To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color," through Jan.  

9. Exhibition features over 50 textiles and costumes from the Fine Arts  

Museums' comprehensive collection of textiles from Africa, Asia and the  

Americas.  

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors  

the first Tuesday of every month. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 9:30  

a.m.-5:15 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m.-8:45 p.m. Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea  

Garden Drive, San Francisco. (415) 863-3330, www.deyoungmuseum.org.< 

 

GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM -- The museum is a project of  

the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) Historical Society. 

EVENTS --  

EXHIBITS --  

$2-$4. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. 657 Mission St., Suite 300, San  

Francisco. (415) 777-5455, www.glbthistory.org.< 

 

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN --  

EVENTS --  

101 Howard Street, Suite 480, San Francisco. (415) 543-4669,  

http://www.imow.org/home/index.< 

 

LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM -- DOCENT TOUR PROGRAMS -- Tours of the  

permanent collections and special exhibitions are offered Tuesday through  

Sunday. Non-English language tours (Italian, French, Spanish and Russian) are  

available on different Saturdays of the month at 11:30 a.m. Free with regular  

museum admission. (415) 750-3638.  

ONGOING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM --  

"Doing and Viewing Art," For ages 7 to 12. Docent-led  

tours of current exhibitions are followed by studio workshops taught by  

professional artists/teachers. Students learn about art by seeing and making  

it. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon; call to confirm class. Free with museum  

admission. (415) 750-3658. 

ORGAN CONCERTS -- 4 p.m. A weekly concert of organ music  

on the Legion's restored 1924 Skinner organ. Saturday and Sunday in the Rodin  

Gallery. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3624. 

SPECIAL EVENTS -- In the Gould Theater unless otherwise noted. $4  

after museum admission unless otherwise noted. (415) 682-2481. 

"Sunday Jazz Brunch," 11 a.m.-3 p.m. $21-$53. 

"Very Postmortem: Mummies and Medicine," Oct. 31. Exhibition  

explores the modern scientific examination of mummies providing new insights  

into the conditions under which the Egyptians lived, bringing us closer to  

understanding who they were.  

"Impressionist Paris: City of Light," through Sept. 26.  

Exhibition explores various aspects of life in and around the city in which  

artists came of age. Visitors to the exhibition are transported to  

Impressionist Paris as represented in over 150 prints, drawings, photographs,  

paintings, and illustrated books from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco  

and several distinguished private collections.  

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors  

on Tuesdays. Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and  

Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 750-3600, (415) 750-3636,  

www.legionofhonor.org.< 

 

MARKET STREET RAILWAY MUSEUM -- The museum will  

permanently display a variety of artifacts telling the story of San  

Francisco's transportation history, including dash signs, fare boxes, a famed  

Wiley "birdcage'' traffic signal and more. 

Free. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 77 Steuart St., San  

Francisco. (415) 956-0472, www.streetcar.org.< 

 

MEXICAN MUSEUM --  

THE MEXICAN MUSEUM GALLERIES AT FORT MASON CENTER ARE CURRENTLY  

CLOSED --  

The Mexican Museum holds a unique collection of 12,000 objects  

representing thousands of years of Mexican history and culture within the  

Americas. The permanent collection, the Museum's most important asset and  

resource, includes five collecting areas: Pre-Conquest, Colonial, Popular,  

Modern and Contemporary Mexican and Latino, and Chicano Art. The Museum also  

has a collection of rare books and a growing collection of Latin American  

art. 

Fort Mason Center, Building D, Buchanan Street and Marina  

Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 202-9700, www.mexicanmuseum.org.< 

 

MUSEO ITALOAMERICANO -- The museum, dedicated to the  

exhibition of art works by Italian and Italian-American artists, has a small  

permanent collection of paintings, sculptures, photographs and works on paper  

by such renowned artists as Beniamino Buffano, Sandro Chia, Giorgio de  

Chirico and Arnaldo Pomodoro.  

DOCENT TOURS -- Wednesdays, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Free. 

$2-$3; free children under age 12; free to all first Wednesday of  

the month. Wednesday-Sunday, noon -4 p.m.; first Wednesday of the month,  

noon-7 p.m. Fort Mason Center, Building C, Buchanan Street and Marina  

Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 673-2200, www.museoitaloamericano.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY  

--  

EXHIBITS --  

Free. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Humanities  

Building, Room 510, SFSU, Font Boulevard and Tapia Drive, San Francisco.  

(415) 405-0599, www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/.< 

 

MUSEUM OF PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN --  

EXHIBITS --  

Free. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Veterans Building, 401 Van  

Ness Avenue at McAllister, 4th Floor, San Francisco. (415) 255-4800,  

www.mpdsf.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA -- A new museum exploring and  

celebrating the influence of the African Diaspora on global art and culture  

through interactive, permanent and changing exhibits and special programs.  

The museum occupies the first three floors of the new St. Regis Hotel at  

Third and Mission streets.  

PERMANENT EXHIBITS --  

"Celebrations: Rituals and Ceremonies," "Music of the Diaspora,''  

"Culinary Traditions,'' 'Adornment,'' "Slavery Passages,'' and "The Freedom  

Theater.'' 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Urban Kidz Film Series," Noon-3 p.m. An offshoot of the  

San Francisco Black Film Festival, featuring a striking assemblage of short  

and feature films designed to spark the imaginations of the 5-to-12-year-old  

set. $10 adults; children free. (415) 771-9271. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$5-$8; free children age 12 and under. Monday, Wednesday, Friday  

and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.;  

CLOSED MARCH 13 THROUGH MARCH 21. 685 Mission St., San Francisco. (415)  

358-7200, www.moadsf.org.< 

 

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM LIBRARY (THE J. PORTER SHAW MARITIME  

LIBRARY) -- Closed on federal holidays. The library, part of the San  

Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, focuses on sail and steam ships on  

the West Coast and the Pacific Basin from 1520 to the present. The museum  

library holdings include a premiere collection of maritime history: books,  

magazines, oral histories, ships' plans and the San Francisco Maritime  

National Historical Park's 250,000 photographs. 

Free. By appointment only, Monday-Friday, 1-4 p.m., and the third  

Saturday of each month 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fort Mason Center, Building E, Third  

Floor, Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 560-7080,  

(415) 560-7030, www.nps.gov/safr.< 

 

PACIFIC HERITAGE MUSEUM -- The museum presents rotating  

exhibits highlighting historical, artistic, cultural and economic  

achievements from both sides of the Pacific Rim. The museum features a  

permanent display documenting the history and significance of the Branch Mint  

and Subtreasury buildings. 

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 608 Commercial St., San  

Francisco. (415) 399-1124.< 

 

RANDALL MUSEUM --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Earthquake Exhibit," Learn about plate tectonics. Make  

a small quake by jumping on the floor to make a "floor quake'' that registers  

on the seismometer in the lobby. See the basement seismometer that registers  

quakes around the world. Walk through a full-size earthquake refugee shack  

that was used to house San Franciscans after the 1906 earthquake that  

destroyed so many homes.  

"Creativity and Discovery Hand in Hand," A photography  

exhibit that gives visitors a look into the wide variety of programs the  

Museum offers in the way of classes, workshops, school field trips, and  

special interest clubs.  

"Toddler Treehouse," Toddlers may comfortably climb the  

carpeted "treehouse'' and make a myriad of discoveries, from the roots to the  

limbs.  

"Live Animal Exhibit," Visit with more than 100  

creatures including small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, raptors and small  

birds, insects, spiders and tide pool creatures.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Saturdays Are Special at the Museum," Saturdays, 10  

a.m. to 4 p.m. A series of drop-in ceramics and art and science workshops.  

All ages are welcome, though an adult must accompany children under age 8. $3  

per child, $5 per parent-child combination.  

"Bufano Sculpture Tours," first and third Saturdays of the month,  

10:15 a.m. A tour of the giant animal sculptures of Beniamino Bufano. The  

sculptures were carved out of stone in the 1930s and include a giant cat and  

a mother bear nursing her cubs.  

"Animal Room," Visit some of the animals that live at  

the museum, including reptiles, raptors, tide pool creatures and small  

mammals.  

"Meet the Animals" Saturdays, 11:15 a.m. to noon. See the  

Randall's animals close-up and in person.  

"Animal Feeding," Saturdays, noon. Watch the animals take their  

meals.  

"Golden Gate Model Railroad Exhibit," Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4  

p.m. 

DROP-IN ART AND SCIENCE WORKSHOPS -- 1-4 p.m. $3-$5.  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Drop-in Family Ceramics Workshop," Saturday,  

10:15-11:15 a.m. $5. 

"Golden Gate Model Railroad Exhibit," Saturday, 11  

a.m.-4 p.m. 

"Meet the Animals," 11:15 a.m.-noon. 

"Animal Feeding," Saturday, noon. 

"Film Series for Teenagers," Fridays, 7 p.m. 

"Meet the Animals," Saturdays, 11:15 a.m. Learn about  

the animals that live at the Randall Museum. 

"Drop-in Family Ceramics Workshop," Saturday, 1:15-2:15  

p.m. 

"Third Friday Birders," 8 a.m. The hike through Corona  

Heights Park allows participants to enjoy the early morning views and learn  

more about the feathered inhabitants of the area. Children aged 10 and older  

if accompanied by adult. 

Free. All ages welcome; an adult must accompany children under age  

8. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; CLOSED ON CHRISTMAS. 199 Museum Way, San  

Francisco. (415) 554-9600, www.randallmuseum.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CAR MUSEUM -- The museum is located  

in the historic Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse. Visitors can see the actual  

cable winding machinery, grips, track, cable and brakes, as well as three  

historic cable cars, photo displays and mechanical artifacts. The best way to  

get to this museum is by cable car; street parking is practically  

non-existent. 

Free. October 1-March 31: Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; April 1-September  

30: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and  

Christmas. 1201 Mason St., San Francisco. (415) 474-1887,  

www.cablecarmuseum.com.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MARITIME NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK -- One of only a  

few "floating'' national parks, the San Francisco Maritime National  

Historical Park includes four national landmark ships, a maritime museum, a  

maritime library and a World-War-II submarine named the USS Pampanito.  

HYDE STREET PIER -- Demonstrations, ship tours, programs, music  

and special events offered throughout the day. Check ticket booth for  

schedule. At the foot of Hyde Street, Hyde and Jefferson streets.  

Entering the Pier is free but there is a fee to board the ships.  

HISTORIC SHIPS AT THE HYDE STREET PIER -- The historic ships at  

the Pier are the 1886 square-rigger "Balclutha,'' the 1890 steam ferryboat  

"Eureka,'' the 1895 schooner "C.A. Thayer'' (not available at this time due  

to restoration), the 1891 scow schooner "Alma,'' the 1907 steam tug  

"Hercules,'' and the 1914 "Eppleton Hall,'' a paddlewheel tug.  

"Balclutha." This historic ship, a three-mast square-rigger, has  

undergone extensive repairs and preservation work. She now contains more  

original materials and fittings than any other historic merchant  

square-rigger in the United States. The Balclutha is a designated National  

Historic Landmark. At Hyde Street Pier.  

"Eureka." Explore this 1890 ferryboat with a 40-foot walking-beam  

engine. The boat once carried passengers and autos across the San Francisco  

Bay. At Hyde Street Pier. Daily, call for times of boat tour.  

"C.A. Thayer." A three-mast schooner used in the lumber and cod  

fishing trades. At Hyde Street Pier.  

"Alma." Between 1850 and the early 1900s, the best highways  

around the San Francisco Bay area were the waterways and the delivery trucks  

and tractortrailer rigs of the time were the flat-bottomed scow schooners.  

Able to navigate the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta region's shallow creeks,  

sloughs and channels, the scows' sturdy hulls could rest safely and securely  

on the bottom providing a flat, stable platform for loading and unloading.  

Made of inexpensive Douglas fir, scow's designs were so simple they could be  

built by eye or without plans.  

"Hercules." Tugs in the early part of the 20th century towed  

barges, sailing ships and log rafts between Pacific ports. Because prevailing  

north/west winds generally made travel up the coast by sail both difficult  

and circuitous, tugs often towed large sailing vessels to points north of San  

Francisco. In 1916 Hercules towed the C.A. Thayer to Port Townsend, Wash.,  

taking six days to make the trip. At the end of the sail era, the Hercules  

was acquired by the Western Pacific Railroad Company and shuttled railroad  

car barges back and forth across San Francisco Bay until 1962.  

"Eppleton Hall." Built in England, the steam side-wheeler plied  

the Wear and Tyne rivers of Northeast England. Designed to tow ocean-going  

colliers (coal-carrying sail vessels) the tugs saved transit time getting the  

sail vessels upriver to load. The side-wheelers were also used to tow newly  

built ships out to sea. From 1969 to 1979, the Eppleton Hall served as a  

private yacht. She was modified for an epic steam via the Panama Canal to San  

Francisco, passing through the Golden Gate in March of 1970.  

HISTORIC SHIP AT FISHERMAN'S WHARF --  

"USS Pampanito." This World-War-II-era submarine is berthed at  

Fisherman's Wharf. The submarine celebrated her 50th anniversary in November  

of 1993 and is perhaps best known for her participation in a "wolf pack''  

attack on a convoy of enemy ships during World War II. The entrance fee  

includes a taped audio tour that describes what life on this submarine was  

like. At Pier 45, near foot of Taylor Street. Monday through Thursday, Sunday  

and holidays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. $9  

general; $5 seniors, $4 active duty military, $4 youth ages 6 to 12; free  

children under age 6. (415) 775-1943.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Historic Ship Volunteer Work Party," Saturday, 9 a.m. Become  

part of an effort to preserve four of the park's nautical treasures. Work on  

a different ship each Saturday. Bring work clothes, work shoes and lunch.  

Call for meeting place. (415) 332-8409.  

Unless noted otherwise, events take place on the Hyde Street Pier,  

located at the foot of Hyde Street on Jefferson Street. 

EXHIBITS -- Current Exhibits at the Visitor Center:  

"What's Your Pleasure? Recreational Boats of California's Past,"  

openended. This exhibit includes 1940s Sacramento Hydroplanes, a Russian  

River launch from the 19th century, classic wooden motor launches and motor  

boats, and other smaller crafts.  

"Hydroplanes and Racing Boats," open-ended. A small exhibit  

showcasing 1930s racing engines and hydroplane boats.  

"Frisco Bound," an exhibition about immigration to San Francisco,  

clipper ships, and the Gold Rush era.  

"Hyde Street Ship Models," an exhibit of models of the historic  

ships at the Hyde Street Pier.  

"Discovery Room," a preview of the Maritime Library where  

visitors can look up documents and photographs.  

(415) 447-5000. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Adventures at Sea: Life Aboard a 19th century Sailing Ship,"  

Daily, 2:15 p.m.-3 p.m. Take a guided tour of the sailing ship  

Balclutha and learn about the hardships and awards of the sailors show fought  

for survival during the treacherous Cape Horn passage. Vessel admission. 

VISITOR CENTER -- 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily  

 

Entering the Pier is free but there is a fee to board the ships.  

The fee allows access to all ships and is good for seven days. $5; free  

children under age 16. May 28-Sept. 30: daily, 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Oct. 1-May  

27: Daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Foot of Hyde Street, San Francisco. (415)  

561-7100, www.nps.gov.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF CRAFT AND DESIGN -- A museum celebrating  

and promoting the art of contemporary craft and design. The museum showcases  

diverse exhibitions from regional, national and international artists,  

working in mediums such as wood, clay, fiber, metal and glass. 

EVENTS --  

"FourSite: 4 Artists, 4 Materials, 4 Sites," through Sept. 18.  

Artists Tanya Aguiniga, Paul Hayes, Tom Hill and Christine Lee transform the  

museum space with four distinct, large-scale installations of fiber, paper,  

metal and wood.  

$2-$4; free youths under age 18. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

550 Sutter St., San Francisco. (415) 773-0303, www.sfmcd.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Matisse and Beyond: The Painting and Sculpture Collection,"  

This newly reconceived exhibition of SFMOMA's modern art collection  

features paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the first 60 years of  

the 20th century. Featured artists include: Joseph Cornell, Ellsworth Kelly,  

Yves Klein, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Diego  

Rivera, Andy Warhol and Paul Klee.  

"Between Art and Life: The Contemporary Painting and Sculpture  

Collection," This new presentation of the SFMOMA collection  

features works from the past five decades by Louise Bourgeois, Robert Gober,  

Eva Hesse, Anish Kapoor, Sherrie Levine, Brice Marden, Gordon Matta-Clark,  

Barry McGee, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg and Kara Walker.  

"The Art of Design: Selections from the Permanent Collection of  

Architecture and Design," The exhibit will feature 100 selections  

from their architecture, graphic design and industrial design collections on  

a rotating basis. It features classic works plus new designs by up-andcoming  

artists.  

"Picturing Modernity: Photographs from the Permanent Collection,"  

Photography is possibly the quintessential modern art medium because  

its 160-year history corresponds almost exactly with Modernism's duration as  

a cultural movement. This exhibit looks at the photograph's unique pictorial  

ability and its ever-growing pervasiveness in modern culture, putting the  

medium in dialogue with paintings and other kinds of art.  

KORET VISITOR EDUCATION CENTER -- This facility includes  

multimedia display technology, "Pick Up and Go'' guides for adults and  

children, art videos, and a community art gallery created by participants in  

school, teen and family programs. Thursday, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday and  

Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Tony Labat's I Want You," The latest installment in the  

newly launched program series "Live Art at SFMOMA.'' The artist invites  

denizens of the Bay Area to make their own demands of the public which riffs  

on the iconic "I Want You'' army recruitment campaigns of World Wars I and  

II, he asks you what you would do if you had only one minute to seize the  

voice of authority, to be the finger-pointing Uncle Sam. 

"Calder to Warhol," through Sept. 19. Exhibition showcases the  

quality of the Fisher Collection, much of which has never been seen by the  

public.  

Jesse Hazelip, through Nov. 13. Artists Gallery showcases the work  

of the Oakland-based artist.  

$7-$12.50; half price on Thursdays after 6 p.m.; free for all  

visitors on the first Tuesday of every month. Monday, Tuesday and Friday  

through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8:45 p.m. 151 Third St.,  

San Francisco. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY AND MUSEUM --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Dance in California: 150 Years of Innovation," This  

permanent exhibit traces the history and artistic range of modern dance in  

California, with photographs and documents highlighting the achievements of  

Lola Montez, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, the Christensen  

brothers, the Peters Wright School, the company of Lester Horton, Anna  

Halprin and Lucas Hoving.  

"Maestro! Photographic Portraits by Tom Zimberoff," This  

permanent exhibit is a comprehensive study of a generation of national and  

international conductors. In Gallery 5.  

"San Francisco 1900: On Stage," In Gallery 4.  

"San Francisco in Song," In Gallery 3. 

Free. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 1-5 p.m. San  

Francisco War Memorial Veteran's Building, 401 Van Ness Ave., Fourth Floor,  

San Francisco. (415) 255-4800, www.sfpalm.org.< 

 

SEYMOUR PIONEER MUSEUM -- The museum, owned by The  

Society of California Pioneers, houses a permanent research library, art  

gallery and history museum. Exhibits include a photography collection  

documenting California history. 

$1-$3. Wednesday-Friday and the first Saturday of the month, 10  

a.m.-4 p.m. Society of California Pioneers, 300 Fourth St., San Francisco.  

(415) 957-1859, www.californiapioneers.org.< 

 

TREGANZA ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY --  

The museum, founded in 1968, houses collections of archaeological  

and ethnographic specimens from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and North America as  

well as small collections from Central and South America. There are also  

collections of photographs, tapes and phonograph records from Africa and  

Europe. In addition, there is an archive of field notes and other materials  

associated with the collections. The museum also houses the Hohenthal Gallery  

that is used for traveling exhibits as well as exhibits mounted by students  

and faculty. 

Free. Museum office: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.;  

Hohenthal Gallery, SCI 388: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Science  

Building, SFSU, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco. (415) 338-2467,  

www.sfsu.edu/~treganza/.< 

 

ZEUM -- Zeum is a technology and arts museum for children and  

families featuring exhibits and workshops that cover a variety of fascinating  

subjects. 

EVENTS --  

$8-$10. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday. 221 Fourth St., San  

Francisco. (415) 820-3220, www.zeum.org.< 

Kino's Lost Keaton release is perhaps misnamed. "Overlooked," "dismissed," or "neglected" might have been more accurate, for these films were never lost, but merely disregarded.  

 

This two-disc set contains the 16 two-reelers that Keaton cranked out for the poverty-row Educational Pictures studio in the mid-1930s. Nothing here holds a candle to the comedian's silent-era creative peak during the 1920s, when he turned out 19 masterful two-reelers and a dozen classic feature comedies. But the Educational films, whether due to low expectations or genuine merit, are surprisingly good and never without charm.  

 

Viewers new to Keaton should steer clear for the time being and instead begin their course of study with those earlier gems — inventive two-reelers such as One Week and Cops, and timeless features such as The General, The Navigator, Sherlock Jr., Our Hospitality and Steamboat Bill Jr. But for the Keaton Konnoiseur, there is much pleasure to be found in this collection, and much solace to be taken in the fact that, even at his nadir, the great comedian was far from washed up. 

 

Keaton had undergone a stunning reversal of fortune, falling from grace as one of the triumvirate of great silent clowns and landing, in 1934, at Educational, a low-budget outfit that too was past its prime. Buster had always been a hard worker, but he had never known failure, thus this mid-career turn of events was all the more devastating. He had been a star almost since birth, becoming, at the age of 2, a central player in his family's vaudeville act. He spent his youth on the road and on the stage until he set out on his own at the age of 21. After an apprenticeship with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, serving as co-star and co-director for the comedian whose popularity placed him second only to Chaplin, Keaton soon became the star of his own films and embarked on his unbroken string of sterling independent films.  

 

After two years of two-reelers, Keaton graduated to features and again met with success. But after 10 strong showings, produced biannually, things began to go awry. His producer and brother-in-law, Joseph Schenk, sold Keaton's contract to MGM, and the comedian, who was many things but never a businessman, accepted the deal, against the advice of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, his more shrewd competitor/colleagues.  

 

Following on the heels of Keaton's bitter divorce from Natalie Talmadge, the MGM deal marked the beginning of a steep professional decline for the great clown. MGM treated him like a mere actor, granting him no latitude in selecting, writing or directing his films; he was a hired hand, nothing more. Though the studio's strong marketing and distribution departments ensured larger audiences and better ticket sales for his films, Keaton was demoralized, and his creative ennui, combined with his increasing alcoholism, quickly sent him in a downward spiral that sent him tumbling out the studio's side door.  

 

And so he landed at Educational, where he would remain for two years. They weren't the worst films he would make; that honor would be reserved for the two-reelers he would make for Columbia a few years later, a series with even lower budgets and tighter time constraints than Columbia, and which, with the exception of a few flashes here and there, demonstrate little of the great comedian's talent. 

 

Whereas Keaton had spent four to six weeks on his independent two-reelers in the early '20s, Educational demanded that he produce a film in just three to five days. Limited time and resources dictated a rather formulaic approach, meaning that Keaton was forced to rely more heavily on some of his stock gestures: clasped hands when lovestruck; pratfalls more perfunctory than inventive; a grimace as a hand consoles a damaged nose when a door closes abruptly in his face. But over time it becomes clear that these repetitions are not intended as gag-topping laugh-getters, but rather as signature gestures, familiar refrains that the audience can expect and anticipate. Like Bugs Bunny's "What's up, Doc?" they're not necessarily funny in and of themselves; they're more like the catchy choruses in a pop song. 

 

The series starts strong with The Gold Ghost, in which Buster finds himself in a distinctly Busteresque situation: when his car breaks down in an abandoned Western town, granting the comedian the chance to stage a series of pratfalls — a solitary man in an empty town. He plays sheriff, adopts a manly swagger, and demonstrates his incompetence every step of the way. The sound era's incessant demand for dialogue often slowed the pace and impact of Keaton's comedy at MGM, but here, with a bit more leeway, he manages to stage strong sight gags between bouts of dialogue: a poker game on dusty table at a forgotten saloon; doing the laundry at the old trough — a gag that unfortunately doesn't pay off as well as it promises; a hallucinatory gun battle in which Keaton plays the romantic hero.  

 

Allez Oop demonstrates Buster's talent for small gags in which his character must improvise a solution to an immediate problem. At the circus, Buster's girl, her attention riveted by a trapeze act, fails to notice that she is sitting on his hand. To retrieve his hand, he holds his hat under her chin and slowly lifts it, ensuring that she stand to see over what appears to be the head of the spectator in front of her. It's a brief moment, a throwaway gag, and yet it's the kind of small comedic moment that wins an audience's affection. 

 

One-Run Elmer gave Keaton the chance to stage a series of gags around his beloved game of baseball, using a number of gags he had previously performed at celebrity charity games. And Grand Slam Opera, perhaps the best-known of the series, in which Buster tries to make it big on a talent show at a New York radio station by juggling and doing other acts that couldn't possibly be appreciated by a radio audience, gags that simply, gave Keaton the opportunity to revive a few gags from the old family vaudeville routine. It also features one of Keaton's classic moments from his later career, in which he attempts to become Fred Astaire by clumsily dancing on the furniture of his hotel room until he destroys the bed. 

 

 

Lost Keaton: 1934-1937. $34.95. www.kino.com. 

 

 

Coinciding with the release of Lost Keaton are two discs of films by his sisters-in-law, Norma and Constance Talmadge.  

 

Norma Talmadge was one of the biggest stars of her day, a dramatic actress whose popularity rivaled that of Mary Pickford, but whose legacy was hampered by the fact that so few of her films survive. In the 1920s she starred in a string of weepy tragedies, romances and melodramas, her signature role being the persecuted heroine or star-crossed lover. Kino has released a double-feature that includes one of these, Within the Law (1923), in which Talmadge is unjustly accused of theft and sent to prison, as well as a rare comedy, Kiki (1926), which the aspiring Parisian chorus girl attempts to woo Ronald Colman, the show's manager.  

 

Though younger sister Constance appeared in D.W. Griffith's towering epic Intolerance, for the most part she dedicated her career to lighter fare, starring in a number of bright and charming comedies. Her Night of Romance (1924) sees her as an heiress who must travel incognito so as to avoid fortune-hunting playboys, but falls for a deceptively well-off nobleman — again, in the form of Ronald Colman. And Colman again takes the male lead in Her Sister From Paris, in which the bored husband falls for his flashy European sister-in-law, an opportunity for Talmadge to play dual roles to great effect.  

 

The Norma Talmadge Collection. Featuring original scores by the Biograph Players and Makia Matsumura. $29.95. www.kino.com. 

 

The Contance Talmadge Collection. Featuring original scores by the Judith Rosenberg and Bruce Loeb. $29.95. www.kino.com. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a little jewel last Friday night. There is a small 67-seat theatre at 999 E. 14^thSt. in San Leandro called the California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro. They touted themselves to be a professional theatre, but I doubted it from the looks of their website and the fact that you can’t buy a ticket online. But they lived up to their promise. If I had paid double the ticket price for The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical, I would have gone home happy. 

Marilyn Langbehn divined the rhythm and nature of the play in her direction. Others might have gone for the big overdone characters that inhabit musical theatre, but she understood the gentleness of the play and went with the changing rhythms as written by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn. Each character is individuated, and the acting is by-and-large realistic which is a welcome phenomenon in a musical. The voices are all first-class, with a variety of ranges, and that uniformity of great voices is doubly welcome. 

Jade Shojaee gives us chills as a dour, business-like, overachieving Catholic school girl in the classic uniform. Michael Cabanlit, with his great vocal belt, plays the trustworthy, loyal, friendly, helpful, runty, stocky kid who shows up in his Scout uniform. Alona Bach makes us believe she is that lisping, pigtailed, little politically militant middle-schooler with two dads and a hyphenated last name. Handsome Erik Rhea inhabits the character of the home-schooled, stoned-on-life kid who makes his own clothes and goes into a trance to spell. ToriLynn McBride breaks our hearts as the abandoned little blonde powder puff. The larger than life character that steals the show is played by Nickolas Quintell, as the obnoxious, supercilious lummox of a friendless loner with horn-rimmed glasses—who does an unwitting hootchy-kootchy while spelling the words out with his “magic foot.” 

Equity actor Stephen Pawley plays the displaced vice-principal as Elmer Fudd on the verge of a nervous breakdown with hilarious timing. Anna Cook is subtly effective as the former bee champ moderator whose hyperrealism portrays a sedate, polite, repressed realtor who is a walking definition of a life unfulfilled. Reggie D. White convinces us as the street-wise parolee doing community service work by being the bouncer—but turns to comforting the losers and wins our hearts in his arc. And White and Rhea do a superb caricature of the two overbearing, gay dads. 

Each solo delineates their characters, and the believable acting of the message of each song never fails to move us while making us laugh. Memorable moments include: Michael Cabanlit’s hysterical complaint in song about the intrusiveness of his untimely and persistent adolescent erections; “I Speak Six Languages” by Shojaee reveals the pain of teenage genius pushed too far; the touching, tearful “I Love You” in trio by Cook, White, and ToriLynn McBride that cuts to the heart of parents who try to find their own path of bliss on their children’s time; but the piece de resistance is an unlikely pas de deux between McBride’s powder puff and Quintell’s lummox performed with near-professional grace and skill. All the dance pieces are creative and executed with precision and élan. 

Malcolm Carruthers’ lighting is flat and frontal and replicates the lighting of every gymnasium you’ve ever been in, but that sameness sets up the light show for the dancing sprees they throw themselves into during their episodes of subconscious freak-outs brought on by teen anxiety and added to by the pressure of competition. 

Ric Koller’s simple set of bleachers, gym floor with basketball court markings, folding table and enormous winner’s cup easily transports us to our teenage memories. The stage is larger than expected, the sight lines are unimpaired from any of the five rows of raked seating, and the acoustics are excellent. 

The costumes by Jan Koprowksi instantly reveal character and her naturalistic choices help us enter this little world. 

Some of the non-belting sopranos’ moments vie with the accompaniment, and I found it curious that the centerpiece microphone is a prop only and not used for amplification. That hollow boom and clumsy knocking and feedback of the mike in the gym with the unsure voices asking for the word to be used in a sentence resonates in my memory as the emblematic sound of all spelling bees. 

Michael Moran’s musical direction is seamless, and, to his credit, his onstage piano accompaniment is a practically invisible. 

I must admit that I was a tad reluctant to venture there because I confused upper E. 14^th St. in San Leandro with the somewhat scary E. 14^th St. of my Oakland. But the theatre is next to City Hall and the Police Station in a tree-lined, ivy-trellised complex with a free parking lot next door. It’s in the business district abutting an upper-middle class neighborhood, and an easy ten-minute and seemingly safe walk to BART. The bus stops in front of the theatre that the City of San Leandro has the good sense and generosity to lease to the company for a nominal fee. I found it easily accessible from 580 via the Estudillo/Dutton exit. 

Note that this theatre is called CCT not CCCT or CCMT—a most confusing alphabet soup of East Bay theatre company abbreviations. 

The seating is comfortable, the front-of-house people are friendly, and you won’t be disappointed. But hurry, because it only runs 14 performances and ends the last Sunday of September. It’s a surprising place for such professionalism, but they convinced me—and I’m a tough sell. 

 

California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro, 999 East 14th Street, San Leandro 

Friday & Saturday at 8pm; Saturday & Sunday at 2pm through September 26. 

Tickets at (510) 632-8850 or email CCTofSL@yahoo.com 

www.cct-sl.org 

Written by Rachel Sheinkin & William Finn, direction by Marilyn Langbehn, musical direction by Michael Moran, sets by Ric Koller, lighting by Malcolm Carruthers, costumes by Jan Koprowksi, with stage management by Joseph Amicangelo.  

WITH: Alona Bach, Michael Cabanlit, Anna Cook, ToriLynn McBride, Stephen Pawley (AEA), Nickolas Quintell, Erik Rhea, Jade Shojaee, Reggie D. White. 

The last week to catch Inferno Theatre's unusual production of Galileo's Daughters, written, designed and directed by Giulio Perrone at the Berkeley City Club (review in last week's Planet). Thursday-Saturday, 8 p. m.; Sunday at 5. $12-$25, sliding scale. 698-4030; infernotheatre.org

TheatreFirst's Anton In Show Business, play about an ensemble of seven actresses rehearsing--and coming apart over--a production of Three Sisters, directed by the company's artistic director Michael Storm, is onstage at the Marion Greene Theater, 531-19th St., off Telegraph (and a block from 19th Street BART) on the north side of the old Fox Theater, uptown Oakland. Thursdays-Sundays through September 26. $15-$30. 436-5085; theatrefirst.com 

--And a chamber concert: Trio Brillante--Tom Rose, clarinet; Caroline Lee, viola, and Betty Woo, piano--perform Glinka, Francaix, Mendelssohn and Mozart tonight, Tuesday September 14, at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant. $25; high school students free; older students, $12.50. 525-5211; berkeleychamberconcerts.org

THE INEVITABLE examines Hillary Clinton’s failed bid for the presidency the most fascinating event during the 2008 presidential campaign. I believe the roots of Clinton’s failure were psychological. She began the campaign believing her nomination and election were certain and, therefore, lost touch with her primary intention. Once the bubble of inevitability burst, Clinton faced an external and internal crisis. She had to reorganize her political campaign and get her head straight. As Clinton struggled to get her political act together, warring instincts within her own personality battled on stage. By the time this conflict was resolved, Clinton had become the effective candidate many of us expected, but it was too late for her to overcome Obama’s delegate lead. 

 

The INEVITABLE is directed by Ann Brebner and features Joy Carlin as Eleanor Roosevelt plus actors from the PORCHLIGHT Theatre Company. 

 

Date: Monday, 9/20 

Time: 7:30 PM 

Place: AURORA THEATRE, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley (Next to Berkeley Rep) 

Cost: Free 

 

 

D'ANN'S DANCE STUDIO --  

"Learn to Salsa Dance," through Sept. 24, 8 and 9 p.m. Fri.  

Beginners at 8 p.m., Imtermediate at 9 p.m. $15-$40. www.dancesf.com. 

1875 Adobe St., Concord. < 

 

ELKS LODGE, ALAMEDA --  

"All You Can Dance Sunday Socials," Sunday, 4-6 p.m.  

Marilyn Bowe and Robert Henneg presents monthly socials with ballroom, swing,  

Latin and rock & roll themes. www.dancewithme.info. 

2255 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. (510) 864-2256.< 

 

SHATTUCK DOWN LOW -- For ages 21 and older. 

"Live Salsa," Wednesdays. An evening of dancing to the  

music of a live salsa band. Salsa dance lessons from 8-9:30 p.m. $5-$10.  

2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-1159,  

www.shattuckdownlow.com.< 

 

SOLAD DANCE CENTER --  

"Persian Dance," Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:30 and 10  

p.m. Rosa Rojas offers traditional dance classes. $10.  

Citrus Marketplace, 2260 Oak Grove Rd., Walnut Creek. (925)  

938-3300.< 

 

STARRY PLOUGH PUB --  

"Ceili and Dance," Traditional Irish music and dance.  

The evening begins with a dance lesson at 7 p.m. followed by music at 9 p.m.  

Mondays, 7 p.m. Free.  

For ages 21 and over unless otherwise noted. Sunday and Wednesday,  

8 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck  

Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082, www.starryploughpub.com.< 

CARMEN FLORES RECREATION CENTER --  

"El Corazon de la Communidad: The Heart of the Community",  

Painted by Joaquin Alejandro Newman, this mural installation  

consists of four 11-foot panels that mix ancient Meso-American and  

contemporary imagery to pay homage to local activists Carmen Flores and Josie  

de la Cruz.  

Free unless otherwise noted. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. 1637  

Fruitvale Ave., Oakland. (510) 535-5631.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"NanoZone," Discover the science of the super-small:  

nanotechnology. Through hands-on activities and games, explore this  

microworld and the scientific discoveries made in this area.  

"Forces That Shape the Bay," A science park that shows  

and explains why the San Francisco Bay is the way it is, with information on  

water, erosion, plate tectonics and mountain building. You can ride  

earthquake simulators, set erosion in motion and look far out into the bay  

with a powerful telescope from 1,100 feet above sea level. The center of the  

exhibit is a waterfall that demonstrates how water flows from the Sierra  

Nevada Mountains to the Bay. Visitors can control where the water goes. There  

are also hands-on erosion tables, and a 40-foot-long, 6-foothigh, rock  

compression wall.  

"Real Astronomy Experience," A new  

exhibit-in-development allowing visitors to use the tools that real  

astronomers use. Aim a telescope at a virtual sky and operate a  

remote-controlled telescope to measure a planet.  

"Biology Lab," In the renovated Biology Lab visitors may  

hold and observe gentle animals. Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 1:30 p.m. to  

4 p.m.  

"The Idea Lab," Experiment with some of the basics of  

math, science and technology through hands-on activities and demonstrations  

of magnets, spinning and flying, puzzles and nanotechnology.  

"Math Around the World," Play some of the world's most  

popular math games, such as Hex, Kalah, Game Sticks and Shongo Networks.  

"Math Rules," Use simple and colorful objects to  

complete interesting challenges in math through predicting, sorting,  

comparing, weighing and counting.  

"Kapla," The hands-on exhibit features thousands of  

versatile building blocks that can be used to build very large, high and  

stable structures and models of bridges, buildings, animals or anything else  

your mind can conceive.  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132,  

www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM -- This is the oldest and largest wildlife  

rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned  

animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum  

offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals  

to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum  

includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent  

exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild  

animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital  

complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory  

facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping  

and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The  

hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned  

animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there  

are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

EXHIBITS --  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. June 16-Sept. 15: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

Wed.-Sun.; Sept. 16-June 15: noon.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.  

1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

OAKLAND ASIAN CULTURAL CENTER --  

"Oakland's 19th-Century San Pablo Avenue Chinatown," A  

permanent exhibit of new findings about the rediscovered Chinatown on San  

Pablo Avenue. The exhibit aims to inform visitors about the upcoming  

archaeological work planned to explore the lives of early Chinese pioneers in  

the 1860s.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.  

Pacific Renaissance Plaza, 388 Ninth St., Suite 290, Oakland. (510) 637-0455,  

http://www.oacc.cc.< 

 

OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT --  

"Going Away, Coming Home," A 160-foot public art  

installation by Mills College art professor Hung Liu. Liu hand painted 80  

red-crowned cranes onto 65 panels of glass that were then fired, tempered and  

paired with background panes that depict views of a satellite photograph,  

ranging from the western United States to the Asia Pacific Area. Terminal 2.  

Free. Daily, 24 hours, unless otherwise noted. Oakland  

International Airport, 1 Airport Drive, Oakland. (510) 563-3300,  

www.flyoakland.com.< 

"SUN SPHERES," -- "Sun Spheres'' is a trio of mosaic  

sculptures by artist Laurel True at the intersection of Ocean and Granada  

Avenues in the OMI District of San Francisco. 

(415) 252-2551, www.sfartscommission.org/pubart.< 

 

AIA SAN FRANCISCO --  

"Water for a Sustainable City," through Oct. 29. Exhibit explores  

the development of San Francisco's water system through the lens of  

architecture and design.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 130 Sutter St., # 600, San  

Francisco. (415) 362-7397, www.aiasf.org.< 

 

CONSERVATORY OF FLOWERS -- The Victorian landmark has 1,500  

species including rare and beautiful tropical plants from 50 countries.  

Exhibits include Highland Tropics, the Aquatic Plants, Lowland Tropics,  

Potted Plants and the new Special Exhibits gallery. Opened in 1879, the wood  

and glass greenhouse is the oldest existing conservatory in the Western  

Hemisphere. 

"Chomp 2! Return of the Carnivorous Plants," through Oct. 31.  

Special exhibition of carnivorous plants features living plants and  

activities for families.  

$5 general; $3 seniors, students and youth ages 12-17; $1.50  

children ages 5-11; free for ages 4 and under; free first Tuesdays.  

Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. John F. Kennedy Drive, Golden Gate Park, San  

Francisco. (415) 666-7001, www.conservatoryofflowers.org.< 

 

EVENING GALLERY WALKS -- These monthly evening gallery walks or  

"crawls'' are a way to learn about art for the casual viewer without the  

intimidation of visiting a gallery with no one else around. Generally the  

galleries are filled on the "walk'' evenings with people drinking wine and  

talking. Gallery owners are happy to answer questions about the art on view.  

The important thing to remember is that it is free to gaze and drink. 

"First Thursday," 5:30-8 p.m. Generally some 20  

galleries participate in this monthly evening of open galleries. Many are  

located around Union Square. Some of the galleries that participate on a  

regular basis are Pasquale Iannetti Gallery, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, and  

Hackett-Freedman Gallery, all on Sutter Street; Meyerovich Gallery and Dolby  

Chadwick Gallery on Post Street; and Rena Bransten Gallery and Stephen Wirtz  

Gallery on Geary Street. Sponsored by the San Francisco Art Dealers  

Association. First Thursday of the month. Free.  

San Francisco. < 

 

HOTEL DES ARTS -- The boutique 51-room art hotel in Union Square  

features an art gallery by Start SOMA. 

"Painted Rooms," An exhibit of painted rooms in the  

hotel by emerging artists.  

Free. Daily, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. 447 Bush St., San Francisco. (415)  

956-4322, www.sfhoteldesarts.com.< 

 

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO --  

"The Digital Liberation of G-d," A permanent interactive  

media installation created by New York-based artist Helene Aylon, which  

examines the influences of patriarchal attitudes upon Jewish traditions and  

sacred texts.  

Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday,  

8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. 3200 California St., San Francisco.  

(415) 292-1200, Box Office: (415) 292-1233, www.jccsf.org.< 

 

MILTON MARKS CONFERENCE CENTER --  

"Local Color," through Oct. 10. Works by 27 artists from the  

Peninsula Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art.  

455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. < 

 

SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE --  

"Pure Consciousness at 19 Kindergartens," through Sept. 18. Works  

by On Kawara.  

Free unless noted otherwise. Lecture Hall, 800 Chestnut St., San  

Francisco. (415) 771-7020, www.sfai.edu/.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY, BAYVIEW-ANNA E. WADEN BRANCH --  

"Bayview's Historical Footprints," A permanent  

photographic exhibition celebrating the diverse history of Bayview Hunters  

Point featuring multimedia oral histories from community elders.  

Free. Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday, 1  

p.m.-8 p.m.; Thursday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. 5075 Third St.,  

San Francisco. (415) 355-5757, www.sfpl.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BRANCH --  

"Digging Deep: Underneath San Francisco Public Library,"  

Exhibition collects archaeological remains from the Gold Rush-era cemetery  

and the ruins of old City Hall destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.  

"Singgalot (The Ties That Bind)," through Oct. 24. The exhibit  

celebrates 100 years of Filipino American experience with photographs, images  

and historical documents drawn from the National Archives, the Library of  

Congress and personal collections.  

Free. Monday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tuesday-Thursday, 9  

a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 100 Larkin St., San  

Francisco. (415) 557-4400, www.sfpl.org.< 

 

USF THACHER GALLERY --  

"Galleons and Globalization: California Mission Arts and the  

Pacific Rim," through Dec. 19. The exhibit explores the lively commerce in  

iconography, materials and ideas that shaped California's rich mission arts.  

2130 Fulton St., San Francisco. (415) 422-5178.< 

 

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS -- The center's visual arts  

exhibitions feature contemporary art and popular culture by local, national  

and international artists. There are four rounds of exhibitions in the  

galleries each year. 

"PlayCRAFT: A Game of Your Design," through Oct. 3. Create your  

own design object as you explore the "TechnoCRAFT'' exhibition.  

$3-$6; free the first Tuesday of every month. Tuesday, Wednesday  

and Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, noon-8 p.m. 701 Mission St., San  

Francisco. (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org.< 

"CALIFORNIA COASTAL CLEANUP DAY," -- Sept. 25. Tens of thousands  

of Californians are expected to participate in the 26th annual event that  

hopes to bring people together to clean more than 800 sites along the coast,  

and to have a good time while supporting environmental causes. See website  

for local sites and contacts. 

9 a.m.-Noon.(800) COA-ST4U, www.coast4u.org.< 

"DANVILLE CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE," -- Sept. 18 and Sept. 19. The  

Michael J. Fox Foundation, Danville D'Elegance Foundation and Parkinson's  

Institute present a gala evening and afternoon car show to raise awareness  

and funds for Parkinson's research. Gala dinner held Saturday night at the  

Blackhawk Auto Museum, 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. Car show held  

Sunday along Hartz Avenue in Danville. For more information see website. 

$175 for gala.6 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m.  

Sun.www.danville-delegance.org .< 

"ROCKRIDGE OUT AND ABOUT STREET FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 26. A street  

festival featuring live music, fashion shows, kid's fun, wellness activities,  

food and drink, dancing and more. Event takes place on College Avenue between  

Alcatraz and Manila. 

Free.Noon-6 p.m.www.rockridgeoutandabout.com.< 

"THE CINE+MAS SAN FRANCISCO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL," -- through  

Sept. 28. The festival, which takes place in San Francisco, Berkeley, San  

Jose and Marin, showcases the work of emerging and established filmmakers  

from the U.S., Latin America, Spain, Portugal and more. See website for  

venues, times and tickets. 

www.sflatinofilmfestival.com.< 

"THE MUSIC FOR PEOPLE AND THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 23  

through Sept. 26. A event dedicated to promoting experimental music that  

incorporates made and found instruments and alternate tuning systems. Events  

take place at a variety of venues; see website for full details. 

$10-$15.(510) 418-3447, www.thingamajigs.org.< 

"UFO X FEST," -- Sept. 18 and Sept. 19. A UFO conference and film  

festival, gathering some of the world's most prestigious researchers and  

experts in the field. Special guests include George Noory, host of radio's  

"Coast to Coast AM.'' Event takes place at the Historic Bal Theatre, 14808  

East 14th St., San Leandro. 

$90-$150.9:30 a.m.-11 p.m.(510) 614-1224, www.ufoxfest.com.< 

"VOICES FROM THE PAST," -- Sept. 18. The Hayward Area Historical  

Society presents a paranormal investigation at the Meek Mansion, 17365 Boston  

Rd., Hayward. Refreshments and snacks provided. 

$75.6 p.m.-3:30 a.m.www.haywardareahistory.org.< 

"WOMEN OF TASTE," -- Sept. 25. A annual roof top charity benefit  

featuring live music, food from Bay Area restaurants and beverage purveyors,  

auctions and more. Event takes place at the Kaiser Rooftop Garden, 300  

Lakeside Dr., Oakland. 

6-10 p.m.www.girlsinc-alameda.org/women-of-taste.< 

 

ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS --  

"Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show," Sept. 17 through  

Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. Hundreds of vendors  

featuring specialty items, jewelry, glassware, clothing, food and much more.  

Entertainment includes music and a "KidZone'' for families to participate in  

arts-focused activities. $4-$9; children 12 and under free.  

www.harvestfestival.com. 

4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 426-7600,  

www.alamedacountyfair.com.< 

 

ASHKENAZ --  

"I Like My Bike Night," 9 p.m. First Fridays of the  

month. This monthly series brings bicycle innovators, enthusiasts, artists  

and organizations together under one roof, as well as encourages regular  

Ashkenaz show-goers to leave their cars in the driveway and arrive at the  

venue by bicycle instead. $8-$25.  

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

 

AUCTIONS BY THE BAY --  

"ArtiFacts: A Lecture Series for Collectors," 3 p.m.  

First Sundays of the month Guest curators, scholars and conservation experts  

from throughout the Bay Area discuss the art of collecting. First Sunday of  

every month, 3 p.m. $7; includes a preview of the monthly estate auction  

which takes place the following day at 10am.  

Auctions by the Bay Theater-Auction House, 2700 Saratoga St.,  

Alameda. (510) 835-6187, www.auctionsbythebay.com.< 

 

BAY AREA FREE BOOK EXCHANGE --  

"Free Books," 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. - Sun. Donate your  

unwanted books and receive new titles for free.  

10520 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. (510) 526-1941,  

www.bayareafreebookexchange.com.< 

 

BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST HALL --  

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Sept. 26, 2 p.m. Hear the congresswoman  

from the 9th Congressional District talk on war and peace. Free.  

1924 Cedar St., Berkeley. (510) 495-5132, www.bfuu.org.< 

 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE --  

Michael Lewis and Michael Pollan, Sept. 23, 7-8:30 p.m. The two  

writers sit down for an evening of conversation. $125.  

2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949, (888) 4BR-Ttix,  

www.berkeleyrep.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AND LIBRARY --  

"California Genealogical Society and Library Free First  

Saturday," 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Event takes place on the first Saturday  

of every month, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Trace and compile your family history at this  

month's open house event. Free. www.calgensoc.org. 

2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland. (510) 663-1358.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY --  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of walking tours that  

explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran tour  

guide Gary Holloway. Walks are given on specific weekends. There is a  

different meeting place for each weekend and walks take place rain or shine  

so dress for the weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place  

will be given with confirmation of tour reservation. Call for details.  

678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848,  

www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA MAGIC THEATER --  

"Dinner Theater Magic Show," 7:30 p.m. Fri - Sat. Enter  

the joyous and bewildering world of illusion while chowing down on a home  

cooked meal. Each weekend features different professional magicians.  

Recommended for ages 13 and older. $54-$64 includes meal.  

729 Castro St., Martinez. (925) 374-0056, www.calmagic.com.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER -- State-of-the-art facility  

unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive  

exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing  

and films. 

Center Admission: $14.95; $10.95 children 3-12; free children  

under 3; $3 discount for seniors and students. Telescope viewing only: free.  

Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday,  

11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000  

Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE -- Nestled in  

the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the  

37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron  

Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped  

gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available  

yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the  

public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the  

grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday  

of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11  

a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland.  

(510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

EL CERRITO COMMUNITY CENTER --  

"A Taste of El Cerrito," Sept. 25, 5-9 p.m. Live music, hors  

d'oeuvres, drinks, raffle and more are on tap for this year's festival. $45.  

www.tasteofelcerrito.org. 

7007 Moeser Ln., El Cerrito. (510) 215-4370.< 

 

EPWORTH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH --  

"A Celebration of Bats," Sept. 21, 2 p.m. Maggie Hooper from the  

California Bat Conservation Fund talks about this often misunderstood animal.  

www.berkeleygardenclub.org. 

1953 Hopkins St., Berkeley. (510) 524-4374.< 

 

FIREHOUSE ARTS CENTER --  

"Grand Opening," Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The public is invited  

to help dedicate the new Firehouse Arts Center with artist demonstrations,  

live music, theater performances, tours, art activities for kids and  

refreshments. Free.  

4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 931-4848,  

www.firehousearts.org.< 

 

FRANK OGAWA PLAZA --  

"Oakland Artisan Marketplace," 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays.  

The City of Oakland and Cultural Arts & Marketing Department presents a  

weekly market featuring fine arts and crafts of local artists. Free. (510)  

238-4948, www.oaklandartisanmarketplace.org. 

14th Street and Broadway, Oakland. < 

 

JACK LONDON AQUATIC CENTER --  

"Oakland Artisan Marketplace,"' 11 a.m.-6 p.m.  

Saturdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays The City of Oakland and Cultural Arts &  

Marketing Department presents a weekly market featuring fine arts and crafts  

of local artists. Free. (510) 238-4948, www.oaklandartisanmarketplace.org. 

115 Embarcadero, Oakland. < 

 

JC CELLARS --  

"Harvest Crush Wine Benefit," Sept. 24, 6-8:30 p.m. An evening of  

food, wine tasting, tours, raffles, auctions and more, benefiting "Adopt A  

Special Kid'' non-profit. $20-$75.  

55 Fourth St., Oakland. (510) 465-5900.< 

 

JULIA MORGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS --  

"Spirit of Mexico," Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Sat.; 2 p.m.  

Sun. Ballet Folklorico Costa de Oro presents a journey through music, song  

and dance showcasing Mexico's vibrant culture. $23-$30; children under 3  

free. (510) 316-3237, www.bfcostadeoro.com. 

2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.org.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE --  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132,  

www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE --  

Exploring cinema from the Bay Area and cultures around the world,  

the Pacific Film Archive offers daily film screenings, including rare and  

rediscovered prints of movie classics; new and historic works by world famous  

directors; restored silent films with live musical accompaniment;  

retrospectives; and new and experimental works. Check Web site for a full  

schedule of films.  

"First Impressions: Free First Thursdays," first Thursday of  

every month. Special tours and movie presentations. Admission is free. 

Single feature: $5-$8; Double feature: $9-$12 general. PFA  

Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-5249,  

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, MORRISON LIBRARY --  

"Lunch Poems," 12:10-12:50 p.m. First Thursdays of each  

month  

 

2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-3671.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM -- Come aboard this World War II aircraft  

carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched  

in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was  

never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of  

enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11  

space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later  

recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic  

Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today,  

visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and  

experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are  

being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear  

comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in  

layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for  

the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not  

allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Limited Access Day," Due to ship maintenance, tours of  

the navigation bridge and the engine room are not available. Tuesdays.  

"Flight Deck Fun," A former Landing Signal Officer will  

show children how to bring in a fighter plane for a landing on the deck then  

let them try the signals themselves. Times vary. Free with regular Museum  

admission.  

"Protestant Divine Services," Hornet chaplain John  

Berger conducts church services aboard The Hornet in the Wardroom Lounge.  

Everyone is welcome and refreshments are served immediately following the  

service. Sundays, 11 a.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Closed on New Year's Day. 

"Family Day," Discounted admission for families of four  

with a further discount for additional family members. Access to some of the  

areas may be limited due to ship maintenance. Every Tuesday. $20 for family  

of four; $5 for each additional family member. 

"Family Overnight Experience," Sept. 17 through. Enjoy the  

ultimate family experience by spending the night onboard the aircraft carrier  

USS Hornet. Tour the ship at night, hear fascinating ghost stories, sleep in  

bunks and have fun learning about history! Call for reservations. (510)  

521-8448 X280. 

"Flashlight Tour," 8:30 a.m. Receive a special tour of  

areas aboard the ship that have not yet been opened to the public or that  

have limited access during the day. $30-$35 per person. 

"History Mystery After Hours Tour," 7 p.m.-10 p.m.  

Explore the USS Hornet after hours and learn the history of this ship while  

it is illuminated in red lights used for "night ops." Also, hear stories  

about the ships' legendary haunts. Reservations required. (510) 521-8448  

X282. 

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily,  

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda.  

(510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.< 

"12TH ANNUAL DELTA BLUES FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 18. Featuring EC  

Scott, Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s, Pat Wilder and more. Event takes place  

in the Rivertown District, off 2nd Street between G and I streets, Antioch. 

Free.Noon-7:30 p.m.www.deltabluesfestival.net.< 

"DANVILLE CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE," -- Sept. 18 and Sept. 19. The  

Michael J. Fox Foundation, Danville D'Elegance Foundation and Parkinson's  

Institute present a gala evening and afternoon car show to raise awareness  

and funds for Parkinson's research. Gala dinner held Saturday night at the  

Blackhawk Auto Museum, 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. Car show held  

Sunday along Hartz Avenue in Danville. For more information see website. 

$175 for gala.6 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m.  

Sun.www.danville-delegance.org .< 

"ROCKRIDGE OUT AND ABOUT STREET FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 26. A street  

festival featuring live music, fashion shows, kid's fun, wellness activities,  

food and drink, dancing and more. Event takes place on College Avenue between  

Alcatraz and Manila. 

Free.Noon-6 p.m.www.rockridgeoutandabout.com.< 

"THE CINE+MAS SAN FRANCISCO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL," -- through  

Sept. 28. The festival, which takes place in San Francisco, Berkeley, San  

Jose and Marin, showcases the work of emerging and established filmmakers  

from the U.S., Latin America, Spain, Portugal and more. See website for  

venues, times and tickets. 

www.sflatinofilmfestival.com.< 

"THE MUSIC FOR PEOPLE AND THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 23  

through Sept. 26. A event dedicated to promoting experimental music that  

incorporates made and found instruments and alternate tuning systems. Events  

take place at a variety of venues; see website for full details. 

$10-$15.(510) 418-3447, www.thingamajigs.org.< 

"UFO X FEST," -- Sept. 18 and Sept. 19. A UFO conference and film  

festival, gathering some of the world's most prestigious researchers and  

experts in the field. Special guests include George Noory, host of radio's  

"Coast to Coast AM.'' Event takes place at the Historic Bal Theatre, 14808  

East 14th St., San Leandro. 

$90-$150.9:30 a.m.-11 p.m.(510) 614-1224, www.ufoxfest.com.< 

 

924 GILMAN ST. -- All ages welcome. 

The Rocketz, Violation, Faraway Boys, Cruz Missles, Bullet 66,  

Sept. 24, 7 p.m. $8.  

$5 unless otherwise noted. Shows start Friday and Saturday, 8  

p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510)  

525-9926, www.924gilman.org.< 

 

ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS --  

"Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show," Sept. 17 through  

Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. Hundreds of vendors  

featuring specialty items, jewelry, glassware, clothing, food and much more.  

Entertainment includes music and a "KidZone'' for families to participate in  

arts-focused activities. $4-$9; children 12 and under free.  

www.harvestfestival.com. 

4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 426-7600,  

www.alamedacountyfair.com.< 

 

ARMANDO'S --  

Mark Hummel and Rusty Zinn, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. $10.  

The California Honeydrops, Sept. 26, 3-6 p.m. $10.  

707 Marina Vista Ave., Martinez. (925) 228-6985,  

www.armandosmartinez.com.< 

 

ASHKENAZ --  

Vagabond Opera, Sept. 17, 9 p.m. $12.  

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

 

BANKHEAD THEATER --  

"Guitar Player LIVE!" Sept. 17 and Sept. 18, 8 p.m. Fri.; Noon  

Sat. Featuring Gary Hoey and Montrose. $12-$49.  

2400 First Street, Livermore. (925) 373-6800,  

www.livermoreperformingarts.org.< 

 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE --  

"Compulsion," through Oct. 31, 8 p.m. Tue. and Fri.; 7 p.m. Wed.;  

2 and 8 p.m. Thu. and Sat.; 2 and 7 p.m. Sun; check website for special  

matinees. A new play featuring Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Mandy  

Patinkin. $14.50-$73.  

Michael Lewis and Michael Pollan, Sept. 23, 7-8:30 p.m. The two  

writers sit down for an evening of conversation. $125.  

2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949, (888) 4BR-Ttix,  

www.berkeleyrep.org.< 

 

BOOKS INC., BERKELEY --  

James Ellroy, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. "The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of  

Women.''  

1760 4th Street, Berkeley. (510) 525-7777, www.booksinc.net.< 

 

FIREHOUSE ARTS CENTER --  

"Grand Opening," Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The public is invited  

to help dedicate the new Firehouse Arts Center with artist demonstrations,  

live music, theater performances, tours, art activities for kids and  

refreshments. Free.  

Mose Allison, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $22-$32.  

4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 931-4848,  

www.firehousearts.org.< 

 

GREEK THEATRE --  

Band of Horses, Admiral Radley, Darker My Love, Sept. 24, 7 p.m.  

$35.  

Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road, Berkeley. (510) 548-3010,  

www.apeconcerts.com.< 

 

HERTZ HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY --  

"Annual Noon Concert Series," Sept. 22, Noon. University Symphony  

Orchestra performs "Symphony No. 5'' by Tchaikovsky. David Milnes conducts.  

Free.  

University Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, 8 p.m.  

"Symphony No. 5,'' by Tchaikovsky. David Milnes conducts. $5-$15.  

Bancroft Way and College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 642-4864,  

http://music.berkeley.edu.< 

 

JAZZSCHOOL --  

Frank Jackson Quartet, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $15.  

Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise  

noted. 2087 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-5373, www.jazzschool.com.< 

 

JULIA MORGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS --  

"Spirit of Mexico," Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Sat.; 2 p.m.  

Sun. Ballet Folklorico Costa de Oro presents a journey through music, song  

and dance showcasing Mexico's vibrant culture. $23-$30; children under 3  

free. (510) 316-3237, www.bfcostadeoro.com. 

2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.org.< 

 

SHATTUCK DOWN LOW -- For ages 21 and older. 

Cash'd Out, Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. $10-$15.  

2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-1159,  

www.shattuckdownlow.com.< 

 

UPTOWN NIGHTCLUB --  

Fleshies, Mystic Knights of the Cobra, Bobby Joe Ebola and the  

Children MacNuggits, Sept. 24, 9 p.m. $10.  

Ice Cube, Del The Funky Homosapien, Sept. 25, 9 p.m. $50.  

1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 451-8100,  

www.uptownnightclub.com.< 

 

YOSHI'S --  

Geri Allen, Sept. 24 through Sept. 26, 8 and 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 2  

and 7 p.m. Sun. $5-$24.  

Shows are Monday through Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7  

p.m., unless otherwise noted. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. (510) 238-9200,  

www.yoshis.com.< 

 

ZELLERBACH HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY --  

Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.  

$20-$48. www.calperformances.org. 

UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley.  

(510) 642-9988.< 

"12TH ANNUAL DELTA BLUES FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 18. Featuring EC  

Scott, Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s, Pat Wilder and more. Event takes place  

in the Rivertown District, off 2nd Street between G and I streets, Antioch. 

Free.Noon-7:30 p.m.www.deltabluesfestival.net.< 

 

"POINT RICHMOND MUSIC SUMMER CONCERT SEASON," -- Sept. 10 and  

Sept. 24. Concerts take place at the corner of Park Place and Washington  

Avenue in downtown Point Richmond. Sept. 10: Je Conte, Kickin' The Mule,  

Freddie Hughes.  

Sept. 24: Trio Paz, El Desayuno.  

Free.5:30-7:45 p.m.< 

 

924 GILMAN ST. -- All ages welcome. 

Orchid, Dusted Angel, Moses, Lords of Bastard, Ironwitch, Sept.  

17, 7 p.m. $10.  

Failures, Mothercountry, Judas, Secret People, Neo-Cons, Sept. 19,  

5-9 p.m. $8.  

The Rocketz, Violation, Faraway Boys, Cruz Missles, Bullet 66,  

Sept. 24, 7 p.m. $8.  

$5 unless otherwise noted. Shows start Friday and Saturday, 8  

p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510)  

525-9926, www.924gilman.org.< 

 

ALBATROSS PUB --  

Whiskey Brothers, 9 p.m. First and third Wednesdays.  

Free.  

David Jeffrey, Sept. 18, 9:30 p.m. $3.  

Free unless otherwise noted. Shows begin Wednesday, 9 p.m.;  

Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 1822 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley.  

(510) 843-2473, www.albatrosspub.com.< 

 

ARMANDO'S --  

The Alhambra Valley Band, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. $10.  

Mark Hummel and Rusty Zinn, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. $10.  

The Greg Reginato Quartet, Sept. 20, 6:30 p.m. $3.  

Bruce Campbell and Red Rick Horlick, Sept. 22, 6:30 p.m. $3. al:. 

Mal Sharpe's Big Money in Jazz Band, Sept. 23, 8 p.m. $10.  

The Jeff Magidson Blues Band, Sept. 24, 8 p.m. $10.  

El Desayuno, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $10.  

The California Honeydrops, Sept. 26, 3-6 p.m. $10.  

707 Marina Vista Ave., Martinez. (925) 228-6985,  

www.armandosmartinez.com.< 

 

ART HOUSE GALLERY --  

Houston Jones, Sept. 25. $10.  

2905 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 472-3170.< 

 

ASHKENAZ --  

Vagabond Opera, Sept. 17, 9 p.m. $12.  

Trio Garufa, Sept. 18, 9 p.m. $12.  

Zaryab Ensemble, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. $10.  

Jesse Lege and Joel Savoy, Sept. 21, 8:30 p.m. $12.  

Nathan Moore, Lael Neale, Trevor Garrod, Sept. 22, 9 p.m. $10.  

Renee Asteria, Raw-G, Gode, LT3, Sept. 23, 9 p.m. $10-$12.  

Head For the Hills, Town Mountain, Sept. 24, 9 p.m. $8-$10.  

Norma Fraser, Mystic Man, Lakay, Sept. 25, 9:30 p.m. $12-$15.  

Hipwaders, Sept. 26, 3-4:30 p.m. $4-$6.  

Mo'Rockin Project, Sept. 26, 8:30 p.m. $10-$12.  

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

 

BANKHEAD THEATER --  

"Guitar Player LIVE!" Sept. 17 and Sept. 18, 8 p.m. Fri.; Noon  

Sat. Featuring Gary Hoey and Montrose. $12-$49.  

2400 First Street, Livermore. (925) 373-6800,  

www.livermoreperformingarts.org.< 

 

BECKETT'S IRISH PUB --  

The Rhythm Doctors, Sept. 17.  

D'Giin, Sept. 18.  

Sarava Zamba, Sept. 23.  

The P-PL, Sept. 24.  

The Mundaze, Sept. 25.  

Eastbay Beastgrass, Sept. 26.  

Free. Shows at 10 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2271 Shattuck Ave.,  

Berkeley. (510) 647-1790, www.beckettsirishpub.com.< 

 

BLAKE'S ON TELEGRAPH --  

Arnocorps, Nihllst, Static Thought, Saint Vernon, Sept. 25, 8:30  

p.m. 18+. $10-$12.  

For ages 18 and older unless otherwise noted. Music begins at 9:30  

p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886,  

www.blakesontelegraph.com.< 

 

CAFE VAN KLEEF --  

The Lovelight Blues Band, Sept. 24, 9:30 p.m. $5.  

1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 763-7711,  

www.cafevankleef.com.< 

 

 

FIREHOUSE ARTS CENTER --  

Earl Klugh, Sept. 24, 8 p.m. $35-$45.  

Mose Allison, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $22-$32.  

4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 931-4848,  

www.firehousearts.org.< 

 

FOX THEATER --  

The xx, Warpaint, Zola Jesus, Sept. 23, 8 p.m. $25.  

1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 452-0438,  

www.thefoxoakland.com.< 

 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE --  

"Freight Open Mic," Tuesdays. $4.50-$5.50.  

Ellis Paul, Old Man Luedecke, Sept. 17. $18.50-$19.50.  

Shay Black, Sept. 18. $24.50-$25.50.  

Jesse Winchester, Sept. 19. $20.50-$21.50.  

Ellen Hoffman, Sept. 20. $8.50-$9.50.  

Laurence Juber, Sept. 21. $18.50-$19.50.  

Lunasa, Sept. 22. $24.50-$25.50.  

Christine Lavin, Sept. 23. $24.50-$25.50.  

Po' Girl, JT Nero, Sept. 24. $20.50-$21.50.  

House Jacks, Sept. 25. $20.50-$21.50.  

Luce, Jesse Brewster, Garrin Benfield, Sept. 26. $20.50-$21.50.  

Music starts at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2020 Addison St.,  

Berkeley. (510) 548-1761, www.freightandsalvage.org.< 

 

GREEK THEATRE --  

Band of Horses, Admiral Radley, Darker My Love, Sept. 24, 7 p.m.  

$35.  

Vampire Weekend, Beach House, The Very Best, Sept. 25, 7 p.m.  

$37.50.  

Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road, Berkeley. (510) 548-3010,  

www.apeconcerts.com.< 

 

HEATHER FARMS PARK --  

The Billy Martini Show, Sept. 26, 1 p.m. $5.  

301 N. San Carlos Dr., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-6766,  

www.walnutcreekrec.org.< 

 

JAZZSCHOOL --  

The Dave Haskell Group, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. $12.  

Maria Volonte Tango Passions Trio, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. $15.  

"Happy Hour Jam," Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. $5-$10.  

The Aaron Germain Quartet, Sept. 19, 4:30 p.m. $12.  

Frank Jackson Quartet, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $15.  

"Vocal Jam Session," Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m. $5-$10.  

Esencia, Sept. 26, 4:30 p.m. $20.  

Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise  

noted. 2087 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-5373, www.jazzschool.com.< 

 

JUPITER --  

"Americana Unplugged," 5 p.m. Sundays. A weekly  

bluegrass and Americana series.  

"Jazzschool Tuesdays," 8 p.m. Tuesdays. Featuring the  

ensembles from the Berkeley Jazzschool. www.jazzschool.com. 

8 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-8277,  

www.jupiterbeer.com.< 

 

KIMBALL'S CARNIVAL --  

"Monday Blues Legends Night," 8 p.m.-midnight. Enjoy  

live blues music every Monday night. Presented by the Bay Area Blues Society  

and Lothario Lotho Company. $5 donation. (510) 836-2227,  

www.bayareabluessociety.net. 

522 2nd St., Jack London Square, Oakland. < 

 

SHATTUCK DOWN LOW -- For ages 21 and older. 

"Live Salsa," Wednesdays. An evening of dancing to the  

music of a live salsa band. Salsa dance lessons from 8-9:30 p.m. $5-$10.  

"Thirsty Thursdays," 9 p.m. Thursdays. Featuring DJ  

Vickity Slick and Franky Fresh. Free.  

Cash'd Out, Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. $10-$15.  

Rumbache, Sept. 22, 8 p.m. $10.  

Signal Path, Blockhead, Nocando, Sept. 24, 9 p.m. $12-$15.  

2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-1159,  

www.shattuckdownlow.com.< 

 

STARRY PLOUGH PUB --  

The Starry Irish Music Session led by Shay Black,  

Sundays, 8 p.m. Sliding scale.  

Puppet Radio, Ten Ton Chicken, Beercraft, Sept. 17, 9 p.m. $10.  

Amendola vs Blades, Interstellar Grains, Cash Pony, Sept. 18, 9  

p.m. $8.  

Deborah Crooks, Kwame Copeland Band, The Secret Identities, Sept.  

23, 9 p.m.  

$8.  

The Unreal Band, Naked Barbies, Sept. 24, 9 p.m.  

Happy Clams, Goatfluffer, Lick, Sept. 25, 9 p.m. $8.  

For ages 21 and over unless otherwise noted. Sunday and Wednesday,  

8 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck  

Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082, www.starryploughpub.com.< 

 

UPTOWN NIGHTCLUB --  

NoMeansNo, Sept. 17, 9 p.m. $15.  

Riverboat Gamblers, Hounds & Harlots, Girls With Guns, Sept. 21, 8  

p.m.  

$10.  

Blood Fountain, White Lighter, Night Genes, Fleeting Trance, Sept.  

22, 9 p.m. Free.  

Fleshies, Mystic Knights of the Cobra, Bobby Joe Ebola and the  

Children MacNuggits, Sept. 24, 9 p.m. $10.  

Ice Cube, Del The Funky Homosapien, Sept. 25, 9 p.m. $50.  

1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 451-8100,  

www.uptownnightclub.com.< 

 

YOSHI'S --  

Les Nubians, Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, 8 and 10 p.m. Sat.; 2 and 7  

p.m. Sun.  

$5-$30.  

Ken Berman Trio, Sept. 20, 8 p.m. $16.  

Fred Hersch, Nancy King, Sept. 21, 8 and 10 p.m. $10-$20.  

Charles Lloyd New Quartet, Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, 8 and 10 p.m.  

$26.  

Geri Allen, Sept. 24 through Sept. 26, 8 and 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 2  

and 7 p.m. Sun. $5-$24.  

Shows are Monday through Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7  

p.m., unless otherwise noted. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. (510) 238-9200,  

www.yoshis.com.< 

"ROCKRIDGE OUT AND ABOUT STREET FESTIVAL," -- Sept. 26. A street  

festival featuring live music, fashion shows, kid's fun, wellness activities,  

food and drink, dancing and more. Event takes place on College Avenue between  

Alcatraz and Manila. 

Free.Noon-6 p.m.www.rockridgeoutandabout.com.< 

 

ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS --  

"Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show," Sept. 17 through  

Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. Hundreds of vendors  

featuring specialty items, jewelry, glassware, clothing, food and much more.  

Entertainment includes music and a "KidZone'' for families to participate in  

arts-focused activities. $4-$9; children 12 and under free.  

www.harvestfestival.com. 

4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 426-7600,  

www.alamedacountyfair.com.< 

 

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM -- Ardenwood farm is a working farm that  

dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a  

mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming  

techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with  

regular admission.  

ONGOING PROGRAMS --  

"Blacksmithing," Thursday, Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Watch a blacksmith turn iron into useful tools.  

"Horse-Drawn Train," Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A 20-minute  

ride departs from Ardenwood Station and Deer Park.  

"Animal Feeding," Thursday-Sunday, 3-4 p.m. Help slop the hogs,  

check the henhouse for eggs and bring hay to the livestock.  

"Victorian Flower Arranging," Thursday, 10:15-11:30 a.m. Watch as  

Ardenwood docents create floral works of art for display in the Patterson  

House.  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Toddler Time," Tuesdays, 11-11:30 a.m. Bring the tiny  

tots out for an exciting morning at the farm. Meet and learn all about a new  

animal friend through stories, chores and fun.  

"Animal Feeding," Thursday-Sunday, 3 p.m. Feed the pigs,  

check for eggs and bring hay to the livestock. 

"Country Kitchen Cookin'," Sundays, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.  

Enjoy the flavor of the past with treats cooked on Ardenwood's wood burning  

stove. Sample food grown on the farm and discover the history of your  

favorite oldtime snacks. 

"Horse-Drawn Train Rides," Thursday, Friday and Sunday,  

10:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Meet Jigs or Tucker the Belgian Draft horses that pull  

Ardenwood's train. Check the daily schedule and meet the train at Ardenwood  

Station or Deer Park. 

"Potato Harvesting," Learn the spectacular history of  

this New World native as you dig with your spade and help find the spuds. 

$1-$5; free children under age 4. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  

34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont. (510) 796-0199, (510) 796-0663,  

www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BAY POINT LIBRARY --  

"Monthly Craft Night," 4-5 p.m. Last Friday of every  

month. Each month features a different themed craft.  

Riverview Middle School, 205 Pacifica Ave., Pittsburg. (925)  

458-9597.< 

 

BLACKHAWK MUSEUM --  

AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent exhibition of  

internationally renowned automobiles dated from 1897 to the 1980s. The cars  

are displayed as works of art with room to walk completely around each car to  

admire the workmanship. On long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institution is  

a Long Steam Tricycle; an 1893-94 Duryea, the first Duryea built by the  

Duryea brothers; and a 1948 Tucker, number 39 of the 51 Tuckers built, which  

is a Model 48 "Torpedo'' four-door sedan.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"International Automotive Treasures," An ever-changing  

exhibit featuring over 90 automobiles.  

"A Journey on Common Ground," An exhibit of moving  

photographs, video and art objects from around the world exploring the causes  

of disability and the efforts of the Wheelchair Foundation to provide a  

wheelchair for every person in need who cannot afford one.  

ONGOING EVENT --  

Free Public Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Docent-led guided  

tours of the museum's exhibitions. 

$5-$8; free for children ages 6 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10  

a.m.-5 p.m. 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. (925) 736-2280, (925)  

736-2277, www.blackhawkmuseum.org.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER -- State-of-the-art facility  

unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive  

exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing  

and films. 

ASK JEEVES PLANETARIUM -- The planetarium features one of  

the most advanced star projectors in the world. A daily planetarium show is  

included with general admission. Call for current show schedule.  

"Space NOW!", Each week, this real-time ride through  

constellations, stars, and planets will reflect current happenings in our  

sky. Space NOW! will also tie in activities going on throughout the center.  

This is Chabot's first daytime guided tour of the universe. 

"Tales Of The Maya Skies," "Tales of the Maya Skies'' is  

a new full-dome planetarium show that explores the cosmology of the ancient  

Maya, along with their culture and their contributions to astronomy. Starts  

November 21. 

"Astronaut," What does it take to be part of the  

exploration of space? Experience a rocket launch from inside the body of an  

astronaut. Explore the amazing worlds of inner and outer space, from floating  

around the International Space Station to maneuvering through microscopic  

regions of the human body. Narrated by Ewan McGregor. 25 min. 

"Immersive Space: Fly Through the Cosmos," Fridays, 8  

p.m. Experience the "digital universe'' in a new full-dome system. Travel to  

the nearest star and beyond in seconds. 

"The Sky Tonight," Saturdays, 8 p.m. Take a live tour of  

the starry sky overhead on the night of your visit. The show includes a look  

at constellations, planets and special celestial objects. 

"Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity," Take a ride  

to the inside of a massive black hole and learn about the latest scientific  

evidence, which suggests that black holes are real. Narrated by Liam Neeson.  

Suitable for age 12 and older. Free with General Admission ticket. 

"Sonic Vision," Friday-Saturday, 9:15 p.m. This show  

uses the latest digital technology to illuminate the planetarium with  

colorful computer-generated imagery set to today's popular music, including  

Radiohead, U2, David Bowie, Coldplay, Moby and more. 

"Sunshine," A 15-minute planetarium show for children  

ages 5 and under. In the show, Sunshine, a lovable animated cartoon of the  

Sun, urges children to sing and play along with his tricks. In the process,  

he introduces the colors of the day sky and the other suns of the night sky.  

Free with regular general admission. 

"The Search for Life: Are We Alone?" A voyage from the  

ocean deep to the outer reaches of the cosmos in search of life, narrated by  

Harrison Ford. 

"Secret of the Cardboard Rocket," Take a journey through  

the solar system with two young adventurers who turn an old cardboard box  

into a rocket. Recommended for ages 5-10. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

"Chabot Observatories: A View to the Stars," This new  

permanent exhibit honors the 123-year history of Chabot and its telescopes.  

The observatory is one of the oldest public observatories in the United  

States. The exhibit covers the three different sites of the observatory over  

its history as well as how its historic telescopes continue to be operated  

today. Included are informative graphic panels, multimedia kiosks,  

interactive computer programs, hands-on stations, and historic artifacts. 

"Dinner, Movie and the Universe," Every Friday and  

Saturday evening. Enjoy a bistro-style dinner, then cozy up for a film in the  

70-foot MegaDome theater and end the evening with a telescope viewing. Call  

to purchase general admission tickets and to make dinner reservations. (510)  

336-7373. 

Telescope Visions Class, 7 p.m. This course introduces  

participants to the astronomer's main tool: the telescope. Classes are held  

in the Galileo Room twice monthly. $85-$95; reservations required. (510)  

336-7373. 

TIEN MEGADOME SCIENCE THEATER -- A 70-foot dome-screen  

auditorium. Show times subject to change. Call for current show schedule.  

Price with paid general admission is $6-$7. Theater only: $7-$8. (510)  

336-7373, www.ticketweb.com. 

"Dinosaurs Alive," A global adventure of science and  

discovery, featuring the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period to the  

monsters of the Cretaceous, "reincarnated" life-sized for the giant screen.  

Audiences will journey with some of the world's preeminent paleontologists as  

they uncover evidence that the descendents of dinosaurs still walk (or fly)  

among us. From the exotic, trackless expanses and sand dunes of Mongolia's  

Gobi Desert to the dramatic sandstone buttes of New Mexico, the film will  

follow American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) paleontologists as they  

explore some of the greatest dinosaur finds in history. 

"The Living Sea," The film celebrates the beauty, power  

and importance of the ocean. Produced in association with The National  

Maritime Center, the Ocean Film Network and Dr. Robert Ballard. 

"The Human Body," This show explores the daily  

biological processes that go on in the human body without our control and  

often without our notice. This amazing story is revealed in detail on the  

giant screen. 

"Cosmic Voyage," A breathtaking journey through time and  

space. Zoom from the surface of the Earth to the largest observable  

structures of the Universe and back down to the sub-nuclear realm, a guided  

tour across some 42 orders of magnitude. Explore some of the greatest  

scientific theories, many of which have never before been visualized on film. 

"Forces of Nature," This film showcases the awesome  

spectacle of earthquakes, volcanoes, and severe storms as scientists continue  

their quests to understand how these natural disasters are triggered. 

Center Admission: $14.95; $10.95 children 3-12; free children  

under 3; $3 discount for seniors and students. Telescope viewing only: free.  

Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday,  

11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000  

Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND -- A fairy tale theme park featuring more  

than 30 colorful fantasy sets. Designed especially for children ages 10 and  

under, there are gentle rides, a train, the "Peter Rabbit Village,'' puppet  

shows, story-telling and lots of slides and animals. Admission price includes  

unlimited rides, special shows, guest entertainers and puppet shows.  

OLD WEST JUNCTION -- Children's Fairyland's newest attraction is a  

Wild West-themed town sized just for children, with a livery stable, bank,  

jail and a water tower slide.  

PUPPET SHOWS -- Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.  

All shows are at the Open Storybook Theatre. Free with regular Fairyland  

admission.  

ARTS AND CRAFTS CENTER -- Activities on Saturday and Sunday, noon  

to 3 p.m.  

ANIMAL OF THE DAY -- Saturday and Sunday, 1-1:20 p.m. at the  

Humpty Dumpty Wall. Learn about one of Fairyland's animal friends. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Animal of the Day!" Saturdays and Sundays, 1-1:20 p.m.  

Come up close and learn about Fairyland's creatures. 

"Arts and Crafts," Noon-3 p.m. Event features arts and  

crafts projects for children and their families. $6. 

$6; free for children under age 1; $2 for a Magic Key. No adult  

admitted without a child and no child admitted without an adult. Summer (June  

through Labor Day): Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday and  

Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fall and Spring: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.  

to 4 p.m.; Winter: Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. CLOSED DEC.  

25-JAN. 4. 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. (510) 452-2259, www.fairyland.org.< 

 

CRAB COVE VISITOR CENTER -- At Crab Cove, you can see live  

underwater creatures and go into the San Francisco Bay from land. You can  

also travel back in time to Alameda's part. The goal is to increase  

understanding of the environmental importance of San Francisco Bay and the  

ocean ecosystem. Crab Cove's Indoor Aquarium and Exhibit Lab is one of the  

largest indoor aquariums in the East Bay. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sea Siblings," Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Explore  

the natural world and take part in a theme related craft. Designed for the  

3-5 year old learner. Registration is required. $4. (888) 327-2757. 

"Catch of the Day," Sundays, 2-3 p.m. Drop by to find  

out more about the Bay and its wildlife through guided exploration and  

hands-on fun. 

"Sea Squirts," 10-11:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  

Discover the wonders of nature with your little one. Registration is  

required. $6-$8. 

Free unless otherwise noted; parking fee may be charged. 1252  

McKay Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-6887, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE -- Nestled in  

the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the  

37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron  

Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped  

gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available  

yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the  

public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the  

grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday  

of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11  

a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland.  

(510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

EPWORTH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH --  

"A Celebration of Bats," Sept. 21, 2 p.m. Maggie Hooper from the  

California Bat Conservation Fund talks about this often misunderstood animal.  

www.berkeleygardenclub.org. 

1953 Hopkins St., Berkeley. (510) 524-4374.< 

 

FIREHOUSE ARTS CENTER --  

"Grand Opening," Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The public is invited  

to help dedicate the new Firehouse Arts Center with artist demonstrations,  

live music, theater performances, tours, art activities for kids and  

refreshments. Free.  

4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. (925) 931-4848,  

www.firehousearts.org.< 

 

FOREST HOME FARMS -- The 16-acre former farm of the Boone  

family is now a municipal historic park in San Ramon. It is located at the  

base of the East Bay Hills and is divided into two parts by Oak Creek. The  

Boone House is a 22-room Dutch colonial that has been remodeled several times  

since it was built in 1900. Also on the property are a barn built in the  

period from 1850 to 1860; the Victorian-style David Glass House, dating from  

the late 1860s to early 1870s; a storage structure for farm equipment and  

automobiles; and a walnut processing plant. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Public tours available by  

appointment. 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon. (925) 973-3281,  

www.ci.sanramon. ca.us/parks/boone.htm.< 

 

HABITOT CHILDREN'S MUSEUM -- A museum especially for children ages  

7 and under. Highlights include "WaterWorks,'' an area with some unusual  

water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a  

child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior  

thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Waterworks." A water play gallery with rivers, a pumping station  

and a water table, designed to teach about water.  

"Little Town Grocery and Cafe." Designed to create the ambience  

of shopping in a grocery store and eating in a restaurant.  

"Infant-Toddler Garden." A picket fence gated indoor area, which  

includes a carrot patch with wooden carrots to be harvested, a pretend pond  

and a butterfly mobile to introduce youngsters to the concept of food,  

gardening and agriculture.  

"Dramatic Arts Stage." Settings, backdrops and costumes coincide  

with seasonal events and holidays. Children can exercise their dramatic flair  

here.  

"Wiggle Wall." The floor-to-ceiling "underground'' tunnels give  

children a worm's eye view of the world. The tunnels are laced with net  

covered openings and giant optic lenses. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$6-$7. Wednesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Friday and  

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Closed Sunday-Tuesday. 2065 Kittredge St.,  

Berkeley. (510) 647-1111, www.habitot.org.< 

 

HALL OF HEALTH -- A community health-education museum and  

science center promoting wellness and individual responsibility for health.  

There are hands-on exhibits that teach about the workings of the human body,  

the value of a healthy diet and exercise, and the destructive effects of  

smoking and drug abuse. "Kids on the Block'' puppet shows, which use puppets  

from diverse cultures to teach about and promote acceptance of conditions  

such as cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, leukemia, blindness, arthritis and  

spina bifida, are available by request for community events and groups  

visiting the Hall on Saturdays.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"This Is Your Heart!" An interactive exhibit on heart  

health.  

"Good Nutrition," This exhibit includes models for  

making balanced meals and an Exercycle for calculating how calories are  

burned.  

"Draw Your Own Insides," Human-shaped chalkboards and  

models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their  

bodies.  

"Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention," An exhibit  

on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent  

cancer. 

Suggested $3 donation; free for children under age 3.  

Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510)  

549-1564, www.hallofhealth.org.< 

 

HAYWARD SHORELINE INTERPRETIVE CENTER -- Perched on stilts above a  

salt marsh, the Center offers an introduction to the San Francisco  

Bay-Estuary. It features exhibits, programs and activities designed to  

inspire a sense of appreciation, respect and stewardship for the Bay, its  

inhabitants and the services they provide. The Habitat Room offers a preview  

of what may be seen outside. The 80-gallon Bay Tank contains some of the fish  

that live in the Bay's open waters, and the Channel Tank represents habitats  

formed by the maze of sloughs and creeks that snake through the marsh. The  

main room of the Center features rotating exhibits about area history, plants  

and wildlife. Part of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Exploring Nature," An exhibit of Shawn Gould's  

illustrations featuring images of the natural world. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Weekend Weed Warriors," 1-4 p.m. Help the shoreline to  

eliminate the non-native plants that threaten its diversity. Ages 12 and  

older. Registration required. 

"Waterfowl of the Freshwater Marsh," 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Join  

an expert birder to go "behind the gates'' to areas of the marsh that are not  

open to the public. 

"Nature Detectives," 11 a.m.-noon. An introduction and  

exploration of the world of Black-Crowned Night-Herons. Ages 3-5 and their  

caregivers. Registration required. 

Free. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4901 Breakwater Ave.,  

Hayward. (510) 670-7270, www.hard.dst.ca.us/hayshore.html.< 

 

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY --  

"Shabbat Celebration for Young Children," Saturday,  

10:30 a.m.-noon. Join other families with young children to sharethis weekly  

Jewish holiday of joy and renewal.  

1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 848-0237,  

http://www.jcceastbay.org/.< 

 

JUNIOR CENTER OF ART AND SCIENCE -- A center dedicated to  

encouraging children's active wonder and creative response through artistic  

and scientific exploration of their natural urban environment. The center's  

classes, workshops, exhibits and events integrate art and science.  

EXHIBITS -- Three educational exhibits are mounted in the  

"Children's Gallery'' each year. A docent-led tour, demonstrations, hands-on  

activities and art projects are available to school groups throughout the  

year.  

"Jake's Discovery Garden," Jake's Discovery Garden is a  

new interactive studio exhibit designed for preschool-aged children and their  

adult caregivers that teaches young visitors about the natural environments  

found in their backyards, playgrounds and neighborhoods. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

Free; programs and special exhibits have a fee. September through  

May: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

June through August: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 558  

Bellevue Ave., Oakland. (510) 839-5777, www.juniorcenter.org.< 

 

LAKE CHABOT REGIONAL PARK -- The 315-acre lake offers  

year-round recreation. Services include canoe and boat rental, horseshoe  

pits, hiking, bicycling, picnicking and seasonal tours aboard the Chabot  

Queen. For boat rentals, call (510) 247-2526. 

Free unless noted otherwise; $5 parking; $2 per dog except  

guide/service dogs. Daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 17930 Lake Chabot Road, Castro  

Valley. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE --  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"NanoZone," Discover the science of the super-small:  

nanotechnology. Through hands-on activities and games, explore this  

microworld and the scientific discoveries made in this area.  

"Forces That Shape the Bay," A science park that shows  

and explains why the San Francisco Bay is the way it is, with information on  

water, erosion, plate tectonics and mountain building. You can ride  

earthquake simulators, set erosion in motion and look far out into the bay  

with a powerful telescope from 1,100 feet above sea level. The center of the  

exhibit is a waterfall that demonstrates how water flows from the Sierra  

Nevada Mountains to the Bay. Visitors can control where the water goes. There  

are also hands-on erosion tables, and a 40-foot-long, 6-foothigh, rock  

compression wall.  

"Real Astronomy Experience," A new  

exhibit-in-development allowing visitors to use the tools that real  

astronomers use. Aim a telescope at a virtual sky and operate a  

remote-controlled telescope to measure a planet.  

"Biology Lab," In the renovated Biology Lab visitors may  

hold and observe gentle animals. Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 1:30 p.m. to  

4 p.m.  

"The Idea Lab," Experiment with some of the basics of  

math, science and technology through hands-on activities and demonstrations  

of magnets, spinning and flying, puzzles and nanotechnology.  

"Math Around the World," Play some of the world's most  

popular math games, such as Hex, Kalah, Game Sticks and Shongo Networks.  

"Math Rules," Use simple and colorful objects to  

complete interesting challenges in math through predicting, sorting,  

comparing, weighing and counting.  

HOLT PLANETARIUM -- Shows on Saturdays and Sundays.  

Programs recommended for ages 6 and up unless otherwise noted. $2.50-$3 in  

addition to general admission.  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132,  

www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM -- This is the oldest and largest wildlife  

rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned  

animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum  

offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals  

to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum  

includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent  

exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild  

animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital  

complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory  

facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping  

and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The  

hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned  

animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there  

are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. June 16-Sept. 15: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

Wed.-Sun.; Sept. 16-June 15: noon.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.  

1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF CHILDREN'S ART -- A museum of art for and by children,  

with activities for children to participate in making their own art.  

ART CAMPS -- Hands-on activities and engaging curriculum for  

children of different ages, led by professional artists and staff. $60 per  

day.  

CLASSES -- A Sunday series of classes for children ages 8 to 12,  

led by Mocha artists. Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  

OPEN STUDIOS -- Drop-in art play activities with new themes each  

week.  

"Big Studio." Guided art projects for children age 6 and older  

with a Mocha artist. Tuesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. $5.  

"Little Studio." A hands-on experience that lets young artists  

age 18 months to 5 years see, touch and manipulate a variety of media.  

Children can get messy. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5.  

"Family Weekend Studios." Drop-in art activities for the whole  

family. All ages welcome. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. $5 per child.  

FAMILY EXTRAVAGANZAS -- Special weekend workshops for the entire  

family.  

"Sunday Workshops with Illustrators," Sundays, 1 p.m. See the  

artwork and meet the artists who create children's book illustrations. Free. 

EVENTS --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For children ages 2-5. Free. 

SPECIAL EVENT --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For ages 2-5. Free. 

Free gallery admission. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.;  

Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 538 Ninth St., Oakland. (510) 465-8770,  

www.mocha.org.< 

 

OAKLAND ZOO -- The zoo includes a Children's Petting Zoo, the  

Skyride, a miniature train, a carousel, picnic grounds and a gift shop as  

well as the animals in site specific exhibits, which allow them to roam  

freely. Included are "The African Savanna,'' with its two huge mixed-animal  

aviaries and 11 African Savanna exhibits; the Mahali Pa Tembo (Place of the  

Elephant), with giraffes, chimpanzees and more than 330 other animals from  

around the world; "Simba Pori,'' Swahili for "Lion Country,'' a spacious  

1.5-acre habitat offering both a savanna and woodland setting for African  

lions; "Footprints from the Past,'' an anthropology exhibit showcasing four  

million years of human evolution and an actual "footpath'' of the first  

hominids to emerge from the African savanna; "Sun Bear Exhibit,'' a  

stateof-the-art space the zoo has developed for its two sun bears; and  

Siamang Island, a state-of-the-art, barrier-free area that emulates the  

gibbons' native tropical rain forest habitat. Also see the Malayan Fruit Bats  

from the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Florida that are now roosting in trees at  

the zoo. In addition there are special exhibits and events monthly.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," The three-acre attraction  

offers a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The  

exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and  

more. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

"Endangered Species," An exhibit of photographs about  

the most endangered animals on the Earth and what can be done to save them.  

At the Education Center. Open daily during zoo hours. ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The  

three-acre attraction will offer a completely interactive experience for both  

children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters,  

reptiles, insects and more. Free with regular Zoo admission.  

"Wildlife Theater," Saturday, 11:45 a.m.; Sunday, 1:45  

p.m. On Saturday mornings listen to a story and meet a live animal. On Sunday  

afternoon meet live animals and learn cool facts about them. Meet in the  

Lobby of the Zoo's Maddie's Center for Science and Environmental Education.  

Free with regular Zoo admission. (510) 632-9525, ext. 142. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Bedtime with the Beasts," Sept. 18 through Sept. 19 and Sept. 25  

through Sept. 26, 7 p.m.-9 a.m. An overnight program for youth (ages 6-18)  

and their chaperones. An Oakland Zoo education specialist will lead your  

group on an evening hike around the zoo where you'll get to see what the zoo  

is like after all of the guests leave. Program includes an optional  

educational wildlife video and continental breakfast. $60 per person; Minimum  

group size 15, pre-registration required. (510) 632-9525. 

$7.50-11; free children under age 2; $6 parking fee. Daily, 10  

a.m.-4 p.m. Knowland Park, 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland. (510) 632-9525,  

www.oaklandzoo.org.< 

 

POINT PINOLE REGIONAL SHORELINE -- The 2,315-acre  

parkland bordering Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo offers views of Mount  

Tamalpais, the Marin shoreline and San Pablo Bay. There are trails through  

meadows and woods, and along the bluffs and beaches of San Pablo Bay.  

Visitors can hike, ride bikes or take the park's shuttle bus to reach the  

1,250-foot fishing pier at Point Pinole. 

$5 per vehicle; $4 per trailered vehicle; $2 per dog  

(guide/service dogs free). Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted.  

Giant Highway, Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

ROBERT SIBLEY VOLCANIC REGIONAL PRESERVE -- East Bay  

residents have several volcanoes in their backyard. This park contains Round  

Top, one of the highest peaks in the Oakland Hills. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 6800 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SHADOW CLIFFS REGIONAL RECREATION AREA -- The 296-acre  

park includes an 80-acre lake and a four-flume waterslide, with picnic  

grounds and a swimming beach. Water slide fees and hours: (925) 829-6230. 

$6 per vehicle; $2 per dog except guide and service dogs. May 1  

through Labor Day: daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; shortened hours for fall and  

winter. Stanley Boulevard, one mile from downtown, Pleasanton. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SULPHUR CREEK NATURE CENTER -- A wildlife rehabilitation and  

education facility where injured and orphaned local wild creatures are  

rehabilitated and released when possible. There is also a lending library of  

animals such as guinea pigs, rats, mice and more. The lending fee is $8 per  

week.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Toddler Time," Learn about animals by listening to  

stories and exploring. Themes vary by month. Call for schedule. $7 per  

family.  

"Day on the Green Animal Presentations," Meet an  

assortment of wild and domestic animals. Wildlife volunteers will present a  

different animal each day from possums to snakes, tortoises to hawks.  

Saturday and Sunday, 2:30 p.m. 

CHILDREN'S EVENTS --  

Free. Park: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Discovery Center:  

Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Animal Lending Library: Saturday-Sunday,  

10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: daily, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 1801  

D St., Hayward. (510) 881-6747, www.haywardrec.org/sulphur_creek.html.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM -- Come aboard this World War II aircraft  

carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched  

in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was  

never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of  

enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11  

space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later  

recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic  

Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today,  

visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and  

experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are  

being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear  

comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in  

layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for  

the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not  

allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Limited Access Day," Due to ship maintenance, tours of  

the navigation bridge and the engine room are not available. Tuesdays.  

"Flight Deck Fun," A former Landing Signal Officer will  

show children how to bring in a fighter plane for a landing on the deck then  

let them try the signals themselves. Times vary. Free with regular Museum  

admission.  

"Protestant Divine Services," Hornet chaplain John  

Berger conducts church services aboard The Hornet in the Wardroom Lounge.  

Everyone is welcome and refreshments are served immediately following the  

service. Sundays, 11 a.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Closed on New Year's Day. 

"Family Day," Discounted admission for families of four  

with a further discount for additional family members. Access to some of the  

areas may be limited due to ship maintenance. Every Tuesday. $20 for family  

of four; $5 for each additional family member. 

"Family Overnight Experience," Sept. 17 through. Enjoy the  

ultimate family experience by spending the night onboard the aircraft carrier  

USS Hornet. Tour the ship at night, hear fascinating ghost stories, sleep in  

bunks and have fun learning about history! Call for reservations. (510)  

521-8448 X280. 

"Flashlight Tour," 8:30 a.m. Receive a special tour of  

areas aboard the ship that have not yet been opened to the public or that  

have limited access during the day. $30-$35 per person. 

"History Mystery After Hours Tour," 7 p.m.-10 p.m.  

Explore the USS Hornet after hours and learn the history of this ship while  

it is illuminated in red lights used for "night ops." Also, hear stories  

about the ships' legendary haunts. Reservations required. (510) 521-8448  

X282. 

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily,  

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda.  

(510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.< 

 

WATERWORLD CALIFORNA -- ` 

$19.95-$31.95 General Admission; Season pass: $39.99-$59.99. Park  

closes in October and reopens in May. 1950 Waterworld Parkway,, Concord.  

(925) 609-1364, www.waterworldcalifornia.com.< 

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM -- Ardenwood farm is a working farm that  

dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a  

mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming  

techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with  

regular admission.  

ONGOING PROGRAMS --  

"Blacksmithing," Thursday, Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Watch a blacksmith turn iron into useful tools.  

"Horse-Drawn Train," Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A 20-minute  

ride departs from Ardenwood Station and Deer Park.  

"Animal Feeding," Thursday-Sunday, 3-4 p.m. Help slop the hogs,  

check the henhouse for eggs and bring hay to the livestock.  

"Victorian Flower Arranging," Thursday, 10:15-11:30 a.m. Watch as  

Ardenwood docents create floral works of art for display in the Patterson  

House.  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Horse-Drawn Train Rides," Thursday, Friday and Sunday,  

10:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Meet Jigs or Tucker the Belgian Draft horses that pull  

Ardenwood's train. Check the daily schedule and meet the train at Ardenwood  

Station or Deer Park. 

"Country Kitchen Cookin'," Sundays, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.  

Enjoy the flavor of the past with treats cooked on Ardenwood's wood burning  

stove. Sample food grown on the farm and discover the history of your  

favorite oldtime snacks. 

"Animal Feeding," Thursday-Sunday, 3 p.m. Feed the pigs,  

check for eggs and bring hay to the livestock. 

"Toddler Time," Tuesdays, 11-11:30 a.m. Bring the tiny  

tots out for an exciting morning at the farm. Meet and learn all about a new  

animal friend through stories, chores and fun.  

"Potato Harvesting," Learn the spectacular history of  

this New World native as you dig with your spade and help find the spuds. 

$1-$5; free children under age 4. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  

34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont. (510) 796-0199, (510) 796-0663,  

www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BAY AREA RAIL TRAILS -- A network of trails converted  

from unused railway corridors and developed by the Rails to Trails  

Conservancy.  

BLACK DIAMOND MINES REGIONAL PRESERVE RAILROAD BED TRAIL --  

This easy one mile long rail trail on Mount Diablo leads to many  

historic sites within the preserve. Suitable for walking, horseback riding,  

and mountain biking. Accessible year round but may be muddy during the rainy  

season. Enter from the Park Entrance Station parking lot on the East side of  

Somersville Road, Antioch.  

IRON HORSE REGIONAL TRAIL -- The paved trail has grown  

into a 23 mile path between Concord and San Ramon with a link into Dublin.  

The trail runs from the north end of Monument Boulevard at Mohr Lane, east to  

Interstate 680, in Concord through Walnut Creek to just south of Village  

Green Park in San Ramon. It will eventually extend from Suisun Bay to  

Pleasanton and has been nominated as a Community Millennium Trail under the  

U.S. Millennium Trails program. A smooth shaded trail suitable for walkers,  

cyclists, skaters and strollers. It is also wheelchair accessible.  

Difficulty: easy to moderate in small chunks; hard if taken as a whole.  

LAFAYETTE/MORAGA REGIONAL TRAIL -- A 7.65 mile paved  

trail converted from the Sacramento Northern Rail line. This 20-year old  

trail goes along Las Trampas Creek and parallels St. Mary's Road. Suitable  

for walkers, equestrians, and cyclists. Runs from Olympic Boulevard and  

Pleasant Hill Road in Lafayette to Moraga. The trail can be used year round.  

OHLONE GREENWAY -- A 3.75-mile paved trail converted from  

the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway. Suitable for walkers, strollers  

and skaters. It is also wheelchair accessible. The trail runs under elevated  

BART tracks from Conlon and Key Streets in El Cerrito to Virginia and Acton  

Streets in Berkeley.  

SHEPHERD CANYON TRAIL -- An easy 3-mile paved trail  

converted from the Sacramento Northern Rail Line. The tree-lined trail is  

gently sloping and generally follows Shepherd Canyon Road. Suitable for  

walkers and cyclists. It is also wheelchair accessible. Begins in Montclair  

Village behind McCaulou's Department Store on Medau Place and ends at Paso  

Robles Drive, Oakland. Useable year round. 

Free. (415) 397-2220, www.traillink.com.< 

 

BAY AREA RIDGE TRAIL -- The Bay Area Ridge Trail, when  

completed, will be a 400-mile regional trail system that will form a loop  

around the entire San Francisco Bay region, linking 75 public parks and open  

spaces to thousands of people and hundreds of communities. Hikes on portions  

of the trail are available through the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. Call for  

meeting sites.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

ALAMEDA COUNTY -- "Lake Chabot Bike Rides." These rides are for  

strong beginners and intermediates to build skill, strength and endurance at  

a non hammerhead pace. No one will be dropped. Reservations required.  

Distance: 14 miles. Elevation gain: 1,000 feet. Difficulty: beginner to  

intermediate. Pace: moderate. Meeting place: Lake Chabot Road at the main  

entrance to the park. Thursday, 6:15 a.m. (510) 468-3582.  

ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA COUNTY -- "Tilden and Wildcat Bike Rides." A  

vigorous ride through Tilden and Wildcat Canyon regional parks. Reservations  

required. Distance: 15 miles. Elevation gain: 2,000 feet. Difficulty:  

intermediate. Pace: fast. Meeting place: in front of the North Berkeley BART  

Station. Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. (510) 849-9650. 

Free. (415) 561-2595, www.ridgetrail.org.< 

 

BICYCLE TRAILS COUNCIL OF THE EAST BAY -- The Council  

sponsors trail work days, Youth Bike Adventure Rides, and Group Rides as well  

as Mountain Bike Basics classes which cover training and handling skills.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Weekly Wednesday Ride at Lake Chabot," Wednesdays, 6:30  

p.m. A 13- to 20-mile ride exploring the trails around Lake Chabot, with  

1,500 to 2,000 feet of climbing. Meet at 6:15 p.m. in the parking lot across  

from the public safety offices at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. Reservations  

requested. (510) 727-0613.  

"Weekly Wednesday 'Outer' East Bay Ride," Wednesdays,  

5:30 p.m. Ride some of the outer East Bay parks each week, such as Wild Cat  

Canyon, Briones, Mount Diablo, Tilden and Joaquin Miller-Redwood. Meeting  

place and ride location vary. Reservations required. (510) 888-9757. 

Free. (510) 466-5123, www.btceb.org.< 

 

BOTANIC GARDEN --  

EVENTS --  

Intersection of Wildcat Canyon Road and South Park Drive, Tilden  

Regional Park, Berkeley. www.ebparks.org.< 

 

CRAB COVE VISITOR CENTER -- At Crab Cove, you can see live  

underwater creatures and go into the San Francisco Bay from land. You can  

also travel back in time to Alameda's part. The goal is to increase  

understanding of the environmental importance of San Francisco Bay and the  

ocean ecosystem. Crab Cove's Indoor Aquarium and Exhibit Lab is one of the  

largest indoor aquariums in the East Bay. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sea Siblings," Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Explore  

the natural world and take part in a theme related craft. Designed for the  

3-5 year old learner. Registration is required. $4. (888) 327-2757. 

"Catch of the Day," Sundays, 2-3 p.m. Drop by to find  

out more about the Bay and its wildlife through guided exploration and  

hands-on fun. 

"Sea Squirts," 10-11:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  

Discover the wonders of nature with your little one. Registration is  

required. $6-$8. 

Free unless otherwise noted; parking fee may be charged. 1252  

McKay Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-6887, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE -- Nestled in  

the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the  

37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron  

Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped  

gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available  

yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the  

public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the  

grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday  

of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11  

a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland.  

(510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

FIFTY-PLUS ADVENTURE WALKS AND RUNS -- The walks and runs  

are 3-mile round-trips, lasting about one hour on the trail. All levels of  

ability are welcome. The walks are brisk, however, and may include some  

uphill terrain. Events are held rain or shine and on all holidays except  

Christmas and the Fifty-Plus Annual Fitness Weekend. Call for dates, times  

and details. 

Free. (650) 323-6160, www.50plus.org.< 

 

FOREST HOME FARMS -- The 16-acre former farm of the Boone  

family is now a municipal historic park in San Ramon. It is located at the  

base of the East Bay Hills and is divided into two parts by Oak Creek. The  

Boone House is a 22-room Dutch colonial that has been remodeled several times  

since it was built in 1900. Also on the property are a barn built in the  

period from 1850 to 1860; the Victorian-style David Glass House, dating from  

the late 1860s to early 1870s; a storage structure for farm equipment and  

automobiles; and a walnut processing plant. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Public tours available by  

appointment. 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon. (925) 973-3281,  

www.ci.sanramon. ca.us/parks/boone.htm.< 

 

GARIN AND DRY CREEK PIONEER REGIONAL PARKS -- Independent  

nature study is encouraged here, and guided interpretive programs are  

available through the Coyote Hills Regional Park Visitor Center in Fremont.  

The Garin Barn Visitor Center is open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to  

4:30 p.m. In late summer, the Garin Apple Festival celebrates Garin's apple  

orchards. The parks also allow picnicking, hiking, horseback riding and  

fishing. 

Free; $5 parking fee per vehicle; $2 per dog. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10  

p.m. 1320 Garin Ave., Hayward. (510) 562-PARK, (510) 795-9385,  

www.ebparks.org/parks/garin.htm.< 

 

GREENBELT ALLIANCE OUTINGS -- A series of hikes, bike rides and  

events sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance, the Bay Area's non-profit land  

conservation and urban planning organization. Call for meeting places.  

Reservations required for all trips.  

ALAMEDA COUNTY --  

"Self-Guided Urban Outing: Berkeley," This interactive  

smart growth walking tour of central Berkeley examines some of the exciting  

projects that help alleviate the housing shortage in the city as well as  

amenities important to making a livable community. The walk, which includes  

the GAIA Cultural Center, Allston Oak Court, The Berkeley Bike Station,  

University Terrace and Strawberry Creek Park, takes between an hour-and-ahalf  

to two hours at a leisurely pace. Download the itinerary which gives specific  

directions by entering www.greeenbelt.org and clicking on "get involved'' and  

then "urban outings.'' Drop down and click on Berkeley. Free. 

Free unless otherwise noted. (415) 255-3233, www.greenbelt.org.< 

 

HAYWARD REGIONAL SHORELINE -- With 1,682 acres of salt, fresh and  

brackish water marshes, seasonal wetlands and the approximately three-mile  

San Lorenzo Trail, the Hayward Shoreline restoration project is one of the  

largest of its kind on the West Coast, comprising 400 acres of marshland.  

Part of the East Bay Regional Park District. 

EVENTS --  

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 3010 W. Winton Ave., Hayward. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org/parks/hayward.htm.< 

 

HAYWARD SHORELINE INTERPRETIVE CENTER -- Perched on stilts above a  

salt marsh, the Center offers an introduction to the San Francisco  

Bay-Estuary. It features exhibits, programs and activities designed to  

inspire a sense of appreciation, respect and stewardship for the Bay, its  

inhabitants and the services they provide. The Habitat Room offers a preview  

of what may be seen outside. The 80-gallon Bay Tank contains some of the fish  

that live in the Bay's open waters, and the Channel Tank represents habitats  

formed by the maze of sloughs and creeks that snake through the marsh. The  

main room of the Center features rotating exhibits about area history, plants  

and wildlife. Part of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Exploring Nature," An exhibit of Shawn Gould's  

illustrations featuring images of the natural world. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Nature Detectives," 11 a.m.-noon. An introduction and  

exploration of the world of Black-Crowned Night-Herons. Ages 3-5 and their  

caregivers. Registration required. 

"Weekend Weed Warriors," 1-4 p.m. Help the shoreline to  

eliminate the non-native plants that threaten its diversity. Ages 12 and  

older. Registration required. 

"Waterfowl of the Freshwater Marsh," 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Join  

an expert birder to go "behind the gates'' to areas of the marsh that are not  

open to the public. 

Free. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4901 Breakwater Ave.,  

Hayward. (510) 670-7270, www.hard.dst.ca.us/hayshore.html.< 

 

JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE -- The site preserves the 1882  

Muir House, a 17-room Victorian mansion where naturalist John Muir lived from  

1890 to his death in 1914. It was here that Muir wrote about preserving  

America's wilderness and helped create the national parks idea for the United  

States. The house is situated on a hill overlooking the City of Martinez and  

surrounded by nine acres of vineyards and orchards. Take a self-guided tour  

of this well-known Scottish naturalist's home. Also part of the site is the  

historic Martinez Adobe and Mount Wanda.  

ONGOING EVENT --  

Public Tours of the John Muir House, Begin with an  

eight-minute park film and then take the tour. The film runs every 15 minutes  

throughout the day. Wednesday through Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1  

p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.  

MOUNT WANDA -- The mountain consists of 325 acres of grass and oak  

woodland historically owned by the Muir family. It offers a nature trail and  

several fire trails for hiking. Open daily, sunrise to sunset. 

JOHN MUIR HOUSE, Tours of this well-known Scottish  

naturalist's home are available. The house, built in 1882, is a 14-room  

Victorian home situated on a hill overlooking the city of Martinez and  

surrounded by nine acres of vineyards and orchards. It was here that Muir  

wrote about preserving America's wilderness and helped create the national  

parks idea for the United States. The park also includes the historic Vicente  

Martinez Adobe, built in 1849. An eight-minute film about Muir and the site  

is shown every 15 minutes throughout the day at the Visitor Center. Self  

guided tours of the Muir home, the surrounding orchards, and the Martinez  

Adobe: Wednesday-Sunday, 1 a.m.-5 p.m. Public tours or the first floor of the  

Muir home: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.  

Reservations not required except for large groups.  

$3 general; free children ages 16 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10  

a.m.-5 p.m. 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez. (925) 228-8860, www.nps.gov/jomu.< 

 

KENNEDY GROVE REGIONAL RECREATION AREA -- The 95-acre  

park contains picnic areas, horseshoe pits and volleyball courts among its  

grove of aromatic eucalyptus trees.  

$5 parking; $2 per dog except guide/service dogs Through  

September: daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante. (510)  

223-7840, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LAKE CHABOT REGIONAL PARK -- The 315-acre lake offers  

year-round recreation. Services include canoe and boat rental, horseshoe  

pits, hiking, bicycling, picnicking and seasonal tours aboard the Chabot  

Queen. For boat rentals, call (510) 247-2526. 

Free unless noted otherwise; $5 parking; $2 per dog except  

guide/service dogs. Daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 17930 Lake Chabot Road, Castro  

Valley. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM -- This is the oldest and largest wildlife  

rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned  

animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum  

offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals  

to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum  

includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent  

exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild  

animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital  

complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory  

facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping  

and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The  

hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned  

animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there  

are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

EXHIBITS --  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. June 16-Sept. 15: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.  

Wed.-Sun.; Sept. 16-June 15: noon.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.  

1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

LIVERMORE AREA RECREATION AND PARK DISTRICT --  

4444 East Ave., Livermore. (925) 373-5700,  

http://www.larpd.dst.ca.us/.< 

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SHORELINE -- This 1,200-acre park  

situated near Oakland International Airport offers picnic areas with  

barbecues and a boat launch ramp. Swimming is not allowed. The Martin Luther  

King Jr. Memorial Grove, a group of trees surrounding a grassy glade, is at  

the intersection of Doolittle Drive and Swan Way. The area also includes the  

50-acre Arrowhead Marsh (part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve  

Network) and a Roger Berry sculpture titled "Duplex Cone,'' which traces the  

summer and winter solstice paths of the sun through the sky. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted Doolittle  

Drive and Swan Way, Oakland. (510) 562-PARK, Picnic reservations: (510)  

636-1684, www.ebayparks.org.< 

 

MILLER-KNOX REGIONAL SHORELINE -- A 295-acre shoreline  

picnic area with a secluded cove and swimming beach, and a hilltop offering  

panoramic views of the north Bay Area. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted. 900  

Dornan Dr., Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, Picnic Reservations: (510) 636-1684,  

www.ebparks.org.< 

 

MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK -- The 3,849-foot summit of Mount  

Diablo offers great views of the Bay Area and an extensive trail system.  

Visitors to the park can hike, bike, ride on horseback and camp. Notable park  

attractions include: The Fire Interpretive Trail, Rock City, Boy Scout Rocks  

and Sentinel Rock, Fossil Ridge, Deer Flat, Mitchell Canyon Staging Area,  

Diablo Valley Overlook, the Summit Visitor Center (open Wednesday through  

Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), the Art Gallery, the Observation Deck and the  

Mitchell Canyon Interpretive Center. 

Free. $6 per vehicle park-entrance fee; $5 for seniors. Daily, 8  

a.m. to sunset. Mount Diablo Scenic Boulevard, from the Diablo Road exit off  

Interstate Highway 680, Danville. (925) 837-2525, www.mdia.org or  

www.parks.ca.gov.< 

 

OAKLAND ZOO -- The zoo includes a Children's Petting Zoo, the  

Skyride, a miniature train, a carousel, picnic grounds and a gift shop as  

well as the animals in site specific exhibits, which allow them to roam  

freely. Included are "The African Savanna,'' with its two huge mixed-animal  

aviaries and 11 African Savanna exhibits; the Mahali Pa Tembo (Place of the  

Elephant), with giraffes, chimpanzees and more than 330 other animals from  

around the world; "Simba Pori,'' Swahili for "Lion Country,'' a spacious  

1.5-acre habitat offering both a savanna and woodland setting for African  

lions; "Footprints from the Past,'' an anthropology exhibit showcasing four  

million years of human evolution and an actual "footpath'' of the first  

hominids to emerge from the African savanna; "Sun Bear Exhibit,'' a  

stateof-the-art space the zoo has developed for its two sun bears; and  

Siamang Island, a state-of-the-art, barrier-free area that emulates the  

gibbons' native tropical rain forest habitat. Also see the Malayan Fruit Bats  

from the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Florida that are now roosting in trees at  

the zoo. In addition there are special exhibits and events monthly.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," The three-acre attraction  

offers a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The  

exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and  

more. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

"Endangered Species," An exhibit of photographs about  

the most endangered animals on the Earth and what can be done to save them.  

At the Education Center. Open daily during zoo hours. ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The  

three-acre attraction will offer a completely interactive experience for both  

children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters,  

reptiles, insects and more. Free with regular Zoo admission.  

"Wildlife Theater," Saturday, 11:45 a.m.; Sunday, 1:45  

p.m. On Saturday mornings listen to a story and meet a live animal. On Sunday  

afternoon meet live animals and learn cool facts about them. Meet in the  

Lobby of the Zoo's Maddie's Center for Science and Environmental Education.  

Free with regular Zoo admission. (510) 632-9525, ext. 142. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Bedtime with the Beasts," Sept. 18 through Sept. 19 and Sept. 25  

through Sept. 26, 7 p.m.-9 a.m. An overnight program for youth (ages 6-18)  

and their chaperones. An Oakland Zoo education specialist will lead your  

group on an evening hike around the zoo where you'll get to see what the zoo  

is like after all of the guests leave. Program includes an optional  

educational wildlife video and continental breakfast. $60 per person; Minimum  

group size 15, pre-registration required. (510) 632-9525. 

$7.50-11; free children under age 2; $6 parking fee. Daily, 10  

a.m.-4 p.m. Knowland Park, 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland. (510) 632-9525,  

www.oaklandzoo.org.< 

 

PLEASANTON RIDGE REGIONAL PARK -- This 3,163-acre  

parkland is on the oak-covered ridge overlooking Pleasanton and the Livermore  

Valley from the west. A multi-purpose trail system accommodates hikers,  

equestrians and bicyclists. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Foothill Road, Pleasanton. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

POINT PINOLE REGIONAL SHORELINE -- The 2,315-acre  

parkland bordering Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo offers views of Mount  

Tamalpais, the Marin shoreline and San Pablo Bay. There are trails through  

meadows and woods, and along the bluffs and beaches of San Pablo Bay.  

Visitors can hike, ride bikes or take the park's shuttle bus to reach the  

1,250-foot fishing pier at Point Pinole. 

$5 per vehicle; $4 per trailered vehicle; $2 per dog  

(guide/service dogs free). Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted.  

Giant Highway, Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

PREWETT FAMILY WATERPARK -- There are pools and water  

slides for all ages, from the Tad Pool for toddlers to Boulder cove for older  

swimmers. In addition to fun pools and slides there are fitness pools for  

lessons and exercise, lawns for relaxing, locker rooms, community room and  

kitchen. Lap lanes are open year round. Food and beverages are not permitted  

in the park. Picnic tables are available outside the park. 

$4-$11. Sunday through Friday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturdays, 11  

a.m.-6 p.m.; closed Aug.23-27, 30-31. 4701 Lone Tree Way, Antioch. (925)  

776-3070, www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CitySvcs/Prewett.< 

 

QUARRY LAKES REGIONAL RECREATION AREA -- The park  

includes three lakes sculpted from former quarry ponds. The largest,  

Horseshoe Lake, offers boating and fishing, with a swim beach that will open  

in the spring. Rainbow Lake is for fishing only, and the third lake, Lago Los  

Osos, is set aside for wildlife habitat. In addition, there are hiking and  

bicycling trails that connect to the Alameda Creek Regional Trail. The park  

includes three lakes sculpted from former quarry ponds. The largest,  

Horseshoe Lake, offers boating and fishing, with a swim beach that will open  

in the spring. Rainbow Lake is for fishing only, and the third lake, Lago Los  

Osos, is set aside for wildlife habitat. In addition there are hiking and  

bicycling trails that connect to the Alameda Creek Regional Trail. 

$5 parking; $2 per dog except guide/service dogs; boat launch  

fees; Park District fishing access permit fee of $3. Through Labor Day:  

daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sept. 6 through Sept. 30, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. 2100  

Isherwood Way,, between Paseo Padre Parkway and Osprey Drive,, Fremont. (510)  

795-4883, Picnic reservations:: (510) 562-2267, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

ROBERT SIBLEY VOLCANIC REGIONAL PRESERVE -- East Bay  

residents have several volcanoes in their backyard. This park contains Round  

Top, one of the highest peaks in the Oakland Hills. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 6800 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

RUTH BANCROFT GARDEN -- One of America's finest private gardens,  

the Ruth Bancroft Garden displays 2,000 specimens from around the world that  

thrive in an arid climate. Included are African and Mexican succulents, New  

World cacti, Australian and Chilean trees, and shrubs from California. 

DOCENT TOUR SCHEDULE -- 10 a.m. Saturdays. Docent-led  

tours last approximately an hour and a half. Plant sales follow the tour. By  

reservation only. $7; free children under age 12.  

SELF-GUIDED TOURS -- 9:30 a.m.-noon Mon. - Thurs.; 9:30  

a.m. Fri.; 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sat.; 5 p.m. Sunday. Self-guided tours last  

two hours. No reservations required for weekday tours; reservations required  

for Friday and Saturday tours. Plant sales follow the tours. $7; free  

children under age 12.  

Gardens open only for tours and special events listed on the  

garden's telephone information line. 1500 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek. (925)  

210-9663, www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.< 

 

SHADOW CLIFFS REGIONAL RECREATION AREA -- The 296-acre  

park includes an 80-acre lake and a four-flume waterslide, with picnic  

grounds and a swimming beach. Water slide fees and hours: (925) 829-6230. 

$6 per vehicle; $2 per dog except guide and service dogs. May 1  

through Labor Day: daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; shortened hours for fall and  

winter. Stanley Boulevard, one mile from downtown, Pleasanton. (510)  

562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SULPHUR CREEK NATURE CENTER -- A wildlife rehabilitation and  

education facility where injured and orphaned local wild creatures are  

rehabilitated and released when possible. There is also a lending library of  

animals such as guinea pigs, rats, mice and more. The lending fee is $8 per  

week.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Toddler Time," Learn about animals by listening to  

stories and exploring. Themes vary by month. Call for schedule. $7 per  

family.  

"Day on the Green Animal Presentations," Meet an  

assortment of wild and domestic animals. Wildlife volunteers will present a  

different animal each day from possums to snakes, tortoises to hawks.  

Saturday and Sunday, 2:30 p.m. 

CHILDREN'S EVENTS --  

Free. Park: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Discovery Center:  

Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Animal Lending Library: Saturday-Sunday,  

10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: daily, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 1801  

D St., Hayward. (510) 881-6747, www.haywardrec.org/sulphur_creek.html.< 

 

SUNOL REGIONAL WILDERNESS -- This park is full of scenic and  

natural wonders. You can hike the Ohlone Wilderness trail or Little Yosemite.  

There are bedrock mortars that were used by Native Americans, who were  

Sunol's first inhabitants. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sunol Sunday Hike," Sundays, 1:30-3 p.m. A natural  

history walk in Sunol Regional Wilderness. 

"Sunol Sunday Hike," Sundays, 1:30-3 p.m. A natural  

history walk in the wilderness. 

Free unless otherwise noted; $5 parking; $2 dog fee. Geary Road  

off Calaveras Road, six miles south of Interstate Highway 680, Sunol. (510)  

652-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

The Berkeley Historical Society greets the fall with a flourish this coming weekend with back-to-back town / gown events.  

On Saturday, a walking tour of the edge of the 1923 Berkeley Fire.  

On Sunday, an opening for a new exhibit of athletic and spirit memorabilia associated with the University of California. 

Let’s start with the walking tour. 

The 1923 Fire was Berkeley’s greatest—and most devastating—natural disaster to date. Several times in the history of the town wildfire has swept down from the hills, propelled by dry, blustering, winds from the interior of California.  

In 1923 on September 17—87 years ago, this week—fire burst out of Wildcat Canyon and came over the ridge into the eucalyptus groves and brown shingle houses of the Northside neighborhood.  

By the time the winds died down hours later some 600 buildings had been destroyed, including many of Berkeley’s most picturesque homes, and flames had licked at the edges of the UC campus and Downtown Berkeley. 

While Berkeley quickly rebuilt, the character of the new buildings was different than before the Fire. Berkeley Historical Society stalwart Phil Gale, whose family goes back generations on the local scene, will lead his Saturday walk along the northern edges of the Fire zone showing surviving structural relics and pointing out the differences between pre and post-Fire development. 

Information on how to sign up for the walk this Saturday, and the remainder of the fall Walks, can be found at the end of this article. 

You can read more about the fire and its impact on the UC campus in this 1998 article: http://berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1998/0916/1923fire.html 

On Sunday, September 18, the Historical Society turns its attention to a lighter, longer, topic. Local collectors Bart White and Keith Tower have put together an outstanding new exhibit showcasing decades of Cal spirit and sports memorabilia.  

Both the curators are Cal alumni and both have been collecting for decades. Their finds range from material connected to the first Big Game (in 1892) to the birth of Oski, the loveable mascot. 

“Golden Bear Pioneers: UC Sports & Athletic Traditions from Their Beginnings to 1945” opens with a free reception on Sunday at the Berkeley History Center in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street. The opening runs from 3 to 5 pm. There will be a brief introductory program, refreshments, and plenty of opportunity to look at the exhibit. 

Read the take of local columnist Martin Snapp on the exhibit in his article, “Bullish on the Bears” at http://martinsnapp.blogspot.com/2010/09/bullish-on-bears.html 

The remainder of the Fall Walking Tour program of BHS is listed below. Some of these tours reprise walks from past years, with guides who are familiar favorites for local historical audiences. 

Saturday, October 9: “The Ghost Campus: UC Berkeley That Once Was” led by Bruce Goodell. Vanished buildings of the old campus, from old wooden Harmon Gymnasium to Cowell Hospital, still have a presence that will be articulated through the walk. 

Saturday, October 23, “The Rise, Fall and Rise of West Berkeley”, led by Stephanie Manning. Oceanview is Berkeley’s oldest neighborhood, going back some 5,700 years to the coming of native peoples. The guide, who was both observer and participant in the resurgence of the neighborhood in more recent decades, will explain both ancient and more recent history. 

Saturday, November 6, “West Berkeley Artisans” will feature a walk through the artist and artisan district of flatlands Berkeley, focusing on ceramicists, potters and glassblowers. 

Saturday, November 20, “The Ed Roberts Campus”, led by Dmitri Belser. The Roberts Campus is the new center for independent living / disabled organizations nearly completed on the east parking lot of the Ashby BART station. It combines state-of-the-art design approaches to universal accessibility—including a dramatic ramp that serves as both a functional and sculptural element—and will be the consolidated headquarters of numerous local groups. 

The “Bonus Tour” offered for those who purchase tickets for at least three other tours, is on Saturday, December 4. It’s entitled “Where Nostalgia Meets Innovation”, and is led by Deborah Badhia of the Downtown Berkeley Association. She’ll guide the group through Downtown, old and new, including visits to several current businesses. 

Attending Walking Tours 

All the walks start at 10 am and end around noon. They are generally limited to 30 participants, so sign up soon; they often sell out.  

Tours cost $8 for Historical Society members and $10 for non-members. Members only have an opportunity to buy a season ticket for all six tours for $30. If you’d like to join BHS to get the season ticket, the basic membership cost is $20 for an individual, $25 for a family. 

If you would like to sign up—particularly for this Saturday’s 1923 Fire Tour—the best way is to call the Historical Society at 848-0181. Leave a message giving your name, the number of tickets you are interested in, and your phone number and e-mail address if you have one.  

If possible, call on Thursday or Friday between 1 and 4 pm when the History Center should be open and there will be volunteers on hand to take your reservation. 

You can also pick up a tour flyer at the Center (1931 Center Street) and leave a reservation in person. 

The History Center and its exhibits can be visited for free on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 1-4 PM. 

(The Berkeley History Society does not currently have an updated website. Please visit the Center or call for further information.) 

Steven Finacom is the First Vice President of the Historical Society. He has previously written for the Planet about its events and activities. 

 

 

When I lived in the Southwest between ’66 and ’71, I attended a Ute sundance, many Pueblo Indian ceremonies and, when I worked on the To’Hajiilee reservation, many Navajo healing rites that few outsiders have ever seen. But I’d never been to a pow wow. The first pow wow I ever attended I also helped organize, on Berkeley Indigenous Peoples Day 1993. 

It’s hard to believe that this year will mark our 19^th annual pow wow. Little by little I’ve learned a few things about them. Pow wows are a place where Native people welcome non-Natives to come together, dance, sing, socialize with them, and honor Indigenous culture. There are dancing competitions, with prize money. Great Native food and crafts. The Berkeley Pow Wow has always been just one day, but some of the biggest ones continue for a full week. 

On the first Berkeley Indigenous Peoples Day, back in 1992, we commemorated 500 years of Native resistance with ceremonies by Indigenous elders, but we didn’t hold a pow wow until our second year. I don’t recall whose original idea it was. I’ve asked around, but nobody seems to be able to trace it to one person. It might have been Millie Ketcheschawno, Muscogee, one of our group’s first members, an activist on Alcatraz and a filmmaker. It could have been Dennis Jennings, Sauk-and-Fox, our first pow wow coordinator and a Treaty Council activist. More likely it was many people’s idea, just floating in the air until the organizing committee pulled it down. 

Many tribes trace pow wows back to their own periodic gatherings, large traditional celebratory feasts, usually after the fall harvest. The oldest continuous annual pow wow today is probably the Quapaw, now in its 138^th year in Oklahoma. The term pow wow comes from an Algonquian word for a gathering of people, which began to be used in Oklahoma around 1900. 

Diverse tribes have different stories about the origin of pow wow dancing. There are distinct northern and southern traditions. One commonly told origin story among southern tribes holds that the first pow wow dance was the Iruska, a dance of the Pawnee, taught to a man named Crow Feather by a group of spiritual beings who immersed their hands into boiling water and fire. Iruska means "they are inside the fire," but is often translated as "warrior." The dance is usually known today as the Warrior or Straight Dance. The beings held Crow Feather over hot coals, and after he survived, they taught him songs and the dance, and told him to teach them to the people. Then the beings turned into birds and animals and left. On a second night they returned and repeated the ceremony. At the end, one spiritual being stayed behind and taught Crow Feather to make many of the symbolic items worn today by male pow wow dancers. His “crow belt” is today the back bustle worn by Fancy dancers. His “roach headdress,” made from deer and porcupine hair, represents the fire ordeal: an eagle feather in a deer shoulder blade represents the man standing in the center of the fire; the bone also represents the medicine given to him. 

In the early twentieth century the dance spread out of Oklahoma through the Great Plains north to Canada. Dance societies were formed in over thirty Plains tribes, and through the dance former enemies made peace. Pow wows gained momentum after World War II, when they were held as local honoring ceremonies for returning Indian veterans. In the mid-1950s many Native people began traveling between communities, dancing in pow wows and promoting Intertribal culture. But they weren’t very prominent until after the Alcatraz occupation of 1969-’71, when an intense intertribalism revitalized Native culture. 

With time and many different tribes adding their individual characters to the dance, the Iruska took a variety of forms: Grass Dance, Fancy Dance, the Northern and Southern Traditional, and many more. At first women did not dance, but today have a wide variety of dances, including the Jingle Dance, Shawl Dance, and forms of the Northern and Southern Traditional. 

Pow wow dancing today is based on spiritual values, the commemoration of warriors who struggled for their people, former enemies dancing together, peacemakers and peace, cultural survival and spiritual resurgence. 

 

 

 

This year Berkeley Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow and Indian Market will be held in Civic Center Park on Saturday, October 9, 10am to 6pm. Sponsored by the City, it is always free. 

For those of you with a special spot in your heart for bats (not too many, I daresay), you should be pleased to hear of a September 21st meeting of the Berkeley Garden Club. On this occasion,the guest speaker will be Maggie Hooper of the California Bat Conservation Fund. 

Her subject will be "A Celebration of Bats." This meeting will be held at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1954 Hopkins Street, Berkeley at 2 p.m. 

Bat Conservation International is conducting and supporting science-based conservation efforts around the world, helping to maintain healthy environments and human economies far into the future. It should be noted that no subject has generated more misinformation or fear about bats and rabies. Bats are neither rodents nor birds, and people cannot get rabies just from seeing them in an attic, in a cage, or at a distance. If you are bitten by a bat, wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and get medical advice immediately. 

But bear in mind that bats are gentle, passive creatures that will bite only in self defense. They will NOT get in your hair; they're not interested in your hair! They help control pests and are vital pollinators and seed dispersers for control of plants. 

In her presentation, Ms. Hooper will bring live bats that can be seen up close, and will give advice on how to build and set up bat houses and how to keep bats out of your own home. 

So, for an illuminating discussion of a little known topic, we invite you to attend the September 21 of the Berkeley Garden Club, United Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins Street. Refreshments will be served. For further information, call Joe Eaton Publicity Chair of the Club F (510) 845-9039,