Arts & Events

TUESDAY, APRIL 11 -more-

The following is an excerpt from Richard Schartz’s Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees. This is the third in a series of four installments from the book. The Daily Planet will run the last excerpt on April 18, the centennial of the 1906 quake. -more-

“He was her man/But he done her wrong.” That’s about all for motivation in the lyrics of that old chestnut of popular song, “Frankie and Johnny.” -more-

The more scientists learn about non-human cognition, the blurrier the boundary between the human mind and various animal minds seems to become. And I’m not just talking about tool-making, intention-guessing, empathetic chimps. Some remarkable findings have emerged from the study of birds—and not necessarily the kinds of birds you’d expect. -more-

TUESDAY, APRIL 11 -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 -more-

All too often, films about the mentally ill descend into preciousness, romanticizing the drama and pain of madness. But The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a fascinating documentary opening today (Friday) at Shattuck Cinemas, does not fall into this trap. -more-

“This week, she’s a nun—the one who gets captured by the Japanese!” -more-

Mondays At Moe’s features an unusual pairing of poets this coming Monday at 7 p.m. when Michael Palmer and Douglas Blazek split the bill at the popular reading series on Telegraph Avenue, programmed by Owen Hill. -more-

Nature as science or nature as art? There’s no need to choose. Left and right sides of the brain combine their efforts heralding California’s native landscapes and wildlife at the Oakland Museum. The Natural Sciences shine in the comprehensive Permanent Gallery, unique art exhibits and the museum’s multi-tiered outdoor gardens. -more-

Seth Paris Babson (1826–1907) was one of the most eminent Victorian architects on the Pacific coast. A native of Maine, he set sail for San Francisco a year after the discovery of gold in California. Having rounded Cape Horn, Babson arrived in the spring of 1850. -more-

Buying houses is an expensive proposition as anyone who has ever done it can tell you and it doesn’t stop when you pay the closing costs and put your boat in the backyard (you really have a boat?) -more-

Flowerland Nursery is the corner store of local plant shops. Evidently it’s been there for generations: the friendly worker there told me that that the current owner, Bob Wilson, has had it for some 30 years and the previous owners had run it “for, oh, 30 to 40 years” before him. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 -more-