Arts & Events
The Theater: Fisher’s ‘Wishful Drinking’ is Spectacle, if Not Exactly Theater
By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Friday March 14, 2008
“The pure products of America go crazy,” intoned poet William Carlos Williams, and Carrie Fisher, a pure product of the American dream factory, who jests about the craziness of her life and icon status in her solo extravaganza, Wishful Drinking, is being held over at Berkeley Rep through April 12. -more-
Oakland East Bay Symphony Celebrates Persian New Year
By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday March 14, 2008
The Oakland East Bay Symphony, conducted by director Michael Morgan, will present a unique collaborative program, Notes from Persia, at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday) at the Paramount Theatre. -more-
Garden Variety: Plants That Turn the Tables
By Ron Sullivan
Friday March 14, 2008
Coming up on 35 years, our relationship gets ever more harmonious. I have a stapelia—a starfish flower that attracts flies to pollinate it—on the office windowsill, and Joe has a collection of carnivorous plants on the front porch. When my stapelia blooms, I cope with its decidedly rank fragrance by putting it on the porch with the Venus’ flytrap and the sundews and the various sarracenias and they all have a party. -more-
About the House: Don’t Let Your Plumber or Electrician Be a Cut-Up
By Matt Cantor
Friday March 14, 2008
I’m a Sci-Fi buff from way back and one of my favorite writers was always Robert Heinlein. Robert said the following: -more-
The Theater: ‘What Do the Women Say?’ at La Peña
By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Tuesday March 11, 2008
Golden Thread Productions, the Bay Area troupe that specializes in expressions of Middle Eastern culture and identity, will present What Do The Women Say?—five pieces ranging stylistically from theater to performed poetry—at La Pena Cultural Center Friday at 8 p.m. to celebrate International Women’s Day. -more-
Concert Marks Anniversaries for Chanticleer and Shanghai Quartet
By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Tuesday March 11, 2008
Chanticleer, San Francisco’s famed choral group, and the Shanghai Quartet, one of China’s original chamber music ensembles, will be featuring “From the Path of the Beautiful,” a seven-part piece written for them by composer Chen Yi in celebration of their anniversaries (30 years for Chanticleer, 25 for the Shanghai Quartet) when they perform this Friday evening at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church on Durant. -more-
Wild Neighbors: Mourning Cloak Mysteries: The Butterfly that Hibernates
By Joe Eaton
Tuesday March 11, 2008
We were out at Lafayette Reservoir a couple of weeks ago, looking for the bald eagle that wasn’t there. But there was a fair amount of butterfly action: a probable echo blue, some small hyperactive orange jobs, and three or four mourning cloaks, sparring or courting—it’s hard to tell with butterflies. -more-
