Arts & Events

FRIDAY, APRIL 14 -more-

A match struck in darkness on the “veranda” of a tenement fire escape to light a cigarette is the first illuminating ray in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, at Berkeley Rep, as Williams’ young “double,” would-be poet Tom Wingfield (Erik Lochtefeld) slowly drawls out, in Delta Faulknerian, the introduction to his nostalgic narration of a “memory play.” -more-

It can be tempting to dismiss violent criminals, to simply lock them up and write them off. The details of their crimes justify it for us, allowing us to make them into monsters, to dehumanize and judge them. -more-

Is there really a secret behind the crystal perfume bottle passed down from your grandmother? What about the French landscape you bought at a hotel liquidation sale in Hawaii for $5? Could it be valuable? Join the Appraisal Extravaganza and these mysteries will be solved. -more-

Six major paintings and 10 small landscapes on paper, all in mixed media by Micaela Gardner, are on view through April 30 at Turn of the Century Fine Arts. -more-

I know you’re out there. You who are easy prey for handywomen and contractors. You who don’t fix things. Yes, I know you’re there. Well come out of the closet and go boldly where your uncle Filbert never went. Where you mother never dared to tread. Today we are going to hang something on the wall. Yes, You CAN do it. -more-

There’s a lively side discussion going on within a California native-plants email list about how to garden with the least impact. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 14 -more-

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-