Arts & Events

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 -more-

Joseph Wright as Malcolm Little, from the depths of a prison cell, sings, “You want the truth, but you don’t want to know,” as he contemplates his change from “country boy” newly arrived in Boston to “Detroit Red,” hustling the Harlem streets, on the verge of a conversion that will make him into Malcolm X. His is the powerful voice that will express African-American rage and hope as portrayed in Anthony Davis’ lucid and compelling opera X, based on Malcolm’s autobiography and performed by the Oakland Opera Theater through June 11 at the Oakland Metro Operahouse near Jack London Square. -more-

If you live anywhere near the inner city or have occasion to have business there, this may have happened to you. Walking down a street near dusk you meet a young African-American man, clothes sagging, walking toward you. As you get closer, you can hear him talking, and, although you can’t make out the words, it seems as if he may be signaling commands to one of his partners who may be behind you, or else he’s crazy and talking to himself. In either case, it doesn’t seem good. -more-

Unless you’ve been living in a cave since 1979, you have undoubtedly seen the Mad Bluebird. It was captured by aspiring wildlife photographer Michael L. Smith on a cold February day in Maryland. The subject, a male eastern bluebird, feathers fluffed out, sits on a fence post glowering at the camera. The Mad Bluebird has been very good to Smith, enabling him to quit his day job as an electrician. Over 100,000 signed prints have been sold, and the image appears on calendars, coffee mugs, and all kinds of tchatchkes. The royalties by now must be considerable. -more-

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 -more-

The Berkeley World Music Weekend is this weekend, Sat. and Sun., from noon-9 p.m., on Telegraph Avenue from Bancroft Way to Parker St., with over two dozen performances, all free. -more-

Barbara Cushman is an artist to the very tips of her fingers. The form of her artistry has varied widely and wildly, ranging from cuisine and salad dressing to pottery, jewelry and collage. The key to her successes, however, has always been inventiveness. Having envisioned what she wants to do, she finds a way to achieve it. “Experience has always been my teacher,” she says. As much could be said of her life. -more-

It never ceases to amaze me what madness the media and the legal community have created out of a little thing like mold. -more-

One of my favorite places to look for—or just look at—esoteric, obscure, clever, or kinky garden tools is Hida Japanese Tools on San Pablo, across from REI and a few doors down from Ashkenaz. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 -more-