Arts & Events

FRIDAY, JUNE 23 -more-

Al Gore may be soaking up the spotlight with his doc du jour An Inconvenient Truth, but The Road to Guantanamo, opening today (Friday) at Shattuck Cinemas, is a far more incendiary film and one that many Americans would do well to see. -more-

Over 40 local poets—including Ntozake Shange, Floyd Salas, Avotcja, Gerald Nicosia, Tennessee Reed and Reginald Lockett—will read to benefit the Hurricane Katrina victims of Mississippi, and to celebrate the self-publication of a book of poems on Katrina, Words Upon the Waters, this Sunday, 3 p.m., at Anna’s Jazz Island. -more-

Morning dawns on a Berkeley summer day. Gray light filters into bungalow-style rooms, a shawl of mist moistens stately plane trees and palettes of roses. Knowing the sun will soon make its presence felt, this is a good time to set out with a plan for the day. Within walking distance are specialty food shops, cozy eateries, an inspiring nursery, a comfortable park and a wonderful neighborhood library. Welcome to Northbrae. -more-

When Maurice Strelinger, aka M.B. Curtis, built the fabulous Peralta Park Hotel, he envisioned it as a hostelry for theatrical companies passing through San Francisco. This dream never came to pass, but Curtis did manage to lure at least one stage star to his new subdivision. -more-

In my job, I’m often asked to estimate what a particular job might cost. Mrs. Jones wants to know how much a new furnace might cost, or perhaps a roof. These aren’t too hard to roughly gauge and costs won’t vary by 100 percent (most of the time). -more-

We old coots play a game, based on how long we’ve been in Berkeley: You Shoulda Been Here When. In my circle it runs heavily to vertical samplings of bird populations, politics, public venues: often the interesting little store that filled a niche, got big, got bought, got corporatized, got bland. -more-

Take a Good Look Around -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 23 -more-

TUESDAY, JUNE 20 -more-

Satiric singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman returns to Berkeley at The Marsh with a new show, Faulty Intelligence, opening Wednesday. -more-

I’m always a little startled when I get a response to one of these pieces. Sometimes it’s about something that requires correction, like the incident of the owl in the Embarcadero BART station. Other comments call for amplification. -more-

TUESDAY, JUNE 20 -more-