FRIDAY, AUGUST 4 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

Ballroom Dancing every Friday at 8 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building, 200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Live band and refreshments. Cost is $10. 925-934-9129. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5 

Victorian House Tour on Angel Island Open just one weekend a year, Sat. and Sun. Tickets are $7-$15. 415-435-3522. www.angelisland.org 

A Vision for Creek Restoration Plans with local officials, environmental groups and community members to promote community-based planning from 1 to 4 p.m. at Parchester Village Community Center, 900 Williams Dr., Parchester Village, Richmond. 415-693-3000, ext 109. 

Farm Stories and Songs Come clap your hands, your paws, or anything you got! Hear some fun songs and stories, then meet the animals at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“To Bee or Not to Bee” An educational puppet show on the complex society of the honey bee, at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Kids Garden Club for children ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening. We plant, harvest, build, make crafts, cook, and get dirty. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Registration is required. Cost is $6-$8. 636-1684.  

Sick Plant Clinic UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755.  

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour of Earthquake Impacts of the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at the Fire Alarm Building on Lakeside Drive, opposite the Main Library. Cost is $5-$15. 763-9218.  

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234.  

Robot Workshop using recycled materials, for children age 5 and up from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero. Reservations required. 238-7344. 

Learn About Pets with Maggie Yates, Human Education Coordinator for the Berkeley Humane Society at 2 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

Yoga for Peace Sat. from 9:30 to 11:00 at Ohlone Park, MLK and Hearst St. North Berkeley. Bring a yoga mat, warm blanket, and a peace sign.  

Adult Fast Pitch Softball every Sat at noon. For location call 204-9500.  

SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 

East Bay Peace Lantern Ceremony from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the north end of Aquatic Park. Decorate lantern shades, fold paper cranes, hear Japanese flute and drum music, watch the lanterns float on the lagoon at sunset. 595-4626. www.progressiveportal.org/lanterns 

Transbay Skronkathon BBQ from 12:35 p.m. on, at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. with live music to 11 p.m. Donations requested. 649-8744. http://acmemusic.com 

Natural History Field Sketching with Tara Reinertson, naturalist, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Bring your pencils and sketchbook. 525-2233. 

Make A Felt Doll Meet our flock of Black Welsh Mountain Sheep, then learn how to turn their wool into a fun felt project. For ages 8 and up. Cost is $7-$12. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Oakland Heritage Walking Tour on Oakland’s Streetcar Heritage from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$15. Reservations required. 763-9218.  

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to keep your bike in excellent working condition through safety inspections, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

East Bay Atheists meets at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Prof. Barbara McGraw will talk on the views of our nation’s founders in the separation of church and state. 222-7580. 

Summer Sunday Forum with Stephen Zunes on current policies of the U.S. at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Spiritwalking: Aqua Chi(TM) at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $5.50, $3.50 seniors & disabled. Bring your own towels. 526-0312. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Buddhist Psychology with Sylvia Gretchen on “Loosening the Hold of Fear” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, AUGUST 7 

Talk on Aquatic Park Restoration Learn about the WPA-built lagoons at Berkeley’s Aquatic Park and the egrets, herons, shorebirds, and waterfowl, at 7 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter meets at 6 p.m. at the Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St. The speaker will be Mandy Benson, CA NOW, who will discuss Proposition 85, the far right’s latest attempt to restrict reproductive rights. 287-8948. 

“Delaying (or Accelerating) the Degenerative Disease of Aging” with Bruce Ames at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5. www.hillsideclub.org  

Red Cross Blood Drive 8 a.m to 1 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente, 901 Nevin Ave., Richmond. Call for appointment 307-2721. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60+ years old at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $3. 524-9122.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stress Less Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, registration required. 465-2524. 

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8 

Tuesday is for the Birds A tranquil early morning walk in Point Isabel. Meet at 7 a.m. at the Rydin Rd entrance. Bring water, sunscreen, binoculars and a snack. 525-2233. 

“Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity” with author Dan Berger at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

”Alien” a screening to benefit the Zapatistas at 9:15 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $7. www.speakeasytheaters.com 

Civil Liberties Film Series “Dissent” from the ACLU “Freedom Files” TV series, with guest speaker Jim Chanin, civil rights attorney, at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Library Community Room, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 620-6561. 

Horray for Herps Meet some unusual animals aboard the Zoomobile of the Oakland Zoo at 11 a.m. at the Elmhurst Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 1427 88th Ave. 615-5727. 

“Backpacking in the High Sierra” A slide presentation with Brandon Andre at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9  

Full Moon Walk at John Miur National Historic Site See nocturnal animal and plant life and walk the same trail John Muir walked with his daughters. For reservations and details of meeting time and location, call 925-228-8860. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland Uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Cease Fire: Words and Music Against the Siege of Lebanon and Palestine at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $10. 849-2568.  

Community Conversations on the Crisis in the Middle East with Molly Freeman of Brit Tzedek at 7:30 p.m. at JGate in El Cerrito, near El Cerrito Plaza and BART. 559-8140.  

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” Science-fiction film from 1951 at 7:30 p.m. at The Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Stress Less Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10 

“Citizenship, Civic Activity and Political Engagement” An evening with Steven Hill, Carol Pott, and Arthur Blaustein at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Predators and Their Prey Meet the animals at 10:15 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero. 238-7344. 

Richmond Southeast Shoreline Area Community Advisory Group meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Richmond Convention Center, Bermuda Room, 403 Civic Center Plaza at Nevin and 25th St. 540-3923. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Tilden Room, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. 

East Bay Macintosh Users Group meets to discuss Windows on a Mac at 6 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. www.ebmug.org 

Urban Renaissance High School Open House from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 967 Stanford Ave., Oakland. 302-9199.  

World of Plants Tours at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 4 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Night of the Iguana” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. through Aug. 12. Tickets are $12. 649-5999.  

Aurora Theatre “Permanent Collection” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Aug. 5. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatere.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Footloose” at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through August 5. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Encore Theatre Comapny and Shotgun Players “The Typographer’s Dream” at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 3. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500.  

Impact Theatre “House of Lucky” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Aug. 26. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Woodminster Summer Musicals “The King and I” Fri.-Sun. at 8 p.m., through Aug 13 at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland. Tickets are $21.50-$35.50. 531-9597. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Ball & Chain” Pre-marital show for Gretchen Grasshoff and Jordan Mello, reception at 7 p.m. at Boontling Galery, 4224 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Show runs to Aug. 27. www.boontlinggallery.com 

“Catching Ripples” Paintings and sculptures by Eric Helsley and “Those Bucolic Places” paintings by Carol Paquet. Reception at 5 p.m. at Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411. 

“Sound and Vison II” A group show of works influenced by music. Reception at 7 p.m. at Auto3321 Gallery, 3321 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Show runs to Aug. 13. www.auto3321.com 

“Mercury Rising” A group show of new works by 15 Bay Area artists. Reception at 5 p.m. at Robert Tomlinson Studio, 25 Grand Ave., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Aug. 31. 866-8808. 

FILM 

“Atenco: Rompiendo el Cerco/ Breaking the Silence” with music by Francisco Herrera at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free. 581-7963. 

“Cartography of Ashes” A documentary on the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 at 7 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org.  

“Shaken Not Stirred: Martinis, Music and Mayhem” at 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Jewish Film Festival From noon to 10 p.m. at the Roda Theater, through Aug. 5. For complete listings of films see www.sfjff.org. Tickets are $10 and up. 925-275-9490. 

Janet Gaynor “Small Town Girl” at 7:30 p.m. and “Ladies in Love” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jimbo Trout and the Fish People with Birdlegg and the Tightfit Blues Band outdoor concert at 5:30 p.m. at Park Place and Washington Ave., Pt. Richmond. 237-9375.  

Bay Area Blues Society Concert at 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Bolokasa Conde & Les Percussion Malinke concert and doundounda dance party at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$20. 849-2568.  

Ray Cepeda, Latin, salsa, rock, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Sage, The Nomad, Two Seconds, The Moanin Dove at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Charles Ferguson Latin Jazz Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Wylie & the Wild West at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Scott Amendola Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

AJ Roach and Adam Benjamine at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Tito y su Son de Cuba at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Brazuca Brown, Brazilian, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ten Ton Chicken, Cosmic Mercy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Set it Straight, Lifelong Tragedy, Deadfall at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Translator, Uptones, Penelope Houston and others at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $20-$25. 451-8100.  

Mose Allison at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $10-$20. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “Ragnarok: Doom of the Gods” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkle Park, through Sept. 10. Pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500.  

FILM 

Frank Borzage “Lazy Bones” at 6:30 p.m. and Janet Gaynor “A Star is Born” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds a memorial for the poet Maggi H. Meyer followed by an open poetry reading, 3 to 5 p.m., at Strawberry Creek Lodge Dining Hall, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. 527-9905. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Coterie Dance Company “My Soul Moves” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $13 children, $15 adults. 925-798-1300. 

UC Summer Symphony at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Donation $5. 717-2126. 

Larry Stefl Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Motor Dude Zydeco at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Ba-Tu-Ke at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

André Sumelius Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ken Mahru & David Serotkin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The David Thom Band, traditional bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Sitting Duck, Planting Seeds, The Year One at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

The Blue Roots, Naked Barbies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Verse, Have Heart, Shipwreck, Hostile Takeover at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 

FILM 

Janet Gaynor “Delicious” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Berkeley Summer Symphony at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall UC Campus, Donation $5. 717-2126. 

Twang Cafe with Dave Gleason’s Wasted Days and Pickin’ Trix at 7:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. All ages welcome. 644-2204.  

Transbay Skronkathon BBQ from 12:35 p.m. on, at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. with live music to 11 p.m. Donations requested. 649-8744. http://acmemusic.com 

Americana Unplugged: Square Pegs Bluegrass Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Sharon Knight at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Frederick Hodge, international café music at 2 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. 

Irene Chigamba & Erica Azim, mbira music from Zimbabwe, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

This is my Fist, One Reason, Hot New Mexicans at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Royal Society Jazz Orchestra at 5 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

MONDAY, AUGUST 7 

CHILDREN 

Gary Laplow sing-along at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5366 College Ave. 597-5017. 

Rafa Cano, Spanish sing-along for children, at 10:30 a.m. at PriPri Cafe, 1309 Solano Ave., Albany. Free. 528-7002. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Series with Mary Rudge and Lenore Weiss at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 843-7439. 

Michael Rothenberg and Marat Nemet-Nejat read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Margaret Emerson reads from “Eyes in the Mirror” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Actors Reading Writers: “Longing and Perversity” stories by Jeffrey Eugenides and Ian McEwan at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave.  

Poetry Express features Jan Steckel, followed by an open mic at 7 p.m. at Priya Indian Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 7:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Sophie Milman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8 

CHILDREN 

Colibri, an interactive journey through the music of Latin America, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

NATya Indian Dance Storytelling through dance at 7 p.m. at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5366 College Ave. 597-5017. 

FILM 

Civil Liberties Film Series “Dissent” from the ACLU “Freedom Files” TV series, with guest speaker Jim Chanin, civil rights attorney, at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Library Community Room, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 620-6561. 

Screenagers “Thirteen” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

”Alien” a screening to benefit the Zapatistas at 9:15 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $7. www.speakeasytheaters.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dan Berger on “Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity” at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. 

Leigh Raiford, Steven Estes, Kathryn Nasstrom talk about “The Civil Rights Movement in American Memory” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brazuca Brown and Southwest Nomadic, Brazilian, Gypsy, Reggae at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Debbie Poryes & Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Salif Keita at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $30. 238-9200.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9 

THEATER 

California Shakespeare Theater “The Merchant of Venice” opens at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through Sept. 3. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. 

FILM 

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” Science-fiction film from 1951 at 7:30 p.m. at The Fellowship of Humanity, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Janet Gaynor “The Young in Heart” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cease Fire: Words and Music Against the Siege of Lebanon and Palestine at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $10. 849-2568. 

Jazz Function at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, Wed.-Fri. at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Aug. 24. 800-838-3006.  

Michael Coleman Trio Jazz Jam at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. 451-8100.  

Tropical Vibrations at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tapwater at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Los, Jeff Henderson at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Salif Keita at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $30. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10 

FILM 

Beyond Bollywood “The Terrorist” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Citizenship, Civic Activity and Political Engagement” An evening with Steven Hill, Carol Pott, and Arthur Blaustein at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with BabShad Jazz at the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Free.  

Kris Delmhorst, songcrafter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Travis and Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Hot Toddies, Skeleton Television, The Nomad at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

Pete Escovedo Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $15-$24. 238-9200. 

The Criterion Collection continues to set the standard for classic film on DVD. The company recently released a three-disc set of Orson Welles’ long-neglected 1955 film Mr. Arkadin (also known as Confidential Report) that contains a wealth of material documenting the film’s murky history. Just as Criterion gave the deluxe treatment last year to Welles’ 1972 F For Fake, so this year the company has produced a respectful and informative package for Arkadin that does well to salvage the mystery and reputation of this confounding movie.  

The line on Mr. Arkadin is that it is essentially a surrealist version of Citizen Kane, taking the earlier film’s plot and form and elevating every aspect to absurdist heights. Arkadin follows the pattern of Kane by sending a young man off in search of the mysteries of an older man’s life. However, in the case of Mr. Arkadin, the older man is still alive, has in fact commissioned the search, and kills off each witness the younger man uncovers in an attempt to erase his unsavory past, with the goal of protecting his daughter from the disturbing truth behind the family’s wealth. It’s a good enough plot for a pulp movie, but Welles tried to elevate it to something more meaningful and significant, as well as baroque, and that didn’t sit too well with the film’s producer, or its distributors. Eventually, as with so many other Welles projects, the film was taken out of his hands before he could finish it. The result is a film often regarded as his poorest effort. 

Mr. Arkadin has its roots in a weekly English radio show Welles starred in called The Lives of Harry Lime, a series exploiting the character he made famous in the 1949 Carol Reed film The Third Man. In the early 1950s, Welles was working on his screen version of Othello, traipsing all over Europe on a dwindling budget, desperately trying to raise cash to finance the film. An English producer proposed the radio series and Welles seized the opportunity to make some easy money, cranking out these slight entertainments for a year while he continued to make Othello. 

The script for Mr. Arkadin grew from three of these radio shows, and the Criterion DVD includes all of them, providing a fascinating glimpse into the genesis of the film. 

There are any number of published critiques comparing Kane and Arkadin, some merely tracking the similarities between the two, others taking a psychoanalytical approach, positing that Welles himself was burdened by his earlier greatness and was seeking to somehow negate it through the latter film’s perverse fantasy. However, an often overlooked aspect of Arkadin is that it provides something of a blueprint for Welles’ later works, as many of its scenes, and even individual shots prefigure those of Touch of Evil (1958), the would-be B movie that Welles transformed into a noir masterpiece, and The Trial (1962), Welles’ feverish adaptation of Franz Kafka’s nightmarish novel. 

All of these films reflect Welles’ favored themes: power, regret, betrayal among men, and a strong hint of nostalgia. But what’s interesting about Arkadin is that it uses devices and shots that are replicated almost exactly in Welles’ later films. It’s as if he was so disappointed in the failure of Arkadin that he couldn’t bear to abandon some of its finer moments. 

All three films feature Akim Tamiroff in key roles, usually as a sort of clownish character to be abused by Welles’ tyrants. Toward the end of Arkadin, there is a scene in which Welles looms over Tamiroff as Tamiroff lies on a bed, the wrought-iron bedframe decorating the edge of the image. A few years later, Welles, backed this time with Hollywood money, would stage a similar scene much more elaborately in Touch of Evil, with gaudy flashing neon lights illuminating Welles’ Hank Quinlan as he stalks Tamiroff’s Uncle Joe Grande around a hotel room, strangling him and leaving him to wilt over a similarly ornate bedframe.  

Also in Arkadin, Tamiroff, in another hotel room, at one point moves toward a high window, stepping on a chair as though he is about to escape. Again, in Touch of Evil, Tamiroff, in an effort to escape the murderous Quinlan, climbs toward a high window and shatters it in an escape attempt before Welles pulls him back down. 

One more parallel is in each film’s closing scenes. In Mr. Arkadin, Paola Mori, Arkadin’s daughter, offers a stoic and ambiguous epitaph for her deceased father: “He was capable of anything.” The line is uttered almost without inflection—a frequent problem with Mori’s acting, but in this case the tone is intentional. Likewise, Touch of Evil closes with another exotic beauty—this time Marlene Dietrich—eulogizing the fallen Captain Hank Quinlan with another terse remark: “He was some kind of man.” These closing lines are almost Hemingwayesque in their simplicity, providing stark, dry conclusions to otherwise elaborate melodramas.  

Other aspects of Arkadin show up in The Trial, another of Welles’ independent European productions. The film again features Tamiroff in a key role and is edited to resemble a nightmare, with canted camera angles and disorienting cuts from one off-kilter shot to another. Welles had been something of a pioneer in independent filmmaking, demonstrating with his Macbeth that film could be a living, breathing organism, that it didn’t require the polished sheen of Hollywood. He sought to prove that film could be more free-flowing, deviating from scripts and indulging whimsical tangents with improvised shots and dialogue. Usually his experiments paid off. In the case of Mr. Arkadin, they didn’t. 

Welles never finished editing the film before its producer took it out of its hands. It was released in a compromised form, Welles’ elaborate flashback structure having been replaced by a chronological re-ordering of the scenes. The Criterion release presents three versions: the re-edited European version, an even more heavily re-edited American version (re-titled Confidential Report), and a brand new version in which historians and researchers have attempted to restore Welles’ original editing pattern, reconfiguring the picture to reflect, as best as can be determined, what Welles had originally intended. The result is a more coherent and artistic film than heretofore suspected. 

Mr. Arkadin may still be a failure but few directors fail as spectacularly as Orson Welles. The Criterion edition provides beautifully restored prints that showcase its photography, as well as a host of extra features that help to provide a clear picture of just what exactly Welles was striving for with this film and how and why he failed.  

MR. ARKADIN (1955) 

Directed by Orson Welles. Starring Welles, Paola Mori, Robert Arden, Akim Tamiroff.105 minutes, $49.95. www.criterionco.com.

While it makes sense that Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin would bear certain resemblances to Citizen Kane, it seems unlikely that a movie like Brothers of the Head, an independent faux documentary about conjoined twins turned rock stars, would draw on the same film for inspiration. But early on in the movie there is an homage of sorts to Kane, an allusion that sets up an interesting parallel.  

Brothers of the Head tells the tale of conjoined twins under the control of a former vaudeville impresario who has designs on transforming them into rock stars, much as he had previously exploited Siamese twins on the variety stage. 

The film is set in 1970s England, just as glam rock was giving way to punk, and is shot in the mockumentary style, complete with handheld cameras, footage made to look aged and archival, and latter-day reflective interviews with the main characters as they look back on their youth. 

The reference to Citizen Kane comes early on, and it is jarring to those who recognize it, as at least a handful of viewers at a recent preview screening did, judging by the grunts and gasps that greeted the scene. The shot uses a nearly identical setup to the Welles scene and a distinctive camera movement that clearly mimics the 1941 film, drawing a parallel between the two movies.  

In Citizen Kane, the young Charlie Kane is seen playing in the snow. The camera then pulls back through a window to reveal the interior of the family home, where the mother sits down at a table to sign papers turning over custody of her child to a banker as the father stands nearby, protesting to no avail. In Brothers of the Head, the twins are seen outside as the camera pulls back through a window to reveal their father signing over custody of his boys to the impresario as a sister stands by in silence.  

The device is employed during a film within a film, an unfinished biopic of the brothers called Two-Way Romeo. Two-Way Romeo is presented throughout as a silly movie, and the reference to Kane is primarily intended as humor, a satirical jab at the aspirations of the film and the pretentiousness of its director. But the use of the reference presents a valid parallel as well, as Brothers of the Head is in many ways a reworking of the basic structure of Citizen Kane. Brothers features a series of interviews with the major players in the lives of Tom and Barry Howe, each trying to delve into the collective mindset of the twins. The story, based on a novel, makes use of many of the near-cliches that always permeate literary tales of twins, but it succeeds in its treatment of them and even at times transcends them, creating a movie that, however flawed, is certainly interesting and ultimately worthwhile.  

The most compelling aspects of the film are the performances of the twins, played by Harry and Luke Treadway. The two brothers manage to create a single entity, a unified whole, and a wholly convincing one at that. Their posture, as well as the physical nature of their connection, places them in a near-constant embrace, emphasizing the intense emotional bond between them. As unlikely as it seems, they manage to convey a stage presence that is not only acceptable, but compelling, like Jagger and Richards rolled into one—the strutting, cocky, defiant singer and the brooding, silent guitarist.  

Directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe too often resort to shadowy, overwrought impressionism and spend entirely too much time on the duo’s live performances, causing the film to flag at times. But every now and then, something happens that wakes us up—a stirring emotion, a hint of mystery, a surprising plot twist—something that reawakens the drama and mystery. 

But even with these flaws, I found myself, hours later, still thinking about the film, even reconsidering my reaction to it. Its air of mystery somehow began to seem more intriguing after the fact and I found myself eager to revisit the film, to see if there was something I missed—to see if, as with Citizen Kane, there were layers of meaning and emotion that were not readily apparent on first viewing. Orson Welles believed that a movie should not reveal all its secrets in a single viewing, that a film should give the audience far more information, far more density and complexity than could possible be digested all at once. Brothers of the Head has something of this quality to it. It may not have been enthralling, but it cast enough of a spell that I found myself wanting to return to it, to take the time and expend the energy to delve deeper into its impressionistic imagery and further explore the lives of its tortured protagonists. 

BROTHERS OF THE HEAD 

Directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe. 

Starring Harry Treadway, Luke Treadway, Tom Bower, Bryan Dick, Steven Eagles, Tania Emery, Sean Harris, Nicholas Millard.  

90 minutes. Rated R.  

Playing at Shattuck Cinemas.

“You gouge out an eye for keener sight. Is blindness vision?” 

—Frigge to Odin 

In a landscape of gray granite slabs and boulders, in front of a primitive structure with massive stone lintel-like dolmens, at the foot of the stony amphitheater of John Hinkel Park, a troupe of players open their trunk of masks and costumery to reenact the End of the World: Ragnarok: The Doom of the Gods, Shotgun Players’ free offering to a summer day. 

The End has happened before, and will again, but not just as repertory theater. The Players break up the mythic action by musing on the meaning of what they act out (presumably before some mead-soaked audience of Viking vassals and their liege lord, as much as the Berkeley picnickers sprawled in the leafy shadows of the hillside): “We tell the stories the Norse cook up; we can’t change them ... These are gods. There’s nothing funny about gods. They’d as soon kill you as look at you ... Hope at the end? This is the End of the World, but look at the bright side?” And Snorri (after the skald, Snorri Sturlesson?), head of the troupe (played by Ryan O’Donnell), reassures Helga (Erin Carter), his pregnant wife: “We’re not in it.” “Are you sure?” she counters. 

The ensemble of ten pulls out the stops to tell the story of the pagan gods awaiting their long-heralded doom, running through the changes of a variety of modes: “Presentational Theater,” Physical Theater, storytelling, a kind of pageantry, song, dance, and very impressive puppets for Loki’s monstrous brood which make brief but effective appearances. This isn’t Wagner’s Gotterdamerung, but something more intimate, to be told in a wintery hall at a feast, or in a summer glen, to kill time. The gods prove to be the ultimate party animals, killing time (and a few Strange Ones along the way) engagingly, as they slip ever nearer the awaited brink. 

There are all the episodes familiar to anyone who ever browsed a copy of Bulfinch’s Mythology as a kid. Thor (Nikolai Lokteff) and the always suspect halfbreed (part god, part Primal shape-shifter) Loki (a particularly effective Ben Dziuba) go spying on those Funny Ones, the Primals (aka Strange Ones, Fierce Ones, Frost Giants, etc.) under the pretext of a social call, only to be asked to join in the fun-and-games and losing. Thor is unable to down a horn in a drinking bout. It turns out to be the ocean. “I thought it was lousy beer!” he blurts out. Swift Loki is unable to leave the racing blocks before his effete opponent holds up the token of victory—his opponent is Thought, faster than motion itself. Mighty Thor is wrestled to a draw by an aged crone (Old Age herself, who is beaten by no one) played by Rebecca Noon. 

Thor also shows up in drag as a bride, his bristly beard veiled, disguised as beautiful Freya (a charming Jessica Kitchens), as blackmail for his stolen hammer. When it’s returned as the bride-price, he takes the wedding party over the top with it, as surely as disguised Ulysses dealt with Penelope’s suitors. 

But it’s not all fun and games, or shock-and-awe from life-size, animated action figures. There’s the death of Baldur (Danny Webber), the beloved god of light. It seems nothing can kill him ... except a sprig of mistletoe shot to his heart. “I’ve lost my son. Tell me how to grieve!” shouts Odin the All-Knowing (Roham Shaikhani). 

And underpinning it all is a very topical anxiety: security, the trade-off between Love and safety emphasized over and over. Is the return of Thor’s hammer worth the loss of the goddess of Love as a hostage bride? Or is the building of unbreachable walls for their haven, Asgard (or, as the red-nosed Funny One with the hardhat, Darren Blaney, calls it in Texan, “Ass-Gard”), an exchange for Freya, who makes life worth living, who is in fact the wellspring and continuity of life itself? 

The playwrights of this original production, Conrad Bishop (who also directed—and very well) and Elizabeth Fuller (a fine Frigge) explain the anachronisms in the program notes thus: “We look at the past—whether we call it history or myth—in the way we look at a pond’s surface, seeing a few things beneath the water but struck most strongly by our own reflection. And as any politician knows, the past becomes the story we tell about it. More dangerously, we become the story we tell about it.” 

This post-Christian, secular Humanist-ized treatment of myth veers back and forth between the irony of Plato and the burlesque of a Fractured Fairy Tales cartoon. 

It ends with a round dance, Loki in the middle, representing the long-awaited disaster, heralded by a bugler (no archangel) who complains he’s never blown the thing. And it does end on a note of hope—life goes on, the unborn baby kicking, a slip from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, potted up. 

And the show goes on, too, weekends till Sept. 10. 

It’s one of the things Shotgun does best; you don’t have to wait till the end of the world to enjoy yourself. 

RAGNAROK: THE DOOM OF THE GODS 

4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Sept.; 10. John Hinkle Park. Donations requested. 841-5600.