TUESDAY, SEPT. 26 

Tuesday is for the Birds An early morning walk for birders through Bay Area parklands. Bring water, sunscreen, binoculars and a snack. This week we will visit Point Pinole. For meeting location or to borrow binoculars, call 525-2233.  

Nature Meditation Walk at Lake Temescal Enjoy Lake Temescal through this meditative walk, using the words of Henry David Thoreau to guide us. Meet at the south entrance at 9:30 a.m. Registration required. 521-6887.  

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Training from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. For information contact 524-2319. writercoachconnect@yahoo.com 

“Encounter Point” A documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Q & A with the filmaker after the 7:30 screening. www.encounterpoint.com 

Albany Library Homework Center is open from 3 to 5 p.m., Tues. and Thurs. for students in third through fifth grades. Emphasis is placed on math and writing skills. No registration is required. 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17.  

Torture Teach-in and Vigil with Daniel Ellsberg at 12:30 p.m. at the fountain on UC Campus, Bancroft at College. 649-0663. 

“Older and Wiser: Basic Legal Knowledge for Seniors” Estate planning for seniors at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Choosing Infant Care A workshop for parents at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. 658-7353. www.bananasinc.org  

PC Users Group problem solving session with Tom Cromarte at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St., near corner of Eunice. Come with your questions and problems for Tom’s help and invite your friends. Free. MelDancing@aol.com  

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. 

Handbuilding Ceramics Class from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Free, except for materials and firing charges. 525-5497. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

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

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 27  

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about spiders, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, at 3:15 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684.  

Native Plant Nursery Volunteers Needed for plant propagation and transplanting, watering, and other maintenance associated with growing native wetland plants. From 1 to 3 p.m. at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. For information call 452-9261 ext. 109. www.savesfbay.org/bayevents 

Circus Circus with Lovee the Clown, face painting and more at 11 a.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Discussion of the November Ballot Propositions Sponsored by the Berkeley Grey Panthers at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. 

“Help Democrats Take Back Congress” at Bay Area Political Forum at 7 p.m. at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. 

“The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., between Broadway and Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

League of Women Voters “California Clean Money Campaign” with Trent Lange, at 5 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Cost is $15. For reservations call 843-8828. 

“The Founding Fathers’ Religious Reasons for Separation of Church and State” with Barbara McGraw, Professor of Business Administration, Saint Mary’s College of California, at 4 p.m. at 110 Barrows Hall, UC Campus. 642-1640. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11” by David Ray Griffin at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. 433-2911. 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Training session at 6:30 p.m. For information call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Spirited Child Series Learn how temperament affects children’s behavior and how to best live and work with inborn traits at 7 p.m. at Bananas. To register call 752-6150. If you need child care, at $5 per child, call 658-7353.  

New to DVD: “Three Times” at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $3-$5. 848-0237. 

“Introduction to New Body–New Mind” with Robert Litman at 7 p.m. The Teleosis Institute, 1521 5th St., corner of Cedar St., Upstairs Unit B. Cost is $5-$10. RSVP to 558-7285. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Current Events Discussion Group meets at 7 p.m. at the Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 597-4972. 

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

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 28 

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors with Iraq War resister, Latino activist and former Navy Fire Controlman, Pablo Paredes at 6 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street between Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland. Donation $5-$10, no one turned away. 465-1617. 

Radio Zapatista Report back and benefit for health care in autonomous Zapatista Communities at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Shopping with the Chef All-organic shopping advice with Lucy Aghadjian at 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Shattuck Ave. at Rose. 548-3333. 

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1744A University Ave., behind the Lutheran Church between Grant and McGee. All welcome. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

Free SAT Strategy Session from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Woman’s Heart Health Panel discussion at 7 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Volunteer at Lawrence Hall of Science Open house for new volunteers at 2 p.m. or Sun. at 2 p.m. For information call 643-5471.  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 29 

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 

First Amendment Assembly Speakers include Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post; Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers; Judith Miller, former New York Times reporter; Gabriel Schoenfeld, Commentary Magazine essayist; and Dan Weintraub, political columnist for the Sacramento Bee Fri. from 3:15 to 8:45 p.m. and Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. at UC Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall. Cost is $50. To register see www.cfac.org 

“Bridging the Chasm between Islam and the West” with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder & Director of the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. www.uucb.org  

BOSS’s Homeless Graduation and the 60th birthday of Executive Director boona cheema at 6 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. For tickets and information call 649-1930.  

“East Asia in Transition: Comprehensive Security in the Pacific Rim” Conference from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Toll Room, Alumni House, UC Campus. 642-2809. http://ieas.berkeley. 

edu/events/2006.09.29.html 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Bart Ney of CalTrans on “Retrofitting the Bay Bridge.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30 

2nd Annual Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling Festival Sat. and Sun. beginning at 10 a.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose Ave., with a show at 7:30 p.m. www.berkeleyjuggling.org 

Take Back the House with the Progressive Democrats of the East Bay and East Bay Young Democratic Club at 3 p.m. at Albatross Pub, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $30-$35. 601-6456. www.pdeastbay.org 

Community Reading of “Funny in Farsi” and “The Circuit” at 11 a.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6147. 

IMPACT Bay Area’s Advocates for Women Awards Luncheon and Auction from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant, Oakland. Cost is $65. www. impactbayarea.org 

“Untraining White Liberal Racism” An introductory workshop from 1 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley High School Library, 1980 Allston Way. Cost is $10-$50 sliding scale, no one turned away. 235-3957.  

“Positively Ageless: A Celebration of Art and Aging” Art auction and benefit for Adult Day Services of Alameda County from 6 to 8 p.m. at 4th Street Studio, 1717 Fourth St. Tickets are $25. For reservations call 577-3543. 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234.  

Don’t be Rattled Learn about the rattlesnake, one of the Bay Area’s most misunderstood inhabitants at 10:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Evergreen Shrubs for Structural & Architectural Solutions at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

“Creating An Ecological House” with Skip Wentz on natural building materials, solar design and alternative construction methods, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. 

“Special Circumstances” A film on Héctor Salgado, Chilean political prisoner, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Discussion with filmmakers will follow. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Asthma Walk at Lake Merritt supports asthma research & education. Check in at 9 a.m., walk starts at 10 a.m. For information and directions call 893-5474. www.alaebay.org 

Passport Fair with information from Lonely Planet authors about planning your next trip from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Oakland Main Post Office, 1675 7th St., Oakland. 

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. www.nativeplants.org 

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

Animal Communication for healing or therapy at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave. Cost is $25 for 15 minute session, call for appointment. 525-6155. 

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

Spiritwalking: Aqua Chi(TM) at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Also Wed. at 3:30 p.m. Cost is $5.50, $3.50 seniors & disabled. Bring your own towels. 526-0312. 

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

Yoga for Peace at 9:30 a.m. at Ohlone Park, MLK at Hearst. Bring a yoga mat, warm blanket, and peace sign.  

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 1 

People’s Park Community Garden Day Come join other gardeners as we spiffy up the west end Community Garden in People’s Park from noon to 4 p.m. 658-9178. 

Tenth Anniversary Celebration of Halcyon Commons Park Block party between Prince & Webster, from 1 to 4 p.m. with music, fun activities for children, and program on the history of the community-designed park. Free. 849-1969. 

Owls and Oaks Learn the folk legends and the true stories of owls at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Spinning a Yarn Learn how yarn is made on a spinning wheel and try your hand with a spindle from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Otsukimi Japanese Moon Viewing Festival at 5:30 p.m. at the Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Belleview Ave., Oakland. 482-5896. www.oakland-fukuoka.org 

Animal Day at the Kensington Farmers Market to support the work of local rescue groups, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, behind Ace Hardware. 528-4346. 

Vernon Wenrich Memorial Picnic will be held at 1 p.m. to honor the life of a man who served as counselor at Berkeley High School for over 40 years, many of those as head counselor. For more details call Marjorie Wenrich at 206-355-5197.  

Volunteer at Lawrence Hall odf Science Open House for new volunteers from 2 to 3:30 p.m. For informati`on call 643-5471. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

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 

Kickabout at Codornices Park Soccer for all, skill and talent not required. For more information contact cambour@hotmail.com  

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Sustained by Joy” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 2 

Evening of Conscience to Benefit World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime with Daniel Ellsberg, Boots Riley, and Alice Walker at 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave. Suggested donation $15-$50. 415-864-5153. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people aged 60 and over meets at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Donation $3. 524-9122. 

Lead Abatement Repairs Find out about funding for lead hazard repairs for rental properties with low-income tenants or vacant units, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. 567-8280. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 3 

Tuesday is for the Birds An early morning walk for birders through Bay Area parklands. Bring water, sunscreen, binoculars and a snack. This week we will visit Arrowhead Marsh. For meeting location or to borrow binoculars, call 525-2233.  

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Torture Teach-in and Vigil with Father Louis Vitale at 12:30 p.m. at the fountain on UC Campus, Bancroft at College. 649-0663. 

Discussion Salon on Clean Money and Campaign Reform at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut.  

Sleep Soundly Seminar A free class on how hypnosis can help you sleep at 6:30 p.m. at 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. To register call 465-2524. 

Guitars in the Classroom Free music and guitar classes for public school elementary teachers, beginners at 5:30 and intermediate at 6:30 p.m. at Lakeview Elementary School, 746 Grand Ave., Oakland. Classes run for 8 weeks. Advanced registration is required. 848-9463. 

Albany Library Homework Center is open from 3 to 5 p.m., Tues. and Thurs. for students in third through fifth grades. No registration is required. 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17. 

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. 

Handbuilding Ceramics Class from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also Mon. from noon to 4 p.m. and Wed. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ashby at Ellis Sts Free, except for materials and firing charges. For information call 525-5497. 

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

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

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Sept. 26, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6195.  

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Sept. 27, at 7 p.m., at 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Sept. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Sept. 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 26 

FILM 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson talks about the mental and emotional loves of animals at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Maybeck Trio at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. 525-5211. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun Zydeco dance lesson a 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Beth Custer’s Clarinet Thing at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Larry Coryell, Victor Bailey, Lenny White Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Colors” A group show by East Bay Women Artists opens at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Montclair, Oakland. Exhibition runs to Jan. 7. 451-2661. 

THEATER 

“The Secret Circus” Wed. and Thurs. at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, through Oct. 19. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. 800-838-3006 www.themarsh.org  

FILM 

Celebrate Oaxaca! “Sketches of Juchitan” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pirates and Piracy “Sonic Outlaws” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” featuring Amy Brooks at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

John Stauber describes “The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

“Iranian Voices in Diaspora” with Iranian writers including poets Persis Karim and Mahnaz Badihian and Persian-inspired music by Aleph Null at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

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 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Symphony Orchestra at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Arwen Castellanos & Jorge Liceaga, film and concert celebrating Oaxaca at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tribute to the Conga at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

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

Maria Kalaniemi Trio at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Larry Coryell, Victor Bailey, Lenny White Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 28 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “Love is a Dream House in Lorin” by Marcus Gardley, inspired by true stories of Berkeley’s historic Lorin District, Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Nov. 5. Sliding scale $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Civic Center Art Exhibition 2006-2007 Opening ceremony at 3 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Courtyard, 2180 Milvia St. RSVP to 981-7541. 

FILM 

The Mechanical Age “The Serial and the Mechanical Age” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Vangie Buell reads from her memoir of growing up in the Philippines “Twenty-five Chickens and a Pig for a Bride” at at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Laurence Juber, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Wayward Monks at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Omar Ait Vimoun, Algerian Berber music on mandol and oud, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Is, The Bluegrass Revolution, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

A Tribute to Tony Williams with Allan Holdsworth, Alan Pasqua Group, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 29 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Foreigner” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St, Alameda, through Oct. 1. Cost is $12-$15. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “Mother Courage” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St., through Oct. 22. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “As You Like It” 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 Oct. 15. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “The Orchid Sandwich” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Oct. 21, at 951 Pomona Ave. El Cerrito. Tickets are $11-$18. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theatre “Colorado” A dark comedy about celebrity worship, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. Runs through Oct. 28. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Diary of a Scoundrel” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond across from the Hotel Mac. Through Sept. 30. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. 

Shotgun Players “Love is a Dream House in Lorin” by Marcus Gardley, inspired by true stories of Berkeley’s historic Lorin District, Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Nov. 5. Sliding scale $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

UC Dept. of Theater “Suburban Motel” six plays by George Walker at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus, through Nov. 19. Tickets are $8-$14. For schedule see http://theater.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

The Cinema of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne “The Son” at 7 p.m. and “The Child” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Taiwan Film Festival “ Murmer of Youth” at 3 p.m. at Pacific Fim Archive, and “Tigerwomen Grow Wings” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2621 Durant. 642-2809. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Frankie Holtz-Davis reads from “Mahrynie Red - The Journey” at 6 p.m. at the African American Museum & Library, 659 Fourteenth St., Oakland. RSVP to 637-0200. 

David Kamp describes “The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Free Range, Extra Virgin Story of How We Became a Gourmet Nation” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

Genieve Abodo discusses “Mecca and Main Street: Being Muslim after 9/11” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Aging Artfully” with Amy Gorman at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 527-4977. 

Brian Morton reads from his new novel “Breakable You” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jon Fromer, Francisco Herrera and the Molotov Mouths at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$25. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Finless Brown at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Taylor Eigsti/Dayna Stephens Duo at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Joel Dorham Latin Jazz Octet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Grapefruit Ed, with Bill Cutler and the Hounds of Time at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. m 

Sam Bevan at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Bill Kirchen, rockabilly, dieselbilly at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

The Oh Yeahs! at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Pockit, Ubzorb, Precise Device at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

La Plebe, Inspector Double Negative, Static Thought at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Marcus Shelby Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

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

The Girlfriend Experience, The Hundred Days, Charmless, indie rock, at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

A Tribute to Tony Williams with Allan Holdsworth, Alan Pasqua Group, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30 

CHILDREN  

“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day” at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$18. 925-798-1300. 

THEATER 

“Happy Days” Beckett’s last play at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $9-$25. 415-531-8454. 

FILM 

“Special Circumstances” the story of Héctor Salgado, Chilean political prisoner, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Discussion with filmmakers will follow. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Mechanical Age “The Magic Lantern and the Mechanical Age” 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

“Milarepa” from Tibet. Benefit screening at 6:30 p.m. at Wheeler Hall Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $15. 877-697-2998. 

Taiwan Film Festival “Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring” at 2:30 p.m. and “How High is the Mountain” at 4 p.m at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-2809. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Brady Kiesling discusses “Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Joe Quirk reads from his book “Sperm Are From Men, Eggs Are From Women” at 10 a.m. at C’era Una Volta, 1332 Partk St. at Redwood Square, Alameda. 769-4828. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“King Arthur” by Henry Purcell, directed by Mark Morris at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus, through Oct. 7. Tickets are $42-$110. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Faye Carroll and her Trio featuring Frederick Harris on the piano at 8 and 10 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Evelie Posch and Brook Schoenfield at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bulk at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Dougie MacLean at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Cost is $27.50-$28.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Omnesia, Holden, Future Action Villans at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jarrett Cherner Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Arlington Houston Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Dangerous Rhythm: Tim Fox at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Misner & Smith, acoustic rock, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Deep Hello, Alexis Harte, Steve Taylor-Ramirez at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. All ages show. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

While it Lasts, See it Through, New Soldiers at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

A Tribute to Tony Williams with Allan Holdsworth, Alan Pasqua Group, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 1 

CHILDREN 

Circus for Arts in the Schools with Jeff Raz, clown, and much more at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central Ave., between Oak and Walnut Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $10-$12.50. Children under 3 free. 587-3399. www.circusforarts.org 

Bongo Love Band at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$18. 925-798-1300. 

THEATER 

“Pagbabalik” A Filipino-American multi-disciplinary play at 7 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Taiwan Film Festival “Viva Tonal-The Dance Age” at 7:30 and “The Strait Story” at 9:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Durant Ave. 

The Mechanical Age “Pandora’s Box: The Engineer’s Plot” and “The General Line” at 2:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mutabaruka, dub poet, at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Four Flavors of Jazz, new talent from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and veterans from 2 to 6 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd., Oakland. 238-3052.  

Live Oak Concert with Rebecca Rust, ‘cello, Friedrich Edelmann, basson, and Vera Breheda, piano at 7:30 pm. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10. 644-6893. 

Brand Nubian at 9 p.m. at 2232 MLK, 2232 Martin Luther King Blvd, Oakland. Cost is $10-$12. 384-7874.  

Shooglenifty at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jonathan Kreisberg Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Vegitation, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10, or $20 including 8 p.m. poetry reading with Mutabaruka. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Paul H. Taylor & The Montara Mountain Boys at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Hernan Gamboa, Venezuelan folk music, at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373.  

MONDAY, OCT. 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Whitework Embroidery” opens at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St. and runs through Feb. 5. Hours are Mon.-Sat. noon to 6 p.m. Free. lacismuseum.org 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: Works by Bay Area Student Visionaries at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Reading with Patricia Edith and Jan Steckel at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Neil Gaiman reads from “Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders” at 7 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $10. 559-9500. 

Readings from “The Womanist” Mills College Literary Journal at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Khalil Shaheed, all ages jam, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Three Sounds: Melody of China with guests Gene Colman and Wei Wu at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jimmy Bosch at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com

“You’re going to talk to me! Another happy day!” Samuel Beckett’s heroine Winnie addresses her seldom-seen husband Willie after he’s finally emitted a syllable. 

But the talking—and most of the very local action—is Winnie’s, primarily, as Beckett’s last full-length play centers on this older woman’s predicament, trapped to the waist in a mound of earth, and on the soliloquy-like monologues she delivers to make sense of it all and carry on and find happiness. 

Visiting Russian performer Oleg Liptsin’s very fine theatrical conceit, that of playing Winnie in a modern form of the Kabuki onnagata (male actor playing a stylized woman), accompanied complementarily by Jayne Entwistle (of Big City Improv) as Willie, only adds to Happy Days’ spare, elegant poetry that pares existence to the bone.  

This balancing act between absurd humor and a strangely familiar pathos comes to the Berkeley City Club, presented by Antares Ensemble as a benefit for PAAP—a scholarship fund to send Berkeley and Oakland students to UC—one night only, Saturday Sept. 30, after closing a very short run this Thursday at the Shelton Theatre in downtown San Francisco.  

Liptsin has directed at Shelton on previous visits, and his production of Tolstoy’s The Living Corpse is due to open there Oct. 7. But he seldom performs here, and to see him essay the female lead of this modern classic (which he directed earlier this year at the Beckett Centenary Festival in Krakow) is to witness a sterling example of the innovations of Russian theatrical technique that trace back to V. S. Meyerhold, to his student Eisenstein and its adaptation to Soviet film, to Bio-Mechanics and Eccentrism—much-heralded styles that we hear of, but seldom see, except second (or third) hand. 

Liptsin’s the genuine article, and though the rigors of Winnie’s predicament prevent him from employing the more acrobatic means of his style, the range and play of expressions on the living mask of his/Winnie’s face, as well as the vigor of gesture (hands darting in and out of a handbag, where the things rummaged up—a toothbrush, a compact, a tiny .22 pistol—serve as the only props in the barren landscape of bare stage that’s backdrop to The Heap) and the vocal expression are athletic enough for a dozen other shows of physical theater. 

Beckett wrote Happy Days in English, after having written Waiting for Godot and Endgame (his two other full-length plays) and most of the rest of his dramatic and fictional prose work from the late 1940s to 1960 in French. 

It premiered in New York, though Beckett was more closely associated with its first Paris production, in which Roger Blin directed Madeleine Renaud as Winnie, with her husband, the great mime Jean-Louis Barrault, as Willie. When he later directed the play himself, Beckett, who said he tried to direct his own works as though someone else had written them, and indeed felt that time had made it as if someone else had, changed both text and stage directions, contrary to the general impression that he was an absolutist in the literal presentation of his plays as written. 

Liptsin has cut Happy Days somewhat, and added a kind of denouement, not so much to the text as to its style of presentation. The result plays up Happy Days’ curiously wry charm. 

“Theater is a game in liberation,” Liptsin says, “and to liberate oneself, one needs distancing, a detached position ... the mask from theater tradition is enormously inspiring.” 

“Earth, you old extinguisher!” Liptsin, expressing Beckett’s eloquent Anglo-Irish, the heir to the Enlightenment idiom of Swift, Goldsmith, Burke and Bishop Berkeley, delivers the lines in Slavic rhythm and accent, rendering the tiniest nuance with his torso, long arms and hands, the angle of his head, the corners of his eyes and mouth—finally, the face alone. The audience seems to laugh serially at the lines and expressions, then falls into a rapt silence.  

When Beckett’s plays are done like this, as poetry of the stage, there’s none of that nervous questioning of what it all means that dogs so many productions, so many discussions. It’s all right there, not transparent but palpably present, and as mysterious as life itself, just as theater is both immediate and yet always something else. 

Beckett, whose “minimalism” has become a proverbial cliche, expressed his own views on meaning when he said that if he knew what it meant, he would have stated it in the play, and that his work was solely made up of “fundamental sounds (no pun intended),” and that it was up to critics and the audience to search for meaning, if they wanted to, and if they had qualms, “provide their own aspirin.” 

HAPPY DAYS 

8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 at Berkeley City Club.  

Sliding scale, $9-25. Parking, $5. 

(415) 531-8454 or www.antaresensemble.org. 

Milarepa, a new film by Tibetan lama and actor/director Netken Chokling, will show at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 at Wheeler Hall Auditorium on the UC campus.  

The screening is sponsored by the Center for Buddhist Studies and is presented in association with the Mill Valley Film Festival.  

Milarepa premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, after which Chokling set out to distribute the film himself. The first-time director is taking his film around the country in a series of benefit screenings. 

The story concerns the formative years in the life of one of Tibet’s most revered saints. Milarepa came from wealth, but when his father died, Milarepa and his mother were left in the care of in-laws who stole their money and treated them like peasant slaves.  

When his mother urges him to exact revenge by studying sorcery, Milarepa journeys to the home of a great master and becomes his student. Eventually he returns to the village of his in-laws and uses his powers to stir up a storm to destroy it. But revenge proves hollow, and the film concludes with Milarepa’s realization that vengeance and destruction are futile. Part two, due in 2009, will pick up the story from here.  

Tickets are $15, with all proceeds benefiting the Conservancy of Tibetan Art and Culture and Orphan Project. For more information, see www.milarepamovie.com.

Another weekend, another film festival.  

This time it’s the Taiwan Film Festival, held on the UC campus at the Berkeley Art Museum and at Pacific Film Archive Friday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 1. 

The festival’s theme is “Beyond the New Wave” and features eight documentary films selected to demonstrate the range and vitality of contemporary Taiwanese filmmaking. 

The “New Wave” refers to Taiwanese films of the 1980s by directors such as Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang, films that took the country’s film industry beyond the formulaic teen romance and kung-fu features that dominated the country’s output in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The New Wave films instead took a more realistic approach, delving into Taiwanese history and depicting the lives of ordinary people.  

In recent years, affordable digital technology has fostered a boom in Taiwanese documentary filmmaking, but these films rarely make it to U.S. theaters. These screenings, several of which feature the directors in person, represent the only chances Bay Area moviegoers may get to see any of these engaging films.  

The screenings are divided between the Berkeley Art Museum (2621 Durant Ave.) and the Pacific Film Archive theater (2575 Bancroft Way). For more information, see http://2006tff.blogspot.com.

Resurrecting a book is probably like raising Lazarus. It can happen, but only with a little divine intervention. On the other hand, there are scientifically documented cases—like Their Eyes Were Watching God (and indeed all the works  

of Zora Neale Hurston)—in which books have been resurrected and have stayed with us. So it is with both fear and hope that I will now, ladies and gentlemen, attempt to raise a book from the dead. 

This book really is dead but should not be. Very occasionally you can find a copy in a used bookstore, but the only good sources for copies are libraries and the various online consortiums like abebooks.com and alibris.com. Nonetheless, this is a book worth searching out. The Ninth Wave, published in 1956 by late Berkeley Political Science Professor Eugene Burdick was, according to the cover blurb of my old paperback, a best seller, but I’ve never met a single soul, besides the friend who gave me the book, who has ever read it. 

Burdick achieved much more fame with his books Fail-Safe (with Harvey Wheeler) and The Ugly American (with William Lederer), bona fide best sellers in 1962 and 1959, respectively. His life was rather short, 1918 to 1965, but Burdick’s interests ranged far. He was a Rhodes Scholar; one of his stories appeared in the 1947 O’Henry Prize Stories; and he studied American voting behavior. An excellent short biography of him appears on the UC Berkeley “In Memoriam” website. 

The story concerns high school surfing buddies in Southern California beginning in 1939—how cool is that? In fact, on the web you will find the book frequently mentioned on surfing sites. And in the 25 year interval between when I first read, and then reread, the book, surfing was one aspect that stuck out in my mind. However, surfing is really just the frame of the book. It’s not a book about surfing, although the passages on the water are incredibly lyrical and evocative. 

The friends, Hank and Mike, go off to Stanford (now just calm down, you Old Blues; after all Burdick was a professor at Cal, not Stanford). Hank becomes a doctor, Mike a lawyer and political behind-the-scenes man. The book’s got everything: class and race issues at Stanford, surfing, Hollywood, Coachella Valley, Fresno, Highway 99, Malibu, communists, the wine country, South of Market winos, North Beach, World War II, big time politics, California land grabs, sex. 

The first half is epic in its complexity: Hank’s early years in his grandparent’s boardinghouse in North Dakota; his ending up in high school in Southern California; Mike’s unhappy socialist father; Mike’s affair with his high school English teacher, and later, Mike’s convincing a drunk to jump from the Golden Gate Bridge.  

Actually, I think that’s part of its problem. There’s just too much; you get exhausted after a while, and put the book down. Then the next section keeps you up late into the night. It wants to be a serious novel, and it is, but it often reads like a pot boiler, and it seems to be one part Frank Norris and one part Raymond Chandler. 

The cover of my Dell paperback edition (“5th BIG PRINTING”) from 1963 doesn’t help sort out the various strands. A blurb from the Chicago Tribune appears above the title: “A powerful novel … Violent actions, startling sexual episodes … bold, brash.” (Lest a small percentage of you get carried away by the “startling sexual episodes.” They were probably startling in 1956. Today, not so much. Not bad, however.) 

And the cover art is an absolute cross between the cover of All the Kings Men and the poster for From Here to Eternity (Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in the surf). Seriously, couple in the surf and politician in front of the microphone. No wonder, then, that the book has fallen on hard times. 

But the strength of the book is that it makes us see our world through new eyes. Some great books, like Their Eyes Were Watching God, tell us a story we didn’t know; others, like these, tell us a story we think we know. And we soon learn that we really didn’t know it at all. The Ninth Wave seems frighteningly modern. Actually, I think it  

speaks more to us today than perhaps it would have before 9/11. Mike devours everything he can read at Stanford, (while Hank devours anything he can eat) and slowly develops an operating principle for his life. We see the first flowering of the principle in a very discomfiting passage. 

While at Stanford, Mike and Hank visit their philosophy professor, Moon, ostensibly to talk about some point from class, but the conversation takes a nasty turn, and as they leave, Hank says: 

“You son of a bitch. You had to let him know that you know he is a queer. Is that the only reason you stopped by his office?’ 

“I don’t get it,” [Mike said]. “Being queer is all right, we say. Maybe it’s better than being normal. Maybe it’s being superior. But we can’t talk about this fine thing. It’s very bad to mention to a queer that he possesses this fine thing.” 

“That’s not why you said it; to be nice and conversational,” Hank said wearily. “You said it to hurt him … You want to see if you can break through and find something that a person is scared of.’ 

Find the thing that people are afraid of and you can control them: 

“I just start to itch with curiosity when I see a guy with a perfect little world, everything consistent, everything balanced … the guy happy in the middle of the world. I don’t believe in it. I have to see if it’s real.” 

“And is it?” 

“No, It never is. Everybody is always scared of something.” 

Although it has taken a long time to get to this point in the novel, this idea—everyone is afraid of something; you just have to find out what it is—becomes the basis for the rest of the book.  

At every turn, Mike pushes. He gets engaged to the daughter of Napa Valley winemakers and here’s what he says to his future in-laws: 

I don’t know about breeding and good environment … Not a thing. But I know something about you. I know that both of you came from good old California families who left you a lot of money. And I know that neither one of you has earned a cent in your life. You even lose a couple thousand dollars a year on this vineyard.  

And I know that you run the vineyard because it’s fashionable and you can play like the country squire and his lady. And I also know that you run a winery so that you can have a good excuse to lap up a couple of gallons of wine every day. 

The first half is fascinating, but it’s the second half that becomes gripping, as Mike plays kingmaker for John Cromwell, a well-to-do lawyer whose main talent is that he’s a riveting speaker with populist notions. What’s disturbing is that Mike’s philosophy—and that’s really not the right word for it—is not in the service of anything, neither right nor left. Not to make himself governor or to help people. It’s just because he can do it. 

Mike doesn’t rely on traditional politicking, but on the then-newfangled opinion polls and the shaping of a candidate to fit the polls. How Mike manipulates the Democratic nominating convention, and then the primary, is amazing and horrifyingly realistic, Premonitions of our last two national elections—as well as our California ones—run throughout the book. “Most voters don’t care about politics,” says Mike. “…They vote out of habit, because they’ve been told to vote. And they always vote Democrat or Republican. …But the really important ones are the eight or ten per cent that’re scared. They’re the real independents, the people whose vote can be changed.” 

One can’t help but think of those polls that showed a substantial “undecided” group in the last election, when the rest of us were wondering how in the world someone could not know what to think about the two candidates. Mike says that’s it’s no longer political corruption that runs things—it’s money, power, influence, and manipulation of the voters. It’s all legal. 

Burdick’s training as a political scientist infuses the entire book, albeit in an extremely depressing way. It is most clear when Mike is explaining the results of some polls he has conducted. He’s talking to Hank and to Georgia, with whom he is about to launch a desultory and long-lasting affair. She’s the daughter of a wealthy Jewish movie mogul. The second question in Mike’s poll is “In general, what sorts of things do you worry about?” 

‘I don’t believe it,’ Georgia said. She stared at the paper. ‘Only eight per cent of them worry most about war and depression and the atom bomb. The rest are worried about their jobs and themselves.’ 

The third question is “What group in general do you think is most dangerous to the American way of life?” 

“The answers always fall into five categories,” Mike said. “Just like clockwork. First, the people who say Big Business or Wall Street of the Bankers or Rockefellers or General Motors. I call that the ‘Big Business’ category. Second is the ‘Trade Unions’ category. That’s obvious…Third is the “Communist Conspiracy’ category. Fourth is a category you won’t like much. It’s the ‘Jewish Conspiracy’ category.  

That’s where you put the people who say the Jews or International Jewry or Bernard Baruch. The fifth group is the “Religious Conspiracy’ … people who say the Pope or the Catholics or ‘those snotty Episcopalians’ or ‘those Mormons and all their wives’ … that sort of thing.” 

Ask the question “What group in general do you think is most dangerous to the American way of life?” today and just substitute a few words in the answers: “Muslim,” “Al Queda,” “gay,” “immigrant,” “environmentalist.” The only ones that we don’t need to change are “Big Business” and “Jews,” I guess. 

Not as much as changed in 45 years as we would like to think. As I was rereading the book, I could hear echoes of a recent TV ad proclaiming “Governor  

Schwarzenegger’s secret plan to discredit California nurses”—or something to that effect.  

I’m not normally a person who gives much credence to secret plans, but The Ninth Wave has given me pause. 

The book is not all politics, however. There are many telling small moments, moments that raise it beyond (if not above) being “simply” a novel about politics: love, marriage, friendship are all major concerns here. Mike is not “evil” in any traditional sense-perhaps “amoral” is as close as we can come-and along with his brilliance and single mindedness, there is an overriding sense of emptiness. Although Hank drifts in and out of the novel (which is another problematic aspect, I think), it’s clear that the  

bond he and Mike share is extraordinary, and at the very end, devastating. Mike’s wife seems to accept his affair with Georgia: it’s clear-to us and to Georgia-that Mike is not going to leave his wife. And there are scenes of great emotional power beyond political maneuvering: a fight with some thugs on a beach; a card game in a dorm room. At one point, Mike and Georgia drive out Wilshire Blvd., past UCLA, and then past the Veteran’s Home that’s still there. Georgia comments that the veterans must hate it and Mike asks how she knows: 

I guess by looking at them. I think the sunshine and palm trees and salt air frustrates them. When you’re dying you ought to be in a cold, dreary climate. It would make it easier. They ought to build the veterans’ hospitals in the mountains and out on the deserts … where it’s lonely and bleak. It must be hard to sit around in the sun and watch people going by in sport shirts and know you’re going to die. 

That seems to me to one of the clear Raymond Chandler moments, of which there are many. Georgia herself, for instance, is one of those slightly damaged but strong women who could easily be spending her evenings with Phillip Marlowe. The book is for all its emphasis on politics a very atmospheric book about California. 

It’s astounding that Fail-Safe and The Ugly American were both made into movies, while The Ninth Wave has disappeared. It begs to be made into a movie—but the kind only Northern California’s own Saul Zaentz or Philip Kaufman could make: there’s a balance of depth of thought and great story telling that few directors could  

probably capture. (Saul and Philip, are you reading this?) 

If this novel were simply astonishing in its prescience, which it is, it would be worth resurrecting for that alone. But thankfully it’s more. Certainly, it should be on all “Best Books about California” lists, because the state is a major character. For all of its flaws, the book does have a claim to deserving a new life: it provokes the reader to look-at both the physical and political environments-through a new lens.  

Today, the story itself not new; we’re living it in many ways, but the books help us to see that.