Arts & Events
Moving Pictures: ‘Schultze Gets the Blues’ Is an Overlooked Gem
Last year Schultze Gets the Blues, a German film, played in Berkeley theaters for just a week and to generally small audiences. After one matinee screening, a group of women walked out casting sideways glances at each other and rolling their eyes. “What did you think?” one asked another. “I don’t knowwwww…..” was the response. -more-
Arts: Johnson’s Voice Brings Together Classical, Jazz, Spiritual
Candace Johnson can belt out a Mozart opera aria with the soul of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. A chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley’s music department, Johnson dazzled an audience at her debut vocal recital on campus in September. -more-
East Bay Then and Now: Some East Bay Buildings Were Inspired by Precedent
In Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, the only architect worth his salt is the individualist who tosses all historic precedents onto the trash heap. Published in 1943, the novel was a battle cry for the revolution of modernism, which was expected to take hold from then to eternity. -more-
Garden Variety: New Native Plant Nursery Blooms in Cull Canyon
Pete Veilleux wrote something to the California native-plant mavens’ mailing list the other day: “It’s October! Time for squirrel stomach pie—my memere’s specialty. She called it poor man’s toot cake.” -more-
About the House: The Truth About Seismic Gas Shut-Off Valves
The anniversary of the Loma Prieta is upon us once again and still so little has been done to prepare for our earthquake. That’s right. Loma Prieta wasn’t ours. It was in the mountains of Watsonville nearly 100 miles to the south. -more-
Oakland’s Temescal District on Display Sunday
Temescal might just be the Pluto of North Oakland neighborhoods. -more-
The Theater: Oakland Opera’s ‘Enfants Terribles’
Here, time stands still. There is only music, and the movement of children through space. -more-
Oliveto Hosts Aris Books’ Author Reunion
Back at the dawn of Berkeley’s food revolution, before the first bit of artisan bread was dipped in extra-virgin olive oil, L. John Harris, a former Cheese Board collective member and waiter at Chez Panisse, published The Book of Garlic. -more-
Seeing Red: The Strategies of Female House Finches
I tend to take house finches for granted, as I suspect most birders do. But there’s more to these ubiquitous little birds than meets the eye. -more-