Arts & Events
Wallace Berman and His Circle at BAM
Wallace Berman was perhaps the last true Bohemian—a denizen of the Beat counterculture, which was Bohemia’s successor. Berman constructed his life and art outside the establishment, and he and his coterie of many friends were in search of an art that confirmed their nonconformist lifestyle. Berman was a man of many talents: poet, draftsman, sculptor and, as we see throughout the exhibition, a fine, rather conventional portrait photographer. -more-
Revels Mark Holiday Season
Once again, California Revels celebrates the Winter Solstice holidays with the 21st Christmas Revels: music and song, Morris and step dance, pomp and proclamations, choruses and soloists—as well as the popular participatory sing-along and the line-dance that runs through the entire audience, now a tradition—amid a sumptuous spectacle of holiday customs from other times, other places, all to unfold over the next two weekends at the Oakland Scottish Rite Theater, by Lake Merritt. -more-
Other Minds Festival Begins This Weekend
The Other Minds Festival of New Music, now in its 12th year, presents concerts featuring the work of composers and improvisors from Norway, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, France—and Emeryville— this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with composer panel discussions at 7 p.m., and on Sunday at 2 p.m. (panel at 1 p.m.) in Kanbar Hall at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. Tickets are $30 ($20 students) with three show packages at $72, through otherminds.org, (415) 292-1233, or at the SFJCC box office. -more-
Barn Owls: House Hunting in Berkeley
Editor’s note: The following article was submitted to Joe Eaton in response to his call for readers’ stories about barn owls. His column will return the Tuesday after next. -more-
Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay
THE STORY OF A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST -more-
Arts: Anselm Kiefer Retrospective at SF MOMA
Anselm Kiefer was born in Germany in 1945, a few months before the end of World War II. The horror of the Nazi regime and the divided nation in which he grew up find stronger response in his work than it has in many of his contemporaries. In fact, it is the most powerful work to come out of Germany, Kiefer delves into history and mythology—Greek, Nordic and especially the Bible and the Kabbala. He is well versed in modern poetry as well as art and its history. -more-
Moving Pictures: PFA Screens Seven Samurai Classics
Pacific Film Archive will present a series of seven samurai films beginning today and running through Dec. 17. -more-
Moving Pictures: Films Show Two Sides of Social Conscience
Two new documentaries opening today at Shattuck Cinemas depict complementary aspects of America’s social conscience. The first, Wrestling With Angels, examines the artistic side of social and political engagement in the person of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. The second, Beyond the Call, tracks a more grounded, more blue-collar form of humanitarianism by tracking the exploits of a man named Ed Artis who, along with two comrades, stages his own missions to war-torn nations, providing food and supplies to the needy. -more-
The Theater: ‘All Wear Bowlers’ at Berkeley Rep
A pair of derbies sit alone in the light on stage at Berkeley Rep, visually out of line, but syncopated. After a pause, they skitter off under, it seems, their own power, and a movie projection begins on the white screen upstage from where the hats so coyly posed ... -more-
Arts Correction
A reader wrote in to complain about what he perceptively referred to as “crossed wires” in the Nov. 28 preview of holiday concerts. -more-
East Bay Then and Now: Hillside Club Has Left Mark on Berkeley’s Northside
Few Berkeley landmarks are as repeatedly and unjustly maligned as the Hillside Club Street Improvements in the Daley’s Scenic Park Tract. Designated in 1983, this system of public improvements forms a continuous line that stretches over at least six blocks of Berkeley’s Northside. -more-
Garden Variety: Brooklyn Botanical Garden Book is a Good Passalong
Joe found an interesting book over at the Mechanics’ Institute Library: a Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s “All-Region Guide,” Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants by C. Colston Burrell. The BBG puts out lots of informative short books; this one is a double-sized volume, with lots of color photographs. -more-
About the House: Choosing Among Three Contractor Bids
My friend Lisa seems to be the Maven Plus Grande de Berkeley. Everybody’s query-girl (although she’s happily married to a fella). She even gets calls about contractors, which she confesses isn’t exactly her area of greatest expertise. So we’re hanging out and she plays me a message from her friend (We’ll call her Mildred) and it goes something like this: -more-
You Write The Daily Planet
It’s time to submit your essays, poems, stories and photographs for the Daily Planet’s annual holiday reader contribution issue, which will be published on Dec. 29. Send your submissions, up to 1,000 words, to holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec. 20. -more-