TUESDAY, MARCH 27 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Briones Regional Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Women: America’s Greatest Untapped Natural Resource Lecture and discussion with Jerri Lanfe at 1 p.m. at Laney College Forum, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month. Cost is $7-$12. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

“Maquilopolis” Screening of the documentary on globalization through the eyes of Tijuana’s factory workers at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St.  

“Forced Displacement and the Merowe Dam: The Other Human Rights Crisis in the Sudan” with Ali Askouri, Sudanese human rights activist at 7 p.m. in the Morgan Lounge, Morgan Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by International Rivers Network. 848-1155. 

“Finding Your Roots on the Web” A class on genealogy research at 7 p.m. in the Berkeley History Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. To register call 981-6148. 

Zoo Ambassador Training Orientation The Oakland Zoo is looking for volunteers to help teach visitors about the zoo and the animals. Training from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. For information call 632-9525. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 8 a.m. to noon at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

National Nutrition Month Cooking Demonstrations at 3 p.m. at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Glucometer Demonstration from noon to 3 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Berkeley Home Safety and Repair Program presentation at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

“Across the Atlas Alaskan Adventure” A video by Pietro Simonetti and Greg Cook at 7 p.m at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St., near the corner of Eunice St.  

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. 

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

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. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 

Teach-In and Vigil Against American Torture every Wed. at noon at Boalt Hall, Bancroft Way at College Ave.  

“Health Care for Everyone: Plans or Scams” with Jessica Rothhar of Health Access at the Gray Panthers Membership Meeting, North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 548-9696. 

Walk, Talk, Buck the Fence What’s at stake in the Ecology of Berkeley’s Strawberry Canyon A walk at 5 p.m. every Wed. with Ignacio Chapela and expert guests to discuss what is at stake in the proposed steps for the filling of the Canyon by the UC-LBL Rad-Labs, and now British Petroleum. http://canyonwalks.blogspot.com  

“How to Shop Consciously: The Better World Shopping Guide” with Dr. Ellis Jones at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-3402.  

“The Aging Eye” a free lecture with Dr. Erich Horn, opthamologist, at 9:30 a.m. at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Cafeteria Annex B and C, 350 Hawthorne St., Oakland. 869-6737. 

New to DVD: “Children of Men” at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Games People Play” By eric Berne at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. 433-2911. 

El Grupito, a group for practicing and maintaining Spanish skills, meets at 7:30 p.m. at Diesel Books, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. 653-9965. 

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 and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 29 

“Berkeley, Her Land, Her Gift of Early Neighborhoods” An illustrated lecture with Richard Schwartz at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15-$20. 848-4288. 

“Fight in the Fields” A doumentary on Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers’ struggle at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss the books we could not live without at 4:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. Bring a book to share. 981-6107. 

Family Story Time for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6107. 

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

FRIDAY, MARCH 30 

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 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Ismail Khaldi, Deputy Consul General of Israel in SF on “Pluralism in Israel Today” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

What is Wheat Gluten in our Foods Doing to Us and our children if it is killing cats and dogs? Free documentary screening by Ann Marks at 1 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 528-6267. 

“This Black Soil” a film about the struggles of an impoverished community in Virginia, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., midtown Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Finding Your Roots on the Web” a class on genealogy research at 11 a.m. in the Berkeley History Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. To register call 981-6148. 

Oaxaca & Chiapas Report Back at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 1924 Cedar St. Donations accepted. 528-5403. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 8 p.m. at Hillside Coommunity Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Potluck supper at 7 p.m.. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 31 

“The Art of Beekeeping in Your Backyard” A presentation by the Alameda County Beekeepers Association at 10 a.m. at 2418 California St. Cost is $10, reservations required, call Jim at 845-2419 or Heiko at 549-3377. 

Farmyard Stories and Songs with Tara Reinertson at 11 a.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Native Plants, Native Americans and the Spanish” A walk and discussion of the encounter between the two cultures from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. 532-9142. 

Outdoor Gardening with Cacti and Succulents from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. Registration required. 643-2755, ext. 03. 

Solo Sierrans Walk in Codornices Park Meet at 3:30 p.m. at the top of the Berkeley Rose Garden on Euclid Ave. Walk lasts about 1.5 hours and includes some steps. Rain cancels. 647-3513. 

Mt. Wanda Wildflower Walk Join a Park Ranger for a walk in the hills where John Muir took his daughters. Terrain is steep, wear walking shoes and bring water. Rain cancels. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Cal-Trans Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. 925-228-8860. 

Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women Summit with Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Nancy Pelosi and workshops on domestic violence, breast health, and women in politics. From 1 to 6 p.m. at the Fremont Marriott, 46100 Landing Parkway, Admission is free, but registration required. 259-3871. 

Zoo Ambassador Training Orientation The Oakland Zoo is looking for volunteers to help teach visitors about the zoo and the animals. Training from 9 to 1 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo. For information call 632-9525. 

CopWatch Know Your Rights Training Movie Night Learn your rights with the police and police observation from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Understanding Chronic Fatigue at 11:30 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“Preserving Home Ownership Forum” Learn how to avoid defaults, forclosures and protect your credit at 9:30 a.m. at Preservation Park, Ginn House Meeting Room, 660 13th St., Oakland. Sponsored by the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. 339-2121. 

Petite Pooches Playgroup for small dogs from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., one block north of Solano on Ensenada at Talbot. 524-2459. 

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

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. 

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

SUNDAY, APRIL 1 

Specialty Nursery Plant Sale, sponsored by California Horticultural Society, with thousands of rare and unique plants, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland, off Grand Ave., beside Lake Merritt. Cost is $3 for park entrance, free admission to plant sale. www.calhortsociety.org 

Family Exploration Day at the Oakland Museum of California with information on the peregrine falcon recovery efforts and special family tours of the Bringing the Condors Home exhibition, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Oak and 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Class from 1 to 3 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 444-8511. 

“Creating Collaborative Resistance to the Israeli Occupation” with Dr. Dalit Baum, Israeli peace activist, at 2:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public LIbrary, Third Flr Community Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. Suggested donation $10, no on e turned away. www.bayareawomeninblack.org 

Health Care Reform: Acts for Justice as a Spiritual Practice Soup supper at 5:30 p.m., program at 6:15 p.m. at Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins. Sponsored by Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action. Free, but RSVP requested. 267-7131. 

Holistic Pet Evaluation from 1 to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington, behind Ace Hardware. Free, but appointments required. 525-6155. 

Easter Egg Painting from 2 to 3 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

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. 527-4140. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Santosh Philip on “Advanced Kum Nye: The Joy of Being” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, APRIL 2  

Help with the Frog Survey Learn to recognize frog calls and help with Friends of Five Creeks’ every-other-year frog survey, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin, Albany. For information call 848 9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Class at 6:30 p.m. at Keller Williams, 4341 Piedmont Ave., 2nd Flr., Oakland. To register call Lori at 531-2665. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (code UCB) 

ONGOING 

Tax Help at the Berkeley Public Library Sat. from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the South Branch. Call for appointment. 981-6260. Also every Tues. and Thurs. at the West Branch from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. Call for appointment. 981-6270. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., March 27, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., March 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Energy Commission meets Wed.,March 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., March 28 , at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., March 28 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

TUESDAY, MARCH 27 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell on on Tuesdays Storytelling at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. www.juiamorgan.org 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

Irvin Muchnik, with special guest Josh Kornbluth, talks about “Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Death, Sex, and Scandal” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Laury Hammel, co-founder of Business Alliance for Local Living Economy will read from his new book at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 528-3254. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zizoo at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

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

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman, and Michael Fox present “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Georgann Brennan reads from “A Pig in Provence” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Writing Teachers Write, monthy reading at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

WomenSing Chorus at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$20. 925-974-9169. 

Pat Metheny with Brad Mehldau Trio at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$58. 642-9988.  

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

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

The Flux at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Nicole and the Sisters in Soul at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Roy Hargrove Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$24. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 29 

THEATER  

Dell’Ate Group “Second Skin” a one-woman show by Joan Schirle at 7:30 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. Free. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Berkeley, Her Land, Her Gift of Early Neighborhoods” an illustrated lecture with Richard Schwartz at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15-$20. 848-4288. 

Lionel Shriver reads from “The Post-Birthday World” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Tom McNamee reads from “Alice Waters and Chez Panisse” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Elline Lipkin and Sandra Lim, poetry, at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pierre Bensusan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Modesto Bresenio Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Julie Lloyd, singer/songwriter, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

BeatBeat Whisper, Snowblink, All My Pretty Ones at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Pachanga Primavera, benefit for Chicano Latino scholars at UC Berkeley, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Headnodic & Raashan Ahmad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Built for the Sea, Minipop at 8:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 30 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 1. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company “unconditional” A movement/theater piece Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20 sliding scale for adults and $6 for youth under 18. 597-1619. www.destinyarts.org 

Masquers Playhouse “She Loves Me” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $12. 232-4031. www.masquers.org  

Shotgun Players “Blood Wedding” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through April 29. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Virago Theatre “Orphans” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at BridgeHead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave, Alameda, through March 31. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-439-2456.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Bridal Fantasies: The Fashion of Dreams” Opening Reception at 6 p.m. at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St., through August 4. Open Mon.-Sat. noon to 6 p.m. 843-7178.  

“Memories in Beads” Beaded garments, handbags and decorative pieces on display at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at 2982 Adeline St. 843-7178.  

FILM 

“The Greater Circulation” A film by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Cost is $6 .464-4640. www.verticalpool.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Chris Hedges talks about “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 559-9500.  

Steven Hockensmith reads from “On the Wrong Track” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

African Alkhemic Spoken Word at 7 p.m. at Black New World, 836 Pine St., West Oakland. Tickets are $25. For reservations call 444-2907. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Li Chiao-Ping Dance “Home Works” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 925-798-1300. 

Phoenix Rising: A Piano and Flute Duo at 7:30 p.m. at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 868-0695. www.bayareabach.org 

Different Strokes Jazz Duo with Yehudit Lieberman, 5 string violin and Beth Snellings, 'cello at 8 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery 2911 Claremont Ave. Tickets are $112-$15. 848-1228. 

Carmen Prieto and Lichi Fuentes, original and traditional Latin American songs, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

“Almost Famous” jazz musical performed by Cathi Walkup and Shana Carlson at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10-$15. www.hillsideclub.org 

Rhonda Benin & Soulful Strut at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Stompy Jones at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. East Coast swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jill Knight, singer/songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Chookasian Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ira Marlowe and Stevie Barsotti at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Panhandle, 86, The Shut-ins at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

The Locust, Daughters at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Blackberry Soup at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Will Bernard/Will Blades Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Roy Hargrove Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 31 

CHILDREN  

East Bay Children’s Theater “Rumplestiltskin” at 10:30 a.m. and 1 pm. at James Moore Theater, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. Tickets are $7, children under 2 free. 655-7285. 

Farmyard Stories and Songs with Tara Reinertson at 11 a.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Amy Myer at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ravioli the Clown celebrates National Reading Month Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Botanicals and Beasties” Photographs and drawings by Neil Tierney. Reception at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company “unconditional” A movement/theater piece at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20 sliding scale for adults and $6 for youth under 18. 597-1619. www.destinyarts.org 

Inti-Illimani at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Li Chiao-Ping Dance “Home Works” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 925-798-1300. 

Puerto Rican Women “La Bomba es nuestra” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mal Sharpe Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Celu with Molly Thomas and Friends at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Dave Lionelli and Nomi at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Women in Song “Local Treasures” with Beth Robinson, Audrey Auld Mezera, Elaine Dempsey, Megan McLaughlin Patty Espeseth at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

The Acid Reggae Xperience at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Greg & Esperanza Pratt, folk and swing, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

The Highway Robbers, Blue Mire, Carrie Clark & the Lonesome Lovers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

David Jeffrey’s Fourtet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Forced March, Absolute Rulers at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Line Drawings of Oakland Landmarks” by Daniel Ling at . at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave., through April 30. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

“A Gathering of Greatness" Allegorical photographs of famous people in the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by Dorothy Levitt Mayers. Reception at 1 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 228-3207. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

DuEwa M. Frazier, Aimee Suzara and Ellen Hagan read their poetry at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Poetry Flash present Betsey Andrews reading from “New Jersey” and Brian Teare reading from “The Room Where I Was Born” at 7 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Measha Brueggergosman, soprano at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42. 642-9988.  

Twang Cafe presents a night of all bluegrass with The Mountain Boys, 5 Dollar Suit, Wagon at 7 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10. www.twangcafe.com 

“Highland, Heath and Holler” Celtic music’s voyage to Appalachia at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-9988.  

Bandworks Concert at noon at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5, children under 12 free. 525-5054.  

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

Conflict, Scarred for Life, Anima Mundi and others at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. 

Philips Marine Duo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Antelope, Black Fiction at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

MONDAY, APRIL 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Bridal Fantasies: The Fashion of Dreams” at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St., through August 4. Open Mon.-Sat. noon to 6 p.m. 843-7178.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Clemens Stark reads at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with California Poet Laureate Al Young at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players “Berkeley New Music Project” at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988. 

Happy Trails Benefit for the Halleck Creek Riding Club for the Disabled at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Smyrna Time Machine at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Conflict, Scarred for Life, Anima Mundi and others at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Tito Y Su Son De Cuba at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. 

BERKELEY’S LAND AND EARLY NEIGHBORHOODS 

The Berkeley History and Architecture Series begins this week with Richard Schwartz, author of Berkeley 1900 and Earthquake Exodus 1906, speaking on “Berkeley: Her Land and Her Gift of Early Neighborhoods” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. The series will continue every other month, on the last Thurday of the month. $15-$20 for each reading; $45-$60 for the series. For information call Arlene Baxter at 848-4288. 

DESTINY ARTS  

YOUTH PERFORMANCE 

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company’s new movement theater piece combines hip-hop, modern and aerial dance, rap and spoken word in the exploration of issues of family, gun violence and global warming. Performances are Friday and Saturday at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. $12-$20, sliding scale for adults and $6 for youth under 18. 597-1619. www.destinyarts.org. 

PFA SCREENS DISNEY’S SILLY SYMPHONIES 

Russell Merritt, author of Walt  

Disney’s Silly  

Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, will introduce a program of Disney’s Silly Symphonies at 3 p.m. Saturday at Pacific Film Archive as part of PFA’s ongoing Matinees for All Ages series. Merritt will be available to sign copies of his book, which will be on sale at a discount for PFA patrons. Tickets: $4-$8. 2575 Bancroft Way. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.

A career-spanning exhibit of the gorgeous and haunting photographs of Henry Wessel, documenting his visions of the landscape, people and light of California and the West, is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through April 22. 

Wessel, a New Jersey native, borrowed a Leica camera and fell in love while he was a psychology student at Pennsylvania State University. He opened a portrait studio in 1967, the year after he graduated, and soon after was heading west, photographing the journey.  

He arrived in California in 1970 and soon after moved to Point Richmond, where he could afford to buy a house. “For the next 30 years I made all my photography expenses against the house,” he said with a chuckle. “I now have a large mortgage on a house I once bought outright.” 

Wessel, 64, said his approach is simple: He looks for things that interest him and he takes a picture. 

“I’m a still photographer, which means that what you see in my photographs exists in the physical world. I am just recording what I’m standing in front of with as much fidelity as the medium allows,” he said. “It’s my pleasure, it’s how I make sense of the world and get through my day. For me, the most interesting place is the physical world. It’s like if we took a walk and I pointed out to you the things I see that interest me—that’s what I do with my photographs.” 

So how does he know when he sees something that will make a good photo? 

“I don’t know,” Wessel said. “If it’s something in the world that I can’t ignore, that catches my attention, I take a picture of it. Of course, 99 percent of the time what I do is a failure, it doesn’t work out. I have to wait to see how it comes out as a photo, because then it’s no longer the world itself, but a photo of it.” 

The SFMOMA exhibit comprises more than 80 prints spanning Wessel’s entire career, including some early photographs being exhibited for the first time. 

“I plan to work another 40 years so I don’t want to think of it as a retrospective; I call it a survey,” he said. 

Over the years, he said, his approach to photography has changed little. 

“It’s to record the physical world, light on surface,” he said. “I want my style to be transparent. I don’t want people who see the show to think about my style, but to just see the image on the wall, to just see it and have a physical reaction.” 

Wessel still shoots with a Leica film camera, just like the one with which he began his career. He doesn’t object to digital photography and has tried shooting with a digital camera, but said he prefers making photographs the way he always has. 

“As long as I can still get film and paper, I’ll use them,” he said. “What differentiates a photographer is not the equipment, it’s not the quality of the print, but the distinctness of the insight that is manifest in the photograph. It’s about establishing a connection and having that present in the work.” 

HENRY WESSEL: PHOTOGRAPHS 

On display through April 22 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., San Francisco. www.sfmoma.org. 

Photograph: Courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern Art  

Henry Wessel’s San Francisco, 1977 is on display as part of a survey of the photographer’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

With surprisingly little fanfare to date, the dry winter of 2006/2007 has brought two important new books exploring the character of the Berkeley community. 

Jonathan Chester’s Berkeley Rocks: Building With Nature, and Jon Sullivan and Contee Seely’s Berkeley One and Only both deserve accolades for their sensitive, creative, and particularly well illustrated portraits of local life and scenery. 

Berkeley Rocks is a smart, handsome volume. It’s an intelligent read and an elegant coffee table book. 

Once visually prominent on undeveloped hillsides, most of the curious rock outcroppings in the eastern part of Berkeley were later absorbed into backyards, pocket parks, gardens and even basements, and can take a bit of searching to locate.  

Chester draws on the expertise of—and gives well-deserved credit to—several local experts and geologists who have parsed out the natural and human history of these remarkable works of nature. 

An early chapter on the origins of the rocks shows the interesting muddle—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—underlying the Berkeley landscape.  

Far from being from one geological family, Berkeley’s rocks represent a baker’s dozen of types from “Meta Graywacke” to “Claremont Chert,” all tossed about and shaped by tectonic uplift, local volcanoes (yes, there were several of those), and the inexorable shaking and shifting along the Hayward Fault. 

The natural history section and early photographs of the rocks are first rate but Chester’s primary theme is not how the rocks came to be, but what humans have done with them, particularly when early practitioners of the “Bay Region” architectural tradition began to embrace Berkeley’s boulders rather than blast them out of the way.  

In fascinating and affectionately crafted chapters he guides the reader from native Californian uses of the rocks, to the spread of American-era streetcar suburbs in the early 20th century, to the work of present-day architects and artisans who continue to shape Berkeley’s rock environment. 

The heart of the book is a beautifully photographed series of portraits of Berkeley homes, old and modern, showing how their past and current residents have used and appreciated the rock outcrops that erupt in their yards, driveways, garages, stairwells and even—in one case—bathroom and shower. 

Berkeley Rocks is an elegantly conceived and executed book. The contemporary photographs are crisp and striking and there are readable maps and nicely selected historical images, and an inviting, page-turning, layout.  

If Berkeley Rocks is a polished tribute, Berkeley One and Only is more of a homemade valentine.  

I mean that in a most positive way. Photographer Jon Sullivan clearly loves Berkeley and spent several years documenting not only fixed beauties but ongoing events and ephemeral occasions. 

The interwoven themes of the hefty volume range from The Big Game to in-studio portraits of several local artists and their works to Berkeley neighborhoods in the spring.  

There’s a chapter devoted to aerial photographs of Berkeley, shot by Sullivan from the open window of a small plane. That section alone makes the book worth getting if you want to peer down on the ever changing local landscape from on high. 

A number of Berkeley’s most important architectural edifices and landmarks are fittingly portrayed, but Sullivan also turned his camera on humble homes, one-car garages, cement hoppers, and the innards of complex experimental equipment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

Several pages expansively vignette the annual How Berkeley Can You Be? parade, while local murals—including several now vanished—receive their own lavish photo documentation, including no less than four gorgeous pages picturing the monumental and landmark “People’s Bicentennial History of Telegraph Avenue” on Haste above Telegraph. 

Berkeley One and Only might be considered primarily a picture book, but short chapter introductions and detailed captions provide a fair amount of commentary and background information. 

Neither a panorama of half the city nor a close-up of a picturesque fallen leaf in the UC Botanical Garden escape Sullivan’s camera.  

And he has an eye for turning a mundane setting—a stairwell at the Downtown Berkeley BART station for instance, or the fading paint of the “ghost advertisement” on a brick wall—into surprisingly poignant images. 

Sullivan is catholic in his portrayal of not only the physical character, but also the special cultural life, of the Berkeley community. In the future, this book will serve as important documentation of several aspects of Berkeley’s life half a decade to either side of the turn of the century. 

People—Berkeley High School athletes and graduates, local park and library patrons, the late “Waving Man,” BART commuters, a City Council public hearing audience, churchgoers, teenagers sitting on the curb on Telegraph—figure vividly into his Berkeley tapestry.  

From the upper Russell Street Halloween extravaganza, to the Berkeley Flea Market, to a group of pregnant women exercising in the Downtown YMCA pool, here is Berkeley in all of its quirkiness and special character. 

One small discomfort with Berkeley One and Only has to do with the printed character of some of the color photographs. Here and there colors seem a shade off or too saturated—the oranges too reddish, the greens overly vivid, for example.  

I’m neither a photographic nor a printing expert, but my guess is that something about the production process didn’t measure up to the quality of the original photographs. This may bother some readers. 

Also, I try to be a stickler for local historical accuracy, and neither book passes completely unscathed.  

Both get elements of early UC history mixed up, a fault as correctable as it is unfortunately common in local histories. 

I’m disappointed Jonathan Chester didn’t note or describe three of the most important early rock walls in Berkeley which lie at the edges of the UC campus: Le Roy and Hearst below Memorial Stadium and Dana and Bancroft.  

All are prominent 19th century creations and the third one embraces the old First Unitarian Church, where several of Berkeley’s bohemians and early rock enthusiasts worshiped.  

Including them and their history along with a more thorough treatment of William Smyth, whose Fernwald estate at the top of Dwight Way was one of the earliest and most important places Berkeley rocks were used in landscape architecture, would have made Berkeley Rocks a more complete treatise. 

I hasten to add, though, that none of these flaws is fatal. 

Both of these are fine books, and I anticipate they will represent the current decade well in the future libraries of local history as well as on the bookshelves of today’s Berkeleyans. 

Berkeley One and Only 

By Jon Sullivan with Contee Seely. 

Command Performance Press, Berkeley. Hardcover, $35. 

Berkeley Rocks: Building With Nature By Jonathan Chester.  

Ten Speed Press. Hardcover, $35. 

Much of the North Berkeley rock-integrated territory covered by Berkeley Rocks will also be the special focus of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) annual house tour this coming May.

“Stop in the Name of Love, or, Until the War Is Over, Nobody Gets Over.” The subheads of the African-American Shakespeare Co.’s production of Lysistrata say it all—as director Rhodessa Jones amplifies, “Lysistrata is a cry for peace by women driven to change the world using the ultimate weapon!” 

Aristophanes’ ancient bawdy comedy has long been the rallying cry of civilian peace movements in the West, especially since the time of the Popular Front in the 1930s. Its tale of women conspiring to withhold their charms from their warrior husbands until peace (and love) are sued for is sampled by Jones and her crew at San Francisco’s Buriel Clay Theater in the African-American Art and Cultural Complex in a string of vignettes from the old masterpiece with tableaux in shadow-play, riding on a wave of music. 

“I did it for myself,” confesses Jones during her pre-show remarks. “If you like it, tell your friends; if you don’t—mind your own business!” 

This Lysistrata-ish attitude is aided and abetted by an array of performers, including a jazz singer (Cheryl Bennett Scales in the title role), an actor-playwright (Maikiko James as the Goddess of Peace), a stand-up comedian (Shareef Allman as the hapless camoflage-clad Cinesias), a musical theater performer (Viessa Keith-Queen as Lampito), a couple of shadow puppeteers (Sheila Devitt and Nicole Podell) and other performers from around the Bay and the country (Tamika Kai Chenier as Myrrhine, Leslie Ivy as the Koryphaios, Karen Marek as the Old Woman and Desiree Rogers as the Magistrate). 

The combination of these various backgrounds and levels of stage experience, coupled with the “bitty” nature of the show, one routine after another, give it the spirited quality of a kind of vaudevillized pageant, rather than a full staging of a venerable classic. The cast, like the director, is having fun—but for a purpose. Action and language switch back and forth from references to the classical Greek, specifically Athenian, state of things, and arise out of a swirl of present-day popular culture, the miasma of Iraq, well-represented by shadow images and live actors in silhouette. 

The music and singing is both recorded and live, coming from a variety of sources, from James Brown to Jimi Hendrix’s stratospheric bending of the national anthem, from Middle Eastern song to the very apt recessional, Aretha’s “Do-Right Woman.” 

The music leads to some funny business, as the warlike men in shadow-play (the puppetry mentored by I Made Moja, a collaborator with Larry Reed’s brilliant ShadowLight Productions) find their awkward military strutting reduced to a kind of funky-chicken walk in their unsatisfied desperation before they throw in the towel. 

There are a few moments when the text of ancient comedy wryly becomes sit-com-ish, as when Shareef Allman as Cinesias and Tamika Chenier as Myrrhine get into it. Cinesias demands—then pleads for—his connubial rights, “right here on the ground” (in front of the Parthenon?) as his sly wife eggs him on, finds excuses, and dances away to other things, as her fraught spouse cries out her name in anguish, sounding like “Maureen! Maureen!”  

So it all could be right next door, which is one purpose of the show. The other is demonstrated, literally, by the speeches and chants against the present Iraq debacle, some authored by the cast. This Lysistrata succeeds because of its own exuberance, but the play has always been a rallying cry, and that’s how this version works best.