Arts & Events

FRIDAY, JULY 27 -more-

“I know thousands of songs,” says singer Cynthia Davis, who will perform a special matinee of jazz standards and negro spirituals this Sunday at Anna’s Jazz Island. “But I seldom sat down and learned one. I learned them from the old movies; we used to go twice a week in the old days. When I sing a song, I go back to the scene in the movie. Songs in musicals were written to tell stories. -more-

In 1969, Ralph Arlyck made a student film called Sean about his 4-year-old neighbor in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Sean was the son of hippie parents and in an interview with Arlyck he claimed to smoke and eat marijuana, earning the film a great deal of notoriety, including praise and damnation from politicians and dire predictions of Sean’s fate as an adult. -more-

Out of the hundred or so operas that are produced in major houses annually, Giuseppe Verdi’s Aïda ranks among the top 20 and has done so for decades. This brings up a pressing question for opera companies: Is it possible to show the same opera over and over with little change in the production, or are companies obliged to rework expensive operas so that they seem continually new? Last Saturday, the Berkeley Opera opened its own version of Aïda, one that strove to be unconventional—fresher and more relevant. -more-

The north fork of Strawberry Creek, which runs in its natural open channel along a block and a half of Le Conte Avenue west of La Loma Ave., is home to a number of distinctive historic structures, including the landmarks Weltevreden (1896), Allenoke Manor (1903), and Theta Xi Chapter House (1914). Among these remarkable buildings, one of the most distinctive is the smallish Oscar Maurer photography studio, whose north elevation descends steeply to the creek bank. -more-

In both print and web issues: -more-

Sebastopol is not exactly next door, but the Apple Capital of Sonoma County is a great excuse for a day trip. The Gravenstein Highway (Route 116) between US101 and the town is lined with roadside attractions, botanical and otherwise, although there seems to have been a sudden wave of mortality among the local antique stores. -more-

Before I proceed to plagiarize, I like to, at least, pay homage to the memory and, in this case, their extraordinary creativity and insight of the oracle. -more-

A Quakelet With a Vertical Twist -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 27 -more-

TUESDAY, JULY 24 -more-

Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco is celebrating the centennial of the founding of the California College of the Arts with a selection of paintings and sculptures by some of the institution’s faculty and student alumni whose works have appeared at the gallery during the past 30 years. No theme unites the works beyond the characteristics of vitality and grace. -more-

America’s prison construction boom is forging rapid change in small-town America, and small-town California is leading the pack. Prison Town, USA, a new documentary by Po Kutchins and Katie Galloway, shows the impact of a prison economy on Susanville, a Northern California town at the foot of the Sierras in Lassen County. When the last of its lumber mills closed down, Susanville faced an economic crisis and turned to the burgeoning prison industry for a panacea. The prisons promised employment and support for local businesses. But what Susanville got was far less, as the buy-local pledge was reneged, prison jobs brought unforeseen social problems, and the prisons themselves—three of them—dwarfed and began to consume the town that had opened its arms to them. The film shows at 10 p.m. today (Tuesday) on KQED as part “POV,” PBS’ acclaimed documentary series, now celebrating its 20-year anniversary. -more-

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The mimosas are blooming, and I’ll bring the orange juice if you’ll bring the champagne to toast them with that favorite brunch beverage—mimosas, of course. Looking at the current price of OJ, you might be getting a bargain. -more-

TUESDAY, JULY 24 -more-

The July 17 article “OUSD Local Control Bill Gains Support” mistakenly indicated that that passage of the Oakland local school control bill, AB45, would have bearing on whether or not FCMAT reports in Oakland will continue. It does not. -more-