FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 

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 

Conscientious Projector Film Series “Shut Up and Sing” the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, with live music by Hali Hammer, at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 665-3306. 

“Know Your Rights!” Workshop Learn what to do if confronted by the police or if you are observing the police, at 6 p.m. at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St. Free, donations accepted. berkeleycopwatch.org 

“Resist to Exist” Benefit for Indigenous Gathering with a shwoing videos from the struggles in Oaxaca and Atenco at 8 p.m. at the Intertribal Friendship House, 523 International Blvd., Oakland. Donation $6. www.encuentroindigena.org 

Financial Advice for Seniors at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Call for appointment. 981-5190. 

“Basic Training in Gemology” with Baird Heffron at 6 p.m. at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland. 655-5952. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 

Watershed Poetry Festival with former US Poet Laureate Robert Hass, Michael McClure and Sandra Alcosser, cultural historian Rebecca Solnit and others from noon to 4 p.m. at Civic Center Park. 526-9105. www.poetryflash.org 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the Waterfront Warehouse District Meet at 10 a.m. at the intersection of 3rd and Franklin. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Plants for the Water Garden” with propagation specialist Brian Gabbard at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Boot Camp for Nonprofits, sponsored by the Craigslist Foundation from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at UC Campus. Cost is $50. To register see www.craigslistfoundation.org/bootcamp 

“Night Souk” Oakland’s Summer Night Bazaar with performances, activities, food and local crafts, from 6 to 11 p.m. at 9th and Washington.  

Lead-Safety for Remodeling, repair and painting of older homes. A HUD & EPA approved class held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best friend. Dogs and puppies available for adoption from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 4101 Piedmont Ave., Oakland and cats and kittens from noon to 3 p.m. at 3974 Peidmont Ave., Oakland. 267-1915, ext. 500. 

Tips for Travel with Children at 2:30 p.m. at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5366 College Ave. 597-5017. 

Bears Fast Pitch Travel A Softball for girls age 10-18 tryouts from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Clayton Valley High School Varsity Field, Concord. For information call 748-0611. 

Fast Pitch Softball for Adults at noon on Saturdays in Oakland. For information call 204-9500. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 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.  

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 

Alameda Architectural Society Annual “Woody Walk” Explore Alameda’s West End with author and historian Woody Minor from 3 to 5 p.m. Meet at the parking lot on the corner of Webster St. and Taylor Ave. Coost is $5. 986-9232. 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Oakland Airport North Field Meet at 10 a.m. at the business jet center, 9351 Earhart Rd. to visit the hsitoric avaiation sites. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377. 

Bike Tour of Oakland around Lake Merritt on a leisurly paced two-hour tuour that covers about five miles. Meet at 10 a..m. at the 10th St. entrance to the Oakland Museum of California. Reservations required. 238-3514.  

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to repair a flat from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

Berkeley Cybersalon “The Science of a Meaningful Life” with psychologist Dacher Keltner, founder and research director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley; sociologist Christine Carter McLaughlin, the center’s executive director who researches ways to raise happy children; and Jason Marsh, co-editor of Greater Good, the center’s magazine, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $15. whoisylvia@aol.com 

East Bay Atheists meet with Marc Adams, author of “The Preacher’s Son” a chronicle of growing up in a fundamentalist household, while struggling with being gay, at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 222-7580. 

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

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

MONDAY, AUGUST 20  

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

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

“Koyaanisqatsi” or “Life out of Balance” a film on the collision of the urban/technology world and the natural environment at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advanced sign-up is required. 594-5165.  

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. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Recording African American Stories Add your voice to the Library of Congress and the National Museum of African American History, Wed. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment, at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, through Sept. 12. For appointment call 228-3207. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at LJ Kruse Company, 920 Pardee St., Cost is $5-$15. RSVP to chivachuca@yahoo.com, www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

GPS Training for Mapping Creeks with the Contra Costa County Mapping Program at 7 p.m. at 4191 Appian Way, El Sobrante. To register call 665-3538. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Pax Nomada Bike Ride Meet at 6 p.m. at Nomad Cafe for a 15-25 mile ride up to through the Berkeley hills. All levels of cyclists welcome. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

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

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

“UC and BP: The Energy Biosciences Institute” with Prof. Daniel Kammen at the League of Women Voter’s Community Luncheon at 1:30 a.m. at Hs Lordships, Berkeley Marina. Tickets are $75. 843-8828. office@lwvbae.org 

“24 Hours on Craigslist” A documentary by Michael Ferris Gibson at 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5. 843-8724. 

Art Workshop for ages 5 and up at 3 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Origami at the Library for students in grades 6-12 to learn how to fold a butterfly, heart, wallet, and sailboat, at 6:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. RSVP to 526-7512.  

Baby and Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at Theta Chi Fraternity, 2499 Piedmont Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (Code: UCB) 

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. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 

THEATER 

California Shakespeare Theater “The Triumph of Love” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through Sept. 2. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

“Citizen Josh” with monologoist Josh Kornbluth, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St., through Spet. 2. Tickets are $25-$30. 647-2949. 

“Jane Austen in Berkeley” a spoken-word performance by Andrea Mock at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Stage Door Conservatory “Oliver” A Teens On Stage Production, Fri. at 7 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$20. 521-6250. 

TheaterInSearch “Epic of Gilgamesh” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 2. Tickets are $12-$20. 262-0584. 

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival through Sun. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

Max Ophuls: Motion and Emotion “The Earrings of Madame de ...” at 7 p.m. and “The Tender Economy” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Shut Up and Sing” the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, with live music by Hali Hammer, at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 665-3306. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ike Levin, saxophonist, at 8 p.m. at Free-Jazz Fridays at the Jazz House, 1510 8th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 415-846-9432. 

Alexa Weber Morales at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Dave Matthews Blues Band at 8 p.m. at The Warehouse Bar, 402 Webster St., Oakland. 451-3161. 

Danny Mertens Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Lady Bianca Blues Band at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sambada, Alfred Howard & the K23 Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Nell Robinson & Red Level, with the Mountain Boys, bluegrass and country music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Yung Mars and Scott Waters at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Pat Nevins & Ragged Glory, a tribute to Crazy Horse, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Trainwreck Riders, Pine Hill Haunts, Abi Yo Yo’s 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. 

The Ghost at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Albino at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

Parallel 23 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Lee Ritenour & Friends at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Passionistas, Greg Ashley, Logo Moi, folk, acoustic indie rock, at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 

CHILDREN  

Mexica: An Axtec Tale Sat. and Sun. at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. and Japanese Folktales at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

“MYethiOPIA” with David Schein in a benefit for the Ethiopian based One Love HIV/AIDS Awareness Theater, at 8 p.m. at Wildcat Studio, 2525 8th St. Donation $25. For reservations call 415-861-4330. awassachildrensproject.org 

Shotgun Players “The Three Musketeers” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkle Park, Southampton Ave., off The Arlington, through Sept. 9. Free. 841-6500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Homeland Obscurity” Works by Catherine Richardson and Will Tait. Artist reception at 6 p.m. at the Float Art Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit #116, Oakland. 535-1702. 

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival through Sun. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

A Theater Near You “Fires on the Plain” at 5:45 p.m. and Abbas Kiarostami “Close -Up” at 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Watershed Poetry Festival featuring poets Robert Hass, Michael McClure and Sandra Alcosser and cultural historian Rebecca Solnit from noon to 4 p.m. at MLK/Civic Center Park. 526-9105. www.poetryflash.org 

Reading to Celebrate Fold Magazine, a journal of poetry, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sally Light, mezzo-soprano, and Chris Salocks, pianist, in a recital of works by Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and others at 3 p.m. at St. Albans Church, corner of Curtis and Washington, Albany. Suggested donation $20. 527-2057. 

Rhythm & Muse with singer/ 

songwriter Philip Rodriguez at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. 644-6893.  

“Mantra Rock Concert” with Kirtan, and Prayer Circles from 1 to 5 p.m. in People’s Park. Free. 310-754-5884. punyatma@gmail.com  

Concert for Peace & the Bees with Diane Patterson, Marca Cassity, ChoQuosh Auh’Ho’Oh and others at 8 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10. 464-4615. 

Hali Hammer with Randy Berge at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Concha Vargas with David Serva, flamenco guitarist, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $30-$35. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Carla Zilbersmith & Allen Taylor at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Inspector Double Negative & The Equal Positives at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Noah Grant and Christopher Hanson at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Steven Emerson Band at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Phil Marsh at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Marcos Silva and Intersection, featuring Chico Pinheiro at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20-$25. 845-5373.  

Ron Thompson at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Clockwork at 9 p.m. at Downtown Restaurant, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810 

Resistant Culture, Under PRessure, Eskapo at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

USA for LSD, Cupids, Childhood Friends, electronics, indie rock, at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 

CHILDREN 

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

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Fantastik Cinema “Ruslan and Ludmila” at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wendy Schlesinger, author of “Young Girl’s Diary” written in 1969 about political and cultural events in Berkeley, reads at 2 p.m. at People’s Park. Benefits the Gardens on Wheels Association.  

Kate Schatz, Douglas Wolk, and Shawn Taylor, authors of books written about important and/or seminal music albums at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Count Basie Tribute Orchestra, a 20-piece Big Band from the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St. Cost is $20-$50. 238-2200.  

Ancient Future at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $7.50 children, $9.50 for adults. 548-1761.  

Son de Madera from Mexico at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Grupo Falso Baiano at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tiny Strips of Heart Tissue at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged: The Whiskey Brothers at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Rachid Halihal, Middle Eastern, North African at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Arc Hive, Moe, avant garde jazz at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

MONDAY, AUGUST 20 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Barry Gifford and Al Young read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Conney Williams from Los Angeles at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zaedno, Bulgarian folk songs, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jesus Diaz y QBA at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

CHILDREN 

Puppet Art Theater for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

FILM 

A Theater Near You “High and Low” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Herb Kohl describes “Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Scraptet, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jackie Ryan, featuring Red Holloway, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

FILM 

Eco-Amok: An Inconvenient Film Fest “Meet the Applegates” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” Teacher/student readings from the Bay Area Writing Project, with Jane Juska, Meredith Baxter and Claire Noonan at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

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 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Karl Perazzo, Bobby Allende & John Dandy Rodriguez, percussion salsa, 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.  

Brass Mafia at 5 p.m., Natasha Miller at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Mikie Lee and Amber at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Erika Luckett at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

FILM 

Abbas Kiarostami “ABC Africa” at 7 p.m. and “Five” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Out Loud Poetry Reading with John Curl, Trena Machado, Jeanne Lupton and Rosa Martin Villareal at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St., Oakland. 238-3134. 

Dana Ward, Alli Warren and David Larsen, poets, read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Eric Gower describes experimentation in the kitchen in “The Breakaway Cook” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Victoria Tatum reads from her novel “The Virgin’s Children” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Winard Harper Sextet at noon at the downtown Berkeley BART station. info@downtownberkeley.org 

Goat Hall Productions Cabaret Operas “The Playboy of the Western World” and “Dionysus” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broadway at Jack London Square, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$25. 415-289-6877. 

“Our American Cousin” an opera about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with the University Chamber Chorus at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. 

Freight 19th Annual Fiddle Summit, with Alasdair Fraser, Annbjørg Lien, Catriona MacDonald and Laura Risk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Eric Jekabson & Darren Johnston at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Temescallionaires, old-time tunes, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Dark Smile, Friendship First, Daniel Popsickle Orchestra, The Noodles at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Antioquia at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

James Carter at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Terrence Brewer Trio at 5 p.m., Space Heater at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277 

Zadell at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Hot Club at 6 p.m. at La Note, 2377 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $40, includes dinner. 843-1525. 

Maldroid at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

Goat Hall Productions, normally housed in a theater on Potrero Hill (also known as Goat Hill), is presenting two premieres at Oakland Metro Theater in Jack London Square during August 23-26.  

Quirky, robust, and engaging, this cabaret-opera company features original work written by up-and-coming composers in new stagings that run the gamut from traditional to experimental. Their performers are energetic young singing professionals working collaboratively with the directors and composers. According to artistic director Harriet March Page, the work has to be “happening.”  

A fine and powerful vocalist, Page slipped into the edgier world of new opera when, after a hiatus from singing, she returned to her voice teacher and the two disagreed over her vocal categorization. She thought herself a character mezzo-soprano, he said she was a dramatic soprano. He wanted her to sing Brunnhilde; she wanted to sing Marcellina. That impulse to follow her own heart rather than others’ expectations is what brought her finally to produce her own opera series.  

Goat Hall’s aptly titled “Fresh Voices” is an annual summer event of two weekends of short narrative operas usually 15 to 30 minutes in length. The Oakland Metro premieres, however, are two hour-long fully staged operas back to back—composer Steven Clark’s Dionysus and composer Mark Alburger’s adaptation of J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. 

Clark’s Dionysus is loosely based on the dramatic events that comprise Euripides’ The Bacchae. Fascinated by mythology since childhood, Clark read The Bacchae in his early twenties and earmarked it as a story he wanted to come back to: “It showed the dark side of gods and was symbolic of the two-sided coin of life and death.” 

He was especially taken by Dionysus, who has been linked with the Hindu Krishna and the Egyptian Osiris, as well as with Christianity’s Jesus. Dionysus, a fertility god, is a resurrection god, one who dies and returns to life. The 50-minute long opera is a reimagining of the ancient Dionysian Mysteries, rites long lost in the past that are thought to reenact the cycle of birth and rebirth exemplified by the life story of the god.  

Dionysus opens with Pentheus, the King of Thebes, and his mother Agave worrying over the appearance of a priest who has enflamed the local female population with his Dionysian practices. Agave decides to infiltrate Dionysus’ followers, the maenads, and is soon lost to their ecstatic rites. The priest, who is the god Dionysus, convinces Pentheus to join the women, dressed in female robes. During their rituals Pentheus is killed and dismembered by the maenads. An earthquake destroys Thebes, and Agave returns to her destroyed city bearing the head of her son, whom she had not recognized during the ritual’s frenzy.  

Following the ancient Greek practice of having tragedy interrupted by the appearance of satyrs, who flooded the audience, playing tricks and telling bawdy jokes, Clark inserts a comic interlude just before the opera’s darkest moment. The comedy, an animation by Garth Kauffman projected onto an onstage screen, is woven into the plot. 

One of Clark’s concerns is that the audience will think Dionysus is a comedy. His previous short operas have been humorous and satiric: “Eye Eye Sailor,” a charming fantasy devised for sock puppet theater and “Amok Time,” which juxtaposed a video projection of an episode of Star Trek with live singers singing an original libretto in sync with the TV characters. In Dionysus, the maenads enact women giving birth, Clark comments that reenactments of “sexuality and reproduction tend to make people get giggly.”  

Clark’s intent, however, is “to create a piece of theater exposing, explaining, celebrating and practicing ritualistic theater drama.” 

The music of Dionysus combines recorded electronic music with live guitar and percussion. Although the music is inspired by progressive rock, its structure and harmonic material are seeded from transcriptions of Greek music, of which there are 120 existing fragments. “I’ve used the crazy changing rhythms, the quarter tones and the non-diatonic scale,” explains Clark, who has also scored the opera for the contemporary descendants of the ancient Greek kythera, the ancestor of the guitar, and the two-reed two-pipe flute: harps, guitars, flutes, oboes. The approach to the vocal line, he adds, is more like Wagner than Verdi, with a continuous flow of music making little distinction between recitative and aria, and sitting on a central key for long periods: “It’s not” he adds, “a numbers opera.” 

Mark Alburger believes he’s written 20 operas, 10 of which have been produced, but he’s lost track. His adaptation of The Playboy of the Western World was originally conceived as an accompaniment to performances of Riders to the Sea, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 1927 setting of Synge’s one-act tragedy of life in the fishing villages in the Aran Islands.  

Set in a village in remote western Ireland, The Playboy of the Western World tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man who tells the habitués of a pub that he’s killed his father with a shovel. The locals are impressed by his tale, which gets more elaborate with each retelling, and the young women, especially the tavern owner’s delectable daughter Pegeen Mike, are entranced by the daring of his lawlessness.  

Alburger finds the tragicomic aspects of Synge’s play his kind of theater— “heckafunny with great resonant themes.”  

The libretto, written by Alburger, is set to heckawild music. Alburger began his compositional career by using collage as his principal technique. Now he composes by taking another composer’s piece and “whittling away at it,” rather in the style of Bach and others who have used pre-existing themes as compositional inspiration. In this case, Alburger has used Puccini’s Turandot as the basis of his setting—relating its exoticism to Synge’s portrayal of western Ireland as a remote and wilder world.  

Turandot opens with big strident chords that shift into a melodic recitative. Alburger likewise uses opening chords but instead shifts into an Irish jig. He uses the Irish pentatonic and hexatonic scales throughout the piece, deriving his understanding of Irish music from the Chieftains’ score for the movie Barry Lyndon. To that he adds the rhythmic structures from the second tableau of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and “a heavy dose of minimalism.” Overall, Alburger claims, “I do default tonal and throw in enough dissonance because it’s fun.” 

Goat Hall Productions presents two new mixed-media, one-act cabaret operas: Steven Clark’s Dionysus and Mark Alburger’s The Playboy of the Western World, at 8 p.m. Thursday Aug. 23 through Saturday Aug. 25, and at 7 p.m. Sunday Aug. 26. Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broad-way, near Jack London Square. $25 per person for a cabaret table; $20, single seat; $15, students and seniors. For reservations and information, call (415) 289-6877. 

Photograph: Jaime Robles 

Karl Coryat as Pentheus, the King of Thebes, and Meghan Dribble as Queen Mother Agave are watched by a maenad, Lisa McHenry, in Steven Clark’s opera Dionysus, a Goat Hall Production at Oakland Metro Theater.

California Poet Laureate Al Young and well-known novelist and screenwriter Barry Gifford, both Berkeley residents, will read together in a felicitous doubleheader at Moe’s Books on Telegraph Ave. this coming Monday, August 20, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Mondays at Moe’s series coordinated by Owen Hill. 

“I first met Al in 1970 when we read together at the Sonoma State Poetry Festival,” recalled Barry Gifford, “that was the weekend Ronald Reagan closed all the college campuses, so we had to move the reading to a barn on a farm nearby. I’ve stopped doing a lot of readings, but Owen called me and said Al had asked if I’d read with him at Moe’s, so I’ll make an exception. And since it’s a poetry reading, that’s what we’ll read!” 

Al Young remarked, “Barry and I have read together before, and it’s always been a hit, taking turns reading ... it’s always uproarious. He writes about eccentric people in weird situations, so people expect me to follow suit! I don’t—but my voice seems to compliment his.” 

Better known for his prose and screenplays, Gifford has published a fair-sized poetry bibliography, including some unusual editions which Moe’s will have on sale. A current publication is Las Quatras Reinas/The Four Queens, a bilingual edition from Mexico City (also published in Madrid), with photos by David Perry with whom Gifford worked on Border Town. 

“The translations are by Lara Emilio-Pacheco, daughter of the well-known Mexican writer Jose Emilio-Pacheco,” said Gifford. “It’s my first full-length bilingual poetry book, though I’ve been translated before, especially into French, by Nouvelle Revue Francaise.” I’ll read some other poems; it’s not often I’ve the chance to read poetry. And I never know what mood I’ll be in! But it’s a good occasion, and I’m glad the series with Owen has been ongoing.” 

Al Young will read from his new collection, Something About—“poems and prose poems centered around blues and jazz themes in particular. There are a lot of new and some older pieces in the book, which Source Books asked me to put together. Those themes run so heavily through everything I write, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.” The collection includes an audio book with both solo readings and readings backed by a band, including saxophonist Ralph Jones (”who played with Cannonball [Adderley]”), Detroit pianist Kenn Cox, Edwin Livingston on bass and Charles Eisenstadt on drums, performing at CalArts to an audience of high school students. He’ll also read from Coastal Nights and Inland Afternoons and The Sound of Dreams Remembered, which won the American Book Award in 2002.  

“I sometimes get asked when I’m going to come out with a real book—meaning another forgettable novel,” Young said. “It lets me know just what the questioner thinks about poetry. It’s in poetry that the most important things get said. I’ve yet to hear somebody read from a novel at a wedding or a memorial service. Our society today is so narrative and graphic-oriented. And serious poetry is now mostly academic. Most poetry is personal narrative written in skinny lines. And then there’s vernacular poetry, hip-hop and performance poetry, which is unpredictable, always doing something strange—like blues, the irreducible radical in American society. You never know where it’s going to go.” 

Some of Gifford’s out-of-print poetry books will be available at the reading. “Barry opened up his archive,” said Owen Hill. Gifford explained, “When a poetry press sells, say, 500 copies, they don’t know what to do with the rest, so they give them to me in a box. Al’s published lots of books, and his house is filled with them. When he schleps off to Pakistan or someplace, it’s with a bag over his back like Santa Claus! I write poetry when it comes to me, then throw it in an envelope ora box. I don’t know what’s going on in poetry now. It’s receded back into the hands of the academics. Al and I are certainly independents.” 

Al Young will also read Sat. Aug. 25 at the Berkeley Jazz Festival.

Abbas Kiarostami is known primarily as an innovative filmmaker and the Pacific Film Archive is currently presenting a retrospective of his films. The inventive confluence of documentation and fiction has produced a new direction in cinema, prompting Werner Herzog to assert,”We are living in the era of Kiarostami but don’t know it yet.” In addition to working as a film director, the Iranian artist is also a writer, a poet, an editor, screen writer and photographer.  

To coincide with the film series, BAM displays “Abbas Kiarostami Image Maker,” a show of still photos, which comes to Berkeley from MoMA’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. These stark black-and-white photographs are of roads and trees and were often the result of his walking thousands of miles in search of suitable backgrounds for his films. The film director is known for his panoramic long shots, used often as a Brechtian device to create distance from the audience. In the still photos Kiorastami shows isolated or silhouetted black trees and their gray shadows against vast snow fields or there are empty roads that snake through the land and seem to go nowhere. Some photogaphs focus on tree trunks and study the roughness of their textures in closeups. And there are pictures of large crows walking among the trees. A short silent film in the exhibition shows the movement of branches in the wind. No narrative needed. He wrote: “One single picture is the mother of cinema. That’s where cinema starts, with one single picture.” 

David Goldblatt is an acclaimed South African photographer and writer. He is the author of many books, including one with the novelist Nadine Gardiner. On one floor at BAM we see black-and-white photos of desolate empty, endless landscapes, as well as land-scarred asbestos mines, which refer to the environmental damage caused by the miners and the government that protected them. After the end of apartheid Goldblatt began using color in his documentary work. But they still show the misery that prevails. There is a primitive shack isolated in the countryside, there are black hawkers in the townships, there are billboards advertising “accommodations” or hand-written notes of people looking for any kind of work. He provides explanatory labels for his photos, such as the picture of the “Monument to Abraham Essau,” a gravestone by the road for a black man who was executed by the Boers for asserting limited civil rights. The gravestone was unveiled in 2003, but was soon pushed over or collapsed. 

Life may have improved in South Africa, but misery still prevails.  

In Iran, Kiorostami’s films—he produced over 40 of them—cannot be screened in his country, and when he was invited to New York to see his films in the 2002 film festival the US denied his visa. 

Abbas Kiarostami: from the series Rain, 2006; C-print; 28 1/2 x 41 1/4 in.; collection of the Iranian Art Foundation, New York.