TUESDAY, MARCH 4 

Adoption Information Workshop Adopt A Special Kid will be hosting their monthly Information Workshop from 7 to 9 p.m. at 8201 Edgewater Dr. Suite 103, Oakland. Free, but RSVP to 553-1748, ext. 12. www.aask.org 

“King Corn” A documentary on raising corn at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Panel discussion follows. Free. 238-2022.  

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and narture area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

“Yoshida Shoin’s Encounter with Commodore Perry: A Review of Cultural Interaction in the Days of Japan’s Opening” with Tao Demin at 4 p.m. at Institute of east Asian Studies, 2223 Fulton St. 642-2809. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319.  

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

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. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577.  

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 5 

Berkeley’s Draft Climate Action Plan will be presented at the Planning Commission at 7 p.m. at the North berkeley Senior Center. www.BerkeleyClimateAction.org 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 6 p.m. at South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. at MLK. 981-6195. 

“Unnatural Causes” A documentary on the socio-economic and racial inequities in health in the US, at 6 p.m. at Contra Costa College, Room LA 100. 235-2210.  

“Islam in the West” with Munir Jiwa, founding director of the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Islamic Studies, at 7:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Spaghetti dinner at 6:30 for $6. 526-3805. 

“Problems in Life and the Buddhist Way of Dealing with Them” Lecture and discusstion with Bhante Sellawimala, a Theravada Buddhist monk at 7 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. Free. 809-1460. 

Cycling Lecture with Gary Erikson, founder of Clif Bar, at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

“Learn How to Use Your GPS with Map Software” with Jeff Caulfield of National Geographic at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

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. 

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 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

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

THURSDAY, MARCH 6 

Seniors Exploring Albany Bulb Walkers age 50+ will explore the wild, weedy Albany “Bulb,” where art and nature have made a strange wonderland from debris. Meet at the big heron sculpture at the foot of Buchanan St. at 9 a.m. for a two-hour walk. Wear shoes with good traction; bring water and walking sticks if you use them. Free but registration required. 524-9122, 524-9283. 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 6 p.m. at West Branch Library, 1125 University Ave. at San Pablo. 981-6195. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 4 to 5 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Teen Book Club meets to discuss short stories at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

“Art is Education” A two-day conference sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Emery Secondary School Atrium, 1100 47th St. Emeryville. Workshops on Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School in Berkeley. www.artiseducation.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Claudia Chaufan, M.D. on “A Comparison of the German Health Care System and the U.S. Health Care System” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“I Am Not Afraid” A documentary of Rufina Amaya’s testimony as the sole survivor of the 1981 El Mozote Massacre, at the height of El Salvador's civil war, hosted by John Savant, Professor Emeritus, Dominican University, at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker School, directly behind SJW Church, 2125 Jefferson St. Not wheelchair accessible. 482-1062. 

“Tillie Olsen-A Heart in Action” Ann Hershey's new documentary at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Conscientious Film Projector Series presented by BFUU Social Justice Committee. www.bfuu.org  

“Zen on the Street” A documentary portrait of Zen Master Roshi Bernhard Glassman and his work with the homeless and the sick, at 7 p.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Free, donations welcome. 866-732-2320. www.newdharma.com 

UC Berkeley Energy Symposium on topics such as Bioenergy Research at Berkeley, Advances in Green Building and Development, The Future of Nuclear Power, Transportation Sector Solutions at more, rom 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Cost is $75. berc.berkeley.edu/symposium.html 

“Weathering the Storm: Sacred Cycles of Rebirth” An all ages event celebrating International Women’s Day at 7 p.m. at the Mandela Art Center, next to the West Oakland BART at 1357 5th St. www.weekendwakeup.com 

Piedmont Yoga 21st Anniversary with sample classes throughout the weekend, at 3966 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 652-3336. www.piedmontyoga.com 

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. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

Herstory of the Bay Hike Led by naturalist Bethany Facendini. Celebrate International Women’s Day by honoring women whose environmental and historical contributions have made a difference in our community. Walk five miles along the Bay from Point Isabel to Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and back, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Art is Education” Workshops sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School, 1731 Prince. St. www.artiseducation.org 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 2 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6195. 

“Paper Story Dress” workshop to commemorate women who have influenced our lives, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library. 981-6250. 

NAACP Berkeley Branch Meeting at 1 p.m. at 2108 Russell St. 845-7416. 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

The East Bay Chapter of The Great War Society will hold its monthly meeting to discuss “George Patton: A Life” by Robert Rudolph at 10:30 p.m. at the home of Krehe Ritter, 403 Boyton, off the Arlington. 524-5762. 

Wetlands Restoration at Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Plant native seedlings, remove nonnative species and pick up trash, from 9 a.m. to noon. Sponsored by REI and Save the Bay. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a supervising adult. To register call 527-4140, ext. 216. 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations, free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Center St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Diabetes and hypertension screening from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Life on the Rancho” A family event to experience life in old California, with music, crafts and games, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. Free. 532-9142. 

Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing “Songs of Hope and Struggle” Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

BASIL Seed Library Organizing Meeting at 4 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

Walden Center and School Benefit “Celebration of the Arts” at 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $45-$50. 841-7248. 

Burma Human Rights Day Benefit with a Burmese traditional dinner (vegetarian friendly), speakers, performers, film, Q&A, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar. Cost is $15-$30 sliding scale donation for BADA Children Education Fund. 220-1323. www.badasf.org  

Peet’s Coffee & Tea Tour of new roastery in Alameda to celebrate Alfred Peet’s birthday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2001 Harbor Way Parkway. 1-800-999-2132. www.peets.com 

The Future Leaders Institute Youth in Civic Leadership Symposium FLI students pitch their project ideas to the Bay Area community from noon to 3 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. www.thefutureleadersinstitute.org  

“Schools Funding Crisis: A Town Meeting” at the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, Conference Room A, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. 814-9592. www.alamedaforum.org 

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

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

Little Farm Open House Stop by the Little Farm to meet and learn about the animals, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Do It Yourself People’s Park Anniversary Acoustic Blowout Jam and Potluck Planning Meeting at 4 p.m. at the People’s Park Stage. 658-9178. 

“Naturally Egg-Ceptional” Learn about chickens and make naturally dyed eggs, from noon to 2 p.m., or 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7. 1-888-EB-PARKS. 

Memorial Service for Dr. Stanley Splitter at 2 p.m., at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. Reception follows.  

“The American-Israel Relationship in the Post-Bush Era” with Shmuel Rosner, chief U.S correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz at 7 p.m. at Congregational Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Donation $10. 525-3582. 

“Slingshot” Local radical newspaper volunteer meeting and article brainstorming at 4 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

Mantras of Henry Marshall, led by Marcia Emery, PhD. at 2 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. If by chance it rains, we will postpone until the following month. 526-5510. 

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

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 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Free Classes on Meditation, Dreams and Self-Knowledge at Berkeley Gnostic Center, 2510 Channing Way. For details call 1-877-GNOSIS-1. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jared and Michelle Baird on “How to Go on a Retreat” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

An Evening with Cindy Sheehan and the El Cerrito Green Party. Peace Vigil at 5 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. for $5-$10, talk at 7 p.m. at Sky Lounge, 10458 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito, just north of Stockton St. 526-0972. 

Crisis Intervention Training Task Force meeting at 3:30 p.m. at 1947 Center St., 3rd Flr., Deodar Cedar Room. Sponsored by the Mental Health Commission. 981-5217. 

Berkeley Lab Friends of Science “Saving Power at Peak Hours” with Mary Ann Piette, LBNL scientist at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Free. 486-7292. 

Free Kaplan SAT vs ACT Workshop for high school students and parents at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. Registration required at www.kaptest.com/college (event code SKBK8009). 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 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 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 6, at 7 p.m., at 2118 Milvia St. Nabil Al-Hadithy, 981-7461.  

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 6, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400.  

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 6, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419.  

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 6, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6406.  

Youth Commission meets Mon., Mar. 10, at 6:30 p.m., at City Council Chambers, Old City Hall. 981-6670.  

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5426.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 981-4950.  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600.  

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832. www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org 

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/ 

grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 4 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The RISD Northern California Alumni Biennial 2008” Design work featuring local alumni from Rhode Island School of Design. Opening reception with RISD President Roger Mandle from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Art GAllery, 199 Kahn’s Alley, Oakland. www.oaklandartgallery.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dan Ariely describes “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Peggy Levitt discusses “God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Motordude Zydeco 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. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Jenny Ellis & Laura Klein, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Foggy Gulch Band, bluegrass, folk, country at 10 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. 451-8100.  

Vusi Mahlasela at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 

FILM 

“Yolanda and the Thief” with a lecture by Prof. Marilyn Fabe, at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Casual Labor” New work in sculpture and photography by Alex Clausen, Zachery Royer Scholz and Kirk Stoller. Gallery conversation with the artists at 7 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. 549-2977. 

Lou Rowan and David Meltzer read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

François Luong, Jennifer Karmin and Michael Slosek read in celebration of the new anthology “A Sing Economy: An Anthology of Experimental Poetry” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Artist’s Talk with Xu Bing, recipient of a MacArthur “genuis” award, at 4 p.m. at Institute of east Asian Studies, 2223 Fulton St. 642-2809. 

Diana Raab reads from “Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

Cara Black introduces her new novel “Murder on the Rue de Paradis: An Aimée Leduc Investigation” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with Rebakah Ahrendt, viola de gamba, Annette Bauer, recorder, Jonathan Rhodes Lee, harpsichord, and Jennifer Paulino, soprano, at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Jazz Fourtet featuring Brendan Buss at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Nikolev Kolev, Balkan, Bulgarian, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

Orquestra America at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

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

Booker T. Jones at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Open Range” The art of Douglas Light, Michele Hofherr and Scott Courtenay-Smith opens at Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411. www.estebansabar.com 

FILM 

Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?” with filmmmaker Perdo Costa in person at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with Diane Di Prima at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

Speaking Fierce: Celebrate International Women’s Day with Bushra Rehman, Climbing Poetree, and Jennifer Johns at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$25, no one turned away. 444-2700, ext. 305. www.coloredgirls.org 

“Revenge of the Illegal Alien” Poetry in celebration of César A. Cruz’s book, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$15. 849-2568.  

William Wong, author of “Angel Island (Images of America)” will give a slide talk on the island and its role in Chinese American history as an immigration station, at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Joshua Carver, poet, followed by open mic, at 7 p.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Dee Dee Myers explains “Why Women Should Rule the World” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Michelle Richmond reads from “the Year of Fog” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Dance, Sean Hodge with High Heat, Wagon, Last Legal Music with guest Buzzy Linhart at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Ditty Bops, Jesca Hoop at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Tin Cup Serenade at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Claudia Russell at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Akosua Mireku, Ghanian-American, at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sat. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Chicago” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 12. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep ”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

The Imagination Players “Once on This Island“ A musical for the whole family Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $8-$15. 665-5565. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. http://impacttheatre.com 

UC Dept. of Theater “The Bacchae” at Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through March 9 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. theater.berkeley.edu 

Virago Theatre Company “Candide” the comic opera at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, through Mar. 9. Tickets are $15-$25. 865-6237. www.viragotheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Pods” Paintings by Kim Thoman Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Oakopolis, 447 25th St., Oakland. Runs through March 22. 663-6920. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jane Ganahl describes “Naked on the Page: The Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Friday Noon Concert Chamber music at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

La Colectiva, cumbia Colombiana, salsa, son y mas, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door.  

First Fridays After Five with Purirak, the Shahrzad Dance Company, Navarrete x Kajiyama Dance Theater and more at 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Fortune Smiles Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Trio Garufa at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Tango dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $20. 525-5054. 

Laurie Antonioli Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373.  

Nearly Beloved, folk and country, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Ditty Bops, Jesca Hoop at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Justin Ancheta at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Josh Workman Trio, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Amanda West, Lalin St. Juste at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Deja Bryson, Ke-Shay, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

Imani Uzuri at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159.  

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sat. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Abby and The Pipsqueaks at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Thomas Lynch reads from the children’s classics, Kenneth Grahame’s “Wind in the Willows” and Roald Dahl’s “Boy” at 1 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Ostracismos” Paintings and poetry by the Torres Brothers Opening reception at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568.  

“Capturing Landscapes through Changing Technology” Photographs by Alasdair McCondochie. Opening recpetion at 3 p.m. at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. www.lightroom.com 

“Metals in Motion” Artists from the Monterey Bay Metals Arts guild discuss their works at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

FILM 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

“In Vanda’s Room” with filmmaker Perdo Costa in personat 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Scully and Peter Everwine read their poems at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free. 981-6100. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Songs of Hope and Struggle” Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

Songs of Hope & Struggle A benefit for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera at 7 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Reception at 5:30 p.m. Suggested donation $25. 665-5821. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Opera Piccola “Mirrors of Mumbai” at 7:30 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourde Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

Chora Nova “Aphrodite’s Muse” Works by women composers in honor of International Womens's Day at 8 p.m., lecture at 7:15 p.m. at ;First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $10-$18. www.choranova.org 

Lichi Fuentes in an International Women’s Day concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Baba Ken & West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jeff Rolka, Robert Heiskell at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

John Gorka with Amilia K Spicer at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Beep with Michael Coleman at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Montclair Women’s Big Band celebrating International Women’s Day at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Babashad Jazz at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Dave G and Andy Mason in a Tirbute to the Violent Femmes at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

CHILDREN 

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

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“Down to Earth” with filmmaker Pedro Costa in person at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Contemporary Art in Cuba” with Terry McClain at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

“Still Lives: The Films of Pedro Costa” Lecture by the filmmaker at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Quartet San Francisco “Whirled Chamber Music” at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children 18 and under. 559-2941.  

David Tanenbaumn, classical guitarist at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Sounds New Tenth Anniversary Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Presidio String Quartet will perform music of Bartok, Pårt, Dan Cantrell at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$12. 644-6893.  

Soli Deo Gloria U.S. premiere of Allan Bevan’s “Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode” at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut St. at Encinal, Alameda. Tickets are $20-$25. www.sdgloria.org 

Mucho Axé and TerroRitmo, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Jazz It Up” Berkeley High Fundraiser at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sarah Haili & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Code Name: Jonah at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Khalil Shaheed, Gary Brown, Glen Pearson in a benefit for Babtunde Lea’s Educultural Foundation at 7 and 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$25. 238-9200.  

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium “Looking at Looking at Looking” with Golan Levin, artist, Carnegie Mellon Univ., at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565. http://atc.berkeley.edu 

Brian Fagan describes “The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

OmniDawn Press Night with Justin Courter, Mary Mackay and Laura Moriarty at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Karen Hogan at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kurt Ribak, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

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

Skyline High School Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. 

In 1971 Enrique Chagoya, as an 18-year-old student in Mexico City, participated in a student demonstration against the repressive regime and barely escaped a massacre by the police which, like the mass murder of 1968, killed hundreds of students. This was near the site where human sacrifices were performed by the Aztec priests before the Spanish conquest. Chagoya, in his paintings, codices and prints, fuses the depravities of the past with those of the present and does much more. 

In 1979, after having studied political economics at the University of Mexico, he moved to Berkeley and studied art at UC. Among the earliest works in the compelling exhibition are a series of 20 intaglio prints, grisly nightmares, locating Goya’s Los Caprichos and Disasters of War in the present. In Against the Common Good (1983), for instance, we see a smirking President Reagan as King Ferdinand VII in Goya’s print. He is equipped with bat wings and reads the new constitution which was considered a dangerous canker on the body politic of Europe, not dissimilar to Reagan’s effect on American policy. In another intaglio print, entitled Goya Meets Posada, Chagoya presents his homage to two artists who inspired much of his own work.  

These prints were first exhibited in a show at the San Francisco Art Institue in a show, “Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America” in 1984. In the same year Chagoya painted Their Freedom of Expression ... The Recovery of Their Economy. Here as in many of his works, he appropriated Mickey Mouse as an ambassador of American popular culture. Reagan, sporting the Mouse’s ears, paints the message “Ruskies and Cubans out of Central America” on the wall, while Dr. Henry Kissinger, the smaller Mouse, graffities “By the Way Keep Art out of politics.” 

The exhibition is subtitled “Borderlandia,” and the logo of the show is the painting When Paradise Arrived (1989). Here the border clash looms large in a nearly seven-foot square charcoal and pastel on paper: Mickey Mouse’s gigantic thrusting hand, with “English only” written on its middle finger, is poised to flick an innocent little Latina out of the picture, out of the country. The girl with a bleeding heart evokes the image of the virgin of Guadalupe. In The Governor’s Nightmare (1994) he fuses Meso-American culture with the political situation in California during Pete Wilson’s governorship: The Aztec Lord of the Dead sits on a pyramid, sprinkles salt on a terrified Mickey Mouse and exhorts his people to cannibalism as they devour the governor’s organs. In this picture we also see devout Christians drinking the blood of their god in a reproduction of a Spanish colonial painting of the Allegory of the Sacrament. 

There is a fine sardonic series of drawings, Poor George (2004) in the show in which our current president is irreverently mocked. This group was done in respect for Philip Guston’s caricatures of Nixon in the Poor Richard series of 1971. Goya, Posada, Guston: Chagoya has a deep reverence for kindred spirits in the history of art, who, like him, commented on mankind’s atrocities and follies. During recent years the artist also produced a number of Codices. Done on amate paper, as in pre-Columbian times, and in a way similar to the ancient text of which so many were burned by the invaders, they deal with ancient, past and current history. Chagoya’s Codices are not straight narratives. They are filled with paradox and are convoluted as well as playful at times and are charged with political and visual information. 

One large painting in the show pictures an elegant black-trousered leg and well-polished shoes stepping on upside down bare red feet that emerge from a sea of blood. Taking his cue from Hegel, Chagoya named it Thesis/Antithesis (1989). In his Artist’s Statement, he writes that his art is “a product of collisions between historical visions, ancient and modern, marginal and dominant paradigms—a thesis and antithesis—in mind of the viewer. Often the result is a nonlinear narrative with many possible interpretations.” 

ENRIQUE CHAGOYA:  

BORDERLANDIA 

Through May 18 at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave. Open 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Wednesday - Sunday.

“It is impossible to pin down what Euripides’ The Bacchae is about.” Barbara Oliver, who founded the Aurora Theatre and is in residency at UC’s Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies to direct this peculiarly contemporary late tragedy, opens her program notes with this statement. 

Euripides is represented by more surviving plays than his older contemporaries, Aeschylus and Sophocles, probably because of the aphoristic nature of many of his speeches, which made them popular for inclusion in courses on rhetoric. Even his seemingly most thematic works are so saturated with irony (the stock-in-trade of classical tragedians) that Aristotle called him the most properly tragic of the poets. Scene by scene, his almost Mannerist plays seem to change tack internally and contradict themselves, casting light on a whole complex of things rather than on just the edifying fate of a mythic hero. And part of what they illuminate—or cast doubt on—is the very process and perspective by which this ambiguous message is received: the mounting of a play and the audience’s response to it. 

The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis were brought back to Athens and staged by Euripides’ son after his death, expatriated in Macedonia. He had been an increasingly harsh critic of Athens’ role—and defeat—in the Peloponnesian War. The Bacchae to many has seemed a summation of his ironic, ambiguous attitude to his own profession, a critique of Dionysus, from whose cult Athenian tragedy originated. Others find the culmination of what they regard as his anti-Apollonian exalting of the god of wine and the irrational. Is it a mixture of the two, or putting into perspective the extremes of revivalistic religious urges and the attempt, citing reason and law, to curb them? Antonin Artaud, the poet of modern dramaturgy (and the one who coined the Nietzche-flavored term, Theater of Cruelty), who admired The Bacchae perhaps most of any play, said “In Aeschylus, Man is very evil [“mal,” also sick], but still acts like a little god. Finally with Euripides, the floodgates are open ... we slog through all that pour out ... and we don’t know where we are.” 

The UC production is up at the Zellerbach Playhouse, one of the best theaters in the Bay Area, aesthetically and technically—and with this show, a new, upgraded lighting system is inaugurated, with David Elliott’s fine design. Robert Mark Morgan’s set is a massive Grecian civic structure topped with a frieze of figures locked in struggle with walls that move to expand the playing area, or to frame silhouetted trees against the sky at the top of several flights of marble stairs.  

There are portentious special effects: claps of thunder, reverberating voices, an earthquake that brings down the cornice and its frieze at a vertiginous diagonal, metaphor for what is happening to the very state of Thebes. 

The eight-woman chorus is deployed across the stage by assistant director Marc Boucal’s movement—and in stasis, veiled figures of the chorines sitting, outlining the action of the scenes which their dancing and chanting both forecast and react to.  

The action of those scenes builds from the arrival of a stranger, a long-locked Dionysian priest, with news of the women of Thebes dancing ecstatically on Mt. Cithaeron. Pentheus, whose name signifies grief and whose regal relations are letting down their hair as Bacchantes, moves to stop the religious frenzy. Imprisoning the stranger proves fruitless; he’s freed in a quake he claims his god caused. And in a moment of mesmerism, he suggests to young turk Pentheus that he go in disguise to watch the women dance on the mountain. 

Like Romeo and Juliet, The Bacchae takes on a different tone when the principals are young actors, as the story suggests. Pentheus and the stranger, who hints he’s really Dionysus in mortal disguise, are young cousins. And Dionysus is looking for revenge over the spurning of his divinity by the family of his mother Semele, impregnated by Zeus and burned by his lightning. 

The stranger-Dionysus, featured in the curtain call, is an excellent Carl Holvick-Thomas, whose movement, voice and fluid expressions give a sinous presence—seductive, mocking and vengeful—to his role. Only his echoing voice, coming from the skies, figures in the deus-ex-machina, following the catastrophe, perhaps the most awesome and lamentable of Greek tragedy. His presence would have been better. And Theo Black proves a game Pentheus, filled with youthful martial enthusiasm and reckless pride and scorn. But he’s not given equal footing with the young priest or disguised god; the tension is not fully brought out. His fate is rendered a bit more pathetic than tragic. And the admittedly difficult final scene, the most humane moment of all, with the bacchic revelers having to contend with the awful fruit of their violent frenzy, and the scattering of the Theban founder’s family into exile, is cut short, not catching the reverberations of suddenly all-too-human heroic figures struggling with comprehending the mystery of a mythic fate. 

But the sweep—and the arabesques—of the story and its dancing choruses come through clearly enough with Oliver’s direction and in the translation of Neil Curry, which renders the unresolved meaning best in an exchange between Dionysus (“I am a god—and you spurned me!”) and Cadmus, Thebes’ founder (Ricardo Salcido), in effect: A god should not act as mortals do. 

Barbara Oliver will direct Euripides again in a few weeks for Aurora—next time, The Trojan Women. 

THE BACCHAE 

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley campus. $8-$14. theater.berkeley.edu.