THURSDAY, APRIL 9 

Berkeley Hunger and Homelessness Conference from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Pauley Ballroom at MLK Student Union Bldg, UC campus. Free, food donations encouraged. Hosted by Cal Berkeley Habitat for Humanity, Suitcase Clinic, and CalPIRG. 

“Abolish Corporate Personhood” An organizing meeting at 7 p.m. at 2105 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., between Center and Addison, in the building shared with East Bay Cohousing Clubhouse. 705-1432. 

“Four Actions to Resolve Conflict Inside & Out” at 7:15 p.m. at Center for Transformative Change, 2584 Martin Luther King Jr Way. RSVP to register@transformativechange.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Claremont Resort, Horizon Ballroom, 41 Tunnel Rd.. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.m. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

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

Buddhist Class on Shikan Meditation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar at Bonita, through May 28. http://caltendai.org 

FRIDAY, APRIL 10 

“Stop the Violence Prayer Walk” Meet at 11:45 a.m. at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University Ave. Sponsored by Pacific School of Religion and Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action. 849-8239. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Gail Feldman Sustainable Energy Program, City of Berkeley, on “Berkeley’s Solar Energy Project: Leading the Nation through Creative Strategies.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

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. 

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

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 

Berkeley Historical Society Spring Walking Tour “Rose Walk and Tamalpais Road” led by John Underhill, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point call 848-0181. 

Spring Egg Hunt Extravaganza in Willard Park, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with egg hunts for 1 to 7 years olds, and a treasure hunt for 8-10 year olds. Egg Hunt times begin with 2 years and under at 10:30 a.m. 981-5157. 

Old-Fashioned Egg Hunt with bunnies and games from noon to 3 p.m. at the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. Tickets are $2-$5, or $12 for the whole family. 562-0328. www.dunsmuir.org 

El Cerrito’s Annual Egg Hunt at 10 a.m., sharp, at Arlington Park, 1120 Arlington Blvd., El Cerrito. 559-7000. www.el-cerrito.org 

American Rhododendron Society Annual Show and Sale from noon to 4 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Club, 666 Bellevue, Oakland. Flower show viewing from 10 a.m. to noon. 223-0443. 

Friends of the El Cerrito Library Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 6510 Stockton St., El Cerrito. www.ccclib.org 

Arts at St. Alban’s: Visual Arts with Reena Burton A multi-disciplinary series for children, ages 5 to 10, parents invited, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Free, donations accepted. to register call 525 1716. info@st-albans-albany.org  

Preschool Storytime, including crafts and finger plays at 11 a.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720 ext. 16. 

“Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland–Implications for the Obama Administration” with journalist, author and political commentator Rose Aguilar, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St., Alameda. Suggested donation $5. www.alamedaforum.org 

“Grieving is a Revolutionary Act” Seminary of the Street and First Congregational Church of Oakland present a “funeral for the empire” at 7 p.m. at 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. www.seminaryofthestreet.org 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Life Goes On Foundation “Comedy Jam” Benefit Show at 7 p.m. at The Bayside Pavilion, 2203 Mariner Square Loop, Alameda. All proceeds will go to raise funds for spinal cord injuries and promote non-violence. www.lifegoesonfoundation.org 

Beginning Meditation from 8 to 9:15 a.m. at 3654 Grand Ave., Oakland. 834-COZY. 

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.  

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 841-2174.  

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 12 

Little Farm Open House Come grind some corn to feed the chickens, pet a bunny, groom a goat or help out in the Kids Garden, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Toddler Nature Walk Little ones and their grown up friends explore the meadows and trails, from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Rabbit Rendevous Come meet the rascally rabbits at the Little Farm and learn about lagomorphs, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Little Farm, at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners gather to enjoy shows together at 4 p.m. at a private home in Richmond. For more information email DavidinBerkeley at Yahoo.com. 

Personal Theology Seminars with Cathleen Cox on “Why Jesus Matters” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

“Green Sunday” with Tom Athanasiou on “Global Justice or Climate Catastrophe” at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

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 Judy Rasmussen on “Blessings on the Wind: The Tibetan Prayer Flag” 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 2 to 6 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Thurs. from 2 to 6 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

MONDAY, APRIL 13 

Quit Smoking Class from 5:30 to 8:3o p.m. at theNorth Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.Hypnosis available to assist in quitting smoking. Free, but please pre-register. 981-5330. QuitNow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Teaching Overseas in the Peace Corps Returned volunteers share their stories and slides at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Community Yoga Class 10 a.m. at James Kenney Parks and Rec. Center at Virginia and 8th. Seniors and beginners welcome. Cost is $6. 207-4501. 

East Bay Track Club for girls and boys ages 3-15 meets Mon. at 6 p.m. at Berkeley High School track field. Free. 776-7451. 

Small-Business Counseling Free one-hour one-on-one counseling to help you start and run your small business with a volunteer from Service Core of Retired Executives, Mon. evenings by appointment at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. For appointment call 981-6148. www.eastbayscore.org 

ASUC Student Legal Clinic provides free legal research and case intake. Drop-in hours Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. anfd Fri. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., UC campus. 642-9986. asuclegalclinic@gmail.com 

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Mon. at 3 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

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. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 14 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Growing Sustainability in a Low-Carbon World” Speaker series sponsored by Inst. for Urban and Regional Development at 5:15 at Wurster Hall, UC campus. http://iurd.berkeley.edu 

California Colloquium on Water “Converting Concrete Channels in Urban Setting into Natural Creeks and Streams: The 50-Year Plan” with Mitch Avalon, Deputy Public Works Director of Contra Costa County, at 5:30 p.m. at Goldman School of Public Policy, room 250, 2607 Heasrt Ave. www.lib.berkeley.edu/ 

WRCA/ccow 

Take Back the Night Silent March with sign making and candlelight, starting on Sproul Plaza of the UC Berkeley campus from 5 to 7 p.m. geneq.berkeley.edu 

“Adventures in Nepal and India” with Molly McCahan at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Classroom Safari Wild Animal Show for ages 4 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. Kensington. Free, but reservations required. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Assoc. for Women in Science, East Bay Chapter meets at 6:30 p.m. at Jupiter, upstairs, 2181 Shattuck Ave.  

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. 

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

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., Sat. and Sun. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

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 

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. 

Ceramics Class Learn hand building techniques to make decorative and functional items, Tues. at 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Free, materials and firing charges only. 525-5497. 

Bridge for beginners from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m., all others 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sing-A-Long at 2:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Rhythm Tap Exercise Class Tues. at 5 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Donation $2. 548-9840. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of spring, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

“If Gardens are the Answer, What is the Question?” a lecture by author Rebecca Solnit and hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities, at 4 p.m. in the Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC campus. Free. 643-9670. http://townsendcenter.berkeley.edu 

“The Crash Course” Part 3. A documentary on the consequenses of having a monetary system that must grow tied to an energy system that can’t grow, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Foreclosure Prevention Wed. from 6 to 8 p.m. through May 20 at The HomeOwnership Center, 3301 East 12th St., Suite 201, Oakland. To register call 535-6943. homeownership@unitycouncil.org 

“Eat To Live, Don't Live To Eat!” at 6:30 p.m. at Wellness Center 828 San Pablo Ave, Suite 115, Albany. 

Confused by Computers? Novice computer users can get one-on-one assistance from noon to 1:45 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. Sign up for an appointment at the reference desk or call 526-3720 ext. 5. 

“Avoiding the Money Step” Learn how to do things for yourself, rather than paying people to do them for you, at 6:30 p.m. at the Claremont Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave.  

“Travel Health Resources Online” Learn how to stay healthy on the road, at 6 p.m. at West Auditorium, Oakland Main Library, 125 14th St. at Oak. 238-3136. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at URS Corporation, Suite 800, 1333 Broadwa, Oakland. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

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. 548-9840. 

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. 

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

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 16 

Walkers age 50+ Discovering Albany and North Berkeley Small Gardens Meet at 9 a.m. at Albany Sneior Center, 843 Masonic. Free, but numbers limited. Register at Albany Senior Center. 524-9122. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of spring, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Community Meeting on Berkeley’s Housing Needs at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 981-7416.  

“The Falcons of San Francisco and San Jose City Hall” with Glenn Stewart, conservation biologist, at 7 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 843-2222. 

Marine Mammals of the California Coast through Deep Time with Dr. Nick Pyenson at 12:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Jews, Arabs, and Government Officials: Power Relations Inside Israel Today” with Israeli author David Wesley at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar and Bonita sts. 548-3048.  

Take Back the Night Rally and reception with guest speakers, music, prose, poetry, and an open mic from 5 to 8 p.m. at Sproul Plaza, UC campus. geneq.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley High School Red and Golden Girls Annual Reunion Luncheon at the Berkeley City Club. Women who graduated from BHS fifty or more years ago are eligible to attend. 526-3619. 

8th Annual Master Hsuan Hua Memorial Lecture “In Search of an Authentic Buddhism: Voices from Ancient Texts, Calls from the Modern World” at 7 p.m. at the Graduate Theological Union’s Chapel of the Great Commission, 1798 Scenic Ave. Free and open to the public. 848-9788.  

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, at noon to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

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

Buddhist Class on Shikan Meditation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar at Bonita, through May 28. http://caltendai.org 

Free Meditation Class Tues and Thurs. at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians, 2nd flr., 1606 Bonita Ave. 931-7742. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Brian Williams, Founder and CEO of the Red Panda Network on “In Search of the Red Panda” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468.  

“Show and Tell” Bring a found object, a poem, a memory, or something you have created and share why it inspires you, at 6 p.m. at Mercury 20 Gallery, 25 Grand Ave. at Broadway, Oakland. mercurytwenty@gmail.com 

Faith into Action Conference Empowering African American families and communities through community organizing, Fri. and Sat. at Beebe Memorial Church, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 639-1444.  

“Compassionate Violence, Torture and Warfare in the Bodhisattva Ideal” with Prof. Steve Jenkins, Humbolt State Univ., at 5 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. RSVP to 809-1444. 

“Cinema Dreaming: In the Mood for Love” at 7 p.m. at The Dream Institute, 1672 University at McGee. Cost is $10. 845-1767. http://dream-institute.org 

Demonstrate for Peace! Bring your signs and determination from 2 to 4 p.m. at Acton and University aves.  

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. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

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

SATURDAY, APRIL 18 

People’s Park 40th Anniversary “Acoustic Music and Park Action Day” from noon until dark, with performances by Little Boy Blue, Human Wine, Little B & J, Hungry Theater, Corey the Comedian, Fuck'n Buckaroos, John the Baker, and others. 390-0830. www.peoplespark.org 

Berkeley Historical Society Spring Walking Tour “The Radical Sixties and People’s Park” led by Dale Smith, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point call 848-0181. 

Berkeley Path Wanderers: Improved and Impassible Paths Theme Walk The walk will cover many paths improved in recent years by BPWA. We will also pass by and look at several not-yet-improved paths to show how much is involved in building the new paths. This walk is moderately strenuous, come prepared for a lot of ups and downs, interspersed with some flat stretches. Meet at 10 a.m. at the fountain across from new hills Fire Station #7, 3000 Shasta Rd., 1/2 block from Grizzly Peak Blvd. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Native Plant Restoration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline, Oakland. Located near Arrowhead Marsh, this site is a great place to bird-gaze while getting your hands dirty. Enter the park from Swan Way and follow the road to the end parking lot. Then look for the wooden observation platform adjacent to Arrowhead Marsh. jrobinson@goldengateaudubon.org 

Edith Coliver Festival of Cultures with dance, drama, food and exhibits, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. 642-9461. 

Celebration of Children’s Literature with authors, illustrators, costumed characters, storytelling and activities from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tolman Hall, UC campus. http://gse/berkeley.edu/childlit.html 

Cal Day on the UC Berkeley Campus with tours, lectures, performances and more. For a schedulae of activities see calday.berkeley.edu 

Home Front Youth Corps Celebration of the completion of a new video about he WWII home front produced by Richmond youth, at 5 p.m. at the Seaver Gallery, Richmond Museum of History, 400 Nevin Ave., Richmond. Free. 232-5050. 

Spring Open House at The Crucible with an art show and information on classes in glassworking, bronze casting, ceramics, fire performance and the Youth Hyphy Bike class, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

Earth Day at Chabot with activities including solar cars, vacuum chambers, glitter globe and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $10.95-$14.95. www.chabotspace.org 

Homebuyers Education from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The HomeOwnership Center, 3301 East 12th St., Suite 201, Oakland. To register call 535-6943. homeownership@unitycouncil.org 

California Writers Club “Yes, Grammar Can Be Fun” with Janis Bell, author of “Clean Well-Lighted Sentences” at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, 98 Brioadway, Oakland. 272-0120. www.berkeleywritersclub.com  

Weekend with John Sherman Sat. from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and Sun. from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Free, but registration required for Sun. workshop. www.riverganga.org 

Beginning Internet Class “How to Google or Search the Web” at 10 a.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Free, but call to sign up 526-7512. 

Small Animal Adoption Fair with Earth Day activities from 1 to 5 p.m. at RabbitEARS, 377 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

Arroyo Viejo Creek Work Day Help clean up the creek at the Oakland Zoo, from 9 a.m. to noon. All ages welcome. 632-9525, ext. 207. 

Shortest Triathlon Ever Join a 100-yard swim, a 2.5 mile bike ride and a 2.1 mile run to benefit Emeryville School District’s Health and Fitness programs, at 6:30 a.m. at City Hall, 1333 Park Ave., Emeryville. Cost is $35-$55, $1 for Emeryville students. To register see www.sportsdrs.com 

“Write for your Life: Victories and Defeats and How they Shaped my Life” A workshop with Beth Glick-Rieman from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Cost is $40, bring bag lunch. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Preschool Storytime, including crafts and finger plays at 11 a.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720 ext. 16. 

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. www.nativeplants.org 

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 841-2174.  

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 19 

Golden Gate Audubon Bird Walk from 9 a.m. to noon at Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline, Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland to look for passerines and lingering over-wintering waterfowl and shorebirds, some coming into breeding plumage. Tides will be favorable for spotting the resident Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail, and Sora. Bring a scope if you have one. Beginners welcome. Take Hwy 880 towards the Oakland Airport. Exit at Hegenberger Road, going south. Turn right on Edgewater Drive and continue to end of road. Turn left at the Garretson Point parking lot. We will start at Damon Marsh and end at Arrowhead Marsh. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Nature Crafts for Early Educators Learn to make easy crafts that reinforce concepts in nature from noon to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Bring a bag lunch. Cost is $20-$22. Regitrstion required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Paddle Demo Day at San Pablo Reservior at 10 a.m. for REI members and noon for the general public. For information see www.rei.com/paddledemo 

Earth Day at the Oakland Zoo with activities for families including learning about animals, recycling, and environmental organizations, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 9777 Golf Links Rd., Oakland. Bring a used cell phone to recycle, and receive a free train ride. Cost is $5-$12. 632-9525. 

“Constantine's Sword” James Carroll’s documentary on the history of Christianity and the U.S. government’s complicity in militarism and war, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Cost is $5-$10. 841-4824. www.bfuu.org 

Personal Theology Seminars with Rabbi Harry Manhoff on “Little Known Facts and Other Trivia about the Passover” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Beginning Meditation from 8 to 9:15 a.m. at 3654 Grand Ave., Oakland. 834-COZY. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Olivia Hurd on “Meditations to Open the Heart” 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 2 to 6 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Thurs. from 2 to 6 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., April 9, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5356.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., April 9, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7430.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., April 13, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Planning Commission meets Wed., April 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7416. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., April 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., April 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7061.  

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., April 16, at 7 p.m. at the James Kenney Recreation Center, 8th & Virginia. 981-7418.  

THURSDAY, APRIL 9 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“How to Dig a Hole” Films by UC Berkeley students at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Story Hour in the Library featuring novelist Vendela Vida, at 5 p.m. at 190 Doe Library, UC campus. 643-0397. 

Richard Schwartz will discuss stories from his book “Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" which took place in the North Berkeley area, at 7 p.m. at Black Oak Books,1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. 

D.A. Powell reads from his new collection of poems “Chronic” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Truth Be Told Spoken word with Rico Pabon at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Berkeley’s The Movement Spring Showcase Thurs. and Fri. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Young People's Performing Arts Center, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8 in advance from ucb.movement.showcase@gmail.com 

Dead Guise at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kalman Balogh Gypsy Cimbolam Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kelly Park and His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Country Joe’s Open Mic with singer/songwriter Jo D’Anna at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $5-$10. 841-4824. 

The Crooked Roads Band, The Z-Train Electric Band, In Rare Form at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

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

FRIDAY, APRIL 10 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Miss Julie” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., at 2081 Addison St. to May 10. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. auroratheatre.org 

Black Repertory Group “Mrs. Streeter” Fri. at 8 .m., Sat. at 2:30 and 8 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through April 25. Tickets are $15-$20. 925-812-2787. www.blackrepertorygroup.com 

Brookside Rep “Basha Rubenchek from Minsk, Comrade of Petaluma” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, through May 3. Tickets are $19-$24. www.BrooksideRep.org 

Masquers Playhouse “The Last Five Years” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, and runs through May 2. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Round Belly Theatre Co. “Twelfth Night” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. Subterranean Art House, 2179 Bancroft Way. Suggested donation $8-$10. 415-728-5975. 

Shotgun Players “Skylight” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., though April 26. Tickets are $25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

TheatreFIRST “Old Times” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way, through April 18. Tickets are $23-$28. 436-5085. www.theatrefirst.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Fiber 2009” Group show. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to May 3. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

“Above Ground” Works by Jacqueline Neuwirth Krayna opens at the Albany Community Center, Foyer Gallery, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany. 524-9283. 

“Young At Art” Paintings by Molly Greenberg. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Red Oak Realty, 2099 Pleasant Valley Ave., Oakland. 292-2000. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mahmood Mamdani describes “Saviours and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $5-$10. berkeleyarts.org 

Charles Blackwell, Selene Steese, and Bob Booker will read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave., a little north of Hearst, in Berkeley, as part of the Last Word Reading Series. There is also an open reading. 841-6374. 

Mary Roach reads from “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sciennce and Sex” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Berkeley’s The Movement Spring Showcase at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Young People's Performing Arts Center, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8 in advance from ucb.movement.showcase@gmail.com 

Teslim at Utunes Coffe House at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$18. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women, with guest artist Annie Patterson, co-author of “Rise Up Singing” at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing St., at Dana. Suggested donation $15-$20, no one turned away. www.betsyrosemusic.org 

Beausoliel at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Salvadora Galan, flamenco guitarist and singer, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Alex Calatuyud’s Brasil! at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $115. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Zulu Spear, The Palmwine Boys at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Happy Clams, Yard Sale at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Naomi and the Courteous Rudeboys at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

East Bay Funk and Soul Revue at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 548-1159.  

Will Blades Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 

CHILDREN  

Family Film Series “Ever After” Cinderella with a strong woman and no magic Sat. and Sun. at noon at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood, 2966 College Ave. at Ashby. Tickets are $4. 433-9730. 

Maggie the Clown, Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $7. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry and the Planet with Camille Dungy, Robert Haas, Brenda Hillman and many others at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The New BAM/PFA Facility” with architect Toyo Ito at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC campus. Free, tickets available at 6 p.m. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Barbara Claire Freeman, Alice Jones, and Nguyen Do will read their poems from the latest Parthenon West Review at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320, pdtevents@gmail.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

UC Berkeley Danceworx Spring Showcase at 8 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Young People’s Performing Arts Center, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$10. dwxshowcasecoord@gmail.com 

Grupo Falso Baiano at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Faye Carol & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trio Garufa, Argentine tango at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Tango lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

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

Gateswingers Jazz Band, at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions Record Shop amd Cafe,10086 San Pablo Ave. at Central, El Cerrito. 898-1836.  

Taylor Eigsti, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

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

The China Cats, Pat Nevins Acoustic Trio at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Jinx Jones Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Grayceon, Mammatus, Giant, Tides at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $8. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Bach to Bach” at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free. www.sfchamberorchestra.org 

Berkeley New Music Project at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $5-$15. 642-9988.  

Carlos Oliveira’s Brazilian Opus, featuring Harvey Wainapel, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kickin’ the Mule, featuring Freddie Hughes, at 5 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 13 

FILM 

Buddhism, Meditation and Film: “Momento” with a lecture by Robert Sharf at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Pioneering Women in Architecture in Northern California: Contemporaries of Julia Morgan” with Inge Horton at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 883-9710. 

“I’ll Replace You: Outsourcing Everyday Life” with Jennifer and Kevin McCoy discussing their multi-media artworks at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC campus. Sponsored by Berkeley Center for New Media. 642-0635. 

“Michael Pollan’s ‘The Botany of Desire’ Persepectives from the Arts, Humanisites and Sciences” at 4 p.m. in the Lipman Room, Barrows Hall, 8th Flr, UC campus. Free. 

Nancy Selvin, ceramic artist will show slides and discuss the influences that have shaped her as an artist, at 12:30 p.m. at the Brown Bag Speaker’s Forum at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

Randall Sexton will talk about his art experiences and do an oil painting demonstration of a still life subject for the meeting of El Cerrito Art Association at 7:30 p.m. in the Garden Room of El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane.  

TUESDAY, APRIL 14 

FILM 

“From Today Until Tomorrow” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Barbara Tomash, Nona Caspers, Jesse Nissim and Molly Albracht will read at as part of April National Poetry Month series at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. pdtevents@gmail.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alexander String Quartet “Classical Treasures” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $12.50-$25. 525-5211. www.berkeleychamberperform.org 

Gator Beat 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. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lyric Escape: Paintings by Lawrence Ferlinghetti” Opens at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., and runs through May 10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

FILM 

“High School” with lecture by Marilyn Fabe at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Andy Goldworthy: Rivers and Tides” hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities, at 7 p.m. in the Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC campus. Free. 643-9670. http://townsendcenter. 

berkeley.edu 

“From Riches to Rags: Hollywood and the New Deal: Gabriel over the White House” Introduced by Gray Brechin, founding scholar for California’s Living New Deal Project at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Achitecture Tour of the Oakland Museum of California, building and grounds at 1 p.m. at 1000 Oak at 10th, Oakland. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“If Gardens are the Answer, What is the Question?” with author Rebecca Solnit at 4 p.m. in the Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UC campus. Hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities. http://townsendcenter.berkeley.edu/publicworld_solnit.shtm 

Judith Orloff describes “Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Cost is $5-$10. berkeleyarts.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Gospel Chorus at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Ben Marcato and his Mondo Combo at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway.  

Ian Carey Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

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

Kurt Ribak Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet” Guided tour at 112:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Berkeley Filmmakers Screening Series “Ripe for Change” with director Emilo Omori at 7 p.m. at Zaentz Media Center, 2600 Tenth St. Reservations required. reservations@berkeleyfilmscreening.com 

“Reefer Madness” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

National Poetry Month Showcase a multi-generational poetry conversation featuring Coptic poet Matthew Shenoda at 7:30pm at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave Tickets are $5-$10. www.myspace.com/poetryforthepeople 

Poetry Flash with Julie Carr, Carol Snow and Brian Teare at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Michelle Goldberg on “The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5-$10. berkeleyarts.org 

Maria Laurino reads from “Old World Daughter, New World Mother” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

7th Street Sound, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $TBA. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Dave Mathews Birthday Blast with Tony Lindsay at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Beat Beat Whisper, The Porchsteps, All My Pretty Ones at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

FRIDAY, APRIL 17 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Miss Julie” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., at 2081 Addison St. to May 10. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” at Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. through May 15. Tickets are $33-$71. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group “Mrs. Streeter” Fri. at 8 .m., Sat. at 2:30 and 8 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through April 25. Tickets are $15-$20. 925-812-2787. www.blackrepertorygroup.com 

Brookside Rep “Basha Rubenchek from Minsk, Comrade of Petaluma” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, through May 3. Tickets are $19-$24. www.BrooksideRep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Saint Joan” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through May 10. Tickets are $11-$18. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Masquers Playhouse “The Last Five Years” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, and runs through May 2. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Skylight” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., though April 26. Tickets are $25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

TheatreFIRST “Old Times” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way, through April 18. Tickets are $23-$28. 436-5085. www.theatrefirst.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“You, Me, and Everyone We Know” Group show of nineteen contemporary artists. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Alphonse Berber Gallery, 2546 Bancroft Way. 649-9492. alphonseberber.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony “Russian Easter Overture” at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, Oakland. 444-0801. www.oebs.org 

Harpsichord and Organ Music of the Italian Renaissance before 1550 at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Avenue, Albany. Free, suggested donation $10. 525-1716. 

Berkeley Dance Project 2009 “Equal Footing” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through April 26, at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC campus. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. tdps.berkeley.edu 

David Glass pianist, composer will perform works from “Beginning the Journey” at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets are $15. 526-9146.  

Angela Dean-Baham in concert at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakland. Donations at the door. 544-8910. 

Orquesta La Moderna Tradicíon at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mz. Dee’s Blues Revival at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $12-$15. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

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

Sambada with Mucho Axé at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Belle Monroe & the Brewglass Boys at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The California Honeydrops at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

One+ at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 597-0795. 

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

“420 Bash” with Planting Seeds, Lavish Green, Space Monkey Gangstas at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

Tres Mojo at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 18 

CHILDREN  

Celebration of Children’s Literature with authors, illustrators, costumed characters, storytelling and activities from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tolman Hall, UC campus. http://gse/berkeley.edu/childlit.html 

Opera Piccola “Magic Journeys” An interactive performance for all ages at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Fallon, Oakland. Suggesd donation $5-$25. 482-0967, ext. 303. 

“Orca, The First Whale” A puppet show based on a tale from Native Americans in the Northwest, at 11 a.m., and 2 and 4 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $7. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

Active Arts Theatre for Young Audiences “Alice in Wonderland” a circus adaptation Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. TIckets are $14-$18. 296-4433. activeartstheatre.org 

Dana Smith and his Dog Lacey, Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $7. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

Guy Gash and his Sharp Five Jazz Band at 2 p.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Spring Has Sprung” Group art show. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Expresions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. 644-4930. www.expressionsgallery.org 

RAC Artist Members’ Showcase Artists’ reception at 2 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. Exhibition closes May 16. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet” Guided tour at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm and Muse with poet Julia Vinograd at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice and Rose. 527-9753. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

University Symphony Orchestra at 11 a.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Tickets are not required. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Handel’s Wicked Queen” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

UC Berkeley’s Cal Taiko “Nagare” Spring 2009 Showcase at 8 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Young People's Performing Arts Center, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$10. www.juliamorgan.org 

“Partisans Armed with Music: Songs of Holocaust Musicians” at 8:30 p.m. at Chochmat Ha Lev, 2251 Prince St. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door. 704-9687. 

Rajeev Taranath Hindustani classical music on the sarod at 8 p.m. at Mills College Concert Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $6-$12. 430-2025. 

La Peña Community Chorus at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mo’Rockin Project at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Zydeco Flames at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Moment’s Notice improvised music, dance, and theater at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $8-$15. 992-6295. 

Mike Sweetland & A Lot of People at 1 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Palm Wine Boys at 8 p.m. at Wisteria Ways, Rockridge, Oakland. Not wheelchair accessible. Cost is $15-$20. Reservations required. info@WisteriaWays.org 

Tangria Jazz Group at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

The Folk Collection at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Melanie O’Reilly at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

“A Night of Free Jazz, Folk, and Experimental Music” with Country Joe McDonald at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 841-4824. www.bfuu.org 

Fred Randolph Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

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

Shiela G & the Jazz Riffs at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 597-0795. 

Reality Playthings improvisation with Frank Moore at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oakland. fmoore@eroplay.com 

Casey Nell and the Norway Rats, Bonfire Madigan at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

SUNDAY, APRIL 19 

THEATER 

Queer On Their Feet – An Evening of Stand Up Comedy and Improv at 1 and 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., off Arlington at Moeser/Terrace. Tickets are $10-$20. brownpapertickets.com  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Up Against the Wall: Berkeley Posters from the 1960s” Opening reception at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Exhibit runs to Sept. 26. 848-0181.  

“Touching the Land” Contemporary Aboriginal art from Australia. Opening reception at 4 p.m. at Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, 2301 Vine St. Exhibition runs through May 22. 707-762-3296. 

“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“Routine Pleasures” with Jean-Paul Gorin in person at 2 p.m. at at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

From Riches to Rags: Hollywood and the New Deal “Wild River” Introduced by Charlotte Brody, program director of Green for All, at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Marcuse & Remmel: A New Approach” with Woody Minor at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2001 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Cost is $5. Sponsored by Alameda Architectural Preservation Society. 986-9232. www.alameda-preservation.org 

Egyptology Lecture “Sunset - the End of the Amarna Period” with Dr. Aidan Dodson, Bristol University at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC campus. 415-664-4767. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Dances and Songs of Remembrance, Resistance, and Hope” A tribute to the memory of those who died in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, with Ruth Botchan and Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz, at 5 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. #13A, at Dwight. Tickets are $12-$25, reservations recommended. 848-4878. www.berkeleymovingarts.com 

Howard Kadis, French, German and English music from the 16th century at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Tickets are $12-$15. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Handel’s Wicked Queen” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

The Pinderhughes, 17- year old pianist, Samora, and 13-year old flautist, Elena, at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Flamenco Open Stage with Adela Clara at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Trumpetsupergroup at 4:30 p.m. and riff-raff at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

108, Pulling Teeth, Lewd Acts, Skin Like Iron at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $8. 525-9926. 

In a Spartan apartment in a rundown section of London, a middle-aged entrepreneur surprises his ex-lover, a 30-ish schoolteacher, with a visit. They haven’t spoken in years. But tonight they’ll speak out a great deal—in declarations and in exchanges; as reunion, stalemate or farewell; to regain some sort of footing with each other, or in denunciation of each other. 

This thumbnail sketch of the basic situation of David Hare’s Skylight, Shotgun’s new production at the Ashby Stage, directed by founder Patrick Dooley, sounds like any number of indifferent melodramas—soap operas, even. 

But Hare is committed socially as a writer. He uses this tale of confrontation after a break-up and long absence following an intense (and extra-marital) affair as a way into a social conversation during a time exhausted of any but the most programmatic and clichéd discourse, fanning up the coals of desire, frustration and loneliness to bring the political squarely back into living, emotional dialogue—that dialogue reopening a discussion shut down through exhaustion, entropy . A nice irony: words of passion, recrimination, incomprehension carrying more public meaning for being the utmost in the personal—uttered, and contended with, in private. 

Tom Sergeant (John Mercer), a self-made restaurateur, shows up unannounced to see Kyra Hollis (Emily Jordan), his driver sitting downstairs in his car. “You arrived like a goddamned storm trooper!” Kyra declares. She had once worked for Tom, lived with his family—and abruptly left when Tom’s wife discovered their involvement. “When you have something worked out in your own mind, and the balance is changed, you no longer believe your own story,” she says. “And that is the moment to leave.” 

Now Tom’s wife is dead. (The title refers to the skylight above her bed in the house of glass Tom took her to in the country, to let in as much light and nature as possible.) “She became quite mystic,” Tom says. “I don’t mean to sound cruel, but it became bloody well difficult for me ... I gave her everything, but I felt frustrated ... When you grieve, there are no shortcuts. You suffer, that’s what you do.” 

The two get into it in every way. Kyra chides Tom: “You don’t value happiness, because you always want more.” And Tom, the blue-collar boy made good, shoots back that she’s a prig, “a seaside solicitor’s daughter” who is “building a bunker,” duplicating the isolation of her father, a cat person who left his money to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. When Kyra describes her “addiction” to listening to people talking on the bus, Tom accuses her of living in a bubble, seeking escape by expending great effort to move into a poor neighborhood when everybody there is trying to get out. This is the way everybody lives, Kyra replies. “You used to know that.” 

With her self-described addiction to listening, Kyra is the perfect interlocutor—and the motor of the considerable action that underlies and oozes from the dialogue in this absorbing play. “Theater” has practically the same etymology as “theory”—and these two characters try out on each other in this little room all the voiced and unvoiced realizations and suppositions they live by. 

Mercer and Jordan are very much each other’s match, reminding chronic Shotgunners of another Anglo stand-off betwixt the two, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession (directed by Susannah Martin, whose staging of Pinter’s Old Times is being presented across town by TheatreFIRST—a nice juxtaposition). That show was one of the best, most pointed things Shotgun has staged in recent years; Skylight is its latter-day complement.  

Besides Mercer’s bluff presence and Jordan’s ability to shift gears emotionally, signaling—or provoking—the changes of mood and action of the play, Carl Horvick-Thomas (who was memorable in UC Berkeley’s production of The Bacchae, directed by Barbara Oliver last year) opens the show as Tom’s intense 18-year-old son Edward in one rather edgy mode, later revealing yet another, brighter, more magnanimous moment in a dreary, snowy ’90s London slum. Like in a Buñuel film, there’s a lot of talk by a restaurateur and an ex-waitress about food—even some preemptory cooking onstage. But it sits on the plate while the air turns blue with just that talk, from hungry souls. It’s only at the end, in a marvelous, quiet coup-de-theatre, that Tom’s invitation to Kyra to drop by one of his restaurants (“It’s almost as good as eating at home”) comes full circle, with something more than wistfulness for the past or hope for the future, but the bounty of the present, something of both upper and lower social worlds to be shared: “Let’s eat!” 

SKYLIGHT 

Presented at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and at 5 p.m. Sundays through April 26 by Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. $25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org. 

“Oh, you know Harold. All the plays are the same: Menace in a room!” 

John Calder, the pioneering independent publisher, repeated what the best-known of his authors said with affectionate wit about the manuscript which another former Calderbooks writer had sent him for criticism. Samuel Beckett was twitting Harold Pinter over his stock-in-trade, metaphysical chamber plays, written a bit like a contemporary—and English—Strindberg, with dialogue syncopated by Beckett’s brand of tangible pauses and silences. 

While it’s true that the shadows that creep into the pauses provide a vague, menacing sense of dread (Who are these people, really? What do they really mean?), what’s left out of the usual equation that types Pinter’s plays is the strange, loopy hilarity that builds up—or explodes—from the exchanges, Strindbergian monologues (when another’s listening) and occasional soliloquies. Pinter constructs them for his characters out of what sometimes sound like disjointed banalities from several overlapping, mutually oblivious conversations. (Calder says Pinter spent his apprenticeship eavesdropping in tearooms, itself a banal situation worthy of one of his characters in one of his rooms in one of his plays.) 

In Old Times, which TheatreFIRST is producing at the Gaia Center, on Allston Way off Shattuck, the situation is the simplest—and most piquant. Deeley and Kate (Peter Callender and Julia McNeal) wait in their converted farmhouse home for the arrival, from Italy, of Anna (Zehra Berkman), Kate’s old friend—her best, her only friend. (“If you have one of anything, you can’t say the best.” “Incomparable!”) 

The Q & A, the gentle domestic inquisition that goes on between husband and wife, one languorous, the other puzzled, is broken by the immediacy of sparkling, ebullient Anna, pouring out images of the past, of their youth together. The three dance verbally, just missing the toes. “Yes, it’s quite silent here, normally. You can hear the sea, sometimes, if you listen, carefully.” 

There are games, a certain amount of joshing and light provocation. And the monologues—soliloquies, even. In the pauses, it’s not the sea, but the unfulfilled desires and hesitancies of the present that flow in, almost audible, between reminiscences. 

They tear off a popular song or two out of that past. Anna warbles “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” All kinds of meaning is inflected in these snatches of melody, drifting away into nonmeaning. “They don’t make them like that anymore,” Deeley agrees with himself. Kate is more and more diffident, though roused to smiles by Anna, sidelong glances of irritation by Deeley’s joking. “My head is quite thick. I have it on.” Her eyes are pools, taking it all in, seeming happy, then anxious. Anna’s eyes are vivacious, ever-expectant. And Deeley is masculine, dynamic ... but what’s his trajectory? “I’d say you eat very well up there on those cliffs ... I know Sicily, just slightly, just slightly.” 

Anna goes over their past. Kate assents, vaguely: “I was interested in the arts, but I can’t remember now which ones they were.”  

The audience laughs at these half-familiar absurdities. And the pauses, the shadows grow longer in the room, like unstated, unanswered questions, opening up oblique, clashing perspectives like a Mannerist painting. 

(In ancient atomic theory—which already sounds oxymoronic—the random swerve of a particle in a hail of atoms, “Clinamen,” is the element of spontaneity which makes everything happen; the incalculable. The swerves, to left or right, in Pinter’s stream of conversational and expository verbiage, merely emphasize the emptiness of the center. The phrases are either pumped up, overwrought, or flat, recited. To pursue the analogy into modern physics, Pinter’s world, reflected in this room, isn’t Einsteinian relativity, but loaded with quanta, with entropy constantly lurking in the wings.) 

Then, in a shift, transference in the midst of ambiguity, Deeley’s sure he knew Anna back when. Meanwhile, Kate’s in the bath. Anna isn’t sure. Not now. The funny, constantly changing chatter dies down to something inferential, almost elegaic at times. The loss of the past? Its rebirth in wishful thinking and seemingly idle talk, altering the present? The seriousness hovering throughout strikes, a deep chord, yet jangled: “It was me. It was my skirt. I remember your look. Very well.” 

Susannah Martin—and the designers (Dale Altvater, Chris Houton, Rebecca Redmond, Leah McKibbon, Jennifer Stukey)—do well by Old Times, balancing movement and stasis, the sally and the pose, finding a stylization that’s not the empty, guilty inactivity too many productions of Pinter bottom out in. She’s done well by TheatreFIRST, as have her actors—Peter Callender, one of the distinctive presences and voices in the Bay Area; Julia McNeal, who shows both poise and vulnerability; and Zehra Berkman, in perhaps her best, and most challenging, appearance to date. They’re up to the challenge of Pinter’s seeming randomness, that proves to be a non-Euclidean geometry of the stage, proving Aristotle’s old saw, “Drama is the most rational kind of poetry.” 

Clive Chafer, co-founder of TheatreFIRST, who produced Old Times, opened the show by introducing Michael Storm, longtime local actor, as the troupe’s new artistic director—and Storm announced that TheatreFIRST is hoping to secure a new home in Oakland for its 16th year, where (at Mills College, then in Old Oakland) it was that city’s only resident theater company.  

OLD TIMES 

8 pm Wednesday-Saturday through April 18 at the Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. $23-28 (half-price for those under the age of 25). 436-5085. www.theatrefirst.com.

Mysterious diptychs, called Messengers, by Eva Bovenzi are currently on view at the Flora Lawson Hewlitt Library of the Graduate Theological Union. 

These paintings consist of two rectangular canvases which are connected to form an irregular perpendicular composition in three quarters. The absence of the fourth makes for the vitality of the distinct structure in these works. The absent canvas helps to engage the viewer to become a participant in the work.  

Prior to this series Bovenzi had an exhibition of flowers, leaves, tree branches and tangles which was entitled “Silence Matters.” It was the space between the objects—what Zen calls “MA”—which was the motif. We think of the meaningful pauses in Mozart’s compositions, to say nothing of John Cage’s “silences.” In his essay “Art as Form and Reality,” the political theorist Herbert Marcuse pointed out that “the way in which a story is told, the structure and selectiveness of verse and prose, that which is not said or not represented, and yet is present...these are some of the aspects of Form which remove, dissociate, alienate the oeuvre from reality and makes its own reality.” In other words, create the story or painting as a work of art, separate from the actual world. The great sculptor Auguste Rodin made the famous statue, St. John the Baptist, but he later created a similar figure, called Walking Man (1905), which is the figure without head and arms, and is all the more powerful for its fragmentary structure, conveying the sheer force of movement and the high drama of the act of walking.  

These Messenger paintings also evoke the image of the Annunciation. On a trip to Italy, Bovenzi was deeply affected by the trecentro and quattrocentro paintings. She might well have seen Simone Martini’s Annunciation of the 1330s, which Bovenzi would have seen in the Uffizi in Florence. Here Gabriel’s wings, resembling the colors of pheasant wings, become manifest to the Virgin who seems to recoil when receiving the Word. There is also Fra Angelico’s Annunciation in the convent of San Marco in Florence, with the multi-colored wings of the messenger saluting Mary, who is in a receptive attitude in this fresco. Unlike many artists who, now, do work which is disconnected from tradition, Bovenzi has been able to create authentic painting precisely because she is aware of her patrimony (if this word is permissible for an artist who has been active in the feminist movement since the 1970s).  

Bovenzi also speaks with admiration of modernists, of Max Beckmann, Marsden Hartley and Philip, and Guston and, significantly points to the paintings by Giorgio Morandi in which the quiet intervals between the bottles and jars give such serenity and mystery to his natura mortis. And especially Eva Hesse, whose fiberglass pieces, both strong and vulnerable, hang from the wall with indeterminate spaces between the units. 

The wings of the Messengers shimmer in rainbow colors. In 1997 Bovenzi went to a butterfly farm in Ecuador and was delighted to see the tremendous variety of colors not only in the grown lepidoptera, but also in the metallic gold of the cocoons. In many of these paintings a glowing blue is dominant, but there are various grays and metallic silver. And with all the circles, straight directional lines and elipses, the Messengers also evoke old navigational and celestial maps, that charted the known as well as the unknown and yet-to-be discovered places, just as the making of the art itself is a matter of exploration. 

MESSENGERS 

Dyptychs by Eva Bovenzi, on display in the Graduate Theological Union’s Flora Lawson Hewlitt Gallery through June 15. 2400 Ridge Road. 649-2400. www.gtu.edu.