THURSDAY, MAY 21 

Traffic Improvements on Upper Ashby Transportation Commission meeting to discuss the allocation of the $2 million for the Claremont Elmwood neighborhood from the settlement with CalTrans at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 981-7061.  

The LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the LeConte School, Russell St. entrance to discuss Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan, Protection for our Traffic Circles, a Police update & Board Elections. karlreeh@aol.com  

“The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters With North America’s Most Iconic Birds” with Paul Bannick at 7:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, between Solano and Marin. Sponsored by Golden Gate Audubon Society. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

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

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore the world of insects from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

The Institute of Urban Homesteading Bee Clinic from 7 tp 9 p.m. for people already keeping bees to talk about their bees and get answers to current questions and concerns in organic and top bar beekeeping. Cost is $10. RSVP to iuh@sparkybeegirl.com 

“Children of the Amazon” a documentary which follows Brazilian filmmaker Denise Zmekhol as she travels a modern highway deep into the Amazon in search of the indigenous Surui and Negarote children she photographed fifteen years ago at 7 p.m. at Zaentz Media Center, 2600 Tenth St. Free, but reservations required. reservations@berkeleyfilmscreening.com 

Auditions for Young People’s Symphony Orchestra for ages 13-21 from 4 to 9 p.m. Rehearsals Mon. at 6 p.m. at Crowden School in Berkeley. For audition application and appointment see www.ypsomusic.net 

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

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. http://caltendai.org 

FRIDAY, MAY 22 

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

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Abe Smith, Internet security consultant on “What Everyone Should Know About Computer Security and How It Affects Your Life” 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 527-2173.  

Conscientious Projector Film Series “Taxi to the Dark Side” Documentary on Afghanistan by Alex Gibney at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation appreciated. 841-4824. 

A Benefit for Rock Paper Scissors Collective Dinner and film screening of ”Maquilapolis” and artist talk with Julie Plasencia and director Sergio de la Torre from 6 to 9 p.m. at 2278 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $60-$100 sliding scale and partially tax-deductible. After 8:30 p.m. tickets are $10-$20 for film only. www.rpscollective.com 

Demonstrate for Peace Bring your signs and determination from 2 to 4 p.m. at Acton and University aves. Sponsored by Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers, and Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants Association. 

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. 

Mayan Culture Lecture “As Seen Through the Third Eye” with Master Tian Ying at 7 p.m. at 830 Bancroft Way, Lotus Room 114. Donations accepted. 883-1920. tgif@tiangong.org 

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.  

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

SATURDAY, MAY 23 

Youth Arts Fair with displays of youth artwork, entertainment provided by local singers, dancers, musicians and poets, and information booths about youth-oriented organizations, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Sponsored by the Berkeley Youth Commission. 

Mountainfilm Berkeley, a two-day festival of documentary films about art and culture, adventure and the environment, Sat. from 4 to 9 p.m. and Sun. from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way. Cost is $10. Details at www.browercenter.org. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com 

El Cerrito Citywide Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Shoppers can pick up the list of participating garage sales after noon on May 21 at the El Cerrito Recycling Center, the El Cerrito Community Center, or download the list from www.el-cerrito.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Slugs and More Slugs: How Do They Do It?” with Dr. John Pearse at 12:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts. Cost is $5-$8. www.museumca.org/tickets 

Brooks Island Voyage Paddle the rising tide across Richmond Harbor to Brooks Island to explore the island’s natural and cultural history. For experienced boaters who can provide their own kayak and safety gear. For ages 14+ with parents. Cost is $20-$22. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Burgers and Backyard Bites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $55, plus $5 food and material fee. Advance registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Wizard Weekend at Playland Watch magicians in action and learn some tricks. Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Cost is $10-$15. 232-4264 ext. 25. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Beginning Internet Class “Online Travel Sites” at 10 a.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Free, but call to sign up 526-7512. 

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

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.  

SUNDAY, MAY 24 

“Effects of Community Violence on Our Youth” A violence prevention workshop for the community. The workshop will address the root causes of violence, the dramatic effect of violence on children, violence prevention, and the available local mental health and family support resources in our community, from noon to 4 p.m. at St. Columba Catholic Church, Parish Hall, 6401 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. For more information email blovette@mail.cho.org  

Little Farm Goat Hike Join a short hike with the goats as we explore the historic connections between humans and our ungulate friends at 11 a.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. For ages 6 and up. Children, please bring your adults along. 544-3265. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Backcountry Gourmet Learn the fundamentals of making your own backpacking food and trail snacks, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $10-$12. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Making Herbal Medicine A five-session class from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $160-$175. 548-2220, ext. 239. 

Grande Vista’s Historical Gardens A four-mile hike to explore the remains of this old sanitarium on thehill, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, Alvarado Staging Area. 544-3265. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Tour of the Berkeley City Club, designed by Julia Morgan, from 1 to 4 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. Sponsored by the Landmark Heritage Foundation. 848-7800. 

“Women Healing Women in India” with Rev. Lowell Brook at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalist Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donations accepted, no one turned away for lack of funds. 841-4824. www.bfuu.org 

Personal Theology Seminars with David Richardson on “Advanced Mandalas and Maps of the Spiritual World” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 Robin Caton on “Meditation and Creativity” 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, MAY 25 

Memorial Day Farm Fun Open House from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. grind some corn, churn some ice cream, race in a potato sack, groom the goats, and explore the farm. White shoes and pants not advised! 544-3265. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Memorial Day Ceremony onboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet from 1-2 p.m. Tours of the ship will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 707 W Hornet Ave, Pier 3, in Alameda. Cost is $6-$14. 521-8448. www.uss-hornet.org 

Junktique II Yard Sale from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Richmond, 201 Martina St., corner W. Richmond Ave., Point Richmond. Pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. Benefits the Masquers Playhouse. 236-0527. 

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

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 

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. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MAY 26 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Briones Regional Park, Bear Creek Staging Area. Bring water, field guides, binoculars or scopes. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 544-3265.  

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore the world of insects from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Annual Strawberry Tasting at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market. from 2 to 7 p.m. at Derby St. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 548-3333; www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Path Wanderers: Evening Cardio-Workout Walk up Easter Way to Cragmont Rock Park, Pinnacle and Poppy Paths to Muir Path and back down as the sun is setting. Meet at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Rose Garden, near sign, 1200 Euclid Ave. near Eunice. 848-2944 www.berkeleypaths.org 

“From Earth to the Universe” An astronomical exhibit of space telescope images in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, at the Oakland Aviation Museum, 8252 Earhart Rd., Bldg. 621, Historic North Field, Oakland Airport. Exhibit runs to June 4. 638-7100. www.aoklandaviationmuseum.org 

“Diversity, Daring and Decision: A Multicultural Perspective on the Historic Election of President Barack Obama” with Stephen Gong, Exec. Dir. of the Center for Asian American Media, at the El Cerrito Democratic Club at 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall, El Cerrito United Methodist Church, 6830 Stockton Ave. at Richmond Ave., El Cerrito. Pizza st 6 p.m. for $4 per person. 527-5953. 

Bhopal Tour Event Remembering the Victims of Dow Chemical Co-sponsored with Bhopal International Campaign at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. 841-4824. 

Hillside Club Book Lust Salon meets to discuss works by Robert Heinlein at 7:30 p.m. at 2286 Cedar St. Non-member donation $5. 845-4870. www.hillsideclub.org/booklust 

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

Climbing Mount Whitney: The Mountaineer’s Route at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

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 

Berkeley PC User Group at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. corner of Eunice. meldancing@comcast.net 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

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. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Bird Walk at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue. Some winter migrants and the cormorant and egret rookery should still be with us. The Park may offer warblers, woodpeckers, and a few surprises. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Bhopal Survivors Tour Celebrate the survival and activism of the people of Bhopal, and help raise awareness of the disaster and advocate for Union Carbide’s parent company Dow Chemical to finally take responsibility for the lasting impact of the leak, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Women of Color Resource Center, 1611 Telegraph Ave., suite 303; Oakland. Bring your brown bag lunch. 444-2700. www.coloredgirls.org 

“Ask Not” Documentary by Johnny Symons on the effets of the US military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts. Cost is $5-$8. www.museumca.org/tickets 

“Update on the Environment--Events and Policies, Local and National” with Misha Rashkin, Community Organizer, San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sierra Club, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. Sponsored by Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 486-8010. 

The League of Women Voters of West Contra Costa County, with Assemblymember Nancy Skinner on the impact on budget considerations of the outcome of the May 19 Special Election at noon at Treviño’s Mexican Restaurant, 11795 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito. RSVP if you would like lunch. 525 4962. 

“The Century of the Self—Episode Four: 8 People Sipping Wine in Kettering” by Adam Curtis at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., uptown Oakland, between Telegraph and Broadway. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.org 

“Paws to Read” Help your child practice reading with a friendly dog at 2:45 and at 3:20 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. Dogs and handlers are from Therapy Pets volunteering for Paws to Read. Children in grades 1-5 may sign up for 25 minute sessions with tested therapy pets. To reserve a session call 526-3720, ext. 5.  

Free Screening of “Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains“ as part of the Radical Film Nite with free popcorn and post-film discussion, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul Infoshop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

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. 

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. 

THURSDAY, MAY 28 

Blue Star Memorial Marker Dedication As a tribute to all veterans, the El Cerrito Garden Club and the City of El Cerrito will proudly dedicate a National Garden Clubs, Inc. Blue Star Memorial Marker at Arlington Park at 10 a.m. at Arlington Clubhouse, 1120 Arlington Blvd., El Cerrito. 

“An International Perspective on America's Health Care Options” with Dr. Claudia Chaufan, vice-president of California Physicians Alliance which advocates for a social insurance, single payer system in the United States, at 6:45 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Pot luck at 6 p.m. Sponsored by Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club.  

Take-Up-the-Streets Think Tank on ways to change our relationship to space usage in the city at 7 p.m. Sponsored by The Institute for Urban Homesteading. Please email for location iuh@sparkybeegirl.com 

1st Pan-Am University Taekwondo Championship through the 30th at Haas Pavillion, UC campus. For details call 642-3268.www.ucmap/pan-am/ 

The Art of Comfort & Joy: A Tribute to End-of-Life Care Providers and an opportunity for the public to learn about care options and speak individually with end-of-life providers, at 7 p.m. at Piedmont Community Hall, 711 Highland Ave., Piedmont. RSVP to 866-825-8967. admin@compassionandchoicesnca.org  

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

Association for Women in Science East Bay Chapter “Focus on Careers: From Science to Sales” at 6:30 p.m. at Novartis, Building 4, Room 104, 5300 Chiron Way, Emeryville, Cost is $5-$10. Register at http://ebawis.eventbrite.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. 

Tikkun Leyl Shavuot with rabbis and scholars from throughout the East Bay at 6:30 p.m. at Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. tikkun@jfed.org  

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. http://caltendai.org 

FRIDAY, MAY 29 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Kim Polese on “Recent Developments in Computer Technology” 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 527-2173. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Jewish Humanistic Forum: Dr. Booker Holton speaks on water and marine resource management in Israel and the Middle East at 7 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. at Masonic, Albany. www.kolhadash.org 

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 

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, MAY 30 

Thorsen House Spring Centennial Celebration with Friends of Piedmont Way, from 2 to 5 p.m. at 2307 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $15-$34. www.thorsenspring100.eventbrite.com 

Berkeley Historical Society Spring Walking Tour “Berkeley Woods” led by Paul Grunland, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point call 848-0181. 

Help Restore Eastshore State Park Help Friends of Five Creeks transform former garbage dump into wildlife-friendly parkland near the mouth of Schoolhouse Creek from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Follow signs from the small parking turnout on West Frontage Road between University and Gilman. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. North Shattuck Ave., Gourmet Ghetto. 548-5335. 

Rally For Social Security Fairness for Teachers at 11 a.m. at Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley High School, Allston Way. www.socialsecurityfairness.com 

California NOW’s State Conference with Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner “Running for Public Office” and workshops on Safe Cosmetics; Homophobia in Sports; and Media, Body Image & Self-Esteem, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Doubletree Berkeley Marina, 200 Marina Blvd. Cost is $45-$60. Register online canoworg/2009-ca-now-annual-membership-meetingstate-conference.html 

“How to Think About Achieving Nuclear Disarmament in the 21st Century” with Randy Rydell, Senior Political Affairs Officer, Office of the High Representative, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs at 7 p.m. at Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St., Alameda. Co-sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum and the United Nations Association East Bay. Suggested donation $5. www.alamedaforum.org 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Awakening the Healing in Your Hands Open house at the Acupressure Institute with bodywork demonstrations, calligraphy and face painting, music and food from noon to 8 p.m. at 1533 Shattuck Ave. 845-1059. www.AcupressureInstitute.com  

“The Spirit of Persussion” A workshop with Arito Moreira at 3 p.m. at Ed Kelly Hall, Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St. Cost is $17-$35, no one turned away. RSVP to 836-4649, ext. 112. 

Beginning Internet Class “Newspaper and Magazine Articles” at 10 a.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Free, but call to sign up 526-7512. 

Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center “Chances for Change” Fundraising event with music, wine, hors d’oeuvres and a live and silent auction at 6 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $25-$45. 548-2884. 

“She Shines” a day event with Alameda County Junior Commission on the Status of Womenfrom 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at Bishop O’Dowd High School, Oakland. Free, includes lunch. To register or sponsor call 259-3871. 

Playland’s One Year Anniversary Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Cost is $10-$15. 232-4264 ext. 25. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Buddha’s Birth Celebration with Sylvia Gretchen on “Prayer to Shakyamuni Buddha” at 7 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Psyche and Cinema “La Belle et la Bete” Workshop on using symbols from 1 to 6 p.m. at The Dream Institute, 1672 University at McGee. Cost is $45-$75. 845-1767. dream-institute.org 

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, MAY 31 

Little Farm Goat Hike Join a short hike with the goats as we explore the historic connections between humans and our ungulate friends at 11 a.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. For ages 6 and up. Children, please bring your adults along. 544-3265. tnarea@ebparks.org 

Bricks, Wheat and Gold! Join a five-mile hike to explore the ghostly pilings of the once-big town of Port Costa, from 2 to 5 p.m. For information call 544-3265. 

“La Place du Marché” Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley’s annual spring fair with bistro-style food, children’s games, a wide variety of craft vendors, and a raffle for a trip to Paris, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1009 Heinz Ave., at Ninth St. 549-3895. 

Berkeley Opera’s Annual Gala and auction with sopranos Heidi Melton and Nicolle Foland and bass Kenneth Kellogg at 4 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes at 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $65. 841-1903. 

“Responsibility to Prevent” with Bob Alpern, former field secretary for the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D.C. on approaches to the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict at 1 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting House, 2151 Vine St.  

A Report Back from the UN Conference on Racism, Durban, and the IADL Tribunal on Agent Orange with Judge Claudia Morcom of Detroit at 5 p.m. at 1419 Grant St. For information call Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. 848-0599. 

“Animal Reiki” with Kathleen Prasad at 4 p.m. at Rabbit Ears, 377 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Santosh Philip on “Tibetan Yoga for the West” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., May 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Thurs., May 21, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-7368. 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., May 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., May 21, at 7 p.m., at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 981-7061.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Tues., May 26, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

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

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., May 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., May 27, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., May 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7439.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., May 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7416. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., May 27, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., May 28, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5217. 

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THURSDAY, MAY 21 

THEATER 

“Oedipus Tyrannos” by Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule at 8 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., uptown Oakland, between Telegraph and Broadway. www.HumanistHall.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Freshly Cut” Works by Sandy Drobny and Daphne Ruff. Reception at 5 p.m. at Craft and Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Bldg., 1515 Clay St., Oakland. 622-8190. www.oaklandculturalarts.org 

“Urban Beast or Urbane Beauty: Planning the City Beautiful” An exhibit exploring the City Beautiful Movement as manifested in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through Sept. 15 at Environmental Design Library, Volkmann Reading Room, 210 Wurster Hall, UC campus. 642-4818. 

FILM 

Berkeley Filmmakers Screening Series “Children of the Amazon” which follows Brazilian filmmaker Denise Zmekhol as she travels a modern highway deep into the Amazon in search of the indigenous Surui and Negarote children she photographed fifteen years ago at 7 p.m. at Zaentz Media Center, 2600 Tenth St. Free, but reservations required. reservations@berkeleyfilmscreening.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Timothy Green and Joel Barraquiel Tan at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“The Life and Art of Chiura Obata” with Kimi Kodani Hill, the granddaughter of Chiura Obata at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton St., El Cerrito. friendselcerritolibrary. 

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“Memories and Dreams of the Twentieth Century” stories and songs performed by Michael D. Brown at noon at the Badè Museum, in the Hollbrook Building at the Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic. 848-0528. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Key Lime Pie and Gankmore at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

David Berkeley, Jeremy Dion at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Andy Mason, The Fancy Dan Band, Nomi and Hello, Harbinger at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Netta Brielle at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

FRIDAY, MAY 22 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Luv” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through May 23. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Altarena Playhouse “A Streetcar Named Desire” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through June 7. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” at Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. through May 24. Tickets are $33-$71. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Rep “You, Nero” at 2025 Addison St., through June 28. Tickets are $13.50-$71. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “Misanthrope” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through June 21. Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Impact Theatre “Impact Briefs: Puberty” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through June 6. Tickets are $10-$17. impacttheatre.com 

Shotgun Players “Faust, Part 1” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through June 28. Tickets are $18-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“id:ENTITY” Photographs by Linda Kramer, Lisa Levine, Peter Tonningsen, Jan Watten. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Autobody Fine Art, 1517 Park St., Alameda. Exhibition runs to June 28. 865-2608. 

“Triangles” Art by lesbian and bisexual artists. Reception at 7 p.m. at JanRae Community Art Gallery, Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

“What We Can Live With” The 39th Annual UCB Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition on display at Berkeley Art Museum through June 21. 642-0808.  

“What We Take for Granted” Photographs by John Wayrynen. Reception at 6 p.m. at MC Artworks, 10344 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 375-9235.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Catherine Mayo reads from “The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

“After the Odessey” Linda Connor discusses her photographs at 7:30 p.m. at JFK University Berkeley Campus, 2956 San Pablo Ave., 2nd flr. 647-2047. art@jfku.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ranferi Aguilar & Hacedores de Lluvia, music inspired by the Mayan culture at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

Wilcox/Brown/Bowman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Skin & Bone, Bread & Roses benefit at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Montana Slim String Band, Chris Haugen’s Seahorse Rodeo and Tom Freund at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054.  

The Flux, The Big Nasty at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

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

Macabea, Brazilian ensemble, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, MAY 23 

CHILDREN  

Jacqueline Lynaugh as The Blue Fairy Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $7. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

1st Annual Youth Arts Fair with displays of youth artwork, entertainment provided by local singers, dancers, musicians and poets, and information booths about youth-oriented organizations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Sponsored by the Berkeley Youth Commission. 

“The African Presence in Mexico” Curator-led tour at 2 p.m., followed by scholar discussion at 3 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts. Cost is $5-$8. www.museumca.org/tickets 

THEATER 

Adelina Anthony “LA Sad Girl” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Round Belly Theatre Company “24 Hour Theatre” Plays are written, rehearsed and preformed within a 24 hour period. Writers will start writing plays at 8 p.m. Fri. Plays will be presented at 8 p.m. Sat. at the Subteranean Arthouse, 2170 Bancroft Way. Suggested donation $10. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wanda McCaddon interviewed by Jane Schiffman at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 3rd flr Community Room, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck. 981-6241. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kairos Youth Choir “The Pirates of Penzance” with local singers, ages 7 through 14 at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $12-$17. kairostickets@gmail.com 

Rhythm & Muse music and spoken word open mic featuring Susan Newman, poetry vocal improv, with Eliza Shefler, piano improv, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. 

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

West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054.  

Grant Milliken Sextet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

LT3: The Luke Thomas Trio at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

The Zydepunks, Culann’s Hounds at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Harley White Jr. Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Classics of Love, The New Trust, Dirty Filthy Mugs at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MAY 24 

CHILDREN 

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

THEATER 

Sia Amma “In Search of Clitoris” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Chamber Music Sundaes, featuring members of The San Francisco Symphony and friends at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets at the door are $20 to $25. 415-753-2792. www.chambermusicsundaes.org  

Adam Theis Group, honoring Miles Davis’ Birthday, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged: Pete Madson at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

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

Art Lande at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Soul Jazz Sundays with the Howard Wiley Organ Trio at 5 p.m. at The Aqua Lounge, 311 Broadway, Oakland. Donation $5. 625-9601. 

MONDAY, MAY 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Subterranean Shakespeare Theater Company “Measure for Measure” Staged reading at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Cost is $8. 276-3871. 

TUESDAY, MAY 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

CCA Design for Disability: Alternative Ways of Making” Exhibition opens at NIAD, 551 23rd St. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Cedric Watson and Creole Bijou at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 

FILM 

Independent Filmmakers Screening Night Bring your 5 - 10 minute shorts & selects to screen every Wed. at 6:30 p.m. at Café of the Dead, 3208 Grand Ave., next to the Grand Lake Theater. Oakland. 931-7945. cafedeadscreening@gmail.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

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 

Soldier Stories A benefit concert for veterans health care with Nell Robinson, Mayne Smith, Harry Yaglijian, Dave Gooing and others at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Hoedown Throwdown Square Dance with Evie Laden and the Brainstormers at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra America at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Patrick Greene Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Euphonia at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. www.lebateauivre.net 

Celu and Friends at 7 p.m. at Chester's Bayview Cafe, 1508 B Walnut Square. 849-9995. 

THURSDAY, MAY 28 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Steven Nightingale at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Michelle Richmond and Meg Waite Clayton read at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Jeff Schonberg, photographer and author, on “Righteous Dopefiend” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

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

JL Stiles, The Stone Foxes at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Speak the Music with Soulati and Infinite, Syzygy, Eachbox, Monkstilo, Karam and many others, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

FRIDAY, MAY 29 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “A Streetcar Named Desire” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through June 7. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “You, Nero” at 2025 Addison St., through June 28. Tickets are $13.50-$71. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “Misanthrope” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through June 21. Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Impact Theatre “Impact Briefs: Puberty” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through June 6. Tickets are $10-$17. impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Lady Windermere’s Fan” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, and runs through July 4. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Faust, Part 1” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through June 28. Tickets are $18-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Winds Across the Bay “Impressionsism” by youth wind ensemble at 8 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 800-838-3006. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Artists’ Vocal Ensemble “California Fusion” with guest artist Daniel Zinn, soprano saxophone, at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$20. 848-5107. www.ave-music.org 

Tito La Rosa, Peruvian sound healer and musician at 8 p.m. at Unity Church of Berkeley, Ecumenical Center, 2401 Le Conte Ave. Tickets are $20-$25. 415-272-8517. www.ayniprojects.com/tickets 

The Invaders Trio, and Matt Small’s Chamber Ensemble, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-3227. www.hillsideclub.org 

Eclipse Dance Theater “Magdalene: Priestess or Prostitute?” Fri.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. 326-8471. www.eclipsedancetheater.org 

Jon Fromer & Francisco Herrera at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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

Hayward State College Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

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

Birdmonster, Winters Fall, The Mumlers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Christie Winn and The Lowdowns at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, MAY 30 

CHILDREN  

Owen Baker Flynn’s “Act in a Box” 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 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Illuminated Corridor” public art, live music and film from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, 7th St. and Middle Harbor Rd., West Oakland. www.illuminatedcorridor.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble “Music from Around the World” with Triskela, Celtic harp trio, and Teed Rockwell at 2 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalene Church, 2005 Berryman St. Suggested $10-$15. 548-3326. multiculturalmusicfellowship.org  

San Francisco Girls Chorus “I Hear Sweet Music” at 2:30 p.m. at The Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$17. 800-838-3006. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble “Mountains of Memory, Rivers of Time” at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $17-$20. 531-8714. www.vocisings.com 

Musae “The Road Home” Women’s vocal ensemble with Bossa Five-O at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. TIckets are $15-$25. www.musae.org  

Ross Dance Company “To Evolve & Stay Young” contemporary jazz ensemble at 7:30 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20. www.rossdance.com 

Eclipse Dance Theater “Magdalene: Priestess or Prostitute?” Sat. and Sun at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. 326-8471. www.eclipsedancetheater.org 

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

The New Monomono, Kotoja, CK Ladzekpo’s African Music and Dance Ensemble at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Wake the Dead at 3 p.m. at Wisteria Ways, Rockridge, Oakland. Outdoors, bring hat and something to sit on. Suggested donation $15-$20. Reservations recommended. info@WisteriaWays.org 

Ira Marlowe and Robert Temple at Sadie Dey’s Cafe, 4210 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 601-7378. 

Rebecca Riots, Amanda West at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

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

GG Tenaka and the Attractors at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Riley Bandy Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SUNDAY, MAY 31 

CHILDREN 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Political Art & Activism A discussion with Lincoln Cushing, Ivan Rubio, Favianna Rodriguez and Susie Lundy at 4:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Reception 3:30. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tom Standage reads from “An Edible History of Humanity” at 3 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

A Jazz Blast jazz concert performed by Charles Hamilton & Friends, as well as Paul “Hutch” Jones & Tenacity, at 1 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5, two youth, ages 5-17, admitted free with each paying adult. 981-6690. 

Oakland Civic Orchestra “Soundscapes” at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Free. 238-7275. 

Berkeley Akademie Ensemble with Kent Nagano, artistic director, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $20-$60. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

“Organ, Oratorio, Opera and Rag” The music of John Partridge, in a benefit for St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, at 4 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $15-$20. 525-0302. www.uucb.org 

Ross Dance Company “To Evolve & Stay Young” contemporary jazz ensemble at 2 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20. www.rossdance.com 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria “Bach à la carte” at 3:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal, 1700 Santa Clara, Alameda. Tickets are $20-$25. www.sdgloria.org 

Kelly Takuna Orphan, farewell concert at 6 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th. Cost is $25, no on e turned away. 444-8511, ext. 17. brownpapertickets.com 

Heather Klein’s Inextinguishable Trio at 8 p.m., Klezmer dance lesson at 7 p.m. at JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$20, children $5. 848-0237. www.klezcalifornia.org 

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

Americana Unplugged: Devine’s Jug Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Albany High School Jazz Band, Rhythm Bound at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Benefits AHS music program. Cost is $10-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Middle School Jazz Band Invitational at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $5. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Graham Parker at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Berkeley actor Julian Lopez-Morillas has played in or directed every one of the 38 plays that make up the Shakespeare canon. 

Speaking of this accomplishment, Lopez-Morillas is wry: “It’s interesting that some people make a fuss over it. It is a curiosity. [Actor and Oregon Shakespeare Festival dramaturg] Barry Kraft’s the only other one in my acquaintance who has done it. We had a competition over it for awhile; he got there first. I don’t expect people to jump up and down. There’s nothing stellar about it.”  

Lopez-Morillas passed the mark last June with his performance as Cardinal Woolsey in Henry VIII at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. “I started there in the summer of 1966—my first really professional theater. I went out to Colorado every summer thereafter for eight or nine years. Last year, the Denver theater critics voted me an award.” 

By 1984, Lopez-Morillas had “done all but three or four [of the canon.]. I thought, Why not go whole hog? By ‘88, I’d done Timon; there was only Henry VIII. It took 20 years to find a production.”  

Lest he seem to dismiss too easily any virtue in the doing of it, Lopez-Morillas said, “I do believe being in a production of a play gets you to know it, rather than just reading it. In the practical experience of staging his plays, you get an idea how Shakespeare works, how his plays function in performance, ultimately because that was what he was up to.” 

Lopez-Morillas was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His father was “a Spaniard, who came just before the Civil War in Spain, and founded the Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University.” Lopez-Morillas went to Swarthmore “as an undergrad, thinking I was going to be an archaeologist.” He started acting halfway through his sophmore year, switched to an English major from classics, and decided theater would be his career. From Swarthmore, where there was no theater major, he went to Yale, eventually receiving his MFA in directing at Carnegie Mellon in 1972.  

Lopez-Morillas then moved to the Bay Area. “I spent a whole spring in Sproul Plaza, with some of the best Frisbee players in the world. I lived in Berkeley briefly a couple of times, but mostly in San Francisco at first, then eight years in Oakland. All those years, I was commuting to Berkeley Shakespeare. Of course, gas was cheaper.” 

“I was always comfortable in Berkeley,” recalled Lopez-Morillas. “Moving here felt like coming home; for me politically, a natural home. I’m proud to say I come from Berkeley.”  

Lopez-Morillas spoke about his long association with the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival: “Without being associated with a Shakespeare festival long-term, I never would’ve picked up all those performances. A couple of the artistic directors knew I was interested in performing the whole canon. Dakin Mathews staged Two Noble Kinsmen. And Michael Addison also knew. I was associate artistic director for awhile. And I directed Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, King John, knocked off some of the more obscure ones.” 

Lopez-Morillas wasn’t with Berkeley Shakespeare from the beginning. “It started in Emeryville, then found its way to John Hinkel Park, a WPA project amphitheater from the 1930s—a wonderful space waiting for somebody to exploit it. Rob Sicular, Joy Carlin and Peter Fisher (now on the CalShakes advisory council), were involved. We did three or four shows a year. The space was unsecured at first; things were sketchy. The lights had to be put up and taken down with every performance!” 

“It really thrived in the ’80s,” Lopez-Morillas recalled of the festival. “Then came increasing tension with the neighbors. A faction of the City Council made it hard to renew the lease each summer. By the late ’80s, we were looking to move. We first looked at an area up near the golf course at Tilden. It was chilly and foggy uo there. But Orinda’s more exposed. The wind just howls out there. And there were both cows and coyotes on the hillside. I did King Lear out there, and if I came out as Lear and cried “Howl, howl, howl!”—I didn’t know whether I’d be met by yips or moos. I guess the yips were better; they sounded wild.” 

Berkeley Shakespeare Festival became California Shakespeare Theatre. Lopez-Morillas will play The Prince in Romeo and Juliet, directed by CalShakes artistic director Jonathan Moscone, opening at Bruns Amphitheatre May 30. It will be the Berkeley Shakespeare veteran’s first role there since 2000, which was also Moscone’s inaugural season.  

“In the meantime, I’ve directed at San Jose State, Solano College—although not that much directing over the past decade; I’d like to get back to it—and acting at Marin Shakespeare and San Francisco Shakespeare, where I played Gloucester in Lear and Prospero in The Tempest. If there’s a role in Shakespeare I really feel proprietary towards, it’s Prospero. I feel I bring something personal, something special to it.” 

Reflecting on working at CalShakes after such a hiatus, Lopez-Morillas said, “Jonathan’s established not exactly a company so much as a stable of some of the best classically trained actors in the Bay Area. I love being back in that group again—veteran actors with great chops I’ve worked frequently with over the past 20 years—and all in one place. It guarantees high-quality work. We’re all very comfortable together.” 

Julian Lopez-Morillas blogs about his theater experiences on PlayShakespeare.com, a website created by actor and creative designer Ron Severdia. One piece of correspondence he passed along: “from Robert Hurwitt, theater critic for the Chronicle. ‘Wouldn’t it be funny,’ Rob wrote, ‘if newspapers, which have predicted the death of theater for so long, went first?’” 

During June, 1980, I was attending shows put on by Jean-Louis Barrault (best-known as Baptiste the pantomime in the movie Children of Paradise) at Zellerbach Auditorium. One night, performing “Language of the Body,” his “essay” on mime, Barrault showed us his piece-de-resistance from an adaptation of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying: a man taming, mounting and riding off on a bucking horse. Barrault played both man and horse (“this Centaur-horse”) I read later that night in the drama section at Moe’s, in Artaud’s Theater and Its Double almost 50 years before. Artaud, who had assisted his friend Barrault, wrote of the imagery and physical dynamism that made the piece a modern classic—and how its virtues limited it from touching deeper concerns—“But who has tasted the wellsprings?” 

At the end of the show, my old friend Barbara Framm looked back over the hall and said, “There’s Helen!” Helen Morgenrath, who Barbara knew through study of South Indian classical dance, had been one of the first American students of Kathakali dance theater in the late 1940s. 

Helen introduced us to several young women and “our teacher,” Yuriko Doi, who about a year before had founded Theatre of Yugen, to practice and perform the rigorous physical stylizations of Noh and Kyogen (classic comedy, often played between Noh tragedies). 

Yugen is now celebrating its 30th anniversary, along with other troupes promoting classic Asian forms: Gamelan Sekar Jaya, K. P. and Katherine Kunhiraman’s Kalanjali Dances of India, Barbara Framm’s teachers (both companies based in Berkeley) and Larry Reed’s ShadowLight Productions. These three came out of the Center for World Music, at San Francisco State in 1979, when Yuriko Doi was teaching Noh and Kyogen on campus. (The center would, at one point, move to Julia Morgan Theater in Berkeley.) 

After seeing a lecture-demo, which included the Kyogen comedy Melon Thief, I was intrigued; a few weeks later, Yuriko’s teachers, the Nomura family, performed here in memory of their father Manzo, a vituoso who was the first to perform classic Kyogen outside Japan. I was overwhelmed. Shiro Nomura, Yuriko’s Noh teacher (unusual for the scion of an old Kyogen family to become a distinguished Noh actor), performed Uto-Noh, “Birdcatcher in Hell,” with a spareness of expressive means becoming the coefficient for communicating startling, intuitive truths. A poetic theater indeed, articulating movement and stillness, sound and silence into both image and what hasn’t achieved form—or has lost it. A theater that had tasted the wellsprings. 

I was along for the ride, stage and house-managing at Live Oak Theater during runs of Kyogen comedies in English: servants tricking masters, husbands outfoxed by wives ... stories like those in The Canterbury Tales or The Decameron. Later at Live Oak, Yugen would put on a Noh-style Purgatory by W. B. Yeats, himself influenced by Ezra Pound’s Noh translations, with me in the chorus, next to Bob Graham, our production manager, old OSS man and broadcaster, who had learned stage photography from Moholy-Nagy at the Chicago Bauhaus. “My American father,” Yuriko called him. 

I helped adapt Antigone, with inspiration from Cocteau; shanghaied a few Berkeley people into service, including Stephanie Caulkins, then managing the bookstore at UC Art Museum, into the chorus for Antigone, and Peter Whigham—poet, translator and protege of Exra Pound—who translated Sotoba Komachi for a co-production with the Noh Oratorio Society, an outfit which KPFA listeners will remember. (Whigham’s translation was published in their magazine, Noh Quarter.) 

Yuriko adapted Waiting for Godot with Kyogen stylization, and through my old friend Marc Dachy in Paris, we heard that Samuel Beckett was curious—and enthused—about the idea. Yuriko’s teachers came to train the company and perform, notably when Shiro Nomura played demon and dancing girl in Dojoji, and Mansaku Nomura essayed a befuddled Mountain Priest, beset by fungus, in Mushrooms, supported by the company, Richard Benesevich in particular—and when Mansaku danced the invocatory Sanbaso to open a spectacular Takigi-noh (torchlight) performance by a Kita Noh School troupe at the UC Greek Theatre, the lights shimmering around the Bay below. 

These are almost random memories, barely scratching the surface of 30 years’ activity. There was a Flamenco-Kabuki fusion piece, based on Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding; modern Japanese plays performed with ancient stylization; Moon of the Scarlet Plums, about Crazy Horse, with Native American choreographer and Noh actor, performed at the World Expo near Nagoya—and artistic associate Erik Ehn’s Cycle Plays, five contemporary pieces in Noh cycle form, performed together only on 07-07-07.  

Much of the history’s in Theatre of Yugen, Twenty-Five Years: A Retrospective, which Erik edited. (When asked to write an introduction, I was pleased—until I realized it made me The Old Man!) 

Many performers and other theater artists have worked innovatively with Yugen over 30 years—many Asian-American actors getting a taste of classical training, for instance, or the constant presence of women onstage in a traditionally all-male form—and now a new generation’s putting on a Kyogen version of Candide (itself 250 years old this year) as celebration. The eternal optimist (played by Sheila Berotti) travels the world, in 700 year-old Japanese classic style, with co-artistic director Lluis Valls as his pessimist companion Martin. Julie Brown is the Fair Onna, and “old-timer” Ellen Brooks, ebullient Dr. Pangloss. Yuriko Doi, now director emerita, stops the show as the wily Old Woman. “The best of all possible worlds ...” Co-artistic director Jubilith Moore, who adapted and directed (with Kyogen mentor Yukio Ishida), said of both Candide and Kyogen, “It’s satire with a warm feeling, a wry smile, not a belly-laugh—a smile in recognition of human foibles.” 

But, after all that, just what does Yugen mean? An aesthetic term, long associated with Noh, sometimes translated “mysterious elegance” ... I once heard Yuriko answer that question with an image: still, snowy field in bright sunlight; a single snowflake falls, flashing against that whiteness—that’s Yugen. 

CANDIDE 

8 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday at Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa, San Francisco (Project Artaud). $15-25. (Thursday, pay what you can; Saturday, post-show 30th-year gala at extra cost.) (415) 621-7978. www.theareofyugen.org.

I’m keepin’ a little notebook of the quant phrases I’m pickin’ up around here,” says Blanche DuBois, an unexpected guest (in the grander sense of the word) in her sister and brother-in-law’s squalid little French Quarter “rooms.” 

“You ain’t picked up nothin’ here I never heard before, “ shoots back her hostile brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. 

Battle lines are clearly drawn from the mo-ment Blanche steps off the eponymous Streetcar Named Desire and into the Kowalski menage. But there’s a war going on, bigger than the battle, even if it spells Blanche’s Waterloo—the war between Blanche and Reality. “I want magic. That’s what I give to people. I do misrepresent things ... I tell what ought to be true.” 

Gambler, salesman, “man’s man,” proud second-generation American—and a hustler in more ways than one—Stanley has his little reality divvied up carefully, knowing what’s his—and what he wants and hopes to get. A grandstander, part of his pose is denying he has one. He resents Blanche’s intrusion, being upstaged in his virility by a doubly feminine presence, a kind of female impersonator who’s still a woman when all the get-up, feathers and perfume are stripped away. (Some of Blanche’s lines—and she speaks in lines, even in stage directions—sound curiously like a passive-aggressive Mae West.)  

Wary of her influence over her sister, his adoring wife, he invokes the Napoleonic Code, or is reduced to bellowing like a child, screaming for his mother—the famous “Stella! STELLA!” scene. 

And finally Stanley crows that he’s “got the dope on Blanche.” While Stella’s away giving birth, the war of words—of euphemisms, one-upsmanship, thinly veiled insults and threats—turns deadly, though it seems no aggression can root out Blanche’s reverie, serving as another cue like that “something stuck in your head.” 

Reflections on Tennessee Williams’ post-war classic, occasioned by the splendid production onstage right now at Altarena Playhouse. And these thoughts barely graze the surface. Against the brassy, puffed-up zeppelin of a show usually offered audiences going to see Streetcar (and yet the deliberately stagey, campy element of travesty is inevitably suppressed or ignored in the most overblown versions), SueTrigg has directed her ensemble with sensitivity, yet a kind of dispassion, too, so the audience can watch the intricate intermeshing of the roles, the running down of this overwound clockwork of plot and story, not hyperfocussing on any great part or moment, but allowing characterization and the very words of the text to spin out into abandon or vagueness, or blow up in everybody’s face. 

Trigg has found her Blanche in Gigi Benson, who ably reveals that prismatic yet somehow “empty soul,” as the scrap of a lost ancient tragedy refers to its heroine. Eric Herzog as Stanley has the appropriate brash relentlessness, the sense of self-regard, to match her as her conferred “executioner.” 

(The dynamics of this production work subtly, by accretion, avoiding the pitch and yaw of exaggeration of situations and lines full of exaggeration; the famous rape scene becomes terrible for the signs of violence—Stanley waving his red pajamas like a flag, like a cape, crowing over the birth of his child, later appearing suddenly in a flash of red, stalking out of the bathroom that’s been Blanche’s refuge.) 

Played in the round—normally a tough call, but here a perfect terrarium for these specimens—there’s a nice, spare touch in the simple tech effects of light and dark (by Cameron and Chris Swartzell) during Blanche’s Strindbergian monologues and a few, brief sound effects or catches of a tune. 

Veronica Mannion handily gets across Stella as healthy, normal, yet girlish, a little obtuse—the All-American Girl of Life magazine ads, Southern edition. Charles Evans captures Mitch’s plight nicely: the middle-aging mama’s boy on the verge of losing mama, easy mark for both Blanche’s mesmerism and Stanley’s brutal debunking—and hurt by, resentful of both. 

There’s some fine background—or backstairs—comedy by Karol Luque and Raymond Mark as Eunice and Steve, constantly squabbling and making up. Altarena managing director Daniel Zilber dons a Viennese beard for a turn as the asylum Doctor. Elaine Pintoe provides support in several small roles that round out a scene or two, and as the latina Flower Seller, a chiming syncopation to Blanche’s extravagance with the simple, repeated utterance, “Flores ... flores ...” And Tony Rocha as Pablo makes it an all-male foursome for poker; the real hands have been played out, though the bluffing goes on, as it’s declared, “This game is five-card stud.” 

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 

8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday through June 7 at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St. Alameda. Tickets: $17-20. 523-1553; www.altarena.org

I’ve been on the road, and so have a lot of you and here’s the road,” begins Jack Kerouac’s introduction to the 83 photographs in Robert Frank’s 1958 book The Americans. Frank commissioned Kerouac to write this introduction, and it still provides an insightful point of entry to this major work of American photography. 

Organized by the National Gallery of Art, this exhibit of the original photographs from this book is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through Aug. 23. 

Of course, one has to be careful when invoking the name of Kerouac. The cultural detritus of the beat movement attaches to it like barnacles. To call these photographs “cool” or “hip” or to see them as critiques of the Eisenhower era has a certain small-minded accuracy, but misses the larger purpose of Frank’s work. 

Frank wasn’t some James Dean-like figure, clad in Ray Bans as he criscrossed 1950s America with a used Ford and a Leica camera. Not at all. Frank was a Swiss immigrant, a child of prosperity who sought escape from convention. As Frank himself put it, “The Americans is the voyage of a European in a country that he crosses for the first time. You are on beach, you dive into the wave.” 

Kerouac’s road in these photographs is more than just a metaphor; it’s the path of the pilgrim, where people die and mourners pass by to take a peek at the “holy face to see what death is like.” 

These are photographs about the deepest mysteries of life, about the forces that drive through the settings and the costumes and the masks of our individual lives. 

One of the most resonant images in the show is that of a Jehovah’s Witness clutching his copy of Awake! Magazine, his eyes haunted, perhaps from being too awake as he witnesses how the divine moves among the human. 

These photographs are in the great transcendental tradition of Emerson. Frank’s work echoes Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road,” where we walk amid the “unseen.” The Americans is Frank’s attempt to give us glimpses of those unseen elements and the marvels hidden in the clothes of the everyday. For Frank, America becomes a kind of allegory. 

A photograph about Los Angeles reminds us that this is no ordinary city. This is, after all, the City of Angels, and we see a statue of St. Francis holding the cross in benediction over a Standard station that sells Atlas tires, and soon the meaning of the commercial and the Christian are tied up with Greek mythology, and the photograph becomes witty and ironic and spiritual all at once, its meanings shifting back and forth like the grainy shadows in much of Frank’s work.  

Some of these pictures are political, certainly. The book has four sections, and each begins with a photograph built around a flag, but these flags accrue rich and sometimes humorous meanings as the book goes along. 

The Americans has had a profound influence on art photographers like Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander, but the book, with its graininess and movement and unlit spaces, also influenced the most common images of American culture. In television shows, in ads, in movies, in virtually all the corners of our visual culture, we can still see echoes of Frank’s work, and I think it’s illuminating to see the source of this impact, a source which, even after 50 years, seems as fresh as it must have when Frank watched these pictures emerge in his darkroom.  

What a thrill to consider the reverberating meanings of a blanket-covered car-crash victim placed beside the photograph of a cloth-covered car, which glows like a talisman. How resonant the image of the African-American woman sitting outside, below a hill with a telephone pole that has a spooky resemblance to a cross. 

It is interesting that Frank, in later years, has been drawn more and more to filmmaking, for the photographs in The Americans are hardly still. Frank is a master at catching things on the fly, and the whole series, especially when seen on a museum wall rather than in a book, seems to be a series of frames from a movie.  

Compare this esthetic to, for instance, that of Ansel Adams, who wrote about his famous shot of the moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico that he was looking for a subject that would, in his word, “bend” to his visualization. 

In other words, Adams, like probably most of his contemporaries, went to the scene with an idea already in his head with the hope that reality would show him what he saw. Frank, on the other hand, bent his seeing to the shape of what he found.  

This is a well-organized show that gives us just enough of Frank’s influences (Walker Evans, Bill Brandt, and others) to see how much what he once called his “European Eyes” learned from others.  

The show also sketches out a bit of Frank’s art after The Americans and ends with a short film that has, interestingly enough, both footage of photographs and images of the photographer himself, who appears, at first, to be videoing us. “I am always looking outside,” the subtitles of the video explains, “trying to look inside, trying to say something that is true. But maybe nothing is really true. Except what’s out there. And what’s out there is constantly changing.” 

Slowly we realize that he is not filming us. No, we are seeing his reflection in a window. The film of us is really a film of Frank, and so our insight goes back and forth, in this lively sutra of meaning, as one of the great artists of the 20th century shows us what our lives are really like.  

LOOKING IN: ROBERT FRANK’S ‘THE AMERICANS’ 

Through Aug. 23 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., San Francisco. Open every day but Wednesday. 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Open Thursdays until 9:30 p.m. Summer hours begin Memorial Day: Open at 10 a.m. $12.50 for adults. Members free. Discounts for seniors, students, and children. www.sfmoma.org.