THURSDAY, AUGUST 27 

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

ACCI Seconds Sale Thurs.-Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. 

“Other: Asian & Pacific Islanders Prisoners’ Anthology” A discussion with author Eddy Zheng at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Kids Nature Night Out with games, crafts and nature walks from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages 5-12. Cost is $10-$12. 1-888-327-2qp757. 

Community Women’s Orchestra Rehearsals begin near Lake Merritt in Oakland. For details see www.communitywomensorchestra.org 

Homework Help Program at the Richmond Public Library Tues. and Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at 325 Civic Center Plaza. For more information or to enroll, call 620-6557. 

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. 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 

“Trouble the Water” A documentary of Hurricane Katrina shot by residents of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Discussion follows. 524-4122. www.berkeleyfriendschurch.org 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction. Potluck at 7 p.m., dancing at 8 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. 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. 

Stand With Us Stand for Peace Stand with Israel vigil every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. www.sfvoiceforisrael.org 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 

Walkathon to Benefit Fight Against Cervical Cancer in Africa starting at 10 a.m. at the Pergola at Lake Merritt. Sponsored by Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer. To sign up see www.pincc.org 

Trails Challenge Hike: Traversing Tilden Join an invigorating 5-mile hike led by naturalist Bethany Facendini from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring water, lunch and sturdy boots, swimsuit and towel. For meeting place call 544-2233. 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234.  

East Bay Evolution Bike Tour A tour along Oakland’s waterfront to meet culinary artisans and taste their creations, from noon to 4 p.m. Cost is $40. RSVP to 654-6346. www.hesternet.net/events 

Plant Families of California: A Medicinal Perspective from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Blue Wind Botanical Medicinal Clinic, 823 32nd St., Apt. B, Oakland. Cost is $40. To register call 428-1810. 

Freight and Salvage Grand Opening Open House from noon to 5 p.m. with workshops, perfromances and building tours, at 2020 Addison St. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Hands-On Drip Irrigation Installation Learn how to plan and install a drip irrigation system. Bring gloves and lunch. Cost is $20-$25. RSVP required. 548-2220, ext. 239. 

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. 

“Deepening the Dialogue” A community forum on emotional and health services for African American families from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Malcolm X Elementary school, 1731 Prince St. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Limited childcare provided. RSVP to 985-0500. www.goalsforwomen.com 

Project Peace East Bay’s Day of Peace from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Berkeley’s University Village, 1125 Jackson St. helping run the “No Matter What you Speak, You are Welcome” International Fall Festival and Potluck. Those who wish to volunteer may register at http://dayofpeace-fbnews.eventbrite.com 

Walking Tour- Stroll Along a Transformed Shoreline in at MLK Jr. Shoreline Park from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at Arrowhead Marsh Parking Lot. Bring binoculars. Cost is $10-$15. Sponsored by The Oakland Heritage Alliance. 763-9218. 

Children’s Clothing Swap from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Berkeley Covenant Church, 1632 Hopkins St. Cost is $5 and at least one bag of clothes to swap or $7 for expectant mothers. Proceeds and extra clothes will be donated to local charities. Infant to size 12 kids welcome. Bring good quality, clean clothes like you would want to find. laileenf@gmail.com 

Floral Design Class with Devon Gaster from 1 to 3 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. Cost is $25. www.expressionsgallery.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 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.  

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 

Immigration Community Action A forum with elected officials sponsored by Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 1:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church Hall, 2123 Jefferson Ave. www.berkeleyboca.org 

Wonders of Watershed Learn about the intricacies of the waterways in your neighborhood through interactive games and crafts, from 11 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

Walking Tour- Oakland Point & The West Oakland Marsh Meet at 10 in front of the Southern Pacific Train Station, 16th and Wood Streets. Sponsored by The Oakland Heritage Alliance. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. 

Flutter By Butterflies Tour the butterfly garden, at 2:30 p.m. and help with a gardening project to improve their habitat at 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

“Single Payer Health Care, Not War” meeting at 7 p.m. at the Art House, 2905 Shattuck.  

“A Health Care Worker’s Persepective” on the health care reform debate at 6:30 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 658-1448. 

Free Sailboat Rides from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club, Berkeley Marina. Wear warm, waterproof clothing and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. Children 5 and over welcome with parent or guardian. www.cal-sailing.org 

Social Action Summer Forum “Current Events in the Middle East” with Dr. Stephen Zunes, Prof, USF, at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Liberation Psychology” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000.  

MONDAY, AUGUST 31 

KPFA Radio Election Forum with candidates for the local station board at 7 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University Ave. just a few blocks west of the Berkeley BART station on University Ave. kpfa.org 

Drop-in Knitting Group Work on your own project or make pet blankets and children’s hats for donation. Yarn, needles and instruction provided. From 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 536-3720. 

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. 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 1 

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 Carquinez Strait, Bull Valley Staging Area. Bring water, field guides, binoculars or scopes. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 544-2233. 

Morris Dance Workshop at 7:30 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. No experience necessary, all welcome. www.berkeley-morris.org 

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

“Exploring Central Baja California: Hiking, Kayaking, Mountina Biking and more” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Auditions for ages 12-21 from 4 to p.m. For application and information see www.ypsomusic.net 

27 Days of Change: Practice Period begins Sept. 1 at 2584 Martin Luther King Jr Way. Free. Registration required. register@ 

transformtivechange.org 

“Revolution: Why It Is Necessary” The online launch of a film of a talk by Bob Avakian at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

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 

Homework Help Program at the Richmond Public Library Tues. and Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at 325 Civic Center Plaza. For more information or to enroll, call 620-6557. 

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. 

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. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Self-Guided Walk: Thousand Oaks Meet at 10 a.m. at North Berkeley BART station. Recommended route is Jen English’s 2007 Fall Harvest walk. See website for route and other info. 520-3876. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Help a Mother Out Donations of diapers, underware and socks can be brought to SadieDey's Cafe, 4210 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, from 5 to 7 p.m. www.helpamotherout.org 

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

“Out of Balance” A documentary on ExxonMobile’s impact onclimate change, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“The Biofield: The Flame of Life and a Key Link Between Science and Spirituality” illustrated discussion with Beverly Rubik on the energy that surrounds all organisms at 7:30 p.m. Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alamed. 526-3805.  

Square Dancer Program begins with a free introductory session at 7:30 p.m. at Montclair Women's Center, 1650 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. No partner required. dseberski@aol.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. 

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

vigil4peace/vigil 

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, SEPT. 3 

“Redefining Our Relationships: Guidelines for Responsible, Open Relationships” A workshop with Wendy-O Matik at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Auditions for ages 12-21 from 4 to p.m. For application and information see www.ypsomusic.net 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at 2402 Central Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.helpsavealife.org 

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. 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 4 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip to Jewel Lake in Tilden Park Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the parking lot at the north end of Central Park Dr. for a one-mile, two-hour-plus stroll through this lush riparian area. Leader Phila Rogers 848-9156. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Kensington First Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. with art, music and refreshements from the merchants of Colusa Circle and The Arlington. 525-6155. 

Meditation I: practice of the body at 7 p.m. at Center for Transformative Change, 2584 Martin Luther King Jr Way. Cost is free-$45. To register call 888-976-2426. 

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. 

Stand With Us Stand for Peace Stand with Israel vigil every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. www.sfvoiceforisrael.org 

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

SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

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. 

Poultry Pals Come get to know our neighborhood birds at the Little Farm from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Tilden Park. 544-2233.  

Meet the Spirit of the Rabbit through shamanic journeying with Suzanne Savage from 1 to 5 p.m. at Rabbit Ears, 377 Colusa Ave. Kensington. Advance registration required. 525-6155. 

Whacky Weekend at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach Sat. through Mon., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Costs is $10-$15. 932-8966. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 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.  

Open Shop at Berkeley Boathouse from 1 to 5 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Take part in constructing a wooden boat or help out with other maritime projects. No experience necessary. First time is free, cost is $10 per day. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 6 

Friends of Five Creeks’ Picnic on the Creek from 3 to 6 p.m. at Codornices Creek and the Ohlone Greenway, opposite 1200 Masonic, on the Berkeley-Albany border. Free; drinks and snacks provided. Bring finger foods, musical instruments, games for the big grassy area. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

510 Butter Churnng Party Help mix up some fresh butter to spread on toast with jam, and learn all about milk and its cultured concoctions, from 10 a.m. to noon at The Little Farm, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

Cows and Culture Learn how they hae been an integral part of human civilizations for thousands of years, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. 544-2233. 

Single Payer Health Care Not War Planning meetings at 4:20 at People Park. for more information call 390-0830. peoplespark.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. at 2 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 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 Dave Abercrombie on “Putting Knowledge to Work” 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 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

Kala Residency Projects Part II New work by Nicholle Maury, Yasuaki Onishi, and Ali Richards. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Art institute, 2990 San Pablo Ave. www.kala.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Eddy Zheng discusses “Other: Asian & Pacific Islanders Prisoners’ Anthology” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Eek-A-Mouse, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054.  

Freight Fiddle Summit with Alasdair Fraser, Liz Carroll, and Darol Anger at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Wayne de la Cruz B-3 & The Big Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Walty, Big Nasty at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Speak the Music at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568.  

Charles Wheal at 8:30 p.m. at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, 2072 University Ave. 665-8866. 

Kat 010 at 7 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Awake and Sing!” through Sept. 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $15-$55. 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.  

Central Works “Machiavelli’s The Prince” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Sept. 19. Tickets are $14-$25. www.centralworks.org 

Galatean Players Ensemble Theatre “Rivets” A musical based on Rosie the Riveter and Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. on board the SS Red Oak Victory, 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth 6A, Richmond, through Sept. 27. Tickets are $15-$20. Rosies, WW2 Veterans and uniformed soldiers, free. 925-676-5705. galateanplayers.com 

Masquers Playhouse “Loot” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, and runs through Sept. 26. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Somewhere in Between” New works by Laura Borchet. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Eclectix Gallery, 10082 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Also “The Tattoon Show” tattoo and cartoon art. Exhibitions run to Oct. 4. www.eclectix.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Emmyryss Wren at Friday Night Poetry at 7 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. www.expressionsgallery.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Natasha Miller, vocal jazz, at noon at the Kaiser Center Roof Garden, on top of the parking garage, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Free. www.KaiserCenterRoofGarden.com 

Domestics Unlimited/Theater Arts Music, comedy, food, artwork at 6 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Cost is $13. www.brownpapertickets.com  

Euphonia, folk music, at 8 p.m. at 33 Revolutions Cafe,10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 898-1836. www.33revolutions.com 

Pellejo Seco at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$13. 849-2568.  

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

Mama Hagglin, Coup de Ska, The Real Tom Thunder at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7-$10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Helladelics, Greek roots band, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

David Grisman Quintet, Greg Liszt & the Deadly Gentlemen at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Starry Plough Tribute Night with Children of the Damned, Modern Day Cowboy, Speak of the Devil at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Shelley Doty and Green & Root, and Julie Wolf at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. Suggested donation $10-$15. www.womengig.com 

Steve Carter Trio at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Supertaster at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Bluestate Band at 8:30 p.m. at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, 2072 University Ave. 665-8866. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 

CHILDREN  

Storybook Boxes Puppet Fair Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. www.fairyland.org  

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “The Farm” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkel Park, Southhampton Ave., through Sept 13. Suggested donation $10. 841-6500.  

EXHIBITIONS 

Cherie Raciti “Small Abstract Reliefs” on display Sat. and Sun from 1 to 5 p.m. at Garage Gallery, 3110 Wheeler St. through Sept. 13. www.berkeleyoutlet.com 

“Never Can Say Goodbye” Group show. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Guerilla Cafe, 1620 Shattuck Ave. 845-2233.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Downtown Music Festival with Zoyres Eastern European Ferment at 10 a.m., Squirrelly Stringband at 11:30 a.m. and Aux Cajunals at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. www.ecologycenter.org 

Freight and Salvage Grand Opening Open House from noon to 5 p.m. with workshops, perfromances and building tours, at 2020 Addison St.  

Tango No. 9, music and dancing at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free. 981-6241. 

Fanny Ara & Meli Rivera, Celtic and Flamenco, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $14-$16. 849-2568.  

Ed Reed & His All-Star Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Michael Jackson Tribute Part II with Kev Choice Ensemble at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

Ramblin Jack Elliott, Rick Didia & Aireene Espiritu at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

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

María Volonté, Argentine tango,at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373.  

Catholic Radio, Farewell Typewriter, The Tenderloins at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

DiiGin at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Steve Malerbi Band at 8:30 p.m. at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, 2072 University Ave. Cost is $14. 665-8866. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 

CHILDREN 

Billy & Lloyd’s Greasy Sunday at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tony Argento re-lives Cowboy Poetry Classics at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Egyptology Lecture “The Joint Expedition to Malqata - the Palace of Amenhotep III” with Dr. Diana Craig-Patch, Metropolitan Museum of Art at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC campus. 415-664-4767. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Last Sundays Fest with Phenomenauts, Custard Pie, Amaya and others, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Telegraph Ave. from Dwight to Bancroft. 

The Best Of Blasphemy CD Release Party Motordude Zydeco, Sylvia Herold, Chuck Erwin, Tony Marcus Swing Trio, The Funky Nixons, Rick Dougherty, Carol Denney and others at 6 p.m. at The White Horse Inn 6551 Telegraph Ave. Benefit for The Pacific Center. Clergy costume contest, raffle, and heavenly door prizes. Cost is $10. 925-376-6135. 

robert temple with Rafael Herrera from 4 to 6 p.m. at Annie's Hall, 1613 Derby St. Cost is $12, children $5. 654-2329. 

Scanlon Music Fund Benefit Concert with Sheila Scanlon Wilkins, Cara Bradbury, Rick Shinozaki, Rob Watson and others at 2 p.m. at St. Augustine Church, 400 Alcatraz Ave, Oakland. Tickets are $20. 653-8631. 

Larry Vuckovich Latin Jazz Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

The Saddle Cats at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Royal Society Jazz Orchestra Vintage ‘20s and ‘30s dancing, at 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20. 525-5054.  

Chelle! and friends, Creole music from New Orleans, at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Bluegrass Blow-Out with Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Bluegrass Intention Kathy Kallick Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

TUESDAY, SEPT. 1 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Brenda Hillman reads from “Practical Water” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Mary Mackey reads from “The Wido’s War” a novel is set in 1853 against the backdrop of the approaching Civil War, at 7 p.m. at Diesel Bookstore, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ray Abshire at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun/Zydeco dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 

FILM 

Cine Cubano Film Fest “Memorias del Subdesarrollo” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Ernest Ting-Ta Yen, violin, Kelly Jenkins, flute, and Miles Graber, piano at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free. 642-4864.  

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

The Qadim Ensemble, mystical music of the Near East at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$17. 525-5054. 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Somewhere in Between” New works by Laura Borchet. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Eclectix Gallery, 10082 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Also “The Tattoon Show” tattoo and cartoon art. Exhibitions run to Oct. 4. www.eclectix.com 

“Inspiration form the Bay and Beyond” Artwork by Anthony Holdsworth, Diane Abt, Rebecca Haseltine and Charles Rhone. Opening reception at 4:30 p.m. at MTC, 101 8th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Sept. 25.  

“Isaura: A Life in Focus” Photographs on the Afro-Brazilian dancer, at Berkeley Pubic Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Exhibit runs to Sept. 30. 981-6240. 

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

“Metamorphosis” Paintings by Laila Espinoza at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Exhibition runs to Oct. 4. 524-2943. 

“A New Page: Painting in the 4th Dimension: Bedri Baykam” Opneing reception at 6 p.m. at Alphonse Berber Gallery, 2546 Bancroft Way. Exhibition runs through Oct. 17. alphonseberber.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Frederick Aldama in Conversation with Marcial Gonzalez on “Your Brain on Latino Comics: From Gus Arriola to Los Bros Hernandez” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Poetry Flash with C.S. Giscombe and Kit Robinson at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 525-5476. 

Poetry at the Albany Library with Lynne Knight and Carolyn Miller at 7 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

A Night of Entertainment Benefiting the Street Level Health Project, Afro-Peruvian, Bolivian, Mongolian, traditional Peruvian, and Aztec music and dance, at 8 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 533-9906. www.streetlevelhealth.org 

“Stomping the Blues” at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Blues dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Meldrum, featuring Gene Hoglan, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

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

FRIDAY, SEPT. 4 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Awake and Sing!” through Sept. 27, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $15-$55. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Rep “American Idiot” at 2025 Addison St., through Oct. 11. Tickets are $32-$86. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “Machiavelli’s The Prince” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Sept. 19. Tickets are $14-$25. www.centralworks.org 

Galatean Players Ensemble Theatre “Rivets” A musical based on Rosie the Riveter and Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. on board the SS Red Oak Victory, 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth 6A, Richmond, through Sept. 27. Tickets are $15-$20. Rosies, WW2 Veterans and uniformed soldiers, free. 925-676-5705.  

Masquers Playhouse “Loot” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, and runs through Sept. 26. Tickets are $18. 232-4031.  

Woodminster Summer Musicals “Brigadoon” at 8 p.m. at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joachin Miller Rd., Oakland, through Sept. 13. Tickets are $25-$40. 531-9597.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Surface Strata” Paintings by Chris Trueman, Kevin Scianni, Alison Rash, Maichael Cutlip, Joshua Dildine, Jay Merryweather, and Eric Ward. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs to Oct. 31. 465-8928. 

”Heads and Tails” paintings by Julia Alvarado and and *JoAnn Biagini:* “New Work” mixed media by JoAnn Biagini. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Mercury 20 Gallery, 25 Grand Ave., Oakland. 701-4620. w 

Robert Rickard, metal wall art at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland, through Nov. 1. 655-5952.  

“You Are Here” Art about person and place and “In Memorium: Women’s Lives Taken by Violence” Group show. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Frank Bette Center for the Arts, 1601 Paru St., Alameda. 523-6957. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

La Gran Noche de la Música Argentina with Marcelo Ledesma at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $16-$18. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Quinn Deveaux & the Blue Beat Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10, $8 with bike. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Reptiles Reunion with David Gans, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

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

SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 

CHILDREN  

Babes in Toyland Puppet Show at 11 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. at at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 296-4433. activeartsttheatre.org 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “The Farm” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkel Park, Southhampton Ave., through Sept 13. Suggested donation $10. 841-5600. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Stone Soup Improv Comedy at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. at Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $7-$10. www.stonesoupimprov.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Julie Alvarado:* *Heads and Tails*: paintings and *JoAnn Biagini:* *New Work*: mixed media Artists’ Talk: Saturday, September 5 at **1pm*** at Mercury 20 Gallery, 25 Grand Ave., Oakland. 701-4620.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Saturday Afternoon Gallery Acoustic featuring Boundless Gratitude from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts,1601 Paru St., corner of Lincoln, Alameda. Open mic signups at 1:30 p.m., music starts at 2 p.m. frankbettecenter.org 

Baba Ken & West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

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

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

Boatclub, Headslide, The American Professionals at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 6 

CHILDREN 

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

EXHIBITIONS 

“Light on Lake Merritt” Digital photography by Laura Sutta, through Oct. 31 L’Amyx Tea Bar, 4179 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

José Saavedra and Walter Morciglio present their new album “Conversos,” contemporary Puerto Rican poetry put to song at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568.  

George Cole, swing, jazz, Americana, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

John Allen Cassady and Violet Monday, music and stories at 8 p.m. at Art House Gallery, 2905 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 472-3170. 

A copy of Leonardo’s “Battle of Anghieri” adorns the wall, its howling tangle of warriors and horses breaking the calm of the sparely appointed office where two men in suits will meet—a reunion, after many years, between student and teacher. 

Student and teacher: the now newly invested Duke of Florence welcoming his old master, an intellectual and diplomat, back from exile on his nearby farm—Lorenzo II, grandson of Il Magnifico, and Niccolo Machiavelli. 

The play by Central Works cofounder Gary Graves has an intriguing premise: What if Machiavelli had been able to present his little book, The Prince, to Lorenzo, to whom it’s dedicated, as he intended? In the drawing room of the Berkeley City Club, the chamber theater where Central Works is in residence, Machiavelli makes his pitch, putting before his old student the political ideas he’s come up with in his years of forced contemplation, after his time as public official in Florence. 

The relationship between the two is established, in and out of the other topics discussed, by reminiscence, mutual sympathy (Macchiavelli describes his torture at the hands of the Medici’s prison warders in the aftermath of an assassination attempt; Lorenzo’s concern is palpable), a shared concern over the decline of Florence, the city-state both love, and overtures each begins to make to the other—thoughts about working together, constantly deferred. 

They also describe to each other the changes in thought, even in character, each has undergone through hard experience: Machiavelli, former secretary of the Florentine Republic (one of the “sensitive issues” the new Duke has to bring—and clear—up), has realized in his thinking what sounds like what will later be called “Realpolitik;” Lorenzo, the good soldier, has grown disgusted with slaughter, with bloodlust, and wishes to embrace the good, the reasonable, and to become a man of peace. 

(This last theme alone has led, fleshed out, to great plays, including those about warriors in Japan’s Noh Theater.) 

The two clash over their new, if hard-won, realizations of how the world should be, how men of state should operate, each surprised and disappointed by the other. 

They each make it abundantly clear, in monologues that bring out the actors’ finer features, what brought them to where they stand: Lorenzo, the glimpse of carnage in a church after the sack of a town; Machiavelli, the frustrations of republican rule that broke down over the bickering self-interest of merchants, a tragic love for an Italy torn apart by invading armies, years at loose ends in banishment, reading, thinking, writing ... 

Richard Frederick, who sparkled as a Freud-inspired character in Central Works’ recent production of Christopher Chen’s The Window Age, plays another intellectual here, Machiavelli the doting teacher, the humble petitioner, dying to be back in the corridors of power. And Michael Navarra is at his best here, of the three roles he’s essayed so far with Central Works, as the genteel, sensitive yet forceful Lorenzo. 

The little touches by the production team that add up to the full picture have the excellent taste we’ve come to expect from Central Works: Greg Scharpen’s sound design, gilding voice and movement with strings and distant echoes; Tammy Berlin’s effective costuming, that naturalizes the anachronism; Gary Graves’ sensitive lighting, as well as little moments accented by his direction. 

The play itself, though constantly bringing up theatrically interesting, if unplayed-out, motifs and motives, tends to slide into a contemporary version of the old Anglo-Saxon depiction of Machiavelli the cynical sidekick of despots, the “Machiavel” who introduces Marlowe’s remarkable, rarely staged, Jew of Malta, the boogeyman of moral relativity, predecessor to Talleyrand, Metternich, a kind of proto-Kissinger.  

A populist intellectual transformed into a wannabe “Kissing-Bundy” (as Jules Feiffer dubbed a humorous Frankenstein made up of the parts of ravening, hawkish executive advisors), lecturing on ruthlessness to a fearless commander changed into a pious CEO promises good theater; the display of Machiavelli’s exhortations to Lorenzo to be the strongman that will save the Italy both love (a Caesarian tradition from Dante’s Il Veltro—The Greyhound—to Mussolini as Il Duce) stirs things up—but the dust settles back into what’s too schematic, like a screen or teleplay. 

This is particularly apparent when Lorenzo, alone after spurning his old teacher, sneaks a peek at the school theme book containing Machiavelli’s masterpiece. A genuinely humorous touch, showing the opposite of the speeches that proceed it, this gesture becomes confused with a kind of complacency, a smile of complicity on the audience’s part: “It always ends up like that!” 

Machiavelli himself was a great playwright of comedies. If the reversals in character were played up a little more for laughs, the real ironies of action, the intellect and “public service” might emerge more when all’s said and done. 

The contradictions and virtues of Machiavelli run deep, as modern philosophers and politicos have discovered. Antonio Gramsci wrote a political classic, “The Modern Prince,” in his notebooks in Mussolini’s prisons, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty began his essay in Signs: “How could he have been understood? He writes against good feelings in politics, but he is also against violence. Since he has the nerve to speak of virtue at the very moment he is sorely wounding ordinary morality, he disconcerts the believers in Law as he does those who believe that the State is the Law. For he describes that knot of collective life in which pure morality can be cruel and pure politics requires something like a morality. We would put up with a cynic who denies values or an innocent who sacrifices action. We do not like this difficult thinker without idols.” 

Machiavelli, above all against the solipsism of the compulsively moral, developed his thought—finally, the same train of thought, meditating on reality and its possibilities—in the Discourses on Livy, dealing with republics, and in The Prince, addressing executive authority. 

These and closely related themes lie barely below the surface in the public ferment—and governmental torpor—at the end of the Obama administration’s first summer.  

Theater used to be the mirror for the issues, the staging of the terms of public debate. Central Works, with the clean lines of its intimate productions, its collaborative method of fashioning a new play, and its low prices (including a sliding scale and pay-what-you-can evenings), provides a perfect forum to provoke such discussions, more than many bigger institutions among our local theaters.  

There’s much of importance that’s raised in the dialogue and speeches of Macchiavelli’s The Prince. It could provide the springboard to really start talking about realities—Macchiavelli’s legacy—rather than mouth old cliches, as in the poor spectacles we follow in the media. 

MACHIAVELLI’S THE PRINCE 

Presented by Central Works presents at 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 19 at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 durant Ave. $14-$25. 558-1381. www. centralworks.com.

We can’t accept the evidence of a ghost. The problems it poses would be insuperable.” There’s no ghost, but there is a load of equally questionable evidence, though hard to say what it could prove, in Joe Orton’s Loot, that catastrophically funny play now on stage at the Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond. 

Opening with an open casket and an ebullient and scheming nurse, Fay (Lyndsy Kail)—who changes garb from stark white to sleek black during the proceedings, from caretaker to mourner—Loot follows the wild misadventures of Fay, widower McLeavy (Peter Pinfield), sullen son Hal (Aaron Martinsen) and mortician’s assistant Dennis (Drew Ledbetter), dogged by Water Board Inspector Truscott (Jim Fye) and Constable Meadows (Matt Stevens), as a bank heist somehow collides with viewing and burial, leaving nothing and nobody unscathed. 

The ridiculous becomes the absurd—or is it the other way around?—in a vertiginous tsunami of questions, answers, explanations, not all speaking to the same point. Somewhere along the way, it’s been said Orton played back the worst of middle-class cliches, upside-down, as dialogue.  

Fay schemes to marry the bereaved McLeavy. Hal and Dennis, romantically attached, seek to conceal their ill-gotten gains from a heist. Truscott strolls through, protesting his authority’s but a fluid thing, a perambulating send-up of Chesterton or Priestley. Verbally—sometimes physically—the cast caroms off each other. Bank job or bank shot? Eight ball in the side pocket? Who’s keeping score? 

As the plot thickens like gravy, reason becomes a device to comfort—or taunt—the more reasonable amid the splintering of sense: “You’ve lost nothing: you’ve begun the day with a dead wife, and you’ve ended it with a dead wife.” 

There’s a certain amount of door and coffin-lid slamming, plus waltzing with a shrouded cadaver, but Orton isn’t Feydeau with macabre fixin’s. Here’s where most shows break down, since the doomed author—“Oscar Wilde of the Welfare State,” as director Jessica Holt refers to him—doesn’t offer up farce so much as ultra-farce, not burlesque but meta-burlesque, not camp but hyper-camp.  

It takes titanic energy and cruel fortitude to keep up with the twists and turns of Orton’s simultaneous spinning and unraveling of plot. 

Luckily, the cast is pretty funny, and three of the mainstays attack with appropriate demeanor, deadpan with high spirits, determined to see it through to the unlikely conclusion: Kail, Martinsen and Fye.  

The direction stumbles a little, both by playing it as regular farce, and by allowing (or instructing) the actors to mug, slowing down the tempo, which ideally increases with every stumblingblock encountered. The mugging and posing is most damaging to Ledbetter; the second act commences with less energy than when the curtain’s first raised. Orton should defy entropy, not to mention fatigue, exhaustion. 

The closest thing to this hybrid eccentric we’ve had in The States may be the burlesque melodramas of the ’20s-’30s, capped by Dracula, or the “absurdist” spoofs and “tragicomedies” of Orton’s own ’60s. 

From a stray glass eye to a lurching coffin, Orton gleefully juggles his stock-in-trade, egging on the strange to pass judgment on the more ordinary: “I’m an honest man!” McLeavy protests. “You’ll have to mend your ways, then,” he’s admonished. 

Greg Scharpen provides a well-wrought soundtrack of sorts, for something that is, in its own way, a live movie, but scattered across the cutting room floor.  

LOOT 

8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 26 and 2:30 p.m. Sundays (Aug.30, Sept. 13 and 20) at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org.

Music is the way I interpret the world,” said Anna De Leon of Anna’s Jazz Island. “That’s been true my whole life. And it’s how I view my place in the world, too.” 

Anna’s personal philosophy is reflected by her intimate club in downtown Berkeley, and in particular by the bookings for this weekend, which feature pianist Larry Vuckovich and his Latin Jazz Quartet (Sunday), classic jazz balladeer Ed Reed and his All-Star Quartet (Saturday)—and Anna herself, singing “less-sung ballads and not-ballads” with her Trio (Friday). 

The eclectic mix, night after night, is nothing new, as patrons of Jazz Island or her two previous Berkeley venues can attest.  

“I grew up in the first desegregated housing project in L.A.,” Anna recalled, “And was part of the community sing every Monday night from the age of 6. I heard all this music: country, blues, jazz ... and a church met there, so there was a choir in the project. It was very multicultural, after the war. You develop big ears that way. I was very lucky.” 

She’ll be working with Shota Osabe on piano; Ruth Davies, bass and Dave Rokeach, drums. Of Osabe’s accompaniment, Anna said, “It’s interesting to play with somebody not American. Shota doesn’t differentiate so strongly between country, blues, jazz ... That affects me in that I can sing all those kinds of songs, so I’ll be singing lots of them, mostly heartfelt ballads—and not-ballads!—with interesting changes I don’t get to sing that often. ‘An Occasional Man,’ ‘Tennessee Waltz,’ ‘I Hear Music’ ... Most piano players are not so comfortable with those songs.”  

Not long ago, Anna recorded an album with the great Kenny Barron on piano, the liner notes by the dean of jazz critics, Nat Hentoff, who wrote, “A rather rare phenomenon in jazz, she is a club owner who, to say the least, identifies with the musicians. Her sound and phrasing are so intimately evocative that her music will stay in your mind.” 

Of Ed Reed, Anna said “Ed really is a treasure, so unusual. He’s in his 80s and now there’re articles about him, CDs, more gigs ... it’s a shame the world didn’t know about him the last 40 years.” She spoke of singing with him at New Bridge, a residential treatment facility. “Music flows in and out of him, but he devotes equal time to his counseling work. I’ve sung at New Bridge for Bread & Roses, and suggested we’d have a great evening if he joined me. It was a Sunday evening, in front of several hundred people. He sang some, I sang some; we did a couple duets. It was magnificent. And then Ed said to the audience, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow!’ He works there; they know him as a counselor!”  

Reed’s club act is polished and upbeat. Every other Tuesday evening, he does something different at the Cheese Board on Shattuck in North Berkeley, “covering all these charts, including obscure songs” pianist Brian Cooke puts together for Reed’s trio there, including bassist Robb Fisher, an adventuresome ongoing session for Reed and the other singers, including Anna, who stop by to sing a guest number or two, or join Reed in a duet. 

Nat Hentoff wrote of Reed’s singing, “He uses space as an inner musical instrument.” 

At Anna’s, Reed will be accompanied by Larry Dunlap on piano; Jessica Jones, tenor saxophone; Dan Feiszli, bass; and on drums the producer of his two CDs, radio personality Bud Spangler. 

“Larry’s a genius, just a great player—fun, warm, a fantastic musician,” Anna said of Vuckovich, a native of Montenegro in former Yugoslavia, where he was classically trained, hearing jazz on American Armed Forces Radio during the Second World War and after. He came to San Francisco at 14 in 1951, studying with pianist Vince Guaraldi, playing with alto saxophonist John Handy, accompanying singer Mel Torme’—and working with singer-lyricist Jon Hendricks for 25 years with Hendricks’ Evolution of the Blues show. 

“Like Handy, his audience is not here,” Anna said, “It’s all over the world, and because of his recordings. Larry’s the most treasured Latin keyboard player in the Bay Area. He’s played with all the truly great players in that genre. That’s why everybody wants to work with him. And these are phenomenal musicians!” 

Vuckovich will be accompanied by Hector Lugo on percussion; Buca Necak, bass; and Paul von Vonnigan, drums. 

Friday: Anna De Leon and Her Trio 

Saturday: Ed Reed and His All-Star Quartet 

Sunday: Larry Vuckovich Latin Jazz Quartet  

Shows start at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. $14. www.annasjazzisland.com. 841-JAZZ.

Bruce Sedley—“Skipper Sedley” and “Sir Sedley” of Bay Area TV during the 1950s and ’60s—will make a rare appearance Saturday with his puppet, King (or Professor) Fuddle, at Children’s Fairyland, by Lake Merritt in Oakland, where he’ll present the millionth Magic Key for the theme park’s Talking Storybooks, an invention of his own in the late ’50s, to one of Fairyland’s young visitors. 

Sedley will be attending the 53rd annual Puppet Fair, put on by the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild, an organization closely associated with Fairyland, featuring an exhibit, “50 Years’ Worth of Puppets,” opening at 10 a.m. and performances from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sedley and King Fuddle appearing at 2:30 Saturday. 

The Puppet Fair will include a crafts workshop for making a simple puppet to take home, and a “Puppet Petting Zoo.” Randal Metz, puppeteer at Fairyland’s Open Book Puppet Theater—who started there as a boy, 40 years ago, trained by his predecessor, Lewis Mahlmann—commented, “We throw all the puppets out on a carpet, then the kids—and parents—pick them up and act out stories with the puppets and each other.” 

Lewis Mahlmann, 82, now retired, but who still builds for puppet theater, will perform “For Whom the Trolls Bell,” tabletop puppetry, in the chapel at 11:30. Other puppeteers will perform every half hour, including Metz’s Puppet Company performing Mahlmann’s “Aesop’s Fables,” Nick Barone Puppets with “The Little Mermaid,” Magical Moonshine Puppets, and Fairyland Puppet Theater with “The Fisherman and His Wife” on Saturday; on Sunday, Fratello Marionettes with “Vaudeville Follies” and Blake Maxam and Vagabond Puppets presenting “The Dragon Who Wasn’t,” from a story by Frank Oz of The Muppets, who first performed when he was 18. 

Oz was a teenage member of the Puppeteers Guild, before getting discovered by Jim Henson, founder of The Muppets. “A lot of great puppeteers came out of Oakland,” Metz said. 

Metz, artistic director of the Fairyland Puppet Theater and its historian, has put out a book, Storybook Strings, available at the park, on 50 years of puppet shows there, with press photos. His book on Fairyland’s 60 years is being edited for publication.  

“Fairyland was the first theme park for children,” Metz said. “There’s a book on the history of theme parks, with timelines and the 20 most important dates,” Metz said, “and Fairyland has three listed: its founding, in 1950; then the Magic Key and the Talking Storybooks; and the puppet theater, in 1956. 

In 1948, Oakland nursery owner Arthur Navlet spoke to the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, a business improvement association, about a storybook theme park for children. The Breakfast Club, Oakland citizens and the City raised $50,000, engaging architect William Russell Everitt to design the charming, eccentric sets out of Mother Goose and other children’s classics for the 10-acre site. Fairyland opened on September 2, 1950, with costumed guides for the young visitors, who paid nine to fourteen cents, depending on their age, for admission. 

Walt Disney, who would create a couple theme parks of his own, visited in 1955, later hiring a Fairyland executive and a puppeteer when Disneyland opened in Anaheim. 

Crucial to the development and recognition of Fairyland were three men, William Penn Mott, Jr., Oakland’s chief of Parks and Recreation, who Bruce Sedley called Fairyland’s genius, and Burton Weber, Information Executive for Park and Rec., who joined forces with Bruce Sedley to publicize Fairyland, its innovative settings and programs. 

Mott was later appointed head of California State Parks by Ronald Reagan, afterwards becoming chief of the Oakland Zoo, hiring Randal Metz as puppeteer for the Baby Zoo.. When Reagan became President, he appointed Mott director of National Parks. 

Metz praised Mott’s contributions to Fairyland and to Oakland parks, then recalled the last time he saw him: “He was visiting Fairyland—’Just looking around,’ he said to me—smiling at every set. He died later that day.” 

Sedley, who grew up in Berkeley, had been a radio announcer and disc jockey on local stations, including KROW in Oakland (now KABL), at one point replacing Don Sherwood, later famous for his morning program on KSFO, in a wake-up show, “Nick & Noodnick.” Other KROW talent included Phyllis Diller and Rod McKuen. Coming up with a character voice, Prof. Fuddle, an always-wrong weather forecaster, Sedley developed Fuddle as a puppet, learned ventriloquism, and as Skipper Sedley hosted Popeye cartoons on KRON-TV in the late 50s, and as Sir Sedley, Three Stooges programs on KTVU-TV, back in Oakland. 

Professor Fuddle became King Fuddle of Fairyland. Sir Sedley would make appearances wearing his Train of Thought Hat, with a toy train running around its brim and a dangling microphone made of a potato masher (so kids could ask the hat questions) and a coat of chain mail, made from paperclips his young viewers sent him. 

Sedley publicized Fairyland. He also came up with a recording tape loop for the Talking Storybooks, turned on with a key children could keep for future visits. This was adapted for the San Francisco Zoo with a plastic elephant key, prototype for many other zoos around the country. Eventually, Sedley invented the disposable magnetic card key for hotel room doors, first used for security purposes at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1968. 

Sedley now lives in Hong Kong. He’ll have King Fuddle with him Saturday at Fairyland, and wear his paperclip chainmail suit and the Train of Thought Hat. (Sedley’s website is: www.sedleyandfriends.com) 

Professional puppetry in the Bay Area goes back well before the Second World War, with major contributions to the art by actor and painter Ralph Chesse, later TV’s Brother Buzz, who was WPA liaison for the Bay Area, and performed Shakespeare marionette plays at the TreasureIsland World’s Fair in the 1930s. After the war, according to Metz, the craft slowly started up again, with puppeteers meeting in private homes. “They bonded over the Puppet Fair at Fairyland,” said Metz, an annual event since its 1956 inception. 

Michael Nelson, president of the Guild, spoke of puppetry being on an upswing, how it’s more often employed now in theater and opera—Berkeley Opera used puppets last year. “The Muppets brought puppets back into the public eye,” Nelson said, “But because of Sesame Street, there’s a perception puppets are only for kids. Jim Henson wasn’t like that! But puppeteers who perform for adults have to maketheir own way. There’s been the Puppet Love adult puppet festival in the Berkeley area every few years—and shows at the Altered Barbie Festival in San Francisco and an aphrodisiac factory in Napa!. Art galleries and different venues feature puppetry as art-for-art’s sake. Whether for kids or adults, it’s a serious art form.” 

After discussing theatrical use of puppets in the Bay Area—including by The Independent Eye theater company, co-producer with the Shotgun Players of Ragnarok at John Hinkel Park a few summers back, whose co-founder Conrad Bishop is a Guild officer and the important contributions puppetry made to theater and opera (including Japanese Kabuki, puppet opera in 18th century France and the origins of modern theater with Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi), Randal Metz laughed and said, “Puppets can get away with anything! When I was ten and my parents were divorcing, puppetry became my way of being able to say what I wanted to say—and nobody ever knew it was me!” 

STORYBOOK PUPPET FAIR 

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Children’s Fairyland, 669 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. $7, age 1 and up. 238-6876. www.fairyland.org. (Saturday only: To see Bruce Sedley’s appearance, adults coming without children should call in advance: 452-2259. Fairyland rules normally prohibit entry of adults without children—and vice versa.)