Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:59:00 AM

THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 -more-


Impact Theater’s ‘See How We Are’ at La Val’s

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:55:00 AM

The basement theater at La Val’s on the north side of campus is stark white, chairs painted white stand or hang at most of the corners, and a big white table is planted on its side, facing out, at another. Two white uniformed young men lie dead against the upended tabletop, while a disconsolate young woman in white sits nearby. -more-


‘This World in a Woman’s Hand’ At Shotgun Players’ Ashby Theater

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:56:00 AM

Wrapped around three inside walls of the Ashby Stage, once a church fashioned out of a quonset hut, scaffolding becomes a set, stretching beyond the stage, giving the audience a sense of witnessing a spectacle in a shipyard, an industrial pageant—just the tone for Marcus Gardley’s This World in a Woman’s Hands, commisioned and produced by Shotgun Players, a kind of lyrical epic of the women of all colors, from all over the country, who built the Liberty and Victory ships launched from Richmond during the Second World War, Rosie the Riveters of legend. -more-


Alumni Celebrate Antioch College Independence

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:58:00 AM

Bay Area alumni of Antioch College and those concerned with Antioch’s future will celebrate this Saturday evening at the Brower Center in downtown Berkeley last week’s signing of documents separating the College from Antioch University, creating a newly independent college on the original campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which was closed in June 2008. -more-


The World as You Have Not Yet Seen It

By Celeste Connor, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 10:01:00 AM

If you’ve been lamenting the crummy prizes in your crackerjack boxes lately, I’m sending you immediately to see Bedri Baykam’s show at Alphonse Berber Gallery on Bancroft Avenue in Berkeley. Here you’ll see the very latest cool gimmick in art. And imagine! It’s not even Made-in-the-USA! Artists have complained since the dawn of Modernism that “everyone’s looking for a gimmick.” Baykam has rediscovered the hook and charm of the original crackerjack-box mini 4-D images that, in the 1940s (a much less visually overstimulated age) fascinated the recipient of the delightful prize inside. -more-


SoVoSo: The East Bay’s Winning A Cappella Group At First Unitarian

By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:59:00 AM

SunshineBecker, a 14-year veteran of SoVoSo, talked about the group and its new lineup for Friday’s show. -more-


No-Impact Man: A Review and an Experiment

By Gar Smith, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 10:01:00 AM

Like cyber-chef Julie Powell in the movie Julie and Julia, Colin Beavan has followed the blog-book-flick path to fame. His blog about trying to live a “no Impact” lifestyle in the midst of Manhattan spawned a book, a website (NoImpactMan.com) and a documentary. (No Impact Man, opens in the Bay Area on Sept. 18.) -more-


Downhome Music at Its Best: Freight & Salvage

By Jane Stillwater, Special to the Planet
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 10:02:00 AM

“I’m about to go off to the grand opening of the fancy new Freight and Salvage folk music coffee house,” I told my son Joe, “but I seriously doubt that it will be as good as the original old funky Freight was back in 1972.” Remember the old Freight and Salvage? Legendary! -more-


2009 Berkeley Film and Video and Festival

Monday September 21, 2009 - 02:57:00 PM

The annual Berkeley Film and Video and Festival returns this year with yet another eclectic program of independent cinema. -more-


Pacific Film Archive Celebrates Internat’l Home Movie Day

Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:57:00 AM

Got old family footage you’d like to see on the big screen? Once again, Pacific Film Archive is participating in the international celebration of Home Movie Day, inviting patrons to drop off their old films by Sept. 25 for consideration for screening on Oct. 17. Bring in your home movies, in 8mm, Super-8mm and 16mm formats, and PFA will include as many as possible in the screening, where participants are invited to share their films and memories. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: The Circuitous Career of Berkeley’s Favorite Undertaker

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:43:00 AM
The Hull & Durgin mortuary building at 3051 Adeline St. was designed in 1923 by Hutchison & Mills.

On the morning of Feb. 1, 1895, a Berkeley carpenter by the name of A.E. Spaulding entered Stricker’s cigar store at 2132 Shattuck Ave. Laying a bundle of medications on the counter, he announced that he wished to leave it there. Then he walked to the rear of Durgin & Bleakley, a furniture and undertaking establishment at 2129 Center St. Leaning against a barn, Spaulding shot himself through the heart with a 38-caliber revolver. -more-


About the House: Mother Nature and Our Best Laid Plans

By Matt Cantor
Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:40:00 AM

It always amazes me how nature manages to foil our best laid plans. Nothing is predictable, even the ground we build our houses on. And I’m not just talking about faults or landslides. -more-


Community Calendar

Thursday September 17, 2009 - 09:39:00 AM

THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 -more-