Arts & Events

"CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S OVO," -- through Jan. 24. A lively rush into a world of insects and acrobatics. Written and directed by Deborah Colker. See website for times, dates and complete details. Performances take place under the "Grand Chapiteau'' at AT&T Park. -more-

AURORA THEATRE COMPANY -more-

"CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S OVO," -- through Jan. 24. A lively rush into a world of insects and acrobatics. Written and directed by Deborah Colker. See website for times, dates and complete details. Performances take place under the "Grand Chapiteau'' at AT&T Park. -more-

BOOKS INC., BERKELEY -more-

"CANDLESTICK PARK ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES FAIRE," -- Dec. 19. More than 500 booths of antiques and collectibles will be available to browse at this huge show. Event takes place in the parking lot at Candlestick Park, San Francisco. -more-

AUDIUM -more-

CAL PERFORMANCES All performances in Zellerbach Hall unless otherwise noted. -more-

924 GILMAN ST. All ages welcome. -more-

The mechanical age and the anxiety of industrial soceity gets a close examination with two new DVD releases from Kino and Criterion. The latest incarnation of Fritz Lang's Metropolis may very well be the last, as the film is now essentially about 95 percent complete. Kino's previous release was still missing about 45 minutes of footage, nearly a quarter of the original film. But after a near-complete print was finally unearthed in a Buenos Aries film archive, the 1927 silent-era masterpiece can be fully appreciated; the plot finally makes sense. -more-

Dedicated music lovers are clearly not deterred from attending concerts despite heavy winds and torrential rain. This accounts for the several hundred people who braved the elements last Sunday afternoon to fill the beautiful St. Joseph the Worker Church for a program of magnificent music presented by the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra. -more-

This Sunday at 3:30 is your last chance to see John Brown’s Truth, a production with a new art form, the improvisational opera. -more-

The tone of the Lemony Snicket novels is cynical, expectant of the impending catastrophe, snide, rude, and hilarious. Children revel in it, I hear. -more-

San Francisco has the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill and now the Big Apple has its own Big-screen Birdtacular — about the red-tailed hawks of Central Park West. The film’s titular predator is Pale Male (so-dubbed owing to his atypically light-colored plumage) and his story is told by Belgian-émigré-turned-NY shopkeeper-turned-filmmaker Frederic Lilien, who narrates the film with cornball sentimentality (“This is the story of a bird and a young man seeking their destiny in the greatest city on Earth.”) -more-

Becoming Julia is an extraordinarily well-acted biopic of Julia Morgan’s life and accomplishments played in the perfect setting of her “Little Castle” as -more-

The 20th Annual PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Awards will take place on Saturday, December 11, 2010, at the Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Avenue from 2 to 5 p.m. The ceremony, which will be followed by a reception and book signings, is free and open to the public. Former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata will be the keynote speaker. PEN Oakland, founded in 1989, is a chapter of PEN International, founded in 1921. Dubbed "the blue collar PEN" by the New York Times, PEN Oakland annually sponsors the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Book Awards, named for the late poet and faculty member of U.C. Berkeley's English Department. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the awards. 
 Each year PEN Oakland presents an award to outstanding book titles published in the previous year. -more-

ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO The Asian Art Museum-Chon-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture recently unveiled its new building in San Francisco's Civic Center. The building, the former San Francisco Public Library, has been completely retrofitted and rebuilt to house San Francisco's significant collection of Asian treasures. The museum offers complimentary audio tours of the museum's collection galleries. "In a New Light," ongoing. There are some 2,500 works displayed in the museum's new galleries. They cover all the major cultures of Asia and include Indian stone sculptures, intricately carved Chinese jades, Korean paintings, Tibetan thanksgas, Cambodian Buddhas, Islamic manuscripts and Japanese basketry and kimonos. -more-

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission. -more-

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission. -more-

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT OAKLAND ongoing. The Oakland Public Library's museum is designed to discover, preserve, interpret and share the cultural and historical experiences of African Americans in California and the West. In addition, a three-panel mural is on permanent display. -more-

"BERKELEY ARTISANS HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIOS," -- through Dec. 19. More than 100 artists and craftspeople will be showing their works, including glass, ceramics, furniture, photography, paintings, and much more. -more-

"BERKELEY ARTISANS HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIOS," -- through Dec. 19. More than 100 artists and craftspeople will be showing their works, including glass, ceramics, furniture, photography, paintings, and much more. -more-

"BERKELEY ARTISANS HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIOS," -- through Dec. 19. More than 100 artists and craftspeople will be showing their works, including glass, ceramics, furniture, photography, paintings, and much more. -more-

"CANDLESTICK PARK ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES FAIRE," -- Dec. 19. More than 500 booths of antiques and collectibles will be available to browse at this huge show. Event takes place in the parking lot at Candlestick Park, San Francisco. -more-

ASHKENAZ -more-