TUESDAY, OCT. 30 

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 Sobrante Ridge, Coach Drive. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Fall Fruit ‘n’ Fright at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market with pears, pomegranates and persimmons, a Pumpkin Carving Contest, Day of the Dead festivities, and Fall Fruit Pies by Mission Pies from 3 to 7 p.m. on Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Volunteer at Any Age” A Peace Corps Information Session at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 1-800-424-8580. www.peacecorps.gov 

“Quilombo” Performance and fundraiser for Kim McMillon’s play on the Diaspora at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. 836-4649. 

“Reincarnation and Buddhism” with Reverend Harry Bridge, Lodi Buddhist Temple from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. at Fulton St. Donation $20. 809-1460. 

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

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library. 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.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. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Ancestor Night “Quilombo Communities of Rio de Janeiro” with Robert King at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. 836-4649. 

Halloween Storytime and Costume Party for ages 3 to 8 at 3:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch, Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280.  

Halloween at Habitot A not-too-spooky event for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $6-$7. 647-1111. 

Howl-o-ween Celebration with tricks and treats, for dogs and humans from 5 to 6 p.m. at Ohlone Dog Park, Grant St. and Hearst Ave. Dress up your pup and bring them out to the ball! Treats for dogs and humans, costume pageant at 5:45 p.m. Sponsored by the Ohlone Dog Park Association. 845-4213. ohlonedogpark.org 

Studio One Art Center Annual Pumpkin Potluck with sharing of squash recipes and treat bags for youth, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 1428 Alice St., off 14th St. Costumes welcome. 597-5027. 

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium with Caroline Chen on Dancing in the Streets of Contemporary Beijing: improvised USes of Space” at 1 p.m. at Wurster Hall, Room 315A, UC Campus. All welcome. laep.ced. 

berkeley.edu/events/colloquium 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets 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. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

CodePink Halloween Protest at the Marine Recruiting Station, 64 Shattuck Square. Come in costume. 524-2776. 

THURSDAY, NOV. 1 

El Sabor de Fruitvale with a farmers’ market, bilingual storytelling with puppets, face painting, free books for children and information on community services from 3 to 7 p.m. at Fruitvale Village Plaza, 3411 East 12th St., Oakland. 535-6900. www.unitycouncil.org  

“Observations: The San Francisco Bay Area and its Built Environment” with author Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

Mario Savio Memorial Lecture: “From Jim Crow to Guantanamo: Prisons, Democracy and Empire” with Angela Davis, social activist and UC Santa Cruz professor at 7 p.m. at Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Free. 707-823-7293. 

“Last Man Out” with William Rodriguez, a janitor in the World Trade Center North Tower who was the last person to leave the tower before it fell on 9/11, at 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10. 650-857-0927. www.communitycurrency.org 

“A Little Bit of So Much Truth” A film on the 2006 popular uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $5-$10. Sponsored by the Task Force on the Americas. 415-924-3227. www.mitfamericas.org 

“Preventing Falls for 50+ Adults” Learn about changing behaviors, nutrition and medication management at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

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

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. namaste@avatar. 

freetoasthost.info  

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

FRIDAY, NOV. 2 

Fiesta de los Muertos A fundraiser for the Dolores Huerta Foundation with music and dancing at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $35. Costumes encouraged. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Berkeley Public Library West Branch Grand Re-Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1125 University Ave. with live music, storytelling and refreshments. 981-6278. 548-1240 (TTY). 

California Historical Society Piedmont Avenue Tour with Gary Holloway, Fri. at 10 a.m. Sat. at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. Cost is $20-$25. For reservations call 415-357-1848, ext. 229.  

“Before the Rainbow Flag: California’s Gay History” with Jim Van Buskirk, author and former director of the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the SF Main Library, at 7 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Dia de los Muertos Craft program and stories from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, NOV. 3 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of “Lower Codornices Creek” to explore the history of the creek area from early industry to WWII housing to recent restoration. Walk is from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. To register and for information on meeting place call 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/ 

Healthcare for All Kids A MomsRising.org Event with Assemblymembers Loni Hancock and Mark DeSaulnier. Activities for the whole family from 11 a.m. to noon at Live Oak Community Center, 1301 Shattuck. www.momsrising.org/healthcareforkids 

Councilmember Max Anderson’s Town Hall Meeting on public safety, youth services, health, education and opportunities in the communityfrom 9:30 a.m. to noon at South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. at Ashby. 981-7130. 

Alameda Literati Book Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with open mic all day at Al DeWitt O Club, 641 West Red Line Ave., Alameda Point, Alameda, at the former Naval Air Station at Alameda. 427-7974.  

Children’s Story Day at MOCHA Listen to “Snowflake Bentley” then make your own snowflake at 1 p.m. at The Museum of Children’s Art, 528 Ninth St., Oakland. Cost is $7. 465-8770. 

Samhain All Hallows Fundraiser with the Starlight Circle Players, art gallery, tarot readings, food and costumes contest, from 2 p.m. on at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar and Bonita. Tickets are $15-$35. 647-5268. www.starlightcircleplayers.com 

Political Affairs Readers Group “Immigration” A discussion led by David Bacon, at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by the Communist Party USA, Oakland Berkeley Branch. Articles available at www.politicalaffairs.com 

Sister Comrade An evening of words and music celebrating the lives of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker with Angela Davis and Linda Tillery at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$28. 528-3043. www.sistercomrade.com 

Ongoing Vocal Jazz Workshop Sat. from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Abany Community Center, 1249 Marin at the corner of Masonic, Albany. 524-6797. 

Central Stage Open House A space for dance, theater, music, film, yoga, meetings, and more, at 6 p.m. at 5221 Central Ave. #A-1, Richmond. Please RSVP to mtaeed@aol.com 

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.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, NOV. 4 

Cornucopia: A Celebration of Artistic and Cultural Diversity in West Berkeley A family event with live music, make-and-take art projects and market place, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Black Pine Circle School, 2016 7th St. Cost is $5, free for children under 10. www.balckpinecircle.org/cornucopia 

The 25th Anniversary of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Honoring attorney Marc Van Der Hout. International food and music from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Donations accepted. 540-5296. www.eastbaysanctuary.org 

Home Greywater Systems and EcoHouse Tour from 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m. in Berkeley. Cost is $15, sliding scale. Registration required. 548-2220., ext. 242. 

Drumming Workshop with Dror Sinai at 5 p.m. at Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Cost is $25-$35. For registration information call 547-2424, ext. 211. www.KehillaSynagogue.org 

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners gather to enjoy shows together at 5 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. For more information email DavidinBerkeley at Yahoo.com. 

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 Tom Meade on “Skillful Means in a Productive Enterprise” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Cost is $3 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

MONDAY, NOV. 5 

The Future of People’s Park A discussion of the assessment and planning study of People’s Park at 7 p.m. at Trinity Methodist Church, 2362 Bancroft Way. 643-5296. The report is available at http://communityrelations.berkeley.edu/mkthink_oct_2007_DRAFT_report.pdf 

The Jorde Symposium “Playing by the Rules in the Age of Terror” Professor Stephen Holmes will discuss how America misunderstands the terrorist threat and that the fight has been counterproductive to longstanding American values at 4 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 110, UC Campus. 642-7830. 

David Loeb on “Bay Nature” on the adventures of creating and sustaining the quarterly journal, at 7 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin, at Masonic. Free. 848 9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Johan Galtung on “The State of the World from a Mediator’s Perspective” at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Donation $15. 232-4493. www.uucb.org 

Progressive Democrats of the East Bay General Meeting on real healthcare reform at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. 601-6456. 

“Commonsense Pest Management in the Home and Garden” A presentation at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Teen Chess Club meets at 3:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6280. 

ONGOING 

Donate the Fruit From Your Fruit Trees We will gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, the homebound and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in or very near North Berkeley and the fruit should be organic (no pesticides) and edible. This is a volunteer/ 

grassroots thing so join in!! Please email northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com or 812-3369. 

Bay-Friendly Gardening Offers Discounted Compost Bins to Alameda County residents. In addition to the bins, they also offer free workshops, videos, brochures, and answers to your compost questions. To order a bin call the compost information hotline 444-7645. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5400.  

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419. 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6406.  

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., Nov. 5, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5510.

TUESDAY, OCT. 30 

THEATER 

“Quilombo” Performance and fundraiser for Kim McMillon’s play on the Diaspora at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. 836-4649.  

FILM 

“Alternative Requirements” Works by Bay Area students at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell on on Tuesdays Storytelling at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. www.juiamorgan.org 

“Blood and Belief: The Circulation of a Symbol Between Jews and Christians” with author David Biale at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

“Journey in Ancient Arabia” with photographer Mamade Kadreebux at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, UC Campus. Cost is $5. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

Don Lattin describes “Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

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

Randy Craig Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Bluesbox Bayou Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31 

FILM 

“The Last Man on Earth” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Amiri Baraka, founder of the Black Arts Movement, and winner of the American Book Award reads at 6:30 p.m. at 315 Wheeler Hall, the Maude Fife Room, UC Campus. http://holloway.english.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Frederica von Stade in a benefit for the Sophia House, at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway. www.oaklandcitycenter.com, www.sophiaproject.org 

Music for the Spirit Halloween Concert with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Erin Inglish & Joe Ridout at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $6. 841-JAZZ.  

Zabava!, Disciples of Markos, Yalazia at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Costumes welcome. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054.  

Orquestra Borinquen at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

The Soul Burners at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, NOV. 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Goya: The Disasters of War” An exhibition of prints by the Spanish artist opens at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, and runs through March 2. Cost is $3-$8. 642-0808. 

Photographs of Hill Tribe Women in Northern Thailand by Adrienne Miller opens at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6241. 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. 642-0808. 

FILM 

“Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad” about the people of Oaxaca, Mexico at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$20. 849-2568.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with Amiri Baraka at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137 

Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny on “Observations: The San Francisco Bay Area and its Built Environment” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242.  

Joshua Clover, D.A. Powell and Juliana Spahr read in celebration of the publication of “American Poets of the 21st Century: The New Poetics” at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Alan Williamson explores both Buddhism and Christianity in poems at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17.  

Lucy Jane Bledsoe reads from her new novel “Biting the Apple” at 7:30 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mud, The New Up, Phonofly, female-fronted rock, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054.  

Iva Bittova, fiddler and vocalist, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Roberta Picket Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

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

Superthief at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Kinsella, Thurs.-Sat. at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, NOV. 2 

THEATER 

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley”Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., through Nov. 17. Tickets are $10-$12. 841-5580.  

Altarena Playhouse “Morning’s at Seven” A family comedy by Paul Osborn Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre Company “Sex” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 9. Tickets are $28-$50. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Playhouse “Seussical, the Musical” Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 2 p.m., Sun. at 3 pm. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Dec. 2. Tickets are $18-$23. 665-5565. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org 

Central Works “Every Inch a King” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Nov. 18. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381.centralworks.org 

International Theater Ensemble A Propos of the Wet Snow” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Metal Shop Theatre, Willard Middle School, 2425 Stuart St. Tickets are $20-$30. 415-440-6163.  

Masquers Playhouse “Little Mary Sunshine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Women’s Will “Antigone” Fri.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. between Telegraph and Shattuck, Oakland, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $15-$25 sliding scale. 420-0813. www.womenswill.org 

Youth Musical Theater Company “Man of La Mancha” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 and 8 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $8-$15. 595-5514. info@ymtcberkeley.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Fiber Devotion” Joell Jones, soft sculpture, and Jeanne Jabbour, stitched drawings, on All Souls’ Day in honor of Día de los Muertos from 6 to 10 p.m. at 447 Twenty-fifth St., Oakland. www.oakopolis.org 

“The Edge of Reality” Abstract paintings by Juanita Hagberg. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at The Gallery, Lavezzo Designs, 5751 Horton St., Emeryville. Exhibition runs to Nov. 30. 643-0553. 

“Four Masters of Origami” Works by Robert Lang, Bernie Peyton, Linda Mihara, and Peter Engel. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at K Gallery, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. 865-5062. 

“Push Rewind: Maafa 2007” Closing reception at 6 p.m. at Inquiry Gallery, 2865 Broadway, Unit 2, Oakland. 641-715-3900, ext. 36800. 

The Puerto Rican Diaspora Documentary Project Works by Frank Espada. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Photography Gallery, 406 14th St., lower level, Oakland. 465-8928. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys Gallery talk with Aida Gomes on Dias de los Muertos at 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. Free for teachers. 238-2022.  

Sam Keen describes “Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Babtunde Lea’s “Summoning of the Ghost” Tribute to Miles, Cannon and Trane at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

“Side by Side” Performances by Anne Bluethenthal & Dancers, Dandelion Dancetheater, Deep Water Dance Theater, Facing East Dance & Music, and others, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. 925-798-1300.  

La Familia Son at 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

Illustrio, trio of clarinet, viola, and piano, at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Donation of $15 requested. 

Keni el Lebrijano, guitarist at 7:30 p.m. at 6 Degrees on Solano, 1403 Solano Ave. Albany. Free, but reservations recommended. 528-1237. 

Stompy Jones, East Coast swing, lindy-hop, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  

Lucy Kaplansky at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Stella Royale and Padraic Finbar Hagerty-Hammond at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Morning Line at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Inspector Double Negative, Missing Link, The Harvey Cartel at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Kinsella, Fri. and Sat. at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Femi at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$15. 548-1159.  

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, NOV. 3 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Betsy Rose, songs to celebrate the fall season, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. 

Duo Amaranto, folk music in Spanish and English, at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Works of a Year in Mexico” Paintings by Juana Alicia. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. 465-8928.  

“Disappearing Honey Bees” a Day of the Dead Altar by Margo Rivera-Weiss. Reception with the artist at 1 p.m. at the San Pablo Gallery, 13831 San Pablo Ave., Maple Hall, Civic Center, San Pablo.  

THEATER 

“A Shirtwaist Tale” on American labor history, at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $15-$20. 848-0237, ext. 3.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Cheers to Muses Reading, contemporary works by Asian American women, at 3 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Poetry Flash with Kirmen Uribe, Elizabeth Maclin, and John Felstiner at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Jamie Myrick portrays Zora Neale Hurston, author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6275. 

Bay Area Poets Coalition open reading and contest from 3 to 5 p.m. at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street. 527-9905.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Russian Romance” with Maria Mikheyenko, soprano, Dmitri Anissimov, tenor, Alexander Katsman, piano, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. at Durant and Bancroft. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Royal Dance” with Marion Verbruggen, recorder, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400.  

Volti “Adventures in Life, Love, and Longing” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way.Tickets are $8-$20. 415-771-3352.  

Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Fall Concert at 8 p.m. at Valley Center for the Performing Arts at Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are$12-$15. 849-9776. www.ypsomusic.net 

Sister Comrade An evening of words and music celebrating the lives of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$28. 528-3043. www.sistercomrade.com 

Works in the Works, a low-tech performance series for artists to show newl works Sat. and Sun. at 7:30 p.m. at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Tickets are $10. 527-5115. 

World Flute Fest from 1 to 5 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Donations accepted. 542-7517.  

Irvin Mayfield and The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988.  

“Nosotras” with Lichi Fuentes, Rosa Los Santos, Fernanda Bustamante, Gabriela Shiroma, and others, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mr. Lonesome & the Bluebelles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Caribbean Allstars, Renee Asteria at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Galaxy Band at 6:30 p.m. at Allegro Ballroom, 5855 Christie Ave., Emeryville. Cost is $5-$15. 655-2888.  

Sotaque Baiano, Brazilian, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Amy X Neuberg & her Cello ChiXtet at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Margie Baker & Friends at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $112-$15. 845-5373.  

Zoe Ellis with Maya Kronfeld at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

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

John Howland Trio, Joel Streeter, Junior League at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 4 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Five Magpies” Works by Priscilla Birge, Barbara Hazard, Joanna Katz, Diane Rusnak and Sarah Whitecotton. Opening reception at 2 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Exhibition runs to Dec. 2. www.giorgigallery.com 

Thangka Painting Demonstration with Rinzing Gyaltsen Yongewa at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Part of the exhibition Pparting the Curtain: Asian Art Revealed.” 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz introduces her new book “The Color of Jews: Racial Politics & Radical Diasporism” at 4 p.m. at Cafe Leila, 1724 San Pablo Ave., corner Francisco. Donation $10. bayareawomeninblack@yahoo.com 

Daniel Lyons, who started the blog “The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs” reads from his new book “Option$” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra Fall Family Concert at noon at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. www.juliamorgan.org 

Shoko Hikage and Yoko Hirano-Itatani, koto, at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $10-$15. 845-1350. 

Young People’s Chamber Orchestra Autumn Harvest Concert at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $1-$5. 595-4688. www.ypco.org  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Royal Dance” with Marion Verbruggen, recorder, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Oakland Civic Orchestra at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland. 238-7275. 

Per Tengstrand and Shan-Shan Sun, pianists, at 4 p.m. at Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $30-$40. 601-7919.  

Oakland Lyric Opera “An Afternoon of Russian Romance” at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $18-$20. 836-6772.  

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988.  

Live Oak Concert with William Beatty, piano, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10. 644-6893.  

“Desert Roots” World Beat Music with Dror Sinai, Rachel Valfer & Eliyahu Sills at 7:30 p.m. at Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20. 547-2424, ext. 211. 

Emeryville Taiko 10th Anniversary Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $25. 925-798-1300. 

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

Beep! The Michael Coleman Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Trance Zen Dance at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com

We know so much about the deportation and death of Polish Jews in the Holocaust, but so little about life in the shtetl before the genocide. The exhibition of his paintings, currently on view at the Magnes Museum displays 65 pictures by an artist who has documented the joys and sorrows of daily life in the shtetl.  

Mayer Kirschenblatt has drawn on an amazing memory to tell the story. Mayer left the small town of Opatow (pronounced Apt in Yiddish) in 1934, when he was 17 and emigrated to Canada in search of a better life. In Toronto he became a house painter and eventually opened a small paint and wallpaper business.  

At age 59 he fell ill, retired and began telling his stories to his daughter, Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblet, an anthropologist and professor of Jewish Studies at NYU. She had seen some still-lifes her father had painted on a vacation in Florida, detected some talent and encouraged him to paint. On his 50th wedding anniversary in 1990 he began to paint a historic narrative, documenting all aspects of life in his hometown as he remembered it.  

Four hundred paintings and the story of the place has been published as They Call Me Mayer July by the University of California Press and serves as the catalogue of the show of 65 paintings at the Magnes. 

We see births and deaths, weddings and bar mitzvahs, holiday celebrations and burials, children playing and going to school, men praying in their prayer shawls. We see the butcher, the chimney sweep, the blacksmith, the water carrier, the bagel seller, musicians and the fellow called “The Human Fly,” who liked to climb the wall of buildings. We wonder how he was able to remember it all and how he was able to paint so convincingly.  

His style, related to folk art, used to be called “primitive” by art historians and critics. It is simply work by a self-taught painter, now often referred to as “outsider art.”  

When Mayer came to the opening of his show in Berkeley, I had occasion to ask him about his sources. He spoke with admiration of Chagall, and, indeed, there is a resemblance to pictures Chagall produced during his return to Russia in World War I. Chagall, however, was trained as a painter in St. Petersburg, absorbed the lessons of Cubism in Paris, and purposely worked in a more naive style back in Russia.  

Mayer certainly lacks the sense of color and composition we find in an artist like Chagall. Mayer also knew the photographs of the ghettoes by the Russian photographer Roman Vishniac, and he was also familiar with the renowned Yiddish writers Sholem Aleichem and Isaac Loeb Peretz, who wrote with such humor and understanding about life and culture in the Jewish shtetl, where the Jews often outnumbered the gentiles, who always saw them as “The Other” while the Jews looked at the Poles as the outsiders. 

As one would expect, not all the paintings are of equal interest or aesthetic quality. Some, in fact, are rather awkward, which is part of their appeal. I was particularly delighted with “Purim Play: The Krakow Wedding” (circa 1994). Purim celebrates the delivery of the Jews from Persian massacre. It is a holiday which often includes theatricals about Mordecai and Esther. In Mayer’s paintings we see itinerant actors with Napoleonic hats and a small band of musicians at work. And there are the kids—including Mayer himself looking into the window of the more prosperous folks who could afford to hire the actors and music players. “Exit Hamburg, 1934” (1997) shows a large picture of Hitler and a Nazi woman examining the papers of a traveler at the Humburg (sic) American Ship Lines. This is how the artist remembered his exit from Europe. This was 1934 and he remembers that “we did not personally experience anti-Semitism.” They left before it was too late. 

Forty-seven members of his family who had remained in Poland were killed by the Nazis.  

Mayer, his mother and his siblings went on their “cold and stormy crossing,” and they must have been among all the people sitting in straight chairs on the bow of the ocean liner in “Ice Fields: Arriving in Canadian Waters.” We see members of the crew, pushing chunks of ice off the prow. The Mayers took the train from Halifax to Toronto, where many years later Mayer related the reveries of his childhood world in word and picture. 

Image:  

Mayer Kirschenblatt’s Purim Play: The Kraków Wedding (circa 1994, acrylic on canvas).  

THEY CALLED ME MAYER JULY: PAINTED MEMORIES OF A JEWISH CHILDHOOD IN POLAND BEFORE THE HOLOCAUST 

Through Jan. 13 at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St., Berkeley. 549-6950. www.magnes.org.

Mankind’s Last Hope, Virago Theatre’s burlesque futuristic sitcom, through this weekend at Alameda’s Rhythmix Cultural Center near the Park Street Bridge, is the perfect antidote to the overcommercialization of Halloween.  

It has crazy costumes and makeup, exuberant alien bosses and eccentric, downtrodden human “craft workers,” with live and taped spoof commercials (some featuring Alameda businesses) and a general air of putting on issues serious and trivial. 

Directed by Robert Lundy-Paine, this original staged teleplay, written by Dan Brodnitz and Jeff Green, includes credits framing each of the three episodes and a loopy theme song about how The Horde invades earth in 2040, most humans dying, the rest enslaved to whittle or fashion inspirational greeting cards for Earth Industries in a New Galactic Economic Order.  

It makes Star Trek seem like the future on Prozak. But there is a human underground, somewhere, a resistance to the overly friendly, menacing but too jocular, insect-like task masters of The Horde, more grotesquely human than their sadsack slave charges, who whittle away with switchblades or spellcheck, always afraid of being eaten. 

With the enormous alien femininity of Jiggy (Angela Dant), Horde supervisor of a human work crew, and her turgid affair with the even more enormous (but never seen, though heard) “cool” Xanthor, splendidly deadpan Chloe Bronzan is introduced as “hairless monkey Bright Eyes,” nude and bound in straps, to be introduced into the crew, perhaps as breeding material.  

But she comes out of solitary in The Box as take-charge Alex, cool herself in camouflage and suspiciously speaking Horde like a nonhuman. Soon, with the eating of crewleader Burt (Tony Jonick), she’s given the job of managing her hokey human confreres: buff but puerile Hank (Kenneth Sears), grim Spencer (James Colgan) with eyepatch and blade, and ditzy (but lovable) screw-up Wally (Alex Goldenberg), who’s been given a tail, then a third nipple, secreting poisonous milk, with which he hopes to poison Xanthor, in a misguided blow for human freedom. 

But the proceedings are jovial as well as edgy, with a doo-wop number when Hank bemoans the demise of his balloon animal pet, beloved Snakey; a weird puppet show, to cheer the sentimental humans up and improve morale; and a very funny tango between Horde master Bongar (Linda-Ruth Cardozo) and unctuous human slave Wortle (Molly M. Holcomb) while scheming against his/her own kind. Hannah Gustaffson plays a young Hordette with humor and quizzical charm, presiding over The Box. 

This kind of put-on demands good acting to rise above the kitsch it spoofs, and the ensemble proves up to it with Lundy-Paine’s direction. The comic timing is fine, and neither Sci-Fi freaks nor those indifferent to the planet’s imaginary fate(s) will be bored or displeased. 

MANKIND’S LAST HOPE 

Presented by Virago Theatre at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 4 at the Rhythmix Cultural Center, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda.  

$12-$17. www.viragotheatre.org.

All Hallows, All Saints, All Souls, Samhain, Todos Santos, Dia de los Muertes ... by any other name, to us, Halloween and the cluster of celebrations around the old Celtic lunar new year after harvest, adopted by the Christian Church as holidays.  

Until recently, Halloween in particular has been mostly a North American affair, at least in modern times—a children’s holiday, and a night for imaginations (and behavior) to run riot ... carnavalesque, for northern cultures which lack that tradition. 

Lately, there’s been both controversy and mayhem, both reactions missing or exaggerating the purpose of the holiday, captured by Berkeley Renaissance poet Robin Blaser: “so eerie: ‘must get rid of Halloween—/it’s pagan,’ say these clowns of/tailor-made, cardboard transcendence,/ignorant of All hallows coming up,/deaf to this laughter with the ultimate ...” 

But in between the tailor-made consumer extravaganza of Halloween superstores and the suppressed blow-out of the Castro, the Bay Area offers a few appropriate ways to celebrate, whether en famille or as adults—or adults only. 

Though much of the action passed with last weekend, Halloween, All Saints and the next few days will see a few unique events.  

• On Halloween itself, 7 p.m. in San Francisco’s Union Square, Larry Reed’s Shadowlight Productions will present, for free, Greek shadowmaster Leonidas Kassipides, himself the grandson of a shadow puppeteer. He will be performing The Metamorphosis of Karaghiozis, with live clarinet, strings and dumbek, the comic adventures of a popular hero of the period Greece was dominated by the Ottoman empire. 

• Closer to home, Ashkenaz complements the theme with a Balkan Halloween, featuring Greek folk music and Rebetika by the Disciples of Markos and Yalozis, at 8 p.m. ($10 with costume, $12 without). 

• The silver screen, which spread spookiness, as well as gross horror, around the globe, will feature “a deadpan feast of the undead” at the Pacific Film Archive, with The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price, at 7:30 p.m., and Murnau’s great silent masterpiece of darkness and light, Faust, with musical accompaniment by brilliant Dutch jazz and comedy orchestra the Willem Breuker Kollektif at the Palace of Fine Arts for the SF Jazz Festival at 8 p.m. ($10-20). 

• Truly carnavalesque will be “Frightmare on 8th Street,” Cherie Carson’s aerial dance performance, when “creatures of the night crawl, fly, float, hover.” The show is at Studio 12, 2525 Eighth St., 7 p.m. on Halloween and Nov. 2-3 ($5-13, call 587-0770 or see www.movingout.org). 

• Creaturely, but in reverse: a Pet Masquerade Party (and contest), 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at 151 Vermont, Ste. 9, in San Francisco (415) 241-9176.  

• Helen Adams’ All Souls Eve will feature a celebration of the late, fey Scottish poet, who was closely associated with Berkeley and San Francisco Renaissance poets Jack Spicer, Robin Blaser and Robert Duncan, with performances of her eerie, funny modern ballads and her (and her sister Pat’s) ballad opera, “San Francisco’s Burning” (1960). Composer Warren Jepson and many others, including poets Michael McClure and Diane DiPrima, will appear for the publication of A Helen Adam Reader, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Unitarian Center, Franklin at Geary in San Francisco ($5; info on the Poetry Center’s website, www.sfsu.edu/poetry). 

• On stage Thursday and Friday, The Hypnodrome in San Francisco will feature plays drawn from the original repertoire of Parisian Belle Epoche Grand Guignol ($20; $69 for the Shock Box, (800) 838-3006). In Alameda, Virago Theatre Company stages Mankind’s last Hope and popular Teatro Zinzanni goes ZinZombie on Halloween with a masquerade ball in their tent on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. 

• Berkeley’s Starlight Circle Players hold their second annual Samhain Allhallows Concert fundraiser, with a plethora of bands (including The Questionably Sane), with masquerade, tarot, art and “taverna treats by the pyrate chefs of Drunken Dragon Inn,” Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Fellowship of Unitarians, at Cedar and Bonita ($15-35, volunteers free, www.starlightcircleplayers@yahoo.com).  

• Though the Dia de los Muertes festival was last weekend in Fruitvale, Oakland’s Chapel of the Chimes has a community altar by artist Patti Goldstein through Nov. 6; families are invited to place offerings. 4499 Piedmont Ave., 9-5 p.m.  

• For a quieter alternative, African-American poet and playwright Amiri Baraka will read at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Wheeler Hall, on the UC campus, and perform next week with the Chicago Arts Ensemble’s Roscoe Mitchell at San Francisco’s Victoria Theatre (see the Poetry Center Website, above).  

A Halloween connection? Baraka, writing as LeRoy Jones, in his famous “In Memory of Radio,” eulogizing Orson Welles’ broadcast character: “Who has ever stopped to think of the divinity of Lamont Cranston?/Only Jack Kerouac, that I know of, and me ... ‘Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.’/O, yes he does/O, yes he does/An evil word it is,/This Love.” 

A long-awaited, much-needed, and up-to-date guide to the great and representative buildings and architectural history of the Bay Area debuts this month.  

An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area is authored by Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny, in conjunction with a dozen contributing authors and photographers.  

Cerny speaks in Berkeley this Thursday evening as part of a Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) lecture series.  

Her talk is entitled “Observations: The San Francisco Bay Area and Its Built Environment,” drawing on the stories told in the book and the experience of researching and writing it. Books will be available for sale, with a discount for BAHA members. The book, published by Gibbs-Smith, retails for $29.95. 

Locals will recognize Cerny’s name from her two editions of Berkeley Landmarks, the scores of articles she has authored about Berkeley buildings and history, and her decades of selfless service to the cause of historic preservation. She’s a Bay Area native, with deep family roots in the region. 

The architecture of the Bay Area ranges from 18th-century Spanish missions to modern airport terminals. Imported and homegrown architectural styles, natural disasters, human interventions from railroads to war to the silicon chip, and a unique regional geography and climate have combined to create a wonderful and complex mix of buildings, spaces, and places. 

The guide is organized geographically by county, with individual cities, districts, and structures profiled. The writers went into the field with notebook and camera as well as consulting an array of historical documents, surveys, and local experts.  

Each building is identified by year of construction and designer (where known), followed by a few sentences of history, context, and notable design features. Black and white photographs of many of the structures are included. 

Neighborhood patterns are profiled, and the entries provide useful hints for spotting structures that enrich the context, such as San Francisco buildings that may not be architecturally preeminent but survived the 1906 earthquake and fire and illustrate earlier patterns of design or development. 

If you have an omnivorous historical appetite, the brevity of the entries can sometimes be frustrating, but one appreciates the challenges of putting together a book like this. Essential basics can be included, but there’s not room for exhaustive histories or extremely detailed design descriptions.  

Architecturally, the most prominent local communities such as San Francisco and Berkeley have been well covered by previous guides (including two written by Cerny) and published architectural histories. However, many smaller or less visible Bay Area towns, cities, and neighborhoods have been overlooked. 

This book, with more than 500 pages of text and over 2,000 individual entries, rectifies the imbalance and provides a regional perspective, addressing not just the older city centers but the suburbs, and profiling their major edifices and representative structures from cattle ranching days to Gold Rush to dot-com boom. 

In the Bay Area, understanding a mid-century Eichler subdivision or a South Bay R & D office park is as important to an appreciation of regional history and development patterns as admiring the Palace of Fine Arts or a pristine row of Victorian beauties. This guide thoroughly surveys the spectrum of local history and architecture. 

Refreshingly, it avoids a failing of some other architectural guidebooks. That’s the tendency of authors, often architects or critics, to turn a guide into a showcase of their personal preferences. 

For example, some San Francisco guidebooks written in the streamlined ‘30s fairly dripped with scorn at those horrible, out-of-date, Victorian houses, while others from the 1960s tout the virtues of particular Modern era buildings that, from 21st-century hindsight, are pretty mundane.  

In contrast, Cerny and her co-authors appear to have come to this project not as cheerleaders for design from any particular era, but from backgrounds as community and architectural historians with a thoughtful appreciation of past and present. 

They brought a catholic sensibility to their writing and selection of projects, respectfully showing the whole panorama of Bay Area architectural history and urban development. 

Quite a number of recent/contemporary buildings are indeed appropriately included, but they are thoughtfully treated without genuflection at the ephemeral altars of the “starchitect.”  

For example, the brief write-up on the new De Young Museum building gives a fair and matter-of-fact overview of both its virtues and shortcomings. 

An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area is easy to use, the maps relate well to the descriptions, and the index is clear and (from my brief perusal) seems accurate.  

There’s also a chronological, illustrated, guide to regional architectural styles and trends.  

If you’re at all interested in the architecture and history of the Bay Area, this will be an indispensable reference to own. I may, in fact, get two copies; one for home, and one that stays in the car, so that on trips through the Bay Area, quick answers to “what building is that?” can finally be found. 

AN ARCHITECTURAL  

GUIDEBOOK TO SAN FRANCISCO AND THE BAY AREA 

By Susan Dinkelspiel Cerny 

Gibbs-Smith, $29.95. 

Susan Cerny speaks at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Refreshments and book-signing follow across the street at Berkeley Architectural Heritage’s colonial revival mansion, the McCreary-Greer House. 

Tickets are $15. Call BAHA at 841-2242, or check the www.berkeleyheritage.com website for more details. 

Cerny’s lecture will be followed at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 11, by the third and final talk in a BAHA series featuring local authors and historical topics. 

Mark A. Wilson, author of the newly published Julia Morgan, Architect of Beauty (Gibbs-Smith, 2007) speaks on “Julia Morgan: her Unique Place in American Architecture” at the Seldon Williams House (Julia Morgan, architect, 1928), in Berkeley's Claremont Court neighborhood. 

A reception and book-signing will follow. The talk provides an opportunity to visit one of Julia Morgan's most beautiful private homes. The cost is $25 per person. Reservations for the Wilson event may be made by sending a check, payable to BAHA, and a return envelope to: BAHA, P.O. Box 1137, Berkeley, CA 94701.