October 16, 2002

8 Days a Week

Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2002

ONE OF PROLIFIC artist Faith Ringgold's most stirring works is We Came to America, a 1997 piece created in her distinctive "story quilt" style that depicts a ship on fire in the background, an African American Lady Liberty cradling a baby in the foreground, and a sea filled with freed slaves swimming to shore. The work was inspired by James Baldwin's take on race relations in America, The Fire Next Time, written in 1963 but still resonant today. Given that these two works are used as source material, The Quilt Project: Pieces of Me will make for memorable, powerful viewing. Various aspects of African American culture, history, community, and artistic traditions shape this collaborative performance, which boasts the high-caliber talents of choreographers Laura Elaine Ellis, Aisha Jenkins, Robert Henry Johnson, and Robert Moses, plus a company of eight dancers. Completing the bill are spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and composer Wayne Wallace (who created Pieces of Me's original, jazz- and African music-influenced score) and his ensemble. Ringgold gives a slide lecture titled "More than 30 Years Making Art" at Stanford University Fri/1 and appears at ODC Theater Sat/2 for a free discussion. Through Nov. 10. Previews Thurs/31, 8 p.m. ($10). Runs Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m. (discussion with Ringgold, Sat/2, 2 p.m., free), ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. $20. (415) 863-9834, www.odctheater.org. (Ringgold also appears Fri/1, 5 p.m., Stanford University, Annenburg Auditorium, Palo Alto. $5. 650-725-6739). (Cheryl Eddy)

Oct. 30

Wednesday

Skeleton groove Veteran Los Angeles folklorico company Danza Floricanto celebrates Mexican and Mexican American heritage at an All Soul's Day and Día de los Muertos performance. Led by artistic director Gema Sandoval, the troupe is noted for its authentic, colorful traditional dances, as well as its series of themed works that use dance, music, and theater to explore California history, labor activism, contemporary Los Angeles, and other topics. Today, presented by Dance for Power, the group pulls out all the stops for the holidays, staging an energetic tribute to the deceased with processionals, altars, dancing to folk tunes and contemporary Latin hits, and more. 10 a.m. and noon, Calvin Simmons Theatre, Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, 10 10th St., Oakl. $8-$12. (510) 465-9312. (Cheryl Eddy)

Oct. 31

Thursday

I scream, you scream If you think about it, Berkeley's Fine Arts Cinema is the perfect place to catch a scary movie on Halloween – after all, the theater itself rose from the grave, so to speak, shuttering briefly only to reopen, with reconstruction plans postponed till January 2003. A rock-solid doubleheader by the great John Carpenter (still a horror god, though many disagreed with my gleeful reception of last year's Ghosts of Mars) unspools to scare the yell out of brave viewers: a new print of 1978's Halloween, the first and best slasher movie, which introduced Jamie Lee Curtis to the world and features a memorable performance by the late, great Donald Pleasence, and 1982's The Thing, a remake – now available in video game format – that injects plenty of gore into the 1951 alien-menace-in-a-frozen-outpost original. Evil clown and/or Wilford Brimley costumes optional. Through Nov. 6. Halloween, 7:30 p.m.; The Thing, 9:20 p.m. (also Sun/3, 5:20 p.m.), Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck, Berk. $4-$9. (510) 848-1143, www.fineartscinema.com. (Eddy)

Nov. 1

Friday

Back to the future Ahh, the usual. Nothing is so completely boring as the usual, one-genre club night with a tired DJ set from somebody flogging their latest, tired compilation. Leave it to the crew at Future Shock to deliver a post-Halloween treat in the form of a live appearance by the splendid Metro Area. Their just-released, self-titled album on Environ is a carefully crafted work of studio excellence spiced with funk and seasoned with striking emotion. Expect residents Monty Luke, Mike Bee, Travis, and special guest Solar (Pacific Sound) to represent with whatever it takes to keep the groove good. 10 p.m.-4 a.m., Club Six, 66 Sixth St., S.F. $10. (Peter Nicholson)

Blow chunks Back to wreak havoc on the queasy, the annual 'Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation' drops anchor in the Bay Area for a series of screenings at various theaters through the end of the year. Your admission ticket also includes a souvenir barf bag, which may or may not come in handy, depending on the timing of your last meal and your tolerance for nasty-ass cartoon violence. A dominant presence in this year's fest is San Francisco's own Mondo Media, with five installments of its popular Internet series "Happy Tree Friends." The minute-long, brightly colored clips focus on a cast of too-cute, simpleminded critters, bearing twee names like "Sniffles" and "Giggles," who are doomed each episode to face gruesome deaths, à la South Park's Kenny. This year's "Sick and Twisted" program also features new shorts from England's Aardman Animation and artist Bill Plympton. Nov. 1-14, Galaxy Theater, 1298 Sutter, S.F., (415) 474-8700; Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand, Oakl., (510) 452-3556; and Oaks Theater, 1875 Solano, Berk., (510) 526-1836. Call theaters for show times and prices. Go to www.spikeandmike.com for program and additional theater information. (Eddy)

Weekend warriors While Detroit makes all the headlines lately, nearby college town Ann Arbor, Mich., has been carving out its own musical niche for years – thanks in no small part to resident renaissance man Fred Thomas (His Name Is Alive, Flashpapr, Ida, etc.). With his latest retro-pop project, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Thomas and co. come off like long-lost Motown legends as they churn out the sort of '60s-style, sugary sweet songs that'd make Barry Gordy nostalgic for the good ol' days. Not that they aren't headed for their own Hitsville USA: the band recently met with the same guy who discovered Madonna, so catch 'em on their first U.S. tour before they go megaplatinum and start charging $250 for concert tix. SLGTM play first on a bill that includes Saves the Day and Ash. 7 p.m., Galleria Design Center, 101 Henry Adams, S.F. $15. (415) 522-0333. (Jimmy Draper)

Please that booty Dancing shoes are strongly recommended for all attendees of Festa da Bunda II, back with a bang after its successful first incarnation in March. All things Brazilian take center stage here, with music by Bat Makumba – noted for their ability to mesh traditional and contemporary Brazilian styles with rockin' results – and DJ SpinCycle, a performance by KidoiDancers, and an impromptu percussion jam session. Dancer Mirjam Krohne teaches "Bundology 101," which – when you consider "bunda" pretty much means "booty" in Portugese – should be a valuable tool for wallflowers who dream of rump-shaking dance-floor domination. 8:30 p.m., Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo, Berk. $12. (415) 409-4212, festadabunda@hotmail.com. (Eddy)

Nov. 2

Saturday

Dead men walking Howlin' Wolf, Woody Guthrie, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Joseph Spence seem a lot closer to the roots of Grateful Dead music than Irish and Scottish legends Johnny Doran, Sean O Riada, and Scott Skinner. But Wake the Dead honors the iconic granddaddy of jam bands by interpreting classic Garcia-Hunter-Weir material through a Celtic prism of glorious harmony vocals that emerge from an acoustic mix of harp, fiddle, mandolin, uilleann pipes, whistle, guitar, bass, and percussion. Often, the seven-piece "Uncle Sean's Band" resurrects a Dead staple, such as "Scarlet Begonias," "The Other One," "U.S. Blues," or "Ripple," in conjunction with reels, jigs, airs, and fiddle tunes. All of the above and more can be found on their brand new self-titled CD, being celebrated this evening. 8 p.m., Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 1111 Addison, Berk. $17.50. (510) 548-1761. (Derk Richardson)

Out and about For an opportunity to talk politics with the trailblazers of queer periodicals, come to 'First Time in Print!,' a panel about the "queering" of underground media. Panelists include Don Lucas, Phyllis Lyon, and Del Martin, all of whom were writing against the grain decades before Stonewall. Lucas cofounded the Mattachine Society, which pioneered gay radicalism in 1950. In the same vein, Lyon and Martin spearheaded the Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian organization that predates others of its kind. For queerness of the San Francisco strain, expect a few pearls of wisdom from Bob Ross, publisher of the Bay Area Reporter. You'll get some time to schmooze after the panel, so bring questions. 1 p.m., San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin, S.F. Free. (415) 777-5455, ext. 1. (Rachel Swan)

Nov. 3

Sunday

In your backyard If the disparities of modern urban life are getting you down, join radical theorist Mike Davis as he talks about Dead Cities (New Press), a collection of essays examining white flight, job discrimination, housing segregation, and the global and environmental impacts of city landscapes. Davis, a MacArthur fellow, discusses the nature of urban phenomena in relation to New York City's Ground Zero, as well as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities. His insights are even more relevant at a time when Bush sees it necessary to build a costly military plan to fight global terrorism that will inevitably trigger problems much closer to home. 4 p.m., Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia, S.F. Free. (415) 282-9246, www.moderntimesbookstore.com. (Cynthia Dea)

A roof of one's own It's hard to argue – though some continue to try – against the need for affordable housing. Which might be why Proposition B, a $250 million bond measure that would provide housing for thousands of low- and middle-income San Franciscans (both renters and home buyers), has gained support from a diverse group of community organizations, religious leaders, and local and state officials. The measure promotes further harmony when the San Francisco Organizing Project (a faith-based coalition) and Liberty Events (activists from the electronic music scene) join forces for 'Bring It Home,' an afternoon Prop. B party in Dolores Park. Highlights include a set by the Glide Ensemble and house DJ M3 (Green Gorilla); DJs Jenö (Wicked), Toph-One (XLR8R), and Gadget (Function 8); and speakers Rev. Cecil Williams and Sup. Mark Leno. Noon-5 p.m., Dolores Park, Dolores at 18th St., S.F. Free. (415) 225-8471, www.libertyevents.org. (Lynn Rapoport)

Nov. 4

Monday

Human nature Packed with photographs that somehow exactly straddle the line between grisly and fascinating, Mütter Museum, a new book highlighting the Philadelphia medical museum's unique collection, is a must-read for anyone curious about the human body in all its unusual, and sometimes disturbing, incarnations. Trephined skulls, facial tumors, skeletons of conjoined infants, neatly sliced sections of faces bobbing in jars – all are captured in glorious detail by a variety of contemporary photographers. Mütter Museum director Gretchen Worden presents a slide lecture about the book and the collection, originated by a 19th-century surgeon who gathered the "unique specimens" and models for his students. 7 p.m., City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, S.F. Free. (415) 362-8193. (Eddy)

Poison tongues Long song titles and album names are either funny or pretentious; Wales trio Mclusky are decidedly masters of making us laugh with theirs. My Pain and Sadness Is More Sad and Painful than Yours (Too Pure), their first album, seems to poke fun at the emo set, and the rest of their releases chaff everyone else. While the titles are silly, the music is far from fluffy. This three-pronged monster – drummer Mat Harding, bassist Jon Chapple, and singer-guitarist Andy Falkous – hit you where it hurts with brash screamy-shouty lyrics and convulsive noise that will shake you from the inside out. Wear some diapers, 'cuz you just might shit your pants. Tonight, they play to support their latest album, Mclusky Do Dallas (Too Pure). Death X Death and Under a Dying Sky also play. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8. (415) 621-4455. (Sarah Han)

Nov. 5

Tuesday

Oxymoron man Stopping midsong to light a cigarette, jumping offstage to serenade a girl, and personally kicking a heckler in the audience out of the club – these are things that you might see Damon Gough do at a Badly Drawn Boy show. Frustrating, perhaps, and definitely not what you would expect from the Mercury Prize winner whose songs, such as "The Shining" and "Another Pearl," are often melodic and plaintive. Then again, with a number called "Pissing in the Wind," maybe his antics should be anticipated. His new fall release, Have You Fed the Fish? (Artist Direct/XL), is a heavily guitar-driven, dynamic departure from his past two lo-fi albums and bolsters his position as one of England's finest and most innovative singer-songwriters of his generation. Adam Green opens. 8 p.m., Fillmore, 1805 Geary, S.F. $20. (415) 346-6000. (Dea)

Nov. 6

Wednesday

Chow down Body image, relationship troubles, and a hint of William Castle's Dr. Sardonicus color Nicky Silver's The Food Chain, performed by the Unidentified Theatre Company as part of the New Conservatory Theatre Center's Twist and Shout Festival. An anorexic newlywed, her philandering new hubby, a vain male model, and a junk-food junkie clash in this comedy, in which the audience selects from two possible endings – happy or sad. Sounds delicious. Through Dec. 1. Previews Nov. 6-8, 8 p.m. Opens Nov. 9, 8 p.m. Runs Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, S.F. $15-$25. (415) 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. (Eddy)