October 16, 2002

8 Days a Week

Dec. 4-11, 2002

ORGANIZERS PROUDLY NOTE that last year's inaugural San Francisco Black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Film Festival was such an outstanding success that it's now back for a second round, bringing numerous films to screen in the Bay Area for the first time, as well as a couple of world premieres. The opening-night film, Patrik-Ian Polk's Punks – described as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert meets Waiting to Exhale – follows the romantic escapades of a group of African American gay men. Many of the festival's other narrative films touch on similar themes of love and sex (including Karmen Geï, Joseph Gai Ramaka's Senegal-set version of Carmen), and the documentary selections cover a wide variety of topics: the lives of queer youth of color; the true tale of a former LAPD officer undergoing a male-to-female sex change and struggling with society's rigid views on gender identity; a study of gay men and women who practice the Voudou religion; and the reflections of a 100-year-old black lesbian. The fest, sponsored by the Black Coalition on AIDS Man2Man program, aims to celebrate the diversity of the queer community as well as raise HIV/AIDS awareness – and, of course, provide what looks to be some intriguing viewing for filmgoers of all stripes. See First Runs for a complete schedule. Fri/6, 6:30 p.m.; Sat/7-Sun/8, 11 a.m., Brava Theater Center, 2789 24th St., S.F. $8-$35. (415) 901-0210, www.blacklgbtff.org. (Cheryl Eddy)

Dec. 4

Wednesday

Kill crazy Brace yourself for a "really loud, grating, and annoying" good time, according to Paul Costuros, alto sax player, keyboardist, and vocalist for Bay Area improv-noise outfit Murder Murder. Costuros is shrouding the show in secrecy, but he can say the rotating lineup of the usual improv suspects and other interested parties (one early show featured Bay Guardian columnist George Chen on drums) will include Costuros's fellow Total Shutdown horn player, Matt Hartman; two drummers, Marshall Trammell and Ches Smith (formerly of Mr. Bungle); and trumpet player Liz Allbee. Come prepared for a fun-filled, activity-fraught 15 minutes – and what better way to ring in the holidays than with a nice dose of tinnitus? – and probably performance-art-style stunts. Burmese also play. 10 p.m., Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $5. (415) 923-0923. (Kimberly Chun)

Dec. 5

Thursday

Get wet Flaunt your fetishwear, boogie down with the Extra Action Marching Band, and support the sexiest worker-owned, woman-owned cooperative in the Bay Area at the Good Vibrations 25th anniversary celebration, hosted by Good Vibes' own Dr. Carol Queen. Special guests include all your favorite "Vibrator Vixens," among them Nina Hartley, Fetish Diva Midori, Mistress Morgana, Good Vibes founder Joani Blank, the Lusty Ladies, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and the hard-lovin' duo of Shar Rednour and Jackie Strano. You'll also enjoy performances by the wet-dreamiest artists in town, such as Deep Dickollective, Ultra Gypsy, and S.F. Drag King 2002 "Rusty Hips." And who said sex is without social conscience? There's also a raffle benefiting the St. James Infirmary. Drag, semiformal, formal, or fetishwear is required, so get creative. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., Club NV, 525 Howard, S.F. $15. (415) 974-8985, ext. 630. (Rachel Swan)

Dec. 6

Friday

Think positive Even with the bleak forecast of poverty, sexism, neoliberalism, health care privatization, and iniquitous "free trade" policies, Salvadoran women see justice on the horizon. Join Marta Consuelo Hernandez, cofounder of Mujeres Radicales and the Workers and Peasants School, as she discusses 'Women and Resistance in El Salvador Today.' A trailblazer in radical politics, Hernandez links women's liberation with larger social issues while encouraging everyone to join the feminist vanguard. Bay Area Radical Women provide a savory Salvadoran chicken dinner, with a vegetarian option, to whet your appetite for international politics. 8 p.m., New Valencia Hall, 1908 Mission, S.F. $2 (dinner 6:30 p.m., $8.50). (415) 864-1278. (Swan)

Dec. 7

Saturday

Freeze frame In 1940 the National Youth Administration enlisted the services of a young amateur photographer named Rondal Partridge. What came out of the three-month project was "California Youth," a series of photographs chronicling those most affected by the Depression. Partridge's work since then has been about capturing bits of the Golden State: migrant workers, hitchhikers, student protesters, and other subjects he encountered during his travels. Now the 85-year-old Berkeley resident – a former apprentice to Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange – celebrates the publication of his first book, Quizzical Eye: The Photography of Rondal Partridge, a collection of his works. 2-4 p.m., Scharffen Berger Chocolate, 914 Heinz, Berk. Free. (415) 357-1848, ext. 14 (Cynthia Dea)

International grooves Just how small can the world get without imploding? That's one of the underlying musical questions of 'Samadi: An Evening of Dance and Music for Peace,' featuring two of the Bay Area's foremost promulgators of 21st-century world beat electronica. Lumin features Jeffery Stott (Middle Eastern stringed instruments, percussion, and electronics), Michael Emenau (laptop and samplers), Irina Mikhailova (vocals), Susanna Goldenstein (percussion), and Rena Jones (violin and cello). Shabaz includes sibling Qawaali vocalists Sukhawat Ali Khan and Riffat Salamat and multi-instrumentalist and producer Richard Michos. Both groups draw different blends of idiomatic influences from the music of Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, and Kazakstan and from rock and hip-hop but come up with similarly trancelike ecstatic singing in a gentle maelstrom of compelling dance beats. DJ Sep (KPFA, Dub Mission, Yaldah) spins. 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m., SomArts Gallery, 934 Brannan, S.F. $12. (415) 978-2710, ext 220. (Derk Richardson)

Joyful noise I vowed last year – in print, you can look it up – to spread the word about Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir's annual holiday concert until the day I could wake up, ponder the state of things, and smile. To understate the current situation, I can't retire yet. The year 2002 has been – allow me to paraphrase Ice Cube, if you will – the kind during which a good day was when you could get in bed at night and be thankful you and your loved ones were spared tragedy. After too much of this, I'm more than ready to hear the choir's glorious voices, so rich and powerful that for a few hours the audience (an amazing cross-section of people) will find balm for their wounds and hope, however fleeting, for the future. If music itself could change the world, we'd all be saved. I wouldn't miss this, and you should be there, too. 7:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakl. $20-$35. (510) 465-6400. (J.H. Tompkins)

Paper trail No one could pick up a copy of Found magazine and not be instantly, utterly fascinated. The first volume, now in its second printing, is comprised of seemingly forgotten and mislaid scraps o' lives – love notes, travelogues, shopping lists, a flyer for a multimedia presentation about the "Promised God-Man," a misspelled, threatening diatribe regarding stolen laundry detergent ("your pushing me and I push back so it better be back f-ing soon") – collected by founder Davy Rothbert and helpful cohorts and contributors. Currently on a cross-country "Nation of Millions" tour of galleries, bookstores, and cafés, Found's masterminds invite all who attend their events to bring new material for future issues – no doubt the weirder, the scarier, the more oddly touching, the better. 8 p.m., Expressions Art Gallery, 512 Eighth St., Oakl. Free. (510) 451-6646, www.foundmagazine.com. (Also Sun/8, 7 and 9 p.m., Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia, S.F. $3. 415-626-1636.) (Cheryl Eddy)

Dec. 8

Sunday

Beat manifesto Prolific musician and producer Calvin Johnson cofounded K Records in 1982, making indie rockers cream their pants over the many essential bands on his label. After working on various musical projects, such as the Halo Benders, Beat Happening, and the Dub Narcotic Sound System, he went solo to release What Was Me (K), an album of stripped-down sounds accompanied by his spooky, baritone vocals. Often called the godfather or grandfather (depending on your source) of indie rock, Johnson has been on the circuit for more than two decades, so take notes and learn a thing or two. Little Wings and the Blow also perform. 8:30 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F., $7. (415) 621-4455. (Dea)

Dec. 9

Monday

Ah-hem Anyone who caught Beth Orton's show earlier this year also got a helping of HEM – acoustic, Celtic-flavored, and plenty compelling to Orton's crowd. The bare-bones performance by the rootsiest buzz band to come out of the NYC music scene of late, HEM may not have touched the dreamy atmosphere of the slide guitar-infused "When I Was Drinking" or the mandolin- and cello-gilded "Halfacre," but followers will get another chance to touch the garments of vocalist Sally Ellyson, guitarist-mandolin players Steve Curtis and Gary Maurer, and pianist Dan Messe when they settle into the cozy confines of Foley's. Buddahead opens. 8 p.m., the Cellar at Johnny Foley's, 243 O'Farrell, S.F. $14. (415) 954-0777. (Chun)

Dec. 10

Tuesday

Good Chi Guitarist Robben Ford exudes warmth and humanity into just about any musical context, including the jazz-rock hybrid that is the specialty of his collaborators in Jing Chi: drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Frank Zappa, Steely Dan) and bassist Jimmy Haslip (Yellow Jackets, Tommy Bolin, Steely Dan). On their debut self-titled CD (Tone Center), the trio varies the fusion formula by leaning on Ford's blues expressiveness ("Crazy House"), hard rock licks ("Aurora"), and acoustic picking ("Train Song"). While Brian Auger guests on organ on the recording, Otmario Ruiz handles the keyboard duties behind these typically audacious but sometimes surprisingly sensitive shredders. Through Dec 15. 8 and 10 p.m. (Dec. 15, 5 and 8 p.m.), Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakl. $5-$22. (510) 238-9200. (Richardson)

Dec. 11

Wednesday

Alien country Everything slows to a dirgy, lovely trudge when Kansas City's Canyon opens up and unveils their narcotic prog-hayseed sounds. Picture Radiohead nodding out with Low and Neil Young in some old codger's dive bar and seed store in West Branch, Iowa – it's easy to do. The band's second album, Empty Rooms (Gern Blandsten), lopes along amiably yet ambitiously, with choral vocals, glacial pacing, acoustic guitars, accordion, and the occasional sleigh bell. If you like your sleigh-core sweet and melancholy, with plenty of wide-open, almost epic spaces to trot around in, then this could be your new favorite band. S.F. rock wunderkinds Court and Spark also play along with Winfred E. Eye. 9 p.m., Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakl. Call for price. (510) 763-1146. (Chun)