April 2, 2003

8 Days a Week

April 2-9, 2003

HAS ANYONE THOUGHT to consult the lemurs? If we did, they'd probably tell us to pull our heads out of the sands of war for a moment and celebrate Earth Day, beginning this weekend with 'Earth Day 2003: Rainforests of the World,' a two-day festival at the California Academy of Sciences. This event offers a rare opportunity to meet some even rarer animals, like scarlet macaws (recluse parrots from Papua New Guinea) and mischievous squirrel monkeys – not to mention a real live kinkajou (think: a golden raccoon with a stretchable tongue) and, best of all, the awesome binturong, a black besnouted animal that smells powerfully of tortilla chips. Among other events, kids can squeal in the hands-on Rainforest Bug Room, while budding botanists can partake in a guided tour of the Strybing Arboretum. The intrepid will find uplift in the snakes and skinks, the timid will coo over the two-toed sloth, and the sprightly can attempt the "Lemur Leap," a jumping activity presented by the San Francisco Zoo. Sat/5-Sun/6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, near Fulton and Eighth Ave., S.F. $2-$8.50 (free if you arrive via bicycle or public transportation). (415) 750-7145, www.calacademy.org. (Amir Baghdachi)

April 2

Wednesday

Critical masses Are you opinionated? Critical? Feel strongly about color? Do you know anything about art? Do you know nothing about art? Excellent. They're expecting you at the Community Art Critique, an unusual event whose time has come. Sponsored by Lurker, the arts and literature periodical that beholds the modern world with a raised eyebrow and quizzical eye, the evening offers up the work of three artists and invites constructive criticism from the public. Quaking before your judgments are photographer Esa Schneider, who charms light with a toy camera; sculptor Eric Dunn, of frankly pagan tendencies; and Gabriel Wheeler and Josh Wheeler, whose short film boldly investigates the tortured minds of those who buy tickets to see Carrot Top perform. 6:30 p.m., Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia, S.F. $3. (415) 824-3890, www.lurkermag.com/cac. (Amir Baghdachi)

April 3

Thursday

Backstabber blues What one doesn't say about Harold Pinter is just as important as what one does say; the granddaddy of dramatic subtext is all about reading between the lines. Betrayal, Pinter's classic and provocative play about infidelity, previews tonight at Venue 9 with brand-new theater company Third Rail Power Trip. The play tells the story of a wife's seven-year affair with her husband's best friend, and the story unfolds in reverse – the beginning of the play is at the end of the story, and the end of the play is its beginning. For 3RPT's version, the actors actually rehearsed the play backward, or chronologically, before muddling back up. Certain to make you think. [Pause]. A lot. Through April 26. Previews tonight (pay-what-you-can dress rehearsal) and Fri/4, 8 p.m. Opens Sat/5, 8 p.m. Runs Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., Venue 9, 252 Ninth St., S.F. $10-$25. (415) 289-2000. (Kerry Rodgers)

Hot stuff The beguiling musical alchemy that is Hot Club of Cowtown is composed of Kansas-born fiddler Elana Fremerman, who's studied north Indian music, worked as a horse wrangler, played in a cowboy band, and interned at Harper's Magazine; New England guitarist Whit Smith, who sought rock stardom in Japan before becoming enamored with the music of Bob Wills, Jimmy Bryant, Hank Williams, Bix Biederbecke, and Chet Atkins; and upright bassist Jake Erwin, who was born in Oklahoma with western swing in his genes. By merging the prairie lilt and drive of the Texas Playboys with the Parisian gypsy elegance of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, as evidenced on four fine CDs (including their latest, Ghost Train, on Oakland's HighTone Records), the twangy and tangy Austin unit offer a new millennium throwback/update of the string-swing pop of Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, with charming vocals and inventive arrangements. 8 p.m., Freight and Salvage Coffee House, 1111 Addison, Berk. $17.50. (510) 548-1761. (Derk Richardson)

This way out It's hard to know what to expect from guitarist (and Bay Guardian office manager and subscriptions handler) John Shiurba, who makes music in a world beyond the mainstream. Among his earliest musical instincts was to stick a fork into the strings of his first guitar, a move he still makes from time to time as he explores sonic, rhythmic, and ensemble possibilities. I first saw him in Eskimo at Klub Komotion back in the 1980s, and I remember thinking the band was about as far gone as could be; was I ever wrong. These days he composes, plays with Spezza Rotto and the SFSound Ensemble, among others, and at this very moment is touring with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. If big noise frightens you, well guess what? You've got no excuses here. Shiurba's calling this night "3x3"; three of his compositions will be played by an all-acoustic trio. Listen carefully: somewhere in the soft air around the group, at some point in the performance, you might find a moment of grace – or maybe an evening's worth. 8 p.m., Meridian Gallery, 545 Sutter, S.F. $5-$10. (415) 398-7229. (J.H. Tompkins)

April 4

Friday

Jazzed Some may regard the pairing of jazz and poetry as a cultural relic – associated with the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, and the beats – eclipsed by rap, reggae toasters, and hip-hop-stoked poetry slammers. Quincy Troupe (62-year-old American Book Award winner, California's first poet laureate, writer and coproducer of "The Miles Davis Radio Project," and coauthor of Davis's 1989 autobiography) and 60-year-old saxophonist-flutist Oliver Lake (a pivotal figure in the St. Louis-based Black Artists Group, a founding member of the World Saxophone Quartet, and a sonic experimenter with funk and Caribbean rhythms and chamber textures in his Jump Up and String Project bands) dispel that misconception as they intermingle verbal and musical languages with timeless hipness in "Words of Steel." On this third weekend of the SFJAZZ spring season, Troupe parries with words as Lake fronts his Steel Quartet, featuring electric bassist Reggie Washington, drummer Pheeroan akLaff, and steel pan player Lyndon Achee. 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, S.F. $20-$28. (415) 776-1999. (Richardson)

April 5

Saturday

New sensation There will be no DVD copies of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's new exhibit, 'Reel Sculpture: Film into Art,' because you can't take home the kind of cinematic art represented here. The installations, by filmmakers Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Atom Egoyan, and Abbas Kiarostami, are meant to be an interactive, holistic experience. Some of the works use multiple monitors and narrow corridors to complement their meanings. Traditional theatrical screenings of each director's work are held in conjunction with the exhibit. Not to be missed are in-person appearances by Egoyan (April 10, for a showing of his 1987 film, Family Viewing) and Ahtila (May 8, with her 2002 work, Love Is a Treasure). Through Aug. 3. Museum hours: Fri.-Tues., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., S.F. $10, $7 seniors, $6 students, free for 12 and under and members (free first Tues.; half-price Thurs., 6-9 p.m.). (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. (Rodgers)

Sound off Check your firearms, hazardous and radioactive materials, and wild animals at the door, but bring just about anything else from your kitchen, workshop, attic, or toolshed to 'Found Objects Night.' Tonight Gino Robair (Splatter Trio percussionist and Rastascan Records impresario), Los Angeles-based sound artist David Kendall (specializing in electronic and acoustic feedback systems), San Francisco multi-instrumentalist-sound designer Andre Custodio, and electronic musician Stephen Ruiz (a.k.a. Zygote), much like an improv theater group, use audience-supplied materials to make noises and then sample, mutate, and manipulate those sounds to their hearts' and minds' desires. 8 p.m., 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St., Oakl. $6-$10. (510) 444-7263. (Richardson)

Family reunion Lately we've been able to check out siblings and former bandmates Steve and Chris Touchton around town in their new acts, Snowsuit and Da Hawnay Troof, respectively. But now I'm utterly psyched that the project they started in, XBXRX, is back together. Local crooner Katy Davidson calls them "the nicest kids in a band from Alabama;" the group started in 1998 when its youngest member was a high school freshman, and broke up last year in spite of their album, Gop Ist Minee, doing well on the label 5 Rue Christine. Now here's your chance to meet the boogie-down hardcore group with newly inducted member Weasel Walter of the Flying Luttenbachers, plus pickup player Paul Costuros (Total Shutdown). Audience participation required. Numbers, Deerhoof, and California Lightning also play. 10 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8. (415) 626-4455. (Deborah Giattina)

Market value The advent of any new farmer's market is reason to celebrate – especially in the case of the Mandela Farmers Market, which is designed to be a weekly event supporting small, family-owned farms that don't have access to larger markets and to provide the community with affordable fresh produce. The first collaborative effort by the West Oakland Food Project, the market also aims to honor multiethnic farmers and to feature local arts and crafts and music. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., West Oakland BART station parking lot, Fifth St. and Mandela Parkway, Oakl. Free. (510) 534-7657. (Rodgers)

April 6

Sunday

Dead right As explained in the movie Adaptation, the serial killer is one of the most clichéd literary and cinematic devices out there – but we still love 'em, don't we? Crime writers can now add authentically gruesome nuances to their tales thanks to fellow author and cardiologist Doug Lyle. his latest book, Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers (a collection of his columns for the newsletter Mystery Writers of America) offers solutions to the kinds of dilemmas only diabolical criminals and fiendishly creative scribes have to confront. Sample questions: Could my pregnant character and her unborn child survive a severe concussion and near drowning? How long can someone survive in a freezer? Can a person stranded at sea survive by drinking his or her own urine? How safe is it to handle cyanide? How does an ice pick to the back of the neck kill? What substance can be added to a fire-eater's fuel to cause a sudden and dramatic death? (Don't deny it – you're intrigued!) The doctor is in tonight for a reading and signing at Book Passage. 7 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera. Free. (415) 927-0960. (Cheryl Eddy)

April 7

Monday

Feminine side The world being the way it is, now might be a good time to rethink that trip you've been wanting to take to Indonesia. But travel warnings shouldn't keep you from checking out 'An Intimate Evening with Didik Nini Thowok,' the first local performance by the popular Indonesian performer. A skilled choreographer, dancer, and singer, Didik keeps his culture's tradition of cross-gender performance alive, using different dance forms – from classical to modern to comedic – in his shows. Tonight's show is autobiographical and features assists by San Francisco artists, as well as the music of Eddie the Rat with Peter Martin. Selections include a "female dance" drawn from a fertility ritual, a mask dance, and Didik's masterwork, Jepindo Walang Kekek, a combination of Javanese, Sudanese, Balinese, and Japanese dance styles. Through Tues/8. 8 p.m., Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa, S.F. $10-$15. (415) 621-7978. (Also April 10, 9 p.m., N'Touch, 1548 Polk, S.F. $3. 415-292-3420, ext. 348). (Eddy)

April 8

Tuesday

Screen scene For everyone keeping score, the former Rafael Film Center is getting a new name – the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center – along with a generous gift from Mr. Smith, a Tiburon philanthropist and film buff whose excellent instincts led him to support the cine-centric nonprofit. Celebrate the moniker update tonight at a special showing of Confidence, a not-yet-released crime tale directed by James Foley, with star Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullan) in person. Actor (and NorCal local) Peter Coyote is also on hand to sing the praises of the theater itself – if you haven't yet made the drive across the Golden Gate to admire the Rafael's combination of art deco glamour and state-of-the-art film-screening technology, tonight's as good a time as any to hit the road. 7:15 p.m., Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. $9-$12. (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. (Eddy)

Just deserts The Sahara: a land of burning suns, an expanse of savage terrain and extreme temperatures, a region the size of the United States, but with many, many more camels. And who better to lead you through it than Michael Palin, one of the founders of Monty Python and now an entertaining, if not wholly knowledgeable, travel writer. Hear him talk tonight about his new book and television special, Sahara, which differs as much from the usual travel book as does a tasseled fez from a tourist's sun visor. Be sure to ask Palin about his numerous misadventures, like getting pummeled in a public bath, meeting the Twelve Disciples in a restaurant, eyeing the biting rooster of Gibraltar, braving the cliff of Tizi n'Tinififft, and bravely soldiering onward despite a troubling case of camel poisoning. 7 p.m., A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, 601 Van Ness, S.F. Free. (415) 441-6670. (Baghdachi)

April 9

Wednesday

Page-turner Whenever the words governess and musical pop up in the same sentence, it's pretty safe to assume the subject is either The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins. Erase Julie Andrews from your mind and prepare for Jane Eyre, the musical by John Caird (Les Misérables) and Paul Gordon and inspired by the Charlotte Brontë novel. Even if you didn't read the book in junior high, it's hard not to connect with the terribly romantic tale of a 19th-century orphan who becomes a teacher, then falls for her employer against the backdrop of a lonely mansion with a spooky, cackling secret stashed in the attic. TheatreWorks presents the northern California premiere of the Tony-nominated show as the final production of its 33rd season. Through May 4. Previews tonight and April 10-11, 8 p.m. Opens April 12, 8 p.m. Runs Tues., 7:30 p.m. (no show April 29); Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m. (also April 26 and May 3, 2 p.m.); Sun., 2 p.m. (also April 13 and 27, 7 p.m.), Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mountain View. $20-$43. (650) 903-6000, www.theatreworks.org. (Eddy)