WEDNESDAY, MAY 2

The Last Days of Yasser Arafat (Sherine Salama, Australia/Palestine, 2006)
When Australian filmmaker Salama finally does get to sit down with Yasser Arafat, she remarks that it’s the second-generation Palestinians who come back to their ancestral homeland. Salama, in any event, can’t seem to stay away; Last Days chronicles her two months-long attempts at interviewing Arafat in his Ramallah compound. The filmmaker has a weakness for stating the obvious and her visual style is nil, though her plight does open up a starkly comic portrait of Palestinian bureaucracy. Last Days is most compelling in its final minutes, when, without the voice-over, Salama documents Arafat’s coffin touching down in Ramallah, the helicopter swarmed by a startling crowd of thousands. 1:15 p.m., Kabuki; Sun/6, 6:15 p.m., Kabuki. (Max Goldberg)

The Last Days of Yasser Arafat

Attention, Class of 2007: No matter your age, please read all the way to the end of this conversation with Vincent Gallo to discover what he hopes you will contribute to our future.
All curious others, get ready for an illustrated chat that moves through some of Gallo's fave screen idols and non-auteur films to explore his ideas about making music and movies, and also includes my story about a lifesize wax candle of Richard Nixon's head.
Cameos by Hilary Duff and Michael Jackson.

UPDATE: I ADORE all the controversy this post is causing (thanks BeyondChron!). Admittedly I wrote this almost a month ago, then hightailed it to the jungles of Peru -- just as the facts of the case were becoming clearer. Steve Jones elaborated on the case later in the game here. It's encouraging that Sixth Street residents are organizing to protect their living conditions, but the reality is that Club Six is zoned properly and obeying the rules, as far as I know. And I stand by my opinion that Six is one of the liveliest clubs in the city. Also admittedly, I jumped to some distasteful conclusions right away (although I was acting at the time on the info available -- like any good hothead blogger). But that's the fun of being a drama queen.

So now some whiny "Not In My Backyard" folks are after one of the best big hip-hop/dubwize/ragga/house spots in the Bay -- the six-and-a-half year-old Club Six.

I love Six -- the subterranean downtown-ness of it -- definitely a little rough around the edges, but nice and soft inside. The irony of this whole sad affair is that the complaining neighbors are saying that Six is too loud -- ON SIXTH STREET! Bwahahaha! Are they kidding? Not only has Six's owner, Angel Cruz, invested a ton o' duckets into soundproofing the place, but -- C'MON! --it's Sixth Street. The rowdies on the street fart louder than Club Six.

Still, Six faces its license getting pulled for a month, which would break the place. Click here to read an open letter from Angel to the nightlife community, and see how you can help (PDF). Folks like us helped save Hole in the Wall last week -- let's pitch in and keep nightlife diverse in the Bay!

The SF Weekly’s obsession (jealous much?) with our 5/2 cover story on Vincent Gallo and the Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival is forcing me to put one of my credos – “Don’t make me cut you!” – into practice.

I read, or at least glance at, the Weekly. It’s one of the less rewarding requirements of my current job. So I couldn’t help but notice that its Sucka Free City column has launched two successive attacks on a recent profile I wrote about Gallo. Got that? That’s two different Weekly articles about one alleged “puff piece.” I guess there must be something to what we’re doing for them to be so strangely fixated.

I have better things to do, and better work to put in the paper, but I’ll use this blog to pick these Sucka Free City articles off one by one, talk a little about misogyny and lame Cro-Magnon straight journalist dude posturing – a relevant topic here - and then add some real observation about the state of arts journalism as executed, and I mean executed, by the SF Weekly and their overlords at the New Times, excuse me, Voice Media.

By Molly Freedenberg

We get press releases all the time asking us to consume things, listen to things, attend things, write about things – from the International Conference of This and Such (no, I usually don't go) to caffeinated vodka (damn straight I'm going to try that one...). But unless these releases have something to do with what I'm working on right this second -- as in, I'm invited to a press conference on proper pool enjoyment techniques the week I'm doing Summer Guide -- or they're offering me something I actually really want -- as in, Hey! Have this pair of oxblood knee-high boots from Fluevog for free! -- they usually go into the Pile o' Papers to be Looked at and Thrown Away Later.

Forty feet o' spa goodness

But not when I got the invite for a mini-facial, skin consultation, and make-up application from the cosmetics company L'Bel. I mean, hey. The release said "Mobile Spa." I imagined it something like a fancy pizza delivery service: "Hello, I'd like to order a facial, a hand massage, and some flattery. Please hold the speech about how quitting smoking would be better for my skin. Please drop these off at 135 Mississippi in Potrero Hill at 2pm. Oh, wait. That's nap time. How about 3?" Who can resist that? Not me, the girl whose vanity (I mean, uh, whose dedication to the health of her skin) is only matched by her supreme laziness.

Ain't no trash in this trailer

By Molly Freedenberg

It's rare that a youth orchestra performs Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9, the one famous for being created after he went deaf (and also for being considered one of mankind's greatest artistic achievements.) But the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, who will present the symphony on Sunday, May 20, is no ordinary youth orchestra.

No, this ensemble of 100 culturally diverse musicians ranging in age from 12 to 21 is considered one of the finest of its kind in the world. And that's not just because it's been providing tuition-free orchestral experience to youth for 25 years. It's because the experience these kids are getting is a world-class, pre-professional caliber musical education. (After all, how often do you think youth orchestras get to work with Yo-Yo Ma and Isaac Stern the way SFSYO has? Answer: almost never.)

It's basically a guarantee then, that Sunday's 25th Anniversary concert will amaze and impress - especially considering the performance will include Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus and four San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows as soloists. Oh yeah, and Colin McPhee's Tabuh-Tabuhan, a work inspired by Indonesian gamelan music (you know, more of the usual youth orchestra fare...)

SFS YOUTH ORCHESTRA 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT (including post-concert reception and anniversary exhibit)
May 20, 2 p.m.
$10 general, $75 reserved
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, SF
(415) 864-6000
sfsymphony.org

Some people make plans to spend their summer drinking beer and barbecuing beef ribs. Others have slightly more ambitious goals. Like the people behind the Panhandle Bandshell project, a temporary installation made from reclaimed materials meant as a community performance and acoustic music space. These architects, artists, activists, freaks, friends, and volunteers are spending their whole summer doing manual labor for the collective good.

So how can we help them? (Other than drinking a beer and eating a rib in their honor?) There are all kinds of ways to be found on their website. But the most immediate is to stop by tonight's fundraising event at Madrone. There will be a silent auction featuring local merchant wares and art, a short bandshell design presentation, and music and performance by Dr. Abacus, Allison Lovejoy, Clide vs Crocodiles,Cohen, and DJ Delachaux.

INFO: Wednesday, May 16. 8pm-2am. $5-$20 sliding scale. Madrone Lounge, Divisadero at Fell, SF.

By Beth Gilomen

Visiting the Conservatory of Flowers’ current special exhibit, Chomp, flooded me with memories of fourth grade field trips – if they’d had a “Little Shop of Horrors” theme. Yes, the playfully titled show features carnivorous plants from all over the world (that’s right, these plants eat meat), displayed almost too close for comfort.

I say “almost,” because I was assured that none of these hungry little predators are harmful to humans. Even sticking your finger inside a Nepenthes pitcher and leaving it there for a few days will only give you a sunburn-like discomfort. Of course, you wouldn’t want to let your pet mice near one.

By Beth Gilomen

I'm new to the city and don't know many people yet, so I must admit, I've been browsing the craigslist missed connections for the last two weeks, passively hoping that someone out there wants to meet me. So far, no luck. But here's what I have found: there are a lot of you in San Francisco looking for some love in your lives. I feel for you, and apparently, so do the people running this year's Carnaval San Francisco . The 29th annual bash kicks off this Saturday with the theme Love Happens.

In addition to the usual activities, such as a parade, music, and dancing, this year's celebration of Latin American and Caribbean cultures will feature speed dating (for those of you ready to get off the computer and reconnect with the real world) and weddings/ commitment (or re-commitment) ceremonies. The ceremonies take place right before the parade on Sunday – and, really, what better way is there to celebrate new unions than a community reception like Carnaval?

So, as cliché as this sounds, give your laptop a rest, go outside, and let a little love happen to you this weekend. I'll be out there with you.

P.S. If you're not quite ready to escape the Internet dating circuit, Carnaval SF offers an online dating service as well at www.carnavalsf.com/love .