WEDNESDAY 26
EVENT
“Environmental History of Golden Gate Park”
“It would not be wise nor safe to undertake to form a park on any plan which assumed as a certainty that trees which would delight the eye can be made to grow near San Francisco.” Oh, Fredrick Law Olmsted. Sure, you designed New York City’s Central Park, but you were, uh, totally wrong, considering the thousands of trees anchoring the former sand dunes of the 1,017 acres comprising today’s Golden Gate Park. The park is a green refuge for us urbanites, though it was created atop now endangered coastal dune scrub habitat, which once uniquely undulated across the entire peninsula. Explore this history, and learn about a vision for the park’s future, at this Nature in the City-led talk. (Kat Renz)
7:30 p.m., free
CounterPULSE
1310 Mission, SF
(415) 626-2060
MUSIC
Handsome Family
At the core of traditional country revivalists the Handsome Family lies the symbiotic working relationship between husband-wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks (Brett writes the music; Rennie pens the lyrics). The songs draw on dusty, old-fashioned murder ballads, bluegrass, and country, performed with rustically tasteful charm and tact. But it’s Rennie’s darkly vivid, almost gothic takes on the likes of all-night diners and 24-hour stores — all sung via Brett’s stark baritone — that separate the Handsome Family from the rest of the classic country-mimicking pack. (Landon Moblad)
With Sean Rowe
8 p.m., $15
Café Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
THURSDAY 27
FILM
“British Television Advertising Awards”
An exercise in U.S.-U.K. comparative ad studies: for T-Mobile Britain’s recent ad, the company cast hundreds of dancers for a flash mob dance number in the Liverpool train station. What’s cracking in Americaland? T-Mobile’s latest spot is a blatant Apple rip-off in which the company is played by a pretty lady in a sundress and the competition by bald guys in suits. The right cell phone equals sexy! Do we look stupid — or just misogynist? Small wonder the Brit ad awards have garnered a cult following in these parts. Check the best-of reel on the big screen this week. (Caitlin Donohue)
Thurs/27–Sun/30, 2, 4, and 6 p.m.
(also Thurs/27–Sat/29, 8 p.m.), $8
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission, SF
(415) 978-2700
EVENT
“Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other”
It’s not nice, but I might punch the next person who tells me to get a cell phone. I don’t want to become one of those people who spends half a lunch date ignoring any real live conversation in favor of staring into a tiny gadget, frantically moving my thumbs around. Or worse, be that dude who flakes last-minute with the hollow excuse, “Didn’t you get my text?” Are we just inherently jerks, or is our technology enabling such crappy manners? (And if it’s the latter, then what’s my excuse?) Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor, will address these ubiquitous social issues in her talk on the effects of the communication revolution on our personal relationships. Tweet tweet, twit twit! (Renz)
7:30 p.m., $20
Commonwealth Club
595 Market, SF
(415) 597-6700
FILM
“African Film Festival 2011”
It’s always seemed a shame that films from the second-largest and second most-populated continent in the world should register as such a tiny blip on the American cinephile radar. But I have to admit, even I hadn’t seen very many African films until 2003 when I attended FESPACO, the so-called African Cannes, in unprepossessing Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. A somewhat ramshackle city nonetheless filled with open-air cinemas and joyful film fanatics, “Ouaga” turned me onto the possibilities of African film for good. The difficult part is finding a screening, so kudos to Pacific Film Archive for putting together this small yet exquisite sampling of what the African continent has to offer the world of film. (Nicole Gluckstern)
Through Feb. 17, $5.50–$9.50
Pacific Film Archive
2575 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 642-5249
FRIDAY 28
MUSIC
Royal Crown Revue
Although the swing music fad of the late 1990s is long over, Royal Crown Revue is still going strong, thanks partly to being around well before MTV started paying attention to the scene and other groups latched onto the trend. Formed out of an earnest love of a bygone sound and style that captured their collective imaginations, the band, still fronted by charismatic singer Eddie Nichols, has been knocking ’em dead for more than 20 years now — and live favorites such as “Hey Pachuco,” “Zip Gun Bop,” and “Salt Peanuts” are sure to still get the cool cats and hip chicks jitterbugging up a storm. (Sean McCourt)
8 p.m., $20.
Yoshi’s
1330 Fillmore, SF
(415) 655-5600
MUSIC
Fol Chen
The story behind the California art-fag six-piece Fol Chen reads like science fiction. Here is the plot summary from CliffsNotes: the band uses the secret powers of DJ Donna Donna to fight its arch nemesis, John Shade. Fol Chen communicates with its fans through radio transmissions. To boot, each member has assumed an alias and paints on a black eye mask during live performances. Strange, right? Right. But these cryptic weirdos make bizarre, beautiful, fuzzed-out indie pop rife with exotic rhythms, so feel free to stare. Or, gawk. But good luck trying not to dance along. (Jen Verzosa)
With Darwin Deez and Friends
9:30 p.m., $12
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
PERFORMANCE
Resident Alien
Destabilizing norms is hard! Fortunately, Bay Area project Sins Invalid makes it look easy. Its mission is to support artists with disabilities, emphasizing people of color and queer and gender-variant folks. Over the past nine months, seven artists taking part in Sins Invalid’s Artists In Residence program have collaborated on a theater performance titled Resident Alien. The performance incorporates multiple mediums (including “wearable sculpture”) to examine themes like hospitalization and embodiment. Resident Alien illuminates the unique perspectives of the artists themselves, but it is also likely to touch everyone who has had the wacky experience of living in a body. (Hannah Tepper)
Fri/28–Sat/29, 8 p.m., $10–$15
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission, SF
(415) 821-1155
MUSIC
“Chinese New Year Concert and Celebration”
After the Facebook hullabaloo of the “horoscope changes,” you’ll be happy to note that this Chinese astrological year (of the rabbit, duh) implies a languid year of good taste with little conflict. Start the year right with a tranquilizing trip to the symphony’s Chinese New Year concert and celebration — a reception of traditional foods and activities followed by a family-friendly musical program, including retelling the folktale of the boy whose dead horse visits and cheerfully requests his body be made into an instrument. The performance is accompanied by actual horse-hair fiddle players! (Donohue)
4 p.m., $25–$65
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, SF
(415) 864-6000
SATURDAY 29
MUSIC
My First Earthquake
Radically fun San Francisco four-piece My First Earthquake sh-sh-shakes things up during the indie-bastard pop club night Pop Roxx. Its songs are chock-full of electropop bubble gum hooks that are perfect to shimmy to. Think: a cross between old-school Mates of States and original gangster Blondie, with clever lyrics a la Tenacious D sans the vulgarity. Bandleader-lyricist Rebecca Bortman is notorious for doing the robot onstage — dorky, but entertaining nonetheless. My First Earthquake’s songs about the awesomeness of mundane things like Earl Grey tea, Bortman’s wacky antics and wit, and an ironing board-turned-keyboard stand are the yummy ingredients for a dance-till-you-drop Saturday night. (Verzosa)
With DJs KidHack, Aaron, Mitch, and Starr
9 p.m., $5 (after 10 p.m., $10)
DNA Lounge
373 11th St., SF
(415) 626-1409
MONDAY 31
MUSIC
Against Me!
Florida rockers Against Me! have continued to grow creatively and explore new musical territory with each new release since the band started back in 1997 — its latest album, last year’s White Crosses is no different. From the lead-off title track, singer-songwriter Tom Gabel and cohorts provide a slew of new tunes ready for fans to sing along with at live shows. And the stage is where the band really shines, providing both joyous and cathartic anthems with a wild energy level unsurpassed by most other groups on the tour circuit today. (McCourt)
With Cheap Girls and Fences
8 p.m., $16
Slim’s
333 11th St., SF
(415) 255-0333
FILM/EVENT
“SF Sketchfest Great Collaborators Series: Airplane! Tribute to Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker”
Do you like movies about gladiators? Ever seen a grown man naked? Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue! Yes, these are some of the funniest lines ever to be uttered on screen — I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley! SF Sketchfest pays tribute to the hilarious 1980 film Airplane! with directors and writers Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker and actor Robert Hays all in attendance at what promises to be one of the most side-splittingly funny nights of the year. (McCourt)
7 p.m., $25
Castro Theatre
429 Castro, SF
(415) 621-6120
TUESDAY 1
FILM
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Part of becoming a pop culture icon is that at a certain point, it’s hard to remember a time when you made music that people gave a shit about. What is David Bowie in the 21st century? Shapeshifting Sovereign on The Venture Brothers? Runway judge in Zoolander (2001)? Arcade Fire backup singer? In Bowie’s case, he was asking for it, constantly shifting persona and purposely obscuring the artist underneath. This rarely-screened 1973 concert film from famed documentarian D.A. Pennebaker finds Bowie at one transition, the final performance before retiring Ziggy Stardust. Arguably, it also captures him at his musical peak. (Ryan Prendiville)
Feb. 1–3, 7:15 and 9:15 p.m.
(also Feb. 2, 2 p.m.,), $6–$9
Red Vic Movie House
1727 Haight, SF
(415) 668-3994
The Guardian listings deadline is two weeks prior to our Wednesday publication date. To submit an item for consideration, please include the title of the event, a brief description of the event, date and time, venue name, street address (listing cross streets only isn’t sufficient), city, telephone number readers can call for more information, telephone number for media, and admission costs. Send information to Listings, the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 487-2506; or e-mail (paste press release into e-mail body — no text attachments, please) to listings@sfbg.com. Digital photos may be submitted in jpeg format; the image must be at least 240 dpi and four inches by six inches in size. We regret we cannot accept listings over the phone.