On the Cheap listings are compiled by Lucy Schiller. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
THURSDAY 1
Wildlife Works launch party Hangr 16, 3128 Valencia, SF. www.hangr16.com. 7 p.m., free with RSVP to rsvp@wildlifeworks.com. Wildlife Works, an ecologically-oriented clothing company with an 80,000-acre wildlife sanctuary in Kenya, is all about responsible consumption and for one night — a night that includes pizza and wine — will celebrate its new clothing collection available at Hangr 16, a Mission boutique.
Working Solutions holiday gift fair 101 Second St., SF. www.tmcworkingsolutions.org. 5-8 p.m., free. Reap the bounty of the micro-loaned harvest that Working Solutions has built throughout San Francisco, from Bernal Heights-wrought knife makers to hand-crafting chocolatiers.
Doubt, Atheism, and the 19th Century Russian Intelligentsia discussion University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft, Berk. www.universitypressbooks.com. 5:30-7 p.m., free. Victoria Frede, an associate professor of history at Cal, discusses how freethinking Russian intellectuals stuck it to the biggest guns around — the tsar and God.
Writ Writer screening and discussion Ellen Driscoll Playhouse, 325 Highland, Piedmont. www.diversityfilmseries.org. 6:30-9 p.m., free. Fred Cruz, a pioneer of the prisoners’ rights movement, taught himself the law while in prison and become a tirelessly outspoken advocate for inmates’ rights. Writ Writer pieces the story together from Cruz’s journals, letters, and filed documents.
FRIDAY 2
True Stories Lounge Makeout Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com. 7 p.m., $10. The lineup for the second True Stories Lounge — kind of a juicier, in-depth, and often locally-slanted version of The Moth — is unbeatable. Alan Kaufman (author of Jew Boy), David Talbot (founder of Salon.com), Marilyn Pittman (local comedian), Steve Fainaru (editor-in-chief of the Bay Citizen), and Peter Manso (controversial biographer) will read.
SATURDAY 3
Silencing the Witnesses forum Humanist Hall, 290 27th St., Oakl. www.berkeleycopwatch.org. 2 p.m., $5 donation. Berkeley Copwatch hosts a crucially-needed forum, considering recent police responses to Occupy. Up for discussion: the rights of civilian journalists to watch and record police activities at protests, the suppression of police brutality, and, of course, the first amendment.
Katie Finn jewelry showcase Love and Luxe, 1169 Valencia, SF. www.loveandluxesf.com. 5-9 p.m., free. Jeweler Katie Finn finds her glassy, imperfect stones in India and then encases them in thin settings of burnished gold. The result: dazzling rings that look a world and an era away.
In the Red: Flaming Lotus Girls Photography auction and party SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan, SF. www.somarts.org. 6 p.m.-2 a.m., free. So maybe you can’t house one of the Flaming Lotus Girls’ massive towers of flame in your living room, but you can probably hang up a photo of it. Perhaps the burniest of Burners, these Black Rock City mainstays host a dance-y evening based around archival prints of their fire-based work.
Criminal Class Press reading Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary, SF. www.castlenews.com. 7:30 p.m., free. Characterized as “literature’s underbelly,” the stuff to come out of Criminal Class Press tends to be hairy, hungover, and obscene in theme. The writers, a self-defined “scumbag elite,” team up with Chicago’s Windy City Story Slam for an evening of crime and grime.
SUNDAY 4
Gourmet Ghetto Snow Day Andronico’s, 1550 Shattuck, Berk. www.gourmetghetto.org. 10 a.m.-3 p.m., free. Possibly the classiest and warmest snow day in the United States, Berkeley’s version holds cider, cookies, crafting, and, of course, snow.
Palestinian Bazaar Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck, Berk. www.mecaforpeace.org. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., free. Wander through rows of olive oil-based products and woven gifts handcrafted by Palestinian artists.
Winter Pottery and Craft Sale Sharon Art Studio, Golden Gate Park, SF. www.sharonartstudio.org. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free. It’s trivet time: stock up on dinnerware for all those imminent winter gorgefests. Proceeds from the massive, all-handmade sale directly benefit Sharon Art Center’s community-oriented art programs.
Chamber Orchestra and Circus Bella family concert Bayview Opera House, 4705 Third St., SF. www.bayviewoperahouse.org. 3-4 p.m., free. Throwing off the weighty yoke that is the term “elevator music,” the SF Chamber Orchestra joins with Circus Bella to present a highly interactive introduction to the genre for kids and families.
Make Drag, Not War! Dance Mission Theatre, 3316 24th St., SF. www.dancemission.com. 8 p.m., $5-$20 sliding scale. Veterans of the drag scene and of the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam wars team up for an activist theatre performance benefiting Veteran Artists. Ex-soldiers voice their stories to drag realizations for the third year.
MONDAY 5
21st Amendment march and celebration 21st Amendment Brewery, 563 2nd St., SF. www.21st-amendment.com. 4 p.m., free. Celebrate the 1933 repealing of Prohibition with period-appropriate prices: given that you know the password (hinted at on the brewery’s Twitter feed), your nickel is worth a beer. The raucous 4 p.m. march demanding an end to prohibition results in the inevitable: a boozy costume party complete with poker game.