Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
WEDNESDAY 29
Martin Lee: Smoke Signals The Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF. www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. Given the current tumult gripping the cannabis world, it behooves us to learn a little about the history of marijuana in the United States. Enter author Lee, whose new book promises a panoramic look about where the leafy green plant has been, a boon to pot activists everywhere.
Twin Peaks Tunnel screening and discussion California Historical Society, 678 Mission, SF. twinpeakstunnel.eventbrite.com. 6-8pm, free. Learn all about the 1914-’16 dig through the mountains from this rare 28mm print of a 1917 film about the project. Historians Rob Byrne and Woody LaBounty will be on hand to describe the utter coolness of the original Big Dig.
THURSDAY 30
Paws For Consideration book release The Women’s Building, 3543 18th St., SF. www.womensbuilding.org; www.amybutcher.com. 7-8:30pm, free. Celebrate the release of Women’s Building board member Amy Butcher’s new mystery novel, which features a wheelchair-bound protagonist bound to investigate a mysterious death by the appearance of a nervous Boston terrier named Skittles.
FRIDAY 31
Lunchtime artmaking in Nomadic Grove Jessie Square, 736 Mission, SF. www.thecjm.org. 12:30-1:30pm, free. Learn pencil drawing techniques from artist Jen Ewing at this midday drop-in tutorial, designed by the Contemporary Jewish Museum to foster public engagement with the museum itself.
SATURDAY 1
Millbrae Art and Wine Festival Broadway between Victoria and Meadow Glen, Millbrae. www.miramarevents.com. 10am-5pm, free. Small town fair fun abounds in Millbrae this weekend – head over for live tunes, silly spuds potato spirals, giant sausages, shady bar seating, kid’s activities, and a classic car show.
Belmont Greek Festival Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, 900 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont. www.goholycross.org/festival. Through Mon/3. Sun.-Sat., noon-10pm; Mon., noon-8pm, $5/day. A few words, and you should be good to go. Souvlaki. Dolmades. Baklava. Kourambiedes. Galactobouriko. Whether those words ring a bell for you or not, head out to this cultural fest, and dance off the calories of your new vocabulary with traditional kalamatiano, tsamiko, and zeimbekiko numbers, performed by the intrepid Sons of Ulysses.
Mark Benson: “Get the Flu” Ever Gold Gallery, 441 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 796-3676, www.evergoldgallery.com. Through Sept. 27. Opening reception 6-10pm, free. Artist Benson subjects participants to varying temperatures in this exhibition of space heaters and air conditioners, evoking ever-growing feelings of discomfort. Couple that with a nurse administering actual flu shots and you have a uniquely participatory look at human control and the modern definition of comfort.
Beasts and Beats: Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com. 9pm-2am, $5-8. Celebrate the half-empty city vibe during Burning Man at this art buffet. Peruse works from over 50 San Francisco artists while moombahton, global bass, and house pump from the DJs’ sets.
Rawdance: Concept Series 12 66 Sanchez Studio, SF. www.rawdance.org. Also Sun/2. Sat., 1 and 8pm; Sun. 3 and 8pm, sliding scale admission. Five guest artists join Rawdance in this diverse lineup, from Palanza Dance’s excerpt from an interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina and detour dance’s “Imitations of Intimacy.”
SUNDAY 2
Oakland Pride 19th St. and Franklin, Oakl. www.oaklandpride.org. 11am-7pm, $10. Maybe it’s not as large as the SF Pride throwdown, but Oakland’s celebration of LGBT gettin’ does a much better job of representing the diversity of the Bay. Headliners CeCe Peniston (remember her ’90s dance hit “Finally”?), Flip Mode Squad’s Rah Digga, and Duranguense band K-Paz will provide beats, and the kids garden will have temporary tats, ballet performances, bubbles, and bouncy castles for the whole fam.
Gay Men Draw Vaginas art party Dolores Park (Gay Beach), Church and 20th St., SF. Facebook: Gay Men Drawing. 1-5pm, free. Sure, the book that editors Shannon O’Malley and Keith Wilson are putting together is pretty well explained by this party’s moniker, but if you’re not a male homo you’re still welcome – put your idea of the female genitalia to paper, on a fine Dolo Sunday.
The Blue Angel Berkeley Underground Film Society screening The Tannery, 708 Gillman, Berk. berkeleyundergroundfilms.blogspot.com. Doors 7pm, film 7:30pm, donations accepted. BUFS brings little-seen films to the masses with this pay-what-you-can screening of a 1930 tale of scolding professor who falls in love with a speakeasy dancer, directed by Josef von Sternberg.
TUESDAY 4
The News queer performance series SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan, SF. www.somarts.org. 7:30-9pm, $5. A monthly display of the wisest and wackiest of queer stage art, a typical edition of the News can include trash fashion, passionate odes to black beauty, and improvisational dance. Tonight, check out Philip Huang, Alexander Alvina Chamberland, Ryan Crowder, and more.