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WEDNESDAY 12
"Birth of Suns" astrophysics presentation Revolution Books, 2425 Channing, Berk. (510) 848-1196, www.revolutionbooks.org. 7pm, free. Walls closing in around you? For a little perspective, attend this lecture by UC Santa Cruz professor Mark Krumholz, whose expertise lies in star formation. He’ll be discussing how a celestial being is born, which involves so much mass, space, and distance that your roommate problems will fade into the distance on the power of his words.
SoMa B.A.G. (Bad Art Gallery) Satellite 66 Gallery, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.sfindie.com. Art show is open Wed/12-Fri/14, Sept. 19-21, and Sept. 26. Film screenings every Wednesday in September, 8pm, free. Perhaps a description of a work included in this SF IndieFest exhibition will suffice for this listing: "The artist created this work during his controversial Paint By Numbers period of the late 1980s and early ’90s. A raccoon engages the viewer with his coal black eyes, caught in the act of posing for a painting." Also, the gallery is screening Patrick Swayze movies on Wednesdays. Tonight is Point Break.
"(re)collection: Family Photos Swept by the East Japan Tsunami" Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission, SF. www.theintersection.org. Through Oct. 27. Opening reception: 7-9pm, free. Without being told to do so, rescue workers in the town of Yamamoto, Japan began to collect photos from the houses damaged and destroyed by the 2011 tsunami. This art exhibit assembles just a few of these partially-obscured images, reminders of the human cost of that catastrophic event.
THURSDAY 13
Belcampo Meat Co. job fair Food Craft Institute, 65 Webster, SF. www.foodcraftinsitute.org. 8am-noon, 4-7pm, free. Ever wanted to work with artisan animal products? Head over to Belcampo’s job fair, where you can learn about career opportunities at its NorCal farm, meat counters in Marin and SF, plus jam and cheese-making classes. Snack provided, bring your resume.
Projector Magazine screening Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., SF. www.roxie.com. 8pm, $5. Movie geeks and freaks will thrill to this live reading of the magazine that dissects films creatively (no snarky film reviewers here, folks). Tonight, screenings and readings collide as writers read their Projector pieces after a clip from the film that inspired them plays on the Roxie’s big screen.
FRIDAY 14
SF Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Homecoming Adoptathon SFSPCA, 201 Alabama, SF. www.sfspca.org. Through Sun/16. Fri/14, 1-8pm; Sat/15 and Sun/16, 10am-6pm; free. Kick-off party: Fri/14, 5-9pm, free. The friend of the furry and feathered couldn’t be making it any easier for you to go home with a companion of your own. The SFSPCA is hosting a party with free cocktails, free wine, free beer, with the opportunity for a free adoption to boot! The adoption special last throughout the weekend, so take home a kitty, puppy, bird, beast just as soon as you’re ready.
"From One Thing To Another: The Art of Recycle" Gray Loft Gallery, 2889 Ford, third floor, Oakl. grayloftgallery.blogspot.com. Through Nov. 9. Opening reception: 6-9pm, free. Have you been to Jingletown? So has this developing arts area in Oakland been recently dubbed. Check out the pleasures of the neighborhood by starting at this group show of art made from recycled, reclaimed, and upcycled materials.
Armenian Bazaar and Food Festival Khachaturian Armenian Community Center, 825 Brotherhood Way, SF. (415) 751-9140, www.stgregorysf.org. Through Sun/16. Fri/14, 7pm-midnight; Sat/15, noon-midnight; Sun/16, noon-6pm; free. For over 50 years, St. Gregory’s has hosted this superb opportunity to sample sarma and sou-beoreg (stuffed grape leaves and a cheese-parsley dish), check out the "highly anticipated" Sunday backgammon tournament, and watch live folk dancing. This year is the first for the fest’s beer and wine garden, which surely will only up its appeal.
"The Shirt" photography by Matt Sharkey Pretty Pretty Collective, 3290 22nd St., SF. www.mattsharkeyphotography.com. Opening reception: 8pm-midnight, free. Do you like photography? How about naked women? Photographer Sharkey took shots of 30 in the same old t-shirt, and most will be in attendance tonight as he celebrates the release of his new book of said shots, appropriately titled This Shirt.
"Oakland Under $100" Actual Cafe, 6334 San Pablo, Oakl. (510) 653-8386, www.actualcafe.com. Through Oct. 11. Opening reception: 6-10pm, free. Oakland artist Emily Coker shows her works (all retailing for under $100, natch) at this art opening, which also features live art-making, a silk-screening station, photobooth, and live music by Starmachine and DJs Ladybyrd and Who Killed Laura.
SATURDAY 15
Kiddo Disco Bollyhood Cafe, 3372 19th St., SF. www.kiddodisco.com. 11am-3pm, $5 per person, $20 maximum per family. You’ll be able to see over everyone’s heads at this club, and no need to save your monies for the late night burrito afterwards – snacks here are free, and anyways the thing will be over by 3pm. This is the fourth annual Kiddo Disco, where families can bring their future clubbers for a taste of the future while DJ Matt Haze spins. DIY face painting, bubbles, and a quiet area for reading and coloring will be supplied. Why aren’t all parties more like this one?
Coastal cleanup day Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Park, Doolittle Drive and Swan Way, Oakl. www.savesfbay.org. 9am-noon, free. Bring your own bucket (there will be a contest to determine the prettiest one) to this cleanup day, which aims to provide safe space for trees to thrive, birds to birth, and people to gaze out over the beauty of nature. And keep your eyes out for weird: Save the Bay will be giving prizes for the most bizarre piece of detritus recovered.
"Folsom Exposed!" photography by Mark I. Chester Wicked Grounds, 289 Eighth St., SF. www.wickedgrounds.com. Through Nov. 30. Opening reception: 7-10pm, free. Gear up for high leather season with photographer Chester’s shots of SF’s sex culture underbelly. Images going as far back as the late 1970s are in included in this show at SF’s kinky coffee shop. Come early (on time, at 7pm) for special slideshow discussion by the pervy photog himself.
Dance Discourse Project de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park, SF. www.counterpulse.org; www.dancersgroup.org. 2-4pm, free. Performer Monique "Fauxnique" Jenkinson, SFMOMA associate curator Frank Smigiel, and others form a panel that will discuss the intersection of dance and visual arts – what happens when movement enters a building designed for housing paintings and the like?
SUNDAY 16
Mexican Museum free family day Mexican Museum, Fort Mason Center Building D, SF. www.mexicanmuseum.org. Noon-3pm, free. Celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day with this open invitation to families during Hispanic Heritage Month (which, oddly enough, runs Sept. 15-Oct. 15). The museum’s special portraiture and contemporary art exhibits will be open, and kids will have an opportunity to make creative masterpieces of their own.