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WEDNESDAY 31
Michael Hearst Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. The musician and author presents “Unusual Creatures,” describes as a “nerdy, family-friendly sort of Ted talk” about some of the planet’s most bizarre animals.
Andrea Carla Michaels and Bernadette Luckett Book Passage, One Ferry Building, SF; www.bookpassage.com. 6pm, free. The contributors read from a new anthology of women comedy writers, No Kidding: Women Writers on Bypassing Parenthood.
THURSDAY 1
Asian Art Museum $5 admission Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin, SF; www.asianart.org. 5-9pm, $5. The Asian Art Museum stays open late every Thursday, and visitors who arrive after 5pm pay just $5 (regular adult admission is $12). Current exhibits include “In the Moment: Japanese Art from the Larry Ellison Collection.”
“Downtown Berkeley MusicFest” Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza, Berk; www.downtownberkeleymusicfest.org. 5-7pm, free. The sixth annual fest kicks off with concerts by Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic, and Talk of da Town.
Larry O. Dean and Hugh Behm-Steinberg Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph, Berk; www.moesbooks.com. 7:30pm, free. The Chicago-based Dean and the Berkeley-based Behm-Steinberg read from their latest poetry collections.
FRIDAY 2
“Downtown Berkeley MusicFest” Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge, Berk; www.downtownberkeleymusicfest.org. 12:15-1pm, free. The sixth annual fest continues with the Steve Gannon Blues Band.
“Oakland Art Murmur: First Friday Gallery Walk” Art project spaces in Jack London, Downtown, and Uptown, Oakl; www.oaklandartmurmur.org. 6-9pm, free. Check the website for an open studios map to the galleries and other art venues staying open late for this monthly event.
SATURDAY 3
Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony North end of Aquatic Park (near Interstate 80 and the west end of Addison), Berk; progressiveportal.org/lanterns. 6:30pm, free. Commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the floating of peace lanterns on the park’s lagoon. Arrive at 6:30 to construct lanterns; at 7pm, there will be musical and cultural performances, messages from the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and a report from a bombing survivor. Lanterns launch at 8pm.
Fruit Pie Contest Omnivore Books on Food, 3885a Cesar Chavez, SF; www.omnivorebooks.com. 3-4pm, free for entrants ($5 if you’re tasting only). The food-focused bookstore hosts the ultimate pie-making smack down (cobblers, crisps, tarts, crumbles, and buckle-type desserts also allowed). Show up a little before 3pm with your creation cut into as many pieces as you can — because the more people who taste it, the better chance you have of winning. Top vote-getter splits the door money with the shop and gets bragging rights ’till next time. (Non-bakers need pay only $5 to taste all the goodies.)
Vintage Paper Fair Golden Gate Park, Hall of Flowers (County Fair Bldg), Ninth Ave at Lincoln, SF; www.vintagepaperfair.com. 10am-6pm, free. (Also Sun/4, 11am-5pm, free). Antique paper fans, look no further for a vast selection of “postcards, trade cards, stereoviews, photography, labels, brochures” and more to add to your collection. Appraisals are also offered free of charge.
SUNDAY 4
“Beat Generation Instawalk” Meet at Jack Kerouac Alley (near Broadway and Grant), SF; www.thecjm.org. 1-4:30pm, free. In conjunction with its exhibit “Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg,” the Contemporary Jewish Museum hosts an Instagram-based scavenger hunt through North Beach that ends at the museum — where participants can win Beat-themed prizes and get free museum admission by showing their Instagram photos.
MONDAY 5
Alexander Maksik Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. Litquake co-sponsors this reading by the author of A Marker to Measure Drift.
TUESDAY 6
S.G. Browne Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. The author reads from Big Egos, a satirical look at identity in the not-too-distant future.
“Neither Friar Nor Conquistador” Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno, SF; www.emtab.org. 7-9pm, free. An evening dedicated to the history of Monterey’s Spanish immigrant community, featuring a screening of labor activist Michael Muñoz’s short film The Spanish Pruners Strike 1932, as well as a reading from his biography, Change From Within. *