Listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Selector.
WEDNESDAY 29
Sean Strub Books Inc., 2275 Market, SF; www.booksinc.net. 7:30pm, free. The author discusses Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival.
THURSDAY 30
“Playland After Dark” Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, 10979 San Pablo, El Cerrito; www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org. 6-10pm, $10. Adults (18 and up) get full run of Playland’s pinball and carnival games, plus board games galore and unique exhibits.
SATURDAY 1
Lunar Chinese New Year Festival on Fourth Street Near 1780 Fourth St, Berk; www.teance.com, www.fourthstreet.com. Noon-4pm, free. Welcome the Year of the Horse with Chinese Opera vignettes by Kei Lun Martial Arts, traditional lion dancing, drummers, and more.
“Sam & Max: A Look Back with Steve Purcell” Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, SF; www.cartoonart.org. 4-5pm, free (reception, 7-9pm, $5). Booksigning celebrating The Collected Sam & Max: Surfin’ the Highway. The later reception also includes Purcell in person and a chance to check out the Cartoon Art Museum’s Sam & Max exhibit, as well as the concurrent exhibits “Grains of Sand: 25 Years of the Sandman” and “Searle in America.”
“Peralta Hacienda Saturday Kids Club” Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave, Oakl; www.peraltahacienda.org. 2:30-5pm, free. Ongoing through May 31. Outdoorsy games, sports, and team-building fun for kids, who can learn about Ohlone Native American life, make crafts using dyes drawn from local plants, and go birdwatching, to name just a few of the offered activities.
Art Peterson Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno, SF; www.emtab.org. 2-5pm, free. The author reads from Why Is That Bridge Orange? San Francisco for the Curious.
“Sick Plant Clinic” UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial, Berk; events.berkeley.edu. 9am-noon, free. Feeling like a green-thumb failure? Bring your ailing plants (covered or in a container) for diagnosis by volunteer plant pathologists and entomologists at this long-standing monthly event.
Gene Luen Yang SF Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room, 100 Larkin, SF; www.sfpl.org. 2-3:30pm, free. The two-time National Book Award finalist discusses and signs his latest work, graphic novel Boxers & Saints: A Historical Duology of the Boxer Rebellion.
SUNDAY 2
Exploratorium free day Exploratorium, Pier 15, SF; www.exploratorium.edu. 10am-5pm, free. Regular adult admission is $25, so here’s your chance to check out (for free!) the science museum’s six exhibit galleries, including a Bay Observatory, and other attractions.
“Poetry Unbound #9” Art House Gallery, 2905 Shattuck, Berk; berkeleyarthouse.wordpress.com. 5:15pm, $5 donation (no one turned away for lack of funds). With Paradise, Jan Steckel, and Martin Heimstra, followed by a brief open mic. Hosts are Clive Matson and Richard Loranger.
MONDAY 3
Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7pm, $5 (advance tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com). Portland, Ore.-based author Meloy (also known at the lead singer and songwriter of the Decemberists) and illustrator Ellis — real-life partners and parents to two sons — share their latest literary collaboration, fantasy epic Wildwood Imperium: The Wildwood Chronicles, Part III. *