Science Archives — Page 5 of 40 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Article overlooks key findings and new academic research

Sasha Cuttler

January 13, 2014

Article overlooks key findings and new academic research

By Corey Cook

I am writing in regard to Reed Nelson’s story “’Poll’ showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed.” As one of the two authors of the survey, I am deeply disappointed in the many insinuations in the article and the author’s cavalier abandonment of evidence or reason in order to make his politically expedient, but otherwise inane, point.

In fact, the author is so quick to dismiss the findings of the study, which is based upon accepted methodology, and which had nothing to do with mayoral approval scores, that he actually misses the entire thrust of the study – that voters in San Francisco are deeply ambivalent about the current environment, concerned about the affordability crisis, and not trusting of local government to come up with a solution.

You’d think the Bay Guardian might find that an interesting subject. Under a previous editor I have little doubt it would have. Instead, the author mind numbingly asserts that the mayor’s approval rate – a largely irrelevant number – is clearly overinflated and the survey must then be “bogus” (meaning fake or phony). While other scholars might find the popular characterization of their work as “fake” somewhat amusing. I do not.

The author relies on two main sources to claim that an on-line panel survey is “bogus”, the New York Times “style guide” and the “website publication” of Southeast Missouri State University Political Scientist Russell D. Renka, who is neither a survey researcher nor a political methodologist, and who does not seem to have published anything in this field (or even in political science based on his on-line vita), but who does seem to have a fairly robust home page that includes cute photos of his grandkids.

It’s not the kind of “source” that I would utilize to deride another academic’s work as “bogus”, and I could suggest some other (actual) publications to consider, including Harvard political scientist Stephen Ansolabehere’s peer reviewed article in Political Analysis titled “Does Survey Mode Still Matter?” from 2011 that compares national surveys fielded at the same time over the Internet (using an opt-in Internet panel), by telephone with live interviews (using a national RDD sample of landlines and cell phones), and by mail (using a national sample of residential addresses).

The authors of that study conclude that “comparing the findings from the modes to each other and the validated benchmarks, we demonstrate that a carefully executed opt-in Internet panel produces estimates that are as accurate as a telephone survey and that the two modes differ little in their estimates of other political indicators and their correlates.” But unfortunately that peer reviewed publication by a Harvard political scientist seems to contradict the simple assertion that a survey result the author doesn’t like must be phony.

Let me say that I don’t considered this issue “settled” in the scholarly community, but it is far from the case that serious on-line panel surveys ought to be derided as “bogus.” My preference would be to do a 1,200 person phone survey. If the Bay Guardian would like to commission such a survey, I would enjoy working with you on that project. But given the various cost limitations that preclude such a robust research design, this is not an altogether bad alternative.

That said, feel free to poke at the methodology and suggest that the numbers for Lee might not reflect that of the overall population because of the timing of the survey or because it was only conducted in English (though I’d disagree with you there – that likely holds down his numbers), or frankly just that surveys do often get it wrong. Even the best random sample is outside the margin of error one time out of 20 according to basic probability theory.

But the other thing I’d like to draw your attention to is that you’ve missed the entire point of the survey. Why do you focus on mayoral approval when it’s a survey about attitudes towards affordability and tech? In fact the article notes that “(i)nterestingly, the USF “poll” also found that 86 percent of respondants (sic) said that lack of affordability was a major issue in the city, while 49.6 percent of that same group considered housing developers to be most at fault for the astronomical real estate prices.” So apparently that part of the survey wasn’t bogus.

Here were our four findings:

* San Franciscans are of two minds: a clear majority of respondents say the city is going in the right direction, yet affordability is seen as a significant, and newly exacerbated problem.

* Most respondents see the tech boom as most strongly helping tech executives and workers. Though there is little sense that respondents and their families benefit from the tech boom, a clear majority say that tech is also good for other white collar workers and the city overall.

* The public strongly supports the idea that the city government ought to enact policies to preserve affordability but were skeptical of public officials’ ability to deal with these issues.

* Despite these concerns, there was little interest in making it harder for tech companies to come to San Francisco. For now, keeping the economy strong appears to be the priority, and we expect that feelings about the economy will likely stave off a substantial political “backlash” at least at the present time.

While Ed Lee has high approval scores, they are tepid – much more “good” than “excellent”. And those numbers erode on affordability, what the voters regard as the city’s most important issue. And we found that people don’t articulate a high degree of trust in mayor in dealing with affordability. Yes, they trust him more than they do others (like developers, or the Board of Supervisors), but not much. This survey help me understand what happened on the 8 Washington vote. Voters like the mayor, as they do Newsom incidentally, but don’t buy their argument that the development would address housing affordability. His popularity didn’t have coattails on this issue.

It strikes me as a real missed opportunity for your journalists to trash the poll, based on really flimsy grounds, rather than address it’s important, and yes, ambivalent findings.

Sincerely,

Corey Cook, Ph.D.

“Poll” showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed

Sasha Cuttler

January 10, 2014

“Poll” showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed

There was a poll conducted in late November by the University of San Francisco, the results of which were released in conjunction with the San Francisco Chronicle, claiming that 73 percent of San Franciscans approve of Mayor Ed Lee’s performance.

It didn’t take long for Lee’s supporters to begin touting the figure as fact; soon after the poll appeared on SFGate.com on Dec. 9, the results wallpapered the comment section of the Guardian’s website as the answer to any criticism of Mayor Lee, his policies, or the city’s eviction and gentrification crises.

After all, it was a big number that seems to suggest widespread support. But closer analysis shows this “online poll” wasn’t really a credible poll, and that number is almost certainly way over-inflated. [Editor’s update 1/13: The authors of this survey contest the conclusions of this article, and we have changed the word “bogus” in the original headline to “flawed.” The issue of the reliability of opt-in online surveys is an evolving one, so while we stand by our conclusions in this article that the 73 percent approval figure is misleading and difficult to support, we urge you to read Professor Corey Cook’s response here and our discussion of this issue in this week’s Guardian.]

The problems with the USF “poll” are numerous, but the most glaring of those issues has to do with its lack of random selection. According to the New York Times Style Guide, a poll holds value in what’s called a “probability sample,” or the notion that it represents the beliefs of the larger citizenry.

The USF poll registered responses from 553 San Franciscans. That number itself isn’t the issue, or it wouldn’t be if those 553 individuals were procured through a random process. But they weren’t, and it wasn’t even close.

The survey participants were obtained via an “opt-in” list that, according to David Latterman — a USF professor, co-conductor of the poll, and downtown-friendly political consultant — meaning that anyone who participated in this particular poll had previously stated they were willing to participate in a poll. This phenomenon is known as self-selecting.

“We work with a rather large national firm and they have a whole series of opt-in panels,” Latterman told the Guardian. “So they’ve got lists of thousands of people who have basically said, ‘Yes, we’ll take a poll.’ And the blasts go out to these groups of people.”

That means that even prior to conducting the poll, results had already been tailored toward a certain set of citizens and away from anything that could be classified as “random.” And even the Chronicle acknowledged in the small type that “Poll respondents were more likely to be homeowners,” further narrowing the field down to one-third of city residents, and generally its most affuent third.

Even if pollsters could match the demographics of the polled with the “true demographics” as Latterman called them, it still wouldn’t address the issue of self-selection. But that’s not all: The list of “opt-in” participants, which was acquired through a third party vendor, according to Latterman, only contained English-speaking registered voters. And anyone contacted was contacted via email, another red flag in the world of accurate of polling data.

Interestingly, the USF “poll” also found that 86 percent of respondants said that lack of affordability was a major issue in the city, while 49.6 percent of that same group considered housing developers to be most at fault for the astronomical real estate prices. So, to recap: This poll, touted by many people as gospel in the comment section of this site, found that while the City is totally unaffordable, the man in charge of the City is barely culpable for that situation, and he remains incredibly popular.

According to the NYT Style Guide, “Any survey that relies on the ability and/or availability of respondents to access the Web and choose whether to participate is not representative and therefore not reliable.”

Uh oh.

Russell D. Renka, professor of Political Science at Southeast Missouri State, conveyed far stronger feelings on the matter in his paper “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Public Opinion Polling,” saying that a self-selected sample “trashes the principle of random selection… A proper medical experiment never permits someone to choose whether to receive a medication rather than the placebo.”

Strike two.

He then writes, “Any self-selected sample is basically worthless as a source of information about the population beyond itself.”

Strike three.

So then why were such frowned-upon methods used in this poll?

Latterman attributes the tactics to many things, but mostly to the rapidly changing technological landscape of San Francisco, coupled with the high costs of alternative methods and a large renters market.

“San Francisco is a more difficult model,” Latterman said. “So Internet polling has to get better, because phone polling has gotten really expensive.”

But even if Internet polling needs to improve, it is still important to prominently note that in original source material, lest you give folks the wrong ideas. Or even just misinformed ones. Unless what you’re trying to present is less about polling that trying to sell San Franciscans on the idea that Mayor Lee enjoys widespread support.

Local heroes

Michael Redmond

January 7, 2014

joe@sfbg.com

LIT Comics have grown a lot since their humble early days, when superheroes seemed confused as to whether their underwear belonged on the inside or the outside of their tights. Now anti-heroes and tales of personal tragedy guide the ink on the page as often as not, and Berkeley-based publisher Image Comics leads the pack in pushing comic stories to wonderfully dark places.

This year’s Image Expo is an opportunity to rub noses with comic authors whose work is still cool, dammit, even if their work is crossing into the mainstream. We’ll forgive Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman for letting his comics get turned into a TV show and videogames, if only because they expand the captivatingly complicated, zombie-infested universe he first created on paper.

Image publisher Eric Stephenson attributes the company’s success to its creator-owned model, which might explain why the Telltale-made Walking Dead video games are so good — Kirkman owns the rights to his Walking Dead, allowing all the creative control that entails. Though Kirkman may be one of the shiniest stars at the expo (he gets his own panel, by his lonesome!), he’ll be one of over a dozen comic creators to nerd out over.

Heavy-hitters like Jonathan Hickman (East of West and The Nightly News), Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals and Satellite Sam), Nick Dragotta (East of West), and Kelly Sue DeConnick (Pretty Deadly) will all be on hand. East of West in particular has garnered critical acclaim, and made the New York Times best seller list in October. It has much to love, but the setting is as interesting as any of its characters. It’s an alternate reality-history-dystopian future yarn pitting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse against the president of the United States. What’s not to love?

The expo also offers a good opportunity to meet newer artists too, if only to say you knew them before they were a big deal. Ales Kot is one of those up and comers, and his series Zero is an espionage and war story in the near future with disturbing echoes of the present — from Manning’s leaks to our near constant state of war. It’s frank about its brutality, neither glorifying nor hiding it away.

Locals are making their mark with Image as well. Bay Area author Antony Johnston and artist Justin Greenwood’s Fuse concept is “what if a detective story was set on Battlestar Galactica?” (Thanks Johnston, you’ve got me frakkin’ excited now.) It won’t be out until February, but a preview of the comic had my sci-fi loving self drooling over a Babylon 5-like cylindrical space station — but the story is almost Sherlock-like, a genuine whodunit.

With WonderCon’s recent move to SoCal, Image Expo’s Bay Area foothold is more vital than ever. But though it will no doubt yield a handful of cosplayers and swag-hunting fans, Image’s event — now in its second year in its current format — tends to be a lot cozier than WonderCon (or the mightiest behemoth of them all, Comic-Con). With just 600 attendees in 2013, compared to Comic-Con’s 100,000-plus, the comic creators were able to chat with readers at length.

Image’s Stephenson will be my main reason for bum-rushing the expo. Taking time away from his duties as publisher, he penned the recently anthologized Nowhere Men, which rocked, hard. The story of a Beatles-like group of scientists (because science is the new rock ‘n’ roll), it tells a tale similar enough to Frankenstein’s monster — but watching the characters justify their choices is fascinating. Sure, they end up ruining the lives of their test subjects and turning them into twisted super powered monsters, but they meant well, right?

The series will continue through the year, but it can’t come soon enough. (Maybe new Nowhere Men developments will be revealed at the expo?) Though there are only a dozen comic-creator attendees listed on the event’s website, an email from Stephenson hinted that unannounced surprise guests would bring the count of artists and authors to over 20. The slated panels center around the comic artists, the “eccentric” lives of comic authors, and an “interrogation” whose purpose is to deduce where comic creators get their inspiration.

“We have a very ambitious year ahead of us in 2014, and I think some of what we reveal at Image Expo is going to surprise a lot of people,” Stephenson said. *

IMAGE EXPO 2014

Thu/9, 9am, $20-$50

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

701 Mission, SF

imagecomics.com/expo

Bits and bots

Michael Redmond

January 7, 2014

marke@sfbg.com

CAREERS AND ED “When it comes to robots, there’s usually a kneejerk reaction about job loss. But the robotics field is also creating jobs. We haven’t had stagecoach drivers for a hundred years, but still the world has moved forward.” That’s Tim Smith, a robotics public relations expert — talk about robots creating new jobs — speaking to me over the phone from his Element PR home office in Bernal Heights, where he’s busy representing some of the most innovative robotics projects coming out of the Bay Area.

Smith has a gentle way (he’s no robot?) of putting the recent quantum-like advances in the robotics field into perspective — while also noting the limitations of the field. “One of the biggest challenges I face is overcoming the ‘creep factor’ that most people have when it comes to robots. There are different kinds of robots, different niches: industrial, military, personal. Most people, however, jump to a kind of malevolent science fiction combination of all three. And that’s understandable, considering how robots have been presented in the past.

“But really, personal robots are all around us. Thermostats are robots. Smoke alarms are robots,” Smith continues. “And despite people’s misgivings, they really do want the future, they do want science fiction. They want Rosie the Robot to do their laundry, clean the house. But right now, most personal robots do one thing extremely well. It’s when they’re asked to do two things that chaos breaks out. They need controlled environments. For instance, we have robots to clean your floors, but not one to clean your floors and wash your windows. Even Google’s driverless car needs to be in a certain kind of environment to function.

“So that’s what’s really held the industry from advancing. Meanwhile, though, on this side of that wall, there are some spectacular things being done to fine-tune and develop not just robots but the robotics field, including efforts to integrate robotics into daily life. You can see how far intelligent technology has come just by looking in your pocket.”

Smith took me on a tour of some of the Bay Area-based organizations and companies pushing those advances, including direct descendents of Willow Garage, the legendary Menlo Park robotics incubator started by Google developer Scott Hassan in 2006.

ROBOTSLAB BOX

Sure, math in high school was kind of a snoozefest. But what if your geometry class was taught by a box of robots? Yep, that might have you reaching for the protractor a bit more often.

RobotsLAB (www.robotslab.com) has created that box of robots, which is now in use in several schools. “The idea to create RobotsLAB BOX was born after spending hundreds of hours with educators, teachers, and administrators,” founder Elad Inbar told me by email. “The need for a population with basic STEM skills (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is imperative, yet we’ve heard over and over again that students don’t understand why they need to learn math, or where math’s core concepts such as linear and quadratic equations are applicable to their lives.

“As a result, they underperform in evaluations and can give up on meaningful careers. But the RobotsLAB BOX robots are serving in the classroom as a bridge between the concrete world we live in and and abstract math concepts.

“There are four robots in the RobotsLAB BOX: a quadcopter, a robotic arm, a rover with a mustache, and a robotic ball. The students love them all. They help teach everything from the law of cosines to the sum of vectors.”

RobotsLAB BOX even offers a STEM kit that guides you through the basics of robotics. Wait, does that mean a robot will actually teach you to build itself?

OPEN SOURCE ROBOTICS FOUNDATION

The Bay Area-based ROS (Robotics Operating System, www.ros.org) organization is a collection of programmers dedicated to advancing robotics development and application through collaborative coding and invention.

The Open Source Robotics Foundation (www.osrf.org) is the nonprofit in charge of overseeing the development of ROS. Basically this means that it helps make robotics coding something shareable and open to all who are interested (and who can gain the technical chops). OSRF also does things like participate in last year’s headline making DARPA Challenge, the awesome-looking, government-sponsored festival and competition aiming to push robotics to the next level, where it completed a challenge to build an open-source robot simulation environment.

“If you want to enter the world of robotics software coding,” advises Brian Gerkey, OSRF CEO, “some familiarity with Linux is helpful. But the best advice is to just dive in. There are tons of resources at ROS for all levels of expertise and a vibrant community ready to help.

“One of the challenges facing robotics is the multi-disciplinary nature of the field — hardware, software, vision, navigation, manipulation — and lots of math. But there are lots of ways for a young person to get started — things like the FIRST Robotics competition and the growing Maker community come to mind.”

To advance the cause of personal robotics containing open-source software, Gerkey is participating in a panel at the Commonwealth Club on Feb. 26 called “Robots in Unconventional Workplaces” (www.commonwealthclub.org).

“Everyone has their own idea of what a robot looks like and what it does, but in many cases those expectations derive from movies, books, and television shows. One of my goals is to help people picture robots in scenarios they never dreamed possible.”

UNBOUNDED ROBOTICS

“The simplest way to describe our UBR-1 robot is that it’s akin to an iPhone without any third party apps,” says Unbounded Robotics (www.unboundedrobotics.org) CEO Melonee Wise of the one-year-old company’s latest protoype.

“The robot, like the phone, is incredibly capable and sophisticated, but the real value comes from what developers are able to add to the platform. For that reason, the practical applications are limited only by the imagination of the ROS developer community.”

Another way to describe the UBR-1 is: squeee.

The little shiny orange robot is so cute I want to have one just to look at when I get tired of Lil Bub pics. The introductory video, in which an “emergency stop” switch is activated to “prevent robot apocalypse” (“not guaranteed to prevent robot apocalypse”) is enough for me to welcome the coming robot apocalypse.

Now I just have to learn to program the darn thing.

Our Weekly Picks: Jan. 1-6, 2014

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

December 31, 2013

WEDNESDAY 1

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Why does Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) wield such enduring, iconic power? Perhaps it has something to do with the characters — aside from Mickey Rooney’s, ah, regrettable Mr. Yunioshi, they’re believable, with deceptive complexities. Audrey Hepburn’s Holly is like a dazzling bird caught in flight; she loves everything too much and yet maybe not enough, protecting her vulnerability with an aloof, mesmerizing facade. George Peppard’s Paul is a dreamer, a writer, and a nobody; he plays us, the viewer incarnate. Then there’s New York City, a character in itself, with all the glittering allure of a Tiffany’s diamond, the mod Bohemia of a townhouse party, and the danger of Sing Sing prison. The film is a romance, and yet also a rejection of that through Holly’s search for self-emancipation. It’s a perplexing comedy, by turns dark and droll, and it chases after Truman Capote’s version of the American Dream: feminized, floppy, middle-class, and eternally sophisticated. (Kaylen Baker)

2, 4:45, and 7:30pm, $8.50-$11

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

THURSDAY 2

Brian McKnight

Contemporary R&B powerhouse Brian McKnight isn’t just a singer. Take a peek at his Wikipedia page and you’ll learn the man can also play piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn, and trumpet. I gave new single “Sweeter” — from his 15th studio album, 2013’s More Than Words — a spin, and while that track contains no evidence of tuba or flugelhorn, McKnight’s velvety vocals are in full effect. However, the video for “Sweeter,” which uses a honey-dripping scene to literalize lyrics such as “Girl, you make everything in my life much sweeter,” proves his voluminous skill set also includes wooing women (duh) and looking cool on a motorcycle (again, duh). Catch the crooner, whose discography features 2000 monster hit “Back at One,” during his weekend stint at Yoshi’s; as of this writing, one show was already sold out, so make haste to the box office for maximum slow-jam enjoyment. (Cheryl Eddy)

Tonight and Fri/3-Sat/4, 8 and 10pm (Sat/4, 8pm show sold out); Sun/5, 7 and 9pm, $50-$65

Yoshi’s San Francisco

1330 Fillmore, SF

www.yoshis.com

The Tempest

Perhaps San Francisco was once a magical island where people could travel to escape the outside world, but now it’s awash in smartphone sorcery and tech-Prosperos treating people like Caliban. Analogies aside, it’s also home to the Do It Live! Theater company and its production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Directors (and company co-founders) William Hand and Kenny Toll promise to feature the “action,” “energy,” and “human biology” of the play, which stars local veteran Bill Peters as Prospero. Rarely attempted by small companies, the Bard’s final play blends tragedy and comedy, and delights on any scale. (Ben Richardson)

Through Jan 18

Previews tonight, 7pm and Fri/3, 8pm; opens Sat/4, 8pm

Runs Thu and Sun, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm, $15

Thick House

1695 18th St, SF

www.doitliveproductions.com

FRIDAY 3

Sundance Film Festival shorts

So you can’t make it to Park City this year. And you didn’t make it last year, either. (Related: are you me?) Fortunately, San Rafael is a lot closer than Utah — and requires no snow boots — so you can soothe your Sundance Film Festival longings by checking out the Smith Rafael’s program of eight shorts, many award-winners among them, all plucked from the 2013 fest. Animation, comedy, documentary, and drama are represented, with highlights like Michael Almereyda’s Skinningrove, about a photographer’s work in an isolated seaside community; Jenni Toivoniemi’s The Date, about a teenage boy wrangling his family’s “stud cat;” Tony Donoghue’s Irish Folk Furniture (an animated film about … Irish folk furniture); and Kibwe Tavares’ fanciful, Zanzibar-set “big fish story,” Jonah. (Eddy)

Through Jan 9, $6.50-$10.75

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St, San Rafael

www.cafilm.org

“Hello 2014: A Sci-Fi Art Event”

Science fiction artwork is the stuff of outer space dreams and prog-rock album covers: strange alien beasts, forbidden planets, robot overlords, fanciful ships suited for interstellar travel. The Paint Pens Collective — which describes itself as dedicated to “low-brow, urban, and modern art” — faces the future in D-Structure’s first show of 2014, with 14 artists applying their various styles and techniques to the sci-fi theme. Some of the participants’ monikers ring a little otherworldly themselves (Sucklord, Tofusquirrel, and Metaworks in particular) — and preview images suggest that Grumpy Cat and KISS are among the pop-culture icons that’ll make the jump to art in hyperspace. (Eddy)

7-11pm, free (RSVP via Facebook)

D-Structure

520 Haight, SF

www.facebook.com/paintpenscollective

SATURDAY 4

Great Apes

Mike Park, patron saint of Asian Man Records and the San Jose punk scene, sure knows how to pick ’em. And the former Skankin’ Pickle saxophone player made a good choice adding Great Apes to his label’s roster. The band sounds like an updated version of pop-punk bands from the early 2000s, but its lyrical content is yea more profound. In 2013, the group released Thread, a concept album of sorts inspired by conversations or interviews with friends. It’s none too common for a band to unleash a cohesive and thought-provoking record right out of the gate — and for that reason alone, Great Apes are worth going bananas over. (Erin Dage)

With Void Boys, Travesura, Five Eyes

9pm, $8

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St, SF

www.theeparkside.com

“reveries and elegies”

Mary Armentrout Dance Theater’s site-specific reveries and elegies is also solar- and lunar-specific: its variable show schedule is timed to coincide with sundown. But that’s not to say the show is harnessed to the clock; in fact, the artist describes it as “a shifting, wandering installation” that deals with difficult-to-simplify themes of “change, loss, and dislocation.” Armentrout has performed the experimental, exploratory reveries in various locations — since its 2012 premiere, the work has journeyed between local “venues” like Baker Beach and Temescal Alley, plus made a visit to Louisiana. But these current shows are of particular significance, since they’ll all take place in Armentrout’s home-turf studio space. Capacity is just 25, so make sure you pick up tickets beforehand via Brown Paper Tickets (linked on Armentrout’s website, listed below). (Eddy)

Tonight and Sun/5, 4:15pm; Jan 11-12 and 18-19, 4:30pm; Jan 25-26, 4:45pm, $20

Milkbar

Sunshine Biscuit Factory

851 81st St, Oakl

www.maryarmentroutdancetheater.com

“Saturday Cinema: Holiday Animation”

“Essentially, this little movie is a series of headshots of people (mostly children) trying to keep a very nasty candy in their mouths for as long as possible,” reads an IMDB review of Jessica Yu’s 1993 Sour Death Balls — a five-minute short that’s also the future Academy Award winner’s first film. (She won for her documentary short, Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien, in 1996, and made one of the best jokes in Oscar history, musing that her borrowed gown probably cost more than her film did.) The Exploratorium kicks off its Cinema Arts calendar for 2014 with a collection of high-energy animations; alongside Yu’s killer candies, the program features Nelson Boles’ whimsical Little Boat and Jacques Drouin’s Imprints, a nifty exploration of “pinscreen” animation. (Eddy)

Noon, 2, and 4pm, free with museum admission ($19-$25)

Exploratorium

Pier 15, SF

www.exploratorium.edu

“Shane Carruth: Hard Science and Human Nature”

Thank the movie gods for Shane Carruth, the director-writer-actor-composer-mad genius behind 2004’s Primer and last year’s Upstream Color. In an industry obsessed with fame, bankability, and sequel potential, he’s an oddity, having rocketed to fame with Sundance sensation Primer (2004) — and then promptly dropping off the map. Where had this vaunted purveyor of low-budget indie sci-fi gone? Was he trapped in one of Primer‘s time-travel devices? Was he working on a Hollywood breakout? Had he left the film industry behind? Though the mystery was kinda fun for a hot minute, all Carruth faithful rejoiced when Upstream Color dropped — more polished and sophisticated than Primer, but no less intensely imaginative or pleasurably mind-warping, and with the added bonus of fierce star Amy Seimetz. Both films screen tonight, and Skype chats with Carruth will follow each. Drink every time someone asks, “So, what’s the deal with the pigs?” (Eddy)

Primer, 7:30pm; Upstream Color, 9:30pm

Roxie Theater, $7.50-$10

3125 16th St, SF

www.roxie.com

TUESDAY 7

The Spits

If the Ramones were dosed with a debilitating amount of apathy and handed a synthesizer, it would sound like the Spits — a band dedicated to perfecting the art of slacker garage-punk. Tonight’s gig kicks off a week’s worth of shows celebrating the Rickshaw Stop’s 10-year anniversary. Formed in part by brothers Sean and Erin Wood, the band is known for performing in costumes that range from hazmat suits to Ronald Reagan masks. And in its past 13 years, it has become a staple in the garage-rock community. Though the band is known for its slew of numeral album titles, it has recently reissued a collection of rarities and b-sides dubbed Kill the Kool. That said, go to the show — and pick up an assortment of overlooked goods (Kill the Kool, duh) on your way out. (Dage)

With Violent Change, Crez Deedee

8pm, $17 ($65 for a pass to all 10th anniversary shows through Jan. 12)

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

www.therickshawstop.com

The Performant: To Boldly Go

Sue Vaughan

December 23, 2013

Resurrecting the Exquisite Corpse

Welcome to the Starship Dental Prize. A vessel so intrepid it dares to probe the darkest, dankest folds of outer space, not to mention the incandescent snarls of surrealistic whimsy. Fish. Squonk. Celine Dion. Her stalwart crew includes a sassy computer powered by illogic (Becky Hirschfeld), a vodka-swilling ensign Anton Anton (Bryce Byerley), psychic science officer Mentoo Fractosa (Chandler White), and a pelvic-thrust obsessed captain Oliver Clozoffe (Jody Frandle). Her mission, undetermined. Her story, as yet unwritten.

The third in an ongoing series of “Exquisite Corpse” theatrical events spearheaded by members of Foul Play Productions and Stage Werx, the evening’s production, entitled Defenders of Intergalactic Donuts: They Dared to Conquer Infinity, admittedly doesn’t have much to do with donuts in the end. Scripted on the spot by oddience members who are given a choice of random props and three minutes to pen a few crucial lines of dialogue without seeing the lines that come before (except the very last), the resultant play dwells at the crossroads of blind chance and organized chaos. Or as host and “Voice of Stage Directions” Mikl-em points out in his welcome speech, it’s a “piece of art … that no one would make on purpose.” Purpose be damned, let’s play.

The Exquisite Corpse writing game was popularized by the surrealists in the early part of the 1900s, in which a word or series of words would be written on a blank page by the first player then passed on to the next, whose own contribution would follow a previously agreed upon sequence (i.e. noun adverb verb) or spring off of whatever the last line of the previous contribution was. Adapted into a theatrical format by the San Francisco Cacophony Society in the 1980s, the corpse has been recently revived down at Stage Werx as an occasional occurrence, taking on film noir and sci-fi tropes with equal verve. I’m still holding out for a musical (hint to organizers).

The first hour of the evening is one part cocktail party, one part scriptwriting boot camp, as attendees are first encouraged to mingle with the cast in order to get a bead on their personalities in order to write lines of dialogue for them. From the outrageous, androgynous intergalactic rock star Lord Lady Chameleon (Gerri Lawlor) to her estranged sister and chanteuse Camilla Chameleon (Christina Shonkwiler), to the television-obsessed Queen Vixxnord! (Dawn Corine) and her evil sidekick Professor Fritzdoctorsteinberg (Brendan Hill), each character has just enough backstory (not to mention improv training) to keep the party patter flowing along with a few choice libations and some groovy, space lounge tunage. After some chit-chat, each oddience member gets a crack at the script, and the results are predictably unpredictable.

As the actual play unfolds, part of the fun becomes trying to guess which person is responsible for penning the mort disturbed set of lines which include such gems as “I’ve got glitter in my ass-crack,” “I liked them better when they were dead,” “No tickling for you, I fear,” and “I’m feeling festive, we’re heading to planet Get-down-get-down.” Plot twists are as varied and muddled as the frantic search for the correct props becomes, but some universal truths do still manage to shine through. Rock stardom may have little to do with actual talent but much to do with seduction. Desire is a universal drive. Always look on the bright side of life (whistle, whistle). If you’ve got it, flaunt it … and if you flaunt it, make sure people are wearing sunglasses. Hiccup. Weevil. Splat.

Homework troubles

December 17, 2013

joe@sfbg.com

The San Francisco Board of Education approved a land swap with city government on Dec. 10, gifting San Francisco an empty lot that it will use to build new affordable housing. That’s 115 units of living space for low-income San Francisco renters, wrapped in a bow for the holidays.

The proposal was the brainchild of board members Hydra Mendoza-McDonnell and Sandra Lee Fewer, who worked on the measure with the Mayor’s Office of Housing for over two years. The district will trade a lot on 1950 Mission street and another on Connecticut Street in exchange for a property it currently rents from the city of San Francisco. The city will also pay SFUSD $4.5 million, according to district data.

The deal was the culmination of that work, which Fewer said was the right thing to do.

“Could we get more money from [selling] this property with a private developer? I’m sure. But would we get the value? No,” Fewer said at the meeting.

The original intent of the land swap was to provide affordable housing for the school district’s employees. Project proponents say school district workers are being priced out of San Francisco in droves. But the affordable housing project will be general use, with no specific provisions for teachers or other SFUSD workers.

Though the teachers’ union supports the land swap, United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly warned that teachers are in dire need.

“It’s more than an oversight, it’s an insult, felt very deeply, and very bitterly,” Kelly said at the podium. “Affordable housing will not house a single teacher, not a single one, because of where the dollar breaks are.”

The board has made various promises over the past decade to aid with teacher housing, all empty words, Kelly told the Guardian. There’s yet to be a solution from the school district or the board on finding sustainable housing for teachers.

The problem is a microcosm of one of San Francisco’s toughest challenges during this tech-fueled affordable housing crisis. Affordable housing helps the poor, and the rich certainly don’t need help staying in the city, but help for middle-income earners is hard to come by.

NEW RECRUIT

Research from education nonprofit ASCD shows most first-year teachers face three challenges: difficulty learning to manage classroom behavior, an overload of curriculum creation, and lack of school support. San Francisco’s new teachers face a fourth: finding a place to sleep at night.

Second-year SFUSD science teacher Kate Magary, 29, knows this all too well. Her first year on the job went from challenging to hellish as she looked for an affordable place to live.

Despite having a modestly salaried full-time job, she couldn’t afford a studio on her own. She eventually found a room for rent on Craigslist, but her noisy roommates made grading papers and writing curriculum a constant challenge. She started a new apartment hunt, but even that was like a full-time job.

“As a first-year teacher, it was awful,” Magary said. “I tried not to let it affect me too much at school, but the stress from home eventually made it with me to the classroom.”

She over-disciplined some kids, she said, and her patience was at the breaking point for most of the year. When teachers suffer, students suffer.

Magary is a science teacher at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is on the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts campus at Twin Peaks. Three-story homes and apartment buildings dot the hills along the road from Market Street on her drive to school, but Magary can’t afford them.

Instead, she eventually found a place on Treasure Island. A sixth-generation San Franciscan, Magary is happy to stay in what is still technically part of the city. But her lease is tenuous, and she anticipates having to move within the next few years. She’s not alone.

Out of SFUSD’s 3,284 teachers, 927 live outside of San Francisco, according to data from their union. That’s 28 percent of teachers living outside of the city, 3 percent higher than just last year. That number masks the depth of the problem.

New teachers who aren’t established in San Francisco bear the brunt of displacement. Half of all new teachers leave SFUSD in their first five years, according to data from the district. And 35 percent of teachers hired since July 1 live outside the city.

“A teacher might start in the district, live in the city, and move out,” said UESF spokesperson Matt Hardy. “The turnover is very high, particularly in newer schools.”

Teachers we talked to said there are problems for those who manage to stay in San Francisco as well. They sometimes sleep in unstable or unsafe housing, couchsurf, or sleep in their cars. In the morning they teach the city’s children.

It’s bad for teachers, but worse still, it’s bad for students. Recognizing this, federal, state and city government have all pitched in to try and find housing solutions for teachers.

Unfortunately for them, and for us, they’ve mostly failed.

OWNERSHIP FOR NONE

Art Agnos is most well known for being San Francisco’s former mayor. But after stepping down in the ’90s, he served in the Clinton Administration as the Department of Housing and Urban Development regional director throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii.

He was in charge of finding folks places to live.

The crisis for teacher housing was stark. At the time, Agnos was in charge of implementing Clinton’s housing program for teachers in San Francisco. The experiment? Build affordable housing units at Dianne Feinstein Elementary School on 25th Avenue exclusively for teachers.

The idea died in a sea of NIMBYism.

“The resistance came from the neighborhood who thought affordable housing for the teachers would diminish the value for their property and make traffic issues,” Agnos told the Guardian. “The Board of Education yielded to that NIMBYism and refused to pursue the deal, which was on the table.”

The federal push for teacher housing died, having created a home for just one teacher in San Francisco by the year 2000, and only 100 in California, according to news reports at the time.

California would follow suit with a less ambitious teacher housing program. The Teacher Next Door program offers assistance for teachers buying homes in San Francisco through the Mayor’s Office of Housing. We called the office to get statistics on its use, but as of press time it had not called back.

Among teachers, the program is mostly a joke.

“That’s the case with most teachers,” science teacher Tom Dallman of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts told the Guardian. “They roll their eyes when it comes to talk about buying a place in San Francisco.”

Median home prices in San Francisco skyrocketed past $1 million in June, a signal that for many teachers, homeownership in the city is a near impossibility.

Subsidized Below Market Rate housing is out of their reach too. San Francisco teachers make anywhere between $40,000 and $80,000 a year, placing them just above the salary as a single person to qualify for affordable housing.

“The struggle is about middle income people who do not qualify for mortgages or newly develop projects, because the market is astronomically high,” Agnos said. And that’s leading to a teacher migration, numbers from the UESF show.

“If they have to live in Oakland, they’ll work in Oakland,” Agnos said. “Their talent will follow them.”

The dream of homeownership for San Francisco’s education workforce is a thing of the past, Susan Solomon, vice president of the UESF told us.

“Maybe long, long ago this was a possibility,” she said, “way back when.”

FEW SOLUTIONS

Fewer was ecstatic to see the land swap deal go through, and excited to see affordable housing for San Francisco families.

But when asked what she’ll do to tackle the struggle to find affordable housing for teachers, she said that the upcoming contract negotiations may be the time to revisit a new plan.

“We’ve asked the unions to give us a poll for a long time,” she said. She wants to know what the teachers want. Do they want to live in housing together? Have rental subsidies? Housing assistance? What are their needs?

Sup. Jane Kim, a former school board member, said there’s a split of preference in the union. Should affordable housing solutions be given to teachers in their first five years in SFUSD, to encourage them to stay in San Francisco, or to veteran teachers?

“There’s a limited amount of funding,” Kim told us. And when the district lucks itself into extra funding, it’s hard not to spend it in the classroom. “How do you invest the limited dollars that you have?” she asked.

Santa Clara’s school district built its own affordable housing, and spent $6 million in 2005 to construct 40 units for its workforce. Three years later, they built 30 more units. Teachers there initially paid $1,075 a month in rent for a two-bedroom apartment, according to The New York Times.

“You cannot be an education advocate without being a housing advocate,” Fewer said. But housing help has been largely elusive for SFUSD employees.

“Stubbornness is keeping me in the city,” Magary said. But without some help, that may not be enough.

Homeless hater Greg Gopman was a jerk at the office, too

Erica Hanna

December 16, 2013

160

Homeless hater Greg Gopman was a jerk at the office, too

Former AngelHack CEO Greg Gopman not only fanned the flames of San Franciscan tech resentment by calling the homeless “degenerates” and “trash” on Facebook, but it seems people in his own company didn’t like him much, either.

Apparently the small staff of AngelHack rebelled against Gopman’s management style, leading to a power swap in October, said new AngelHack CEO Sabeen Ali. It all started when she took a vacation.

“I stepped away for a couple weeks, took some time off,” she told the Guardian. “In that time things got so bad in the company Greg and I had a very frank conversation and mutually decided it would be the best thing to do.”

Just what he did at work to cause so much trouble wasn’t clear, but his Facebook page offered a few hints.

The day Gopman made his disparaging remarks about the homeless, the Guardian perused his Facebook posts. We discovered a photo of him posing with four young women in China captioned “I could do worse,” and other comments such as “It’s like a hackathon, but with more girls” at a design conference. Also: “Dear diary, why are girls on South Beach so trashy?”

Noting that most of the employees listed on AngelHack’s website were female, we asked Ali if his issues around the office had to do with his attitude towards women.

“Yes,” she replied, but would not elaborate. Gopman didn’t hire AngelHack’s female employees himself, she clarified — they were mostly from her social network.

Ultimately, it was best for all sides that he left, she said.

“We don’t have that large of a team. I can say very confidently Greg was on one side and we were on another. It was a snowball effect, because of certain incidents that happened,” Ali said, though she would not clarify what those incidents were.

Ali maintained that Gopman stepped down in October. When asked why he was listed as CEO on the AngelHack website up until the day of his inflammatory comments, Ali said that they were working on a new website and were intent on announcing the CEO change when they launched it.

“We were days away, days away, from making an announcement,” she said, mentioning an internal email announcing the swap. She wouldn’t show us the email.

Ali said AngelHack will soon host a hackathon called “Code for a Cause SF” to help rebuild bridges with the community that Gopman burnt.

“We want to work with current nonprofits to build them a website, or an e-commerce portal for a website. We’re working on that right now to get a sense for who we can partner with,” she told us.

They’re still looking for a venue, but hope to host the event in January.

And while Ali is trying to distance AngelHack from Gopman as much as she can, Mayor Ed Lee seems to be pulling him closer.

Mayor Ed Lee announced he would ask Gopman for help in tackling the homeless problem, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

“Benioff has shown what he can do. Yelp and Jeremy Stoppelman are showing what they can do. There are going to be so many others as long as they keep an open mind,” Lee told the Examiner. Apparently having the keen sensibility to insult vast swaths of people are just the credentials needed to weigh in on how to help them.

Lee hosted a luncheon with Ron Conway and other tech luminaries just today to talk about what tech could do to help the community. We’ve reached out to his office from comment, but have not yet heard back from them.

@SFWeekly @sfbg @sfist @sfappeal @sfgate @ktvu @kron4news @CBSSF Mayor Lee has chained the doors! pic.twitter.com/ZhWvuM740E Safety violation!!

— santa tam (@supertamsf) December 16, 2013

“Working in startups is not rocket science,” Gopman said in a Ted Talk on tech startups two years ago. “So the next time someone asks you for career advice and what they should do in the future, tell them about an industry that’s changing the world.”

He’s certainly reached the world. Just maybe not in the way he’d have hoped.

Nonprofits can contact Ali at sabeen@angelhack.com.

Gopman speaks at a Ted Talk event, via YouTube.

Music Listings: December 11-16, 2013

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

December 11, 2013

WEDNESDAY 11

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. The Bruises, Lovers, Upstairs Downstairs, 9 p.m., $10.

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. Tommy & The High Pilots, The Lower 48, Will Weston, 8:30 p.m., $8.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Lee Ranaldo & The Dust, Bill Orcutt & Jacob Felix Heule, 9 p.m., $15-$17.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Fates Warning, Artizan, Bay Rum, Field of Stones, 7:30 p.m., $20-$25.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Hyper Buzz, Heart of the Whale, Not Sure. Not Yet, 8 p.m., $10.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Jagwar Ma, Fascinator, 8 p.m., $15.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Disorder,” w/ Screature, CIVC, Circuit Slave, DJ Nickie Tilsner, 10 p.m., $5.

DANCE

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Sticky Wednesdays,” w/ DJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bondage A Go Go,” w/ DJs Damon, Tomas Diablo, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$10.

Clift Hotel, Redwood Room: 495 Geary, San Francisco. “Sessions 004,” w/ Kiwi Time, plus DJs Richard Habib, Jamal Targa, Marija Dunn, Seven, Amber Reyngoudt, and Max Gardner, 6 p.m., free.

Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “Electro Pop Rocks,” 18+ dance night with the Disco Fries, Aston Shuffle, Harris Pilton, Sychosis, Sonny Daze, Chaos, Slo Mo, Budzak, 9 p.m., $10-$20.

Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “1964,” w/ DJ Matt B & guests, Second and Fourth Wednesday of every month, 10 p.m., $2.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. Powwoww, Witowmaker, Light Echo, Phntm Club, Popgang DJs, 9 p.m., $5.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Tainted Techno Trance,” 10 p.m.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Housepitality,” w/ Jozif, Pattern Drama, Sharon Buck, Johnnie Walker, 9 p.m., $5-$10.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Qoöl,” 5 p.m.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Indulgence,” 10 p.m.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “What?,” w/ resident DJ Tisdale and guests, 7 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Rock the Spot,” 9 p.m., free.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Reload,” w/ DJ Big Bad Bruce, 10 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Booty Call,” w/ Juanita More, Joshua J, guests, 9 p.m., $3.

HIP-HOP

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Mixtape Wednesday,” w/ resident DJs Strategy, Junot, Herb Digs, & guests, 9 p.m., $5.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “Special Blend,” w/ resident DJs LazyBoy & Mr. Murdock, 9 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Paige Clem, Fiver Brown, Ben Shaw, 7 p.m.

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, 7 p.m., free.

Club Deluxe: 1511 Haight, San Francisco. Happy Hour Bluegrass, 6:30 p.m., free.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Ryan Montbleau, Witchdream Mansion, 8 p.m., $12-$15.

Johnny Foley’s Irish House: 243 O’Farrell St., San Francisco. Terry Savastano, Every other Wednesday, 9 p.m., free.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Gann Brewer, 9 p.m.

JAZZ

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session, The Amnesiacs, 7 p.m., free.

Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. The Cosmo Alleycats featuring Ms. Emily Wade Adams, 7 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. “Cat’s Corner,” 9 p.m., $10.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Ricardo Scales, Wednesdays, 6:30-11:30 p.m., $5.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Tuck & Patti, 8 p.m., $22.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Sherri Roberts, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Timba Dance Party, w/ DJ WaltDigz, 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Bachatalicious,” w/ DJs Good Sho & Rodney, 7 p.m., $5-$10.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Diana Arbenina & The Night Snipers, DJ Ze’ev, 8 p.m., $50.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Kim Wilson All Stars, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $30.

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Dr. Mojo, 9:30 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Little Jonny & The Giants, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Cheryl Leonard: New Natural Sounds, 7:30 p.m., $8-$10.

FUNK

Vertigo: 1160 Polk, San Francisco. “Full Tilt Boogie,” w/ KUSF-in-Exile DJs, Second Wednesday of every month, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., free.

SOUL

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Freddie Hughes & Chris Burns, 7:30 p.m., free.

THURSDAY 12

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. City Tribe, Sea Lioness, Travis Hayes, Snow Angel, 8:30 p.m., $8.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Sixth Annual Silicon Valley Rocks, Benefit for Music in Schools Today featuring live music by South Hero, Blues Deluxe, The Funkery, Peter Chung Band, Regime, nSLASHa, Open Source Band, Coverflow, and Rainbow Party., 7 p.m., $25-$65.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. moe., Dec. 12-14, 9 p.m., $30.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Cocktails, Blood Sister, Happy Diving, 9 p.m., $5.

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Split Screens, The Dandelion War, Heavy Color, Jared Padovani, 8:30 p.m., $5.

DANCE

1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. RJD2, Om Unit, Sweatson Klank, DJ Dials, Mophono, Ernie Fresh. Mr. Vos, 10 p.m., $15 advance.

Abbey Tavern: 4100 Geary, San Francisco. DJ Schrobi-Girl, 10 p.m., free.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. “Phonic,” w/ Borgeous, 9:30 p.m., $10 advance.

Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “Tubesteak Connection,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, 9 p.m., $5-$7.

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “¡Pan Dulce!,” 9 p.m., $5.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” ‘80s night with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests, 9 p.m., $6 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “XO,” w/ DJs Astro & Rose, 10 p.m., $5.

Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “The Crib,” 9:30 p.m., $10, 18+.

Danzhaus: 1275 Connecticut, San Francisco. “Alt.Dance,” Second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., $7, 18+.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “8bitSF,” w/ Super Soul Bros, Vicereine, Owlbear, DJ Tracer, 8:30 p.m., $8-$11.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Afrolicious,” w/ DJs Pleasuremaker, Señor Oz, and live guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$8.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “I Love Thursdays,” 10 p.m., $10.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Night Fever,” 9 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. Blaus, on the downstairs stage, 10 p.m. continues through Dec. 26, free with RSVP.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursday,” w/ DJ Jay-R, 9 p.m., free.

Raven: 1151 Folsom St., San Francisco. “1999,” w/ VJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. “Awakening,” w/ Ørjan Nilsen, 9 p.m., $20-$30 advance.

The Tunnel Top: 601 Bush, San Francisco. “Tunneltop,” DJs Avalon and Derek ease you into the weekend with a cool and relaxed selection of tunes spun on vinyl, 10 p.m., free.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bubble,” 10 p.m., free.

Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Base,” w/ Sasha, Gabriel I, Quinn Jerome, 10 p.m., $15 advance.

HIP-HOP

Eastside West: 3154 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” w/ DJ Madison, 9 p.m., free.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Cypher,” w/ resident DJ Big Von, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Party with Friends,” w/ resident DJs IllEfect, GeektotheBeat, Merrick, and Delrokz, Second Thursday of every month, 9 p.m., free.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. iStandard Producer Showcase: Bay Area Edition, 8 p.m., $10 advance.

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Peaches,” w/lady DJs DeeAndroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, Umami, Inkfat, and Andre, 10 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Emily Bonn & The Vivants, Arann Harris & The Farm Band, Supermodal, 9 p.m.

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Acoustic Open Mic, 7 p.m.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Jamestown Revival, Lonesome Locomotive, Keyan Keihani, 8 p.m., $9-$12.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. “Strung Out,” w/ Teja Gerken, Joe Gore, Eric Skye, 7 p.m.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Small Town Therapy, The T Sisters, Indianna Hale, 9 p.m., $10-$20.

The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. The Lady Crooners, 8 p.m., $10.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Tipsy House, 9 p.m.

JAZZ

Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Doug Martin’s Avatar Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., free.

Bottle Cap: 1707 Powell, San Francisco. The North Beach Sound with Ned Boynton, Jordan Samuels, and Tom Vickers, 7 p.m., free.

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. Vijay Anderson Quartet, 7:30 p.m., free.

Exploratorium: Pier 15, San Francisco. Resonance: Angel City, w/ Roscoe Mitchell, James Fei, William Winant, Sarah Cahill, 7 p.m., $10-$15.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Clifford Lamb, Mel Butts, and Friends, Second Thursday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.

Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Judy Hall, 7 p.m., free.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Charlie Siebert & Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Jam with Eddy Ramirez, 7:30 p.m., $5.

SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin St., San Francisco. “Hotplate,” w/ Robert Stewart & Chester Thompson (playing Jimmy Smith’s Back at the Chicken Shack), 8 & 9:30 p.m., $15-$20.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Stompy Jones, 7:30 p.m., $10.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Tuck & Patti, 8 p.m., $23.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Pa’Lante!,” w/ Juan G, El Kool Kyle, Mr. Lucky, 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Vibrasón, El DJ X, 8 p.m., $12.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. “Jueves Flamencos,” 8 p.m., free.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Gary Flores & Descarga Caliente, 8 p.m.

Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. The Verdi Club Milonga, w/ Christy Coté, DJ Emilio Flores, guests, 9 p.m., $10-$15.

REGGAE

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Festival ‘68,” w/ Revival Sound System, Second Thursday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Pissed Off Pete’s: 4528 Mission St., San Francisco. Reggae Thursdays, w/ resident DJ Jah Yzer, 9 p.m., free.

BLUES

50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Bill Phillippe, 5:30 p.m., free.

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Mike Keneally, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $20-$24.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. T-Wrex & The Primitive Rhythm, 4 p.m.; Cathy Lemons, 9:30 p.m.

COUNTRY

Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Jinx Jones & Jessica Rose, 8 p.m., free.

The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. “Twang Honky Tonk & Country Jamboree,” w/ DJ Little Red Rodeo, 7 p.m., free.

EXPERIMENTAL

50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Tri-Cornered Tent Show, Feral Luggage, White Pee, 10 p.m., free.

The Luggage Store: 1007 Market, San Francisco. Ti Femme, Roro, Jack Hertz, 8 p.m., $6-$10.

SOUL

Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Holiday Party with Big Blu Soul Revue, 7:30 p.m., free.

FRIDAY 13

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. 20 Sided Records Holiday Party, w/ Trainwreck Riders, Tartufi, Cannons & Clouds, Couches, 9 p.m., $10.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Cool Ghouls, Santoros, The Spyrals, Unstrung, DJ Al Lover, 9 p.m., $7.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Federation X, Tweak Bird, Feral Ohms, Peace Creep, 9 p.m., $8.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Rue ‘66, Handler Brothers, Consolidated Electric, 9 p.m., $8.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. moe., Dec. 12-14, 9 p.m., $30.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. O Presidente, Pancho-san, 7:30 p.m., $8.

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Surf Bored, Lemme Adams, Mr. Kind, 8:30 p.m., $8.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. El Ten Eleven, Slow Magic, 9 p.m., $16.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Slick’s Bash #100 with Poison Idea; Attitude Adjustment; Moses; I, Madman, 9 p.m., $12.

DANCE

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “Indie Slash,” w/ DJs Danny White and Rance, 10 p.m., $5.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Juan MacLean (DJ set), Pacific Disco, Papa Lu, 9:30 p.m., $10-$15 advance.

BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. BeatBox Holiday Party with DJ Russ Rich, 9 p.m., free.

Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Kinky Beats,” w/ DJ Sergio, 10 p.m., free.

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Boy Bar,” w/ DJ Matt Consola, 9 p.m., $5.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Dark Shadows: The Nightmare Before Christmas,” w/ DJs Daniel Skellington, Melting Girl, Joe Radio, and Skarkrow, 9:30 p.m., $7 ($3 before 10 p.m.).

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “F.T.S.: For the Story,” 10 p.m.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Fever,” 10 p.m., free before midnight.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Trap City,” w/ Loudpvck, UltraViolet, Napsty, WolfBitch, The Whooligan, Teleport, Meikee Magnetic, Mixtress Shizaam, 10 p.m., $15.

The Grand Nightclub: 520 4th St., San Francisco. “We Rock Fridays,” 9:30 p.m.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “The Animal Party: Reindeer Unleashed,” w/ Traviswild & Thomas Jack, 9 p.m., $10-$20 advance.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Escape Fridays,” 10 p.m., $20.

Lone Star Saloon: 1354 Harrison, San Francisco. “Cubcake,” w/ DJ Medic, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “HYSL,” 9 p.m., $3.

Manor West: 750 Harrison, San Francisco. “Fortune Fridays,” 10 p.m., free before 11 p.m. with RSVP.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “F-Style Fridays,” w/ DJ Jared-F, 9 p.m.

Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. Mighty 10-Year Anniversary, w/ Hernan Cattaneo, Naveen G, 9 p.m., $20-$30 advance.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Smoke N’ Mirrors: A Winter Holiday Soirée,” w/ Crazy P, Climbers, Shiny Objects, Lisbona, Trev Campbell, 9 p.m., $10.

OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Release,” 9 p.m., free before 11 p.m.

Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Friday the 13th, Part IV,” w/ Zebra Katz, House of LaDosha, 10 p.m., $10-$15.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Pump: Worq It Out Fridays,” w/ resident DJ Christopher B, 9 p.m., $3.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Simon Patterson, John Beaver, 9 p.m., $20 advance.

Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Electric WKND,” w/ The Certain People Crew, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Slide: 430 Mason, San Francisco. “E2F,” Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

Supperclub San Francisco: 657 Harrison, San Francisco. “F*ck It’s Free-zing,” w/ Michael Anthony, Be Smiley, Jimmy Bell, Didje Kelli, 10 p.m., free.

Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. The Les, DJ Enfo, DJ E-20, Mikey Tan, DJ Rufio, 10 p.m., $15.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bionic,” 10 p.m., $5.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bridge the Gap,” w/ resident DJ Don Kainoa, Fridays, 6-10 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

EZ5: 682 Commercial, San Francisco. “Decompression,” Fridays, 5-9 p.m.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Heartbeat,” w/ resident DJ Strategy, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m).

Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, 9 p.m., $25-$45.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “The Hustle,” w/ DJs Sake One & Sean G, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

ACOUSTIC

Dolores Park Cafe: 501 Dolores, San Francisco. Secret Town, 7:30 p.m.

The Sports Basement: 610 Old Mason, San Francisco. “Breakfast with Enzo,” w/ Enzo Garcia, 10 a.m., $5.

JAZZ

Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Tom Lander, 7:30 p.m., free.

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Johnny Smith, 8 p.m., free.

Bird & Beckett: 653 Chenery, San Francisco. Jimmy Ryan Quintet, Second Friday of every month, 5:30 p.m., free.

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. Alex Conde Trio, 7:30 p.m., free.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Palace Hotel: 2 New Montgomery, San Francisco. The Klipptones, 8 p.m., free.

Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Soul Sauce, 8 p.m., free.

Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Rob Reich Trio, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Steve Lucky & Carmen Getit, 7:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Jim Butler Group, 7:30 p.m., $8.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Black Market Jazz Orchestra, 9 p.m., $10.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Joyce Grant, 8 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Taste Fridays, featuring local cuisine tastings, salsa bands, dance lessons, and more, 7:30 p.m., $15 (free entry to patio).

Cliff House: 1090 Point Lobos, San Francisco. Orquesta Conquistador Quartet, 7 p.m.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. Lagos Roots, 10 p.m., $10.

The Emerald Tablet: 80 Fresno St., San Francisco. Flamenco del Oro, 8 p.m., $15 suggested donation.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cuban Night with Fito Reinoso, 7:30 & 9:15 p.m., $15-$18.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. La Gente, La Misa Negra, 8 p.m., $10-$13.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Sheila E. Birthday Celebration, 8 & 10 p.m., $34-$39.

REGGAE

Gestalt Haus: 3159 16th St., San Francisco. “Music Like Dirt,” 7:30 p.m., free.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Elvin Bishop, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $40.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Jinx Jones & The KingTones, Second Friday of every month, 4 p.m.; T.C. Riders, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Artists’ Television Access: 992 Valencia, San Francisco. “Other States,” w/ Evan Caminiti, Danny Paul Grody, and Trevor Montgomery, plus films by Paul Clipson, 8 p.m., $6-$10.

FUNK

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Steppin’, DJ K-Os, 9:30 p.m., $10.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Loose Joints,” w/ DJs Centipede, Damon Bell, and Tom Thump, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

SOUL

Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “Soul Crush,” w/ DJ Serious Leisure, 10 p.m., free.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Nightbeat,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and Dr. Scott, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., $4.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Yo Momma: M.O.M. Weekend Edition,” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 10 p.m.).

SATURDAY 14

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Kitten, The Hot Toddies, Dog Party, 9:30 p.m., $15.

Connecticut Yankee: 100 Connecticut, San Francisco. Sad Bastard Book Club, Waning, Balms, 9:30 p.m., $10.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. The Loyalists, Cinder Cone, Mosshead, 9:30 p.m., $6.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. The Comet Empire, The Suborbitals, Akale, 9 p.m., $8.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. moe., Dec. 12-14, 9 p.m., $30.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. The Fucking Buckaroos, Buffalo Tooth, The Parmesans, A Million Billion Dying Suns, 3 p.m., $7.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Pedal Revolution Benefit Show with Clamhawk Manor, Twinsect, Jamaged Goods, Joe Sikelianos, 4 p.m., $5; The Weirdos, VKTMS, The Re-Volts, DJ Aya Papaya, 9 p.m., $18.

DANCE

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “2 Men Will Move You,” w/ DJs Primo & Jordan, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Solidisco, Chordashian, MyKill, Sunwoo, 9:30 p.m., $10 advance.

BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “I Just Wanna F*ckin Dance: First Annual Battle of the Beats,” 10 p.m., $15-$25.

Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Bistrotheque,” w/ DJ Ken Vulsion, 8 p.m., free.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Club Gossip: New Order vs. Erasure,” w/ DJs Damon, Shon, Low-Life, Daniel Skellington, and Panic, 9 p.m., $5-$8 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Bootie S.F.,” w/ Smash-Up Derby, A+D, DJ Dada, Myster C, Mr. Washington, Keith Kraft, more, 9 p.m., $10-$15.

S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. “Sadistic Saturdays,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Maxwell Powers, Date Nite, Pixel Memory, 9 p.m., $6-$12.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Tormenta Tropical: 6-Year Anniversary,” w/ Max Glazer, Oro11, Deejay Theory, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Eclectricity,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m.

The Grand Nightclub: 520 4th St., San Francisco. “Love Generation,” w/ The Fancy Cats, 10 p.m., $20.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Freak ‘n’ You,” w/ Philipp Jung (of M.A.N.D.Y.), Nick Williams, Dan Sherman, 9 p.m., $10 advance.

The Hot Spot: 1414 Market, San Francisco. “Love Will Fix It,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “One Way Ticket Saturdays,” w/ Eric D-Lux, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $20.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Galaxy Radio,” w/ Matrixxman, Lel Ephant, Smac, Emils, PlaZa, Holly B, 9 p.m., free.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Bounce!,” 9 p.m., $3.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Music Video Night,” w/ DJs Satva & 4AM, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.

Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. Gorgon City, 10 p.m., $12.50-$20.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “No Way Back,” w/ Mudd, Felix Dickinson, Conor, Solar, 10 p.m., $10-$20.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. French Horn Rebellion, Carousel, on the upstairs stage, 9 p.m., $12-$15.

OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Fixup,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m).

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. “Cockblock: The Holiday Party,” w/ DJs Niki-C & Natalie Nuxx, 10 p.m., $10.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “The KissGroove S.F.,” w/ DJ Vinroc & The Whooligan, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

The Stud: 399 Ninth St., San Francisco. “Frolic: A Celebration of Costume & Dance,” w/ resident DJ NeonBunny, Second Saturday of every month, 8 p.m., $8 ($4 in costume).

Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. Frenchy Le Freak, Pheeko Dubfunk, Lorentzo, 10 p.m., $20.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “All Styles & Smiles,” w/ DJ Tom Thump, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna St., San Francisco. “Back to the ‘90s,” Second Saturday of every month, 9:30 p.m., $10.

Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Cash IV Gold,” w/ DJs Kool Karlo, Roost Uno, and Sean G, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Second Saturdays,” w/ resident DJ Matt Cali, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “The Shit Show,” w/ resident DJ Taurus Scott, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., two for $5.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Jake Miller, Action Item, Air Dubai, 9 p.m., sold out.

ACOUSTIC

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Small Souls, Old Pals, 7 p.m., $5-$7.

Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, Saturdays, 4-6 p.m., free.

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Jordan Singh VanderBeek, 7 p.m.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. The Shelby Foot Three, 9 p.m.

The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. Dark Hollow, 9:30 p.m., free.

JAZZ

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. Belinda Blair, 7:30 p.m., free.

Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble, 8 p.m.

The Emerald Tablet: 80 Fresno St., San Francisco. Madeline Eastman & Her Trio, 8 p.m., $20 suggested donation.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Wil Blades & Jack Tone Riordan, 7:30 p.m., free.

San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club: 725 California Ave., San Francisco. S.F. Bal Fest: Treasure Island Hop, 9 a.m., $5; S.F. Bal Fest: Aloha Swing Dance, w/ Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, 7 p.m., $15-$20 ($5 off with costume).

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. David Byrd Group, 7:30 p.m., $8.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Robert Stewart Experience, 9 p.m.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 8 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Pura,” 9 p.m., $20.

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Misión Flamenca, Monthly live music and dance performances., Second Saturday of every month, 7:30 p.m. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Makrú, Las Cafeteras, DJ Izzy*wise, 9 p.m., $12-$15.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Orquesta Borinquen, DJ Luis Medina, 8 p.m., $15.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “El SuperRitmo,” w/ DJs Roger Mas & El Kool Kyle, 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m.

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Dança Makèzú’s Kizomba, Semba, and African Rhythms Mega Party, 9:30 p.m., $10.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Peña Eddy Navia & Pachamama Band, 8 p.m., free.

Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. John Calloway and the New Riders of the Clave Maze, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20.

Space 550: 550 Barneveld, San Francisco. “Club Fuego,” 9:30 p.m.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Sheila E. Birthday Celebration, 8 & 10 p.m., $39.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Maria Muldaur, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $22.

Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Bobbie Webb, 8 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Dave Workman, Second Saturday of every month, 4 p.m.; Delta Wires, 9:30 p.m.

COUNTRY

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Swinging Doors, 9 p.m., free.

FUNK

Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. SantaCon Funk Night, w/ DJs Gordo Cabeza, Timoteo Gigante, Malachi, Señor Oz, Pleasuremaker, Motion Potion, and Phleck, 6 p.m., $5.

SOUL

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Wicked Mercies, Kelly Rock, DJ K-Os, 9:30 p.m., $10-$15.

SUNDAY 15

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. San Francisco Rock Project’s 2013 Festive Festival of Bands, 5:30 p.m., $10+.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Little Claw, Death Valley Girls, SFPD, 8:30 p.m., $6.

DANCE

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “Replay Sundays,” 9 p.m., free.

The Edge: 4149 18th St., San Francisco. “’80s at 8,” w/ DJ MC2, 8 p.m.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Dub Mission,” w/ Timoteo Gigante, DJ Sep, J-Boogie, 9 p.m., $6 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “T.Dance,” 6 a.m.-6 p.m.; “Elements of House,” w/ Mozaic, David Gregory, Dan Sherman, 10 p.m.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Stamina,” w/ Bachelors of Science, Jamal, 10 p.m., free.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Sweater Funk,” 10 p.m., free.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Jock,” Sundays, 3-8 p.m., $2.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Bounce,” w/ DJ Just, 10 p.m.

Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. Paul Kalkbrenner, Bells & Whistles, 7:30 p.m., $20-$30.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Black Magic Disko,” w/ Mind Against, Brian Bejarano, Star Kommand, 9 p.m., $10-$15.

Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “What’s the Werd?,” w/ resident DJs Nick Williams, Kevin Knapp, Maxwell Dub, and guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m.).

The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. DJ Marc deVasconcelos, 10 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Gigante,” 8 p.m., free.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “She Said…: A Queer Affair,” Third Sunday of every month, 4 p.m., $3-$5.

The Stud: 399 Ninth St., San Francisco. “No Parking on the Dancefloor,” w/ resident DJs Dutchboy & Gehno Aviance, 11 p.m., $5.

HIP-HOP

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Return of the Cypher,” 9:30 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. A Very Shut-Ins Xmas, 6 p.m.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Her Electric Fur, El Joe of the River, Axel Mansoor, Sean Simerly, 8 p.m., $7.

The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. Misner & Smith, Justin Farren, 8 p.m., $10.

The Lucky Horseshoe: 453 Cortland, San Francisco. Bernal Mountain Bluegrass Jam, 4 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Spike’s Mic Night,” Sundays, 4-8 p.m., free.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. “iPlay,” open mic with featured weekly artists, 6:30 p.m., free.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with John Sherry & Kyle Thayer, 9 p.m.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: 1755 Clay, San Francisco. “Sunday Night Mic,” w/ Roem Baur, 5 p.m., free.

JAZZ

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. The Emergency Ensemble, 8 p.m., free.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Sunday Sessions,” 10 p.m., free.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. Jazz Revolution, 4 p.m., free/donation.

The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. The Cottontails, Third Sunday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.

San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club: 725 California Ave., San Francisco. S.F. Bal Fest: Prohibition Party Swing Dance, w/ The Kally Price Trio, 7 p.m., $15-$20 ($5 off with costume).

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Lisa Lindsley, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Atmosphere: 447 Broadway, San Francisco. “Hot Bachata Nights,” w/ DJ El Guapo, 5:30 p.m., $10 ($18-$25 with dance lessons).

Balancoire: 2565 Mission St., San Francisco. “Tardeadas Tropicales,” 3 p.m.

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Brazil & Beyond,” 6:30 p.m., free.

Thirsty Bear Brewing Company: 661 Howard, San Francisco. “The Flamenco Room,” 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.

REGGAE

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. Titan Ups, Franco Nero, The Tritonics, 7:30 p.m., $8.

BLUES

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. HowellDevine, Third Sunday of every month, 8:30 p.m., $7-$10.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Blues Power, 4 p.m.; Spencer Jarrett, 9:30 p.m.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 8 p.m., free.

Swig: 571 Geary, San Francisco. Sunday Blues Jam with Ed Ivey, 9 p.m.

SOUL

Delirium Cocktails: 3139 16th St., San Francisco. “Heart & Soul,” w/ DJ Lovely Lesage, 10 p.m., free.

MONDAY 16

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Midlake, Sarah Jaffe, 7:30 p.m., $12-$14.

DANCE

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Death Guild,” 18+ dance party with DJs Decay, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $3-$5.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Wanted,” w/ DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic, 9 p.m., free.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Vienetta Discotheque,” w/ DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey, 10 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Windy Hill, Third Monday of every month, 9 p.m., free.

The Chieftain: 198 Fifth St., San Francisco. The Wrenboys, 7 p.m., free.

Congregation Sherith Israel: 2266 California, San Francisco. Andrew Bird Gezelligheid, Tift Merritt, Dec. 16-17, 8 p.m., $45.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. The Highway Poets, The New Thoreaus, 9 p.m., $6.

Fiddler’s Green: 1333 Columbus, San Francisco. Terry Savastano, 9:30 p.m., free/donation.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Open Mic with Brendan Getzell, 8 p.m., free.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Sad Bastard Club,” Third Monday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.

Osteria: 3277 Sacramento, San Francisco. “Acoustic Bistro,” 7 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Peter Lindman, 4 p.m.

JAZZ

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Rob Reich, First and Third Monday of every month, 7 p.m.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Eugene Pliner Quartet with Tod Dickow, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Le Jazz Hot, 7 p.m., free.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. City Jazz Instrumental Jam Session, 8 p.m.

The Union Room at Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. The Session: A Monday Night Jazz Series, pro jazz jam with Mike Olmos, 7:30 p.m., $12.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Nora Maki, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Havana Reunion with Jimmy Branly, Carlitos del Puerto, and Iván “Melón” Lewis, 8 p.m., $24.

REGGAE

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Skylarking,” w/ I&I Vibration, 10 p.m., free.

BLUES

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. The Bachelors, 9:30 p.m.

COUNTRY

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Whiskey River,” w/ DJ Handlebars & Pretty Ricky, Third Monday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

SOUL

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “M.O.M. (Motown on Mondays),” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza & Timoteo Gigante, 8 p.m., free.

TUESDAY 17

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Warm Soda, The Herms, POW!, 9 p.m., $12.

S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. Eric Himan, Zbörnak, 9 p.m.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Dispel, Midnight Sons, King Kong Zilla, 9 p.m., $10.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Shadowhouse, Crimson Scarlet, 2084, Gone to Ground, DJ Laurgactyl, 9:30 p.m., $7.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Pere Ubu, 8 p.m., $16.

DANCE

Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “High Fantasy,” w/ DJ Viv, Myles Cooper, & guests, 10 p.m., $2.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Soundpieces,” 10 p.m., free-$10.

Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “Vibe,” w/ Binkadink, Third Tuesday of every month, 6 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Switch,” w/ DJs Jenna Riot & Andre, 9 p.m., $3.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Shelter,” 10 p.m., free.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Tight,” w/ resident DJs Michael May & Lito, 8 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. “S.F. Connects,” w/ Children of the Funk, Telli Prego, Heat, Big Vic, Shark Sinatra, Cole, Jedi, Dreidel, 8 p.m., $5-$8.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Songwriter in Residence: Kate Kilbane, 7 p.m. continues through Dec. 31.

Congregation Sherith Israel: 2266 California, San Francisco. Andrew Bird Gezelligheid, Tift Merritt, Dec. 16-17, 8 p.m., $45.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Kathryn Anne Davis, Soft Shells, 8:30 p.m., $6.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Autumn Rhodes, Pat O’Donnell, and Sean O’Donnell, 9 p.m.

JAZZ

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Gerry Grosz Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.

Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Kally Price & Rob Reich, 7 p.m., free.

Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Chris Amberger, 7 p.m.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Clifford Lamb, Mel Butts, and Friends, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, 7 p.m.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. West Side Jazz Club, 5 p.m., free; Panique, Third Tuesday of every month, 8:30 p.m., free/donation.

Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. “Tuesday Night Jump,” w/ Stompy Jones, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Tommy Igoe Big Band, 8 p.m., $22.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Brenda Reed, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Descarga S.F.,” w/ DJs Hong & Good Sho, 8 p.m., $12.

The Cosmo Bar & Lounge: 440 Broadway, San Francisco. “Conga Tuesdays,” 8 p.m., $7-$10.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Porreta!,” all night forro party with DJs Carioca & Lucio K, Third Tuesday of every month, 9 p.m., $7.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Underground Nomads,” w/ rotating resident DJs Amar, Sep, and Dulce Vita, plus guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

REGGAE

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. “Bless Up,” w/ Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, 10 p.m.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Twice as Good, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $15.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Lisa Kindred, Third Tuesday of every month, 9:30 p.m.

FUNK

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Boogaloo Tuesday,” w/ Oscar Myers & Steppin’, 9:30 p.m., free.

SOUL

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Lost & Found,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and guests, 9:30 p.m., free. 2

This Week’s Picks: December 11 – 17, 2013

Michael Redmond

December 10, 2013

Make the yuletide gay!

WEDNESDAY 12/11

Jagwar Ma

Discussing the lead track off Howlin’, Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma has described time spent in two Berlin clubs: Club Bassy, which “only played vinyl from the 40s, 50s, 60s,” and Panorama Bar, the oft-mentioned, house-dominated portion of ultra-hip Berghain. It’s a nice hat-tip to Jagwar Ma’s influences, which have inspired clear-voiced pop and soul vocals that follow a swirl of programmed beats and sequenced arpeggios, with enough looseness in the groove to engender no shortage of Happy Mondays references. This sound — part Madchester acid trip and part Balearic episode — has fittingly led to remixes by Andrew Weatherall, Matthew Dear, and Pachanga Boys. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Fascinator

8pm, $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.theindependentsf.com

THURSDAY 12/12

“Holiday Bazaar NightLife”

There is a science to holiday gift shopping. Like most experiments, it begins with an unsettling question: What should I get for Ma? And Pa? Olivia? Your hypothesis states that some friends will like their gifts, and some will fake it. But when more than 40 local merchants gather for NightLife at the Academy and set up stalls full of treasures curated by Bazaar Bizarre (think handmade ceramics, silk-screened T-shirts, letterpress stationery, and superhero bowties), the chances of expected yield matching actual yield of purchases are high. Add principal elements to the equation, such as bass music collective Slayers Club, DJ Mark Farina, and spiked snow cones (NightLife is a 21-and-over event), and the chemical reaction creates an explosion greater than the Earthquake planetarium show. (Kaylen Baker)

6pm, $12

California Academy of Sciences

55 Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, SF

www.calacademy.org

“Drag Queens On Ice: An Eleganza Extravaganza!”

Figure skaters and drag queens have a lot in common: a flair for performing, an affection for sequins, a deep love of cheesy music. Now in its fourth year, “Drag Queens on Ice” makes the most of these shared affections by bringing hostess Donna Sachet and a bevy of costumed, skate-wearing divas to Union Square’s Holiday Ice Rink. Spreading even more cheer, event presenter Visit Mendocino County partners with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence this year to benefit the Sisters’ partner charities, matching donations made by skate fans who get their picture taken with the Order’s own Sister Roma. (Cheryl Eddy)

8-9:30pm, $7-$11 (skate rentals, $5; rink hours, 10am-11:30pm daily)

Holiday Ice Rink

Union Square, SF

www.unionsquareicerink.com

FRIDAY 12/13

X and The Blasters

The members of legendary Los Angeles punk rockers X have always distinguished themselves from other bands of their time and genre, with the rock-solid drumming of DJ Bonebrake, the guitar virtuosity of Billy Zoom, and the poetic lyrics and intimate vocal interplay of John Doe and Exene Cervenka. The iconic group, whose early catalog was recently released in deluxe digital sets via Rhino Records, is hitting the West Coast this month for a special “X-mas 2013” tour with friends the Blasters. Fans of both outstanding acts won’t want to miss this rare chance to see the two groups together at one sensational show. (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $35

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

www.thefillmore.com

Asomnia

Sixty hours, no winks, of continual performance are what Mugwumpin promises, beginning 9am Friday and running (or wobbling) nonstop until 9pm Sunday. The 10-year-old company, needless to say, refuses to slow down, and looks to be keeping pace with the times, as it embarks on the three-day marathon as research into its yearlong exploration of exhaustion (to culminate in a final performance in 2014). The performers will make themselves available along the way to guest choreographers Laura Arrington (Sun, 2pm) and Erika Chong Shuch (Sat, 2pm). Crazy? Probably, yeah. But having consulted with at least one herbalist (Sheila Devitt, who offers a primer on herbal adaptogens as part of the proceedings), the members of the intrepid theater company are going into this, anyway, with their eyes open. (Robert Avila)

Starts today, 9am; ends Sun/15, 9pm, $10-$30 (weekend pass, $40)

CIIS’s Area 5

1453 Mission, SF

www.mugwumpin.org

El Ten Eleven

Silver Lake’s El Ten Eleven defies the odds. Its music is instrumental, but starkly unpretentious. Its musicianship and songwriting is mind-bogglingly complex, but extremely listenable. It consists of only two people, but creates a full band’s worth of sound, with the insanely gifted Kristian Dunn often playing the guitar and bass lines on his double-necked instrument simultaneously. The music the band creates is not just technically impressive, it’s also graceful, intensely melodic, and deeply emotional. El Ten Eleven’s talent and intricate songwriting translate beautifully to its live presence, where the duo will loop, vamp, shred, and cymbal-crash its way right into your heart. (Haley Zaremba)

With Slow Magic

9pm, $16

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

www.slimspresents.com

“Two Evenings of Deborah Hay Solo Adaptations”

Deborah Hay has never stopped rethinking the dancing body, a practice she started as a member of the Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s. She has become something of shaman for choreographer-performers, who experience her workshops as a stripping-away of preconceptions about their own work. For each residency, Hay creates one solo — actually a series of written instructions and descriptions — which the artists gradually make their own by continuing to work on it for at least three months. It’s a process which is both disciplined and freeing. “Two Evenings of Deborah Hay Solo Adaptations” presents five artists and their versions of these solos: Aura Fischbeck and Gry Bech-Hanssen with pieces from 2012; Manfred Fischbeck from 2011; and Megan Nicely and Ronja VerAura from 2010. (Rita Felciano)

Fri/13-Sat/14, 7pm, $15

NOHspace

2840 Mariposa, SF

www.brownpapertickets.com

SATURDAY 12/14

“An Unnerving Look at the Holidays”

Lemony Snicket, the grief-stricken satirist of the best-selling A Series of Unfortunate Events, would warn you not to attend this family-oriented holiday jazz concert. He’d say that Christmas, with all its blaring jingle, is an atrocious way to celebrate the uncomfortable birth of a man cursed with the inexplicable talent of curing sickness and doomed to youthful death by jealous townsmen and very heavy planks. He’d mention that Marcus Shelby’s mesmerizing jazz music is a gloomy reminder that all merriment must end, and that the earnest chords of the SFJazz High School All-Stars will make you cry. He’d add that Snicket himself has no knowledge of jazz, lacks the joy to cheer children, and will probably sport an unflattering disguise. Luckily, I’m not Lemony, and I’m telling you not to miss “An Unnerving Look at the Holidays.” (Baker)

11am, $5-$15

SFJazz Center

201 Franklin, SF

www.sfjazz.org

SUNDAY 12/15

Homo for the Holidays

Procrastinating your holiday shopping could pay off this year: El Rio’s Homo for the Holidays queer craft bonanza is your one-stop shop for gifts for all your friends, plus plenty of goodies and entertainment for yourself, too! The back patio hosts more than a dozen crafters selling all sorts of adorable creations: upcycled bike tire jewelry, stick and poke tattoo kits, queer home décor, and more. Shop to the tunes of performers GAYmous, Thunder Thighs, and DJ Jerry Lee, as well as words by the Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins and dance performances by the Tartletts and the emFATic Dancers. Door proceeds go to the Larkin Street Youth’s holiday gift drive; bring an unwrapped gift for the drive and receive raffle tickets to win prizes from featured vendors. Get your photo taken in the “Sleazy Santa” photo booth, and make the yuletide gay! (Kirstie Haruta)

3-8pm, $5

El Rio

3158 Mission, SF

www.elriosf.com

MONDAY 12/16

Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid

Andrew Bird reprises his special holiday shows, expanding his run for the first time to the best coast. The title Gezelligheid is a Dutch word that translates to coziness or togetherness, and in order to live up to the name, Bird is hosting his two-night performance inside of Congregation Sherith Israel, one of the city’s most breathtaking places of worship. Playing with special guest Tift Merritt, Gezelligheid will mostly consist of Bird’s spectacular violin pieces, amplified through his trademarked Victoria horns. Designed, in Bird’s words, for the audience to be “lifted and comforted as we head into another cold and dark winter,” the show promises to be a unique, enchanting experience. (Zaremba)

Mon/16-Tue/17, 8pm, $45

Congregation Sherith Israel

2266 California, SF

www.sherithisrael.org

TUESDAY 12/17

“Historic Libations”

San Franciscans have long enjoyed a romance with alcohol — from the debauchery of the Barbary Coast era to the modern renaissance of the craft cocktail, the city by the bay knows how to knock ’em back. Celebrate this high-proof history at “Historic Libations,” a party inspired by the drinking culture of yesteryear, where revelers will be able to sample a variety of uniquely San Francisco cocktails, including the Pisco Sour and the Martinez. The price of admission to the fete will include drinks, hors d’oeuvres and dancing to live music from The Cosmo Alleycats — and don’t forget to check out the always fascinating exhibits on display. (McCourt)

6-9 p.m., $30-$75 California Historical Society 678 Mission, SF facebook.com/californiahistoricalsociety

Don’t shoot!

Michael Redmond

December 10, 2013

joe@sfbg.com

YEAR IN GAMER This list is for all the gamers sick of blasting your last alien, zombie, or oppositional soldier of the moment (Nazis, Soviets, snore). That’s it. Done! As indie games grow in popularity, games that eschew the “shoot everything” mentality are becoming easier to find. Get your joystick thumbs ready and enjoy this list of 2013’s “top games where you don’t shoot things.”

PLANT CAT: FIRST BLOSSOM

There are treasures to be found, and Quince the Plant Cat will snag them all with his ability to create ridiculously long vines that curve and bend off cliffs and walls. It’s a game as cute as Kirby’s Dream Land, with a heavy Game Boy esthetic, a nod to the annual Game Boy Jam coding contest the game was made for. A side scrolling adventure à la Mario, the game (and soundtrack) is pure retro goodness. Though mouse and insect enemies abound, Plant Cat deals with them by feeding them vines, leading one to wonder if maybe all the evil Goombas in Mario are just hungry. flashygoodness.com/games/plant-cat

NIHILUMBRA

You are Born, a scrap of darkness that separated from “the Void” and formed sentience. Now the Void wants you back. Nihilumbra is a deeply atmospheric, side-scrolling puzzle game; playing as Born you discover different colors, which you magically paint around levels in order to escape the Void’s teeming, mysterious black mass. Colors help you escape the traps of the world: Blue is ice, speeding your runs; brown sticks enemies (and puzzle objects) in their places; red burns things away; and green turns surfaces into trampolines.

Throughout your travels, the Void questions your right to live, and solving the mystery of your existence is half the fun. Nihilumbra is a heady game that first debuted on iOS and Android last year, but only recently was released on the computer — with vocal performances and HD graphics. Now available on Steam and as a web browser demo online, Nihilumbra will have you hooked. www.nihilumbra.com

DUMB WAYS TO DIE

Quick! Clean the puke! Bat the piranhas away from the guy dancing underwater! Dumb Ways to Die is a hyperactive mobile game tasking the player with protecting cute jellybean creatures from eminent death in new ways every 10 seconds or so. Failure to save the adorable smiling beans leads to all manner of hilarious deaths: bears chomping half their bodies off, trains flattening them into bean paste, pythons biting them in the eyeball, etc. It surprised the bejesus out of me to find out this was a Public Service Announcement game made by Melbourne, Australia’s Metro Trains network. The lesson? Rail safety. Why can’t more municipalities create games revolving around cute bean people? San Francisco, get on it! www.dumbwaystodie.com

WAKING MARS

Waking Mars is one of those games that makes you want to explore its every nook and cranny. The year is 2097, and playing as Dr. Liang, an astronaut and research scientist, you land on Mars and discover a cave under ancient ruins. That’s when you meet Martian life for the first time, only the aliens aren’t monsters — they’re plants. The game quickly becomes part exploration, part horticulture simulator. Armed only with a jetpack and his science skills, Dr. Liang must experiment with and breed the “Zoa” to help solve the mystery of how the red planet turned to dust. Waking Mars is the very opposite of shooter games, as growing ecosystems and creating life are the axis of gameplay (instead of, ya know, killin’ stuff). Technically speaking, this game squeaked onto Steam in December 2012, but it’s still notable enough to include here. tigerstylegames.com/wakingmars *

3-2-1 contact

Michael Redmond

December 10, 2013

arts@sfbg.com

FILM El Cajon — between balmy coastal San Diego and arid desert mountains to the east — is just the sort of place where the dream of California living came true for a lot of industrious working-class people in the post-World War II boom years. It’s also where their boomer children and generation-next grandkids are currently seeing that dream slowly expire.

It exploded in the original golden age of suburban planning, by 1960 going from podunk burg to major ‘burb with 25 times the population it had had two decades earlier. Such rapid growth is seldom pretty, and today El Cajon mostly looks like a rusty old conglomeration of strip malls, ranch-style homes, and motel-like apartment complexes that probably were a little tacky to begin with. It’s certainly not the first place that might come to mind when pondering where groundwork might be laid for the coming landing of space vessels from the 32 worlds of the Interplanetary Confederation, who will arrive at last to save we holdout “Eartheans” from our endless cycles of self-destruction.

But that is exactly what El Cajon has been for nearly a half century, since Norman and Ruth Norman settled upon this place to headquarter their Unarius Academy of Science. While the Normans are long gone — from this crude mortal plane of existence, at least — their philosophy (or “UFO religion,” as some put it) lives on in a center that still ministers to and teaches an increasingly elderly community of devotees.

It also attracts a certain number of gawkers, as Unarius (Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science) has accidentally generated its own spin-off “cult” of worshippers at the altar of camp. In the 1980s, public access stations across the nation began airing the nonprofit organization’s self-produced films and videos portraying aspects of their mythology, notably the many past incarnations of Uriel née Ruth Norman — female, male, and otherwise. (These include myriad famed emperors, prophets, geniuses, and the Statue of Liberty.) Enacted by Unarius “students” in elaborate costumes with fanciful sets and FX, these are among the most flabbergastingly wonderful “home movies” ever made — crazy narratives with the aging Ruth decked out in enough wigs, chiffon, costume jewelry, and miscellaneous spangles to float an entire convention of drag queens. If you visit the El Cajon facility, expect its keepers to be polite but wary: They’re happy to spread the gospel, but know you’re probably there for the kitsch value.

Everybody can be happy with Bill Perrine’s Children of the Stars, the centerpiece of Other Cinema’s latest “Incredibly Strange Religion” program at Artists’ Television Access this Saturday. It has scads of footage from such Unarius superproductions as A Visit to the Underground City of Mars, which if you haven’t seen such before will make you want to immediately track down their complete original versions. But it also cannily limits itself almost exclusively to interviews only with the remaining faithful. They unfailingly seem very nice, ordinary, good-humored, and not prone to hyperbole (let alone insanity), even as they testify to the occasional outlandish doctrine or personal experience.

Born at the turn of the last century, Ruth Nields was a restless, lively soul who went through a number of professions (and several husbands) before 1954, when she met electrical engineer Ernest Norman, whose past lives apparently included that of Jesus Christ. He passed away in 1971, at which point the church these “two great beings of celestial consciousness” had established started heading in (even) more fanciful directions, to the dismay of some earlier converts but the delight of many new ones. Ruth assumed the primary identity of Uriel, “Queen of Archangels,” a fourth dimension channeler who’d already materialized on as Yuda of Yu, Poseid of Atlantis, Peter the Great, Quetzalcoatl, Zoroaster, King Arthur, and JFK.

Several such lives, and prophesies of imminent extraterrestrial arrivals, were elaborately portrayed in such sci-fi spectaculars as The Arrival and Roots of the Earthmen. There were also historical epics, including one in which Norman — as a Scarlett O’Hara-like belle of the Old South — cavorts on a plantation, surrounded by what appear to be many enthusiastic young white gay men in blackface drag gushing about how beautiful and kind she is. These extravaganzas endeared Unarius to a larger audience via cable airings, though eventually shrinking inspiration or funding curtailed their production.

Unarius hardly lacked drama in its daily operations. A student turned “sub-channeler” named Louis Spiegel was cast as official “fallen angel,” a Lucifer whose bitchy ways and power plays irked many until Uriel pronounced him “totally healed” in 1984, at which point he abruptly turned into “the sweetest man.” Others jostled for the Queen’s favor, recalling their envy and arrogance now as lingering repercussions of past lives in which some presided over Uriel’s beheading in ancient Egypt or led Jews to Nazi gas chambers. Everyone was woven into the ever-evolving narrative, which sometimes closely resembled popular fantasy series like Star Trek or Star Wars. (Perrine cleverly uses old sci-fi clips to illustrate Unarius concepts.)

Ruth Norman died in 1993. The last announced date for the “Space Brothers” to visit, 2001, came and went because clearly Eartheans weren’t ready in the wake of 9/11. But Unarius survives, despite its mythology of negative energy phenomena over millennia remaining a small beacon of utopian benevolence in a world of gloating religious apocalypticists. El Cajon may turn out to be the very portal to paradise yet. *

CHILDREN OF THE STARS

Sat/14, 8:30pm, $6.66

Artists’ Television Access

School gaze

Michael Redmond

December 3, 2013

cheryl@sfbg.com

FILM At Berkeley, the latest documentary from the great Frederick Wiseman, runs 244 minutes — a time commitment intimidating enough to deter any casual viewer. But viewers intrigued by Wiseman’s long tradition of filming institutions (a small sampling: 1968’s High School; 1973’s Juvenile Court; 1985’s Racetrack; 2011’s Crazy Horse — the latter about a Parisian nude-dancing establishment) with fly-on-the-wall curiosity will want to carve out an afternoon for At Berkeley, as will those interested in 21st century educational issues, California’s financial crisis, and the care and maintenance of UC Berkeley’s free-spirited image, among other topics.

UC Berkeley students and grads also seem like a built-in audience, which means the film’s local screenings are likely to be more populated than they would be elsewhere. Folks who attended while Wiseman was filming (he shot 250 hours of footage over 12 weeks in what appears to be mid- to late-2011) might even catch a glimpse of themselves in crowd scenes and shots of casual moments on campus, which comprise the smallest portion of At Berkeley‘s divided interests. But the local-color moments do much to flesh out what’s not seen in the classroom and administrative-meeting sequences: the fading-hippie glow of Telegraph Avenue; two men with impressive yo-yo skills; a student tussling with his bicycle; a couple napping on a grassy expanse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L2_yLBrQsM

We’re also shown what goes into the maintenance of that postcard-perfect campus. Berkeley’s landscaping starts looking especially impressive when — during a retreat of school bigwigs that Wiseman had apparent free rein to shoot — one administrator points out that budget cuts mean the school employs just one person to mow all of its lawns. “Well, he’s doing a good job!” interjects Robert J. Birgeneau, chancellor of the school 2004-2013. At the time of filming, UC Berkeley was weathering a series of painful fee increases, staff furloughs and layoffs, and widespread budget cutbacks, with Birgeneau serving as its pragmatic, stern-yet-sympathetic eye of the storm.

Birgeneau, like everyone else in the film (including probably the most recognizable figure: former Clinton cabinet member Robert Reich, now a Berkeley prof), is never identified by name. At first, this feels disorienting; most docs strive to hook the viewer with first-act exposition, but At Berkeley simply plunges in with a woman (a teacher? a student?) regaling (a class? an extracurricular club?) with a myth about Berkeley’s origins (spoiler alert: it wasn’t founded by gamblers) that leads into a broader rumination on what the school represents. “A sense of imagination, of diversity,” she says. “An ideal.”

Before long, it’s obvious that we don’t need to know the back stories of everyone who appears in the film. This portrait of UC Berkeley — as a complex place, not without unrest, but also not without spontaneous a capella performances — emerges with all of its subjects sharing equal footing, their experiences and points of view presented with equal interest. Some of the most compelling scenes take place in classrooms, with remarkably articulate students (though, yes, Wiseman’s camera does catch a few looking sleepy and bored) discussing subjects as wildly diverse as poverty in America, advancements in robotics, Thoreau, and racism. There are also fascinating snippets of lectures, including an amusing, anecdote-heavy treatise from Reich on the importance of self-evaluation.

“The film has to work on both a literal level and a metaphoric, or abstract, level,” Wiseman writes in his At Berkeley director’s note. Filmgoers grasping for a through line will pick up on the financial stress that permeates every corner of the school. A student who describes herself as middle-class weeps at the financial burden she’s imposing on her parents. A professor advises a pair of eager students that their engineering dreams will require raising funds from government entities. Another professor expresses her concerns that increasing student fees will encourage new grads to seek out big paychecks to pay off their debts, rather than lower-paying jobs that might be more socially conscious.

The unrest percolating throughout the film culminates in coverage of a late-2011 Occupy Cal demonstration, in which the main campus library is overtaken by passionate protestors. The focus shifts away from the chanting students to UC Berkeley’s behind-the-scenes response, or rather, the phone calls and meetings that decide what the response should be (a “generic acknowledgement” is met by jeers from the protestors; a heavy police presence is suggested, but not visually documented).

In the library, a young man grasps the bullhorn and advises his fellow students that they need to organize their guiding principles more efficiently — an observation echoed later by Birgeneau. Unlike the headline-grabbing demonstrations that fill UC Berkeley’s storied past — its rabble-rousing legacy gets surprisingly few mentions here — there’s no underlying philosophy, he points out. A few moments later, we’re in a classroom, listening to students grumble about how the protests disrupted their midterms.

As its fourth hour draws to a close, At Berkeley‘s final sequence leaps from a discussion of one of John Donne’s sexier poems into a science class discussing interplanetary space travel. Sure, it’s possible, the affably geeky instructor says — but the practical concerns (like building a vessel with incredibly robust power sources that could sustain life for generations upon generations) tend to get in the way of one’s brilliant ideas and imagination. Here Wiseman’s affection for metaphor is made abundantly clear. *

AT BERKELEY opens Fri/6 in Bay Area theaters.

Suspending judgment

Michael Redmond

December 3, 2013

joe@sfbg.com

The Guardian is publishing only the first names of minors and their relatives named in this story, to protect their privacy.

In San Francisco public schools students can be sent home for talking back to a teacher, wearing a hat indoors, or sporting sagging pants. These infractions sound like the daily life of a kid, but the state calls them “willful defiance,” a category of suspensions that are nebulous to define at best.

Like the old saying about pornography, teachers say they know it when they see it, but students and parents alike are now calling foul on the practice.

The suspensions are so abundant in the San Francisco Unified School District that a movement has risen up against it. Sending kids home not only is an ineffective punishment, opponents say, it also can lead youth into the criminal justice system.

Now San Francisco Board of Education Commissioner Matt Haney is proposing a resolution that would ban willful defiance suspensions in San Francisco schools altogether.

“There will still be situations where we need to send a student home, but willful defiance will not be one of those reasons,” he told the Guardian. “Change is hard, complicated, and messy. But we can no longer deal with discipline or interactions with our students in that sort of way.”

He plans to introduce the resolution at the Dec. 10 Board of Education meeting, and if it passes, he said full implementation may take until the next school year.

There’s a fight to ban willful defiance suspensions statewide as well, but so far it’s been stymied. Just last month, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Assembly Bill 420, a bill mirroring aspects of Haney’s proposal. Those advocating for such a ban say it’s an issue of racial justice.

San Francisco’s African American and Latino students together suffer 80 percent of willful defiance suspensions, according to SFUSD data. The nonprofit student group Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth decried this statistic as an injustice, supporting the ban.

The San Francisco Board of Education took tentative steps to reduce suspensions as a whole in 2010, voting to introduce a new disciplinary system called Restorative Practices district wide. It’s complex, but basically asks students to talk things out in what are called “restorative circles” that include everyone involved in an incident, like a fight.

It’s also about changing the culture around discipline. It encourages teachers and students to establish a rapport, turning around the way some schools have practiced authority for decades.

At the time, there was hope. Fast forward three years, and that hope has dwindled.

Early evidence shows that Restorative Practices work better than suspensions, and prevent behavioral problems down the road, too. But out of SFUSD’s more than 100 schools, less than half of them started to implement the new reform.

Few schools have fully integrated the change, officials told us. Haney’s resolution addresses this with a mandate: SFUSD must implement Restorative Practices throughout the San Francisco school district.

The program is important, proponents say, because the majority of the 55,000 students a year moving through San Francisco schools still face school discipline that can set them way back in school and later may lead to incarceration. And suspensions can be levied for the smallest of infractions.

Cupcakes and justice

Xochitl is a 15-year-old SFUSD sophomore with long brown hair. She watches the TV show Supernatural (Dean is cuter than Sam) and yearns to one day live with her relatives in Nicaragua. Years ago on her middle school playground, she once faced a hungry child’s ultimate temptation: Free cupcakes.

The baked goods sat in a box on the cement by the playground, unattended. The frosting sat un-licked, the wrappers unwrapped.

She and her friend looked around, searching for a possible pastry owner nearby. Runners circled around the track in the distance, but no one else was around. The cupcakes met a satisfying fate inside Xochitl’s belly. The next morning went decidedly downhill.

As she walked into school, the counselor told her to go home: she was suspended.

“The cupcakes belonged to this girl because it was her birthday,” Xochitl said, something she found out only once she was being punished. “They went straight to suspension, they didn’t even let me speak.”

Restorative practices would have sat her with the birthday girl to explain her mistake and apologize. Maybe she would’ve bought the girl new cupcakes. That wasn’t what happened.

Suspended, Xochitl spent the day at her grandparents’ house. Not every suspended student has a safe place to go. Some turn to the streets.

In October a group of mostly black young students marched to the Board of Education to protest willful defiance suspensions. The group, 100 Percent College Prep Institute, formed in the ashes of violence.

“I drive a school bus for a living, and I had a boy on my bus who was not bad, but not good,” said 100 Percent College Prep Institute co-founder Jackie Cohen, speaking with the Guardian as she marched with her students. “When we got back from Christmas break, he wasn’t back on the bus. Turns out he decided to ‘live that life.’ Three days later, I found he was shot and killed.”

In some communities the jaws of crime and drugs are forever nipping at their children’s heels. A child inside school is safe. Suspensions throw the most vulnerable students into the wild.

“Preventing crime in San Francisco begins with keeping children in the classroom,” SFPD Chief Greg Suhr wrote in a letter to the SF Examiner last year. “Proactive policies, such as the ‘restorative practices’ implemented by the SFUSD, emphasize the importance of building positive relationships while holding kids accountable for their actions.”

Black students make up about 10 percent of SFUSD’s population, but they represented 46 percent of SFUSD’s total suspensions in 2012, according to SFUSD data. Latino students represented about 30 percent of suspensions.

The racial disparity of suspensions mirror the disparity of incarceration. A study by nonprofit group The Advancement Project found that in 2002, African American youths made up 16 percent of the juvenile population but were 43 percent of juvenile arrests.

Xochitl sees that with her own eyes every day.

“Some kids turn to the streets, you know. I’ve seen people younger than me go to jail,” Xochitl said. “I was on Instagram and saw a friend locked up. I knew that girl, she’s in my PE class.”

It’s one of our country’s many shameful open secrets. Nearly half of all adult men in the United States serving life sentences are African Americans, and one in six is Latino, according to data from the nonprofit group the Sentencing Project.

Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, all trapped in a cycle of poverty to prisons that for some starts at school.

“As a school district, when that’s staring us in the face, we can’t not do something about it,” Haney said.

Sometimes it begins when students are still learning their ABC’s.

Bruises inside and out

Restorative Practices are implemented from kindergarten to high school.

“If [students] don’t have a sense of belonging… that’s going to prevent schools from addressing behavior,” Kerry Berkowitz, the district’s program administrator of Restorative Practices, told us. The seeds of mistrust are planted when students are young.

Desamuel could not yet spell the world “police” when he first met them.

He was five years old, and as kindergartners sometimes do, he threw a temper tantrum. In the school’s desperation to contain him, officials called the SFPD.

“The police only came one time,” Desamuel, now seven, told the Guardian. Sitting in his San Francisco home with his uncle Lionel, Desamuel sounded ashamed. “But I didn’t go to jail because they only put kids in jail for being bad, like kids taking guns to school.”

The memory angers Desamuel’s uncle, who feels restorative practices would have prevented the misunderstanding. His home is a testament to bridge building.

Lionel, his brothers and mother all pitch in to take care of Desamuel while the boy’s father makes what he calls “a transition.” The home is large by San Francisco standards. Drawings of Spiderman and Batman line the wall, equal in number only to the portraits of their family, most of whom live in the city. There’s a lot of care in Desamuel’s life. That hasn’t stopped his tantrums, though.

The family tried to get him therapy, psychological analysis, anything to help. But as any parent can tell you, sometimes a child just needs love.

Lionel struggled with the school’s administration, and asked them to try less punitive ways of handling his nephew. “I told them to just hug the boy. Their response was ‘it’s hard to hug someone swinging at you.'”

The last time Desamuel fought a student he was tackled to the ground by a school security guard. The now-second grader came home with a bruise on his face.

“When I was bad I hurted the children. I wasn’t supposed to get up, and couldn’t get up off the ground. He took me by the arms and legs,” Desamuel said.

The problem with outsize use of suspensions and punitive action, Berkowitz said, is that it breeds a fear of school that shouldn’t exist. Desamuel is no different.

“I got sent to the office and I had to go to the principal’s office and they talked about me being bad,” Desamuel said. “I think because I make too much trouble I have a lot of problems and they don’t want me to be there.”

Cat Reyes is a history teacher who is now a Restorative Practices coach at Mission High School. She said transformation in behavior is the whole point.

She told the Guardian about a student recorded a fight on film. The two fighting teenagers tried to let the incident go, but with the video online for all to see their pride came between them. If the school suspended the girl who recorded the fight there may never have been resolution. The wounds would fester.

But now the girl will join a restorative circle and explain her actions to those involved in the fight, and their parents. That’s far more daunting to kids than simply going home for a day, Reyes said. It doesn’t just stop at the talk though. “On one end she has to say sorry,” Reyes said. “But now she may go to the media center and create a [movie] about it on our closed circuit TV. The consequence fits the crime.”

As students talk out their differences enemies can become friends, she said. After all, the goal is to correct bad behavior and break destructive cycles. Yet less than half of the schools in SFUSD are employing Restorative Practices.

Slowly but surely

One of the biggest critiques of Restorative Practices is that it removes consequences. That’s the wrong way to look at it, Berkowitz said: “When people say consequences, they mean punishment. We want to work with students to find root causes.”

The numbers back her up: 2,700 SFUSD staff members have trained in Restorative Practices, according to data provided by the district. This consequently led to a strong reduction in suspensions, the district says, from more than 3,000 in 2009 to about 1,800 last year.

SFUSD recognized a good thing when it saw it, growing the Restorative Practices budget from $650,000 in 2009 to $900,000 in 2013.

But only about 25 schools started measurable implementation, Berkowitz said. She put it plainly, saying the program is in its infancy. “Are they ‘there’ yet?” she said. “No.”

“Our team is pretty maxed out,” she said. “To really bring this to scale and implement Restorative Practices, there’d need to be a lot of discussions around that.”

Asked how much she’d need to fully fund the program across all schools, she was evasive. Haney was more direct. When asked if his resolution tied funding to the mandate of implementing Restorative Practices district-wide, he admitted that a funding source hadn’t yet been identified.

“Mostly we hear there needs to be more: more support, more social workers, more people in schools to make this functional,” he said. “It’s a longer term challenge.”

That solution may emerge as the resolution goes through the approval process, but the program faces other problems besides funding.

Teachers have depended on suspensions as a tool for years. Money is one thing, but changing educators’ minds about discipline is another.

The “R” word

Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the integration of schools, but in a speech about Vietnam he said something that could apply to the SFUSD today.

“Life and history give eloquent testimony to the fact that conflicts are never resolved without trustful give and take on both sides,” the southern preacher said in one of his last speeches before his death.

There is one issue simmering under this entire debate, festering, unspoken. Why are black and Latino students suspended more than other groups? Is this system inherently racist?

It’s a tough question. Teachers are notoriously underpaid, overworked, under supported, and asked to enforce the newest policies at the drop of a hat. The teachers the Guardian spoke to all described a packed year filled with new methods to learn, all with a common purpose — a love of their profession and a love of their students.

“There’s a hesitancy to talk about race with this,” said Kevin Boggess, civic engagement leader for Coleman Advocates, the group leading the charge for the willful defiance ban.

Nevertheless the question of racism permeates the discussion. Xochitl felt persecuted as one of the few Latinas in a mostly Asian middle school.

In the case of Desamuel, the young black child who had the police called on him at age five, his uncle stressed the need for culturally aware teaching. Lionel said Desamuel was well-behaved when he had an authoritative, elderly black female teacher, but acted up in the hands of substitutes who weren’t black and whom he characterized as “young and new” to teaching. Then again, the principal who called the police to handle Desamuel was herself black.

Norm “Math” Mattox is a former James Lick Middle School math and science teacher, and he said from his perspective as an African American he’s seen the issues Haney’s resolution addresses clear as day.

“My sense is that teachers might be blowing the alarm a little bit too soon as far as their brown and black students are concerned, especially the boys. They don’t know how to manage them,” he said. In his experience, misbehaving children are sent out of the room too soon.

In the short term, suspensions are an expedient tool, but punishment without communication does long lasting damage. “The dynamic between teacher and student did not get resolved inside of the class,” he said.

One SFUSD school tackled the specter of racism head on. Mission High School is at the vanguard of what its principal calls “anti-racist teaching.”

Mission High has a higher African American student college placement rate than many SFUSD schools, a group that struggles to perform elsewhere. And as a designated “newcomer pathway” for new immigrants, the school has 40 percent English language learners.

Mission High’s principal, Eric Guthertz, is energized by the challenge. He revamped the way the school teaches to address race and ethnicity directly.

The geometry teachers use Bayview district planning data to illustrate mathematical lessons, and teachers look at grades by ethnicity and address disparities directly.

Guthertz credited Restorative Practices with lowering the school’s suspensions. SFUSD data shows Mission High’s steady suspension decline, with a 14 percent suspension rate in 2009, before the program started, and down to a 0.4 percent suspension rate by 2012.

Mission High School Principal Eric Guthertz. Guardian photo by Brittany M. Powell

“We’ve deeply embraced Restorative Practices,” he said.

Next week San Francisco will see if the Board of Education will take the same leap Gutherz did. As he is quick to point out, shifting the culture at Mission High School took years.

The Guardian contacted members of the school board, but did not hear back from them before press time to see how they may vote.

Either way, it’s time for SFUSD to change its ways, Haney said. But no matter what side of the matter you fall on, he said, it’s important to remember one thing.

“Everyone involved in this conversation wants to do better by these students,” he said.

The San Francisco Board of Education will vote on the ban of willful defiance suspensions and full implementation of Restorative Practices at their Dec. 10 meeting.

Page turners

Sasha Cuttler

November 27, 2013

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED GORE

By Dan West (Self-published, 184 pp., $13)

You may not recognize his name, but one particular title on San Francisco filmmaker-turned-author Dan West’s résumé may ring a bell: Monsturd, 2003’s unforgettably gross, ultra-low-budget horror epic about a sewer-dwelling killer made of poop. A decade later, West has written two books that also dwell at the intersection of horror, comedy, and gleeful bad taste. The first, 2011’s Homemade Embalming Fluid, contains short stories, fake diary entries, and an array of bizarre lists, including one that imparts phony fun facts (did you know J.D. Salinger played a Storm Trooper in 1977’s Star Wars?) His latest, The House That Dripped Gore, spoofs The Haunting of Hill House and H.P. Lovecraft with a mix of reverence and full-steam-ahead insanity, aided by a hefty sprinkling of surreal tangents, dirty jokes, and obscure pop-culture references. You’ll laugh! You’ll cringe! You’ll wonder exactly what a “farting Ouija board” might sound like! (Cheryl Eddy)

THE GRAMERCY TAVERN COOKBOOK

By Michael Anthony, Dorothy Kalins, and Danny Meyer (Clarkson Potter, 352 pp., $50)

The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook takes you on a restaurant tour, beginning with Danny Meyer’s initial conception of opening this New York establishment, continuing past the chief steward and his wheelbarrow of fresh spring produce from the Greenmarket, around the harvest table where the floral designer pairs yellowsprays of sunflowers with splayed summer squash, into the kitchen during the staff’s family meal, past the pastry station where Nancy Olson creates her autumn peanut butter semifreddo, and ending at the dining table with a winter dish of guinea hen prepared by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Anthony. “Cooking shouldn’t be a spectator sport,” according to Anthony. “If you visit Gramercy Tavern and you like the dishes that we’re cooking, you can certainly easily find those ingredients at home” (for a full interview with the chef, visit sfbg.com/pixel_vision). By the time you’ve read through this serious and seriously exquisite cookbook, you’ve spent a whole year eating inside the Tavern. Get a signed copy from Anthony when he visits the Bay Area Sat/1-Sun/2; visit gramercytavern.com/news for details. (Kaylen Baker)

A VERY KLINGON KHRISTMAS

By Paul Ruditis (author) and Patrick Faricy (illustrator) (Gallery Books, 32 pp., $16.99)

Any trekkie (or trekker) knows that Shakespeare was actually a Klingon, but did you know that Santa Claus is actually Santa Qlas? You’ll have your nerdy loved one singing yuletide warrior battle cries with this holiday tale, which puts a Star Trek spin on Khristmas via the show’s beloved fictional warrior aliens. The Norman Rockwell-inspired art style makes scenes like Santa Qlas (who resembles a 1980s hair-band refugee) biting the head off a lizard that much more strange … er, jolly. At least, according to the book’s rhymes, Klingon Santa is still generous: “There’s dollies and yo-yos, toy trains with conductors, and maybe a mek’leth or pair of disruptors.” And instead of a celebration of that Jesus guy, the Klingons are celebrating the birth of their warrior-king, Kahless (because what’s cuter than a baby with huge head ridges and a small sword in hand?) Need a holiday gift for the nerd in your family? Don’t walk, run — and slaughter your most feared foes (sending their souls to Gre’thor) on the way — and pick up this book. Q’Plah! (Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez)

SCATTER, ADAPT, AND REMEMBER: HOW HUMANS WILL SURVIVE A MASS EXTINCTION

By Annalee Newitz (Doubleday, 320 pp., $26.95)

Annalee Newitz’s Scatter, Adapt, and Remember is passionate geekery at its finest, and possibly its most practical. Mass extinctions are a fact of our planet, but the end of the world does not necessarily mean the end of humans. In this enthusiastically researched book, Newitz (editor of science and culture site io9.com, and a former Guardian contributor) divulges the history of the world’s disasters, and how it’s really the long-term aftermath of a meteor or mega volcano that would (and has) caused the dying-out of Earth’s inhabitants. The good news: Narratives of hope aren’t just for fictional superhero films, and the human capacity for survival is tremendous. Scatter will rekindle that general interest you had in Earth science during your school years — and perhaps inspire the minds that will save us from the next planetary disaster. (Kirstie Haruta)

COWGIRL CREAMERY COOKS

By Sue Conley and Peggy Smith (Chronicle Books, 272 pp., $35)

If Sue Conley and Peggy Smith lived in India where cows are godly, their cheese would be holy. Luckily for us, Cowgirl Creamery is in Point Reyes, but that shouldn’t stop people from placing their wax-wrapped triple-crème Mt. Tam on a pedestal. Cowgirl Creamery Cooks recounts the former college roommates’ journey through cheese, from moving to the Bay Area during the Alice Waters revolution to working alongside some of the world’s top cheese mongers, who taught them techniques in culturing, curdling, and aging their own cheese. Divided into chapters based on age and texture, the book provides invaluable instructions on how to choose, pair, taste, make, cook, and store cheese. It’s written in a frolicking, winsome style that endears you to the cowgirls. More importantly, it’s written from their Northern California perspective; cheese, as they mention, gets classified differently depending on the region, so they’ve made interpreting cheese particularly accessible to cooks in the Bay Area. The cowgirls’ passion for cheese is contagious, and their cookbook will inspire you to cook endives in blue cream sauce, and pair cheeses for your next party. (Baker)

EXCLUDED: MAKING FEMINIST AND QUEER MOVEMENTS MORE INCLUSIVE

By Julia Serano (Seal Press, 336 pp., $17)

Even the most vocal activist and the most well-read scholar stand to learn or unlearn a thing or two from Julia Serano’s new book. From her perspective as a bisexual femme-tomboy transsexual woman with the biting wit of a spoken-word artist, the passion and awareness of an activist, and the knowledge of a biologist, Serano exposes the ways in which different forms of sexism are so deeply ingrained in society, even queer communities leave some of their own out in the cold. Excluded is packed with debunked myths — such as the nature vs. nurture debacle and the stigma of identifying as bisexual — but remains an accessible text for a wide audience. Through personal narrative and clear breakdowns of complex concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality, Serano writes to challenge our preconceived notions and transform the way we support and fight for one another as queer and feminist activists. (For an interview with Serano, visit sfbg.com/pixel_vision). (Haruta)

IN THE CHARCUTERIE: THE FATTED CALF’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, SALUMI, PÂTÉS, ROASTS, CONFITS, AND OTHER MEATY GOODS

By Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller (Ten Speed Press, 352 pp., $40)

Owners Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller of the Fatted Calf Charcuterie (with locations in Hayes Valley and Napa, and a weekly presence at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market) just published their first cookbook, which reads like a whole world of meat. It delves into the origins of herding animals and where to find good local meat, and into making your own sausages, pâtés, smoked ham, bacon, and meatloaf, as well as complements like leaf-lard biscuits and dried fruit in brandy. “We wrote this book for anyone who’s a little curious about making the most out of the meat they buy and cook, from enthusiastic novices to seasoned professionals,” Boetticher told the Guardian (read the full interview at sfbg.com/pixel_vision). Charcuterie may require patience and finesse, but the salty results are unrivaled. (Kaylen Baker)

LOCAL INDIE COMICS!

Nowhere Men Vol. 1: Fates Worse Than Death

By Eric Stephenson (story); Nate Bellegarde (art); Jordie Bellaire (art)

Multinational World Corp. is led by the Beatles of science, four famous and wealthy researchers who want to use their mountains of capital and brilliance for the common good. Unfortunately for humanity, they’re awful at it — but fortunately for us, watching these scientists go Dr. Frankenstein and create a range of mutants with imaginative powers makes for a great read. Though Nowhere Men — published by Berkeley’s Image Comics and written by one of their execs, Eric Stephenson — treads over the familiar ground of laboratory experiments gone wrong, watching the scientists’ morals degrade and waiting for their comeuppance is oh-so-satisfying. Sure, their test subjects sprout lasers from their necks, but the real entertainment comes from the crumbling relationships between the science rock stars themselves. It’s like catching a glimpse into the thoughts that may haunt Bill Gates: When you have the money and intelligence to shape the world, how will you do it … and what gives you the right? www.imagecomics.com (Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez)

Doctor Lollipop #1

By Miss Kelly Martin

The funny and twisted Doctor Lollipop — by San Franciscan Kelly Martin — was picked up by the creators of Adventure Time just a few months ago for a series of animated web shorts. So there’s no better time to grab the print version of the imaginative, surgical fairy tale. Yep, you read that right. Lollipop is a unicorn with a stethoscope, and Fancy Forest is facing imminent peril: a case of THE GRUMPIES! The doctor warns those infected not to worry because “like prostate cancer, the key to curing the grumpies lies in early detection.” It’s like a comic version of ER, only instead of anesthetic the orderlies show patients pictures of kittens, stat! As per the good doctor’s orders, this comic is probably best read with the aid of herbal medication. Facebook: Dr. Lollipop; drlollipop.cartoonhangover.com (Fitzgerald Rodriguez)

RÖK, Issues #1-4

By Katie Longua

Loki has stolen the powers and magical weapons of the Norse gods. Shamed and weak, they roam the land of mortals who have no idea who the hell they are. So what’s a disposed god to do? They rock. Hard. Thor, Freya, Freyer, and Odin form (of course) a metal band called RÖK, touring to regain worshippers and strength. While playing a show in San Francisco, Odin’s soul becomes trapped in a hurdy gurdy; fortunately, fellow rocker Elaine is able to channel him, and joins the musical battle to save MidGard (aka Earth). The first four issues of RÖK have Vikings, cross-dressers, and lots of shredding. Give the first four issues to you favorite lovable thrasher and crank up some Amon Amarth to set the mood. www.klongua.blogspot.com (Fitzgerald Rodriguez) *

Music Listigs, November 27-December 3, 2013

November 27, 2013

WEDNESDAY 27

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. BFF.fm Launch Party, w/ The Happy Hollows, Deep Dimension, Kitten Grenade, DJ Jackson Sandland, 9 p.m., $10.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Solwave, Vanaprasta, Coo Coo Birds, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. The Straight Ups, The Real Deal, 9 p.m., $6.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. The Limousines, Mona, Dresses, 8 p.m., $15.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Unruly Things, Not Sure. Not Yet, Oceanography, 9:30 p.m., $6.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Morbid Angel (playing Covenant), Rude, Blasphemous Creation, 9 p.m., $28.

Sub-Mission Art Space (Balazo 18 Gallery): 2183 Mission, San Francisco. Don’t Be a Hero, Parkside, The Truth Is …, The Temps, The Fourth & King, 8 p.m., $5-$8.

DANCE

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. “Trancegiving,” w/ Kristina Sky, Mitka, SNR, Ryan Mendoza, 9:30 p.m., $10 advance.

BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Bassgiving,” w/ Dulce Vita, Simple Greene, Influence, Dr. Whiskers, Skywise, 9 p.m., $5-$10.

Bruno’s: 2389 Mission, San Francisco. “Black Wednesday: Pre-Thanksgiving Bash,” w/ DJs Miles Medina, Yo Yolie, Charly Fusion, Marv, and EMT, 9 p.m., $10 (free with RSVP).

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. “Dark Sparkle,” w/ DJ Sage & Miz Margo, 10 p.m., $5.

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Sugar: Thanksgiving Eve,” 9 p.m.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bondage A Go Go,” w/ DJs Damon, Tomas Diablo, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$10.

Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “Electro Pop Rocks,” 18+ dance night with Vaski & Schoolboy, 9 p.m., $10-$20.

Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “1964,” w/ DJ Matt B & guests, Second and Fourth Wednesday of every month, 10 p.m., $2.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Bodyshock,” w/ Lust for Youth, Hive Mind, plus DJs Justin, Crackwhore, and Blk Rainbow, 9 p.m., $7.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Tainted Techno Trance,” 10 p.m.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Housepitality: Pre-Turkey Day Special,” w/ Tyree Cooper, Matrixxman, Vin Sol, Bai-ee, J.P. Soul, 9 p.m., $5-$10.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Qoöl,” 5 p.m.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Indulgence,” 10 p.m.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “What?,” w/ resident DJ Tisdale and guests, 7 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Rock the Spot,” 9 p.m., free.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Reload,” w/ DJ Big Bad Bruce, 10 p.m., free.

Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. “Lights Down Low,” w/ Azari & III (DJ set), Myles Cooper, Split, Richie Panic, Sleazemore, 9 p.m., $17.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Fullyloaded: A Pre-Thanksgiving Get Down,” w/ Ardalan, Galen, Solar, DJ M3, DJ Omar, Mozhgan, Cole, 9 p.m., $5-$10.

Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. 4 All Tour, w/ Nadastrom, Salva, Sinden, Deejay Theory (in the main room), 9 p.m., $12-$15.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Booty Call,” w/ Juanita More, Joshua J, guests, 9 p.m., $3.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Cosmic Gate, 9 p.m., $25-$35 advance.

Supperclub San Francisco: 657 Harrison, San Francisco. “Foam for the Holidays,” w/ DJs Chris White & Jimmy Bell, 10 p.m., $15-$20.

HIP-HOP

Manor West: 750 Harrison, San Francisco. “Black Wednesday: Pre-Thanksgiving Event,” w/ DJs J. Espinosa, J-Trip, and Acme, 10 p.m.

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Mixtape Wednesday,” w/ resident DJs Strategy, Junot, Herb Digs, & guests, 9 p.m., $5.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “Special Blend,” w/ DJs Max Kane, Roman Nunez, LazyBoy, and Mr. Murdock, 9 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Bryce Wilson, 7 p.m.

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, 7 p.m., free.

Club Deluxe: 1511 Haight, San Francisco. Happy Hour Bluegrass, 6:30 p.m., free.

Johnny Foley’s Irish House: 243 O’Farrell St., San Francisco. Terry Savastano, Every other Wednesday, 9 p.m., free.

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. KnightressM1, Rabbit Quinn, Yonat Mayer, 8:30 p.m., $7.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. The Toast Inspectors, Last Wednesday of every month, 9 p.m.

JAZZ

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session, The Amnesiacs, 7 p.m., free.

Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.

Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. The Cosmo Alleycats featuring Ms. Emily Wade Adams, 7 p.m., free.

Martuni’s: 4 Valencia, San Francisco. Tom Shaw Trio, Last Wednesday of every month, 7 p.m., $7.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. “Cat’s Corner,” 9 p.m., $10.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Steve Snelling, 8 p.m.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Ricardo Scales, Wednesdays, 6:30-11:30 p.m., $5.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Anya Malkiel, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Timba Dance Party, w/ DJ WaltDigz, 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Bachatalicious,” w/ DJs Good Sho & Rodney, 7 p.m., $5-$10; Fifth Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Party, w/ Julio Bravo y Su Orquesta Salsabor, plus DJs Super Chino, MGD, Flako, and Mambo, 9 p.m.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “International Freakout A Go-Go,” w/ DJs Ben Bracken, Moon Bowl, and Bobby Ganush, 10 p.m., free.

The Rite Spot Cafe: 2099 Folsom, San Francisco. Redwood Tango Ensemble, 8:30 p.m., free.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. International String Trio, 8 p.m., $17-$21.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. HowellDevine, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $15.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Craig Horton, 9:30 p.m.

SOUL

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Freddie Hughes & Chris Burns, 7:30 p.m., free.

THURSDAY 28