Jackie Andrews

Alerts

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0

alert@sfbg.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27

 

Discussion of contemporary Afghan women

To mark the publication of the book Land of the Unconquerable: The Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women, coeditor and sociologist Ashraf Zahedi and contributor Amina Kator discuss this portrait of a misunderstood people. The book features essays from scholars, humanitarian workers, politicians, and journalists who abandon stereotypes or clichés, focusing on the women’s struggle for peace and justice instead.

5:30–7:30 p.m., $5 members/$10 nonmembers

Russ Building

235 Montgomery, SF

www.imow.org

THURSDAY, JUNE 28

 

Unsung heroes of U.S. history

This event spotlights the lesser-known Philippine heroes of U.S. history and features stories told by descendants of the Buffalo Soldiers who helped the U.S. win World War II; a discussion of the Filipino farm workers in Delano who fought fair wages and ethical working conditions; and a tribute to Al Robles —SF’s Manilatown community leader who was instrumental in the fight against the eviction and demolition of the famed I-Hotel — a refuge for Filipino laborers.

5–9 p.m., free

Manilatown Center

868 Kearny

www.laborfest.net

Operation Recovery: Right to Heal tour

Support the Iraqi Veterans Against the War, a nonprofit that fights for adequate medical and mental health care as well as G.I. rights for returning soldiers. The organization is on tour to share their stories while on the road fighting to win veterans “the right to heal.” The events also features musical performances by Ryan Harvey and Nomi.

7–10 p.m., sliding scale donation

766 Fell, SF

www.ivaw.org

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

 

Walk through labor history

Revisit the sites involved in the 1946 strike that was started spontaneously by the mostly women retail clerks at Kahn’s and Hastings department stores in Oakland. More than 100,000 workers strong, the so-called “Work Holiday” strike shut down all city commerce for 54 hours. Also, along the way you can learn about the five other general strikes across the U.S. that same yea — the year that set the record for the most strikes in our country’s history.

10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., free

Latham Square fountain

Broadway and Telegraph, Oakl.

www.laborfest.net 2

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

Fri/22 at the Elbo Room: Pres Records live revue!

Sue Vaughan
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Fri/22 at the Elbo Room: Pres Records live revue!

Ahh the good old days. Scientific literature on nostalgia couldn’t even fill a Pee Chee folder, but psycho-sages don’t need to tell us that positive memories act as a natural anti-depressant, and that music — surprise! — is a strong trigger of nostalgia. No wonder we get that warm vacuum tube glow when we hear the vintage sounds of the past. 

It should be pretty apparent by now that classic soul and R&B has made a big comeback in the Bay Area thanks to a few DJs with awesome record collections, like Lucky, Primo, and the Hard French-ers — not to mention the still thriving record shops like Dick Vivian’s Rooky Ricardo’s Records. And let’s face it — soul music is fun as hell to get down and dirty to.

Luckily for us, music producer and songwriter Nick Waterhouse and his Pres Records label mates the Allah-las embody that hard, gritty, and raw spirit of the 1960s — whether it be a rough and tumble garage sound or the kind of soul music that makes you double over and hurt so good. The result is simply damn good music that is just as relevant today as ever, maybe because what was reflective of the turbulent and chaotic times of that decade ring true in the effed-up present. Looks like the grass is just as green — or brown? — over here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwKbYN6ru1E

Nick Waterhouse and the Tarots featuring the Naturelles
With the Allah-las and DJ Lucky
10 p.m., $10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF

On the Cheap Listings

Andrew Lam
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Due to Best of the Bay, On the Cheap is taking the week off. Please refer to our Weekly Picks for some fun stuff to do! 

 

 

 

Alerts

Andrew Lam
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0

alert@sfbg.com

WEDNESDAY 13

“Community Organizing in Radical Times”

James Tracy and Amy Sonnie discuss the forthcoming book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times, following the trend of young activists reflecting on and writing about U.S. activist history. Also, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz speaks on the extraordinary Rainbow Coalitions built in Chicago and other cities in the late 1960s.

7–9 p.m., free

Modern Times Bookstore

2919 24th St., SF

www.laborfest.net

 

FRIDAY 15

Art of Fumiaki Hoshino

In 1971 Tokyo, Fumiaki Hoshino led the demonstration against Japan hosting and maintaining U.S. bases with nuclear arsenals. As the leader of the movement, he was blamed and given a life sentence for the deaths of a trade unionist and a policeman there, making him the longest-held political prisoner in Japanese history. His wife, Akiko, whom he met during his imprisonment, has been fighting for his release. She will present the watercolors he painted in prison and speak about their international solidarity campaign.

1–6 p.m., free

518 Valencia

518 Valencia, SF

www.laborfest.net

 

Geronimo Ji-Jaga memorial

Honor and celebrate the extraordinary life of Elmer “Geronimo Ji-Jaga” Pratt — a Black Panther, political prisoner, human rights activist, revolutionary, and godfather to Tupac Shakur — who died of a heart attack in Tanzania June 3. Pratt was the target of the FBI in numerous COINTELPRO investigations and was wrongfully accused and convicted of kidnap and murder in 1972. He spent 27 years in prison, eight of them in solitary confinement before his conviction was vacated and he was released in 1997.

6–11 p.m., free

East Side Arts Alliance

2277 International Blvd., Oakl.

(510) 533-6629

www.itsabouttimebpp.com

 

SUNDAY 17

Irish labor walk

Many Irish people immigrated to the U.S. in the early years of the 20th century due to political unrest in Ireland at the time, and many early Irish settlers made the Bay Area their home. This walking tour focuses on the role of Irish workers in the history of San Francisco’s waterfront and includes a discussion of the labor frame-up of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings in 1916 and other historic markers.

12–2 p.m., free

Marine Fireman’s Hall

420 2nd St., SF

www.laborfest.net

 

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

Alerts

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0

alert@sfbg.com

THURSDAY, JULY 7

 

Two years after the coup

Andrés Thomas Conteris, founder of Democracy Now! En Español, along with Adrienne Aron and Theresa Carmeranesi, will share observations from their recent trips to Honduras, specifically the well-organized resistance movement against the repressive coup that ousted their democratically-elected president in 2009.

7–9 p.m., free

First Unitarian Universalist Church

Thomas Starr King Room

1187 Franklin, SF

www.soaw.org

 

Saving labor murals

All over the country, many of the murals created during the WPA-era that depict the history and struggles of the U.S. labor movement are threatened of permanent removal, like the hidden labor history mural in the Maine Labor Department Building. At this event, noted New Deal historians Gray Brechin and Harvey Smith will speak about the unremitting war on labor art and history occurring closer to home.

7–9 p.m., free

Berkeley City College Auditorium

2050 Center, Berk.

www.laborfest.net

SATURDAY, JULY 9

 

Stop the Libya bombing!

NATO intervention in Libya: a massive outpouring of humanity or a blatant display of U.S. imperialism? If you agree with the second viewpoint, stand up against the bombings in Libya, where civilians have been caught in the crossfire. The bombings also cost the U.S. $10 million a day, outrageous at a time when workers in the public and nonprofit sectors are being fired due to a nationwide budget crisis. There will also be a joint action the same day in Washington, D.C. in front of the White House.

12–2 p.m., free

Meet at Powell and Market, SF

(415) 821-6545

www.answersf.org

TUESDAY, JUNE 12

 

Who built San Francisco?

Learn about San Francisco history and 120 years of its architecture from the perspective of the people — the union workers who built these massive artifacts — not from the architectural firms that usually get all the credit. In two hours, you will see 30 buildings, from famous skyscrapers and little-known treasures, that tell a story about the rich labor and political history of the city, as well as the design trends that helped change the concrete face of America.

10 a.m.–12 p.m., free

Meet at Stockton and Maiden lane, SF

www.laborfest.net 2

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

Noodle gnar: We got your SF air guitar championship photos right here

Maria Poblet
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0

Attention, pre-adults: there is a place for you, a place where a laissez faire attitude and zero musical talent will not only get you by, but get you laid. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to San Francisco, the American hotbed of would-be air guitar heroes.

No, champions. No, gods. In fact, such is the level of air guitar talent in the Bay Area that the organizers of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships decided to hold not one, but two regional competitions last weekend at the Independent.

Authentic nerds (minus the “ironically cool” schtick) took the opportunity to trade their tighty-whities for more creative duds and rise to the heavens.They came, they shredded — they melted the ears off a boozed-up crowd that heartily welcomed beer, candy, rubber animals, and body parts thrown at their heads, not to mention catapaulting, oversized bodies. What would a rock show be without stage diving? 

On night one (Fri/24), the “master of airimonies” was Bjorn Turoque, the dark horse 2003 winner of the World Air Guitar Championships in Finland (a victory documented in the film Air Guitar Nation). Judges were Hot Lixx Hulihan — two time SF winner and one time national winner — as well as Onion A.V. Club’s Mark Hawthorne and some other dude that everyone hated. In true rock and roll spirit, the crowd expressed their disgust for any unfair scoring by hurling random objects at the judges.

On night two (Sat/25), Hot Lixx mastered the airimonies, while judge Turoque was joined by nemesis and legend C Diddy (co-star in the aforementioned documentary, first ever U.S. champion, and a world champion himself) and Dr. Frank of Mr. T Experience, who is also the author of King Dork. The crowd showed much more love and respect for this bunch and kept their fist-pumping hands to themselves.

Participants on each night’s lineup battled imaginary axes in two rounds: air noodling to a minute-long song of one’s own choosing, and a surprise song from the judges. The judges scored the performances on a scale from four to six, looking for technical skill, stage presence, and something called “airiness” — the unexplainable something that “you’ll know when you see.” In the end, the winners with the highest combined score on each night — Shred Nugent and seasoned champ Cold Steel Renegade — represented San Francisco in Chicago’s national throwdown. 

The winner from night one, Shred Nugent (a.k.a. Airy and the Hendersons, get it?), shows excitement for his high score. All photos by Jackie Andrews

Cold Steel Renegade, now a two-time SF champ, emerged victorious on the following night to join Nugent in Chicago

While more performance art than concert, the night involved all of the elements of a good rock show: a rowdy crowd, lights, fog, and energetic “musicians.”  Along with rock ‘n’ roll comes baggage — sex, drugs, booze, hurling television sets out windows, trashing hotel rooms. And while none of the contestants got super creative, a few did pulled out some of those stops.

Toward the end of his performance, this contestant pulled tall boys out of his pockets and sprayed onlookers with the froth. His score was dinged for playing something other than air guitar. 

Creepy fake cocaine moment No. 1: Singar the Goat Demon and his “groupie” snort lines of the faux blow and then prance around the bag in a strange pagan-like ritual. 

Creepy fake cocaine moment No. 2: The Six String General snorted lines of the spurious nose-candy off this young ladies bum before whacking her from behind. 

An otherwise unmemorable performance became noteworthy with a freakishly high jump into the crowd to a perfectly timed confetti explosion. 

Opting for Marilyn Manson shock, posing pretty for the camera. 

And so it was — the San Francisco leg of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships came and went, blowing minds and leaving a huge mess. We hear that our SF contenders did well in Chicago, but unfortunately neither are going to Finland for the World Air Guitar Championships. Next year!

Show off your your air balls at this weekend’s U.S. Air Guitar Competition

Maria Poblet
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The world of competitive air guitar in the United States has come a long way from it’s humble beginnings in 2003 when only two coasts were ripping faux chords. Nowadays, a nationwide shred-a-thon draws guitar mimes from around the country, and hosts competitions in 17 cities. Each regional winner competes in the Chicago nationals, vying for the chance to bring back the golden crown from the mother of all air guitar championship competitions in Oulou, Finland.  

In fact, the Europeans have been serious about their air guitar for quite some time. The Fins have been holding the world air guitar competitions since 1996 to honor the practice as a true art form and a message of peace. (You can’t hold a rifle if you’re playing air guitar, right?)

In the U.S., however – the birthplace of both rock music and air guitar, mind you – it’s always been kind of a joke, something tighty-whitey-clad teenagers do in front of bedroom mirrors. Made legendary by Joe Cocker at his Woodstock performance in 1969, and then popularized by hair metal enthusiasts of the 1980s, the art of air guitar has yet to reach its cultural zenith here in the states – but we’re working on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpp-XLuS0Y4

Joe Cocker keeps busy in between vocals at his 1969 Woodstock performance. When asked what he was fingering, he replied: “I’ve always wanted to play guitar, but never learned.”

The San Francisco leg of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships will jump kick all over the Golden Gate this Fri/24 and Sat/25, and is open to all competitors.

Here’s how it works: Participants battle imaginary axes in two rounds: rockin’ air licks to a song of one’s own choosing, and then to a surprise song from the judges. They are scored on a scale from zero to six, just like in figure skating (would that ice skaters shared the air guitar competitors’ goofy self awareness.) The judges look for technical skill (the accuracy of the notes noodled), stage presence (rock god channeling), and something called “airiness,” that certain je ne sais quoi that transcends the act of air guitar into the upper echelons of  high art. In the end, the two scores are totaled and the winner with the highest score from on both nights will represent San Francisco in the upcoming national throwdown.

Think you have what it takes to emerge victorious? Enter here. And be sure to check back for my play-by-play coverage of this weekend’s competition.

 

U.S. Air Guitar Championships

Fri/24 and Sat/25, 9pm, $20/free for competitors

The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.theindependentsf.com

 

 

Locals shine at the Slumberland Showcase

Maria Poblet
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Locals shine at the Slumberland Showcase

This year’s SF Popfest culminated in last Saturday’s doozy of a Slumberland Showcase, boasting 10 bands in eight hours’ time for a day-to-night festival of jangly art-pop for the twinkle-toes in all of us. Despite the draw of bigger names like 14 Iced Bears and the June Brides’ Phil Wilson — both of 1980s UK pop and C86 fame — it’s safe to say that a few local bands truly represented and made us all proud, possibly even stealing the show.

 

Oakland’s Kids on a Crime Spree features Mario Hernandez of Ciao Bella and From Bubblegum to Sky, writing in his usual style of layered and lush melodies with vocal harmonies — and handclaps! Also noteworthy is righteous drummer babe, Becky Barron, who has apparently mastered the art of dancing and drumming at the same time, and doing a pretty good job at it.

Here’s a video for “Sweet Tooth,” a catchy track off of their brand new LP “We Love You So Much” on, you guessed it, Slumberland. Children, the elderly, and those prone to epileptic seizures beware — it’s super stroboscopic.

 

 

Not quite local, but close enough, Oxnard’s Sea Lions delivered an amazing follow-up performance to their January 22 show and San Francisco debut at the Knockout. Those of us in attendance earlier this year have been waiting with bated breath for this eclectic bunch to grace the stage once again, and it was well worth the wait. Adrian Pillado’s reverb-y Calvin Johnson-esque voice juxtoposed with the band’s nerdy and jangly pop numbers is unexpected, yet works really well.  

Check out the vintage celluloid artifacts of old Oxnard in the 1960s and 70s in the band’s music video for the tunes “I Loved Her So Much” and “I Wish I Was Lou Reed”:

 

 

What the hell is a Terry Malts and why is it so amazing?

Jokes aside, the band plowed through a perfect set of expertly crafted pop songs, this time amping up the volume and speed, as well as their signature crunchy fuzz that left the croud unaware of what hit them. Many say this local trio stole the show.

Behold, the music, but beware — you will have these catchy tunes stuck in your head for days:

 

Tumble Down by corey_lee Terry Malts – Distracted by Slumberland Records


 

Art Musems are always a delight! This band’s resemlance to the Clean and other Flying Nun acts is unmistakable. Their unconventional set-up on stage and their slightly folky flavor set them apart from the rest of the evening’s line up, and the electronic stylings of Virginia Weatherby is mezmerizing to watch. With releases on both Slumberland and Woodsist, we will certainly be seeing more of these guys soon.


 

Unfortunately I missed Brilliant Colors while, um, running an errand — the performance turnaround was so speedy!– but I’m sure they were fabulous as always with their disjointed-yet-lovely Raincoats-y melodies, like these numbers:

Brilliant Colors – How Much Younger by Slumberland Records Never Mine by brilliantcolorsinfo

The mystery of Terry Malts

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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The mystery of Terry Malts

arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC The shroud of mystery surrounding Terry Malts is no accident. It turns out that all three band members are also core members of another local band (plus a few instrumental switcheroos) that has received some notoriety over the years, even snagging a spot on the soundtrack of one of those beloved television shows about WASP-y rich kids.

But to call it a side project or a spin-off from those-who-shall-remain-nameless — as is often done around town among people in the know — is disingenuous to all that is Terry Malts, a solid, well-conceived musical effort in its own right. Straying from the cliché of the self righteous musician, the band members seem to take little seriously in conversation. They cite poppers and tall cans of beer as influences and joke about having never heard of the aforementioned “other” band. But the music is no joke.

When asked what the real deal was with this seemingly covert operation, guitarist Corey Cunningham replies that the band “wanted a fresh start” and thought it best to “let people reach their own perspective.” Plus, he adds, there is no line where one of their bands begins and another ends. “I see it as though we are different people in a different band.”

Perhaps that’s why people seem to pigeonhole them into a punk corner in an effort to understand who and what the band Terry Malts is. The constant Ramones comparisons — though understandable on a superficial level — should make eyes roll because Terry Malts is so much more than that: carefree bubblegum pop of the 1960s combined with the fuck-you attitude of 1970s punk and a layer of fuzz and feedback enough to please any jaded post-punk-post-indie pop music snob.

These guys tear it up live as well — Nathan Sweatt’s fast-pounding drums are tight enough to incite a dance riot, and Cunningham’s high-driving distorted guitar leads sound like he took a bubble bath with a blender. Phil Benson, towering in stature and personality, seems as if he’s singing love ballads to his bass guitar — hugging his instrument up high and smiling while bopping up and down. But don’t misread that as precious. The boys have ass-kicking spunk that results in live performances and recordings that keep you wanting — no, needing — more.

The band just released a 7-inch on Slumberland Records, the still-relevant Oakland via Washington, D.C., label that released recordings from such college radio chart toppers as Small Factory, Velocity Girl, and 14 Iced Bears in the early 1990s. “I’ve been buying Slumberland records since high school, so it’s a big deal for me,” says Cunningham. Owner Mike Schulman sought them out after hearing this year’s double-A-sided Distracted cassette on Loglady.

Three tracks were chosen for the 7-inch release “I’m Neurotic,” with “Distracted” and “Where is the Weekend” wrapping up the B-side. The title track kicks off with a blast of overdrive and propulsive drum beat and continues on a steady rhythm with intermittent bursts of feedback. The sing-songy “Distracted,” a song about moving on after a heartbreak, is so blissfully poppy and sweet that you could eat it. Perhaps “Where is the Weekend” is the most straightforward and in-your-face — an anthem for the modern proletariat working a crap-ass job for low wages in an overpriced city where the weekend fun can’t come soon enough.

When asked what’s on the horizon for this up-and-coming band, Benson wisecracks: “There’s been talk of a possible LP. Perhaps a series of three flexis, each featuring a different instrument, that while played together on three separate turntables reveal a single masterpiece. We shall see.” Oh yes, we shall. *

TERRY MALTS

W/ Melted Toys and Permanent Collection

June 2, 9 p.m., $3

The Knockout

3223 Mission, SF

www.knockoutsf.com

Alerts

Maria Poblet
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0

WEDNESDAY 18

Sex and public opinion

Legendary Hustler publisher Larry Flynt — smut peddler or trailblazing hero? You be the judge at this special presentation by the man himself, whose Supreme Court case, Hustler Magazine vs. Jerry Falwell, ended with a landmark ruling protecting satire. Flynt recently teamed up with historian David Eisenbach to coauthor the book One Nation Under Sex: How the Private Lives of Presidents, First Ladies and Their Lovers Changed the Course of American History, which tackles the hypocrisy of our sexual mores and the role of the media in shaping public opinion.

6:30-8 p.m., $25–$45 ($15 for members)

Commonwealth Club

595 Market, SF

www.commonwealthclub.org

 

SATURDAY 21

NAMIWalk fundraiser

Just in time for National Mental Health Month, you can help raise funds to benefit much-needed free mental health programs just by taking a walk. These 5K and 1.5K walks benefit several National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) affiliates in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as educating the public and helping to remove the stigma associated with mental illness. Preregistration required.

9 a.m., free

Lindley Meadow

Golden Gate Park, SF

www.namiwalksfbay.org

 

Community forum on Mexico

Attend this discussion on the crises in Mexico, which include organized crime, border patrols, and labor struggles, and the role of U.S. intervention there. Speakers Elvira Villescas Sanchez, founding member of Las Hormigas; Frank Lara, May Day Coalition and ANSWER Coalition organizer; and David Bacon, renowned journalist and documentarian of the immigrant and labor struggles in Mexico and the U.S., will all be on hand.

7–9 p.m., $5–$10 donation

ANSWER Coalition

2969 Mission, SF

www.balasc.org

www.answersf.org

 

Walk to end poverty

Show support for those at-risk and living in poverty in Oakland with a walk and rally around Lake Merritt. Demand that the issue of poverty stays on the national agenda and help raise awareness about the conditions of more than 76,000 people in Oakland currently living in poverty. Afterward, attend a community services fair with community heroes and live multicultural entertainment for the whole family. Also, be sure to bring nonperishable food items to donate to the Alameda County Community Food Bank — the first 500 people to do so will receive a free T-shirt.

9 a.m.–1 p.m., free

Lake Merritt Bandstand

666 Bellvue, Oakl.

(510) 326-3553

www2.oaklanndnet.com/Government/o/DHS 

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

A Weekend homecoming

Maria Poblet
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A Weekend homecoming

San Francisco’s Weekend is scheduled to hit up The Independent next Thurs/19, after a spell touring with the legendary post-punk band Wire. With fuzzed-out reverb-laden guitars, pounding rhythms, haunting vocals, and bass melodies that would make Peter Hook blush, this band has been all over the indie radar, drawing praises from every corner of the blogosphere. Pitchfork rated the trio’s 2010 Slumberland release Sports an 8.2/10, to which friends the Young Prisms twatted — excuse me, tweeted — in response, “Weekend was robbed. Should’ve been an 18.2.” Can we get an Amen?

Here’s a little taste of what’s in store for your eardrums:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNNdOPOTndI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJk41jsE_YQ

WEEKEND

With Clipd Beaks and Jealousy
Thurs./19 8 p.m., $12
Independent
2170 Market, SF
(415) 771-1421
www.independentsf.com

 

On the Cheap Listings

Maria Poblet
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0

WEDNESDAY 11

Fear free zone Red Poppy Art House, 2698 Folsom, SF; www.fearnotproject.com. 6-9pm, free. The phrase “do not be afraid” appears in the Bible 366 times and happens to be subject of Jennifer Maria Harris’s “Fear Not Project” in which the artist uses unlikely methods to spread her anti-fearmongering message. On display for the opening reception includes the Fear Not Library — in which the text from best-sellers like the Koran and, yup, even Harry Potter, have been whited-out to leave only messages of fearlessness – tons of images of her street art, and a broadcast of hundreds of voices urging listeners to be not afraid (dial 1-888-363-2332 and leave a message at the beep to be a part of that broadcast).

THURSDAY 12

Crossroads Film Festival SFMOMA, 151 Third St., SF; www.sfmoma.org. 7pm, $7-10. Attend this year’s installment of SF Cinematheque’s avant-garde film festival featuring works from emerging and established filmmakers. The program will kick off its it’s 50th year with the culminating screening of Cinematheque’s Radical Light series – with rediscovered and restored celluloid rarities and gems – to celebrate the 2010 publication of Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-2000.

FRIDAY 13

Art in Storefronts’ Central Market launch The ARTery Project, U.N. Plaza, Market and Sixth St., SF; www.sfartcommission.org, www.blackrockarts.org. 5-7pm, free. Art in Storefronts, the city-wide project to brighten up blighted and under-used storefronts and outer walls with site-specific art installations and murals, now in its second year, returns to the area of central Market with a neighborhood celebration. Six storefront installations and five murals will be unveiled, and local galleries will hold receptions, as live music and Off the Grid food trucks and other vendors line Market for a lively cultural experience.

“Oxy Moron” opening reception Welcome Stranger, 460 Gough, SF; www.welcomestranger.com, www.misterperson.com. 6-9pm, free. Check out the “drawerings” and “painterings” of Justin Hager at the opening reception for his solo show “Oxy Moron” in which the artist cleverly pairs two contradictory pop-cultural references to create a crazy hybridized paradoxical meme-monster like the E.T.-T-Boz combo “E.T. Boz,” or the “Urkel Jerks” version of the Circle Jerk’s famous dancing dude (can you guess what the outcome is?) The show has some pretty cool sponsorships to keep you fed and flying, most notably corndogs by Straw and brewskies by Pabst.

SATURDAY 14

Go Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth St. No. 290, Oakl.; www.bayareago.org. 1-4pm, free. There’s a Bay Area association for everything it seems, and the game of Go is no exception. Good thing, because members of the Bay Area Go Players Association will be on hand to teach you how to play the world’s oldest board game. Popular in East Asia and still played in its original form, Milton Bradley has nothing on this 4,000 year-old game, combining complex strategy with a seemingly simplistic set of rules. Once you learn the ropes, the experts will send you along with a free game set complete with a booklet of strategies.

“Apocalypse Meow” opening reception Space Gallery, 1141 Polk, SF; www.spacegallerysf.com. 7pm-midnight, free. For the crazy cat lady in all of us, this group show celebrates all things feline — with or without laser beams shooting out of their adorable little eyes, à la Kittenzilla of Western Addition street-art fame. Sixteen artists, including Ryan Jones, Helen Bayley, and two of three of the aforementioned laser kitty creators examine everything from LOLcats to Kit-Kats. Also be sure to check out Space’s sister gallery – more like a Siamese twin, actually – Lopo Gallery for the show “Of Course”, featuring artwork by Chad Hasegawa, Justin Lovato, and Jason Vivona. It’s right upstairs, so you have no excuse not to.

MONDAY 16

Swinging in the Shadows E6 Gallery, 1632 Market, SF; www.beatera.org. 7pm, free. We all know about the San Francisco Beats, thanks to local landmarks like City Lights and its neighboring Vesuvio Bar, but what do you know about the L.A. and Venice West Beat scenes? Tonight, check out a free screening of Swinging in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the California Beat Era and a Q&A session, after which you can wow your vacationing friends with historical accuracy while nursing whiskey-sodas at North Beach’s famous watering holes.

On the Cheap listings are compiled by Jackie Andrews. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

Pure pop bliss: Beach Fossils, Craft Spells, and Melted Toys at Slim’s

Maria Poblet
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Pure pop bliss: Beach Fossils, Craft Spells, and Melted Toys at Slim’s

A lot of bands these days have been resurrecting the C86-like pop music sensibilities of the jangly guitar heroes from the 1980s and early ’90s, either sounding familiar and welcome to some, or new and au courant to others, as in the past. Captured Tracks, a small label out of Brooklyn, New York, has a few such bands under its wing, two of which played energetic, danceable sets at Slim’s last Thurs/5 – Brooklyn’s Beach Fossils and Seattle’s Craft Spells. San Francisco’s Melted Toys completed the trifecta, opening the night with pure pop bliss.

The Beach Fossils headlined, transforming a breezy, surf-tinged recorded sound into an aggressively upbeat and kinetic live performance, turning Slim’s into an all-out dance party. Now playing with bass, dueling guitars, and a full kit of drums, Dustin Payseur and company sounded full and lush, keeping things interesting while on the last leg of their U.S. tour. 

The Craft Spells’ performance was a bit of a homecoming for singer-guitarist-songwriter and Stockton native Justin Vallesteros, whose family was in the audience. Backed by sparkly dream-pop melodies, his somber baritone invoked the spirit of Factory Records, yet was more inspired and less derivative than one might think.

Melted Toys also rely heavily on the ’80s pop revival, yet stand apart from the bandwagon with a mellower, slightly more drugged-out sounding post-punk set than the show’s headliners. They do “dreamy” without shoving it it your face, with a subtle and assured nod to their musical influences, creating perfect lazy day music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick Waterhouse and the Tarots: New music for old souls

Maria Poblet
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Nick Waterhouse knows what he likes, and as the old adage goes: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Recording entirely in analog on vintage equipment — including an original Muscle Shoals mixer — and performing with beautiful tube amps and old guitars, his attention to detail and historical accuracy pays off. The result is a classic R&B sound that at times is gritty and raw and at others smooth and viscous as warm molasses.

He is a sharp-dressed man, that Waterhouse, adorned in suits and ties, with an angel face framed by horn-rimmed glasses. I imagine he gets constant cliché comparisons to Buddy Holly, but when he and his new group, the Tarots, stepped out on stage for a sold-out show at the Knockout last Saturday, April 30, my first impression of him was of one of those characters in a Daniel Clowes Eightball comic who collects old jazz and soul records — on vinyl. He probably listens to NPR on a Bakelite radio, I thought, albeit a bit snarkily in retrospect. My apologies, Nick.

The vinyl-collecting part is not far from the truth, it turns out. A DJ and regular at any of the many soul parties in San Francisco, like The Make-Out Room’s Lost and Found or the O.G. 1964 at the Edinbugh Castle, Waterhouse clearly knows his stuff, and it should come as no surprise that his uber-knowlege and ear for sound should translate so nicely to his live sets — the music sounds authentic, yet somehow fresh and not dated — backed by a horn-driven band and three beautiful “divas” (that a little bit of Googling identified as The Naturelles) who belt it better than any cheeseball of the same self-declaration ever could.

His debut release, the 45 rpm “Some Place”  — performed and recorded with the Turn-Keys, which includes the legendary Ira Raibon on sax — is currently available from Waterhouse’s own Pres Records. You can catch him tonight, Wed/5, performing with his new lineup for live sets, the Tarots, at the Asterisk Magazine anniversary party (see events listings).

Nick Waterhouse, “Some Place”:

On the Cheap Listings

Maria Poblet
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On the Cheap listings are compiled by Jackie Andrews. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 4

Asterisk zine party Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 8pm, free. Celebrate one year of Asterisk, the fabulous print and online magazine highlighting all things San Francisco, with a party catered by Charanga and drinks specials courtesy of Blue Angel Vodka. Plus, the amazing soul group Nick Waterhouse and the Tarots will be performing and Erik Otto art displayed for you to enjoy while DJs get you dancing. There’s so much going on tonight, it’s hard to believe the party is free, but be sure to donate a few bills to benefit Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, the non-profit that does a lot of good things for small business here in the city.

Zyzzyva spring celebration The Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. This art and lit journal (named after the last word in the dictionary, a genus of weevil, but you already know that, right?) has gone through some changes recently. When founder Howard Junker announced he would be stepping down as editor after 25 years, Laura Cogan jumped at the opportunity and has been busy cleaning house in the form of sprucing up the website and adding a blog, among other things. Joining her at tonight’s celebration. Reading selections from their work, will be Robin Ekiss, Tom Barbash, and Vanessa Hua.

THURSDAY 5

Craft bar Museum of Craft and Folk Art, 51 Yerba Buena Lane, SF; www.mocfa.org. 6-8pm, $5, t-shirts and totes are an extra $5. Make Sister Corita-style posters, t-shirts, and tote bags in honor of her messages of love and peace during the social upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s. The museum will have silk screens set up with inks prepared in advance to match her period colors – think day-glo – as well as all of the supplies needed. Also, enjoy a special live performance from Coconuts and free-flowing Trumer Pils courtesy of the Berkeley brewery.

FRIDAY 6

Bikes and Beats Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 10pm-3am, $6-10. Check out this new collaborative that merges Bay Area bike and music scenes at a party that benefits Sunday Streets and the urban sustainability guerrillas known as the Wigg Party. They’ve got bike-themed crafts and screenprinting planned, as well as food vendors, art, fashion, raffle prizes, and more. And it wouldn’t be a party without music, so they went ahead and wisely reserved, not one, but two rooms for DJs, live performances, and video installations.

SATURDAY 7

Mother’s Day book Sale Adobe Books, 3166 16th St, SF; www.adobebooksbackroomgallery.blogspot.com. 11am-5pm, free. Get lost in the organized-by-color bookshelves today at Adobe. This little gem of a bookstore will be selling all of their stock at a discount in honor of mothers everywhere. Books outside are all one dollar while everything inside the store is marked 25 percent off. Plus, check out the current exhibition in the backroom gallery for artwork related to the publication of Berkeley-based Allone Co. Editions’ From the Golden West Notebook, a work inspired by the ACE Double books of the fifties.

El Cerrito city-wide garage sale Various locations, El Cerrito; www.el-cerrito.org. 9am-3pm, free. Holy moly, this event is every collector and spendthrift’s dream come true – 67 garage sales all happening at once, carrying everything from furniture to household items to records and vintage clothing. Plot your route in advance – download the map complete with listings and take it with you on your meticulously planned hunt for one-of-a-kind bargain treasures. Rent a Zip Car – no, rent a U-Haul if you have to – because you’re not gonna want to miss this.

SUNDAY 8

Mother’s Day rose show Hall of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.sfrosesociety.com. Noon-12:30-4pm, free. Score some serious bonus points with Mom this year and treat her to a lovely afternoon among the roses. The San Francisco Rose Society continues its annual Mother’s Day tradition of filling Golden Gate Park’s Hall of Flowers with spectacular rose exhibits of all varieties. Stroll along the fragrant and breathtaking paths between noon and 4pm, after which the public is invited to take home free roses!

TUESDAY 10

Emperor Norton history lesson Cafe Royal, 800 Post, SF; (415) 641-6033. 8pm, free. Attend this informal history lesson from historian Peter Molan, and learn all about the once celebrated San Francisco character – the self-proclaimed “Emperor of these United States” and later, the “Protector of Mexico”. Though considered insane by his fellow San Franciscans, he was well-loved and his regal decrees often humored. The day after he collapsed and died on a street corner in 1880, 30,000 people packed the streets to mourn his death.

 

 

Alerts

Maria Poblet
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ALERTS

 

By Jackie Andrews

alert@sfbg.com

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

 

Robert Reich lecture

Robert Reich — UC Berkeley professor of public policy, former U.S. secretary of labor, and best-selling author — asks the question, “Will corporate social responsibility stop a race to the bottom in labor standards?” Come hear what the man The Wall Street Journal called one of the “most influential business thinkers” has to say.

4–6 p.m., free

SFSU Seven Hills Conference Center

1600 Holloway, SF

(415) 338-2885

www.sfsu.edu/~news

 

THURSDAY, MAY 5

 

Chabot College walk-out

Chabot College students, as well as middle and high school students and other community members in and around Hayward, will walk out in protest of the construction of the Russell City Power Plant. Meet at Chabot College and march en masse to the proposed site of the plant for a lively rally.

Noon–3 p.m., free

Meet at Chabot College main courtyard

25555 Hesperian, Hayward

Facebook: Powerplanttaskforce Hayward

 

Hecho en San Francisco

Commemorate the Battle of Puebla while supporting local food vendors at this benefit for La Cocina and CUESA. Taste fresh tortillas, authentic puebla cooking, and the best of las cocinas Nopailito, Mijita, y Tacolicious — not to mention top shelf tequila, beer, and wine.

5:30–8:30 p.m., $50

CUESA Kitchen

Ferry Building, North Arcade, SF

www.hechoensanfrancisco.eventbrite.com

 

FRIDAY, MAY 6

 

War-tax resistance conference

Any interest in cutting off your own personal funding of America’s wars? Join the club. War-tax resisters from around the country are sure to attend this three-day national conference, which begins tonight and ends Sunday (at differing locales, so check the website for more info). Tonight’s discussion — following dinner at 6 p.m. — is on strengthening resistance through social networking.

6–9:30 p.m., $15

Berkeley Friends Church

1600 Sacramento, Berk.

www.nwtrcc.org

 

SATURDAY, MAY 7

 

Beyond gang injunctions

Join this community discussion on gang injunctions — a new strategy for policing gangs that has been criticized for siphoning money away from community programs while increasing racial profiling and other attacks on civil liberties. You’ll hear from prominent community leaders such as Sagnitche Salazar of Stop the Injunction Coalition and Whitney Young of Critical Resistance, among others, followed by a Q&A.

2:30–4:30 p.m., free

EastSide Arts Alliance

2277 International, Oakl.

www.radioproject.org

 

TUESDAY, MAY 10

 

Activism is not terrorism

Attend this reading and discussion of Will Potter’s Green is the New Red: An Insider’s Guide to a Social Movement Under Siege. In it, the award winning journalist discusses the “green scare” trend in the media and popular culture, which portrays environmental and animal rights activists as so-called ecoterrorists. Even the federal government is flippant with its use the word “terrorism,” he says, and it recently convicted a group of animal rights advocates of “animal enterprise terrorism.”

7 p.m., free

City Lights Books

261 Columbus, SF

www.citylights.com 

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

Alerts

Maria Poblet
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ALERTS

 

By Jackie Andrews

alert@sfbg.com

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

 

Benefit for Afrikanation Artists Organization

Support the mission of this Hargeysa-based NGO, which is to restore and support Somali art and culture through education and community outreach, with a delicious Senegalese dinner. The restaurant will donate part of the proceeds for much-needed art supplies in Somalia.

6–10 p.m., cost of dinner

Bissap Baobab

2323 Mission, SF

(415) 826-9287

THURSDAY, APRIL 28

 

Book discussion

Jeffrey Webber presents his book, From Rebellion to Reform in Bolivia: Class Struggle, Indigenous Liberation, and the Politics of Evo Morales, and will bring you up to speed on contemporary social movements in Bolivia and across the planet.

7 p.m., free

The Green Arcade

1680 Market, SF

(415) 431-6800

FRIDAY, APRIL 29

 

Rally to restore Sharp Park

Protest wasteful spending and environmental destruction caused by the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, which is owned by San Francisco. The city drains Sharp Park year-round so people can play golf, but at the expense of the wildlife that lives there. Demand that the golf course be transformed to a public park that is open to all and restore the wetland and lagoon habitats that have been compromised.

12–1 p.m., free

Outside City Hall

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, SF

www.wildequity.org

SATURDAY, APRIL 30

 

“Walk Against Rape”

Join San Francisco Women against Rape (SFWAR) in their annual Walk Against Rape and help raise awareness of sexual assault and violence toward women. This 5K walk culminates in a festival at Potrero del Sol Park with food, drink, and performances.

10 a.m., free

Meet at the Women’s Building

3543 18th St., SF

www.sfwar.org

SUNDAY, MAY 1

 

May Day march

Honor the remarkable struggles and sacrifices of workers around the world by marching to Civic Center in support of collective bargaining, equal rights, and equal pay — at a time that couldn’t be more appropriate given the current assault on workers’ rights around the country.

11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., free

Meet at 24th St. BART

Mission and 24th St., SF

www.maydayunited.org

MONDAY, MAY 2

 

Climate action workshop

Put the gloom and doom of climate change aside and focus on how to reverse the problem by learning how to minimize your carbon footprint and maximize your sense of community at this informative workshop. The workshop is free, however there will be a $10 fee for the Low Carbon Diet workbook if you don’t already have one.

7–9 p.m., free

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo, Berk.

www.ecologycenter.org

TUESDAY, MAY 3

 

What your boss doesn’t want you to know

At this ongoing Free University course, students will learn about some of the basic protections afforded to California workers. Tonight’s topic covers your right to take time off from work, including family and medical leaves .

8–10 p.m., free

Free University of San Francisco

Five Points Arthouse

72 Tehama, SF

www.freeuniversitysf.org 

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

Get baked with Obama

Maria Poblet
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Get baked with Obama

Whoa, dude. Back up. What?

Well, sort of. We all have heard about the $35,800 dinner that President Obama will be feasting upon tonight in Nob Hill, so needless to say, the man is in town. And the Green Door, one of San Francisco’s premier marijuana dispensaries, has tipped their patients off to some very top secret information – The president’s motorcade, according to the Green Door’s website, is expected to serendipitously drive past the shop, located at 843 Howard, at approximately 4:20 p.m., on this, the unofficial stoner holiday we affectionately call 4/20.

Just about every marijuana dispensary in the city is having some sort of patient appreciation party and tokefest, and the Green Door is no exception. All day they will be offering product deals and giveaways with raffle prizes, Djs, and munchies, so if you’re lucky enough have made it inside the shop before the police temporarily close off Howard – sometime between 3 and 4 p.m., the Green door says, though we were unable to verify any specifics with the SFPD – you will be able to “inhale to the chief.”

Happy 4/20!

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