This week: Live music on the ferry, a “boujee” club for all ages, a hand-drawn map of Berkeley, wild radish, and a donkey reality show. Plus, Public Domain Day at the Internet Archive, the local legacy behind an ‘80s hit, and the Asian Art Museum explores rave culture.

Music on the water

Friday ferry rides picked up a new rhythm this month as SF Bay Ferry began hosting live performances on select routes through the month of January. The “Tides and Tunes” series brings local musicians, bands, and DJs onto the fleet’s larger vessels with room to host small performances.

The performances come at no extra cost beyond the regular ferry fare. The series runs at select times on Fridays, with artist Lolah returning for another set on January 23. — KPIX

The legacy of a hit

“Rumors” by Timex Social Club started as a song written by East Bay teens and went on to become one of 1986’s biggest hits, selling more than a million copies. The track still shows up in DJ sets and party playlists, even as most people know little about the group behind it.

In his book, How Do Rumors Get Started, founding member Marcus Thompson details how the band formed in Oakland, recorded the song on basic equipment, and quickly found national success. It also follows what came after, including industry disputes, broken agreements, and the breakup of the group in the years following the song’s rise. — SFGate

Cultural artifacts made public

Each January, a new batch of music, books, and films enters the public domain, and the Internet Archive marks the moment by opening the doors to creative reuse. This year includes works from 1930 like “Georgia on My Mind,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” The Maltese Falcon, and early Nancy Drew stories.

The Archive frames the public domain as a way to keep culture accessible, especially as copyright battles have narrowed access to its digital library. The celebration includes a daylong online event and an evening gathering at the Internet Archive (300 Funston Avenue, SF), centered on remixed films made from newly public works on January 21. — Mission Local

Paths on paper

Tattoo artist and illustrator Danielle Hopkins has drawn a hand-rendered map of the Berkeley Hills that traces stairways, rock parks, and winding streets with the elaborate detail of someone who walks them often. After she shared an early version on Nextdoor, neighbors began showing up at her door to buy copies.

She’s sold about 30 so far and given others away, including to neighbors who became friends through the process. The map grew out of her move from San Jose to Berkeley and her attachment to the hills, especially the Tamalpais Path, which she calls a brutal climb with a view worth the effort. — Berkeleyside

Pulse and light

At the Asian Art Museum, Rave into the Future: Art in Motion looks at dance culture through the work of West Asian artists shaped by diaspora, memory, and movement. The exhibition brings together multimedia installations, sculpture, and sound to explore how music and dance create spaces of connection, privacy, and release.

Highlights include Sahar Khoury’s commission with a working DJ deck, Yasmine Nasser Diaz’s bedroom-as-dance-floor installation, and Joe Namy’s copper-tiled floor that records every step taken on it. The show, which is curated by Naz Cuguoglu and features work by 10 artists based in the U.S. and Europe, remains on view at the Asian Art Museum through January 26. — The Chronicle

Candy-colored commons

In Walnut Creek, Ruby Lou’s is opening as a place where birthday parties, cocktail hour, and casual play all blur together. Built by longtime mixologist and set designer Megan Abraham Benshalom and named for her daughter, the space leans into bright color, built-in board games, claw machines, and furniture that looks pulled from a candy shop daydream.

The menu mirrors that split personality, with Wagyu hot dogs, short-rib nachos on housemade chips, and a full cocktail program alongside an ice cream bar and “yolo” sundaes for kids. It’s designed for families in the afternoon and adults after dark, without forcing either group to leave the room. Ruby Lou’s is open now for private events and plans to open to the public very soon. — Bay Area News Group

Salt on the buds

Out in the Baylands, invasive wild radish began flowering in late December, its pale purple and white petals standing out against the marsh. Unlike wild mustard, which blooms yellow, the radish can be identified by its four-petaled flowers and its edible parts from top to bottom.

The leaves, buds, and seed pods can all be eaten, carrying a mild, peppery bite, and sometimes a trace of salt from the coastal air. There’s even a small radish root at certain times of year, though most foragers prize the greens and buds. It grows alongside plants like sea asparagus in the San Francisco Baylands, where winter still yields plenty of plantlife. — The Bay Forager

From pasture to prime time

A Northern California donkey rescue has found a national audience through a reality series on ABC. Donkey King follows the day-to-day work at Oscar’s Place, a Mendocino County sanctuary that takes in donkeys from auctions, surrenders, and unsafe conditions, and either rehomes them or gives them a permanent home on the ranch.

The nonprofit has rescued more than 400 animals, and each episode centers on the care and recovery of one donkey, with staff balancing medical needs, transport, and trust-building. The show airs Saturday mornings on ABC, with episodes available to stream for free afterward at donkeyking.com. — The Press Democrat

Top image: Performance by TCS; activation of 'For Your Eyes Only' by Yasmine Nasser Diaz; Photo by Tracy Nguyen/Asian Art Museum

Previously: Field Notes: Fairy Rings, Waterfalls, SF Library Map, and New East Bay All-Ages Music Venue

The Chronicle’s culture critic Peter Hartlaub highlighted a fascinating bit of San Francisco history from the early ‘80s—a time when some vocal residents were clutching their pearls over the supposed dangers of video games. Fueled by media hysteria and neighborhood protests, city leaders, led by Mayor Dianne Feinstein, cracked down on arcades with laws so strict it became harder to open an arcade than a liquor store.

Arcades were banned from being near schools and parks, kids were forbidden to play during school hours, and gaming was painted as a gateway to delinquency.

In the midst of this frenzy was Tommy Guerrero, then a 14-year-old skateboarding prodigy and video game enthusiast, who briefly became the poster child for this so-called “problem” after The Chronicle spotlighted his high-scoring “Scramble” skills.

As we know, Guerrero turned out just fine in spite of his early so-called video game “addiction”—going on to become a street skating pioneer and a celebrated jazz/funk musician.

Likewise, San Francisco’s attitude toward arcades has since evolved to celebrating gaming as a cultural treasure, and the old laws were eventually repealed.

Image: ilbusca/Getty Images

Creator of Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, and The Breakfast Club, director/writer John Hughes, died today. According to TMZ, "Hughes suffered [a] heart attack while taking a morning walk during a trip to NYC to visit family." He was only 59.

Sigh.

Feel free to leave us with one of your favorite lines from a Hughes movie. We're too crestfallen to come up with one.