Madeleine Albright, it seems, "will also share her recommendations for the next president." There will be more than one recommendation? Oh joy. Part of her tour to promote her new literary effort, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership, the former United States Secretary of State will stop by Nob Hill to chat with the peons. President and chief executive officer of the World Affairs Council of Northern......

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, gave a speech to the World Affairs Council at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel yesterday, but was upstaged by a few gay (or bear) activists. Thanks to reader Zombie for sending this our way.......

Tonight, grab a 7:30 p.m. low cost ($4) lecture on planets, stars and brown dwarfs with Dr. Ray Jayawardhana at the JCC. We love the JCC space, because it's organized, clean, and spacious. There's a friendly vibe, too, but be prepared to pop your trunk for a bomb search if you park in the JCC lot. Origins of Planets and Brown Dwarfs at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Phone:......

It's black history month and we're ashamed to admit that all we've done is buy James Baldwin stamps and curse Condoleezza Rice. So we were glad to receive a tip from a reader about what looks like a fascinating world music concert. The Abayudaya Jewish tribe of Uganda have a rich choral tradition of African religious songs, sung in both Hebrew and Luganda (a local Ugandan dialect), and their most recent album was nominated for a Grammy this year. (They were beaten by Maroon 5. Kidding, kidding -- Ladysmith Black Mambazo took home the Best Traditional World Music title this year.) As part of their Be-chol Lashon (In Every Voice) Think Tank to promote Jewish racial and ethnic diversity, the Institute for Jewish and Community Research is sponsoring a concert with the Abauyudaya Jewish singing group and the Temple Bethel Choir, an African-American Jewish group from Philadelphia. The Temple Bethel Choir is known for their "foot-stomping celebration" of Jewish music, so this should be a slightly different world music experience than, say, a "Putomayo presents: The Beauty of the Didgeridoo" concert. The concert is at 7 p.m. in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel, and tickets are $10. ...

[Ed. Note: All you have to do is talk to us. We're needy. Thanks for the new content, Mary-Lynn!] Yesterday afternoon, Apple introduced a special edition iPod - we figured Steve Jobs might have iPod news hiding up his sleeve. The black and red U2 Special Edition comes with a poster and a $50 iTunes coupon you can use in the iTunes Music Store to buy U2's "The Complete U2" digital boxed set. Did we......