Results tagged “literary”

LIT: One of the first performance artists and a New York Underground cultural icon, Penny Arcade (Susan Ventura), will make a rare appearance tonight in celebration of her new book, Bad Reputation: Performances, Essays, Interviews, the first book by and about the legend herself. The book consists of three autobiographical plays, as well as a new interview with Penny Arcade by Chris Kraus and a collection of archival photographs of the East Village scene and Arcade's performances.

VARIETY: The Devil-Ettes and The Mini Skirt Mob pay tribute to the great 60’s variety shows like Laugh-In, Shindig, and Hullabaloo in the action-packed Go Go Spectacular. Special guests The Barbary Coasters and Deke Dickerson’s All Star Frat Band will also perform.

COMEDY: Attention adventurous singles with some extra cash -- Improv Dating Scene might be for you. The event begins with a comedy show with Big City Improv performing sketches based on audience suggestions. Then, dating coaches will lead participants through a series of fun and easy improv games. The evening concludes with a mixer with snacks and drinks, giving singles an opportunity to better get to know the people they connect with the most.

LIT: It's another installment of Muni-inspired entertainment at Muni Diaries Live! Under the Influence, with BART tales added to the mix, too. Entertainment includes the Cock-Ts, Shane Papatolicas, the winning Muni Erotic fiction post, and more. Prizes from Muni Shirts and Routesy will be given away. Costumes encouraged!

MUSIC: The eccentric, musical genius of Daniel Johnston takes some getting used to, but his sincerely sweet and simple vocals and arrangements win his fans over for life. The melodic Hymns open.

MUSIC: The 27th Annual Jazz Festival presents living jazz legend Omara Portuondo. Portuondo, who is dubbed the “la novia del filin” (fiancée of feeling), will perform the romantic Afro-Cuban boleros and Brazilian-inspired jazz that first made her a star six decades ago, which are featured on her latest release, Gracias.

FILM: SF DocFest is going strong! Waiting for Hockney profiles Baltimore artist Billy Pappas, who has spent the past eight and a half years creating a portrait that requires drawing for seven hours a day using a 20x magnifying glass. Now that the masterpiece is finally completed, Pappas is on a mission to find reclusive modern artist David Hockney, the one person whom Pappas believes can justify his decade of work.

In addition to marking the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta quake, Saturday also marks the annual Litquake Lit Crawl, a three-phase bar crawl through the Mission featuring a great many writer types reading while others listen and drink. Herewith, we give you a few highlights to check out, assuming you won't be checking out the headliners who'll be going on right about then at Treasure Island.

LAUNCH PARTY: Who says print is dead? We Still Like is defying this statement by releasing their very first issue, Manifesto Destiny, a manifesto-themed collection of prose, poetry, reviews, rants, and raves. The celebratory event will feature soapbox-style pontificating, manifesto-ing, and poem-ing by writers featured in the current issue. Then attendees will be invited to take a test drive in the patented Hyperbolic Chamber, outfitted to encourage all their grandiose statements and wildest dreams, courtesy of Bradford Earle.

The annual week-long Litquake festival starts tonight, featuring a daunting line-up of events. Below is a list of our picks featuring one event per day (otherwise this post would take us all weekend). Check out SF Weekly, SF Appeal, and Mercury News for their highlights.

FILM: The San Francisco Zen Center hosts an evening of food, literature, and film with Alix Lambert. Lambert's new book, The Silencing, is a bi-lingual case account of six murdered Russian journalists, paired with photos of the murder sites and first-person accounts of the journalists' work and life. Her documentary, The Mark of Cain, details the role of tattoos in Russia’s criminal world, using them as a device by which to examine the role of prisons and of crime in Russia.

LIT: The untimely death of David Foster Wallace prompted hundreds of his fans across the world to read Infinite Jest together over the summer, ie. Infinite Summer. Tonight, Bay Area participants will join in an Infinite Summer Celebration. Food and wine will be provided with a suggested $5 donation, and there will be a contest to see whose copy of Infinite Jest has been most abused.

DANCE: The all-female Chitresh Das Dance Company presents the world premiere of Sita Haran, a dramatic staging of one of the most popular stories from India's great text, "The Râmâyana," told in the Kathak style of dynamic movement, drama, rhythm, and music. There will be a pre-show discussion and an after-show reception.

FILM: The Expansion Bar may be closed, but it will remain in the hearts of San Franciscans forever, thanks to the documentary, The little man in the Boat. The film consists of footage collected over the last ten years of the bar's existence and includes interviews with Dick Wood, John Anderson, and Gary Milliman.