SF LIFE: City Arts and Lectures, Book Passage
Hello friends – another week in lockdown and we hope you all are finding your way through this changing environment. It’s Good Friday and Easter Sunday approaches. This is certainly a time for renewal, acceptance and belief. For those who celebrate may you find a calm in reflecting on the meaning of the season and enjoy a celebration with your virtual place of worship. So many things to keep us occupied during our time at home, whether you are learning a new language, increasing your plank holds, reading, writing, cooking, painting or streaming. The Bay area continues to find ways to entertain us virtually. And listen in to this week’s fun podcast, “Playful Mindfulness.” So read on, get inspired, appreciate your loved ones and send virtual hugs.
This week’s podcast guest is Ted DesMaisions, creator of “Playful Mindfulness.” He teaches this class through Stanford’s continuing education classes, and he has authored a book of the same name. He merges meditation with the art of improvisation to help us live a more thoughtful and rewarding life. Listen in as Kim Selby, our SF Editor chats with Ted and plays an improv game that gets them chuckling, something we all need in today’s world. Listen in here.
City Arts and Lectures
Our beloved City arts and lectures continues to inspire us. For some this new normal of online learning and listening is actually a wonderful way to connect. It’s not always possible to attend a lecture due to distance, or traffic (remember that), and now you can tune in online. You need only subscribe to their YouTube channel. Coming up on Friday the 17th, “Remembering Oliver Sacks”, on the 20th Miranda July will be in conversation with Jenny Odell, and on Wednesday the 29th, here’s a fun one, Femail: The Art of Sustainable Fashion with Janelle Abbott and Camilla Carper in conversation with Avery Trufelman. www.cityarts.net
Here’s What’s Coming in April
- Temple Grandin & Friends – Tribute to Oliver Sacks: Friday, April 17 at 7:30pm
- Miranda July & Jenny Odell: Monday, April 20 at 7:30pm
- Femail – The Art of Sustainable Fashion: Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm
- Your Undivided Attention – Addicted to Tech: Thursday, April 30 at 7:30pm
Book Passage
One of the most popular independent Book Stores, BOOK PASSAGE has found a way to connect with us. For more than 40 years Book Passage has been home for Bay Area readers and since temporarily closing their stores they have been searching for a way to connect and to continue creating community for book lovers. They just launched a wonderful new way to keep us connected, Conversations with Authors. Beginning tomorrow, Saturday the 11th and at the end of each week thereafter, they will be coming together with great authors and thinkers to share ideas and celebrate community.
Not just book readings, but intimate conversations about what it means to be living through these times and what it means to stay connected to the people and ideas that bind us. All you have to do is register once, and you are guaranteed a seat at every upcoming Conversations with Authors event. Youll be invited to help shape each session by prioritizing the issues for discussion and you can ask additional questions during each conversation. They will be archived for later viewing as well.
Upcoming CARA BLACK Saturday the 11th, at 4 p.m. Saturday the 18th, Khaled Hosseini (one of my personal favorites) again at 4 p.m.
https://bookpassage.extendedsession.com/
More Virtual Entertainment from Around the Bay Area
Learn to paint poppies, watch live events with great conversations, take a salsa class, and so much more. Here are few things to fill up your days.
Learn to paint beautiful California poppies with Annie Galvin of 3 Fish Studios. instagram.com
Check out Wide Open School, a free educational portal with such live events as a convo between Khan Academy founder Sal Khan and Bill Gates. wideopenschool.org
Rent A Chef’s Voyage ($5), a
documentary profiling Manresa’s Michelin-starred chef David Kinch upon his
restaurant’s 15th anniversary; proceeds will benefit laid-off restaurant
workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. sommfilms.com
Stream TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s world premiere of Pride and Prejudice. 3:30pm and 7pm PST, Friday April 10. prideandprejudicepremiere.com
Tune in for daily Odes to Joy with San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows. instagram.com/sfopera
KQES.org watch parties
Learn more about famed New York cartoonist and illustrator Saul Steinberg and enjoy his works in Pace Gallery’s online gallery exhibition, Saul Steinberg: Imagined Interiors, through April 6th. pacegallery.com
Watch flicks and catch filmmaker Q&A’s with Alexander Valley Film Society’s Shelter in Place Series. avfilmsociety.org
Were you looking forward to the de Young’s Frida Kahlo exhibit? Take a virtual tour of Mexico City’s popular Casa Azul Museum, once home to Frida and husband Diego Rivera. recorridosvirtuales.com
Check out Neal Peterson’s photo collage mandalas of San Francisco and Oakland, comprised of such iconic imagery as the Golden Gate Bridge, Transamerica Pyramid, and Chinatown. nealpeterson.com
Take online dance classes—think salsa, hip hop, bhangra, samba, and more—with Dance Mission Theater. dancemissiontheater.org
Join SFJazz for Fridays at Five concerts ($5), featuring Lizz Wright (April 3) and Pink Martini (April 10). sfjazz.org
Get your literary fix with readings by the likes of Beth Lisick and Alia Volz with Litquake on Lockdown, evenings beginning Tuesday, March 31st. litquake.org
National Theatre Live in your living room
Arts organizations around the country are being hit hard by COVID-19 closures, and that’s especially true of our local Bay Area theatre community. Here are some ways you can help lend support right now:
• Marin Theatre Company has now made their production of Love available to rent for at-home viewing. >> LEARN MORE
• Shotgun Players is posting filmed versions of past productions at its own site. Content is free, but the company is asking viewers to donate what they’d usually pay for a ticket. >> LEARN MORE
• Town Hall Theater Company, in partnership with licensing agency ICM Partners, is streaming its production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, translated by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky and directed by Susan E. Evans. Patrons can purchase through April 18. >> LEARN MORE
• City Lights Theater Company is streaming a preview performance of the world premiere of Coded, written and directed by Kirsten Brandt, about female game designers. Viewing is free, but the company is asking for pay-what-you-can donations. >> LEARN MORE
• Dragon Theatre is offering streaming rentals of its production of Macbeth from 2019. It’s the first video of “Dragon on Demand,” a series of archival films of past productions the company plans to release. >> LEARN MORE
Kim Selby, the SF life editor of The Three Tomatoes, is your gal for info on what’s hot and happening in the beautiful bay area. Having lived on the Left Coast for 27 years, after almost a decade in NYC, she has explored and continues to have adventures all over the San Francisco area. Passionate about fashion, formerly with GLAMOUR magazine and Fashion Director at Saks Fifth Avenue , Palo Alto, Kim produced fashion shows in the bay area for over 20 years. She now creates events to empower, delight and inspire women, aka “Tomatoes”. Learn more about Kim at www.kimduffselby.com
Listen to her podcast, "Ignite Your Spark" wherever you listen to podcasts.
