As the Republicans go through their tiresome abortion ritual, an interesting historical reality deserves to be noted. The Roman port of Apollonia in North Africa was renowned for one item of trade: an abortive herb called silphium. The lucrativeness of this trade led to an over-harvesting of the plant, and too soon this herb became extinct, and Apollonia fell into decay. Present-day scientists have no clear understanding of silphium’s genetic makeup, yet the ancients knew to treasure its medicinal qualities. Too bad we moderns cannot share in this largesse from nature, and instead we must witness so-called “moderns” acting on primitive attitudes, to restrict a woman’s right to choose. Those ancient Romans certainly had a better concept, although their herbal cultivation/harvesting technique didn’t quite measure up.
Neither North Korea’s preemptive threats against the release of Sony’s film The Interview nor the Charlie Hebdo killings have anything to do with the right to freedom of speech. Freedom of Speech as a general principle (and under our First Amendment) concerns one’s own government’s action or inaction regarding protected speech. But the Sony and Charlie events show vigorous government action in support of the speech involved.
The Interview: The threat against The Interview came not from our own government but from a foreign one. The United States answered with punishing sanctions against North Korea and an official U.S. pronouncement urging release of the film. Further, during the making of the film the U.S. State Department had successfully persuaded the filmmakers to include in the plot the assassination of North Korea’s president, consistent with U.S. policy of imposing regime change in North Korea.
Charlie Hebdo: In Paris, the attacks on Charlie apparently came from a political/religious organization unaffiliated with the French government. Indeed, Charlie had been given special government protection before the attacks from just such a threat. After the attacks the suspects were immediately killed and
Charlie’s operations heavily subsidized by the government. Further, Charlie’s ridicule of Islam and its adherents, and suspicion of Muslim and Arab populations, are consistent with French security, policing and military practice in France, Africa and the Middle East.
So Sony and Charlie received considerable government support for their speech rights, both before and after the events in question. To confuse those events with threats to freedom of speech is not just mistaken but echoes official propaganda.
HERO: You know that sick sensation in your stomach when you lose something valuable? Diana Dring of Corte Madera felt it strong and sure when she lost a half carat diamond earring that once belonged to her beloved grandmother. Knowing that it fell off on Tamalpais Avenue near the rec center, Diana searched the area for 30 minutes. Darkness fell and she retrieved a flashlight from her home and returned to the sidewalk to hunt for her sentimental treasure. Four passersby saw her on hands and knees scouring the pavement and immediately offered to help. Success. A volunteer found the earring, which had bounced several feet away. In her elation, Diana didn’t get the names of her new friends, but she asked us to thank you profusely.
ZERO: Hey, lead foot, we didn’t install the median barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge to make you feel safe enough to use the span as your personal racetrack. The California Highway Patrol reports that average speeds on the bridge have increased substantially since the barrier appeared. Last week, a driver was ticketed for zooming past a radar gun doing 81 mph. Folks, simmer down and ease up on that gas pedal, because the CHP is continuing a crackdown on speeders on the bridge and the Waldo Grade. Quick review: The speed limit on the Golden Gate Bridge is 45 mph. Watch for the signs, because it reduces to 35 mph, and then down to 25 mph when you reach and drive through the toll plaza.
THE TRIP TO ITALY premiered at Sundance last January as the sequel to Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip, a BBC TV series-turned-theatrical release that featured Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as their “real-life” characters on a north-England restaurant tour and became a cult favorite. This latest installment squeezes the pair into a Mini Cooper and heads them down the Amalfi coast on assignment for an Observer photo essay–Rossellini’s Journey to Italy et. al. come in for quote–and the effect, when you’re not laughing through tears at their coruscating banter and improv, is enchantment. Tasked by the paper to follow in the footsteps of Byron and Shelley as they sample the very best food and lodging the country has to offer, the two chat about age, romance and mortality and life’s other Big Things–peppering the soul-search with exceedingly small-minded impersonations of Michael Caine and Connery, Pacino and Bane through a mask, in a style that will have you howling. Maybe newbies can see what longtime fans can’t: A literary greatness of sorts sneaks up in this film. Talk of gnawing Mo Farah’s legs off, when set against the escarpment-hugging towns, restaurants and villas of the most beautiful place on earth, gives a powerful sense of perspective. Certain to spawn a thousand TripAdvisor searches and dinner reservations, the DVD also contains 20 side-splitting minutes of deleted scenes.
In the Bay Area, standing ovations are definitely “in.” After many years of frequenting opening nights at local theaters, I’ve observed the growing tendency of local audiences to leap to their feet to register appreciation, even when the show is of average quality (or in some cases even less). And yet, as occasionally happens, if circumstances compel me to attend on a later date, such demonstrations of unearned enthusiasm are comparatively rare.
So, what’s going on? The quality is presumably the same—or close to it—but the response is quite different. The answer may be that opening nights bring out the friends, relatives, board members, patrons and other supporters who are anxious to give the production a sendoff that will raise performers’ morale and impress the critics. In a small community like ours, it can easily become a tradition. Also, many first-nighters are non-paying guests of management; standing, whistling and cheering gives them a chance to repay their hosts. Ticket-buyers at subsequent performances are more circumspect. Not having a personal attachment, they have to be convinced that the experience was worth the not inconsequential price of admission.
There probably are other reasons. I mention the ovation phenomenon because it explains why I distrust opening night celebrations and why the spontaneous burst of genuine enthusiasm that followed A.C.T.’s performance of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink, when I attended two days after its run began, made such a vivid impression.
What has been described as a “romantic fantasy” about the final days of the British Raj in India debuted in Guildford, England, in 1995, had its American premiere at A.C.T. in 1999 under the direction of Carey Perloff, and finally made it to New York (off-Broadway, again under Perloff) last fall. Now, A.C.T.’s artistic director—a close friend and booster of the author’s work—has brought it back to the Geary Street theater with a brilliant new cast and an impeccable production.
Always one to move back and forth in time and space, Stoppard tells two stories—one inside the other. The first is really only a framing device. It’s 1987 and the Tories are in power. A fussy American literary historian named Eldon Pike (A.C.T. regular Anthony Fusco) pays a visit to the suburban London home of Eleanor Swan (Roberta Maxwell). His mission: Having had little success with his publication of the collected poems of Swan’s sister, Flora Crewe, and aware that the latter was reputed to have been one of the least inhibited (especially on sexual matters) of the famous Bloomsbury Group, he now hopes to spice up a proposed biography with material from letters that describe her exploits while living in India for most of 1930.
While that narrative thread continues throughout the play, Stoppard’s primary focus is on Flora, the fictional, free-spirited poetess brought to vibrant life by Brenda Meaney. From the time she arrives at the railway station in the provincial capital of Jummapur, whose versatile Indian design is beautifully captured by Neil Patel’s set, Flora is a force to be reckoned with. She explores the culture, Hinduism, art and customs. Most of all, she explores the men she meets—Indian and British—in a series of sexual dalliances that don’t add up to much. In fact, her most profound and illuminating relationship is with the painter Anish Das (a masterful performance from Pej Vahdat), who maintains a discrete distance as he guides her through the labyrinth of Indian life during their portrait session. These scenes, filled with unspoken and unfulfilled erotic tension, are the true romantic heart of Stoppard’s play.
Indian Ink is not a particularly popular part of the Stoppard canon. It has been criticized for its length (almost three hours), too many issues, confusing time shifts, an overly gentle treatment of colonial racism and the indigenous caste structure. To some degree these complaints have merit. And yet, the spectators (I among them) who rose without urging at play’s end knew we had just witnessed something rare in the theater—a union of an ambitious script and performances of the highest order. That’s what standing ovations are for.
We don’t always get what we want in life,” muses Billie Cox, “and our lives are never perfectly shaped. But wishes come true in movies. True love happens on the stage. That’s where we get to see people meet each other and recognize their soul mates. And that lets us imagine we are like those people.”
Those people.
Their names are legend.
Rhett and Scarlett. Romeo and Juliet. Wesley and Buttercup. Porgy and Bess. Johnny and Baby. Jack and Ennis. Han Solo and Princess Leia. Lady and the Tramp.
However you might define the phrases “love story” or “true love,” the stage and screen are full of examples. It’s an endless string of love-struck and star-crossed paramours whose rocky roads to Amour have made us all sit teary-eyed, a lump in our throats, hoping in our hearts to someday, somehow experience a similar world-altering, sun-exploding, life-changing love.
Billie Cox is an award-winning director, playwright, composer, lyricist and designer, working for years at numerous theaters around the Bay Area. Her own original play A Bearded Lady was awarded best play at the 2009 San Francisco Fringe Festival. Her latest project is a production of Michael Jacobs’ 2009 play Impressionism, running through Sunday, Feb.15 (that’s Valentine’s Day weekend) at Ross Valley Players, in Ross.
And yes, it’s a love story.
Steeped in witty observations about life, art and the need for human connection, Impressionism follows the relationship between an emotionally wounded art gallery owner who hides from the world amongst her paintings, and her similarly haunted, one-time photojournalist assistant. These are the kind of characters who spend much of the play unaware that they have something vital to offer each other. Do they find it?
Maybe yes. Maybe no.
“It all leads to a scene at the end,” Cox says, “where frankly, and I’m not blowing smoke at you, I tear up every time I see it. It’s just a gorgeous love story.”
For Cox, a good love story is one where the love grows slowly, and the audience watches it progress in fits and starts, growing naturally from conversation and casual banter—because that’s almost always how love actually does develop.
“Love isn’t always linear,” she says. “It doesn’t happen without a few bumps along the way.”
“As anyone who’s ever experienced love, or seen When Harry Met Sally knows very well,” I remark.
“Oh my goodness, yes. That’s one of the good ones,” Cox says with a laugh. “One nice thing about a movie like that—and this happens in our play—is that the audience really does see it before the characters do, and they want the love to happen. And we can’t understand why the characters don’t see it. That’s the tension that drives a really good love story.”
“What was the last really good, really surprising love story you saw?” I ask.
“Well, the last one I saw, and it’s one I really liked a lot—and this is a perfect Valentine’s Day kind of movie—is a French film called Amelie. It’s such a delight, just very, very magical, and like most good love stories, it’s not about people who have everything figured out. It’s about outsiders. That appeals to me. Think of Woody Allen films like Annie Hall, where the characters are a little on the fringe, and they find each other, and then they’re not so alone. I think that’s really moving. If the football hero and the prom queen fall in love, big deal, right? They were the perfect ones to begin with. It’s when the loners and the losers in the back of the hall find love with each other that our hearts really melt.”
Other love stories Cox recommends include the 2009 South Korean drama Castaways on the Moon. In that one, a lonely man trapped on a tiny island beneath the bridge he attempted suicide by jumping from, falls in love with an agoraphobic woman who communicates with him by dropping messages in bottles, and using her camera to receive the responses he writes in the sand of his island.
On the more mainstream end of the Netflix queue, Cox also likes Sleepless in Seattle, Roxanne, Slumdog Millionaire and Dirty Dancing, the latter a personal favorite of mine.
“Talk about outsiders,” I remark. “Patrick Swayze was even in the movie The Outsiders! And in Dirty Dancing, he’s like that character grown up a little, the classic boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks. But Baby sees the beauty under his bad-boy, cha-cha-cha-dancing exterior. Her love redeems him.”
“Exactly! And sometimes love is what you end up having to fight for,” Cox says. “That’s a great part of what makes these stories so powerful. He almost walks away from love, but then he comes back and fights for it.”
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner!”
“Exactly!” Cox says with a laugh. “Another love story I liked was a little movie called Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley.”
Who knew that two outsiders would make for such palpable romantic chemistry.
“You liked that?”
“Very much so!” she says. “It’s a given at the beginning of the film that the world is coming to an end. There’s a comet coming and no one knows exactly how much time they have, but it’s not long. So these two people—these loners, total outsiders—they find each other, and they decide to stick it out together as everything is falling apart, and it develops into a truly beautiful love story.
“I think it’s a wise writer who crafts movies or plays that allow the audience in a little, that lets the audience be a step or two ahead of the characters. That allows us to be invested in them, wanting to push them, to silently shouting, ‘Hey! The one you need is right there in front of you! Open your eyes!’ Those are the love stories that really appeal to me.
“Life isn’t always perfect,” she continues. “Movies and plays and songs and poems are the places where we can make right what is wrong, what isn’t perfect, in real life.
“Unless,” Cox says with a laugh, “we are very, very lucky.”
The fireworks don’t get much brighter in the rock world.
The four surviving members of the Grateful Dead—Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann—announced last week that they will reunite for three shows between July 3-5 to celebrate the Marin-based band’s 50th anniversary. Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio will stand in for the late Jerry Garcia.
The concerts will take place at Soldier Field in Chicago, the setting for the band’s last performance with Garcia.
According to Rolling Stone, the original Grateful Dead Ticketing Service will have first crack at tickets for the three concerts, with a general public on sale through Ticketmaster starting Saturday, Feb. 14.
And the Marin-based band that rose to celebrity in the 1960s is celebrating several anniversaries in 2015.
“Jerry Garcia was a great American master and the Grateful Dead are not just a genuine piece of musical history, but also an important part of American history,” Anastasio told Rolling Stone. “This is a band, born right at the beginning of electric rock, that took the American tradition and moved it forward. They really embodied the American concept of freedom, rolling around the country with a ginormous gang of people and the mindset that ‘you can come if you want, you can leave if you want. We don’t know what’s going to happen. All we know is we’re not looking back.’
“What could be more American?”
The band also will be joined by pianist Bruce Hornsby (who toured with the Dead in 1992) and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, Rolling Stone reported.
“It is with respect and gratitude that we reconvene the Dead one last time to celebrate—not merely the band’s legacy, but also the community that we’ve been playing to, and with, for 50 years,” Lesh wrote in a statement. “Wave that flag, wave it wide and high …”
Lesh and his wife, Jill, own and operate Terrapin Crossroads, a popular restaurant and nightclub in San Rafael.
This year also marks other key milestones in the band’s history. May 5 is the 50th anniversary of the inaugural public performance by the Dead’s predecessor Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions at Magee’s Pizza in Menlo Park; on Dec. 4, 1965, the band, renamed the Grateful Dead, played one of Ken Kesey’s first Acid Tests.
This year also brings the 20th anniversary of the death of Dead guitarist, singer and songwriter Jerry Garciaat age 53 of a heart attack at a rehab clinic in Forest Knolls. Bob Dylan, who toured and recorded with the band, attended his funeral at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. His death signaled the official end of the Dead as a performing band.
“Lookin’ forward to this one, oh boy, you bet,” commented Weir, who owns the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley and operates TRI Studios in San Rafael. “Let’s see just how much fun we can have this Fourth of July.”
FRIDAY, JAN. 30Sons of Liberty Samuel Adams commits acts of terrorism in hopes of overthrowing the government in 18th century Boston. History Channel. 6pm.
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax A grumpy malcontent stands in the way of an enterprising job creator. FX. 8pm.
Love, Lust or Run In yet another makeover show, a stylist attempts to help women tone down their flashy style. We like the part where she raids their homes with a SWAT team and confiscates all the blue eye shadow. The Learning Channel. 9pm.
SATURDAY, JAN. 31 NFL Honors Of course, this year it’s been more NFL arraignments. NBC. 9pm.
MythBusters Jaimie and Adam test whether concepts in video games could happen in the real world. They also bust the myth that hardcore gamers can actually meet women and go on dates. Discovery Channel. 9pm.
SUNDAY, FEB. 1Super Bowl Pre-Game It will take careful editing and focus to adequately cover the subject in a mere five hours. NBC. 10am.
Super Bowl XXXCQLLV Corporations spend $4 million a minute to objectify women and insult your intelligence. Oh, and there’s a football game. NBC. 3pm.
How to Train Your Dragon First, buy a litter box the size of a swimming pool. (2010) FX. 8pm.
MONDAY, FEB. 2 Scorpion The team investigates the death of a music blogger, but first they must determine if Metallica sucks or if Metallica totally rules. CBS. 9pm.
The Eye A blind woman receives a double cornea transplant and begins seeing terrifying visions of death and destruction. But that’s just the health insurance company. She also sees dead people, and the future. (2008) Syfy. 9pm.
Friends to Lovers This reality show follows pairs of friends who attempt to become romantic partners. To make it more interesting, they are not allowed to get totally drunk at a wedding and wake up naked in a hotel room surrounded by empty champagne bottles, as is normally the case in these situations. Bravo. 10pm.
TUESDAY, FEB. 3 Point Break A note to surfing crime rings: If a guy shows up and says his name is “Johnny Utah,” you’re either being set up by the cops or you’re in a really bad Keanu Reeves movie. (1991) Starz. 6:50pm.
The Avengers Apparently you need tights, a cape or a ridiculous name to save the world from other people in tights and capes. (2012) FX. 7pm.
Child Genius This is basically Dance Moms with pocket protectors. Lifetime. 10pm.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4 Casino Royale Daniel Craig breathes new life into the Bond franchise, for the first time portraying the secret agent as somebody who doesn’t bill her Majesty’s Secret Service for hair gel and manicures. (2006) American Movie Classics. 8pm.
Captain America: Winter Soldier And, apparently, your other tights-and-cape friends don’t always answer your phone calls. Was Iron Man getting his suit fixed? Where was The Hulk? (2014) Starz. 10pm.
THURSDAY, FEB. 5 Grease Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta celebrate the styles of the ‘50s and a simpler era, when all you needed was slicked-back hair, a fast car and white parents. (1978) ABC Family. 8:30pm.
Her A man begins to fall in love with his computer’s operating system, forcing him to buy a second computer for watching porn. (2014) HBO. 8:55pm.
Allegiance A young CIA analyst discovers that his parents are Russian spies. It’s like finding photos of your parents from the disco years, only not as traumatizing. NBC. 10pm.
I’ve been sick for 40 days and 40 nights. My kvetching is completely justified this time. First I had surgery. Then I had a shingles outbreak on my forehead. Let me say that this is quite painful, especially when you’re told that it typically strikes old people. Well, old people, be sure to get the vaccine for this hideous ailment, because it hurts. Next, I suffered from a bladder infection. On the heels of that delightful experience, I came down with a sore throat, ear ache, fever and chills. The grand finale is conjunctivitis in both eyes. There’s no way to pretty that up. I have pink eye.
Totally disgusting, right? Still, the men line up at my door. It’s crazy.
I met the nicest man awhile back. We’ve seen each other a few times. Don’t breathe a sigh of relief for your favorite single spinster, because this glorious guy belongs to a wonderful woman. Danny Click is his name. Of Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs, a local southern rock band playing intimate venues right here in Marin, while their hits are climbing the nation’s country, pop and American charts.
How did I meet this celebrated Marinite? It started with my story about Seth, the man who courted me hard, cancelled a couple of dates and discarded me in an unceremonious fashion with incoherent explanations.
The last time Seth bailed, our plan was dinner, to be followed by a Danny Click performance at the Sleeping Lady in Fairfax. I wrote about my hurt and disappointment. Danny read the article, and mensch that he is, he emailed:
Hi Nikki,
Just read your column and wanted to say that guy was probably a dingbat. That said, please come out to a show! There are tons of great folks that make up what they call the ‘Hell Yeah’ family. You’ll feel at home with or without a date. It’s always a pleasure to see new faces in the crowd and I can guarantee you a great night of music and dancing. I would love for you to be my guest at our next show. Let me know if you can make it. Nice to meet you and thanks. 🙂
DC
I dabbed my tears dry, grabbed my BFF Kate, and headed to the Throckmorton Theatre. We arrived early and sat at an empty table, front and center of the stage. A few minutes later, we were joined by charter members of the Hell Yeah family, Trudy and Jim, who were hosting a bash to celebrate Jim’s birthday. Not ones to be crashers, we attempted to move, but Trudy and Jim invited us to their party.
The crowd went wild when Danny and his fine musicians started their gig. Soon most of the audience was standing in front of the stage dancing and singing. Not mindlessly spinning in a Dead-induced daze (well, there was that one guy in the corner), but rocking to the original tunes and covers with a Hell Yeah twist.
Through the sea of dancers, I started recognizing friends, neighbors, and, whoa, the best therapist I ever had. I almost didn’t recognize Grace, the caring woman who had listened attentively each week as I droned on about my bounty of neuroses. Who knew she had the body of a model and the moves of a flash dancer?
Nadine, one of the gals on my hill, was right in front of me bopping to the beat. My old roommate (and I do mean old in every sense of the word), John Prince, was there, too.
Nadine pulled Kate and me to our feet and we danced the night away with folks old enough to be my parents and young enough to be my kids. Straight, gay, tranny. On that floor, we were all part of the same joyful, carefree group.
Kate and I took breaks to watch Danny twang his guitar. Adrienne Biggs mesmerized us by playing the heck out of her fiddle. And, I couldn’t stop looking at that handsome Don Bassey on bass.
The house lights came up to signal the end of our groovy night. As some of the crowd filed out the exit, I stayed behind to thank Danny. I waited a long time, because he chatted casually with his fans, who I think are like friends to him. Finally, it was my turn. When I introduced myself, I received the warmest hug.
Danny sent me home with all of his CDs, which are getting worn with continual play. Though I can’t hit a note, I belt out “Baptize Me Over Elvis Presley’s Grave” while I’m in the shower, much to the annoyance of my mutt’s sensitive ears. I wear my Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs T-shirt proudly. Hell yeah, I’m a groupie.
It took the kindness of a stranger to cajole me from my been-kicked-to-the-curb-again blues. Thank you, Danny Click. For reaching out. For your generosity. For your music. And, for sticking around Marin when you should be playing the big stages in every major city across the country. You rock and now I do, too.
Share your dance moves with Nikki at ni***************@***oo.com.
There always seems to be something happening out West—like in Inverness. On Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 6pm, Bolinas resident, environmental lawyer and vegetarian-turned-cattle-rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman will speak about her new book, Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production. The Point Reyes Books supported discussion and Q&A, along with a multi-course dinner featuring BN Ranch grass-fed beef, will take place at Saltwater Oyster Depot in Inverness. Tickets are $75 (includes one dinner and one book; does not include wine or gratuity). Learn more at http://bit.ly/1CcZQdy.
TASTING THE GAP Wine lovers and grape growers—hear ye, hear ye! There is a movement afoot to designate a new wine region—in Petaluma. The American Viticultural Area, or AVA, would be coined Petaluma Gap. To learn more, join a dedicated group of folks for their Wind to Wine event at the Healdsburg Public Library on Friday, Jan. 30, from 6-8pm. The evening will include a tasting of wines from this area, light hors d’oeuvres and a chance to talk about the Petaluma Gap. General admission tickets are $35. For more information, visit www.petalumagap.com.
SAVORY AND SWEET There is always room for chocolate! The Left Bank Brasserie in Larkspur will host their annual Festival du Chocolat from Tuesday, Feb. 10 through Friday, Feb. 13 by showcasing a selection of savory and sweet chocolate-y dishes. Look for items like chocolate and chipotle-glazed chicken wings, ganache-stuffed beignets and gluten-free triple chocolate chip cookies. The restaurant’s regular menus will also be served. 507 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur. 415/927-3331. www.leftbank.com.
A SLICE FOR SUPPORT I have a soft spot for Ghiringhelli’s Pizzeria in Fairfax. Whether my son and I were stopping in for a slice, or his entire baseball team with parents and kids were filling up the one-room parlor—we always received great, friendly service and tasty pizza. They are celebrating their 30-year anniversary all year long by offering special deals. I, for one, will be dropping in to show my support for the kind of place that a very small town would be lucky to have. Check them out at 45 Broadway Blvd., Fairfax. 415/453-7472, or visit www.ghirpizza.com.
MINI MASTER IN MARIN Finally, here is a fun national story that has homegrown roots right here in Marin. I’ve been told repeatedly by friends that I really should be watching Fox’s MasterChef Junior, but I never got around to it. If I had, I would have learned that a local sixth grader, Sam Stromberg from Greenbrae won second place in the final MasterChef Junior competition. Over the course of the show he built a following of fans throughout his hometown and Marin. A food technology business was one of them. The food home delivery service, 180Eats approached the young chef and now plans are underway for Stromberg to recreate his winning dish (seared Arctic Char) and have it delivered to homes throughout the county. Place an order on Friday, Feb. 6 and see for yourself if it measures up to all the hype. Nicely done, chef! Learn more here, at www.180eats.com.
Share your hunger pains with Tanya at th****@********un.com.
Apollonia by day kept the doctor away
As the Republicans go through their tiresome abortion ritual, an interesting historical reality deserves to be noted. The Roman port of Apollonia in North Africa was renowned for one item of trade: an abortive herb called silphium. The lucrativeness of this trade led to an over-harvesting of the plant, and too soon this...
Freedom not under fire
Neither North Korea’s preemptive threats against the release of Sony’s film The Interview nor the Charlie Hebdo killings have anything to do with the right to freedom of speech. Freedom of Speech as a general principle (and under our First Amendment) concerns one’s own government’s action or inaction regarding protected speech. But the Sony and Charlie...
by Nikki Silverstein
HERO: You know that sick sensation in your stomach when you lose something valuable? Diana Dring of Corte Madera felt it strong and sure when she lost a half carat diamond earring that once belonged to her beloved grandmother. Knowing that it fell off on Tamalpais Avenue near the rec center, Diana searched the area for 30...
by Richard Gould
THE TRIP TO ITALY premiered at Sundance last January as the sequel to Michael Winterbottom's The Trip, a BBC TV series-turned-theatrical release that featured Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as their "real-life" characters on a north-England restaurant tour and became a cult favorite. This latest installment squeezes the pair into a Mini Cooper and heads them down...
by Charles Brousse
In the Bay Area, standing ovations are definitely “in.” After many years of frequenting opening nights at local theaters, I’ve observed the growing tendency of local audiences to leap to their feet to register appreciation, even when the show is of average quality (or in some cases even less). And yet, as occasionally happens, if circumstances compel...
by David Templeton
We don’t always get what we want in life,” muses Billie Cox, “and our lives are never perfectly shaped. But wishes come true in movies. True love happens on the stage. That’s where we get to see people meet each other and recognize their soul mates. And that lets us imagine we are like those people.”
Those people.
Their...
by Greg Cahill
The fireworks don’t get much brighter in the rock world.
The four surviving members of the Grateful Dead—Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann—announced last week that they will reunite for three shows between July 3-5 to celebrate the Marin-based band’s 50th anniversary. Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio will stand in for the late Jerry Garcia.
The concerts...
by Rick Polito
FRIDAY, JAN. 30 Sons of Liberty Samuel Adams commits acts of terrorism in hopes of overthrowing the government in 18th century Boston. History Channel. 6pm.
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax A grumpy malcontent stands in the way of an enterprising job creator. FX. 8pm.
Love, Lust or Run In yet another makeover show, a stylist attempts to help women tone...
by Nikki Silverstein
I've been sick for 40 days and 40 nights. My kvetching is completely justified this time. First I had surgery. Then I had a shingles outbreak on my forehead. Let me say that this is quite painful, especially when you’re told that it typically strikes old people. Well, old people, be sure to get the vaccine for...
by Tanya Henry
There always seems to be something happening out West—like in Inverness. On Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 6pm, Bolinas resident, environmental lawyer and vegetarian-turned-cattle-rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman will speak about her new book, Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production. The Point Reyes Books supported discussion and Q&A, along with a multi-course dinner featuring BN Ranch grass-fed...
