Free Things to Do in San Francisco

I came in about half-way through this discussion between a religious guy (Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral) and a science guy (Dr. Kevin Padian of UC Berkeley, who testified in the Dover School Board trial, which resulted in a strong decision against the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.)

The discussion was meandering and amiable. Coming in as I did in the middle, I wasn’t always sure of the context, but I enjoyed listening to these two very articulate voices.

Jones spoke of the need for narratives in a way that reminded me of Karen Armstrong, whose name he did mention. He talked about how we are in a difficult time because the old myths no longer work, but we don’t yet have new ones to take their place. People are afraid of nihilism, he said, and fundamentalism arises to fill the vacuum.

He had interesting things to say about atheists — he thinks some atheists are the most religious people he knows. He asks his students if they worship God or if they worship their own idea of what God is like. The latter would be idolatry, and so religious faith requires cycles of belief and breaking down belief, when belief becomes too hardened.

It was all very interesting and made me want to check out his books.

I just found a video of a program the two gave last year. I haven’t watched it yet, but from the description it looks like it’s very similar to the program I saw today (except maybe the one from last year stuck closer to the title topic).

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I’ll be back in December. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Contemporary Jewish Museum, opening day, June 8, 2008

What do you do on Christmas if you’re Jewish (or if you’re not, but have finished opening your presents early and are looking for something else to do)? The traditional thing to do is to go to the movies. But this year, there’s another option. The brand-spanking new Contemporary Jewish Museum will be open. And thanks to Target sponsoring one of its Family Days, it will be free.

There are four interesting things to see.

In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis has seven new works commissioned for this exhibit. My favorite is a kind of Genesis slot machine, where you hit a button which makes words from Genesis spin and form different phrases, some of them being “jackpots.” It’s mesmerizing to watch. I also like the strange-looking apparatus near the front of the exhibit which plays the sounds of the Big Bang. All the way in the back, there’s a documentary film, Genesis Now, where scientists, religious leaders, and writers give interesting perspectives on their reactions to Genesis. (If you don’t make it to the Museum, you can watch the documentary online). This exhibit is closing January 4, so it’s pretty much now or never.

The second exhibit, Warhol’s Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered, revisits an exhibit Warhol put on in 1980. The show was well-received in most places, but it drew scathing criticism when it was in New York. This exhibit show the original prints and paintings, along with a lot of background on how these particular 10 Jews were selected (Warhol said it was because he liked their faces), info on how the prints were made, and an examination of the controversy.

Inside of the “Yud” space

The third thing to see is the inside of the “Yud” — a big empty white space — which, through January 4, has piped-in music composed by Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and many more, commissioned especially for the space. There are benches there, so if you have museum feet, it’s a good place to take a break.

Contemporary Jewish Museum, exterior (bookstore visible through windows)

The last essential thing to see is the architecture itself, which has the new literally smashing into the old. The new is the blue-metal clad “Yud” cube, and the old is a renovated red brick power station, originally built in 1907.

On Target Family Day, there will also be performances by a singer and a storyteller especially for kids.

The CJM is right across the street from the Metreon, and a block-and-a-half away from the Westfield Mall, with its theaters on the top floor. So if you simply must go to a movie on Christmas, you can easily do that and go to the Museum too.

WHEN AND WHERE: Thursday, December 25, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. (Museum will be open until 4), Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St

WHAT: Target Family Day. Special activities for kids. Almost-last chance to see the Genesis exhibit and hear the Sound Project before they close on January 4.

TOTALLY FREE? Yes.

COMFORT LEVEL: Brand new museum! What’s not to like?

photos (c) 2008 Ms. Terri

I went to see the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival perform Romeo & Juliet at the West Portal library. They did the play in an hour, with five actors/actresses playing all of the roles (with lightening-fast costume changes behind a bookcase). It was set in Mexico in (I think) the early 1900s. Nicely done, especially the performance by Vivian Kane as Juliet. Often Juliet is portrayed as being far more mature than the 13-year old that she is in the text, but here she was an emotionally volatile youngster, which was refreshing.

One thing I liked most about the Festival’s summer shows in the park were their imaginative sets. At the library, the actors said they had a great painted backdrop of a Mexican street for this play, but they weren’t able to bring it because the room in the West Portal branch was too small. It was either the backdrop or the sword fights, and they chose the sword fights. That was probably a wise choice, as the sword fights enthralled the many little kids in the audience.

They will be taking the show to San Ramon this Friday, then SF (the Marina) and San Mateo in December, and Burlingame in March.

By the way, the West Portal branch, which I hadn’t seen since the renovation, is very nice. I should go there more often. They have a slightly bigger selection than the Sunset branch, where I usually go.

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I went to the panel discussion on the role of women in Afghanistan mostly because I’m in the middle of reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” which is about exactly that. On the panel were three Afghan-American women and the male non-Afghan photographer who took the pictures in the exhibit on the 6th floor (which, ironically, were almost entirely of men and boys). It’s pretty sad — the role of women in Afghanistan has deteriorated greatly from the way it was before the 30 years of war. It was interesting, though, that panelists were hopeful that Obama would be able to make things better (although one said that she thought putting in more troops was not the answer).

The photography exhibit will be up until January 18, and is worth seeing if you’re in the neighborhood.

Darwin’s 200th birthday is coming up on February 12, 2009. A lot of different groups in the city will be putting on special programs, including the Academy of Sciences, the Commonwealth Club, the Jewish Community Center, the Library, and the Botanical Gardens.

There will be an early program this Saturday, when the Library presents a discussion on the theme of science and religion.

WHEN AND WHERE: Saturday, November 22, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm, Main Library (Larkin & Grove, near Market), Auditorium in the basement. Library website

WHAT: Discussion between a UC Berkeley professor of evolutionary biology and the dean of Grace Cathedral, held in honor of Darwin’s birthday.

Library’s description:

In honor of Darwin’s birthday, the city will be celebrating Evolve ‘09. Dr. Kevin Padian, professor of evolutionary biology and a curator in the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley and Alan Jones, Dean of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, will discuss evolution and religious thought. Cosponsored by the Stegner Environmental Center.

TOTALLY FREE? Yes.

COMFORT LEVEL: The Auditorium at the Main is very comfortable, with nicely padded seats and good sightlines. Tip: The bathrooms downstairs, on the Auditorium level, are usually in better shape than the ones on the main floor. Well, sometimes.

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is a slightly underappreciated gem. They do free outdoor theater in the summer, and ever since they moved their stage from Golden Gate Park to the more remote, and windier, Presidio, they haven’t drawn the crowds that other free events often do. It’s a shame, because they put on wonderful productions filled with high-spirited acting and wildly imaginative staging, sets, and costumes.

Now they are putting on a short indoor production of Romeo and Juliet and taking it around the Bay Area. There will be two more shows in San Francisco, one at the West Portal Library, and one next door to the Marina Library.

WHEN AND WHERE:

• Wednesday evening, Nov. 19, 6:30 performance, 7:30 post-show Q & A with the cast, at the West Portal Library, 190 Lenox Way
• Monday afternoon, Dec. 1, 3:30 performance, 4:30 post-show Q & A, at the Moscone Recreation Center, located next door to the Marina Library at 1800 Chestnut Street (near Buchanan)

WHAT: Production of Romeo and Juliet and discussion with cast.

TOTALLY FREE? At its summer shows, the Shakespeare Festival does ask for voluntary donations. Not sure if that will be the case at these library-sponsored events.

COMFORT LEVEL: The WPA-style West Portal Branch had 4.6 million dollars worth of renovations done less than two years ago. I haven’t seen it since the work was done, but I imagine it looks very nice. (I’ve never been to the Moscone Recreation Center, so can’t comment on that.)

Community events at the branches are generally intimate, relaxed, and friendly. If you come a couple of minutes early, you can usually snag a good seat in the front.

The library has been presenting many events on Afghanistan recently, in part connected with the September-October “One City One Book” selection, West of Kabul, East of New York, by local author Tamim Ansary.

One Afghanistan-related event that is coming up this Sunday afternoon looks particularly interesting:

WHEN AND WHERE: Sunday, November 16, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm, Main Library (Larkin & Grove, near Market), Auditorium in the basement. Library website

WHAT: Panel discussion on women in Afghanistan

Library’s description:

Panelists include photographer Joseph Hoyt, Fariba Nawa, award-winning Afghan American journalist, Nima Sadati, founder of many refugee programs for women in Afghanistan and entrepreneurial programs for Afghan women in the East Bay, Raelle Myrick-Hodges, artistic director of Brava Theater Center and Zohra Daoud, co-founder of the Afghan Women Association and radio host of Voice of Afghanistan.

Related Exhibition: Afghanistan 1970-1975: Images from an Era of Peace, through January 18, 2009, Main Library, Sixth Floor, Skylight Gallery

TOTALLY FREE? Yes.

COMFORT LEVEL: The Auditorium at the Main is very comfortable, with nicely padded seats. The only drawback might be the occasional overly oderous homeless person. Tip: The bathrooms downstairs, on the Auditorium level, are usually in better shape than the ones on the main floor.

The exhibition space on the sixth (top) floor is very nice, and worth a trip up the elevator. It closes on 5:00 pm on Sundays, and 6:00 the rest of the week.

There are lots of free things to do in SF, which is good because that helps offset the crazy cost of housing (or of hotel rooms, if you’re a visitor).

Although I may cast a wider net sometimes, I expect that most of the things I list on the blog will reflect my own taste. I’m middle-aged, and I like art, author readings, plays, walks with views, and parks. I don’t have a car, so I prefer things that are easy to get to on public transit.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started craving comfort more, so I’ll include a comfort section in my descriptions to cover such things as whether there are likely to be long lines and whether the events involve sitting on the ground.

I’ll also include a note about whether the events are really totally free, or if there will likely be some expenses — things like food, parking, or voluntary donations.