.This Week’s Day-by-Day Picks

WED 17
Want to witness a well-oiled machine, rolling inexorably with professional precision, sweeping all opposition before it on its way toward a triumphant, inevitable climax? Follow the Gary Coleman for Governor campaign. But seriously, folks, the Giants are really the ones in the driver’s seat in these last few days of Major League Baseball’s regular season. And what better way to soak up the remaining summer feeling than by watching Yorvit Torrealba, Tim Worrell, and that other guy, what’s-his-name … the guy with the cross earring, crush the hapless San Diego Padres under their wheels like so many hotdog wrappers? It happens tonight at gorgeous Pac Bell Park. 7:15 p.m. SanFrancisco.giants.mlb.comKelly Vance

THU 18

In the Sacred Feminine Book Club, participants read and discuss works depicting all sides “of the Sacred Feminine, with no emphasis on any particular religion or faith.” You only need to relate to the feminine as sacred to enjoy this gathering. To those ends, tonight’s meeting topic is The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, Margaret Starbird’s scholarly portrait of the woman who may or may not have been the bride of Jesus. Beginning with what appears to be a sacred nuptial ceremony between Jesus and Mary Magdalen, Starbird then traces Mary’s tale through Egypt and all over Europe, revealing the quashing of her true status by the Inquisition. The Sacred Feminine Book Club meets roughly every four or five weeks from 7 to 9 p.m. at Change Makers Books, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Call Julie at 510-526-6454 for club information, or call 510-655-2405 for venue details or to reserve your copy of the book. — Stefanie Kalem

FRI 19

“I’ve got one that can see!” Find out what insidious government mind control, cheap sunglasses, and wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper have in common (and it’s not what you think) when the Long Haul Info Shop screens They Live. John Carpenter (Christine, Escape from New York, Halloweens 1-9) directed this classic of ’80s paranoid sci-fi cinema, which is much better than you may suppose, and screens tonight at 8 p.m. The Long Haul, located at 3124 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley, is a nonprofit radical community space, and is wheelchair-accessible. Admission is free. Call 510-540-0751 or visit TheLongHaul.org for further details on the space and their fall film series. — Stefanie Kalem

SAT 20

A few things separate Lucky Dog Theatre from the rest of the Bay Area’s improv troupes. For one thing, Joya Cory and her fellow Dogs don’t focus completely on the comic, instead aiming to act and sing their way through “original, unrehearsed tales ranging in tone from the fiercely comic to the surprisingly personal to the poignantly political.” In addition, the group is accompanied by violinist Yehudit, a Bay Area local who has played with John Handy, Jules Broussard, Dan Hicks, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and her own jazz ensemble. Lucky Dog performs at 8 p.m. tonight at Wildcat Studio, 2525 8th St. (at Dwight), in Berkeley, and through September and October in various locations around San Francisco. JoyaCory.com/lucky.htmlStefanie Kalem

SUN 21

Fashion. Populism. Art. Paper dolls. Today is the last day of the Oakland Museum of California’s popular clothing and nostalgia exhibition, “Iconic to Ironic: Fashioning California Identity,” and the museum is sponsoring one last family-style, hands-on event — Fashionista: A Living Doll Family Project. Kids and their friends can visit the California fashions exhibit, then between noon and 4 p.m., create a paper doll and dress her/him in whatever far-out style they choose. The museum also invites visitors to bring in a pair of blue jeans to decorate in the art studio. It’s all part of the Family Explorations! program, and the dolls and accessories are included in the price of admission ($8 adults, $5 students and seniors, children under six free). The museum is at 10th and Oak streets in Oakland. Info: 510-238-2200 or MuseumCA.orgKelly Vance

MON 22

Our man from Sibiu, Romania, Andrei Codrescu — essayist, novelist, National Public radio personality, documentary filmmaker (Road Scholar), literary mag editor (Exquisite Corpse), all-around glad-to-be-in-America type guy, and self-described World Heavyweight Champion Poet (he’ll have to fight Muhammad Ali first) — is coming to Berkeley this evening to read from his new poetry collection, it was today (Coffee House Press, $25 cloth, $15 paper). Codrescu’s publisher describes the volume as “the perfect tonic for America’s political, literary, and cultural hangovers.” That’s a tall order to fill, podner. But drift down to Moe’s Books on Telegraph — the exact right place for Codrescu to materialize — at 7:30 p.m. and meet the “charming rascal” (Oxford American). It’s free. For more info: 510-849-2087. — Kelly Vance

TUE 23

Film societies and festivals are sprouting up like fungi all over the East Bay, a sure sign that our side of the bay is gaining cultural clout. Not to be left out, the folks at Microcinema International and Oakland Opera Theater are fronting a new monthly screening series of shorts at the Oakland Metro. They call it Independent Exposure, and tonight’s show is divided into two editions: the Sizzling Summer and the Autumnal. The former consists of fourteen short works by such artists as Niels Post, Patricia Pinsker, Rob Tyler, Colin Graham, Stefan Weinert, and Berkeley’s Chihcheng Peng. In the latter, fifteen short works by, among others, Oakland’s Peter Suchecki, SF’s Tyler Kay, Rich del Ross, Pyun Sungman, Nyeland Newel, and Damian Gregg of Emeryville are ganged together. The fun begins at 8 p.m. at 201 Broadway (near Jack London Square) in Oakland. 510-763-1146 or OaklandMetro.orgKelly Vance

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