WED 23
San Francisco artist Paul Clipson has been working the experimental side of the film and video continuum — making vids to be screened in the midst of musical performances, ambient reels, etc. — but his new show at Emeryville’s Gallery of Urban Arts, Films and Landscapes, gathers together a stream of Clipson’s images, including drawings, in one place. Look for Clipson’s rehearsal footage of “post-rock band” Tarentel in a special benefit show December 9 at the gallery, with Tarentel playing live behind a screening of Clipson’s films (8 p.m.). The exhibition runs through December 30. The Gallery of Urban Art is open Mondays through Fridays at 1266 66th St., Suite #1, Emeryville. TheGalleryofUrbanArt.com — Kelly Vance
THU 24
Calling all turkeys: If you can make it to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland today, you’ll be safe. That’s because Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous is holding a Thanksgiving Day gathering for people struggling with overeating, anorexia, bulimia, and other food addictions, and great, steaming heaps of roast turkey will be the last thing on their minds — one hopes. The idea is to “free yourself from excess weight and/or obsessive thoughts about food and body image,” using the twelve-step method perfected by Alcoholics Anonymous, and admission is free to anyone with a food problem or those who care about someone who has. Good luck. The meeting happens from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Kaiser Hospital, 280 MacArthur Blvd. (at Broadway). Info: FoodAddicts.org or 800-600-6028. — K.V.
FRI 25
Ever wonder what Thanksgiving means to Native Americans? Well, now’s the time to find out, if you haven’t before, while your stomach is still full of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and succotash. As we all know, indigenous tribes introduced the concept of Thanksgiving to the colonists who arrived on the Mayflower, and what thanks did they get, other than broken treaties, smallpox-infested blankets, professional sports teams with derogatory nicknames, and Jon Lovitz’ SNL character “Tonto”? Hear what the First Nation has to say about the true significance of the holiday tonight at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall (1924 Cedar St., Berkeley), when Zachary Running Wolf and other speakers headline a discussion entitled “Native Americans and Thanksgiving.” $10 suggested donation; wheelchair accessible. Info: 510-528-5403. — Eric K. Arnold
SAT 26
Po Bronson is the type of guy whose books end up as (unplanned) product placement shots in Nicole Kidman movies, whose musings on life are chosen to appear on half a million Starbucks cups, and whose work habits get profiled in The Wall Street Journal. Speaking of work habits, this author of several best-sellers, including What Should I Do with My Life?, is a stickler for details. On his Web site, PoBronson.com, he notes that the research for his latest book, a social documentary project called Why Do I Love These People?, would have comprised a six-hundred-page tome in and of itself, drawing as it does from more than five hundred sources. Now that’s meticulous. Along with Alan Zweibel, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Spider Saloff, Michel Recchiuti, Billy Philadelphia and Meg Mackay, and Sam Barry, Bronson will be among the featured guests for today’s live broadcast of West Coast Live. The show will be simulcast on KALW and rerun approximately one week later on the Sirius satellite network. It all happens at 10 a.m. at the Freight & Salvage (1111 Addison St., Berkeley). $5-$18; WCL.org — E.K.A.
SUN 27
This is the season for holiday crafts fairs and whatnot. The Berkeley Potters Guild has a fine supply of whatnot, and at today’s installment of its annual holiday show and sale, Playing with Fire, curious tosspots and teasippers can indulge their wildest ceramic fantasies with the work of some twenty artists, arrayed in the guild’s studio at 731 Jones St., between Fourth and Fifth streets in the Berkeley flats. As in past years, various combinations of wizards, demons, and dragons are popular motifs for flowerpots and such. And you can visit the nineteen separate workspaces. The event continues through December 24, but for best selection, go today. BerkeleyPotters.com or 510-524-7031. — K.V.
MON 28
You know you’ve hit the big-time when you’re portrayed by Frodo Baggins in a movie based on your life, which happens to be directed by the Manchurian Candidate himself. The icing on the cake? When the novel you wrote about your journey to Ukraine to find the man who saved your grandmother from the Nazis during World War II is discussed by the Kensington Book Club. You heard right, o literary conversationalists: This month’s topic is Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Everything Is Illuminated, which earlier this year became a movie starring Elijah Wood and directed by Liev Schreiber (who adapted the book for the screenplay). There’s plenty to talk about: The humor! The suspense! The Eastern European characters speaking broken English! Like all other KBC events, this one takes place the fourth Monday of every month at 61 Arlington Ave. 7 p.m., 510-524-3043 or [email protected] — E.K.A.
TUE 29
Slide into one of Jupiter’s wooden tables just before 8 p.m. tonight and you might just hear the next Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, or John Coltrane. For about the past two years now, Tuesdays at the Jup have been officially designated Jazzschool Tuesdays, which basically means for you that it’s cool to hear jazz as you quaff microbrews and try not to stare too hard at the hottie seated two tables over. Not to mention that the jazz you’ll be hearing will be coming from a new generation of young musicians who are studying the roots and traditions of the music, while bringing their own contemporary ideas to the table. Standards? New compositions? Improv? Any and all might apply on any given evening. 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; no cover. JupiterBeer.com — E.K.A.
