Well-known Taiwanese film director Mei-Juin Chen will screen her movie about the life and times of Li XiangLan, also known as “Shirley” and “Yoshiko Yamaguchi.” From the late-1930’s to 1958 XiangLan was an opera singer, actress in Chinese and Japanese films, pop idol, and accused traitor of China. She retired from the stage after she married Noguchi Isamu, served as a goodwill ambassador and was active in the Women’s Fund to compensate “comfort women.” Her most famous song, Ye Lai Xiang – The Tuberose – is still hummed by Chinese around the world. The hour-long movie will be followed by a question and answer session with the award-winning Chen. 2 to 4 p.m. Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street. Free with museum admission. Information: asianart.org.
Through August 20th
Art: Making a Scene: 50 Years of Alternative Bay Area Spaces
From the activists and artists who were part of the neighborhood arts movement in the 1970’s to present-day artists and social justice pioneers – who are still a major part of why alternative spaces exist even as San Francisco’s class divide grows ever wider – Making a Scene is a window into a resilient community that has fought to keep the City radical and diverse, and in doing so disrupt a visual arts paradigm that typically favors largely European-American, upper class commercial epicenters. Tuesday to Friday, 12 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m.. SOMArts, 934 Brannan Street, between Eighth and Ninth. Information: http://www.somarts.org/makingascene/
August 5th – Music: Daniel Berkman
Potrero Hill resident Daniel Berkman performs. Berkman is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and innovator of the kora, a 21-stringed harp/lute from West Africa. 7:30 to 9 p.m., Farley’s, 1315 18th Street. Information: 415.846.2671
August 6th – Culture/Music: 1945: A Year of Infamy
Composed by Dr. Anthony Brown for the Grammy-nominated Asian American Orchestra, this piece commemorates the 70th anniversary of the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while also drawing attention to the current Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. Informed by Gagaku — ancient court music dating to Eighth Century Japan — 1945: A Year of Infamy blends the planet’s oldest continuous tradition of orchestral music with the improvisation and sonorities of a jazz orchestra, the six-member Gospel ensemble Voices Of A Dream and the words of poet/ performance artist Genny Lim. 7 to 8:30 p.m., Samsung Hall and Loggia, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street. Free with museum admission, $5 after 5 p.m. Information: asianart.org.
August 8th – Farming: Eco SF School Farm Volunteer Work Day
Join a volunteer work party at The School Farm to lend a hand and learn about farm work. All skill levels and abilities welcome, even for moral support and comic relief. Water, maybe a snack, and plenty of well-worn gloves will be provided. Participants are invited to bring refreshments to share or personal protective equipment. Noon to 4 p.m.. The School Farm, on the campus of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the School of the Arts, 555 Portola Drive. Enter gate on O’shaughnessy Boulevard just before it crosses Portola. Information: sam@eco-sf.org.
August 9th – Family: Girl Talk
Girl Talk carries important messages about the challenges that teenage girls face today, offering intimate and raw accounts on stage to help girls and their parents learn how to cope with difficult situations. Based on Dr. Carol Langlois’ book, Girls Talk: Boys, Bullies, and Body Image, these powerful teen stories are about real-life struggles with friends, peer pressure, anxiety and survival. Appropriate for 14 years and older. Free, but RSVP required. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Thick House Theatre, 1695 18th Street. RSVP and Information: www.3girlstheatre.org
August 12th – Community: Potrero View’s 45th Anniversary Celebration!
Celebrate the paper’s 45th anniversary, with cake! Feel free to bring your own beverages, as well as recollections about the best articles you’ve read, or topics you’d like covered in the future. 7 to 9 p.m. at Farley’s Coffee, 1315 18th Street. Information: 415.846.2671
August 19th – Family: Submarine USS Pampanito Tour
Get a sense of what it was like to live on board the USS Pampanito, a National Historical Landmark, with a personal tour of areas typically off limits to the public. Free. 8 to 9:30 a.m. Pier 45.
Music: Beatles Tribute Band
Abbey Road performs a three-costume-change concert. Show begins at 8 p.m. Dinner reservations are suggested. $21. Tickets and information: www.yoshis.com; 510.238.9200. Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West Jack London Square, Oakland.
August 20th – Music: Hardly Strictly Warren Hellman
This “exhibit” will be activated through live music, featuring bands and acts that‘ve performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Warren Hellman (1934-2011) was an investment banker, philanthropist, musician and music enthusiast who believed in the importance of community arts. Among a host of commercial and philanthropic accomplishments, Hellman may be best recognized for the Hardly Striclty Bluegrass Festival, which he founded in 2001. 6 to 7 p.m. Free with museum admission; $5 after 5 p.m.. Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street. Information: thecjm.org.
August 23rd – Dance: Robert Emmet Day
A program of Irish music, dancing, and costumes celebrating Robert Emmet, an Irish nationalist, Republican, orator and rebel leader. Emmet led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803. He was captured, tried and executed for high treason. Free. 1 to 2:45 p.m. Spreckels Temple of Music, Music Concourse Drive in Golden Gate Park.
August 28th – Theater: Glengarry Glen Ross
Shelton Theater present’s David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross, which follows the lives of four real estate salesman who viciously struggle for money, power, and the American dream. Show at 8 p.m., box office and bar open at 7 p.m. Tickets: $25 to $50, with discounts available. Information and tickets: 415.882.9100; sheltontheater.org. Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter Street, between Powell and Mason.
August 29th – Books: Bookswap with Otessa Moshfegh
The end-all antidote to summer beach reads, Ottessa Moshfegh’s new book, Eileen, is the subject of Booksmith’s low-key answer to book clubs. Participants are invited to sit in small groups, talk about their books, switch every 20 minutes or so, and at the end have a big, rowdy, white elephant swap. 6:30 p.m. $30, must be purchased in advance. Ticket price includes dinner, drinks, swag, and a signed copy of Eileen, Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street. Information: booksmith.com.
History: Operation Babylift: Perspectives & Legacies
Operation Babylift: Perspectives and Legacies explores the diverse experiences and lasting impacts of a dramatic airlift that removed more than 2,000 Vietnamese children from their war-torn country, to be adopted by American families, as Saigon fell in April 1975. The story continued at the Presidio, where more than 1,500 of these children were transferred before being placed with adoptive families. Through photos, artifacts with community contributed labels, a multi-media timeline, and StoryCorps dialogues between adoptees and Presidio volunteers, the exhibition explores the diverse points of view that existed then and now. Free. Exhibit open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Officers’ Club, Moraga Avenue and Arguello Boulevard in the Presidio. Information: presidioofficersclub.com/exhibits/special-exhibits/
