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 Ellen Forney |
Cultural Stimuli in SF
Issue 253: howling flavor
March is Women's History Month, and it's time to hear members of the "fairer sex" roar — and howl, scream, whisper, and talk in their inside voices. The ladies tear right into it, as comic-book artist Ellen Forney puts on a one-woman show that champions strippers, fag hags, and Camille Paglia, while gender-bending queer troupe Butchlalis de Panochtitlan tackle sexual identity and gentrification, and the Brides of March unleash their inner divas on an unexpecting citizenry. Elsewhere, you can shriek in terror at the parade of horror films swinging through town, from cult classics like John Carpenter's The Thing and Strange Behavior to 1972's monster B-movie Night of the Lepus, Cannes buzz-generator The Host, and "extreme horror" at Oppositional and Stigmatized: The Cinema of Shock. Then again, for some very real horror of the non-Fangoria variety, check Maxed Out — a chilling exposé of the credit card biz. Sound your barbaric yawp, and spread it...
- Lisa Hix, Managing Editor
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Flavorpill SF is an email magazine covering a hand-picked selection of music, art, and cultural events — delivered each Tuesday afternoon.
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| DISCUSSION |
Michael Eric Dyson: Debating Race
| when: |
Tue 3.6 (12pm) |
| where: |
Commonwealth Club (595 Market St, 2nd Fl, 415.597.6700) map |
| price: |
$15 |
| links: |
Event Info |
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The battle lines in American racial politics have never been drawn merely between black and white. Rifts have also run through the African-American community based on class. On one side, there's Bill Cosby and Stanley Crouch, who criticize blacks for bringing some of their own problems on themselves. On the other side is writer, talkshow host, and hip-hop historian Michael Eric Dyson, who labels Cosby and Crouch "Afristocracy," black elitists who take part in the abuse and marginalization of their poor urban counterparts. Tonight, Dyson discusses his latest book, Debating Race, as well as his sometimes combative approach to redefining the racial divides in this country. (GM)
Note: Check-in for this event is at 11:30am.
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| FILM: Double Feature |
The Thing (1982) and Strange Behavior (1981)
| when: |
Tue 3.6 (7pm) |
| where: |
Castro Theatre (429 Castro St, 415.621.6120) map |
| price: |
$9 |
| links: |
Event Info |
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This remake of the '50s drive-in classic The Thing from Another World (1951) displays all of John Carpenter's panache for creating panic-inducing suspense (think Halloween, 1978) as well as his goofy sense of humor (courtesy of Kurt Russell's Dr. J.R. MacReady). At a remote Antarctic research base, an unseen force assumes the shape of the crew as it gradually kills them off. Carpenter's dark revision cuts to the icy heart of "Me Decade" sublimated paranoia. The lesser-known Strange Behavior also focuses on murder via mind control, but with suburban teens as brainwashed assassins. Video killed the radio star, indeed. (MS)
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| MULTIMEDIA |
Ellen Forney: I Love Led Zeppelin
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I Love Led Zeppelin is a long-overdue collection of Ellen Forney's decades of work in alt-comics. Forney's most hilarious pieces are her short how-to comics on such useful subjects as how to sew a finger back on, achieve proper pastie-twirling technique, or be a proper call girl. She's also done plenty of more personal pieces, from reminiscences of dish sessions to an account of her almost-date with Camille Paglia. Many of her best comics are collaborations — from a friend's randy anecdotes of sexual awakening to fag-hag tips from Margaret Cho. At Booksmith she stages a one-woman show, putting together a cheeky multimedia cocktail of performance, animation, and comics. (TW)
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| READING |
Ig Publishing Night feat. Evan Mandery, John Sheppard, and the Finches
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When Johnny Rotten first screamed "There's no future" in "God Save the Queen," he probably had no idea that we'd still be feeling such existential angst 30 years later. Evan Mandery's Dreaming of Gwen Stefani approaches the cult of celebrity through a protagonist who finds purpose in his life by convincing himself that Gwen Stefani is his soulmate. John Sheppard's Small Town Punk takes on the now-classic tale of being a punk-rock kid in empty, corporate, meaningless suburban America. In this hyper-self-reflexive cultural landscape, pop is the new folk. Appropriately, the Finches supply some sweet, folky pop at tonight's reading. (GM)
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| MUSIC: Brit Rock |
Razorlight
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While often heaped into the pile of just-average British revival rock bands, Razorlight have always deserved better. Though self-proclaimed genius Johnny Borrell may not be much closer in making everyone else believe the same of him, Razorlight does prove with their latest self-titled release that they're closer to the top tier of British rock, alongside Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand, than the middle ground occupied by the Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol. Razorlight do what they do quite well — playing engaging, melodic, and heartfelt rock — and you have to respect that. (KH)
Note: Mohair open.
 On average, how much hair does a mature Angora goat produce annually? The first and third correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this show.
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| MUSIC: Indie Pop |
Saturday Looks Good to Me
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For a one-man band, Saturday Looks Good to Me can sure make a ruckus. Well, they're not exactly a one-man band — frontman Fred Thomas has collaborated with more than 60 different musicians, Ted Leo and Tara Jane O'Neil among them, over the course of this project. Given the revolving door policy, the band's sound is diverse but draws heavily on '60s pop. Refreshingly, however, Saturday snatches inspiration from frequencies all up and down the AM dial. There are girl-group harmonies, Motown and gospel montages, Beach Boys homages, and plenty of lo-fi, garagey goodness. The results are eminently hummable and sunny pop tunes, just like they used to make 'em. (TW)
Note: Ladyhawk and the Crazies Will Destroy You open.
Which Saturday Looks Good to Me song shares its title with a song by TV on the Radio? The first two correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this show.
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| MULTIMEDIA |
HEXEN Project
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Though the US has recently gone a safer, if still ridiculous, route in naming its military operations — Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom — it wasn't so long ago that it embraced science fiction. Perhaps Reagan's Cold War plan, Star Wars, was officially called the Strategic Defense Initiative, but the more popular name betrayed the intention to take war into the unknown. This lecture/performance by artist Suzanne Treister takes it a step further. Posing as fictional time traveler Rosalind Brodsky, Treister explains how the British military will harness the occult, conspiracy theories, and military experiments to create a new form of psychological warfare. (JK)
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| MUSIC: Brit Rock |
Albert Hammond Jr. w/ the Young Knives
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These days it takes it takes more than bangs, braces, and a bowler hat to inch your way toward indie stardom. Or does it? Brit-poppers the Young Knives, with their intellectualized rants and imaginative attire, are yet another indie band to emerge from the Anglo melting pot. Though the Knives have been swaggering around the scene for sometime now, the release of their new album Voices of Animals and Men in the US and their upcoming tour is set to test the waters on the other side of the pond. Stroke-gone-solo Albert Hammond Jr. headlines. (AH)
Which Tina Turner song did Albert Hammond Sr. write? The second and fourth correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this show.
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| FILM |
Night of the Lepus (1972)
| when: |
Thur 3.8 (9:15pm) |
| where: |
The Parkway Speakeasy Theater (1834 Park Blvd, Oakland, 510.814.2400) map |
| price: |
$8 |
| links: |
Event Info |
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Depending on how strong you like your trash cinema, Night of the Lepus might qualify as the zenith or the nadir of monster movies. Let's just cut to the chase: giant radioactive bunnies. If the "special effects" aren't reason enough to see this (rabbits hopping about model train sets that wouldn't pass muster in an elementary school diorama project), then Janet Leigh's swan song cameo can be viewed as a lesson in how to not end your screen career on a classy note. (MS)
Which animal are you most afraid will overrun your town? Our favorite response in 50 words or less wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| FILM |
An Unreasonable Man
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Travel back to 1966, when a little-known consumer lawyer named Ralph Nader caused a huge ruckus for General Motors — then one of the most powerful corporations in the world. Nader became the leader of the modern consumer movement and, thanks to him, we enjoy seatbelts, airbags, product labeling, and even mandatory free airplane tickets for customers who get bumped back. In this riveting documentary, Nader's compelling political history from American hero to the guy who handed the country to George W. Bush is told through rare archival footage, graphics galore, and more than 40 interviews. (AE)
Note: This film also plays at the Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley Fri 3.9 - Fri 3.16.
How did Ralph Nader travel from Hartford, CT, to Washington, DC, in 1963? The first three correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| FILM |
The Host
| when: |
Opens Fri 3.9 |
| where: |
Embarcadero Center Cinema (1 Embarcadero Ctr, 415.352.0810) map |
| price: |
$10 |
| links: |
Event Info | The Host |
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The big-buzz film at Cannes last year was, surprisingly, a monster movie. But then again, Bong Joon-ho's The Host is more than a stunning creature feature (how many blockbusters make the cover of Art Forum?). At turns a darkly humorous critique of post-SARS South Korean politics and at others an intimate family drama, The Host manages to touch on many emotions (including, most importantly, fear) that most Hollywood fare can only pantomime through cliché. By upending generic conventions, Bong has crafted a film that's as fun to watch as it is to discuss. Spielberg ought to be taking notes. (MS)
Note: This film also opens at the California Theatre in Berkeley.
What's the most awful thing you've ever witnessed the host of a party doing? The two most cringe-inducing responses in 50 words or less each win a pair of tickets to this film.
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| FILM |
Maxed Out
| when: |
Opens Fri 3.9 |
| where: |
Landmark Opera Plaza (601 Van Ness Ave, 415.267.4893) map |
| price: |
$10 |
| links: |
Event Info | Maxed Out |
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In Maxed Out — a sort of Supersize Me for the credit card industry — newbie director James D. Scurlock delivers a blood-boiling diatribe against the "obscenely profitable" and hyper-exploitative culture of debt in the US. Following in the footsteps of Michael Moore and Al Gore, who've successfully championed their causes for mainstream audiences, Scurlock reveals how out-of-control debt can wreak havoc on families' finances. Uncovering the scandalous practices (universal default clause, anyone?) of the industry's inner workings and the unscrupulous tactics of "debt pirates," the film is a welcome call-to-arms to quit living in the red. (SN)
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| ALSO ON FRI |
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MUSIC: Sunny Prog
Form & Fate w/ the Aimless Never Miss
Fri 3.9 (9pm) House of Shields (39 New Montgomery St, 415.495.5436) map $5
Event Info
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The Aimless Never Miss create a giddy atmosphere with soaring vocals, densely layered guitars, bass, and keyboards. It's the sort of music that makes it impossible to sulk as your muscles twitch involuntarily into something resembling dancing. (LH)
Note: Silian Rail also open.
 
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| READING |
Writers with Drinks
| when: |
Sat 3.10 (7:30pm) |
| where: |
The Make-Out Room (3225 22nd St, 415.647.2888) map |
| price: |
$3-5 sliding scale |
| links: |
Event Info |
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The fact that they brought together bawdy Chicano lesbian comedian Marga Gomez with soothing-voiced astrology guru Rob Brezsny shows that Writers with Drinks is on to something good. And it only gets better, as authors as diverse as T. Cooper (Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes), the creative force behind the Backdoor Boys boy band, erotic writer Polly Frost (Deep Inside), and fantasy writer Diana L. Paxson (The Chronicles of Westria) convene for a literate variety show with talk of libido and the cosmos. (LH)
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| THEATRE |
Butchlalis de Panochtitlan
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Exploring and gleefully blurring racial identities and gender roles, this quartet of butch Angelenas incorporate video and installation into their sketch-driven brand of theatre. Not ones to shy away from comedy or racy sexuality, the Butchlalis perform regularly in Santa Monica and throughout their home city of Los Angeles, from where they draw much of their inspiration. Quick to point out that they aren't drag kings, the members of BdP bring their show to Berkeley, promising a night of vibrant queer Latina art, including pieces that examine interracial romance, working-class identities, and gentrification. (JK)
To whom was the term "butch" first applied in the year 1902? The first correct response wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| DJ |
DJ /rupture w/ Filastine
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Eclecticism is that ineffable quality that many DJs fancy possessing but is actually quite difficult to pull off. Enter DJ /rupture. Often working with three turntables, /rupture creates technically impeccable sonic palimpsests, layering dancehall toasts on top of spastic breakcore 12-inches and traditional Arabic rhythms over diasporic French hip-hop. "World music" may be a frowned-upon term, but /rupture offers a veritable dissertation in a DJ set on urban music's transnational, twisted family tree. He's joined by the newest artist on his own Negrophonic label, Filastine, whose jagged beats square with /rupture's rough 'n tricky aesthetic. (MS)
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| MUSIC: Power Pop |
The Long Winters w/ West Indian Girl
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Like their fellow Seattle natives Death Cab for Cutie and label mates Nada Surf, the Long Winters are all about catchy, swelling power pop; but Winters founder John Roderick is a dark horse in the world of Ben Gibbard's safe, prettified doldrums. Roderick is known as much for his razor-sharp emotive musings as his unexpected charm when performing live. The grim battles with the fantastically beautiful for airtime underneath every "it's all good" chorus; but despite the occasional angst, each song is a seismic rocker to get even the most casual fan of countrified crowd-pleasers hooked. Psychedelic mood rockers West Indian Girl open. (JMS)
Note: The Morning Benders also open.
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| ALSO ON SAT |
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CITY GEM
POSTPONED: The 13th Annual San Francisco Urban Iditarod
Sat 3.10 (12pm) Minna St (btwn 4th and 5th St) map $5
Event Info
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Sometimes goofed on as an "Idiotarod," this annual street race enlists teams of city-dwellers and their dogsled substitute, the shopping cart, for an afternoon of stunts and drinking games. (CH)
Note: This Saturday's Iditarod has been postponed. Check the event's MySpace page for further info.
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PARTY
The Ninth Annual Brides of March
Sat 3.10 (2:30pm) Ginger's Trois (246 Kearny St, 415.989.0282) map 
Event Info
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Wedding dreams come crashing down so often that bridal gowns sometimes go for $1.50. The Brides of March flash mob mocks the matrimonial fantasy and commercialism as anyone — gay, single, divorced — dons a white dress and becomes a pretty pretty princess for a day. (LH)
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| DANCE |
The Architeckz presents Lourds of the Ring IV
| when: |
Sun 3.11 (3-5pm) |
| where: |
2232 MLK (2232 Martin Luther King Way, Oakland, 510.835.1073) map |
| price: |
$15 / $7 advance |
| links: |
Event Info | The Architeckz |
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Boasting high-profile champions like E-40 and gaining press from mainstream news outlets, Oakland's turf dancing has officially joined Los Angeles' krumping as one of the most famous artistic movements to emerge from inner city America in recent years. The Architeckz, the troupe at the center of turf dancing, hosts this event, a battle between the Yay Area and Memphis. Oakland's finest compete with some ambassadors of Memphis' emerging brand of hip-hop dance: bucking. Using long, flowing movements that have far more in common with turf dancing than with the hyperkinetic krumping, Memphis' dancers vie with Oakland's for the title of Lourds of the Ring. (JK)
Where did the term "krump" originate? The first six correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| FILM |
Oppositional and Stigmatized: The Cinema of Shock
| when: |
Sun 3.11 (7:30pm) |
| where: |
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St, 415.978.2787) map |
| price: |
$8 |
| links: |
Event Info |
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The success of the Saw and Hostel franchises indicated the existence of a certain demographic hungry to have its tolerance threshold put under the thumbscrews. Fans of "extreme horror" might do well to attend tonight's program of art-house shock, to see how their stomachs (and moral fibers) fare when Vienna Actionist Günter Brus wallows in a mixture of his own bodily fluids, or naked women and children simulate sex in Shuji Terayama's rarely screened Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1971). More abject than gory, these films disturb not because of their verisimilitude, but precisely because they render void our suspension of disbelief. (MS)
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| ALSO ON SUN |
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DJ
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System feat. Ryan Moore
Sun 3.11 (9pm) Elbo Room (647 Valencia St, 415.552.7788) map $15 / $11 advance
Event Info
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Canadian-born, Jamaican fed Ryan Moore (aka Twilight Circus Sound System) carries on in the tradition of the great forefathers of dub reggae. (JC)
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| MUSIC: Chamber Doo-Wop |
El Perro Del Mar w/ Rosie Thomas and Thao Nguyen
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El Perro Del Mar is not quite the rock en español act that one might expect, but instead the alias of Sarah Assbring, a sensitive girl from Sweden who, as legend has it, started songwriting after befriending an equally sensitive dog in Spain. As saccharine as that sounds, Assbring's take on delicate chamber pop crossed with vintage soul and doo-wop can melt any heart, canine or otherwise. The sweet folk pop of openers Rosie Thomas and Thao Nguyen ensure a warm, fuzzy evening to gently sooth those winter blues. (KH/GM)
What was Sarah Assbring's job before El Perro Del Mar? The third and fifth correct responses each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| FILM |
Modernist Master: Michelangelo Antonioni
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It is ironic, to say the least, that the director whose first breakthrough feature was booed at Cannes in 1961 has had one of the strongest impacts on the language of postwar film. Static medium shots that immobilize actors with their cropping; urban landscapes rendered inhospitable and alien; the listless anomie of modern life: such are the "trademarks" of Michelangelo Antonioni's cinema, traces of which can be glimpsed in contemporary directors as diverse as Taiwan's Tsai Ming-liang and Argentina's Lucrecia Martel. This retrospective brings together some of Antonioni's finest work. His early-'60s trilogy, starring the fiercely beautiful Monica Vitti, is essential viewing. (MS)
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| ART: Upcoming |
NOSO
| when: |
Fri 3.16 - Sat 5.5 |
| where: |
Various locations |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event Info | NOSO |
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If you've thought about deleting your MySpace profile but were too afraid to go through with it, then NOSO was designed for you. This project, concieved by NYC-based publishing and production house Glowlab, is intended to be an inversion of our increasingly web-meditated social interactions. Participants who sign up via the NOSO website are given locations over the course of a month and a half starting Friday, March 16th, where they gather, but remain alone, quiet, and disengaged from the people around them, thus subverting the usual purpose of Internet social networking. (GM)
Note: There is an opening reception at Southern Exposure on Fri 3.16 (6:30pm).
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| ALSO ONGOING/UPCOMING |
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MUSIC: Jazz
SF Jazz Spring Season
Now through 6.23 Various locations (415.788-7353) Varies
Event Info
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The venerable series kicks off this month with performances from national treasures such as R&B icon Etta James on Saturday, and younger, but no less revered, innovators like Bill Frisell. (JK)
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ROCK OF AGES: Wolfgang's Vault |
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The days of trading bootlegged concert tapes has gone digital. Wolfgang's Vault is the online source for classic-rock memorabilia — old backstage passes, rock posters, retro t-shirts, and original prints of rock photos. But the most impressive feature on the site is an extensive collection of iconic concerts — mined from the archives of the man behind the Fillmore, Bill Graham — by everyone from the Doors, Led Zeppelin, CCR, Johnny Cash, and Otis Redding to Nirvana, Aerosmith, and Flock of Seagulls. You have to sign up to stream the concerts, but it's free, and dowloads should be available soon. If KSAN "The Bone" just isn't cutting it for you, check out what's in the vault. (GM)
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CD REVIEW: !!!, Myth Takes |
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Warp Records
Released March 2007
$11.99 (Insound)
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Rather than search for lyrical significance in the dense, multilayered
tracks of Myth Takes, !!!'s third full-length album, you'd do better
to just give yourself over to its explosive assault. As frontman Nic Offer
spouts prose in the same nonsensical style that marked past albums, the eight-piece
outfit behind him grows ever-more potent, shaking the floor with
Liquid Liquid-style dance-punk beats and wild, funky riffs. The tribal
percussion of "All My Heroes Are Weirdos" mirrors Talking Heads' more
Afropop-inspired moments, while glossy bumper "Heart of Hearts" is melodic,
muscular, and even radio-ready. "Bend Over Beethoven," meanwhile, may be the
band's finest moment since classic 2003 single "Me and Giuliani Down by the
School Yard (A True Story)," offering more nuance (and excitement) in eight
minutes than other bands do on entire albums. (JPC)
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STREAMS: Beats in Space |
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Fresh off a number-one ranking on Resident Advisor's DJ charts — a feat for any selector — Tim Sweeney returns for his weekly jaunt on WNYU's Beats in Space. In an ideal world, it would be available on satellite radio (listen up XM and Sirius!), but until it is, you can visit the show's website for podcasts and streams. Recent sessions include a punk-funk sci-fi disco mix from Padded Cell's Richard Sen and a set by Tigersushi's Joakim in support of his latest album, Monsters & Silly Songs. Phil South — of NYC's famed No Ordinary Monkey parties — also stopped by, dropping dub and an eclectic blend of tripped-out dance music. (CJN)
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| Header Design: |
| Ellen Forney |
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| Editors: |
| Eli Dvorkin | | Lisa Hix | | Connie Hwong | | Jonathan Knapp | | Jake Lancaster | | Doug Levy | | Sascha Lewis | | Gerry Mak | | Mark Mangan | | Colin J. Nagy | | Brianna M. Smith | | Claire Smith | | Matt Sussman | | Toby Warner |
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| ABOUT US |
| Flavorpill SF is a free weekly email magazine covering cultural happenings across art, music, film, theatre, dance, literature, and DJ events. All content is produced by a local team of writers in SF. We don't include sold out events, and all listings are pure editorial — no money is accepted from venues, artists, or promoters. Read more about us. |
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| FEEDBACK |
| As always, feel free to send in any and all feedback — comments, questions, ideas, or rants. |
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| EVENT & DESIGN SUBMISSIONS |
To let us know about an upcoming event that you think belongs here, please email us at events at least two weeks prior to the date.
To find out more about submitting cover art to run at the top of Flavorpill publications, go to flavorpill.net/design. |
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| Contributors: |
| Elsa Knox Butler | | Jimmy Carson | | Joe P. Colly | | Alicia Eler | | Ellisa Feinstein | | Sarah Finlay | | Aimee Hartley | | Kai Hsing | | Suzanne Niemoth | | Jennifer M. Stais |
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| Production: |
| Anjuli Ayer | | Jessica Bauer-Greene | | Chelsea Bauch | | Morgan Croney | | Josh Deeden | | Myla Dalbesio | | Jasmine Loignon | | Judah Wiedre | | Anna Wolfgang |
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