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Theater
Style over Substance
Upon walking into Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre to see the world premiere of the rock opera “American Idiot", you will get a cordial high decibel warning in the form of ear plugs. Just to be on the safe side. Based on the 2004 multi-platinum concept album by punk-rock trio (and Bay Area natives) Green Day, “American Idiot” spares us the adenoidal baying of frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, as well as the manic, three-chord conniptions that would identify the band well past its post-adolescent rise to fame. More
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Movies
Love Can Be Messy
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
The Burning Plain is ambitious. Coming from the Guillermo Arriaga, writer of Babel, 21 Grams, and Amores Perros, that’s a given, though. However, this is Arriaga’s directorial debut, having broken the tie with collaborator/director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Ironically, it’s not the direction that hinders The Burning Plain but the writing. It’s merely a great idea that he wasn’t fully able to realize. More
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Restaurants
An Upscale Bite in a Burrito-Hungry Hood
Hayes Valley has been in want for some Mexican food in its midst, and residents have recently been granted their wish. Attempting to fulfill a particular gap within an ever-evolving community, Marino Mexican & Seafood Restaurant is a smart choice in the vicinity, where most dining options are either upscale (Absinthe, Bar Jules, Sebo) or casual (Flippers, Paxti, La Boulange). Operating continuously from 11am to 10pm every day of the week means eating at any hour hunger strikes, and the step up from taqueria to sit-down restaurant enables out-of-town guests to wander in at ease. More
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Music
Released on Rough Trade, 9/8/09
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
If you want music to listen to while meditating or during yoga class, Taken by Trees may be just the band for you. If you’re less New Age inclined, you might find yourself a little confused. Taken by Trees are a love-them-or-hate-them kind of band. Gentle, melodic, rather soothing, they seem more suited to a mountain retreat than to your average music venue. More
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Music
Released on True Panther Sounds, 9/22/09
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Girls seem to want to be Elvis Costello when they grow up, which isn’t a bad ambition to have, actually. Witty, clever, ironically tinged guitar pop is on notably thin ground these days. The question is, are Girls any good at it? More
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Music
What's in a Name?
Starfucker, currently hosting a contest to help rename themselves, may be changing their image, but not their uplifting electro-pop sound. Known for their cross dressing antics, and non-stop dance parties, the group just wants to have fun. With big names like Target, the "Weeds" TV series, and IBM using the group’s music, it’s safe to say they’re on the rise. SF Station spoke with keyboardist and producer Josh Hodges before a show of theirs in Brooklyn, about having fun, names, and starfuckers. More
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Clubs
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Ryan Rosario aka Loco of GoldSweat has been making people groove to the beat ever since he touched turntables during his early college years. A part of the GoldSweat crew who have risen to quick success, he has witnessed the progression of a dance party of four to the now-packed parties at Triple Crown. He takes some time to share with SF Station an awesome mix along with his thoughts on parties, what’s next for GoldSweat, and, most importantly, the love of music. More
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Hotels
Old-Fashioned Hospitality
In the cozy Mendocino seaside hamlet of Little River, you’re likely to feel that you’re far from the vagaries and cares of city life. Rested, even. This diminutive village is home to a medley of inns and bed n’ breakfasts that take full advantage of the exquisitely windswept landscape and craggy bluffs that plummet into the ocean and find themselves replicated on many a postcard. There may be a dozen Victorian-style B&Bs where you can cozy up fireside while drinking in the view, but the Inn at Schoolhouse Creek definitely takes the cake as one that holds fast to old-fashioned hospitality and homey accents without playing up the chintz. More
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Museums
Wildly Wonderful
Many of us grew up with Max and his wolf suit, wishing that we, too, could go and rule where the wild things are, far away from the everyday problems of family and school and being a kid. The Contemporary Jewish Museum’s There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak presents this familiar childhood favorite, and many others written and/or illustrated by Maurice Sendak, in a way that not only reminds audiences of why they loved Where The Wild Things Are as a child, but also why that book, and Sendak’s work in general, still has relevance -- for adults as well as for children. More
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Movies
…And So Do Bad Movies
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
If you want a girl crying on your shoulder this weekend, take her to Love Happens. If you want to be entertained, stay clear. It’s the same romantic story that’s been rehashed since the creation of the medium, and to far better results. More
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