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 | A Scion of Good, Old-Fashioned Decadence Chicago-based Silent Theatre Company understands the appeal of classic celluloid, which they ape to sublime ends in their piece "Lulu", an adaptation of German playwright Frank Wedekind’s 1894 Lulu cycle, comprising "Earth Spirit" and "Pandora’s Box", but bearing more of a resemblance to G.W. Pabst’s 1928 film revision starring über-vamp Louise Brooks.More |  | An Outpost for All Your Autumn Skincare Needs Soothe (formerly London Elise Skin Care) is one of those cozy home-away-from-home establishments that make full-scale spas seem bland and passé in comparison. A modest one-room organic skincare and body healing clinic, it also happens to be one of the best-kept beauty secrets in the Upper Haight.More |  | The Breadth Of What We Fear Terror is perhaps the major hot button term of our epoch. It used to define overwhelming fear, a sense of looming danger exemplified by an inability to act. At some point, that protean, not easily identifiable fear became alloyed by specific words and ideologies --such as the threat of systematic violence by hostile others, government intimidation, and the egregiously coined “War on Terror.” It’s impossible, these days, to even bethink the term without having it attributed to code red.More |  | A Classic Case of the Domestic Squabble Frustratingly verbose games of cat and mouse; privileged yet disgruntled middle-aged harpies having at it; hardly suppressed Electra complexes; emasculated college professors burying their woes in a nightcap and a novel. Yes, my friends, that's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in a proverbial nutshell. Edward Albee's 1962 play, with its characteristic histrionics and intentional shock value, might seem dated these days, but it did for theater what films like [i]Last Tango in Paris[/i] did for cinema--namely, it created a new vernacular for its form, one which seethed with bitter contempt for traditional family values and canned gender roles.More |  | Experience the Luxury It’s 8am on a Saturday, and while most of the people I know aren’t even beginning to wipe the sleep from their eyes, I’m in the spa waiting area of the Claremont Resort & Spa -- along with at least a dozen other women in identical white robes. From the looks and sound of it, my peers range from brides-to-be to debutantes on an early weekend excursion. About three minutes pass before spa attendants pour into the room, one by one, calling out clients’ names and ushering them towards a facial, massage, or some other such ministration. The room empties rapidly -- it’s clear that even on sleepy weekend mornings, the Claremont Spa means business.More |  | The Five-Mile Getaway If you live in the city, you’re well aware that every now and then, one’s senses need a little bit of R&R from all the urban hullabaloo. Case in point: most spa enthusiasts have probably run into this situation more than once -- you’re about to settle down to a well-deserved massage after a long and torturous work week when you are abruptly awakened from your blissed-out state by the sound of construction work or the ambient clamor of people on the sidewalk. Certainly, we can’t always head out to Napa or Big Sur when a pamperfest (sans any indication of life outside the treatment room walls) is in order.More |  | Feel Better at This Northern California Getaway As summer, with its occasional bouts of sunshine-accompanied merriment and outdoor cookouts, gives way to a lovely Bay Area fall, with its russet hues and invariably toasty weather, I’m reminded of the appeal of the impending months. These days, the prospect of September is a little more exciting, perhaps because I’m no longer a student dreading the onset of another banal school year.More |  | Best Viewed Up Close Sarah Kraft and Ed Purver are nothing short of modern day performance archaeologists, scavenging for inspiration in the rubble of fairy tales, games, riddles, and newsy tidbits. Their much-lauded 2002 performance, [b]Woods for the Trees[/b], was an incisive mash-up of commentary on war, technology, the ogre of personal and spiritual isolation, and the ever-creepy parable of Hansel and Gretel. The pair’s latest concoction, [b]Remote[/b], leaves behind a similar bread crumb trail of clues, questions, and eerily premonitory vignettes about the human condition in the MySpace era.More |  | Helping You Stay Beautiful Despite my never-ending quest to find the perfect aesthetician, I’ve gradually come to realize that the methods whereby specialists attempt to make their clients beautiful are too numerous to settle on just one path to glowing skin. Take the approaches of aestheticians Felicia Gelardi and Vilma Ang, two of the most sought-after skincare specialists.More |  | Boosting Your Cosmetic Health Are you all tapped out of ideas on how to spend your hard-earned cash with none of the tried and true pampering mainstays calling out to you? Luckily, there’s a delicious-sounding yet practical solution to spa ennui.More |
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