Things to do in Sacramento and Beyond

Sacramento comedy club hosts benefit for vet's baby

2012-02-11T23:56:03Z

An upcoming comedy night in Old Sacramento will help a baby with serious health problems.

Laughs Unlimited will host a benefit Feb. 26 for Harlow Crisamore and Hope 4 Harlow, a non-profit fund set up to provide medical equipment for the 11-month-old girl, who was born with cerebral palsy. Blind and epileptic, the baby needs special care.

Harlow is the daughter of Iraq war veteran Sgt. James Crisamore, who was featured along with his family Dec. 26 in The Bee.

Crisamore, who was severely injured while on duty overseas, has campaigned relentlessly for his infant daughter's health needs while trying to cope with his own recovery from a Humvee rollover accident that smashed both hips.

Since the Christmas story in The Bee, Harlow has been in and out of the hospital, Crisamore said. "She was in ICU for 10 days. It's been an ordeal, but she's home now."

Crisamore hopes that the comedy show in Harlow's honor can become a semiannual event.

"Laughs Unlimited is a very generous organization," he said. "They're giving us the floor and sponsoring Harlow for the fund-raiser. They're doing a wonderful thing for the community. Not enough people out there are like that."

Raffle donations are now being accepted for the Feb. 26 event, which includes live music from 3 to 6 p.m. and a comedy show at 7 p.m.

Tickets are a $15 donation and available from Laughs Unlimited's reservation hot line at (916) 446-5905 or online at www.laughsunlimited.com. The club is located at 1207 Front St., Sacramento.

For more about Harlow and the Crisamores, click on http://hope4harlow.blogspot.com/.

Saturday Auburn Symphony concert to be performed, despite tragedy

2012-02-09T23:02:36Z

The passing of Auburn Symphony conductor Michael Goodwin will be honored this Saturday when the orchestra performs a scheduled Kinderkonzert.

Goodwin, who had conducted the orchestra since 1995, was killed in an auto accident on Hwy 20 in Yuba County Tuesday afternoon. He was on his way from his home in Oregon House to Placer High School to rehearse the orchestra for Saturday's concert.

The board of directors at the Auburn Symphony decided that not cancelling the concert would be in keeping with Goodwin's wishes.

]]> "Michael would have wanted the show to go on," said Robert Haswell, business manager with the orchestra.

For the Kinderkonzert the orchestra has tapped Ryan Murray, choral director with the Grass Valley-based Music in the Mountains, to conduct.

The orchestra is also in the midst of planning a special concert in March to honor Goodwin, said Haswell. The date of that concert will be announced soon.

Kinderkonzert
WHEN: 11 a.m., Saturday
WHERE: Placer High School Auditorium. 275 Orange St., Placerville
TICKETS: $7
INFORMATION: (530) 823-6683; auburnsymphony.com

Bon Iver to perform in April at UC Davis

2012-02-09T22:23:45Z

Bon Iver (Wisconsin musician Justin Vernon) brought his quiet, musically inventive loveliness to "Saturday Night Live" last week. Now Bon Iver has announced a series of new dates, including one April 17 at UC Davis' Freeborn Hall.

Tickets are $39.50, are all general admission, and are available during a presale today at Tickets.com (800-225-2277) with the password "holocene." Tickets officially go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Vernon and his band were good on "SNL," but the sound quality on that show can inconsistent, and Vernon's vocals weren't quite powerful enough.

The band was consistenly terrific, by contrast, last fall at Berkeley's Greek Theatre.

The Greek Theatre show offered a true sense of the complexity within Vernon's songwriting, as songs were fleshed out by the multi-instrumentalists backing him. A rocked-out version of "Blood Bank" brought out all that song's many colors.

And since Florence and the Machine's show the next night at Mondavi Center sold out so quickly, the Freeborn Hall Bon Iver show offers your best chance to see a great, emerging artist in Davis that week.

Rose Auction Benefit for Sacramento Rose Society Feb. 9

2012-02-09T01:21:43Z

The Sacramento Rose Society will be holding its Bareroot Rose Auction on Thursday, February 9 at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center in east Sacramento.

The auction features 50 new rose bushes, including some unique introductions not yet in nurseries--Eyeconic Pink Lemonade, Orchid Romance, Pink Flamingo and Itty Bitty Pink--as well as old favorites like Secret, Silver Star, and Nicole.

]]> Bidding starts at $10 and proceeds benefit the Sacramento Rose Society and its projects around the greater Sacramento Area. Cash and check only, please.

Lou Campbell is the auctioneer, and Sacramento Bee gardening reporter Debbie Arrington is the auctioneer's assistant.

Public welcome!

Sacramento Rose Society Bareroot Rose Auction

Thursday, February 9, 7:30 p.m.

Shepard Garden and Arts Center

3330 McKinley Boulevard

Sacramento, CA, 95816

sactorose.org/sacramentorosesociety

Map

Photo: A rose bloom in McKinley Park's rose garden. Anne Chadwick Williams/Bee file, 1997

Take a Valentine-themed photo with your pet at animal shelter

2012-02-08T19:31:50Z

A professional photographer will be taking Valentine-themed portraits of pets and their people this weekend at the Sacramento County animal shelter.

The "My Furry Valentine" event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the facility at 3839 Bradshaw Road, one mile south of Highway 50. Portraits are $10, and all proceeds benefit the shelter animals.

All animals adopted between now and Sunday will come with a free coupon to have their portrait taken by the photographer, Michael Kressner.

To see animals available for adoption or to get information about volunteering or licensing, go to www.SacCountyShelter.com.

- Cynthia Hubert

Madonna to perform in San Jose in October

2012-02-07T18:03:26Z

Say what you will about Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show (and many have), but to me, the elaborate staging, lip-synching, constant guest stars and weird-guy acrobat said, "That's entertainment."

(I grew up in the 1980s).

The Super Bowl appearance was a preview for a world tour Madonna will start later this year in Tel Aviv.

The closest the tour will get to Sacramento is a stop in San Jose Oct. 6. Tickets to that show run $56-$361 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday through Ticketmaster (800-745-3000).

Backyard Bird Count starts Feb. 17

2012-02-06T21:23:58Z

By Sam McManis
smcmanis@sacbee.com

Dig out the binoculars and dust off that ornithology guidebook, because the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is fast approaching.

Each February, North American bird watchers are asked to tally the number and types of birds in a programs sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.

This year's count takes place Feb. 17-20.

]]> Participants are advised to count birds in any venue they wish - it doesn't have to be their backyards - for 15 minutes, then go to to www.birdcount.org to log their numbers.

"This count is so much fun because anyone can take part--we all learn and watch birds together--whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher," said Gary Langham, Audubon's Chief Scientist, said in a press release.

Last year, participants recorder more than 11 million bird observations.

S.F. exhibition highlights golden era of Golden State songs

2012-02-03T18:41:22Z

Songs celebrating California predate Katy Perry, Tupac and Dr. Dreand even the Beach Boys . By a good century.

The San Francisco exhibition "Singing in the Golden State" has collected songs -- from the Gold Rush to the vaudeville era -- name-checking the state and its events. Its sheet-music collection includes the 1913 song "I Love You, California," as well as "California Flood Mazurka," which commemorates the 1862 Sacramento flood.

The songs evoke pre-radio, pre-television parlor get-togethers that helped spread news about California. The show at the Society of California Pioneers, 300 Fourth Street, includes visually evocative sheet-music covers, sound recordings and instruments

The show runs into December. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays and the first Saturday of each month. For information, see the Society of California Pioneers website or call (415) 957-1849.

John Steinbeck books and collectibles are going to auction

2012-02-02T23:17:48Z

The eccentric bookseller Peter Howard was known for his vast and valuable collection of antiquarian books, which he sold and traded at his legendary Serendipity Bookstore in Berkeley, which closed after his death in 2011 at age 72.

Now 270 books and related items from that treasure trove will be offered by Bonhams auction house from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 12 in San Francisco.

The centerpiece will be material from Howard's vast John Steinbeck collection. Among it is a signed first-edition presentation copy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Grapes of Wrath," inscribed, "Again for Helen Murphy / affectionately / John Steinbeck." Bidding will start at $10,000.

Also up for auction will be the typed manuscript of "The Pearl of the World," the short story that became the slightly longer "The Pearl" ($15,000 to $20,000). Also, the novella version of Steinbeck's "Lifeboat" ($5,000 to $7,000), which he wrote at the request of Alfred Hitchcock. The British director made "Lifeboat" into a movie in 1944.

Bonhams is at 229 San Bruno Ave. For more information: (323) 436-5442, www.bonhams.com.

On a related topic, the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas will hold its 32nd annual Steinbeck Festival from May 3 through May 6. Information: www.steinbeck.org.

Registration opens for new Sacramento run

2012-02-02T23:08:59Z

By Sam McManis

smcmanis@sacbee.com

Registration is open for Sacramento's newest running event, the Getty Owl Run, on Feb. 26 in downtown Sacramento.

The 5K and 10K race, benefitting Spinal Muscular Atrophy awareness, begins at Crocker Park on 3rd Street and travels along the Sacramento River waterfront. Cost is $27 for either the 5K or 10K, if you register by Feb. 20. After that, it rises to $35. They also will hold a children's fun run for a $10 entry fee.

For more information and to register, go to http://gettyowl.org/events/run.

Solano Land Trust opens access for Saturday hike

2012-02-02T19:04:47Z

By Sam McManis

smcmanis@sacbee.com

The open space in the tawny hills outside of Fairfield, Vallejo and Benicia, normally closed to the public, will be the site Saturday of a free hike at 9 a.m., sponsored by the Solano Land Trust.

The King-Swett ranches afford wondrousd views of the Suisun marsh on one side and the Golden Gate Bridge on the other. Those views, as well as up-close sightings of other flora and fauna, will be facilitated by Solano Land Trust guide Jim Walsh. Walsh notes, however, that the trek is not for beginners. Calling it "strenuous," the hike goes off-trail and through cattle areas for about six miles.

Hikers will meet at a Park-and-Ride lot off Interstate 80 (at the intersection of McGary Road, Hiddenbrooke Parkway and American Canyon Road) and then carpool to the King-Swett site.

For more information, email James_Walsh@landcare.com.

Camellia Symphony premieres jazz artist's piano concerto

2012-02-01T19:40:06Z

Music runs in the family...

That much is clear with the young jazz pianist Julian Waterfall Pollack, son of Camellia Symphony music director Allan Pollack. His mother - Susan Waterfall - is a concert pianist in her own right.

Waterfall Pollack started studying piano at age 5, with his mother. At 17, he was leading his own groups.

]]> And so it is only fitting that the Camellia Symphony give the world premiere of Waterfall Pollack's first piano concerto.

The orchestra's performance of Waterfall Pollack's 26-minute work will be noteworthy. After all, he owns some serious - and well deserved - cred in New York City and European jazz circles.

To date, Waterfall Pollack has performed or recorded with the likes of Joshua Redman, John Scofield and Miguel Zenon, among others.

Jazz figures large in his composition.

"The piano concerto is in three movements and its style draws heavily upon jazz, minimalism, and French impressionism," said Waterfall Pollack about the work.

The concerto plumbs Waterfall's experience of living on both coasts - he typically performs at the Mendocino Music Festival each summer.

The new work will be offered in a program titled "Sizzling" that includes Bernstein's Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town" and Stravinsky's "Petrushka."

Sizzling
Camellia Symphony
Julian Waterfall Pollack: Piano Concerto,
Julian Waterfall Pollack, piano
WHEN: 8 p.m., Feb. 25
WHERE: The Center at Twenty-Three Hundred, 2300 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento
TICKETS: $28; $24 (senior); $15 (student)
INFORMATION: (916) 929-6655; www.camelliasymphony.org.

Mardi Gras festival for families coming to Nevada City

2012-02-01T19:32:01Z

Families will be choosing from a long list of events and activities taking place over Presidents Day Weekend (Feb. 18-19). One don't-miss will be the 20th annual Mardi Gras in Nevada City.

Look for Cajun-themed food and drink, arts and crafts, and live entertainment at the two-day street fair. Headlining the celebration will be a masquerade ball, which sells out quickly, so it's wise to buy tickets ahead of time. The ball will begin at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Miners Foundry, 325 Spring St.; tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

The Mardi Gras parade will start at 2 p.m. Feb. 19 (wear your most colorful attire), followed by a family-oriented carnival ($5 adults, free for children).

For tickets and more information: (530) 265-2692, www.nevadacitychamber.com., www.miners foundry.org.

Same-sex marriage film screenings sell out; encore added

2012-02-01T18:31:19Z

Tonight's screenings at the Crest Theatre of "Question One," a documentary about the 2009 referendum battle regarding same-sex marriage in Maine, have sold out. But a special encore screening has been scheduled for Feb. 8.

The film by Joe Fox and James Nubile chronicles a political fight that echoed the 2008 battle over same sex marriage in California. The fimmakers had access to "war rooms" on both sides of the battle, and examined the role of Sacramento public relations firm Schubert Flint in the "Yes on 1" (anti-same-sex marriage) Maine campaign.

Tickets to the Feb. 8 screening are available at the Crest box office, 1013 K St., Sacramento and via Tickets.com (800-225-2277).

Sacramento club Ace of Spades makes international splash

2012-01-31T23:42:22Z

Sacramento's Ace of Spades nightclub not only filled an important niche locally -- as an all-ages club drawing national headlining acts -- when it opened last year. It also ranked well among all clubs and theaters where music is played.

According to Pollstar magazine, Ace of Spades ranked 52nd internationally in ticket sales among clubs and theaters. That was several spots ahead of clubs like the Roxy and the Palladium in Los Angeles.

Ace of Spades sold nearly 56,000 tickets in 2011, according to Pollstar figures.

Ace of Spades next will distinguish itself as the local venue chosen for a show by hometown favorites Chino Moreno (Deftones) and Shaun Lopez (Far). Their new, electronic-driven group Crosses will perform Friday night.

Look for an interview with Moreno and Lopez in Friday's Ticket section. For information or tickets, see the Aces of Spades site.