Of all the people who criticized Madonna’s adoption of Malawi-born David Banda, 1, you wouldn’t think Angelina Jolie would be among them. After all, the Oscar-winning humanitarian has also adopted an African child: daughter Zahara, 2, from Ethiopia.Yet Angie seemed to be giving Madge grief in a recent interview with French magazine Gala. While she expressed sympathy for Madonna, saying, "I have been horrified by the attacks she’s been subjected to," she also appeared to condemn the Material Mom’s method of expanding her family.
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San Francisco Opera officials announced Tuesday at a news conference in the War Memorial Opera House that they have chosen 45-year-old "rising star" Nicola Luisotti to succeed Donald Runnicles as the company’s musical director.The baby-faced Italian conductor, who got his first chance to conduct from his church choir when he was appointed its director at age 11, said he was immediately enthusiastic about working in San Francisco when Opera general manager David Gockley first approached him about it.
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Few modern rockers are as perpetually bright-eyed as Dan Layus. The 21-year-old frontman for San Diego’s Augustana is almost always on — ebullient, laughing, unpretentious, likable.It’s hard to imagine anyone not taking a shine to the singer, who tosses around such archaic lingo as "rad" and "right on," and whose only concession to hipness is the hint of a soul patch on his chin. But it happened, Layus says, when he met his bete noire in the form of "this crazy Asian lady, Professor Kwan."
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OK, Angelina Jolie, we get it. Your life is perfect. Now do you have to keep rubbing it in? Even those of us whose last names aren’t Aniston are starting to feel slightly resentful. A new interview with the U.K. edition of Elle finds Angelina gushing (for a change) about her perfect partner Brad Pitt and what a great dad he is to adopted kids Maddox, 5, Zahara, 2, and biological baby Shiloh, 7 months.
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Sculpturesite Gallery presents "Markings," a solo exhibition by Mary Shaffer, who is recognized internationally for her work in the American studio glass movement.Shaffer uses a process she calls "mid-air slumping," in which glass forms itself as it becomes malleable, and gravity pulls it through a structural form she has placed in a kiln. "It’s like playing with the wind," she says. The show runs through Feb. 27; Sculpturesite Gallery is at the Convention Center Plaza, 201 Third St., Suite 102, San Francisco.
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Photographs on display at the Contemporary Jewish Museum ask the question, "What is Jewish?"The answer is wider and more varied than one might expect in "The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography," extended through April 29 at the San Francisco museum.New York photographer Nikki S. Lee, who is of South Korean descent, dresses herself as a bride at what appears to be a Jewish wedding in a series of provocative images called "The Wedding" at the front of the exhibit. (The image of Lee is also around town on billboards advertising the show.)
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Britney Spears has taken to the Interwebs to defend herself against a recent barrage of bad press. Said to be, ahem, resting at an Arizona spa following her New Year’s nod-off, the pop star posted a new message to fans promising to "com[e] back this year bigger and better than ever."
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San Francisco’s Word for Word returns to the stage this week yet another of its unique verbatim productions, "Strangers We Know."Since 1993, the group has staged short stories from literary masters such as Amy Tan and Tobias Wolff by preserving all nuances of the authors’ texts, even attributions like "he said." Yet, the plays are more than staged readings. If you’ve never seen one, the two-part "Strangers We Know," which opens Friday at the Magic Theatre, is a great chance to get some Word for Word action.
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Photographer Brooke Tankle of La Honda has only to step outside her front door to photograph nature’s beauty."Living here 17 years in a hand-built cabin under a redwood tree, I can watch the seasons bring new visual experiences all year. I have become attuned to the subtleties of light and shadow with details influenced by the environment," Tankle said.
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A nonstop, absurd action flick, an awesome British television import and a movie where Robin Williams puts on the serious beard again highlight the upcoming week in DVD releases. "CRANK"
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