Along with Jon Rubin, Dunbar is a founding member of the Rubinoos, a 1970s Berkeley-based band best known for the cult hit "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," which sounds a lot like Avril Lavigne’s mor
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About his upcoming appearance this week at AT&T Park, skating to live music by Barry Manilow and a full orchestra, Brian Boitano says, "God, I hope it doesn’t rain."The outdoor show, the first of its type at the San Francisco baseball field — which is being outfitted with a custom ice rink — actually opens with the number "It Never Rains in Southern California," says Boitano, who has been staging television specials with his company White Canvas Productions for more than a decade.
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The Berkeley-based writer and researcher is a national spokesman for homeopathic medicine whose latest book is "The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy." He will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Garden Room of Building 10 at UC Berkeley’s Clark Kerr Campus,2601 Warring St.What is homeopathy? It’s a type of natural medicine that works to stimulate the body’s own defense systems.
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On Saturday, the Asian Art Museum hosts a free family community day to celebrate a $1 million grant that will go toward broadening the museum’s education programs for schoolchildren and the community. Announced earlier this month, the grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation will help launch the Bridge Program, which will expand access to high-quality teaching materials about Asia, with an emphasis on middle-school curriculum.
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Robert LePage, director of San Francisco Opera’s upcoming U.S. premiere of Stravinsky’s "The Rake’s Progress," equates performance with play. "I believe in playing," says the acclaimed French Canadian director, actor, writer and founder of the multidisciplinary production company Ex Machina. "Actors bore me, but players are interesting."
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The acclaimed Italian tenor, who graces both the opera and classical crossover worlds, has recently released "The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere." The singing superstar plays the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Dec. 2. Why have you just now made your greatest hits album? Until now, I preferred to present new songs. But I realized it was time. It’s been 15 years into my career, and this is my first true collection.
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Robert LePage, director of San Francisco Opera's upcoming U.S. premiere of Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," equates performance with play. "I believe in playing," says the acclaimed French Canadian director, actor, writer and founder of the multidisciplinary production company Ex Machina. "Actors bore me, but players are interesting."
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Arts and crafts — for sale and for show — are in abundance for the holidays. Here’s a quick look at some Bay Area offerings: BERKELEY ARTISANS HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIOS It’s the 17th annual free self-guided tour of 100 professional artisan workshops, featuring blown glass, ceramics, ornaments, custom furniture, garden art, floor cloths, one-of-a-kind clothing, textiles, jewelry, leather bags, recycled art, sculpture, photography, paintings, original prints and more. Where: Various locations in Berkeley
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Cirque du Soleil’s "Kooza," making its U.S. premiere in San Francisco, exemplifies why the French Canadian super troupe is simply the brand in boutique circuses. "Kooza" comes from the Sanskrit word koza, which means box or treasure; the delightful show under the big top near AT&T Park serves up plenty of charm and thrills.
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Billy Joel may be in a New York state of mind, but he had the heart of the Bay Area on Saturday at the Oracle Arena."Isn’t this the Oakland Coliseum?" he joked to the capacity, surprisingly multigenerational crowd on his first solo local appearance in years. Throughout the show, he sprinkled in fun musical San Francisco references, including the famed "open your Golden Gate" theme, the Scott McKenzie song, Jefferson Airplane’s "White Rabbit" and, of course, a beautiful Tony Bennett-like version of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
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Jerry Seinfeld, in a San Francisco hotel suite last month on a major publicity blitz for his new, animated "Bee Movie" — which opens Friday — isn't exactly pleased when he sees I'm about to interview him using a pad, pen and no tape recorder. He says a recent article made up something he said; I assured him that in my 18 years of reporting without taping, I'd never misquoted anyone, and that for my story, I wouldn't need long commentary. He said he’d answer the questions with that in mind.
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As always, the 21st annual Bridge School Benefit over the weekend in Mountain View was a feel-good time for all. Neil and Pegi Young's star-packed event routinely has appeal in that it's more about the beneficiaries — kids with severe learning disabilities who are Bridge School students — than it is about rock-star posturing. Despite the fact that some 20,000 attend the show at the Shoreline Ampitheatre, there's something nicely intimate about big-time pop musicians doing acoustic sets for a good cause.
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Bay Area jazz singer Sony Holland has a style that goes down easy. Her Plush Room engagement over the weekend featured a pleasantly appealing lineup of standards, pop songs and originals. On Friday night, her band — the excellent Benny Watson on piano, Seward McCain on bass, David Rokeach on drums and Charles McNeal on saxophone, perfectly complemented her vocal performance, her last at the wonderfully intimate venue in the York Hotel, which is closing at the end of the year. (The room’s bookers, Rrazz Entertainment, are opening a new stage in the Nikko Hotel.)
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Bruce Springsteen for president … perhaps the savior of ‘n’ roll wouldn’t want the job, but if he were to take it (no question he’d be elected), America would likely be in better shape than it is now. But wouldn’t it be amazing if the country ran as smoothly, and as passionately, as a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show? For fans who have been following The Boss for decades, the opening Bay Area show Thursday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland might not have been the longest, most intense or most hit-heavy concert they’ve experienced.
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The British soccer nut and music fan is the author of the best-selling novels "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy." His new book, "Slam," his first for young adults, is about a 15-year-old boy who undergoes major life changes after he hooks up with his girlfriend. Hornby will be at Books Inc., 601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, at 7 tonight to talk about "Slam."
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