We know things are weird right now, and you might not even be working with everything going on, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a chance to enjoy the weekend! Life goes on, and having a little fun and/or some relaxation is still necessary for your mental health. So check out these (safely social distanced) events you can participate in this weekend!
Click on any of the event titles for a link to the event.
Friday, November 20th
Online
6 PM, All Ages
$20
On December 11, Primus will stream the one-of-a-kind virtual concert Alive From Pachyderm Station. Like so many other touring bands, Primus was forced to reschedule their 2020 touring plans; Alive From Pachyderm Station offers fans their first chance this year to see the band in concert. The show was filmed at Les Claypool's Sebastopol, California winery Claypool Cellars, marking the band's first time playing at the location.
The virtual show will air on Friday, December 11 at 6pm PT. Ticket holders can then stream the show for the next 72 hours. Early bird tickets are available December 1 through December 4 at the discounted rate of $15; prices increase to $20 on December 5.
Online
Dec 11th-27th, All Ages (may vary based on the individual film)
$125 for All Access
SF IndieFest's 'Another Hole in the Head' Film Festival is a two-week cinematic excursion into the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and assorted other genres. Taking its cue from other legendary festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and Crazy Steve's Bootleg Basement Extravaganza, Another Hole in the Head pulls together a diverse collection of films representing all varieties and budgetary considerations. From your buddy Keith's skateboarding footage in an enchanted forest to Burt Reynolds in Space to tomorrow's cult classic destined for Lionsgate, Another Hole in the Head provides a unique vehicle for independent cinema. This year's festival takes place December 11th - December 27th on eventive and Zoom.
Saturday, November 21th
Online
Dec. 12th-24th, All Ages
Free, Donations Accepted
Red Barn Productions is pleased to announce Dickens Fair at Home, a free online Christmas compendium that brings home the magic of the Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party - a beloved Bay Area holiday tradition. Like most other in-person events in 2020, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair was forced to cancel its 2020 season. But beginning Saturday, November 21 fans of the Dickens Fair will be able to visit a new section of the Dickens Fair website and be treated to a variety of holiday opportunities to play at home. New content will be added weekly and each weekend brings different delights. Guests will have free access to videos from Fair favorites like Charles Dickens reading A Christmas Carol, traditional Victorian songs from the Coventry Carolers (with downloadable sheet music), Punch & Judy puppet shows, craft projects, children's stories, and so much more. Other treats include downloadable recipes such as cinnamon roasted almonds, brandied eggnog, and roasted chestnuts.
Famous for its handcrafted artisan gifts, visitors can also purchase one-of-a-kind treasures online directly from nearly 50 Dickens Fair artisans! Holiday shoppers are encouraged to support the Dickens Christmas Fair arts community by purchasing these unique wares handcrafted by generations of talented and dedicated craftspeople.
Dickens Fair at Home will culminate on Christmas Eve, December 24 with "The Hallelujah Chorus" sing-along with the Fezziwig Family, a full reading of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, and Father Christmas reading and responding to children's holiday wishes. For a full list of each weekend's offerings, please visit: https://dickensfair.com/dickens-fair-at-home.
"Although we will miss gathering in person, we intend to bring the heart of Dickens into everyone's homes this winter," said co-producer Kevin Patterson. "We used this forced hiatus to create a gift for our fans, and have come together with our performers, designers, and craftspeople to present 'Dickens Fair at Home' to bring a bit of Victorian London and the warmth of human kindness into our homes this winter. Even with the necessary State restrictions, Christmas is not cancelled!"
"Our community of artists have lost all their shows this year, but many have continued to create fantastic works of art during this time off with the hope of selling online. When you buy directly from the artists, you help them survive until live shows return and you get something of true quality," says Fair co-producer and vendor manager Leslie Patterson. "By giving hand-crafted gifts, everyone wins."
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair was originally conceived and created by Ron and Phyllis Patterson in 1970, inspired by their successful Renaissance Pleasure Faire (the first Renaissance Faire in America), which they brought to the San Francisco Bay Area during the Summer of Love in 1967. Their son Kevin Patterson, along with his co-producers, wife Leslie Patterson and eldest son, Andrew Patterson, have helmed the Dickens Fair since 2000; along with son Michael and Punch & Judy Puppetmaster brother Brian Patterson, they will continue a 50-year family tradition of presenting deeply immersive, historically authentic environmental theater!
WHAT: Dickens Fair at Home - A free, online Victorian Sampler or Compendium that brings home the magic of The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party?
WHEN: Opens Saturday, November 21 and runs through Christmas Eve, December 24. New content added each weekend.?
WHERE: Online only at https://dickensfair.com/dickens-fair-at-home.
PRICE: Free??
FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit: https://dickensfair.com/dickens-fair-at-home.
Academy @ Home
All December, All Ages
Free
While the Academy is closed due to Covid, many of the exhibits can still be visited via Academy @ Home, all for free!
Revel in the wintery atmosphere of 'Tis the Season for Science, an annual holiday tradition in the heart of Golden Gate Park. Venture to the Academy's East Garden to meet two hoofed holiday visitors, Cookie and Peppermint, and learn how this antlered duo is uniquely equipped to migrate vast distances. Reindeer have remarkable adaptations--from hollow hairs for warmth to feet that act like snowshoes--that allow them to thrive in frigid environments.
While outside, delight in festive decorations and imagine you're in the Arctic as artificial snow falls overhead. For extra holiday cheer, enjoy cookies and hot cocoa available for purchase from the Academy Café or Terrace Restaurant. Join us in this winter wonderland to celebrate the sights, sounds, and science of the season!
Winter Academy highlights are below:
A pair of live reindeer will take up residence in the museum's East Garden through January 3, 2021.
Outdoor snow flurries will fall twice an hour accompanied by holiday music.
Inspired by the northern lights, festive lighting will cast a warm, magical glow over the East Garden when the sunsets.
Hot cocoa and cookies will be available for purchase in the Academy's Café or Terrace Restaurant.
For fresh views of otherworldly landscapes, visit BigPicture in the Piazza, a spectacular showcase of 49 winning images from the Academy's annual nature, wildlife, and conservation photography competition.
To escape the winter chill, reserve your time (once you've arrived at the Academy) for a walk through the tropical Osher Rainforest, or tour the Steinhart Aquarium for a visit to our new Venom exhibit or iconic Philippine Coral Reef.
Can't visit us in person this winter? Connect through Academy @ Home and stay curious--all for free, all the time.
Sunday, November 22th
The Bar Code SF, San Francisco
12 PM, All Ages
Free
Starting on Nov 10th and running through Dec 15th The Barcode on Sacramento Street is hosting a holiday pop-up with unique gifts all from local San Franciscans (with all companies based in the Bay Area)!!
Shop Small, Shop Safely, Shop Local
Join us for a Holiday Shop and Sip Pop-Up at The Barcode
Nov 10th - Dec 15th; 12-6pm
Shopping can be done from the window while enjoying our adult lemonade (aka wine) stand or socially distanced inside.
Gifts from:
The Day Project Wines - Delicious Rose and Sauvignon Blanc that give back
Collective Hearts - Handcrafted heart-shaped jewelry on a mission to spread love
DwellWell - gift packages and memberships for expert organizing and lifestyle management services
Kurt Schwabe - prints from famed San Francisco scenic photographer
The Still - beauty products crafted with cannabis, crystals, and clean, active ingredients
The Barcode - classic cozy winter-wear and holiday gifts
Online
9 AM, All Ages
Free
In A Red Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is a corporate banker, busy foreclosing on the hapless masses. Bob Cratchit and his beleaguered family live in a chilly tent in an anonymous homeless encampment. The ghost of Christmas future sports a flowing black robe of taped-together trash bags and plastic sheeting. Tiny Tim dies. At least that's how the SF Mime Troupe's resident playwright, Michael Gene Sullivan, has reimagined A Red Carol for the troubled 21st century.
The idea for Sullivan's production speaks right to Dickens' main concern - the limitations inherent in modern capitalism - for a new time. The Ghost of Christmas Past still reminds Scrooge of the man he was and the paths he, sadly, did not choose. The Ghost of Christmas Present underscores the hard lives of the 99 percent - and the miserly banker's part in making them so. And the Ghost of Christmas Future still offers fear and the promise of redemption.
But the tale is leavened with labor songs, and the normally mild Bob Cratchit is an angry man. "People always think this story is about you," he tells Scrooge. "Just you ... the one evil man! And if you change - everything is different, the world is transformed." Then Cratchit delivers Sullivan's message. It is an updated version of Dickens' too: "It ain't you... it's the idea of you that's killin' us," Cratchit tells Scrooge. "It's steppin' over the hungry and homeless to buy (things) we don't need that's killin' us. It's lettin' them turn our government into a casino that's killin' us!..."It ain't about you," Cratchit says. "It's about us."
A Christmas Carol" has become "the closest thing to a modern myth that we have. It wasn't much of a stretch to place Charles Dickens' Victorian classic into today's Covid-19 world. And that, as Sullivan would be the first to tell you, is exactly the point. Dickens' novella was written in the heart of the "Hungry '40s," a time of labor unrest, unemployment and starvation across 19th-century Europe. ?The gap between rich and poor was wide - and getting ever wider.
The Cratchits as depicted by Dickens "are an example of where most people actually are today," said Sullivan. Naturally, the SF Mime Troupe would want to adapt Dickens' radical political statement, albeit one that's tied up in Christmas ribbon. After all, everyone else has. The slender novella was first popularized in the USA as a radio play during the Great Depression. In Dickens' tale, the miserly Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by his dead business partner and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. He sees visions of his lonely childhood, the wasted promise of his young manhood and his eventual death - wealthy but unmourned - and vows to be a better, more generous man if only given a second chance.
Since then there have been: all-black Christmas Carols and a western version hosted by Ronald Reagan. In Rod Serling's iteration on Twilight Zone, Scrooge envisioned a nuclear Armageddon. Yosemite Sam played the miser in Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol. Oscar the Grouch did a similar star turn on TV on Sesame Street. On popular American TV shows the tale has been squeezed into The Six Million Dollar Man; The Odd Couple; as well as Klingon adaptations; zombie versions; ballets; musicals; films and operas.
A Red Carol, by Michael Gene Sullivan, adapted from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, features a 10 person cast that includes present and veteran SF Mime Troupers including: Keiko Shimosato-Carreiro (The Ghost of Christmas Past); Wilma Bonet (The Ghost of Christmas Present); Michael Gene Sullivan (Bob Crachit); Velina Brown (Mrs. Crachit); Lisa Hori-Garcia (Belle); Amos Glick (Fezziwig); featuring: Jarion Monroe (The Ghost of Marley); ?Andre Amarotico (Fred); Milo Carter-Daniels (Tiny Tim), Mike McShane (Scrooge.)
Musical Direction by Daniel Savio. Musicians: Patrick Buyers and David Rokeach.
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