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Sparks will Fly in Hollywood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

Sparks will Fly in Hollywood: They’ve had some big gaps here and there but, for the most part, Sparks have remained remarkably consistent over the course of their career from 1966 (!) until now. This year’s The Girl is Crying in Her Latte, their 25th studio album, is typically brilliant and further proof that the world should know more than “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us.” Here, they’re performing with quirky pop-rockers They Might Be Giants, and that’s an inspired bill.We spoke to Ron Mael in June 2020, at the start of the pandemic and shortly after the release of their A Steady Drip Drip Drip album.“I mean, it sounds pretentious to say it, but the point where we feel that we aren’t evolving, then it really isn’t time to continue going,” Mael said. “We don’t want to just be rehashing things from the past. I mean, everything is filtered through your sensibility, so you can’t escape that continuity in what you’re doing, but we definitely try to move on from wh...

Joy Ride Travels Uproariously Tawdry yet Tender Territory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

Bawdy and shamelessly silly at times, but also surprisingly heartfelt, Joy Ride takes the traditional male-centric R-rated comedy and filters it through the Asian-American, feminine perspective. If that sounds academic, don’t worry, this road movie rivals Freddy Got Fingered for crudeness.Films like Bridesmaids set the standard for this kind of material, in which a group of women face their repressed fears by falling on their faces, but director Adele Lim puts a fresh spin, creating a world that’s recognizably human while still existing in a hyperbolic (even psychedelic) universe. She might have even established a new genre: the Asian-American Adult Comedy, infusing a Molotov cocktail of influences from The Farrelly Brothers to Kung Fu cinema to K-Pop to Porky’s.After a clunky prologue where we meet the two main characters, the only two Asian girls in a mostly white school, we fast forward 25 years, where those same girls, Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Audrey (Ashley Park), are still besti...

The Bay Area’s outdoor summer movies are sheer nostalgic fun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

When the sun goes down this summer, the screens come up.On the Town Green in Danville. At the beach in Santa Cruz. On the grounds of the former Alameda naval air station. And in parks from San Jose and Cupertino to Dublin and San Pablo.Outdoor movies have become a summer staple from coast to coast, with the Bay Area’s typically pleasant evenings making them especially popular. The alfresco trend that began well over a decade ago — and went on hiatus at some venues during the pandemic — should make a strong showing in 2023.What’s the appeal? The film licensing fees and other costs may show up on budget spreadsheets as “civic engagement” or “customer enhancement,” but it’s all about fun and free entertainment, fresh air and community building.And, perhaps, “a chance to see a film on the big screen that you haven’t had for 35 years,” said Redwood City park events coordinator Brandon Council, who likes to occasional...

Arrest made in spate of Tracy-area taqueria vandalisms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

A suspect wanted in connection to a string of vandalisms at several taquerias in Tracy was arrested while allegedly throwing rocks at a Mexican restaurant in the early morning Monday, police said.At about 2:51 a.m. Monday, Tracy Police Special Enforcement Team officers witnessed a 36-year-old man throwing the rocks at a taqueria in the 1200 block of West 11th Street, police said in a press release. After seeing the vandalism take place, officers tried to apprehend the man but he ran away.After a short pursuit on foot, the man was taken into custody in the area of 9th and 11th Street. During a search of the man’s home by police, officers found additional evidence connecting him to a string of at least 12 vandalisms in the area over the last two months.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | This bill will make it harder for California school boards to ban books — and it’s picking up steam among lawmakers Crime and Public Safety | Rope lo...

Review: Stellar cast brings new life to ‘Les Miz’ in S.F.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

At its heart, “Les Misérables” is a story of yearning.Every character who trudges along the brutal streets of 19th-century France desires desperately for a change in fortune, with varying degrees of success. That unalloyed emotion has given the musical its staying power for nearly 40 years, with its iconic numbers radiating mightily through the hearts of aria lovers the world over.In the latest iteration to hit the Bay Area via BroadwaySF, there is a freshness to the iconic production that pushes firmly away from the succulent, original turntable staging by director Trevor Nunn that has been gone for years. The newer version, sharply directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, lurches the audience into perpetual darkness alongside infinite amounts of stage fog.Based on the epic 1862 historical novel by Victor Hugo, the musical originally premiered on London’s West End in 1985, while a 16-year Broadway run kicked off two years later. Claude-Michel Schönberg’s wildly recognizable sc...

Customs officers at California border find nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills hidden in shipment of sinks, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

By Ashley R. Williams | CNNUS Customs and Border Protection officers in California say they stopped the attempted smuggling of fentanyl pills with an estimated street value of more than $2.5 million.The bust happened at the cargo facility at the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego after authorities noticed “anomalies” within a shipment of sinks, CBP said in a news release Thursday.A 45-year-old man, who was driving a white cargo van, presented border officials with a valid border crossing card on June 26, along with a shipping manifest for two porcelain sinks, CBP said in the release.“While screening the vehicle using a port imaging system, CBP officers discovered anomalies within the shipment,” the release says.US Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry’s cargo facility, according to CBP.(US Customs and Border Protection) Authorities inspected the shipment with a canine detection team and found about 8...

Bay Area brewery day trip: Concord’s Side Gate beer garden and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

Over the last few years, I’ve taken brewery-centric day trips to nearly every corner of the Bay Area, from Alameda to Silicon Valley and San Ramon. This time, I headed for Concord, where several taprooms lie within walking distance of the Concord BART station.Side Gate Brewery & Beer GardenThis downtown Concord brewery is the brainchild of Kevin Wilson and Paul Culbertson, who met at their day job and bonded over their shared love of home brewing. Over a home brewing session, Culbertson mentioned he’d written a business plan for a brewery years before — and Wilson confessed he’d once thought about it, too. The result is Side Gate. They signed the lease on the property at a less-than-perfect time — February 2020 — but the ensuing lockdowns proved a blessing in their case. It gave them time to transform a former pizzeria and bar into this fun brewery, which opened in September the following year.Side Gate offers 13 to 15 beers in a variety of styles and a h...

Basil? Curry? Turkey? Bay Area’s most unconventional ice cream flavors and the stories behind them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

On any given day at Berkeley’s Tara’s Organic Ice Cream, an Elmwood neighborhood favorite since the doors first opened in 2008, the dipping cabinet is filled with flavors that instantly make your mouth water. Lemon Blueberry. Mexican Chocolate. Peanut Butter Swirl.Owner and ice cream wizard Tara Esperanza has created some 200 unique flavors since she started working with organic dairy and sugar 20 years ago. While many are familiar, dessertlike combinations we often expect in ice cream — Lemon Blueberry, Chocolate Hazelnut, Coconut Lime Sorbet — others are more adventurous. We’re talking Basil, Beet Balsamic and Chocolate Tarragon, for example.“I get that a lot,” Esperanza says. “They make a face and say, ‘Basil? That’s weird.’ And then they taste it. One customer became tearful and thanked me when she tasted that tarragon flavor. I guess it reminded her of something her mother made.”Flavors carry tremendous pow...

Best cities for Gen Z: Where do Bay Area cities rank?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

(KRON) -- Should you consider the Bay Area if you're in your early 20s and looking for a city to call home? A new study published by Commercial Cafe showed where San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose rank in some categories that those in Gen Z might consider important. The top-ranked city for Gen Z was Minneapolis, according to the metrics used in the study. No California city ranked in the top 20, but each Bay Area city did grade well in specific categories. San Jose ranks No. 2 in educational environmentMembers of Gen Z who are looking for a city with a large number of students should consider San Jose, according to the study.The South Bay city ranked second with 52.9% of its Gen Z population enrolled in higher education. Boston, San Jose, Minneapolis and Atlanta were the four cities where more than 50% of Gen Z'ers are students. "San Jose ranked second in education with 53% of its Gen Z residents enrolled in higher education," Commercial Cafe said. "The city has created a healthy c...

No injuries reported in Oakland shooting on MacArthur Boulevard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

(BCN) -- A shooting shut down part of MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland on Monday afternoon but no injured victims were found, according to police. SF gallery owner who hosed down unhoused woman gets 35 hours community service Oakland police received multiple reports of shots fired shortly after 1:30 p.m. in the 50 block of MacArthur Boulevard and officers arrived to find evidence of a shooting but no one injured. While at the scene, officers saw someone with a BB gun and detained them, but later determined the person was inside of a building when the shooting occurred and was not the suspected shooter, police said. The case remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department's felony assault unit at (510) 238-3426.