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Snow What? You know it's winter in California, as the joke goes, when there's snow on the billboards. The Great San Francisco Snow Party, however, brings the white stuff down from the mountains into the city, which is rarely dusted by the real thing. Granted, this isn't exactly the real thing, either: Glacier Ice Co. makes this snow and spreads it on AstroTurf, where ski instructors give kids lessons in the Learn-to-Ski Maze. Competitive snowboarders and skiers will entertain viewers by performing stunts on a revolving deck, and adult skiers of all levels get their own cross-country park. Equipment for snow bunnies of all ages is provided. The party begins at 11 a.m. (also Saturday and Sunday) at Pier 39, Beach & Embarcadero, S.F. Admission is free; call 705-5500.
saturday
november 9
It's Divali, Darling In the Hindu lunar calendar, the five-day holiday Divali, or festival of lights, marks the beginning of the new year, and is observed during the West's fall. Indian celebrants visit friends and family, exchange gifts, eat heartily, decorate their rooftops with small lamps, and set little lanterns afloat down the rivers, commemorating the legend of Lord Rama's return from exile in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. Berkeley's International House offers a public Divali celebration with an all-you-can-eat buffet Indian dinner, decorations, and music, followed by "Images of India," a program of Indian music and dance from several regions. The dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. at the I-House Dining Commons; "Images" begins at 8 p.m. at the I-House Auditorium, 2299 Piedmont, Berkeley. Dinner admission is $6; program admission is by sliding-scale donation. Call (510) 642-3386 for more information.
That's the Letter U and the Numeral 2 When Negativland sampled outtakes of DJ Casey Kasem's obscenity-laced introduction to U2's hit "I Still Havn't Found What I'm Looking For," and much of the song itself, many listeners thought the Oakland experimental band's new record was hilarious. U2's label, Island Records, didn't -- it sued Negativland and its label, SST, putting both in dire financial straits. Filmmaker Craig Baldwin uses this legal battle as a springboard for his fast-moving film Sonic Outlaws, an exploration of free speech, media pranks, and the uncharted territory of the electronic age. The film screens in a benefit for Open Forum at 8 p.m. at Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia, S.F. Admission is $5-10; call 824-3890.
sunday
november 10
Two-Wheelin' Road time is about to become smoother and safer this week, as participants in the Mission Bicycle Parking Improvement Workparty install new bike racks and parking signs at Rainbow Grocery and conduct neighborhood rider and pedestrian surveys on bike parking, the findings from which will be sent to the city. Local officials and activists will speak on new bike-related legislation, and refreshments will be served at day's end. And on Tuesday, representatives of the S.F. Bike Coalition, Muni, and the Department of Parking and Traffic's Bicycle Program present their points of view at "Bikes and Muni Issues," a public forum promoting dialogue on bicycle and bus road-sharing and the future of bikes on buses and BART. The Mission project begins today at 10:30 a.m. at 16th Street & Mission, S.F. Admission is free; call 431-BIKE. The forum is held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the New College Cultural Center, 766 Valencia, S.F. Admission is free; call 431-2453.
monday
november 11
A Prince Among Thespians Avant-garde theater artist Robert Wilson, whose surreal multimedia productions include Einstein on the Beach, made a long-awaited return to the stage with his solo performance piece Hamlet, a monologue. Theatergoers and industry pros who missed the live show aren't entirely out of luck, though -- videographer Marion Kessell preserved the event for posterity last year, juxtaposing Wilson's performance time with rehearsal footage. Kessell's video, The Making of a Monologue: Robert Wilson's Hamlet, screens as part of the Modus Ensemble's "Modus Mondays" series at 7:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. Admission is free with a $4-7 suggested donation; call 346-6456.
tuesday
november 12
The Past's Rich Tapestry The San Francisco Art Institute celebrates its 125-year history of artistic instruction and experimentation with "Illustrious History: 1871-Present," a show and sale of work by faculty and alumni. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz and Ansel Adams, paintings by Joan Brown and David Park, and aquatints by Richard Diebenkorn are among the offerings. "Illustrious History" opens at 9:30 a.m. (and continues through Dec. 11) at the Montgomery Gallery, 250 Sutter, S.F., and at the John Berggruen Gallery, 228 Grant, S.F. Admission is free; call 749-4546.
Tonight's Top Story Walter Cronkite can, with some measure of authority, claim to have seen it all. In his 60-plus years as a journalist, Cronkite covered major world events like the Normandy beach blitz of 1944 and the Nuremberg Nazi trials as a reporter, anchor, editor, and correspondent for United Press International and CBS News. Cronkite, whose autobiography, A Reporter's Life, is forthcoming, recounts his experiences to UC Berkeley's incoming journalism grad school dean, Orville Schell, in an onstage conversation as part of a lecture series named for columnist Herb Caen. The talk begins at 8 p.m. in Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft & Telegraph, UC Berkeley campus. Admission is $3-5; call (510) 642-9988.
Departure Points Author Louise Erdrich set her eloquent, award-winning 1984 novel Love Medicine against some of the bleakest landscapes in America's heartland, while novelist Martin Cruz Smith's best-known work, the thriller Gorky Park, took place in Moscow. However divergent their settings, both authors are of American Indian descent, and both will be speaking at a benefit for Honor the Earth, a public education campaign uniting indigenous communities, at 8 p.m. at the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness, S.F. Admission is $16; call 392-4400.
