http://www.pacificsun.com If it is local and useful, it is on PacificSun.com. en-us With "Big Miracle," the new PG "Save the Whales" drama starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski, perhaps the title sets an expectation that Ken Kwapis' movie can't quite deliver. The original title was "Everybody Loves Whales," which suggests a sitcom nobody wants to see. -- PC]]> This chilling adaptation of Susan Hill's 1983 novel offers British actor Daniel Radcliffe a chance to shed his "Harry Potter" persona. Radcliffe plays it somber and stoic in "The Woman in Black," his understated performance complementing the film's spooky atmosphere. -- TH]]> Would labeling gene-modified foods plant a seed in consumers' minds?]]> Lovable cynic Mort Sahl decries Hollywood's lack of optimism
]]> Nature deficit disorder is the disease—and Marin's naturalists may hold the cure...]]> The Marin County Board of Supervisors may be taking a stand in the federal War on Terror--at least in a small way next week when the board decides upon whether to send a letter of support to Sen. Dianne Feinstein regarding her Due Process Guarantee Act of 2011.]]> Welcome to Marin, the eco-friendly lunchbox capital of
the world...]]> Around here we'll have chances for celebrating love and life throughout the week and I'm happy to note that some of these events are refreshingly atypical...]]> Frank Souza will receive life without the possibility of parole for 2010 prison-yard stabbing.]]> This month we focus on one of the brightest lights currently coming out of the Bay Area music scene, the funk-soul juggernaut known as Monophonics.
]]> In the world of energy meters, some things change, some stay the same--well, for $10 a month they do.]]> Nikki Silverstein's story on the format change at KGO ("Cumulus Killed the Radio Star?" Jan. 4) is one of the best editorials I have read in your magazine in years...]]> Flipping around with That TV Guy]]> Ken Massucco is riding off into the sunset--a blazing one no doubt--at the end of March, after 38 years of stamping out scorchers in Marin. ]]> Novato's Hanna Ranch Project is moving ahead, and when the thus-far undeveloped land opens its hotel and retail center, Novato city officials are expecting a net financial benefit to the City of about $500,000--and that's after the five-year Measure F sales tax ends. ]]> ... in fairness, that "zero" has also been earned by the California Public Utilities Commission...]]> A look at the listings with That TV Guy]]> Mountain Play seeking applicants to helm 2013 production...]]> Marin is full of talented folks...]]> I no longer ruin wedding ceremonies-I now conduct them!
]]> Without the signatures to require a place on the ballot, the registrar of voters will turn the petition over to SMART, whose board will almost certainly reject the proposal at its meeting next month. ]]> Are opponents crying 'fire' in crowded theater?]]> They 'wanted to kill my husband. That's all they wanted to do...']]> God works in mysterious ways—but this takes the babke!
]]> Synopsis of Sunday's showing of the Rafael's 'Science on the Screen' series...]]> If you think Sean Penn was confused in The Tree of Life you oughta see him taking the Pacific Sun Oscar Challenge... Click here to vote! And be sure to mark Feb. 26 on your calendars--it's Oscar Night America at the Rafael Film Center, where you can compare your predictions with ours replete with wine, dinner, a raffle, an auction and an official Oscar program book from the Academy. www.cafilm.org/oscars.]]> ]]> It just isn't the Fancy Food Show until they whip out the meat-flavored popcorn...]]> 'Star Trek II,' and the power of positive thinking]]> Affordable housing master-plan requirement eliminated in some unincorporated communities.]]> After months of delays, and considerable anticipation, the latest nightclub to bear the Sweetwater moniker takes its place with a soft opening this week on the suddenly resurgent Marin club scene.
]]> After months of delays, and considerable anticipation, the latest nightclub to bear the Sweetwater moniker takes its place with a soft opening this week on the suddenly resurgent Marin club scene.
]]> Help from a stranger at a gas station...]]> ...making a 12-year-old Mill Valley girl the victim]]> Peruse the listings with That TV Guy]]> Nine short films united by storytelling for, by and about women, from touching documentaries to animated humor...]]> Who would have thought all those years ago that international rock idols from the same band, local heroes, would become entrepreneurs behind establishments starring music and food? Yet here they are...]]> Dressed as gnocchi or dodging oranges—there's more than one way to Carnevale
]]> A selection of tonight's spooky listings, from That TV Guy]]> National Pie Day happens tomorrow and SusieCakes wants you to join in the fun]]> George Clooney goes roguishly handsome in latest directorial effort.]]> The Jan. 4 announcement that Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh had purchased the Seafood Peddler restaurant in San Rafael—with plans to transform the venerable Canal district eatery into a nightclub—lit up the social media and Internet news feeds.
]]> Check the listings with That TV Guy]]> One's left with a crawly underskin awareness of every light switch, snack bowl and doorknob, not to mention those fingertips touching your face three to five times a minute...]]> Peruse the listings with That TV Guy]]> Phil Donahue tells a different story about our 'merry little wars'...
]]> Tune in with That TV Guy; tonight's offerings are heavy on crime and the supernatural--at the same time!]]> With Marin's handsome trial lawyers—it's innocent until proven sexy!
]]> That TV Guy explores your options...]]> One way to beat the winter doldrums is to head out of town for happenings in nearby California food scenes. Coming up this weekend...]]> For once, the media elite cares what you think—and the Pacific Sun wants to know what your favorite movie is! We're calling for short write-ups explaining just why you think... ]]> Local restaurants are making us an offer we can't refuse...
]]> "I'm so very proud of my ancestors here in the United States who came before me and made the opportunities I have now possible. Within the history of our ancestors are wonderful and powerful stories of courage, honor, human dignity, struggle, triumph, humor, love and hope," says Marcus Shelby, 46, an Oakland-based double bassist, music educator, arranger and jazz composer whose original works often focus on historic African-American figures.
]]> All tied up in Mill Valley]]> Getting somewhere going nowhere in Corte Madera]]> I was molested by airport security—and they didn't even buy me peanuts first!]]> An enjoyable fat-free substitute for a novel many feel is turgid and overblown]]> The second Thursday of every month, Sausalito is Marin County's hot spot for literary greatness...]]> Happy New Year music fans! The year ended with a goodbye to the short-lived Southern Pacific Smokehouse in Novato. It is always sad to see a live music venue close, but especially so suddenly, with so many bands booked on the calendar for the next several months. An unfortunate fact of the music business is that venues come and go. ]]> Long before fans of the seminal R&B and doo-wop group the Orioles rang in 1949 with their sentimental hit single "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?," which featured much pleading by lead vocalist Sonny Til, folks had been celebrating the only holiday dedicated to the turning of a calendar page.
]]> Guitarist Travis Andrews and percussionist Andrew Meyerson—aka the Living Earth Show—are men on a mission. The San Francisco-based avant-classical duo has launched Adventures in Quartertones, a chamber-music project designed to provide a platform for cutting-edge composers working in 24-tone systems, rather than the standard 12-tone scheme heard in most Western classical music.
]]> U.S. consumers are moving through the fourth year of the economic downturn, but even in the twilight years of the CD format, record labels are pumping out big, pricey box sets that, well, 99 percent of us would be hard-pressed to afford.
]]> Dick Latvala was the architect of what you might call the afterlife of the Grateful Dead, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in a 1998 article about the then-newly released, mail-order-only Dick's Picks series of concert CDs.
]]> In the midst of another hurried holiday season, the Beat would like to take a moment to acknowledge an especially talented member of our music community. Drummer Dan Thompson, a local...]]> Sara Wasserman grew up in the glow of great music created by some of the most celebrated players in rock, jazz and roots music. "One of my earliest musical memories is of my dad playing with [bluegrass mandolin great David Grisman at our hometown music club the Sweetwater in Mill Valley," ]]> Sara Wasserman grew up in the glow of great music created by some of the most celebrated players in rock, jazz and roots music. "One of my earliest musical memories...]]> Jimmy Dillon and Lorin Rowan ascending once again as San Francisco Music Club.]]> Getting the call to fill in for vocalist China Forbes of Pink Martini—the uber-cool, genre-jumping, neo-cabaret act—seems like a singer's dream.
So what did Storm Large say this summer when she was asked to cover for Forbes while the sophisticated chanteuse recovered from throat surgery?
"I said absolutely not," says Large, juggling a cell phone and a dog leash while walking her husband's yellow Labrador through the San Rafael hills. "They were going to be performing four sold-out shows at the Kennedy Center in four days. China said, 'You'd be doing us all a really big favor.'
]]> The 2011 holiday season rolls into the North Bay chock-full of great live shows for every musical taste. But first, The Beat would like to report that vocalist Judge Murphy (Zero, Lansdale Station) is recovering well 48 days after his liver transplant. "I am getting stronger by the day and want to thank my tireless wife, Lauren, as well as the [organ donor, and all of our extended musical family for their boundless love and support. This was definitely a team effort and nothing short of miraculous," he writes. We look forward to your continued physical and musical health in the new year!
]]> Call it the good house-rockin' seal of approval.
Danny Click, a tall and lanky Indiana-born axeslinger who honed his chops on the beer-soaked stages of Austin, has been plying his Texas roadhouse blues locally since moving to San Rafael just over a decade ago.

His SRO shows at the Sleeping Lady in Fairfax have had fans lining up on the sidewalk.
]]> "The desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost—the most legitimate—passion nature has bred into us," the Marquis de Sade once wrote, "and, without doubt, the most agreeable one."
The members of Petty Theft, a local Tom Petty tribute band, might agree and add that the Florida rocker's songs are a treasure ripe for picking.
"Tom Petty's songbook is so deep and varied. We can play for three hours and every song is basically a hit that the audience knows and loves," says Petty Theft guitarist and singer Monroe Grisman. "That's pretty amazing, and very few other artists can claim that besides maybe the Beatles."
]]> It's one of the catchiest songs in rock history and one of the most famous--and sought-after--phone numbers around. The classic-rock hit "867-5309/Jenny," written by Marin songwriter Alex Call, and popularized in 1982 by the band Tommy TuTone, still has a certain cache.
Or is that cash, hey?
In 2007, a Verizon customer in New York City put the number up for auction on eBay--within just two hours the bidding had reached $80,000 before Verizon told him to shut it down.
]]> The share of distressed homes sold in California dropped for the second consecutive month in April, the California Association of Realtors reported last week. ]]> The Marin Chapter of the Women's Council of Realtors was presented the Wells Fargo "Inspire. Educate. Enable." award at the midyear National Awards Banquet on May 13 in Washington, D.C. ]]>