San Francisco Chronicle Arts & Entertainment - Spoken Edition

For all those who are upset and frustrated by the ridiculous traffic that has clogged Bay Area freeways for years (and is getting worse by the day), I have miraculously come up with a solution.For instance, take the stretch of the Interstate 80 Eastshore Freeway that runs past Berkeley to and from the Bay Bridge. For the first time in years, I managed to fly through that miserable patch of pavement at the speed limit.

In 1999, when Brian and I first moved into the blue bungalow, there were no more than a dozen trees in the outer, outer, outer Excelsior. So we got involved with the Friends of the Urban Forest, who organized a planting. My father was still alive at the time and said, “If you get the chance, pick an olive tree.”“Olive, Pop?” Pop had fought in the 3rd Armored Division (“the Third Herd”) under Patton during World War II.

Talking with Jill Soloway means to look at old words with a new lens.Consider, “Patriarchy: A social system in which males hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.” Or, “Consent: Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.” Or even, “Woman: an adult human female.

“Kevin Can Wait” moves to a new 8 p.m. time slot and “Me, Myself and I” moves to a 9 p.m. time slot, both on CBS. They will be followed by the season premiere of the well-named “Superior Donuts” at 9:30 p.m.Season eight of “Love & Hip Hop” kicks off on VH1 at 8 p.m.“The Halloween Baking Championship” figures the time is ripe to end its current season at 9 p.m. on the Food Network.

When Larry Kramer’s play “The Normal Heart” premiered at the Public Theatre in New York in April 1985, the AIDS crisis had only just begun. President Ronald Reagan hadn’t mentioned the disease publicly; that would finally happen a few months later. It would still be two years before Kramer would found ACT UP and two years before the first AIDS memorial quilt would be assembled. The number of annual AIDS diagnoses wouldn’t begin to decline for another decade.

I was in a bad mood, and had been for a couple of days. No reason. Business was fine, family was fine, health was fine. I was just in a bad mood and wanted to show the world, starting with my wife.It took her three days to notice, but she finally realized my one-word responses and sullen attitude were a bit out of the ordinary. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Something wrong?”“Everything’s fine,” I replied, squaring my manly shoulders.

Directors Alex Gibney and Blair Foster made a telling decision about how they would film the story of Rolling Stone magazine and its place in American culture during the past 50 years: Almost no one would be allowed to grow old.Co-founder Jann Wenner does, so do photographer Annie Leibovitz and Ice-T, but we only see others like Mikal Gilmore, Greil Marcus, Jon Landau, Cameron Crowe and Ben Fong-Torres in archival images when they were younger.

Midnight North, performing at this year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, comes to S.F. to wrap up a summer of touring. Midnight North, performing at this year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, comes to S.F. to wrap up a summer of touring. Midnight North, seen at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass earlier this month, has emerged from roots in Marin County to enjoy harmonic success.

I feel like a “10” on the motherhood scale. In a game in which whatever you do seems wrong, I did the right thing. I made my daughter a costume for Halloween. If you are a busy, overworked creature and do the logical thing, you go to the drugstore and buy a plastic costume. Then you feel guilty when you see all the other Bart Simpsons and Ninja Turtles in the school parade. If you rent or buy a fancy, expensive costume, you feel guilty for buying your way out.

Javin Salmon celebrates as his yeti costume takes first place in the animal costume contest at the S.F. Zoo. Javin Salmon celebrates as his yeti costume takes first place in the animal costume contest at the S.F. Zoo. A lemur enjoys a jack-o-lantern at the Boo at the Zoo Halloween event at the San Francisco Zoo. A lemur enjoys a jack-o-lantern at the Boo at the Zoo Halloween event at the San Francisco Zoo.

“The Lousy Miner” is a sorrowful Gold Rush song, set to the melody of the old English sea ballad “A Dark-Eyed Sailor” and sung by men laboring and longing in the gold fields of California.“Oh, land of gold, you did me deceive/ And I intend in thee my bones to leave,” goes the final stanza. “So farewell home, now my friends grow cold/ I’m a lousy miner/ I’m a lousy miner in search of shining gold.

This was supposed to be my pre-Halloween column telling you to be generous if a boy dressed as the son of Cruella de Vil came knocking at your door on All Hallow’s Eve, but as John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”When I was in graduate school at the University of Michigan, I lived with a woman named Marcia in the Walden House co-op. At the time, I didn’t know who I was, and Marcia is the one who found me.

Gathering for dinner at Lit Camp:Paul Harding and his wife, Meg; Joshua Mohr; and Adam Johnson and his daughter. Gathering for dinner at Lit Camp:Paul Harding and his wife, Meg; Joshua Mohr; and Adam Johnson and his daughter. The cabins at Mayacamas Ranch, left, were reduced to ashes in the Wine Country wildfires, right. The cabins at Mayacamas Ranch, left, were reduced to ashes in the Wine Country wildfires, right.

A stranger arrives and finds big trouble in a little town. It’s a familiar plot setup, one that often works exceedingly well in popular culture. Stephen King has used some variation of it multiple times. Think of “Salem’s Lot.” Or “Needful Things.” Or “Under the Dome.” Or “The Gunslinger.” There may be other, better examples among his 50-odd books, but those are a good start.

During rehearsals at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland, Marc Brew gives feedback to the artists of AXIS Dance Company. The world-renowned contemporary dance company features dancers with and ... more During rehearsals at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland, Marc Brew gives feedback to the artists of AXIS Dance Company. The world-renowned contemporary dance company features dancers with and without disabilities. Photo: Claudia Bauer.