Pacific Sun 12-30-15 by Pacific Sun

YEAR 53, NO. 52 DEC 30, 2015-JAN 5, 2016

SERVING MARIN COUNTY

PACIFICSUN.COM

Looking

Back TO UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT, WE MUST REVIEW THE PAST P8

2015 in Review p6 Fun with Mushrooms p7 Garden Resolutions p11

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OF M A R I N

The time has come for the Pacific Sun to put a call out for nominations for Heroes of Marin, our annual recognition of those who shine throughout the county—and beyond. From now until January 6, 2016, you, our loyal readers, can nominate who you think would make the county’s best heroes by going to our Heroes of Marin 2016 nomination form at pacificsun.com. Following the nomination process, a committee of community members will select the winners in eight different categories. And later in February, we’ll publish a commemorative Heroes of Marin issue that celebrates the winners and their work. We look forward to crowning Marin’s new Heroes in February of 2016.

CLASSES START JAN. 16

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Because Living at Home is the Best Way to Live

Letters

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Treacherous sidewalks Last week’s letter “Share the road” [Dec. 23] couldn’t have said it better. I would just like to add something. How about fixing our sidewalks? I don’t bike but I walk and really resent the fact that in Terra Linda along Freitas Parkway we have a nice new bike lane but the sidewalks are being neglected. I had a bad fall two days ago over one of the many buckled-up areas that are just being patched. It’s like a roller coaster! I’m going to walk in the bike lane on the street next time. It’s safer than on the sidewalk. I’m hoping that some of the money [is] being budgeted for pedestrians. And not just for the so-called bike/ pedestrian paths which really are bike paths! —Gisela Starck

she has the onerous job of herding the headstrong cats on her own City Council whose political ambitions are getting in the way of common sense and the best interests of the people of Novato. Pat Eklund is what a public official ought to be. —Alex Easton-Brown

Best interests I watched Novato’s mayor, Pat Eklund, stand up to the bullies at the MTC [Metropolitan Transportation Commission]. Now

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This week, Craig Whatley provides us with a visual letter that fits perfectly with our feature story (see page 8).

According to one letter-writer this week, Pat Eklund is ‘what a public official ought to be.’

By Howard Rachelson

Hello Friends—well, we survived another wild and crazy year. Here are some trivial Highlights of 2015, Part I (Look for Part II next week). 1 Millions of Americans eagerly greeted the Pope when he visited what three U.S. cities in September? 2 Partially attributed to parental fear of vaccination, a February resurgence of what highly contagious disease was traced back to Disneyland? 3 In May, the U.S. removed what country from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism? 4 What three well-loved late-night TV talk show hosts retired this year, and who replaced them? 5 In July, Iran reached a historic agreement to limit its nuclear capabilities, signed with what six nations? 6 Sports, 2015: a. In February, what two teams played in the Super Bowl, and which team won? b. In November, what two teams played in the World Series, and which team won? Bonus a. Bonus c. c. In June, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championships for the first time in 40 years, defeating what team in six games? Who was named MVP of the Finals series? 7 This Olympic gold medalist became one of 2015’s top news stories in June, after a male-to-female transition. Identify his/her names, before and after. 8 This musical drama was the success story of the TV year; ratings improved each week in its first season. 9 In May-June, what race horse became the first, since 1978, to win the Triple Crown? 10 Facebook’s most talked about entertainers in 2015 were three singers: One a British redhead, one an American blonde and the other a rapper, record producer, fashion designer and 2020 presidential wannabe. Who are they? BONUS QUESTION: a. Identify this politician, recently named Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2015. b. What’s her political title, in her country? c. Sports Illustrated named what woman Athlete of the Year?

▲ We’re welcoming 2016 with two heartwarming stories of folks who care about animals and WildCare in San Rafael, an agency that helps Marinites care for their creatures. (We’ll resume our regular cynical column next week.) First, we have Juanita the Mallard Duck, who was found as an abandoned duckling and lovingly raised by the residents and staff of Bello Gardens, an assisted living facility in San Anselmo. For two years, tame and affectionate Juanita brightened the days of the seniors at Bello Gardens. Then, two months ago, during a thunderstorm, Juanita escaped her enclosure and ended up at WildCare in San Rafael. As much as they wanted to return the duck to Bello Gardens, federal law prohibited it, as a mallard is classified as a wild animal. With the help of Congressman

Answers on page

»21

Hero

Lots more trivia coming your way in 2016! Contact Howard at howard1@triviacafe.com and visit triviacafe.com, the web’s No. 1 trivia site.

Jared Huffman, proper permits were obtained and Juanita was home with her family just in time for Christmas.

▲ Next, we recognize San Rafael Police officer Phil Melodia, who accidentally ran over a black crow with his police-issued mountain bike. With the help of a Good Samaritan, the officer placed the injured bird in a box and transported him to WildCare. Though the crow’s wing suffered a compound fracture, over the next two months, volunteers at WildCare nurtured the crow back to health. Last week, Officer Melodia, who loves animals, witnessed the crow’s release and watched him fly into the blue yonder. Thank you to all of our heroes who support Marin’s animals in need. —Nikki Silverstein

Got a Hero or a Zero? Please send submissions to nikki_silverstein@yahoo.com. Toss roses, hurl stones with more Heroes and Zeros at ›› pacificsun.com

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Upfront Staff photo

A surfer waits for waves in Bolinas, where the water is higher than it has been in years.

The elementals

It was a big year for natural-world news in the North Bay By Tom Gogola

he North Bay looks to the new year as 2015 departs like Godzilla. That is, the promised Godzilla of El Niño, which has arrived with lashing rains and high winds and the potential to quench a drought that has hung since well before Bruce Jenner’s

gender reassignment—one of the more notable California storylines of 2015, not to change the subject from the end of the world or anything. The big local news stories in the North Bay took on an elemental bent in 2015: Fire and water and

lots of drought-parched earth. There were massive fires in Lake County that drifted down to Napa and caused billions of dollars in damage, but not much in the way of fresh, drought-busting water to speak of until the El Niño dam burst late in the year.

Over the holiday week, any cursory review of the weather scene across the nation would have provided all the evidence one needs that freakish El Niño–inspired stuff is breaking out all over: 70 degrees on Christmas Day in New York City? That’s very unusual.

’

And it’s all because of the mighty Pacific Ocean, which may look the same as it always has from the shoreline, as one gazes at it in a poetic frame of mind. But the ocean has changed, is changing and will continue to change as average temperatures continue to climb and political leaders suggest that you buy a Tesla. Polar bears are floating around on ice cubes, very sad, but the local fallout wrought by drought and global warming and El Niño has hit home, too. Because of a persistent and huge blob of overly warm offshore waters, Californians couldn’t capture or eat the iconic and delicious Dungeness crabs this year because they might have died from domoic acid poisoning. Fishers can’t catch a salmon from creeks parched by the drought, even as Big Science pushes a genetically modified frankenfish alternative, while back in the ocean, starfish wasted away by the millions, and starving sea lion pups washed up all over the coast for lack of available food. And why is there a poisonous sea serpent in the sand that has never been seen in these parts before? Welcome to the end times, a California of annual fires, El Niño floods, epic mudslides and chronic earthquakes ever on the horizon. The state is well-positioned for an exponential outburst of all of the above. Will someone please page Mike Davis already? Recent “king tides” washed up to ever higher points along the shoreline in Marin and Sonoma counties and provided a glimpse of what’s to come. You don’t need to be a North Bay Nostradamus to appreciate the fragility and interconnectedness of the natural world, and how various weather-related phenomena are conspiring to wipe out the state of California, at least according to a worst-case map of scenarios that made the rounds in 2015. The end is near! The sea is taking its vengeance! The signs are

On Sunday, January 3, mushroom lovers will flock to the Bear Valley Visitor Center for the 11th annual Point Reyes National Seashore Fungus Fair.

everywhere! Last week, a kayaker was sucked out of the upper reaches of Tomales Bay to a death on the ocean, a reminder of what a year it was on the bay, where dozens of people had to be rescued from certain rough-seas doom. The end is near! The sky is bleeding chemtrails, they’re fluoridating the water and parents are whooping it up over anti-vaxxer propaganda. But even still, Sonoma and Marin counties kept on keeping on with their variously wellintentioned projects to deal with the global-warming conundrum, and possibly build a few units of affordable housing along the way. Next-generation power is on the march, as Sonoma Clean Power celebrated its first year providing cleaner and locally produced energy to residents, and the counties are pleased to announce that the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) system might take some vehicles off of Highway 101 by next December, alleviating the crush of cars and perhaps, in the process, helping the Bay Area avoid a fate similar to that of smogchoked China. There was some good news for those who would just as soon fire up some Mother Nature and forget the doomsday scenarios in a blizzard of Doritos and Netflix binges. The state got its medicalcannabis house in order with a set of laws signed by Governor Brown, while Marin supervisors did their part and agreed to license four medical marijuana dispensaries in that county. Cannabis liberation seems imminent, the boutique-craft, cannabis-cafe plans are getting rolled out, and now we await the well-funded pushback campaign from the fuddy-duddies as California moves toward an expected 2016 outright-legalization vote, if the world hasn’t ended by then. Now let’s all go watch Guy Fieri eat something on TV.Y

FOOD & DRINK

Fungus fun Where to forage in 2016 By Tanya Henry

his is the time of year to celebrate all things fungus! From guided mushroom foraging hikes to a fungus fair in West Marin, there are plenty of ways to get your “fungus” on in January. The group ForageSF will be offering eight guided hikes throughout January and February in the Point Reyes National Seashore area. The group, established by Iso Rabins in 2008, meets in Inverness and then caravans to specific foraging spots. The guided hikes teach mushroom lovers about how and where fungus grows and which types are good enough to safely eat. The cost is $90 per person, and the outings, held rain or shine, last around three to four hours. A full list of required and optional supplies are emailed to participants when they book their adventure. To learn more, or to book a trip, visit bit.ly/1ROcqr9. If you still can’t get enough, head over to the Bear Valley Visitor Center (a half-mile west of Olema) on Sunday, January 3 for their 11th annual Point Reyes National Seashore Fungus Fair from 10am to 4pm. Speakers will cover topics that include Forest Fires and Fungi, The Art and History of Mushroom Dyes and Zen and Art of Mushroom Hunting. To learn more, visit nps. gov/pore/planyourvisit/events_ fungusfair.htm. Perhaps the most dedicated and enthusiastic advocate for mushroom foraging is Kevin Sadlier, co-owner of Green Jeans Nursery in Mill Valley. Given his

years of experience and love for foraging, it’s not all that surprising that he’s led an effort in creating The Mycological Society of Marin. Earlier this month, the group held their first meeting at the Mill Valley Library, and future meetings will be held the second Wednesday of each month at the same location. Michael Wood, coauthor of California Mushrooms, and Connie Green, co-author of The Wild Table: Seasonal Foraged Food and Recipes, are scheduled to speak at upcoming meetings, and the group will offer organized forays, an annual fungus festival, cultivation seminars, scholarships and camping and cooking events. David Campbell—truffle and edible mushroom expert—is serving as the group’s first president, and his company, MycoVentures, offers local mushroom forays as well as truffle tours in Italy and Croatia. To learn more, email gardenwithgreenjeans@mac.com. Finally, though not related to wild mushrooms, pioneering Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. in Sebastopol cultivates more specialty mushrooms than any other farm in America. Their impressive operation, founded in 1977, has provided a model of “best practices” for other growers around the country. They have also compiled a delicious collection of mushroom recipes that range from savory appetizers to a sweet dessert and much in between. For fabulous fungi inspiration, visit blog.mycopia.com.Y

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Point Reyes National Seashore Fungus Fair

‘

Polar bears are floating around on ice cubes, very sad, but the local fallout wrought by drought and global warming and El Niño has hit home, too.

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Presidential legacies

‘Hope’ and ‘change’ were the Obama buzzwords in 2009; what will the 2016 presidential buzzwords be?

After an ugly year in America, is there hope for 2016? By Tom Gogola

hen the question is asked near the beginning—“Is America ready for its first black president?”—it needs to be answered near the end. And as Barack Obama comes into the homestretch of his term in 2016, the answer, sadly, is no.

If nothing else, 2015 offered a rolling reminder of the first year of Obama’s presidency with its numerous parallel events and template-setting episodes that have now come to a full head of hateful steam in the emergent American Serbia of the mind, if not deed. The embodiment is Donald Trump, presidential candidate, notorious birther, resident American fascist and bomb-thrower. If ‘hope’ and ‘change’ were the Obama buzzwords in 2009, the lesson of 2015 is that a bunch of

overstimulated, hopelessly rightwing pseudo-statesmen haven’t changed, grown up, dropped the sub rosa race-bait narrative—even as Obama delivered on his fair share of what he promised way back when. Don’t ask me why Obama’s race is still an issue; ask Lou Dobbs. The immigrant-bashing news anchor blabbed to the Fox masses about how Obama only became president because he played the “race card,” a curiously timed outburst given that Dobbs made it just two weeks ago. One suspects the true motive for

the race-card redux politics has to do with an inevitable pivot to the gender card embodied by Hillary Clinton. To beat Clinton, goes the takedown logic, you must first lynch Obama all over again. Having failed its first black president, is America ready for its first woman president? Not if Trump has anything to do with it, as the GOP frontrunner’s sick and weird comments about Clinton’s bathroom break during a Democratic debate would indicate. Trump’s obsession with genitals

they were disgusted and they were scared, and a compliant mainstream media gobbled up an all-too-familiar set piece that gives credence to the foolish vagaries of spittle politics. In 2009, Obama thought it would be a good idea to tape a pep talk for kids headed back to school that September, and made available a speech for schools to show students if they chose to do so. Many did not, as fearful white parents freaked out at the idea and demanded that their children not be exposed to the half-white, non-legitimate menace. There’s a timeless quote from a Colorado parent that made the rounds back then and that continues to resonate, six years later: “Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me,” Shanneen Barron told CNN. “I’m an American. They are Americans, and I don’t feel that’s OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.” That all sounds familiar, and the subtext was obvious: Maybe those people’s kids need to hear that garbage from Obama, but not mine. And when the feared socialistindoctrination speech turned out to be some pretty wholesome stuff about staying in school and doing your homework, the fear-lovers and ‘schlong-mongers’ of the right just blew it off and moved to the next available outrage—over whether the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting was an act of ‘terrorism’ and why didn’t Obama say as much, even though he did say as much. This obsession over that word— ‘terrorism’—and its deployment, was in full force late this year, which found some of the media at its absolute desperate worst following the San Bernardino shootings. The Los Angeles Times flagrantly champed at the “Is it terrorism?” bit for days as it reported on San Bernardino, until such time as it was able to offer fearinducing teasers like this: “Follow the Times’ latest coverage of the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.” The implication was obvious, even if the fact patterns couldn’t have been more starkly different. In one attack, a coordinated group of fanatical Saudi Arabians hijacked four jet airplanes, killed 2,996 people and brought down some of the most iconic buildings in the world. In the other, 14 people were murdered at a holiday party. If that’s the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, then someone’s doing a pretty good job at limiting these

Many people fear what would happen if Trump continues to claw his way to the top using disgusting politics and demeaning language.

sorts of things. But no, the shrieking narrative that followed was that Obama has totally failed to keep Americans safe for the past seven years. And yet when last spotted on Twitter in 2013, Barron was selling Napa wines in her home state of Colorado and appeared to have survived Obama and his regime of terror. Twenty fifteen was also the year that Black Lives Matter (BLM) emerged as a much-needed movement against a segregationist criminal-justice system. It was no surprise that the reaction to BLM was furiously reactive. The blacks are getting militant, Bill O’Reilly just wet his pants in fear, and don’t you know it but all lives matter. My favorite Internet meme of 2015 addressed this idiocy by noting that just because you want to save the rainforest doesn’t mean to hell with all those other trees. But the sort of over-Tweeted, table-turning, first-thought, worstthought reactions that met the BLM movement served only to distract from the real menace: The meanseason undertone held Black Lives Matter as a bunch of thugs, possibly of the Muslim persuasion, who should shut up and get back to work at McDonald’s. Therefore, Obama was consorting with Muslim thugs and he hates cops. If you don’t want to get shot, comply. That particular cake was also baked in 2009, during the infamous Henry Louis Gates arrest, and its aftermath. Gates, an esteemed and elderly Harvard professor, who

happens to be black, was arrested on disorderly conduct charges after getting uppity with a white police officer who had detained him, or tried to, in Gates’ own home—the officer had followed up on a call that someone had broken into the house. Obama tried to diffuse the situation and leverage the “teachable moment” by calling for a beer summit with the men at the White House, which sounded like a good idea. But everybody made fun of his meaningless good-will gesture, and six years later, the right still can’t get past the fact that Obama used the word “stupid” in connection with the officer’s actions—as it repeatedly offered apologia after apologia for cop-on-black crimes in 2015, while citing the Gates incident as all the evidence you need that Obama is no friend of the police. A committee that convened to study the Gates incident recommended that moving forward, police forces around the country should offer training to their officers in de-escalation techniques, when the officers are not at risk of injury. Six years later, a white police officer in South Carolina de-escalated a nonthreatening situation by shooting a fleeing black man in the back—and then casually planted evidence to cover up his crime. That was just one of numerous videotaped encounters between (mostly) white police and black citizens that characterized 2015 as the year of the damning video. Those videos had »10 the moral authority of

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was one of the more telling developments as the year wound down and the GOP establishment continued to grapple with a Trump beast of its own unleashing. Trump’s fallback position when it comes to women is to be grossed out by simple bodily functions, and his emergence as a legitimate candidate for president, as party standard-bearer at 39 percent in the polls and rising, signals the arrival of acceptably visceral politics of disgust, disgrace and demeaning language— with all the wink-nod whiffs of malice and conjecture about that ‘Kenyan socialist dictator’ ever at the ready, because it’s all his fault. The conflation of Islamophobia and Obamaphobia is the persistent backdrop that defines the reactionary and highly personalized politics around Obama, and that dynamic really took off this year in the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks. When Trump says, as he did last week, that Hillary got ‘schlonged’ by Obama, he is invoking the racial slander of the Old South, in which accusations of black men raping white women were used to justify lynchings. Trump is not alone in vowing a phallocentric outburst of ISIS carpet-bombing to settle the score. But why is that anything new? The first year of Obama’s presidency was dominated by efforts to hold off the collapse of the American economy and undo the damage wrought by the smirking failure who previously occupied the White House. As he rolls into his last year as president, Obama appears to have largely succeeded on that front, but you’d never know it. Then as now, Obama and his accomplishments are drowned out by the pugnacity, the sneers, the lies and the anger that regularly emits from so-called victims of Obama’s presidency and their enablers in the political-media establishment— blue-collar workers of the white persuasion left in a new-economy wilderness of shifting demographics. They are content to gloat about their anti-intellectualism as those voters continue to cling to the guns and religion that made them hate Obama in the first place. The most recent outburst from the ramparts of dumbed-down America came in the form of a classroom lesson, a Virginia school and a teacher who had offered a lesson in calligraphy late in 2015 that utilized Arabic text. Parents were outraged,

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Presidential legacies «9 authenticity, whereas another set of videos—those infamously altered Planned Parenthood sting videos that made headlines in 2015—also harked back to anti-choice rhetorical excesses from 2009.

“

Indeed, Trump instead played into stereotypes when, during a December talk he gave to a Republican Jewish organization, he observed that, “I’m a negotiator, like you folks.” That speech was widely panned for its barely concealed anti-

There’s an old joke about how ‘politically correct’ is so overused that it doesn’t mean anything except, ‘I don’t agree with you, so therefore you are PC.’

”

That year, physician George Tiller was executed by an anti-abortion extremist in his office. Tiller was killed after having been ritualistically eviscerated by Bill O’Reilly, who effectively issued a media fatwa on him through more than two-dozen TV segments devoted to “Tiller the Baby Killer.” What did you expect, went the post-execution narrative, when this country has just elected a “hardcore abortionist president,” as one group put it. The reproductive-rights narrative got even more explicitly racist in later years as right-wingers warned “the community” that Obama was coming for their babies. And here we are again. Robert Dear shot up a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado in November after being driven nuts by, as he put it, all those “body parts” that antiabortion extremists had toted out in their years-long quest to drive Planned Parenthood out of existence. Around the same time Tiller was murdered in 2009, a nutty old antiSemitic white supremacist attacked the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., in all likelihood because Obama had just visited Buchenwald, and this Holocaust denier couldn’t deal with it. Fast-forward to 2015, and those people are now at the core of Trump’s support base, while the candidate himself has said or done exactly nothing to try and address the rampant anti-Semitism among his legions of Stormfront supporters.

Semitic chutzpah. And that brings us to Sean Hannity, one of the more ferociously pathetic Obama-haters of the conservative entertainment establishment. Hannity was at the center of the first serious scandal of the Obama Administration, when he exposed, in May 2009, what has come to be known as the Great Dijon Mustard, Emasculate-Obama Scandal. Hannity thought it was disgraceful that the president, who had just taken his first out-of-office lunch break at a popular Washington, D.C. burger joint, would dress his burger with an un-American, and definitely French, smear of mustard. The good Catholic commentator Laura Ingraham chimed in that it wasn’t manly to eschew ketchup—it was weak! The segment was supposed to be kind of funny, and libtards who took offense were told to lighten up and get over their so-called political correctness. But it was a joke dressed in menace, and here we see a direct corollary in some of Trump’s outbursts, which his supporters would also like everyone to believe are just jokes. Like that one joke Trump told a crowd recently, about how he “hates” some of the reporters covering him but doesn’t think they should be murdered—or maybe he does—but not really. The context was a sort-of endorsement from Vladimir Putin that Trump willfully misinterpreted as an outright endorsement. A

reporter subsequently asked him if, like Putin, Trump supported the execution of journalists. Instead of just saying, “No, that’s ridiculous,” Trump had to go there, before a crowd of eager supplicants whose heads spun in unison as the crass candidate finger-pointed at the hated journalists at the back of a meeting hall. “Well, maybe … ” Threats delivered as jokes highlight a metastasized set of “politically correct” right-wing viewpoints, even as the candidate’s supporters think that pee-pee humor is Trump’s way of addressing a PC left that has run rampant over their right to hate Obama, Mexicans, Muslims and reporters. There’s an old joke about how “politically correct” is so overused that it doesn’t mean anything except, “I don’t agree with you, so therefore you are PC”—but there is a baseline definition of the phenomenon where legitimate points of view are stifled through social shaming. A politically correct right-winger maintains to the bitter end that any attempt to talk about race, especially in relation to Obama, has to turn the tables back on the person doing the talking, because it’s probably a liberal. So when Dylann Roof clutched a Confederate flag and then shot up a black church in Charleston in 2015, the right-wing political correctness police insisted that the only orthodox way to talk about Roof ’s racist shooting spree was to note that if the low-information voters of this country didn’t elect Obama in the

first place, none of this would have happened. As 2015 came to a close, a whole new set of videos started to pop up that exemplified the politically correct culture of the right—Islamophobia by way of Obamaphobia being the core, driving principle. In December, a woman who works for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, took it upon herself to verbally harass and throw coffee at some Muslims praying in a Castro Valley park. The justification was Paris and San Bernardino, and the woman proved her politically correct right-wing bona fides when she screamed at the men, “You have nothing but hate!” She was subsequently charged with a hate crime. Whoops. There was also a very hostile, and very politically correct right-wing man in Virginia who made the video-outrage circuit late in 2015, during a local planning commission meeting that took up the subject of a proposed new mosque in the area. As an American Muslim and civil engineer described the project, all the Ugly American energy of the past six years was brought to bear by a bulky white dude—complete with the Trumpian finger-point at the hated Other. “This is evil. You are a terrorist. Every one of you are terrorists, I don’t care what you say. Every Muslim is a terrorist. Shut your mouth. I don’t want to hear your mouth.” Do we have the audacity to hope for a better 2016?Y

President Obama, as seen on TV following the recent Paris attacks.

Choose Natives

Simon and Schuster

This week, the Dirt Diva tells us how to obtain and maintain a vibrant and healthy garden like this one.

HOME & GARDEN

Time to change New Year’s resolutions for a healthy garden By Annie Spiegelman, the Dirt Diva

row Your Own

I grew up in New York City, in a tall apartment building, yet somehow I can now grow organic fruits and vegetables. And so can the teenagers I work with in school gardens. If we can do it, trust me, ANYONE can! It’s not rocket science. All you need is sunshine and healthy soil (full of life; compost). When you grow your own food organically you’ll be eliminating pesticides and herbicides that are ubiquitously used in commercially grown food. Visit whatsonmyfood.org to see how many pesticides are sprayed on your supermarket fruits and vegetables. That should scare you into growing your own. Check out Rosalind Creasy’s Edible Landscaping, for tips and ideas. Bon appétit!

Learn How to Sheet Mulch Most avid gardeners amend their vegetable plot in the fall to get it ready for spring. This is usually done by planting cover crops throughout the winter or by sheet mulching: Composting with layers. Sheet mulching can also be done over a lawn or a section of a lawn that you want to turn into a Victory Garden (planting edibles and ornamentals). Lose the lawn! Lawns are out. Food is in! To sheet mulch, weed the section you’re going to use or mow it down. Next, lay four layers of newspaper on top (black and white only). You could also use one layer of cardboard instead. Cover the newspaper with 2 inches of compost. Then cover it all with 3-6 inches of straw or wood chips. This will kill the weeds and grass and rile up the earthworms to get off their

Once native plants are established, they carry on without a chirp. Not one complaint. They just want to hang by your side in your yard and make your life easier. They will help conserve your time, energy and money. How’s that for motivation? Many native plants are droughttolerant as well. Once established, they survive on rainfall and little additional watering in the summer. Most native plants even perform better without fertilizer, and many are pest-resistant and rich in nectar so they invite birds, butterflies and beneficial bugs to your side of town. Most need minimal care and need pruning only once a year, usually in the fall before they go dormant. Native plants essentially take care of themselves. They’re not needy. They’re laid-back, smart, goodlooking and independent. In other words, they’re the perfect date.

Use Compost and Mulch Unfortunately, many unknowing gardeners feed their plants with a mined, salty, chemical, fast-acting fertilizer that can deplete the soil, burn young seedlings and earthworms to a crisp, and turn your plants into speed junkies. You don’t want hyperactive and sugaraddicted plants. (Aren’t hyperactive and sugar-addicted children enough?) Stop being an enabler! You want to gently bore your plants to tears with a slow-release amendment such as compost. Compost has exactly what plants need: Water, air, nutrients and bulk, the last being something most fertilizers lack. Compost improves your soil texture and structure, supplies and helps retain nutrients, provides moisture and aeration, helps control weeds and reduces the need to pollute your zip code with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Make your own or purchase from a local source such as Point Reyes Compost Co. (prcompostco.com), available at local Marin nurseries or Local Veggie Hero Mix at American Soil & Stone in San Rafael (americansoil.com).

Choose Safer Products A healthy garden is home to a variety of native and flowering plants, which in turn attract a wide variety of beneficial insects who enjoy lunching on the neighborhood pests. How do we invite beneficial insects and a bunch of their friends to come to our homes to eat and hang out like starving teenagers? To start, reduce or eliminate all broadspectrum pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Pesticides eliminate not only the bad insects, but kill the beneficial ones, too. You’re now on an endless cycle of wasting money; weakening your plants; killing off the bird, butterfly, and bee populations; depleting your soil; and polluting the neighborhood’s groundwater. That’s not gardening. That’s lunacy. Today there are 16,000 pesticide products registered with the EPA. Besides shoes, do we really need 16,000 of anything? Visit ourwaterourworld.org for recommendations on safer products.

Speak up for REAL food Ever wonder why we are so chubby in America? We have outdated federal food and farm policies that make real food cost more while subsidizing raw materials like corn and soy. Those materials are turned into processed food by adding sugar, salt, fat and preservatives, etc. The U.S. Farm Bill refers to whole fresh foods (tomatoes, apples, broccoli, greens) as “specialty crops.” What is so special about broccoli? Right? (Now I’m going to get hate mail from the Broccoli Coalition … ) It’s time to become a food activist. We used to be tagged as ‘elitist’— but those days are over. There is nothing elitist about wanting to eat safe, clean food, and striving to create a more equitable system of food production, distribution and consumption. Read Ali Berlow’s The Food Activist Handbook: Big & Small Things You Can Do to Help Provide Fresh, Healthy Food For Your Community. And make 2016 the year you go to a Farmers’ Market to meet your local farmers and support them. They are our local heroes dealing with climate changes, water shortages and pesticide drift. Learn more about their miraculous work at marinorganic.org.Y

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behinds and get busy tilling. Water periodically if there’s no rain. By late spring or summer, organic matter will be decomposed and ready for you to start planting. For a full sheet mulch demonstration, visit bayfriendlycoalition.org.

AlterTheater

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AlterTheater’s ‘The Amen Corner,’ directed by Jeanette Harrison, was ‘deeply moving, beautifully told and not easy to shake off.’

THEATER

Torn tickets Top 10 productions of 2015 By David Templeton

into a battle between her culture and country—The Convert not only achieved Bay Area theater perfection, it transcended it. 2. Yesterday Again (6th Street Playhouse/Lucky Penny Productions)—Few North Bay shows this year generated the buzz produced by Dezi Gallegos’ ambitious exploration of how our choices in the present set the course for what happens in the future. Directed with power and grace by Sheri Lee Miller (between rounds of chemo as she launched her fight against cancer this summer), the script might have been guilty of overreaching at times, but with stunning insights, a fully committed cast (and a career-best performance by Craig Miller), this shaggy-dog story was easily one of the most rewarding and unforgettable productions of the year. 3. The Amen Corner (AlterTheater)—James Baldwin’s 1954 play about personal choices and social politics within a small storefront church in Harlem was staged by AlterTheater in a cramped

at a prestigious African American boy’s school—was the script’s achingly honest heart, as one young man learns exactly what it is he deserves— not scorn or suspicion, but love. 7. Arcadia (Cinnabar Theater)— Tom Stoppard’s time-bending drama about math, poetry, murder, love and one long-buried mystery, was staged by director Sheri Lee Miller as a kind of love letter to eccentricity and human desire to achieve something beautiful. In the process, that’s exactly what it achieved. 8. Assassins (Narrow Way Stage Company)—Stephen Sondheim’s powerfully patriotic pastiche about history’s motley collection of true-life presidential assassins, all swapping stories and songs about their crimes, was richly staged by director Trevor Hoffman as part of Sonoma Arts Live. Well-cast, strongly performed and endlessly entertaining, this was one of the best musicals of the year. 9. The North Plan (Main Stage West)—The thing about Jason Wells’ The North Plan—set in a rural jail during a right wing takeover of America—was that its anythinggoes storytelling was as loopy as its characters, and just as entertaining. Directed by Rick Eldridge with an emphasis on rising menace and tension, it didn’t always work, but packed a weird wacky wallop, one gutpunch at a time. 10. The Taming of the Shrew (The Curtain Theatre)—Shakespeare’s infamous battle of the sexes, staged outdoors and directed by Carl Jordan, was adorably cheerful, colorful, strange and wonderful. Melissa Claire and Alan Coyne were so good as Kate and Petruchio; the play was a love letter to love, an examination of how complex, damaged people learn to talk, tempt and tame each other. It was also laugh-out-loud hilarious.Y

Spreckels Theatre Company

ll theatrical undertakings are a little like cats and dogs. Sure, you can put them up in front of judges, who might rank them according to perceived notions of beauty and perfection, but sometimes, you just have to acknowledge that—perfection and grooming and training aside— some dogs and cats are just a whole lot easier to love than others. And sometimes you just love them anyway. Below are the shows I loved the most from the 87 I saw in 2015— my own personal top 10 torn tickets of 2015. 1. The Convert (Marin Theatre Company)—Danai Gurira’s magnificently intimate epic about racial and spiritual clashes in colonial Africa exceeded expectations by balancing humane humor with scathing observations about the relationship between religion and power. Brilliantly directed by Jasson Minadakis, with a gorgeously crafted, heartbreaking performance by Katherine Renee Turner, the story of an African convert to Christianity— and how her faith dropped her

corner of a San Rafael fitness center—and it worked. Directed by Jeanette Harrison, with a riveting lead performance by Cathleen Riddley as the strong-willed Sister Margaret, whose congregation is plotting to oust her, The Amen Corner, with rousing gospel songs to underscore the drama, was—like a good sermon—deeply moving, beautifully told and not easy to shake off. 4. The Light in the Piazza (Spreckels Theatre Company)— In stripping its orchestra down to a tight chamber ensemble, simultaneously recruiting stellar voices from beyond the recognizable North Bay usual suspects, director Gene Abravaya tackled a complex musical and carried it off with charm, simplicity and obvious love— and the feeling was infectious. 5. Clybourne Park (6th Street Playhouse)—In Bruce Norris’ cheeky dark-comedy takeoff on Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, racial tensions in the ’50s contrast with similar struggles today. Under Carl Jordan’s sensitively probing direction, a strong cast delivered the goods, uncomfortably at times, but without losing touch with the script’s brutally funny, sharply satirical intentions. 6. Choir Boy (Marin Theatre Company)—There was a lot of conversation when director Kent Gash’s visually stunning and emotionally devastating staging of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy opened at Marin Theatre Company. The main topics were the show’s male nudity and it’s dropdead gorgeous a cappella gospel harmonies, but the real reason to see the play—the story of a young black gay man struggling to be accepted

Spreckels Theatre Company’s ‘The Light in the Piazza’ ‘tackled a complex musical and carried it off with charm, simplicity and obvious love.’

Florence + the Machine

In May, English indie rock band Florence + the Machine released ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’, their third studio album.

MUSIC

Sounds good Top 10 CDs of 2015

here were plenty of good albums in 2015, just not many that went to the next level, making this a bit of a down year for music. These albums, though, stood out for me. 1. 25 (XL), Adele This follow-up may not quite equal Adele’s 2011 blockbuster, 21, but it comes very close. Especially impressive are several songs (“All I Ask,” “Million Years Ago” and “Love in the Dark”) that feature little more than Adele’s vocal and either piano or guitar, an arrangement that only works with songs as strong as these. 2. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (Mom + Pop Music), Courtney Barnett Barnett’s smart and funny lyrics highlight this full-length debut, but the music is just as good, whether it’s spiky and catchy or gentle with a little edge. 3. Black Messiah (RCA), D’Angelo and the Vanguard Black Messiah may draw from familiar roots, such as ’60s and ’70s soul and funk, but D’Angelo’s sound is his own, with swirling, gauzy textures that draw the listener in and leave an intoxicating effect. 4. Beauty Behind the Madness (XO/Republic), The Weeknd Beauty Behind the Madness has much more to offer than its great single, “Can’t Feel My Face.” There are 13 more sharply crafted songs on this album

By Alan Sculley that should make the Weeknd R&B’s next major star. 5. Something More Than Free (Southeastern), Jason Isbell With Something More Than Free, Isbell delivers another largely acoustic, lyrically incisive gem of an album. 6. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Island), Florence + the Machine Florence Welch and company rock a bit more and sound a bit less opulent on their fine third album. 7. California Nights (Harvest), Best Coast The duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno get a bit edgier without losing the classic pop melodicism of their first two albums. 8. Traveller (Mercury Nashville), Chris Stapleton Stapleton wowed viewers in November when he paired with Justin Timberlake on the CMA Awards. Fans will find Stapleton’s rootsy debut album, Traveller, just as impressive. 9. Yours, Dreamily (Nonesuch), The Arcs Fronted by Dan Auerbach, The Arcs have similarities to his main band, the Black Keys. But nearly every song on Yours, Dreamily has a musical twist that makes the Arcs sound plenty original. 10. The Blade (Warner Bros. Nashville), Ashley Monroe Monroe continues to make her mark with this lyrically smart, hooky and musically diverse third album.Y

• • • • • • • • • •

Amy The Assassin Beasts of No Nation Bridge of Spies Ex Machina It Follows Love and Mercy Son of Saul Taxi World of Tomorrow (short by Don Hertzfeldt)

In the film ‘Ex Machina,’ a programmer is invited to administer a test to an android with artificial intelligence.

FILM

Femme force

Films of 2015 showcase powerful women By Richard von Busack

few years ago, during the height of the Frat Pack, there were so many males on screen that you wondered if they’d passed some Elizabethan-style law against women actors. But maybe someone was listening to the despair of filmgoers, because look at the year we just had. Daisy Ridley’s Rey rejuvenates Star Wars: The Force Awakens, handsomely countering George Lucas’ tendency to turn the far and few women in his space operas into wax statues. We had the true aim of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen. Mad Max was upstaged by Charlize Theron’s Mad Maxine. There was Jessica Chastain as the master of the interplanetary Hermes in The Martian. There was 007’s companion Lea Seydoux giving Blofeld a well-deserved facial with high explosives. And Bond’s troubles would have been fewer if he had teamed up with Melissa McCarthy in Spy. The documentary Amy was a warning to bright, talented girls who believe that they should give their souls over to love, as much as it was a CSI examination of a fragile woman done to death. Compare Amy Winehouse’s troubles with the firm backbone of the lonely but brave Eilis, played by Saorise Ronan—maybe the single most stirring performance of the year in Brooklyn. There was Shu Qi’s lovelorn killer in 8th century China in The Assassin, and Elizabeth Banks’ charm-school-educated saleswoman

who learns how to stand her ground against a master manipulator in Love and Mercy. It can be hoped that Alicia Vikander’s tremendous acting in Ex Machina shook the obscene selfconfidence of the engineers plotting the next step in artificial intelligence. As a womanoid, engineered to look shy, flirty and frail, Ex Machina savagely critiqued the damsel in distress that activates so many movies. Inside Out’s gumball machine version of a girl-child’s mind was, above all, pretty. Yet this was a movie trafficking in something that a few years ago would have been judged absolutely unsellable: The inner life of a maturing young female. The semianimated Diary of a Teenage Girl took up the next interior chapter in one girl’s life. Don Hertzfeldt’s poignant World of Tomorrow could be the last stage of this particular fanciful arc—a woman heading off into the solar system, but allowed by the magic of time travel to converse with her toddler-aged grandmother. The most noble function of cinema is seen in its opposition to fanaticism in all forms—it’s an old fight that goes back as far as D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, celebrating its centennial next year. At their best, the movies civilize us with visions that make us understand each other, to let us know what it’s like to have a different skin, a different tongue, a different sex.Y

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The top 10 films of 2015

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Movies

•New Movies This Week By Matthew Stafford

Friday January 1 - Thursday January 7 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (1:28) Alvin, Simon and Theodore hit the road to Miami to stop Dave from getting married and ruining their happy home. Assassin (1:45) Taiwanese martial arts epic about a ninth century swordswoman hired to assassinate an old flame. The Big Short (2:10) Envelope-pushing comedy about the 2007 recession stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt as rogue financiers who take on Wall Street. The Brand New Testament (1:53) Acerbic and irreverent Belgian comedy about a God who’s grumpy, overworked and saddled with a rebellious daughter. Brooklyn (1:23) Moving story about Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Carol (1:58) Acclaimed Todd Haynes drama about the love affair between an elegant housewife (Cate Blanchett) and a humble shopgirl (Rooney Mara) in 1950s New York. Concussion (2:02) Will Smith stars as the real-life doctor who took on the NFL to alert the public about chronic traumatic head injuries in football players. Court (1:56) Indian tragicomedy about an elderly rabble-rouser who’s arrested and tried for no particular reason. Creed (2:12) Rocky Balboa is back and better than ever, coaching the son of late rival Apollo Creed to be boxing’s next champ; Sly Stallone and Michael B. Jordan star. Daddy’s Home (1:30) Doofus comedy about the battle of wills between affable Will Ferrell and his wife’s hipster ex (Mark Wahlberg). The Danish Girl (2:00) Fictionalized account of the complicated relationship between 1920s artist Gerda Wegener and her husband Einar, aka Lili Elbe, a transgender pioneer. Embrace of the Serpent (2:05) Colombian portrait of a Cohiuano shaman whose peaceful life in the rainforest is threated by missionaries and other interlopers. Felix & Meira (1:46) Acclaimed Canadian drama about the uneasy attraction between a Montreal loner and a Hasidic Jewish housewife. The Fencer (1:38) Finnish drama about a haunted WWII vet who confronts his demons as a fencing instructor in a Soviet-held Estonian village. The Good Dinosaur (1:40) Pixar Animation’s take on what would have happened if the asteroid that hit earth and killed all the dinosaurs—missed! Raymond Ochoa lends voice to Arlo the Apatosarus. The Hateful Eight (2:48) Quentin Tarantino Western about eight desperadoes seeking shelter in a saloon during a blizzard stars Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh; filmed in glorious 70mm! The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2:10) Rebel leader Katniss Everdeen is back, raising an army against the president as violence consumes the Capitol; Jenifer Lawrence and Donald Sutherland star. Iraqi Odyssey 3D (2:42) Sweeping Swiss documentary (by expat Iraqi filmmaker Samir) examines the troubled history of the Middle Eastern nation through colonialism, dictatorship and war. Ixcanul (1:33) Guatemalan folktale about the forbidden love between a young Mayan and a girl betrothed to the owner of a coffee plantation. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (1:22) The rogue filmmaker outfits a cab with cameras and chats with his passengers about censorship, morality and other not-so-serious subjects. Janis: Little Girl Blue (1:46) Documentary employs concert footage, correspondence and interviews (with Bob Weir, Country Joe

McDonald and other notables) to craft a portrait of the blues-rock icon. Joy (2:03) Sweeping family saga stars Jennifer Lawrence as the matriarch of a treacherous business dynasty; David O. Russell directs. The Martian (2:16) Ridley Scott sci-fi adventure about a daring NASA attempt to rescue an astronaut marooned on Mars; Matt Damon stars. Meet the Patels (1:28) Reality rom-com about 30-year-old Ravi Patel, the apex of a triangle between himself, his parents and the woman of his dreams. The Metropolitan Opera: The Magic Flute (1:55) Phantasmagorical Julie Taymor production of Mozart’s whimsical family-friendly classic. Mustang (1:37) Acclaimed drama about three spirited young Turkish sisters who rebel against the sexist strictures of the status quo. National Theatre London: Hamlet (4:00) Catch Benedict Cumberbatch as the Bard’s conflicted, vengeful prince of Denmark, direct from London in big-screen high definition. National Theatre London: Jane Eyre (3:20) Catch Sally Cookson’s celebrated and dynamic stage production of the Charlotte Brönte novel in glorious big-screen high definition. The Paradise Suite (1:58) Dutch drama interweaves the stories of six immigrants from around the world making a home in Amsterdam. Point Break (1:53) Remake of the Patrick Swayze actioner about a team of elite athletes who pull off equally elite heists. Rams (1:30) Icelandic comedy about two long-estranged brothers who are forced to work together when their sheep herds are threatened. The Second Mother (1:50) Acclaimed Brazilian drama about a hardworking housekeeper who only realizes how marginalized her life has become when her spirited daughter pays a visit. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (1:50) Feature-length Holmes flick based on the BBC TV series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the wizard of Baker Street and Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson. Sisters (1:33) Tina Fey and Amy Poehler star as rowdy sibs who plan one last lost weekend in the house where they grew up. 600 Miles (1:25) Mexican drama about the unusual friendship that develops between a young gun smuggler and the U.S. agent who’s tracking him. Spotlight (2:08) True story about the Boston Globe’s tenacious investigation into a decades-long Catholic Church cover-up; Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and John Slattery star. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2:20) Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are back in a post-Return of the Jedi reboot from J.J. Abrams and The Walt Disney Corporation. Suffragette (1:46) Carey Mulligan stars as a turnof-the-century activist who uses civil disobedience to fight for women’s suffrage; Meryl Streep cameos as Emmeline Pankhurst. The Throne (2:05) South Korean historical drama about the power struggle between an aging king and his vengeful, free-spirited son. Trumbo (2:4) Bryan Cranston stars as the legendary screenwriter who won two Academy Awards before he became one of the Hollywood 10 and took on the absurdity and injustice of the Blacklist; Helen Mirren co-stars. A War (1:53) Danish war drama explores the lives of a young commander in Afghanistan and his wife and children back home. Wave (1:44) Norwegian thriller focuses on a young geologist and his family caught in a cataclysmic avalanche. Youth (1:58) Old cronies Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel grapple with art, music, love and showbiz at an elegant Swiss spa; Jane Fonda and Paloma Faith co-star.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (PG) • Assassin (Not Rated) The Big Short (R)

Northgate: 11:50, 2:20, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40 Rafael: Fri 5 Larkspur Landing: Fri-Sun 12:10, 3:20, 6:30, 9:40; Mon-Wed 6:30, 9:40 Regency: Fri-Sat 10:25, 1:20, 4:20, 7:25, 10:30; Sun-Thu 10:25, 1:20, 4:20, 7:25 • The Brand New Testament (NR) Rafael: Thu 8:30 Bridge of Spies (PG-13) Lark: Fri 8:40; Sat 3:30; Tue 2:30; Thu 3 Brooklyn (PG-13) Regency: Fri-Sat 11:15, 1:55, 4:45, 7:45, 10:20; Sun-Thu 11:15, 1:55, 4:45, 7:45 Carol (R) Regency: Fri-Sat 10:40, 1:40, 4:35, 7:40, 10:25; Sun-Thu 10:40, 1:40, 4:35, 7:40 Sequoia: Fri-Sat 1:25, 4:15, 7:10, 10:05; Sun 1:25, 4:15, 7:10; Mon-Wed 4:15, 7:10; Thu 4:15 Concussion (PG-13) Larkspur Landing: Fri-Sun 12:35, 3:40, 6:45, 9:50; Mon-Wed 6:45, 9:50 Northgate: 10:35, 1:25, 4:15, 7:10, 10 Rowland: Fri-Sun 10:45, 1:50, 4:55, 7:50, 10:55; Mon-Wed 10:45, 1:50, 4:55, 7:45, 10:40 • Court (Not Rated) Rafael: Sun 4:15 Creed (PG-13) Northgate: 11:55, 6 Daddy’s Home (PG-13) Fairfax: Fri-Sat 12:30, 3:40, 6:45, 9:45; Sun-Wed 12:30, 3:40, 6:45 Northgate: 12:30, 3, 5:30, 8, 10:30 Rowland: Fri-Sun 11:10, 1:45, 4:20, 6:50, 9:30; Mon-Wed 11:45, 2:30, 5:10, 7:35, 10 The Danish Girl (R) Regency: Fri-Sat 10:30, 1:15, 4:05, 7, 10; Sun-Mon, Thu 10:30, 1:15, 4:05, 7; Tue-Wed 10:30, 1:15, 4:05 Sequoia: Fri-Sat 1:40, 4:35, 7:30, 10:15; Sun 1:40, 4:35, 7:30; MonWed 4:35, 7:30; Thu 4:35 • Embrace of the Serpent (NR) Rafael: Tue 8 Felix & Meira (R) Rafael: Sat 7:15 • The Fencer (Not Rated) Rafael: Sat 2; Wed 6 The Good Dinosaur (PG) Northgate: 10:30, 12:55, 3:20 The Hateful Eight (R) Fairfax: Fri-Wed 12, 3:50, 7:30 Regency: Fri-Sat 10:50, 2:45, 6:50, 10:25; Sun-Thu 10:50, 2:45, 6:50 Rowland: Fri-Wed 11:30, 3:15, 7, 10:40 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (PG-13) Northgate: 12:45, 3:55, 7:05, 10:15 • Iraqi Odyssey 3D (Not Rated) Rafael: Sun 1 • Ixcanul (Not Rated) Rafael: Tue 6 Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (Not Rated) Lark: Fri 4; Wed 12:45 Janis: Little Girl Blue (Not Rated) Rafael: Fri-Sat 3:45, 9:05; Mon-Thu 9:05 Joy (PG-13) Fairfax: Fri-Sat 1, 4, 7:05, 9:40; Sun-Wed 1, 4, 7:05 Larkspur Landing: Fri-Sun 1, 4, 7, 10; Mon-Wed 7, 10 Northgate: 10:40, 1:30, 4:25, 5:50, 7:20, 8:40, 10:15 Playhouse: Fri-Sat 12:30, 3:45, 7, 9:45; Sun-Wed 12:30, 3:45, 7 Rowland: Fri-Wed 10:25, 1:20, 4:25, 7:25, 10:25 The Martian (PG-13) Lark: Fri 1; Sun 11:50; Mon 5 Meet the Patels (Not Rated) Lark: Fri 11; Sun 8:10; Mon 12:30 The Met. Opera: The Magic Flute (NR) Lark: Sat 1 Mustang (Not Rated) Rafael: Fri 6; Sat 1:45, 6; Sun 1:45; Mon-Thu 6:15 Nat. Theatre London: Hamlet (NR) Lark: Tue 10am • Nat. Theatre London: Jane Eyre (NR) Lark: Thu 7:30 • The Paradise Suite (Not Rated) Rafael: Wed 8:15 • Point Break (PG-13) Northgate: 1:45, 7:25; 3D showtimes at 10:55, 4:35, 10:05 Rowland: Fri-Wed 11, 5; 3D showtimes at 2, 7:40, 10:20 • Rams (Not Rated) Rafael: Thu 6 (director Grimur Hakonarson in person) Room (R) Lark: Sat 9:10; Tue 8:15; Wed 8 The Second Mother (R) Rafael: Mon 8:30 • Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (PG-13) Regency: Tue-Wed 7:30 Sisters (R) Fairfax: Fri-Sat 1, 3:55, 6:50, 9:40; Sun-Wed 1, 3:55, 6:50 Larkspur Landing: Fri-Sun 1:35, 4:25, 7:15, 10:05; Mon-Wed 7:15, 10:05 Northgate: 11:05, 1:55, 3:15, 4:45, 7:35, 9, 10:25 Rowland: Fri-Sun 10:35, 1:40, 4:35, 7:30, 10:45; Mon-Wed 10:35, 1:40, 4:25, 7:15, 10:10 • 600 Miles (R) Rafael: Fri 7:30 Spotlight (R) Regency: Fri-Sat 12:30, 3:55, 7:10, 10:15; Sun-Thu 12:30, 3:55, 7:10 Star Wars: Fairfax: Fri-Sat 12, 1:15, 3:15, 4:30, 6:30, 7:45, 9:30; Sun-Wed 12, 1:15, The Force Awakens (PG-13) 3:15, 4:30, 6:30, 7:45 Northgate: 11:25, 12:40, 2, 2:35, 3:50, 5:45, 7, 8:20, 8:55, 10:10; 3D showtimes at 10:50, 12, 1:20, 3:10, 4:30, 5:10, 6:20, 7:40, 9:30 Playhouse: Fri-Sat 12:15, 1, 3:30, 4:15, 6:45, 7:30, 9:50; Sun-Wed 12:15, 1, 3:30, 4:15, 6:45, 7:30 Rowland: Fri-Sun 9:15, 12:35, 7:15, 10:30, 3D showtimes at 10:15, 1:30, 4:45, 8, 11:10; Mon-Wed 12, 3:30, 7:10, 10:15, 3D showtimes at 10:15,1:30, 4:45, 8 Suffragette (PG-13) Lark: Sun 5:45; Mon 2:30; Wed 5:30 • The Throne (Not Rated) Rafael: Sun 7 Trumbo (R) Lark: Fri 6; Sat 6:30; Sun 3; Mon 8; Tue 5:30; Wed 2:45; Thu 12:15 Northgate: 11, 1:50, 4:40, 7:30, 10:20 • A War (Not Rated) Rafael: Mon 6 • Wave (Not Rated) Rafael: Sat 5 Youth (R) Rafael: Fri 4, 6:30, 8:15; Sat-Sun 1:30, 4, 6:30, 8:15; Mon-Thu 6:30, 8:30 Showtimes can change after we go to press. Please call theater to confirm. CinéArts at Marin 101 Caledonia St., Sausalito, 331-0255 CinéArts at Sequoia 25 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, 388-4862 Cinema 41 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 924-6505 Fairfax 9 Broadway, Fairfax, 453-5444 Lark 549 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, 924-5111 Larkspur Landing 500 Larkspur Landing Cir., Larkspur, 461-4849 Northgate 7000 Northgate Dr., San Rafael, 800-326-3264 Playhouse 40 Main St., Tiburon, 435-1234 Rafael Film Center 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael, 454-1222 Regency 80 Smith Ranch Rd., Terra Linda, 479-5050 Rowland 44 Rowland Way, Novato, 800-326-3264

Concerts MARIN

The Lauren Murphy Band Former California talent returns to the West Coast after moving to the artistic hamlet of Fairhope, Ala. Jan 6, 8pm. $17$20. Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley, 415.388.1100. Skinny Singers The singers, made of North Bay favorites Tim Bluhm and Jackie Greene, perform a rare and intimate show in the Grate Room. Dec 30, 8pm. $30. Terrapin Crossroads, 100 Yacht Club Dr, San Rafael, 415.524.2773.

SONOMA Cracker with Camper Van Beethoven Former California alt-rocker David Lowery brings both of his popular musical outfits on the road for a double dose of good times and enduring tunes. Dec 30, 8:30pm. $26$28. Mystic Theatre, 23 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, 707.765.2121. Jackie Greene Northern California native and popular country soul songwriter performs a two-set night of music. Jan 2, 9pm. $26-$31. Mystic Theatre, 23 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, 707.765.2121.

Ghiringhelli Pizzeria Grill & Bar First Sunday of every month, 5pm, Erika Alstrom with Dale Alstrom’s Jazz Society. 1535 South Novato Blvd, Novato, 415.878.4977.

NAPA Tommy Alexander Possessing an introspective style and striking melodies, the Portland folk singer and songwriter plays Napa with help from Moon Bottle and Kent Smith. Jan 6, 8pm. Free. Silo’s, 530 Main St, Napa, 707.251.5833.

Clubs&Venues MARIN Belrose Theater Thurs, open mic night. 1415 Fifth Ave, San Rafael, 415.454.6422. Benissimo Ristorante & Bar Thurs, Fri, live music. 18 Tamalpais Dr, Corte Madera, 415.927.2316. Fenix Wed, Pro blues jam. Dec 31, NYE dinner and show with Aja Vu. Jan 2, Terrie Odabi. Jan 3, Pellejo Seco. 919 Fourth St, San Rafael, 415.813.5600.

HopMonk Novato Dec 30, open mic night with Magic Toy. Dec 31, Petty Theft. Jan 3, Ridgway. Jan 6, open mic night with Billy D and friends. 224 Vintage Way, Novato, 415.892.6200. Marin Country Mart Jan 1, 5:30pm, Joshua Smith Trio. Jan 3, 12:30pm, the Dried Up Bones. 2257 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur.

Smitty’s Bar Dec 31, News Year’s Eve Extravaganza with the 7th Sons. 214 Caledonia St, Sausalito, 415.332.2637.

19 Broadway Club Mon, open mic. Dec 30, Barrio Manouche. Dec 31, NYE Bash with the Fairfax All-Stars. 17 Broadway Blvd, Fairfax, 415.459.1091.

Spitfire Lounge Last Thursday of every month, the North Bass DJ night. First Friday of every month, Truthlive. 848 B St, San Rafael, 415.454.5551.

No Name Bar Mon, Kimrea and the Dreamdogs. Tues, open mic. 757 Bridgeway, Sausalito, 415.332.1392.

Sweetwater Music Hall Mon, Open Mic. Dec 30, the Painbirds. Dec 31, NYE with the Weight and Moonalice. Jan 1-2, Tainted Love. Jan 3, Bongo Love. 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley, 415.388.1100.

Panama Hotel Restaurant Dec 30, Robin DuBois. Jan 5, Swing Fever. Jan 6, Brian Byrnes. 4 Bayview St, San Rafael, 415.457.3993. Papermill Creek Saloon Dec 31, NYE with Ned Endless & the Allniters. 1 Castro, Forest Knolls, 415.488.9235. Peri’s Silver Dollar Mon, Billy D’s open mic. Dec 30, Festival Speed. Dec 31, New Years Eve with Beso Negro. Jan 1, Fighting Smokey Joe. Jan 2, the Restless Sons. Jan 3, the Milestone with Miles Schon. Jan 5, Fresh Baked Blues and Waldo’s Special. Jan 6, the Weissmen. 29 Broadway, Fairfax, 415.459.9910.

Lauren Murphy

Louisiana-born singer Lauren Murphy, described as “brassy, bawdy and graceful,” takes the stage at Sweetwater on January 6.

Havana Nights with Los Clasicos de Cuba. Jan 3, Orquesta la Moderna Tradicion. 305 Harbor View Dr, Sausalito, 415.331.2899. Smiley’s Schooner Saloon Sun, open mic. Mon, Epicenter Soundsystem reggaae. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve with El Radio Fantastique. Jan 1, Junk Parlor. Jan 2, TV Mike and the Scarecrowes with Sugar Candy Mountain. 41 Wharf Rd, Bolinas, 415.868.1311.

Osteria Divino Dec 30, Jonathan Poretz. Dec 31, James Henry & Hands on Fire. 37 Caledonia St, Sausalito, 415.331.9355.

George’s Nightclub Wed, George’s Jazz Time jam. Thurs, California Flight Project. Sun, Mexican Banda. Jan 2, DJ Maroquien. 842 Fourth St, San Rafael, 415.226.0262.

CALENDAR

Terrapin Crossroads Dec 30, Rattlebox with Lorin Rowan and Barry Sless. Dec 31, Colonel & the Mermaids. Dec 31, Stu Allen & Mars Hotel in the Grate Room. 100 Yacht Club Dr, San Rafael, 415.524.2773. Throckmorton Theatre Wed, 12pm, Noon concert series. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve party with Mort Sahl and Danny Click & the Hell Yeahs. 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.383.9600.

SONOMA 755 After Dark (Aubergine) Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Black & White Ball with Free Peoples and Dgiin. 755 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol, 707.829.2722.

Presidio Yacht Club Dec 31, NYE swing dance with the Retrobates. Jan 2, the 7th Sons. Fort Baker, Sommerville Rd, Sausalito, 415.332.2319.

Annex Wine Bar Wed, Calvin Ross. Dec 31, Rockin’ NYE dinner and show with Sonoma Sound Syndicate. 865 W Napa St, Sonoma, 707.938.7779.

Rancho Nicasio Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Party with the Zydeco Flames. Jan 2, Dave Gonzalez & the Branded Men. 1 Old Rancheria Rd, Nicasio, 415.662.2219.

Annie O’s Music Hall Sun, 5pm, Sunday Dance Party with the Blues Defenders. Dec 31, NYE party with Paulie’s Garage. 120 Fifth St, Santa Rosa, 707.542.1455.

Rickey’s Dec 31, NYE with Chime Travelers. 250 Entrada Dr, Novato, 415.883.9477.

Aqus Cafe Dec 30, Mary Joe. 189 H St, Petaluma, 707.778.6060.

Sausalito Seahorse Wed, Tango with Marcello and Seth. Mon, Marco Sainz Trio. Tues, Jazz with Noel Jewkes and friends. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve with the James Moseley Band. Jan 2,

Arlene Francis Center Wed, Open Mic. Tues, Open Didgeridoo Clinic. Dec 30, Songwriters Circle. Jan 2, Frank Anderson and True Effects. 99 Sixth St, Santa Rosa, 707.528.3009.

PA CI FI C S U N | D ECEM B ER 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 - JA NUARY 5, 2016 | PACI FI CSUN.CO M

Sundial

Blues Band. Jan 1, Frankye Kelly. Jan 2, Yancie Taylor. 16280 Main St, Guerneville, 707.869.0501. Mc T’s Bullpen Mon, Wed, DJ Miguel. Jan 2, Levi Lloyd. Jan 3, 3pm, Jimi James. Jan 3, 9pm, DJ Miguel. 16246 First St, Guerneville, 707.869.3377. Thur 12/31 • Doors 8pm • ADV $75 / DOS $85 Playing Songs of The Band, featuring former members of The Band, Rick Danko, & Levon Helm Band

Murphy’s Irish Pub Dec 31, 2pm, Dublin’s New Year’s with the Gentlemen Soldiers. Dec 31, 10pm, Cynthia Carr and the Carrtunes. Jan 2, Andrew Freeman. 464 First St E, Sonoma, 707.935.0660.

The Weight NYE Celebration with Moonalice

Fri 1/1 & Sat 1/2 • Doors 8pm • ADV $27 / DOS $32

Tainted Love New Year's Weekend Party Sun 1/3 • Doors 7pm • ADV $12 / DOS $15

Bongo Love from Zimbabwe

Ridgway

PACI FI C SUN | DE CE MB E R 30, 2015 - JA NU A RY 5 , 2 0 1 6 | PA CI FI CS U N. COM

Wed 1/6 • Doors 7pm • ADV $17 / DOS $20

The Lauren Murphy Band + Special Guests Fri 1/8 • Doors 8pm • ADV $22 / DOS $25

Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express

Sun 1/10 • Doors 7pm • ADV $20 / DOS $25 Delta Deep (feat members of Def Leppard & STP) w/ Taxes Thur 1/14 • Doors 7pm • ADV $20 / DOS $25 ATASH Award Winning World Music from Austin, TX Fri 1/15 • Doors 8pm • ADV $27 / DOS $30

The Meters Experience

feat Leo Nocentelli - Guitarist of The Meters with Special Guest Bernie Worrell - Keyboardist of Parliament-Funkadelic www.sweetwatermusichall.com 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley Café 388-1700 | Box Office 388-3850

Local band Ridgway, (formerly Ridgway Space Station) recently released their first single, ‘Fire Inside,’ from their soon-to-be-released album ‘Brighter Days.’ They’ll perform at HopMonk Tavern in Novato on January 3. Barley & Hops Tavern Jan 2, Mark McDonald. 3688 Bohemian Hwy, Occidental, 707.874.9037. Bergamot Alley Dec 31, New Year’s Eve at Bergamot Alley. 328-A Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg, 707.433.8720. The Big Easy Tues, the American Alley Cats. Dec 30, Junk Parlor. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Cabaret with Royal Jelly Jive and the Butterfly Ship. Jan 1, Eric Wiley Project. Jan 2, Arizona & the Volunteers. 128 American Alley, Petaluma, 707.776.4631. Brixx Pizzeria Jan 5, anniversary party with the Mighty Groove. 16 Kentucky St, Petaluma, 707.766.8162.

Winter session starts

January 14

B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille Tues, “Reggae Market” DJ night. Dec 31, NYE Disco Inferno with DJ Hi-C. 400 First St E, Sonoma, 707.938.7110. Casa del Mar Dec 31, New Year’s Eve party with Jonn Hart, Chuy Gomez, Pure Powers. 3660 Stony Point Rd, Santa Rosa, 707.541.6140. Cellars of Sonoma Tues, Wavelength. Jan 2, John Pita. 133 Fourth St, Santa Rosa, 707.578.1826. Coffee Catz Mon, open mic. Tues, 12pm, Jerry Green’s Peaceful Piano Hour. Dec 31, 4:30pm, DJ Kudjo. 6761 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol, 707.829.6600. Dry Creek Kitchen Jan 4, Ian Scherer and Steve Froberg Duo. Jan 5, Susan Sutton and Piro Patton Duo. 317 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg, 707.431.0330.

Pacific Sun readers save $20 Use code KidsRock! at checkout.

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Ellington Hall Jan 1, Holiday Masquerade Ball with the Dixie Giants. Jan 3, 1pm, San Francisco Feetwarmers. 3535 Industrial Dr, Santa Rosa, 707.545.6150. Finley Community Center Mon, 11am, Proud Mary’s ukulele jam and lessons. First Friday of every month, Larry Broderick Trio. 2060 W College Ave, Santa Rosa, 707.543.3737.

Flamingo Lounge Dec 31, New Year’s Eve party with Aqua Nett and DJ Don Dada. Jan 1, the Henry Coopers. 2777 Fourth St, Santa Rosa, 707.545.8530. French Garden Dec 31, New Year’s Eve dinner and dance with the Susan Comstock Swingtet. Jan 1, Jon Gonzales String Band. 8050 Bodega Ave, Sebastopol, 707.824.2030. Friar Tuck’s Wed, Sat, karaoke. Fri, DJ Night. 8201 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 707.792.9847. Hermann Sons Hall Dec 31, 9pm, “A Night in Vienna” New Year’s Eve ball. 860 Western Ave, Petaluma, 707.762.9962. HopMonk Sebastopol Tues, open mic night. Dec 31, Juke Joint New Year’s Eve party with Phutureprimitive. Jan 2, Johnny Downer tribute Free Peoples and Girls & Boys. Jan 4, Monday Night Edutainment with DJ Jacques and DJ Guacamole. 230 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol, 707.829.7300. HopMonk Sonoma Dec 31, Deluxe. Jan 2, Sean Carscadden. 691 Broadway, Sonoma, 707.935.9100.

Mystic Theatre Dec 31, New Years Eve bash with Brothers Comatose. 23 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, 707.765.2121. Petaluma Historical Library & Museum Dec 31, New Year’s gala concert with members of the SF Symphony. 20 Fourth St, Petaluma, 707.778.4398. Redwood Cafe Thurs, Open Mic. Dec 30, Irish set dancing. Dec 31, New Year’s Party with Midnight Sun. 8240 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 707.795.7868. Remy’s Bar & Lounge First Friday of every month, Jay Fresco. 130 Stony Point Rd, Santa Rosa, 707.578.1963. Rio Nido Roadhouse Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Party with the Thugz. 14540 Canyon 2 Rd, Rio Nido, 707.869.0821. Rossi’s 1906 Dec 30, Johnny Tsunami & the Hurricanes with dance lessons. Dec 31, NYE dinner and show with Acoustic Soul, DJ Isak and 1955. Jan 2, Sweet Plot. Sun, 5pm, Sweet Potato 5. 401 Grove St, Sonoma, 707.343.0044. Ruth McGowan’s Brewpub Sun, Evening Jazz with Gary Johnson. Jan 2, Now & Zen. 131 E First St, Cloverdale, 707.894.9610. Sally Tomatoes Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Extravaganza with the Honeydippers and friends. 1100 Valley House Dr, Rohnert Park, 707.665.0260. Sebastopol Community Center Dec 31, New Year’s Eve with David Luning and Highway Poets. 390 Morris St, Sebastopol, 707.874.3176.

Hotel Healdsburg Jan 2, the Gypsy Jazz Trio. 25 Matheson St, Healdsburg, 707.431.2800.

Sonoma Speakeasy Thurs, R&B classics. Sun, R&B diva night. Tues, New Orleans R&B night. 452 First St E, Ste G, Sonoma, 707.996.1364.

Jamison’s Roaring Donkey Wed, open mic night. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve with the Rugs. Jan 2, battle of the bands night. 146 Kentucky St, Petaluma, 707.772.5478.

Spancky’s Bar Thurs, 7pm, Thursday Night Blues Jam. Thurs, 11pm, DJ Selecta Konnex. 8201 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 707.664.0169.

Jasper O’Farrell’s Tues, Sessions hip-hop and reggae night. Dec 31, roots rock reggae NYE with King Hopeton & the Visionairies Band. 6957 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol, 707.829.2062. Lagunitas Tap Room Dec 30, Firewheel. Dec 31, the Rugs. Jan 1, TV Mike and the Scarecrowes. Jan 2, Jessica Malone. Jan 3, the RevTones. Jan 6, Roem Baur. 1280 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, 707.778.8776. Main Street Bistro Dec 30, Susan Sutton jazz piano. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve Party with the Eddie Neon

Stout Brothers Dec 31, NYE with Pacific Soundrise and Jimmy Hits. 527 Fourth St, Santa Rosa, 707.636.0240. Toad in the Hole Pub Sun, live music. 116 Fifth St, Santa Rosa, 707.544.8623. The Tradewinds Bar Wed, Sonoma County Blues Society. Tues, Open Mic. Dec 31, DJ Dave. 8210 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati, 707.795.7878. Twin Oaks Tavern Mon, Blues Defenders Pro Jam. Dec 30, the Bootleg Honeys. Dec 31, 9pm, New

Whiskey Tip Dec 31, Michief Masquerade NYE celebration. 1910 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa, 707.843.5535.

NAPA 1313 Main Dec 31, Big Band New Year’s Eve. 1313 Main St, Napa, 707.258.1313. Billco’s Billiards Thurs, live music. 1234 Third St, Napa, 707.226.7506.

Downtown Joe’s Brewery & Restaurant Sun, DJ Aurelio. Tues, the Used Blues Band. Dec 31, Midnight Harvest. 902 Main St, Napa, 707.258.2337. Hydro Grill First Saturday of every month, Always Elvis. 1403 Lincoln Ave, Calistoga, 707.942.9777. Jarvis Conservatory Jan 2, It’s a Grand Night for Singers. 1711 Main St, Napa, 707.255.5445. Molinari Caffe Thurs, Open Mic. 828 Brown St, Napa, 707.927.3623. Silo’s Dec 30, Secure the Sun. Dec 31, New Year’s Eve with the Bobby Joe Russell All Star Band. 530 Main St, Napa, 707.251.5833.

Art OPENING MARIN O’Hanlon Gallery Dec. 30 to Jan. 21, Members’ Show. Artist Roundtable Dialogue, Tues, Jan. 5, 4-6pm, Opening Reception, first Tuesday, Jan. 5, 6-8pm. 616 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. Tues-Fri, 11-3, Sat, 10-2. 415/388-4331. Throckmorton Theatre Jan 5-31, “Question of Identity,” sculpture by Mark Jaeger pursues insight into personal and social projections and purposes. Reception, Jan 5 at 5pm. 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley. 415.383.9600.

SONOMA Studio 35 Jan 2-11, “Olive Season Art Show,” the best of local olive-inspired art shows during the ongoing Sonoma Valley Olive Season. Reception, Jan 1 at 6pm. 35 Patten St, Sonoma. Thurs-Mon, 11am to 5pm. 707.934.8145.

CONTINUING THIS WEEK MARIN 1108 gallery Through Dec 31, “Community Artists Group Show,” abstract works from Nina

Art Works Downtown Through Dec 31, “Small Works Exhibition,” a wonderful opportunity to find affordable, quality artwork for the holiday gift-giving season. 1337 Fourth St, San Rafael. Tues-Sat, 10 to 5. 415.451.8119.

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Desta Art & Tea Gallery Through Jan 30, “The Way of Art,” featuring paintings, bronze sculptures and jewelries from local Bay Area artists. 417 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo. Mon-Sat, 10 to 6 415.524.8932. Gallery Route One Through Jan 17, “Time As We Know It,” photographs from West Marin’s Marna Clarke joins a “Wild Book Show” that features Dylan Yvonne Welch and drawings by Vickisa. 11101 Hwy 1, Pt Reyes Station. Wed-Mon, 11 to 5. 415.663.1347. The Image Flow Through Jan 23, “Holiday Art Show,” featuring diverse original artwork by Stephen Bruce, J Scott Cilmi and Donna D’Acuti. 401 Miller Ave, Ste. A, Mill Valley. 415.388.3569. Madrigal Family Winery Through Jan 13, “Celebrate the Holidays,” art installation in the tasting room features Bay Area oil painter Kay Carlson. 819 Bridgeway, Sausalito. 415.729.9549. Marin Museum of Contemporary Art Through Jan 10, “Thirty-Six Views of the Bay Bridge,” David Garnick’s series of photographs exhibits in the main gallery, with Gale S McKee’s “The American Car: A Family Portrait” in the Ron Collins Gallery. 500 Palm Dr, Novato. Wed-Fri, 11 to 4; SatSun, 11 to 5. 415.506.0137. Robert Allen Fine Art Through Jan 29, “Lands End Allegory,” solo show of new works from San Francisco artist Jay Mercado. 301 Caledonia St, Sausalito. Mon-Fri, 10 to 5. 415.331.2800. Toby’s Gallery Through Dec 31, “10,000 Buddhas Project,” new paintings from Amanda Giacomini’s project. 11250 Hwy 1, Point Reyes Station.

SONOMA The Art Wall at Shige Sushi Through Jan 31, “Jenny Honnert Abell Solo Show,” showing intimate mixedmedia works characterized by subtly exotic imagery and fine handwork. ctalcroft.wix. com/artwallatshige/. 8235 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati. hours vary. Atlas Coffee Company Through Dec 30, “Upland & Plain,” Richard Ciccarelli’s exhibit of oil paintings offers amazing looks at Taylor Mountain and the Llano de Santa Rosa. 300 South A St, Santa Rosa. 707.526.1085. Calabi Gallery Through Jan 16, “Woodblock Prints by Michael McMillan,” the diverse artist’s fine woodwork centers an show that also features works by Douglas Ballou, Mary Jarvis, Sherrie Lovler and others. 456 10th St, Santa Rosa. Tues-Sun, 11 to 5. 707.781.7070. Christie Marks Fine Art Through Jan 2, “Thea Goldstine: Paintings,” first local showing of oil paintings by

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Bravo and Mark Parker join other local artists in a showing. 1108 Tamalpais Avenue, San Rafael. Thurs-Fri, 5pm to 8pm 415.454.1249.

Artist Mark Jaeger’s sculptures will be featured in the exhibit ‘A Question of Identity’ at the Throckmorton Theatre, Jan 5-31. Goldstine features landscapes and a stunning series of abstract portraits. 312 South A St #7, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sun, noon to 5, and by appointment. 707.695.1011. City Hall Council Chambers Through Feb 12, “Clark Swarthout Solo Show,” Santa Rosa artist presents an exhibit of intricate and imaginative pen and ink drawings. Reception, Jan 15 at 5pm. 100 Santa Rosa Ave, Ste 10, Santa Rosa. 707.543.3010. Cloverdale Arts Alliance Through Jan 14, “Encore,” guest artists Alain Bloom, Ron Rodgers and Barbara Tocher join featured resident artist is Terry Holleman. 204 N Cloverdale Blvd, Cloverdale. Finley Community Center Through Jan 28, “The Dynamic Duo,” Judith A Eisen’s lifetime of watercolors and oils are on display. 2060 W College Ave, Santa Rosa. Mon-Fri, 8 to 6; Sat, 9 to 11am. 707.543.3737. Fulton Crossing Through Dec 31, “Gallery Re-opening Show,” celebrating the newly remodeled gallery, many works by local artists include exquisite metal sculptures by Susandra Spicer and stained-glass and fine-woods furniture from Skip Thomsen. 1200 River Rd, Fulton. Gallery One Through Dec 30, “Deck the Walls with Red,” juried multimedia group show revolves around the color red. 209 Western Ave, Petaluma. 707.778.8277. Graton Gallery Through Jan 24, “Under the Influence,” group show features Sally Baker with Taylor Gutermute, Susan Ryan and other guest artists. 9048 Graton Rd, Graton. Tues-Sat, 10:30 to 6; Sun, 10:30 to 4. 707.829.8912. Hammerfriar Gallery Through Jan 14, “Paintings by Laura Hoffman & Mike Tinney,” the two Sonoma County artists illustrate dreamlike worlds of the human subconscious. 132 Mill St, Ste 101, Healdsburg. Tues-Fri, 10 to 6. Sat, 10 to 5. 707.473.9600.

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Year’s Eve bash with the Pulsators. $25. Jan 2, Uncle Wiggly with Buzzy Martin. Jan 3, 5pm, Blues and BBQ with Jimmy Smith Band. Jan 6, Roadhouse Ramblers. 5745 Old Redwood Hwy, Penngrove, 707.795.5118.

Healdsburg Center for the Arts Through Dec 31, “Holiday Gift Gallery,” a winter wonderland of art from over 50 regional artists is on display through the holiday season. 130 Plaza St, Healdsburg. Daily, 11 to 6. 707.431.1970.

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Healdsburg Museum Through Jan 3, “A Small World,” celebration of tiny toys and all things miniature includes model trains, trucks and cars, vintage tea sets, dollhouses and more. 221 Matheson St, Healdsburg. Tues-Sun, 11 to 4. 707.431.3325. History Museum of Sonoma County Through Jan 10, “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation,” exhibition moves past pop-culture stereotypes of Indian Americans to explore the diverse contributions of Indian immigrants and their descendants in the United States. Through Feb 7, “Journey to Fountaingrove,” exhibit chronicles the life of Japanese national Nagasawa Kanaye, who took over the Fountaingrove estate and made renowned wines in Sonoma County. 425 Seventh St, Santa Rosa. Tues-Sun, 11 to 4. 707.579.1500. IceHouse Gallery Through Jan 5, “Catch & Release II,” the Robert Flynn Johnson Collection offers up art and curiosities. 405 East D St, Petaluma. 707.778.2238. Laguna de Santa Rosa Environmental Center Through Jan 4, “A Photographic Journey Through the Laguna de Santa Rosa,” the Laguna’s myriad natural wonders, captured in colorful photos, are on display. 900 Sanford Rd, Santa Rosa. 707.527.9277. Occidental Center for the Arts Through Jan 4, “Energy Materialized,” featuring two nationally and internationally known sculptors, Bruce Johnson and Riis Burwell. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct, Occidental. 707.874.9392.

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Petaluma Arts Center Through Jan 24, “Petaluma Arts Center Members’ Exhibition,” Hella Merrill is the featured artist. 230 Lakeville St, Petaluma. Thurs-Mon, 11 to 5. 707.762.5600. Quercia Gallery Through Jan 31, “Le Source,” Bobbi Jean Quercia’s installation of colorful ethnic figures moving toward a water fountain signifies a common goal of finding one’s connection to humanity. 25193 Hwy 116, Duncans Mills. Fri-Mon, 11am to 5pm and by appointment 707.865.0243. Redwood Cafe Through Dec 30, “Monthly Art Exhibit,” the cafe welcomes local artists to display on their walls. 8240 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati. Open daily. 707.795.7868. Riverfront Art Gallery Through Jan 3, “Oaks in Our Time,” paintings by Henry White join photographs by Lance Kuehne. 132 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma. Wed, Thurs and Sun, 11 to 6. FriSat, 11 to 8. 707.775.4ART. Sculpturesite Gallery Through Jan 12, “Hot Picks!” Art advisor Tom O’Connor curates a selection of his favorite pieces. 14301 Arnold Dr, Ste 8, Glen Ellen. Daily, 10 to 5. 707.933.1300. Sebastopol Center for the Arts Through Dec 31, “Annual Members Show,” eclectic and inclusive exhibition

displays members’ multimedia works that are available to purchase. 282 S High St, Sebastopol. Tues-Fri, 10 to 4; Sat, 1 to 4. 707.829.4797. Sebastopol Gallery Through Jan 9, “First Looks and Second Chances,” assemblage works from Rebeca Trevino Assemblage paintings from James Reynolds show together. 150 N Main St, Sebastopol. Open daily, 11 to 6. 707.829.7200. Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Through Mar 6, “Contemplative Elements,” Sonoma artists Danae Mattes and Frances McCormack split the museum with “Between Nature and Technology” exhibit from New Orleans artists Courtney Egan and David Sullivan. 551 Broadway, Sonoma. Wed-Sun, 11 to 5. 707.939.SVMA. Steele Lane Community Center Through Jan 14, “Documenting Sonoma County,” photographer Sara Silver explores Sonoma County and the surrounding area in all its glory. 415 Steele Ln, Santa Rosa. Mon-Thurs, 8 to 7; Fri, 8 to 5. 707.543.3282.

NAPA di Rosa Through Jan 24, “Robert Kinmont: Trying to Understand Where I Grew Up,” the first Bay Area solo presentation by the Sonomabased artist in over 45 years shows works from his entire career. 5200 Sonoma Hwy, Napa. Wed-Sun, 10 to 6. 707.226.5991. Napa Valley Museum Through Jan 10, “Life Is Fantastic and Death Is Too,” spotlight gallery shows local artists June Altamura and Amber Keithley, whose artwork centers around the grotesque wonder of the unknown. Through Mar 27, “Trashed and Treasured,” features work from Recology’s significant collection of alumni artists. 55 Presidents Circle, Yountville. Tues-Sun, 10 to 4. 707.944.0500.

Comedy Best of the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition Kabir Singh will headline this year’s comedy special to bring in the New Year Dec 31, 9pm. $40. Marin Center Showcase Theatre, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael, 415.499.6800. Big Fat Year-End Kiss Off Comedy Show WIll Durst, Johnny Steele and other veteran standups skewer 2015 in this annual show. Jan 1, 8pm. $21-$35. Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.383.9600. Laugh Sabbath Fun new monthly comedy show this week features popular standup Scott Capurro. Jan 3, 8pm. $10. HopMonk Sebastopol, 230 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol, 707.829.7300. Laughing Tomato Comedy Showcase Local and Bay Area comics, hosted by Tony Sparks. First Tues of every month, 8pm. Free. Sally Tomatoes, 1100 Valley House Dr, Rohnert Park, 707.665.0260. Mort Sahl Social Satire from Sahl. Thurs. $15-$20. Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.383.9600.

New Years Eve Stand-Up Comedy Showcase Two national headliners, Kevin Meaney and Joe Devito, close out the year with uproarious laughs. Dec 31, 9pm. $35. Osher Marin JCC, 200 N San Pedro Rd, San Rafael, 415.444.8000. Tuesday Night Live Featuring comedians at the top of their game, both rising stars and names known worldwide. Tues, 8pm. $17-$27. Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.383.9600.

Dance Belrose Theater Sundays, 4pm, Argentine Dance. 1415 Fifth Ave, San Rafael 415.454.6422. Club 101 Wednesdays, 8:20pm, salsa dancing with lessons. 815 W Francisco Blvd, San Rafael 415.460.0101. Dance Palace Wednesdays, 6pm, Women’s Collaborative Dance. $5-$15 per month. Sundays, 10am, Ecstatic Dance Point Reyes, explore different rhythms with no experience necessary. First Wednesday of every month, 6pm, First Wednesday Line Dancing, with Carol Friedman 503 B St, Pt Reyes Station 415.663.1075. Flamingo Lounge Sundays, 7pm, salsa with lessons. Tuesdays, swing dancing with lessons. 2777 Fourth St, Santa Rosa 707.545.8530. Monroe Dance Hall Wednesdays, Singles and Pairs Square Dance Club. Thursdays, Circles ‘n Squares Dance Club. Sundays, Country-Western dancing and lessons. Mondays, Scottish Country Dancing. Tuesdays, Razzmataz folk dance club. Dec 31, California Ballroom New Year’s Eve Party. 1400 W College Ave, Santa Rosa 707.529.5450. YogaWorks Larkspur First Saturday of every month, 7:30pm, DanceMarin!, where yoga and and dance meet. $15. 2207 Larkspur Landing Cir, Larkspur 415.924.4848.

Events Affordable Singles New Years Eve Bash Dress in your best and dance the night away with other local singes, with party favors and fun galore. Dec 31, 9pm. $20. Embassy Suites Hotel, 101 McInnis Pkwy, San Rafael, 415.507.9962. Calistoga Art Walk Follow the signs and view art with strolling tour of shops and galleries. First Wed-Thurs of every month, 5pm. Free. Downtown Calistoga, Lincoln Ave, Calistoga, 707.225.1003. Community Media Orientation Get answers to all your media questions, including how you can produce content and get it on the air in Marin. Tues, Jan 5, 7pm. Community Media Center of Marin, 819 A St, San Rafael, 415.721.0636. First Friday Art Show Reception and party with the newest art exhibit on display. First Fri of every month, 6pm. Epicurean Connection, 122 West Napa St, Sonoma, 707.935.7960.

Mind Reels Weekly series presents notable documentary films as well as guest speakers and performers bringing the film’s ideas to life. Tues-noon. $25-$30. Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, 415.924.5111.

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‘The Assassin’ is one of the films featured in ‘A Selection of Oscar Submissions from Around the World,’ at the Smith Rafael Film Center, January 1-7. First Friday Art Walk Downtown Guerneville event includes artist receptions and food pairings. First Fri of every month. Free. Sonoma Nesting Company, 16151 Main St, Guerneville, 707.869.3434. First Sunday Open Studios Walk through the studios of over 40 artists and view their latest works, including those still in progress. First Sun of every month, 11am. Novato Arts Center, 500 Palm Dr, Novato. Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! A day of crafts and games for the wee ones, with root beer toasts and more. Dec 31, 10am. Charles M. Schulz Museum, 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa, 707.579.4452. Heirloom Craft Hub Each evening includes instruction for a specific craft. Last Thurs of every month. $5. Marin History Museum, Boyd Gate House, 1125 B St, San Rafael, 415.454.8538.

7pm. $40 and up. Westin Verasa Napa, 1314 McKinstry Street, Napa, (707) 257-1800. Radiant Presence With Peter Brown. Every other Tues. Open Secret, 923 C St, San Rafael, 415.457.4191. Work-in-Progress Wednesday Video makers the chance to get their work critiqued by an industry pro. Jan 6, 6:30pm. Free. Community Media Center of Marin, 819 A St, San Rafael, 415.721.0636.

Field Trips Afternoon Community Service Participate in center restoration projects. First Wed of every month. Richardson Bay Audubon Center, 376 Greenwood Beach Rd, Tiburon, 415.388.2524.

Mort Sahl Film Series Popular satirist picks films from his personal collection and offers behind the scenes information and critiques. Jan 2, 4pm. Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.383.9600.

Food&Drink The Blessing of the Olives Live music and refreshments are on hand for this traditional blessing of harvested olives. Jan 2, 11am. Free. Mission San Francisco Solano, Sonoma Plaza, First St E, Sonoma. Calistoga Farmers Market Sat, 9am. Sharpsteen Museum Plaza, 1235 Washington St, Calistoga. Cooking from the Farmers’ Market: New Year’s Eve This hands-on cooking class features seasonal produce grown within miles of Cavallo Point hand-selected fresh from local farmers and purveyors. Dec 31, 6pm. $125. Cavallo Point, 601 Murray Circle, Fort Baker, Sausalito, 415.339.4700. Corte Madera Farmers Market Wed-noon. Town Center Corte Madera, 100 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera, 415.382.7846.

French Garden Farm Tour Join Dan Smith for practical tips on growing your own garden. First Sat of every month. Free. French Garden Farm, 11031 Cherry Ridge Rd, Sebastopol, 707.824.2030.

Demystifying Wine & Food Interactive discussions on pairings with delectable demonstrations. Sat-noon. $75. Hall Winery, 401 St Helena Hwy S, St Helena, 707.967.2620.

Mill Valley Art Walk Downtown area galleries and businesses showcase local artists. First Tues of every month, 6pm. Free. Downtown, Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, 415.721.1856.

Learn to Skate This event at the skatepark is geared towards the newbie skateboarder and those looking to cross over from other board sports, but aren’t quite sure how to start. Jan 3, 11am. Free. McInnis Park, 310 Smith Ranch Rd, San Rafael, 415.446.4423.

Friday Night Live Enjoy delicious themed buffet dinners with live music on hand. Fri. $7-$14. San Geronimo Golf Course, 5800 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, San Geronimo, 415.488.4030.

Mill Valley First Tuesday Art Walk Stroll among the amazing art exhibits at various Mill Valley galleries and stores, as well as City Hall and the community center. Tues, Jan 5, 6pm. Mill Valley Depot Plaza, 87 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley.

Little Carson Falls Hike View the popular waterfall safely, led by Marin County’s Parks’ David Herlocker. Jan 3, 10am. Azalea Hill Parking Lot, BolinasFairfax Rd, Fairfax.

Lyme Support Group First Tues of every month, 1:30pm. Lydia’s Sunflower Center, 1435 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, 707.792.5300.

New Year’s Eve on the Wine Train Tour Napa Valley’s scenic beauty with gourmet food and carnival fun. Dec 31, 5pm. $75 and up. Napa Valley Wine Train, 1275 McKinstry St, Napa, 800.427.4124. Noon Year’s Eve Bring the kids for a day of music, crafts, beads and bubbles. Dec 31, 9am. $13 and up. Bay Area Discovery Museum, Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds Rd, Sausalito, 415.339.3900. NYE Red Tie Affair Dress in your red tie best for dinner at La Toque and dancing at Bank Cafe. Dec 31,

Stewardship Workday Clear trails and keep up the natural beauty in this workday event. Registration required. Sat, Jan 2, 9am. Riddell Preserve, 550 Westside Rd, Healdsburg, landpaths.org.

Film CULT Film Series Celebrate the new year with two classic comedies, as “Trading Places” and “Four Rooms” share the bill. Dec 31, 7pm. $10. Roxy Stadium 14 Cinemas, 85 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa, 707.525.8909.

Harvest Market Selling local and seasonal fruit, flowers, vegetables and eggs. Sat, 9am. Harvest Market, 19996 Seventh St E, Sonoma, 707.996.0712. Indian Valley Farm Stand Organic farm and garden produce stand where you bring your own bag. Wed, 10am. College of Marin, Indian Valley Campus, 1800 Ignacio Blvd, Novato, 415.454.4554. Locals Night Special menu items, musical performances and activities. Tues, 5pm. Free. Oxbow Public Market, 610 First St, Napa. Marin Country Mart Sat, 9am. Marin Country Mart, 2257 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur, 415.461.5715.

Marinwood Farmers Market Sat, 9am. Marinwood Plaza, Marinwood Avenue and Miller Creek Road, San Rafael, 415.999.5635. Mill Valley Farmers Market Fri, 9:30am. CVS parking lot, 759 E Blithedale Ave, Mill Valley, 415.382.7846. New Year’s Eve at Ca’ Momi Seven courses of authentic Italian cuisine, sparkling wines, and a festive party will welcome 2016; with midnight toasts and DJs Bulby York and AdamBomb spinning a dance party. Dec 31, 5pm. Ca’ Momi Osteria, 1141 First St, Napa, 707.224.6664. New Year’s Eve Celebration at Left Bank Brasserie Regular à la carte dinner menu plus a four-course prix fixe menu with choices. Guests for the evening’s last seating receive a complimentary sparkling wine toast and party favors at midnight. Dec 31. Left Bank Brasserie, 507 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, 415.927.3331. New Year’s Eve Dining Extravaganza A four-course meal, seafood buffet and the sounds of City Lights Band will light up your New Year’s Eve. Dec 31, 3pm. $35 and up. Silverado Resort, 1600 Atlas Peak Rd, Napa, 707.257.5495. New Year’s Eve Dinner at Spoonbar A Hollywood-themed and over the top multicourse menu featuring luxury ingredients is followed by DJs and dancing to ring in the new year. Dec 31, 5pm. $155. Spoonbar, 219 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg, 707.433.7222. New Year’s Eve Seafood Feast Casual prix fixe dinner from chef Mike Selvera is a family-style affair. Dec 31. Seaside Metal Oyster Bar, 16222 Main St, Guerneville, 707.604.7250. NYE at Ninebark Chef Matthew Lightner offers a sumptuous seven-course meal with exceptional Champagne pairings. Dec 31, 5pm. $65-$135. Ninebark, 813 Main St, Napa, 707.226.7821. Oakmont Certified Farmers Market Sat, 9am. Berger Center, 6575 Oakmont Dr, Santa Rosa, 707.538.7023. Oyster Night First Fri of every month, 4pm. Gourmet au Bay, 913 Hwy 1, Bodega Bay, 707.875.9875. Petaluma East Side Certified Farmers Market Tues, 10am. Petaluma Community Center, 320 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, 415.999.5635. Redwood Empire Farmers Market Sat, 8:30am and Wed, 8:30am. Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market Sat, 9am and Wed, 9am. Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd, Santa Rosa, 707.522.8629. Sebastopol Certified Farmers Market Sun, 10am. Sebastopol Plaza, Weeks Way, Sebastopol, 707.522.9305. Sonoma Mountain Marketplace Certified Farmers Market Sat-Sun, 10am. SOMO Village Event Center, 1100 Valley House Dr, Rohnert Park, 707.588.9388.

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For Your Consideration A rare opportunity to view some of the most distinguished international films, many of which are film festival prizewinners and all of which were submitted to the Academy for Oscar consideration.. Jan 1-7. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael, 415.454.1222.

Breakfast with Enzo Bring clapping hands, singing voices, dancing feet and breakfast for weekly family music show. Sun at 10 and 11. Mill Valley Golf Clubhouse, 267 Buena Vista, Mill Valley, 415.652.2474. Eloísa Ruano González

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Don’t miss The Blessing of the Olives, featuring live music and entertainment, on January 2 at the historic Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma.

Children’s Garden Whimsical environments for kids’ exploration. Hours: Mon, noon to 4; TuesSun, 9 to 5. Ongoing. Free. Cornerstone Sonoma, 23570 Arnold Dr, Sonoma, 707.933.3010.

Sunday San Rafael Farmers Market Sun, 8am. Marin Farmers Market, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, 415.472.6100.

Corte Madera Library Preschool storytime. Wed, 11am. Corte Madera Library, 707 Meadowsweet Dr, Corte Madera, 707.924.6444.

Thursday San Rafael Farmers Market Thurs, 8am. Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael, 415.472.6100.

Fairfax Library Tues at Sat at 11, storytime for ages three and up. Tues-Sat, 11am. Fairfax Library, 2097 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Fairfax, 415.453.8092.

Vintner Vinyl Tastings and tunes come together in the tap bar and restaurant. Mon, 6:30pm. City Winery Napa, 1030 Main St, Napa, 707.260.1600. West End Wednesdays West End merchants offer wine, coffee and food tastings. Wed, 5pm. Free. Downtown Napa, First Street and Town Center, Napa. Wine 101 First Fri at 5:30 monthly, local food and wine experts lead wine education and food pairing. RSVP. First Fri of every month, 5:30pm. $25-$35. SL Cellars, 9380 Sonoma Hwy, Sonoma, 707.833.5070.

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Carolyn Parr Nature Center Learn about Napa County habitats and birds of prey through tours, dioramas, games, hands-on activities and books. Ongoing. Free. Carolyn Parr Nature Center Museum, Westwood Hills Park, 3107 Browns Valley Rd, Napa, 707.255.6465.

Wine Up Award-winning wines and delicious food make for a perfect combination. Sat. Free. Stephen & Walker Trust Winery Tasting Room, 243 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg. Wine Wednesdays Wines by local vineyards, delicious bites and sweet treats. Wed, 4pm. $15. Molinari Caffe, 828 Brown St, Napa, 707.927.3623. Winter in the Wineries Tour, taste wine and meet winemakers at 15 heralded wineries, both large and small, in and around the town at the top of Napa Valley. Through Feb 7, 2016. $50. Calistoga wineries, various locations, Calistoga, 707.942.6333.

For Kids Bay Area Discovery Museum Ongoing, “Animal Secrets.” Hands-on art, science and theater camps, art studio, tot spot and lookout cove adventure area. WedThurs at 10 and 11, music with Miss Kitty. $5-$6. Fri at 11, aquarium feeding. Ongoing. Admission, $8-$10. Bay Area Discovery Museum, Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds Rd, Sausalito, 415.339.3900. Belvedere-Tiburon Library Mon at 10:30 and 11, songs and fingerplays for kids under two. Wed at 11, toddler storytime; at 4, read-along program for ages seven and up. Mon. Belvedere-Tiburon Library, 1501 Tiburon Blvd, Tiburon, 415.789.2665.

San Rafael Public Library The Marin Humane Society’s SHARE a Book program invites readers age 5 and older to book an appointment to read to a dog. Reserve 10-minute appointments for Saturday, Jan. 16, from 11am to 12pm, at the San Rafael Public Library Children’s Reference Desk, 1100 E. Street, San Rafael, 415.485.3322

Lectures CBT/DBT Group for Depression Skills-based education and training group is designed to help you cope with facing basic everyday problems including distressing emotions like depression and anxiety. Tues, 6pm. $20-$40. Community Institute for Psychotherapy, 1330 Lincoln Ave #201, San Rafael, 415.459.5999. O’Hanlon Roundtable Continuing parade of experienced artists share thoughts on creative process. All artists welcome. First Tues each month, 4 to 6. O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, 616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, 415.388.4331. Pleasures of the Heart First Monday, women’s salon. Second Monday, coed discussion group. First Mon of every month, 7pm. Pleasures of the Heart, 1310 Fourth St, San Rafael, 415.482.9899. Public Discussion Institute for the Fulfillment of Human Society invites all for public chat on current issues. First Tues of every month, 7pm. $5. Subud Hall, 234 Hutchins Ave, Sebastopol, 707.793.2188. Support Group for Women in Transition Group for women offers encouragement during life transitions such as relationship changes, career changes and difficult life events. Thurs, 6pm. $20-$40. Community Institute for Psychotherapy, 1330 Lincoln Ave #201, San Rafael, 415.459.5999.

Topics on Genealogy Learn from experienced genealogist, Sierra Pope, on how to get the most out of Ancestry.com. Jan 5, 2pm. San Rafael Library, 1100 E St, San Rafael, 415.485.3323. Twenty-Something Support Group Explore adulthood with emphasis on life skills such as mindfulness, interpersonal skills and healthy coping skills. Thurs, 6pm. $20-$40. Community Institute for Psychotherapy, 1330 Lincoln Ave #201, San Rafael, 415.459.5999. Writing Workshop Get motivation and writing assistance from rotating hosts. Wed, 7pm. Smiley’s Schooner Saloon, 41 Wharf Rd, Bolinas, 415.868.1311.

Readings San Rafael Library Jan 4, 6:30pm, Great Books Reading Group, read the short story, “A Hunger Artist,” by Franz Kafka on the libraries website and come ready to talk about it. 1100 E St, San Rafael 415.485.3323. SoCo Coffee First Saturday of every month, Poetry Azul. Free, 707.527.6434. 1015 Fourth St, Santa Rosa. West End Cafe First Wednesday of every month, 7pm, First Wed at 7, open mic poetry evening. 1131 Fourth St, San Rafael.

Theater Mahalia Jackson: Just As I Am Playwright and performer Sharon E Scott brings her exuberant and powerful musical work to Cinnabar for the acclaimed show’s west coast premiere. Opens with two special New Year’s Eve shows. Dec 31-Jan 24. $25-$35/$56-$66. Cinnabar Theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, 707.763.8920. New Year’s Cabaret Original music and comedy from hilarious duo Sandy and Richard Riccardi is sure fire fun for New Year’s. Dec 31, 7pm. $25-$50. Studio Theatre, 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W Sixth St, Santa Rosa, 707.523.4185. Serial Murderess: A Love Story in Three Ave Amanda Moody’s one-woman-play is comically twisted in its exploration of three famous lady killers. Opens with a New Year’s Eve bash. Dec 31-Jan 17. $15-$25/$60$100. Main Stage West, 104 N Main St, Sebastopol, 707.823.0177.✹

Got a listing for our Sundial section, full of the best events in Marin and beyond? Send it to calendar@pacificsun.com two weeks prior to desired publication date.

Seminars&Workshops To include your seminar or workshop, call 415/485-6700 x 311. SINGLE MEN WANTED Single & Dissatisfied? Tired of spending holidays and weekends alone? Join with single women to explore what’s blocking you from creating the relationship you desire. Nine-week Single’s Group starts Thur., Jan 7. Also ongoing, weekly groups: 3 coed Intimacy Groups and Women’s Group. Space limited. Also, Individual and Couples sessions. Central San Rafael. For more information, call Renee Owen, LMFT #35255 at 415/453-8117. SAFE, ON-GOING THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT GROUP FOR FORMER MEMBERS OF HIGH DEMAND GROUPS OR CULTS For participants to address and explore relevant issues in their lives, including those related to loss, trauma, relationships, recruitment tactics, disconfirmation of inaccurate, self-limiting beliefs from ideologies, successful strategies for change, connecting to society-at-large, selfidentity, individual goals and more. Now in its 11th year, meeting every other Saturday in San Anselmo, 3:00 – 5:00 PM. Facilitated by Colleen Russell, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Group Psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience facilitating Colleen Russell, groups and working with individuals, couples, and families. She is also LMFT, CGP a former member of a high demand group in her young adulthood. If interested, contact Colleen: 415-785-3513; email: crussellmft@earthlink.net; website: Colleenrussellmft.com

Trivia answers «5 1 Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia

2 Measles 3 Cuba 4 Jay Leno (replaced by Jimmy Fallon);

David Letterman (replaced by Stephen Colbert); Jon Stewart (replaced by Trevor Noah)

5 The U.S., the U.K., France, China,

Russia and Germany. (In September the Republican-led U.S. Congress launched an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the deal.)

6a. The New England Patriots came from behind to defeat the Seattle Seahawks, 28-24. b. The Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets in five exciting games. c. The Cleveland Cavaliers; Andre Iguodala 7 Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner 8 Empire 9 American Pharoah 10 Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Kanye West BONUS ANSWER: a. Angela Merkel b. Chancellor of Germany c. Tennis star Serena Williams

Community Spanish Language Learning Center In Downtown San Rafael www.spanishindowntown sanrafael.com BELLY DANCE CLASSES with KaRaSheba Mons. 7:45-9:00pm 1/04-2/24 Fairfax Pavilion 415-717-8263 Large, 1/2 off Art Sale! Original oil paintings Nice Frames, etc. call 415.453.0923

Mind&Body HYPNOTHERAPY Thea Donnelly, M.A. Hypnosis, Counseling, All Issues. 25 yrs. experience. 415-459-0449.

Home Services CLEANING SERVICES ADVANCED HOUSE CLEANING Licensed. Bonded. Insured. Will do windows. Call Pat 415-310-8784

All Marin House Cleaning Licensed, Bonded, Insured. Will do Windows. O’felia 415-717-7157

FURNITURE REPAIR/REFINISH FURNITURE DOCTOR Ph/Fax: 415-383-2697

GARDENING/LANDSCAPING GARDEN MAINTENANCE OSCAR - 415-505-3606

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v General Yard & Firebreak Clean Up v Complete Landscaping v Irrigation Systems v Commercial & Residential Maintenance v Patios, Retaining Walls, Fences For Free Estimate Call Titus

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Instruction, problemsolving: Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, TV, electronics. Small household repairs.

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We are now hiring EXPERIENCED CAREGIVERS for Live-In & Hourly Shifts. Top Pay! Flexible Hours! 401K, Health Insurance and Signing Bonus! Best Training! Requirements: 3 professional references, Proof of eligibility to work in the US. Interested candidates should apply in person on weekdays between 9am and 5pm at: Home Care Assistance, 919 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Ste. 107, Kentfield, CA 94904. Contact Francie Bedinger 415 532-8626

Real Estate HOMES/CONDOS FOR SALE AFFORDABLE MARIN? I can show you 50 homes under $500,000. Call Cindy @ 415-902-2729. Christine Champion, Broker.

Serving Marin Since 2013

ENGLISH HOUSESITTER Bylove Howard Rachelson Will your pets, pamper your plants, ease your mind, References Lic. # 593788 while you’re out of town. Hello Friends—well, we survived another wild and crazy year. Rates negotiable. References available Here are some trivial Highlights of 2015, Part I (Look for Part II upon request. Pls Call Jill @ 415-927-1454

415•497•6130

next week). 1 Millions of Americans eagerly greeted the Pope when he visited what three U.S. cities in September? 2 Partially attributed to parental fear of vaccination, a February resurgence of what highly contagious disease was traced back to Disneyland? 3 In May, the U.S. removed what country from the U.S. listBUSINESS of state sponsors of terrorism? BLVD EAST STE G, SAN RAFAEL, ROAD SERVICE, 42 LOS FICTITIOUS CA 94901: TV 1) CHRISTOPHER D RANCHITOS RD , APT #1, SAN 4NAME What three well-loved late-night STATEMENT COCHRANE, 2165 FRANCISCO RAFAEL, CA 94903: 1) EMERSON talk show hosts retired this year, and who BLVD EAST, STE G, SAN RAFAEL, DANIEL LEMUS CARRILLO, FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME CA 94901 2) CHARLOTTE A. 42 LOS RANCHITOS RD APT STATEMENT—File No: 2015replaced them? COCHRANE, 2 ADMIRAL DRIVE # 1, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903 2) 138690 5 following In July,individual(s) Iran reached agreementCAto94608 3) B477, EMERYVILLE, YESSICA ANGELICA LEMUS The is (are) a historic BRIAN MOORE, 1138 INGRAM ZAVALA, 42 LOS RANCHITOS doing BAG NASTY, 175 limitbusiness: its nuclear capabilities, signed with what DRIVE, SONOMA, CA 95476 4) RD APT # 1, SAN RAFAEL, CA WHITTIER AVE, SAN RAFAEL, six nations? ELIZABETH WALD, 1138 INGRAM 94903 3) JULIO ELEAZAR LEMUS CA 94903: VINCE DEOCHOA, 175 DRIVE, SONOMA, CA 95476. CERON, 42 LOS RANCHITOS RD WHITTIER AVE, SAN RAFAEL, 6 Sports, 2015: The business is being conducted APT # 1, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903. CA 94903. The business is being a. In February, what two teams inPARTNERSHIP the by Aplayed GENERAL . The business is being conducted conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. by CO-PARTNERS. Registrant will Registrant will begin transacting Super Bowl, and which team Registrant won? is renewing filing with changes and is transacting begin transacting business under business under the fictitious b. In November, what two teams played in the business under the fictitious the fictitious business name(s) listed business name(s) listed herein. This herein.a. This statement was filedc. statement was filed with County teambusiness World Series, andthewhich won?name(s) listed herein. ThisBonus Bonus statement was filed with the County with the County Clerk-Recorder Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on c. In June, the Golden State Warriors won Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on of Marin County on DEC 3, 2015 DEC 1, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec the NBA for the in 40Dates: years, what team DECfirst 4, 2015time (Publication Dec defeating (Publication Dates: Dec 9,in 16,six 23, 9, 16, 23, 30 of championships 2015) 9, 16, 23, 30 of 2015) 30 of 2015) games? Who was named MVP of the Finals series? 7 This Olympic gold medalist became one of 2015’s top news stories in June, after a FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME male-to-female Identify his/her names, before and after. BUSINESS NAME FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FICTITIOUS STATEMENT—File No:transition. 138716 STATEMENT—File No: 138712 STATEMENT—File No: 2015138687 The following individual(s) is 8 This musical drama was the success story of the TV year; ratings improved each The following individual(s) is (are) The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: CCMW week in its, 2165 firstFRANCISCO season. doing business: J&D MOBILE (are) doing business: DINO T’S, PARTNERSHIP 9 In May-June, what race horse became the first, since 1978, to win the Triple Crown? 10 Facebook’s most talked about entertainers in 2015 were three singers: One a

8 PublicNotices 9

21 PA CI FI C S U N | D ECEM B ER 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 - JA NUARY 5, 2016 | PACI FI CSUN.CO M

TO PLACE AN AD: Call our Classifieds and Legals Sales Department at 415/485-6700.Text ads must be placed by Monday Noon to make it into the Wednesday print edition.

PACI FI C SUN | DE CE MB E R 30, 2015 - JA NU A RY 5 , 2 0 1 6 | PA CI FI CS U N. COM

PublicNotices 11 EDWARDS CT, NOVATO, CA 94949: JAVIER BLANDINO, 11 EDWARDS CT, NOVATO, CA 94949. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on DEC 1, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 9, 16, 23, 30 of 2015)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138665 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: BAY AREA GREEN DESGIN LANDSCAPING, 16 SAN PABLO AVE #18, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903:1) ELISEO BERIOS, 16 SAN PABLO AVE # 18, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903 2) YANIRA CARMONA, 16 SAN PABLO AVE # 18, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903. The business is being conducted by A MARRIED COUPLE. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Nov 24, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015138605 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: SASSHEA, 122 PARK STREET, APT B, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901: RAYSHONTE J BOCAGE, 122 PARK STREET APT 8, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Nov 16, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138734 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: ORS- ORIENTAL RUG SPECIALIST, 121 GRANADA DR, CORTE MADERA, CA 94925: MOHAMMAD ALI BANIE, 121 GRANADA DR, CORTE MADERA, CA 94925. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 08, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015-138732 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: LITTLE STEPS CHILD CARE, 829 VIA CASITAS, GREENBRAE, CA 94904: ADRIANA COSTA, 829 VIA CASITAS, GREENBRAE, CA 94904. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under

the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 08, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 2, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

expired more than 40 days ago and is renewing under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 10, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138688 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: VALE AUTO REPAIR, 7374 B REDWOOD BLVD, NOVATO, CA 94945: 1) CARLOS ERNESTO FLORES QUEZADA , 1454 LINCOLN AVE UNIT D, CA 94901 2) MARVIN EDUARDO ESTEBAN GONZALEZ, 40 CLEO CT, NOVATO, CA 94947. The business is being conducted by A GENERAL PARTNERSHIP. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 01, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015138727 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: INTERNATIONAL ORANGE, 2421 LARKSPUR LANDING CIRCLE, SUITE 43, LARKSPUR, CA 94939: INTERNATIONAL ORANGE SPA INC, 2044 FILLMORE ST, FL2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. The business is being conducted by A CORPORATION. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 7, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138747 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: METASTATICLIFERS.COM, 1 MAIN ST, UNIT 74, SAN QUENTIN, CA 94964: JENNIFER LINDA DUTTON, 1 MAIN ST, UNIT 74, SAN QUENTIN,CA 94964. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 10, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015-138656 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: SINCERELY YOURS CLOTHING AND DESIGN, 273 DRAKE AVE, MARIN CITY, CA 94965: 1) LENA WILSON HAYNES, 273 DRAKE AVE, MARIN CITY, CA 94965 2) WYAMONE WALKER, 273 DRAKE AVE, MARIN CITY, CA 94965. The business is being conducted by A GENERAL PARTNERSHIP. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Nov 24, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138750 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: MARIN HEALING CENTER, 14 COMMERCIAL BLVD. STE 101, NOVATO, CA 94949: COMMUNITY HEALING CENTERS, 14 COMMERCIAL BLVD, STE 101, NOVATO, CA 94949. The business is being conducted by A CORPORATION. Registration expired more than 40 days ago and is renewing under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 10, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015138693 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: FOSTER EARNHARDT AND PARTNERS, 502 BROWNING COURT, MILL VALLEY, CA 94941: ANDREW E EARNHARDT, 502 BROWNING COURT, MILL VALLEY, CA 94941. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015138770 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: HAWAIIAN NEVADA CONSULTING COMPANY, 165 ELDRIDGE AVE, MILL VALLEY, CA 94941: WILLIAM SHINE, 165 ELDRIDGE AVE, MILL VALLEY, CA 94941. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 15, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138759 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: 1) DANDY DIGS 2) DANDY DIGS PRODUCTS 3) DANDY 4) STATE YOUR PLATE 5) PLATE YOUR STATE, 107 IRIS LANE, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903: 1) KATHRYN VICTORIA REISINGER, 107 IRIS LANE, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903 2) CARTER JAMIESON O’NEIL, 107 IRIS LANE, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903. The business is being conducted by A MARRIED COUPLE. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 11, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138745 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: Z-ULTIMATE SELF DEFENSE STUDIOS S.R., 4460 REDWOOD HWY #1-4 , SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903: JORDAN GABRIEL PENMAN, 21 ALMA CT, PETALUMA, CA 94952. The business is being conducted by AN INDIVIDUAL. Registration

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 2015138789 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: GOLD LION, 201 MARIN STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901: STURDIVANT VENTURES LLC, 201 MARIN STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901. The business is being conducted by A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 17, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138818 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: OMEGA SERVICES, 30 BURNING TREE DRIVE, NOVATO, CA 94949: 1) JACK PADRICK , 30 BURNING TREE DRIVE, NOVATO, CA 94949 2) BONNIE PADRICK, 30 BURNING TREE DRIVE, NOVATO, CA 94949. The business is being conducted by A MARRIED COUPLE. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 22, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13, 20 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138809 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: CHEAP PETE’S FRAME FACTORY OUTLET, 221 3RD STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901: NATIONAL PICTURE FRAMING CENTERS, INC, 1555 PACIFIC AVENUE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. The business is being conducted by A CORPORATION. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 22, 2015

(Publication Dates: Dec 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13, 20 of 2016)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT—File No: 138749 The following individual(s) is (are) doing business: MP GREEN CLEANING SERVICES. 2500 DEER VALLEY RD # 512, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903: 1) EDWIN O. GERALDO, 2500 DEER VALLEY RD # 512, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903 2) MARTHA L. PULIDO, 2500 DEER VALLEY RD # 512, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94903. The business is being conducted by A GENERAL PARTNERSHIP. Registrant will begin transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed herein. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Marin County on Dec 10, 2015 (Publication Dates: Dec 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13, 20 of 2016)

OTHER NOTICES ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF MARIN. No. CIV 1504354. TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner SARAH AVIRON filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: SARAH AVIRON to SARAH WEITZEL. The court orders that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. NOTICE OF HEARING: 01/15/2016 AT 08:30 AM, DEPT B, ROOM B, Superior Court of California, County of Marin, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. A copy of this ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in the county of Marin: PACIFIC SUN. Date OF FILING: DEC 2, 2015. (Publication Dates: Dec 9, 16, 23, 30 of 2015)

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF MARIN. No. CIV 1504423. TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner KIM SUZZETTE HOLT filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: KIM SUZZETTE HOLT to STARFLOWER SUZZETTE HOLT. The court orders that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at

the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. NOTICE OF HEARING: 02/08/2016 AT 09:00 AM, DEPT E, ROOM E, Superior Court of California, County of Marin, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. A copy of this ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in the county of Marin: PACIFIC SUN. Date OF FILING: DEC 9, 2015. (Publication Dates: Dec 16, 23, 30 of 2015, Jan 6 of 2016)

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF MARIN. No: CIV 1504581. TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner SUSANNAH COFFEY GRIFFIN PERRY filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: SUSANNAH COFFEY GRIFFIN PERRY to SUSANNAH COFFEY GRIFFIN PERRI. THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. NOTICE OF HEARING: 02/02/2016 AT 09:00 AM, DEPT A, ROOM A, Superior Court of California, County of Marin, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94913. A copy of this ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in the county of Marin: PACIFIC SUN. Date of filing: DEC 22, 2015. (Publication Dates: Dec 30 of 2015, Jan 6, Jan 13, 20 of 2016)

Publish your Legal Ad For more information, call 415/485.6700 or email legals@pacificsun.com

By Amy Alkon

Goddess

My girlfriend’s “best friend” is a straight guy. I trust that she THINKS he’s just her friend. However, as a guy, I know that if he could hit it, he would. FYI, I’m not really a jealous or insecure person, and my guy friends complain about this same scenario, so this can’t just be my stuff.—Annoyed

There’s a saying, “A true friend accepts who you are and helps you become who you can be”—for example, a person who’s naked in her true friend’s bed, feeling really guilty about cheating on her boyfriend. Sorry to be less-than-reassuring, but you and your guy friends are right: For many men, the friend zone is a holding area where they wait to Mr. Sneaky backmassage their way into the sexfriend zone. In a study of 88 opposite-sex friendships by evolutionary psychologist April Bleske-Rechek, men were more attracted to their female friend than vice versa and more likely to assume that she also had the hots for them—a belief bearing little correspondence to how the woman actually felt. Women, on the other hand, tended to assume that their male friend had only platonic intentions. And sure, some male friends are just looking out for their female friends—but others do it in the way a hungry lion looks out for a limping gazelle. Bleske-Rechek’s findings align with research by evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss, suggesting that we evolved to make protective mistakes in perception—erring in favor of whatever assumption would be least costly to our mating and survival interests. Men tend to overestimate women’s attraction to them because they lose more by missing a possible mating opportunity than by making asses of themselves hitting on a woman who isn’t interested (and, in fact, would eat a live pigeon to avoid having sex with them). Women, however, tend to underestimate men’s interest, because they have a lot to lose from believing a cad will stick around to be a dad. You aren’t without options here, though it’s probably best to refrain from dusting off the old flintlock and challenging the guy to a duel at dawn. Showing jealousy suggests you have reason to feel threatened (like maybe he really is all that). Instead, simply be the better deal. Consistently show your girlfriend that you’ve got what women evolved to prioritize in men—a willingness to invest time, energy and resources—like by really listening when she talks instead of uh-huhing her while blowing up alien invaders on your phone. Do this stuff not because you’re afraid of losing her (which stinks of desperation) but because you haven’t forgotten that you love her. And as a show of how secure you are, maybe even encourage her to hang with him—that is, whenever she’s all, “Golly, it’s been months since I spent the better part of an hour at the mall trying to decide between two slightly different vanilla-scented candles.”

I’m a 41-year-old male sports fan, and every girlfriend I’ve had has initially claimed to like sports. But once I’m all in, she admits that she never liked sports at all. Why can’t women just be honest in the beginning?—Bugged

Say you like camping. A woman who likes you claims she likes camping, too, perhaps believing that she could like camping—not quite connecting it with everything she absolutely hates, like peeing in a hole and bugs that don’t come in pink resin with a matching choker. Of course, women aren’t the only ones who claim to be a little more woodsy or literate or … sportif … than they actually are. However, men tend to lie to get sex, while women tend to lie to get love. But because women evolved to be the nurturers and peacekeepers of the species, they are probably more likely to say yes or OK to stuff that they’re not very yes or OK with. (Some confuse being a pleaser with being kind and giving in healthy ways.) Men, on the other hand, evolved to be the competitors of our species and are more comfortable with conflict—starting in infancy, when they’re beating up the kid in the next crib. What’s essential to figure out is whether the lie is a little, “I like what you like!” stretchie or part of a disturbing pattern—suggesting that she’s either a pathological liar or a gaping void looking to use love as Spackle. Expect hyperbole at the start, and ask probing questions to see whether a woman is truly into sports—beyond challenging some other woman to a cage fight over the last pair of DKNY ankle booties in a 9 ½ narrow.Y Worship the goddess—or sacrifice her at the altar at adviceamy@aol.com

For the week of December 30

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): John Koenig is an artist who invents new words. Here’s one that’s applicable to your journey in 2016: “Keyframe.” Koenig defines it as being a seemingly mundane phase of your life that is in fact a turning point. Major plot twists in your big story arrive half hidden amidst a stream of innocuous events. They don’t come about through “a series of jolting epiphanies,” Koenig says, but rather “by tiny imperceptible differences between one ordinary day and the next.” In revealing this secret, I hope I’ve alerted you to the importance of acting with maximum integrity and excellence in your everyday routine.

as cities grew larger, a problem emerged: The mounting manure left behind on the roads. It became an ever-increasing challenge to clear away the equine “pollution.” In 1894, a British newspaper predicted that the streets of London would be covered with nine feet of the stuff by 1950. But then something unexpected happened: Cars. Gradually, the threat of an excremental apocalypse waned. I present this story as an example of what I expect for you in 2016: A pressing dilemma that will gradually dissolve because of the arrival of a factor you can’t imagine yet.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The coming

in the world flows through eastern Africa: The Nile. It originates below the equator and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Although its current flows north, its prevailing winds blow south. That’s why sailors have found it easily navigable for thousands of years. They can either go with the flow of the water or use sails to harness the power of the breeze. I propose that we make the Nile your official metaphor in 2016, Scorpio. You need versatile resources that enable you to come and go as you please—that are flexible in supporting your efforts to go where you want and when you want.

months look like one of the best times ever for your love life. Old romantic wounds are finally ready to be healed. You’ll know what you have to do to shed tired traditions and bad habits that have limited your ability to get the spicy sweetness that you deserve. Are you up for the fun challenge? Be horny for deep feelings. Be exuberantly aggressive in honoring your primal yearnings. Use your imagination to dream up new approaches to getting what you want. The innovations in intimacy that you initiate in the coming months will keep bringing you gifts and teachings for years to come.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In ancient times,

observers of the sky knew the difference between stars and planets. The stars remained fixed in their places. The planets wandered around, always shifting positions in relationship to the stars. But now and then, at irregular intervals, a very bright star would suddenly materialize out of nowhere, stay in the same place for a while, and then disappear. Chinese astronomers called these “guest stars.” We refer to them as supernovae. They are previously dim or invisible stars that explode, releasing tremendous energy for a short time. I suspect that in 2016, you may experience the metaphorical equivalent of a guest star. Learn all you can from it. It’ll provide teachings and blessings that could feed you for years.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Be alert for an

abundance of interesting lessons in 2016. You will be offered teachings about a variety of practical subjects, including how to take care of yourself really well, how to live the life you want to live and how to build the connections that serve your dreams. If you are even moderately responsive to the prompts and nudges that come your way, you will become smarter than you thought possible. So just imagine how savvy you’ll be if you ardently embrace your educational opportunities. (Please note that some of these opportunities may be partially in disguise.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The silkworm grows fast.

Once it hatches, it eats constantly for three weeks. By the time it spins its cocoon, it’s 10,000 times heavier than it was in the beginning. On the other hand, a mature, 60-foot-tall saguaro cactus may take 30 years to fully grow a new side arm. It’s in no hurry. From what I can tell, Leo, 2015 was more like a silkworm year for you, whereas 2016 will more closely resemble a saguaro. Keep in mind that while the saguaro phase is different from your silkworm time, it’s just as important.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “The sky calls me,”

wrote Virgo teacher and poet Sri Chinmoy. “The wind calls me. The moon and stars call me. The dense groves call me. The dance of the fountain calls me. Smiles call me, tears call me. A faint melody calls me. The morn, noon and eve call me. Everyone is searching for a playmate. Everyone is calling me, ‘Come, come!’” In 2016, Virgo, I suspect that you will have a lot of firsthand experience with feelings like these. Sometimes life’s seductiveness may overwhelm you, activating confused desires to go everywhere and do everything. On other occasions, you will be enchanted by the lush invitations, and will know exactly how to respond and reciprocate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the 19th century, horses were a primary mode of personal transportation. Some people rode them, and others sat in carriages and wagons that horses pulled. But

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The longest river

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In many cases, steel isn’t fully useful if it’s too hard. Manufacturers often have to soften it a bit. This process, which is called tempering, makes the steel springier and more malleable. Car parts, for example, can’t be too rigid. If they were, they’d break too easily. I invite you to use “tempering” as one of your main metaphors in 2016, Sagittarius. You’re going to be strong and vigorous, and those qualities will serve you best if you keep them flexible. Do you know the word “ductile?” If not, look it up. It’ll be a word of power for you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In his essay The Etiquette of Freedom, poet Gary Snyder says that wildness “is perennially within us, dormant as a hard-shelled seed, awaiting the fire or flood that awakes it again.” The fact that it’s a “hard-shelled” seed is a crucial detail. The vital stuff inside the stiff outer coating may not be able to break out and start growing without the help of a ruckus. A fire or flood? They might do the job. But I propose, Capricorn, that in 2016 you find an equally vigorous but less disruptive prod to liberate your dormant wildness. Like what? You could embark on a brave pilgrimage or quest. You could dare yourself to escape your comfort zone. Are there any undomesticated fantasies you’ve been suppressing? Unsuppress them! AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Frederick the Great was King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786. He was also an Aquarius who sometimes experimented with eccentric ideas. When he brewed his coffee, for example, he used champagne instead of water. Once the hot elixir was ready to drink, he mixed in a dash of powdered mustard. In light of the astrological omens, I suspect that Frederick’s exotic blend might be an apt symbol for your life in 2016: A vigorous, rich, complex synthesis of champagne, coffee and mustard. (P.S. Frederick testified that “champagne carries happiness to the brain.”) PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): My Piscean

acquaintance Arturo plays the piano as well as anyone I’ve heard. He tells me that he can produce 150 different sounds from any single key. Using the foot pedals accounts for some of the variation. How he touches a key is an even more important factor. It can be percussive, fluidic, staccato, relaxed, lively and many other moods. I invite you to cultivate a similar approach to your unique skills in 2016. Expand and deepen your ability to draw out the best in them. Learn how to be even more expressive with the powers you already possess.Y

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