Best Things to Do on Father's Day in SF [holidays, events]

There is a lot of (mostly) free stuff going on in the Bay Area for Father's Day this year, so there is no excuse not to take Dear Old Dad out!

1. The Northern California Pirate Festival is happening in Vallejo from 10:00am to 6:00pm and celebrates all things Pirate.via FunCheapSF:

Celebrate all things Pirate, as Pirate Entertainers, Musicians, Singers, Swordfighters, Craftspeople, and more turn Vallejo’s waterfront into a Pirate Town the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Tortuga. Come on out for this two-day festival over fathers day weekend and have a swashbucklin’ great time at the SF Bay Area’s only Pirate Festival.

The entertainment roster encompasses performers featured on the main stage, the children’s stage, main gate stage, swordfighting & pirate’s “brawling” areas, participating vessels and roving entertainment

2. The 57th Annual North Beach Festival will be held in San Francisco from 10:00am to 6:00pm in Washington Square Park.

3. The 61st Annual Juneteenth Festival is happening in San Francisco from 11:00am to 7:00pm in the Fillmore.

4. For all you dancers, there is a free Michael Jackson "Beat It" Dance Class in SF from 12:00pm to 2:00pm at Bollyhood Cafe.

5. If you are a parkour fan, be sure to check out the 1st Annual Urban Ninja Festival in Berkeley from 12:00pm to 6:00pm at Memorial Glade (UC Berkeley).

6. The Stern Grove Festival 2011 kicks off tomorrow in SF at 2:00pm with the sounds of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

7. The Father's Day Kite Day is happening in Berkeley from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at Cesar Chavez State Park.

8. For the urban history nerds (and cannon enthusiasts!) there is a hike of shipwrecks and and cannons starting at 2:00pm at the Presidio in San Francisco.

9. World Music Day will be held in Palo Alto from 3:00pm to 7:30pm.

Click here for even more free events!

SF: Fourth Annual Medical Cannabis Competition [events]

The Fourth Annual San Francisco Medical Cannabis Competition will take place at Terra Gallery on November 14th.

via SF Weekly:

Attractions & Giveaways include: Edibles, concentrates and strains for judges to vote on! Delicious catered food, award winning DJ's, volcano medication stations, & tons of medical marijuana products!

So bummed I'm moving and going to miss this!

The SF Symphony Does Hitchcock [psycho!].

The San Francisco Symphony is performing a live orchestral accompaniment to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) on July 17th.

via the SF Symphony & SF Weekly:

Treat yourself to a night at the movies-with a live symphony orchestra! Bernard Herrmann revolutionized the art of film music with his hair-raising soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. On July 17 the San Francisco Symphony performs the score live alongside Hitchcock’s iconic film that changed the silver screen and shocked audiences 50 years ago. Don't miss this opportunity to experience a cinematic classic as you've never seen (or heard) it before!

Arrive one hour prior to the concert for music and dancing with the Martini Brothers, plus desserts and specialty drinks.

Concert includes intermission.

Recommended for ages 18 and older. Groups of ten or more save 20%. Side and Center Terrace seats are not available for this performance.

The Nervous Breakdown [SF event]

If my schedule allows tomorrow, I am going to try to hit up this event at The Make Out Room.

The Nervous Breakdown

via SFWeekly.com:

Penny For Your Thoughts
By Hiya Swanhuyser

If you're a woman who has ever leaned toward punk, you've either worshipped her or secretly hoped someone like her existed: Penelope Houston is an international icon. Not just as the lead singer of the Avengers, the band famous for the song "The American in Me," either, although the pictures of her in the early days of punk are as punk as anything else -- young, intelligent, infuriated, leather-jacketed. But in the rather many ensuing years, she's done nothing but continue to be admirable, in the form of taking on a new musical genre that's really hard to define: Mod-folk, maybe, or heartfelt go-go New Wave film soundtrack, with autoharp. Tonight, she reads at The Nervous Breakdown series, along with Johnny Genocide aka Hugh Thomas Patterson, Stephen Elliott, Paul Clayton, Lauren Becker, and Thomas Wood.

Literary Events

Make-Out Room
3225 22nd St. (at Mission); San Francisco CA