The first Thursday of every month is free admission to the Pez Museum in Burlingame, where you can find over 500 pez dispensers from the past 80 years. The small shop front leads into an overwhelming grotto of Pez merchandise… Pez watches, money boxes, dispensers, T-shirts, cards and Frisbees are all for sale, but the jewel of this museum is the display room with the entire history of pez. The original Pez product, a tin of mints, was produced by the Austrian company in 1927. The first small, rectangular dispensers are uninspiring, and look a bit like lighters. The first character heads were introduced in 1952 — they include Mickey, Casper and Popeye. The rarest Pez in this collection, worth about $5,000 is a Mr Potato Head character, which was taken off the market in 1973 because the small pieces were a choking hazard. The museum also includes World’s Largest Pez Dispenser and in 2004, the museum was expanded to include the Classic Toy Museum which features exhibits of the other great toys from our childhood.

Homenagem Brasileira, featuring vocalist Sandy Cressman, is a musical journey through the world of Brazilian jazz. Cressman and her critically acclaimed band pay tribute to the great Brazilian composers Ivan Lins, Dori Caymmi, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Toninho Horta and many others, by interpreting their music in the way it was intended: intimate and melodic, or fiercely rhythmic.

The San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design is a lovely little space tucked neatly to the side of Union Square on Stockton Street with exhibitions designed to showcase the art of craft and design, and their importance in everyday life. (more…)

Get your monthly arts fix at the Asian Art Museum’s Matcha series. Experience live performances, create art, embark on special tours of the galleries, mingle with friends over cocktails, or simply chill to the hip beats of DJs and musicians. August 7, 2008 Matcha - Drunken Fist: You’ve seen Jet Li do it in movies—now watch former champion US World Team Member, Philip Wong and former Bejing Wushu Team champion Zhang Hong Mei lead members of Bay Area martial arts school Pacific Wushu in a dynamic, jaw-dropping demonstration. View the museum’s summer exhibition Power & Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, jump on guided gallery tours of samurai warrior arts and Southeast Asian daggers, try out a hands-on art activity, tune in to an in-depth talk on shaolin martial arts, or “kick it” with the DJ Phatrick, a drink, and friends. (more…)

From 11am to 5pm, enjoy free admission to the UC Berkeley Art Museum galleries, public programs. Aftrwards you can attend a free 5:30p Pacific Film Archive screening, the first Thursday of the month. (more…)

Akira Tana has established himself as one of today’s most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene. Recognized for his ability to ignite the spark of many top rhythm sections and create pure musical dialogue with mainstay soloists, his colorful interactive style has led to concert, club and recording work with jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Zoot Sims, Hubert Laws, Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, Art Farmer, The Paul Winter Consort, Paquito D’Rivera, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Lena Horne, and The Manhattan Transfer, just to name a few.

With a powerful and “lush vocal style recalling both Bessie Smith and Dinah Washington” (Los Angeles Times), Lavay Smith is the grande dame of Bay Area Swing. Backed by the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, an airtight band that lays down irresistible jump blues, R&B, big band, and salsa grooves, Smith kicks off this years’ Union Square series in footloose fashion. (more…)

On August 7th, Master Distiller Carlos Romero will be on hand to discuss the origins, production and characteristics of this beautiful latin spirit, Conqueror Pisco, that was a stalwart of the early San Francisco Cocktail Scene (as in mid 1800’s). Each “meeting” of the cocktail club is open to the public and free. Each Thursday, a different beverage industry Guest Speaker will be on hand to pour tastings, and discuss the products they are featuring. They may be representing a brand portfolio or an entire category. They may be writers, distillers, brewers, bartenders or celebrities. The one thing they’ll have in common is that they know what they are talking about and they are on hand to share it. The setting is casual and personal. Each week our Guest Speaker will simply mix and mingle for a couple of hours and answer all of your questions.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian hosts it’s 2008 “Best of the Bay” Party at 1016 Folsom Street with emcee Jello Biafra. There will be four different stages of entertainment including burlesque shows by Tease-o-Rama and the Devilettes, live music by local indie pop band Locuat, plus Hot Tub, Kev Choice Ensemble and Top Ten, Raashan Ahmad, plus tons of DJs and a special appearance by the Bay Area Derby Girls.

Writer/performer Kirk Read presents this midnight movie-style evening of stories and performances about sex work, hallucinations and the apocalypse. Read learned to perform in a touring Virginia evangelical youth group, with some in his hometown expecting him to become a preacher. Instead, Read became an escort and an avowed fan of magic mushrooms. Read is a different sort of preacher. Read’s stories weave in and out of multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney’s live soundscape, creating an atmosphere of magical trance. Read’s humor and acute observation, together with Mooney’s trippy, layered music will take you to church. Liz Singer’s gorgeous videos will make your ass tremble. (more…)

This volunteer-based event, hosted by East West Wing Chun, will feature a Chi-Sao-a-thon, or “sticky hands” marathon, (”sticky hands’ being the signature technique of Wing Chun Kung Fu), and demonstrations of Filipino Martial Arts and Korean Martial Arts. The event is free and open to the public, and people are encouraged to bring their families and friends to Quickly to watch some exciting displays of Martial Arts, while supporting the cause. Donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at the event by purchasing shirts, sponsoring participants or by donating money on site.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization, through events such as Martial Arts for St. Jude. For more information, please visit www.stjude.org.

On Friday nights the entire museum is open until 8:45 p.m. Friday Nights at the de Young offers a variety of interdisciplinary arts programs, including live music, poetry, films, dance, tours, and lectures. The cafe is open with a special Friday Nights dinner menu, and a no-host cocktail bar is serving drinks. There are art-making activities for everyone. August 8th features Acclaimed latin jazz guitarist, Rolando Morales, learn to make abstract watercolors. Events listed here are free, normal fee applies for museum admission.

It is Barbie’s and Ken’s Celebration of conserving and reuse.  Join Artists from around the San Francisco Bay who Resurrect Kens and Barbies and Reinvent them into a wide range of recycled and re-usable Barbie art that includes mixed-media, painting, printmaking, photography, quilts, fashion, poetry & 3D Barbie’s, with video, performance and film.  Over 80 artists showcase their eco-friendly visions and creations. The opening reception on Friday 8/8/08 features live music, films, a barbie poetry slam and odd barbie-inspired live theater performances. (more…)

Blending classic rock with soul, R&B and modern pop, Key Lime Pie will delight anyone tired of hearing the same old thing. Songwriter Evan Palmer grew up influenced by Steve Miller, Little Feat, Fleetwood Mac and the Grateful Dead, and brings those classic influences to bear on his songcraft while bringing the bands’ sound into the twenty-first century.

Broadway in Redwood City is transformed into the Beijing Night Market, music and festivities abound, excited crowds gather, and the big screen brings us the opening ceremonies live  from Beijing. The Beijing Night Market Experience will begin at 6 pm with a variety of vendors displaying and selling their wares, which will be typical of a real Chinese marketplace. A free “Lucky Draw” will award a variety of Olympic Souvenirs to lucky winners, plus live music from 6 to 8pm. Then, the Olympic telecast begins at 8:08 pm live from Beijing, and everyone is invited to enjoy the spectacle and festivities.

Slay the Giant is a series of new robot artwork by Ferris Plock. The work centers around the story of an average citizen taking it upon his self to help take down a giant robot that is threatening to destroy the world that he lives in. Opening Reception: Friday, August 8th 7pm - 11pm at Lower Haters Gallery

Being black and male is serious business, but its many absurd contradictions are often laugh-out loud. In “Big Black Penis: Misadventures in Race and Masculinity,” Bay Area writer Shawn Taylor deftly leads us on a no-holds-barred tour of his masculine development, while acknowledging some deep but often hilarious truths about black men. Unapologetic and sharply critical, Taylor brings the subject of black masculinity into the 21st century. Shawn Taylor is the author of “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.” He is a spoken-word performer and writer whose focus is gender, cultural identity, folklore, ancestry, and ritual. His solo performance, “Slower than a Speeding Bullet,” was selected as the AOL.com pick of the week.

The advent of The Owl Mag’s 3rd Anniversary Party is upon us. Behold the performance splendor of Wallpaper, Hottub, & Vitamin Party and rejoice in DJ sets by Aaron Axelsen of Live 105 and Amplive of Zion-I. Drink specials and hotness for you courtesy of the swell people at SonicLiving! Goodies from Red Bull, Tank Farm clothing. Plus, one lucky, albeit drunk partygoer, will have a chance to win a pair of tickets to Another Planet Entertainment’s two-day Treasure Island Music Festival…

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Manhattan Transfer, David Sanborn, Zakir Hussain, Les McCann, James Hunter, John Densmore’s Tribaljazz, Yosvany Terry, Christian Scott, Javon Jackson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill Holman Band and many more… The sounds of jazz return to downtown San Jose August 8-10. From Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, over 80,000 music lovers will converge on the heart of Silicon Valley to enjoy over 1,000 musicians performing three days of jazz, blues, salsa, Latin, R&B, electronica and many other forms of contemporary music. $10 admission per day or $25 for three-day pass.