BERKELEYSIDE’S ‘UNCHARTED’ IDEAS FESTIVAL Berkeleyside’s fifth annual Uncharted: Berkeley Festival of Ideas kicks off Friday morning with coffee, treats and badge pick-up at the Freight & Salvage, and runs through Saturday afternoon. In conversation, on stages at both the Freight and Peet’s Theatre at the Berkeley Rep, are, among others: “class cluelessness” expert Joan Williams, Silicon Valley historian Leslie Berlin, former neo-Nazi skinhead Christian Picciolini, “unapologetically Black” Mychal Denzel Smith, and Republican political strategist Rick Wilson, who coined the phrase “Everything Trump Touches Dies.” There’s also live music, comedy and dance. All ticket-holders also get into the Uncharted party at the David Brower Center on Friday, 5-7 p.m., with complimentary food, wine, beer and cocktails. Some tickets for both days, or single days, are still available, and we’re saving some for the spontaneous who show up at the door! (Note: None of the programming overlaps, so you can see all the sure-to-be amazing speakers — except if you choose to take part in post-stage “Living Room Conversations” organized by JCC East Bay with Joan Blades; sign up when registering). P.S. All Uncharted ticket-holders get half-price admission to BAMPFA Friday through Sunday. Simply present your badge at reception. Visit BerkeleyIdeas.com to see the full program and schedule, and to buy tickets.
WATERSIDE WORKSHOPS BIRTHDAY PARTY Hard to believe with this mini-heatwave, but earlier this year Waterside Workshops in Aquatic Park was severely flooded. Waterside is holding a big anniversary party Sunday, Oct. 29, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Waterside uses vocational education to promote youth development, encouraging sustainable and healthy lifestyles, and cultivating positive change in the Bay Area community. It provides job training, classes and recreation opportunities for local youth while offering services to the community including a bicycle shop and repair facility, a full-service wooden boat building shop, bicycle and boat rentals, and Berkeley’s only youth-run coffee shop. The fundraiser event is free, and there will be boat rides (including free Gondola rides), music, games and a community BBQ. All donations up to $25,000 will be matched by the Dean Witter Foundation. Sunday, Oct. 29, 2-6 p.m.: Waterside Workshops, 84 Bolivar Drive. Information.
ONE NIGHT ONLY: EGYPTIAN TREASURES ON VIEW The Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the Cal campus is bringing more than 100 highlights from its ancient Egyptian collection out from storage for one night only, Saturday, Oct. 28, from 6:30-9:30 p.m., to benefit the museum and the American Research Center in Egypt’s Northern California Chapter. Cal doctoral student Victoria Jensen, president of ARCE-NorCal, is organizing the event with Katie Fleming, gallery manager of the Hearst Museum. Famed Egyptologist George Reisner helped to establish American Egyptology, but he published very little of his work. None of this material is normally on display due to space and budgetary reasons. Collection highlights include Old Kingdom statuary from Giza and Predynastic stonework, pottery and other artifacts from Deir-el-Ballas and Naga ed-Deir, much of it excavated by Reisner at the turn of the 20th century. Tickets ($60, or $25 for students with ID) include an open bar (beer donated by Pyramid), Egyptian food and gallery talks by Cal grad students and faculty. A small number of VIP tickets include admission to the storage areas to see coffins and difficult-to-move objects, including the famed Fourth Dynasty Wepemnofret Stela. Details and tickets.
ELEANOR COPPOLA AT BAMPFA Eleanor Coppola (wife of Francis, and an accomplished director in her own right) will make a rare public appearance to introduce a screening of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. at BAMPFA. Credited as one of the film’s co-directors, Coppola played a pivotal role in assembling the documentary by capturing rare behind-the-scenes footage of her husband directing Apocalypse Now — a landmark of 1970s cinema whose tumultuous shoot was nearly as controversial as the film itself. Details.
NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN STORY TIME The West Branch of the Berkeley Public Library hosts the fourth annual “Not-So-Scary Halloween Story Time” for babies, toddlers and preschoolers Saturday, Oct.28, from 10:15-11:30 a.m. It’s a costume optional (but encouraged) event with stories followed by a noisy costume parade through the library and Halloween snack treats in the meeting room. Nora Hale, Children’s Librarian, tells us that last year saw ladybugs, bumble bees, a lobster, a robot, a bulldozer, and quite a few other sweet and humorous costumes. Details.
Don’t miss these other events featured on Berkeleyside:
Big Screen Berkeley: ‘Rat Film’
Orwell’s book brought to life in TheatreFirst’s ‘The Farm ‘