Tippi, Tippi, Tippi: Hitchcock’s classic The Birds (and Tippi) in Orinda Friday night; and, by the way, What’s your favorite Hitchcock film?

Tippi Hedren will be in Orinda Friday night at a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece The Birds, as part of the California Independent Film Festival, which is moving this year from Livermore to its new location in Orinda’s beautifully classic Art Deco cinema.

This 1963 film is about a northern California coastal town (Bodega Bay) that is attacked by a sudden, frightening, and even apocalyptic horde of wild birds, perhaps symbols of nature seeking their revenge on humans. The film starred a then-unknown actress named Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), as San Francisco socialite Melanie Daniels.

People talk about Hitchcock films being suspenseful and scary. Suspenseful maybe. Scary, not really. What I love about his best films is how psychologically rich they are, how lushly romantic, how darkly humorous, and how sharp they are about picking apart our views of male and female identities and of relationships between the two genders. Hitchcock had a dark, twisted sense of humor, and of the human condition, which is very much evident in The Birds.

Friday night’s event begins at 7 p.m. The screening of the film is preceded by a chat between Ms. Hedren and Diablo magazine’s senior editor Peter Crooks.

The event is nearly sold out, but tickets are still available. Tickets benefits Hedren’s Roar Foundation Shambala Preserve, and cost $15 for students and $20 for adults. They may be purchased online or at the Orinda and Rheem Theatre Box offices, or by call CIFF's ticketing office at (925) 277-1355.

I’ll be going with my son. It’s time to introduce him to the genius of Hitchcock, and I think The Birds is a good one to start with. I first saw it around his age, and it both terrified and delighted me.

What’s your favorite Hitchcock film? I have to say that mine is the poetic and pathologically romantic Vertigo, but The Birds is very much high on my list. Notably, The Birds and Vertigo, as well as 1948's Shadow of a Doubt, very much depend, for story and theme, on their San Francisco and Northern California locations.

And, yes, I have taken friends, who are fellow Hitchcock lovers, on my own tours of Hitchcock’s San Francisco (Fort Point, Mission Delores, Maiden Lane, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and that apartment highrise at the top of Nob Hill) and Hitchcock's Northern California (San Juan Bautista, Muir Woods, Bodega Bay, and the town of Bodega).

Live! Nude! Thespians coming to a suburban stage near you

Ever since hearing that Willows Theatre Company was going to present Hair, the groundbreaking 1960s counter-culture rock musical, some thought loops have been playing in my head.

One is a song worm of “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In.” Another is the vague memory of how its brief nude scene, at the end of Act I, caused a major controversy way back when the show first premiered off-Broadway in 1967.

Despite—or because of—the nudie controversy, the show went on to become a smash Broadway hit, the first bona fide rock musical, and a signature work in the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Those feisty, creative talents at Willows--truly one of the East Bay’s performing arts treasures—are going go for it. Yeah, they’ll be letting actors strip for performances of the show, which runs through September 27. The company, in “keeping with the spirit of the original show,” will also keep the script’s “mature language.”

Could this be another sign that the East Bay suburbs are becoming more culturally sophisticated? That its arts organizations continue to push to produce more mature, adult, and difficult works? My goodness, with this free and open depiction of the human body in Willows' Hair, could we becoming more like San Francisco where, last fall, I saw an actress go topless in the hit musical Spring Awakening, or like Berkeley, where I saw a topless Juliet in a Mark Morris production of the ballet Romeo and Juliet at Cal Performances.

Actually, I recall that an actress briefly went topless in a production at the Lesher Center a few years back.

But if we’re talking culture and sophistication, is Hair still relevant? Maybe. And in ways more daring than having actors strip on its Concord stage, Willows is putting on a show about a time of “emotional and political upheaval” in the United States. Sound irrelevant? That upheaval included growing anger about an unpopular war in which young Americans were dying in a faraway place for questionable reasons. Still sound irrelevant?

Not having seen this Willows production of Hair, I can’t say how much the company is pushing the political, anti-war message of the original show. It’s a good bet, though, that Willows will deliver a first-rate production.

If you want to see Hair, visit the Willows website or call the box office at (925) 798-1300.

Full Deck: a very cool show that celebrates the unconventional masterpieces of skateboard art comes to Walnut Creek’s Bedford Gallery

When Corey Duffel skateboarded in front of the Lesher Center at age 11, he would get a ticket. Now the Lesher Center’s Bedford Gallery is welcoming the pro skateboarder, who still lives in Walnut Creek, as a VIP for the grand opening party Thursday of its tres cool summer exhibition.

Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art, through September 13, displays boards from numerous skateboard collections, including Duffel's, and showcases artist-rendered, hand-painted skateboard decks created from the 1960s to the present. In addition to Duffel, the custom and vintage boards also former pro skater Sam Cunningham and from skate shops such as Skateworks in San Ramon and Metro Board Shop in Pleasant Hill.

The decks highlight the sport, its history, and its eclectic , iconoclast culture. The decks are bright, colorful, and represent a variety of themes. Some make brash political or social commentary. Others depict more subdued urban street scenes of images of nature.

As reported by Diablo Arts, the magazine distributed at the Lesher Center, this is one of the first skate artwork-related shows in the Bay Area.

Duffel will be special guest of honor at the opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. and skateboard artist Sean Cliver will sign copies of his new book, The Disposable Skateboard Bible.

For more information about the exhibition, opening reception, or other events related to the show, call (925) 295-1417 or visit http://www.bedfordgallery.org/.

Stupid criminal tricks: Mugshot mishaps among notable perps and suspects

I was viewing the mugshot photo of Haithem Ibrahim (right), one of four Cal Poly fraternity members arrested this week in the December hazing death of his “little brother” during a pledge ritutal. Look at that grin on Ibrahim's face! Like he’s posing for his high school graduation or his driver’s license photo.

The photo of this 20-year-old Lafayette resident was snapped when he was being booked on felony charges that he and three fellow frat brothers were responsible for the alcohol-induced death of an 18-year-old pledge. Couldn’t Ibrahim have donned an expression that shows some sensitivity to the tragedy of that young man’s death, or some understanding of the gravity of his own situation? He’s facing three years in prison.

He, or, more likely, his Lafayette family, posted the $50,000 bail. I’m also assuming his family is also shelling out lots of dollars to hire an attorney to—they hope—work out some sort of plea bargain that will keep Ibrahim out of state prison. Maybe just some county jail time?

So, if the family has hired an attorney, couldn’t that attorney have given his/her client a quick bit of advice on how to appear in his mug shot? I’m also assuming that Ibrahim, his family, and his attorney knew that the young man's death was part of an ongoing investigation and that an arrest was coming.

Demeanor, facial expression, grooming: Attorneys usually tell their clients to adopt a calm, neutral, respectful demeanor when they make court appearances. That bit of advice should start with the booking photo. Listen up, lawyers! That photo will become the public face of your client, especially if your client is a suspect in a high-profile local, national, or international case—or your client is a celebrity. It does no good for them to come off looking shifty, arrogant, cocky, or oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.

Then again, maybe these mugshots, snapped in the harsh, non-photo-studio surroundings of a police or jail booking office, still manage to capture, artfully, like a Richard Avedon or Annie Leibovitz photo, something of the subject's true nature. Dare, I say, that these mugshots might offer windows into these perps' souls?

Anyway, with Ibrahim's mugshot mishap in mind, here are some other perps or suspected perps—locally or internationally infamous—who could have used some mugshot preparation so that they would appear, well, less arrogant, wacky, creepy, sociopathic, and/or idiotic.

Ernie Scherer, III: This mugshot gets my nomination for creepy mugshot of the year. It is of the 30-year-old gambler son of former San Ramon Valley school district trustee, Ernie Scherer, Jr. Dad Sherer, also a prominent local Republican activist, along with his wife, Charlene Abendroth, 57, were found brutally beaten in their Castlewood Country Club home in Pleasanton in March 2008. Son Sherer was arrested in February in connection with their murders. Known as “Skip,” son Sherer was in serious debt and suspected of trying to get his hands on his inheritance.

Drew Peterson: The former police officer from Bolingbrook, Illinois was arrested on charges of murdering Wife No. 3 in 2004. She was found drowned in an empty bathtub, and police reopened the case after Wife No. 4 of Peterson, Stacy, went missing in October 2007. Peterson has been taunting authorities for months and years to come get him. Well, they did May 7, and he still can't hide that smirk.

O.J. Simpson: He looks positively serene in this photo, taken in 2007, just after he was arrested for the armed robbery of a memorabilia dealer in Las Vegas.

Scott Peterson: Just after his April 2003 arrest, for murdering his wife, Laci, and unborn son. He’s sporting blond highlights and a goatee. Not because he was trying to evade authorities. No! Rather, he was trying to escape the prying, annoying media who were hounding him during his golf outings.

Rush Limbaugh: Along with Darth Cheney, the conservative talk show host has become the new hero of the Republican Party. He wasn’t so heroic in April 2006—just a sad painkiller junkie—who was charged with doctor shopping and had to surrender for booking to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Leonna Helmsley: Taken right after the hotel magnate, then 67, was booked in April 1988 after pleading not guilty to federal income tax evasion charges. Can’t knock her grooming or style, but that big grin betrays a confidence that she could beat the rap. She didn’t. She later spent 18 months behind bars.

Finally, the infamous Nick Nolte mugshot, snapped after he was arrested for driving under the influence in September 2002.

By the way, to view more fun mugshots of celebrities, sports figures, and infamous criminals throughout history, check out The Smoking Gun website’s Mugshot Mania—Arresting Images page.

Does Walnut Creek’s emphasis on the arts and recreation help or hurt its fiscal health?

City Manager Gary Pokorny was blunt in the latest issue of the Walnut Creek's newsletter The Nutshell: "The city is facing a $3.5 million shortfall in 2009-10 and shortfall in 2009-10 and worse in later years. years. We must make difficult spending cuts…" He added that the major economic downturn has hurt auto sales, housing values, employment, and, as a result, city revenues. “The unfortunate reality is that the City is simply no longer able to do ‘business as usual.’ "

As this May/June issue of Nutshell hit our mailboxes, and the city’s website, the city announced a series of workshops to gain public input on how the city should address its financial challenges in the years to come. They will be held May 11, 16, and 18.

Meanwhile, fellow Walnut Creek blogger, The DUBC, in an April 8 article, showed how Walnut Creek spends a larger percentage of its budget on arts and recreation services than some other East Bay cities and less on police services. Walnut Creek spends about 21 percent of its budget on arts, recreation, and community services, and 33 percent on police services. This story by the DUBC, a blogger who does a much better job of following Walnut Creek’s budget issues than I do, generated lots of good debate and information. I suggest you check it out.

The story was comparing Walnut Creek’s ratio of arts and recreation to police services spending to towns like Concord, Antioch, Pittsburg, and Richmond. From some poking around myself, I found that Walnut Creek’s ratio is similar to local cities like San Ramon, Pleasanton, and Danville.

It would be great if, as one anonymous Walnut Creek police officer commented, that the city could afford to put 15 more officers on the street. According to this officer, Chief Joel H. Bryden, nine months on the job, has said that these 15 more cops would make Walnut Creek a much safer place. But, alas, the city can't.

I am sure there are some who think that Walnut Creek is a perfectly safe city and that maybe the police have so little to do they can launch a jaywalking sting on Las Lomas students (as I reported in a recent story).

I check out the Walnut Creek police log from time to time. While they are not regularly racing out to reports or robberies, shootings, or homicides, like their fellow officers in Richmond, I see that the officers keep themselves busy with calls coming into the department every few minutes.

In his response to comments, the DUBC says that by showing how the city spends its money, “We are not saying fund this area and not that one. We love Open Space, the arts, well maintained streets and all the other things the city provides. Hopefully these numbers help people understand where the city currently spends money so they can express their opinions, good or bad, on the direction we are going.”

I happen to be a fan of Walnut Creek’s arts and recreation programs. My son will attend a couple sessions of the city-run sports camps this summer, and I learned this week, at a meeting for parents of incoming Walnut Creek Intermediate School students, that the city coordinates after-school sports programs at this school and at Foothill Middle School. The city employs the coaches, officials and scorekeepers for basketball, soccer, flag football, softball, volleyball, golf and track.

As for Walnut Creek’s arts programs, Walnut Creek’s Civic Arts Education program is reportedly one of the oldest and most admired in the state.

And most important of all, in these tough economic times, the economic benefits of the city having a thriving arts and culture scene have been well documented.

Walnut Creek has twice participated in an Arts and Economic Prosperity study carried out by Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit in promoting arts programs.

The latest study, released in 2007, showed the city’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations “are a significant industry in the city—one that generates $56.2 million in local economic activity. This spending--$18.6 million by nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and an additional $37.6 million in event-related spending by their audiences—supports 1,482 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $26.6 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $5.8 million in local and state government revenue.”

I also know people who are involved in the Diablo Regional Arts Association. This is the nonprofit group that raises money for theater, dance, music, and visual arts programs put on at the Lesher Center for the Arts. Some of the biggest movers and shakers in business, in Walnut Creek and in nearby towns, are members or are on the board of the DRAA. Major sponsors or partners of the DRAA include oil giant Chevron Corp., Wells Fargo Bank, and Target. I recently heard the DRAA’s board president, Gary Fisher, Chevron’s general manager of corporate public policy, tell a group of area business leaders that supporting arts is good for their own bottom line.

Walnut Creek’s thriving arts scene makes it a desirable place for a business to locate, and a desirable place for its employees to work and live (if they can afford it, but that’s a whole other issue that businesses have to struggle with).

Walnut Creek’s downtown wouldn’t be the retail, dining, and entertainment hub that it is—even in this tough economy—without the Lesher Center. Or, so I’ve been told time and time again by my artsy friends: Broadway Plaza bookending one end of the downtown’s core; the Lesher Center, which opened 19 years ago, bookending the other.

Oh, and, from what I’ve further been told, Center Repertory Company, the in-house theater company at the Lesher Center, has been breaking records for attendance the last two years. Seats are 90 percent filled on most performance nights, compared with 60 percent a couple years ago. Meanwhile, tomorrow’s performance by the Walnut Creek-based California Symphony at the Lesher Center is sold out.

So, even in these tough economic times, people are willing to shell out $$$ for movies and quality entertainment.

Actually, that was true in the Depression. Hollywood raked it in, offering people an escape from the grim daily headlines of job losses, stock market dives, and breadlines. These days, we want escape from the grim daily headlines of job losses, stock market dives, swine flu, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, nuclear threats from Iran, Pakistan and North Korea, and debates over whether our nation engaged in torture.

Big, wild party in WC Saturday night

Okay, it was big, but no so wild, and the cops didn't have to break it up.

Actually, it was the 30th Annual Shellie Awards at the Lesher Center for the Arts in downtown Walnut Creek Saturday night (You can see late Contra Costa Times publisher and local philanthropist Dean Lesher in the portrait in the background of this photo, which was submitted by my local arts fan friend, TheaterGirl).

At the Shellies, Contra Costa theater companies honor one another and individual artists for achievements in plays and musicals that were produced during the 2007-98 arts season. The gala event is sort of our area's version of the Tony Awards. Movers and shakers in the local performing arts world, as well as politics and media, get all dressed up in gowns and tuxes to celebrate great work in acting and directing as well as crucial backstage work in set and lighting design.

Participating companies include Act Now!, Antioch Rivertown Theatre, Center Repertory Company, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Diablo Light Opera Company, Galatean Players Ensemble, Onstage Theatre Company, Pittsburg Community Theatre, Role Players Ensemble, Town Hall Theatre Company, and the Willows Theatre.

TheaterGirl apologizes that the photo might be a little blurry. I say, thanks very much for sending the photo.