Pee-Wee tribute on the big screen, California Extreme is back, and Musubis for Maui
Paul Reubens rides a bike in a scene from the film Pee-Wees Big Adventure, 1985. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, Calif. - As the summer winds down and students head back to school, it's a good reminder to get out and savor every last drop of the season. See what the Bay Area has to offer in the realm of arts, culture and events.
With the exception of Barbie, summer blockbuster fanfare hasn't been what it once was, but The Roxie in the Mission is putting Pee-Wee Herman on the big screen one more time this weekend. Gamers should get a kick out of the annual California Extreme in the South Bay. Food in the form of SPAM will nourish your heart and soul as it benefits the victims of the Maui wildfires. SF's Audium continues to deliver sensory overload through sound. And one birthday celebration open house in the East Bay promises to be wonderfully weird, colorful and larger than life.
Here are some suggestions on upcoming items of interest:
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure at the Roxie Theater
Au revoir, Au revoir, Pee-Wee! And just like in the movies, we bid Paul Reubens, the campy comedic mind behind the 1980s character – Pee-Wee Herman – goodbye.
News of Reubens’ death last month shocked the entertainment world as he kept his battle with cancer quiet. Anyone who was a kid during the ‘80s knows Pee-Wee took Hollywood by storm. His first full-length feature film, directed by the quirky-in-his-own right Tim Burton, was 1985’s classic, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. This was where we learned there is in fact, no basement in the Alamo. But we followed this man-child on his big adventure as he searched high and low for his stolen bike. He danced atop a biker bar, as only he could, to The Champs mostly instrumental tune from 1958, "Tequila." And let's not forget his ghastly encounter with what could only be explained as the ghost of Large Marge.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is playing at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco's Mission District Friday, August 18 through Tuesday, August 22.
California Extreme in Santa Clara
Need a little excitement? Maybe you should get extreme! That's right, California Extreme, the "Classic Arcade Games Show," returns to the South Bay this weekend.
The pandemic was a great disruptor to this event, making its schedule a little less than predictable, but this year's show is set for Aug. 19-20 at Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. Literally hundreds of games, with pinball machines center stage, will be set to free play as long as you pay the entry fee. Saturday night goes late until 1:30 a.m. and Sunday you can play through 9 p.m.
If a room full of games with flashing lights, and their whirring and blipping sounds isn't enough sensory overload for you, this year's event boasts live music in the Santa Clara Ballroom. This news pairs well with the fact that you can win a Foo Fighters pinball machine as part of the annual raffle. Remember, this is extreme! Prepare to have fun.
For full information on registration and the event schedule, click here.
Musubis For Maui
Speaking of pinball, Outer Orbit, a fun spot in San Francisco's Mission District that features seven pinball machines and Hawaiian menu items, is throwing a benefit fundraiser for the Maui Strong Fund.
Musubis For Maui - Wildfire Relief Fundraiser is Friday August 18 at Dolores and 18th streets in San Francisco from 2 to 6 p.m. From their Facebook page, the restaurant and bar says, "We're assisting a group of Maui peeps living here in SF who are running a fundraiser." You can expect the delicious flavor SPAM Musubi has to offer as well as butter mochi. All proceeds from the sales will go to Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund. The fires have devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and at least 111 people have been killed as of this writing.
Swells at Audium
If you've never been to San Francisco's Audium, it's a bit of a trip. Located at 1616 Bush Street on San Francisco's Cathedral Hill, the theater is an experience that immerses its audience in sound and space. It's part of SF history! "Since 1967, Audium has offered weekly public performances and workshops, introducing countless visitors to new sonic lands."
The theater itself is visually unique in how its interior is designed. The space is maximized for a premium sound experience. Imagine yourself in a room full of fellow audience members, seated in chairs arranged in a circle, full of anticipation of the collective journey you're about to experience. Performances are typically held in complete disorienting darkness and heard through 176 speakers. Think along the lines of sound sculpture.
Oakland artist Ven Voisey is currently presenting a "site-specific composition that explores his relationship to the space within Audium." He calls this composition "Swells."
From Audium's website: "Through a methodology of listening, Voisey works with field recordings from Audium's building and surrounding neighborhood as a starting place. Audiences will hear creaking chairs, the hum of a breaker box, the phasing pulse of equipment cooling fans, door hinges, water pipes, and the wave-like, sub-audible sounds of traffic passing outside."
Scintillating indeed.
You can catch "Swells" each Thursday through Saturday at Audium through Aug. 26.
Bell Plastics annual open house
Who knew Hayward was a destination for kitschy, quirky weirdness? That's exactly what you'll find at Bell Plastics as the custom plastic and metal fabrication spot hosts its annual open house Sunday Aug. 20. They're also dubbing this ‘The Big Event' aka, "Big Mike's 50-ish Birthday!"
On social media, the business says to bring the whole family to this free event to witness the magic inside for this once a year opportunity. They've done custom commercial jobs for fiberglass advertising figures including; the Muffler Man, Elias Brothers' ‘Big Boy’, the iconic Doggie Diner heads, and Paul Bunyan.
Aside from those usual suspects and familiar characters, the open house will have car show jugglers, as well as manufacturing demos on things like laser cutting. According to their website, the company has been serving the Bay Area since 1979.
Bell Plastics is located at 2020 National Avenue in Hayward. The open house celebration goes from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday Aug. 20.