Free Will Astrology, April 22-28

0

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The visible lightning bolt we see is actually the return stroke. It’s electricity racing back up from the ground to the cloud after an invisible leader stroke has created a path. So the spectacular display is actually the Earth talking back to the sky. I’d love to see you adopt this phenomenon as your power symbol, Aries. In every way you can imagine, be like the Earth conversing with the sky. When a hopeful sign crackles overhead, send out a bold message that you’re ready to act on it. If your ideals are vague and wispy, flying high above you, take a brave practical step to anchor them in reality. Proclaim your bright intentions to the clouds and the stars.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’re finished with energy-draining indulgences. No more seductive perils or cute ailments, either. Once you wriggle free from the tangles that have been hobbling your style, I suspect you will also renounce anything that resembles joyless restraint, naive certainties, pointless cravings, numbing comforts or misplaced bravery. May it be so. Abracadabra. The emancipations that materialize after these escapes will likely stoke your holy appetite to shine more fiercely than it has in ages.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In music theory, the tritone is an interval exactly halfway between octaves. In old church music, it was considered diabolical because of its unstable, unresolved quality. But this “devil interval” is now essential to blues, jazz and rock. The precariousness that once made it seem outrageous became the source of its potency. What was taboo became foundational. I believe you’re entering into a metaphorical tritone phase, Gemini. Lots of interesting and valuable stuff may be a bit wobbly, irregular, hectic or ruffled.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A treasure you have long yearned for has morphed since the day you first set out to claim it. Either it has genuinely altered its shape and flavor, or it has remained exactly what it always was while you have changed. In either case, the relationship between you and this prize is no longer the same. Its meaning and value have shifted. The strategies you’ve been using to pursue it aren’t entirely relevant. So I suggest you pause and reconsider. Decide whether you need to formulate a revised approach or identify a different version of the treasure altogether.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): My radical predictions: You will soon discern truths that have been hidden and unravel mysteries that have resisted your understanding. A limiting belief that has dulled your mind will fade away, and a so-called ally who has confused your sense of self will drift out of your orbit. And that’s just part of the renewal ahead. I foresee that you will emerge from a weird emotional haze, regaining access to feelings you’ve needed to highlight. And with that awakening, you will be blessed with beautiful realizations that until now have lingered just beyond definition.  

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In theater, “blocking” refers to the carefully choreographed movement of actors on stage. Every step is intentional, designed to create meaning and flow. But if an actor forgets the blocking and moves spontaneously in response to what’s happening, sometimes the scene becomes more alive. Let’s apply this idea to your life, Virgo. It may be that you have been following the blocking carefully. You know your role well. But now you’ve been authorized to forget the blocking. You can respond to what’s really happening instead of what’s scripted. I invite you to speak from your heart rather than parroting what’s expected of you. Yes, you might mess up the scene. But on the other hand, you might make it extra real and vibrant.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the future I envision for us all, the prizes that truly matter won’t be the wealth we’ve gathered or the impressive names on our contact list. They won’t be the clever deals we’ve made or the attractiveness of those who walk beside us. What will count most is our ability to transform the messy, selfish, frightened parts of ourselves into strengths. That’s hard to do. Each of us carries a share of that leaden dross, of course, but some of us are more tirelessly ingenious in our efforts to transmute it into gold. And the coming weeks will be prime time for you, Libra, to make dynamic progress in harnessing this magic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Is it possible there’s something you really need but you don’t know what it is? Sometimes the soul sends up subtle hints long before it sends clear demands: a vague restlessness, a mysterious sadness or a boredom that doesn’t match your circumstances. These are often clues that an unnamed or unacknowledged need is summoning your attention. My advice to you: PAY ATTENTION. Ask your deep, sweet, sensitive self to provide unambiguous clues. To expedite the process, say the following sentence out loud, filling in the blank at the end: “I suspect I might be starving for ________.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You have arrived at the Glorious Grunting Season, my dear Sagittarius. I hope you’re poised to sweat freely and trust the intelligence of strenuous physical effort. Your wise body, more than your fine mind, can best align you with cosmic rhythms. Whenever you throw yourself into work or play that makes you grunt—hauling, scrubbing, digging, lifting, dancing, running, making love—you will harmonize with the deeper pulse of life. I predict that you will invigorate your instinctual vitality as you clear emotional sediment and ground your energy in the Earth’s rich rhythms. You will metabolize frustration into focus, inertia into momentum and abstraction into embodiment.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What might motivate you to become an extraordinary lover? I’m not suggesting that your romantic and erotic talents are lacking, only that there is delightful room to grow. And the coming weeks will be prime time for you to have fun with this noble experiment. I suggest you follow the clues that life and intuition will drop in your path. Keep this in mind, too: What makes a person a superb lover has a little to do with sheer technique, but is mostly due to emotional intelligence, imaginative responsiveness and tender ingenuity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): This horoscope isn’t composed by me. It’s coming from you. I’m channeling it straight out of your own deep mind. Why now? Because your conscious ego has been so swept up in the constant swirl of tasks and distractions that it has been tuning out crucial communications from your still, small voice. And now that precious Spirit Whisperer has conscripted me as its messenger. Here’s what it wants to say: “Hey you. Remember me? Your inner guide? Also known as your higher self and the voice of your soul? You urgently need to turn your attention back in my direction. I have a backlog of messages for you, starting with how we can and should intensify our devotion to creative self-care.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1967, Piscean biologist Lynn Margulis proposed a revolutionary idea about life’s evolution: that many of its great leaps occurred through symbiosis. She theorized that distinct organisms have sometimes merged their identities to form entirely new beings. One example is the mitochondrion, the powerhouse within our cells. It began its existence as a free-living bacterium that later entered into partnership with the ancestral cell. Margulis’ formerly controversial idea is now mainstream science. (She was called “science’s unruly earth mother.”) With this as our guide, Pisces, let’s contemplate what separate elements of your life might merge into unprecedented blends. I invite you to consider bold experiments in merging and mixing. Hybrids might be more beautiful and valuable than the sum of their parts.

Homework: What secret have you hidden so well you’ve almost forgotten it yourself? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Stirring the Pot: Chef Michael Reyes Does What he Loves

Two decades ago, Bruce Hill and Bill Higgins first opened Picco in Larkspur, which has become one of Marin’s most enduring culinary landmarks. 

For the past six years, executive chef Michael Reyes has carried that legacy forward. A Culinary Institute of America graduate who grew up on California’s Central Coast, he ascended through some of the nation’s most celebrated kitchens, such as The French Laundry, Gotham Bar and Grill, Lazy Bear, Commis, Aqua and Mourad. But it was closer to home at San Luis Obispo’s beloved Café Roma that his Italian cooking was really solidified. 

In 2020, after extensive work across the Bay Area and wine country, he landed at Restaurant Picco.

“I look forward to being here every single day,” says Reyes, who credits a devoted team he says would “walk through walls and fire” for him.

His reverence for seasonal ingredients shines throughout the menu. A signature example: Picco’s risotto, prepared fresh every 30 minutes. Reyes builds a savory broth using umami-rich Parmigiano Reggiano rinds, combined with arborio rice and mesquite-grilled artichoke hearts, then folds in a mascarpone, Grana Padano and Meyer lemon zest, and finishes it with orange oil. 

It’s no wonder that Reyes loves a simple gin gimlet, the purity of which is sometimes elevated by a hint of cucumber. Perhaps this could be one’s next off-menu order at the Picco bar. Or they could opt for any of their inventive cocktails, like the Grandaddy Purple with gin and huckleberry yuzu liquor or the Canned Heat with reposado tequila, ancho chile, passionfruit and a firewater tincture. But if wine is more one’s thing, they may visit on a Monday when every bottle on the extensive Picco wine list is half price. 

Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?

Michael Reyes: I have always loved eating, especially culturally different and unique foods. When I was in college, there was a great Italian restaurant I fell in love with. My friend was a server there, and I begged him for a job in the kitchen because I wanted to learn how to cook the potatoes they had on their chicken set. I begged the chef to give me a shot, and eventually he caved in and hired me. I haven’t stopped since.

Did you ever have an ‘aha’ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.

The first time I had a mind-blowing gimlet with cucumbers.

What is your favorite thing to drink at home?

Water or kombucha.

Where do you like to go out for a drink?

Silver Peso (in Larkspur) for shots and beers.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?

When life gives you coconuts, make pina coladas.

Restaurant Picco, 320 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, 415.924.0300, restaurantpicco.com.

Visionary Art Director, Richard T. Powell

Richard T. Powell is a big man of mild mien with a banker’s name. But that’s just a trick of the eye. 

And as I sat with him at his slick black computer work station, he described another optical illusion of his creation. That of two columns flanking a trash-fashion runway. The context was NIMBASH, the (in)famous annual art party that raises funds for Napa community arts org Nimbus. 

Across the 10 minute trash runway, the illuminated stone columns gave the appearance of slowly, almost imperceptibly, degrading—cracking, flaking, to expose a glittering metallic under-layer which began to spin—slowly at first, and then faster and faster until blinding at the timed climax of the fashion show. 

According to tipsy guests, the illusion was entirely convincing. It was achieved by projection mapping (shape-tailored projection) of Powell’s 3-D digital art onto a column.

As we talked, Powell pulled more random items from his project portfolio. And as he spun out his yarns, this mild-mannered man gave forth a new impression—that of a slowly revolving galaxy of ideas—some realized, some burning to burst forth. Simply put, Richard T. Powell is one of the most potentiated artists I have met in our locality. That is the impression I hope to put across with my slight 600 words legerdemain. Review his website for images: rtpowelldesign.com.

Cincinnatus Hibbard: What is an art director?

Richard T. Powell: Somebody that makes creative decisions. Manages expectations of how to achieve those. Hires and manages people with complementary skillsets. And gets that project vehicle to the end point.

What are your skillsets?

I studied intaglio print making [etching] at SRJC. But I also studied IT at Empire College.

So my skillset includes things like networking protocols, painting, drawing, building servers, server management, 3D animation, 3D art, graphic design and web design. 

What’s your bread and butter work?

Web design—for small businesses.

Name another art project.

I made a six-minute animated music video on Blender for Samvega’s song, ‘Watermills.’ It’s on his YouTube. In it, I was inspired by vintage sci-fi. Think Flash Gordon oil-scape backdrops and the underworld, end time art of Zdzisław Beksiński.

It’s trippy a.f. And as beautiful as any Hollywood fx. What’s a third project?

Pre-pandemic, I was doing all of the show posters for The Mystic and Cornerstone—in Berkeley. Hundreds of posters over two years.

I love the poster you did for Spice World (see this week’s cover story).

I have been collaborating—with my neighbor, actually—on interactive projection mapping. An example I can give is that you project an image—like a galaxy on a wall—and if you step in front of it and wave your hands, you push the stars around. 

What’s something unexpected about you?

I love to scuba-dive. It’s like being in space.

What would be a dream assignment ?

I would love to do special effects for a film—or music video—I think of the music videos collaborations of French dark synth wave artist Carpenter Brut. Probably a horror film. Horror is really the most experimental American commercial genre.

Learn more: Connect with Richard T. Powell on instagram @richardtpowell. It is a portfolio too. His website is rtpowelldesign.com. Tickets for NIMBASH 2026 are on sale now, from $250. The event is May 9 at Raymond Vineyards in St. Helena.

Your Letters, April 22

Republic of Tourism

I write today from behind a barricade of empty wine bottles and emotional fatigue to sound the alarm: The tourism invasion is no longer coming. It is here, sipping a lavender oat milk cortado and TikToking themselves into bit-rated oblivion.

Our quaint small towns in Sonoma County and Marin County—once havens of modest weirdness, manageable parking and citizens who knew how to parallel park without consulting astrology—are being overrun by roving battalions of leisure seekers with their filtered social media faces and purported appetite for “authenticity.”

Napa County is already a goner. Marin is slipping. But Sonoma County is the darling du jour. Let us speak plainly. The lines are too long, the parking is nonexistent, the prices are skyrocketing, and the “local color” that once made small towns special is draining out into a soul-sucking sepia of future nostalgia for the way things were.

I recently attempted to buy a loaf of bread in a neighboring town and found myself eighth in line behind six bachelorette parties and a dude photographing a croissant from three angles. The cashier wore the thousand-yard stare of someone who has explained compostable cutlery policies too many times.

We must ask ourselves, what happens when every diner becomes “elevated comfort cuisine”?

I do not oppose visitors. Let them come. Let them spend freely. Let them marvel at our preserved architecture and artisanal condiments. But let there be limits. Let there be permits. Let there be a seasonal cap on beardos. Let there be one parking space reserved in every town for actual residents who simply need to pick up some paper towels and another bottle of wine. 

If we don’t act fast, we’ll just be in the way.

Cassady Caution
Petaluma

We appreciate your letters, which you can send to le*****@********un.com or le*****@******an.com.

Joyful Billie Holiday, Marin City Flea Market and Sculpture Days

0

Larkspur
A Joyful Billie Holiday

San Francisco vocalist Kim Nalley brings her formidable voice and stage presence to the Lark Theater with A Joyful Billie Holiday, a 90-minute tribute to the jazz legend. Nalley, celebrated for a style that blends sass, soul and intelligence, developed the performance after portraying the young Holiday in the stage production Lady Day in Love. Rather than imitation, Nalley offers something richer: an artist meeting another artist across time. With dramatic command and a voice capable of both power and velvet intimacy, she revisits Holiday’s songbook through reverence, swing and lived-in feeling. Presented by Marin Jazz, the concert also supports kids’ after school theater programs in Marin schools, adding a grace note to an already elegant afternoon. 3pm, Sunday, April 26, Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur. $65 general admission; $75 VIP.

Marin City

Flea Market Returns

A beloved community institution gets a fresh chapter when the Marin City Flea Market returns under the stewardship of the newly forming Rotary Club of Marin City. Beginning this month and continuing every fourth Saturday, the parking lot of Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church will transform into an open-air bazaar filled with arts, crafts, food, vintage finds, collectibles, furniture, home goods and the timeless category known simply as “stuff.” Long remembered as both a market space and gathering place, the flea market aims to uplift local vendors, celebrate cultural diversity and create an accessible space where entrepreneurship and neighborhood connection can flourish. In other words: commerce with soul. For bargain hunters, browsers and lovers of community color, it’s a welcome revival of one of Marin’s most distinctive grassroots traditions. 8am–2pm, Saturday, April 25, and every fourth Saturday of the month, Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church parking lot, 101 Donahue St., Marin City. Free admission.

Healdsburg
We The Sculptors

Sculpture has a way of making itself unavoidable. It occupies space, casts shadows and often declines to be mere background décor. That spirit animates We The Sculptors, a weekend gathering at T Barny Gallery & Sculpture Gardens celebrating International Sculpture Days with the work of 10 Sonoma County artists. The materials alone suggest range and attitude: ceramics, stone, steel and even zip ties. But the deeper theme is what organizers call “defiant dissidence”—the idea that art can provoke, question and stand visibly in the public square. In that sense, the exhibition joins a long tradition of artists using form and presence to challenge norms and imagine other possibilities. Set amid the gardens of the Pine Flat Road venue, the event invites visitors to wander among works that speak loudly or quietly, but rarely politely. Consider it a free weekend of three-dimensional resistance, or simply a fine excuse to look at interesting things in a beautiful place. 11am–4pm, Saturday–Sunday, April 25–26, T Barny Gallery & Sculpture Gardens, 4370 Pine Flat Rd., Healdsburg. Free.

Napa

Cello ShotsNapa will get a sonorous supernova of sound when virtuoso cellist Rebecca Roudman brings Dirty Cello’s high-octane blend of blues, rock and Americana to the Native Sons of the Golden West Grand Hall in Napa. A classically trained symphony player who long ago traded formal restraint for amplified swagger, Roudman fronts a group that treats the cello less like an orchestral instrument and more like a lead guitar with better manners. Dirty Cello’s sets can veer from Jimi Hendrix to Charlie Daniels, alongside originals delivered with improvisational energy shaped by the room. Expect virtuosity, irreverence and the kind of musical detour best experienced live. 7pm, Friday, May 1, at Native Sons of the Golden West, 937 Coombs St., Napa. $25. More information at dirtycellonapa.eventbrite.com.

Oh Hello (Again): Dolly Levi Returns to the North Bay at SRJC 

There is no more quintessential Broadway musical than Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! Theater companies large and small have been producing it regularly since its debut more than 50 years ago, including productions over the last decade by the Raven Players, Sonoma Arts Live and the Mountain Play. Santa Rosa Junior College takes their shot at it with a colorful production running in the Burbank Auditorium through April 26.

Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker, it’s the musical tale of mistress-of-all-trades Dolly Gallagher Levi (Laura Downing-Lee) and her pursuit of Yonkers half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder (Justin Thompson). Others get involved in Dolly’s machinations, including Vandergelder’s Feed Store employees Cornelius Hackl (Sean Cooper) and Barnaby Tucker (Matthew Quezada-Cortes) and milliner Irene Malloy (Isabella Ascher) and her assistant Minnie Fay (Dana Carlton).

Dolly is a bucket-list role for longtime SRJC faculty member Downing-Lee, but apparently a lingering cold prevented her from giving the full performance she is eminently capable of giving. While quite effective in Dolly’s quiet, introspective moments, Dolly’s signature songs lacked the power one’s come to expect from the performer delivering them. She was clearly adjusting to the vocal limitations with which she was dealing. Rest up, Laura, and get well soon.

Justin Thompson was solid as the object of Dolly’s affections, whose gruffness and misogyny succumb to Dolly’s designs. 

Beyond those two veteran performers, director Gina Alvarado has a (mostly) younger cast that really gets to shine in this production. Cooper and Ascher are in excellent voice, with Ascher’s delivery of the genteel “Ribbons Down My Back” quite moving. There’s a joyfulness in the performances of Quezada-Cortes and Carlton that’s quite infectious, and Quezada-Cortes displays some impressive dance moves. 

The ensemble work is very strong. The larger production numbers like “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” “Before the Parade Passes By” and “Waiters’ Gallop” (all featuring wonderful period costumes by Coleen Scott Trivett and boisterous choreography by Jolene Johnson) are well handled by the group. They’re parading and galloping on a typically well-designed (though occasionally wobbly) Peter Crompton-designed set.

Pacing is an issue for this show. While it came in at its advertised length (two hours and 30 minutes, plus intermission), there’s still some air to be let out of some scenes. Music director Les Pfützenreuter leads a strong 10-piece orchestra, but they could pick up the pace a bit, too.

Bottom line? This production of Hello, Dolly! is literally a classic case of everyone giving it “the ol’ college try.”

‘Hello, Dolly!’ runs Weds–Sun through April 26 in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Weds-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $12–$25. 707.527.4307. theatrearts.santarosa.edu.

Sweet Heat: ‘Spice World’ Brings Nostalgia, Hot Sauce to the Dance Floor

There are themed parties, and then there are elaborate attempts to manifest civic joy through any means necessary.

Santa Rosa’s upcoming Spice World appears to be the latter: an all-ages collision of Spice Girls nostalgia, DJ sets, karaoke, costumes and somehow, inevitably, spicy hot chicken wings. Clearly, this heady concoction bodes well for a Friday night in Santa Rosa.

The April 24 event, Spice World, comes courtesy of Performance Lab, the North Bay producers behind immersive happenings that mandate participation over passive spectatorship. They know they have their work cut out for them.

“The competition for our show isn’t the concert across town,” organizers Cincinnatus Hibbard and Josh Windmiller (both Bohemian contributors) advise in their press materials. “It is the screens that are keeping people captive.”

Performance Lab’s answer is to make events so weird, social and kinetic that they can’t be ignored. “We organize variety shows that are fully interactive,” they explain. “This makes them more unexpected, connective and alive for the audience and performers alike.”

The idea for Spice World reportedly emerged after organizers noticed groups of women arriving at an earlier event in coordinated costumes and doing choreography. Rather than treat that as fringe behavior, they recognized it as the pulse of a party trying to happen.

“Is it not a glorious vision to imagine 250 women and men dressed like Spice Girls (and the occasional chicken)?” the organizers ask.

It is indeed a glorious vision, though perhaps not one urban planners typically consider.

The Spice Girls remain ideal mascots for this kind of civic mischief. Dismissed by some in their day as bubblegum spectacle, they were in fact masters of joyful archetype: five distinct identities, one rallying cry, zero concern for coolness. That spirit still travels.

With Y2K-era fashion back in circulation and multiple generations now old enough to feel nostalgia at once, the timing is unusually apt.

Translation: Everyone is now old enough to miss something.

Then comes the second pillar of the concept: literal spice.

The chicken angle grew out of Hibbard acquiring a Hot Ones-style home kit, which inspired organizers to build an evening around reckless sauces, comic bravado and the healing powers of dairy.

A fair point. Seriousness has had a long run. The evening’s Hot Ones-inspired challenge invites guests to sign a waiver, consume a punishingly hot wing and then spin a wheel that may require an anecdote, a rant, karaoke performance or personal confession. It is either party entertainment or a faster route to authenticity than therapy.

Speaking with me ahead of the event, Hibbard suggested the finale may turn quasi-religious.

“I think for a finale, we’re all gonna dab some hot sauce,” Hibbard said in a recent interview with this reporter on The Drive 95.5 FM that also included DJ Dyops. “And while our lips and voices are on fire, scream ‘Wannabe.’ It’s gonna be spiritual.”

One suspects the spirit involved may be capsaicin.

There will also be a unique bar for those who overestimate themselves. Hibbard described the economics with admirable candor.

“There will be a spice antidote bar,” he said. “There’ll be discounted beer and wine. But if you wanna buy a glass of milk for $20, we’ll sell you one … or some ice chips for 9.99.”

Then, like a true free-market philosopher, he jokingly added: “You create the demands.”

Music for the evening comes courtesy of DJ Dyops, a beloved local selector whose sets often blur nostalgia with narrative momentum. She’ll handle both dance-floor soundtrack and karaoke, spanning the ’90s, 2000s hits and a bit beyond. “I’m gonna throw a little ’80s in there too,” she noted. 

Asked how she approaches a themed set, Dyops made clear she isn’t merely checking boxes.

“For Spice World, obviously Spice Girls are going to be front and center,” she said. “So I’m going to curate the set around them, but also bringing in other girl groups … and we gotta have some boy groups too.”

Good DJs understand that records are only part of the job. The real task is reading the room.

“You need to be keeping a close eye on the dance floor,” DJ Dyops explained. “On the outer edges, like who’s not dancing… Try to read people’s energy.” She added, “With any of my sets, I really wanna take people on a journey. So I’ll definitely be doing that with Spice World.”

The event also includes karaoke all-stars, a costume contest, interactive hip-hop from Dark Matter Lives and a screening of the 1997 Spice World movie. But costume culture may be the true heartbeat of the night.

Hibbard encouraged guests to personalize the premise.

“Think of the girl ensemble, the Spice Girls, and think of your own spiciness,” he said. “Who would you and your friends be? Either on the classic team, or [will you] invent your own spices?”

There will be prizes, he added, for Spice Girls cosplay, Dune cosplay, chicken cosplay and group costumes. A democratic pageant, in other words.

As for the hosts themselves, Hibbard plans to arrive as Austin Powers. Dyops is still deciding. When asked which Spice Girl he would be, Hibbard confessed, “I’m such a cliché, baby. Baby Spice.” Dyops, showing flexibility, volunteered to be Sporty.

Spice World commences at 7pm, Friday, April 24, at Arlene Francis Center for Spirit, Art, and Politics, 99 6th St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $17.85 in advance via Eventbrite (bit.ly/spiceworld2026), $20 at the door. All ages are welcome.

Specialty Pizza from Bay Area Pizza Week

Enter for a chance to win a gift certificate good for the value of a Specialty Pizza from one of the 25+ participating North Bay restaurants of Bay Area Pizza Week.
Multiple winners for each of the drawings. Winners will be able to choose from available participating restaurants near their location.

Bay Area Pizza Week is a 12-day celebration of special menus around the San Francisco Bay Area celebrating the world’s greatest food: pizza. The 2026 event takes place from Wednesday, April 22 through Sunday, May 3, featuring restaurants in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Monterey County, Napa County, San Benito County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County and Sonoma County.

Visit Participating Restaurants during Bay Area Pizza Week from April 22–May 3, 2026!
Download the Bay Area Pizza Week App to check in, rate meals, post photos and win more gift certificates!

Drawing Dates for this Giveaway are Wednesday, May 20 & June 17, 2026.
Winners notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or forfeit.
Must be 18+ to win.

Steal This Story: Journalist Amy Goodman Doc Comes to Rialto

There are easier ways to spend a life than confronting evasive presidents, riot police, war crimes, billionaires and the occasional smug pundit before breakfast. 

Amy Goodman chose otherwise.

For three decades, Goodman has hosted Democracy Now!, the daily independent news program. Now, the new documentary Steal This Story, Please!—co-directed by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal—argues that Goodman’s project is larger than one broadcaster, a model for independent journalism in precarious times.

Goodman and Lessin bring the film to Sebastopol this Monday, April 20, to Rialto Cinemas, where it will screen and be followed by a Q&A.

The documentary follows Goodman through decades of frontline reporting—from East Timor to Standing Rock to the daily organized tumult of the Democracy Now! studio—while tracing the parallel decline of corporate journalism and the rise of concentrated media ownership. It is, at moments, stirring, poignant, maddening and occasionally funny.

When I spoke with Goodman recently, I asked what it felt like to have the camera turned on her for once.

“Painful,” she said, laughing. Then she quickly redirected credit outward, praising Lessin and Deal as “masterful filmmakers” who “deeply care about democracy.” That instinct—to point away from herself and toward the mission—explains one of the many reasons the film works so well. It is in no way a “celebrity profile” but rather a demonstration of an ethos and expertise that both inspires and beguiles. It makes audiences want to do something. 

“I really do think independent media will save us,” Goodman said. 

That may sound grandiose until one surveys the ruins. Local newspapers hollowed out. Hedge-fund ownership. Billionaires buying legacy outlets, then erasing entire beats and bureaus as if public knowledge were an unaffordable luxury.

Goodman did not mince words about the present moment. She cited newsroom cuts at major outlets and a broader capitulation to political and commercial pressure. “These are extremely serious times,” she said. “I don’t know all the forms that journalism will take, but I think they’re important.”

Will the proliferation of platforms such as Substack and podcasts fill the growing void? Maybe, but as Goodman points out: “Collaboration and cooperation are very important. Also, not having paywalls so that anyone, whether they can afford to pay for a Substack or not, is able to get access to the information.”

To that end, Goodman noted that democracynow.org is “a great aggregator of trusted sources of news all over the world.” In fact, Democracy Now! recently marked its 30th anniversary with a celebration at Riverside Church in New York. Goodman described appearances by Angela Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and Michael Stipe, all culminating in a group performance of “People Have the Power.”

“We’re brought to listeners, viewers and readers,” she said. “Not by weapons manufacturers; not by oil, gas and coal companies; not by banks and financial institutions when we cover inequality.”

That funding model matters because every newsroom answers to someone. The question is whether that someone is a shareholder or the public. Goodman has an image of what media can be at its best: “a huge kitchen table that stretches across the globe that we all sit around and debate and discuss the most important issues of the day.”

It’s a lovely metaphor, especially in an era when so much media feels less like a kitchen table than a food fight.

All About the Story

The title Steal This Story, Please! refers to Goodman’s long-held belief that journalism should spread, not hoard (with a bit of a nod to Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book for good measure). Scoop-culture fetishizes exclusivity; Goodman has her own perspective:

“I consider it a failure if we’re the only ones who have a story,” she said.

She pointed to Democracy Now!’s early coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, where mainstream networks largely looked away until independent footage—dogs released on protesters, including footage of one dog with blood on its muzzle—forced broader attention. In one day, she said, the video drew millions of views.

People care, she insisted. They are not apathetic so much as underserved. That distinction is a key argument to both the film and Goodman’s career. Her wager has always been simple: Give people consequential stories told through authentic human voices, and they will respond. She has little patience for what she called “the no-nothing pundits—people who know so little about so much explaining the world to us and getting it so wrong.”

Instead, Goodman seeks the person closest to the event, often the person whose life—not merely their opinion—is on the line. Throughout, she brings copious empathy to the table, but a question looms: How does she carry the emotional weight of covering suffering for so long?

“When you hear someone speaking from their own experience,” she said, “it changes you.” She added, “I am inspired by the people I interview.” 

It’s clear her worldview is not built on institutions but on citizens—often battered ones—who still manage to act with courage. “I think there is nothing more patriotic than dissent,” she said.

To wit, she reminds, “I don’t think you ever achieve democracy. I think you have to fight for it every single day.”

‘Steal This Story, Please!’ begins on Friday, April 17, at Rialto Cinemas, 6868 McKinley St., Sebastopol. The 3:40pm, Monday, April 20 screening will be followed by a Q&A featuring Amy Goodman and Academy Award-nominated director Tia Lessin, moderated by the Bohemian’s Daedalus Howell.

Highway to Heck, Cinnabar Stages ‘The Christians’ 

0

After a series of lightweight comedies and Broadway musicals, Cinnabar Theater gets serious with a production of Lucas Hnath’s The Christians

The theological drama runs in the Warren Theater on the campus of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park through April 26.

Folks walking into the usually sterile Warren Theater may be surprised by the large crucifix, draping cloths and stained glass “windows” now occupying the stage. That stage is soon to be occupied by a 12-member choir and a couple of pastors tending to an unnamed megachurch in an unnamed state. 

Pastor Paul (Andrew Patton) is leading the congregation in a celebration of a couple of milestones for the church. First, they’ve paid off a massive debt, and second, Pastor Paul has had an epiphany of sorts.   

After attending a religious conference and hearing a fellow preacher describe a particularly hellish event, Pastor Paul has had a conversation with God in which God revealed to him that… SPOILERS AHEAD.

…there is no hell. Therefore, Pastor Paul announces to the congregation that it is a tenet of their faith that he will no longer preach.  

That’s a problem for Associate Pastor Joshua (Jared N. Wright), Elder Jay (Mike Schaeffer), congregant member Jenny (Amanda Vitiello) and even Elizabeth (Katherine Mazer), the pastor’s wife. The ramifications of Paul’s decision grow as the congregation dwindles and the church’s once solid financial state softens again. The debate rages on amongst the parties. 

This is a good faith debate (no pun intended), as Hnath refuses to take sides, merely allowing everyone to have their say. There is no ultimate resolution. Can there ever be when it comes to questions of faith?

It’s the debate that keeps your interest, and director Nathan Cummings has a cast that completely embodies that debate. Patton is perfect as the bland Midwestern preacher who wishes to lead his flock in a new direction for the most heartfelt reasons. 

Wright does well as the individual who found salvation in the church and has a hard time accepting such a radical change. Schaeffer is strong as the somewhat duplicitous business-minded leader of the religious corporation, and Vitiello and Mazer are both excellent as individuals also struggling with the crumbling foundation of their church.    

The Christians packs a lot in its 80 intermission-less minutes, including several choir numbers. You’ll probably spend at least that much time unpacking it on the drive home.

Cinnabar Theater presents ‘The Christians’ through April 26 at Warren Auditorium in Ives Hall at Sonoma State University. 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. Fri–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $33–$67, inclusive of parking fee. 707.763.8920. cinnabartheater.org.

Free Will Astrology, April 22-28

Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The visible lightning bolt we see is actually the return stroke. It’s electricity racing back up from the ground to the cloud after an invisible leader stroke has created a path. So the spectacular display is actually the Earth talking back to the sky. I’d love to see you adopt this phenomenon as your power...

Stirring the Pot: Chef Michael Reyes Does What he Loves

Restauarnt Picco chef Michael Reyes' reverence for seasonal ingredients shines throughout the menu.
Two decades ago, Bruce Hill and Bill Higgins first opened Picco in Larkspur, which has become one of Marin’s most enduring culinary landmarks.  For the past six years, executive chef Michael Reyes has carried that legacy forward. A Culinary Institute of America graduate who grew up on California’s Central Coast, he ascended through some of the nation’s most celebrated kitchens,...

Visionary Art Director, Richard T. Powell

Simply put, Richard T. Powell is one of the most potentiated artists I have met in our locality, says columnist Cincinnatus Hibbard.
Richard T. Powell is a big man of mild mien with a banker’s name. But that’s just a trick of the eye.  And as I sat with him at his slick black computer work station, he described another optical illusion of his creation. That of two columns flanking a trash-fashion runway. The context was NIMBASH, the (in)famous annual art party...

Your Letters, April 22

Republic of Tourism I write today from behind a barricade of empty wine bottles and emotional fatigue to sound the alarm: The tourism invasion is no longer coming. It is here, sipping a lavender oat milk cortado and TikToking themselves into bit-rated oblivion. Our quaint small towns in Sonoma County and Marin County—once havens of modest weirdness, manageable parking and citizens...

Joyful Billie Holiday, Marin City Flea Market and Sculpture Days

With dramatic command and a voice capable of both power and velvet intimacy, Kim Nalley revisits Billie Holiday’s songbook through reverence, swing and lived-in feeling.
Larkspur A Joyful Billie Holiday San Francisco vocalist Kim Nalley brings her formidable voice and stage presence to the Lark Theater with A Joyful Billie Holiday, a 90-minute tribute to the jazz legend. Nalley, celebrated for a style that blends sass, soul and intelligence, developed the performance after portraying the young Holiday in the stage production Lady Day in Love....

Oh Hello (Again): Dolly Levi Returns to the North Bay at SRJC 

SJRC's production of Hello, Dolly! is literally a classic case of everyone giving it “the ol’ college try.”
There is no more quintessential Broadway musical than Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! Theater companies large and small have been producing it regularly since its debut more than 50 years ago, including productions over the last decade by the Raven Players, Sonoma Arts Live and the Mountain Play. Santa Rosa Junior College takes their shot at it with a colorful...

Sweet Heat: ‘Spice World’ Brings Nostalgia, Hot Sauce to the Dance Floor

Santa Rosa’s upcoming Spice World promises an all-ages collision of Spice Girls nostalgia, DJ sets, karaoke, costumes and somehow, inevitably, spicy hot chicken wings.
There are themed parties, and then there are elaborate attempts to manifest civic joy through any means necessary. Santa Rosa’s upcoming Spice World appears to be the latter: an all-ages collision of Spice Girls nostalgia, DJ sets, karaoke, costumes and somehow, inevitably, spicy hot chicken wings. Clearly, this heady concoction bodes well for a Friday night in Santa Rosa. The April...

Specialty Pizza from Bay Area Pizza Week

Bay Area Pizza Week
Enter for a chance to win a gift certificate good for a Specialty Pizza presented by Bay Area Pizza Week. Drawing Dates are May 20 & June 17, 2026.

Steal This Story: Journalist Amy Goodman Doc Comes to Rialto

For three decades, Amy Goodman has hosted Democracy Now!, the daily independent news program that built a global audience by doing something radical in modern media: treating ordinary people, dissidents, whistleblowers and eyewitnesses as primary sources rather than atmospheric background noise.
There are easier ways to spend a life than confronting evasive presidents, riot police, war crimes, billionaires and the occasional smug pundit before breakfast.  Amy Goodman chose otherwise. For three decades, Goodman has hosted Democracy Now!, the daily independent news program. Now, the new documentary Steal This Story, Please!—co-directed by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal—argues that Goodman’s project is...

Highway to Heck, Cinnabar Stages ‘The Christians’ 

After a series of lightweight comedies and Broadway musicals, Cinnabar Theater gets serious with a production of Lucas Hnath’s 'The Christians.'
After a series of lightweight comedies and Broadway musicals, Cinnabar Theater gets serious with a production of Lucas Hnath’s The Christians.  The theological drama runs in the Warren Theater on the campus of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park through April 26. Folks walking into the usually sterile Warren Theater may be surprised by the large crucifix, draping cloths and stained...
11,084FansLike
4,606FollowersFollow
6,928FollowersFollow