Superintendents Message 4/08/12

Alan talks with John Mangum, Director of Artistic Planning for the San Francisco Symphony, about their "Barbary Coast and Beyond" concerts this week, featuring music from the gold rush to the Panama-Pacific Exposition. He also talks with composer Ellen Zwilich about the world premiere of the violin concerto she has written for Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, which takes place this week with the New Century Chamber Orchestra. And Ronald Chase stops by to chat about recent cultural events.

 Learning to bike in urban areas, understanding democracy through Jazz, a traditional approach to knives and knife-sharpening, SF comedian Will Durst on the Republican vice-presidential nomination, and local musicians Makru.

North Carolina voters decided to rewrite the state constitution, passing an amendment that makes the only recognized, domestic legal union a marriage between a man and a woman.

The AP made that projection based on an actual tally of votes. With 35 percent of the vote counted, 58 percent of those casting ballots voted in favor of the amendment, making North Carolina the 30th state to adopt such a measure.

Stelline in Hayes Valley ~ on Gough Street at Linden ~ Here's what's on the menu.

A new key detail has emerged in the foiled underwear bomb plot: NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports that a CIA informant posed as a suicide bomber in order to persuade the al-Qaida branch in Yemen to hand over a new, more sophisticated underwear bomb.

Dr. Wes Watkins, IV has built his whole life’s work around the idea that there’s no better example of democracy than a Jazz ensemble. Dr. Watkins is the founder of the Bay Area-based Jazz & Democracy Project. He devised a curriculum that teaches schoolchildren lessons in jazz alongside American history and the democratic process.

Just for You Café ~ 22nd Street between Tennessee & 3rd ~ San Francisco

Makru is a San Francisco band with so many musical influences that we’ll just call their sound “world music.” But they call it “a unifying, positive vibe in the Bay Area."

Crosscurrents’ own Martina Castro sings with the group in both English and Spanish. They perform this Thursday (May 10) at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco. Doors open at 8pm.

It’s once again time to play that quadrennial game sensation sweeping the nation: Guess the Vice Presidential Pick!

Since Mitt Romney has sewed up the Republican nomination tighter than one of Chris Christie’s old suits, the only drama left is which name the former governor of Massachusetts intends to place on the bottom of his bumper sticker. So let's look at the field of potential running mates. We'll start with the vanquished competition.