The beginning of the end of the world arrived on Christmas, just as we all knew it would. The giant meteorite dubbed Christmas Star hit the Earth and turned our planet's atmosphere into Beijing-level smog. Netflix's Lost in Space begins as one chosen family, part of a convoy of settlers, lands on a wintry planet. Passengers include young Will Robinson (Maxwell Jenkins, as tearfully vulnerable as the original Billy Mumy was modestly cocky), the seemingly adopted prodigy Judy (Taylor Russell), and her miffed sister, Penny (Mina Sundall). On an unknown planet, the space travelers deal with family tensions, a pair of fire and ice ordeals, an emergency fasciotomy and the arrival of a suspicious castaway (Parker Posey) calling herself "Dr. » Read More

The Pruneyard Shopping Center in Campbell is approaching the half-century mark. Many of its contemporaries have been bulldozed for new development, but this tree-lined, open-air plaza is getting renovated. It has a new anchor. The shuttered Camera 7 reopens as the Pruneyard Cinemas, with half the seats and twice the appeal. It possesses that satisfying new-car smell, and features electric reclining seats and an adjoining restaurant--one menu for snacking or dining as you watch, a larger one for the lounge. The Pruneyard will be the first Silicon Valley representative of a nationwide trend of cocktails at the movies, offering up an alternative to binge watching on the couch. While some local theaters serve beer and wine, this is the first » Read More

When Mary Shelley published Frankenstein on Jan. 1, 1818, she had no idea that the bioethical questions she raised in her groundbreaking novel would still have relevance 200 years later. Shelley's exploration of the human form--and the moral, ethical, scientific and spiritual questions surrounding technology and the body that still remain unsolved--are the subject of a new Cantor Arts Center exhibition, which asks viewers to consider what it means to be human, as the line between science and science fiction becomes increasingly blurry. "Betray the Secret: Humanity in the Age of 'Frankenstein'" is one of the main visual attractions of [email protected], a year-long, universitywide celebration of the novel's 200th anniversary. » Read More

City Lights Theater is gearing up for its second annual Lights Up festival, featuring four new full-length plays--plus a special selection of scenes stitched together under the theme of surveillance and privacy. "Lights Up" is the result of an evaluation of about 100 plays submitted for the festival, according to the program's manager, Rachel Bakker. "From seasoned playwrights to people just starting out," the only requirement was that the writer live in the Bay Area. The four plays chosen for performance touch on diverse themes, from the immigrant experience to family heartbreak to economic catastrophe. Three of the four selected playwrights (and all four of the plays' directors) are women. Each play will be presented once over the » Read More

Since 2011, the Art Box Project San Jose has been giving local artists the opportunity to breathe life into street corners all across Silicon Valley. In the process, these artists have made original masterpieces out of boring utility boxes, those clunky, gray rectangular eyesores that house electrical wiring on sidewalks. After almost seven years, and contributions from dozens of artists, it's hard to imagine the city without them. To show our appreciation, we got the story behind seven noteworthy pieces. » Read More

As was evidenced by a smattering of legit events last week, downtown San Jose's literature scene is on the uptick. Many ideas came to the surface, especially some thoughts on how to foreground the literature of migration and diaspora. For one, the Center for Literary Arts at San Jose State, already a purveyor of gigs by Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors for decades, continued its foray into the urban landscape with its final gig of the season. Peter Balakian, who won the 2016 Pulitzer for poetry, read from numerous books and talked about his life's work in researching the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Kicking off the week was former U.S. poet laureate and San Jose legend Juan Felipe Herrera, the poet of "Zen Jose," who led a » Read More

Is it time to slip your doggo some dope? Californians have been using medical marijuana for decades, and now more humans are sharing the benefits of blazing with their four-legged friends. But before getting your furbaby lit on some good shit, Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) wants to make sure you check in first with your local veterinarian about the risks and options. That's why he wrote AB 2215, a bill that would protect licensed veterinarians in California from disciplinary action for discussing with pet owners the use of medical marijuana as a treatment for animals. "The law is completely silent on veterinarians advising patient owners or on dispensaries being able to sell anything targeting pets," Kalra said at a reception in » Read More

That said, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. The psychological operating system now driving you (and all of us) evolved to solve ancestral mating and survival problems, and what was adaptive back then can be maladaptive today. Take how we evolved to be deeply concerned about safeguarding our reputation. Reputation is essentially our social report card—others' evaluation of the sort of person we are. It matters today, of course, but not in the life-or-death way it often did in an ancestral environment, where--per anthropologist Irven DeVore's estimate--many people were with the same band of about 25 others for much of their life. Back then, if a guy got snubbed by a girl, it would be front-cave news; everybody would know and be » Read More

In the early history of the automobile, electric engines were more popular and common than gasoline-powered engines. They were less noisy, dirty, smelly, and difficult to operate. It's too bad that thereafter the technology for gasoline cars developed at a faster rate than the technology for electric cars. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the petroleum-suckers were in ascendance. They have remained so ever since, playing a significant role in our world's ongoing environmental degradation. Moral of the story: Sometimes the original idea or the early model or the first try is better. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you should consider applying this hypothesis to your current state of affairs. » Read More