It helps to know the original anyway. Both the 1986 graphic novel and the 2009 film it inspired revolve around a group of forcibly retired masked heroes who learn that one of their number was thrown out a high window. A Krishna-blue atomic superman known as Dr. Manhattan (as in "the Manhattan Project") is key to the investigation. His presence assured American supremacy in the world and helped Richard Nixon ease into his fourth term. But he's slowly becoming a deity, uninterested in human affairs. He vanishes, and nuclear war with the USSR looms. » Read More

In Two-Spirit Powwow Emmy-winning producer and Santa Clara University alumnus Rick Bacigalupi profiles the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit (BAAIT) gathering at Fort Mason, which anticipates about 5,000 attendees in February. The interviews here include Sheldon Raymore, of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation, who describes his mother's reaction to his coming out: first rejection, then, years later, acceptance. The facially tattooed Tongva-Ajachmen L. Frank Manriquez is the first woman to become the Powow's emcee. » Read More

None of the bare-chested black men in Erica Deeman's photo series "Brown" smile or look into your eyes. They avert their gaze from the photographer, the camera lens and the unseen viewer in the gallery. Deeman crops each square image just below the shoulders, mid-torso. There's a purposeful uniformity to the images, only five of which have been culled from the entire series. She places each subject against a mocha-colored backdrop, one that she's chosen to match her own mixed-racial skin tone. In an interview for her 2017 show at the Anthony Meier Fine Arts gallery in San Francisco, Deeman said she's exploring "the spectrum of brownness." » Read More

Bond knows he has big shoes to fill. Kelley founded TheatreWorks in 1970, directing more than 175 productions and growing the company from a small youth troupe to one of the Bay Area's most respected professional regional theater companies and launching the New Works Festival, which draws theater lovers and professionals from around the country every year. Building on Kelley's legacy, Bond has set his sights on producing works by contemporary playwrights that reflect the diverse cultures of the world and get to the pith of some of our society's most intractable modern dilemmas. » Read More

As a Hall of Fame inductee, three-time Super Bowl-winner and a regular on GOAT short lists, its safe to say Jerry Rice has a different perspective on the game of football than the average sportswriter. In 2015, Rice released his first historical book, co-written with author Randy O. Williams, a Fremont native. That New York Times bestseller, titled 50 Years, 50 Moments, laid out a chronology of the Super Bowl, which was celebrating its 50th birthday. Out of those many championship matches, Rice played in four of them, with his San Francisco 49rs winning three. Rice even took home the big game's MVP in 1989. So he knows something about the Super Bowl. » Read More

Leave it to the San Jose Museum of Art to trigger forgotten sports history. Turns out, the San Jose of 60 years ago was much more happening that most people realize. Last week a conversation for the museum's lunchtime lecture series, "Black Athletes and the Speed City Era at San Jose State College," featured local sports historian Urla Hill and sprinter Bob Poynter discussing the renowned track program led by Bud Winter, in particular the late '50s. Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, an exhibit Hill originally curated at History San Jose in 2007, is currently on display at the museum. » Read More

So, basically, this is you: "I wish they allowed dogs in my building, but no biggie. I'll take this thing you did in 2006 and make it my special pet." On the other end of the spectrum from endlessly re-prosecuting relationship misdemeanors is forgiveness. Evolutionary psychologist Michael McCullough explains in "Beyond Revenge" that "forgiveness is an internal process of getting over your ill will" for somebody who's wronged you and then "experiencing a return of goodwill" and "opening yourself up to the possibility of a renewed positive relationship" with the person. » Read More

If there are any potential Aries heroes or leaders or saviors out there, the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to fully bloom and assert your practical magnificence. The lessons you have learned while improvising workable solutions for yourself are ripe to be applied to the riddles that are puzzling your tribe or group or gang. I want to let you know, however, that to achieve maximum effectiveness, you should be willing to do good deeds for people who may not be able to pay you back. » Read More

Arriving at the Roosevelt on Thursday afternoon, the reception clerk apologized for the inconvenience. Hollywood Boulevard was shut down in front of the Chinese Theater with steel traffic fences, drapes, tents and carpeting; the hotel's iconic David Hockney pool was closed for a private party; and Hoffa for President banners hung in the lobby. Referencing my Italian last name, he cryptically mentioned that all the big names would be there, but couldn't tell me more. Slipping into the heavily-secured pool deck via service entrance later that night, I was impressed by the free-flowing Chivas Regal and champagne, ice cream sundae bar, the hot dog stand's vegan options, the cigar rolling station, swimsuit models inside floating water balls and » Read More