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La Scène SF: French Impressions

French philosopher, "prophet," and "rock star" Bernard-Henri Lévy gave very charming answers to the fairly innocuous questions put to him anonymously by audience members at tonight's meeting of the Commonwealth Club, though some of the topics they came up with seemed a touch imbecilic ("Why are French women thin?" and something about baseball that made no sense to me). I was expecting something more along the lines of an energetic debate, but at least no one asked to see pix of his posh palace in Marrakech. The author, who said he typically covers battlefields, concluded his talk by agreeing with his predecessor Tocqueville that there was a thin line between democracy and tyranny. Lévy is on tour supporting his much-talked about book American Vertigo.

Tragedy at Swan Lake

Tonight's attempt to see Swan Lake at the War Memorial Opera House was a bust. Nicki and I were thrilled that we'd actually purchased decent seats for once and were envisioning a most glamorous evening ahead. However, we discovered at Will Call that the tickets I'd reserved in the Dress Circle had actually been for last night's performance. I had to fork over, reluctantly and with a few unsuccessful attempts at tearful manipulation, an additional $20 (on top of the $108 I'd already spent) for nose bleed seats in the very back of the house. (If you've been to WM, you know that the Balcony seats are pretty steep.)

Once the performance started, I forgot where I was and found myself drawn into the enchanted world of Prince Siegfried's magnificently costumed court. One of the male soloists, in fact, was so enthrallingly energetic that I felt my pulse racing. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Nicki had become ill and the uncomfortable temperature in the back of the house rendered her close to fainting. No smelling salts handy (as not in Bath, not in the 18th century), we decided to forgo the ballet and head to A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books where I walked around forlornly with a copy of Julian Barnes' England, England, which I eventually put back because of my new resolution to try not to spend more money than I make. Speaking of ballet, do you remember Six Weeks?

L'aventure

BOOKS: So much to share, but no time in which to share it! Hopefully things will slow down later this week and I'll be able post on books #4 and 5 (Branwell and Wide Sargasso Sea) as well as my trip to Los Angeles. I just started Quicksilver (part one of Stephensen's Baroque Series), which I picked up at the Burbank airport and am planning to read Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop for a top 100 book club.

EVENTS: In the meantime (in the interest of International Relations of course!), I'll be attending the Commonwealth Club discussion with opinionated French author Bernard-Henri Lévy whose latest book American Vertigo has provoked much comment of late. Tomorrow night I'm looking forward to seeing the San Francisco Ballet's Swan Lake and hoping to attend the Em Space dance group's free Performance Extravaganza on Sunday afternoon. They'll be performing an excerpt from the excellent piece New Monster Avenue at 4pm. More on New Monster Avenue (which I saw in October) here. The whole shebang is over at six thirty, which means I'll have plenty of time to get home before Part III of Masterpiece Theatre's Bleak House begins. Speaking of dance, Wednesday night just might find me attending one of Bombshell Betty's burlesquercize classes. Intriguing!

La Scène SF: Edwardian Eclat

"Paradox Media and Berkeley's Rosin Coven troupe invite devotees of writer/artist Edward Gorey's macabre whimsy to participate in a masquerade -ball-cum-burlesque-cabaret." Flavorpill

La Scène SF: TEA, etc.

The San Rafael Public Library is hosting "A Look at Women's Lives in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance" on Wednesday January 4th at 1pm. Info here.

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will screen the documentary TEA on Thursday, January 26th.

"Tea is largely based on "Tea Opera" by Chinese composer Tan Dun, best known for his music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In the film, the music of Tan Dun follows the old Book of Tea, in which tea is regarded as a metaphor for the right way of life."

Speaking of tea, have you been to the Imperial Tea Court on Powell Street (the one in the Ferry Building lacks the ambiance of the one in Chinatown) for a traditional tea service? If you're spending the afternoon in Chinatown it's a relaxing respite from all the hustle and bustle. I'm also looking forward to trying the Samovar Tea Lounge.

Here's a guide to my favorite afternoon tea spots in SF, L.A., D.C., and Dublin that I wrote a couple of years ago. The St. Francis, unfortunately, no longer serves tea. Not on the list: The Bel Air hotel is gorgeous and makes fantastic scones. The afternoon holiday tea at the Dunsmuir House is awful. The scones are flat and taste like cardboard and the tea sandwiches aren't much better.

Image: Tea and Biscuits, Getty Images

The Progressive Reading Series

Stephen Elliott will host authors Jim Shepard (Project X), Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Andrew Sean Greer (The Confessions of Max Tivoli), Michelle Tea (Rose of No Man's Land), and others for the Progressive Reading Series at The Makeout Room on Monday, January 9th.

La Scène SF

We Are Scientists play PopScene next Thursday 12/29. (via SFist)