Night+Day

wednesday
march 6
My Red Self An eight-week documentary series, "Discontent and Its Document" addresses social and political issues, showcasing local and international artists including fab photographer William Klein and rad homo filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim. The program opens with a feminist double-bill: Jay Rosenblatt and Jennifer Frame's Period Piece (which mixes educational films and interviews for a humorous treatment of menstruation) and Amanda Micheli's cowgirl tribute Just for the Ride. A discussion with the filmmakers concludes the screening, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. Tickets are $3-6; call 978-2787.

You Better Work Devoted to female theater artists, the Working Women Festival turns 2 this year, offering five new plays, four readings, and two workshops. In Faulkner's Bicycle, the fest's headliner, the author of As I Lay Dying lights a young woman's fire; the Southern drama -- written by Heather McDonald -- opens at 9 p.m. (continuing Wednesdays-Saturdays through March 31) at 450 Geary Studio Theatre, 450 Geary, S.F. Also on the bill is Sarah Ells' The Champ (about a female hockey player) and Waitress on P.M.S. (about a hormone-addled food slave). They play at 7:30 p.m. (through Saturday). Tickets are $10-25; call 673-1172.

Krazy Klaus In the terminally crabby and horny autobiography All I Need Is Love, Klaus Kinski lets readers know whom he hates: Werner Herzog. Kinski calls Herzog every four-letter word in the book, and wishes that red ants would attack the director's nether regions. Still, he made many movies with Herzog, usually playing misguided colonial invaders. Cobra Verde is one of the dastardly duo's best-known collaborations; it screens at 2, 7:15, and 9:30 p.m. at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight, S.F. Tickets are $3.50-5.50; call 668-3994.

Offbeat Through trip hop and a zillion other subgenres, electronic dance music continues to thrive and mutate. "Electronica II" showcases local trance masters, with live performances by (Kode IV) and Zeiba and atmospheric didgeridoo by Matt Goff. DJ Happy Alien Life Force and Single Cell Orchestra's Miguel Fierro spin at the shindig, which lasts from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. Door is $3; call 861-5016.

thursday
march 7
Eye Spy In October of 1983, while visiting a friend's Wall Street loft, Merry Alpern was shown an interesting view: Through a grimy window across an air shaft, one could see people taking drugs, having sex, and exchanging money in an illegal men's club. Alpern photographed these activities for months before the club closed down. Blurry and evocative, the resulting body of work -- now available in the book Dirty Windows and on display in San Francisco -- caused a N.Y. art world ruckus, perhaps because it pushes so many hot buttons: sexual politics; privacy issues; viewer complicity. Alpern attends an opening reception/book signing from 6 to 8 p.m. at Shapiro Gallery, 250 Sutter, S.F. Free; call 398-6655. "Dirty Windows" continues through April 29.

Keeping Up With the Jones Lately, Bill T. Jones is known more for what people say about him (Arlene Croce's infamous "victim art" essay last year) and what he has said about other people than for his art. But the renowned choreographer and author (Last Night on Earth) is in town to dance, not talk; the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performs three works, including a new duet by Jones, at 8 p.m. (through Saturday) at Center for the Arts Theater, Howard & Third St., S.F. Tickets are $14-22; call 392-4400.

Missing The poems in Rafael Campo's The Other Man Was Me reflect the writer's Cuban heritage and the impact of AIDS on both the gay and medical communities (Campo is a graduate of Harvard Medical School). He reads -- along with Alice Jones -- at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1051 Taylor, S.F. Admission is $4 (benefits SFSU Cindy Kolb AIDS Fund and the Haring Project); call 338-2227.

Seeing Things A feminist innovator in video, film, and photography, Eleanor Antin has had one-person exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney. S.F. Cinematheque screens work by the UC San Diego professor of visual arts -- including From the Archives of Modern Art and It Ain't the Ballet Russe -- at 7:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. Tickets are $3-6; call 558-8129.

friday
march 8
Al, the People's Pal Having lampooned New Age nonsense with his squeezably soft Stuart Smalley character, Al Franken is now launching comic attacks on bigger, scarier sacred cows, er, pigs. The title of Franken's new tome -- Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot -- is hard to argue with, and one can only hope his promotional tour reaches the Midwest. He signs and reads from the book at 12:30 p.m. at Stacey's Professional Bookstore, 581 Market, S.F. Free; call 421-4687.

Good Ol' Boys The Roadhouse Revival Tour's blend of rockabilly, honky-tonk, country, and rock ranges from the sincere (Dave Alvin of the Blasters) to the silly (the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz of the First House of Polyester Worship, whose new LP, Songs of Faith and Inflammation, includes ditties like "Right Wing Roundup" and "Grandma vs. the Crusher"). Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Dale Watson, and Buddy Miller are also on the bill (see "Revival Meeting" on Page 37 for a more in-depth look at the tour); the hootin' and hollerin' starts at 8 p.m. at Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. Tickets are $11; call 522-0333.