WED 5
Mex it up at lunchtime today at downtown Oakland’s Thirteenth Annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, a free noontime show and dance. The main draw is teen idol and mariachi phenomenon Manuel Romero, who doubles as a TV actor in addition to warbling hits. Latino R&B oldies group Rudy Madrid & the Cruisers will play their smash, “Cruisin’ Baby,” and other Tex-Mex faves (with Romero sitting in?) while East Bay singer Estrella Ramos performs a tribute to Selena. Also on tap are Bay Area students-turned-singers Lady T — Teena Marie and Leah. Mexican food, arts and crafts, and raffles, too. The excitement begins at 11:30 a.m. and goes until 1 p.m. at Frank Ogawa City Hall Plaza. — Kelly Vance
THU 6
“Angela Mason has walked over land mines, eaten rat stew, walked into children’s prisons, children’s brothels, and children’s sweatshops,” claims the publicity for Mason, a World Vision Ambassador to Children in Crisis. Better not mess with a résumé like that. Mason, just returned from two weeks in Rwanda doing a TV report, speaks today (5:30 p.m.) at a meeting of the Soroptimist International Club at Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley — with a musical interlude of medieval, Renaissance, Celtic, and American folk tunes by Healing Muses. $5 donation. What is the Soroptimist Club? A global network working for and with women in 115 countries to promote human rights and peace. The organization has an Albany chapter, of which Mason is a member. For reservations, phone 510-524-6308. — Kelly Vance
FRI 7
Baby Jaymes has had songs on the soundtracks to Any Given Sunday, My Baby’s Daddy, and Malibu’s Most Wanted. He has played the House of Blues in Las Vegas. But now the Oakland-based soul and old-school hip-hop heartthrob faces his biggest challenge — wowing the basement at Blake’s. He shares tonight’s bill with Dynamic, who blend hip-hop and jazz, and Sistahs in the Pit, who do rock ‘n’ soul right. Blake’s on Telegraph can be found at 2367 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley. The show starts at 9:30 p.m., and cover is $7. Call 510-848-0886. — Stefanie Kalem
SAT 8
Everybody loves butterflies. How can you not? They’re graceful, colorful, and every language has a completely different name for them — papillon, mariposa, farfalla — each one lovelier than the last. You can learn about these fluttery creatures, and how to attract them to your own garden, during Tilden Botanic Garden’s California Butterflies Host and Nectar Plants class and tour. For just $40 ($35 for garden members), lepidopterist Bobby Gendron will expound on flutterbys and the plants that float their boats. Attendees also will receive seed packets to start their own butterfly gardens. Gendron, a recent graduate of the Environmental Horticultural Science Department at Cal Poly State University, is the founder and president of Butterfly Encounters. Attendance is limited, so call 510-845-4116 to register in advance, and visit NativePlants.org for more info. — Stefanie Kalem
SUN 9
Hello, my fellow motherless children. Planning on spending today at the park, throwing things at happy families? Well, we have a better idea. Remember how your mom worried about you after reading your high-school poetry? Pay her back with interest by attending Mothers Remembered, a Mother’s Day reading and open mic at Change Makers for Women. Featured readers at the afternoon event will be performance artist and director Gretchen Case, and writers Ellen Samuels and Meagan Rosser, both contributors to Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Gay, Lesbian & Transgendered Parents. After the pros are through, it’s your turn to honor the memory of a mother, grandmother, aunt, or other nurturing female influence. The free event starts at 2 and wraps up at 4 p.m., and Change Makers is at 6536 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. — Stefanie Kalem
MON 10
Two decades ago — and a decade before the Columbine High massacre — Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats bemoaned the state of American youth in “I Don’t Like Mondays,” their cribbed-from-the-headlines ode to a SoCal teen who mowed down some classmates on a Monday. You can fight your homicidal, post-weekend feelings with beer and oldies at the Ivy Room’s night of the same name, from 10 p.m. till closing time. DJ Mr. Muggs spins well-hewn rock from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, and there’s no cover charge. Find the strength to go on at 858 San Pablo Ave. (at Solano) in Albany. The Ivy is always 21 and up. Call 510-524-9220 or visit IvyRoom.com for more details. — Stefanie Kalem
TUE 11
At first glance it looks like a giant anthropomorphic pocket watch. But San Francisco sculptor Al Honig’s Urn Series #9 (1989) is a “manufactured object” designed to be used as a container for cremation ashes. As in “Time Waits for No One.” The rest of the seventeen found-object sculptures in Honig’s Constructions: Robots and Beyond have the same whimsical-metaphysical dichotomy going for them. The “Allegory Series” deals with moral principles and human behavior. The humorous piece Exercise in Futility consists of a bicycle and an electric fan. The common denominator for the sculptures is that Honig assembled them from ordinary mechanical junk, rescued from scrapyards and imbued with heavy meaning by their creator. Regardless, the doodads are still fun to look at. The show is now at the Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court, 1111 Broadway in downtown Oakland, where it remains through August 6. The outdoor court is open Mondays-Fridays, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. OaklandCityCenter.com — Kelly Vance
