Sculpture should inspire, entertain, uplift and provoke, says Middlebrook, who has recently retired from teaching at SJSU. And his pieces decidedly fill that bill. His concepts are often environmentally inspired–a lament for the harm we’ve done the universe and a cry to reverse that damage. For example, the sculpture “Golden Opportunity Lost” is his reaction to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It looks like a parachute aloft, with an egg shape at its apex. Don’t worry that you can’t see the egg. You’ll find it as part of another sculpture in a different area of the grounds.
The Volker Strifler Band (Club Fox Blues Jam) 7 p.m, Wednesday, Club Fox, 2209 Broadway, Redwood City, $5, 650-369-7770 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, “Death of toi toi toi ballet wrap skirt long style! rehearsal, class, performance. floral print. molly style. a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Pear Avenue Theatre, Through Sunday, Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear Ave., Mountain View, $15-$30, 650-254-1148 or www.thepear.org, “The North Pool.” TheatreWorks, Through April 3, Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, $24-$79, 650-463-1960 or theatreworks.org, “Separate Tables.” Hillbarn Theatre, Today through March 27, Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E, Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, $32, www.HillbarnTheatre.org or 650-349-6411..
220 Park Road, 5:11 p.m. Friday A female reported being following by an anti-Obama protester who would not leave her alone. Kenmar Way, 5:38 p.m. Friday A suspicious man showed up at a female’s door, said he was there to service her alarm, then was gone when police arrived. According to the man’s alleged employer, no such service request was made. El Camino Real, 8:09 p.m. Friday A male told police a neighbor who has a restraining order against him was trying to bait him into violating it.
Dream Theater, “Dream Theater” (Roadrunner): The progressive hard rockers waited for their 12th studio album to release a self-titled affair, which closes with the 22-minute “Illumination Theory” suite, Glee Cast, “Glee Sings the Beatles” (Columbia): New recurring cast member Demi Lovato joins the crew for “Here Comes the Sun” on this 14-song Fab Four fest, Matthew Good, “Arrows of Desire” (Frostbyte): toi toi toi ballet wrap skirt long style! rehearsal, class, performance. floral print. molly style. The sixth solo album from the Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter..
Meklit began writing “You Are My Luck,” a track on the new album, as a love song. When Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were shot and killed by police that week (July 2016, in Minnesota and Louisiana), the song took a new direction. “It became about the love that lets you do the work you need to do in the world, and about the fact that we can’t hide inside of love, but that it can be our engine, our forward motion into doing whatever we have to do to impact the world in a positive way.”.