Work frontman Colin Hay is still at work, playing the hits and the rest of his lengthy oeuvre to audiences around the globe. Hay is currently on a West Coast tour that will make a stop at Monterey’s historic Golden State Theatre this week, where he’ll be joined by L.A. alt-rock band and frequent collaborators Lazlo Bane. Bring your own fried-out Kombis and Vegemite sandwiches. [RM] 8pm (doors open at 7pm) Monday, April 10. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $34.50-$74.50. 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com. April 12 Smoke and Fire Monterey-based author Ava Homa has quite a distinction—she’s the first Kurdish woman to publish a novel in English. That novel, Daughters of Smoke and Fire, has garnered broad praise and won the Nautilus Book Award for fiction. Set primarily in Iran, the book is the story of a Kurdish family and their struggles against oppression and injustice. In 2022 Homa spoke with the Weekly about her move to Monterey, how she started writing as a child and why she chooses to write in English, her third language. “I thrive in the aesthetic and cognitive distance that it offers me,” Homa says. “It lets me create from an eagle view and reexamine what’s taken for granted.” Hear more from Homa, in conversation with professor Nancy Middleton, at the Carmel Public Library Foundation’s community night. [TCL] 7pm Wednesday, April 12. Carpenter Hall at the Sunset Center, San Carlos Street, Carmel. Free; registration required. https://carmelpubliclibraryfoundation.org. Hot Picks by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, Dave Faries, Kyarra Harris, Celia Jiménez, Pam Marino, Rey Mashayekhi, Agata Pop˛eda, Sara Rubin and David Schmalz. 34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY April 6-12, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Send ideas to calendar@mcweekly.com HOT PICKS Float On Look offshore at Del Monte Beach on a Thursday night, and you might catch a glimpse of outrigger canoes gliding along the surface of the water. They cut an elegant line, seeming to move easily over chop and waves. But the paddlers are working intensely, practicing for an upcoming competition, working on their speed, stroke and their turns, on their way to and from a buoy off Cannery Row near the Monterey Bay Aquarium. But elegance and fitness aside, when you see an outrigger canoe, you are also seeing an ancient mode of transport. Such vessels, then carved from koa trees, were essential for settling the Hawaiian islands, and first arrived around 200 CE. Now, nearly 2,000 years later, they are still in use—for sport, for tradition and for community building. The Monterey-based Hi’ilani ‘O Ke Kai Outrigger and Cultural Center hits all of those notes, with paddler members who compete and also paddle just for recreation, hula classes, a luau event and other community activities. That includes a recreational community paddle, appropriate for newcomers to the sport, twice every month—inviting everyone to paddle across the water, and also back in time. [SR] Community paddles are 8-10am every first and third Monday of the month (next on April 15). Del Monte Beach between parking lots at 588 and 559 Del Monte Blvd., Monterey. First two sessions are free; $200/annual membership. info@kekai.org, paddle.kekai.org. NIk Blaskovich outside 10am-2pm Saturday, April 8. The Little House in Jewell Park, Central and Grand avenues, Pacific Grove. Free. 648-5762, pacificgrovelibrary.org. Funny Life Lesson There’s a concept in improvisational comedy referred to as “Yes, and.” As in, when an improv performer comes up with a scenario, their fellow performers don’t counter with “No, but,” they simply say “yes” to that scenario and then add to it, and so on. It’s a fun, playful way to build an outrageous sketch for the pleasure of audiences, but it’s also a positive way to live life— or so say the authors of the 2015 book, Yes, And, written by two executives of The Second City, the world’s premiere improv company. So think of an improv comedy show not just as an evening of fun and laughter, but also as a course in how to reject “No, but” thinking in order to live a more fulfilling, creative life of laughter and joy. That’s your scenario—the Monterey Comedy Improv troupe is inviting you to say “Yes, and” by coming to their next show where they are masters at taking audience suggestions and plucking volunteers to build hilarious sketches right on the spot. For audiences age 16 and up. [PM] 7pm Saturday, April 8. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel. $20. 624-7491, carlcherrycenter.org/event/monterey-comedy-improv-7. Hotel California First thing’s first: This is not Watkins Glen, New York. The year is not 1973. And the organizers surely do not expect 600,000 people to show up. But they want you to think about the similarities. Primarily, that three bands are slated to play (in 1973, it was the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and The Band—in 2023 in Big Sur, it’s three local bands). The organizers of this triple-band jam-sesh gathering would be the first to admit that this hyper-local event under the redwoods is really pretty different than Watkins Glen, but they’re also the ones who planted the idea in our ears, with analogies for each of the three bands. Richard Tripps might be reminiscent of the Dead; laid-back vibes from Matt Nice & The Derls might remind you of The Band; and “family band” Pfeiffer Beach Hotel might, kinda sorta, sound like The Allman Brothers. If not, no problem— you’ve still got three local bands for an evening of live music. [SR] 7-10pm Saturday, April 8. Henry Miller Memorial Library, 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. $10-$20 suggested. 667-2574, henrymiller. org. April 10 Man at Work It’s been 40 years since “Down Under”—that iconic, infectious tune about an Aussie’s travels abroad— topped the U.S. charts, but Men at Big Sur “family band” Pfeiffer Beach Hotel takes the stage at the Henry Miller Memorial Library for a rocking showcase of Big Sur bands—also featuring Richard Tripps and Matt Nice & the Derls. c/o Pfeiffer Beach Hotel
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