"Welcome to this year's 'Readings in Bed,'" she says, "where we don't just ask you to open a book, we ask you to strap it on."

'Readings in Bed' was a part of the San Francisco literary festival known as Litquake that took place in mid-October. People gathered in cafes and bars around the Bay Area to listen to authors read from their latest work. But at this event, the prose was a little more risque than the other readings.

San Francisco is no stranger to flaunting juicy sexual details. For the Folsom and Castro street fairs, leather and bondage clad men and women parade down the sidewalks without shame. In October, the Exotic Erotic Ball serves as just one more reason to take it off. Sex clubs, erotic boutiques and peep shows appear everywhere in the city. But it is erotica authors who maintain that true erotica is not just sexy exchanges and naughty words. It is much more.

"It is very difficult to convey all the textures of sex on the page," David Henry Sterry says. Sterry, who is the author of the book "Hos, Hustlers, Callgirls and Rentboys" and the moderator for the event, is much more interested in what goes on inside people when they experience sex. Unnecessary bad words and lewdness in a story line is not a turn on. According to him, "the most important organ you use in sex is, of course, your brain."

Many festival goers agree with Sterry, even though most of them were not well versed in the art of erotic writing. Sheena McNeal believes that the selections read aloud achieved just what Sterry said. Although she does not frequent erotica readings, to McNeal, the test of good erotica is its honesty about what happened between two characters.

Geoff Knight's book, "The Riddle of the Sands," might not be the most honest account of sex, but it certainly is entertaining. The gay adventure novel tells the story of a college man seeking to find the lost pyramid of Imhotep, not forgetting time for some extracurricular activities as well. While the premise is fun, Knight still strives to achieve a connection between the people in the sex act.

"Publishers wouldn't pick it up because of the sex alone," Knight says. "You have to put a lot of skill and heart into it. It takes time and practice."

Other erotica authors, like blogger Violet Blue and sex educator Carol Queen, along with Sterry hope that people can come away from readings like these with an open mind and a sense of playfulness about the genre. For them, it is not just a means of arousal. It is an art form.

"For any erotica virgins who will be deflowered here this evening," Sterry says, "I hope they can come away from it enlightened and with their third eye opened."

"Tom's death is such a tragic loss for us, especially for his wife," said DeMonterey, remembering his good friend and roommate Tom Kennedy. The 48-year-old artist drowned at Ocean Beach while surfing in April. "They were really happy together, and I have never seen a love like theirs."

Decorated with pictures and remembrances from his adventurous life, the altar reflected Kennedy's artistic endeavors, sharing his legacy with the community in which he lived.

Every year on Nov. 2, families, neighbors, artists and activists gather by the thousands on the corner of 24th and Bryant Streets to celebrate death and honor loved ones with a procession and memorial ceremony known as "Dia de los Muertos."

Elaborately embellished sugar skulls and painted faces, illuminated by a sea of candles, swept the streets of the Mission District on Monday night. For residents and those in mourning, it was hard to imagine that the annual ritual almost didn't happen this year.

With the city's budget woes felt all across the spectrum, organizers for the celebration's Festival of Altars in Garfield Park were forced to spread their resources gravely thin.

Increased permit fees and dwindling services associated with permits were, for the first time in its 31-year history in San Francisco, putting this crucial portion of the festival in jeopardy. Organizers faced a bill that included extra toilets, hiring licensed security guards and paying for services normally provided by the city.

"Our personal budget hasn't grown, but the city's requirements have," said Siouxsie Oki, a volunteer for the Marigold Project. Marigold, run by Oki and five other volunteers, is a nonprofit that organized the Festival of Altars on 26th and Harrison Streets for the past 11 years. "San Francisco is providing fewer services for festivals because of the budget constraints."

With an annual budget of approximately $4,000, Marigold covers the costs of hiring artists to create the altars, the decorations, and permit fees.

This year, however, nearly $2,000 have gone toward meeting the new permit requirements--adding up to almost half of Marigold's budget. Services and the use of public facilities provided by the Recreation and Parks Department, on the other hand, have been slashed.

Even though Garfield Park has a public bathroom facility, the new park permit issued by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department requires Marigold to provide 10 portable toilets, as well as one dumpster.

"We have to pay to have a trash person there and we have to pay for bathrooms," Oki said. "The city is providing fewer services for festivals because of the budget constraints."

The portable toilets added another $500 to the bill, and the cost for trash removal is estimated at $500 to $600, plus another $250 salary for the staff hired to monitor the restrooms from 6 to 10 p.m.

Previously, the Recreation and Parks Department provided one staff member to oversee the bathroom facilities. With cutbacks, however, Marigold was responsible for hiring a monitor.

In addition to extra costs, the permit required Marigold to hire six state-licensed security guards to patrol the park. Hiring the guards from a private company was an estimated $1,100 addition at the organization's expense.

Some police officers who were on duty at the celebration in previous years felt the additional security measures were well within reason.

"Last year, we arrested people for urinating on people's private property," said Sgt. Marta McDowell, SFPD events manager. "If you want to have a public event, you have to pay up."

According to Oki, the "Altars in the Park" portion of the festival relies heavily on in-kind donations, which offer a service, such as publicity, rather than money -- and organizers fought hard to keep it that way.

"We don't have an interest in having a relationship to corporations," Oki said. "In-kind donations are partnerships that we are committed to, not capitalistic endeavors."

For the first time in it's history, the people behind "Dia de los Muertos" reached out to the community for help, in an effort to keep the Day of the Dead festivities one of the few completely non-commercialized public festivals in the Bay Area.

One way the organization hoped for some much-needed funding was by creating a "chip-in" donation button on their Web site, http://dayofthedeadsf.org. Visitors to the Web site are able to click on the button and donate a desired amount for next year's celebration. So far, this online initiative, which ends on Nov. 30, has raised almost $2,000.

"It's a fantastic tool. We've been getting a bunch of donations ranging from $10 to $60," Oki said. "A lot of people are surprised because we've never asked for money before."

The Marigold Project also had a table set up in Garfield Park on Monday, where donations were accepted.

"We are looking to raise $4,000 to cover all fees for next year, not knowing what the additional fees will be then," Oki said.

The new regulations and fundraising took up precious time that could have gone into planning details of the event, but according to Oki, creating a space for the community to come together was far more important.

"It's all about the human connection. We are all going to die someday and most of us know somebody who has died," said Oki. "Day of the Dead is a time to honor those who have passed away, and it's an opportunity for people to engage with their community members."

Although Marigold faced several obstacles while putting on the Festival of Altars, organizers and festival-goers agree that it was well worth the effort.

"Dia de los Muertos is beautiful. San Francisco is a multicultural wonderland," said Kelly Donohue, 20, a UC Berkeley student. "The recession is not going to stop the cultural awareness of this city."

The organization caught the attention of the Recreation and Parks Department, which waived the $500 permit fee for renting Garfield Park on Oct. 27.

Along with Marigold's efforts, the people of the Bay Area continue to keep the tradition of Dia de los Muertos alive.

"This is our culture, this is us," said Marlene Manzanares, 37. Manzanares was born and raised in the Mission District, and lit a candle for her brother, who died two months ago. "The candles are the light for their souls. It's so they know where to find us."

"It's funny to see what people spend money on," she said.

Mulhern-Pearson, the director of state and local affairs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, has been working to organize protests and raise public awareness since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's line-item veto cut a majority of funding to AIDS programs. In the AIDS Foundation alone, the budget for prevention and testing funding was reduced from $2.9 million to almost $513,000. Overall, Gov. Schwarzenegger cut $52 million from HIV/AIDS programs.

"It's disheartening to see California do this, when we were pretty much at the forefront of the epidemic," Mulhern-Pearson said. "We were the leaders and it's really sad to see how far we've been set back. Our funding is behind Mississippi now."

So far, San Francisco has been spared layoffs and service reduction because the Department of Public Health is dipping into its reserves and backfilling what AIDS programs have lost from the state funds, according to Pearson. The department may not be able to do this for long.

Organizations in the city have been able to stay standing because of the backfilling, but many clinics and programs in the Bay Area have crumbled. San Mateo's Board of Supervisors recently cut additional HIV/AIDS funding.

The Billy DeFrank Center in San Jose, a gay community center that provides counseling, group activities and free HIV testing, lost all of their state funding and have been resorting to creative ways to raise money. A sign stands large in front of the building, urging the community to fund the center. The center also holds fun events to get people involved, like a bingo night preceded over by a clown.

While their community programs and counseling groups can be staffed by volunteers (and their paid staff has indeed been replaced by volunteers), the HIV clinic was in danger of closing until a donor offered to fund it for the next six months, while the organization raises money.

The HIV testing clinic is well-known in San Jose for being discreet and welcoming. Plumbers on their way to work often pull into the center's lot to run in for a test, as do people living on the street and sex workers.

Without the option to get tested at the center, Paul Wysocki, the executive director, worries that people won't get tested at all.

"It's so crucial for the public to have this," Wysocki said. "Every barrier you put up to people getting tested is one less person who knows."

"We hope that the Board of Supervisors will (keep funding AIDS programs)," Mulhern-Pearson said. "The hope is to get some of the money that was backfilled, but then again, that's just San Francisco. Alameda and San Mateo got hit really hard."

Because of the budget cuts, Mulhern-Pearson and others working in the AIDS sector expect to see an increase in the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS, as well as people finding out they are infected much later. People with the virus will also have more difficulty obtaining care and medicine.

Those who work with AIDS programs question the economic sense of the cuts.

"We have no way in this society of finding out who's positive unless we educate people and they get tested," said Dr. Marcus Conant, the director of the Conant Medical Group and one of the first physicians to diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS. "If you cut healthcare, you're cutting down on education and the number of people infected will increase. You're cutting money right now but it will cost exponentially more later."

On August 10, Senator Darrell Steinberg filed a lawsuit against Gov. Schwarzenegger, saying he overstepped his authority by using line-item vetoes after the Assembly failed to agree on a budget revision package. Although the lawsuit may help, some think that it focused too much blame on the governor and not enough on the Assembly, which knew what would happen if it failed to agree to a budget plan, according to Mulhern-Pearson.

"The lawsuits were a little bit of a false promise," Mulhern-Pearson said. "Really the Assembly should have gone back and fixed the budget. The hype around the lawsuits distracted people from the fact that they weren't doing their jobs."

The budget revision package included cuts to AIDS programs, but they were not as deep as the slices that came from the governor's pen.

"Early on, we were reassured by politicians that 'no, no, no we would never do that," Conant said. "But they're battling other issues...I think politicians play to the lowest possible denominator in society--who can we cut that people won't care that we cut?"

Although the protests have not resulted in action yet, Mulhern-Pearson believes they were successful in the way they mobilized the community. Now it is a question of how to keep the problem in front of the public eye.

"Very few people advocate," Conant said. "Where do you see people yelling and screaming with their doctors over this?"

Activist Brian Basinger organized protests in which hoards of dissenters boarded busses headed to Sacramento and rallied in front of the Capitol Building right after the budget cuts were announced. Basinger started the AIDS Housing Alliance, the only organization in the city whose employees all have HIV/AIDS, in 2003 to make it easier for people with the virus to find housing.

Basinger has been involved in AIDS activism since its early days; while he thinks Gov. Schwarzenegger was unfairly heavy on the AIDS community, he also blames AIDS activists for "giving up the movement" and allowing such deep cuts to happen.

"I'm blaming people with AIDS for sitting back on the couch and letting this happen and letting themselves become disempowered," Basinger said. "Groups that are seen as politically powerful, governors don't cut their budgets like this. We sat back, we became weak, we became complacent, we did not exercise our political muscle. And so we became vulnerable."

The IEA, a Paris-based independent agency founded during the oil crisis of the early 1970s by the world's 28 richest countries, reported a possible 3 percent decrease in carbon dioxide emissions in 2009, due largely to the financial crisis.

A statistician at the IEA, Steve Gervais, said they were able to determine that the financial crisis was 75 percent accountable for the decrease by comparing the gross domestic product to carbon emissions.The majority of the reduction comes from the fact that there is less industrial activity, said the IEA.

The decrease is the steepest in the last 40 years, according to an IEA report published on Oct. 6.

"This would lead to emissions in 2020 being 5 percent lower -- even in the absence of additional policies -- than the IEA estimated just 12 months ago," according to the same report.

However, the IEA warned the world that one-quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions comes from transportation and that much needs to be done to avoid dramatic climate changes.

"The first priority should be to adopt technologies and practices that are cost-effective today. This will lead to substantial gains in vehicle fuel economy -- we target a 50 percent improvement by 2030 for new light-duty vehicles," wrote IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka in the foreword of the book "Transport, Energy and CO2: Moving Toward Sustainability."

At the state level, California has been affected by the recession and hasn't been able to build as many highways, construct as many buildings.

"The economy has affected the state's ability to build highways, so not as much work has been done, so not as much energy has been used," said Gennet Paauwe, spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board.

She said that, overall, there hasn't been as much construction and homebuying, which has reduced how much energy the state of California has used in 2009.

Some people, however, don't think that the reduction in energy consumption has much to do with the economy.

Lisa Fasano, director of communications at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said she thinks that the decrease is the result of efforts that people have made over the years to use sustainable sources of energy.

"I wouldn't have sat in front of a computer with an energy sticker on it five years ago," Fasano said.

But just at SF State a number of students can testify that the economic crisis has affected the way they use energy and how much of it they use.

"If the economy was better I may have had a car, but now I'm just taking less taxis and taking more public transportation," said Richard Hullinger, a 30-year-old senior in political science.

Over the past decade, the trends have changed in terms of the sources of energy people use in residential settings. According to a report published by the federal Energy Information Administration, "Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007," natural gas consumption has decreased by about 1 percent. Coal consumption has decreased by about 4 percent and petroleum consumption has decreased by about 0.8 percent. The only increase reported is in electricity consumption, which has swelled by about 1 percent.

Christopher Scardina, a 22-year-old junior in creative writing, said he's always cared about the environment but that his financial situation has made him more aware of how much he spends on energy.

"I unplug all my appliances and take public transportation because gas has because so expensive," Scardina said. "I only take my car when I go back home to Monterey."

The transportation sector has led all U.S. end-use sectors in emissions of carbon dioxide since 1999. However, with higher fuel prices and slower economic growth in 2007, emissions from the transportation sector were essentially unchanged from their 2006 level, according to data provided by the Energy Information Administration.

The numbers may get lower for 2008 and 2009 as the economy dropped significantly, but there isn't any data available yet as it takes time to compile the results from surveys.

"We are using our own pocket money to teach students -- in a sense, teachers and students are paying for what the state should pay," department chair Yukihiro Goto said.

Of the general funding granted to the California State Universities by the state, the department wasn't given any money for the 2009-2010 academic year, in comparison to $27,794 from last year, according to Susan Hall, assistant to the dean for the College of Creative Arts, in an e-mail.

"There are small amounts of money from other sources that are specifically to support productions, and there is some ticket revenue, but the bulk of our budget has always been general funding," she said. "From what we are hearing, it looks like state support will continue to dwindle and other sources of revenue will have to be developed."

The lack of funds did not allow for much in terms of operating and restricting class availability, supplies and leaving faculty and staff shorthanded.

This semester a total of six class sections were dropped, a basic acting class went from three sections to one, "Theatre Imagination," a general education class that usually accommodates 80-100 students was eliminated, as well as one of three "Theatre Background" technical skills core courses.

Introductory classes are important to interest students curious about the department, Goto said. Goto worries that cutting them means the department will lose potential candidates and an investment in the future.

"I have been affected by the reduced class offering -- there are less options and the classes that are offered are offered less often," said 21-year-old theatre arts major Peter Bockman.

"Because of this, the classes are more impacted than usual, and there are more students per class. The furloughs also leave less lecture time, with the lecturers becoming frustrated because of reduced supplies, less class time and more students," he added.

But the department has not let that bring them down -- some students are fundraising on their own to save the technical classes. Other students say this is a time to unify and stay strong.

"As much as this makes it harder to put on plays, have smaller lectures and more hands-on situations, it also teaches us as drama students how to work together with a very small budget and still create a piece of art that we are proud of," Bockman said.

Newsom wrote a letter to the supervisors on Oct. 2 proposing the revised budget that would address the $26.5 million cut to health and human service programs made by the state.

Currently, the supervisors are deciding whether to approve the proposed legislation or change where the cuts come from by proposing an alternative solution. The budget proposal is expected to be finalized by the end of November.

"There's probably a good likelihood that a significant portion of the plan will make it through," said Greg Wagner, the budget director for Newsom.

The cuts will only amount to a loss of about $2 million because the city set aside $18 million in the reserve fund during the summer as preparation for the cuts.

"We knew the state was in a bad financial situation so we planned for that," Wagner said.

The city originally anticipated additional cuts of almost $7 million to Medi-Cal, but the state didn't implement those cuts, leaving the city with almost $25 million to fill the $26.5 million cuts.

"Given the initial estimates of state cuts, the mayor's proposal leaves intact almost all of the funding by replacing the state funds with the local reserve of $18 million and/or using federal funding to replace state funds," said Monique Zmuda, deputy controller for San Francisco. "Therefore, I do not think that there will be a lot of controversy with this proposal."

Although the impact of the budget cuts were smaller than they could have been, $1.1 million will still be cut from local emergency rooms.

"It will result in a lower ability to provide services in emergency rooms," Wagner said.
In the future, the city will have a harder time coping with budget cuts because the money in the reserve will be gone.

"We were able to get through this round of cuts, but it's only a temporary reprieve because the state still has significant budget problems," Wagner said. "It's likely to be a pretty big challenge that we're going to have to face in the coming months."

Over the next several months the state will most likely have to implement more cuts that will affect medical services, substance abuse programs and seniors, according to Wagner.

"We don't have a solution plan for those," he said. "It's a major concern."

The Controller's Office is currently analyzing this year's revenues and expenditures and will issue a report on the status of the city's budget in the coming weeks. The report will help the mayor's office plan next year's budget, which is expected to have a deficit as well, according to Zmuda.

California is in its third year of a state budget and fiscal crisis exacerbated by a global economic crisis, according to Al Hyde, professor in the department of Public Administration at SF State.

The fiscal condition includes declining revenues from tax sources, increasing costs from public programs for services and salaries and interest costs from state borrowing.

Despite its high growth status, California was not prepared for the national-global economic downturn proportions manifested in 2008.

Historically, there has been a repeating pattern of boom and bust budgeting over the past 25 years.

"The state of California 'overspent' when economic times were good and cut back dramatically during recessions and overspent when economic growth returned, trying to catch up in terms of financing state programs," said Hyde.

Another contributing factor to the fiscal crisis was the passage of Proposition 13, which changed the fiscal relationship between state and local levels of governance, he said.

In 1978, Californians approved Proposition 13 to diversify the state and local tax systems. State and local levels share expenses for some public services. The state, because of its larger base of resources, supplements and supports basic services like education and social services.

"Local governments have been bereft ever since Proposition 13 took away their property tax base. The state tries to make it up, using sales taxes and taxes on capital gains, but these are particularly volatile in recessions," said Richard A. Walker, geography professor at University of California Berkeley.

California has a public fiscal crisis primarily because it has a state budget, Hyde said. Local budgets are highly dependent upon it and built on a highly elastic and progressive revenue base that easily gets out of sync when spending decisions aren't linked to it.

There are two sets of political factors that contributed to the crisis, according to Hyde.

First, the political process of the state budget requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to pass the budget. Which means that some part of the minority party must approve the budget -- if the Republican Party does not accept any tax increases, the budget will only pass if spending does not exceed revenues. This sounds right, but this process works in low-stress, positive economic times, not during recessions, when revenues fall, stated Hyde.

Second, the standard for passing a voter referendum in California is low. This means it is relatively easy to get the petition signatures to put things on the ballot and with some advertising and low voter turnouts, passage is relatively easy, Hyde said. In this way voter referendums can omit funding for programs and incorporate some degree of popular control in the budgeting process that can override fiscal discipline.

On the economic side, according to Hyde, there were three factors that created the California budget crisis: the collapse of the housing bubble, increased unemployment and the progressive income tax structure.

During the collapse of the housing bubble for the upper end, housing prices fell by more than one third. At the lower end, foreclosures escalated dramatically. California, with the largest population and housing stock, had over 25 percent foreclosures. This factor caused tax revenues from property tax, building start fees and sales tax on home improvement to fall.

Property taxes are usually seen as stable sources of revenue for local governments. But economically, "Property taxes are highly variable because they depend upon the real estate value. For years, California benefited from a high real estate market," Hyde said. In late 2008 the state's Department of Equalization reported that annual change in revenues fell from +12.55 percent in 2006 to 4.8 percent in 2008 to -6 percent projected for 2009 and are expected to become positive in 2012. This represents almost 20 percent shift in revenue.

Second, the rise in the unemployment meant a decline on income and sales tax revenues, and state costs for unemployment benefits increased.

California Unemployment Rate (%)
Through Peak Change
Dec-79 6.17 Sep-80 7.23 1.07
Jul-81 7.03 Dec-82 10.97 3.93
Jul-90 5.13 Nov-92 9.87 4.73
Mar-01 4.73 May-02 6.73 2.00
NA Sep-08* 7.70

*Current Estimate by Beacon Economics
Source: California Employment Development Department (EDD)

The third factor, and most damaging one, was the state's rapidly progressive income tax structure augmented by the state's dependency to capital gains and stock options used as sources of revenue, said Hyde. In 2007, the last year of the high economy during this decade 2000-2009, these two tax sources accounted for nearly $15 billion in revenues constituting just under 15 percent of the General Fund. If the state had treated capital gains and stock options differently, more like "windfall profits" tax and not as a free source of revenue, the state's fiscal decline would have been less considerable, he said.

The state has relied pronouncedly on personal income tax as a main source of income. Approximately $90 billion, over half of the state's annual revenues, was attained mainly from the top 1 percent earners in the fiscal year 2009.

Forecast of Personal Income, Sales and Corporate Taxes (Billions)

Fiscal Total Tax Total Change from

Year Revenues Previous Year

2008-09 87.3 -4.0

2009-10 81.6 -5.7

2010-11 85.0 3.3

2011-12 94.6 9.6

*Forecasts by Beacon Economics

Besides the income tax revenue there is also a very significant share of income tax revenues derived from capital gains and stock option taxes. As the center of the new high-tech economy, California received $16 billion in 2000 from tax gains, a big contrast with $2.8 billion in 1995. At its highest point, over 20 percent of California's revenues came from taxes paid on stock gains and stock options cashed in, allowing the state to accumulate endless budget surpluses without fiscal effort or spending discipline. Therefore, the state relied on income tax, an intrinsically volatile source of revenue, said Hyde.

Everyone shares different levels of responsibility for the fiscal crisis, stated Hyde. Governors for not coming up with revenue and spending coordinated budgets but claiming fiscal waste, unions, and large program costs as the cause. Legislators and their parties using either their majority or minority polar positions to refuse to balance the budget by making changes on both spending and revenue. Also responsible, he said, are interest groups and organized groups who push their own agendas at the expense of the overall budget; and the public, voters who support spending for selected programs or future investments while capping or reducing taxes at the same time.

In California, the Legislative Analyst's Office is responsible for monitoring and analyzing the state's fiscal affairs, providing regular forecasts of revenues and budget deficit projections which significantly under-estimated the fall of revenues over the past year.

At federal level, the National Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Budget Office also missed the severity of the downturn and over estimated the recovery, according Hyde. And economists by and large were equally off in tracking and forecasting the economic crisis.

"What needs to be done is to put back in place a reasonable property tax on commercial property and housing, with safety features for elderly homeowners" said Walker. "We also need to restore corporate taxes and raise high-income tax rates further," he said, adding that "we have more rich people than any other state." Walker believes there also needs to be additional oil lease fees.

But there is hope because despite its 11 percent unemployment and a collapsing housing market, California is still the 8th largest economy in the world, said Hyde. "We may never get to be politically wiser as a state when it counts to budgets- but economically, California is only going to get bigger and stronger," he said.

The Hasidic reggae and hip-hop artist wore a gray, fitted suit along with his trademark long beard and black yarmulke, a small circular hat commonly worn by observant Jewish men and sometimes women.

A standout performance throughout the set was "King Without a Crown," the song that catapulted him to fame. The sea of fans rose up and down, almost in complete unison, their voices echoing throughout the room while they sang along.

At one point during the night, Matisyahu began to beat-box for over five minutes non-stop. His body bounced as he created his own rhythms, persuading the band to join in, as they included bass and drum reverberations.

Born as Matthew Miller, Matisyahu kick-started his career with his first studio-recorded album "Shake Off the Dust... Arise" in 2004. It wasn't until 2005 that the 30-year-old rose to fame after the release of "Live at Stubbs," a live performance album recorded in Austin, Texas.

In 2006 he released his second studio album, "Youth," which peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard charts. With hit song "King without a Crown," he became a well-known voice over the radio airwaves that mixed reggae, hip-hop, beat-boxing and rock with lyrics that tied back to his Orthodox Jewish faith.

On Aug. 25, Matisyahu debuted his third studio album, "Light," along with the launch of his nationwide tour. During his stop in San Francisco, the beat-boxing musician sat down with [X]press and discussed his inspirations for "Light" and living ordinary life as a father and husband from Brooklyn, New York.

[X]press: You've constantly been on the road since the beginning of the year, how has that experience been for you, with the debut of your new album?

Matisyahu: It's been really great. The music is really cool and really open. When you go onstage, you build on from the night before, so you go in without expectations. The main thing is to come into the show and be with the space for a minute and try to take it in.

[X]: Are there any ways that you like to unwind before a show when you have time?

M: Yeah, I just like to take long walks wherever I'm at or what city I'm in. I like to clear my head and relax. Walk in a direction, where I can breathe.

[X]: Just a chance to be alone and think, right?

M: Yeah. I like to be alone with no phone and just thinking and breathing. Letting everything go and just trying to be in the moment.

[X]: How has your life changed since the success of your previous albums, "Live at Stubbs," "Youth" and "Shake the Dust... Arise?"

M: Well, the main thing is having the opportunity to be able to make music, to be able to be on the road and to do shows and making money doing what I love. In terms of my lifestyle, nothing's changed that much. I don't have meetings with big famous people, and I don't hang out with celebrities. My lifestyle is still the same.

[X]: And by the same lifestyle, do you mean a normal life?

M. Exactly. I have two little boys and I'm married. When I'm not on the road I'm dropping my kids off at school, and going to the synagogue to pray and taking the subway to see my voice teacher. That's kind of my lifestyle. The sort of place that I live at, you don't have to drive, you're not isolated. It's not like living in LA or Malibu.

[X]: What was the process like for creating the album "Light?"

M: There was a rabbi in the community who would tell tales and stories and I kind of pulled from that for inspiration. It was sort of like taking the learning's from those stories and combining that with the music. The whole conceptual process took a few years. It all happened during tours, so I wasn't just sitting in a room all-day and writing. From the time that I actually started writing up till now, took about a year to finish.

[X]: A lot of your music has a message that incorporates your faith, like the song, "For You." What was the meaning behind it?

M: It's about how we're not always in the space to receive God or feel him even when he's there. We're kind of looking for God and searching for God even though we don't know where he is.

[X]: You've been creating music since you were 14. Is there any other type of career path that you would have taken, had you not pursued music?

M: Music was what I've always wanted to do; if I did anything else then I would probably be depressed. But I did a lot of other things when I was growing up. One of those things was working with kids who had a hard time fitting in. My parents are actually social workers, so yeah... I think I would have probably gone into social work.

Formerly known as the "Double Dutchess," the San Francisco-based jump rope crew performed at the Rockit Room on Clement Street Oct. 22, proving to audiences that working out can truly be all fun and games.

Two of these women, with determined looks on their faces, wore long socks and schoolgirl outfits as they faced each other. They kneeled down, firmly grasped the ends of a set of two 16-foot ropes laid out across the dance floor and begin to turn them in an eggbeater-like fashion.

Transforming San Francisco's jump rope scene, Valerie "Death Valley" Hurysz, Jill "Switchblade" Herrera, and Erin "Venomiss" Dougherty, formed SFC Double Dutch and defy the stereotypes attached to the popular playground pastime in every way possible.

As Herrera and Dougherty turned the ropes in perfect sync, the cheering club-goers formed a half-circle around them, and the dimly lit room began to resemble a middle school playground rather than a night club.

The pulse of the ropes beat against the hardwood floors to create a steady rhythm, as Hurysz was invited into the mix. The athletic woman entered the rotating ropes with a cartwheel, her feet touching the ground just in time for the one arcing cord to pass her feet, while the other brushed her short, curly hair.

During the five-minute performance, all three women jumped between the ropes as they ran in place, did push-ups, hand stands and leapfrogged over each other's shoulders as their miniskirts flew high. The deafening cheers and applause followed long after they were done.

"It's not very often that you see women in bars doing that," said Jon Fast, 39, a guest at the Rockit Room. "You usually see little girls doing this on the playground."

"People identify the sport with little black girls in New York," said 35-year-old Hurysz. "It's insulting on so many levels. We want to shed more light on it and show that it isn't based solely on little girls singing songs on the sidewalk."

For generations, the game of syncopated jumping game known as double dutch has been played on the streets and in schoolyards by cliques of urban youths, showing off their fancy footwork and chanting creative rhymes to keep the rhythm.

When these women aren't jumping and dancing with the ropes, they can be found working their professional day jobs -- Hurysz who works as a pastry chef, Herrera is the director of operations and Dougherty is an educational sales manager for Cycling 74, a San Francisco-based software company.

They picked up the ropes for the first time seven years ago. Even though they were adults when they discovered their passion for double dutch, it all came about when the three friends searched for an unconventional way to have fun without spending a lot of money.

"I was 29 years old and trying to find something I really liked doing, with people that I enjoy," Hurysz said. "Now, I can't enjoy life without double dutch."

In order to bring their skills up to par, the trio was forced to hit the books before hitting the pavement.

"Everything we do is self-taught. We had nobody to show us," said 26-year-old Dougherty. "We were limited to books and videos on VHS back then. It was a very slow learning process."

The three friends used to swing ropes on playgrounds and wide-open spaces across the city, and eventually honed their skills enough to form the "Double Dutchess," a performance troupe that put on themed shows at local dive bars, concerts and upscale parties.

"We were booked at more venues that we could perform at," said Herrera about the success of 'Double Dutchess,' which officially formed in 2002. The women took their show on the road, performing in Los Angeles and at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

"We did a show once where we dressed up as grandmas and jumped the ropes," Hurysz said. "Not cute at all."

"We really tried to avoid looking cute," added 32-year-old Herrera. "We didn't want to depend on our short shorts, but on our skills and humor."

Realizing that they were part of a greater mission, these ladies decided to pass on the tricks of the jumping trade and re-emerged as SFC Double Dutch one and a half years ago, ready to teach their skills to eager jump rope enthusiasts. No longer a performance troop, the name change was appropriate for the jumpers' new calling--teaching Double Dutch classes in San Francisco.

"We love Double Dutch so much and wanted to share it with other people," Herrera said. "We wanted to create a community."

"We didn't want students to learn the way we did," Dougherty added. "It took us months and months.

Herrera, Dougherty and Hurysz have since hung up their costumes, and replaced the stage with a dance studio. And as far as their bizarre stage names go, the trio is passing on their skills as well.

"It totally makes sense as a performing group to have a pseudonym," Dougherty said. "Our students have them too."

"Your name represents your style and your energy," added Hurysz. "It's sort of like your crazy alter ego."

The SFC Double Dutch teaches beginning to advanced level classes every Wednesday and Friday at Studio Gracia in the SOMA district, as well as at Cell Space in the Mission where students are able to master the energetic art form. Prices range from $120 a month for beginners to $65 a month for the advanced level participants, with a $10 charge for drop-ins.

"We look like idiots doing it for the first time," said Rachel "Kerosene" Packer, 31, an aspiring jumper enrolled in the beginning class. "But it's so much fun."

The national non-profit organization attempts to provide assistance for people who struggle to balance work and other priorities with little resources.

"Single Stop builds bridges between students and the vast untapped government resources intended for them by providing students with information on eligibility for various benefits," said Elena Chavez Quezada, the program director for Single Stop in California.

According to Quezada, 29 percent of community college students in the United States have incomes below $20,000, which forces many of them to seek full-time employment while in school and often leads to high dropout rates.

"Community colleges in general are one of the most effective vehicles for lifting people out of poverty," Quezada said. "They make college-level education accessible to low-income, high-need populations and are the path to economic success for America's most vulnerable students."

The initiative began operating in January at CCSF's Southeast campus in Bayview-Hunters Point. In September, the Ocean campus started using Single Stop and it will be available at the Mission campus by the end of the year.

The goal is to make Single Stop available at all six campuses in the next year.

Single Stop chose offered its services to CCSF because of the diversity of the students and the need for the services.

"CCSF in particular is an incredible partner for Single Stop because of its commitment to helping students access a wide range of services that will help them stay in school, its willingness to forge innovative new partnerships and its strong leadership," Quezada said.

"Single Stop is great for students to find out how to make school happen," said Temple Byars, a Single Stop coordinator at the Southeast campus. "It gives students their options about how to afford school."

Single Stop uses the Benefits Enrollment Network, an online screening tool, to input the student's basic information. The system then gives a list of what that specific person is eligible for based on their financial data.

Single Stop coordinators inform students about heath and insurance benefits, as well as cash aid, tax credit, child care services, food stamps and the PG&E assistance program.

Once the student has chosen which benefits to receive, a Single Stop coordinator will assist them on the application process for the various benefits and provide follow-up support.

Students can also receive free, one-on-one legal and financial counseling services and tax preparation services.

"I know for a fact that students say they can't afford school or they have to go back to work," said Byars, who has been working at the Southeast campus since January. "It's really a small gap that can be filled by these services."

Every year, about $3 billion dollars of government resources in California and $300 million in San Francisco alone are unclaimed, according to Single Stop USA.

Many benefits and tax credits are unclaimed because of complicated applications, eligibility rules and multiple restrictions from the agencies that provide the benefits.

Single Stop expects to increase graduation and retention rates at CCSF by alleviating some of the financial burdens currently facing students and allowing them to focus on school.

"Preliminary case studies have shown that financial interventions alone can increase community college students' retention rates by as much as 70 percent," Quezada said. "To date, however, such initiatives have been largely supported by private, unsustainable, dollars."

Single Stop is funded by sponsors, including the Charles Schwab Foundation, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Tipping Point Community.

"Tipping Point Community chose to partner with Single Stop because of the significant impact this organization can have in enabling low-income individuals to access life-changing public benefits and tax credits," said Rita Louh, chief operating officer at Tipping Point Community, which seeks to end poverty in the Bay Area.

The grant-making organization raised $1.5 million for Single Stop in the Bay Area at an annual fundraising event.

"Tipping Point Community is excited about the impact Single Stop has already had here in the Bay Area -- nearly $10 million has been returned to families and individuals since starting services in January 2009," Louh said.

The goal of the lawsuit, according to Servetnick, was to challenge the Board of Supervisors' final decision in 2008 that called for a "mixed" zoning of 55 Laguna St., meaning the area will be used for commercial, public and private use.

However, her organization lost, and they are currently in the appeals process.

Now, A.F. Evans Development, in conjunction with the Market-Octavia Plan, is spending $100 million to create commercial and housing units, along with a community center. The development company plans to have the site finished by 2012, according to Ruthy Bennett, Evans' project manager.

The Market-Octavia Plan is meant to preserve the historical landmarks on the site while creating growth for businesses and housing. The plan is primarily concerned with a neighborhood "imbalance" in housing and service needs, according to the San Francisco Planning Department.

"It's been in public use for over 150 years," Servetnick said. "The Board of Supervisors made the wrong decision in zoning."

Her group's main mission is to preserve the public use and historic resources of the Laguna Street campus, she added.

UC Berkeley, which operated the space as an extension campus for decades, awarded A.F. Evans the right to build 450 units of market-rate housing on the campus in 2005, following the UC's abandonment of the campus, according to Servetnick.

"We think housing, especially market-rate housing, can be built anywhere, but this campus is unique architecturally and from a land use standpoint," Servetnick said.

"The UC doesn't care," she said. "They've always wanted to sell it and make money off of it."

The 5.8 acre site, surrounded by Laguna, Buchanan, Haight and Herman Streets, has been an active area of San Francisco since the Gold Rush era, according to Helene Whitson, an archivist emeritus at SF State.

She said that a Protestant orphanage occupied the lot during the 1800s and after the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco Normal School moved to the Laguna Street location.

In the early 1950s, San Francisco Normal School changed its name to San Francisco State University and administrators considered moving its campus to the University's current location near Lake Merced, according to Whitson.

"The neighborhood is full of professional people; working class people," she said. "Why can't this site continue to be what it was? it was designed for the public."

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district encompasses the Laguna Street campus, said his constituents in Hayes Valley have voiced concern over the mixed use project.

"We don't want a suburb in Hayes Valley," he said. "We want to see something with merit that will benefit the people who live there."

Meanwhile, Servetnick said she is concerned over the ramifications of zoning the site for mixed use.

"We want to see the historic district maintained," she said, speaking on behalf of the city's historically recognized buildings in the lot. "This project will destroy them."

A.F. Evans wants to demolish Middle Hall and a section of Richardson Hall because they would cost too much to retrofit, Sarah Zahn, a former project manager, said.

Whitson said many of the existing buildings on the campus were built during the New Deal era using Spanish colonial architecture along with Works Progress Administration artists and contractors.

"There's wonderful artwork there," Whitson said. She said Maxine Albro, the designer behind San Francisco's Coit Tower and a protégé of Diego Rivera, created a mosaic from marble left over from the city's 1915 World's Fair, which can be found in Woods Hall's entry on Buchanan and Haight Streets.

She added concerns about the community's need for a place to be educated and how the site should be transformed into a learning center.

"I can imagine people there, and being taught and being the future of California," Whitson said. "That place has had such an impact on California, and it serves the needs of the people."

Currently, San Francisco is not required to have a long-term financial plan and the budget doesn't have to follow specific financial policies, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections voter information pamphlet. Every year, the city adopts a budget for the next fiscal year.

If Proposition A passes, the city must implement a two-year budget cycle, a five-year financial plan and adopt long-range financial policies, among other changes. The financial policies must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Supervisors.

Supporters say that in the last 10 years, San Francisco has had a budget deficit every single year.

"The city currently has a problem with balancing the budget by working every year," said Tom Hsieh, political advisor to Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Proposition A is a responsible measure to project a two-year budget and five-year plan that can help secure funding for vital services, he added.

Supervisor Chris Daly disagreed, saying budgets work when spending matches revenue, but "San Francisco is a complicated case and (it is) difficult to project revenue two years ahead."

In the last decade, the controller's office projections for about $250 million have been flawed.

"With this kind of discrepancy, a biennial budget is a futile exercise, especially in an unpredictable economy," Daly expressed in the voter information pamphlet.

"It will be more fiscally responsible to look more than one year at a time," said Monique Zmuda, deputy controller of San Francisco.

Currently, labor agreements with the police and fire departments are negotiated after the budget is approved and it will make more sense to have them approved before the budget is approved, Zmuda said.

A two-year budget will allow the city to look further into the future, making sure there is money for the programs, according to Zmuda. It will be more prudent to budget on a long term instead of a short term, she said.

The two-year cycle is a good first step but does not address some important budget policies that need to be changed, like spending one-time income on one-time projects and "allowing the private sector to bid on city functions currently done by city employees," said Howard Epstein, chair of the San Francisco Republican Party. Revisions should be done every year or two, he added.

Some voters lean towards Proposition A because they think planning two and five years ahead makes more sense than one-year planning.

"I'm in favor because it seems once a year is recreating the wheel and a waste of effort," said massage therapist Elizabeth Mason, 48.

For English as a Second Language teacher Carol Pragides, the two-year budget cycle makes sense as long as it is reviewed every year to see if important adjustments are made.

"It will give more flexibility for the long-term plans," Pragides said.

Looking forward seems like a good idea, but it is important to review it, according to housewife Elizabeth Baker. "We don't want to be stuck in the long term," she said.

What's on the ballot for the November 3, 2009 Municipal Election

Candidate, City Attorney: Dennis Herrera

Candidate, Treasurer: José Cisneros

Proposition A: Budget Process
Would amend charter provisions concerning the budget, contracts, labor agreements and public notice.

Proposition B: Board of Supervisors Aides
Would delete the requirement that each member of the Board of Supervisors have two aides.

Proposition C: Candlestick Park Renaming Rights
Would repeal Proposition H, an ordinance requiring that the stadium be named "Candlestick Park." Would also allow the city to consent to new naming rights sale under existing 49ers' contract.

Proposition D: Mid-Market Special Sign District
Would create a special sign district on and near Market Street between 5th and 7th Streets to allow new advertising signs in that district.

Proposition E: Advertising on City Property
Would prohibit an increase in the number of advertising signs on street furniture above the number authorized by city law and contracts as of January 1, 2008.

For more information on candidates and propositions, visit http://www.sfelections.org.

For the Printmaking Guild and those within the artistic community at SF State, the art they produce is all about the copy. There's no need for fresh paint or clean brushes because printmaking focuses more on the process and the quality of its clones.

For over 40 years, instead of using the conventional brush and canvas, these talented artists have fed off of fellowship, dedication and the support of other artists.

The guild works to raise money through selling prints that help run workshops and purchasing printing equipment, but it is mostly designed to be an outlet of broadening and expanding artistic horizons.

"The guild is available so I can learn more about printmaking and make more prints," said art student Mario Miron, 19, who plans to join the guild in the near future. "It's good for massive distribution and it's much better than a Xerox machine." Artists can become members by simply attending a meeting and expressing an interest in printmaking.

"We're very welcoming for new blood," said artist and alumna Lindsey Wolkin, 29.

The art of printmaking uses newer processes that are considered experimental as well as using variations of old traditional etching and lithography. But the process starts small.

From printing methods intaglio, planographic, stencil relief and viscosity printing, students and members of the guild go through an elaborate process in order to put out a piece.

Intaglio printing is a technique in which an image is incised onto a copper or zinc plate, whereas planographic printing is created with a flat surface. Intaglio, relief and planographic printing processes print the art as a reversed image.

Many of these projects begin with a simple drawing on paper before taking a very complicated turn with steps involving carbon monoxide and aluminum.

"Everything starts off with thumbnails and sketching," said artist and alumnus Peter Davy, 37.

Printers and other artists alike believe printmaking is a communal space where artists exchange knowledge in order to help each other grow. The University provides a large lithography studio with over 25 extremely flat, smooth limestone surfaces --essential to the printmaking process.

"It was an extra limb to the whole system for students to expand, change, and make the guild better," said professor and guild member Mario Laplante.

Every artist has an idea of how the final product will turn out, but printmaking demands a blueprint.

"You have to have a clear vision of what you like to see accomplished," said Wolkin. "Many variables can change an image. If I put in a batch of acid? If I cut it with a needle? In painting, you paint on a canvas, but there's an element of mystery in printmaking which is a big attraction for people."

The guild got one of its first bursts of notoriety with its prints and creations made during SF State's 1968 strike, which was the longest in the school history. One print to be shown in the Art Gallery of the Cesar Chavez Student Center, read "Help! I'm Too Young To Die," in protest against the campus administration.

And as of Oct. 15, modern student artists and alumni were able to debut their latest work, titled "Making Im(press)ions" in the Art Gallery of the Student Center.

Young aspiring student artists were given a chance to shine, thanks to the guild's generous and encouraging opportunity to showcase their work in The Art Gallery.

"I submitted impressions and reliefs for the show and hopefully they'll be up," he said.

Miron's very own portraits of Hollywood legends Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman are hanging in the exhibit. These are just a couple of the examples that are blowing away students and faculty, especially gallery manager, art curator and student Molly Cox.

"I've been seeing the work out of the department and there are phenomenal artists," said Cox, 19. "The show's to provide a vehicle to display their descent."

"Im(press)ions: Printmaking" will be open until Nov. 19, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Student Center Art Gallery.

The musicians roused fans on Oct. 15 at Popscene, a concert series put on every Thursday night by 330 Ritch.

The performance oozed soaring energy that kept concertgoers jumping and clapping throughout the set.

The first song of the night began with the instrumentals of "The Science of Fear," which got the crowd to sway to the rapid drumrolls and upbeat guitar riffs.

The Temper Trap, consisting of lead singer Dougy Mandagi, bass player Jonathon Aherne, lead guitarist Leorenzo Sillitto, second guitarist Joseph Greer and drummer Toby Dundas, was chosen by the British Broadcasting Company as one of the top 15 sounds of 2009.

The London-based band from Melbourne, Australia embarked on their first North American tour this past week, promoting their debut album, "Conditions," which came out Oct. 13, hoping to give fans a high-powered performance one show at a time.

"I want people to walk away and say, 'Man, that band has a lot of fun,'" said Dundas, as the band set up for the show that evening. "We're putting the energy between us, then into the songs and out to the crowed. It's really a great experience."

Mandagi, humbly confessed that he wants to be "remembered as a good band."

"Hopefully we can play half-decent shows for our fans," the lead singer said in a quiet tone.

As the night progressed, "Down River," a standout performance, was led by Mandagi and supported by the group's two guitarists and bass player.

With this chant-like song pulsating throughout the room, the energy of the audience grew, and fists of the crowed pumped as bodies jumped. With the sound of the song building, the band lined up and sang repeatedly, "Don't, don't stop! Don't, don't stop!" as the song came to a climactic end.

Pete Birones, a San Franciscan, never listened to the Temper Trap before last Wednesday, but was pleasantly surprised by their performance.

"I'm more of a hip-hop head myself, but it was fun -- I liked it," the 20-year-old said. "There was a lot of energy throughout the show, so I would definitely listen to them again."

Though playing in San Francisco was a first for the melodic indie rock band, many fans came because they heard the infectiously catchy song, "Sweet Disposition" in the movie "(500) Days of Summer," which debuted in July of this year.

"I got the '(500) Days of Summer' soundtrack and heard their song and thought it was amazing," said Danielle Mannfield, 24, who discovered the band a few months ago.

The Temper Trap's fan base, according to Dundas, grew "immensely" since the release of the movie, which helped them promote the rest of their album as they travel the United States -- along with a worldwide tour.

"It was a really huge opportunity, and it definitely opened a lot of doors for us here in America," said Dundas, as he made no attempt to hide his excitement.

"Conditions," an album of large, earth-shattering crescendos, soulful vocals and strong, danceable drumbeats, was created to showcase the band's versatility.

"We wanted a lot of diversity through the album," Dundas said. "We felt that we couldn't have too much or it would be too fragmented and it wouldn't be an album, but rather 10 songs chopped together."

Although creating the album was a collective process, the work that went into constructing it wasn't easy or effortless.

Their producer, Jim Abbiss, who worked with the Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, was living in the United Kingdom while the Temper Trap was in Melbourne. Many meetings were canceled throughout the album-making process, which ultimately took a year to finish.

In the end, the band created a compilation of songs that they felt represented the complexity of their sound.

As they travel from state to state and win over audiences with their heart-pounding performances, they also try to take advantage of the little downtime they have while on the road.

"We've been watching the first season of 'The Wire' and playing Xbox a lot to pass the time," said, Mandagi as he cracked a smile. "Our days consist of driving in a van all day and trying to get to bed early and not party too much."

With nine cities for the Temper Trap to visit during the North American tour, coming to San Francisco was high on the list.

"I was probably most excited about coming to San Francisco," Dundas gushed. "We saw Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. I've always wanted to come here, but you really can't do anything but the touristy stuff and just scratch the surface."

The Temper Trap's North American tour continues until Oct. 29 and wraps up in Boston, where they will continue their trek through Europe for the remainder of the year.

In a lecture and performance combination that filled the theater's 700 seats, the 14-person troupe sampled two classic dances -- Sagi Musume's "The Heron Maiden," and Shakkyo's "The Stone Bridge" with an introduction to Kabuki basics.

The art centers itself around three central components: "ka" stands for music, "bu" means dance and "ki" translates to drama.

The presentation began with a look at the functions of music and sound within kabuki. Each sound can act as a noise of nature, the rattling of windows or babbling of a brook, each made with a single drum, often four to five feet in diameter.

Choreographed music played on a shamisen, a string instrument similar to a guitar in appearance, can both represent a sound in nature and narrate a scene.

Matanosuke Nakamura, one of two lead actors in the performance group, led the lecture and explained how different sounds accompany "natural phenomenon." These are sounds that do not make noise, such as snow falling or a person walking, so that the audience may recognize both their existence and importance within a production.

"[The lecture] was interesting, I know almost nothing about kabuki, so I needed some instruction," Marianne Glaspey, 52, an attendee said.

Performing under the stage name Kyozo Nakamura, no relation to Matanosuke Nakamura, performers told the story of unanswered love through a series of unexpected on-stage costume changes and several dances in "The Heron Maiden."

"It's beautiful, all so beautiful," said Nell Noguchi, an attendee who watched the show with her daughter and granddaughter. "I've seen kabuki before -- the kimono changes and music all have to coincide. It is a beautiful performance. It takes years and years of training for a male to take a woman's role -- it is a true honor."

After the performance, Kyozo Nakamura elaborated on the roles of women as an abstract concept viewed through a male point of view, distilled over four centuries. He went on to show the complexity in performing these roles, by demonstrating the necessary techniques -- posture, gait, mannerisms and expressing emotion.

Matanosuke Nakamura then showed the audience something that citizens of the tradition's native country rarely, if ever, get to see: behind-the-curtain details preceding a production.

Painting his face white, and applying red to his lips and eyes followed by dashes of black, Matanosuke Nakamura demonstrated the application of makeup. Once finished, he dressed in a vibrantly colored costume adorned with gold brocade before the audience -- a task often viewed as ceremonial by actors and kept private.

Following the second portion of the lecture, Matanosuke Nakamura and Kyozo Nakamura end the production with a performance of "The Stone Bridge," a drama based on a fable that tells of a Buddhist monk's pilgrimage and his encounter with two legendary lions that meet him at a bridge.

The scene the actors recreated is of the lions happily frolicking among peonies. In the scene, the lions represent heaven and their devotion to the bodhisattva, one capable of reaching nirvana, to whom they are messengers.

"My favorite part was the lion dance," said Peter Bockman, 21, a senior drama major. "You could see the dedication they put into [the swishing of their manes] to sustain the movement. I loved it -- I've never studied kabuki, this was a great introduction to it."