Kimberly Chun

'The Housemaid.'

The special tonight, March 11? It has to be the opening of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival -- now in its 28th incarnation and taking off with Today’s Special, David Kaplan’s rom-com with a Bollywood/foodie twist (Indian cooking icon Madhur Jaffrey plays the mother of a sous chef in search of the secret spice missing from his life).

French Miami.

It’s one thing to cover the bands -- it’s whole another wet ‘n’ wild burrito to book and promote the bands themselves. Ah, the lines get mighty fuzzy these days, where the blogosphere meets brick and mortar, and the latest entry into the party-throwing frenzy we call the SF music scene comes from Epicsauce.com.

The Morning Benders.

Matt Jacoby

It’s always inspiring to see a band stretch its wings - bending them toward the sky, if you will - and fly. And that’s what Bay Area indie-rock combo the Morning Benders have done with its sophomore full-length, Big Echo (Rough Trade), beckoning to listeners to reach for their headphones and follow.

Midlake.

After seeing Midlake open for the Flaming Lips at Noise Pop a few years back, I would have never suspected that the way-quiet, almost lo-fi indie rockers would produce one of the finest, most ambitious albums of 2010 thus far.

The 'Global Lives Project' shoot in China.

What do San Francisco cable car gripman James Bullock, Indian villager Muttu Kumar and Kazakhstan 5-year-old Zhanna Dosmailove have in common?

Above and below: 'United Space of Conditioned Becoming.'

There’s no time like dream time -- propelled by information streams and reads on radical culture, race and feminism, as well as journeys, both pleasurable and migratory, and histories, both national and personal.

Jaron Lanier.

“Visionary” is bandied about too often for anyone’s comfort level -- yet Jaron Lanier very well might fall under that header as one of the first Silicon Valley thinkers to use the term “virtual reality,” a field he was instrumental in developing as the founder of VPL Research.

Joe Cuba.

Grooves from down south -- and way down south, with roots in Puerto Rico -- are in store this week at the Elbo Room and Yoshi’s.

Joe Cuba CD Release Party

Wild Beasts.

Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf -- or synthesizers? Two UK bands playing this week in San Francisco -- Editors (Monday, Feb. 8, at the Warfield) and Wild Beasts (Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Independent) -- find swathes of fresh intrigue in those patches and plug-ins, all while baring their breasts and revealing busily percolating emotional lives.

Fresh outta drinking games? Prepared to drink in a new adventure? Ready to discover your next favorite watering hole?