Perhaps your weekend's been a bit hectic and you need some calming visuals. Look no further than these awe-inspiring high-speed videos of animals in flight shot by a group of Dutch photographers as part of the Flight Artists project at Wageningen University. We especially like the above footage of the dove. The lighting, detail and movement of the dove's wings are truly remarkable. more ›

FILM: In conjunction with Sharon Lockhart's Lunch Break exhibition, SFMOMA presents two film programs this week and next. Tonight's screening features Pine Flat, which explores the interactions of children with their local surroundings in the Sierra Foothills. (7 p.m., SFMOMA, Phyllis Wattis Theater, 151 Third Street) more ›

FILM: Delight in some yuletide noir classics at Castro Theatre's 2nd annual Noir City XMas 2011, featuring a double feature screening of Lady on a Train and Christmas Holiday. Additionally, the full schedule for the 10th anniversary edition of the Castro's Noir City X, which happens January 20-29, 2012, will be revealed. (7:30 to 11 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street) more ›

For tonight? Let's see: California Academy of Sciences' lecture series, Project One Gallery presents artist René Garcia, Jr.'s new work, and Russian opera diva Katya Smirnoff-Sky at the Rrazz Room. more ›

MUSIC: Local gem Too Short has been making the rounds a lot lately. Tonight, he'll be taking the stage at The New Parish with notable players, Kev Choice and Martin Luther, among others. (9 p.m., The New Parish, 579 18th Street, Oakland) more ›

FILM: Photographer Scott Pasfield presents a slideshow, discussion and signing of his new book, Gay in America, featuring 140 gay American men in 50 states. Purchases of the book will benefit non-profit AIDS fighting organizations... more ›

The Bay Area Science Festival continues tonight with Radiolab Live in Berkeley, which explores being In the Dark with a night of "gripping stories, wonder-inducing demonstrations, and jaw-dropping illustrations." Also happening tonight as part of the festival are a science pub crawl and a book swap. more ›

FASHION: Learn all about the art of being a black dandy at Museum of the African Diaspora's After Dark presentation of The Art of the Suit, featuring "live styling" sessions, live music by the Bayonics performing as Hot Pocket, a screening of the documentary "The Importance of Being Elegant," and more. (6 to 9 p.m., Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission Street) more ›

FILM: Be sure to RSVP ASAP to the exclusive screening of the new documentary, It's Never Too Late To Be What U Might Have Been - The Making of Noel Gallagher and His High Flying Birds, which chronicles the making of Gallagher's new album, out 11/8 on Mercury Records. (8 p.m., Ninth Street Independent Film Center, 145 9th Street) more ›

The California Academy of Sciences launched its new Shark Lagoon Cam on Thursday, which features a lovely mix of Blacktip Reef sharks and Bamboo sharks, Cownose rays, Honeycomb rays, and Blue-spot stingrays, along with Mono fish, Longnose Butterfly fish, and Raccoon Butterfly fish, all swimming amongst mangrove trees and a colorful Philippine coral reef. more ›

FILM: Artists Sam Green and Dave Cerf present Greetings on Behalf of the People of Our Planet!, three short "live documentaries" that combine film, live narration, and sound mixing, including the local premiere of The Voyager Spacecraft, a collection of photographs, natural sounds, and music compiled by astronomer Carl Sagan for a time capsule inside the unmanned interstellar Voyager Spacecraft. (7:30 p.m., Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street) more ›

MUSIC: RSVP now to attend a free outdoor show featuring an acoustic performance by local, Kill Rock Stars duo, Thao & Mirah, at Americano at Hotel Vitale as part of the Soundcheck 2011 Music Series. The band is a collaboration between the two artists, which NPR News says "captures both creative immediacy and a fruitful collaboration!" (5 to 8 p.m., Americano at Hotel Vitale, 8 Mission Street) more ›

SCIENCE: At tonight's installment of Exploratorium After Dark, which is themed Red, explore color chemistry, discover surprising uses for insects and vibrant vegetables, and get a crash-course in making your own paints. (6 to 10 p.m., Exploratorium At The Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon Street) more ›

Tonight, you can experience art and live music and dance performances outdoors at Civic Center, attend a live indie, pop, folk, and rock showcase at Cafe Du Nord, or become fairly intimate with botanical "rogues and assassins" and the author who tells their tales at the Conservatory of Flowers. more ›

MUSIC: We must say, The Fiery Furnaces have the best band bio we've ever read. Catch an intimate show with the clever and talented brother and sister duo, Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger tonight at Cafe Du Nord. (8 p.m., 2170 Market Street) more ›

LITERARY: There are a just a handful of tickets left to see the delightfully and uproariously trashy John Waters at JCCSF tonight (we hope that bomb threat doesn't mess things up!), who will be talking about his new book, Role Models, which details "shopping for secondhand clothes at Hadassah with the drag queen Divine, and explains the connection between his own iconic mustache and Che Guevara’s beret." more ›

FILM: The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival opens tonight with a screening of the new film Beginners, starring Christopher Plummer as a senior who comes out of the closet in the wake of a cancer diagnosis and Ewan McGregor as his unlucky-in-love son. The film is an autobiographical tale written/directed by Thumbsucker's Mike Mills. An opening night extravaganza will follow the screening, featuring culinary delights from local restaurants, sophisticated cocktails and, of course, dancing. You must be 21+ to attend the party. more ›

SCIENCE: The saga of killer plants prevails at Conservatory of Flowers' new Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues & Assassins exhibit, and tonight's after hours event, Plants Behind Bars, will provide an extra eerie take on the exhibit. Hemp ale from Pacific Brew Lab will be on tap, along with other "intoxicating" potions from the bar, and musical guests The Human Condition "will ensnare your dancing feet with their modern brand of roots music." more ›

SCIENCE: At Nerd Nite SF #9: Real Estate Shenanigans, Dirty Archaeology, and Roller Derby Fundamentals, learn all about how the $10 trillion world of "shadow banking" went boom, and why it’s not going away; the "thieves, bootlegging, prostitutes, venereal disease and prophylactics" of San Francisco's past; and the history, rules and basic strategy of roller derby. more ›

"Foucault's Polishing" by thezacstone. Behold the cleaning and polishing of Foucault's pendulum at the California Academy of Sciences before opening to the public. more ›

Tonight, on this unreasonably cloudy Monday night, you will be able to, um, sense the total lunar eclipse happening in the sky above. See, while the eclipse starts at 10 p.m.-ish and ends around 2 a.m., the pregnant clouds above will most likely prevent you from seeing the moon's vanish act. Drats. more ›

Next week on December 20, a total eclipse of the moon will be visible from San Francisco. (Of course, fog and clouds will most certainly get in the way, so: ha, ha, not really!) According to Wikipedia, "A total lunar eclipse will take place on December 20/21, 2010. It will be visible after midnight Eastern Standard Time on December 21 in North and South America. The beginning of the total eclipse will be visible from northern Europe just before sunrise. The end of the total eclipse will be visible rising at sunset for Japan and northeastern Asia, it also appears very visible to the Philippines just after sunset (as in Partial lunar eclipse)." The eclipse will be viewable on Monday night/Tuesday morning. more ›

Researchers from U.C. Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Labs were part of a team of scientists from CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) who reported yesterday that they had successfully created and trapped a form of antimatter: antihydrogen. Until now, it had not been possible to trap atoms of antimatter without having them automatically annihilate themselves the moment they were created, as soon as they hit the ordinary matter of the containers in which they were created. more ›

THEATER: It's the West Coast premiere of the musical production of Coraline, in which a latch-key kid dreams up a new reality with a loving Other Mother and a kindly Other Father, which quickly turns creepy. The play was adapted from the children's book, featuring music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. The production runs through January 15th. more ›

FILM: Craig Baldwin presents Radical Light: Bay Area Found Footage -- From Junk to Funk to Punk, a celebration of found footage filmmaking, which has quite a history in our local heritage. The line-up features a diverse range of short films from the past few decades. more ›

MUSIC: Classical Revolution, Lyz Luke and Porto Franco Records present two performances featuring over fifty musicians in ten bands covering the legendary album by The Velvet Underground and Nico. Get there early to grab a seat. more ›

At 10am this morning officials from the Exploratorium held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $300 million project which will transform Piers 15 and 17 on the northern waterfront into a state-of-the-art, 9-acre science playground for the City's favorite hands-on, educational museum. more ›

ART: Several Bay Area artists will be showing their work at the group exhibition, Above the Plane, which will "navigate the viewers through a habitat of art away from the traditional wall hangings and onto the surfaces of iconic furniture designs" conveying how "art can manipulate space to adhere to our individual comforts." more ›