-- Winged Migration (Le peuple migrateur): Birds! We tend to think nothing of them here in the Bay Area - well, as far as the homely and picked upon poor pigeon goes - but birds are exciting creatures. Colors, flying, migrating, the ability to form perfect V-shapes - just see for yourself tonight at 7:15 p.m. and 9:25 at The Red Vic; $6-8.50. -- Mike Stern: The controversial opening of Yoshi's SF won't hinder......

It has been documented, in Nature no less, that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. Only for spatial reasoning, though. Only for 15mn afterwards. And the results got disputed later. Damn. And even worst, the same effect was observed with music from, hold on one second while we regain our composure, Yanni. Yanni!...

Number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 55. Number of people pictured whom we recognize: 2 -- Charlotte Maillard Shultz and a way-too-skinny-looking Vanessa Getty. Minority count: 6 (10.9%). Getty v. Traina: 1-7. Big ups to C.Big for the comparison of the Steel-Traina family to the von Trapps! So long, farewell, auf wiedersein, good night. Number of hot dog hats pictured: 1, and it rocks. Days until the Barneys SF opens: 107......

Hip, hip, HOORAY! Hip, hip, HOORAY! Catherine Bigelow, the Chron society columnist, is back from vacation, and here with a special report on Wednesday night's SF Ballet Opening Gala! Number of people pictured: 24. Number of people pictured whom we recognize: 3 (the Shultzes and Jerry Yang, though we did also recognize Angelique Griepp's Oscar de la Renta dress from SFMike's blog). Minority count: 3 (12.5%). Getty v. Traina: Too bad Gavin's in Davos this......

SFMike from Civic Center's had a very cultural week! From the symphony on Friday to the SF Ballet opening gala last night -- and for the standing-room ticket price of $20! The evening started out at a gala Spanish-themed reception at City Hall and the Chron breathlessly reports that "[t]his was the most dressed-up Ballet gala in history. If the ladies pulled out all the stops for the 74th anniversary [this year], it will be......

Okay, so the family is coming for the holidays and you don't know what to do other than the Wharf and any place that doesn't involve getting solicited for spare change every ten feet. Or maybe you got nothing to do this holiday season and your cheap-ass company is only doing a White Elephant type party while your friends have all these kick-ass Christmas parties on ships or with great bands and you need something to do to get into the holiday spirit. Well, we got the web site for you....

Total number of people in the pictures of this week's Swells: 58. Minority count: 16. (27.5%). One group of pictures is from the SF Ethnic Dance Festival. Number of people in the pictures whose names we recognize: 4 (Vera Wang, the director of the SF Ballet, the SF Ballet principal dancer, and Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams at his wedding, above). Getty v. Traina: 1-0. Number of hats: 0. Number of horn-rimmed glasses: 4. Percentage of......

Wednesday, please pack your knives and go. Tonight: We're keeping it bipartisan for once! You can stop by the Democratic County Central Committee monthly meeting at the State Building at 455 Golden Gate (between Polk and Larkin) at 7:00 p.m., or the SF Republican women's dinner at MacArthur Park at 607 Front Street, 6 p.m. We presume they'll both be discussing how they're going to defeat each other. The DCCC meeting is free; the Republicans are charging $25 (non-members) for admission to hear a speaker who is TBD. Thursday: Korean pansori, or storytelling opera, tonight at 7 pm at the Asian Art Museum! Check out these sound clips for a preview. Korean composer ChanHae Lee will be performing the music live. $5 members, $10 non-. and Friday: In commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Jewish Film Festival, the Yerba Buena Center in conjunction with the Holocaust Center of Northern California, is screening the documentary "Rene and I," about the lives of twins temporarily separated by the Holocaust, and who both survived both Mengele and "a Jewish henchman of Al Capone." Huh! Filmmaker Gina Angelone will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. 7:30 p.m., $7....