Many thanks for a tip about two events sent by a reader:

Nightowl,
I was going to pass on an interesting tidbit — the monthly Drumm Circle event at the Kingfish Cafe and Bar (on Claremont Ave).  Sadly, however, when looking further into it I found the Kingfish is now closed. The Drumm Circle, in case you have not heard of it, was a monthly event at the Kingfish which happened every 2nd Tuesday evening.  Here is the website about Jeni Swerdlow and her Drummm activities:  http://www.drummm.com/index.htm. 
I stumbled onto the one in December and was amazed at what I saw.  Jeni brought in 15 - 20 drums of all types (from different countries and of different sizes) for people who showed up to use (people could also bring their own implements of destruction).  She then guided the entire group through their initial cautious rhythmic attempts onto higher levels and more challenging tempos over the next couple hours.
Her website indicates some local events coming up and hopefully she will find another venue like the Kingfish where would-be drummers can pound away.  Any suggestions?
At the SFMOMA from Tuesday (2/12) through next Friday (2/15) various aspects of Weimar New York: A Golden Gate Affair will take place.  There will be two shows — 8:00pm on 2/13 and 10:00pm on 2/14 — along with other supporting events during the week.   Here are two websites about it:
http://www.sfmoma.org/calendar/calendar_event.asp eventid=1148&etype=2&func=repeat
http://www.weimarnewyork.com.
 

I popped into the Stork Club last night on the last stop of my Night Owl-First Friday roundup. The place was packed like I've never seen and things were positively hopping for the Friday Night Follies — a new attraction on the ever-expanding Art Murmur tour. That's what can happen when you put near-naked girls on stage, especially if they can sing and dance and otherwise entertain a la burlesque (va va voom!). I nearly headed out bc it was so packed until I saw an old college friend of mine in the front row appreciating the talent. She looked pretty happy.  Folks said Uni and her Ukelele was a big hit. A school teacher in town from the Central Valley was more partial to Ophelia Coeur de Noir. The Stork Club's owner, Tom Chittock, looked pretty pleased and tired as the crowd surged to the bar in search of refreshments. He was standing in front of a wall of Barbies still in their packaging that belonged to his mother. "I call it my inheritance," said Tom, who also inherited the bar — Micki and Wes' Stork Club — from his folks and has set about turning it into a hot spot. Originally, way back in the day, the club opened as a country and western bar. Instead, as Tom put it, "This place was founded on punk rock."  
And I finally met someone I introduced you all to a while back here on the blog: "Constant Dancer," so named by my daughter who created a comicbook character based on him. His real name is Corey it turns out and he danced the whole time. Everyone was loving Roger That on his electric ukelele, too, especially when he took off his shirt between acts to reveal a canvas of tattoos worthy of a sailor. "Apparently I get to kill some more time so I'm going to ROCK," he told folks after a fiery rendition of "I'm going to walk right out your door" (how many times have you seen the words fiery and ukelele together?).  Then came the highlight, the Belles du Jour. "Make way for tap-dancing titties," the MC announced. It's too cool that the Belles are back after a hiatus of some months, especially (as I found out last night), their leader "Honey Lawless" fought down cancer. She looked great and seemed surprised and delighted at the turnout. She said later that it was the first show where the venue had to hold the line at the door. The mood made up for missing the band of merry pranksters over at the Linden Street Brewery, where I had begun my rounds. The tale is that they set out in a double-decker bus from the brewery on First Fridays to hit the Art Murmur venues, which now also include the Stork and the Uptown and who knows how many others. Roger That said it best: "We need more shows like this," meaning the Stork's Friday Night Follies. "Typically I'd have had to go to San Francisco. Not any more."
(Photo by pbo31)

Picture yourself beginning 10 p.m. Mondays with a pitcher of Bud and a bowling ball playing out your suburban, stationwagon-driving fantasies at the Albany Bowl.
Schlemiel! Schlemazl! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated! It's a steal at only $1.50 a game.  Albany Bowl is located at 540 San Pablo Ave. (Albanybowl.biz)
Actually, I happened to pass by there yesterday from the Cerrito Speakeasy, where I saw a matinee of "Sweeny Todd" (I am the only person I know who actually liked the film), and was stunned at the bustle in that little section of El Cerrito by the BART station. The Cerrito, three cool cafes, the big shopping center, little stores, a hardware store that is NOT Home Depot, etc. It used to be dead over there.  Closer to Solano Ave. (which is its own success story), are the Albany Bowl, stores, cafes, shops and Kingman's Ivy Room, which, as I told my daughters while driving by, my mouth agape, used to be a pretty murky bar at times. I've meaning to get to the Ivy Room since it changed ownership. I remember Kingman from the days when he ran a cafe on Lakeshore and I lived up on Mandana. I practically studied my way through college there, when they were waiting to just get a beer and wine license. Then came Kingman's Lucky Lounge on Grand and now he has pretty much built a hip empire of hooch.
(BTW, photo is by Thomas Hawk)

After I finished up the story about Downtown Oakland nightlife for today's Trib, I headed to what I think is destined to be one of my favorite bars: the Missouri Lounge. Basic beer, honky-tonk feel, old-time gritty Blues on the juke box, velour sofas(!) and a pool table. What more could a night owl ask for?  It's a pretty cool little shack ("the most elegant dive bar in Berkeley") with what definitely is my all-time favorite drink special — $5 whiskey & a can o'beer. I don't want to drink it. Just love the way it sounds all stripped down to the divey bones. Bartender Charlie said the lounge, which new owners brought up from a seriously seedy bar in the middle of no man's land down there, has a DJ about every night and the customers are cool and constantly new.  Since I had forgotten the address (2600 San Pablo), I had to search pretty hard until I finally spotted the plain beige facade that faces the BofA instead of looking out on the San Pablo corridor. It was dark, stormy and I was tired, so there you go. If you haven't gone down to the Missouri, I suggest doing so soon. No telling how long  a dive bar will last around that now condo-prone neighborhood.