Video: Do you know where your delicious Bay Area water comes from? Your pals at local USGS field stations in the San Francisco Bay Area explain it!
This week’s Curator: Annalee Newitz, from Ars Technica Live, Our Opinions Are Correct, and various writing projects you may know.
I am a science journalist who writes science fiction, so my tastes tend to be pretty eclectic. The one common thread is always extreme geekery. I love science tourism, where you can visit a lab or nature preserve and talk to scientists there about what they’re doing. I also love cult movies, weird literary events, local politics, and unusual classrooms. So this week, I’m highlighting an extraordinary chance to see a nature preserve that doubles as a laboratory, an evening dedicated to indigenous filmmaker Sky Hopinka, a robot hacking class, high tech art, two crazy literary series, and more!
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
KQED’s Walls and Bridges: Immigration
KQED is sponsoring this community conversation at the Oakland Museum about how US immigration policies are affecting local Bay Area communities. Panelists include undocumented poet and activist Yosimar Reyes, immigration attorney Aarti Kohli, and undocumented law student and Dreamer Fund co-founder Gabriela Garcia.
MAY 9 – WED. 6:30 PM. Oakland Museum. Free.
Without Paths or Boundaries: The Films of Sky Hopinka
Gorgeous, evocative, and gently funny, Sky Hopinka’s films chronicle the lives of indigenous people in North America. They are tales of past and present, languages lost and found, and landscapes that remind us of a time when civilization in the Americas looked very different than it does now. Artists’ Television Access will be screening several of Hopinka’s films, in association with the Media Studies Department at Sonoma State University and the UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Department.
MAY 10 – THU. 7:30-9:30 PM. Artists’ Television Access. $10, $5 for members.
Cliterary Salon showcases the talents of local woman writers, and this month it’s all about M’aidez (May Day) and revolution. Just in time for the new season of Handmaid’s Tale, you can get wild, dirty, and subversive with readers Meg Elison, Tara Marsden, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Lauren Parker, and emcee Louis E.
MAY 11 – FRI. 7:00-9:00 PM. $12. Must buy tickets to get secret speakeasy location in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood.
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Open House
For the first time in 10 years, Stanford University is hosting an open house at its outdoor lab and nature preserve, where scientists study plants, insects, birds, and ecosystems in a carefully-protected piece of nature right in the middle of Silicon Valley. There will be scientists on hand to explain their work, as well as kid’s events, movies, and other activities. Visitors can take short hikes through the area, and stop at learning stations along the way. This is an incredible chance to see how environmental science is done, and to witness a beautiful example of California wildlife.
MAY 12 – SAT. 10:00 AM-3:00 PM. Menlo Park. Free. See invite for details on parking and finding the site. Wear sturdy shoes and pants.
Hackaday Bay Area’s Beginner Robotics Workshop
Have you always wanted to learn to make and program a robot? Hackaday Bay Area will teach you all about it at this workshop, designed to help beginners who are interested in entering Hackaday’s Robotics Module Challenge. Mentors will guide students in small groups who want to learn about one of three areas: programming, electronics, or design in CAD. Electronics and software will be provided. By the end of the day, you should have a working plan for a robotics project!
MAY 12 – SAT. 1:00-5:00 PM. PCH. $20. Bring a laptop, if possible.
This legendary spoken word variety show, MC’d by author and comedian Charlie Jane Anders, showcases the talents of six incredible writers and performers from a range of genres. This month, the readers are Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (The Fact of a Body), Allegra Huston (Say My Name), Cyrus Farivar (Habeas Data), Maw Shein Win (Invisible Gifts: New and Selected Poems), C.B. Lee (Not Your Villain), and Irene Tu (Man Haters comedy show). Plus, Anders delivers some of the most surreal and delightful MC patter you have ever heard.
MAY 12 – SAT. 7:30-9:30 PM. Doors at 7:00 PM. The Make Out Room (3225 22nd St., San Francisco). $5-$20 sliding scale.
Thanks to SPUR, you can see urban infrastructure changes in action. A proposed 170-acre open space at the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge, Gateway Park will create new parkland, provide a distinct entryway to the East Bay, connect to the bridge’s new bicycle and pedestrian path and increase shoreline access. Come explore the new site with the park’s proponents and designers: Will Travis (sea level rise consultant), Karin Betts (Bay Area Metro), and Sarah Kuehl (Einwiller Kuehl, Inc.).
MAY 15 – TUE. 10:30 AM. $10 for SPUR members. Event details will be sent to registered attendees.
Gray Area Incubator Artists Salon
Gray Area Center for the Arts is one of the premiere art and event spaces for digital and new media art, and every year their incubator program helps local artists develop new technical skills and new work. The salon is a chance for these artists to show their work in progress, and to get feedback from you! Each artist will talk about their project and take questions, plus there will be a few demos. It’s an amazing chance to meet emerging artists, and get a glimpse of their creative processes.
MAY 16 – WED. 6:00-9:00 PM. Gray Area Center for the Arts. Free.
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Caveat Eventor: just because we mention an event here, does not mean it won’t be terrible. Anglerfish curators are looking for events that sound like fun to them – your mileage may vary.