It’s time to turn your brain into a giant, glowing orb. Or just fill it with new ideas. Your call. I’m Annalee, your reality curator this week. You may know me from the Ars Technica Live event series, the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct, or some weird article or book you read about science. Over the next 8 days, we’ve got some amazing Bay Area events: a deep dive on tech law and surveillance, the untold histories of San Francisco’s streetcars, and a chance to learn from New York Times science columnist Carl Zimmer about the latest discoveries in the field of heredity.
Plus San Francisco’s favorite film archivist Rick Prelinger is doing a very special program at the Internet Archive, where he’ll screen rare and unseen films from the history of New York City. This weekend, you can listen to gorgeous experimental music in a munitions bunker on Mare Island. And don’t forget–this Saturday is Bloomsday! Raise a glass or ten of whisky to Irish rabblerouser and Modernist literary icon James Joyce.
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
Ars Technica Live: The Past, Present, and Future of Tech Law
Tech history is an endless tug-of-war between new innovations and old laws. But behind this legal machine are often bizarre court cases full of petty criminals, old-fashioned gumshoe detectives, and…robots who want civil rights. At Ars Technica Live, held at Eli’s Mile High Club, co-hosts Cyrus Farivar and Annalee Newitz will discuss their recent books about the people whose lives (and deaths) become test cases for new tech laws that govern millions of others.
JUNE 13, WEDS. 7:00PM, FREE
Film archivist and historian Rick Prelinger is famous for his “lost landscapes” shows, where he assembles rare and never-before-seen footage of everyday life in various cities like San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles…and now, New York. The program, screened at San Francisco’s beautiful Internet Archive, mixes home movies by New Yorkers, tourists, and semi-professional cinematographers with outtakes from feature films and background “process plates” picturing granular details of New York’s cityscape. Viewers will be invited to comment, to ask questions and to interact with one another as the screening unfolds. Do not miss this, especially if you love urban history and found footage. Also, this is a benefit for the Internet Archive (300 Funston Ave.)!
JUNE 15, FRI. DOORS 6:30, SHOW AT 7:00. $10-25 SLIDING SCALE.
If you love experimental music in otherworldly environments, you need to get yourself to Mare Island this Saturday afternoon. Sound and media artists Agnes Szelag, IMA, and Ernst Karel will saturate your senses with music, noise, and images at the Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve, a 215-acre park that formerly served as one of the first Naval Ammunition Depots. The performances take place in a decommissioned concrete munitions storage magazine. The architecture of the building traps sound, resulting in prolonged reverberations.
JUNE 16, SAT. DOORS 3:30, SHOW AT 4:00. BRING A BLANKET OR CHAIR TO SIT ON. $10.
Every year on Bloomsday, there are many ways to toast the ornery Irish modernist James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses, a novel about one day in the life of unforgettable protagonist Leopold Bloom (yes, that day is June 16, 1904). In the early 1920s, Ulysses was banned in the United States for its representation of female masturbation–but was celebrated throughout the civilized world for its experimental poetic language, compassionate character studies, and often satirical explorations of Irish politics and society. To celebrate this novel and the life of its author, you can join the open mic reading and Irish feasting at DADA Bar in San Francisco (hosted by the Mechanics Institute) with Irish music performed by singers Melanie O’Reilly, Esther Mulligan and John Ilyin, accompanied by Anne Goess on violin and Frank Martin on piano!
JUNE 16, SAT., 5:30-8:00PM, $10.
Every month, the Big Screen Science Series delivers a great, science-oriented flick with expert commentary at the Alamo Drafthouse’s New Mission Theater. This week, it’s all about space realism in the classic historical thriller Apollo 13.
JUNE 18, MON. 6:45PM, $15.25
This edition of Odd Salon is dedicated to tales of history’s great practical jokers and shenanigans (was Ben Franklin pulling a fast one about his electrified kite?), plus appearances from Bay Area pranksters John Law and V. Vale, with accounts from their many adventures.
JUNE 19, TUES. 6:30PM $15-$25
Carl Zimmer: Understanding Heredity
What exactly do we inherit from our ancestors, and how? In this public discussion, famed science journalist Carl Zimmer helps unravel some of the deepest mysteries surrounding our genetic blueprint and the traits that appear in generation after generation. He’ll discuss his latest book, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, and the latest discoveries about how inheritance continues to affect our DNA even after we are born. He’ll be in conversation with science journalist Lisa Krieger. The Commonwealth Club hosts this event at Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC (3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA). Discussion will be followed by an author signing.
JUNE 19, TUES. 7:00PM. $15 for members; $22 for nonmembers. Books will be on sale at the event.
Where the Streetcars Used to Go
The Outside Lands’ Western Neighborhoods Project has yet another incredible program about local history. Drawing on OpenSFHistory images, designer Chris Arvin has created an interactive historic streetcar map that allows users to explore the routes San Francisco streetcars took and those that remain today. Join a discussion with Arvin about the making of this map and the history he discovered in the process.
JUNE 21, THURS. 7:00-8:00PM, $10.
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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.