This week’s Curator: Bart Bernhardt, your humble nerd herder.
For those of you returning from your annual sabbatical to the desert, you might have missed some of the hidden wonders that make modern life possible: Infrastructure! Well, infrastructure missed you, too, and welcomes you back with air conditioned arms, and plenty of lectures, tours, and intriguing experiences around MUNI, manufacturing, HVAC, and energy. But if that’s not your thing, there’s also lots of games, theatre, science, and other adventures in the coming week.
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
Coal + Ice
This is an extraordinary coalescence of discussions, dances, screenings, galleries, comedy, storytelling and more all centered on climate change. Special shout-outs: The Long Conversation – an interesting extended interview between two experts, where every 15 minutes one leaves the stage and another comes on, alternating as interviewer and interviewee. Also, fellow Anglerfisher Kishore Hari is moderating a panel on climate politics. And KQED and Snap Judgment have teamed up for The Fire Tapes, a night of storytelling about the devastating California fire last October. All that and a lot more. And yes, Al Gore will be there.
SEPT 4-23. Various times, locations, and costs, but many are FREE.
Tabletop Designer’s Night
I’m a huge gaming nerd, and Victory Point Cafe is one of my favorite places to play, with beers on tap, overflowing bowls of gummy candies, and a huge boardgame library. Every month they host a game night where designers bring their games to teach and playtest, which I think is super-cool. Previous events have featured a card game where you want to come in 2nd (not 1st!) and tile-placement dodgeball.
SEPT 5 – Weds. 6:30-11PM. Victory Point Cafe, Berkeley. FREE.
Bioinspired Designs from Gripping Geckos, Bouncing Bugs, Leap’n Lizards, and Smart Squirrels
UC Berkeley biologist Robert Full is fascinated by animal motion, and what it can teach us about designing robots, adhesives, and control algorithms (and mustaches – Robert rocks a perfect walrus ‘stache). East Bay Science Cafe has a new home that is BYOB-friendly. Come for the mustache, bring a beer, and stay for the science.
SEPT 5 – WEDS. 6-8:30PM. Cafe Leila, Berkeley. FREE.
Design Night: Rosie and the Robots
How will the factories of the future work, and where do people fit into that workplace? The Autodesk Design Nights are always a cool way to see neat stuff while enjoying drinks and DJs and learning about design and fabrication. This one is especially geared for women interested in entering manufacturing with the Daughters of Rosie program.
SEPT 6 – THURS. 6-10PM. The Autodesk Gallery, SF. $20-25.
SF Fringe Festival
Now in its 27th year, this is a festival of short theatre pieces. It’s uncurated – applications are chosen by lottery! – and that’s a golden opportunity to see strange, wonderful, unorthodox, and raw theater with an equally adventurous audience.
SEPT 6-15. EXIT Theatre, SF. Various times and prices.
Counter Culture Labs 5th Anniversary Party
CCL is an amazing biohacker space where biotech professionals and citizen scientists tackle art made with microbes, fermentation, insulin, and so much more. They are celebrating five years with a big event featuring science comedy, DJs and dancing, live science demos, food trucks, and a bunch of other shenanigans.
SEPT 7. 7-11PM. Omni Commons, Oakland. FREE.
MUNI Heritage Weekend
Transit nerds rejoice! The oldest transit agency-operated streetcar in the US (from ~1896!) will be running this weekend, along with other history streetcars and vintage busses (oof, including the one I used to take as a kid. Dang, that made me feel old.). Plus lectures on Bay Area transit history, and cable car bell-ringing demos.
SEPT 8 & 9 – SAT & SUN. Noon-6PM. San Francisco Railway Museum and various transit lines, SF. FREE to whatever bus fare costs you, depending on the line.
Soundwave – HVAC: Thermal Comfort
Maybe it’s because I married an architect from Texas, but I can’t help but think HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) systems are goddamn amazing. It’s one of the most profound suites of inventions that have changed how we live. Yet, it’s largely invisible. Which is why I’m curious to see how a performance / soundscape / sculpture experience interprets it.
SEPT 8 – SAT. 7-9PM. CounterPulse, SF. $15-40.
Homegrown Energy for the Golden State
California’s ambitious energy policies have landed it in the headlines quite a bit lately. This is a great chance to hear about these policies and new technologies and programs under testing with a panel discussion. Then a chartered shuttle will convey you to and from either MCE Solar One – Richmond’s new solar farm – or Redwood Landfill – a landfill gas-to-energy power plant – for a special tour.
SEPT 11 – TUES. 12:30-7:30PM. SPUR, SF. Panel is free, tour is $25.
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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.