Past Events

July 18, 2017, 8 p.m. - July 18, 2017, 10:30 p.m.

The management of energy too often defers to the invisible hand of the market or keeps its hands off Mother Nature. Strategies like weatherization, zoning reform, and consumption tweaks can help maximize services while lowering bills. But they don’t just save dollars or watts. They also support tacit narratives of lifestyle, property rights, and the horizons of political possibility. What roles should governments and corporations play in reshaping infrastructure? How can we re-imagine the American Dream? Should we produce more or consume less? What risks are we willing to take, and who should take responsibility for them? As we calculate ...

July 14, 2017, 7 p.m. - June 19, 2017, 10:30 p.m.


Please join us for a new exhibition at the Red Victorian! In My Dreams I Fly will feature local artist Tatiana Rivas and her creative artworks. Her works vary from printmaking to painting each telling an autobiographical-like story. These reflect her life and outside issues in which she combines the medium and her viewpoint to convey a critique and analysis about the world around her. Art sets her free from all limitations. As expressed by Rivas: “Art lets me express the chaos in my soul, brings me calmness, and the freedom I need”.
Art making to her comes naturally as ...

July 9, 2017, 3 p.m. - July 9, 2017, 6 p.m.

Need a wardrobe refresh? Need to make closet space? Bring your unwanted garments to gift to others. Come over-burdened or empty-handed.

Extra clothes will be donated. We will seek the best place for the excess, and the Goodwill across the street is an option. If you are bringing more than 5 items, please be willing to contribute in donating things afterwards!

We'll have nice music, snacks/brunch, tea/coffee, company, and whatever else you need for a nice Sunday.

July 7, 2017, 7 p.m. - July 7, 2017, 10 p.m.

"Forget the damn motorcar and build cities for friends and lovers" -Lewis Mumford

What would a city fit for friends and lovers be like? We often have opportunities for lectures and reflection around how the future could be, but few opportunities to build the world we want to live in.

Join Other Futures Design Group for a chance to craft the future we want. This Build Day's theme is "Utopic Urbanism(s)" dedicated to creating semi-permanent and permanent interventions in the Bay Area. This event is welcome to all skill levels, from those with a passion, to architects, designers, programmers, engineers, ...

July 3, 2017, 8 p.m. - July 3, 2017, 10 p.m.

This week, Creon Levit comes to join us for a well timed lecture on the “Great American Eclipse”.

The first total solar eclipse visible from the continental US since 1979 - is happening in about three weeks. I hope you’re going to go see it. An obsession of mine since childhood, eclipses are arguably “the greatest show on earth”. August 21st 2017 will be my eighth total solar eclipse, weather permitting._

This talk will be a fast-paced visual survey covering the following topics:

a few notable eclipses
* eclipse prediction: celestial mechanics
* eclipse prediction: cultural perspectives
* viewing a ...

June 20, 2017, 8 p.m. - June 20, 2017, 10:30 p.m.

Joshua Goldbard and Kevin Fischer are neurotic people who happen to be interested in cryptocurrencies. This talk will cover what cryptocurrencies are, at a very high-level, what some of the narratives around valuing these properties might be, and a bit of prognostication about the future. As always, this is not financial advice, we are not lawyers, and you should never invest money you can't afford to lose.

Joshua is a high school dropout who likes to think about stuff in public. Occasionally, he gets obsessed about things. Previously, Josh was a product manager working on communications products and technologies. Currently, ...

June 13, 2017, 8 p.m. - June 13, 2017, 10 p.m.

Amy Halpern-Laff with Factory Farming Awareness Coalition will speak on the devastating impacts of industrial farming (the source of 99% of our animal-based food) - on animals, of course, but also on the planet, farm and slaughterhouse workers (many of whom are undocumented), and public health.

Amy graduated from Stanford Law School, practiced law & mediation for a few years, then pivoted to nonprofit and grassroots organizational management. They are a social justice activist for three decades, focusing on animal rights, criminal justice reform, and education equity.

Join us for an evening of learning followed by a lively discussion! Doors ...

June 7, 2017, 8 p.m. - June 7, 2017, 11:30 p.m.

This week, Tobie will give a talk considering the nature of pornography, focusing on Susan Sontag's essay "The Pornographic Imagination". We will consider the boundaries between pornography, literature, and obscenity.

Optional reading: http://www.remittancegirl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/124506505-The-Pornographic-Imagination-by-Susan-Sontag.pdf

////////SCHEDULE:
_8:00 pm - Doors open
_8:30 pm - Talk: The Pornographic Imagination - Tobie
_9:00 pm - Workshop: Wax Play - Tobie and the Playful Deer
_9:30 pm - Exploration space - Wax Play hands-on!
_11:30 pm - Tidy up the space (as a free event, we ask our guests to please assist in this.)

Cover art by Michael Borel

Critical Hedonism(s) is a social movement ...

June 6, 2017, 8 p.m. - June 6, 2017, 10 p.m.

Are we genuinely made happy or even being ethical when we pursue socially-sanctioned modes of pleasure and care? How can we dream bigger than mere ‘self-liberation’ when many are written out of the dominant regimes of desirability? How can we structure desire in order to generate virulent abundance for others, as well as ourselves? Who is systematically deprived of care, affection and kinship (or situated in and held hostage by repressive/constrained fields of care relations), and how can we play a part in producing a less austere, cloistered field of care relations for these and other people? How can we ...

June 4, 2017, 5 p.m. - June 4, 2017, 7 p.m.

Weekly book club to discuss LGTBQ oriented books

We will be starting with Stone Butch Blues. You can find a free copy of the pdf here: http://www.lesliefeinberg.net/

Please start by reading the first 5 chapters.

TRIGGER WARNING! This book deals with issues of sexual assault!