Events

We're continuously fascinated by all of Paxton Gate's oddities that we usually need a drink. Thankfully, the California Academy of Sciences is bringing Paxton Gate to Golden Gate Park as part of their weekly Nightlife event. You'll also be soothed (or excited) by B. Smiley's music as he takes his turn at the tables.

Easily the best spot on the web for whacked-out architectural conjecture and spot-on critical assessment of what we've built and what we might build in the future, BLDGBLOG should be your first spot for architectural futures. One-time San Franciscan Geoff Manaugh returns to town to talk about the book local publishers Chronicle Books brought out last year based on his blog. A first-rate mind, incessantly playful, and truly willing to bear straight toward the outer limits, Manaugh is a treasure. Be sure to catch him on March 16th at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). Only $5 to non-members.

With all the attention the green roof at the Academy of Science has gotten (the seven undulating peaks are meant to mirror our seven great hills here in San Francisco), there's no better place to further your design knowledge of the world's hanging urban gardens better than heading down the San Francisco AIA headquarters to see the new exhibit, Vertical Gardens. The projects covered range from our backyard to continents away, and make the convincing case that green cities need leafy buildings. The exhibit just opened last week and is on view through April 30th.

Maritime Sketchbook - Hyde Street Pier is a stunning location for plein air sketching and painting, and the historical boats and commercial fishing fleet will be our focus. Amy’s demos will highlight waterfront composition, details and colors, with tips and tricks for volume and shadow, perspective, and boat shapes. 10 Students maximum. All levels welcome! This class meets for one session. All classes are held in San Francisco, at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park’s Hyde Street Pier. To find out if space is available please contact us prior to sending in registration materials. For more information or availability contact: Mariah Gardner 415-292-6664 or mgardner@maritime.org Or: Seth Muir: 415-215-6291 or smuir@maritime.org

Mingle with artists as they create work for sale, DJFingersnaps, no-host drinks Kara's Cupcakes, Pizza Oven, fabulous views of the Bay. Free

Journalist Rich Cohen began his career as a messenger at The New Yorker, where he managed to write a dozen "Talk of the Town" pieces in just 18 months. Cohen's reporting has appeared in publications including Vanity Fair, Harper's and Rolling Stone, and he is a contributing editor for both Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. Tough Jews, Cohen's first book, is a sharp, fast-paced account of Jewish gangsters who lived in Brooklyn in the 1930s. From that 1998 debut to Cohen's most recent work, Israel Is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History, the clarity, energy and humor of his writing has been noted alongside his journalistic prowess. Cohen's storytelling gifts - that facility for bringing to life both past and current figures - have been trained on numerous subjects, including profiles of Buddy Guy and Clive Davis, an "Ode to Sleep Away Camp," and the indelible historical view of "The Hitler Mustache." In Israel Is Real, he entertains all sides of the argument about Jewish identity.

The Long Now Foundation's monthly series Seminars About Long-term Thinking http://longnow.org/seminars/02010/apr/01/six-easy-steps-avert-collapse-civilization/ David Eagleman presents: Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization David Eagleman may be the best combination of scientist and fiction-writer alive. Sum, his collection of afterlife alternatives, made a stunning literary debut last year and now appears in 21 languages. Simultaneously he is a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, specializing in time perception. In this talk he spells out how to save the world. The Long Now Foundation's monthly Seminars were started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking; to help nudge civilization toward our goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare. Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand. http://www.longnow.org/people/board/sb1/ Advance Tickets Recommended - Tickets are $10 http://www.cityboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=1490 Long Now Members can reserve 2 complimentary seats. https://www.longnow.org/membership/

In conversation with Daniel Handler. As a humorist, commentator, and writer, Sarah Vowell approaches American history with wit and whimsy. Many also know Vowell's voice from her frequent contributions to Public Radio's This American Life. In her most recent book, The Wordy Shipmates (2008), Vowell writes about the Puritans who settle Massachusetts in a way that makes a seemingly dry subject endlessly entertaining. She says, "I seem to write about subjects elderly right wingers care about in a manner that is palatable to their bleeding-heart offspring." Her other books include Take the Connoli: Stories from the New World, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, and Assassination Vacation, which follows her road trip to sites dedicated to assassinated US presidents. David Sedaris calls Sarah Vowell the pioneer of a new category, "funny historian." Her many pieces for This American Life, where she has been a contributing editor since 1996, range in subject from traveling the Trail of Tears with her sister to her own Goth makeover. Her distinctive voice also earned her the part of the introverted teenager, Violet Parr, in Pixar's award-winning animated film The Incredibles. Vowell's writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Village Voice, Esquire, GQ, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Weekly, and the online magazine Salon. Daniel Handler is an author, screenwriter, and accordionist whose novels include The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs. Under the alias "Lemony Snicket," he is the author of the internationally acclaimed thirteen volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Daniel Handler's many City Arts & Lectures conversations have included those with Michael Chabon, Adam Gopnik, Stephin Merritt and Amy Sedaris.