Engineer's Daughter

agenda 06.01.2011

Just pretend I posted this yesterday, mmmkay? 

Friday, June 3:

• Michael Wertz and Janet Fine present Dog Dreams at Artisans Gallery
• Homer Flynn: From the Archives of the Residents at Johansson Projects
• Silent Funeral Procession for the Library at Art Murmur
• Saint Vernon, Fog of War, Apothesary, Hysteria, Lyceum at 924 Gilman

Saturday, June 4:

• Living Room at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• The Petal Peddler, Cries of San Francisco at Southern Exposure
• Crescent Hotel Anniversary: Wrong Words, The Parties & Cindy G
• Algernon Cadwallader, Joyce Manor, 1994, Snowing, Yi at 924 Gilman
• Saturday Night Soul Party at the Elbo Room

Sunday, June 5:

• Your Metaforest Guidebook, Wild Assumptions, Cher Horowitz + more at 924 Gilman

agenda 05.25.2011

Friday, May 27:

• Moira Scar+Big Black Cloud+Sister Fucker+Bitter Fruit at Harm Church
• International Freakout A Gogo W/ Very Be Careful at First Church of the Buzzard

Saturday, May 28:

• Crisis Support Services Healing Hearts 5k Walk/Run for Suicide Prevention at the Lake Merritt Bandstand
• Wave Int'l: Issue 02 at Important Projects
• Ceremony, Iron Lung, Extortion, Punch, Negative Standards at 924 Gilman
• Very Be Careful at Sub-Mission
• Dark Room celebrates Faux KING's big queer birthday at the Hot Spot

Monday, May 30:

• Mount Eerie, NK, Key Losers, Sunny Reaper at Lobot

Tuesday, May 31:

• An Unforeseen Conversation with Tucker Nichols and Daniel Handler at Gallery 16
• Twin Steps / Starskate / Fa Fa Fa / Pregnant / Long Long Long at the East Bay Rats Clubhouse
• New Groove Tuesday with DJs Spaced Ghost and Psychic Hands at Laszlo Bar

Wednesday, June 1:

• "The Paper Conservatory: Plumage and Petals", a Vegan Taxidermy Art Show at Castle in the Air
• Headlands 2011 Benefit Art Auction at Herbst International Exhibition Hall

agenda 04.27.2011

Thursday, April 28:

• Curating People at the Performance Art Institute in San Francisco and the Townsend Center at UC Berkeley

Friday, April 29:

• From the Golden West Notebooks - An exhibition and book release event at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery
• Ska Night- Union 13, Impalers, Los Dryheavers, Isolated Victims at 924 Gilman
• International Freakout A Go-Go! with Live Fela Kuti cover band Papa Snap at First Church of the Buzzard

Saturday, April 30:

• 6th Annual Walk Against Rape in San Francisco
• Fang, Attitude Adjustment, Scheisse Minnelli, Zero Bull Shit, The Need at 924 Gilman
• Dance at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Sunday, May 1:

• SF Tweed East Bay Spring Ride 2011 starting at Jack London Square

iraqi national museum reopens

There is so much about the Iraq War that makes my heart hurt, but one of the more painful images for me was of the deputy director of the Iraqi National Museum sitting on the floor of his building among the broken and looted remains of myriad priceless artifacts with his head in his hands.  So it seems nothing short of a miracle to hear that the museum reopened a few weeks ago with many of its major pieces recovered (some by US troops no less) and restored.  However, Maev Kennedy says that there is a sad note that must be considered along with the happiness:

In the joyful headlines over the recovery of iconic pieces such as the 5,500-year-old Warka Mask, a serenely enigmatic alabaster head smiling faintly at the absurdities of human folly, it was almost overlooked that thousands of small metal and clay pieces, inscribed tablets and amulets, seal cylinders, easy to smuggle, hard to trace, of little commercial value but priceless to historians, have almost certainly gone for ever.

Still, what a wonderful thing to have some treasures and relics from thousands of years of culture back where they can be enjoyed by visitors.  And may the individuals who pilfered the smaller items and then did not return them be tormented by vengeful ghosts.

underwater museum in alexandria

The classics nerd in me did a little bounce of joy to see the images that have been released by architect Jacques Rougerie of the proposed underwater museum in Alexandria's harbor that will allow visits to Cleopatra's palace by the scuba-disinclined for the first time since the 5th century.  It's a brilliant idea to construct a fiberglass tunnel to the site instead of trying to move the fragile artifacts (which reportedly also contain remnants of the famous Alexandria lighthouse), though the project faces concerns about funding and whether proper site surveys will be conducted before construction begins.  Jack Shenker talked to Naguib Amin, local site manager for the Supreme Council for Antiquities, about some of the questions being raised:

Amin rejected claims that money would be better spent giving a makeover to the city's crumbling downtown buildings, most of which feature stunning colonial-era architecture. "We view the museum as an integral component of revitalising the city as a whole," he said.

If everything comes together properly the museum should be open to the public within five years, at which point I will be on the first plane to Egypt to go walk under the water.

eyewitness

BB-LOGO
Originally uploaded by ernest.borg9

This is that thing I do periodically, where I point you to some of my recent favorites from my Flickr friends' photostreams. Unsurprisingly I follow a lot of artists including my long-time favorite comic book writer/artist Paul Pope, and this logo all by itself from his upcoming graphic novel has me salivating with anticipation even though it isn't due out until next year. In typical Pope fashion he's been dropping hints about it since oh 2006.

up, up and away

One of the more curious occurrences in the architecture of modern cities is how everyone seems to want a ferris wheel, with giant structures currently in the works for Beijing, Berlin and of course Dubai.  Stuart Jeffries talked to Jay Pender, commercial manager of World Tourist Attractions, about the appeal of the sky-high structures:

So what is the attraction? "There is something iconic about really big wheels that gives the impression of modern go-ahead cities," says a Visit Britain spokeswoman. "In places like York, a modern, gleaming big wheel can complement the historic sites and architecture." "That's true," says Pender. "We find that in places like Belfast they have become symbols of resurgence, which is a nice thing to be associated with. For instance, we're putting a 60m wheel up at the seafront in Weston-super-Mare in May, which is just the thing the place needs after the pier burned down last year. Even though they aren't designed as permanent structures, people often want them to be permanent because they become so fondly regarded."

Even the London Eye was supposed to be temporary, but it's still holding court there on the bank of the Thames.  Though I adore a good view my fear of heights usually keeps my feet firmly planted on the ground, happy to leave other people to pay $30 to take a turn on the Eye or similar prices for other "observation wheels" around the world.  However, I would someday like to ride the Volksprater Riesenrad Ferris Wheel in Vienna, the site of Orson Welles's famous speech in The Third Man.  I want to see the people scurrying around like ants from up there.

a love letter to new york - in lego

I'm sure all of you Web-savvy types have already seen illustrator Christoph Niemann's fabulous I LEGO N.Y., first posted on his New York Times blog earlier this month, but I'm pointing to it here in giddy anticipation of my upcoming trip to NYC in mid-March.  Niemann distills some quintessential New York experiences into tableaux constructed out of his sons' Lego bricks, and the results are altogether quirky and absolutely charming.  I would love to do a similar project for the Bay Area, as soon as I can figure out how to build a suitable representation of a Pabst Blue Ribbon can to stand in for the Mission hipsters.  You can see Niemann's whole piece at the link above, or click here for a small gallery of highlights from The Guardian.

guess who came to dinner?

Now through the end of February Birmingham's Black British arts and culture center the Drum is hosting an exhibition called Guess Who is Coming to Dinner.  Focusing on some of that city's first mixed-race families, the show was put together by Birmingham native Tracey O'Loughlin, herself the child of a black father and a white mother.  Chris Arnot spoke to her about her memories of growing up mixed-race:

She says of her father, who died 14 years ago: "He was 6ft 4ins and 18 stone, so we didn't get too many comments when he was around." There were plenty of hostile stares, however. As her mother, Sheila, records: "We were considered trash. And you were treated like that, so you felt like that."

The show could not be more timely here at the beginning of the new age of Obama and also at a moment when mixed-race is the fastest growing ethnic group in the UK.  You can see some pictures from the exhibit, mostly taken in the '50s and '60s, in the online gallery here.

matt writtle's portraits for posterity

For Matt Writtle's Portraits for Posterity series the photographer has created simple, haunting images of aging Holocaust survivors.  Each picture is accompanied by a few words from the subject about their experiences, but often all you need to know is written right there on their faces, in their eyes.  As the poet Michael Etkind says, "Death is the winner of all wars / Man is their victim and their cause."