Events, Happenings & Scenes

Virgil's Sea Room Back Patio is Open For Business

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

The forecast is calling for the air to be thick with fog, so tonight is shaping up to be the perfect night for patio drinking.  And with that, the freshly opened Virgil's Sea Room is celebrating the opening of their awaited back patio.  Here's the line-up:

  • Pop Up food by HELLA VEGAN EATS 7pm
  • A one-time only GIVEAWAY of Virgil’s totes screen printed by KELLY MALONE (Workshop SF, Indiemart) 10pm
  • A photobooth created by JORGE P (Hard French) with glamour shots care of SHOT IN THE CITY 9pm
  • Playlists for your dancing pleasure created by MATRIXXMANN, WAM BAM ASHLEYANNE and more

[h/t Kelly Malone]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Uptown Almanac's Locally-Sourced Pop-Up Comedy Night Returns July 30th!

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

We've taken a six-month hiatus since our last Pabst-fueled comedy showcase at The Roxie, but Tuesday's show is shaping up to be our best line-up yet.  We have the venerable Nato Green headlining, whose accolades and credits are far too extensive to even attempt to list completely, and he's being supported by a cast of some of the very best names in the Bay Area comedy scene.  Check it:

  • Nato Green (Writer for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, Creator of Iron Comic, Laughter Against the Machine, SF Weekly's “Best Comedian”, The Business)
  • David Gborie (SF Weekly's “Best S.F. Comics to Watch” 2013, Co-Host of Blackstronauts podcast)
  • Lydia Popovich (Host of “Lady's Love”, Blogger behind Hater Tuesday)
  • OJ Patterson (Editor of Courting Comedy, Co-Host of Blackstronauts podcast)
  • Shanti Charan (SF Weekly's 2012 “Best Stand-Up on the Way Up”, SF Punchline)
  • Steve Hernandez (Respect The Danger Of Knives podcast)
  • Trevor Hill (Hand to Mouth at The Dark Room, Trevor Hill's Misery Index)
  • And Sean Keane is back to host! (The Business)

As always, tickets are just seven bucks and includes all the free PBR you can drink. (That's Free Beer, in case you missed it.)

So head over to the Roxie Theater this Tuesday (July 30th) at 8:45 and get to know your local comics!

Design Cycle: TED-Style Talks for Rethinking Public Space

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Certainly you have heard of Rebar, the group that transformed a parking space into a temporary public park back in 2005, launching the “Parking Day” and parklet movements that have taken over San Francisco's streets.  Well, since their initial success with parklets, they've kept turning out new ideas for DIY Urbanism and what they call “Urban Prototyping.”  And this Sunday at the inaugural Design Cycle event—a series of TED-style talks on “urban innovation” and street parties at the Brava Theater on 24th Street—Rebar is debuting their latest idea:

Rebar has partnered with the SFBC to develop what they are calling a Streetscape Kit of Parts (“SSKOP”). It's like the parklet of bike lanes. Experimental, cost effective, fast and temporary. We'll be giving the first look at this concept at Design Cycle—the speaker won't even release any renderings in advance of the talk.

We can't even imagine what a “parklet of bike lanes” will look like, or even how they envision this being used, but we imagine this will be good.

Tickets for the 7pm talk are sitting at $18, but if that's too much for you, Rebar will be showing off their Bubbleware project before the talk on new pop-up parklet, Street Stage, outside the theater before the talk (and we're told they'll be some live bands and a bike-powered taco grill out there too).

[Design Cycle]

Burgeoning Local Comedy Legend Emily Heller to do Special Sunday Night Show at Cinecave

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

A few months back, we mentioned that Emily Heller had a killer set on Conan, and even the critical panel of Uptown Almanac commenters (love you guys!) gave her wide acclaim.  Since then, she's found herself listed among Variety's list of 10 Comics to Watch and with a new gig writing for an upcoming FOX show.  With that, we thought it best to alert those of you yet to see her perform that Emily will be headlining a special Sunday night edition of Cynic Cave, straight from the depths of Lost Weekend's Valencia Street basement.

Tickets are just $10, and both shows feature a strong line-up of many of our favorite Bay Area up-and-comers.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Jello Biafra to do DJ Pop-Up at Oldie's Night

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

If you're like me, you scroll right past the low-rent and low-effort promotions hawked on Mission Mission, but this week's blast for Primo's Oldie's Night is worthy of everyone's attention: former Dead Kennedy's frontman and Green Party presidential candidate Jello Biafra will follow in John Avalos footsteps and guest DJ this week's edition of Oldie's Night.  And since Jello grew up when Oldie's Night material dominated the radio charts, we trust it'll be a helluva show.

Anyway, its admission is priced at Not Nearly Enough and goes down at 9pm this Friday at Knockout.

RSVP and invite your oh whatever…

[via Mission Mission]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

The Bicycle Music Festival is This Saturday!

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

The Bicycle Music Festival has always been one of those bizarre scenes you really have to see to appreciate.  Part feat of mechanical engineering, part coffee house jam and slam night, the entire festival is run by five cyclists on stationary bikes generating the musician's power, allowing them to setup in public parks without using batteries or generators (you can read a quick look at their setup I wrote a few years back).

For the festival's seventh year, they're making things a bit more legitimate.  What was a always a long, unsanctioned, on-and-off-the-bike musical tour of SF's best parks now finds itself all the proper permits for a full afternoon in Golden Gate Park.  But, in keeping with tradition, the festival will pack itself up at 5pm and, while towing a bicycle-drawn stage, host a bike parade to their night venue at 22nd and Bartlett.

The whole festival runs from 12-9pm and is free.

[BMF]

Clintongore's "I Need A Star" Is The Best Bad Trip You've Ever Had, In Space

— By Zach Perkins |

SPACE PYRAMIDS! CELESTIAL ANDROGYNY! FOAMING AT THE MOUTH! CAMEL-TOE PRAYERS! Clintongore’s video for “I Need A Star” has all that, on top of insanely square synth tones, a face-melting guitar solo and one of Uptown's own (Sierra Frost) lip-synching awkwardly into the camera. Also, boobs. There are some boobs in there, so yeah…NSFW. 

Shameless plug for one of our friend’s projects? Yeah, but I’d still really like this song, and this video, even if I didn’t like Sierra.

Clintongore are performing at Bottom of the Hill on Sunday, a rare performance as the two-piece (w/ Chris Crawford formerly of French Miami) is usually based in Brooklyn.

http://www.stubmatic.com/bottomofthehill/event/7759 <— tickets

Download their record for free on Bandcamp. http://clintongore.bandcamp.com/ 

Adobe Books Unveils New 24th Street Location With Adobe Marketplace Pop-Up

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

With the Jack Spade-backed eviction of Adobe Books from their 16th Street store a done deal, the beloved used bookshop has signed the lease for a new spot on 24th and Shotwell.  While the new shop will not official open until July, they're exploring some new business models and giving us a sneak peak at their new digs this Saturday (2-7pm) with Adobe Marketplace:

Join us as we invite local artists and merchants to sell out of the brand new Adobe books. Browse the wares of your talented Bay Area comrades, and enjoy music, food & drinks. This Saturday afternoon event is sponsored by Rainbow Grocery and Speakeasy Ales and Lagers.

A few of our fabulous participants:
- Cool Try, clothing & accessories by artist Ryan De La Hoz
- Shirts by Amos
- The Bold Italic, products by SF locals- along with postcards, posters and other Bold Italic exclusives
- Most Ancient, limited edition books, experimental comics, and art in print form
- SCRAP, scrounger’s center for reusable art parts
- Jewelry by Sea Pony Couture
- Super Classy Publishing, small editions of handmade books
- Jewelry by While Odin Sleeps
- Yam Books, Oakland–based independent small-press publisher of art books, comics, graphic novels, and zines
- Tiny Splendor, publishing collective representing over 30 artists from around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, zines, artist books, prints & more
- Vintage by Annemarie
- Maren Salomon & Megan Hendry, drawings, prints, collages & embroideries
- Eunice, art boxes
- Adobe Books!

All bar proceeds and 10% of sales from the marketplace will be donated to help open the new Adobe Books.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Anti-Gentrification Block Party to Provide Rare Opportunity to Beat Candy Out of Google Buses

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

I'm mostly interested in the “Google bus pinatas” (I love candy), but the rest of the copy reads:

In the last several decades, thousands of people have been displaced from the Mission District due to evictions, high rents, rising cost of living, transportation costs, and a lack of access to employment and education. In the last several years, rent for many has almost doubled. This Cinco de Mayo, (May 5th), join with Mission residents to speak out and gather to build a culture of resistance against gentrification in San Francisco and beyond.

Contest: Nick Offerman Live at the Roxie (And He Has a New Movie Too)

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Nick Offerman is perhaps better known as Ron Swanson, or maybe “that guy who plays Ron Swanson on Parks & Rec.”  It's undeniable that he's become this generation's Michael Richards.  But despite the wake of 9 seasons of Cosmo Kramer leaving Richard with a grip of mediocre failures that ultimately cumulated with a racist breakdown, we're optimistic that Offerman won't see the same fate.

Take the above trailer for Somebody Up There Likes Me.  Sure, it's suffering from a serious case of indieitis, but it's funny.  At the very least, it shows promise. And that gives us hope that there's life after Ron Swanson for one of our favorite cult actors.

Fortunately for us, The Roxie will be showing the movie starting Friday, and Nick Offerman will be at the theater all day Saturday doing an audience Q+A. That's right, you can be in the same dark room as Nick Offerman for multiple hours Saturday night.  Swoon.

As a bonus, the folks over at The Roxie want to give away a pair of tickets to see Nick and the movie.  To win them, give us your best definition of “indieitis” (or give us the best reason why that's the worst made up word in the history of made up words) in the comments by 5pm Friday.  Be sure to use your real email so we have a way to get a hold of you.

[Roxie]

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