You Have To Learn [Computer]s!
You Have To Learn [Computer]s!
Vintage tech, a Garba dance festival, and gallery programming galore
My brother’s karate teacher pity-gifted us our first computer. It operated in green & black and took the floppy disks that actually flopped. My mom then took us to electronics flea markets where we’d grab fresh sugar cane juice while hunting for bangers like Outnumbered! and any other games available in the discontinued 5 inch format. The device may have been past its prime. But considering I’d typed my 4th grade Francisco Franco essay (subject for another time) on a typewriter, an upgrade was an upgrade.
Let’s go south for the summer, circle back to Sudan Archives, attend another film festival, and get out those dancing shoes.
Vintage Computer Festival
Category: Festival
Date: Friday, August 2nd @ 10am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Computer History Museum (South Bay)
Price Range: $35
Why I Care: This early 2000s Paris Hilton SNL skit was apparently living rent-free in my head for the past 20 years. The Computer History Museum is slowing down those modems, dialing up that AIM, and taking you to the yesteryears of peak tech. Starting from the 1960s, the interactive exhibition will give attendees a chance to demo the computers and experience the nostalgic freedom (& frustration) of cookie-free tech.
And while I love vintage materials of all kinds, silicon may be the most appropriately Bay Area one yet.
Noise Pop: Sudan Archives
Category: Music
Date: Saturday, July 27th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Crane Cove Park (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Sudan Archives holds a special place in both my heart and this Substack. Her Brighton concert had me chasing trains to the coast of England, and she featured as one of only three events in my first post. Dynamic, raw, and a performer through and through, Sudan Archives’ way with a violin will have you blushed, flushed, and in awe of what the kids would call her rizz.
Need a pre-concert snack? (Yes, obvi) Grab a pastry from Neighbor Bakehouse around the corner. You’ll need the energy boost for the dance floor.
San Francisco Ballet: Starry Nights
Category: Dance
Date: Friday, July 26th @ 7:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Frost Amphitheater (South Bay)
Price Range: $30+
Why I Care: This flavor of [Starry] Night has a little less Irish revolution and a bit more dying swan. SF Ballet will grace the Stanford stage with excerpts from Swan Lake and the upcoming 2025 season, all while giving the audience a chance to soak up that South Bay summer. I’ve also kicked off my tenure as an SF Ballet Young Patrons Circle board member, meaning the ballet hype will be going strong into 2025. Not that it was ever losing steam.
ICA SF: Call & Response Day
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, July 27th @ 10am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: ICA SF (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Two words: crochet jam. The ICA has a full day of programming that starts with coffee and ends in workshopping woven histories through the art of crocheting. In between, Headlands artists and ICA curators alike will be facilitating tours to highlight the stunning exhibitions that are always free and open to the public.
Continue the free gallery hopping on August 1st by making a night of SFMoMA’s First Thursdays and a Berggruen Gallery opening just around the corner. And for the rhythmically-inclined, make sure to take Metallica’s drum kit for a spin.
BomBay to the Bay
Category: Dance
Date: Oakland Asian Cultural Center (East Bay)
Location: Saturday, August 3rd @ 5pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Even if you’re not familiar with Gujarati culture, you know at least one Gujarati activist: Mahatma Gandhi. Gujarati tradition will be on full display at Oakland Asian Cultural Center in a participatory celebration of Garba, an indigenous folk dance that honors the Hindu conception of time. Meant for all ages and skill levels, the festival will begin with a mini-dance lesson, so rest assured, you’ll be in the swing of things in no time.
Artist Talk: These Fields Dream of Fire
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, July 27th @ 3pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Johansson Projects (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: A creator speaking about their practice can be so energizing. Artist Andrew Catanese is embracing the opportunity to share that energy through a discussion of his work and inspiration. I had such a lovely time at the last Johansson Projects opening that artist Nimah Gobir was kind enough to later open her studio and share more about her process.
Considering Nimah was just named the Headland’s Tournesol Award Recipient, I trust Catanese will once again prove why Johansson Projects has been a gallery to watch these past 15 years.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival: Auction
Category: Film
Date: Saturday, August 3rd @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Piedmont Theatre (East Bay)
Price Range: $20
Why I Care: Auctions were my world in a previous life. While I don’t miss someone yelling they’re “richer than god” to explain why the rules don’t apply, operating at the aorta of the art market was an eye-opening way to understand the flow of art, money, and power. Auction dives into just how enmeshed auction houses can be as it follows a consigned Egon Schiele that unearths an all-too-familiar history of WWII looted art.
See what else the world’s oldest Jewish film festival has on offer as it wraps up its programming of the nostalgic, contemporary, and difficult but necessary.
Next Drop: Monday, August 5th