MOVIES MOVIES MOVIES!!
And free popcorn!!

Wednesday January 19th

DESPICABLE ME (95 mins.)
FUTURAMA – THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS (90 mins.)

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM — Cash bar raises funds for Variety — if you’re not imbibing, it makes us very happy if you’ll donate $5 per person at the door — it’s all for the kids folks! The holidays may be over, but the need for services and help continues on our community. Variety supports SF in SF, who brings these great programs to you, so come, attend, have a drink, buy a raffle ticket, and have a great time while helping Variety!

Films start at 7:00PM

There will be a brief intermission between films

No need to RSVP! Seating is limited, and first-come, first-seated.

We’ll be raffling off — only $1 a ticket!!! — some great schwag before the first film! Despicable Me hats, movie t-shirts, some fun stuff!

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

DON’T DRIVE — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here

Wednesday January 19th

• Despicable Me (95 mins.)
• Futurama – The Beast with a Billion Backs (90 mins.)

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM
Films start at 7:00PM-ish…
There will be a brief intermission between films
No need to RSVP!  Seating is limited, and first-come, first-seated.
We’ll be raffling off some fabulous schwag to help raise money for pediatric wheelchairs – $1 a ticket.

The Variety Preview Room Theatre, The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quizno’s & Citibank, 582 Market St., at 2nd @ Montgomery, San Francisco

Don’t drive! The BART/MUNI Montgomery St. station is right outside our front door.

Here are a few events that may be of interest to you.

Sunday, January 9 – 5:00PM – 6:30PM
The QSF&F Book Club will meet to begin discussion of THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION 27th ANNUAL EDITION edited by Gardner Dozois. (Normally the club discusses novels. but for the first few months of 2011, they’ll be discussing this anthology in portions.) QSF&F is a book club for LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly people who love reading all kinds of science fiction, fantasy, even a little bit of horror, and anything that could loosely fall into any of these categories. We meet the second Sunday of every month and also occasionally have movie nights, get togethers, dinners, and other fun and exciting events. Please come join our Book Club! We’re going on 10 years strong! For more information, visit our website at www.qsfandf.com or like us on Facebook.
The bookclub is sponsored by Borderlands Books, and meets at the Borderlands Cafe, 870 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110

Wednesday, January 12 – 7:00PM
Introducing Numina Press!!!  Sex, politics, hang-gliding, death, guns, transcendence, Afghanistan, a massacre, the pope, and a patent on creation–it’s all here, when Numina Press, the Bay Area’s newest boutique literary publisher, presents its starting line-up of five stellar local authors: Tamim Ansary. Kemble Scott, Joe Quirk, Ransom Stephens, and James Warner. Sure to be a fun party, and quite a lineup, so see you at the bar!
This event takes place at The Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco

Thursday, January 13 – 7:00PM
Bree Despain – The Lost Saint: A Dark Divine Novel
Grace Divine sacrificed her soul to cure Daniel Kalbi and lost her brother, Jude, in the process. Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot – a newcomer to town who promises that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel is put in danger as Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities – not realizing that an old enemy has returned…
Kepler’s Books – Menlo Park

Thursday, January 13 – 7:00PM
The Contemporary Jewish Museum – The Journey that Saved Curious George
Experience the stranger-than-fiction journey of Margret and H. A. Rey, the creators of Curious George, with an illustrated talk by Louise Borden, children’s book author and literary detective. Borden’s book The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey helped inspire the current exhibition Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey. Book signing to follow.
This event takes place at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
Event is free with museum admission charge – for more information, visit www.thecjm.org
Information on the exhibit here

Saturday, January 15 – 7:00PM
Only $10 Adults $5 Seniors & Children under 12
Lord Blood-Rah’s Nerve Wrackin’ Theatre returns to the Historic Bal Theatre with an evening of Aliens, Space Ships, Children in Peril, and a Giant Turtle fighting Giant Monsters!! Yes, the hard-shelled, fire breathing Defender of Children from Japan is landing in San Leandro! It’s a Gamera Double Feature! Watch in awe as our hero, the towering tortoise Gamera, fights evil alien invaders bent on world domination in “Destroy All Planets!” Then you’ll thrill to Gamera’s epic battle on an alien world to rescue two children in danger of having their brains eaten by lovely extraterrestrials in “Attack of the Monsters!” Bring the entire family for these two action packed, fun filled features! Plus Trailers, Prizes, Madness and MORE!!
Le Bal Theatre – San Leandro

Sunday, January 16 – 6:00PM – 8:00PM
The Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club will discuss The Empress of Mars, by Kage Baker.
The bookclub is sponsored by Borderlands Books, and meets at the Borderlands Cafe, 870 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110\

Tuesday, January 18 – 7:00PM-9:00PM
K.R. Sridhar – Bloom Box: Bringing NASA Technology Down to Earth
K.R. Sridhar, Principal, co-founder and chief executive officer, at Bloom Energy will be speaking on how the technology he developed at NASA helped in the creation of the Bloom Box.
This event takes place at the NASA Ames Conference Center (Bldg. 3).
The lecture is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, January 19 – 7:00PM
“How I Killed Pluto, and Why It Had It Coming”
Astronomer Mike Brown of Caltech will give a free non-technical lecture on “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series. Parking on campus costs $2. Dr. Brown is the discoverer of many of the worlds beyond Pluto; it was his discovery of the planet Eris that led to the demotion of Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet.
This event takes place at Foothill College: Foothill College Smithwick Theatre, Los Altos Hills

Thursday, January 20
Steve Hockensmith – A Holmes on the Range Mystery
In Hockensmith’s clever, slapstick-infused fifth Holmes on the Range mystery. Gustav (“Old Red”) and Otto (“Big Red”) Amlingmeyer travel to Chicago to take part in a ‘mystery cracking competition’ at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Set to coincide with the publication of the story revealing the death of Sherlock Holmes, Gustav will be competing for the title of World’s Greatest Sleuth! Hating train travel and cities, the real draw is the chance to meet up again with the intriguing and elusive Diana Corvus. But the competition has barely begun before there is a murder in “the White City” — the organizer of the contest is discovered face down in the Mammoth Cheese from Canada — and from there, the game is really afoot.
M is for Mystery – San Mateo

NOIR CITY
The 9th Annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival
Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 30
At the Castro Theatre in San Francisco!
Located at 429 Castro Street (415)621-6121
NOIR CITY 9 returns to the Castro Theatre, with “Who’s Crazy Now?” a lineup of twenty-four tales of madness, ranging from the legendary—Oscar-winning performances by Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) and Ronald Colman (A Double Life) — to obscure rarities, all presented as originally intended, in glorious 35mm celluloid, in a movie palace, before an appreciative audience.
“M” is for Mystery will be on hand to sell your favorite Noir titles throughout the event.
For more info please visit here

Friday, January 21 – 8:00PM
The Edwardian Ball presents “The Eleventh Episode”
At San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom
Friday & Saturday, January 21-22, 2011
The award-winning Edwardian Ball transforms the historic Regency Ballroom into a garden of delights, Friday and Saturday January 21st and 22nd, 2011. Join a magical outdoors-indoor symphony of music, theatre, dance, art, storytelling, circus arts, fashion, technology, and, of course, the art & stories of Edward Gorey. The festivities feature a dizzying assortment of artists and performers, where high-flying trapezes and steam-powered machines paint an elegant backdrop for costumed ballgoers reveling through the night. Here, the old world meets the world-to-be with an unforgettable tip of the top hat, cinch of the corset, and a splash of absinthe poured over a silver spoon.
Friday, the fair – Saturday, the dahnse!
Tickets for SF events are now available at Dark Garden (321 Linden, Hayes Valley) or Distractions (1552 Haight) — pick up your tickets with no service fee!
This event takes place at The Regency Ballroom – 1300 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94109.

Saturday, January 22 – 2:00PM
S. G. Browne – Fated
Author S.G. Browne will be signing copies of his darkly comic and socially satirical novels, FATED and BREATHERS.
“Another radically funny comedy from one of America’s best satiric novelists.”
—Kirkus Reviews (for FATED)
“Browne’s black comedy debut brilliantly reinvents zombie culture for the 21st century.”
—Publishers Weekly (for BREATHERS)
Borders Books – Westfield Centre – San Francisco, CA

Thursday, January 27 – 7:30 pm
Ken Denmead – Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Kids and Dads to Share.
The ultimate DIY project guide for techie dads raising kids in their own geeky image, in the spirit of “The Dangerous Book for Boys”
Today’s generation of dads grew up more tech-savvy than ever. Rather than joining the Little League team, many grew up playing computer games, Dungeons and Dragons, and watching “Star Wars.” Now with kids of their own, these digital-age dads are looking for fresh ways to share their love of science and technology, and help their kids develop a passion for learning and discovery.
Enter supergeek, and father of two, Ken Denmead. An engineer and editor of the incredibly popular GeekDad blog on wired.com, Ken has created the ultimate, idea-packed guide guaranteed to help dads and kids alike enjoy the magic of playtime together and tap into the infinite possibility of their imagination. With illustrations throughout, this book offers projects for all ages to suit any timeframe or budget. With Denmead’s expert guidance, you and your child can.
Books, Inc. – Alameda

Thursday, January 27 – 7:00PM
Jane Smiley – The Man Who Invented the Computer
From one of our most acclaimed novelists, a David-and-Goliath biography for the digital age…One night in the late 1930s, in a bar on the Illinois-Iowa border, John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics at Iowa State University, after a frustrating day performing tedious mathematical calculations in his lab, hit on the idea that the binary number system and electronic switches, combined with an array of capacitors on a moving drum to serve as memory, could yield a computing machine that would make his life and the lives of other similarly burdened scientists easier. Then he went back and built the machine. It worked. The whole world changed.

Join Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jane Smiley in a conversation with the Computer History Museum‘s John Hollar about the fascinating man who beat the world’greatest minds in the quest to develop the first true digital computing machine.
This event takes place at the Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View
Books for sale courtesy of Kepler’s Books, Menlo Park
For more information and to register, please visit here

Thursday, January 27 – 7:00PM
Richard Panek – The 4 Percent Universe
Richard Panek talks about Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. Only 4% of the universe consists of the matter that makes up humans, the planet, and every star. The rest is completely unknown. Panek tells the dramatic story of the quest to find this dark matter and an even more bizarre substance called dark energy.
Kepler’s Books – Menlo Park

Friday, January 28 – 7:00PM
Richard Panek – The 4 Percent Universe
Richard Panek talks about Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. Only 4% of the universe consists of the matter that makes up humans, the planet, and every star. The rest is completely unknown. Panek tells the dramatic story of the quest to find this dark matter and an even more bizarre substance called dark energy.
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Saturday, January 29 – 2:00PM
S. G. Browne – Fated
Borders Books – Stonestown Galleria, San Francisco

We’re back, baby! Happy New Year to you all! 2011 ushers in our 7th year of bringing you quality science fiction and fantasy authors and films!

Saturday, January 15th

Diana Paxson & Rudy Rucker

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM – bar sales and tips benefit Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California – it’s all for the kids, so let’s be generous and toast them with a drink or two!!! To date we’ve raised over $20,000 for the Charity – help us add to that total!!

Readings start at 7:00PM

Diana Paxson writes primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories. More recently she has also published books about Pagan and Heathen religions and practices. In addition to her multiple novels and collaborations, she has written over seventy short stories. Her best-known works are the Westria novels, and the later books in the Avalon series, which she first co-wrote with Marion Zimmer Bradley, then took over sole authorship of after Bradley’s death. She writes a regular column for the women’s spirituality magazine, Sagewoman.

Rudy Rucker is an American mathematician, computer scientist, artist, science fiction author, and philosopher, and is one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which (Software and Wetware) both won Philip K. Dick Awards. At present he edits the science fiction webzine Flurb.

Both authors will read a selection from their works, followed by Q & A moderated by author Terry Bisson. Booksigning and schmoozing follow in the lounge.

Books will be for sale during the evening, courtesy of Borderlands Books.

Event will be podcasted by Rick Kleffel, of The Agony Column.

The Variety Preview Room Theatre, The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quizno’s & Citibank, 582 Market St., at 2nd @ Montgomery, San Francisco

Don’t drive! The BART/MUNI Montgomery St. station is right outside our front door.

Oh, what, is it January already? It must be time to wake up from our winter slumber. Here’s what we have coming up for you in this bright and shiny new year.

On Saturday, January 15th we will be playing host to Diana Paxson & Rudy Rucker. Full details of that event will be forthcoming soon, but you know what to expect.

For the rest of the year we don’t have the dates firmed up yes, but we have a wonderful list of writers who will be appearing. Look:

• Anne Harris
• Pearl North
• Andrea Hairston
• Catherynne M. Valente
• Karen Haber
• Nancy Kress
• Jack Skillingstead
• Kim Stanley Robinson

Dates will be listed on this page as and when we get then.

Join us for our annual SF in SF Holiday Get-together, celebrating Chrismakwanzakuhtivus!!! (If we missed a holiday in there, so much the better!)

Saturday, December 25th

11:00AM- noon – bagels, lox & cream cheese, cookies, potluck, and hot rum toddies, coffee, and tea

Noonishly – Toy Story 3

After that – Duck Soup (hail, hail, Fredonia!)

A cardinal rule is that this is not a Christmas party; thus, these movies are not allowed, by sponsor fiat:

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (really, taking over the indigenous population is never a good idea)
It’s a Wonderful Life (it’s science fiction, you know…enjoying being with your family at the holidays…)
Miracle on 34th Street (well, Macy’s just FIRED Santa last week, again)
A Christmas Story (although it’s certainly terrific!…the scene with the dogs at the end…priceless!!)
The Ref (again a very funny movie, although the candle halos? WTH?)

A small donation to Variety to cover costs is welcome…everyone who donates at least a dollar gets a raffle ticket for some special Toy Story Schwag!

Bagels for Babies! Cookies for Children! Hot Rum Toddies for, um, Toddlers!!

See you at the:

The Variety Preview Room
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor – entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive – BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is steps from our front door.

Saturday, Dec. 18th

Come join us at a matinee performance of

Coraline: The Musical

$40 per person; pay in advance here, bring a check with you, or mail a check to Variety

1:00PM – 2:15PM We’ll meet up at the Variety Screening Room for cocoa and cookies, and you’ll get your tickets

2:15PM – A short walk brings us to the SF Playhouse on Sutter bet. Powell and Mason.

3:00PM – Performance begins – afterwards, each child attending gets a special treat!

A special arrangement with the SF Playhouse means a portion of each ticket sale goes directly to Variety Children’s Charity.

Please RSVP to Rina Weisman. Tickets for this performance are limited, and will sell out – email me pronto!!

Variety Children’s Charity
582 Market Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

Please note on check: “Coraline”

If you would like to meet us at the SF Playhouse Theatre, please tell me when you RSVP and your tickets will be left at Will-Call. Parking is available across the street at the Sutter Stockton Garage / $3.50 per hour.

Well, we were not sure we’d be able to do this due to time constraints, but the good news is that we’ll be open for movies again on Saturday.

Saturday, November 20th

We will be showing Bride of Frankenstein (1935, 75 mins.) and Island of Lost Souls (1932, 70 mins.)

Doors and cash bar open at 6PM, movie starts at 7PM

The Variety Preview Room Theatre, The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quizno’s & Citibank, 582 Market St., at 2nd @ Montgomery, San Francisco

Don’t drive! The BART/MUNI Montgomery St. station is right outside our front door.

Join SF in SF on November 13th for the last author event we host for 2010 – closing out our 6th year!!

Steven Boyett and Dale Pendell

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM – all bar proceeds and tips benefit Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California. Readings begin at 7:00PM

Steve Boyett is the author of Ariel and Elegy Beach, the long-awaited sequel to Ariel. As well as having taught writing courses, seminars, and workshops, he has published stories in literary, science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies and magazines, as well as publishing essays and comic books. In the early ’90’s his imprint Sneaker Press published chapbooks by the poets Carrie Etter and the late Nancy Lambert. Boyett has also been a martial arts instructor, professional paper marbler, advertising copywriter, proofreader, tyepsetter, writing teacher, and Website designer and editor.

In 2000 Steve took some time off from writing. He learned to play the didgeridoo and began composing and DJing electronic music. As a DJ he has played clubs, conventions, parties, Burning Man, and sporting events. He produces three of the world’s most popular music podcasts: Podrunner, Podrunner: Intervals, and Groovelectric.

Steve currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area. His website, with all his various activities neatly delineated thereupon, is here.

Dale Pendell is the author of the award-winning Pharmako trilogy, a literary history of psychoactive plants. His poetry is widely anthologized, most recently in The Wisdom Book of American Buddhist Poetry. He was the founding editor of Kuksu: Journal of Backcountry Writing, a co-founder of the Primitive Arts Institute, and has led workshops at the Naropa Institute and the Omega Institute. His most recent books are Walking with Nobby: Conversations with Norman O. Brown; The Language of Bird: Notes on Chance and Divination; and The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse, a novel.

His talk on “horizon anarchism” is summarized on Wikipedia.

He and his wife Laura and a familiar cat live in the foothills of the Sierra in California, where they grow pine and oak trees, along with some manzanita. Their performance group, Oracular Madness, most recently appeared at Burning Man.

Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by Q & A from the audience, moderated by author Terry Bisson. Booksigning and schmoozing follow afterwards in the lounge.

Books available for sale during the evening, courtesy of Borderlands Books.

The Variety Preview Room Theatre, The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quizno’s & Citibank, 582 Market St., at 2nd @ Montgomery, San Francisco

Don’t drive! The BART/MUNI Montgomery St. station is right outside our front door.

OK: Hallowe’en is over; the Word Series party is over; time to get back to some reading.

Our November author event will be on Saturday 13th and we are delighted to welcome Steven Boyett and Dale Pendell. As usual doors will open at 6:00PM for a 7:00PM start. More details will follow soon.