BridgeFest NightLife

Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge with a night of swing music and reflection on San Francisco’s beloved icon. When the bridge opened in 1937, a gallon of gas cost 10 cents and swing music was all the rage as the Great Depression wore on. Today, it remains one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks and has been crossed by nearly 2 billion vehicles. During NightLife, peruse a pop-up exhibit of the Kinter collection of photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge construction, chat with the folks from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and check out a scale acrylic model of the Golden Gate Bridge crafted by students of sustainable design at California College of the Arts. Tour History on the Move, Wells Fargo’s mobile museum about the history of stagecoaches, the Gold Rush, the Golden Gate Bridge and more, and test your skills as a Pony Express rider on “Lightning” the horse simulator. In the planetarium, look back at how much astronomers have learned over the past 75 years at 6:30, followed by two screenings of Life: A Cosmic Story. Enjoy live performances by the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, which draws inspiration from the great bands, performers and composers of the Jazz Age and Swing Era. Additional swingin’ music to transport you back in time by DJ Tanoa, a.k.a. "Samoa Boy."

Event Schedule

5-8pm Well Fargo Mobile Museum/ Front of Building

6-8pm Rainforests of the World (Last entry at 7:45pm)

6-9pm Science Love Stories/ Project Lab

6-10pm AIA, Golden Gate Bridge Model by CCA Students & Kinter Collection Photographs/ African Hall

6-10pm DJ Tanoa "Samoa Boy"/ East Pavilion

6-10pm Cocktail Tour/ Bars Throughout

6:30pm 75 Years of Astronomy/ Planetarium

7:30pm Talk by Architect & Author Donald McDonald/ Forum

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story (Last chance before the premiere of Earthquake)/ Planetarium

8 & 9pm Royal Society Jazz - Live with Carla Normand/ Piazza

Buy Tickets to NightLife on May 24th

Royal Society Jazz - Live with Carla Normand

Performances at 8 & 9pm Piazza

Drawing inspiration from the great bands, performers and composers of the "Jazz Age" and "Swing Era," Don Neely and the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra affectionately and authentically recapture the excitement and fascination of that musical heyday.

Talk by Architect & Author Donald McDonald

7:30pm Forum (2nd floor)

In celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary, Donald McDonald, author of The Golden Gate Bridge: History and Design of an Icon, will share the historical inspiration behind the Golden Gate Bridge’s elegant lines and shape. Mr. MacDonald will also talk about the long and often contentious design and engineering decisions that went into making the Golden Gate Bridge the iconic structure it is today.

Donald MacDonald  is an internationally recognized architect and his bridge design work is evident in such Bay Area landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge and the (presently under construction) San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Eastern Span.

A graduate from Columbia University, Mr. MacDonald originally left the east to teach architectural design at the University of California-Berkeley. He’s been inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in Design, as well as the recipient of the National Bridge Design Award, the AIA’s Community Award, the World Habitat Award (from the Building and Social Housing Foundation in England), the National Endowment for the Arts’ Federal Design Achievement Award, the HUD Award for Building Innovation in Home Ownership and many AIA Design Awards.  A constant target for the media spotlight, Mr. MacDonald’s television, radio and print media attention boast a national and international scale.

Mr. MacDonald is also the author of Democratic Architecture – a book which explores viable, affordable housing solutions for our country’s housing problem.  He recently completed his new book discussing the aesthetics of the Golden Gate Bridge called The Golden Gate Bridge: History and Design of an Icon and, Alcatraz: History and Design of a Landmark.

DJ Tanoa "Samoa Boy"

6-10pm East Pavilion

DJ Tanoa "Samoa Boy": host of "Get with the Beat" Tuesdays 2pm-4pm on 87.9fm, radiovalencia.fm, spins 33 and 45pm, 1930s thru 1960s Toe Tappin Twistin', Hip Shakin, Soul Strollin', Jive Boppin' records...Rockabilly, Classic Country, Jump Blues, Doo Wop, Swingin' Jazz, Boogie & Surf... Music for your dancing, drinking & listening delight... Dj Tanoa Samoa Boy will be spinning a special 1920 thru 1941 pre-war swingin' jazz set! 

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm 75 Years of Astronomy

As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge, how has astronomy change since 1937?  Back then, astronomers believed there were different numbers of planets and moons in the solar system than the know today, they didn’t know anything about quasars or black holes, and they had several ideas about how the Universe started.  As we celebrate our city’s most famous landmark, discover how our knowledge of the Universe has grown.

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story (Last chance before the premiere of Earthquake)

How did life on Earth begin? This tantalizing question forms the basis of the second all-digital planetarium show produced by the Academy for the Morrison Planetarium’s 75-foot diameter dome. WINNER of the “Best Fulldome Program” category at the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival! 

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

80s Quake Party NightLife

Seismic matters, and this week NightLife is all about earthquakes! Be among the first to see the Academy’s newly opened Earthquake exhibit and planetarium show, complete with shake table, live ostriches, and an all-digital recreation of the 1906 earthquake. Enter an Earthquake Sundae-eating competition organized by Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop. Experience soundQuake, a unique visual and acoustic representation of Bay Area earthquake data from 1973 to present day which combines geo-located data with graphics and banjo chords. Meet experts on earthquake science and preparedness from the US Geological Survey and SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association). Check out what a SF foodie would need in case of an emergency with a earthquake kit prepared by Turntable Kitchen. Share your own story of where you were during the Loma Prieta earthquake that rocked San Francisco in 1989. 

Live music presented by Noise Pop: catch Weekend, whose power-gloom guitar fuzz blends a post-punk sound with noise-pop mayhem; and Violens, whose cool emotionalism on stage is reminiscent of the mid-'80s U.K. indie scene. Additional music by New Wave City DJs Shindog & Andy T., organizers of the city's top 80s dance party.

Buy Tickets to NightLife on May 31st

Earthquake - New exhibit!

6-10pm West Pavilion

Walk-through Earth
Enter through an oversized crack into a 25-foot-diameter model of the Earth to find touchable geology specimens and interactive stations explaining the basics of plate tectonics.

Life Drifts
The same earth processes that cause destructive earthquakes in the human timescale can also provide constructive conditions for life in the geological timescale. Live ostriches, ancient fossils, plants, and mounted marsupials (mammals with pouches) illustrate the shared legacy of India, Antarctica, Australia, South America, and Africa, which were once joined together.

San Francisco Shakes
The Shake Table is back. An earthquake simulator resembling an old Victorian home in San Francisco transports you back to 5:04 pm on October 17, 1989 – the date and time of the infamous Loma Prieta earthquake. A sudden sustained tremor, followed by a brief aftershock, will give you a sense of what this ground-jolting event felt like. 

Weekend

San Francisco post-punks Weekend have been touring hard behind their debut album Sports since it arrived on Slumberland Records in November 2009. Between seeing their track “End Times” promote the Showtime hit Dexter, touring with Wire, and suffering a van breakdown of panic-inducing proportions on the road with label-mates the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the noise-pop trio found time to pause and reflect. The result: a five-song EP titled Red.

Durkan and Johnson first began experimenting on music together when they were just 12 years old, as bassists in the middle school band. “He had no clue how to play it, and neither did I, really,” Durkan laughs, so they messed around with Sex Pistols bass lines while the rest of the class worked on marching tunes.

After high school, both musicians attended the San Francisco Art Institute, where drummer Abe Pedroza was Durkan’s roommate. The trio bonded over their love for music and their background playing in punk bands.

Weekend are:
Shaun Durkan – Vocals/Bass/Baritone
Guitar Kevin Johnson – Guitar
Abe Pedroza – Drums

Violens

Violens' forthcoming album, ‘True’, finds the Brooklyn three-piece further amplifying their innovative songwriting with a palette of exquisitely crafted sound. The band’s music eludes classification, expertly blending percussive guitar work and silky harmonies, seeking the silver lining yet to be discovered between the sounds we know and love. With a wash of 90s sonic pop drawn from artists like Pale Saints, Cocteau Twins and McCarthy, Violens paint soft watercolor notes across their compositions, adding crucial emotional depth via layered vocal harmonies.

Violens was formed in 2007 by Jorge Elbrecht (a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of the art company Lansing-Dreiden). Their debut album ‘Amoral’ was self-recorded, self-produced, and is best understood as digital collage; a dark, guitar and synth-pop voyage of melodic and rhythmic collision.

Earthquake Sundae-eating Competition by Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop

The Earthquake Sundae - Eight scoops of ice cream, eight delicious toppings, finished with fresh bananas, whipped cream, chopped almonds, decadent chocolate chips and cherries. Sound delicious? Six contestants will be selected to battle and the first to finish will win an awesome prize provided by Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop!

More details to come...

Also, be sure to stop by Ghirardelli's table to sample some of their fine chocolate. Thanks Ghirardelli! 

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

6:30, 7:30 & 8:30pm (Limited Capacity)

Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet - New show!

Starting at Point Reyes in Northern California, the show flies south along the San Andreas Fault until it reaches San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge fades away as the clock rewinds to 1906. The audience experiences an all-digital recreation of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake, followed by a scientific dissection of the event—including views of the underground fault plane and the propagation of seismic energy waves based on supercomputer simulations. Guests then embark on a high-speed tour of the past 200 million years, witnessing the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, flying over the cradle of humanity in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and visiting sites of historic earthquakes in India, China, and Japan—including the 9.0-magnitude Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. A planetarium presenter will bring audiences even more up-to-date during a live portion showing the latest seismic events happening around the planet—earthquakes big and small occur almost constantly. The show ends with a look at the modern building strategies used by scientists and engineers for a safer and better prepared future.
 
Scientific advisers and partners on the show include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Geo Hazards International, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The show will play several times daily. 

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

Sustainable Catch NightLife

In honor of World Ocean’s Day, NightLife presents its fourth annual night of sustainable seafood cooking demonstrations—this time, with wine! Featured chefs represent renowned Sausalito seafood joint Fish; Ki, a sustainable sushi and izakaya bar inside Temple Nightclub; Cook-SF!, purveyor of ready-to-cook meal kits delivered to your door; local mainstay Global Gourmet Catering; and Fog Harbor Fish House at Fisherman’s Wharf. See (and taste) how they create dishes that are both delectable and sustainable, then learn how to effectively pair wines with seafood from sommelier Gabe Hendersen, and sample selections in our wine tasting hall. Chat up Academy curators John McCosker (studier of white sharks and Galapagos fishes) and Luiz Rocha (deep sea diver and coral reef fish expert). Plus, meet folks from a variety of local ocean conservation organizations such as the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance, Sea Stewards, Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary, and Oceanic Society. Then catch a pop-up screening of The End of the Line, a film by Rupert Murray from the SF Ocean Film Festival. Music by DJ Sep, founder of Dub Mission, one of the longest-running dub, dubstep, roots and dancehall parties in the U.S.

Buy Tickets to NightLife on June 7th

Earthquake - New exhibit!

6-10pm West Pavilion

Walk-through Earth
Enter through an oversized crack into a 25-foot-diameter model of the Earth to find touchable geology specimens and interactive stations explaining the basics of plate tectonics.

Life Drifts
The same earth processes that cause destructive earthquakes in the human timescale can also provide constructive conditions for life in the geological timescale. Live ostriches, ancient fossils, plants, and mounted marsupials (mammals with pouches) illustrate the shared legacy of India, Antarctica, Australia, South America, and Africa, which were once joined together.

San Francisco Shakes
The Shake Table is back. An earthquake simulator resembling an old Victorian home in San Francisco transports you back to 5:04 pm on October 17, 1989 – the date and time of the infamous Loma Prieta earthquake. A sudden sustained tremor, followed by a brief aftershock, will give you a sense of what this ground-jolting event felt like. 

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

6:30, 7:30 & 8:30pm (Limited Capacity)

Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet - New show!

Starting at Point Reyes in Northern California, the show flies south along the San Andreas Fault until it reaches San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge fades away as the clock rewinds to 1906. The audience experiences an all-digital recreation of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake, followed by a scientific dissection of the event—including views of the underground fault plane and the propagation of seismic energy waves based on supercomputer simulations. Guests then embark on a high-speed tour of the past 200 million years, witnessing the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, flying over the cradle of humanity in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and visiting sites of historic earthquakes in India, China, and Japan—including the 9.0-magnitude Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. A planetarium presenter will bring audiences even more up-to-date during a live portion showing the latest seismic events happening around the planet—earthquakes big and small occur almost constantly. The show ends with a look at the modern building strategies used by scientists and engineers for a safer and better prepared future.
 
Scientific advisers and partners on the show include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Geo Hazards International, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The show will play several times daily. 

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

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What everyone is Twittering right now...

• Did you come to NightLife last night? We'd love to hear how your experience was! Fill out our online survey: http://t.co/UinJNA3b 1 hour ago
• Gave talk @calacademy_nl about protection mapping, augmented architecture and illusion with @billgalusha and lost 22 followers. Bad jokes? 13 hours ago
• Meet a master of camouflage, the mimic #octopus: http://t.co/sddeQ7r4. We'll be highlighting other masters of disguise tonight at NightLife! 18 hours ago
• Going to @calacademy_nl "Art of Illusion" tonight to see my old ichthyology boss! http://t.co/Lw3okiVG 19 hours ago
• Tonight at 7pm: Meet our Planetarium team and learn how they use special effects to create our dome shows: http://t.co/WAcWI58Y 20 hours ago

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NightLife VIP Tour

Want an entirely different NightLife experience? Join us on our NightLife VIP Tour. Tickets include admission to NightLife, a one-hour behind-the-scenes tour with a private viewing of the Academy's renowned gem and mineral collection and interaction with Academy researchers in the lab, express entry into the building, an open bar in a reserved cocktail area prior to the tour, VIP access to the Rainforest, and a reserved pass for the 8:30 Planetarium show.

$59.00/person – limited tickets available each week

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (building closes at 10:00 pm)

For more information, please click here.

NightLife Private Lounge

Looking for a great space to celebrate landing that big account, throw a birthday party, or just gather with all your old friends, all while enjoying San Francisco’s most exciting Thursday night event?  Rent out the NightLife Private Lounge. You’ll get early access to a premium private room with catering and bar service and access to our Thursday NightLife event. For more booking information contact Dan Kalin at (415) 379-5837 or dkalin@calacademy.org.