In 2007 I attended the first Arse Elektronika, a conference about sex and technology. Last year’s theme was ‘pr0novation’ (see my notes on the conference here). I had a great time. I can’t help but think some conversations I had with the organizers helped inspire this year’s theme, “Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep?” which focuses on sex, technology, and science fiction.
Reesa and I will be attending together this year this year and presenting a paper, “What is the 21st-century novel?” Not only do we have a lot of exciting things to talk about, but we’ll be releasing some of the first details on a collaborative project involving all the residents of the Dream Café. Arse Elektronika runs from September 25-28 in San Francisco. Tickets are a mere $40 and I am sure it will be fascinating.
We’re also exploring our options for a place to stay in the area — ideally somewhere near the conference, which is at CELLspace on 2050 Bryant Street. If you know a good, inexpensive motel/hotel in the vicinity, or have some space yourself, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll be staying from September 25-30.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Michael M. Butler // Sep 22, 2008 at 2:26 am
Well, heck. I can’t help with practical stay-space as I’m living about an hour north of SF, but I might be in town Sunday. I expect it’d be nice to meet up for coffee or dinner or something, if that could work.
2 kit // Sep 22, 2008 at 6:46 am
Michael, I’ll drop you a note. We’ll see how our schedule plays out.
3 RJ Johnson // Sep 22, 2008 at 7:57 am
Steve, sadly all the room at my inn is already spoken for, but you and yours are welcome to stop by our place for the birthday celebration going on Saturday the 27th. E-mail me and I can give you directions.
4 kit // Sep 22, 2008 at 8:01 am
RJ@2: Hey there, I’ve seen you around LJ I think. Just so you know, Steve will not be in San Francisco with us; it’s just Reesa & I on this trip.
5 Chris Olson // Sep 22, 2008 at 12:50 pm
If you’ll be around through the 30th, I’d love to meet you. It’d be nice to see the Good People Steve is living with. (And why ain’t that bum coming with you? It’s cause Cat and I live in the Bay Area, isn’t it? He’s afraid of us or something.:)
Cat and I are performing in Camelot this weekend, so we likely can’t attend the conference (which sounds very interesting, dang our schedules!), but we can recommend some great places for dinner!
:)
Chris
6 kit // Sep 22, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Chris@5: I think he’s more afraid of the Bay Area than most things. I think its sunny wholesomeness is deeply scarring to his gloomy, Hungarian soul. :) Also he’s planning to be on a trip of his own.
Alas, Reesa & I will be leaving town pretty early on the 30th. Dinner recommendations would be welcomed, though.
7 Chris Olson // Sep 22, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Well, what kind of food do you like? I can always recommend Max’s Opera Cafe (on Van Ness) for great food (large portions) at reasonable prices. There are a number of good sushi places, an Egyptian restaurant that boasts the only Egypt-sanctioned belly dancer in the US (as of a couple years ago, at least), and I’m sure Cat could offer even more suggestions. :)
Do you have plans for Sunday or Monday night? (Just checkin’. We’re still planning on getting down to see Steve at some point…:)
8 Michael M. Butler // Sep 22, 2008 at 9:36 pm
sunny wholesomeness
Heh. That was irony, right? Foggy perversity is more like it. Not that there’s aught wrong wi’that, eh?
9 Michael M. Butler // Sep 22, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Protip: Keep a light heart and stay nimble, and bring something like a windbreaker and possibly a hat. It does get chilly after dark.
There are a TON of excellent restaurants but there are some zones that are less friendly than others, depending on time of day and your own finely honed spideysenses.
Louis E. Madison used to write and put out a slim volume called “San Francisco on a Shoestring”, which was spot on for every place I tried; but he stopped doing that a while back.
However, there’s this: LM RestaurantReviews … but… ach.
It seems that he retired from that work in 2005. A lot can happen in three years, but you might be able to create a short list using that resource and ask locals what’s up now.
10 Warren // Sep 23, 2008 at 1:20 am
You might have trouble finding a hotel - Oracle OpenWorld is in SF this week, and it’s brought something like 43,000 people to the town - including me :-)
Thanks for the tip on the conference - if I’d known about it, I’d have extended my trip over the weekend - it looks really fascinating - unfortunately I’m leaving mid-afternoon on the 26th .
If you guys are really in a pinch - I might be able to offer you the second double bed in my hotel room for Thursday night. I don’t think my hotel is particularly near Cellspace, unfortunately - google maps tells me it’s about 4 miles away, and I’m likely to be busy in conference things most of the day… :-(
11 Michael M. Butler // Sep 23, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Whoops. Sept. 28th is also the Folsom Street Fair, which means even more pressure (so to speak) on accommodations (ibid).
12 Yes, It Is All My Fault! » Where in the world is Reesa? > Reesa Brown's homepage // Sep 24, 2008 at 2:04 pm
[...] …Working like mad to put the finishing touches on the paper we’ll be taking to Arse Elektronika this year. There’s more detail over at the household blog, Words Words Words, here. [...]
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