On the Cheap listings are compiled by Soojin Chang. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
WEDNESDAY 18
Brutal Sound Effects Festival The Lab, 2948 16th St., SF. (415) 864-8855, www.thelab.org. 8:30pm-10:30pm, $8-12. The eclectic bill includes Moel Staiano’s electrifying percussions, Christina Stanley’s electro-focused violin performance, Surplus 1980’s post-punk musical explorations, Vulcan 68’s renegade-style electronic reverbs, and many experimental gems more.
“Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter” California Institute of Integral Studies, Namaste Hall, 1453 Mission, SF. (415) 575-6100, www.wonderfest.org/incomplete-nature. 7pm-9pm, free. Where do emotion, purpose, and meaning come from? Terrence Deacon, a neuroscientist and chair of UC Berkeley’s anthropology department, reveals a strand that remains incomplete in a physicist’s biological explanation of life — us, and our consciousness and feelings that make us what we are.
THURSDAY 19
“Drawing Realness” Will Brown Gallery, 3041 24th St., SF. (415) 643-3943. 7pm-9pm, free. Realness is in the eye of the beholder. Seven artists bring to reality their collaborative interpretation of what real life really is.
FRIDAY 20
“Name That Tune” Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakl. (510) 451-5818, www.bayareagirlsrockcamp.com. 7pm, $10-50. If you’re one of those people who think they can sing every word to any given song, know that you have competition. Raise money in support of girls’ empowerment organizations as you test your music trivia expertise once and for all.
“The Slave Next Door: Make Justice Personal” First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana, Berk. (510) 848-6242, www.projectpeaceeastbay.org. 7pm-9pm, free. Sustainability extends beyond careful food selection and recycling — it also involves human rights and fair trade. Hear experts present on the gritty details of modern-day slavery and how such moral dilemmas appear in our daily lives.
SATURDAY 21
ArtSeed Art-a-thon Thoreau Center’s Acre Cafe, 1013 Torney, SF. (415) 409-1761, www.acregourmet.com. 10am-8pm, $15 suggested donation. Non-runners who have always been interested in the idea of a marathon, this is the event for you. Collect pledges in support of ArtSeed’s education programs for each brush-breaking hour you spend creating art. You probably won’t improve your lung capacity, but the final finished works will be exhibited next Sat/28 and Sun/29 at Open Studios at the Point.
Vintage Paper Fair San Francisco County Fair Building, 1032 Irving, SF. (415) 814-2330, www.vintagepaperfair.com. Through Sunday 22. Fair hours Sat., 10am-4pm; Sun., 11am-5pm, free. Instagram’s allure comes from charmingly antiquating our everyday life can now appear, but Golden Gate Park’s amazing vintage paper fair has the real, washed-out, not-faux-aged deal — trade cards, labels, Victorian memorabilia, postcards — for all your visually sentimental needs.
Sneaker swap Terra Gallery, 511 Harrison, SF. (415) 896-1234, www.terrasf.com. 1pm-6pm, $8 adv.; $10 at door. A flea market for the sneaker head. DJs will be spinning old school hip hop and people will be coyly bargaining for that once-in-a-life-time design.
Earth Day at the Academy California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, SF. (415) 379-8000, www.calacademy.org. Through Sunday 22. Museum hours Sat., 9:30am-5pm; Sun., 11am-5pm, regular museum admission. Come help paint a collective mural while you listen to surrealist folk sounds made by recycled-objects-cum-instruments. Participate in wildlife presentations and a number of hands-on interactive activities in PG&E’s “pop-up cafe,” a recycled creation of tennis balls and found materials.
Peter and the Wolf The Cathedral of Christ the Light, 2121 Harrison, Oakl. (510) 832-5057, www.cticathedral.org. 10:30am-12:30pm, $5 donation; online registration required. Before sound entered in to the cinematic world, going to the theater was a grander experience including a narrator and a live orchestra. Hear this children’s story unfold to the vibrant chords of a live organ, guided through the animated elocution of the speaker.
SUNDAY 22
Murder in the Front Row Issues Magazines, 20 Glen, Oakl. (510) 652-5700, www.issuesshop.com. 5pm-8pm, free. Co-authors Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew are hosting a party dedicated to the string-skipping glories of Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, and Megadeth in lieu of their latest photo-book release. Come relive the fearless shreds of the trash metal scene as legends scream out through the rare collection of images.
Berkeley Vegan Earth Day UC Berkeley, Wurster Hall, Berk. (562) 229-4801, www.berkeleyveganearthday.com. 10am-6pm, $10 for students; $15 for adults; free for children under 12. Come for the free waffle bar, and once you’re all maple syruped-out, make your way through the eco-art, films, and scavenger hunt. This all-day extravaganza is dedicated to vegans, the vegan-curious, and the local businesses that will be sharing their knowledge on the latest animal product-free goodies.
MONDAY 23
“Living in the Homogenocene: The First 500 Years” Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, Pier 2, SF. (415) 345-7500, www.longnow.org. According to Charles Mann, we are constantly being invaded a la germs, insects, food, domestic animals, and wildlife. Come hear what he thinks of our convoluted world, how we got to this point, and what we can do now.
TUESDAY 24
“On the road and at home with The Rolling Stones” San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin, SF. (415) 557-4400, www.sfpl.org. 6pm, free. Being a music fan today means something completely different than what it used to be. We have Twitter to circulate a musician’s seemingly intimate remarks, simulating closeness when we actually have no idea what the individual is like. Bill German befriended the Rolling Stones as a teenager — sans Facebook — and became the group’s official historian for over two decades. Come hear about what really went down in the rock ‘n’ roll universe.
Zombies Need Love Too Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, SF. (415) 227-8666, www.cartoonart.org. 7pm-9pm, $5. Lio, the endearing protagonist of the comic-series, is a boy who has a knack for befriending monsters and aliens. The defender of the defenseless, champion of the seemingly dead, he naturally becomes acquainted with the zombie crowd. Come meet the cartoonist responsible for the gory-cute, no-need-for-words comic strip possible.