Wednesday, 12/19
Doors at 7 pm, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @Van Ness
$8 (Advanced tickets)
All ages

Facebook event

UPDATE: John “The Paper Airplane Guy” Collins had to cancel (with a very good reason), but we’re looking forward to hosting him in the near future. The amazing Patrick House will be gracing our stage this month in John’s stead with a fascinating talk on the history of schizophrenia!

Grab yourself a stiff drink and get ready for a history of schizophrenia, examine the bleeding edge of universal blood research, and frolic in the sewers of San Francisco. Be there and be square!


“The Slow Death of the Muse: A History of Schizophrenia & Hearing Voices” by Patrick House

Did humans 10,000 years ago stub their toes? Did they break their arms? Of course. But did they have schizophrenia? That’s trickier. Are some mental illnesses a necessary disease of humanness, or exclusively a modern disease? How can we ever know? If schizophrenia is so debilitating, why is it still around? Why did James Joyce & Albert Einstein both have schizophrenic children? Why is the voice in a schizophrenic’s head always the voice of god or the devil, and not the postman?

Patrick is getting a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Stanford University, looking at whether brain parasites in humans might be a factor in some cases of schizophrenia. But he has already peaked, having won The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest a few years ago. Since then he has had trouble living up to the expectation of being witty, which he is not.


“Breaking the Blood Bank: The Path Toward Universal Blood” by Ahnika Kline

Sitting in the bloodmobile enjoying your post-donation cookie? About to have surgery and anxious that the docs have a little extra on hand? Hey–wouldn’t it be nice to know what’s in that blood stuff, anyway? We’ll see what happens to blood after donation, examine the different blood types, and consider the risks associated with receiving blood. And we’ll delve into the development of safer, universal, and synthetic blood (true Tru Blood for veggie vamps!).

In a world filled with Twilight movies the world has become blood-obsessed, and Ahnika is no different. She holds a PhD in cell biology and is expecting an MD in 2013. Her current research at UCSF focuses on blood vessels and the cells traveling within them.


“Combined Sewerage: Where the **** Hits the Fan” by Karen Kubick

Every day in San Francisco, hundreds of thousands of toilets are a-flushing, showers a-flowing, and washing machines a-spinning. That’s a whole lotta water and a whole lotta flow, but where, oh where, does that water go? Beneath the streets lie miles of pipes, and above ground are pump stations, odor control, and other facilities. After learning about the marvels of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s combined sewer system, you’ll really want to worship the porcelain god!

Karen is a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the state of California and heads up a multi-billion-dollar program to handle poop and rain.

DJ Alpha Bravo mans the decks, spinning vinyl and tweeting along to the presentations’ themes. Find out what you’re listening to by following @djalphabravo.