deconstruction tonight, and more

The Deconstruction: second life art show opens tonight! Since Monday, Brian's crew has been working around the clock to turn the main space into their gallery. Full details at the Deconstruction site.

And looking forward: July will be an educational month at Langton Labs, including a "year in Antarctica" night (tentatively July 1st, more details TBA), and Matt Ganucheau presenting A Night of Steve Reich, Steve Reich, Steve Reich, Steve Reich on July 23rd.

deconstruction: second life

Last March, Langton Labs opened its doors for our first big public event with Deconstruction: an art show curated by Brian Enright, with requisite opening night bash. In just a few days, Brian's gang will be back to install this year's edition: Deconstruction: second life.

The show features Brian's furniture and metal art, John Ricksen's mixed media work, and paintings by Matt McGowan and Brian Herrick. The opening night bash is Friday June 19th at 10 and will also feature an installation of a documentary on the deconstruction process, some of our favorite DJs, and complimentary gourmet food and drink. Check out the Deconstruction site for all the details.

a langton collage

It was Lev's birthday this week, and we celebrated with a fun week of festivities (party bus! homemade dinner! etc). Lev's family joined us for this, meeting the house for the first time; to help them get to know us, he made them this collage of the current Langton Labs folks. Maybe you'll like it too!

DJ sets from Langton parties

Photo by eeetthaannn

Following up on the bEATS remixes: here are some sets from old Langton Labs parties!

Joshua Pollack recently sent me the mixdown from his set from last year's Halloween party (tracklist). And that reminds me that I never posted DJJD's set (tracklist) from over a year ago at our Hypothesis housewarming, which he released on CD at False Profit Spring Training.

And speaking of DJs and Langton Labs: did you enjoy rocking out to Steve Nalepa's set at Yuri's Night last night? I sure did. He's teaching a workshop on the music software Ableton Live this Sunday afternoon at Langton; check out the Facebook page if you're interested in attending.

(And don't forget Nerd Nite tomorrow night, which will feature ambient music by a surprise Langton Labs DJ!)

Nerd Nite San Francisco at Langton, April 11th!

Langton Labs presents the San Francisco edition of Nerd Nite, an NYC/Boston geek institution! Matt from Nerd Nite says:

Hello California! I'm proud to announce the first ever Nerd Nite tour! Yes, after years in New York and Boston and months of sold-out shows in Brooklyn, Nerd Nite and Californian nerds who like to drink are finally getting together, as we’re heading to San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco the second week of April. While on the road we'll feature presentations by our Nerd Nite Boston host presenting about real-life zombies, the Nerd Nite godfather talking about parasitic birds, corkscrewed duck phalluses, and mating dances set to Michael Jackson, and a special surprise local guest from each city. It’s going to be, like, totally tubular. Nerd Nite; it's like the Discovery Channel with beer.

The Langton Labs edition will be on Saturday, April 11th at 8 PM ($7).

• Presentation #1:
  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Birds (And a Few Things You Didn’t)
  by Dr. Chris Balakrishnan, Godfather of Nerd Nite
  
  Description: When people hear that I study birds, they are often intrigued by the adventures, trials, and tribulations that occur while conducting field research in exotic places. Before long, however, they get to the questions they are REALLY curious about… 1) What on earth is a parasitic bird? (no, it doesn’t suck your blood) 2) What do you think about the idea that birds are dinosaurs? and the big one… 3) How do birds have sex? I will use these questions as themes around which to discuss the evolution of birds, and more generally, the process of evolution.
  
  Bio: After spending all of his life in the Northeast, Chris has recently been transplanted to corn-centric Central Illinois. Chris is an evolutionary biologist/ornithologist. He is constantly surprised by how many people know what an ornithologist is and how many people are deathly afraid of birds. It’s all Alfred Hitchcock’s fault. Or maybe it’s because birds are dinosaurs. Chris is nothing if not dedicated, and because of his dedication to drinking at the Midway Café in Boston, Nerd Nite was born.
  
  
• Presentation #2 (San Francisco only!):
  Ancient and Curious Cuisines
  by Shanti Morell-Hart
  
  Description: From guinea pig sacrifices to insect feasts to cacao bean currency, foods of the past looked and operated differently from those on an Appleby’s menu. See what current archaeological and ethnohistoric research has to offer in terms of broadening today’s culinary horizons and redefining Slow Food. Also find out what your garbage, your teeth, and your dung will tell archaeologists 1,000 years from now.
  
  Bio: Shanti Morell-Hart is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. She studies archaeology, paleoethnobotany, and foodways. In the course of research she has eaten some things that in retrospect maybe she shouldn’t have.A special surprise!
  
  
• Presentation #3:
  The Neurobiology of Zombies
  by Jeremy Kay
  
  Description: Zombie mind control is real! Some types of parasites have the ability to turn their hosts into zombies that serve the needs and whims of the parasitic invader. Following up on my last Nerd Nite talk a few months ago, I'll give some more examples of real-life zombies and delve into the neurobiology of how a parasite can control the behavior of its host.
  
  Bio: Jeremy is a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Harvard. His professional work concerns vision, but he thinks parasite mind-control is far more interesting. His interest in zombies is purely academic. Really. Like, your brain will totally not get eaten if you show up. We promise.
  

Plus, we'll give away a few copies of Geni Whitehouse's book, Make Boring Things Interesting.

Coming? RSVP on Facebook, or just show up!
(Down in LA or San Diego? Check out the rest of the Nerd Nite California Tour!)

Old Fashioned Remixes

Photo by Omari Stephens

But we didn't just eat at bEATS on Saturday. Three DJs spent the two hours remixing Jolie Holland's Old Fashioned Morphine. Here are their remixes... these are the real deal, just two hours of work, sharp edges and all. From left to right:

• benchun's remix (mashup with A1 Bassline vs Kav's Rave Lucky Charms and Boy 8-Bit Fogbank)
• Dr. Toast's remix
• JSeigler's remix

Tasty beats

It's one thing to be vaguely aware that your friends and community are talented and creative. And it's another thing to have twenty of them show up at your warehouse on a Saturday afternoon and just blow you away.

Yesterday we hosted bEATS: an Iron Chef and DJ remix challenge. Four teams created four wildly different and impressively tasty meals, based around the secret ingredients: chayote squash and peaches/nectarines. Meanwhile, three DJs remixed Jolie Holland's Old Fashioned Morphine. Two hours later, the vultures descended and we all got what more than one person described to me as the best $5 meal they'd ever had; the only challenge for the non-competitors was not dropping your plate when the remixes moved you to dance.

While the chefs chopped, fried, and stirred, and the DJs put their headphones on, the rest of the crowd got to play around with Michael Broxton's PhosphorEssence interactive video art (which you'll get to see again at False Profit's Alchemy in April, and knowing Michael it'll be full of twice as much madness by then), and Audrey Roy illustrated everyone's haikus by the door.

I'll post the remixes as soon as Jason, Ben, and Toast get them to me, and I'll link to some photos soon too (Omari's lens was everywhere, and I'm looking forward to seeing how that turned out). [Update: here are the remixes!]

But without further ado: time to make anyone who didn't make it jealous by describing the unbelievable meals we got to enjoy. (My only regret is that I only managed to try about half of the dishes!)

The Braisin' Bitches cooked up a five-course feast in the Langton main space (San Francisco's Test Kitchen, eh?).

• Chayote soup (this ended up like a tortilla soup with squash instead of tortilla and was incredibly addictive)
• Collard rolls with chayote, carrots, asparagus, avocado, chives, sweet chili, and cilantro-lemon hummus
• Strata with potato, chayote, eggplant, cheddar, and mozzarella
• Nectarine and peach flan (wolfed down in seconds, as far as I could tell)
• Peach daiquiri

The Hairnet Banditos (certainly the most hygienic team in their matching hairnets) shared the Langton main space and whipped up six dishes in a self-described rustic style.

• Kale Chips (I wasn't the only one heard saying but I don't even like kale on the fifth handful)
• Mushroom Chayote Delight (an intense mushroom experience)
• Swiss Chard and Asparagus Supreme
• Tomato-Chayote Salad
• Agil's Azeri Tava stew (the event's only meat dish)
• Peach and Goat Cheese Dessert with Agave and Pomegranate syrups (exactly as sweet and tasty as it sounds)

The Lemonettes took over Langton's upstairs kitchen and put together a stunningly beautiful meal. We're talking branches covered in flowers on bamboo mats, individually foil-wrapped crepe balls... let's just say I'm hoping somebody got some good photos of these. And it tasted good, too.

• Spiced Chayote and Mango Crepe Shots with Crisped Shallots (described, accurately, by Lemonette Han as magical orbs during a mid-competition interview given through the Langton kitchen window by Mike on a ladder)
• Curried Chayote, Kale, and Eggplant with Basil and Fragrant Basmati Rice with wildflowers
• Coconut Rice with Nectarine, Mint, and Lemon Zest in a Jack Fruit sauce

The Stand Mixapps retreated to their kitchen around the corner (which we webcast back to Langton) and made up an individual-plated gourmet festival.

• Green Rice Coconut Curry with Crispy Tofu and Nectarines
• Fresh Rolls with peaches, fresh mint, thai basil, fresh lime juice, & mozzarella cheese
• Southwestern Stew with Chayote Squash, flame-roasted poblano peppers, bell peppers, carrots, chiles, & pépitas sauce (toasted pumpkin seeds, pasilla peppers, cacao nibs, &c.)
• Shots of peach nectar, coconut creme, blackberries and white rum
• Napoleons of roasted beets, roasted japanese yams, nectarines, herbs de provence, goat cheese, honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, cracked black pepper