August 24 – Sunday

7p Channing Club. See September 28. (RSE 4 Su)

26 – Tuesday

5:50p Dinner, Drinks, and Insect Encounters. Join us for drinks, dinner, and another great science-based Wonderfest presentation at the HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato 94945. We meet for drinks and dinner at 5:50p. At 6:50p we’ll move to the session room for the talk, “Insect Encounters” with Vernard Lewis, Cooperative Extension Specialist (emeritus) at UC Berkeley. Dr. Lewis has earned three degrees in entomology and is a global authority on termites. Dr. Lewis first encountered insects as a child, capturing grasshoppers and ants in California’s Central Valley. Since then, he has traveled to fifty countries to discuss many creepy-crawlies, sometimes as a member of the United Nations Global Termite Expert Group. This Wonderfest event offers a rather personal account of a bug-rich life, including oak worm adventures on Mt. Tamalpais, and (tiny) pest removal at San Quentin Prison. Dr. Lewis will share “field experiences” with termites, with bedbugs, with cockroaches, and with courtrooms (as an expert witness). He will also display real insects – both dead and alive – and the damage they can do. Complete details of this free event are at wonderfest.org/category/event/coming-events/. More information on HopMonk’s menu, etc. is here: www.hopmonk.com/novato. RSVP on the SFRM Meetup (preferred) or e-mail Valerie Taylor (northbay/a/t/sfmensa.org). PC, NMPCW, WCE, NS, NC, NXM

27 – Wednesday

5:30p Trivia Night at the Patriot House. See September 24. (RSE 4 W)

28 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. See September 11. (RSE 2,4 Th)

30 – Saturday

7p East Bay Game Night returns. See September 27. (RSE last Sa)

East Bay Last (was 4th) Saturday. Starting now our event will be an ongoing collaboration with Alan Winson’s East Bay Game Night on the LAST Saturday of the month. See September 27 for details. If you have questions, contact Lindy at EastBay510/a/t/sfmensa.org.

September 2 – Tuesday

5p Tuesday Tipplers will meet at San Rafael Joe’s, 931 4th St., San Rafael 94901, at 5p for drinks in the bar and then move on to dinner in the dining room after an hour. Park on the street or in the city garage behind the restaurant. If you have questions e-mail Ed Sabrack at edsabrack/a/t/comcast.net or call (415) 472-3725. PC (RSE 1 Tu)

4 – Thursday

6p Africa Is Not a Country Discussion. We will be reading Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, 20 to 40 pages per week (or however the chapters fall). Join us for one, a few, or all chapters. This week we’re reading Part 1: Lagos. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE Th)

6 – Saturday

6p Online Board Games. Come explore some board games that can be played on the Web. If you’re new, please create a (free) account at boardgamearena.com and follow the setup instructions. We’ll meet online with Zoom to establish voice contact, and then we’ll decide on a game to try out. RSVP on the Meetup calendar, if possible, otherwise contact Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594. PC, NMPCW, ACW (RSE 1 Sa, 3 M)

7 – Sunday

Albany Hill Hike will not meet in September or October. We will return in November. (RSE 1 Su)

8 – Monday

4p San Francisco Pub Get-Together. Stop by after work or, if you don’t work downtown, just come anyway. All Mensans and their guests are welcome, provided that they are at least 21, at Patriot House in 2 Embarcadero Center (Sacramento St. between Front St. and Davis St.), SF 94111. Take the inside escalator to the 2nd floor, turn right twice, and then follow the sign to the stairs to the 3rd floor. The restaurant’s entrance is near the top of those stairs on the 3rd floor. Look for the Mensa logo on our table or ask one of the waitresses to find us. Starting at 4p, but arrive when you can and leave when you’re ready. We will be there for several hours. They have a Happy Hour from 4p until 6p, with the kitchen closing at 9p and the bar closing at 10p. RSVP preferred on Mensa’s Meetup site at www.meetup.com/SFMensa, less preferred by e-mail to Barry Krasner at bwkbwk/a/t/pacbell.net. If you find that you can’t come after RSVPing “Yes”, please change your RSVP to “No” before the event takes place. PC, NC, NS, NMPCW (RSE 2 M)

9 – Tuesday

5:30p Apt To In Aptos Mensa Bar Group is held at Sevy’s Bar + Kitchen at Seacliff Inn, 7500 Old Dominion Court, Aptos 95003, www.seacliffinn.com/santa-cruz-restaurants on the second Tuesday of the month, running until about 7:30p. Come join Central Coast Mensans: Forget last month’s feces and anticipate this month’s blindsides. T(R)oast past friends, find new ones, and introduce current ones, all while contemplating how it all defaults to QM scaled. Courtesy e-mail to host Stew Gibson at LooseId/a/t/ix.netcom.com with subject “Sevy” for restaurant head count is appreciated, but not required. Tip 20% on the bill, with separate checks. PC, NMPCW (RSE 2 Tu)

6:30p Puzzled Pint. Who likes PUZZLES? The kind where part of the game is to figure out what you need to be doing in the first place? Want to do it as part of a team, so you can bounce ideas off each other, and let someone else do the parts that you find uninteresting? This is a monthly event held in the Bay Area (and simultaneously elsewhere in the world), at a convenient pub where we might order food and drink before or during the game. RSVP to Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594 (voice or text) to reserve your spot and learn the address. If Game Control has arranged a pub, it’s probably on Shoreline Blvd. in Mountain View, or downtown San Jose. Otherwise, the event host will select a non-pub location, probably in Campbell. PC, NMPCW, NS, NXM (RSE 2 Tu)

Intelligencer Deadline. Deadline for calendar events, advertising, members’ free ads, and all other content. See above for information on submitting events. PC (RSE Tu after 1 Sa)

11 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. Meet at Scrambl’z, 5055 Almaden Expressway, San Jose 95118 (near Hwys. 85 & 87), (408) 269-2900. Voted one of the best breakfast restaurants around. Extensive menu online at orderscramblzalmaden.com/. Sandra Anderson, (408) 997-3187. Vaccinated only, please. PC, NMPCW, WCE (RSE 2,4 Th)

12n Thursday Munchers, a lunch group in Marin dedicated to trying different restaurants. This month we will visit TuTu Lounge, 1335 4th St., San Rafael 94901, (415) 492-1530, tutulounge.com. RSVP by Monday, September 8, to Elizabeth Calaway at (415) 456-9220 or elizterrycalaway/a/t/aol.com. PC (RSE Th after 2 Tu)

6p Africa Is Not a Country Discussion. We will be reading Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, 20 to 40 pages per week (or however the chapters fall). Join us for one, a few, or all chapters. This week we’re reading Part 2: By the Power Vested in Me, I Now Pronounce You a Country. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE Th)

13 – Saturday

4p Big Ideas Reading Group: The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk, and Luck by David Spiegelhalter. On Zoom. The Art of Uncertainty is an invitation to the reader to consider its essential message: learning to love the unknown by staying present in the moment. If the difficulties of recent years have taught us anything – particularly those who “did everything right” and still saw it all fall apart – it’s that none of us has as much control over our lives as we believe. The only thing we can control is our next thought. Living in the I don’t know and loving it is an art form we can all master, and The Art of Uncertainty is the perfect guidebook. For October 11 on Zoom: The Secret Life of the Universe by Nathalie Cabrol. We have a list of books read at www.bigideasreadinggroup.com/BIRG2.html. For questions and invitations to our Zoom meetings please contact Chris Boyd at snoboyd/a/t/sbcglobal.net. PC, NMPCW, NXM (RSE 2 Sa)

15 – Monday

6p Online Board Games. See September 6. (RSE 1 Sa, 3 M)

16 – Tuesday

5:50p Dinner, Drinks, Sleep, and Recovery. Join us for drinks, dinner, and another great science-based Wonderfest presentation at the HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato 94945. We meet for drinks and dinner at 5:50p. At 6:50p we’ll move to the session room for the talk, “Sleep & Recovery” with Greg Tranah, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UC San Francisco. He is also Senior Scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. Diet, exercise, connection, and sleep are four key determining factors in human health. Sleep, in particular, plays a critical role in recovery and resilience. Fortunately, recent eye-opening (*ahem*) research can help us harness sleep science to improve everyday life and long-term health. Complete details of this free event are at wonderfest.org/category/event/coming-events/. More information on HopMonk’s menu, etc. is here: www.hopmonk.com/novato. RSVP on the SFRM Meetup (preferred) or e-mail Valerie Taylor (northbay/a/t/sfmensa.org). PC, NMPCW, WCE, NS, NC, NXM

17 – Wednesday

5:30p Re-BORG. Berkeley-Oakland Restaurant Group is reborn and revived in honor of the incomparable Cathy Roha, who initiated this event and hosted it for many years. Assimilate delicious food and interesting conversation at a good restaurant somewhere in the central East Bay. Bring cash, your vaccination card, and a mask. Limited seating. E-mail or call ahead for location up to a week ahead. RSVP by 3p on Tuesday, September 16. Roberta Maguire, robertamaguire/a/t/hotmail.com, (510) 292-6370. PC, NS, NMPCW, ACW (RSE 3 W)

18 – Thursday

6p Africa Is Not a Country Discussion. We will be reading Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, 20 to 40 pages per week (or however the chapters fall). Join us for one, a few, or all chapters. This week we’re reading Part 3: The Birth of White Saviour Imagery or How Not to Be a White Saviour While Still Making a Difference. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE Th)

6:30p Peninsula Dining. Join us for Mexican cuisine at Luna Mexican Kitchen in the Pruneyard. The official address is 1875 Bascom Ave., Suite 570, Campbell 95008. It is next to the Doubletree by Hilton. They advertise “Everything was top notch with flavor, presentation and atmosphere.” Good food, good conversation. We have a limit on group size, so reserve early or expect to be on a waiting list. To reserve, contact Susan at Susan.Heimlich/a/t/gmail.com or at (650) 714-4972 (call or text). Be sure to get confirmation. At the restaurant, ask for Susan, and please bring cash. PC, NMPCW

20 – Saturday

7p Teton Tea. Teton Tea Parties are folk-singing parties going back to the 1950s. We welcome both traditional folk singing and singer/songwriters. Our 3rd Saturday meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WvlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 3 Sa) 

21 – Sunday

2:30p Speaker Series: Why the Scopes Trial (1925) is Still Relevant with Dr. Eugenie C. Scott. On Zoom. “Trial of the Century”: Tennessee vs. John T. Scopes. The first major sally against the teaching of evolution in the US, and, mostly because of the fictional play and movie Inherit the Wind, Scopes is wrongly perceived as a victory for evolution over the forces of obscurantism. The full story is much more complex and interesting, involving science, religion, law, education, politics, celebrities, modern communications, and the politicization of science. Dr. Scott is an expert on the creationism and evolution controversy and science denialism. The former director of the National Center for Science Education, she is the recipient of numerous awards from scientists and educators and has been awarded ten honorary degrees. Please register at livepresentation.link/SEP. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from Zoom that will contain the link needed to join the presentation. Hosted by Judy Unger, junger2040/a/t/gmail.com. PC

24 – Wednesday

5:30p Trivia Night at the Patriot House gastropub in San Francisco. The contest is free, starts at 6p, and lasts about 2 hours, but please arrive about 5:30p, so that we don’t lose the table that I’ve reserved. If you’re a member of our SFRM Meetup group, RSVP on Meetup if you’re planning on coming, so that I can be sure to reserve a large enough table. If you’re not a member of our SFRM Meetup group, RSVP by e-mailing host Barry Krasner at bwkbwk/a/t/pacbell.net. Guests are allowed, so be sure to include the number of guests that you’re bringing when you RSVP. If you RSVP “Yes” and then find that you can’t attend after all, it’s very important that you change your RSVP to “No” as far in advance as possible. The Patriot House is located in Embarcadero Center #2, on the 3rd (top) floor. Enter from Sacramento St. between Front St. and Davis St. Take the inside escalator to the 2nd floor, then turn right twice and follow the sign to the stairs to the 3rd floor. The restaurant is near the top of those stairs. You’ll recognize our group by the Mensa logo that I will have on top of our table. If in doubt, ask the wait staff for “The Mensa Group”. PC, NC, NS, NMPCW (RSE 4 W)

25 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. See September 11. (RSE 2,4 Th)

6p Africa Is Not a Country Discussion. We will be reading Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, 20 to 40 pages per week (or however the chapters fall). Join us for one, a few, or all chapters. This week we’re reading Part 4: The Story of Democracy in Seven Dictatorships. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE Th)

27 – Saturday

7p East Bay Game Night. Join us for fun and games in the East Bay! We’re playing word games, card games, board games, all kinds of fast-action social games (not long strategy games). Choose from my shelves of games or bring your own fast-action social games. Please also bring a snack to share. The fun is in Oakland near Piedmont Ave. and Pleasant Valley Ave. No RSVP needed; just show up at 7p (when I unlock the door) or later. We have about 20 people every month, most of whom do not RSVP. For more information or directions, contact Alan at alan.winson/a/t/gmail.com or (510) 653-2685 (voice only). Please pull forward to park four cars in my driveway. Free street parking is available in the neighborhood; don’t give up! SUPER-SPREADER EVENT NOTICE: If you haven’t kept up your vaccinations, or don’t feel well or may have Covid, a cold, or anything else contagious, please stay home and join us next month! PC, NMPCW, NS, WCP (RSE last Sa)

28 – Sunday

7p Channing Club is a wide-ranging discussion group which has been meeting, in one form or another, for over half a century. There are no assigned topics; we discuss whatever is on participants’ minds. Our meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WvlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 4 Su)

30 – Tuesday

5:50p Dinner, Drinks, and AI for Learning. Join us for drinks, dinner, and another great science-based Wonderfest presentation at the HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato 94945. We meet for drinks and dinner at 5:50p. At 6:50p we’ll move to the session room for the talk, “AI for Learning” with Dr. Kelsey Urgo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of San Francisco. AI tools are everywhere now, promising to help us write, solve, understand, and create faster and more easily than ever. But there is a growing concern: Are these tools actually helping us learn, or just making it look or feel like we know something? Can we develop AI systems to support deep human learning? Truly useful systems don’t just give answers, but help us to build metacognitive skills to think critically, reflect, and adapt as we learn. Complete details of this free event are at wonderfest.org/category/event/coming-events. More information on HopMonk’s menu, etc. is here: www.hopmonk.com/novato. RSVP on the SFRM Meetup (preferred) or e-mail Valerie Taylor (northbay/a/t/sfmensa.org). PC, NMPCW, WCE, NS, NC, NXM

October 2 – Thursday

6p Africa Is Not a Country Discussion. We will be reading Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, 20 to 40 pages per week (or however the chapters fall). Join us for one, a few, or all chapters. This week we’re reading Part 4: The Story of Democracy in Seven Dictatorships. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE Th)

4 – Saturday

6p Online Board Games. See September 6. (RSE 1 Sa, 3 M)