Saturday, September 27, 2008, 1 p.m.
CELLspace / 2050 Bryant Street, San Francisco.
Rudy gives a keynote talk on “What is Sex?” for Arse Elektronika .

What is Sex?

Each of us is here as a link in a chain of a zillion reproductive sex acts. The pleasures of partnership and the orgasm help make us obsessed with having sex, even if we don’t know or care about reproduction. We might think of sex as any path that leads to orgasm. Note here the difference between sex with a person and, say, sex via pornography. In sex with a person, you’re talking about emotion, the positions of your limbs, touch across large skin areas, tastes, scents and pheromones. In the “artificial sex” of pornography, you’re talking about visual images, perhaps enhanced by recorded sounds. Amazing how little we’re willing to settle for! How might artificial sex improve? I’ll sketch some science-fictional scenarios.

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 p.m.
The Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg.
Rudy reads and joins a panel as part of a “Steampunk” evening for the Litquake festival in San Francisco.

Friday, September 26, 2008, 9 p.m., doors 8 p.m.
Center for Sex & Culture, 1519 Mission Street near 11th, San Francisco, September 26 / 9pm, doors open at 8 pm
Rudy participates in the Arse Elektronika reading of sexual science fiction, organized by Carol Queen.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Moe’s Books at 2476 Telegraph Avenue, in Berkeley CA.
Rudy introduces Neal Stephenson for his reading from his new novel Anathem .