The Cacophony Society is an American organization described on their website as "a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society". It was started in 1986 by surviving members of the defunct Suicide Club of San Francisco.
SantaCon is an annual pub crawl in which people dressed in Santa Claus costumes or as other Christmas characters parade in various cities around the world.
Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group that pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance. Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline, the group is known in particular for their performances where custom-built machines, often robotic, compete to destroy each other. The performances, described by one critic as "noisy, violent and destructive", are noted for the visual and aural cacophony created by the often dangerous interactions of the machinery.
Larry Harvey was an American artist, philanthropist and activist. He was the main co-founder of the Burning Man event, along with his friend Jerry James.
The Suicide Club was a secret society in San Francisco, which lasted from 1977–82. It is credited as the first modern extreme urban exploration society, and also known for anarchic group pranks. Despite its name, the club was not actually about suicide. Rather the club focused on people facing their fears and engaging in daring experiences.
Last Gasp is a San Francisco-based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types.
Frank Chu is an American eccentric and conspiracy theorist. Since 1999 or earlier, Chu has been campaigning to impeach an array of former U.S. Presidents he considers guilty of collaborating with a nefarious network of alien populations called the "12 Galaxies" to film him against his will, to broadcast this footage intergalactically, and to embezzle the royalties he is owed as a television and movie star. Chu lives in Oakland, and commutes daily to San Francisco and nearby locales in order to reach the largest audience of passers-by and television news crews for his street protests about this labor dispute. He produces a new sign weekly through Signographics in San Francisco and supports himself through sign sponsorships and small donations from his supporters and with help from his family.
20 GOTO 10 was an art gallery in operation from 2008 to 2012, founded by Christopher Abad in San Francisco, California, United States.
The Alternative Press Expo (APE) was a comic book festival and alternative comics convention that operated from 1994 to 2017. Founded by Slave Labor Graphics publisher Dan Vado, APE focused on self-published, independent, and alternative cartoonists and comic publishers.
The Brides of March is an annual event that takes place in San Francisco, California and other cities around March 15. Started by the Cacophony Society, the event's name is a pun on the term Ides of March, and is a parody of weddings in western culture. The event, which began in 1999, is part pub crawl and part street theater, while wearing a thrift store wedding dress.
Barbara Traub is an American photographer, who was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Several years after graduating from Johns Hopkins University, she went on an exchange program to an art school in Florence, Italy, for a semester with the intention of doing painting and drawing but at the last minute was handed a camera, thus establishing her future direction.
Justine Ezarik is an American YouTuber. She is best known as iJustine, with over one billion views on her YouTube channel. She gained attention as a lifecaster who communicated directly with her millions of viewers on her Justin.tv channel, ijustine.tv. She acquired notability in roles variously described as a "lifecasting star", a "new media star", or one of the Internet's most popular lifecasters. She posted videos on her main channel iJustine.
John Law is an American artist, culture-jammer, and neon sign technician. He was a primary member of the Cacophony Society and a member of the Suicide Club. He is also a co-founder of Burning Man which evolved out of the spirit of the Cacophony Society when a precursor solstice party was banned from San Francisco's Baker Beach and merged with another Cacophony event on the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Originally from Michigan, Law has lived in San Francisco, California since 1976, and has maintained the signage and clock face of the Tribune Tower in Oakland, where he also has an office, since 1996.
Epic Fu was a web series created by producers Steve Woolf and Zadi Diaz. The show premiered on June 1, 2006 with Zadi Diaz as the host and ended in 2011.
A dot-com party is a social and business networking party hosted by an Internet-related business, typically for promotional purposes or to celebrate a corporate event such as a product launch, venture funding round, or corporate acquisition.
Doggie Diner was a small fast food restaurant chain serving hot dogs and hamburgers in San Francisco and Oakland, California that operated from 1948 to 1986, owned by Al Ross.
John Halcyon Styn is an American blogger, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, web designer, author, and web celebrity, who "pushed the boundaries of online self-expression" through his various online projects. He is currently the co-founder of 1st Saturdays, a homeless outreach project, and the host of Hug Nation.
Laughing Squid is a blog featuring art, culture, and technology, as well as a web hosting company based out of New York City, New York.
AJ+ is a social media publisher owned by Al Jazeera Media Network which focuses on news and current affairs. AJ+ content exists in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish. It is available on its website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with written content on Medium.
