If nothing else, the weather this week is going to be really consistent probable fog early on, burning off later but never warming up much, with the wind threatening to knock you down starting around 4 p.m. daily, as the fog returns. So if you need to break up that monotony with some novel activities, here are some ideas a number of them outdoors and therefore requiring layers.
TUESDAY, JULY 19
KNIFE SKILLS CLASS: You ever watch Chopped or Top Chef and wish you had some of the contestants' knife skills? Well, you need to start with some basics, and that's what they're teaching at this regular offering at 18 Reasons. You'll learn how to maintain a sharp blade and the best ways to cut vegetables and herbs. 3674 18th Street, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., $55
INSANE HORROR MOVIE SCREENING: It's another Terror Tuesday at Alamo Drafthouse and this week's feature is 80's cult film From Beyond. Described as a "the most incredible sex-horror grotesquerie of 1986," the movie brings together Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon with actors Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs for "an overdose of hallucinogenic insanity [that's] grimmer... more hateful... [and] even more hyperactive than its berserker predecessor." Alamo Drafthouse at the New Mission, 2550 Mission Street, 10:55 p.m. $5
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20
OPERA HOUSE RIBBON CUTTING: Join the SF Arts Commission along with the mayor and Supervisor Malia Cohen to celebrate the newly renovated and reopen Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theater. The place has been refurbished, along with the grounds, by local landscape architect and artist Walter Hood in partnership with TEF Architects/Knapp, and this event is a community preview ahead of the big grand reopening. There will be refreshments and live music, and a chance to tour the space. 4705 Third Street, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., free
THURSDAY, JULY 21
DATING TALK: Moira Weigel, the author of Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating, will be featured at this Inforum event at the Commonwealth Club discussing the foibles of modern dating and a look back at the history of the whole concept, in conversation with Amanda Bradford, CEO of The League. 555 Post Street, 6 p.m., $10-$60
LARGE-SCALE OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW: Eight local photographers will be exhibiting their work outdoors with the Adolph Gasser gallery, with images blown up to up to 20 feet and applied to walls with wheat paste. Photographers featureed: Maury Edelstein, Dave Glass, Michael Jang, Kappy, Vladimir Panasenko, Ted Pushinksy, David Root, and occasional SFist contributor Troy Holden. 181 Second Street, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., free
COOL SOUND-BASED INSTALLATIONS & PARTY: The seventh biennial Soundwave festival is happening this summer, and this week there's a cool event at the Academy of Sciences featuring performances and installations interpreting the city through sound. There'll be a new electronic music piece in the piazza, a virtual rendering of the city that you can play as an instrument, and artist Jason Marsh will use VR headsets to take people "through data architectures built by inhabitants of the city and into a new realm." 55 Music Concourse Drive, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., $15
FRIDAY, JULY 22
LIVE ARCHAEOLOGY DIG: Want to witness the discovery of SF history up close? The Presidio Trust hosts these weekly events where you can see local archaeologists at work, now through October on Friday and Saturdays, as they excavate El Presidio de San Francisco, the Spanish-colonial site buried just below the ground in front of the Presidio Officers' Club. If you can't make it over Friday around lunch, you can try Saturday, or next week. Presidio Officers' Club, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free.
SATURDAY, JULY 23
DAY-DRUNK WINE PARTY: The folks at Tank 18 will be doing one of their popular BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) events, where you bring washed-out empty wine bottles and they fill them, this time with Sonoma County rosé, for $7.99 a pop. For $2 more, they provide the bottles. And people tend to hang out all afternoon and this week you'll be treated to wood-fired pizza from the Del Popolo truck in the alley. Tank 18, 1345 Howard Street, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
BURNING MAN PARTY IN GOLDEN GATE PARK: As part of the 25th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Grove in the park, gay Burning Man camp Comfort and Joy are hosting Playa in the Park, a day party featuring interactive art, Tarot card readings, and music from DJs Bus Station John and Trever Pearson. Also, it's a potluck, so you're encouraged to bring a casserole or covered dish. Nancy Pelosi Drive, Golden Gate Park, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
OUTDOOR MOVIE: Wanting to see Finding Dory but needing to rewatch the original? Bundle up and head to Union Square to see Finding Nemo, for free, as part of the Film Night In the Park Series that also comes to Dolores Park. Union Square, movie starts after dark
ONE 'WOMAN' SHOW: Talented local drag star Miss Rahni will be doing a one-woman show titled My Book, Vol. 2 this weekend at The Stud, with some proceeds going to help the threatened venue. Also, it's Rahni's birthday, and she says, "With all this crazy stuff that's been going on we all just need to come together and just BE!" Spinning this night also will be DJ Sergio Fedasz of Go Bang! The Stud, Harrison and 9th, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., $15, advance tickets here.
SUNDAY, JULY 24
FREE SYMPHONY CONCERT: The San Francisco Symphony is doing their second annual free concert on the water this weekend, at Pier 27 (by the new cruise ship terminal), conducted by SFS Director of Summer Concerts Edwin Outwater. The program features Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Picnics encouraged, but there will be food trucks. Pier 27, noon to 2 p.m. free
