From Erik Davis:

For those of you in the Bay Area, please consider attending the one and only local book reading I will be giving to plug my latest mini-tome: _Led Zeppelin IV_. Part of Continuum's 33.3 series of short books on classic rock albums, this snug, nicely priced pocket item follows some Techgnostic threads about occult media into the dark forests that surround this record, the pinnacle of heavy rock. Besides probing the occult fixations of Jimmy Page, the book goes into satanic backmasking, ringwraiths, and the mystic fetish of the 1970s gatefold LP. It's a Friday night, but don't let that scare you! It'll be a hoot.

Friday, June 17th, 7 pm
Booksmith
1644 Haight Street
FREE

In addition, the excellent Mindstates conference will be going down at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts this weekend, beginning this Friday at 11 am. Visionary artist Alex Grey and psychonautical superstars Sasha and Ann Shulgin will be speaking, along with a host of fascinating characters. I am particularly looking forward to Michael Crowley's talk on Buddhism and psychedelics, Ramez Naam's pro-posthuman overview, and Mark Pesce's intriguing-sounding "hyperpeople."

http://www.mindstates.org

Single-day and full conference tickets are available. The complete conference schedule is posted at:

http://www.mindstates.org/schedulefor2005.html