Archive for July, 2010

Star Party Tickets on Sale Now!

It’s time! Tickets for our 2nd Annual Charity Star Party are on sale now! Are you coming to Dragon*Con this year? If so, you should seriously consider coming in a day early to attend. This year’s entertainment includes renowned astronomers and hosts of AstronomyCast, Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain with special appearance by musician George Hrab! Plus, Skepchick Rebecca Watson will be hosting the event. The Emory University Physics department is sponsoring the event and will be showing off their observatory and telescopes.

This event is in honor of Jeff Medkeff, the Blue Collar Scientist, astronomer, skeptic and friend to many of us. Jeff succumbed to liver cancer in 2008. All proceeds will go toward the Light the Night Fund: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Jeff’s name.

Food, drinks and conversations with astronomers. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, star gazing!

We have a bit more space than we did last year but tickets will sell out. Get them while you can!

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July 20, 2010 · Filed under Atlanta, dragon*Con, Events, Uncategorized

TAM8 – Final Thoughts

I’m home now and settling back into every day life after leaving TAM8 was quite a jolt.  It’s kind of how I feel after Dragon*Con each year – exhausted, elated and longing for more.  I met so many interesting people, heard so many fascinating talks and generally tried to embrace every waking moment of the conference with as much sponge-like attentiveness as I could muster.

Saturday was a treat for me personally because I got to do a half-hour interview with James Randi himself.  His organization puts on The Amazing Meeting, and I’ve seen him so many times but getting to sit down and talk to him face to face was delightful.  It’s astonishing to meet someone so in the moment and even more so when you consider his moments span eight decades.  Along with my MonsterTalk co-hosts, we talked with Randi about a famous poltergeist case he’d investigated back in the 1980’s.  It was fascinating and I was excited to discover that not only did he remember the case, but that he’d included it in his upcoming book, A Magician in the Laboratory.
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July 17, 2010 · Filed under TAM

TAM 8 – Thoughts about Day 2

I’m in the back of the room listening to a fascinating talk by Dr. Bruce Hood, author of Supersense.  Already this morning I’ve talked with James Randi about a mysterious Georgia poltergeist case which I’ll put up on MonsterTalk soon.  I learned things in that interview that I’d never heard and am excited that he’s written it up in his new book which should be out in a few months. But that’s today and I want to write a bit about yesterday.   This is day three of TAM 8 in Las Vegas – but I want to talk about what happened on day 2.

Bruce Hood sounds very smart.  He’s talking about the brain and how it works.  He seems very well informed, though my first meeting with him was last night in the hotel bar when he was wearing a fake moustache and singing the theme music from Star Trek in an impromptu barber-shop quartet.  It’s amazing – and yes, I can tell you that this conference lives up to its name.
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July 10, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized

TAM8 – First Thoughts

Downstairs the clink and bings of a thousand slot machines remind you that you’re in Las Vegas, but upstairs in the conference center there is a feel of enthusiasm at a day filled with science, reason, rationalism and yes, skepticism.  I’m at the James Randi Educational Foundation’s “The Amazing Meeting 8” – more commonly known as TAM.  This is the eighth year that the venerable Randi’s foundation has pulled together some of the leading figures in the world of fact-based thinking and put them in a venue where they can mingle and communicate with the everyday people who are trying to make the world a more reasonable place.

The official TAM8 Banner

This year the keynote speaker is Richard Dawkins, author of The Greatest Show on Earth, The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestor’s Tale, as well as the book that branded him as one of the four-horsemen of “The New Atheists” movement, The God Delusion.  Dawkins did a Q&A sessions last night moderated by magician Jamie Ian Swiss.  I expect he’ll have much more to say, but he has a kind of nerd Rock Star reception around here. It’s impressive to see.
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July 9, 2010 · Filed under Meetings, Politics, religion, Science

Skeptics in the Park II: Post Mortem

I’ve been remiss in my recapping duties on this, but here’s a brief summary at last of how things went. Once again, any suggestions/comments are welcome

To be continued after the break:

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July 3, 2010 · Filed under Atlanta, Events