Southern California Skeptic Events

Wyvern

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Well, this thread is destined to get lost in the post-TAM2 fray :D but what the hey.

Here's the schedule of upcoming Skeptic events in the Los Angeles area. I'm planning to attend the January 25 event, and I believe so is Electric Monk. Anyone want to meet up? Please post any additional events of which you are aware, and also let us know if you plan to attend.


Sunday, January 25, 2004, 2:00pm @ CalTech

LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process
The Role of Hallucinogens in Tribal and Modern Peoples

Dr. Marlene Dobkin de Rios, Medical Anthropologist
California State University, Fullerton


Sunday, February 22, 2:00pm @ CalTech

NASA and the Future of Space Exploration
A Skeptical View

Dr. Robert Zubrin, President, The Mars Society

Go to the Skeptics web site for details and directions to the above lectures @ CalTech Baxter Lecture Hall.


Wednesday, February 25, 7:00pm @ Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena

Michael Shermer discusses and signs Moe Faux: Good or Evil WAIT !! Wrong thread . . .
Michael Shermer discusses and signs The Science of Good and Evil

See Vroman's Events Calendar for a schedule and directions to the bookstore.
 
eli54 said:
Will there be samples at the CalTech meetings?
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I'm betting there will, indeed, be samples but that people will selfishly keep it to themselves.
 
I might come, if some TAM2 attendees had not given me a nice variety of colds (bastards, all of you!!). I might add the amethyst is not doing diddly squat. If I get better by Sunday, I will join you. Meet for lunch earlier? Who is in that area? Last time, as I recall, we all cowardly canceled....
 
I would like to go, but I also picked up a cold from TAM2 that I am still recovering from. Perhaps next time.
 
You picked up a cold too? I'VE got a cold! and it's laid me up in my house for 2 days already!

Hmmm, this seems a little bit suspicious, markb. Who else was in our car going to the Thai restaurant, etc? ;)
 
I'll be there.

Yes, last time everyone cancelled. :(

As I recall, we were going to try the Europane bakery next.

I have neither given nor received a cold or other illness at TAM2. Must mean I need to stand closer to the skepchicks next time. ;)

--James
 
bignickel said:
Hmmm, this seems a little bit suspicious, markb. Who else was in our car going to the Thai restaurant, etc? ;)
Click to expand...

Umm.. I didn't go to the Thai restaurant.
 
markb said:


Umm.. I didn't go to the Thai restaurant.
Click to expand...

I can confirm that he spurned that offer, even though he had a car, and I tried to be extremely enticing....
 
markb said:

Umm.. I didn't go to the Thai restaurant.
Click to expand...

WELLL!!! You missed out, mister!!

I realize now that I mistook you for the actual driver. In retrospect, I remembered you driving, but not actually EATING. So, it was the Mac King driving that I was thinking of.

I DIDN'T GET ANY SLEEP! What do you want from me!? I have a cold!

So, you do remember who was in the car with us when we went to Mac King, right?
;)
 
Under the assumption that misery loves (miserable) company, I am miserable to report that one of you miserable pond-scum gave me a cold too...










...and it was worth it.
 
Hmmm, that's 2 tables I've been at where the people came down with colds. That's weird. Unless Mercutio picked his up in a different way... or Marcb did!

I hope to get in to work tomorrow. I hate being stuck inside.
 
W e l l . . .

Your loss (as in no TAM2'ers kissed me) is my gain (I am HEALTHY). :D

So.

Let's meet for lunch at noon. Electric Monk and Wyvern will be there. Renata is a maybe. Hope you feel better, soon, Renata. :( I will PM you with the details.

Eli54, will you be joining us? Either PM me, or post here and I will send you the info.

Where is Keziah Mason??? I know you live in the area. And I want to meet this woman who frightened off the Jehovah's Witnesses!! :D
 
Darwin Day Birthday Party
CFI - West: 4773 Hollywood Blvd., 2 blocks west of Vermont Ave.
Thursday, February 12th, 7:00 p.m.

Join us to celebrate the birthday of the father of the Theory of Evolution. Bill McComas from USC will be on hand to talk about Charles Darwin and the effects his ideas had on his own life and on 150 years of science. Drinks, snacks, music to follow the program. Donations accepted. The public is welcome. Ample free parking.

Speaker info:
Presenter:
William McComas is Associate Professor of Science Education at the Rossier School of Education of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is the founding director of the Program to Advance Science Education (PASE), home to USC's academic science education initiatives. He completed his Ph.D. in science education at the University of Iowa in 1991 following thirteen years as a middle and secondary science teacher in suburban Philadelphia.

His research and publications focus on biology and evolution education, the philosophy of science in science teaching, the elements of effective laboratory, and informal science learning in museums and field settings. His most recent book is The Nature of Science in Science Education: Rationales and Strategies. McComas was named the Outstanding Science Teacher Educator by the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science and received the 1998 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association for his article The Discovery and Nature of Evolution by Natural Selection: Misconceptions and Lessons Learned from the History of Science and the 2001 Ohaus award for curriculum innovation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Science Teachers Association and has recently been elected a fellow of the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching.

Presentation:
Beaks, the Beagle, and other Misconceptions about Evolution and its Nature

Evolution is the most important concept in modern biology but is also one of the most misunderstood both from a scientific and historical perceptive. This illustrated talk will focus on the key aspects of evolution by natural selection and examine some of the widely held misconceptions regarding the nature of evolution itself, the role of the Galapagos Islands in the discovery of organic evolution, and the impact of the finches on Darwin=s thinking. The photographs illustrating this talk are the result of the presenter=s visits to the Galapagos Islands and Down House, Darwin's home in suburban London.
 
Julia Sweeney - Letting Go of God: My Beautiful Loss of Faith Story
CFI - West: 4773 Hollywood Blvd., 2 blocks west of Vermont Ave.
Friday, February 13th, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday Night Live star, actress, and writer Julia Sweeney performs her monologue about her journey from devout Catholic to militant rationalist.

(This is the full version of the performance she gave at TAM2. Don't miss it!)

One show only. Admission is FREE!
Please reserve your seat by calling (323) 692-2700.
 
Way cool! Thanks for posting these great events! I'm thinking about going to both of them.

If I end up going alone, will I be doing my wallflower thing all evening, or is anyone else from here attending?

:confused:
 
I'm not going to be able to make it to the Darwin Day festivities, but I'll be there for the Friday show.
 
Went to the birthday party and had a nice time. The lecture and the birthday cake were both very good. :hbd: I ran into a very cool science professor I used to work with and he told me about a lecture he once gave there, dissing Noah's Ark. Sorry I missed that one!

The sculpture out front is quite the piece of work. :D

See you Friday at Julia's show.
 
Dr. Robert Zubrin: NASA and the Future of Space Exploration: A Skeptical View
Skeptics Lecture Series: Baxter Lecture Hall at Caltech
Sunday, February 22nd, 2:00 p.m.
Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and author best known for his advocacy of manned Mars exploration. Zubrin was the driving force behind Mars Direct - a proposal that significantly reduced the cost and complexity of such a mission by using the Martian atmosphere to produce rocket propellant for the return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by NASA as their "design reference mission". Disappointed with the lack of interest from government in Mars exploration, Zubrin formed the Mars Society in 1998, an international organisation advocating a manned Mars mission as a goal, by private funding if necessary.

Zubrin's books include The Case For Mars, in which he outlines the Mars Direct plan along with speculating on the economic, social and technical viability of future Martian colonization, Entering Space, a more futuristic look at humanity's possible colonization of the solar system and the feasibility of interstellar flight with known physics, and First Landing, a (barely) fictional tale about a near-future Mars flight using the Mars Direct plan.

Zubrin has also released a new fictional work titled The Holy Land. This is a "SF satire on the Middle East crisis and the War on Terrorism and concerns what happens when the liberal Western Galactic Empire relocates the oppressed Minervan sect to their ancient homeland of Kennewick, Washington, in the midst of a USA ruled by Christian fundamentalist fanatics."

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Click to expand...
See Skeptic website for directions and other information.
 
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