Three points order, valued board of skeptics:
First up, Discover Magazine is having a contest! Shoot a video of yourself explaining String Theory in two minutes or less and you could win . . . well, nothing but bragging rights around the Erlenmeyer flasks Monday morning, but the results should be fun! I’d like to come up with something, but my grasp of the idea is tenuous enough that I doubt I could do as good a job as some of the more scientifically literate out there. If any of you are planning to submit a video, let us know!
Second, reader Dan has tipped us off to a new Darwin movie in the works! He sends us this link to CHUD.com — I poked around the old webosphere but was unable to find any corroborating evidence. The blurb names Master and Commander screenwriter John Collee (promising!) and The Core director Jon Amiel (frightening!).
Third, I nearly forgot to mention that I received my Darwinian pick-up line t-shirts! Sweeeeeeet. Also, Azinyk’s belated valentine for having the winning entry will shortly be to its destination!
The terms of the contest are rather in the "we own your firstborn children" genre, which dissuades me from putting serious effort into this. Before I read them, however, my first thought was of the wonderful Borat impression my friend Mike does, and what a wonderful premise that could become. "In Kazakhstan, we study theory called loop quantum gravity. Please, you explain: is same as string theory?"
I notice you aren't wearing the really dirty, and consequently really cool, shirt.
I guess a shirt asking people to come on your face is almost asking for it.
heh… asking. get it?
I wonder if the SGU folks have a t-shirt with "I have monkeys in my pants" on it.
Everything can be made good by adding "in my pants" at the end of it. Just imagine using the Law of Attraction to get your farting pony…in my pants.
See it works!
Think globally. Act locally…in my pants!
Hey, slashnull, you're right!
actually, at "<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youaredumb.net/" rel="nofollow">you are dumb" they have a running thread where you take church signs and add "in my pants" to the end.
Much Hilarity Ensues.
(edited to add–it's the Presbytarian Pants thread. One of the best: "Worship one God…In my pants!"
To paraphase a certain quote: "If you think you understand string theory, you don't understand string theory."
xkcd has a pretty good take on this: http://xkcd.com/c171.html
Hey Rebbeca,
NICE SINK! … in my pants.
Hot picture, Rebecca. I believe I've prematurely subverted my genetic imperative…in my pants.
Someone really needs to ban me from this discussion. I'll keep kicking that horse long after it's dead.
Where's a TAM when you need one? ;)
Hmm… try:
"If you doubt this is possible, how is it there are PYGMIES + DWARFS… in my pants??"
STREETLIGHT! … in my pants.
I nearly chocked to death on my breakfast laughing at the PYGMIES + DWARFS in my pants, thanks thad.
And there's nothing worse than chocking to death….in my pants.
The competition is only open to residents of the USA. Damn. I think I could have done a pretty good job.
So what? Do it anyway.
Hmmm… maybe I should
Dude, totally. The point of making a string-theory video is not to get blogo-fame by being plastered across Discover Magazine's website. The point is to make Peter Woit upset.
"Think globally. Act locally…in my pants!"
Actually, I like the title of the Gogol Bordello song: "Think Locally, Fuck Globally". (In my pants?)
Now there's a genetic imperative for ya!