Here’s your last reminder to come join the fun at the Asgard in Central Square tonight at 7pm! We’ve got Mike the Mad Biologist talking about how to defend evolution, and by the looks of it, we’ll all be very entertained.
All the necessary info is at BostonSkeptics.com. Plus, I’ve just been informed that there’s parking available for $3 at the Meridian Hotel, with validation. (Thanks, Dave!)
Just heard about this while listening to a NESS podcast this weekend. I’ll be there.
Damn, and I still haven’t got that astral projection thing working yet.
Just out of curiosity, are there any other SG-1 geeks who read that and thought, “The Asgard? Really? COOL!” They have that whole transporter beam thing down pretty good, and that would certainly solve the travel issues for a lot of us.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for Portlandish get-togethers … I was planning to just be a lurker here, not even post, and certainly not come to anything real, but you can see how well THAT went. :D
Hm, I don’t follow SG-1 at all so I’m missing the nerdy tie-in. Ah, well. Bee, we’re certainly happy to have you here, and I hope it won’t be long before we get a Skepchick get-together in your neighborhood!
SG-1 is marvelous … Richard Dean Anderson has improved SO much from his MacGyver days. ;) The Asgard are a superior race who swoop in from time to time to give the humans advice (and occasionally some kickass technology). It allows for a few deus ex machina moments without having to ever imply a higher power in the universe.
Come to think of it, that’s a recurring theme in the show … anything that appears to be supernatural is explainable by scientific means. The main story arc of the last two seasons really was getting into that in a fascinating way, and I was very sorry the show was cancelled. The first nine seasons’ worth of baddies were aliens with superior technology who had lived here and passed themselves off as what became the Egyptian pantheon, so the series started right off with the “gods aren’t divine” concept.
The last two seasons introduced liturgical bad dudes who seemed to embody the worst elements of Puritanism and Crusade-era Catholicism, with some magical powers mixed in. I was really enjoying watching the writers reveal the scientific (well, sci-fi) explanation behind the magic while dealing with the all-too-familiar effects of top-down religious control on the uneducated cultures they came across on their travels.
LOL … OK, maybe my longstanding interest in SG-1 and my new skeptic leanings might not be the best combination if brevity is the goal. ;)
Thank you! :) I hope so too.
Unfortunately I can’t attend. I think my reason is good though. I live in Glasgow, Scotland and although the fact that you would be there Rebecca, is a big incentive, it didn’t make me get on the plane.
Hope you all enjoy yourselves.
Damn it Jim, the dylithium crystals are burning out and the transporter will not get you to Boston from here…
I’ll be at the Asgard, and probably awkwardly early rather than fashionably late. That’s just my style.
My flight to Boston was cancelled, so I’m going to miss another skeptics in the tub meeting.
But will you guys drink a toast in my general direction and then throw something gross and sticky on the floor in my honor?
Sam Ogden asked:
The good news is that just about everyone bought a drink; I’m sure at least one must have been for you. The bad news is that Michael Egnor never showed up, so there was nothing gross and sticky to throw to the ground.
Well, it’s enough to know that you were at least thinking about throwing something gross and sticky.
I appreciate it.
I just want to know what happened at some previous Skepchick gathering that would make throwing something gross and sticky on the floor an appropriate reference to Sam Ogden!! :o
James everyone knows transporters don’t work but stargates are another thing, do you have one at your end?