Not every new calendar entry gets its own shout-out here on Skepchick, but those that are run by Skepchicks or their crushes certainly do. To that end, let me point out that my favorite cheeky skeptical monkey Sid Rodrigues of Skeptics in the Pub has organized a fantastic event in London this April 19: An Evening with James Randi and Friends. The “Friends” include perennial favorites Richard Wiseman, Simon Singh, Chris French, Ben Goldacre, and Susan Blackmore. That’s an amazingly awesome line-up, and if you’re nearby you can check out the action for just £11, or £5.50 if you’re a student or OAP (whatever the hell that is, crazy Brits).
OAP is an abbreviation for Old Age Pensioner, ie. a senior citizen.
For bring this to my attention I shall pyschically project my thanks to you :-)
OAP…wasn’t that a song by Naughty By Nature…”You down with OAPs? Yeah, you know me!”
On a serious note…WHY didn’t this event happen last April when I was bored and relatively idle while living in Mile End? I know I didn’t go to any Skeptics in the Pub events while I was there (being bad at meeting people and too shy to go alone, blah blah blah) but for this, for THIS I would have gone.
If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to cry for a while and curl up in Bigfoot’s strong, waiting arms.
Okay, Expatria…the NbN reference, the Bigfoot call-out…I see you’re already striving for the next Comment o’ the Week!
Thankyou for remembering us ‘crazy Brits’, I shall do absolutely everything I can to be there! I work every weekend and live a fair distance away with no money to get there and no spare time, since I’m supposed to revise for A levels…
The odds are stacked against me, the hurdles are high and there is no way I would be back by tea time. I shall, however, persevere. Damnit, I will see James Randi!
Seriously, thanks for letting us know.
If you find a way to get there Sam, I will buy you a pint.
Thanks, Chris. I’ll hold you to that. And then counter it by buying a pint right back at you! (if I can afford it by the time I’ve managed to get there).
I will talk to my boss tomorrow about getting the weekend off. Then, if she says no, I will quit!
That’s the spirit, Sam!
Glad to see some Skepchick readers will be in attendance. If you introduce yourselves to Sid (dark hair, black-frame glasses, cute), maybe he can point you out to one another to say hello.
Kewl Sam! I’ll have to check the prices and all first, but with Ryan Air I think it’ll be dirt cheap. And thanks Rebecca for keeping us up to date with what’s going on in our own parts of the woods.
@ Rebecca & Co
Completely off topic…I mailed you guys asking if there is any possibility that we poor Europeans can order products from your shop and having them sent from Europe. Still no reply, and yes, I am chocked! ;)
I found some of your stuff at spreadshirt.net (European branch of spreadshirt.com) but to my dismay they didn’t have the “Don’t high-hat the monkey” tshirt. Will one be able to get all your stuff from spreadshirt.net in the future?
Thanks guys!
…and please feel free to make as many jokes about being “chocked” as you possibly can…
Rebecca: You’ve met me, you should be able to tell by now that I’m not consciously angling for the next COTW…that’s just how my diseased little brain works. Most people are driven to eat and to reproduce, I have an additional drive to turn everything into a humorous comment :-P
You’ll all be delighted to hear that yours truly is involved with this event and will be delighted to refuse to let any of you in for free.
BWAH HA HA!
tkingdoll…. is there anywhere in the vicinity of the event where a hapless young Welsh pilgrim may stay for but a few pennies?
Eeek, such short notice, but what a line up! Soooooo tempting to hop on a plane….
Sam, a couple of people have asked about cheap accommodation. I’ll see if I can get a deal with a couple of hotels. The cheapest room I’ve ever found in London was £40, it was a shoebox but perfectly adequate.
Thanks for being our Skepchick liaison, Teek!
@ Rebecca
Eh, is there a reason for why I’m not getting any sort of response here?
Hey Chris,
Sorry, I was trying to find the info for the European Spreadshirt site. I know we set one up ages ago but I abandoned it soon thereafter because it was just way too much work to continuously update both. But, if I can find my login and all that, I can get in and make the shirts available there.
Thanks!
Thanks Rebecca!
Didn’t realise it took continuous updates and stuff. I suspect you have somewhat of a full plate already, so don’t sweat it. I’ll squeeze a few quid of Sam while in London. ;)
I have the weekend booked off work, looks like I’ll get there for sure! (as soon as I work out how to book tickets…)
tkingdoll if you work out some accommodation I would be interested to hear as well. Derby is a long way from London.
another one interested in accomodation deals going :-)
Sorry for the run around. I’ve had a look at a few hotels around the area. You can have a look at my post on the JREF forum here. if you’re looking for somewhere cheap for the night.
Thanks, Sid… but £4o is cheap!?? Oh dear me.
I reckon I can pull an all nighter, Camden Town is not far from there and it sounds like an interesting place to spend a saturday night. If i get really tired, maybe I could get arrested and have a nice 2×2 room for the night.
@ Sam
Still not sure if I’m going…but if I am, I will hopefully be staying at a friends place over night. If you’re not in the habit of killing people in their sleep, your more than welcome to come along.
Still, a lot of maybes. I’ll get back to you before this weekend with a definite answer.
That would be very helpful, but not to worry if it doesn’t work out. Thanks for trying. And no, I hardly ever kill people in their sleep. Anymore.