I think TAM London can be best summed up by the final night, just after I finished The Amaz!ng Panel with George Hrab, Tim Farley, Neil Denny, Andy Lewis, and Martin Robbins. As people were leaving the venue and heading out to the bar, I asked fellow Skepchick Tracy King if I could have the last caramel KitKat at the concessions stand. You see, we don’t have caramel KitKats in the US and so I was desperate to try this delicious chimera. She said no because she wanted it.
So pretty much the whole event was awful.
Just kidding! It was fabulous—so fabulous that I can’t wait to see what Tracy and the JREF are able to do next year when things get bigger and better. The speakers were wonderful, with standout performances like Tim Minchin playing a few songs on a gorgeous piano and giving a sneak preview of his upcoming short movie Storm. Brian Cox delivered a smart (but not so smart it left us non-physicists behind) talk on the CERN and the beauty of the universe, and Jon Ronson spoke about his experiences researching his book The Men Who Stare at Goats, soon to be a giant hit of a movie. Richard Wiseman held the entire show together with his usual level of hilarity and magical awesomeness. Robin Ince delivered a bonus night of music and comedy that knocked my socks off, seeing as he managed to convince nearly the entire audience to hang out from 9am until 11pm.
If I had one regret, it was that I didn’t have a lot of time to hang with other delegates. I spent a lot of the weekend helping out behind the scenes, traveling back and forth, and being really exhausted while dealing with a sore throat. Everyone I met was lovely, and I wish I’d had the energy to talk more. Next year, I won’t have just completed a trans-Atlantic move, so I should be a bit more chipper.
One of my highlights was something else that kept me busy: conducting interviews with many speakers and delegates along with my co-host Neil Denny of the Little Atoms radio show and podcast. We decided that there were so many cool people there that the best thing to do was to drag them into a tiny closet and spend a few minutes goofing around. You’ll be able to hear the results in three places: Neil’s edited audio will go on Little Atoms, my edited audio will go on The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, and the bawdier bits that are unfit for mainstream broadcast will be posted here on Skepchick.
Oh, what’s that? You demand audio right now? Fine. Just stop yelling.
Here’s a completely unedited interview between me, Neil Denny, and Tim Minchin conducted just after Tim stepped off stage (you can also find this on the Skepchick iTunes feed).
Sounds awesome! I really wish I could have been at the bar . . . I mean at TAM London. And ask Tracy to bring some of those caramel KitKats to TAM 8, but only if she’s willing to share.
Sore throat? You should have taken TAMiflu.
Yeah, I know the rules. One more pun like that and I’m permanently banned from Skepchick.
HA! I tell you what the best moment was. When, just after you’d been refused the delicious chocolatey caramel goodness, Shalinee asked me for it and I SAID YES.
She had no voice at all and was pathetic like a little kitten. You were merely slightly wretched. Gotta work harder on the ill if you want MY last Kit Kat Caramel.
@Tracy King: Oh my jesus I hate you so much right now.
Rebecca, as usual, I am so happy for/jealous of you! Sounds like a really awesome event, and very well managed. How you guys circumvented the post strike was incredible.
However, I am now afraid that you had so much fun at TAMLondon That you might feel compelled to skip TAM8 next year .
@DataJack: How could Rebecca and Sid miss any future TAMs in Vegas? What could possibly be a better anniversary celebration?
@wtfchuck: I hadn’t thought of that, and I hope you are right. Sid & Rebecca – Return to Vegas for your anniversary every year, please! We will get you Surlyramics and drinks at the Del Mar Skeptical Bar as gifts.
(Q: What is the gift for the first year of marriage? A: Art & alcohol)
I’m just happy about having dripped nerd love on Tim Minchin.
WONDERFUL!
Teek, you gotta go BIGGER though it sounds like it would be impossible to do better!
I’d like to hear more about the Storm movie. Any more details about what it’ll be like / when it will come out? How will us Americans see it?
Rebecca,
You neglected to mention to your American readers that the Carmel Kit Kats in question ae CHUNKY Caramel Kit Kats – a Kit Kat the size of a regular candy bar.
I LOVE my adopted country.
Yikes – had I known you were so un-chipper I would definitely not have handed you a pen and then turned my back on you.
As it was, the fab prize T Shirt we’re gonng give away ended up with a massive cock drawn on it, courtesy of Ms King. A collectors’ item, no doubt…
I totally forgot I drew a cock. Excellent. More of that sort of thing.
Which reminds me (shameless plug): If anyone wants to win our signed TAM T Shirt , you could always have a listen to our podcast to find out how.
Apologies for being a shameless sort. But it is a cool T Shirt, featuring Tracy’s Cock…
(dammit, T Shirt link-fail. Should be: http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Image0011.jpg )
Attending TAM London 2 will be like the South Park Movie:
Bigger, better and uncut.
@Marsh: Oh, it was no problem! Everyone was super-polite and it was very nice to meet you and sign your tee. It was mostly at night that I started to rapidly lose steam, and then flee.
@Rebecca: I think everyone was super-polite because there was no beer during the day – I believe I got less uber-polite and more lightly-banterish when we all moved to the Blackfriars afterward…
@Rebecca: The only downside about London:
Towards midnight, everything starts losing steam. Especially the pubs.
Thank god for SOHO …
I am getting a passport because I HAVE to go next year.
What girl could resist the call of the caramel Kit Kat!
@Amy: annnd the amazing mint kit-kats which have yet to hit the U.S. we have friends down in Dawlish that mailed us some more once ours ran out. :)
@exarch: I know, right? I’m still shocked about the midnight closing thing.
If not for the one hour time difference, I probably would’ve had the feeling I was going to bed too early. Even if it had been a schoolnight (so to speak).
@Amy: Now that is hard core candy love: Getting a passport for a Kit Kat.
@DataJack:
“Now that is hard core candy love: Getting a passport for a Kit Kat.”
Speaking of candy-love, I’m wondering if Amy is considering adding hard-candy versions of her surly necklaces to her stock. Geeky AND edible …