Skeptics in the Pub: Mothers’ Day Special

WHEN
Sunday, May 9, 2010
7:00pm – 10:00pm

WHERE
Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square (top floor)
96 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA

Facebook event page

Good news, Everyone! You’re all invited to a SPECIAL Boston Skeptics in the Pub this Sunday evening, when our guest will be the FANTASTIC Jon Ronson.

Jon is probably best known as the author of the book “The Men Who Stare At Goats,” which became a movie starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. Jon’s written several other books, and his journalistic work has appeared widely in print in the UK and elsewhere. Additionally, Jon has appeared several times on Public Radio International’s “This American Life,” and has created documentary series for TV and radio.

Jon is a charismatic, funny, self-deprecating speaker, and while we KNOW Sunday is Mothers’ Day, you could still cap off the day by bringing your moms to Tommy Doyle’s to listen to Jon’s talk! And yes, while the event is FREE OF CHARGE, your mom doesn’t have to know that… tell her you got her a ticket as a present! BONUS!

Either way, as Jon himself said on Twitter, “[W]e’ll have just the greatest time,” so don’t miss out!

Hey gang!

First, we just want to thank everyone who came to SitP last night. Jeff Lieberman was fantastic, and we’re very grateful to him for speaking to us! And in case you stayed home in favor of watching the video version of this month’s event: sorry, but there IS no video this month! You really missed out this time. Plus, our videos don’t tell the whole story, so it’s always worthwhile to come out and meet your fellow skeptifriends!

We also announced next month’s SitP speaker: Kimball Atwood IV! Kimball is a practicing anesthesiologist, a blogger at Science-Based Medicine, and was named a CSI (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) Fellow! We’ll have more information about this event closer to the date, as Kimball is scheduled to speak on Monday, March 29th at 7PM. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet him prior to his appearance at NECSS the following month.

Lastly, this week’s BS Book Club meeting is at 2:00 PM, not 2:30 as had previously been announced in yesterday’s post. That post has already been redacted down the memory hole, and we have always been at war with Eastasia. The venue and book have not changed, so check yesterday’s post for the details!

That’s it for now. Thanks again for your support!

Hi everyone! Do you have plans for tonight? Well, I certainly hope not, unless those plans involve stopping by Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square for tonight’s edition of Skeptics in the Pub!

That’s right! It’s finally time for this month’s talk, featuring Jeff Lieberman of the Discovery Channel’s Time Warp, the band gloobic, and all those other projects we talked about here! So just in case you forgot, well, that’s happening tonight at 7 PM. Get there early!

Also worth noting: This coming Saturday (Feb. 27th) is the next meeting of the Boston Skeptics Book Club! There’s still time to read this month’s book, 59 Seconds by our good friend Richard Wiseman. It’ll take you longer than 59 seconds, I suspect, but it’s still a quick and entertaining read. So be sure to come to the Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square at 2:00 PM to join in the discussion!

And finally, a bit of a head’s up: Do you have plans for the early afternoon on Sunday, March 14th? Well, congrats on planning things so far in advance (a skill we could stand to cultivate!) but you MAY want to keep some time open. We HOPE to have more about this soon.

So there’s a quick summary of our upcoming events! We’d love to see you (yes, YOU!) at all of them!

Skeptics in the Pub: February Edition

WHEN
Monday, February 22, 2010 (pronounced “twentington”)
7:00pm – 10:00pm

WHERE
Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square (top floor)
96 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA

Facebook event page

Well, it’s been a few months since we’ve had a speaker here at Skeptics in the Pub, so we’re absolutely JAZZED to be able to bring you Jeff Lieberman as February’s special guest!

Jeff will no doubt be familiar to some of you as the host of Time Warp on the Discovery Channel! Time Warp uses high-speed photography to show you ordinary things in extraordinary detail. If you’ve ever noticed a strange amount of Cambridge-area content, well, that may be because Jeff is a local!

In addition to his work on Time Warp, Jeff is a renaissance man, and is well known in several fields! He’s an MIT trained scientist, with degrees in Math, Physics, Engineering, and Media. He plays electronic music in the group “gloobic,” makes his way through the art world for both photography and sculpture, and is also a roboticist who MAY be building a robot to TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Well, I made up the “taking over the world” part… or did I?

At any rate, come on out for Jeff’s talk, and you can ask him questions about any and all of those things! Get there early, we’re sure this going to be a popular talk. RSVP in the comments or over on Facebook to let us know you’re coming, so we can let Tommy Doyle’s know how many people to expect. We hope to see you all there, as the material covered WILL be on your final exam! :)

NB: Don’t forget about our Brunch this Saturday! The fact that we’re bumping that post is NO excuse for slacking!

Apologies for the rather late OFFICIAL notice, but the latest Boston Skeptics Brunch will be taking place this Saturday, February 13th at 11:00 AM, at the Asgard in Central Square. If you’ve never been, our brunches are really informal gatherings where we just eat, drink, and spend time getting to know other cool skeptical people. So come on out, if the tardiness of our announcement hasn’t put you off!

Besides, if we didn’t wait until now, we’d have missed out on the fantastic term “waffle frolic.”

According to Wikipedia:
“Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron from France, and waffle frolics or parties became popular in the late eighteenth century.”

Is it true? WHO CARES? It’s an awesome name. So come, hang out, relax, and eat yummy things with us this Saturday! Be sure to RSVP on Facebook so we know how many people to expect!

* NOTE * The Asgard may not actually serve waffles, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a waffle frolic IN OUR HEARTS.

Hey gang!

If you don’t follow us on Twitter or belong to our Facebook Group, you might not already know that we’ve got another Skeptics in the Pub night going on tomorrow!

We’ve all been shagged out since the Richard Wiseman event earlier this month, so we have to apologize for the late notice! But just because we don’t have another guest speaker doesn’t mean we can’t still get together for some fun times, right?

SO: Tomorrow night (Monday, Jan. 25th), join your Boston Skeptics friends for an exciting night of trivia! Stop by Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square at the usual time (7:00 PM) and join forces with your friends and fellow skeptics for some geeky trivia fun! We’re even trying to coordinate a surprise for you, though WE PROMISE NOTHING.

RSVP here on the Facebook Event page to let us know you’re coming, and we’ll see you all there tomorrow!

Just another quick post to remind you all that tomorrow is the next meeting of the Boston Skeptics Book Club! Join Mary and the rest of the Book Club at 2:00PM at the Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square. I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about regarding this month’s book, Spook by Mary Roach, so stop by and check it out!

And don’t forget to RSVP here if you’re going to see “Creation” with the Boston Atheists and the Atheists of Greater Lowell tonight!

UPDATE: Just a reminder. We will be meeting up at Tommy Doyle’s this Monday at 7pm for BS Trivia-thon. Bring your thinkin’ brain!

Did you miss the previously-mentioned preview screening of the new film Creation here in Greater Boston? Well, Zachary from the Boston Atheists let us know about another interesting screening happening this Friday!

The Boston Atheists and the Atheists of Greater Lowell will be attending the 7:00 PM screening of the film, at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. Zachary suggested that there may be a Q & A with the film’s director following this showing, so be sure to go and check it out!

Please RSVP here on MeetUp.com to let them know you’re coming! If our three groups combined can get 25 or more people to attend, you can take advantage of discounted group-rate tickets!

(NB: Dont forget to RSVP here or on Facebook for this Saturday’s BS Brunch!)

Hey gang,

Late update, but we’ve just heard about an event you might find interesting. Creation, a new movie about Charles Darwin and his personal struggle with faith in the light of reason, is playing in an advanced screening TONIGHT! The film is based on a book by Randal Keynes, Darwin’s great-great-grandson, and stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin. Over at the JREF Swift Blog, Jeff Wagg has some information:

For those in the Boston area, there’s an **advance** screening on January 14, 7pm, at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. The Q&A panel includes author Randal Keynes, and professors Thomas Glick and Jon Roberts of Boston University. RSVP at CreationBoston@43kix.com

RSVP to that email address if you’re planning to go, and be sure to RSVP on Facebook or leave a comment here in case any other Boston Skeptics want to meet you there! And if you miss the film tonight, the official release will be happening on January 22nd, so you can always catch it then.

Hat tip to SkepticScott for giving us the heads-up!

Skeptics in the Pub: Thanksgiving Special

WHEN
Monday, November 23, 2009
7:00pm – 10:00pm

WHERE
Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square (top floor)
96 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA

Facebook event page

Before you head off to visit your family and gorge on turkey (tofurkey and turducken are also acceptable) join your friends in the Boston Skeptics for this month’s Skeptics in the Pub event!

We’re about as thrilled as can be about this month’s guest. Many of you will know George Hrab from his appearances at TAM, TAM London, NECSS, Dragon*Con, and just about every other skeptical event under the sun. But for those of you who don’t, Geo is one talented guy! He’s a skeptical singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist whose music is available on iTunes or here at CD Baby. He also puts out the always-amusing Geologic Podcast, which just hit its 140th episode!

If that’s not enough, George is an incredible humorist and raconteur. When he joins us on Monday, Nov. 23rd, be sure to wear your laughing pants. And if you don’t own laughing pants a) what’s wrong with you? and b) you’d better buy some! Geo will be at our usual location, Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square, from 7-10 PM. He will be singing some songs, telling some stories, and hanging out to answer your questions!

So once again, join your host Liz Gaston and the rest of the Boston Skeptics for what we HOPE will be a rocking, fun filled way to kick off the holiday season! We hope to see you ALL there!