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« Hiya, Leonardo! | Main | Opus says... »

Shameless gloating

Category: Godlessness
Posted on: January 20, 2006 9:36 AM, by PZ Myers

I just received a little present in the mail…

[note autograph]

TrackBacks

(TrackBack URL for this entry: )

To PZ, With Love from The World Wide Rant - v3.0
PZ Myers is too cool for words*. I got an autographed copy of Dawkins' latest book, The Ancestor's Tale, when he came through Denver to support the book's release, but it wasn't free and it was only signed because I... Read More
Tracked on January 20, 2006 11:11 PM
The Rottweiler Disappoints from tongue but no door
I finally watched Richard Dawkins' The Root of All Evil? two nights ago. I suppose my short review is, I was disappointed.... Read More
Tracked on February 10, 2006 8:33 AM

Comments

Sweet!

Posted by: Pablo | January 20, 2006 9:42 AM

Hmmmm, does Dawkins lurk here?

Posted by: Jason Spaceman | January 20, 2006 9:44 AM

Yeah, baby.

Can I borrow it when you're done? I've an autographed copy of Unweaving the Rainbow I can put up for collateral.

Posted by: AJ Milne | January 20, 2006 9:47 AM

PZ, please excuse all the evil thoughts I am currently sending your way, as I am fantastically envious of you right now.

Posted by: Heliologue | January 20, 2006 9:47 AM

That is so nice of him.

Posted by: coturnix | January 20, 2006 9:48 AM

It would probably be inappropriate to call this a late christmas present.

Volvox

Posted by: Volvox | January 20, 2006 9:48 AM

I want one.

Posted by: Bill | January 20, 2006 9:49 AM

I think it's time we kicked those musicians out of the 331 Club and had a movie night!

Posted by: Kristine | January 20, 2006 9:50 AM

Ah, the perks of celebrity and power. What's next; Grand Marshall of the Morris Syttende Mai parade?

Maybe you can get Dawkins to do some guest blogging next time you take a break.

Posted by: LJ | January 20, 2006 9:52 AM

#10

That's the problem with being a pseudonomynous lurker; nobody knows where to send all those presents they'd like to give me.

Clarification: Did Dawkins send this to you, or did some third party obtain a copy and do the sending?

Posted by: Bayesian Bouffant, FCD | January 20, 2006 9:53 AM

#11

Hey Richard, you're free to send a DVD my way too if you want! (PZ you're one lucky bastard...)

Posted by: Matthew Heaney | January 20, 2006 9:58 AM

#12

Bouffant, I assume that Dawkins did the sending, as it's personalized to PZ.

Posted by: Heliologue | January 20, 2006 9:59 AM

#13

The green-eyed monster is strong in me.

Do we know if the show will be either broadcast here in the USA or if it will be available on DVD any time soon (thank Netflix!)

Posted by: Hank Alme | January 20, 2006 10:00 AM

#14

Yes, Dawkins lurks here -- I don't think that often, but you never know when he might read your comment about him. He sent it after reading that I envy the British for being able to see his latest program.

Posted by: PZ Myers | January 20, 2006 10:02 AM

#15

You lucky stiff!

Posted by: Sean Foley | January 20, 2006 10:06 AM

#16

I just turned deep green. Here's hoping that Netflix picks it up, because it certainly won't be shown on American tv.

Posted by: Catana | January 20, 2006 10:08 AM

#17

Yes, Dawkins lurks here -- I don't think that often, but you never know when he might read your comment about him.

>_>

Hi, Mr. Dawkins.

Posted by: Heliologue | January 20, 2006 10:38 AM

#18

I watched it the other day. Pretty damn good.

Hello... BitTorrent anyone?

Posted by: Jeff Hinton | January 20, 2006 10:42 AM

#19

LUCKY DOG!
PZ, please give us a review........

Posted by: Rocky | January 20, 2006 10:42 AM

#20

If I pray to Dawkins will the Dawkins fairy or Dawkins Claus leave something special for me?

Posted by: Jason Malloy | January 20, 2006 10:42 AM

#21

And, does anyone know if this vidio can be purchased somewhere?????

Posted by: Rocky | January 20, 2006 10:43 AM

#22

I would really, really like to see that dvd.

I mean really would like to see it.:-(

Posted by: Uber | January 20, 2006 10:45 AM

#23

That is too damn cool!

Posted by: PJM(A FREQUENT LURKER) | January 20, 2006 10:48 AM

#24

Bouffant, I assume that Dawkins did the sending, as it's personalized to PZ.

My experience at book signings is that they will write almost whatever the buyer requests. I have discovered the limits of this by requesting the wording "to my sole heir,". Hasn't worked yet.

Posted by: Bayesian Bouffant, FCD | January 20, 2006 10:50 AM

#25

Sadly, I looked at Channel 4, and these don't seem to be for sale. At least not yet.

Oh well - I can wait.

Posted by: John M. Price | January 20, 2006 10:58 AM

#26

How about copies for all, hmm? I need to see the "Virus of Faith" one.

Posted by: Geral Corasjo | January 20, 2006 11:06 AM

#27

Wow. You are a fortunate man.

Professor Dawkins, if you are reading this, you could make a quick fistful of dollars by selling us Yanks some copies of that DVD.

Think about it.

Posted by: Dave | January 20, 2006 11:11 AM

#28

That's an amazing coincidence. I just this morning received a copy of the "stone angel" episode of the Simpsons, with the following inscription:

"Chris; love your comments at Pharyngula. Just had to pop in from The Mother Of All Non-Overlapping Magisteria to send my kudos. Best Regards, Steve G."

Posted by: Chris Clarke | January 20, 2006 11:22 AM

#29

I got to hold it this morning; neener, neener.

Posted by: GrrlScientist | January 20, 2006 11:22 AM

#30

Wow PZ, *that* is truly an awesome gift. I guess this means that the series is only two total parts? Here's to hoping this great series does fantastically well on British TV. Such goodness will never be shown over here in Jesusland, USA.

Posted by: Joel The Bowebird | January 20, 2006 11:38 AM

#31

[quote]Professor Dawkins, if you are reading this, you could make a quick fistful of dollars by selling us Yanks some copies of that DVD.[/quote]

I don't know.. what would be more important to him, making fistfulls of money or getting people to talk about the situation? Hmm?

Posted by: Geral Corasjo | January 20, 2006 11:47 AM

#32

To BBC Channel 4, Richard Dawkins, or whomever has the authority to make this happen:

I am American. I have money. I want this show. Look, here is money. Give me the show. It's so simple and makes everybody happy. Thanks in advance,

Matt Arnold, Oak Park, Michigan

Posted by: Anonymous | January 20, 2006 12:02 PM

#33

I don't expect to see "The root of all evil?" on TV here in Poland either, but the programe (both episodes) is available through various P2P software (like Emule and Bit-torrent). They come in excellent quality.

Posted by: Mike | January 20, 2006 12:03 PM

#34

To BBC Channel 4, Richard Dawkins, or whomever has the authority to make this happen:

I am American. I have money. I want this show. Look, here is money. Give me the show. It's so simple and makes everybody happy. Thanks in advance,

Matt Arnold, Oak Park, Michigan

Ditto. I'm so jealous of PZ. I've been quoting Dawkins regularly and would love to see the shows.

Any chance they would put it on BBCA?

Posted by: Jim H | January 20, 2006 12:09 PM

#35

WOW! You lucky dog! I am so envious!

Is this the atheistic equivalent of Moses being told to take the tablets once a day?

Posted by: Ian H Spedding | January 20, 2006 12:19 PM

#36

Here's the URL for the torrent for part 2: http://www.mininova.org/tor/201337

Posted by: wswilso | January 20, 2006 12:34 PM

#37

He's sending me one too! It hasn't arrived yet, but he emailed me about it Monday. Made my day. My week.

Posted by: Ophelia Benson | January 20, 2006 12:43 PM

#38

Wow! You have to go into production (in a completely legal way, of course)! Put me on the mailing list.

Posted by: Mike Nilsen | January 20, 2006 12:46 PM

#39

Here's the URL for the torrent for part 1: http://www.mininova.org/tor/195488

And as one of the comments goes - Ignore the 0 seeds. There are actually heaps of seeds, so download and fire away.

It's about 800 MB big.

Posted by: Mike | January 20, 2006 12:49 PM

#40

That is awesome. Celebrity mail!

But my reaction to the programs wasn't all that positive. His arrogance put me off, even though I'm also an atheist. (I'm not an anti-theist. That might be it.) Most surprisingly, he appears to be a fundamentalist Biblical literalist who just happens to not believe in God. It was very strange to see him repeat their method of thinking about the Bible and interpreting it.

Posted by: Amos | January 20, 2006 12:50 PM

#41

I almost forgot: I'd love to see your take on it.

Posted by: Amos | January 20, 2006 12:51 PM

#42

P.S. No chance anyone will put it on BBCA, by the way, because it's not on the BBC at all, it's on Channel 4. The BBC is itself mostly pretty 'respectful' of religion, no doubt partly because when it's not (cf Jerry Springer the Opera) its execs get death threats.

Posted by: Ophelia Benson | January 20, 2006 12:55 PM

#43

Hmmm. Guess that means I'll have to watch out for the occasional gene-selectionism badmouthing. Shame, that.

Posted by: gwangi | January 20, 2006 1:15 PM

#44

The BBC is itself mostly pretty 'respectful' of religion, no doubt partly because when it's not (cf Jerry Springer the Opera) its execs get death threats.

But they also showed (and made) Jonathan Miller's superb A Brief History of Disbelief, one of the best things I've seen on any TV channel in recent years (and, I have to say, markedly better than Dawkins' programme, which I thought was preaching to the converted a little too much for comfort).

Posted by: Wetherby Pond | January 20, 2006 1:39 PM

#45

I'm with Matt Arnold and Jim H. Put in a good word with your new pal Richard to make copies of the program available for us underprivileged Yanks.

Posted by: CJ | January 20, 2006 1:44 PM

#46

Damn, I'm going to have to start kissing up to Dawkins more on my own blog and see if he sends me any cool presents. Or do I have to be a biologist first?

Posted by: Les | January 20, 2006 2:34 PM

#47

'fundamentalist Biblical literalist who just happens to not believe in God'

The reason is it IS the most consistent way to delve into the religion. If your going to make things up as you go along you might get around this fact but he simply goes to the root. And in that respect he is correct.

Posted by: Chance | January 20, 2006 3:26 PM

#48

Oh man. That's cold. You got that, and you just scanned it and put it on to make us envious.

Well it worked. Hope you're proud of yourself.

Posted by: Siamang | January 20, 2006 5:10 PM

#49

Speaking of atheists, here's an Italian one who's brought a lawsuit asking the defendant (now the village priest, but once a childhood schoolmate of the plaintiff/atheist) to defend the reality of Jesus's existence in an Italian court. The suit's been going on since 2002, and it hasn't been thrown out yet.
http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat=INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2006/01/20/308368.html.

Posted by: Steviepinhead | January 20, 2006 5:15 PM

#50

The torrent for episode two is available here.

http://greylodge.org/gpc/?p=339

(I drive and bicycle around various small towns and suburbs in the Northwest USA for my job, the megachurches are everywhere)

I saw Richard Dawkins speak and read for his last book release. His clear headed perceptions came out especially in the question and answer period. If you get a chance to see him on his next tour, don't miss it.

Posted by: james | January 20, 2006 6:08 PM

#51

I would burn a copy and then frame the original and put it on my wall. Wow!

Posted by: Buridan | January 20, 2006 6:22 PM

#52

I just received a little present in the mail

That's nice. I found out that Richard Dawkins answers email too. Nice and approachable is pretty much what you want from a "Professor in the Public Understanding of Science". He's not doing badly as an advert for geekdom either - by bagging Lalla Ward. ;-) Then again, she's displaying rather good taste too.

Anyhow, your scanning of the DVD as a picture reminds me a little of something that happened at one place where I worked...

Someone had asked the office bunny (ie female gofer with no apparent qualifications) to send copies of some floppy disks (yes, it was a long time ago that I worked!) out to a customer. They thought to explain to her that the master disks were kept in the fire-safe. What they didn't think to explain was that putting the masters in the photocopier and just sending off those images of the outside of the disks wasn't going to be acceptable.

Posted by: SEF | January 20, 2006 6:27 PM

#53

You lucky [phrase deleted]

I think the Dawkins show was great. I've spent many many years hanging around Christians and have learned to take their eccentricities in my stride. The dark side is that I've trained myself to not notice the bizarre nature of their faith. It was almost a spiritual experience to hear someone stand up and point out that a large portion of the human species is systematically training itself to believe crazy stuff in defiance of all reason. During the course of the show, I could actually feel the cognitive dissonance I'd set up over the years just melting away.

Mr Dawkins, you have my utmost respect. Good on yer :)

Posted by: Corkscrew | January 20, 2006 6:41 PM

#54

Thanks to the commenters w/ the BitTorrent links. I've downloaded both, but all I've got is audio, no video. Suggestions?

Posted by: Jamie | January 20, 2006 6:52 PM

#55

Wow, It looks like the FSM muct come with pesto sauce because I'm greeen with envy!

Posted by: Dave W | January 20, 2006 6:53 PM

#56

Jamie:

You are having some kind of codec problem. I can see the video using Winamp, and I am using the K-lite codec pack. (all free and googleable) (I cannot see the video portion using windows media player)

You need to see the video, it is so worth it to see the slow burn come on the evangelist's face when he starts to realize he is talking to an atheist freethinker who doesn't fall for his smooth talk.

Posted by: James | January 20, 2006 7:20 PM

#57

Thanks, James. Windows MP didn't play it, but the Winamp download and whatever the hells "k-lite codec pack" is I just downloaded did the trick. Surely Jesus is rolling in his grave right now. No god bless you for your kind advice!

Posted by: Anonymous | January 20, 2006 8:52 PM

#58

How in the hell did he manage to spell your name like that?! That's not how it's spelled, is it?

Posted by: John Wilkins | January 20, 2006 9:20 PM

#59

Hmmm, perhaps when I met him at a book signing in Denver last year I should have said that I run a website that is on PZ Myers' blogroll and would he please send me a copy of the DVD when he, in the future, decides to do the same for the aforementioned PZ Myers.

Or something.

Guess I'll go looking for the torrent linked above instead...

Posted by: andy | January 20, 2006 11:06 PM

#60

would he please send me a copy

All the more reason for the universities* to get together and somehow acquire a satellite channel. Then they could broadcast things like this which are of educational or philosophical significance but which the US networks wouldn't dare to touch.

* Universities seemed like the obvious organisations to me who might be prepared to create and show such material. Though I had originally been thinking more in terms of how to get high quality science programmes made and shown, eg ones which aren't afraid to use the e-word. I haven't heard of the US even having anything similar to the UK's Open University.

Posted by: SEF | January 21, 2006 4:29 AM

#61

SEF wrote

Someone had asked the office bunny (ie female gofer with no apparent qualifications) to send copies of some floppy disks (yes, it was a long time ago that I worked!) out to a customer. They thought to explain to her that the master disks were kept in the fire-safe. What they didn't think to explain was that putting the masters in the photocopier and just sending off those images of the outside of the disks wasn't going to be acceptable.

That sounds like an anecdote from one of the Dilbert books. A fax machine ran out of paper so a secretary ordered some more from the stationery department. When told that it would take a day or so to deliver it, she asked them if they could fax over a few sheets to keep her going in the meantime.

Posted by: Ian H Spedding | January 21, 2006 6:13 AM

#62

For those of you in the UK who missed Dawkins' program, both parts are being repeated on Sunday morning between 2:50 and 4:50 AM (on Channel 4 ).

Posted by: Tristram Brelstaff | January 21, 2006 1:01 PM

#63

I stayed up late last night to make sure the video recorder was at least attempting to record them. Some time I'll have to see if I can now catch up on the bits I missed the first time round. Eg missed because people will insist on phoning me during the few TV programmes I'm trying to watch - and then, in this case, complaining that they would have watched it themselves had they known. Hmph! If the tape has worked at all, I'd better save it for any other UK acquaintances who complain that they missed it ... again ...

Posted by: SEF | January 22, 2006 4:50 AM

#64

A theologian critiques Dawkins TV show:
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/tablet-01133

Posted by: coturnix | January 22, 2006 10:52 PM

#65

fortunately, i'm in england for business, and i got to watch it. it was pretty good. i had a few small problems with it though

Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2006 1:27 AM

#66

channel 4's sister cable station had a program on right afterwards about how the "enlightenment" was the beginning of the end of morality and values. it was on too late tho, i couldn't stay up and watch

Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2006 1:31 AM

#67

i had a few small problems with it though

Yes, as I've said before/elsewhere, it was a little disappointing in that there were bits that could easily have been done better. It doesn't look like this is the place for detailed critique. However, starting to watch the re-run had me wanting to say "yes, but" at it in the same places again.

So, PZ, have you watched it yet or are you still just gloating over the presentation of it? :-D

Posted by: SEF | January 23, 2006 5:38 AM

#68

Thanks for the link to 'Brief History of Disbelief'. It also seems to be available on BitTorrent.

BBC should host their own Torrents... I would even subscribe to (as in pay money for) some of their quality stuff.

Posted by: Alopex Lagopus | January 30, 2006 10:30 PM

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