Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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Manila. Cardinal Jaime Sin yesterday ordered Roman Catholics who vote in next month's Philippine national elections to reject Communists and candidates who advocate divorce or abortion. …Sin, who distributed copies of the letter at a press conference, insisted that church and state are separate in the Philippines.
[San Francisco Chronicle, 23 April 1987 (Los Angeles Times)]
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Category: Personal
Posted on: June 7, 2008 3:23 PM, by PZ Myers
Maria Maltseva took a bunch of photos of last night's talk for the Seattle Skeptics facebook group — and look, here's me and my mom!
So now she's on facebook. We'll drag her into the 21st century yet!
YES! Send me a free issue of Seed.
If I like what I see, I'll receive 5 more issues (6 in all) for just $14.95. That's 50% off the cover price! If I'm not completely satisfied, I'll simply write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing. The free issue is mine to keep.
(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
Comments
Awww...
Posted by: Amber Culbertson-Faegre | June 7, 2008 3:35 PM
Your mom is surely cool!
Posted by: Peter Vaht | June 7, 2008 3:41 PM
She looks a bit sour, doesn't she? Or is that just me?
Posted by: Muffin | June 7, 2008 3:50 PM
Your mom doesn't look sour, she looks Minnesotan. Might even be related to my maternal relatives -- she's got the same look my (beloved late) grandmother used to wear. Muffin, don't take that look at face value. :-)
Posted by: Karen | June 7, 2008 3:52 PM
PZ, it doesn't look like you are the spawn of Satan after all, unless the diablo gene resides on the Y chromosome.
Posted by: Rick T | June 7, 2008 3:55 PM
Your mother looks lovely. I hope I age that well (but I doubt I shall).
Of course I'm not on FB anyway ...
Posted by: Sili | June 7, 2008 4:00 PM
She must be very proud.
And, she can say "My son, the Doctor!" to all her friends.
Posted by: Benjamin Franklin | June 7, 2008 4:08 PM
Maybe mom's thinking you can drag her but you can't make her blog? And she might be wondering what kind of unwanted attention will come from such pictures. But being mom, I think I'm safe in thinking she is proud of your notoriety.
Posted by: ahmcguffin | June 7, 2008 4:29 PM
Atheists have mums? I thought we were all hatched, or spawned from a cauldron of boiling ichor...
Posted by: GodlessHeathen | June 7, 2008 4:32 PM
That looks like a sly smirk to me. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree indeed. :)
Posted by: Patricia C. | June 7, 2008 4:33 PM
If PZ's mom looks a little testy, it could be because she was unprepared for that generous helping of soft serve ice cream he got for her. Next time, PZ, please just let your Mom go up to the buffet and get her own dessert.
Posted by: Sastra | June 7, 2008 5:05 PM
Skeptical, definitely a skeptical look. That's a good thing, right?
Posted by: JohnnieCanuck | June 7, 2008 5:32 PM
Congratulation, Madam, for you son!
Posted by: Daniel R | June 7, 2008 5:32 PM
The link to Maria's photos would seem to require that one must be friended by her, to see them.
Posted by: JohnnieCanuck | June 7, 2008 5:38 PM
The woman raised our Evil Overlord (TM) to adulthood, the same could not be said for Lee Remick The Omen. Maybe our Evil Overlord (TM) isn't as "evil" as we like to think.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | June 7, 2008 5:48 PM
I've seen that look before - she's thinking you may be famous, but she'll still put you in your place when necessary. That's the best kind of Mom....
Posted by: jb | June 7, 2008 6:39 PM
I've been trying to get my Mom on line for at least three years, and she has used every excuse in the book to avoid it. I tried to give her an old iBook I have, but it crapped out. (damn graphics card problem endemic to all dual USB port iBooks)
Posted by: Bert Chadick | June 7, 2008 7:35 PM
She looks a lot like my mom, who also lives in Seattle.
Bert - my mom has a horrible Windows machine - won't touch a Mac because they snubbed her at the Apple store - my current challenge is to get her off dial-up and onto broadband.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | June 7, 2008 7:40 PM
Jeez, it's been four hours already and there still hasn't been a single creationist showing up with nasty cracks about the surprising dissimilarity between your mom and certain simians. They must be slowing down... or perhaps they've given up. Hope springs eternal.
She does look 'most seriously displeased'. I think this calls for a caption contest.
Posted by: chrisc@storytron.com | June 7, 2008 8:10 PM
more proof that evolution is not teleological.
Posted by: kid bitzer | June 7, 2008 8:30 PM
The cheeks!
Posted by: -R | June 7, 2008 8:47 PM
I'd like to point out the rain jacket on the anonymous fellow in the back. Ever since PZ arrived, our weather's turned to winter. Though, word is, Aslan is on the move.
Posted by: Jim Anderson | June 7, 2008 8:47 PM
Nonononono - don't drag her into the 21st century. Just gently let her know that since it's the 21st century, it's now safe to come into the 20th. ;-)
Posted by: Chakolate | June 7, 2008 9:12 PM
Hi, PZ's Mom! Thanks for having such an awesome son!
Posted by: Dana Hunter | June 7, 2008 9:40 PM
Its funny... on my Yahoo RSS Feed the preview pic is the top of her forehead. Hmm maybe its to say see!! No horns! I can sooo see her tearing into PZ. PZ hangs his head low and nods, "Yes Mom, I know Mom. I promise I wont store squid in the freezer again mom. No Mom I have no idea how that squid got in my bed."
Posted by: Mercurious | June 7, 2008 10:09 PM
Hello Mrs. Myers, pleased to, uh, "meet" you. Greetings from Sweden.
:o)
Posted by: Emmet Caulfield | June 7, 2008 11:17 PM
Oh f'r pete's sake. "Sour" "displeased" my fat old ass. Look again; PZ's mom has almost exactly the same smile as PZ does in that photo, minus the pelage and plus twenty-whatever years. I've been enjoying my own old-woman invisibility for a while, but I feel the odd need to get up and make some editorial corrections when I see generalizations based on poor observation and, I suspect, on expectations of ~femininnyty~.
Damn but it's good to get free of those sometimes.
That expression, the direct, level look at the camera and all, is the visual equivalent of a really good handshake. Makes me want to meet her IRL.
Good choice of a mom, PZ!
Posted by: Ron Sullivan | June 8, 2008 1:38 AM
Its been puzzling me al day but I've finally worked out what PZ's Mum seems to be saying...
"He's NOT the Evil Overloard...he's just a very naughty boy."
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | June 8, 2008 1:39 AM
Oops, thats just a typo..I really do know how to spell "lord". A christian once told me.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | June 8, 2008 1:42 AM
Are you making your poor mother cry? Looks like those tissues have been frequently used. It's tough to realize your son's the antichrist bringing forth the absolute destruction of the world.
Seriously though, it's a sweet picture and shocking knowing you were spawned by a human being. I don't see the tentacles I was expecting....a bit disappointed. You almost had me convinced you were a squidnoid.
Posted by: Helioprogenus | June 8, 2008 2:27 AM
I eagerly befriend all skeptics on Facebook who make friendship requests (and non-skeptics too, as long as they're tolerant, kind, and don't send inappropriate material. (BTW, I'm extremely liberal, so my definition of inappropriate is simply material that Facebook does not allow.)
There may be a few more photos of PZ's mom throughout my photo album, and in our relatively new Seattle Skeptics group.
But in general, I simply feel honored to me mentioned here.
Posted by: Maria Maltseva | June 8, 2008 7:36 AM
Hello PZ'z mother. I like him, he writes my favorite blog.
Boasting on my son follows: When he was in his twenties he helped me bargain for a car. We were such a team; he was the good cop and I took joy in being the bad one.
Many years later, he is still doing good for me, like doing house repairs, rug cleaning and financial advice.
My very best wishes for you and your family.
Posted by: Rita Bennett | June 8, 2008 12:49 PM
I know PZ's mom, and she's very sweet. She frequently smiles and laughs. That photo isn't her best one.
Posted by: Connie | June 8, 2008 1:22 PM
I thought you were Rosemary's baby?
Posted by: Eric | June 8, 2008 2:50 PM
Can I call your Mom "Mother Atheist', or is this assuming that she may not be like her son?
Posted by: Holbach | June 8, 2008 3:07 PM
How many times has she asked you to shave off that beard?
And for goodness sakes, PZ! Sit up straight and button that shirt, and would it kill you to put on a tie?
Posted by: Dan | June 8, 2008 4:42 PM
Now here's a beard PeeZed's mum could be proud of! Or perhaps this one.
Posted by: MartinDH | June 8, 2008 5:16 PM
Hi mom!
Posted by: themadlolscientist | June 8, 2008 6:21 PM
hi mom
Posted by: nash | June 8, 2008 6:41 PM
MartinDH @ 37 As one who admittedly does not like beards, I found the two depicted blatantly gross. How can a female put her face against that facial filth? Yikes!
Posted by: Holbach | June 8, 2008 8:04 PM
Re #40. Holbach, I have no choice but to report your inexcusable bigotry to the Beard Liberation Front ;-)
Posted by: Nick Gotts | June 9, 2008 5:37 AM
*Takes out ouija board*
Hi Mum!
Posted by: Nick Gotts | June 9, 2008 5:39 AM
unimpressed mom is unimpressed with the 21 century . . .
:\
Posted by: Ouchimoo | June 9, 2008 10:15 AM
I totally see a family ressemblance there! Look at them, they have the same face! :P
Hi PZ mom!!!
Posted by: Michelle | June 9, 2008 10:43 AM