Pharyngula

Posted by: Abstruseoddity | February 4, 2010 7:16 PM

Are you eating the young people?

Posted by: alcoss | February 4, 2010 7:23 PM

Thanks for the great talk tonight in Galway. Sorry about the crazy woman (but at least she was polite and just shut up in the end).
She's probably sitting at home reading your thoughts right now...

Posted by: Zeno | February 4, 2010 7:31 PM

There's nothing like a Catholic bringing to give a kid something to rebel against.

Posted by: Tigger_the_Wing | February 4, 2010 7:54 PM

I wish I had been there.

You are making me feel even more homesick with every post.

Posted by: Con | February 4, 2010 9:06 PM

Thank you for the great talk, and the great conversations afterwards! We were trying to steer the conversation away from anything involving the time, in case you just hadn't noticed.

Well done on dealing with the strange question as well, you were probably the only person who could answer something like that so politely.
I think that was probably the most interesting and informative night out ever- thiis might be suggested to the lecturers here. The bit about the number of chromosomes in other apes was really cool.

Thanks!

Posted by: arensb | February 4, 2010 11:20 PM

Ooh, a train! I remember when we had those.

Posted by: Kel, The Privileged View From Nowhere | February 5, 2010 2:02 AM

you were probably the only person who could answer something like that so politely

Posted by: sophievdp | February 5, 2010 4:05 AM

Hey PZ, thanks so much for coming to Galway, I had a great time at the talk and I hope you enjoyed the Galway nightlife! Come back soon!

Also, quote of the night - re Ray Comfort's banana: "Yes it fits perfectly in your hand, but it also fits perfectly up your butt or vagina" ahh, priceless

Posted by: peterkinvara | February 5, 2010 4:26 AM

Thanks for the entertaining (and enlightening) talk; it was great to see you in action, after reading your blog for the past couple of years. It was worth the trip in from Kinvara on a rainy evening. Shame on the Irish media for not giving your visit more prominence; we would all have enjoyed you tackling those smarmy creeps from the likes of the Iona Institute (think Ronan Mullen from the radio piece you did) if you had been offered a proper forum. Next time! ( when you are raising your next pint of Guinness , the proper toast is - slán)

Posted by: themanchoo | February 5, 2010 4:59 AM

Fantastic talk last night - thanks so much! Just a shame I had nobody else that wanted to come along to such an interesting evening. As mentioned above, the comment regarding bananas and orifices was gold!

I'd like to say how brave the girl was that spoke for several minutes without actually asking a question - in a room full of sceptics it took balls to bring up something which goes so much against common sense (I'm not sure I fully grasped what she was on about, as I was on the other side of the room). She may not be rational, but she's gutsy. And apologies to her for the guy at the back who laughed in a deliberately rude way. Not everyone is fully able to think things through sceptically and rationally, and I hope she was able to take something positive away from the lecture room, and will start to think about things a bit more deeply.

All the best PZ, from an English fella in Ireland.
Doug

Posted by: Rorschach | February 5, 2010 5:40 AM

/nitpick

Peter Kemp (Aussie lawyer)

This is relevant how ??
Plenty lawyers posting here who dont mention their academic credentials all the time....

/end nitpick

Posted by: skuldintape | February 5, 2010 6:55 AM

Excellent! Glad you enjoyed your night in Galway. I wasn't out in the pub, but I really enjoyed the talk. As above, I myself voted for the creationist bashing talk, and some of the biology went a bit over my head (I was in fact one of the clapping chemists, if you remember us?) but I enjoyed the evening all the same, particularly the Q&A session.
Would you be able to write down some of the names of folks you recommended we look up? I didn't have a pen or anything on me.....

Posted by: Eoghan Kelly | February 5, 2010 9:18 AM

Re: themanchoo

I also thought that the girl who spoke for a long time (without really asking a question!) was brave to express her opinons which clearly differed from the majority of the people and I felt uneasy at the reception (tutting/sighing) given to her by the crowd as she admitted herself that she had emotional/mental problems.

However, I think there is a misinterpretation of the laughter from the audience when she was speaking. In my opinion the laughter was because she mentioned 'going down' with regard to meditation, and I think people picked up the sexual interpretation!

Well done PZ for treating her with care and respect and thanks for the very interesing talk!

Ps Congratulations to Skeptics Society for organising a great evening!

Posted by: caseyhov | February 5, 2010 11:39 AM

After the turnout here at Sierra College, I'm glad to see there is a decent number of Atheistic youth some where.

Posted by: timothy.green.name | February 5, 2010 12:21 PM

If you want to travel by train between Galway and Belfast, you have to do so via Dublin. (If you think that's bad, pause and reflect that if you want to travel by train between Sligo and Westport, you also have to do so via Dublin. From Galway to Cork you can travel via Portarlington, which is bad enough.)

***

I like Galway. There's something very pleasant about it. I hope PZ had a wander down Shop Street. I'll be in McSwiggan's in Galway on Saturday for a Discworld meetup.

TRiG.

Posted by: Galwayskeptic | February 5, 2010 2:52 PM

Hi PZ,

John here from NUIG Skeptic Society. Glad you had a good time and thanks again for a wonderful talk and for accommodating us by answering so many questions! :)

Go raibh míle maith agat (thanks, basically),
John (vice-auditor, skeptic soc).