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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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I wonder how appropriate it is to try to 'argue someone into the kingdom.' Many apologists hotly deny any such charge, but I don't believe them. The tenor of almost all apologetics literature makes it plain that this is their intent.
Robert M. Price, Beyond Born Again, p. 63.
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More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Category: Personal
Posted on: July 28, 2010 10:21 AM, by PZ Myers
I am pleased to report that the godless heathens of Seattle, including the likes of Ophelia Benson (who, I learned, was once bitten by a gorilla, and thereby acquired the superpowers of strength, ferocity, and calm) and Dana Hunter, know how to close out a bar. Once again, a horde of cheerful chatty atheists had to be shooed out at closing time.
Too many to list showed up, but several of the previously less voluble have agreed to comment more. Here is their chance: introduce yourselves!
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Comments
Posted by: irenedelse
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July 28, 2010 10:31 AM
Oh, my! PZ, what a gorgeous t-shirt!
Posted by: PZ Myers
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July 28, 2010 10:34 AM
That's not a t-shirt. My chest is a portal to another dimension.
Posted by: MikeS29
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July 28, 2010 10:48 AM
Too bad I don't look at your calendar, would have loved to hoist a pint with you here in the Puget Sound area...
Posted by: spaninquis
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July 28, 2010 10:50 AM
Is it true? Is there truth in tequila?
Posted by: William R. Dickson
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July 28, 2010 11:08 AM
Wish I could have been there. Moved from Seattle to the woefully under-brewpubbed town of Columbia, MO a few months ago. There is one place here, though - Flat Branch. Hope to see you there if you ever get to central MO.
Posted by: PZ Myers
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July 28, 2010 11:20 AM
Look to the left: I'll be at Skepticon 3 in Springfield in November.
Posted by: gillt
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July 28, 2010 11:25 AM
Another Seattlelite that couldn't make it: family visiting from out of town. Let there be a next time
Posted by: Form&Function
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July 28, 2010 11:26 AM
We had a blast! Though I have some small regret that the first thing I said to PZ after "hello" was "Would you unbutton your shirt?" I could only see a glimpse of the Ceiling Cthulhu!
Posted by: Uzziel
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July 28, 2010 11:31 AM
Awesome evening. It was great to meet you in the tentacled flesh, PZ, as well as to make the acquaintance of everyone else who showed up. And I appreciate you taking the time to clear up some of my confusion about dissemination of genes in populations.
-David (the former assistant Sunday School teacher)
Posted by: Seattle_JC
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July 28, 2010 11:32 AM
PZ Myers; NOT a dick.
I was great chatting with you and everybody else last night. I am so glad that you stuck around long enough to spend time with Dana. I know for a fact that she is one of your biggest fans (don’t tell her I told you this).
Also, don’t forget, next time you are in town the Seattle Skeptics Meetup Group would love to have you speak, or just hang out.
http://www.meetup.com/seattleskeptics
JC
Posted by: opheliagonemad
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July 28, 2010 11:42 AM
Hi all,
I would be one of the people that promised to comment more. I was the short redhead who wandered off to a corner table with her boyfriend because I'd hurt my back but good and was only up for a little socialization. Then I left early to go plan a D&D session--nerdiest excuse ever! I've got a chemistry background and now I work as a government functionary, mainly dealing with pesticide issues. But I had great fun and will work to actually chime in now.
Posted by: KillJoy
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July 28, 2010 11:44 AM
Had a great time PZ! Thanks for coming by.
I would have loved to close the bar with you, but unfortunately I had to go home early, cause well...I work at stupid o clock in the morning.
Also awesome to meet all the other hoarde members and Ophelia. I got drunk and silly. I do that sometimes. Apologies if I was obnoxious. ;)
KJ (AKA Duncan)
Posted by: Kyle N
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July 28, 2010 12:01 PM
Lesson to me: Watch all the awesome atheists' calendars for Seattle showings.
Hey, I'm way too poor to wind up at awesome venues like TAM or DragonCon. I have to wait for all the peeps to come to me.
Well, maybe next time. I guess, for now, I'll have to settle for basking in that tingly feeling I got when PZ actually replied to my tweet. I am I_Phlogiston on Twitter. ;)
Posted by: Morse
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July 28, 2010 12:16 PM
Damn, I knew I was forgetting to do something last night.
You probably dodged a bullet there, though, since I'm not sure it's entirely safe for me to promise to comment more. Last time I tried that, I accidentally killed your sense of humor for a day. (Why do I always hurt the ones I love!?)
Posted by: Outercow
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July 28, 2010 12:39 PM
Howdy ya'll!
T'was a complete blast meeting everybody. I'm the bloke who was in the "I ♥ my vagina" shirt who loves to hear himself talk and had his doomsday fears of future legions of mad scientist bio grad students somewhat alleviated by PZ.
P.S. Anybody know some best practices for orgy organization?
Posted by: KillJoy
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July 28, 2010 12:47 PM
#15
I find its usually best to just let them happen organically......Ummm...I mean....LOOK! A puppy!
*hides*
Posted by: Ophelia Benson
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July 28, 2010 12:55 PM
Yeah boy those visions of high school kids making new flu viruses in their garages are stuck in my head now. I'm leaning toward new zoning regulations: no garages allowed.
Posted by: opheliagonemad
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July 28, 2010 12:59 PM
Outercow:
I'm not sure about his orgy organization skills, but boyfriend apparently turns into super organization man when you give him beer and drop him into a social situation, based upon last night, so I will ask him.
Posted by: feffer
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July 28, 2010 1:03 PM
I had a great time chatting (well, yelling) with those around me! I had to leave to take care of my dog, but would have loved to close the place down. It was great meeting you and previously unknown Seattle-area Pharyngulites!
- Liz
Posted by: gadow
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July 28, 2010 1:21 PM
I wish I could have made it. Alas, my job keeps me on east coast time: my alarm clock goes off at 4:30 am, so bedtime is about 8:30pm.
Yeah, I don't get out much during the week. :-/
Posted by: Andrew Martens
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July 28, 2010 1:31 PM
Only two more sleeps until Vancouver!
Boy, I'm feeling like a kid at Christmas, except that this Santa Claus is real. And I won't sit on his lap. And he [probably] doesn't reek of stale gin.
Posted by: Evil Merodach
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July 28, 2010 1:59 PM
Thanks for organizing this PZ. It was a blast!
What was fascinating about the experience was to be around like-minded people, to be around people who's thinking isn't clouded by superstition or unfounded biases.
I think the gathering was a novel and refreshing situation for many us, not only because of all the brainpower in the room but because of the rational discourse and unmuddled thinking exhibited by all. This isn't something I get to experience very often.
Oh, in case you didn't get a chance to see the giant squid sculpture at the other end of the building we were in, here's a pic of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pike_place_giant_squid.jpg
Posted by: Danno Davis
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July 28, 2010 2:12 PM
Yeah, I, too, am a Seattleite that wasn't able to make it downtown last night. PZ comes out to Seattle quite a bit, though, no? Raincheck me!
Posted by: sculpin
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July 28, 2010 2:36 PM
A good night out! I was the brunette in the GNU shirt. Nice to meet folks!
-- Cam
Posted by: brandoconnor
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July 28, 2010 3:26 PM
What a rad group! I suppose I promised to continue lurking but I'll make an exception and see how long it lasts. Cheers to all who attended and thanks for the photo-op PZ. It was a pleasure meeting y'all.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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July 28, 2010 3:35 PM
Did anyone buy Ophelia a beer?
Posted by: mcmillan
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July 28, 2010 3:48 PM
Nice to see PZ in person again, as well as meet the rest of you all. Didn't originally plan on staying out that late, but the good company kept me to be one of those closing out the bar and stuck around on the street for a while chatting afterwards.
Posted by: jdlarios
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July 28, 2010 4:22 PM
Yeah, it was great to meet all of you (or at least all of you I met). I'm Josh, Cam/sculpin's husband who did the redesign work for Ophelia. I wish I'd remembered to bring the Cthulhu dice.
Posted by: ianadams
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July 28, 2010 5:13 PM
It was lovely meeting everyone. Let's do this again sometime! :)
Posted by: kosta.matt
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July 28, 2010 5:20 PM
It was really great to meet everyone last night. I'm Matt, the UW undergrad. Like some others have said, I also have never been around that many like-minded people at once. It was refreshing. I was also impressed with how smart everyone was; I feel like I've got some catching up to do. The conversations were fascinating and hilarious. Thanks to PZ for bringing us together. I look forward to seeing many of you again.
Posted by: Seattle_JC
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July 28, 2010 6:16 PM
Evil Merodach (#22) and kosta.matt (#30) , nothing is better than hanging out with like minded people. I am one of the organizers of the Seattle skeptics meetup.com group which meets once a month. There are also several other Seattle area meetup groups devoted to skepticism, atheism and human secularism (although the human secular groups tend to attract an older crowd).
You should also check out great folks at SeattleAtheists.org. They strive with maintaining positive relationships between atheists and the Seattle community. They are a pretty active bunch and have quite a few member events. Recently, they have started a call-in public access show called, “Ask-an-Atheist”.
http://www.channels.com/feeds/show/250608/Ask-an-Atheist#/feeds/show/250608/Ask-an-Atheist
Having such outlets helps me to survive some of the idiosyncrasy that I am forced to suffer the rest of the month.
Seattle_JC (twitter)
Posted by: No Way
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July 28, 2010 6:35 PM
Hw s t tht ftr yrs y r stll sptng th sm mndlss gbbrsh, nd srrndd by th sm drlng, chng sycphnts? rn't y sppsd t grw nd mprv wth g?
Thgh t s t bd mssd y n Sttl. t wld hv bn ht t hv ttndd n f yr mrnc skptcl drnkfsts nd sn th clwnshw lv.
[Wow. That's Demolition Man, a troll who was banned long, long ago. Bye again! --pzm]
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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July 28, 2010 6:43 PM
Yawn, a troll (No Way) spouting mindless gibberish. Definitely won't improve with age with his lack of intelligence. Boring.
Posted by: Travis
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July 28, 2010 6:48 PM
Why is it that when people come in here to blather on about how mindless this place is they always have zero content themselves and only produce their own mindless gibberish? It is almost as though they want people to laugh at them because it is not possible to take it seriously.
Seriously, sycophants? Have you read the comments in this place? Lots of long time readers and contributes disagree with PZ on plenty of things.
Posted by: Ophelia Benson
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July 28, 2010 7:57 PM
No, she bought her own. It's an outrage!
Posted by: smith.pelican
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July 28, 2010 9:13 PM
PZ,
I was the 50ish person sitting across from you towards the end of the evening. I was mainly listening. Nice seeing you in person. I had some nice conversations with the folks around me. Thanks for posting the general invitation.
Posted by: B166ER
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July 28, 2010 10:57 PM
Thanks for coming out and having a pint with some Seattle area Pharyngulites, P.Z.! I would describe myself as the really excited and talkative skeptical nerd... but in that crowd it wouldn't help much! So instead I'll say I was the crazy redhead with the black hat and the Didgeridoo with the "Tree of Life" game design idea. I loved getting to have great conversations before and after the pub closed! To all those I met last night, WE HAVE TO DO THIS KIND OF THING AGAIN! The conversations were such a breath of fresh air from what I have to deal with in this area outside of my small group of friends, I loved every minute of it. All in all, with a great atmosphere and great conversations with great people, it was an amazing night.
No religion AND no woo... in Seattle?!?!?! It was so amazing!
No Gods, No Masters
Cameron
Posted by: Katrina, radicales féministes athées
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July 28, 2010 11:56 PM
Wish I could have gone. I was just across the sound from you, but didn't want to make the late-night ferry trip on my own. If I could have found a heathen on this side of the water to go with me, I so would have been there.
Posted by: curious tentacle
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July 29, 2010 12:10 AM
Wish I could've made it, but outercow didn't inform me until I was already drinking in a pub across town. He will rue his grievious transgression!
Posted by: Zebra
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July 29, 2010 1:04 AM
On Monday and Wednesday I remembered this event. Too bad I didn't remember on Tuesday. Damn aging brain!
Ah, well, JC always goes to the cool stuff, like TAM and beer with PZ. Tell me about it at the next meetup, ok JC?
-Eliza
Posted by: Nysamis
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July 29, 2010 2:53 AM
This was totally awesome. Thanks for setting it up, PZ! It was nice to meet people who aren't hooked on Jesus Juice; there were a surprisingly large amount of them in expat circles when I lived in China.
We totally have to do this again, I agree. It was refreshing to be amongst a bunch of like-minded rational people. Next time (in which I would in theory not have to deal with the relatively craptastic bus system,) I'll have to close the bar down with you guys.
And here's a picture of PZ with his newly acquired squid plushie on his head. The expressions are priceless.
-Sara
Posted by: Nysamis
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July 29, 2010 3:04 AM
Hopefully this link works...
Posted by: John Morales
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July 29, 2010 3:09 AM
[meta]
Nysamis, you do know the difference between an embedded image and a hyperlink, right?
Nice piccy, but are you aware you've just added 196,438 bytes to this thread by this embedding?
That's the equivalent of (assuming 5 letters per word) nearly 40,000 words.
You reckon your image is worth 40,000 words?
Posted by: Rorschach
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July 29, 2010 4:25 AM
Yeah, good point and all, but who's the blonde chick behind PZ ???
Posted by: Dana Hunter
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July 29, 2010 4:30 AM
@Nysamis: well, I appreciate it, anyway! Most pictures are only worth a thousand words, but considering four amazing people, a plush squid, and the bonus points for the sign in the background, I'd say we're at least at 60,000.
@#10: oh, dear, cat's outta that bag! Wish I could've been there to see ye!
PZ, Ophelia, thanks for letting this poor night-shift worker get a bit o' conversation with ye! That was the best night I've had in a very long time, and the most fun I've had closing a bar since arriving in Seattle. There's nothing like being able to go to a bar and actually be able to have intelligent conversations.
Love and hugs to all the wonderful people I met (and to the ones I didn't get to meet), and thank all of you for staying late and laughing at some of my jokes. ;-) Hope to see all of you again in the very near future!
Posted by: John Morales
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July 29, 2010 4:44 AM
Methinks I'm outvoted!
Posted by: CarlosT
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July 29, 2010 5:39 AM
Nth! (Sorry, I've been wanting to make that joke in a comment for years.)
Anyway, hello everyone, I'm taking PZ's advice and correcting my hypovolubilty. Tuesday night was one of the best nights I've had in a really long time. I don't think I've ever been in such a big group of smart, funny, and interesting people before. I'm extremely introverted and usually find large groups of people tiring, but I still get a smile on my face and a boost just thinking about it.
Thank you PZ and Ophelia for being the catalysts and thank you to everyone who was there for being so freakin' awesome. I hope we can do something like this again really soon.
Posted by: Cynickal
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July 29, 2010 11:03 AM
Posted by: opheliagonemad
I was the short redhead who wandered off to a corner table with her boyfriend because I'd hurt my back but good and was only up for a little socialization. Then I left early to go plan a D&D session--nerdiest excuse ever!
I'm totally dating her.
Sorry for being bossy-bossman. But the idea of exchanging cash for beer seemed the logical outcome so I thought I'd facilitate getting people who had beer with those who had cash together in some semblance of order. (That'll teach you to allow corporate types find out about your gatherings)
Sadly, I didn't get to see the Professor dance on the table.
Posted by: jonezart
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July 29, 2010 11:08 AM
Depends on where you are (which ferry), but I might be that girl!
Posted by: Will Von Wizzlepig
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July 29, 2010 12:31 PM
Pike was an excellent choice... but don't forget about:
Portland! Portland, Oregon!
It's nice here. Come visit us someday.
Posted by: KillJoy
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July 29, 2010 1:10 PM
There was table dancing?
Damnit.
I left too early, apparently. :(
KJ
Posted by: Ophelia Benson
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July 29, 2010 3:05 PM
Well really, I don't know why I'm sitting there smirking with my eyes closed. I wasn't saying a prayer, I can tell you that much.
I'm glad you made it, Dana!
Posted by: Nysamis
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July 29, 2010 5:08 PM
@43 Yes, I know the difference between a hyperlink and an embedded image. I'd just posted my first comment and noticed it didn't work, so tried again (first without the embedding) and the embedded image was the only thing that worked when I tried it again. There's obviously at least one thing I don't know about hyperlinks (or ones linking to flickr at least,) so maybe you could teach me how to make it actually work without the equivalent of writing a 40,000 word book?
@44 That's me.
@47 Same here. Usually the idea of hanging out with tons of random people makes me (mentally) break out in a cold sweat, but being able to have intelligent conversations negates that.
@52 I obviously have no clue either, but it adds to the comedic value of the picture, at least. It's not everyday that PZ has a squid on his head.
Posted by: John Morales
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July 29, 2010 6:53 PM
Nysamis, your first link was malformed (check out the page source).
Might've been a typo or just plain inattention, happens to all of us.
(Preview is our friend.)
Posted by: krc [clowersnet.net]
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July 29, 2010 11:16 PM
A little late to the thread, but I was the guy with the Atheism t-shirt. It was great to meet everyone and have such good conversation!
Posted by: Silič O'Nopolitanopoulos, Färschdbischuf Beesknees aus Ulm und Klein Elguth, Elector Pharynguline.
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July 30, 2010 11:51 PM
I know I'm not supposed to say this, but you look cute, Nysamis. (And, no, I don't say that to all women carrying squid. Ophelia is cute, too.)