Demagogues
retrospectacle | October 15, 2007
As I mentioned in a previous thread, I'm responsible for inviting three speakers to the 2008 Neuroscience Spring Symposium. Its an incredible opportunity to meet scientists from around the US, and I've already had the pleasure of being turned down by both Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker. However, one person whom I'm most excited to hear back from hasn't answered my emails. That person is the elusive Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, who in fact, had his own blog.
Shulgin is a Harvard and Berkely-educated chemist, famous for writing the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL (both on the topics of psychoactive…
retrospectacle | May 31, 2007Like most scientists and nerds, the innovative and often science-fictiony work of Stanley Kubrick holds a spot of honor in my heart. However, the man himself was an sometimes seen as an enigma, a very private person.
Jamie Stuart, cyber-friend and fellow admirirer of all things Kubrick, gave me the heads up to an exclusive interview he did for The Reeler with longtime Kubrick assisant Leon Vitali. Vitali worked with Kubrick for nearly 25 years, spanning from 1975's Barry Lyndon to Eyes Wide Shut, and is perhaps one of only a handful of people who knew Kubrick well, both profesionally and…
retrospectacle | April 12, 2007Kurt Vonnegut, long-time smoker author of "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Cats Cradle," died last night of brain injuries he suffered weeks ago during a fall. He was 84.
"I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations," Vonnegut, whose watery, heavy-lidded eyes and unruly hair made him seem to be in existential pain, once told a gathering of psychiatrists.
A self-described religious skeptic and freethinking humanist, Vonnegut used protagonists such as Billy Pilgrim and Eliot Rosewater as transparent vehicles for his points of view. He also filled his novels with satirical…
retrospectacle | November 21, 2006How did I ever miss Steven Pinker getting wasted with Dr. Steve Steve?
C'mon people, you're suppost to tell me about these things!
Should I include a question for him regarding his favorite brew? I KNOW I'm going to have to ask him about his membership in the esteemed Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club For Scientists. Cause I think I might want in too.
"Luxuriant hair is always pleasing, possibly because it shows not only current health but a record of health in the years before."
Steven Pinker, LFHCfS
retrospectacle | November 13, 2006Every spring, the University of Michigan Neuroscience program has a symposium with invited speakers, usually eminent people in the field who have been influential in some regard. This year one of the speakers we've settled on is linguist/philosopher/famous guy Steven Pinker, and I've been charged with inviting him. Or, more likely begging him to come. We invited him to the speak two years ago and he declined due to other scheduling conflicts, so we REALLY want him to come this year.
So, I'm wondering, how to pose the question so he'll come? I'm sure he has lots of gigs that pay more and are…
retrospectacle | November 10, 2006I suppose he was 87, and had been looking 87 for the past 20 years. But still. He did one-armed push-ups on stage. At the Oscars.
retrospectacle | November 1, 2006This morning I received a one-in-a-million phone call from a friend:
"Shelley, you're going to hate me if you don't get this. Your one and only love of your life is at Angelo's right now."
Now, Angelo's is a little cafe across the street from my lab. But, could it be? Could my one true love REALLY be there?
As I walked past Angelo's and looked into the window, my young heart skipped a beat. Imposing profile.......well-shined head.....booming Shakespearean voice???? It was him! Jean-Luc Picard!
Well, actually, Patrick Stewart. Ever since I was a kid I made no bones about the enormous crush I…
retrospectacle | August 2, 2006Poor alcoholic Mel!
I haven't been able to find the police report from his fateful drunken driving incident, but I did find a humorous one that I'm sure is almost as crazy as the real thing!
Some highlights?
After attempting to flee the scene, Gibson shouted that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." These outbursts continued for the next five minutes. Mr. Gibson claimed the Jews were also responsible for:
the death of Jesus;
the impalement of William Wallace;
the disfigurement of The Man Without A Face;
the ransoming of his son;
the plot holes in Signs;
and the overall…
retrospectacle | June 15, 2006So, my esteemed ScienceBloggers Grrrscientist and PZ Myers have weighed in on Stephen Hawking's recent comments regarding the state of the planet and what we're suppost to do about it. To paraphrase, he believes that humans should be actively cultivating colonies on the Moon or beyond, in the increasingly likely event that something disastous happens on Earth.
"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a…