Ohio details!

I'll be there with bells on.

I might show for this. It's close enough that I could arrange it...

But I never have a valentines date so that's out of the question.

I think the Thirsty Ear is the closest best beer selection to the Fawcett Center....

Hey! Alright! I'll have to drive down from Cleveland for this!

Seriously, a lecture on Darwin for a Valentine's gift? I hope it includes the evolution of love as a means to propagate genes.

I'd like to see the girl who'd fall for that. On second thought, no.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592

I'll probably bring my mom, whom has recently seen the light. She's reading The God Delusion, and has even been sharing it with my dad. They both recognize the ridiculousness of religion, but my dad can't conceive how every exists without starting it off. Actually, the talk might convince him of the truth.

So, I'll still be referring to February 14 as S.A.D --> Singles Appreciation Day. Unless any of the ladies here would like to accompany me. Asking here isn't too pathetic, is it?

With apologies to the good Rev, OM. 'every' should of course read 'everything.'

Wow, I would love to go. I might have to drive up from Nashville, but what could be better for Valentine's Day?

so you could always bring a date and say it's their Valentine's Day gift

So it's sort of a contraceptive, too? Because, seriously, *no* sex will be happening after a gift like that.

I tease. :-)

Fred: It would only be pathetic if your mom is included on the date.

You should come to North Carolina some time! Like here in Chapel Hill perhaps ;-)

QD: I happen to find science (and Darwin AND PZ) very sexy...

Hey! I think me and my wife will be driving down from Cleveland! She's the sort that would fall for a line like, "Want to go to a humanist banquet for Valentine's? You'll like it better than Titanic, I plomise."

As it's a banquet, does that mean the $35 ticket comes with a hearty feed?

I should warn everyone, though, that this won't be one of my firebreathing godless talks, it will be one of my sciencey talks, with a little history thrown in.

Well, good! Science is better than godlessness any day. Although godlessness is fun, science is way more fun.

As long as it's a firebreathing sciencey talk.

(I /heart history.)

I'll be there! And yes, some girls do think that this would be a great Valentine's Day date! I just hope they offer vegetarian fare - I'd hate to blow $35 and go home hungry.

Darwin was a racist.

Darwin was a racist.

Ah, so nice to see one of the lack of perspective twits show up. Anything to put as stain on Darwin, who was just a fallable man. It does nothing to detract from his theory, which has been strengthened greatly in the 150 years since Darwin first published his book. So much so it now goes by the name "Modern Synthesis". Now go back to your basement in your parents house and let the big people make their social engagements.

pz -

while in ohio, would you please remind the good people there that the mountain's name is denali, not mckinley.

fred c dobbs don't say nuthin' he don't mean...

"Darwin was a racist."

So was Lincoln.

Ok, so by V-day I need to have a disposable date with a car willing to cover the entrance fee (and my dinner ><) and hopefully is intelligent enough to not fall asleep or act like a total bore...

I'm doomed.

Darwin's theory of natural selection is racist. The subtitle of Origin of Species is "Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." Favoured Races? Struggle for Life? Where have we heard that before?

My, you are an idiot, aren't you? Language usage has changed since the 19th century. Darwin was not referring to "races" in the sense you are using them, but to varieties. Like in pigeons.

Just curious, but have you actually read the book? Or just the title?

Oh, and are you planning to spam lots of random threads with random comments completely unrelated to the topic being discussed? Let me know if you are, so I can preemptively ban you and save myself a little work.

Good to see that science appeals to some of the ladies. I'm extra-lucky in that I bought my girl tickets to a lecture on Darwin and she is totally impressed.

For Sydney-based pharyngulites, the lecture is at http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/event/lectures/men_of_science_series_dar….

You're coming to Columbus? And you're going to be talking science and history?

WHY DOES NO ONE TELL ME THESE THINGS?!

Screw the whole dating thing, I'm so there!

You ought to make the trek down to Cincinnati and check out the creationist museum if you have not yet indulged your funny bone.

$35 bucks a ticket? What exotic banquet foods justify that price?

Thus spake ildi @10:

Fred: It would only be pathetic if your mom is included on the date.

True that. I'm not quite to the Seymour Skinner level of patheticness yet. There's little hope, that's true, but there's is a smidgen.

No~! My school city. I won't be back in the States for several months... =(

Hm, I might drive down from Cleveland! It's either that or stay in town and see Floyd Sandberg's play Darwin Remembers at the Natural History Museum.

But if I come to Columbus, I'll have to bring my girlfriend. I gave her a Darwin-themed Valentine's card last year (#3 down onthis page), and she's still dating me, so odds are good ;)

I'm definitely going to be there, but I have to ask...

Why so pricey?

Since you're going to be in Columbus, will the honorable Frank Zindler of American Atheists also be in attendence?

I'd like to go, provided I can get my boyfriend to go along with it.

Ok, people, I'm coming to this gala fest all by my lonesome, even though I'm more comfortable showing up at a bar by myself than a place like the Fawcett Center, and if this lady can do it, y'all can too. (Location is probably a reason for the higher price - it will feel somewhat conferencey, I'm guessing.)

I'm assuming that something is being planned for afterward for those unwilling/unable to shell out the jack for the FC?

Oh, and Fred, ignore my snarky comment; I just hate Hallmark holidays like VD.

Are you kidding me? I live in Ohio, but am going out of town that day!

Gah! I would love to attend this, but that entire day I am driving down to Georgia to visit relatives!

Had this been held actually ON Darwin Day, I could've attended. Ah well. Hope you have a chance to stop by Betty's or Jeni's (for a pint or a pint, respectively) while you're out here.

I'll be coming all the way from Edmonton for it!
I kid; I was frustrated at having recently moved to North Carolina, because it meant I missed you in Alberta. The upshot of it, though, is that for only a seven-hour drive (my Valentine's gift; in return, I bought the tickets for us both), we get to spend Darwin Day with a *science-based* (our favorite kind) lecture by P.Z. Myers!
Where's the doin's after the lecture? Can we tag along?

PZ, what are the chances of this selling out ahead of time?

My wife and I are trying to figure out how we can get up there from Louisville to see this (organizing a babysitter, etc.), but being in Mid-February, we're a little worried that a blizzard might come through, making the 4-hr drive more like a 12-hour deathtrap, and then the ticket price going to waste.

If we were fairly confident we could still buy tickets just a couple days ahead of the event, that would ease our fears a little bit.