One of the fun surprises of the Global Atheist Convention is that, after a long day of shrill talks from rabidly militant atheists (…and a few accommodationists, shock horror), the evening sessions are all about the humor. So last night we got The Chasers, and I also got to meet Nonstampcollector, who showed this video to the group.
In case you're wondering what he looks like, it's kind of amazing: Nonstampcollector has a face that is a perfect circle, two tiny eyes, and only two expressions. So don't knock the crude animation style, that's simply an accurate rendition of his people.
Oh, and after the official events, I stayed up way too late with Bride of Shrek, Rorschach, Kel, Wowbagger, Chris Nedin, and a rotating cast of other convention attendees. I'm getting way too old for this.
Pictures of these mysterious rascals will follow. Some of the photographers in the group looked like they'd had far too much Australian ambrosia last night, and although they promised to send me pictures, they haven't come through just yet.
Oh, also: we're sharing the convention space with a meeting of body-builders. It is a little surreal to stroll by all the protein supplements and people with giant necks and bulky bodies to join my fellow nerds. I'm tempted to taunt them with math problems, but I'd rather not get wedgied and swirlied.
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I've been in NSC's BlogTV room, so I know that he looks just like the Yahweh character from his videos. Nice try PZ!
Those aren't body builders PZ, those are the real militant atheists. And they've come to kick some ass!
Louis
Chris Nedin? Does he post here? I feel a Molly nomination in the air (after you Caine, and those on my lists before you). Josh our Geologist, there is another. Please send the RangerSignal from afar...
Yeah, but it is miraculous that the universe can be known by us. Poor Gonzalez was sorely persecuted for pointing out such an amazing fact.
The only reason we spent most of our existence knowing almost nothing is that we weren't made to understand the world. So what did you think, that God was going to think of everything, both making the universe understandable, and making us so that we could easily understand it?
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
And no, we don't want the tectonic plates stabilized. Plate tectonics recycles the elements of life, allowing life to be abundant for billions of years.
See, the thing is that this is another fact that proves design, since God could think up a life-destroying way to recycle the elements, just nothing that an engineer could think up in a few hours of spare time--if that long.
Glen D
http;//tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Dear Doctor Myers:
Do swirlies swirl the opposite direction in Australia?
- Wedgie-Proof Lagomorph in Iowa
Nerd:
Um...*blushes* I'm curious about Chris Nedin too. I'll be reading over at Ediacaran for a while.
That's right. Go off to Australia without us, laugh it up, drink enormous amounts of beer, and have a good time. Leave us with all the heavy lifting.
Well, we'll pick up the slack and make an honest effort to keep the world safe from this sort of crap.
The green angel on the left side of the table sounds disturbingly like a young Ray Comfort.....
The only thing more entertaining than that would be to watch an apologist twist their brain in knots trying to counter it.
Apologetics ought to be rated like ice skating: one score for artistic merit and one for technical achievement added together and multiplied by a degree of difficulty.
The green angel on the left side of the table sounds disturbingly like a young Ray Comfort.....
Fossilfishy @ #10: That's an excellent idea!
It would be quite a fun (painful?) project collecting arguments from major apologists and putting them to the blogosphere for judging using these critera... a Photoshop contest on the side to show the relevant apologists doing ice dancing could be even more titillating.
Wedgie-Proof Lagomorph in Iowa,
The idea that toilets swirl counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere is incorrect.
It is true that the Coriolis Effect does impart a counterclockwise spin. However, this force is miniscule on something the scale of a toilet, and is easily overpowered by more local considerations such as the angle of entry of the water, slope of the bowl, and so on.
You can prove this experimentally by loosening your own toilet on its base, allowing you to change the inclination of the bowl. Alternatively, you could place obstructions on the toilet jets so as to direct the water differently.
It is recommended that you do not do this while using the toilet for its intended purpose.
It is in this way - miraculously making people believe an urban myth easily disproved by either logic, maths, or a few minutes playing with the bowl their faeces go in - that I do demonstrate My Divine Nature. This sort of activity is simply a warmup for me before I move onto more difficult activities like the Miracle of the Transubstantiation.
Sincerely,
Yahweh of Nineveh.
*pads back into the thread, dripping and smelly*
You couldn't have said that sooner, huh? I swear, it's like you're punishing me, Yahweh.
I loved the video. It was spot on. As a fan of rocks, I can appreciate plate tectonics as being a very useful tool for understanding the earth, but of course an omnipotent god could have done better.
If a historical Jesus ever existed, it's pretty fucking obvious that he was just a street magician.
Whatever you do, don't mess with their proteinu powderu.
Swirlies don't really work in Australia at all, in either direction - the toilets are different to those in the US, and they generally don't "swirl" in either direction.
[That's not to say bullies would never stick your head in a toilet, just that the effect is more like a small breaking wave than a spinning vortex.]
... and a rotating cast of other convention attendees.
So if the toilets defy legitimate questions about Coriolis force, the next logical level of inquiry is the cast.
Does it rotate deosil, or widdershins?
At least is not a coven.
Hey, whoa! Lets not ostracize your small readership of meathead science nerd atheists. Oh wait, it's just me? Okay, carry on.
Most rotate deosil. Have a look, maybe yours is different.
I'm not so sure it was proteinu powderu they were messing with there. I'm thinking it was something a bit more psychotropic, of psychedelic and/or hallucinogenic variety.
If I had the chance to rename that cartoon clip, I would of called it "Jesus, The Republican."
Too many gods out there to sort it all out.
You may have to do a stint at re-hab after all these after lecture Pub gatherings.
I like the reasoning behind his name.
If Atheism is a religion, then:
Not collecting stamps is a hobby
Off is a TV station
Bald is a hair color
Clear is a color
But... but... why does GOD speak with such a funny accent?
"oh, and some time later I'm going to tell people that crackers are actually my body, and they'll believe me, because, well, I'm me."
"But sir, some time after that a Biologist named Myers will eat of your flesh, with Vegemite on it."
The really interesting thing was finding out whether nonstampcollector's real voice was deep or squeaky.
Well I took a bullet for the team and headed out to the "countering the rise of atheism" conference to hear all the latest research into creationism (not).
I couldn't stay long and could hardly get a word in with Sarfati, he was so busy signing books.
Yes the body builders were funny - it was the brains and the braun...
I was lucky enough to get a pic with PZ and he signed my convention tag. And then today was also lucky to get a photo with Richard Dawkins.
It was an AMAZING event and it was great to see some Pharyngulites at the dinner. I was also blown away that the guy I sat next to at the dinner has been posting things on my facebook group "Mary MacKillop - Australia's first magic prayer fairy"!!!
All I know is they were Body Builders at their own convention. This Nerd had to pass by them too.
It was really cool to meet people that were only known by pseudonyms before.
It really was an amazing event. Being surrounded by rational people is very, very nice. I rather liked this meme: religion and science are not complementary, rather they have a common ancestor: ignorance.
Crashing in a heap after 3 days of minimal sleep, exciting talks and plenty meatspace interaction with some amazing people.
PZ, photos have been sent your way...
More details and proper write-up tomorrow when my GCS is over 8.
I didn't entirely, and Wowbagger and me got to talk to a certain AC Grayling about it for 20 minutes last night...:-)
More Port please, Kel.
Conference was really good, so many interesting talks... and all the pharyngulites are really awesome people in meatspace.
Dammit, I knew I should have sprung for a dinner ticket as well...
It was great meeting everybody on Friday night, but I didn't really see any Pharyngulites at all after I left Y&J. Maybe I was the only one with a blue pass rather than a gold one?
Anyway, I spent the whole weekend introducing myself to anyone who came within a metre of me. I didn't know anyone when I arrived and left having made a few new heathen friends. We're already making plans to turn up at the Atheist Society lectures together, and I'm sure other stuff will be forthcoming as well. A weekend well spent. :)
You should have come to the extra-curricular meetup on the saturday night. That was a lot of fun. Hours of entertaining conversation.
That cartoon needs Ricky Gervais and the rest of the Office staff.
Nonstampcollector is a genius. i think i have watched almost all of his videos over the last year or so. he nails virtually every concept. brilliant effort, for a convict...i mean, good ole australian citizen!
Kel, OM #35:
Bother. I knew I'd forgotten something. Are there any further ungodless frivolities to be had this week, or is the action over now?
me, #38:
Um, that would be 'godless', not 'ungodless'. Affix fail.
Indeed. Thanks for letting me talk genetics at you all night Kel. Genetics, beer and good company is pretty much my idea of a holy trinity.
I ain't no apologist, I ain't no believer, and I admire NonStampCollector, but... Jesus as portrayed in the gospels that made it into the bible, and Paul in the bits of his work that are regarded by scholars as probably genuine, both seem to have thought of women and men as equals. Naturally, Paul and whoever wrote the gospels had their work heavily edited until that part of the message was obscured. They were kooks, to be sure, but to their credit they were apparently non-sexist kooks. My information on this matter comes chiefly from the work of Bart D. Ehrman.
As to accommodation, I reckon science and religion differ in the questions they ask. They differ further in that science then undertakes to find complete, truthful answers to its questions.
A note regarding the video from an amateur historical enthusiast - not all of the savior gods in other mythologies listed as being born from virgins were actually born from virgins. It was difficult to keep track of all the ones listed, but I'm sure that Tammuz and Horus weren't, and I don't think Re had a mother at all.