pharyngula

The town of Aberystwyth banned Monty Python's Life of Brian 30 years ago. Now the mayor, Sue Jones-Davies, wants to end the ban. Those of you familiar with the movie may remember Sue Jones-Davies as Brian's girlfriend, Judith Iscariot.

Good grief, but this is tedious. I'm still getting piles of email every day from people 1) begging me not to abuse a cracker because it is so sacred to them, piles of email telling me to 2) abuse a book because it is so sacred to Muslims (I've even been sent two copies of the Koran!), and of course…

Here's some reading material for your Sunday afternoon. The Freethinker Sunday Sermonette is amusing today. The Hourglass, a new carnival on the biology of aging. I and the Bird #79 Humanist Symposium #22 Carnival of the Liberals #69 Carnival of the Godless #96 Friday Ark #200 The…

I knew it. Bucky Katt is an ID proponent. In related news, I was sent a photo of this odd billboard. Be mesmerized by the mysterious Octopult!

This morning on Atheists Talk radio (9am Central), Erin Davies discusses her cross-country campaign against homophobia, driving her "Fagbug" Volkswagon Beetle car, and Hector Avalos discusses his book "The End of Biblical Studies." Tune in!

The History Channel program, EVOLVE: Eyes that I mentioned before but then disappeared has reappeared — it was delayed, but is now scheduled for broadcast on 29 July.

June Sheldon was an adjunct professor of biology at San Jose/Evergreen Community College, teaching genetics. Here's one account of a lecture she gave. On June 21, 2007, June Sheldon, an adjunct professor teaching a human heredity course, answered a question about how heredity affects homosexual…

You are all aware of Joss Whedon's new mini-epic, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, I'm sure. If not, get over there now…it's only freely available until Sunday night. All I can say is that it is about time someone made a sympathetic, musical tribute to supervillains. Now I'm wondering, though…the…

Massimo Pigliucci has posted the notes, parts 1, 2, and 3, from the Altenberg meeting that was unfortunately over-hyped by the creationist crowd (no blame for that attaches to the organizers of this meeting). It sounds like it was a phenomenally interesting meeting that was full of interesting…

Teratology is so interesting — it gives us hints about the mechanisms driving developmental processes. In some cases, when you just have a few isolated instances, it can be frustrating, because there isn't enough information to go much beyond speculation. Here's one of those tantalizing cases: an…

I'm a little bit jealous: Seed is well represented at Netroots Nation, but I couldn't swing it this year. It's just as well, as it would have been sandwiched in between a couple of other jaunts, and I'm still trying to get back on my feet after wearing myself out in Atlanta. It would have been…

…and a knife-fight did not break out. Heads were spinning on necks and there was some pea-soup vomiting, but since it's on radio you don't get to see that. Anyway, you can listen to the interview on Catholic Radio International, or you can download the mp3 directly.

Christianity is like sticking a fork in your face and your rectum and plugging them into a wall socket. Your insides will smoke and sizzle, you'll glow, sparks will shoot out of you, and you'll become a cooked vegetable. At the end, he says, "don't try to do this at home, because it can be very…

Somebody is publishing private letters! Of course, these are 186 year old private letters from a 12 year old Charles Darwin, and they're very amusing. I guess he wasn't a fan of bathing, and later wasn't shy about trash-talking his college professors. He was a very pugnacious little boy!

Hooray, I have evidence that at least one person didn't fall asleep at my GECCO keynote: here's a summary. He even managed to pay attention right up to the dramatic conclusion, which I usually keep a secret, but now the beans have been spilled. Wait…the biology-oriented keynote at last year's GECCO…

The movie genre of the summer seems to be the superhero flick, and I've enjoyed most of what I've seen so far, but I hope Hollywood won't forget other kinds of movies. There is one I'm really looking forward to, and the news so far seems to be that it will be true to the book: Watchmen. Oooh, it…

The Republican National Convention is being held in St Paul at the Xcel Energy Center. My fellow Minnesotans are familiar with this place — it's right across the street from the Science Museum of Minnesota. Would you believe the science museum is being closed to the public during the convention?…

This is a long streaming video, so you might want to save it for something to watch over lunch. Mark Norman takes a giant squid apart at the Melbourne Museum.

San Francisco is going to have a ballot measure to determine whether to name a sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush. I don't know about this. I understand the sentiment, that it would associate Bush's name with sewage, but sewage treatment plants are good things that take filth coming in and…

Hapalochlaena maculosa Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.

Since some people were envious that I singled out one blog earlier today, here's your opportunity: leave your url in the comments here, say a little bit about why your blog is worthy of my attention, and I'll toss it onto the blogroll. Attention for everyone! Caveats: for technical reasons, your…

OK, people, you've got to stop this. These comment threads keep filling up with noise — I'm closing one bloated thread and starting this one, if you feel you must. Just a suggestion: if you are an outraged Catholic who is here to tell us a) you're very upset, b) the cracker is very, very important…

I have been tempted many times by that over-expensive sexy slab of technology called the iPhone, so I don't need Seed adding to the temptation with a list of science apps for the iPhone. Fortunately, the strongest argument against the iPhone for me right now is that it's closed and only supports…

OK, OK, I noticed. This will only work once, you know, and subsequent notices will require more!

You may recall that there were some concerns about the motives and legitimacy of a social networking site, Atheist Nexus. Those concerns have been resolved to my satisfaction — it was simply a case of a recent apostate who had left a confusing trail of both religious and unreligious comments — and…

Because if I lived in Kansas, I could vote for Sean Tevis for State Representative, a pro-education. pro-science candidate with a sense of humor. Since I live in Minnesota, though, I'll have to settle for donating a few dollars to his campaign (you must click through to that link — you'll be…

Thomas Foley of Virginia is nuts. This is the delegate to the Republican National Convention who has called for increased security. Why? Because he has an irrational fear of us. On Friday the Catholic League reported that Thomas E. Foley, a Virginia delegate to the Republican National Convention (…

I'm on my way home, and am actually using a fast internet connection at the airport — I'd forgotten what it was like! I quickly uploaded a few essential files, and my mail software is downloading my email. Unfortunately, I'd need a really fast connection to handle all that — the number of messages…

This has been a fun and informative meeting here in Atlanta — I also think my talk yesterday went well — but it has had one downside: we broke the internet. Practically everyone here has a laptop or two, and the hotel network has been rendered nearly useless in a major net traffic jam. Who would…

I regret to inform you all that Melanie Kroll has been fired for using her work account to sound death threats. In a further and not-unexpected twist, it wasn't Melanie who composed and wrote the message — the husband, Chuck Kroll, did it. We even have a confession. Good work, Chuck! You cost your…