Let’s see…what did I do today? I met with a whole bunch of people at Seed. They were cool, but they won’t notice that I mentioned them because they never read my blog.
I also had dinner with Niles Eldredge, James Watson, Adam Bly, and Laura McNeil (big guns at Seed).
It was an engrossing evening, but now you’re all going to really hate me: I can drop names, but I’m not going to reveal private conversations…other than to mention that I was honored by a toast from that distinguished crowd, which means I can either die smug, or I’ve got a heck of a lot to do to live up to it now. I fear the latter, unfortunately.
James Watson?! Golly! Is it true that he is accompanied by a nimbus of light wherever he goes?
Oh, yes — that’s his wife.
you’ll never be able to wear a hat off the rack after this, will you?
Nope. It’s like a great big balloon bobbing around on the end of my neck. It’s also vulnerable to popping.
Wow. I presume you shook hands? In which case, you likely exchanged that of which its structure he elucidated.
Did it pop, or do you soar even higher?
Seriously, though, I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather meet, unless it was E.O. Wilson.
Enviously….SH
Y wrthlss pc f sht..wh s y thnk y’r kdddng?
Oh God, he’s going to become even more insufferable… Dawkins, Watson, Eldredge. I better meet someone important soon, or else I’ll have to… *shudder* … defer to him.
You worthless piece of shit..woh so you think you’re kiddding?
swiftee, your intellect is far too dull to pop that balloon.
heck, your intellect is so dull I doubt you could use it to extricate yourself from the proverbial paper bag.
twit.
Yeesh, the trolls here aren’t as entertaining as Berube’s. Now that he’s passed on from the world of blogging, we all have to be asking ourselves What Would Berube Say when the going gets tough and the trolls come trolling!
Well, I once ran a meeting that was also a dinner attended by Stephen Jay Gould, E.O. Wilson and a bunch of other guys I won’t bore you with.
Oh, and we had it catered in the Roemer Room at the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Someday I will tell the story of what could have been the most embarrassing moment of my life, at the end of that meeting. It didn’t happen, but it almost did….
Now that you have such a huge coterie of famous people, perhaps it is time to start thinking about a book. The accolades alone from your new cronies alone would lift it to the best seller list.
I think a catchy title would be “The Squid Delusion.”
Watson has been one of my heroes for a long time, because he says and writes exactly what he thinks with no concern whatever for any collateral damage to sacred cows.
Watson has been one of my heroes for a long time, because he says and writes exactly what he thinks with no concern whatever for any collateral damage to sacred cows.
Yeah, I got that impression from the Wikipedia entry:
Watson is an outspoken man … He has also repeatedly supported genetic screening and genetic engineering in public lectures and interviews, arguing for instance that the “really stupid” bottom 10% of people should be aborted before birth; that all girls should be genetically engineered to be pretty and has been quoted in The Sunday Telegraph as stating “that if the gene (for homosexuality) were discovered and a woman decided not to give birth to a child that may have a tendency to become homosexual, she should be able to abort the fetus.” The biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a letter to The Independent claiming that Watson’s position was misrepresented by The Sunday Telegraph article and that Watson also considered the possibility of having a heterosexual child to be a valid reason for abortion. Watson doesn’t think much of the ambitiousness and energy of fat people, and is quoted as saying “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them.”
Admiring somebody for candor doesn’t mean that I agree with everything they say! He has also been outspoken on far better causes, such as the insane recombinant DNA regulations that were in place back when I was a grad student.
He’s really smart, so I guess he knows what he’s talking about. I’m with James.
Let’s see…what did I do today? I met with a whole bunch of people at Seed. They were cool, but they won’t notice that I mentioned them because they never read my blog.
Ouch, PZ… Speaking in absolutes makes baby Seedsters cry!
No one at Seed ever reads your blog?
What of all the fond Friday mornings we’ve spent together, ogling cephalopods? And all those evenings laughing at the antics of Creationists? All those things you said, and promises you made — and now you treat us like strangers? You break my heart!
Jokes aside, it was a great pleasure to meet you. I hope you’ll come visit us again soon!
I think there is a book in progress, right?
..or is it done now??