Darren Naish doesn’t like Darwin’s beard. Why? Because it perpetuates stereotypes of scientists as old men.
Maybe someone needs to tell babyface over there that men can grow beards in their 20s, and having a beard doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a wizened old fuddy-duddy.
You may recall a ferociously hardfought battle between myself and the Bad Astronomer over the Weblog Awards a while back—a battle I won easily, of course, by the overwhelming majority of approximately 1%—and that we had bet each other various horrendous penalties if the other was the victor. Phil has begun to pay up with a new article on astrobiology, and this coming weekend he’ll be singing my praises at The Amazing Meeting (anyone else here planning to attend? Make sure he does a good paean, and report back to me).
What is it with this weekend? I’m attending ConFusion, Phil will be at The Amazing Meeting, and the science blogging conference is going on at the same time. Is there something magical about this particular weekend that everybody had to schedule something for it?
Just a reminder that I’ll be at MoonBase ConFusion at the Detroit-Troy Marriott in Troy, Michigan this coming weekend. I don’t think it’s too late to get a room, and you can definitely still sign up to attend! I’m committed to do a reading Friday evening, panels on “Remaking Humanity” and “Singularity or Rapture?” on Saturday, an Evolution Q&A on Saturday, and a discussion of evolution with kids on Sunday. Oh, and there’s a casual coffee hour with me on Sunday morning. From the schedule it sounds like there will be parties going on at all hours, too, so I’m hoping no one shows up for that one so I can bogart all the caffeine. I’ll need it.
I’m also bringing along that ferocious grammar Nazi, Skatje. We’ll both be blogging the con in addition to the talking and the wandering and the partying and the spectating and the hey hey glavin.
I’m back home! I’m tired! I have to go take care of flies and fish! If you want to read some science, though, my cavefish article for Seed is online, so you can do that while I try to recover from all the traveling. But of course, you all already subscribe, so you probably read it last week.
I just plowed through all the comments on the delurking thread—you know you can all keep talking, don’t you? I only bite the heads off creationists, so you’re safe.
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.
I think I had a better day than any of you readers out there, and I have to gloat somewhere.
So…lunch with John Brockman. An afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art. A conversation with Niles Eldredge. Dinner with Benoit Mandelbrot. I should do this kind of thing every day.
By the way, I really recommend dinner with Mandelbrot. That guy has more stories…
To my great relief, I’ve made it to the big city without a hitch (last time I came out here, I spent more time sitting on a runway in Allentown). Now it’s just a busy, busy couple of days visiting with some very cool people—this time I’ll actually get to visit Seed Central—and then back home on Wednesday.
I’ve got to work on my image. Here’s another report about meeting me that says I “turned out to be a more low-key guy than I expected”. Maybe I’ve got to try and reverse expectations.
It’s true. I make Mr Rogers look like a bomb-throwing anarchist. I walk into a room and people fall asleep. If I start talking, catatonia and death ensue. I’ve got the personality and verve of a cheap mannequin.
Everyone will testify to the truth of what I say.
A few of us infamous bloggers met at a pleasant party at the home of Jim and Kat Lippard, and here we are:
At last, someone has accurately reported on my awe-inspiring personal presence:
P.Z. Myers was a towering giant of a man, with a bristling piratical mustache, a rakish beard, fangs, and little sucker-tipped tentacles instead of fingers. His booming, gravelly voice took over every conversation and ranted at us until we all finally agreed with him about everything.
I think the fact that I look shorter than everyone else in that picture is an optical illusion.
Yes, I did, although it was tough going. Grrl Scientist was more personable than I was, and Lynch was always sniping at me cruelly. I had to be the cranky old guy up there. Oh, well…we did get lots of questions, and it went smoothly enough; Diane Kelly, the moderator, had the easiest job in the world since she she just had to prime the pump with a few questions, and everyone just went along with it.
Tonight—Seamus McCaffreys Irish Pub around 6. I guess some of us will meet in the lobby of the Hyatt at 6 before walking over, or you can just meet us there at 18 W Monroe. Just look for the trio of science nerds…oh, wait. That description isn’t very unique here, is it? How about the guys who forget to remove their nametags when they leave the hotel…nah, no good…the people with laptops…crap. Sorry, we just blend in.
