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St. Valentine and Darwin: A Tale of Two Carls

Carl Buell, Carl Zimmer. Do you know the names? Buell is the renowned natural history illustrator, Zimmer is the well-known science writer.

Buell’s name just popped up all over the world in relation to Darwin Day, Zimmer’s makes a splash this week on the cover of Time Magazine.

I hope Darwin enthusiast Colin Purrington will forgive me for quoting pretty much an entire page on his website, but he explains the Buell-Darwin connection so well I just couldn’t do it better:  Continue reading “St. Valentine and Darwin: A Tale of Two Carls”

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Jeez, I Looked Like THAT??

Good news! Well, for me, anyway.

I’ve been invited to do an article for American Atheist Magazine. I just submitted it today, for the March issue.

Part of the thing was a couple of photos I had to send along. Since the piece is about my recent “atheist deals with death” experience, and speaks of my cowboy Dad, the pics were of me and said Dad.

Most of my life, I actually thought I was rather homely, but looking at this pic from 1975, I’m like “Hey, this kid is handsome! That’s ME??” Continue reading “Jeez, I Looked Like THAT??”

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Hey, It’s An Imperfect World (Sorry, L.Ron)

I’m a long way from the planning table here at FtB.

I’m pretty sure Ed Brayton and PZ Myers have a Master Planner’s Lair somewhere, which has a huge hot tub, beer bar and poker table, where the World Domination plans proceed.

Pictured above is the Soundproof Lair for Concealing Maniacal Laughter. I like to think the whole complex is in Scotland somewhere, probably underground, and they get there by Opening a Way into the Never-Never. I suspect Ian Cromwell, Daniel Fincke and certain others get periodic invitations to confer on important points of the Plan, although they may just be there to pick up Ed’s and PZ’s empties. Continue reading “Hey, It’s An Imperfect World (Sorry, L.Ron)”

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About that Cure …

Just wanted to follow up on my post of a few days ago. I still feel a little bit bad about the headline, “Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!”

I intended it to be funny, sort of a reflection of common practice in science reporting. This does it better:

 

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Boggled

You Europeans will be tolerantly amused by this, but …

I live in an apartment in Schenectady, New York. (It’s kinda near the center of the state, if you’re not familiar with newyorkography.) It’s an older building. In fact, the area I live in is the oldest part of the town — there’s a building a few blocks away that dates from the late 1600s.

My building dates from the 1800s. It’s a creaky old thing, but comfortable. I’d like to show you a series of pictures from when I went down to the basement today to do laundry.

First, here’s the laundry room: Continue reading “Boggled”

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Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!

Yes, I’m doing that “sensationalist headline” thing the popular news media is so famous for.

But … I hope this is true. It would be damned cool if it was. At the same time, I’ve learned — not as a scientist, because I’m not one, but as a reader of news and onetime newspaper editor — that what you read in headlines is often misleading. And you can’t even trust the stories that follow.

But here it is: Breaking News from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine

Continue reading “Hurrah! Cure for Alzheimer’s Discovered!”

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Short Stack #11

In Life’s Darkest Hours, remind yourself of this: There’s chocolate.

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Few people know that most of the early programmers at Microsoft were total emos. For instance, the first version of Clippy included the phrase, “Hi, it looks like you’re writing a suicide note! Would you like some help?” Continue reading “Short Stack #11”

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Iron Sky

Came across this trailer for a movie coming April 4. I’ve heard NOTHING about it, but it looks like something I’ll want to see on the big screen.

Space Nazis? Ooh, baby, I’m on board.

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Our Plan Proceeds. One More Is Assimilated.

Biodork joins the FtB network, further spreading the atheist stain among the peoples of the world.

Go welcome her!

Her name is Brianne Bilyeu, and she describes herself as “skeptic, humanist, atheist, feminist, pro-sexual freedom, nerd, geek, dork, bibliophile, activist, pro-choice, over-joiner, liberal, progressive, scientist, wife, sister, daughter, gamer, storyteller, listener.”

On the other hand, she admits, in her very first post on FtB, to simultaneously “drinking whiskey and eating an Oreo McFlurry.”

I can’t put my finger on why that seems so unnatural, Brianne. But it does.

And then there’s the way you agree with Bill O’Reilly all the time. Hmph.

I’ve got my eye on you, missy.