Nerd Nite Philly

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Yo nerds!

Wednesday, May 14th is our next Nerd Nite, and this time around we’ve got what is probably the most diverse lineup we have ever had. See for yourself!:

Jennifer Vess, “Presidential Hair: Collect Them All!”

The Academy of Natural Sciences has a unique collection in the archives that includes locks of hair from the first twelve Presidents of the United States.  Why?  For centuries locks of hair played a role in remembrance and mourning, and eventually science.  The talk will (hopefully) take everyone beyond the ‘ew’ factor felt by most people today concerning human hair no longer attached to a human head and get into the weird and wonderful world of souvenirs, Victorian memorials and microscopes.

Bio: Jennifer Vess is the Brooke Dolan Archivist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.  She has spent the last ten years in the world of museums moving from museum education to collections care and exhibition development.

Simon Joseph, “Bear Flags and Bad Puns”

From the man who brought you the the History of and behind the Flag(s) of Germany comes a new ill-advised venture into the world of Vexillology. In this talk, Simon Joseph will travel the world looking at interesting flags that you probably have never heard of. Well… at least travel Europe and North America. And maybe some boring flags. And maybe some that you have heard of. At the very least, there’ll be bears involved… somehow.

Bio: Simon M. “the Cannibal” Joseph has never invaded a country for profit or personal gain, and definitely did not start the Russo-Japanese War. A merry-maker and gregarious fellow, he’s wasted many bar napkins explaining what mixed-member proportional representation is, showing how to draw the flag of the UK, and creating terrible coats of arms (with blazon!) for unsuspecting victims.

Chris Cummins, “The Secret World of Spider-Man”

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can…which apparently sometimes involves using a giant robot to fight monsters and utilizing his super powers to help a Yeti who loves to steal ice cream return home. Confused? You aren’t the only one! In this speech, Chris Cummins will talk about some of Spider-Man’s weirdest adventures in comic books and on television. He will also take a look at some of the strangest Spidey merchandise you’ve never seen before.

Bio: Chris Cummins is a writer and comic book historian whose work regularly appears on Den of Geek US, Geekadelphia, and Topless Robot. He’s also the creator of the websites Hibernation Sickness and What’s Dave Kendall Wearing? and the host of the upcoming Sci-Fi Explosion event at PhilaMOCA. Most importantly, he’s also one of the Nerd Nite Philly co-bosses. Whee!

Plus music by Sidewalk Atlas!

Wednesday, May 14.

Doors open at 4pm. Show starts at 7:30pm. $5.

Frankford Hall

1210 Frankford Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19125

215-634-3338

Yo Nerds,

Are you ready for a special edition Nerd Nite? On Wednesday, March 12, we’re teaming up with the Franklin Institute to bring you some special talks highlighting life and death in that storied ancient city of Pompeii PLUS a talk by a local geologist who will talk about current volcanic research to tie everything into the 21st century. To shake things up a little bit, we’ll be trying out some nerdy quizzo in between speakers with special prizes from the Franklin and Frankford Hall. Without further ado, the talks at hand:

Dr. Brian Rose: Dining and Lovemaking in Pompeii

The destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 CE allows us to reconstruct extensively the nature of daily life in an Early Imperial Roman town, especially the residents’ attitudes toward food and sex. Dr. Rose presents an overview of those attitudes by examining the archaeological discoveries in both cities, including the wall paintings, mosaics, dining rooms, and food remains. The discussion also includes cookbooks and dinner parties as well as prostitution and same-sex relationships.

Bio: Brian Rose is the James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director of the University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He has been excavating at Troy since 1988, where he has been Head of Post-Bronze Age Excavations at the site for nearly two decades, and is also co-director of the Gordion Excavations in central Turkey. He excavated at Aphrodisias for five years, and his survey project in the Granicus River Valley focused on recording and mapping the Greco-Persian tombs that dominate the area.

Dr. Janet Monge: Herculaneum: The Archaeology of Catastrophe—Life and Death in a Roman Resort Town

On a hot summer day in the bustling Bay of Naples, Mt. Vesuvius explodes and rains down superheated gas and lava onto the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some inhabitants of Herculaneum escaped into beach caves used to store boats for the heavy marine traffic into the cove. Their deaths by heat shock, which instantly killed its victims by vaporizing their soft tissues while preserving their hard bony skeletons under layers of volcanic ash, affords a unique opportunity to study life and death among the ancient Romans in ways that are truly unique in the study of the bioarchaeology of the ancient world.

Bio: Janet Monge has done fieldwork in many locations in Europe, Kenya and Australia. Her primary interest is in the development of methodologies to preserve and broadcast datasets to the physical anthropology community using Computed Tomography, traditional radiology, and human dental micro-anatomy as well as in the distribution of the highest quality castings of human fossils to Universities and Museums all over the world. She teaches courses in Forensic Anthropology and has been engaged in many forensic case studies involving skeletal, burned, mutilated and mummified human remain.

Laura Guertin: How Volcanoes Make Our Lives Exciting – Even on the East Coast

Come hear about the latest volcanic activity in Hawaii and Iceland, the volcanic threat of Yellowstone and the Canary Islands, and the future models of volcanoes forming along the Jersey Shore, and see how well you sleep tonight…

Bio: Laura Guertin, or “Dr. G” as her students refer to her, is a marine geologist and teaches at Penn State Brandywine. She is a passionate educator that cares deeply about increasing the scientific and geographic literacy of students pursuing non-science degrees. Dr. G loves the outdoors, visiting natural National Parks, geocaching/Earthcaching, and is a #NASASocial alum. Find her on Twitter @guertin and on the web http://about.me/drlauraguertin

Plus! Quizzo with prizes from Frankford Hall, the Franklin Institute, the Penn Museum, and the Philadelphia Science Festival

The details:

Wednesday, March 12

Doors at 7:00PM, show starts at 7:30pm

$5 cover gets you admission plus happy hour specials all evening

Hey Friends, are you ready for a fantastic Nerd Nite? We know we’ve been missing all of you plus the fine beers at Frankford Hall during our hiatus. So we’re back and better than ever. The ever important logistical details:

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

doors at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm

Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard

$5 cover gets you a night of nerdy edutainment, plus food and drink specials.

The talks at hand are as follows:

“Love, Pixels, & Exploring Romance in Video Games” by Eric Smith

If someone were to ask you what the Greatest Love Story of All Time was, and what it was that made said story so great, what would be your answer? Chances are, you might not bring up Shadow of the Colossus or Final Fantasy VII. Which is ridiculous, because come on. In this talk, we’ll explore the oft forgotten romantic genre… of video games.

Bio: Eric Smith is the co-founder of Geekadelphia and the Philly Geek Awards, and the social media manager at Quirk Books. He’s the author of The Geek’s Guide to Dating, and his debut YA novel, Inked, is due out this Fall with Bloomsbury Spark. He’s written for The Huffington Post, Boing Boing, BuzzFeed, BookRiot, The Bygone Bureau, Geekosystem, and more. He enjoys bad movies, good books, and old fashioned cocktails. Hi Nena! <3

“When the Stars Align – The Convergence of Art & Science” by John Caperton

The Print Center’s Demetrius Oliver exhibition, Canicular, is conceived in direct response to the curator’s request for the artist to think as expansively as possible about what constitutes a print (printed work being the core of The Print Center’s mission), and reflects the artist’s longtime desire to create an installation requiring a radical shift in the typical functions of an organization and its gallery spaces. In this case, the artist essentially converted the gallery spaces into an observatory which will only be open for one hour each night (Tuesday-Saturday 7:00pm-8:00pm, weather permitting) to coincide with the rising of Sirius in the night sky. Canicular is a new video installation that will consist of a projected, live-feed from a high-power telescope focused on Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky). The video, a live-feed from a telescope mounted on the roof of the Franklin Institute, will be projected in a round structure, built within one of The Print Center’s galleries to resemble a small observatory.

Bio: John Caperton, Jensen Bryan Curator of The Print Center, curated a solo exhibition by New York City artist Demetrius Oliver entitled Canicular on view through March 22 at The Print Center. Oliver is known for creating elegant, improvisatory, site-specific installations using photography, sculpture and video to record the act of sidereal observation itself. His work draws heavily on a variety of disparate intellectual interests related to interpreting phenomena, including American transcendentalism, music of the spheres, and the history of cosmology, weaving them into spectacular, cohesive works of self-exploration and expression.

“True Love Never Dies: Victorians, Burials and the State of Amour” by Alexis Jeffcoat

The woman who left behind her heart, the ashes that were pulverized to make room for two souls; the pomp and circumstance of arctic explorer’s burial with the sad state of his lover in a pauper’s grave. These are love stories. And hate stories, too. Lust, loathing, passion, devotion; all of it follows us to the grave. Be it all-consuming, romantic or even scandalous; love does not end with death and no one was surer of that than our Victorian predecessors. Sit back, grab a drink, and snuggle up: we’re about to gossip like its 1872. The dresses were long, the love was torrid and the burials? Dramatic.

Bio: Alexis received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and European History from Temple University and her Masters in Arts & Humanities from Arcadia University. She manages marketing and programming for the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Laurel Hill Cemetery as a historic site. As a fan of history, Alexis enjoys sharing the stories of the cemetery’s varied “residents” and no, she has not yet seen a ghost.

Plus Joey Sweeney with some sweet acoustic sounds.

See you fine Nerds there!

Hey Nerds!

The first Nerd Nite of 2014 is right around the corner–Wednesday, February 12. So that you can plan to be there and be square, the details on the evening in question:

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

doors at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm

Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard

$5 cover gets you a night of nerdy fun, plus food and drink specials, and a chance to hear from the following folks:

• Eric Smith: “Love, Pixels, & Exploring Romance in Video Games”
• John Caperton: “When the Stars Align – The Convergence of Art & Science”
• Alexis Jeffcoat: “True Love Never Dies: Victorians, Burials and the State of Amour”

Plus music by Joey Sweeney!

Hey Nerds! We’re just a week away from the last Nerd Nite of 2013. We have a great line up, two anniversaries, a farewell, and a terrific line up to boot.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Doors at 7:00, show at 7:30 sharp 

Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Avenue

This is an extra special evening for the Philly Nerd Nite team.

• For one, we are celebrating the 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the first ever Nerd Nite in Boston.
• ALSO!  This is the 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the first ever Philly Nerd Nite!
• More locally important, our long time Nerd boss Michelle is leaving for bigger and better nerdy things. Michelle, who we are sure will return as a spectator when she can, will be departing Philadelphia for the warmer climes on the campus of UVA where she has taken a job as assistant professor of Pharmacology. PLEASE consider stopping by to wish her well, thank her for growing NN Philly into today’s success AND hear her give a talk about something near and dear to her nerdy heart.

The talks at hand:

The price: $5 cover gets you a night of nerdy fun, plus food and drink specials.