Nerd Nite Philly

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Dear Nerds,

Nerd Nite is on summer vacation! We’re planning to restart in September, but we have to clear a couple of hurdles.

First, we need a new venue! Unfortunately, MarBar (and Marathon Grill downstairs) in West Philly have closed forever. The important features in a new venue are:

space for a group of 100 or so
alcoholic beverages for sale
proximity to public transportation
A/V equipment (projector and microphones).

Please send any suggestions to

Second, we need a new co‑boss! Running Nerd Nite is a job for two, and Melissa has moved to Washington D.C. Is anyone interested in stepping into her shoes? The job of running Nerd Nite consists mainly of finding speakers and performers, getting information to them about how Nerd Nite works, sending out some emails and Facebook
notifications about the event, showing up about 45 minutes early on the night of Nerd Nite to get things set up, and announcing speakers and performers. If you don’t want to make a big time commitment but would still be interested in helping Nerd Nite run smoothly we have jobs for you, too! If you’re interested, please email ‑ Michelle will be happy to answer questions and fill you in on additional details.

Finally, we’d love to hear your recommendations for possible speakers and performers. You don’t need to have a PhD or a recording contract to be a part of Nerd Nite. All you need is a passion for the topic you are speaking on and the willingness to share your talents, as amateur as they may be, in front of 100+ people. Everyone reading this e-mail must know someone who fits into either of those categories, so please, send us their contact info!

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again in the fall. And please do send along your suggestions ‑ you may have thought of a venue, speaker, or performer that we haven’t.

Best,

Michelle and Melissa

The Nerd Nite Philly Team

It’s that time again! Time to mark your calendars for the next edition of Philly Nerd Nite!

May 12, 2011
MarBar, 40th and Walnut St.
Doors at 7:30, show starts at 8

3 dollar cover

Featuring:

“Investigative Science Reporting” by Kerry Grens

In 2006, a California company earned the distinction of producing what Time magazine called one of the best inventions of the year: a hypoallergenic cat. While the morning talk shows lauded the idea of a sneeze-free kitty, scientists became skeptical. Where was the evidence? Kerry Grens brings you her reporter’s notebook on the investigation into the biology and the business behind this $4000 pet.

Bio: Kerry Grens is a health and science reporter at WHYY, the NPR and PBS affiliate in Philadelphia, and a regular contributor to Reuters Health. Previously, she was a staff writer at The Scientist magazine, and a health reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry has a masters in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

“Real Lomos, Fake Lomos, and the Politics and Practice of Analogue Photography Among Central Asian Hipsters” by Erica Pelta Feldman

Anyone who’s shopped at Urban Outfitters or set foot in Brooklyn over the past few years will recognize the term “lomo”–if nothing else, as the required tool for practicing “lomography.”  But what exactly *are* these lomos?  Where did they come from, who uses them, what are they used for, and how (and why?) did they become so popular?  As it turns out, the answers to these questions are tightly bound up with Soviet history, post-fall identity politics, the competitive spirit of the Cold War, the value and meaning of kitsch and nostalgia, and consumption opportunities and practices in the First and Second Worlds.  Seeking the material and ideological origins of your Diana Minis and Lomo LCAs, we’ll travel back in time to a factory in Soviet Leningrad, fast-forward to early-1990s Czechoslovakia, and end up in cosmopolitan present-day Bishkek.

Bio: Erica Pelta Feldman is a Ph.D. candidate in linguistic anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  Her research concerns youth culture, material culture, consumption practices, subcultures, and new urbanisms in post-Soviet Central Asia.  She is currently making preparations to begin her dissertation fieldwork in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, this coming September.

“The Strange Case of Charlemagne’s Muslim Elephant” by Paul M. Cobb

Around the year 800 AD, medieval chronicles tell us, the Muslim ruler in Baghdad, named al-Rashid, sent a gift to the Christian emperor in Europe, named Charlemagne, in the form of a live elephant, named Abulabaz.  While it was not unusual for rulers to send gifts to one another, an elephant was, let’s face it, a bit over the top, and the whole episode remains something of a medieval mystery, compounded by the fact that not a single Muslim source records the event.  What was going on?  Gifts always have meanings, and so tonight I will try to decode what elephants “meant” to medieval people and get at what al-Rashid might have been thinking when he sent Abulabaz trundling off toward his adoptive home in the West.

Bio: Paul M. Cobb is Associate Professor of Islamic History in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Penn.  He tends to write about the interactions of Muslims with medieval Europe including the Crusades.  His most recent book was a translation of a Muslim eye-witness to the Crusades called, *The Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades* (Penguin Classics, 2008), and is hard at work on a history of Muslim experiences of the Crusades.  He prefers bourbon.

Entertainment:

Comedy by Aaron Hertzog

Music by Kassie Richardson

The April edition of Nerd Nite takes place during the Philadelphia Science Festival, a two week event where Philadelphia’s schools, universities, cultural institutions, and research centers will come together as a single, united voice to put science in the spotlight.  Check out http://www.philasciencefestival.org/ for a complete schedule of events.

Also – note that we are lowering the cover to three dollars!  That’s right.  Bring some one dollar bills and help us out with the change making.

Nerd Nite Special Edition: The Philadelphia Science Festival!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

MarBar at 40th and Walnut

Doors at 7:30, show starts at 8, $3 cover

“Are Males the More Interesting Sex?” by Faye Flam

Males have been called the secondary sex, the mutant sex, a biological afterthought. Some have even called them unnecessary. According to my book on the evolution of males, this is not only mean but wrong. I’ll explain not only why males are important – even essential – to many organisms we know and love, but also how males evolved and what they brought to the table. In the process we’ll explore whether monogamy is part of human nature, why men have nipples, what’s happening to the Y chromosome, what that business with the G-spot is all about, and why some male bees explode after having sex. We’ll also explore what we can learn about ourselves from transgender fish, gay sheep and the sex life of the giant squid.

Bio: Faye Flam will go anywhere in search of a good story – from the research station at the South Pole, to NASA’s nausea-inducing zero-g plane, to Iceland’s shocking “penis museum.” She holds a degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology. She’s written for Science News, New Scientist, and the Economist. In the early 1990s, she was a staff writer at Science, covering high energy particle physics and cosmology.  She came to the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1995 because it seemed like a good idea at the time. She’s known for creating an unholy marriage of science and sex in her column, Carnal Knowledge, and more recently for launching an even more unholy column called Planet of the Apes.  Her new book is The Score: How The Quest For Sex Has Shaped The Modern Man.

“The Marcellus shale, life after death after life.” by George Love

The Marcellus shale, a fine-grained sedimentary horizon of Devonian age, is rapidly becoming a significant target for exploration in Pennsylvania. Projections of its value have pushed it into position as a world class suppository of nature gas. This talk will examine how such an event came to happen, how its formation has transformed organic-rich digestive leavings and associated body parts into a much sought after commodity, and the heroic efforts employed by capitalist organizations to clothe themselves in this sweet smell of success.

Bio: George Love is just a geologist with few redeeming qualities.  He has done time in a variety of geotechnical and mining endeavors, most recently serving time as PA State Geologist.

“Habitable Zones: Astrobiology and the Search for Life Beyond Earth” by Marc S Kaufman

Since the beginning of humankind, people have imagined life in the skies — angels, gods, heavens filled with the eternally rewarded, djinns and, more recently, little green men, UFOs and ETs of all kinds.  Now, for the first time in human history, we have the scientific knowledge and technology to actually learn what might really be out there.  The red-hot field of astrobiology has brought us to this point, with its discoveries of a universe of exoplanets (and potentially billions in habitable zones), with breakthroughs that prove the chemical building blocks for life exist throughout the cosmos, with new understandings about how and where extreme life exists on Earth, and with a growing consensus that Mars was once wet, warm, and potentially hospitable for life.

Bio: Marc Kaufman is a science writer at the Washington Post, after more than three decades of being a foreign correspondent, beat reporter, magazine writer and more primarily for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Post.  His first book, “First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth”, was released by Simon & Schuster this month.  He has traveled the world for two years reporting on the science and scientists of astrobiology.

Musical Entertainment by: West Philadelphia Orchestra

An eclectic ensemble made up of Philly’s finest and wildest musicians performing trumpets, clarinet, drums, saxophones and sousaphone, the West Philadelphia Orchestra will get you moving with the poignant melodies and the frenetic, propulsive rhythms of Eastern Europe. Enjoy a unique mix of Balkan and klezmer sounds, the powerful rhythms of samba and dancehall, the growling energy of punk rock, the spontaneity of jazz, and, of course, the soul and grit of Philadelphia.

The next Philly Nerd Nite will take place on April 21, 2011, at MarBar on 40th and Walnut.  Doors at 7:30 and the show starts at 8.  Stay tuned for speaker and talent information!

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The next Nerd Nite is Thursday March 10th, 2011.  Doors at 7:30, Show at 8:00. The $5 cover gets you drink specials and a whole lot of lore in the areas of ancient wine-consumption habits, Philadelphia’s centennial exhibition in 1876, and the many uses of yeast, beloved organism of beer drinkers, bread bakers and geneticists!

Nerd Nite will be held at our *new venue*, MarBar at 200 S. 40th St. (at Walnut).

The new venue is wheelchair accessible, easily reachable by public transportation (including the blue line which makes a stop at 40th and Market), and features drink specials ($3 beers, $4 well drinks, $5 wine).  Most importantly, Nerd Nite doesn’t share the MarBar space with any other event, so no more competition with sports games or downstairs bands!  Plus, there’s a lot of seating.  So come check out the new space!

We’re excited to bring a group of great speakers to our first night at the new location:

“Drunk like a Scythian! Ancient attitudes towards wine.” by Jill Weber, archeologist and owner of Jet Wine Bar

Do you drink like a Scythian?  I do!  These accomplished horsemen drank their wine undiluted with water, a fact that chagrined the Greeks.  Of course, like the Mongols, they also drank fermented mare’s milk.  But it was the wine that led to bawdiness and madness, and a enhanced their reputation for uncouth incivility.   Attitudes toward alcohol and inebriation are integrally tied to attitudes about social roles and values, and differentiating one’s (highly sophisticated, of course) culture from another’s barbarian existence.

Bio:  Jill Weber received her PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.  This has allowed her to continue her travels to Syria, Turkey and Armenia – making many other stops and drinking lots of wine along the way.  She opened Jet Wine Bar in Philadelphia in November of 2010, and continues to drink lots of wine!

“The Whole World Revolves Around Philadelphia: The Great Centennial Exhibition of 1876” by Rob Armstrong, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department

In 1876, Philadelphia was the center of the world as it hosted the first major World’s Fair in the United States. The great Centennial Exhibition, officially known as the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine, took place in Fairmount Park. It was a grand, sprawling Victorian marvel to behold, attracting roughly 10 million visitors between May and November of 1876.  Sadly, almost all of the structures were demolished after the Fair with only the Catholic Total Abstinence Fountain, Memorial Hall and the Ohio House remaining in the Park’s landscape. This talk will highlight Victorian Philadelphia and the wonders of the Fair’s architecture and inventions introduced such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and the Corliss Steam Engine.  In addition, we will view many of the sites of the Fair through stereoscopic images produced as souvenirs.

Bio:  Rob Armstrong is a Ph.D. candidate at Lehigh University studying the history and development of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park system from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. By day, he works for the Planning, Preservation and Property Management Division of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation managing a variety of projects, including: trail construction, canal dredging, historic preservation and storm water management. In his spare time, he enjoys home brewing, bicycling around the City and collecting and listening to LP records.

“The Joys of Fermentation” by Phillip Seitz, master beer brewer

Yeast is just like us—it eats, reproduces, pees and farts.  While we also enjoy these things, yeasts raise them to an art form.  As a result we get hundred of kinds of beer—especially all those delicious Belgians!—breads of many varieties—sourdough!—and even disgusting brewers’ yeast products for those who can’t leave well enough alone.  This talk will provide an overview of the brewing and breadmaking processes, and explain how yeasts are used differently to provide the many different flavors we know, love and detest.

Bio:  Phillip Seitz is a Certified Beer Judge, an accomplished home brewer and an artisan bread baker. Until recently he was Curator of History and Fermentation at Cliveden, Philadelphia’s National Historic Landmark and Battleground. He has also worked at the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress and as an historian for the Smithsonian Institution, documenting Soviet space medicine, the Manhattan Project, the development of automated DNA sequencing and cell sorting equipment, and the full body CT scanner.

Featuring: the return of Bill Pierce for some juggling redemption!

See you Thursday March 10 at MarBar!