Nerd Nite No. 22, March 6, 2013
Dear Nerds,
This month we are bringing you a smorgasbord of Nerdery starting with cheese, moving onto pain (sorry!) and then finishing up with hip hop. With jazz in between. Details:
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
doors at 6:30, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard
$5 cover
What’s up:
Bio: Tenaya Darlington is the digital dairy courtesan Madame Fromage (MadameFromageBlog.com; @MmeFromage). She writes for Grid, Table Matters, Culture Magazine, and has served as cheese correspondent for The New York Times’Thanksgiving hotline. Her new book, Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings, debuts in May.
“What Your Doctor Never Knew About Pain: How Your Fascia Holds You Together or Knocks You Down” by Stephanie Lee Jackson
This talk unravels the mysteries of fascia, the one vital organ that goes virtually unmentioned in medical school. You’ll learn how to fall off a ladder with grace and aplomb, and why the exact causes of back pain go undiscovered in 85% of cases. You’ll also get some tips on how to deal with ‘mystery pain’ that thwarts your ambitions and leaves you sulking on the couch.
Bio: Stephanie Lee Jackson founded Practical Bodywork in Philadelphia after moving here from Brooklyn, NY in 2010. She was a ballet dancer for twelve years and a fine artist for twenty, moving from her birthplace of Fort Worth, Texas to San Francisco, Mexico, France and New York City. She became briefly notorious in the last decade as the art blogger and provocateur, Pretty Lady, before the birth of her daughter Olivia inspired her to become a responsible citizen.
“’You Know How Many I Own?’ Black masculinity in Watch the Throne and in the Shifting Landscape of Hip Hop” by Anthony Pratcher
The career-long efforts of Jay-Z and Kanye West to challenge common conceptions of black masculinity in commercial culture climax with their 2011 joint-album Watch the Throne. In their album, their exploration of physical and ideological spaces deemed non-normative for black men within commercially popular hip-hop articulate a revised aesthetic for racial authenticity. This re-articulation has privileged younger artists—like Drake, Kid Cudi, and J. Cole—with the freedom to explore and express identity in ways which were previously taboo in commercially popular hip-hop. However, despite some changes, continuities abound—most glaringly concerning the objectification of women—and capitalist accumulation remains central to their definition of manhood. So how much have things changed? How much have they stayed the same? In this talk, history student Anthony Pratcher II utilizes the lyrical content ofWatch the Throne to provide a foundation for further exploration into the relationship between authenticity, black masculinity, and capitalist misogyny in contemporary hip-hop.
Bio: Anthony Pratcher II is a third-year Ph. D. student from Arizona in the department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He also enjoys basketball, reading, and playing guitar. He has spent the past twenty-four years engaging in a case study on black masculinity in contemporary American society.
Nerd Nite No. 21! February 6, 2013
Guys: Philly Nerd Nite is turning 21 in February! We are celebrating with three nerdacious talks and one phenomenal juggler.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
doors at 6:30, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard
$5 cover
For our twenty-first Nerd Nite, and the first one of 2013, we present for you:
“What’s Love Got to Do With It? – An inside look at avian amore!” by Carrie Ashley
Did you ever wonder how a penguin proposes or why a cowbird prefers to hit it and quit it? If so, you may want to get a hobby, but we also have the answers for you! Come explore the flamboyant, deadly, and neurotic world of bird love.
Bio: Carrie Ashley, Education Manager for PA Audubon, has spent her adult life contemplating the birds and the bees and decided to cut her losses and just focus on the birds. PA Audubon’s mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity in Pennsylvania.
“NextGen: Humans, Automation, and the Future of Air Traffic Control” by Kenneth Allendorfer
Advances in information, communication, and navigation technology are driving major changes to the air transportation system in the US and around the world. These changes are intended to improve safety and efficiency, to reduce delays caused by bad weather and congestion, and to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment. The talk will discuss research examining at how these changes affect the humans in the system–the pilots and air traffic controllers–and how to create technological systems that improve rather than interfere with their performance.
Bio: Kenneth Allendoerfer is an engineering research psychologist with the Federal Aviation Administration, located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City. He studies air traffic control, expertise and decision making, human error, and the design of technology for safety-critical domains.
“Dispatches from the Planet Enz” by Chris Cummins
In this talk, pop culture writer Chris Cummins will take you inside the weird and wonderful world of movie novelizations. From discussing the strange extraterrestrial origins of Gremlins featured in that film’s tie-in book to presenting readings from a few of the craziest film spin-off books, Cummins will open up your eyes to the bizarre literary offshoots of some of your favorite movies.
Bio: Chris Cummins is a Philadelphia-based writer who regularly contributes to Geekadelphia and Topless Robot. He also runs the blogs Hibernation Sickness, What’s Dave Kendall Wearing? and Songs of 1992, and co-hosts a monthly quizzo night at The Dive. When not writing about pop culture, he can usually be found obsessing over everything from Star Wars figures to forgotten shoegaze bands. You can follow him on Twitter at @bionicbigfoot.
And: Juggling by David Darwin!
Be there, be square and buy us a shot.
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: animals, ornithology, the Gremlins, traffic control, transportation, TSA | 
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Nerd Nite No. 20! November 7, 2012
Nerds:
It’s going to get seriously cosmic in here. For our *twentieth* Philly Nerd Nite, we bring you the universe *and* a grammar maven. Don’t you dare split infinitives while pondering the infinite.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
doors at 6:30, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard
$5 cover
The lectures at hand:
Derrick Pitts on Astronomy
Bio: Derrick Pitts is the Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute. Helping audiences all over the world better understand the mysteries of the universe since 1978, Pitts is a nationally recognized media commentator on issues in astronomy and space science. He is a NASA Solar System Ambassador and in 2010, he was one of the lead astronomers at the first-ever star party on the White House lawn.
“The Big Bang With Big Beers” by Sara Stanchfield
Cosmologists study the origin, evolution, and ultimate fate of our Universe. In order to do this we make use of an arsenal of tools that allow us to study the Universe from its very infancy through today, and even allow us to make predictions about the future. This presentation will explore some of these tools and the leading cosmological theories we aim to test, such as the Big Bang theory and the existence of dark energy.
Bio: Sara Stanchfield is a PhD student in physics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research is in observational cosmology, where she is especially interested in the Cosmic Microwave Background and trying every beer Philadelphia has to offer at least once before she finishes her thesis.
“Words, Grammar Nerds, and the Riotous Joy of Language Evolution” by Sarah Grey
Grammar nerds all over the English-speaking world have read and loved Lynne Truss’s bestselling punctuation rant Eats Shoots & Leaves. But is there more to being a grammar nerd than just snottily correcting apostrophes at the grocery store? Freelance editor Sarah Grey, who punctuates for a living, thinks there is. She’ll take you on a whirlwind tour of the evolution of language from “me Tarzan” to LOLcats, celebrating the sheer sexy joy and the liberatory power of humanity’s greatest invention.
Bio: Sarah Grey is a freelance writer and editor with a small business, Grey Editing LLC (www.greyediting.com), where she applies her red pen to everything from history to erotica to Marxist theory. She lives in Fishtown with her husband Joe and almost-three-year-old daughter Lucia.
And featuring: Christopher Davis-Shannon playing blues and ragtime guitar. Dance music for the old at heart.
Be there and be square!
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tags: astronomy, energy, grammar, space travel, transportation |
Comments Closed
Nerd Nite No. 19, October 10, 2012
Guys,
What could be nerdier than hackers, donkeys and 3D printing all in one night? Only you holding a beer and listening to talks about these things. Just kidding. (Ok, not.)
The details:
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
doors at 6:30, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall
$5 cover
For your edification and amusement, we present:
“Join the Hackerspace Revolution.” by Georgia Guthrie
News flash: the hacker uniform is no longer limited to snarky black t-shirts, shorts, and mid-calf socks. Anyone can be a hacker today, and at The Hacktory we think everyone should be a hacker. In this presentation, we’ll talk about our definition of “hacking” (no, it doesn’t include stealing credit card numbers), the roots of the hackerspace movement, what we hack at The Hacktory, and why you might want to get involved. We will have a brief demo of a project we’re currently working on with Carbon Dance Theatre and the Immersive Kinematics lab at UPenn, and details about the most amazing Halloween party ever that we’re hosting this October.
Bio: Georgia Guthrie is the Director of The Hacktory, Philly’s first hackerspace and a Designer at the Action Mill. For the past three years she has worked to expand people’s notion of hacking by creating new partnerships that explore the intersection of art and technology with the likes of Design Philadelphia, the Fleisher Art Memorial, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, NextFab Studio, Breadboard, Public Workshop, and others. This year, under her direction, The Hacktory was awarded a Knight Arts Challenge grant to create a tech-arts apprenticeship program, and she was named Hacker of the Year by Geekadelphia.
“The Kunga: Solving the Riddle of this Royal Steed” by Jill Weber
Ancient authors wrote about the Kunga – a prized animal that pulled the chariots of kings and gods – in the 3rd millenium BC. But, was this donkey x wild half-ass hybrid real, or just propaganda for the State? Here, I recount my pusuit of this animal across the Syrian wilderness and through the maze of academic intrigue.
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!
“Modern Fabrication Techniques: Laser Cutters, Milling Machines + 3D Printers” by Adolphe Alexander
In this age of computing labor intensive processes of fabrication are being handed over to machines. Compared to traditional machining, computer-aided manufacturing increases productivity, precision and safety of the human-operator. This presentation will explore the current capabilities and the future potential of various automated manufacturing processes.
Bio: Adolphe Alexander is a researcher, designer and engineer who specializes in fabrication of electronic and mechanical devices. He has a decade of experience developing test-equipment for civilian, military and commercial research facilities including CERN, JPL and Seagate. His current set of interests focus on radio-frequency amplification, aquaponics and geological illumination.
And featuring music by The Missing Keys
Drawing on an eclectic collection of influences, The Missing Keys have combined elements of Rock, Blues, Jazz and Psychedelia(!) into a sound that stands tall on even the most eclectic shows.
BE THERE AND BE SQUARE.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tags: 3D printers, ancient animals, fabrication, hackers, history, Penn |
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Nerd Nite No. 18, September 19, 2012
Hey guys!
Oktoberfest is here! We at Nerd Nite are amped up to celebrate it with you in as nerdy a way as possible.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford & Girard
$5 cover
On tap:
“How Dolley Madison Helped Bring German Beer to America… Connecting historic beer technology with other facets of American food history.” by Trevor McElroy
Pennsylvania has the country’s oldest brewery and ice cream company, but have you ever wondered how people were able to enjoy ice cream or a cold lager before refrigerators? Or did you know cider, olive oil, and wine were produced using pretty similar methods throughout colonial America? This talk will discuss the connections between historic American beer, cider, and food technologies and how you can see the remains now.
Bio: Trevor McElroy is a Philly tour guide and “free lance historian”. He gives all types of tours in and around Philly, and has been a guide at Bartram’s Garden for a several years. He is also an Association of Phila. Tour Guides (APT) certified guide and board member.
“Water in America: What we can do to save our freshwater and what Great Lakes Brewing Co does to help.” by Mark Weinmann
Bio: Mark Weinman is the regional sales manager for Great Lakes Brewery. People appreciate him for his love of beer and soccer but resent him for graduating from St. Joes. He lives in Philly with his wife and daughter, and he knows a lot about water and isn’t afraid to admit it.
Don Bitterlich began playing the accordion at age seven and has hooked ever since. During his college years Don balanced his love of accordion and playing on Temple University’s soccer and football teams. He went on to play professionally for the Seattle Seahawks before returning to the Philadelphia region, performing accordion sets as often as he can.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tags: accordionists, beer, beer brewing, German history, history, oktoberfest, refrigeration, technology, water |
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