Posts Tagged ‘jazz’

Nerd Nite No. 24, April 24, 2013 – The Philadelphia Science Festival!

Guys!

We are thrilled to be a part of the Philadelphia Science Festival again!  This year, it’s time to put your Sherlock Holmes hat on, grab a pipe, or rather, a pint, and join us in the big outdoor beer garden at Frankford Hall for a treatise on forensics.  We’ll be hearing about how to solve crimes when the trail goes cold, how forensic toxicologists detect designer drugs, and how forensic anthropologists can find out what really happened at crime scenes from history.  Plus, we’ll have Prohibition-era jazz to turn Frankford Hall into a speakeasy.  It’s Nerd Nite: CSI.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard in the beer garden
$5 cover gets you nerdiness and food and drink specials

Tickets can be purchased in advance here, but we will also be selling them at the door.

 

Let the crime-solving commence:

“The Vidocq Society: warm people solving cold cases.” by William Fleisher

Bio: William L. Fleisher is the Director of Keystone Intelligence Network, Inc., a Philadelphia private investigation firm and the co-founder and first Commissioner of the Vidocq Society, an organization of forensic experts that assists law enforcement and victims’ families in solving unsolved homicides.  He retired from the U.S. Customs Service in 1996 as Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia office.  Mr. Fleisher is a former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and rose to the rank of corporal with the Philadelphia Police Department.  He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of lie detection and behavior analysis.  Mr. Fleisher is the recipient of the Customs Service Distinguished Service Medal and Award for his efforts in developing interviewing techniques for customs inspectors.  Mr. Fleisher is a father and grandfather and resides in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, with his wife Michelle.

 

“Forensic Toxicology – A “higher” level of thinking . . .” by Jill Yeakel

Forensic Toxicology involves the investigation of drugs and poisons in biological matrices. The evolution of forensic toxicology as it relates to human performance has rapidly changed in recent years as a wide variety of chemical analogs advertised as legal highs comparable to marijuana have become available in smoke shops and over the internet. These chemical analogs are commonly referred to as synthetic cannabinoids and their danger and prevalence across the country is apparent as seen in the increase in poison control center calls since 2009. This presentation will discuss the effects of the synthetic cannabinoids and the challenges their detection in blood and urine pose to forensic toxicologists.

 

Bio: Jill Yeakel achieved her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry from Lock Haven University. She then attended Arcadia University where she earned a Master of Science in Forensic Science. She is currently the program director at the Center for Forensic Science and Education where she organizes and operates the G. John DiGregorio Summer Science Program along with being the Course Director for the Research Methods in Forensic Science, Pattern Evidence Analysis, Forensic Toxicology II and  Forensic Science Symposium courses for the Arcadia University’s Master of Forensic Science Program and completes research in herbal incense products and designer drugs.

 

“Hemlock, Cholera and Marijuana:  Getting it all Wrong in Forensic Anthropology.” by Janet Monge

Case studies of prehistoric, historic and modern errors in the reconstruction of events surrounding death of 11 people.  From the ancient Middle East to the suburbs of Philadelphia, history has painted a very different picture of the very real events of human violence against other humans.  Forensic anthropologists get it right (and wrong sometimes) telling the stories from the very real bones left behind.

 

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 remains.

 

And, featuring jazz from Philly’s own The Cornbread Five.

 

BE THERE AND BE SQUARE!

 

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:

“Wild Rinds: Confronting Surface Molds and Other Apocalyptic Visions” by Tenaya Darlington, a.k.a. Madame FromageEvery cheese lover has looked at a furry Brie and wondered: should I really eat that? In this quick romp through surface molds, Fishtown-based cheese blogger Madame Fromage explains how to judge a cheese by its rind (yes, they’re like book covers). You’ll also learn a few professional terms that cheesemongers use, in case you ever want to work with “brainy” rinds.

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.

And featuring Christopher Maute playing jazz.Bio: I’ve been fortunate enough to work at the Monell Center for the past 14 years studying the psychology of the sense of smell while also pursuing an active musical career around the Philadalphia area and teaching psychology courses in the Music Education department at the University of the Arts.  I’ll be entertaining everybody with my solo 6-string bass stylings via jazz standards, Beatles medleys, and some funky jams!

 

 

Nerd Nite No. 15, June 13, 2012

Dearest Nerds,
Schools’s out, but you can get your summer learning with us (and a beer or two):

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

doors at 7:00, show at 7:30

Frankford Hall at Frankford & Girard

$5 cover

 

The lectures at hand:
“Penalty kicks, financial pornography and sea monkeys: Why settling for average can put you ahead of the game (or: that one time you got 84,000% ROI drinking with your friends at a bar)” by Gordon Erb
Everyone loved the mid-2000’s, with the cheap credit, the no-doc and interest-only mortgages and a soaring stock market. Like the best parties, of course, someone is left to clean up in the morning with a brutal hangover.  The US housing bubble continues to deflate. Regional governments are scaling back services, renege on pensions and flirt with bankruptcy. The Facebook IPO is embroiled in legal wrangling, and public confidence in the stock market has vanished.  Is the stock market a safe place for your money? Can you get a good return without losing your shirt? Were Marilyn Monroe and Che Guevera really financial advisors? And how is your stock broker like a goalkeeper?  We will conduct a not-so-sober, evidence-based search for some answers, and have a frank, hype-free discussion about money, the stock market and the financial services industry.
Bio: Gordon Erb has worked on consumer advocacy and civil rights projects with NAACP President Benjamin Jealous and writer, critic and perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader. He holds a degree in economics from Eastern Mennonite University and runs a photography business in Philadelphia. He dreams of growing tomatoes under the hot sun in a country far, far away.
“Permaculture Popped: Meme Mash” by Matt Bennett
This ‘vintage technology’ powerpoint will explore Mr. Bennett’s journey with Permaculture.  We’ll explore the simple and at times esoteric philosophies as best as can be done through pop culture references primarily sourced from the 90s and from Indie music of the Y2Ks.  Grainy throwback digital photos, WordArt, and bad transitions will be used to explore ancient wisdom for a non-sarcastic future.
Bio:  Matt Bennett lives in a van down by the river.  He’s here to motivate you to be a happier, heathier, more heavenly person, because he’s burning out doing it without you.  Mr. Bennett studied with some of the greats in permaculture so you don’t have to.
“The Whorld of Fingerprints” by Kimberlee Moran
Over a hundred years since its “invention,” fingerprinting is still the ultimate means of identification. While latent print examiners, as fingerprint experts are know, utilize techniques derived from chemistry, fingerprinting itself is hardly a science. Recently, fingerprinting has come under intense scrutiny thanks to the Daubert criteria and the National Academy of Sciences’ 2009 report. In this talk we will learn why we have fingerprints as well as the whos and hows behind the oldest form of forensic identification.
Bio:  Kimberlee Moran has been a forensic consultant and educator since 2002.  She holds an undergraduate degree in archaeology from Bryn Mawr College and a Masters of Science in forensic archaeological science from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London.  Kimberlee has worked on a number of cases in a range of capacities, most recently as provider of forensic services to legal professionals in the UK.  She helped to launch the JDI Centre for the Forensic Sciences in 2010 and has run an educational organization, Forensic Outreach, since 2004.  Her doctoral research is in the field of ancient fingerprints.
And, entertainment by:
Stephen DiBonaventura, Larry Toft and Adam Hershberger playing jazz on trumpet, trombone and banjo
and
David Gudis beatboxing!