Nerd Nite Philly

Posts Tagged ‘Nerd Nite Alumni’

Greetings Nerds! We have a great line up for the 45th Nerd Nite Philly (and first of 2015!). We know you’re itching to find out what we have planned, so let’s do this:

Passenger Pigeon – The Disintegration of a Species
It doesn’t matter if we all die. – The Cure

Trying to find humor in the story of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon is akin to finding sunshine in a Cure song. Well, a good Cure song anyway. But that is what Kate Garchinsky, writer and illustrator, aims to do for Nerd Nite. Using the timeline of her own life, she will share her experience of the preventable extinction of the Passenger Pigeon in words, pictures, and depressing song lyrics–one hundred years post-mortem.

Bio: Kate Garchinsky’s first word was “bird.” Now she is a writer and illustrator of natural history for children who also likes to draw dead birds. She began working on her book, “Passenger Pigeons: Their Amazing Life and Tragic Extinction” a few years ago, inspired by her bird rehabilitation volunteer work, and a life-changing Wikipedia search. She also is currently illustrating two more non-fiction picture books for children, due out in 2016 and 2018. Kate has exhibited her Passenger Pigeon artwork at the Audubon Center at Mill Grove, and the Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. Visit Kate online at:
www.penguinart.com
twitter.com/katesnowbird
facebook.com/KateGarchinsky
instagram.com/katesnowbird
It’s better than it tastes: How a food looks affects liking for the taste of the food.

Although most people think that the flavor of a food is the primary driver of liking or disliking that food, research has shown that it is only one of many factors influencing liking. Since “the first taste is with the eyes” we have, not surprisingly, found that how a food looks has a big effect on how much we like a food. This is good news for those of us who do not cook like Marc Vetri but would like to have family and friends enjoy what we make for them.

Bio: Debra A. Zellner is currently Professor of Psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey and on sabbatical leave at the Monell Chemical Senses Center doing a research project with the Vetri Foundation. She is the author of numerous research articles and book chapters on the liking and perception of food. Her primary interest is understanding why people like the foods they like.
Science has gone to the dogs

We all know that dogs are pretty smart and some dogs have jobs. Now dogs are going to college to become scientists! At the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, dogs are helping find lost people, identify cancer and answer the age old question, why do dogs eat grass (actually that one is still a mystery).

Bio: Dr. Cindy Otto, a veterinarian and scientist founded and directs the Penn Vet Working Dog Center to dig into the questions that “only a dog nose”. She incorporates her experience as a clinical veterinarian (specializing in both emergency medicine and sports medicine), a disaster responder working with search dogs, a research scientist and a dog trainer into the coolest job ever.

We’ll have 2 intermissions filled with music from returning band Sidewalk Atlas.

This all goes down at the famed Frankford Hall, per usual.

Wednesday, February 4
Doors open at 4pm. Show starts at 7:30pm
$5 cover gets you admission plus happy hour specials all night
Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125

Be there and be square!

Nerd Nite Philly

Ready for Nerd Nite Number 41 on Wednesday, September 3?  The Nerd Nite Philly team is pleased to present you with…

Naomi Hampson will present “From Underwear to Gutenberg: The Rise of Movable Type Printing”

Why did it take until the second half of the 15th century for moveable type printing to be developed? A number of technological, sociological, and fashion changes all converged to make moveable type printing not only possible, but necessary. This talk will trace those changes and explain how underwear ultimately led to the printing revolution.

About Naomi: Naomi Hampson recently graduated from the Drexel University Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where she studied human bone. In completely unrelated research, she studies the history of European printing. She is currently trying to recreate a medieval printing ink, and has happily and safely learned from her failures, which included a fireball. In her spare time, she is involved with the Society for Creative Anachronisms, which lets her develop these interests within a hands on medieval research framework. While still looking for a job in her actual field of study, she is opening a coffee shop in Philadelphia, which will be called Philly Grinds.

Trevor McElroy will discuss “”Boundaries, names, and expansion; a history of the map of Philadelphia”

About Trevor: 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. Trevor also has the fine distinction of being a Nerd Nite Philly alumnus who has proudly represented Philadelphia at Nerd Nite Global Fest in NYC.

Chris Cummins will share his thoughts about “The Greatest Pop Culture Board Games Ever Made”

Throughout the years there have been countless board games based on everything from Kojak to Bigfoot. They are wondrous! In this talk, Nerd Nite Philly co-boss/pop culture historian Chris Cummins will examine the coolest classic board games around, and offer up his skewed views on why these pastimes will never go out of style.

About Chris: Chris Cummins is a Philadelphia-based writer who regularly contributes to Geekadelphia, Den of Geek US, Topless Robot and his own site, Hibernation Sickness. He’ll be hosting the upcoming Sci-Fi Explosion and Doctor Who Trivia/Costume Contest next month as part of New York Super Week. You can find him on Twitter @bionicbigfoot.

Our musical guest will by local singer Victoria Watts!

The specifics:

Wednesday September 3

Show starts at 7:30pm

Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Avenue

*Seating is first come first serve. Standing room after the tables fill*

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

Be there!
The Nerd Nite Team Philly