Remember progressive radio?

We loved Air America's Morning Sedition program with Marc Maron and Mark Riley, and we were bummed beyond belief when it was cancelled (Holy crap -- according to Wikipedia, it's been four years!).

Now, Air America Radio is no more.

PZ Myers at UC Davis

After almost three days of being housebound, I dragged my sorrier-than-usual carcass to the PZ Myers talk at UC Davis on Thursday night. I checked his blog earlier in the day, and was a little disappointed when he wrote "I also think I'll break up my next talk [UC Davis] a bit more; this one [UCSB] bounced about over some fairly dense sciencey stuff, and a little more variety and more opportunities to discuss should be more fun." I would have preferred a skosh more lecturing, but overall, I enjoyed the event. The room holds 422, and it appeared to be more than half-full. There were some other people of color there (awesome!!), but I think (and I could very well be wrong) that I was the only African-American there.

I am very grateful to my kind husband for negotiating the campus (this includes avoiding pedestrians that crossed the street nowhere near a corner or crosswalk, without looking for traffic, in the dark and rain!! WTF? How fucking oblivious can they be? It's a univerity with numerous STREETS that are used by CARS. It's this weird and dangerous sense of entitlement that afflicts some of the bicyclists in the Town of Davis as a whole, too, but don't even get me started on that.) in the dark and the rain to drop me off near the building so that I wouldn't have to walk as far; walking back and forth from the parking structure in the rain; letting me lean on him to pant and regain my strength; and for being an all around wonderful person.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Embroidery for Skeptics

Double-click on photos for a skosh more clarity.

I have loved rainbows (so pretty) and hated religion (so irrational) for a very long time. I did this in backstitch with three strands of floss, and even though I didn't quite center it when I framed it (I always screw centering up), I still love it. My husband pointed out that it's to the left of center, which is just fine :-) I got the clever phrase/slogan from this bumpersticker that I saw in a cafepress.com shop. The hearts are from an image I found on the interwebs. Font = Monotype Corsiva. I placed the text and graphics in a three-row, one-column table in Microsoft Word.

I ran a strip of purple ribbon around the entire frame, and topped it with a bow.

It's getting hard to find wooden embroidery frames at craft stores (I always check the embroidery AND the quilting sections). When I finally found some, I bought a ton of them, including some cool oval-shaped frames.
Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

International Year of Biodiversity, etc.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. The site has a map of celebration locations; I don't see any in my neck of the woods, but I'm sure they'll appear. I'm not looking to attend a celebration/party, but it's good to see this issue brought to the forefront, and perhaps some interesting speakers will come to town :-)

Oh, and my lung collapsed again today, damn it! I have an appointment with a thoracic surgeon next week. I don't like the word "surgeon." At the ER today, I was like "don't I need to see a specialist before I see the surgeon?" and the doctor said "Well, the surgeon is the specialist."

Darwin Day is less than a month away ...

Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason held on or around February 12th, the birthday anniversary of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. Events are listed on the web site of the International Darwin Day Foundation.

Zoology videos

Terrapin Procrastination's favorite biology videos. Via Pharyngula.

Short and Sweet

A man with a watch knows what time it is.
A man with two watches is never quite sure.
Source: an email someone sent to my husband

Skeptic with a column in Oprah's mag

Acording to the December 2009 issue of the Sacramento Area Skeptics Newsletter, "Skeptic Magazine columnist and contributor to the Science-Based Medicine blog, Dr Harriet Hall (SkepDoc), was hired as a regular columnist for O magazine. O or The Oprah Magazine is the official magazine of the media mogul and day time talk show host Oprah Winfrey, famed among skeptics as one of, if not the top, promoters of woo-woo. Starting in January, Dr Hall will have a column limited to 250 words dedicated to ‘debunking’ medical myths. The very tip of the wedge for skeptics in the Oprah wackiness."

So, how can she give a platform to that anti-vaccination idiot, Jenny McCarthy, and a column to a skeptical medical doctor? I mentioned some of the health mis-information that Oprah peddles here.

Science, atheism, and ironed trousers

Adam Rutherford on why 93% of scientists are atheists, depending on who you ask. Give it a listen.

Arboreal goats?

Via Pharyngula.

Happy Solstice!

Brighter days ahead!!!

Mexico City is about to legalize gay marriage

Mexico City is about to legalize gay marriage -- according to this 12-21-09 BBC News article, "City legislators passed the bill 39-20, with five abstentions. The city's mayor is now widely expected to sign the bill into law." The article is interesting -- there are several other places in Latin America that are supporting the civil rights of gays and lesbians. Via Pharyngula.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Must-See Octopus Video

The article and video are both awesome!
Aussie scientists find coconut-carrying octopus, by Kristen Gelineau,
The Associated Press, December 15, 2009

Post-Rapture Pet Care

Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA. When the Rapture comes, what's to become of the loving pets who are left behind? Never fear -- these animal-loving atheists will step in when you step up to Jesus.

WTF, Animal Planet?

I saw a trailer on Animal Planet the other day for a show about paranormal activity. It said something like "IF ANIMALS BELIEVE, SHOULD YOU?" I nearly died laughing. I'm guessing that it was an ad for "The Haunted," which according to Discovery Press Web, "chronicles true, chilling and terrifying ghost stories of animals and their owners haunted by paranormal spirits."

PZ Myers is comin' to town

Well, he's coming to Northern California (UC Davis on Thursday, January 21, 2010), and we'll be there! A room full of non-believers? Hot damn! Details are available on this Facebook event page.

I really like this one

I just finished this ornament. At a quilt show, I picked up some pictures of birds on little squares of fabric, and this is my first project using one of them. I will try to use some of my own photos in the future. The loop is made of a pale, rainbow, sparkling thread (oooooo, shiny .......).

It's a gift for my mom.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Two more ornaments

I made them with postconsumer recycled content craft felt. The snowflake pattern is from Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Jack Chick Documentary

It's called "God's Cartoonist." Via Pharyngula. Check out the trailer here.

Bob Dylan's surreal Christmas song video

In the video of Bob Dylan's new Christmas song, "Must Be Santa," Bob is at a party where a bunch of annoying people are dancing frenetically; Bob is wearing a top hat and a long straight wig (reminds me of Tom Petty) that goes from dark brown to gray; Bob is more animated than I've ever seen him; and 2/3 of the way through, a young man (Dylan's alter-ego, perhaps?) trashes the place. I'm a big fan of Bob's music (especially the older stuff), but once again he has confirmed his insanity.

Do you remember his Victoria's Secret commercial? Here's an article, which includes a link to the ad, in Slate.