It's all woo to me

I got an email today via the "All-Faculty" listserv inviting everyone to the Fall Faculty Lecture. The lecture's title is "Eggtopia". Here's the complete description that came in the email:

The transformation of energy into animate matter seems to occur generally within a container of some sort, a membrane, a pouch, a seed, or a shell. An egg is arguably the most pristine archetypal form among all receptacles within which life is engendered. Created at the inception of life, this completely sealed form vibrates with a latency manifest in its aura of impeccable silence. Even when an egg is broken and deserted by the life it once hosted, its inner depths seem to continue to ring with the memory of the transformative miracle, which took place within.

I think I'll skip this one.

Hulkamania?

So, I'm eating breakfast at the hotel in D.C. last week and I see on CNN (or MSNBC or Fox or *insert cable news channel*) that there was going to be an "evangelical rally" on the Mall that day. Turns out The Call was in town. Great.

So, the kids and I take the metro down to the Mall and sure enough we're bombarded by pamphleteers as we leave the metro stop. I managed to fend off the hoard without taking a single "You're going to burn in hell" flyer/newspaper/brochure. As we move away from the crowd I see a monstrosity of a stage set up by the Capitol - it looked like a Def Leppard concert (no offense to Def Leppard) - and we hear someone on stage yelling and carrying on about something. Honestly, I have no idea what the guy was saying, but the tone and rhythm sent chills down my spine - it's hard to explain, but it was some combination of anger, insanity, and overacting (I hate to suggest this, but check out the video on the right side of the Call's website I linked to above to hear what I mean). I suppose, unsurprisingly, evangelical is the best word to describe it. The guy could have been reading directly from Isaac Newton's Principia and it would have sounded just as scary-insane.

Actually, now that I think about it, the whole thing reminded me of something like this

So, what did the kids and I do? Walked straight across the Mall to the Museum of Natural History, of course, and took part in, among many other things, the Mammal Family Reunion.

Does this look right to you?

The back-ordered case for my new Sea & Sea underwater digital camera finally arrived today. I am not impressed:

You can find anything on ebay

Is this for real?

Listen closely

Watch this trailer for the movie "The Fall" and see if you do a double take like I did. The whole clip is thoroughly bizarre, yet there is one thing that jumps right out at you as being totally out of place.



(hat tip to Acephalous, via Pharyngula)

Clearly, I'm in the wrong business...(alternate title: People Are Dumber Than I Thought)

Out at breakfast this morning, I came across a catalog for Learning Connections, which "offers a wide variety of short courses, trips, and seminars designed for adults in Rhode Island and the South Coast region of Massachusetts." At first glance through the courses they offer, it looked like the sort of stuff you find at a local community center - classes in cake decorating, introductory Spanish, ballroom dancing, etc. There were even some classes that looked intriguing to me - like the "Seasonal Italian Cooking Series" and "Scotch Whiskey: An Exploration into Malt". And then I flipped to the pages in the back and find "classes" such as:

Spirit Flame Pictures

Those in the spirit world communicate with us in various ways. In this fun, eye-opening class, use index cards and a candle and see what spirit wants to show you. Discover visual evidence from the spirit world; you may even get a picture of a loved one, an angel, or a family member who has passed into the spirit realm. Kathleen has pictures to show, and each person who attends will leave with their own spirit flame picture.

and

Healing Yourself through Past Life Regression
Why are people afraid of heights, water or speaking in public? Do you have a health issue that hasn't been helped any other way? Some people are simply curious about past lives while others want to know why they have so many challenges in their life. These issues are very often because of a past life experience. Topics discussed include meditation, connecting with your spirit guide, and the workshop includes a group past life regression.

and my personal favorite:

Divine Intervention: How to Pray and Get Results

Do you ever feel like you are having a one-way conversation with God? Are you hearing a lot about prayer in the media? Join this discussion and learn the 10 tips to getting your prayers answered. Talking and listening to God takes time, patience and faith; but the exchange is life-changing.

That's right folks, the reason your prayers are going unheard is because you're not doing it right. You need to spend $39 for a two and half hour class to learn how. It must be like taking candy from a baby.

The list goes on and on - "Meeting Your Spirit Guide", "How to Activate Your Ability to Become a Healer (with Eric Pearl)", "Crystal Healing", "Scrying: Seeing Though the Crystal Ball". Yes, you read that right - scrying! If you don't believe me (and I wouldn't blame you), go check it out yourself.

I'm pretty cynical when it comes to American intellect, but I have to say this left my jaw agape. Even though I get rather haughty about being from an area that is both intellectually and socially liberal/progressive (New England in general, and Massachusetts in particular), I knew that even we had our fair share of kooks (well, maybe not our fair share, but enough anyways). But these "classes" are taking place not 10 minutes from my own house. That's just too close for comfort.

On the one hand, I am tempted to check one of these things out - see what kind of person attends and just what sort of information is being given. A social experiment, if you will. On the other hand, I'm tempted to heed Mr. P.T. Barnum's wisdom and create my own ridiculous "class" and charge people 50 bucks to listen to a bunch of nonsense. There's surely a market for "Making Your Dreams Come True: How to Concentrate Really Really Hard and Make Gold Dubloons Appear Out of Thin Air", right?

Why Hillary can't win...

This is more telling than any poll.

Say it ain't so, AB

I'm shocked and disappointed - Alton Brown is a born-again Christian:

In 1992, Brown says, he found God, or maybe God found him, but he blundered away until he became a born-again Christian. The single biggest life-changing thing for me is I just got baptized last year. Everything else pales in comparison to acceptance of Christianity. That's number one.

I never would have thought. Unitarian Universalist, sure. Even United Methodist I could understand. But born-again? What's next? Bill Nye is a Jehovah's Witness? Richard Dean Anderson is an Intelligent Design creationist?

It's October, right?

The average high temperature here for October 4 and 5 is 61^o F, the record high for both days is 78^o F (both set in 2001)

Today's forecasted high temperature? 84^o F

Tomorrow's forcasted high temperature? 85^o F

And it's humid.

WTF?

October in New England is supposed to be cool and crisp with nighttime temps in the low 40s, not hot and muggy with nights in the high 60s.

I'm getting seriously cranky.

If I see a mosquito out there, I'm going to be downright pissed off.

Order yours today!

This really must be seen. Words just can't do it justice.

Make sure you at least check out "Washlet 101"

(hat tip to Linda)