The other day, I was watching TVLand, and they were running a repeat of Happy Days. At first I was baffled about the scene, and then I realized what was going on: Richie, Potsie, and Ralph were talking to a guy hanging upside down from a rope outside the window. I couldn’t see the man clearly, but I knew right away who it was: James “The Amazing” Randi.
I’ve written about him before (even just last week, in an entry that, for having a picture of a naked woman in it, didn’t garner nearly as a many hits as I would have suspected). Randi is a skeptic, a magician, a showman, and a storyteller. Every year, he has a convention called The Amaz!ng Meeting, with tons of really cool guests. The next one, TAM4, is January 26-29, 2006. It’s in Las Vega$, baby, at the Stardust Resort and Casino.
This meeting is one of the major highlights of my year (read my adventures at TAM 1 and TAM 3). The entertainment value is worth the price alone, with guests like Penn & Teller, Jamy Ian Swiss, and Jamie and Adam from MythBusters! But there is so much to learn! Michael Shermer gives a great talk every year. Carolyn Porco, leader of the Cassini spacecraft imaging team, will be there (and I get to introduce her!). And this year we get to see Shuttle astronaut Ed Lu and Nobel Laureate Murray Gell-Mann. The President of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen, will be there. And Julia Sweeney, and Richard Wiseman, and …
Oh, stop listening to me gush and go check out the guest bio page. Hey, who’s that bald guy near the bottom?
It’s not too late to go. Go! Sign up! You’ll be able to get your Skepchick calendar signed, too. I know I am.
Oh, and that Happy Days episode? Randi played a magician who was doing a fundraiser for the group. He accidentally drank straight vodka and passed out, so Fonzie had to do an escape trick for him. I’m glad Randi doesn’t water ski over sharks! That would have been plain silly.
December 20th, 2005 at 7:58 am
BA, maybe you are simply not in touch with your readers. Maybe you should try and get James Randi to pose naked with your book.
December 20th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
Uh. Please ignore that last post.
I like Randi and all, and I’ll be at the TAM4 conference, but I’ll.. uh.. take the Skepchicks please.
December 21st, 2005 at 12:25 am
I’m an old hag, and proud of it. I am a “skeptic” too. But am I totally alone in wondering why they think that skepticism has to be “marketed” in the same crass way that everything else is, namely by displaying “sexy” women? Why would a calendar full of “sexy” female pictures, and the supposedly cute, but really demeaning nickname “skepchicks” make women attracted to skepticism?
December 21st, 2005 at 2:01 am
“Why would a calendar full of “sexyâ€? female pictures, and the supposedly cute, but really demeaning nickname “skepchicksâ€? make women attracted to skepticism?”
i agree heartily. As a woman, the skepchicks kinda put me off
-lbj
December 21st, 2005 at 8:44 am
Don’t beat up the women who run skepchick.org. They’re a wonderful bunch and their intentions are very good. Getting women into the sekptic movement is the noblest of goals and puritanical views won’t help to acheive it.
I urge any who are put off my this to visit http://www.skepchick.org and read the F.A.Q about why they are doing the calendar and what their ultimate goals are.
BA, I’ll see you at TAM4! Still up to the Star Trek Experience trip?
January 10th, 2006 at 6:06 am
Well, it seems that men, still think women are not as smart as men.