My friend, Daniel Loxton, is a skeptic, a writer, and a deep thinker. He has a habit of taking contentious issues and wrestling with them, then writing them out in enough detail that an interesting discussion can ensue. We’ve tussled over one or two topics before, but in general I find myself agreeing with his stance on things.

He’s written a good two-piece article on skepticism. They were inspired by an article written by a believer who is a friend of the skeptic musician George Hrab (Geo’s a friend of mine too). This believer attended a meeting George was at, and wrote a lengthy piece about how he saw the skeptic community. The author said he finds he loves his faith, and while he sees some merit in skepticism, he doesn’t think he’ll ever become a skeptic. He may be right… but I wonder. While some people dismissed his article as being just another mushy-headed piece on faith (some people on Twitter said as much), I actually found his thinking to be heartening. He is just the kind of person who might actually turn to critical thinking given the chance. At the very least, he’s not prejudiced against skeptics, thinking we’re all a bunch of curmudgeonly nay-sayers. That’s a necessary first step.
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You know what’s cool? This:

I love this song. And yeah, that’s me doing the voiceover for it. You should buy Geo’s album "Trebuchet", too. It has that song and lots of other cool ones, too.

If you’ll be in the Atlanta area on September 2 — the night before Dragon*Con — then I strongly urge you to attend the Second Annual Atlanta Skeptics Star Party. This is a charity event to raise money for the American Cancer Society Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in memory and honor of our friend Jeff Medkeff, an astronomer who died of liver cancer two years ago. Jeff was a good man, naming asteroids after noted skeptics, and did a lot of work to promote critical thinking.

Last year’s event was fantastic: there was a full house of people listening to short talks by Pamela Gay and me, and then migrating outside to view the heavens. This year, the speakers include Fraser Cain (from the newly remodeled Universe Today), Pamela once again, and musician George Hrab (who made a typically over-the-top cool promo for it).

I won’t be there this year — months of travel for my TV show have made me long to be home for more than a week at a time — but I hope some BABloggees will be able to attend. And don’t forget: Surly Amy and I have teamed up to raise money for the event as well. It’s a great night, a fun time, and a way to help us all kick cancer’s butt.

I have good news about podcaster, skeptic, musician, friend, and fellow bald guy George Hrab: his latest album, "Trebuchet", has finally hit the streets!

Yay! This collection of songs runs quite the range, from topics skeptical to sad to even, yes, cosmological annihilation. I refer you to the song listed in the upper right of the above picture, track number 11, entitled "Death from the Skies" (noting also the book displayed in the bottom right corner in said above picture). That song features music by Geo and a litany of astronomical destruction (and their odds of occurring) by me, your host. That was a lot of fun to do, and I’m proud and honored to be on an album made by my friend.
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For those of you who simply cannot get enough of my dulcet voice, I have recently appeared on two podcasts:

1) Monster Talk, with Blake Smith, Karen Stollznow, and Ben Radford. We talk Martian bacteria, Godzilla, and Five Million Years to Earth, one of my favorite movies. Here’s a direct link to the MP3.

2) That unhirsuit-bepated heartthrob, George Hrab, is giving a sneak peak to his new album, "Trebuchet", on his latest Geologic Podast. The song he has revealed is "Death from the Skies!", featuring moi. I even sing. Very briefly. Very. Thankfully.