Since there appears to be a lack of general cultural knowledge of Henry Gibson and Laugh In, some foggy memories (not least being my own) and deep time historical knowledge of comedians Arte Johnson, the early form of Goldie Hawn, Rowan and Martin themselves, Ruth Buzzi, Jo Anne Worley, and Lily Tomlin 1.0, here’s some material for you.

Continue reading Henry Gibson and Friends →

Details here.

Adam Savage, co-host of Myth Busters will be on to discuss skepticism, celebrity advocacy, and of course, the wildly popular MythBusters and it’s role in skepticism.

and

Derek Bartholomaus, creator of The Jenny McCarthy Body Count will discuss anti-vaccination advocates, the recent rise in treatable illnesses, and why some people really hate science.

This is the 199th anniversary of one of the many, many events in Mexico that can be thought of as formative in its long and complex history. Mike has an interesting post comparing the very different patterns of “Independence Making” in Mexico vs. the US.

One of the biggest differences, of course, was that the Native American population in what is now the US was much more systematically exterminated than was the Mexican native population. That meant that when the revolution came, the guns were being held primarily in brown hands in Mexico and white hands in the British colonies.

Anyway, go read Grito de Dolores

As you know, Mary of Peter Paul and Mary has died. So has Henry Gibson. Although I did go through a folk music phase … worked in a folk-music coffee house for a while and everything (and I went to school with Kay Wilkie, I got a cat from Arlo Guthrie, and Pete Seeger was the first member of the nature conservation organization I started when I was a kid and so on) … I was always much more comfortable in the Niel Young – Zappa part of the spectrum. Henry Gibson, who’s heart was bigger than his 1970s period lapels, was a regular on Laugh-In, which was, at the time, a very funny TV show. I’d love to see a re-run because I think I would wonder why it was funny.

Amanda got her official letter today indicating that she has a Masters Degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota. This letter is important because it is what she shows her school HR department so they can give her the tiny raise teachers get if they have a Masters Degree.

They U sent it by airmail:

Continue reading Higher Education != Higher Intelligence →

Disney plans to remake Yellow Submarine … in 3D. What I want to know is, how did the Blue Meanies get hold of the rights to this film anyway?
Continue reading Yellow Submarine in 3D →

St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Bill Foster believes, contrary to the overwhelming majority of scientists, that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. He believes the world literally was created in six days, and he once complained to school officials when his son was taught about Darwin’s theory of evolution in fifth grade.

Is that relevant to the campaign for mayor of Florida’s fourth largest city?

Continue reading St. Pete’s Fla Mayoral Candidate: “Dinos and humans lived together” →

I’m getting bored playing with Mike H. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but I’ve replaced most of the links to his blog, Crook’s Shadow, with alternative, funny links. That is partly because I don’t want to accidentally give his blog any technorati (or other) cred, and partly because it amuses me.

But I am getting tired of him. He’s stopped making utterly stupid arguments and now all he does is thumb his nose and and pick his nose and who knows what else he is doing to his nose. (I think that’s his nose, anyway.)

One one hand I don’t like banning people. On the other hand I have been getting complaints about Mike H. So, I’d like your advice.

Do I throw MIke H off the blog, or do I let him continue to comment?

In an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, former Democratic President Jimmy Carter attributed much of the conservative opposition that President Obama is receiving to the issue of race.

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man,” Carter said.

Read the rest here

Premiering October 6th, the two-hour drama will coincide with the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his seminal work On the Origin of the Species.

In 1858 Charles Darwin received a letter from naturalist Alfred Wallace, explaining his own theory of evolution. This was the trigger event that led to the publication of Darwin’s seminal theory on the origin of species.

Nova/NGS trailer:
Continue reading Darwin’s Darkest Hour →

… than it was. Because it’s got these dohickeys on the bottom now that will make it easier for you, dear reader, and I do love you all, to tweet, stumbleon, digg, whatever, the posts that you like. So please do that!!!!

I thank the Scinceblogs Dot Com overlords for this wonderful gift.

Rebuke. v. Call on the carpet: censure severely or angrily; “The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger’s car”; “The deputy ragged the Prime Minister”; “The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup”

Continue reading Wilson Rebuked →

The film is a powerful “docudrama” set in the year 2055, after global warming has done massive damage to humanity. Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite stars as a historian who “looks back” on real footage from 2008 to try to answer the question, “why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?”

Culture Dish has been sterile for a while, but now it’s back in the swing of things! Rebecca Skloot indicates that she’ll be blogging the later phases of the publication of her book.

I can’t wait to read this book. Years ago, I found out about Henrietta Lacks and I thought it was one of the most interesting science stories I’d ever heard. It was so interesting that I kept telling people about it, but the tale is so strange that few would believe me. So finally, I stopped telling people. Now, with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks coming on line in a few months, this will all change again!