I did not get shot at during my presentation. I was not heckled to the point of tears. Richard Carrier‘s talk did not bore me. Despite Springfield being the world capitol of the Assemblies of God Pentecostal church, Sarah Palin did not attend…but it is not the case that the event was poorly attended. I did not fall off the stage, nor were there any technical problems with the video equipment. There were no Catholic picketers. Jesus did not manifest in a chariot of fire to smite the two godless speakers. The audience at our talk did not shy away from asking difficult questions of Carrier and myself. The beer that evening wasn’t bad. While I did briefly disparage the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, no one threatened my livelihood or waved a sword at my neck. I was not neglected or mistreated. I did not eat all the chocolate-covered communion wafers I was given…yet. I did not miss a pleasant evening at the Springfield Brewing company.
I do not understand why anyone would think I am a pirate.
Ben was concerned that I would write horrible things about Springfield and MSU, so I had to cruelly let him know I would not write a post that said anything positive at all about my visit.
I do not think I would turn down an invitation to return.
You probably didn’t know that Richard Carrier is not a ninja.
The geek of a chemistry professor sitting across from you truly enjoyed finally meeting, and talking, with you.
Maybe next time I’ll accept JT’s invitation to get up on that stage and join you and Carrier in a godless presentation.
Maybe, but it’s even more fun sitting back and enjoying some enlightening talks, and some lively questions.
Take care PZ, and thanks again for coming down.
Abandoning Tarvuism again for this pirate garb.
All that negativity! It must be because you think God does not exist. You need to be more positive, and think that God does not not exist, or even not not not not exist.
I think I have a pamphlet or two around here for the Church of the Positive and Non-Negative Thinking….
Why not just say that god is positively non-existent? Isn’t that positive enough?
OK PZ, your not a pirate, but according to your tee shirt you are an A’s fan!
Cool!
There’s a team called the Atheists?
You need to read the shirt a little more closely.
Speaking of Palin, I’ve just posted a never-before-seen Sarah Palin baby video, for anyone who might be interested. It’s quite telling.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
Good thing there weren’t any Philadelphia Flyers fans there. Even the awesome power of a 6-year-old human shield wearing a li’l Flyers jersey cannot protect against their boo-age.
(Hey, how come that kid’s not in school?)
PZ, I look forward to your visit to the Orlando area, if it’s still on for December. Have you narrowed down the dates yet?
Another thing that didn’t happen: the Kansas trolls said they were going to show up, but there was no sign of them. Either they chickened out completely, or they came and cowered, afraid to speak up. I was so disappointed. Not.
PZ, I look forward to your visit to the Orlando area, if it’s still on for December. Have you narrowed down the dates yet?
Yes. I’ll be at UCF and Rollins on 5-6 December.
Did you see the Simpsons while there?
All I want to know is why isn’t there any snow in those photos looking outside? Its October. Everyone should be getting snow now like Anchorage.
I did not realize how much fun Developmental Biology was until I started lurking on this blog. Paris Hilton doesn’t know what she’s missing.
Just a rant about ageism, but had PZ been a 20th something rather than a beloved professor of evolutionary history(1), would you all be so positive? I mean, if I post drinking pictures on myspace page, I’ll have trouble finding employment.
(1) I am familar with the postmodern critique that holds history is not a science. No need to repeat that.
bob, if it makes you feel better, it snowed here yesterday.
PZ, I had a great time. I didn’t get to join y’uns at the resturaunt. I had an appointment that evening. My wife was with me. She’s a christian and she was a bit offended when you said “Religion is Riddiculous” and she got up and waited for me in the car. However, as always, we agree to disagree and you didn’t cause any marital problems at all. I did disagree on one point. I do not believe that anyone should purposely try to offend anyone else. Of course there are some Xians out there that are offended by my very admission that I’m an atheist. I can’t help that. But, I do not think it’s nice to tell them that they are stupid. Many christians are very intelligent. They just have irrational beliefs. My intention is to criticize the beliefs themselves not the believer.
#17, unless there’s a picture of PZ passed out in his own puke that I didn’t notice, this is hardly a picture of debauchery up there. it’s a beer. A BEER.
If you’re having problems finding a job because of one beer, you should move somewhere less uptight about alcohol :-/
Springfield is a little big-boxy, but okay. It’s also the hometown of both Kathleen Turner and Brad Pitt, so you’d have to cut it some slack in any event.
@17
Trouble finding employment? How so? Drinking is perfectly legal … and socially acceptable.
Those are some pretty shibby hats!
I don’t know what you’re holding in the last picture, but it looks like you’re pensively smoking a pipe.
To which I can only say:
STOP LOOKING LIKE MY FATHER!!!!!
I suspect that the misnomered “I am so wise” thinks (s)he has done something very clever there in #17, redefining evolutionary biology as a subdiscipline of “history” and then slyly pointing out that history is not “science.”
Nope. Not clever. Ignorant. As always.
In the sentence…..from asking difficult questions of Carrier and myself, the use of “myself” is incorrect. The correct pronoun should be “me.” Myself is a reflective and should not be used in place of me.
Dang–where do you get those fake Oakland A’ t-shirts?!? They’re totally cool! I want one!!
^_^J.
I drove three hours in each direction, showed up late, and had to leave early, but it was completely worth it to see both you and Carrier!
As it turns out, I didn’t *have* to leave early, but I didn’t find that out until I had completed the three hour drive back home, so I’m kicking myself about missing the events of that night…
Yeah yeah, where where? Want.
Raffi Shahinian
Speaking of Palin, I’ve just posted a never-before-seen Sarah Palin baby video
I had to call in the kids to watch that, it’s hysyterical. I have a feeling that kid sees a lot of televangelists on TV.
Those Xians may be inadvertently raising the next George Carlin, ya know.
Dang, that baby video scares the shit out of me. With that kind of encouragement, that kid is going to become exactly that boy in Jesus Camp.
I think it’s more likely that the kid sees a lot of evangelists in person, in church.
That, or old films of Mussolini.
Hey PZ. I really enjoyed the talk. Thanks for coming over to Springfield!
It was a blast to listen to you guys. Thanks to you both for coming down! It was totally worth showing up ridiculously early to get a front row seat.
My first thought too! Now that’s a team I can cheer for.
Was the talk recorded? I would love to listen to both PZ and R.C.
Yeah but we should also rehearse some serious booing, just in case, you know! Hehe …
^_^J.
Well aren’t you the clever one? You give an asinine justification to yhour statement on science, run away from the conversation when your asinine remark was dismantled and destroyed, then repeat it in another thread. Quite the lame poster…
Eh, I feel the whole spaghetti monster thing has outlived its useful memespan.
PZ got his shirt from the dreaded communist bookstore in LA. The group offered him one of 2 possible shirts to take home and he got greedy and took them both.
OK, I see the shirt now. Would love one for my brother, he’s a life long Oakland A’s fan and a total atheist to boot.
:)
I post drinking pictures on myspace page, I’ll have trouble finding employment.
In Canada that IS a job requirement. No one trusts a teetotaler… for good reason.
“something very clever there in #17, redefining evolutionary biology as a subdiscipline of “history” and then slyly pointing out that history is not “science.””
You’re way over thinking it man. Think it through, why would I slam history like that? I praise it on my blog, defecet spend to learn more about, and our ignorance of it. History is the shiz diggity.
“Well aren’t you the clever one?”
So you say.
“You give an asinine justification to yhour statement on science, run away from the conversation when your asinine remark was dismantled and destroyed, then repeat it in another thread. Quite the lame poster…””
Nobody responded back to my last post, I figured we were done. Also one can troll and engage in serious discourse at the same time.
Also, if you going to parrot postmodernist attacks on history not being a science, you can at least stop parroting Dawkins’ views on postmodernism. As for history as science go read Comte, Marx, or Ranke’s writings on the matter.
You know what? Just for that, I am going to donate money to Catholic Church.
Victory!
#17:
Wow. I’m putting together a mental image of you from all your posts and it’s pretty sad. A beer? I just bet you’re a hoot at art museums stammering and blushing at all the nekkid pichers.
Thanks for supporting the pirate side. Ninja people are getting uppity. Pirates would win. They have ships, cannons, and guns, and draw on a wider range of fighting styles. Ninjas live in the cultural vacuum of post-Tokugawa Japan and while they are very effective there, they are much less flesible than pirates.
PZ,
Those pirate pics are priceless. Thanks for posting my McFast & McFurious video and for putting up with us! It was a pleasure.
Ben
Thanks for speaking! I drove from St Louis to hear you and it was well worth it. Visit our state anytime.
(I’ll send photos of PZ Meowers asap)
“PZ got his shirt from the dreaded communist bookstore in LA. The group offered him one of 2 possible shirts to take home and he got greedy and took them both.”
Poop, I don’t think I’ll be in LA any time soon (there’s a chance, cross your fingers). Are they available online anywhere? And am I right to assume that the shirt says “Atheist” (in the singular)?
Robert (#19), I kind of am with you more or less. But if someone gets offended easily, it’s their problem. Do they not have the character to give as good as they get? Surely they do?
Anyway, religion and other funny business isn’t really the problem… it’s the attachment to it which is the real worry. People need to be disturbed – it’s the only way they’ll wake up. How to do it? Hopefully with substance.
What was the other one, then? (Though this story sounds a tad apocryphal me thinks … :-))
^_^J.
May you never taste the sweet double-bock of the beer volcano. May you never witness the quality testing at the stripper factory. May FSM smite you with the uncooked noodle of shame for your blasphemy.
Thanks for doing what you do.
PZ, it looks like you have redeemed yourself to first class seats right by the strippers and finest beer volcanos.
JT, Mark and Co. once again show what a credit they are to the Noodly One and His Pirates of Pastafaria.
RAmen
For any of you unfamiliar with the dedication of this crew, here’s just one example still fresh in my memory…
http://www.venganza.org/2007/12/16/xmas-discrimination-at-msu/
So how’s xmas shaping up at MSU this year guys? Any plans?
#38 Quiet_Desperation
Noooooo…! In fact, His Noodly Word is going from strength to strength.
A proud day for Pastafarians
http://www.venganza.org/2008/09/26/a-proud-day/
#38:
Hebbo!
I’ve been saying exactly the same thing about Christianity for the last 15 years.
Sweet! I know some others that want to see you as well.
PZ, where did you get that A’s t-shirt that says Atheist on it?
As an Oakland native, I’ve decided I need one.
Welcome to the club!
^_^J.
PZ, did Mayor Quimbey give you the key to the city?
Holy crackers, Ben, you’re a double-feature on Pharyngula! Lucky.
Thanks for coming, PZ. Your speech was fantastic, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
It was a terrific program; I just wish I hadn’t had to leave part-way through the Q & A. If only I could have moved the hour early I was there, to the end!
I was very (but pleasantly) surprised not to see any religious protesters, but I guess they were all distracted by the foolball game.
“Another thing that didn’t happen: the Kansas trolls said they were going to show up, but there was no sign of them. Either they chickened out completely, or they came and cowered, afraid to speak up.”
Welcome to the life of a Missouri Tigers fan.
Hey, I went to college in Springfield, MO at Drury Univ. And I’m pretty sure I’ve sat at that very same table in the Brew Co. I’m glad your trip, PZ, wasn’t terrible because that place is as scary as it gets for atheists and skeptics of the christian religion. I will NEVER live there again. Though you would probably like Drury Univ. if you ever have to go back there; it’s an oasis for free thinkers among the ridiculousness that is Springfield.
Hey, I went to college in Springfield, MO at Drury Univ. And I’m pretty sure I’ve sat at that very same table in the Brew Co. I’m glad your trip, PZ, wasn’t terrible because that place is as scary as it gets for atheists and skeptics of the christian religion. I will NEVER live there again. Though you would probably like Drury Univ. if you ever have to go back there; it’s an oasis for free thinkers among the ridiculousness that is Springfield.
That’s all very well and absolutely fascinating. But what about that frackin’ t-shirt?!
;-)
^_^J.