I'm not too busy to get my cat certified in homeopathy...

Hey, I got lots going on.

HJ

About this site...

I am going to take a hiatus from blogging for a while. I need to think about what I want this site to be.

I appreciate your readership, and I hope you won't be strangers.

HJ/B

My life is over! Over!

Bloglines is shutting down.

I got the message a few days ago, and it throws off everything. Ack! It's part of my morning ritual. At about 5:15, I come downstairs, download the previous day's most popular NPR stories or my favorite podcasts and set out for work at 5:30. I've been doing this with bloglines for years now. And now it's over. The thing I liked about bloglines is that I was able to read a good chunk of individual posts/stories very easily by scrolling through the feeds. I haven't seen google reader do this, but I'll have to futz with the settings to make sure.

I'm losing my bus route and rss feeder. I'm doomed. DoOoOoOmEd!

I'm hunkering down into survival mode here. I have a ton of grading and writing and revising to do in the next few days. Grading stops me from doing...all other important things for extended periods of time. I have reports to write up about my summer class (that has to happen tomorrow). I have an article that I am writing/revising, and that is not going so well. And then there is at least an entire class worth of reading that I need to do. All that's at the office. Couple that with a couple of program meetings, and you have one very busy little toaster.

Oh, and I need to get things to the folks who will be writing letters of recommendation for me as I go back on the job-scavenger hunt again.

Fuckola.

Want to see something calming, majestic and beautiful? Here's film of the motion of Jupiter over the period of a night as seen through a relatively small telescope. I tell you, this type of digital wizardry was barely imaginable when I was into amateur astronomy. Now, it's pretty much standard:

Lovely.

HJ

A night at home with my work...

Oh, hell, I'm going to be so busy over the next few days.

Last night, I had a couple of pitchers of beer as I drank with 9/11 Truthers. A little podcast will be coming out soon about it. If I had gotten up to the microphone before Q&A ended after the presentation, I would have been able to ask my question in front of a lot of people. But the thing was so poorly planned that they couldn't complete the damned presentation because they ran out of time and they had almost no time scheduled for Q&A. I was in line, however, and meant to ask the question.

Anyway, after Derek Johnson's presentation, "Engineering Destruction," a lot of the group reconvened at Manuel's, where the Atlanta Skeptics meet. Our wonderful waitress was a little surprised to see me and Animala with these people. I said it was "research" and she said that she thought they were a little gross but she had to serve them. I felt similarly dirty.

I grabbed some audio outside, where I talked to a guy in a powder-blue shirt with a swastika superimposed over the outline of America. And, god damn it. I forgot to turn off the recorder, so by the time that I got to Derek Johnson to ask my question, the fucking thing was full and had turned itself off without me knowing it.

Damn it.

My question was great and his answer was lame and you'll just have to listen to the podcast.

I have a number of wacky issues of Republic Magazine that I picked up and really must read now.

HJ

Getting my conspiracy on...

Sorry about the lack of conspiracy theory postings lately. Things have been sort of hectic with the Con and school starting up and all. I am consolidating my sources for the next "This Week in Conspiracy" and will probably include my trip to the 9/11 Truther Ball. I am going to ask a few questions very quickly. And then hide. I have a feeling that this is going to be interesting. I am going with a couple of other interested academics. I'm the only one who wants to stir the pot, as far as I know. :)

Keep it real. I may not return.

HJ

He runs his campaign from a van down by the river.

Seriously, you need to go see tengrain over Mock, Paper, Scissors. Hear a stump speech from a man with no sense of depth perception. It's hilarious.

HJ

Con Crud...

Oh man, am I unwell. I have aches and sneezing and how does all that mucus get in there anyway? Seriously, last night it was like a spigot.

And now Baby Man has shown up to whine and cry and be fussy. Pity my roommate.

Regardless, I just listened to the most recent Skeptic Zone podcast, which has some pretty fantastic audio of Brian Dunning putting the smack down on a BBC natural health expert. You need to hear it. You can hear the guy choking back tears it's such a sting.

Anyway, I am trying to work through the crippling, heart-rending sniffles and finish the Dragon*Con podcast.

Blech.

HJ (ANIMALA! BRING ME HOT TOWELS!!!!)

Crap. Harriet Hall and O Magazine go their separate ways...

Dr. Hall of Science-Based Medicine tells the story here. Oprah, you have lost a great asset who could have helped your readers.

HJ

My Dragon*Con is over...

I will be doing a post-game write up/podcast today. Then it's back to reality.

HJ

Dragon*Con Day 2

Had a hell of a day, again, of course, like you do at Dragon*Con. Let me show you the kind of day that I had:

That's me and James Randi, you know, just kind of chilling. Randi is very, very good with people and is always fun to listen to.

This is me getting a free whooping cough vaccination at the free vaccine clinic for free. Then I used the good vibes that were injected into my shoulder to get discounted Surly. And then, donning said Surly, I went to see Richard Saunders and Rachael Dunlop do their Mystery Investigators show to a group of enthusiastic and really quite clever kids. (Apparently, active critical thinkers bring their kids along for the intellectual ride. It was gratifying.) I got good and volunteered to go up and be in the dowsing demonstration, during which I permanently put myself out of the running for the $1,000,000 prize. (I did walk away with a Minty, however.) Afterwards, I really had to introduce myself, and there were photos all around. Also we were visited by orbs:

I think the one above and to the left of Richard's head is probably a guardian angel, the one above and to the right of his head is probably spirit energy manifesting, the one way above Rachael's head is my great-grandmother, and the one next to her head is actually just a mote of dust reflecting the camera flash or possibly a light out of focus in the window behind us. The best part of their show was when they told the kids that they have a right to ask for evidence, an immensely gratifying message to see kids get. And it could not be in more stark contrast to the next session I attended over at the Paranormal Track, where a mother actually said that her daughter was seeing things and wondered how to protect her. (Sometimes the mother detected them too.)

Things got a little heated during my back-and-forth with psychic Chris Fleming of "Paranormal Kids," and I think I kept my cool until he suggested I had not done my research. I'll cover this on the next podcast, which will be quite soon. It's good listening.

HJ

Dragon*Con: Day 1

Stood in line.

The list of celebs I saw at the celebrity petting zoo was impressive.

Saw James Randi and Armin Shimmerman.

Went to a psychic/ghost hunter session. Going to ask a flurry of questions that will hurt their public image in front of people who admire them tomorrow.

I totally scored a Buzzed Aldrin off of Rebecca Watson tonight because of my expert knowledge of the orgasm.

Shook Kevin Murphy's hand and gave a nod to Bill Corbett.

Have to shower because I smell like a Wookie's ass-crack.

HJ

Atlanta Skeptics' StarParty

Totally awesome.

I sort of met Dr. Rachael Dunlop, Brian Dunning, Pamela Gay, Fraser Cain, an assload of Skepchicks. George Hrab was playing "I Am the Walrus" when we left. Oh! I held Little Nommington! (And here I thought the whole time that the walrus was Paul.) I took a picture, but I can't find my damned camera cable, which sort of defeats the purpose of getting a not-junky camera, does it not?

I could have stayed longer, honestly. I'm looking forward to the Con, however.

Here's wombat combat:

HJ

Dragon*Con is almost...almost here

Tonight, the Atlanta Skeptics are hosting their Star Party. A number of luminaries will be there, shining so brightly that we won't be able to see a damned thing. The physics department at Emory is hosting the event. It is the kicking off of what promises to be a positively bonkers weekend. I am going to grab audio and just enjoy the hell out of myself this weekend.

Man, I need this.

HJ