I always have intentions of blogging everyday, but every year I forget how unbelievably difficult it is to find internet access or a decent signal on my aircard. The system is so overloaded with the influx of 20,000 cyclists and their electronica – we get text messages from one another the next day.
The drive up was uneventful, considering the bus, the passengers, and the mission. We met 5 team members in 3 places near Davenport. So we were finally assembled as a team of 16 and headed across the state to Glenwood, the starting town.
The ride up gets interesting
The first morning is always so exciting — we’re like racehorses waiting for the gates to open. Everyone is in clean, new Team Fly jerseys, our bikes are cleaned and tuned and we get up at sunrise ready to roll.
most of the team starting out
The weather forecast has been for mid to high 80’s, which sounds lovely until you factor in the heat index (which, by the way friends, Rush Limbaugh says is a left wing conspiracy). We’ve had such high humidity a couple of days have been ridiculously uncomfortable. It has finally (on day 6) leveled off a bit, but it’s still toasty.
musician in a tree doing yoga?hanging around the campsite in the eveningSlacklining for cyclistsChef Dustin and our salmon feasttypical campsite shottemporary tattoossometimes it happenssome small town in Iowanot sureall of Iowa has this good of receptionBobbing for beer - not as easy as it lookstequila, especially expensive tequila, helps with the heatsweet Samanother typical campsite shotlots and lots of this
I know this blog is heavy on the pics and light on the words, but I’ll go back and fill in. Hopefully the pics tell a lot of the story. I’ll try to have more pictures on my Facebook page and on the Team Fly Facebook page.
For now, I’ll end this blog at about the halfway point of the ride and do a followup post when I can get internet again.
We are having a blast, as we always do on this magnificent bike ride. We are enjoying each other and all of our new friends in spite of the atrocious heat.
Ragbrai is such a part of our family’s vocabulary I can’t remember ever not knowing it. This bike ride across Iowa has been rolling every year since 1973; our family’s first year to do it was 1990.
Ben was 5 and already on his 2 wheeler. Sam was 3 and on training wheels. The girls were 16 months old. We were living in Minnesota at the time, and Iowa was just a hop-skip south. My dad had done Ragbrai and urged us on so off we went.
It was a train wreck to say the least. Jesse was on his bike with Sam and Ben in a little cart behind him, trailering Ben’s baby bike. Every few miles, Jesse would get Ben out of the cart, let him ride a mile or two, put him back in the cart with Sam, and they’d go on again. I had the two girls in the cart behind me, with their toys and sippee cups and pillows.
It was hot and crowded and we couldn’t get enough. The rest, as they say, is history. Our family calls this week the Best Week of the Year. We may not get all the kids together at Christmas, but we can always count on Ragbrai.
This year, as it has been the last few years, Ben and girlfriend Kirsten will drive from Colorado and meet us in the End Town (Davenport this year) on the Eastern edge of the state, where they will get in the bus with us and drive across to the Western edge (Glenwood).
from the back looking forwardfrom the front looking toward the back
We will pack the bus and leave from Murfreesboro at 6:00 on Wednesday. It’s about 18 hours (by Team Fly bus) to Davenport, then another several hours across. We’ll be in place Saturday evening for our team kickoff meeting and Sunday am start! Tradition has the group of 20,000 riders dipping their wheels in the Missouri River Sunday morning, then after the 500 or so miles across the state, 7 days later dipping them in the Mississippi.
peleton up top
These are all old pictures. I’ll do my best to blog across the state, but internet is just too overwhelmed, even with my aircard.
Team Fly 2009
If ever in your daydreaming you think about doing something crazy and impulsive and out of the ordinary….Ragbrai is your ride. Always the last full week in July, always 7 days, always west to east. You don’t have to ride every mile – that’s what the bus is for.
These have truly been 4 of the most interesting days I have ever experienced.
Amy and I are on a plane headed east, home, away from Sin City and the conference known as TAM. This year’s theme was Tam 9 from Outer Space, and when I get home, I intend to watch the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space, since there were a great many references made to it during the 4 days of the meeting.
TAM stands for The Amazing Meeting, and it is put on annually by the James Randi Educational Foundation. Here’s James Randi:
He’s THIS adorable
He is a magician and illusionist who has spend his lifetime exposing scams, hoaxes, and supernatural phenomena. His foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to: “promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.” This annual meeting is a gathering of scientists, and experts in their fields, who seek to replace bad science, misinformation, incorrect conventional wisdom, and public misperception. This foundation has had a standing offer for years of $1,000,000 to anyone who can offer any proof of ANY supernatural event or ability, including any religion, magician, mind-reader, or psychic. It hasn’t yet been won.
A discussion of the weekend is not complete without first explaining the word Skepticism. I’m sure we all know what the definition of the word is. We say we are skeptical of something when we mean that we doubt or are uncertain or not convinced. We may say we are skeptical of another’s conclusion. Skepticism on the part of those individuals who refer to themselves as Skeptics, is an attitude, or an approach to life. It is a method used to ascertain the validity of certain arguments. It is a relentless process applied to every aspect of our lives, using the scientific method of hypothesis and disproof to reach conclusions. It involves critical thinking, tools of science, evidence, and an investigative spirit.
There are times when we are presented with information that a certain product or treatment or procedure will work this or that wonder. Skepticism is what keeps our money in our pockets and out of the hands of the folks making these claims. Skepticism is what keeps us healthy. Skepticism allows us to see the world as it really is, not as we wish it was, so that we can more effectively deal with our limits and our abilities.
The conference was a mix, as are most conventions like this, of workshops, socializing, whole group gatherings, and did I mention socializing?
I don’t know the most effective manner of presenting on this blog exactly what TAM was. In my mind it’s all a spastic jumble of wonderful speakers, engaging debate, delightful new friendships, and stimulating challenges. The meeting began on a Thursday morning, and ended on a Sunday night, and Amy and I attempted to attend every single moment of content that we could.
This is a link to a friend’s blog who “live-blogged” the event. He did a fabulous job of trying to catch the highlights of each speaker (with a little help from a couple of fellow bloggers). I won’t begin to try to describe everything, but his site is worth a visit to get a real flavor of the sequence of the meeting.
Hemant’s blog
Instead, I’ll highlight in more random fashion what Amy and I were most affected by, beginning with the opportunity to see and hear 2 of my favorite scientist (3 by Amy’s count): Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy). They, of course, were the big dogs at this event. The room of 1600 attendees was riveted each time one of these gentlemen was on the stage.
Richard Dawkins was the keynote speaker on Saturday night, and what a joy to hear him speak. He has been called strident and militant, but I have never heard a more soothing, gentle, patient voice speak with awe about the wonder of science. He previewed for us his upcoming book for children: The Magic of Reality. In it he discusses different kinds of magic – the fairy tale version, intentionally created in stories and legend, the illusionary magic of tricks, and the poetic magic of reality, which is all the more wonderful because it is real and can be understood. The book addressed civilization’s stories of creation, earthquakes, floods, and then gives a scientific explanation of how those things actually happened. The illustrator is Dave McKean and his work is gorgeous.
There were book signings by all the speakers, and of course Amy and I both got our books signed by Dawkins – my picture is a little shabby, but here it is.
crappy, but recognizable
I can add that in a workshop on Thursday, Amy and I were contentedly listening to a panel of scientists talk about defending evolution in school when I glanced around and there, behind me, was the man himself. I was so shocked I had a weird emotional moment – I couldn’t catch my breath and even started to cry (all subtle – I am a southern girl) – I couldn’t even tell Amy what was happening for a moment or two. When I recovered, I got out my phone and had Amy take this shot:
that’s my shoulder and blouse on the right
In delightful opposition to Dawkins’ sophisticated and eloquent persona, was Dr. Neil Tyson’s warm, humorous, engaging presentation. Dr. Tyson is an astrophysicist with the Hayden Planetarium, and both gave the keynote on Friday, and participated in a panel discussion about space exploration.
sexy as hell
Tyson is cooler than cool. He made astronomy sexy and interesting and accessible. There are scads of clips of him on Youtube doing different presentations and lectures – here’s one of my favorite:
Then there was Amy’s favorite: Bill Nye. She grew up watching him do science experiments on public television, and he’s one of her heroes. He wore his recognizable bow tie and looks exactly like he has for all the years we’re seen him on TV. He was captivating, and spoke of “being a speck, on a speck, in a speck, in a universe of specklessness”. Because there was a theme of Outer Space, almost everyone’s lecture referred to the magificence and magnitude of the galaxies in the universe.
The Science GuyAnother fluke seating!
There were several other folks I had looked forward to hearing, and they all surpassed my expectations. Carol Tavris, who wrote “Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me” was the most gracious and articulate speaker I’ve ever heard. Dr Eugenie Scott, an anthropologist, Dr Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist, and Dr. Harriet Hall, a former flight surgeon and pilot in the USAF were among my favorites. I also enjoyed, but had heard before, Dr. PZ Myers, probably the most popular science blogger on the internet.
You know how when you attend a convention sometimes you’ll hit a sinker in the middle of a lecture or workshop? That never happened. Every panel, every speaker, every workshop, every presentation was as interesting as the one before it:
WORKSHOPS
Defending Evolution in the Classroom and beyond
Recurring Themes in Medical Mythology
How to Effectively Create a Campaign of Grassroots Skepticism
Raising Skeptics
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Our Future in Space
Ethics of Paranormal Investigations
Placebo Medicine
Now for a little about the socializing…
It IS Vegas.
Penn Jillette’s Rock and Roll Bacon and Donut Party. Yes. A whole multiverse of win. Jillette offered this party to the TAM attendees in honor of James Randi. There really was bacon. 1200 Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Rock and Roll, with Jillette’s No God Band. Amy and I had the best time dancing and drinking and rocking with our new friends at TAM.
(pics are on Amy’s camera – more to come)
Skeptics in the Hot Tub. An informal event that took place every night in the hot tub. Each day’s speakers and topics were discussed further, with sometimes animated dissent, until the casino finally kicked us out at closing time.
The Del Mar Bar. Kind of a philosopher’s hangout. We were told that the casino loses money on skeptics because we don’t gamble (because we understand statistics), so we tried our very best to make up for that here. This was where the party went after the hot tub closed.
This post has gone on far too long….unlike TAM which ended too soon. We had such a great experience, and Amy and I fully expect to attend again next year, and bring more of the fam along when we do! We came away humbled, with new knowledge and information, new friendships, and a drive to see the world, its inhabitants, and all that may be beyond what we already know, in all of its beauty, as it really is.
The fun thing to do is to write about everything that’s happening here!
Amy and I have scooted out of town for a quick few days to Las Vegas to the 9th gathering of the Amazing Meeting. What a perfect adjective!
TAM is an annual celebration of science, skepticism, and critical thinking (right off the website). It is our first time to attend, so I’ll be adding our perceptions and experiences as they happen.
Today is mostly workshops. The run 2-at-a-time all day, so Amy and I are going to split up, then text like maniacs to decide which one go to! Our first two this morning are Defending Evolution in the Classroom (me) and Examining UFO’s and How to Make Your Own Without photoshop (Amy). That’s followed by Investigating Monster Mysteries (Amy) and Recurring Themes in Medical Mythology (me).
It’s my hope to blog tonight about all of today’s events, but we also have tickets to the 12:10 showing of Deathly Hallows, so I don’t even know if I’ll be conscious by then!
The conference is being held at the South Point Casino, and we’re staying on the 22nd floor – we have a view of the pool which we intend to critically investigate later today. On the casino floor is that very Vegas dingdingdingding that you hear for days even after you’ve left. We don’t think we’re going to gamble – maybe penny slots – but we like to watch other people lose money.
So I’ve written before about how all of my heroes are academics: guess whose oxygen I will be breathing at this meeting? If atheism had a deity, it would be Richard Dawkins, and he’s here! I’ve got all of his books but one, but I didn’t see that one in the exhibit hall; Amy and I both brought our copy of God Delusion for autographs. Go ahead, call us fangirls, we know who we are.
THE Richard Dawkins
But there are two more speakers I’m as excited to hear as Dawkins. One is the founder of TAM and the James Randi Education Foundation: James Randi.
THE James Randi
And finally, here, in Vegas for me to meet and see and listen to: Neil DeGrasse Tyson!!!!!!!
THE Neil DeGrasse Tyson
He’s an astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planterium, and he’s one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard (youtube him). He’s funny and engaging and so so smart. He’s played himself on Big Bang Theory, and he’s been on Daily Show and Colbert a few times. He’s speaking on the timely topic of Our Future in Space.
Amy’s geeked about seeing Bill Nye, the Science Guy. He’s on a couple of panels and is doing a presentation too.
I’m going to wait to write about the party at Penn Jillette’s house. Just really don’t know what to expect with that, but can’t wait to go!
I know, not much review, but we just got here last night! We hung in the bar a bit with some friends I had met in Des Moines. We called it an early night because of the time change and tonight’s late date with the movie theatre inside this hotel!
What a grand 6 days. Yes, I know the festival is only 4, but as a volunteer we go in 2 days early, so that adds an extra 2 days of fun. And sun. And sweat. And portapotties.
So here’s the deal. When you volunteer to work at Bonnaroo, you commit to working roughly three 6-hour shifts. In return, you get a free general admission ticket, early entrance and camping in the highly exclusive volunteer campground, 3 meal tokens plus a little box lunch during your shift. At $275 a ticket, you can do the math on the hourly rate. The jobs are various – picking up trash, working the toll booth, parking golf carts, manning information booths. I’ll tell you about mine in a bit.
First I want to write about the festival. This was Bonnaroo’s 10th year. I remember when my oldest, as a teenager, asked me if he could go the first year. I didn’t let him – he was 15 and I didn’t think he was ready for that. I’d probably still say the same thing. I had that reaffirmed this year: my camping neighbors just happened to be moms of teenagers, one of whose daughter attended. I just don’t think Bonnaroo works as well for high-schoolers. They are still in the phase where they are terribly concerned about their appearance and peer conformity and not so much about the creativity of the music and the joy of the shared experience. This doesn’t apply to everyone in high school, I realize, but to a great many it does.
So the lineup, as always, was fab. There are 173 acts total. There’s one main stage – if you google aerial pics of Bonnaroo, it’s easy to spot. Then there are secondary stages, cleverly named Which Stage, This Tent, That Tent, among others. It’s a real trick trying to get to every act you want to see, and only 4 days to do it. Although Centeroo is open 24 hours, the acts mostly run from noon to about 2 am.
There are the standard festival vendors – deep fried crap on sticks, greasy pizza, funnel cake, and the hippie fare too – falafel, vegetarian rice dishes, pasta. No event is complete without the overpriced beer, but there’s also a Brooer’s Fest Tent where you can get specialty beers for about the same $6 as the Millers and Buds.
The biggest challenge this year wasn’t even the heat, which was oppressive. It was the dust. 80,000 pairs of feet over the same 700 acres can destroy grass in a hurry, especially when it’s been dry to begin with. Golf cart drivers wore bandanas, and in the end, just about everyone had to cover nose and mouth to get around. We’ve had wet Bonnaroos where it was as muddy as this year’s was dusty, so take your pic.
Tent camping explains itself, along with the portapotties that go with it. Pooping at Bonnaroo was a topic of conversation at every campsite. There’s no trick to it – just get over it. I wish I had had 1000 GoGirls, my handy-dandy girl tool that allows me to pee standing up – I could have sold them all. The tents become unbearably hot by about 8 in the morning, so plan on moving outside to finish your sleeping in.
One of the joys of the community camping is the sharing of food and drink. I go the easy route with cheese, nuts, olives, jerky, fruit – not gonna cook at Bonnaroo. Plus, those are easy things to share with your campmates. It helps if you have everything prepared – chopped and put into serving-sized bags – you want to limit the time spent digging around in the cooler, melting your ice. But I know folks who eat gourmet at Bonnaroo – I’m too hot and too lazy.
This year’s top shows: Mumford. Buffalo Springfield. Eminem. Amos Lee. Khalifa. (This is my very scientific survey consisting of my opinion and that of my campmates.) Honestly, the dust kept me from shows in the worst areas of it. The pasture in front of the main stage has retained its cool, green grass. That has a lot of appeal in 97 degree heat.
Now for my volunteer shift. The first one was a 12-hour long haul 10pm til 10am in the VIP tent camping check-in. That was fun because I’d never been in VIP and it was interesting to see (and I used their flush-toilets several times). My second shift was the doozy. It was Saturday 10-4 in…wait for it….Total Access. Oh yes. You and up to 7 of your closest friends can participate too, IF you come up with a measly $25,000. That gets you VIP limo ride from the Nville airport, delivery to the door of your rockstar motorhome inside the secret, hidden, shaded campground that is Total Access, food from the 5-star, airconditioned, white linen restaurant in your campground, access to every show backstage, golf cart rides to ANYWHERE at Roo, all the food you can eat and liquor you can drink. Blew what little of what was left of my mind on day 4. Seriously. Google it.
I’ve taken pics of Bonnaroo before, and didn’t do a very good job of it this year, but there’s scads of pics of the festival on the interwebs. It was a helluva festival – always is. It’s pretty high on the grunge factor, but worth it when you’re lying there on a quilt, listening to the jam with your friends.
Bonnaroo 2012. I’m there. Now to find that $25,000…..
I’ve been completely neglectful of my wonderful list. I assure you that I’ve only neglected blogging about it, not dreaming about it. It has transitioned from the 50 things to do in my 50th year to my straight-up Bucket List. I have a hard copy of it too, that I keep in my planner and I’ll occasionally make a note or two. The original list and notes are in italics – every time I publish it I try to add commentary on what I’ve done.
In order to celebrate managing to stay alive, happy, and healthy to my 50th, I am going to try 50 new things this year. Some are huge (hike the Great Wall of China). Some are tiny (drink a lime gimlet). All are things I have never before done. And in that same spirit of celebration, my friends and family will be participating with me.
I’ve had a few more suggestions since my last blog, and those will be reflected in the list. I’ve decided to be a little less OCD, and a little more organic in the list. I’m not going to preemptively remove anything from the list; there will be more than 50 things. In my daily life, as I always do, I will seek out new and exciting experiences, and may very well add something to the list spontaneously, maybe even after I’ve done it. I will attempt to do all, but my primary goal will be to accomplish 50 New Things.
You all have been so enthusiastic and free-spirited about all this; thanks for the suggestions and the WILLINGNESS to do them with me!
1. Streak through Publix – Dora (You are SOOO on the hook for this – still)
2. Do a Bob Ross painting – Glenda (Maybe after finals?)
3. Drink a lime gimlet – Sam M (Got this one done – Hendrix gin, Rose’s Lime Juice, shaken and served by an actual Englishman – P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N!)
4. Fire-hoop – Glenda (Not yet – need a little more practice)
5. Color my hair pink/blue/something for a race – Glenda/Amy (for the Ohio Iron in September)
6. Go to the Superbowl
7. Scuba-dive Cayman or Honduras or Bahamas – Fran (maybe in conjunction with our Key West swim?)
8. Write a song – Beth
9. Hike a 14-er in Colorado – Ben (climbed Torrey’s Peak and Gray’s peak – 2 14’ers in the Front Range with my boy)
10. Write a children’s book – Kristen
11. Be in a live audience for a TV show – Kristen
12. Eat crumb cake at Carlos’ Bakery in NYC – Kristen
13. Horseback riding on the beach – Kristen
14. Go parasailing – Kristen
15. Go bungy-jumping
16. Big-ass rubber band thingy – Mandi
17. Run 50 miles – Vic (less and less likely with each passing day – and it wasn’t probable to begin with!)
18. Attend Loy Krathong, the sky lantern festival in Thailand – Vic
19. Hike the Great Wall of China – Vic
20. Swim in the largest swimming pool in the world, in Chile – Vic
21. See sea turtles hatch and head for the ocean – Vic
22. Go sky diving – Phil
23. Learn to play pinochle, mah jongg, canasta or gin
24. Eat gefilte fish with horseradish
25. Dress like a man and go with a man to a straight bar and a gay bar (They don’t know it yet, but I’m going to do this with Chris and Bryson when they turn 21)
26. Have a colonoscopy – mom
27. Get a tattoo – Amy (Done!)
28. Go to South Beach, Miami
29. Attend lighting of candles in Jerusalem
30. Take ballroom dance lessons – Tonya
31. Meet the President
32. Do nothing for one day: no work, no workouts, no computer, no phone, no TV
33. Go on a photo safari
34. Visit all the continents
35. Panhandle on a corner
36. Ride the TransCanadian Railway
37. Drink Paddle of Destiny at Mellow Mushroom – Susan (I’ve done this at least 3 times, but never with my girl Susan, so it stays on the to-do list!)
38. Renew marriage vows – Mike
39. Finish an Ironman – me (woooohooooo!!! October 23, 2010!!)
40. Climb a redwood tree – Amy
41. Hike the Adirondacks – Becky
42. Learn to swordfight – Ted (I know Ted, my bad – I will do this!)
43. Drive a race car – Ted
44. Hike the AT – Ted
45. Take a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class – Shannon
46. Kayak the Gauley – Sam
47. Do a road trip – Brianna
48. Swim with dolphins – Brianna
49. Full moon party in Koh phangan, Thailand – Lila
50. Visit Iguazu Falls in Argentina – Lila
51. Go dog sledding in Alaska – Lila
52. Become a licensed minister and marry someone – Lila (OK, girlie, I’ve done the become-a-licensed-minister part – just gotta find someone who is disrespectful enough of the institution to allow me to do it!!)
53. Swim with sharks – Lila
54. Jump off of a waterfall – Lila
55. Watch Dr. Zhivago (how did I miss that?)
56. Memorize Pi to 50 places (3.1415926535 – that’s as far as I can do from memory)
57. Go see the Formula 1 race in Monaco – Brother Eric
58. Sit through an entire episode of: O’Reilly/Beck/Colter/Limbaugh – Brother Eric (you have no idea how hard this will be!)
59. Make Bananas Foster
60. See the Tour de France in person, not just on Versus at 2:00 in the morning!
61. Place a $1000 bet on one hand of blackjack – Brother Eric
I’d like to add here
#62. Ride my bike around Cade’s Cove in the moonlight. Done.
So there it is. My achievement ratio is disappointingly low. BUT – remember the disclaimer. If I don’t get it accomplished this year, it rolls right onto the Life Bucket List. And the ratio doesn’t take into account things I have done, since May, for the first time that DIDN’T make the list. Like bat wrangling in England. And trying to catch a longhorn. And manually expressing my dogs’ anal glands. Oh yeah. Just couldn’t bring myself to blog about that one.
So that’s the update as of April of 2011. I’m going to Florida with brother for a few days next week. I’ll try to get one of those TV shows watched while I’m there, and maybe make the Bananas Foster.
If you have another thought, comment away! Just remember the rule – if you suggest it, you’ll be asked to do it with me – that’s the dealio!
Every convention has its socializing element. Every convention gives its attendees free time to talk and discuss and argue and laugh. When the convention is an atheist convention, when its attendees are inherently thinkers and talkers, and have a deep appreciation of the joy and value of each moment, the socializing element should not be minimized.
Hence you have day 2 being recapped on day 3. It was my intention to post at the end of each day, but the day didn’t end, again, until the wee morning hours, so here we go.
Jamila Bey
What a breath of fresh air to begin the morning’s session with Jamila Bey. Jamila (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgdfHVwK884) gave us her experience of atheism in the African-American community (I know, Jamila, there is no ONE African-American experience!) with passion and clarity. The social importance of the religious network in anyone’s life is not to be minimized; in the African-American woman’s life, it’s almost paramount. Jamila seems to be made entirely of self-confidence and humor, but she has faced her share of resistance and criticism from the people she loves the most.
Jamila’s talk was followed by a diversity panel that was enlightening and informative. The atheist movement by its nature is broad and inclusive, so when we have a diversity panel, we have a diversity panel! It was interesting to hear perspective from other ethnicities and cultures.
We heard from comedian Paul Provenza, reading from his book “Satiristas”, and from Troy Conrad again, who was a scream. Irreverent, thought-provoking, and interactive, both of these guys are worth Youtubing.
We heard from Professor Hector Avalos, who is a Religious Studies professor at Iowa State University. If you’ve seen the movie “Expelled” by Ben Stein, you’ll be familiar with his subject.
Finally, on Saturday we heard from two psychiatrists with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. They shared with us the physiological and psychological effects of religious thinking and freethought.
Sunday started with JT Eberhard from the Secular Student Alliance giving us a report of student organizations and their phenomenal, exponential growth. JT is such a voice for inspiration and motivation in the movement, and it’s my hope to have him visit the MTSU campus when we get the SSA going there.
Next was Lawrence Krauss, a quantum physicist who gave us little talk about Richard Feynman and his work. We heard also from Matt Dillahunty, who hosts the podcast for the Austin Community of Atheists. I got to join him for a meal or two, and found a little connection – his fiance is the former leader of the secular group at ETSU, and we chatted a bit about the student group there.
Finally, after an international symposium regarding the atheist movement, we listened to a military panel tell about the environment in the services for atheists. I will leave to your imagination what their responses were.
Military Freethinkers
There’s a basic outline of what we did – I’ll try to blog in more detail about specific speeches and conversations I had with other attendees. Tonight’s agenda includes more debate and beer, not necessarily in that order.
Christopher Hitchens was to have been a speaker at the American Atheists’ convention, but his health would not allow it. He sent the following letter:
Dear fellow-unbelievers,
Nothing would have kept me from joining you except the loss of my voice (at least my speaking voice) which in turn is due to a long argument I am currently having with the specter of death. Nobody ever wins this argument, though there are some solid points to be made while the discussion goes on. I have found, as the enemy becomes more familiar, that all the special pleading for salvation, redemption and supernatural deliverance appears even more hollow and artificial to me than it did before. I hope to help defend and pass on the lessons of this for many years to come, but for now I have found my trust better placed in two things: the skill and principle of advanced medical science, and the comradeship of innumerable friends and family, all of them immune to the false consolations of religion. It is these forces among others which will speed the day when humanity emancipates itself from the mind-forged manacles of servility and superstitition. It is our innate solidarity, and not some despotism of the sky, which is the source of our morality and our sense of decency.
That essential sense of decency is outraged every day. Our theocratic enemy is in plain view. Protean in form, it extends from the overt menace of nuclear-armed mullahs to the insidious campaigns to have stultifying pseudo-science taught in American schools. But in the past few years, there have been heartening signs of a genuine and spontaneous resistance to this sinister nonsense: a resistance which repudiates the right of bullies and tyrants to make the absurd claim that they have god on their side. To have had a small part in this resistance has been the greatest honor of my lifetime: the pattern and original of all dictatorship is the surrender of reason to absolutism and the abandonment of critical, objective inquiry. The cheap name for this lethal delusion is religion, and we must learn new ways of combating it in the public sphere, just as we have learned to free ourselves of it in private.
Our weapons are the ironic mind against the literal: the open mind against the credulous; the courageous pursuit of truth against the fearful and abject forces who would set limits to investigation (and who stupidly claim that we already have all the truth we need). Perhaps above all, we affirm life over the cults of death and human sacrifice and are afraid, not of inevitable death, but rather of a human life that is cramped and distorted by the pathetic need to offer mindless adulation, or the dismal belief that the laws of nature respond to wailings and incantations.
As the heirs of a secular revolution, American atheists have a special responsibility to defend and uphold the Constitution that patrols the boundary between Church and State. This, too, is an honor and a privilege. Believe me when I say that I am present with you, even if not corporeally (and only metaphorically in spirit…) Resolve to build up Mr Jefferson’s wall of separation. And don’t keep the faith.
Sincerely
Christopher Hitchens
Another great day at the convention – more posts to follow!
Well, I’m finding out. Technically, this is Day 2. Last night was an informal fundraising dinner where I got to meet and speak with a few of the presenters, but it was mostly social.
Matt Dillahunty (Greta behind me) and me and the Thursday night dinner
Today began bright and early at the Embassy Suites in Des Moines, Iowa with the welcome by the mayor of the city. That was immediately followed by the welcome by the president of American Atheists. He was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly last year when billboard were put up in various cities. In his opening speech, he took us through a series of statements beginning with “Consider an America….”
“…where judges can make decisions without fear of being removed from the bench.” “…where science can be taught in schools by teachers without the threat of being fired.” “…where loving families can adopt and raise children as they wish.” “…where our government begins its sessions with ‘Let’s get to work!'” “….where women can make decisions about their own bodies.”
Our first speaker was Jeff Sharlett, the author of “C Street” and “The Family”, the secret religious organization in Washington that has housed and sheltered a number of Republican scandal-makers, including up to this morning, John Ensign. He was fascinating in his report about his experience with this group, and it is an incredibly important read, no matter your politics. I’ll buy the Kindle version of his books and I promise I’ll blog about them afterward, but I recommend them even before I read them. http://jeffsharlet.com/
Next we heard from Edwin Kagin, who is my new hero. He’s the legal representation of American Atheists, and handles most of the litigation. He highlighted two recent cases: in Utah, the fallen officers’ memorial case – where crosses are erected in their honor, whether or not they were believers. That case was resolved at the state supreme court in AA’s favor. The second case involved the Kentucky Homeland Security statement that says that: “…the security of the country…cannot be assured without a belief in Almighty God”. The state attorney general ruled that case unconstitutional as well. Mr. Kagin is charming and articulate – he’s from the area in Kentucky where my mother’s family is from, and his accent was familiar and endearing. http://www.edwinkagin.com/ Click on the link just to read the lovely tribute he wrote to his precious wife he lost last February.
Following Mr. Kagin is one of my favorite bloggers, if not my favorite, Greta Christina. She presented a talk on Atheists and Anger (http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html) which was magnificent. This blog entry is pretty close to the speech she gave, and she was wonderful. (A little disclaimer: Greta’s blog is not only an atheist blog, it is also a porn blog, so heads up). On the first night, I even got the chance to chat with her a bit. I first found her blog as a trainer, as she shares her own journey to reclaim her health (just search for her entries on weight management/fitness).
We had a little comedy routine by Troy Conrad, who did a great George Bush bit, then heard from another attorney, Eddie Tabash who is also a debater. Our final speaker was Matthew Chapman. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbwFB6tr2y4). He is a great-great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and is a filmmaker and author. He has made a film, The Ledge, with Liv Tyler, that has been accepted at the 2011 Sundance film festival. We got to have our own, private screening before its June release! It was incredibly powerful and profoundly moving. It’s a thriller/drama and I won’t spoil it, but you should go see this film.
I’m learning that this group is rowdy and bawdy and snarky and FUNNY. I’ve enjoyed meeting some very interesting people, and if it were not after 1 in the morning, I would tell you more about them. We had a costume party tonight that was a scream!
can’t quite see Greta’s GREAT steampunk costume!me and PZ Myers, one of my academic rockstars
I plan to blog again tomorrow night (but tomorrow night is the pub crawl, so I’m not promising) and try to post some pics.
Happy. Healthy. Heathen. 