The Big Libel – Buy Tickets Now!
“The Big Libel Gig on Sunday 14 March 2010 at the London’s Palace Theatre will raise funds to support the Coalition for Libel Reform. An eclectic line-up, including Dara Ó Briain, Tim Minchin, Marcus Brigstocke, Robin Ince, Ed Byrne, Shappi Khorsandi, Professor Brian Cox, Simon Singh, Professor Richard Wiseman, Dr Peter Wilmshurst and Dr Ben Goldacre, is supporting the campaign for a public interest defence to protect writers, bloggers, academics, human rights activists and performers.
The Big Libel Gig is the brainchild of comedian Robin Ince – whose previous successes include the annual Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows and who will be hosting the evening – and Simon Singh, the science author and broadcaster, who will be talking frankly about the impact of libel fears on scientific debate.
Simon Singh, who is currently being sued by the British Chiropractic Association, said: “Peter Wilmshurst, Ben Goldacre and I will talk about being sued for libel. Peter is being sued for raising concerns about a heart device. He faces bankruptcy by coming up against our draconian libel laws. We are all put at risk if doctors and scientists are scared to speak out because of English libel laws.”
Stars of the show will tell the audience that England’s unjust libel laws are preventing free speech and open criticism of big corporations and powerful institutions. They will call for others to support the campaign for a public interest defence and join them in signing the petition for libel reform at www.libelreform.org.”
Read more at LibelReform.org
Tickets here
Wonders of the Solar System with Brian Cox
Coming in March is a new series about the solar system from wonderful Professor Brian Cox. I’ll be watching.
Thanks Anthony
Brain development infographic winner
Click image to enlarge
This cartoon by Dwayne Godwin, a professor of neurobiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Jorge Cham, the former researcher and cartoonist who created PhD Comics, has won first place in the informational graphics category of the 2009 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Via Neurophilosophy
Win Tickets to Enigma at the Torquay Princess
Yes you heard it – we’re giving away two free tickets to the fantastic Enigma 2010 show at the Princess Theatre in Torquay. Tickets are for Monday 15th of February and all you have to do to win them is the following:
Find someone to go with. Get THEM to email US with the best (true) reason as to why YOU should win. You can ask as many friends as you like to email us - but each friend can only email us once.
You have just a few days to win so get out there and ask someone if they would like to go with you to see Mr Brown and his incredible Enigma show.
ENIGMA nominated for second Olivier!
For those in the US, the Olivier Awards are the equivalent of the Tony’s – Theatreland’s highest accolade. In 2006, “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, written by Derren and his collaborator Andy Nyman (who also directs the shows) won an Olivier, and was the first time that any sort of magic show had won such an esteemed award. Now Enigma is shortlisted, the show that Derren is about to reprise on a 5 month sell-out tour, his longest yet due to huge demand. It kicks off in Swansea this week.
Details for tickets are available on this blog. We believe extra tickets have now been made available in Torquay for Valentine’s weekend. If you find your theatre is sold out, you can try for returns or, if you wish, keep an eye on eBay, where they sometimes appear for huge amounts.
Derren says, “Touring with the stage show is by far my favourite part of the year. I’m so excited to get it up and running again. This tour had to double in size to accomodate demand, which makes it doubly fun to do. Particularly this show, which is such a massive pleasure to perform.” On the subject of a possible second Olivier, he added, “It’s amazing to be nominated. And if the show does win, it has the advantage that means that if you come and don’t like it, then you’re wrong and I can prove it.”
There are whispers of Derren hitting Broadway with a show in 2011. Nothing has been confirmed, and no details are being offered.
Coops and Iain, two of the small crew that travels with Derren, are personally requesting this year that the more “generous and sexy” fans bring them packets of Roast Beef Monster Munch. “They can be left at stage door before the show. Leave your details and we’ll announce a prize for the person who leaves the most…”
They don’t know what they’re letting themselves in for.
Anyone attending the show is respectfully asked by Derren to keep its contents secret…
The Skeptic Code
“Many conspiracy theorists seem very keen on the idea of hidden messages or codes secretly embedded within ancient writings. Believers claim hidden prophecies of significant world events and disasters can be uncovered and deciphered by analysing the Bible. By simply selecting a random paragraph and taking out the punctuation and merely inserting the passage into a matrix a skeptic, if suitably motivated, and with the benefit of hindsight is easily able to uncover whatever it is they fancy. Believers see predictions of the assassination of President Kennedy and the 9/11 twin towers terrorist attack uncovered in the bible as irrefutable evidence of divine revelation even though rational thinkers can locate predictions of the death of Leon Trotsky and Princess Diana secreted within “Moby Dick”.” – [Science, Reason and Critical Thinking]
This is one of the many great posts from forgetomori – a great blog well worth following – please visit and enjoy.
UPDATE: I recently found out this was from Crispian Jago in reference to the Bible Code. You may remember Crispian for his wonderful set of Simpson’s Skeptics Top Trumps.
The Human Brain – How we decide
What happens in your brain when you make a decision? How can you make better ones from choosing a cereal to finding a flight path for safety? Science writer Jonah Lehrer tackles decision making small and large in his book How We Decide.
Forbidden Planet – win a DVD at the signing with Peter Serafinowicz
Award winning TV funnyman and voice of Darth Maul, Peter Serafinowicz will be appearing at Forbidden Planet in London today from 6-7pm. Head down and mention that you’re “from the DB Army and you know about the BOX”. The first 5 of you to do so will receive a free, signed copy, a pat on the back and one free career consultation email from Brian Butterfield himself.
Afterwards a nearby venue will be gatecrashed and drunk dry – please check you’re insurance cover is still valid.
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR.
More details here.
The Self-Help Psychologist Is In – Richard Wiseman Interview
“Many of us who try to live an examined life find something lacking, though usually nothing so serious that it requires professional help. This has given rise to an entire genre of books aimed at indulging our urge to open up our own psyches and tinker with the wiring. But the genre’s lack of scientific rigor drives University of Hertfordshire psychologist Richard Wiseman to distraction.
‘If you apply [the standards of self-help publishing] to the drug store,’ Wiseman says, ‘you go in and say ‘Oh, I’ve got a headache, and ah well, none of this stuff is tested, but what the hell, I’ll just try the green one and see if that works,’ people would think that’s utterly absurd and unacceptable.’ ”
Read the interview at NY Times
Houdini Artefacts Now On Display In Buxton
“Locks and handcuffs used by famous escapologist Harry Houdini are about to go on display at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.
They were once owned by Sheffield-born Randolph Douglas, an expert lock picker and magician who performed in the early 1900s as Randini.
Douglas was a friend and adviser to Houdini and helped devise one of his most famous escapes – from a straitjacket while hung upside down.
The locks, manacles and keys were displayed in Douglas’s House of Wonders museum in Castleton before becoming part of Derbyshire County Council’s Buxton Museum and Art Gallery’s permanent collection in the early 1980s. ”
Read more at Derbyshire County Council (thanks, Marie)
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