at the Alton Ballroom at Pachamama’s (8th and NH)

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featuring:

a presentation on the grueling, international competition of air guitar:

“From Bedroom Performance to Performance Art: The Rise of Air Guitar and the Dream of World Peace” by Eric “Mean” Melin

When Eric Melin was 15 aping Ace Frehley licks in his bedroom with his invisible axe, he never thought that his love for air guitar would give him the opportunity to be worshipped like a rock god in cities all over the globe, gain a cult following, attract national media attention, and make him a published author. But the international phenomenon of competitive air guitar is so much more than that. We’ll trace the history of the sport of air guitar, its connection to freedom, its development as a true art form, and explore its hugely supportive and nerdy community’s push for world peace.

Eric Melin—rock drummer, social media marketing manager, film critic, game-show TV slut, and four-time US Air Guitar national finalist—has a plethora of nerdy preoccupations, but none produce or require the equally high levels of endorphins and shamelessness as his obsession with air guitar. His strategy in life is the same as his strategy in air guitar: More, better, faster, louder — and has left him with damaged hearing and an only slightly less damaged sense of idealism.

AND a presentation on Monty Python and how they broke all the roles of comedy and fame.

Very Naughty Boys: The Story of “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” by Abby Olcese

“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” is widely considered the best film to come from the Britain’s highly influential Monty Python comedy troupe. But the story behind the making of the film, and its controversial release in 1979, is as interesting–and at times as absurd–as the movie itself. We’ll explore how it got made, how the church reacted following its release, and what makes “Brian” a movie that’s had a lasting effect on audiences the world over.

Abby Olcese has been an obsessive fan of Monty Python’s Flying Circus from the tender young age of 11. These days she’s a film critic who contributes to Kansas Public Radio and Scene Stealers, as well as MovieBoozer.com and her own blog, No More Popcorn. She’s just finished a two-year stint as a campus ministry intern for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, and in August will head to the Czech Republic for a year to teach High School English in Prague. She’s also a member of the esteemed PBR Book Club, and hopes they’ll still think she’s cool enough to come to meetings after this presentation. You can follow her adventures on Twitter (indieabby88) if you’re into that kind of thing.

AND a presentation from a local comic book writer Jai Nitz

“Iconography: The Art of Judging a Book By Its Cover” by Jai Nitz

A picture is worth a thousand words because it has to be.  How do you choose your entertainment?  Often times you get one picture, one image, to sell you.  There are over 500 new movies released every year, hundreds of new comic books and novels every month, thousands of TV shows every day, and don’t get me started on entertainment outlets like Redbox, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.  Iconography is the art of telling as much of a story with one image as possible.  From ancient man to Netflix, we’ll explore the art of judging a book/comic/movie/show by its cover.

Jai Nitz is an American comic book writer, filmmaker, and professor who has written for Marvel, DC, Image, Disney, and others. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1998 with a degree in film studies. He won the prestigious Xeric Foundation grant in 2003 for his self-published anthology, Paper Museum. He won the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 for excellence in illustrated narrative for Heaven’s Devils from Image Comics.  He is currently writing Green Hornet Legacy at Dynamite Entertainment and the upcoming Dream Thief at Dark Horse Comics. His short film Rhino is currently touring the country on the festival circuit. He also works as a professor at the University of Kansas teaching courses on comic books and film. You can follow him on Twitter (JAINITZ1).

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featuring:

“Deprogramming America: Bob Dole and the Anti-Cult Movement of the 1970s” by Audrey Coleman

Although you could argue that politics is similarly dogmatic, Bob Dole – former presidential candidate, Senate Republican Leader, war veteran, and native Kansan – isn’t typically associated with cult activity. Yet in the 1970s, the Senator found it necessary to address the “cult phenomenon” at the highest levels of government. We’ll explore his activities – and those of infamous cults of the day – using archival collections found in the Dole Archives and Spencer Research Library.

Audrey Coleman, the Senior Archivist at the Dole Institute of Politics, loves Kansas and Kansans (and other places and people too – but they have to try harder). A newly-minted mom of two, this represents one of her first attempts to think on an adult level for an extended period of time.

“No comprende! It’s a riddle: The mysterious sounds of numbers stations” by Courtney Shipley

For over 40 years shortwave radio listeners have been reporting ghostly, unclaimed radio stations.Unacknowledged by any official agency, these strangely melodious number sequences have been delivering coded messages via radio wave for anyone to hear.

Courtney is a native Lawrencian who holds a degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Kansas. She and her handsome husband have recently adopted two charming children from Russia. Although she’s seen more movies than human health should reasonably withstand, and in spite of her LEGENDARY collection of Garbage Pail Kids, this charter member of the celebrated PBR Bookclub will not consider herself a respectable nerd until she has presented at Lawrence Nerd Nite.

“The Not-So-Secret Society of the Hash House Harriers” by Chad ‘PoFo’ O’Bryhim

Hashing! It’s the underground society that mixes athleticism and sociability with hedonism and hard work. Since its humble hungover 1938 beginnings, worldwide growth and word-of-mouth gossip has made it the world’s largest running club. In that time, its use of symbols, language and song have given hashing a dynamic coded culture all its own. Come have a drink and learn why they prefer their trails shitty, their dresses red and their bush shiggy.

PoFo lacks any reputable certification to qualify himself as an expert on this topic or any other. He has, however, hashed across the continent, successfully founded new hash kennels, and generally talked his way out of bigger pickles. His enthusiasm and detailed passion for all things nerdy, secret, and debaucherous are qualifications enough.

TUESDAY, March 12, 2013.
Doors at 7, Presentations at 8.
At Pachamama’s Alton Ballroom (8th and NH)

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featuring:

Lies, Damned Lies, and Primary Sources: The Lost History of Prester John by Matt Kirkland

For centuries, medieval Europeans believed rumors of a fantastical Christian kingdom in the Far East, ruled by an immortal priest-king named Prester John. The West sent him letters, envoys, and explorers – and even got letters in return.  So where did this wild story come from? And why did everybody believe it? And why have we forgotten about him today?  Matt Kirkland will explore the strange pseudo-history of Prester John.

Matt Kirkland just moved back to Lawrence after exiles in Hong Kong and San Diego. He designs for the web at Brand New Box, a web development firm downtown. He spends free time drinking whisky and playing outside. While not even an amateur historian, he definitely reads more than is good for him.

In the Heart of Indian Country: Lawrence and Its De/colonization (Part One)
by Julia Good Fox (Pawnee), Writer and American Indian Studies Instructor

Before the arrival of the abolitionists, the area now known as Lawrence was in the territory of different Tribes—including at one point, the Pawnee Nation. Our town was established during the time of colonialism, and nearly 160 years later, Lawrence continues to mirror the intricate relationship between Indian Country and the United States. Yet our town also offers its own unique documentation of this political and cultural connection. Using the 1884 founding of the Haskell Indian Institute as our starting point, let’s begin to explore the collective history of Tribal and non-Tribal Peoples through our architecture, sports, and art.

Domineering Boulders: What Geology and the Natural World Have to Say About Our Civilization and Our Culture by Josh Feldman

Humanity has been intimately bound to the rocks around them since before the first homo sapien was a glimmer in a young chimps eye. We will explore how local geology has impacted ancient civilizations, from their technology to their architecture to their trade and politics, and then we’ll look at how these same themes continue to run through our lives today. Let’s travel through our past, from the Parthenon to the Pantheon to the Pentagon, and try to understand the Earth around us.

Josh Feldman is a volcanologist that dates rocks, but he knows shamefully little about Spock and hasn’t been to a movie with a limestone in ages. He manages the Isotope Geochemistry Laboratories at KU, which is basically an excuse to dress in a lab coat and pour acids into different shaped containers and shoot things with lasers. While he’s always wanted to be a lab-coat wearing scientist, he picked geology because he loves hiking and camping. When there’s too much snow to hike and camp he likes to cook for his friends.

co-sponsored by the Lied Center.

Doors at 7, earlier than ever before! Presentations at 8! at the ballroom at Pachamama’s (8th and New Hampshire)

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featuring:

How Gay Men’s Choruses Helped Shape the Gay Rights Movement (1978-Today) by Bill Bowersock, Show Producer for the it gets better production

Let’s take a walk through history. It all started around the time Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office, was assassinated in San Francisco (1978). Since that time, gay men’s choruses around the world have played an instrumental role in the gay rights movement. From political and religious issues to AIDS and bullying, gay men’s choruses have been a hub for social change. Who knew?

Bill has been a singing member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles since 1993. For most of the last 18 years he has been their concert producer. A performer from the age of eight, Bill sang with the nationally known group The Establishment. He has produced film and worked as a composer in both film and television. As a songwriter, he has earned two Top-40 hits, a gold single and a platinum album. Bill is from Kansas City, a graduate of KU and is currently a realtor in Los Angeles.

Reparative Therapy: A Nerdy Perspective on a Hot Social Issue by Ruth Ann Atchley, Ph.D.

Reparative therapy, also known as conversion therapy, is an often controversial treatment that aims to change sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Dr. Atchley will explore a brief history of this type of therapy. She will also review the American Psychological Association’s (APA) recommendations about this therapy and how the APA uses science to decide what therapies are more or less effective.

Dr. Atchley is the department chair and associate professor in the KU Department of Psychology. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside in 1997. Her research is in cognitive and clinical psychology and she is currently engaged in both psychophysiological and behavioral research.

Galileo’s Finger and the Diffusion of Innovations by Liesel Reinhart, Writer and Director

Want to find out how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures? How about visiting some of the world’s most interesting “early adopters?” Seriously, what is up with Alfred Wegener and that crazy idea of continental drift? Why on earth did Galileo’s followers cut off his fingers and keep them in a jar?

Liesel the co‐artistic director of LA‐based Speak Theater Arts and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Mt. San Antonio College. Liesel is the co‐writer of the nationally touring work N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK and collaborated with the Speak Theater Arts team to create and direct ArmeniaMania and Woke Up In America. She is also a long-time member the board of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Liesel’s academic pursuits address a range of subjects, including group performance, oral interpretation, gender and ethnicity, and learning assessments in higher education.

Wed. Jan. 16, Alton Ballroom at Pachamama’s (8th and NH)

Doors at 7:30, Presentations at 8:00.

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we’ll dive into the relationship between brains, tech and the world around us – how big data is being used to create new art, how driving is adapting to modern technology, and how being smart is way different than it used to be.

featuring:

Meta Nerdery: Being Smart about Being Smart by Erin Bennett and Chris Niileksela

Intelligence is commonly discussed in everyday life, but rarely well-defined. People have pondered differences in intellectual abilities and searched for ways to measure and explain these differences for centuries. The study of intelligence has become an enormous and multi-layered topic. In this presentation, we want to talk about what intelligence is and isn’t, discuss the historical underpinnings of intelligence theory, and provide information on theoretical advances and current research. With this information, you too can be a meta-nerd.

Erin Bennett is currently on her third tour in Lawrence after stints in Madison, Los Angeles, and most recently, Seattle. Erin completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at KU, fostering a fervent love of KU basketball.  She currently works as a school psychologist and special education facilitator in the Auburn-Washburn school district. In her non-psychologist life, she enjoys travel, eating and drinking, generally having fun, and hanging out with her husband, Brad, and her very intelligent cat, Otis.

Chris Niileksela left his former life as a semi-professional trombone player to join the real world in 2006, and after the colossal project commonly referred to as a dissertation, he graduated with a PhD in School Psychology from the University of Kansas in May of 2012. He currently works for the University of Kansas and Topeka Public Schools, trying his best to make a small impact on the education of young people in Kansas.

Google you can drive my car: The Future of the Automobile by Amy Mihalevich

Remember when a reliable car used to be one that started every morning? Well it still is…but what we expect from our vehicles is rapidly changing. Today, cars include sensors and cameras, our cars sync with our phones and on-board computers ask us “Where would you like to go?” We are moving toward the culture of the iPad and not the T-Bird. Amy will explore how technology is changing the face of the automobile from what we drive today to what someday might drive us.

Amy Mihalevich got her degree in Industrial Design from the University of Kansas. That is where she learned to apply a human-centered approach to solving design problems. Today she works with automotive industry partners as a User Experience Designer at Garmin International. It still blows her mind that she works works with cars because she doesn’t know the first thing about them…or even like them that much. But what she does like is making them safer and making other people enjoy them more. When not thinking about cars she is probably decorating, destroying, or repairing something with her boyfriend in their fixer-upper house or taking a nap with her Great Dane.

Framing Information: The Fine Art of Big Data by Becky Harpstrite

Like so many others, Becky first discovered her love for art while watching Bob Ross on PBS channel 8 in the country outside of Andover, Kansas.  After many attempts to paint like Bob, she decided to become a graphic designer.  She has a bona fide degree from the Art Institute of Colorado, and also studied Art History at The University of Kansas.  When she’s not designing, Becky enjoys cultivating an appreciation for the finer things in life, and documenting the daily habits of squirrels with her BDF (best dog friend), Jack.

Doors at 7:30, Presentations at 8:00.

Facebook e-vitation here.

The evening will feature three of our past speakers as selected by YOU (well, maybe not all of you internet, but lots of you Nerd Nite-Lawrence fans).

featuring:

The Sound of Thunder Over Headphones: Ray Bradbury and the Radio by Justin Runge
With Ray Bradbury’s passing earlier this year, the United States lost one of its populist sages and daydreamers, an author able to find nightmares inside our nostalgia and terrific wonder inside the future. His work lent itself perfectly to the radio drama of the mid-century — a massive, electric entertainment that could cause entire communities of listeners to hallucinate the same new, vivid images in the dark. Though Bradbury’s stories and novels live on, his contributions to radio lie barely touched in the quiet archives of the Internet. We’ll dust off these transmissions, and learn more about the medium of radio, the magic it could create in the right hands, and a man of outsized imagination whose fantasies travelled our airwaves like the malevolent winds, mechanical music, and misguided rocketmen of his tales.

Justin Runge is a writer and editor living in Lawrence, Kansas. He first encountered Ray Bradbury as a ten-year old, listening to an audio adaptation of “The Sound of Thunder” on a portable cassette player in the secluded stacks of a public library in Kearney, Nebraska. His favorite Bradbury short story is “There Will Come Soft Rains,” he has fond memories of the Hanna-Barbera version of “The Halloween Tree,” and he doesn’t think Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 is half-bad. Justin presented A Century of Film or: We’ve Spent One Hundred Years Collectively Sitting in Front of Screens Getting Stupider (And Smarter, and Stranger, and Inspired) at Nerd Nite 3.

Spit-Shining the Rust Belt: Transforming a Region from Smokestacks to Tech Startups by Steph Kozak

The Rust Belt is a term used to describe a region of the United States that was hit hard by deindustrialization.  Cities became riddled with depressed downtowns and high unemployment rates.  As manufacturing plants and steel mills began closing in the latter half of the 20th Century, cities in this region scrambled to try and reinvent themselves.  Today, these cities are finding new ways to attract businesses by playing off their hard-knock image and taking advantage of low property rates and an abundant labor force.  This presentation will explore the creative ways in which the Rust Belt is making an economic comeback.

Stephanie is originally from Youngstown, Ohio, an area that fits the mold of a typical Rust Belt city.  Her time there greatly influenced her love for pierogi, trashy neighborhood bars, and the grit and grime of the inner city.  She is currently a PhD student in the Geography Department at KU where she studies urban geography. Stephanie presented Caffeine, Public Showers, and Howling Wolf T-Shirts: Exploring America’s Truck Stops at Nerd Nite 2.

The origins of life: A quick biochemical history by Bryan Smith

My grandfather used to take me to the zoo to see my cousins…in the ape house.  Little did I know at the time how closely we were related, and how we can even claim the strangest insects, fungi, bacteria, and Jersey Shore cast members as our long lost relatives – though we might shy away from them at the family reunion.  All life is interconnected through a few relatively simple molecules.  Indeed, before life started, the chemical building blocks of life were naturally formed on Earth (and elsewhere in the universe).  How might we have arisen from the primordial soup?  It’s either an incredibly bleak view of life, or a grand one.

Bryan grew up in Nebraska near a small town of 100 people.  He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an undergraduate, then earned a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He now works on writing in the third person and on developing new cancer drugs at a pharmaceutical company in Kansas. He loves the Midwest and is thankful to be here.  He enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, driving a man van, and living in Lawrence even though the traffic is still terrible. Bryan presented The chemistry and biology of meth at Nerd Nite 9.

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Dear Nerd Nite Friends,

    We at Pachamama’s would like to extend a hearty Thank You to everyone that has attended, presented, or in any way contributed to making Nerd Nite Lawrence such a wonderful success!  We have absolutely loved playing host to this event every month and look forward to continuing the conversation into the Alton Ballroom.  A bigger space means that more people can join in, and make this night an even bigger success.

    After October’s inaugural Nerd Nite in the Alton Ballroom, Pachamama’s management, and Nerd Nite organizers met with one another to address our collective concerns (and your feedback) about making the night more enjoyable, and offering a smoother overall execution of food and beverage service.

    It must first be made clear that the Alton Ballroom is not set-up to mirror the restaurant’s food and beverage menus, but rather is used strictly as a catering facility.     We understand that these limitations may seem to be an inconvenience, but we have come up with solutions to these challenges.

     We are excited to offer an extended food “happy hour” to attendees that would like to eat before nerding out.  From 5p-7:30p in the Star Bar you can order from our Happy Hour menu and enjoy a 25% discount off selected items.  We understand that you cannot possibly eat and hold your spot in line, so we are doing away with our set-capacity in the Ballroom.  All are welcome, and all can get in (so long as we do not break any fire codes).

    With the lifting of our limited capacity, the bar inside the Ballroom is going to get very busy.  So, in order for the bar to operate as quickly and efficiently as possible, we are setting a new rule of CASH ONLY for all transactions.  This is nothing new to you, denizens of Lawrence, KS, and will allow us to crank out an assortment of beer, wine, and killer punches.

    We love you all, and want this night to continue to be enjoyable and informative, so please understand that all of these changes are for the better.

Sincerely,

Pachamama’s Restaurant

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three speakers all focusing on a topic related the Soviet Union or an Eastern European country and music

Featuring:

You Sunk My Citizenship? – The Estonian Singing Revolution & Citizenship Dilemma by Dave Trimbach

Dave addresses the Estonian singing revolution and independence movement in relation to the current Estonian citizenship dilemma. The singing revolution freed the once independent Republic of Estonia from illegal Soviet occupation, yet spurred the revocation of citizenship from over one third of the country’s population. The revocation of citizenship entrenched deep political and social divisions within Estonian society that continue to hinder minority integration.

Dave Trimbach is a currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Human Geography at the University of Kansas. He is a proud Ohioan and husband. He is fascinated by political inclusivity, equitable political representation, and citizenship. When not studying . . . well he is usually studying.

Notes from the Underground: Dissident Music in the Soviet Union by Austin Charron

Despite strict ideological guidelines and censorship of the arts in the Soviet Union, there existed a vibrant underground and “unofficial” music scene made up of creative musicians who sought to disassociate themselves and their work from the banality of Soviet life. With the reforms of glasnost’ in the late 1980s, rock and other forms of dissident music finally burst into the Soviet mainstream, contributing to an exhilarating new cultural atmosphere which helped bring down the Soviet regime in 1991. The story of Soviet dissident music reminds us that, even under the most seemingly oppressive conditions, artistic expression and the spirit of non-conformity can still prevail.

Austin Charron (Shuh-RON) is a Lawrence transplant from Oregon working on his PhD in Geography at KU. He began studying Russian over nine years ago and has since developed a serious case of Soviet- and post-Sovietophilia, which only gets worse with every trip he makes to the region. In fact, Austin has rambled his way through all 15 former Soviet republics and a good chunk of Eastern Europe, where he’s been robbed, extorted, and detained by local authorities on multiple occasions, been accused of espionage by suspicious drunkards, narrowly escaped a brawl with an angry horde of Kyrgyz taxi drivers, and gotten himself into more sketchy situations than he could ever hope to remember. And he’s loved every minute of it! He’s also pretty into music, and has been collecting old Soviet and Eastern European records since his first trip to Russia in 2006. Austin is also kind of nerdy about palindromes and anagrams, and as such you may also refer to him by his anagrammed pseudonym: Curtis Norahan.

Bar Talk: Bela Bartok, Polymodal Chromaticism & Modern Classical Composition by Steve Dahlberg

In the early 1900′s in the Carpathian Basin on the boundary of Eastern Europe, Bela Bartok, later to become one of that centuries most renowned classical composers, became obsessed with the “unexplored” folk music of the various peoples in that region and began rummaging around the area listening to and documenting what he discovered from a composer’s viewpoint. He made many strange discoveries that heavily impacted his own classical composition and I was particularly intrigued with one such discovery and allowed my fascination with the idea of so-called polymodal chromaticism kick some major structural ass in one of my own classical compositions. We will take contextual, historical and functional (sonic!) glimpses of this small idea with large possibilities and contrast with other more dominant trends in modern composition at the time.

Voting is now closed. Hope to see you in November for NN11!

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Since we kicked off in Nov. 2011, we have had a ton of incredible and nerdy presentations. For Nerd Nite 12 in December, we are taking your votes to see who YOU would like to see speak again.

Some voted in person at NN 10 in October. But there’s still time to participate!

Click here to complete the web form and vote for 3 that you would like to see speak again. 

To jog your memory, scroll back through the Updates page. 

We’ll invite the top 3 to present at Nerd Nite 12 in December 2012.

It might be a follow up on their first presentation or a new, nerdy topic.

We want your feedback! and we’ll share it with Pachamama’s too!

Click here to access the web form.

We’ll take this down after a few days.

Thanks!
NN-Lawrence Co-Bosses.