Nerd Nite Lawrence

Ever tried Expressing Yo’ Self? Nerd Nite 88 is here for it! Our speakers have very interesting things to say about self-expression. Bonus ideas for 2020 New Year’s resolutions!

Presentations start at 8:00 but if you want to grab a drink and chill with friends, we’re opening the doors at 7:00. $1 cover at the door, which includes a raffle ticket for a chance at fabulous prizes!

Our Spectacular Presentations:

• Cultural Psychology: How Culture Shapes Us – Joseph Tennant
• Drag Performances (Starting with *drumroll* a drag performance) – Valerie Metzler
• A Puzzling Talk from a Puzzler about Puzzles — Elliot Pollack

Our Fantastic Presenters:

• Dr. Joseph Tennant is a Cultural Psychologist specializing in religion and morality. He has previously worked on differences moral judgement, mystical experience in epilepsy, and creationist thought. He also performs stand-up comedy, and was one of three founders of the Cambridge Fringe Festival.
• Valerie Metzler, aka Marie Queerie, has lived in Lawrence off and on for 15 years. She graduated from KU with a BA in Anthropology and a BFA in Metal Smithing. She spent 5 years working as an archaeologist in Cultural Resource Management and now currently works at the Merc Co-op as a butcher.
  Valerie’s love affair with Drag began at the tender age of 8, when she saw “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything. Julie Newmar.” She has been obsessed with Drag and other forms dramatic costuming ever since. After years of dreaming, she finally started working on her Drag persona, Marie Queerie. Though still new as a performer, Marie Queerie delights her audience at open Mic Nights at the Jazzhaus.
• Elliot Elliot is a happy-go-lucky kid from sunny Southern California. After graduating from college–as
  a directionless 21 year old–he threw a dart at a map to determine where he would head for his
  next adventure. Apparently, he has fantastic aim, because he hit the bull’s eye: somewhere in the
  middle of a fly-over state. While originally skeptical of moving away from the coastal metropolis
  of his childhood (and of the method he uses to make important life decisions), he decided to
  apply for and ultimately accept a job at KU. The subsequent 1500 mile solo road trip to
  Lawrence proved to be an exhilarating expedition. He has since changed jobs a couple of times,
  and in the midst of myriad other misadventures, found a home in this middle America paradise.

 

Nerd Nite #87 we’re talking about TREES!!! Our awesome speakers are:

Doors at 7, presentations start at 8. $1 cover at the door.

Grab a drink at the bar or get a slice of pizza for $2.50.
Allison Puderbaugh: Suburban Trees

And from the Lawrence Arborists:

Ryan P. Rastok: Insects, tree defenses, and tree mortality
Ryan P. Rastok hails from Lawrence and is an ISA Certified Arborist, Tree Risk Assessment Qualified Arborist, KAA certified arborist, has a M.S. in Forest Entomology and is currently researching bark beetles part time at K-State in pursuit of a PhD. He works for the Kansas Forest Service as their Forest Entomologist and as a Forester. He owns Lawrence Arborists LLC (voted Best Tree Service in Lawrence for 2019) and is the founder of Tree Talks. With over a decade working as an arborist, Ryan has experience as a production arborist, municipal arborist, utility line clearance, competitive tree climber, and research in arboriculture. He currently serves on the KAA Board of Directors and the KFA Board of Directors. Hobbies include: reading, tree things, insects and tree things, writing about tree things, climbing trees, and talking about tree things. Daddy to an awesome daughter and married to his best friend and amazing lady!

Dan Parker Tims: A Tree Story
Dan Parker-Timms developed a love for trees as a boy working with his father amongst them in California. Traveling across the country finding work, Dan eventually wound up in Lawrence and began Shamrock Tree Service, a small company of just Dan and his father. 25 years later, Dan is still climbing those Lawrence trees and enjoying every minute of it.

Wayne White: Trees and Climate change
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised primarily in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Wayne has lived on small farms most of his adult life. He lives with his wife Sandra on an 80-acre farm in Jefferson County, Kansas, where they raise apples, pears, berries, firewood, timber, hay and a variety of vegetables and herbs. Forestland health, high-diversity native grassland mixtures and land management practices that protect and enhance carbon sequestration and ecological diversity are central interests.
Wayne has a PhD in sociology from Kansas State University and has taught sociology, political science and worked as a legislative lobbyist, grant writer and program administrator. He owns and cares for forest and grassland in Kansas and Ontario, Canada. In 2013 his book, Biosequestration and Ecological Diversity: Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Environmental Degradation, was published by CRC Press.

Levi Parkin: Compartmentalization of decay in trees
Levi Parkin, hailing from the massive metropolis of Pomona, KS, graduated from Kansas State with a Bachelors of Science in Ornamental Horticulture. He has 11 years experience as a production arborist. Currently filling the role of Forestry Supervisor for the City of Lawrence, Levi boasts a deep passion for the urban forest. A Board Certified Master Arborist, Certified Treecare Safety Professional, father to a wonderful son, husband to a better wife than he deserves. In his free time, Levi enjoys fly tying, leatherwork, and relief-print making.

We’re Creeping it Real for Lawrence Nerd Nite #86 on October 9, 2019.

Doors open at 7pm so you can mingle with fellow Nerds before the presentations start at 8pm.

This October, our speakers have topics that will make you shift uncomfortably in your seat, your heart quicken, and send chills down your spine.

Paul Thomas: Haunted Lawrence

Paul Thomas was born in Lawrence. He later attended the University of Kansas (where he earned his bachelor’s degree in classics and anthropology) and the University of Chicago (where he earned a master’s degree in social science, with an emphasis in anthropology). He currently works as a library specialist at KU. Ever since he was a young child, Paul has been interested in the folklore of the Sunflower State and, in particular, the haunted history of northeastern Kansas. While an undergraduate at KU, he helped co-found the Stephenson Hall Paranormal Investigation Team (SHPIT), which investigated purportedly haunted locations in and around the Lawrence area. It was during this time that he developed the idea for this book. Paul lives with his wife, Trina, in Overland Park, Kansas.

Eric Havens: Horror as an Allegory: When Culture Goes Bump in the Night

Eric Havens is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist whose work includes, ‘Call Girl’, “The Stylist”, “A Message of Hope From the Terminally Depressed”, and “The Devil and Me”. He has won several ‘Best Screenplay’ awards from an array of film festivals as well as placing in the quarterfinals of the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. His novels have been praised as “the right blend of brains, heart and pulp”, “captivating from the first page”, and “apocalyptic and hard-boiled”. An internet commenter once claimed that, “Havens is truly, truly terrible.”
Havens is also a longtime critic and journalist for several film sites such as Downright Creepy and Boom Howdy.

Satya N: Invisible Women

Satya N. loves helping brands tell their stories and currently works at Hill’s Pet Nutrition where she is lucky to do what she loves with the added bonus of contributing to pets living long and healthy lives!

She grew up in India and made her way to Lawrence via St. Louis, a city she took for granted while getting her MBA, but now, she waxes nostalgic about it.

When she isn’t busy professing her love for Doctor Who, listening to podcasts, or trying to learn the guitar she has had for 4 years, she loves playing board games and as an extrovert, lives her best life surrounding herself with friends and family.

Doors at 7, presentations start at 8. $1 cover at the door. Costume? That’s fine.

Grab a drink at the bar or get a slice of pizza for $2.50.

Join us on September 11, 2019 for Lawrence Nerd Nite #85 where our presenters will take you on a mouthwatering, delectable journey of gastronomic delights. Since we’re food nerds, does that make us taste buds?

Doors at 7, presentations start at 8. $1 cover at the door.

If the talks make you peckish, it’s beer-y lucky that there’s a bar where you can grab a drink or get a pizza that action for $2.50.

Our presenters want to taco ’bout the things we like to eat/drink! Meat Them!

Matthew Cramer: Flavor building and cooking science

Matthew Cramer is a personal chef out of Lawrence, KS. He owns and operates The Restorative Chef and is a graduate of the JCCC culinary apprenticeship program. His passion for food started with an interest in health and wellness and food’s functionality in athletic performance. Matthew specializes in specialty diets such as vegan, vegetarian and gluten free cooking and is a constant student of his trade. Because why sacrifice flavor for health or health for flavor? There is no need.

Leah Shinkle: Coffee?

Leah Shinkle has spent over 10 years working in, around and with the specialty coffee industry which has led to a life of being a food, flavor and beverage experience fanatic. She has competed, judged and coached in the US Barista Championships all while working as the head of training and education for a specialty coffee roaster. Food and beverage continues to fuel her love for life and connection when traveling and always seeking out new and unique experiences. She believes life happens most over food and beverage.

Summer Shorts is coming…
Join us July 10 for our annual frenzy of short presentations!

Doors open at 7pm and talks begin at 8pm, $1.00 cover at Maceli’s 1031 New Hampshire

Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy $2.50 slices of pizza as you get your nerd on!

There are so many great presentations that we can barely contain our excitement! Will they keep it to 3 minutes?! Will they Michael Pope it?! Catch these fascinating presentations by these equally fascinating folks:

“Platonic solids: geometry, cosmos, and origami” – Laura Jiménez

“Epigenetics: Establishing Cell Identity” – Chad Pope

“Dungeons & Dragons & Diversity” – Skyler Rehm

“From Silicon to Ceramics: Blending Science and Art” – Julian R. Silverman, PhD

“Theta Eruption and how it ruined society” – Allison Puderbaugh

“The History of Physics, in only 5 minutes” – Ben Gross

“Digital Idols in a Digital Age: a Crash Course on Vocaloid” – Bree Shaffar

“The Superhero Theory of Transit Ridership Decline” – Pat Trouba

“Transformers” – Shawn Franklin

“The Importance of Sound: Radio Drama and the art of Foley” – Tim Burns

“The Art of Ventriloquism” – Bonita Yoder

“A Nerd-Nite Investigation Supporting This One Neuron”- Jason Keezer

“Breakfast with Strangers” – Jenny O’Brien

Doors at 7pm, talks begin at 8pm, $1.00 cover at Maceli’s 1031 New Hampshire

Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy $2.50 slices of pizza as you get your nerd on!

The Presentations:

“Being the doctor of our Earth – how do I diagnose?” – Chi Zhang
What do you know about what is going on underground? How do you know? And how do scientists know? Chi will tell you how geophysicists use different tools to figure out the structure, the components, and the movement of Earth’s interior, especially when things go wrong in the shallow underground zone that is critical to all life on Earth.

“Jurassic Park and the Ethics of Adaptation” – Clara Cobb
I’m going to be talking about the Ethics of Adaptation; the main questions I want to ask and answer is “why do we make what we love, why do we make what we don’t, and what gets lost in translation along the way?”
Jurassic Park is an apex point because of how it both does and doesn’t fit into the “adaptation” descriptor. I’ll be examining correlations between literature and film versions of stories, and discussing the reasons those stories change.

“Artificial Intelligence” – David Menager
Many intelligent agents available today are not able to remember their past interactions with users and cannot explain their decision-making processes. As a remedy to these issues, we propose a novel theory of event memory that can provide an infrastructure for such capacities. The psychologically plausible theory enables the agent to store both individual instances and probabilistic schemas of personal events. Using the contents of this memory, intelligent agents can interact with their users in a contextually relevant manner and provide explanations and justifications for their decisions. In this talk, we describe representation and processes of this framework and discuss its implications to intelligent agency.

Our Esteemed Presenters:
Chi Zhang – Chi is an Assistant Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Geology at the University of Kansas. Growing up in the Gobi desert, Chi is now studying the water-rock interactions using geophysical tools. Chi is interested in sharing the beauty and facts of our Earth with others. Chi travels the world to talk about geophysics and to do research, sometimes with her outdoor enthusiast husband and their strong-minded young child.

Clara Cobb – Clara Cobb is an expert on nothing at all, but she once considered getting an English degree. She loves dinosaurs, sketch comedy, her family and Jurassic Park. All that compounded love has turned into a passion for researching connections, big and small, between the things she cares for. A Lawrence native, she was thrilled at the chance to speak at Nerd Nite, and although she could, never stopped to think if she should.

David Menager – David Menager is a PhD student at the University of Kansas. His research uses computational models of event memory as a core technology for answering research questions about artificial intelligence. His current interest is to understand the role of event memory for explainable AI in single-agent and multi-agent domains. David spent last summer as an intern at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works researching machine learning. In his free time, David likes to produce music and go running.

Doors at 7pm, talks begin at 8pm, $1.00 cover at Maceli’s 1031 New Hampshire

Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy $2.50 slices of pizza as you get your nerd on!

Presentations:
“Ludwig Boltzmann, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Entropy” presented by Chris Fischer

“Mathematicians, Algorithms, and Love: Making Optimal Choices” presented by Jonathan Lane

“Crazy Shirts” presented by Anne Patterson

Our presenters:

Chris Fischer
Chris has been a Lawrence citizen since 2004 and a nerd since the early 80s. He is currently corrupting the youth at KU as a professor of physics and astronomy. He sometimes finds time to teach courses in-between meetings.

Jon Lane
Jon explains that usually, algorithms are limited in discussion to computers and technology, however, people use many of the same processes that computers do when making decisions. Human decisions like picking a parking spot or hiring an employee often have a set of logic that can be distilled into an algorithm and optimized. Even finding love and the perfect partner be modeled by an algorithm.
Learn about mathematicians, algorithms and the best strategy for true love.

Anne Patterson
Illustrator, educator, maker of things
Although born in rural Warwickshire in England, and educated at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, Anne has lived in Lawrence for 29 years and has been teaching Architecture foundations design studio and freehand drawing electives at KU for 23 of those years. She loves her job: opening minds and unlocking the creative potential of students.

We won’t bore you with the details of her recent awards because that’s not why you’re here. Suffice it to say that an English eccentric has always been interesting to Americans and Anne is a woman with many creative interests which include Architectural drawing, Theater Design, Parade floats, Hats, Cake decorating, Watercolors, Gardening, Piano, Cooking, Indoor soccer, Paper sculpture, Costume Design, Meat pies, Pop-up models, Hybrid drawing, and Sewing whose most recent manifestation is a plethora of crazy-shirts.

When not building or making shit, Anne is either asleep, singing hymns, or drinking dark beer.

This Nerd Nite is all about games! Join us at Maceli’s Banquet Hall (1031 New Hamshire Street, Lawrencem KS) for a fun night of nerdery!Doors at 7pm, talks begin at 8pm. $1.00 cover.

The talks:
“The History of the Kaw Valley Kickball League” by Jacki Becker

“The Rise of Table Top Gaming” by Nate Morsches and Matt Pool of Trader’s Cache

“All Made Up, Improv Games” by John Robison of The Guild Theater

The presenters:
Jacki Becker, Kaw Valley Kickball League

I am a 16 year player in the KVKL, who has played on 5 teams, been on the board, been a commissioner but never been a captain. When I am not thinking about kickball I am an independent concert promoter with Eleven Productions and Mammoth Inc. I am the mom to three cats (Sparkles, Eddie Money and Toasty) and one twenty two years old tarantula named Shania and I love to grow and cook my own food.

John Robison, The Guild Theater of Lawrence

John Robison has been making things up in front of audiences for nearly 35 years. From his first starring role as an evil child mayor to improv shows in Chicago and New York to his upcoming project as Jeff Goldblum in a live version of Jurassic Park, there’s never been a role he didn’t like. As artistic director of Lawrence’s non-profit Guild Theater, it’s his mission to spread the love of and teach performance art and comedy to as many people as possible. He’s pleased to bring some love to you tonight as he talks about how learning improv will straight up make you a better person. And please head to Facebook and “Like” the page called “Guild Theater – Lawrence.”

Nate Morsches and Matt Pool, Trader’s Cache

Nate Morsches and Matt Pool have been best friends for almost 10 years. They’ve done almost everything side-by-side, from starting families, leading in the community and even starting businesses together. Board Games have been a major part of our lives, as well, over the many years filled with great memories.

A new season of Nerd Nite Lawrence begins now!

Wednesday, Sepember 12 Doors open at 7:00, presentations start at 8. Cost is one dollar.
1031 New Hampshire St, Lawrence

 

We’re bringing you 3 intriguing talks covering lesser-known history that you might not be aware of and are sure to leave you thinking a little differently.

Maceli’s will have drinks and light food available. We’ll be bringing back our popular raffle prize drawing, and you’ll see old friends, maybe make new friends, and enjoy an evening of learning!

Keeping Legends Alive
by Jancita Warrington

In October 1926, the dedication ceremony of the Haskell Stadium and Memorial Arch took place. This dedication was important for many reasons – it still stands as the largest event in the history of Lawrence, KS, the archway is the first WWI memorial in history, the fancy dance we know at powwows today originated at Haskell in 1926, the stadium was the first lighted stadium in the Midwest bringing night games to this portion of the country, the only stadium of its kind at the time fully paid for, and KU’s first night game in the school’s history was made as Phog Allen borrowed the lights from the Haskell field and temporarily installed them for the game against Haskell in 1930. This ceremony in 1926 reminded dominant society that Tribal peoples no longer represented the “Indian” that once aroused fear and animosity among mainstream society.

Little-Known Slave Rebellions in the Americas
by William Garcia

We’ll be covering a few moments in history where groups of enslaved people risked it all to obtain their freedom We’ll examine slave insurrections in Latin America and the Caribbean such as Sebastian Lemba, Benkos Bioho, Carlota, Gaspar Yanga, Jose Leonardo Chirino, and Jose Antonio Aponte among others.

German Spies In Kansas, 1935 
by George Laughead

In June 1935, a group of Germans traveling on the German ship “Berlin” landed in New York and started on a tour of the USA, from Maine through Illinois, and Kansas, and back to Virginia. They took hundreds of photographs and made a movie. The reason for the trip to see “every Hanover in the world” — as stated by the Landeshauptmann (President) of the state of Hannover, Germany. They said they were from the Institute of Civic Development of Hannover, and that three of them were “a historian, a geographer, and a photographer.” The trip took them within miles of virtually every important US army base, army airfield, and navy port that existed in 1935. Eighty years ago, the Germans sent back a leather-covered book of photographs. The album was sent to the mayor of Hanover, Kansas, in July 1936, as a “thank you” for their visit in August 1935. They include photographs of German Navy uniformed men and a party flag over their car hood, outside of Hanover, Kansas.

ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS

Jancita Warrington (Potawatomi/Ho-Chunk) is a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University and currently serves as the director and curator of the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum

William García is an Afro-Puerto Rican raised between New York and Puerto Rico. William has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in History from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras where he focused on Caribbean music and transnational migration between the United States and the circum-Caribbean. While completing this project, he worked as an educator in Austin, Texas, which later prompted him to move to New York City and complete a Master’s in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College-Columbia University. William’s Action Research Project focused on the lack of historical literacies in elementary schools.
As a PhD student in American Studies at KU, William’s research is aimed at re-narrating black diasporic historiography in the United States through an afro-diasporic lens in order to explore how Afro-Americanness—as a homogenized identity that has been mediated through the nation—invisibilizes diasporic blackness such as black migrant creolizations, resulting in a U.S. black-white bifurcated re-coloniality of racial discourse and citizenship. He believes that uncovering the reasons why Afro-Americans have more representation in the media and institutions than other marginalized groups at the expense of diasporic blackness and other narratives from people of color will foster more unity and inclusive narratives among marginalized groups.

George Laughead was a student of the late Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, University of Kansas History Professor Emeritus, the author of the first history sites on the web. George has been a museum volunteer for decades and was on the board of the Mountain Plains Museums Association and Kansas Museums Association. He is retired from magazine publishing.