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THE QUOTE

“Denial of evolution is unique to the United States…. When you have a portion of the population that doesn’t believe in that, it holds everybody back…. The idea of deep time, of billions of years, explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your world view just becomes crazy.” — Bill Nye, The Science Guy

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SUCKERS

So, the big news in Bill Nye’s life of late is not that fundamentalist Christians had apoplexy after he said evolution deniers ought spare their children their particular brand of lunacy, but that he was reported dead.

Yep. People who Tweet (or, as we used to refer to them, zombies) went gaga over the TV science geek’s purported demise this week. Denials had to be issued and refutations blared far and wide.

And — wouldn’t you know it? — an Onion article started the whole thing.

The Onion, August 23, 2012

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I can’t believe there’s anyone left in this holy land who doesn’t know what The Onion is all about.

Then again, it’s almost as hard for me to believe that 46 percent of Americans don’t believe in evolution.

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I’M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU

The IDS reports that the Yoder and Young campaigns are throwing darts at each other over a proposed series of debates that doesn’t seem any nearer to reality than when it was first floated a month ago.

Democratic challenger Shelli Yoder called on Republican incumbent Todd Young to meet her in a series of 13 debates, one in each county of Indiana’s 9th US Congressional District.

The Young camp at first called the 13-debate idea “political theater.” Subsequently, Young spokesbeings have issued only tepid comments about the whole idea.

“They’re stalling,” Yoder campaign manager Katie Carlson says of the Young brain trust.

Young & Yoder

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You’re damned right they are, Katie. Candidates with big leads never want to debate challengers. The only thing that can happen is the challenger gains a few points in the polls. Young has Yoder beat in money and voter approval.

Young’s smart move would be to pack up his bags and take his family on an around-the-world trip until November, at which time he can reemerge only to give his acceptance speech.

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GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

We’ve been moaning about the new South Central Indiana Desert for months but now that a real rain is finally coming, we have mixed emotions.

This weekend’s 36th annual Fourth Street Festival of the Arts & Crafts and the first annual Bloomington Garlic Fest both will be washed out by the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.

NOAA Satellite View At 8:30am, EDT

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This morning I heard about one guy who sunk his dough into a thousand garlic brats for the inaugural perfumery bash. Lucky for him they’re frozen. On the other hand, I’ll bet he gets sick of having the little bangers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day by October.

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Here’s how I waste my time. How about you? Share your fave sites with us via the comments section. Just type in the name of the site, not the url; we’ll find them. If we like them, we’ll include them — if not, we’ll ignore them.

❏ I Love Charts — Life as seen through charts.

I Love Charts

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❏ XKCD — “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”

❏ Skepchick — Women scientists look at the world and the universe.

❏ Indexed — All the answers in graph form, on index cards.

❏ I Fucking Love Science — A Facebook community of science geeks.

I Fucking Love Science

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❏ Present/&/Correct — Fun, compelling, gorgeous and/or scary graphic designs and visual creations throughout the years and from all over the world.

❏ Flip Flop Fly Ball — Baseball as seen through infographics, haikus, song lyrics, and other odd communications devices.

❏ Mental Floss — Facts.

❏ Sodaplay — Create your own models or play with other people’s models.

❏ Eat Sleep Draw — An endless stream of artwork submitted by an endless stream of people.

❏ Big Think — Tapping the brains of notable intellectuals for their opinions, predictions, and diagnoses.

❏ The Daily Puppy — So shoot me.

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Electron Pencil event listings: Music, art, movies, lectures, parties, receptions, games, benefits, plays, meetings, fairs, conspiracies, rituals, etc.

Friday, August 31, 2012

◗ IU Asian Culture Center — Luncheon Talk Series: Who Are Asian Pacific Americans; roundtable discussion, students and the public welcome; noon

◗ IU Poynter Center — Roundtable discussion with Susan Gubar, author of “Memoir of a Woman Debulked”; 3pm

◗ IU Field Hockey Complex — Hoosier women’s field hockey vs. Missouri State; 4pm

◗ Upland Brewing Company — Hillbilly Haiku Americana Music Series: Okkervil River; 6pm

◗ The Venue Fine Art and Gifts — Exhibit and reception: The Art of the Fourth Street Art Fair; 6pm

◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Scriptease Gala, fundraiser for Bloomington Playwrights Project; 6:30-10pm

◗ IU Cinema — Jan Svankmajer short films:

• “The Flat”

• “The Garden”

• “Jabberwocky”

• “Dimensions of Dialogue”

• “Another Kind of Love“

• “Flora“

• “Meat Love“

• “Food“

program begins at 6:30pm

◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Music: Non 4 Profit; 7-9pm

◗ IU University Gymnasium — Hoosier volleyball vs. Cleveland State; 7pm

◗ IU Bill Armstrong Stadium — Hoosier men’s soccer vs. Clemson; 7:30pm

◗ Bloomington Playwrights Project — Musical: “Working”; 8pm

◗ Bryan Park — Ryder Film Series Movies in the Park: “ET: The Extraterrestrial”; 8pm

◗ The Player’s Pub — Music: Dicky James and the Blue Flames; 8pm

◗ Cafe Django — Music: Jason Fickel & Ginger Curry; 8pm

◗ The Comedy Attic — Best of the Bloomington Comedy Fest; 8pm

◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “Magic Mike”; 8pm

◗ Max’s Place — Music: Elephant Quiz; 9pm

◗ Bear’s Place — Music: Halfway Crooks, Ichimaru; 9pm

◗ The Bluebird — Music: Hairbangers Ball; 9pm

◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Music: Don Ford; 9:30-11:30pm

◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “Lunacy”; 9:30pm

◗ The Comedy Attic — Best of the Bloomington Comedy Fest; 10:30pm

◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “Magic Mike”; 11pm

◗ The Bishop — Music: Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow; midnight

ONGOING

◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

• “40 Years of Artists from Pygmalion’s”; through September 1st

◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

• “A Tribute to William Zimmerman,” wildlife artist; through September 9th

• Willi Baumeister, “Baumeister in Print”; through September 9th

• Annibale and Agostino Carracci, “The Bolognese School”; through September 16th

• “Contemporary Explorations: Paintings by Contemporary Native American Artists”; through October 14th

• David Hockney, “New Acquisitions”; through October 21st

• Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Paragons of Filial Piety”; through fall semester 2012

• Julia Margaret Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan, “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers”; through December 31st

• “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century”; through December 31st

◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibits:

• “Media Life,” drawings and animation by Miek von Dongen; through September 15th

• “Axe of Vengeance: Ghanaian Film Posters and Film Viewing Culture”; through September 15th

◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — “Ephemeral Ink: Selections of Tattoo Art from the Kinsey Institute Collection”; through September 21st

◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit, “Translating the Canon: Building Special Collections in the 21st Century”; through September 1st

◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Reopens Tuesday, August 21st

◗ Monroe County History Center — Photo exhibit, “Bloomington: Then and Now” by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

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