Thursday, March 13, 2014

Nerd Nite 25 Recap: "Does James Bond eat more than other spies?"


As predicted, Nerd Nite 25 was a full return to the joyful, obsessive nerdery that we associate with the event.

The James Bond presentation by Tom Weiss was an instant Nerd Nite classic based on premise alone (and the deadpan delivery elevated it further still).  Weiss focused on Bond's eating preferences and dining partners and destinations with detailed charts and graphs tracing the gustatory exploits of everyone's favorite spy.  "He eats more in the books than in the movies," Weiss explained.  And apparently, at one point, Bond makes a stop in Springfield, MO, to sample a delicious "chicken pie."  You can bet we'll be searching for it ourselves on our next trip down south. 

Caleb Chin's exploration of Bitcoin lost us a few times in its tech-y, math-y moments (as we are not those kind of nerds) but nonetheless offered an interesting glimpse into the past, present, and future of digital coinage.  Did you know Whoopi Goldberg was associated with a precursor of internet currency called Flooz, dating as far back as 1999?  And did you know that LFK's The Percolator accepts Bitcoin transactions? (we're not sure that Chin mentioned this fact, but it's true).

And local artists Kent Smith and Matthew Lord wrapped up the evening with a rundown of their continuing cryptozoology project "Snipe Hunt," an art and oral history project chronicling encounters with legendary creatures...and legendary humans.  "SNIPE" here is an acronym for  "Society of the Never-ending Inquest to Prove Existence and Hopefully Uncover Non-typical Terrestrials." It had not really occurred to us that humans could be "cryptids" too. But then we realized:  Well, what is Chip if NOT a cryptid?  He certainly exists more as legend than fact (though a few of you HAVE partied with him).  Follow Kent and Matthew's work here on Facebook where they will (hopefully) be updating soon and soliciting more community tales.  Send in your Chip sightings!

 








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