Taste, sight and sound — those are the senses you’re going to need to use, or at least understand, at Nerd Nite #26. Chocolate, film and vinyl records will be the story of the evening, and it’s not a story you want to miss. From old media, to ancient baking to the era of digital filmmaking, this Nerd Nite will be a feast for the senses.
Be there AND be square!
When: Thursday, March 24, 2016 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Club at the Citadel Theatre (9828 101A Avenue)
$20 in advance (includes fees and GST) — on sale Friday, March 11 at 9:30am! SOLD OUT!
$25 at the door (depending on advance sales)
$15 peanut gallery seating (released on Monday, March 21, and only available in person or by phone)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Here’s our line-up of speakers:
My O.C.D is A.O.K. – vinyl collecting as art form
Yuri Wuensch
Records are dead. Long live records! The unflappable format has experienced a massive resurgence of popularity in recent years. But why? In this presentation, digger Yuri Wuensch will discuss the reasons for vinyl’s comeback, its dominance as *the* music format of the 20th century and how we’ve barely ‘scratched’ the surface of its cultural and historical significance. He’ll also explore the psychology of digging, the various types of collectors, and the fragile balance between collecting, curating and hoarding.
Yuri Wuensch is a communications professional, part-time DJ and graduate of MacEwan University’s Journalism program. When he isn’t working at Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures, where he helps support the province’s tech sector entrepreneurs, movers and shakers, he is usually on the hunt for new (old) records. Yuri is the co-founder Dead Vinyl Society, which celebrates vinyl culture by hosting fun events for collectors, selectors, diggers and deejays. This includes the monthly Bring Out Your Dead swap meets and the annual Super Mega Records Garage Sale. His other undead infatuation is Vote Zombie Wall!, an award-winning public information campaign that ran in conjunction with Edmonton’s 2013 municipal election. The cheeky campaign sought to make building a zombie-proof perimeter wall around the city a ballot issue and succeeded in helping make sustainable urban development, or “smart growth,” part of Edmonton’s election conversation.”
Chocolate: Sweet truths, bitter myths and tantalizing wonders.
Jacqueline Jacek
Chocolate is goodness that is often associated to decadence, love and cravings. However, thought is rarely given to what truths and myths might surround this ‘Food of the Gods.’Have you ever thought about when the best time of the day might be to eat chocolate? Is all dark chocolate bitter? Is chocolate a ‘new food?’ The presentation will be a brief exposition of what chocolate is (and isn’t!) and will hopefully elevate your experience of this fine substance the next time you indulge.
A passion for all that is tasty and beautiful is what drove Jacqueline Jacek to learn the art of becoming an artisan chocolatier. Since 2003, she has been studying the physiology of chocolate, working on new techniques and developing recipes for her edible creations. The fusion of her love for couture and food has resulted in a unique collections that are launched seasonally, emulating the fashion industry. She officially launched the JACEK Chocolate Couture brand on 1 December, 2009 from a home-based chocolate studio in Sherwood Park, and has since been committed to spreading joy through fine chocolate. Since then, she has opened a production studio, two retail boutiques and partnered with like-minded business to help build the best Edmonton possible. Jacqueline has been chosen at one of the Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional Magazine in NYC (2011), Don Neil Young Entrepreneur Award (2012), Sherwood Park Business of the Year (2014), Global Woman of Vision (2015), Leaders Award by Business in Edmonton Magazine (2015), and last month JACEK Chocolate was chosen ‘Best Chocolatier’ by Avenue Magazine (2016).”
Losing the Light: The Unintentional Consequences of Digital Film-making
Robin Taylor
Film-making as an art form has existed for over 100 years, and while technology changes, film-making stays the same… or does it? In the past 20 years, tools and techniques of film-making have transitioned to digital (from acting to editing and everything in between). In the face of rapidly advancing technology, are we losing authenticity as scope and scale grow? Join me as I tell kids to get off my lawn while we discuss sets, locations and green screen over a century of epic films.
Robin Taylor is a classically trained animator who spent 10 years working in and around the Canadian Film industry as a storyboard artist, director, producer & editor. He is currently on “hiatus” but spends most of his time thinking and talking about film to anyone, including himself.”
What does speed reading, atmospheric chemistry and organ transplant legal controversies have in common? They’re all topics at Nerd Nite #25! We’re hosting a slightly-larger-than-normal Nerd Nite as our regular space at the Citadel isn’t available. So we’re bringing the Nite to the TELUS World of Science.
Be there AND be square!
When: Monday, February 29, 2016 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: Kinetic Hall (TELUS World of Science, 11211 142 St NW Edmonton)
$20 in advance (includes fees and GST) — on sale Feb 1 at 9:30am SOLD OUT!
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Here’s our line-up of speakers:
Nerdy Superpower: Speedreading
Liz Hay
Have you ever wanted a superpower? Have you wanted to be able to finally finish your TBR (to be read) pile and still talk to your family/ kids/ friends? Do you want to read all the books? If you have ever been curious about speedreading and how it works, now is your chance. Using basic principles of speedreading, you will be guided through the first steps of unlearning your old reading habits and relearning a new approach to reading and comprehension. Bring an open mind and your questions!
Liz Hay has a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies from the University of British Columbia and has always loved writing, reading, travelling and volunteering. She has facilitated classes on academic integrity, non-profit board governance, and is strangely more comfortable in front of a large group of people than she is at a party. Currently, you will find her working to support the Art and Design Department at MacEwan University, volunteering at Metro Cinema and completing her Web Design and Development certificate also from MacEwan University.
Payment for organs? Legal and ethical limits on strategies to increase organ donation
Maeghan Toews
Hundreds of Canadians die each year waiting for lifesaving organs. Although our donation rates have increased in recent years, there are still not enough donated organs to meet this need. Various strategies to increase donation are being discussed in policy and academic circles (e.g., changing our consent framework, or financially incentivizing donation), and this talk will explore some of these strategies and their ethical and legal limits in the context of our current donation system.
Maeghan Toews is a Research Associate at the Health Law Institute in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include examining the legal and ethical issues associated with genetics and genomics, organ donation and transplantation, rare diseases, and biomedical research. Prior to joining the Health Law Institute, Maeghan received her B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, her JD from the University of Toronto and spent several years as a commercial litigator in private practice. She then pursued her graduate work at Leiden University where she graduated cum laude and received her LL.M in public international law. Maeghan currently sits on the University of Alberta’s Biomedical Research Ethics Board, the University of Alberta Hospital’s Clinical Ethics Committee, and is teaching “Law and Medicine” at the Faculty of Law.
Dust: The Little Particle That Could
Sarah Styler
Over a billion tons of dust are emitted into the atmosphere each year from desert regions in Africa and Central Asia. Once emitted, dust particles can be transported around the world. During their travels, they promote cloud formation, fertilize oceanic and terrestrial ecosystems, and influence air quality in cities. I’ll talk about how and why these small particles have an outsize influence on our climate and health, and about how we can make and study dust in the lab.
Sarah’s undergraduate and graduate studies in environmental and atmospheric chemistry at the University of Toronto were punctuated by two somewhat eclectic breaks, in which she worked in community fundraising and investigated the adverse effects of long-term storage on paintings and sculptures. After graduation, Sarah undertook a postdoc in Leipzig, Germany, where she studied the role that urban surfaces play in mediating urban air quality and collected more than an apartment’s worth of East German furniture. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Alberta, where her group’s research focuses on chemistry and photochemistry in polluted and dust-influenced urban environments.
Some people want to get noticed, and others want to avoid any kind of notice at all. And still others are thrust into the spotlight because it’s their destiny. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in hearing more about, then you don’t want to miss the first Nerd Nite Edmonton event of 2016! It combines all of those ideas and more. Think sex and ageing, magic and cloaking devices. NOW we’re getting somewhere!
Be there AND be square.
When: Thursday, January 14, 2016 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$20 in advance, includes fees & GST (Tickets available December 14 at 9:30am)
$25 at the door, includes fees & GST
$15 for balcony tickets (Only available on Monday, January 11 at 9:30am phone or in-person only)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Here’s our line-up of speakers:
Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Narrative: On Reading and the Virtues of Constant Vigilance
Hannah McGregor & Marcelle Kosman
Writers are taught to kill their darlings, but literary critics have to do the same thing — take something you really like, and rip it open to see how it ticks. But what happens when a couple of feminist literary scholars turn their gimlet gazes on the beloved Harry Potter series?
Marcelle Kosman and Hannah McGregor are the hosts of Witch, Please, a fortnightly podcast about the Harry Potter world. Both lady-scholars in the U of A’s Department of English and Film Studies (Marcelle is a doctoral candidate and Hannah is a full-time Instructor), they’re big fans of talking about Harry Potter to anyone who will listen.
Going nuts over girls: how chasing tail influences ageing
Jessica Haines
Animals (humans included) do crazy things when they’re trying to get the attention of a prospective partner. They sprout bones from their heads, grow impractical teeth, go into battle with each other, have elaborate penises, and even dance. And all that prancing around and growing odd bits has attracted the attention of lots of scientists. This is great, because it means we can dive into the weird and wonderful world of animal sex and their attempts to get it. Besides becoming the focus of a bunch of nosy scientists (and a Nerd Nite audience), this showing off can have other side effects. Showing off can be risky: at the very least you can end up as someone’s meal, but it can have other long-term effects such as changing how fast you age. I study red squirrels in the Yukon, and I’m going to use them and other species as examples of what happens when you spend a lot of time chasing prospective mates.
Jess was born in New Brunswick and spent her childhood swimming after fish, kayaking with seals and porpoises, skating by starlight, and hiking coastal forests with her Dad. This sparked a lifelong passion for wildlife and wild places, which came in handy when she started her PhD at the University of Alberta and she lived in the Yukon for months at a time to study red squirrels. She fell in love with their northern world and their spunky personalities. Her time in the north might have made her a bit crazy: when she’s back in Edmonton she gets excited when the temperatures drop, the snow falls, and she can head out cross-country skiing in the cold.
Smoke and Mirrors: Unveiling Invisibility
Brad Hauer
As demonstrated by numerous references in mythology and modern literature, humans have long sought after the power of invisibility. But at what point do we crossover from fantasy to reality? How close are we really to being able to develop a Harry Potteresque invisibility cloak? Closer than some may think. In my presentation, I will discuss present technologies, ranging from simple lenses to advanced metamaterials, that are being used to cloak objects, as well as look at what the future holds as far as real life invisibility goes.
Brad developed a passion for physics while attending high school in his hometown of Leduc, Alberta (it’s by the airport). He received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Alberta, spending his summers searching for dark matter with PICASSO, a particle physics experiment located 2 km underground in Sudbury’s nickel mine. Brad is currently pursuing his PhD at the U of A in Prof. John Davis’s lab where he makes his living playing with nanotechnology and lasers in liquid helium. He also enjoys playing basketball and eating pizza.