Nerd Nite in Edmonton has hit double digits! To celebrate our milestone tenth edition, we’re doing more of the exact same thing. Join us as three presenters expound on topics near and dear to their hearts in climate controlled comfort with a beer (or other delightful beverage) in your hand. It’s a new year so resolve to learn new things; we’re committed to making your life more Nerdy. Remember, there are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don’t. Be there, be square.
When: January 9, 2014 (doors @ 7:30p, show @ 8)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$15 in advance (TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE SOLD OUT)
$18 at the door
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
On Our Obsession with Demon-Possession
Kirsten C. Uszkalo
She grunts, she blasphemes, and she vomits. Her body moves with astonishing strength, flexibility, and brutality. Details may differ—modern demoniacs vomit fewer pins, less straw, and very little lead—but do not let that fool you: the demoniac has not gone anywhere. Despite a decline in superstition over the last 400 years, the belief in demonic possession is on the rise. The demoniac is fictionalized on the big screen and the small; dispossessions happen in front of a live audiences at churches and hotels and are televised and pod-casted by deliverance ministries. Even the Vatican is joining in, running their own courses on exorcism. The demoniac is a woman possessed; but what possesses her may surprise you.
The demoniac does not suffer demon-possession, she suffers rage possession. The more she rages, the better she gets at it; the angrier she is, the more she looks possessed. Since Donald Hebbs fist postulated in 1949 that ‘cells that fire together, wire together’ we’ve known that from a neurological and biological basis, the more a behavior is repeated the more easily it can be repeated. By extension the demoniac’s experience is grounded in an extreme but normal experience of anger that, with each experience, make her look more possessed. Taking hints from what possesses today’s spiritually plagued, and borrowing concepts from cognitive science and neuroscience, this talk will look at what demon-possession can teach us about our own relationship with rage.
Bio: Kirsten C. Uszkalo, aka, ‘Dr. K,’ is an experienced editor, writer, teacher, and manager. She has helped generate three scholarly journals, over a dozen original classes, and a few new approaches to research. Somewhere between a historical/commercial/digital investigator, Captain Janeway, and a guerrilla neuroscientist, Uszkalo delights in chasing down hard to find facts, producing provocative reports, and chairing whatever committee she is on. She has been on T.V., taught at four renowned universities, done evaluative work for two governments, and had traversed the globe to present on e-learning, user experience, and data-mining. She has reconceived preternatural phenomenon, literary history, and timely trends that have sparked her interest. In general, she spends a great deal of time with her new kiddo and walking her two dogs.
Soil: Everything You Never Knew You Wanted To Know
Nina Craig
Have you ever stopped to think about the ground you stand on? Soils are the basis of our environment and provide many services – both those we can see, like growing our food (except “schmeat”), and those we can’t see, like filtering our water. Besides being useful, soils are just cool and interesting unto themselves; trust me. There are ten soil groups, or “orders” in Canada, each with a distinctly weird name like “Chernozem.” You will hear about each of these orders, how they are formed, what makes them unique, their uses, and how you can pick them out on the landscape without even picking up a shovel. You’ll never look at dirt the same way.
Bio: Nina grew up believing she would become a dentist, but after an unsuccessful attempt, she decided to join the world of service and retail. During this time, Nina realized working with people was for suckers and, as a long-time member of Kids for Saving Earth, decided to follow her passion for conserving and restoring the environment. She enrolled at the University of Alberta in the Conservation and Environmental Sciences program, where she discovered that soils were pretty much the coolest thing on Earth and that reclamation was a great way to protect and repair this amazing resource. Nina has a Master of Science from Virginia Tech and returned to Edmonton in 2012 to continue digging in beautiful, glaciated Alberta soils, and revel in the glory of 10-month winters as a a soil and land reclamation specialist.
How Outsiders Make Design Better
Myron Nebozuk
Design surrounds us: we can’t avoid it. Even mediocre and awful stuff is designed by someone putting in a college effort. Why is it that we take little or no notice of the many things that fill our homes, work places and social spaces? Instead, our attention goes to a select few things (and their celebrated creators). This presentation looks at the unique perspective that outsiders bring to the design process. Whether it be Jean Paul Gaultier or Thomas Heatherwick, outsiders reshape how we see and experience our world. This presentation looks at a handful of designers and the surprising methods they use to create inspiring and unforgettable work.
Bio: Myron is an architect with uber-geeky Manasc Isaac Architects. He comes by his outsider status honestly; he’s the son of immigrant parents and has an unpronounceable surname. Growing up, his only exposure to North American barbeque culture was through the Shake ‘n Bake variety. That ended badly. When he’s not trying to make the world a better place one building at a time, he immerses himself in the quirky but beautiful alternate universe created by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.
Nerd Nite #9 is going to be a little different than our previous iterations. Throughout November the U of A’s Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) is having their first ever Festival of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (FURCA). We are helping them cap the month off at Nerd Nite with a showcase of some of their excellent nerds. The URI loves nerds. They’re all about creating a supportive environment for students to hone their nerd skills and to explore whatever they’re passionately nerdy about. That’s a mission we can get behind. So, rather than three presentations we’re having five. Four shorter presentations from the URI students and one typical length one from an individual who is well established in his field. It’ll be different but it’ll be awesome. On with the details!
When: November 28, 2013 (doors @ 7:30p, show @ 8)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$15 in advance (GET YOUR TICKETS HERE SOLD OUT)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Robotic Evolution
Adam Parker
At an ever increasing pace, robotics are being used to improve the quality of our lives. In a short span of time, consumers have progressed from having access to simple machines to owning robots that do our vacuuming and mow our lawns. Having robots help us is all well and good, but what if they could actually make us better? What if robots could improve us by augmenting our bodies? What utility might an extra limb offer? Why not a tail to help with balance? Or how about an accessory to portray emotion? In this presentation we will explore the possibilities of wearable robotics in the near and distant future. Fear not, you will not be assimilated during this presentation.
Bio: Adam received a diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering tech from SAIT then, after approximately 6 month in the field, he decided it wasn’t for him. Lots and lots of nights, forever. His academic idol is Nikola Tesla, and his comic book idol is Iron Man. Put together, electrical engineering seemed to be the ticket. Adam is in his second year at the University of Alberta studying electrical engineering with a focus on nano. He also works with Patrick Pilarski on artificial intelligence and communication for prosthetic limbs. When not studying or working, Adam will likely be be found participating in an 18th century or Viking re-enactment. More nerd cred? He owns a musket.
Following Threads: From China to India (without getting stuck on the knots)
Ann Salmonson
Research grant in hand, days before purchasing my flight to China, and possessed by a fervent love of Qing Dynasty robes and their opulent embroidery; I lose all signs of the master embroiderer I hoped to find. A timely e-mail, a steadfast friend, and the illogical results of a Google search send me off on an adventure of unimaginable scope. From the politics of China’s traditional Han embroidery to spending time teaching sewing to refugee Tibetan Nuns finding solace in India; sidestepping the roadblocks and searching for answers, I continue on to find, among other things, that the Dalai Lama’s Tailor is a really nice guy.
Bio: As well as being a fourth year Human Ecology student, Ann is the cutter and tailor for the University of Alberta’s Drama Department. Her love of textiles and clothing includes perspectives ranging from practical, historical, cultural, social, environmental, economic and technological. Her passion for Chinese textile and embroidery traditions developed over a summer of studying with the MacTaggart Art Collection. Ann is on the board of the University of Alberta’s Fashion Culture Network and a member of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild. In 2012, she was the recipient of a Timms Theatre Innovation Fund grant to explore CAD pattern drafting, 3D body scanning and the use of avatars in costume and pattern development in a theatre wardrobe setting.
Dinosaurs in our Backyard
Katherine Bramble
Did you know that dinosaurs have been found in Edmonton? Long before we called Edmonton home, Edmonton was home of the Edmontonsaurus. That’s why we call it Edmonton – good thing they didn’t find Bruhathkayosaurus! The Danek Bonebed is found in southern Edmonton and contains the fossils of a herd of edmontosaurs, plus bits and pieces of five other kinds of dinosaurs. The site has seen a considerable amount of research by palaeontologists from the University of Alberta and from around the world. What do we know about this herd of edmontosaurs? How did they die? And, what can we learn from their remains 73 millions years after they perished?
Bio: Katherine Bramble has a thing for dinosaurs; she loves them so much that she moved across the country to study them at the University of Alberta. She is currently finishing the final year of her undergraduate degree in palaeontology. Katherine then plans to move into the masters program and study dinosaurs as a starving grad student at the University of Alberta. This is her second undergraduate degree and she swears she won’t do a third.
Zebrafish are Awesome
Shubham Shan
Zebrafish are tiny minnow fish native to the Himalayan region in India, Pakistan and China. And, they’re awesome. They are an important vertebrate animal model which have been involved in variety of important scientific findings in various fields. Zebrafish are widely used for research in addiction studies, embryology, neurophysiology, electrophysiology, genetics, vision and auditory studies, to name a few. In this presentation, we will look at zebrafish morphology and some exciting results they’re producing.
Bio: Shubham is a full time student at the University of Alberta, currenly doing a B.Sc in Physiology (honors). He enjoys learning new things about the human body and is always amazed by its wonders. His true passion is medical research as he has had accomplished research in Pediatrics (Oncology, Hematology and Gastroenterology) and Neurophysiology. Shubham sits on several boards including the Undergraduate Physiology Students’ Association, Pre-Medical Students’ Association, Golden Key International Honours Society, Canadian Digestive Health Foundation Initiative, Canadian Liver Foundation, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. When he does have free time (which never happens!), he enjoys an intense game of badminton, watching Modern Family and eating himself into a diabetic coma.
Futurist-Poet-Doc
Kim Solez
Kim Solez is a physician techno-geek who reads various organ transplant biopsies under the microscope and sets the standard for how such biopsies are read by other doctors. For the past twenty-two years he has run the international meeting that expands and makes further changes to these global medical classification systems. In 1999 this meeting incorporated poetry for the first time. In 2002 Kim also began organizing separate musical, art, and poetry events celebrating the birthday of iconic Canadian poet, singer, songwriter Leonard Cohen. He met with Leonard over a three-day weekend in November 2005. Leonard described Kim as being “serially surreal.” A robotic dog accompanied him on the visit.
In 2011 Kim began teaching and directing a unique University course on Technology and the Future of Medicine, LABMP 590, which any Nerd Nite audience member could attend. This massively multidisciplinary course involves the best and brightest lecturers and students from all Faculties within the University. The course explores the possibility of a future post-scarcity world of abundance where any experience you want you can have because virtual reality is better than real reality. Kim is convinced that poetry is a universal component of humanness and that poetry is able to accomplish important things in the world which nothing else can.
Kim Solez is Professor of Pathology at the University of Alberta. In 2010 he took a 9-day course at Singularity University teaching about exponential technologic change and the future merger of humans and machines when machines become smarter than we are, the technological Singularity predicted to occur in 2045. He always wanted to be a spy and his interests in the Singularity in music have caused him to be a regular stealth listener to Hot 107, a local radio station catering to the mainstream musical tastes of teens and 20-somethings which assumes that they have no older people or physicians in their audience. He doesn’t know anyone else who listens to Hot 107. He has an official alter ego, David Crippen at the University of Pittsburgh, a totally cool doctor dude who is completely unlike him in every way.
Nerd Nite is back for our 2013-2014 season in a new [and very sexy] location. We’re excited to announce that we’ll be taking up residence in The Club (Rice Theatre), at the Citadel!
- People said, “we want Nerd Nite to be more central,” and we’re giving you more central.
- People said, “we want LRT access,” and we’re giving you LRT access.
- People said, “we want a bigger room,” and we’re giving you a bigger room.
- People said, “we want chandeliers,” and we’re giving you chandeliers.
- Sadly our venue is no longer under an erotic massage place, but you can’t have it all.
Nerd Nite is a break even affair and in order to move to this lovely new space (cover insurance, rentals, incidentals) we’ve had to make a few changes. The first is that we’ve had to raise the price a little. Previously, after services charges, Nerd Nite Edmonton was $12 (in advance), we’ve had to tack on $3 bringing the total to $15 (after fees) in order to cover costs. We hope it won’t break the bank. The second, we can no long offer a free drink (for a cacophony of reasons) but don’t worry, there will still be drinks for purchase. We are confident that the positives of the new space will out weight the negatives and we appreciate your understanding as we continue to explore the many corners of nerdom.
Same nerdy format:
Three speakers from your community for about 20 minutes each + beer (and other assorted beverages) = Nerd Nite
When: September 12, 2013 (doors @ 7:30p, show @ 8)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$18 at the door
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
The Heroic Horn – Music, Movies and Looooove
Megan Evans
Throughout its long and sordid history the sound of the french horn has been used in some of the most poignant moments found in music. From its roots in the hunt, its brassy sound can add drama to any sweeping outdoor vista. The sound of the horn can boldly take you where no trumpet could ever dream of!!! The mellow and warm qualities are often used to nostalgically tug at your heartstrings (just think Princess Leia’s theme!). Let’s nerd out with a little chat about the history of the Horn, its famous (and infamous) stars as well as its uses in modern culture today.
Bio: Megan Evans is a French Hornist (Horner? Hornerist?) with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held for five years. She doesn’t appreciate jokes about being horny, so don’t even think about it! Megan received a Bachelor and Master’s of Music Performance from McGill University in Montreal where she studied with John Zirbel, principal horn of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
What the Fluff are Furries?
Alexi Huskey
Things are about to get fuzzy. This presentation will explore a largely misunderstood and often misrepresented lifestyle. In costume, Alexi will review the origins of furryism, discuss how anthropomorphisms have existed for centuries, and consider what it means today to celebrate being furry. While popular television shows, like CSI, have taken cracks at the fandom by playing off its stereotypes, furry culture is much more deep, involved, and often has remarkably positive effects on local communities. While Furryism often incorporates other sub-cultures, like goths, ravers, anime, and even some hipsters, it is more than a sub-culture; it is often described by the people who live it as a lifestyle. Alexi will open your eyes to the real furry culture in Edmonton and elsewhere and will reveal what it really means for me to be furry.
Bio: Alexi has been a furry for nearly 15 years now. Always represented as a husky, and can often found dressing up in elaborate costumes for his fursuit and attending clubs and parties. When he was a pup he found he always shared an affinity for animals, and often preferred to hang out with his cat or dog as a kid and watch cartoons. Later in life he found himself particularly fond of a specific breed of dog, the Husky. However his introduction into the fandom did not come until much later when one of his friends asked him if he was a furry after noticing he was wearing a collar decoratively. Since then Alexi has remained akin to the husky and the personality traits the breed represents to him, good looking, loyal, independent and playful. For Alexi, the furry fandom represents a way to express his spirituality, maybe cope with species dysphoria, and to find like minded furs to hang out with. He can be found often “fursuiting” around at dog related charity events, and even the Edmonton Zoo. To this day, he’s helped raised over $1,500 for animal rescue shelters and sled dog related rescue shelters.
Encouraging Public Nerdgasms
Trevor Prentice
What do a 14 metre radius metal hemisphere, a tesla coil, and a moon rock have in common? Aside from the shear awesomeness of their very existence, they are surprisingly excellent tools for sharing one’s love of science. Trevor will discuss some of the best techniques we have at our disposal to stimulate interest in science and why it is so vital that we do so. From electrifying children to flying people to the edge of the Universe, Trevor will discuss a few of the many ways we can inspire minds young and old.
Bio: A capture the flag and urban tag aficionado by night and fun loving physicist by education, Trevor got his start working with science centres running overnight science raves for young children at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington. In addition to this pastime, Trevor used his time in Seattle to educate himself at the graduate level as a rocket scientist, with a side of entrepreneurship. He returned to Edmonton to run the Margaret Zeidler Star Theatre, largely to fulfill his dream of choreographing 10 watts of raw laser power live to an audience of up to 250 often initially sober minds. After commercializing some hard-core University of Alberta science with TEC Edmonton, Trevor worked as Staff Scientist at TELUS World of Science Edmonton for nearly 2.71 years. He recently rejoined TEC Edmonton to try to better understand the minds and research of the extreme nerds at the U of A and to dare I say, change the world.