Aliens Amongst We

The alien talk is done, and I think it went well for a smallish audience of about 10-12 people. The new arrangement of slides, further edited by Joe from my culling, worked well, and the presentation was a tight 50 minutes. Some questions from the audience, mainly of the "What do you *really* think aliens abductions or UFO's are," variety were asked. Good participation though.

And my answer to the above question is that I think there's something else going on in these people's lives, that they'd rather believe are aliens probing them repeatedly than whatever is really happening. Just my thoughts, no real evidence for this, other than common sense.

I really did take the skeptic role in this presentation. One good thing about doing this in the past with Joe is that I think that his approach may get more people in the audience to be willing to put their own odd ideas out there. I was less interested in asking questions of the audience today, and more interested in seeing how the presentation would flow with the new slides. So, we'll see how it goes the next time, perhaps with an actual written questionairre that people can hand in at the end of the talk.

That's it for now...

NP: The Bears, When She Moves

Reaching around...

Went out with some friends from work tonight to celebrate a birthday. One of the other CD's (Community Directors, for those of you not in the know), was 25 today. We went to a local eating establishment in town, and a good time was had by all.

For some reason, I have become known for telling funny, disturbing, "gross" stories. I was almost called upon to tell a few tonight, but I was kept in check. My audience was willing, but some didn't want to be exposed to the same stories again. I personally am willing to rest some of these stories, or tell them in more appropriate contexts. Still, they're generally pretty funny upon later reflection, even if some are grossed out in the moment.

I'm continuing to prep for my Alien talk tomorrow. Too bad I didn't start reading the book I mentioned yesterday about a week earlier, it really fits in to what I'll be talking about. I also want to work with Joe to make a slide presentation for the future that talks more about the actual alien/UFO stories. I think the slides as they stand now are a bit heavy on the people who have been involved in reporting these events, and less on the actual stuff. For people with some knowledge of the phenomenon, I think that the stuff about the researchers may be interesting, but for people who want to hear wacky stories, we have to shift our focus a bit. Easy enough to do when we're talking about this stuff, but people love photos...

I may even try to photocopy the old article from the Boston Phoenix where I'm quoted about this alien stuff. My friend Theresa wrote the article, so I got my mention in a Major Boston Area Newspaper. Groovy...

NP: The Who, Boris the Spider

I'm Ready For My Close-Up....

This Thursday, I get to do another Alien Talk. Joe J. won't be able to visit this time, so I'll be flying solo. That's cool though, I've done the talk before on my own, it's fun either way.

I've sent Joe some edits to make to the slide show, in order to tighten up the narrative. I actually just now thought to ask him to make a page of nothing but photos. That might get some interest from the audience, if it's possible. If not for this presentation, then maybe for something upcoming in the future.

I'm actually reading a book now called "Watch the Skies," by Curtis Peebles, a skeptic's look at the UFO phenomenon of the past 60 years. It was published in the mid-90's, and I picked it up for two bucks at the Dartmouth Bookstore, as a used purchase. It's not a bad book so far, if perhaps a bit dry. And the author keeps refering to himself as "this researcher," which annoys me.

I'm sorry, I just had to stop writing there as a Shaggs song came up on my mp3 player. They make my brain hurt.

While at home in NJ, I finished reading two books, "Fifty Degrees Below" by Kim Stanley Robinson, and "The Truth (with Jokes)" by Al Franken. Both were entertaining reads. The Robinson book is the middle book of a planned trilogy, and I'm assuming that the third book will be out next year at some point. It's a series about scientists working in the context of goverment and a global warming/ice age crisis. Think "The Day After Tomorrow," done by someone who has a brain in their head.

The Franken book was entertaining as always, but not as laugh out loud funny as his previous work has been. I didn't mind the slightly more serious tone, as it fit well with the material, which was focusing on the antics, mistakes, and possible crimes of our Fearless Leaders. I recommend the book highly whatever your political stripe may be.

NP: Robbie Robertson, American Roulette

NJ Update

Hello!

So, I've been down in NJ since Wednesday evening, and will be heading back to NH tomorrow. Quick update:

Thursday: Went to Trenton for Archives research, went out to eat with Mom

Friday: Went to visit my Grandmother, stopped off at Dad and Sheila's place, had pizza with Mom.

Saturday: Went to Kearny, NJ, to visit the Kearny Library/Museum, went to visit my grandmother's cousin Corinne, and went out to eat with my Dad for dinner.

Sunday: Found "Partridge Road" in Matawan, NJ with my Dad. My great-grandfather's brother, John Partridge, had a farm on that road. The farm's still there. Saw my Mom again over at her place, then went to meet with my Uncle Ron up in South Amboy, and met up with him and my cousin Jamie, who's a student at Rutgers, graduating in June. A fun evening.

More to come when I'm back in NH and can write more.

Cheers!

Mike