Volunteering at the JREF

i-4c58dc966a64ba3fc21f2d35dd33ad89-mr-o-randi-080124.JPG

Spent yesterday volunteering at the James Randi Educational Foundation, doing manual work and getting to know people. I moved furniture, cleaned up trash, painted a door and pasted errata sheets into books. And everybody was so nice to me! Loads of good conversation and silly jokes. I'm here as a representative of the Swedish Skeptics Society, so I make an effort to overcome my retiring personality and make as many new contacts as I can.

i-537c43a40248cac44af43a5c239c33ab-confolders.jpg

Jeff Wagg bought me breakfast at Denny's. Our party was accosted by a Christian lady who overheard us talking about atheism and wanted us to repent! I almost thought I was on Candid Camera there for a sec. The JREF's founder took me for a drive in his blue sports car, bought me lunch and regaled me for an hour with stories of grave robbing in Peru, among many other topics. Writer of a hundred books Bart Farkas drove me back to the hotel and bought me drinks. Finally, Rebecca the Skepchick entertained me at dinner and tried to bully me (and everybody else within earshot) into taking a nocturnal swim in the hotel pool. Good times!

i-150d2fd32ad6a48c2eaa996d80533f47-mr-o-rebecca-080124.JPG

[More blog entries about , , , ; , , , , , .]

Tags

More like this

I wrote this last night in Florida, but the hotel wifi was on the blink, so I couldn't get it on-line. I am now at Newark airport in New Jersey, having just eaten my first bowl of matzoh soup. Oy vey, good stuff! Audience frowning in concentration I've been to gaming conventions and academic…
I'm at The Amazing Meeting London, an Old World instance of the skeptical conferences organised by the James Randi Educational Foundation. (Or more correctly, I am waiting for breakfast at my threadbare Bayswater hotel, where I sleep in a basement closet.) I came to London Friday night and started…
I spent Tuesday in the charming company of James Randi and his assistant, journalist Brandon Thorp. Myself and P.J. RÃ¥smark had taken it upon ourselves to act as native guides and gophers for Randi during his days in Stockholm at the invitation of the Swedish Skeptics. So in the morning we went…
I forgot to mention the variety show on Saturday night. It was headlined by comedian Robin Ince (you may have seen his MAGIC MAN DUNNIT clip) and offered a lot of funny and musical and skeptical and cynical acts of high standard. I was particularly impressed by high-brow rapper Baba Brinkman. Not…

What fun! That girl seems to be drinking too much though, must be a skepchic.

Are you not sitting too close to the lady?

This is absolutely frustrating. Two of my favourite bloggers sitting next to each other.

You are a very lucky man, Martin. But where is your left arm? I at least would have some suggestions as to where it should have been ...

Rebecca is a forceful personality. I believe she'd kill me on the spot if I fondled her buns without permission. On the other hand, I believe she'd also kill me on the spot if she asked me to fondle her buns and I failed to do so.

Yeah, that is indeed so true.

But anyway, who was talking about her buns? I was just talking about a friendly arm around the shoulders... tsss you perv'!