Stargazing in Two Acts

When: Friday, August 1st, 2008, 7pm - midnight or later.
Where: Sean Kelly's and Blue Mountain Observatory

The first half of this event will consist of dinner and socializing at Sean Kelly's in downtown Missoula. We'll grab a table in the back area and possibly pull two together if it looks like enough people will be there. If you're not sure what any of the M.A.S.S. regulars look like, Jon will probably be wearing his Geocentric 'Teach the Controversy' T-Shirt ( ... Jon's is black, not yellow.)

At about 9:00pm, we'll pay our individual tabs and caravan to the Blue Mountain Observatory for their Open House. You'll get to peer through the big telescope several times as they swing it around the sky to point at globular clusters, a nebula or two, and maybe even a planet or other celestial points of interest. People will also be there to explain how to identify stars and constellations and answer questions in between your turns at the telescope. Plan on staying until at least Midnight. Children are welcome!

You should wear long pants and bring a lightweight jacket, as it can get chilly on top of the mountain, even in the summer. You will also ABSOLUTELY NEED to bring A SMALL FLASHLIGHT to find your way down the trail from the observatory back to the parking area. It's very dark at the observatory and flashlights here are discouraged, so expect a lot of walking around outside on rocky terrain in the dark. If your night vision is significantly worse than most people's, consider yourself duly warned.

If you'd like to RSVP (not required, but helpful), you can do so on Facebook.

... So Goes The Nation

It appears that the hearings to "update" the science curriculum in Texas have begun, and the cards have been pre-stacked in favor of the anti-science Intelligent Design Creationism agenda.

If you don't think this affects you or any of the children in your life way up here in Montana, think again. Text book publishers don't want to spend more money than necessary creating multiple versions of text books, opting instead to cater to the lowest common denominator of state education requirements. Texas is large buyer of K-12 textbooks and is working hard right now to lower the bar for the rest of us. "As Texas goes..."

Songs of Science & Secularity

Occasionally, I do a little searching online for new music with particularly irreligious or heavy science themes to add to my MP3 player. There are many websites and blogs with such lists, but I find that they rarely add updates or allow readers to add to the list. Many also lean very strongly toward Heavy Metal music, which is fine (for them) but doesn't usually interest me.

So, I decided I should post an index of my favorite anthems to help out those with similar interests or who are looking for a Winter Solstice Gift for their Friendly Neighborhood Atheist. I'll occasionally update this list with anything new I've discovered that I like. If any of your personal favorites aren't on my list, feel free to post a comment.

And of course, please support the artists who demonstrate the courage to release music advocating reason and rationality in a predominantly superstitious society.

~ Irreligious Theme | ~ Science/Technology Theme

Alpinekat - Large Hadron Rap ( Rap )
Amadan ~ Not Your Man ( Celtic Punk )
Amadan ~ Devolution Now ( Rock )
Barenaked Ladies ~ Big Bang Theory Theme ( Rock )
Bastard Fairies ~ We're All Going To Hell ( Rock )
Bob Wire ~ As For Me ( Country )
Bruce Springsteen ~ Part Man, Part Monkey ( Rock )
Cake ~ Comfort Eagle ( Rock )
Chumbawamba ~ Charlie ( Folk )
Chumbawamba ~ We Don't Go To God's House Anymore ( Folk )
Dan Barker ~ Beware of Dogma Album ( Misc )
Dan Barker ~ Friendly Neighborhood Atheist Album ( Misc )
Eddy Goombah / EJ Russo ~ Tribute to Kent Hovind ( Rock )
Eric Schwartz ~ Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis ( Comedy )
Genesis ~ Jesus He Knows Me ( Rock )
George Hrab ~ Far (365 Days of Astronomy Theme) ( Funk )
George Hrab ~ Heaven Must Be Boring ( Funk )
Greydon Square ~ The CPT Theorem ( Rap )
Greydon Square ~ Judge Me ( Rap )
John Lennon ~ Imagine ( Classic Rock )
John Lennon ~ God ( Classic Rock )
John R. Butler ~ The Hand Of The Almighty ( Hymn/Comedy )
Jonathan Coulton ~ Mandelbrot Set ( Rock )
Joni Mitchell ~ Tax Free ( Rock )
Living Colour ~ Cult of Personality ( Rock )
Monty Python ~ Galaxy Song ( Misc )
Monty Python ~ The Meaning of Life ( Misc )
Red Elvises ~ Drinking With Jesus ( Rock )
Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Shallow Be Thy Game ( Rock )
Reel Big Fish ~ My Imaginary Friend ( Ska/Punk )
Rush ~ Faithless ( Rock )
Rush ~ Freewill ( Rock )
Sammy Hagar ~ Buying My Way Into Heaven ( Rock )
Stephen Lynch ~ Craig ( Rock/Comedy )
Stephen Lynch ~ Priest ( Rock/Comedy )
Streetlight Manifesto ~ The Blonde Lead The Blind ( Ska/Punk )
Streetlight Manifesto ~ Down, Down, Down to Mehphisto's Cafe ( Ska/Punk )
Streetlight Manifesto ~We Will Fall Together ( Ska/Punk )
This Week In Science ~ Annual Compilation CDs ( Misc )
Tom Lehrer ~ The Elements ( Patter )
Tom Lehrer ~ Vatican Rag ( Ragtime )
XTC ~ Dear God ( Rock )
Ziggy Marley ~ In The Name Of God ( Reggae )
Ziggy Marley ~ Love Is My Religion ( Reggae )