Rafflesia Flower
We did it! Together we survived another polar vortex. (But don’t rest on your warm little laurels; the jet streams are still destabilizing…)
It’s time to celebrate with another night of drinking and learning really interesting things. This time we’re trying something new: two talks bookending a friendly audience competition, because experiments are a great way to play with the world and we have great expectations for your nerdy contributions.
Tickets (only $5!) are available here.
A PART WHERE YOU LEARN:
Witchweeds, Corpse Lilies, and the Farmer’s Dodder: The Sordid Lives of Parasitic Plants
Seth Harper leads us through the bizarre world of plants that suck. Literally.
Seth is the Manager of Horticulture at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, with nearly twenty years experience in the plant biz. Though his career has taken him from rainforests to prairies, he has spent an inexplicable amount of brainpower on virtually useless plant-based trivia.
A PART WHERE YOU PARTICIPATE:
Chicago Dry T-Shirt Contest!
Nerdiest apparel wins. It doesn’t have to be a shirt – wear your chemical structure earrings, shark socks, or official Star Trek cufflinks. Or that Klein bottle hat.
Verily, any article of clothing which puts thy nerdery on display where the audience can see it. That’s right, you have to be wearing it, and you have to show it to the audience. Bring your math puns, your historical shout-outs, your Millennium Falconry. Entrants register a name at the door so we can be ready for you. Winner gets a very special mystery prize! (Psst, it’s a free drink)
A PART WHERE YOU LEARN MORE:
The Women Who Fought Rome (And Almost Won)
The Roman Empire lasted in the West for almost a millennium, and over the course of its history, many people from Hannibal to the Huns tried to unseat Rome from the center of the world. So join us for the tale of three such people who all took their shot at the Roman eagle, all women. One used charm, one used brute force, and one played politics with a skill that would have made Machiavelli go pale and clutch nearby furniture for support. Sure, they all lost, but so did most of the men who took on the Empire. Even the ones who won pretty much only succeeded in painting targets on their backs for the next guy. Winning’s not really the point here, is it? They each got closer to pulling it off than the men who ran the Empire would be comfortable admitting, and more importantly for our purposes, they all made for one hell of a story.
Kevin Curran is a Chicago attorney at a non-for-profit agency working with survivors of domestic violence. When not at work, he loves musicals, Star Trek, and RuPaul’s Drag Race, which he is happy to talk to you about at length given the slightest opening. You can find him online writing theater reviews at chicagotheatrereview.com and comprehensively analyzing Star Trek with his friend Matt at treknobabble.net.
ALSO STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEXT NERD NITE EVENT!
We have a special event on the horizon. (That’s not a black hole joke)
Saturday, April 13, join us for Nerd Nite After-Hours Party at the International Museum of Surgical Science.
This is limited attendance event, so get your tickets early!