Nerd Nite 6 Year Anniversary

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The Nerd Nite 6 Year Anniversary was held at Celine Orlando, (22 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL 32801.) Nerd Nite anniversaries are usually held at The Abbey but that venue was booked for the night. The evening was slated to begin at 6 PM but the first speaker didn’t take to the stage for another hour and a half. I suppose that was time set aside for mingling and networking. I used the time to block in my sketch. I had never been to Celine before so the space itself was exciting. Ricardo Williams started off with excerpts from some of his favorite Nerd Nite presentations over the years. His white suit caught the blue light to great effect.

Dr. Krista Noble was the first speaker for the night. Her talk was titled “Why the Heck Are We Conscious? The Hard Problem of Consciousness”. As she said, “Everyone agrees that our mental processes (meaning our thoughts,
emotions, and perceptions) correspond with physical processes in our
brains. The question is, how and why? Why do we have subjective
experiences at all? Why aren’t we genetically programmed to pursue
survival, yet lacking consciousness? These fundamental questions still
plague scholars in spite of our most advanced scientific discoveries.” As she spoke about comparing two objects and noting that they were both bright red, I put some red notes on my sketch. If I sketch am I conscious? Perhaps I am more like a zombie using my few synapses to document what is around me with my hands and eyes.

“To Boldly Go: A Brief History of the Space Toilet” by Brendan Byrne followed with hilarious results. Brendan works for WMFE and he covers the space beat. As he said, “Human spaceflight has been plagued by waste. From urine-soaked
spacesuits to floating turds, the history of human spaceflight is flush
with dirty (and hilarious) anecdotes of dealing with waste in space.
Engineers seem to have a handle on #1 and #2 as we explore low Earth
orbit, but the future of deep space exploration hinges on our ability to
overcome a heaping pile of physiological, biological and engineering
problems. So how will we do it? Brendan has
been exploring the history of the space toilet for a new book and
presents a brief history of the galactic commode – and ideas for new
hardware that will boldly take our poop to places like the moon and
Mars.” 

On the first space flight, the astronaut was supposed to be in flight for just 15 minutes so no thought was put into a toilet. He was nervous and drank many cups of coffee that morning. Then there was a delay in launch which resulted in his needing to ask permission from mission control if he could wet his spacesuit. Engineers followed with a hard dock solution in which a condom was attached to a bag. A crap was more difficult requiring a cup strapped to the butt and a two fingered method of snipping off the log. Gravity usually helps the solids fall away but there was no gravity. Brendan read a recently declassified transcript in which astronauts debated about whose crap was floating around the capsule. Upon opening a recently recovered capsule a navy man vomited upon smelling what was inside. There was some hilarious audio of astronaut John Young (namesake of John Young Parkway)  as he was on the moon. He farted loudly and curses saying he would never eat citrus again.


Technology did catch up with the problem with a small fan providing suction to draw the excrement from the source. He played a video of astronauts pee being vented into space and it instantly crystallizing. Today however all liquids are recycled to be reused as drinking water. For long distance space flight a researcher is creating a device that burns down all waste and turns it into water and hydrogen. Brendan ended the presentation with a photo if him sitting on a space station toilet replica. is  mom must be so proud. I geek  out just as hard trying to get to as many space launches as I can to  sketch.


It was an evening of scatological and cerebral pursuits, who could ask for more?

The next Nerd Nite is April 11, 2019

Nerd Nite is expanding in 2018.

Posted on by Thor

 Nerd Nite Orlando is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking
presentations, all while the audience drinks along in a casual
atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating
subject, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each
presentation is a brief Q&A with the audience. The premise is simple, drink and think. 

Nerd Nite operates in over a hundred cities around the world,
including Tokyo, Seattle, London, Los Angeles, Des Moines, Austin, and
many more. Nerd Nite launched in Orlando on Thursday, March 14, 2013
with founding organizers Valerie Cepero, Josh Manning, and Ricardo
Williams.

Since its inception, Nerd Nite Orlando has taken place on every
second Thursday of the month and is now organized and hosted by Ida
Eskamani and Ricardo Williams.

The announcement of Ida’s addition to the Nerd team was made on Thursday, September 14th at “Nerd Nite
Orlando LV: Neural Networks, Autonomous Vehicles, and The
Procrastination Paradox” where Eskamani took the stage at the end of the
evening to emphasize big plans for 2018 including a Nerd Nite Prom and
how they’re going to “triple everything in size and Nerd Nite this whole
damn town!”

Ricardo Williams said, “I am incredibly excited for our plans for 2018, including the continuation of our monthly events, the second season of our show, our new documentary film, the 5-year anniversary, the cosplay prom, and so much more!”

Presentations at Nerd Nite XXXI included, “The Amazing Fabric of Gordon Space Time” by Scott Gordon, “Vulnerability: You ARE crazy and its GREAT” by Rodrigo Groppa, and “The Science of Jurassic World” by Trevor Valle. 

On January 11th from 7 PM – 9:30 PM, Nerd Nite will be held at The Geek Easy (114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park, Florida 32792.) The evenings them will be “Space.” The suggested Donation is $5.00.  Doors open at 6pm. Program starts at 7pm.  Like the universe after the big bang, Nerd Nite is expanding in 2018. 


Dates for Nerd Nite in 2018:

January 11, 2018

February 8, 2018

March 8, 2018

April 12, 2018

May 10, 2018

June 14, 2018

July 12, 2018

August 9, 2018

September 13, 2018

October 11, 2018

November 8, 2018

December 13, 2018

Nerd Nite Orlando XXXIV fact versus fiction of the Star Wars saga.

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I went to the Star Wars themed Nerd Nite at The Geek Easy 114 S Semoran Boulevard, Winter Park, Florida in hopes that I might sketch a Cantina full of aliens and Sith Lords. Unfortunately there was only one cape in the whole crowd. Nerd Nite is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking presentations, all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each presentation there was a brief question and answer session with the audience.

Ricardo Williams as the MC started the evening off with Star wars trivia. He had the gave to wear a Star Trek uniform which is an affront to any true Star Wars nerd. One of the most interesting facts was that Harrison Ford was not originally cast as Hans Solo. He got the part because he was also an air conditioning repairman. Ford repaired George Lucas‘ air conditioner and the two of them hit it off. After that encounter, Lucas suggested that Ford come into the studio for an audition. Several questions revolved around the simple idea that warp drive does not exist in the Star Wars Universe. Most questions were far over my head. Apparently Yoda was first named Buffy in the first draft o the Star War Script. Ricardo also gave a short talk about how the last two last Star Trek films by J.J. Abrams are very much steeped in Star Wars themes. Both Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker are kids from barren farm country who dreamed of the stars. J.J. Abrams sited Star Wars as a film that molded his desire to become a film maker. Now that he is directing The Force Awakens he will hopefully shine and held resurrect a franchise that lost the power of story and replaced it with mindless computer effects. My one complaint about the last two Star Trek films is that Captain Kirk was constantly being beaten up. It was disheartening to watch as he was repeatedly kicked and beaten, while drooling on the floor. I hope the hero’s fate is better in The Force Awakens.

I was seated next to the last presenter, Robin Cowie, who announced the inaugural Orlando Story Club event coming up on January 6th at The Abbey 100 S Eola Dr, Orlando, Florida. Admission is $5 and all proceeds support The Boys And Girls Clubs of Orlando. The theme for the evening will be Resolution. The word “resolution” has two great meanings for stories:

1. a firm decision to do or not to do something.

2. the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter

I was surprised to find out that Cowie was president of Haxan Films, which financed, produced and helped market one of the most successful independent films of all time, The Blair Witch Project. He has just return to Orlando to be near family after producing and directing many films in Los Angeles. The Central Florida Story Telling Group will present monthly events in the New Year for everyone tohare their stories with proceeds supporting different local philanthropic organizations each month. Cowie told a story in a thick Scottish brogue. There is no way that a written account can recreate the hilarious story. Hearing him tell the story in person is a once in a lifetime experience.

Nerd Nite moved from Stardust to the Geek Easy.

Posted on by Thor

Stardust Video and Coffee,
(1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Florida) hosted the 23rd consecutive and first Nerd Nite Orlando event!

The evening consisted of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines, all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each presentation is a brief Question and Answer with the audience.

Quench your curiosity! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

The first presentation was “DNA Nanotechnology: A Breakthrough For Us All” by Felix Sosa.

The talk is about the history, development, and possible future of the great breakthrough known as DNA nanotechnology. Felix is an undergraduate researcher at UCF working towards a Bachelor’s degree in both chemistry and computer science. He currently is a part of a large-scale research effort between the Chemistry Department, NanoScience Technology Center and Physics Department at UCF designing, simulating and synthesizing DNA architectures that have vast applications from medicines to computational machines. His talk opened our eyes to the incredible possibilities right around the corner.

My favorite talk of the evening was “Trash to Treasure: Hoarding Demystified” by Heather Grove.  If you are a hoarder, have friends or family who hoard, or just know about it from the Discovery channel, you know it is a serious, life-threatening disease. With 1 in 30 Americans afflicted by the not so uncommon disorder, Heather hopes to shed some light on the science behind collecting shit.

Since she was one, Heather has found value in what most might consider valueless. From rocks to wine cork collections, Heather has been an avid acquirer of things, but with an extreme hoarder in the family, she has fought the genetic proclivity to collect stuff by understanding the science and specifics of the disease…she hopes to help others transform their habits from hoarding to helping re purpose waste and keep it from landfills. By day, Heather turns wasteful lawns into food-growing gardens and she is co-creator of East End Market. Her talk hit home because she had family that were hoarders. This made her talk more personal as she tried to explain her own hording tendencies. I myself seem to be a hoarder. I collected rocks and minerals as a child, coins, stamps and now I collect shelves full of sketchbooks. My studio is a riot of materials and books making it hard to even enter the room. Yet, since I still create every day, I don’t seek a cure.

The final talk, “The Cosmetology Cosmologist” by Derek Demeter. Derek has been Planetarium Director at Seminole State College of Florida since 2007. He writes and produces new shows that explore the astronomy and history of numerous cultures from around the world. He serves as Vice President of the Central Florida Astronomical Society and sets up telescopes at local shopping centers to give the public a truly “out-of-this world” experience.

After this evening, Ricardo Williams took the helm to lead Nerd Nite into the future. Now the events are being held monthly at the Geek Easy ( 114 S Semoran Blvd Suite 6, Winter Park, Florida). Mark your calendar! The next Nerd Nite is Ladies Nite and it will be tonight, July 9th from 7pm to 9pm.

Marriage Equality Eve at Lake Eola.

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January 5th of 2015 was the Eve of Marriage Equality in Orlando. Ashley Inguanta organized a Marriage Equality Celebration and Reading which were to take place in the green across the street from the Lake Eola Panera Bread. She advised everyone in the invite to bring a blanket or chair. The evening would be a literary celebration of the arrival of same-sex marriage with a series of readings by LGBT writers. Readers on the bill included Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tisse Mallon and Ricardo Williams. Ashley Inguanta was the host.

I arrived early and started sketching the green across from Panera’s. The plan was that I would populate the scene with the crowd as they arrived. The event was going to start at 7pm and as that time grew near, I was surprised that no one had yet set up on the lawn.  Tisse Mallon arrived with a microphone and speaker and she advised me that she planned to set up in the small amphitheater right next to the field. I quickly added color washes to this sketch resigned to the fact that there would be no huge crowd. This happened once before in this same field. Jessica Early organized a human cinnamon roll hug. This hug works great with a large crowd with people spiraling outward in a nautilus or Cinnamon bun pattern. The people in the center of the hug are completely enveloped. Anyway on that occasion I sketched the same field and only three girls stood together and hugged.

Eventually close to a dozen people did show up for the Marriage Equality Celebration. I finished this sketch and then joined them for the readings. Perhaps I am naive to have hoped that thousands of people might show up to celebrate love. I wasn’t disappointed with the readings however because it was a heart warming and uplifting on an otherwise chilly evening.

Ashley Inguanta hosted a Marriage Equality Celebration and Readings at Lake Eola.

Posted on by Thor

On the evening before the ban on same sex marriages was lifted, Ashley Inguanta hosted readings that were a celebration of love at Lake Eola. I arrived a bit early and did a sketch of a big grassy field thinking that it would soon be filled with hundreds of supporters. Tisse Mallon arrived with some equipment on a dolly. Although the invitation said to meet in the field, Tisse realized that a small staging area nearby might have an outlet where she could plug in an amplifier and a mic. Sure enough there were plugs right behind the stage. She covered a small TV tray table with a black cloth and set the speaker up in front of that. The final touch were small candles that acted as foot lamps.

Perhaps a dozen people gathered on the wooden benches. Ashley took the microphone and introduced herself. She explained that on this chilly evening, we were celebrating the arrival of same-sex marriage with a series of readings by LGBT writers. Readers on the bill included Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tisse Mallon and Ricardo Williams. As Ashley read the first poem about love, a policeman on a bicycle stopped to shut down the performance. It is rather ironic that poems about love should be considered subversive while people shout out hatred of hell and brimstone on street corners downtown. Ashley asked if she could continue to read without the mic. He allowed that and rode off. Ashley advised everyone to huddle together in the front row, for added body warmth and to hear her over the traffic. She got off the stage and moved close to the audience.

Tisse read an intimate poem about her first love. Other poems were by Dia Davina and Adrienne Rich. Ricardo explained that he wasn’t LGBT but any injustice is an injustice to all. Dianne’s story was similar. She was recently married and hadn’t been writing much poetry while she was happy. The poems she used to write were always dark. On this cold evening there was a warmth and joy in every poem shared. Ricardo read a second poem, but I couldn’t hear him over the passing traffic.

Ashley had recently moved to NYC where she hoped to find her soul mate and get married. She reminded us all that there were only four hours left until there would be marriage equality in Florida. Now it will be possible for anyone to find a committed lasting love in the City Beautiful.

Nerd Nite is like the Discovery chanel with beer!

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Nerd Nite Orlando at Stardust Video and Coffee, (1842 E. Winter Park Rd. Winter Park, FL) s an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines, all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for up to 20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following the presentations is a brief question and answer with the audience.

Quench your curiosity! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

The September 11th Nerd Nite featured “Nerd Nite Trivia!” with Ricardo Williams. Teams of up to 4 people competed against other smarty pants from across the city. Here are a few of the challenging questions. I’ll put the answers in the comment section of this post.

1. 90s Animated Series. What 90-93 animated TV series featured the voice talent of Whoopee Goldberg?

2. Wars that the United States fought.  What was the United States major cold war engagement prior to the Vietnam war?

3. People named Michael. Who is the baddest man on the planet?

4. Animals that have sex. If a Puma mates with a Leopard what animal is produced?

5.  Potent potables. What Welsh privateer of the Caribbean was also known as Sir Henry Moore?

The second presentation was, “Steampunk: Creating the Future out of the Past!” by Richard Young. I sketched Richard as he agonized over the Power Point slides. Steampunk is a combination of Victorian Aesthetics with Science Fiction Technology. Speaker He took a look at this Sub-Genre of Science Fiction. Including it’s history, it’s effects on modern culture, and his own experiences exploring this strange and beautiful world. Richard Young has been a member of the Central Florida Steampunk Association for over two years. He spends most of the time at work staring at computer screens, and a lot of time outside of work looking for things to do that do not involve staring at computer screens. An ex-Disney animator is working on a steampunk styled hand drawn animated film. I’m excited to see artists returning to traditional animation. Perhaps we all have been staring at computer screens to long.

“Bird Nerd: Plumage, Sex, and Social Selection!” by Angela Tringali. The plumage of birds isn’t just beautiful, it serves a function. To determine if the plumage of Florida scrub-jay juveniles had a function she changed it, and their social behavior changed too. She spoke about bird color, and a bird found only in Florida. This nerd nite was a bird nerd nite. Her passion for the subject was contagious. She is a conservation biologist and behavioral ecologist. She earned her PhD in 2013. When Angela isn’t chasing birds she is thinking about it. Some people say she has a one-track mind.

Orlando Soup Highlights Community Projects

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On May 13th, the inaugural Orlando Soup event was held at East End Market. Modeled after the successful Detroit SOUP that started four years ago,
is a micro-granting community dinner offering local activists,
entrepreneurs and creatives a platform for networking and an opportunity
to win funding for projects.

For a donation of $7, attendees received soup (made by Slow Food Orlando using fresh, local ingredients), salad and bread. Before dinner was served, everyone listened to four short community project proposals covering a range of community improvement topics such as art, urban agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurship, education, technology, and more. During dinner, attendees cast a vote by placing a cube of sugar into cups representing the different projects for their favorite project and, at the end of the night, the project that received the most votes was funded by $5 from each attendees’ donation. The winner will appear at the next SOUP dinner to report their project’s progress.

Brendan O’Connor pitched a wacky, fun idea of starting a Pop-up University offering college level courses in a bounce house. The simple idea is that people learn fast when having fun. The courses taught wasn’t yet established but I’d love to teach animation principles in a bounce house.  Ricardo Williams was part of a group called Project Rethink that intends to to place “sustainable graffiti” around Orlando that has environmental awareness messages.  Sustainable graffiti is accomplished by picking a dirty wall and using a stencil to spray wash or clean the message into the grime. Over time the message will disappear was the wall gets dirty again. Another method of creating messages would be moss graffiti. The message would appear where moss was encouraged to grow. I love this idea and hope to get out to sketch artists in action.

I sketched Ashley Erin Pollard as she pitched the idea of creating vending machines that offer art. She is an architect by day and hopes this project will help her become better connected to the Orlando Arts community. The idea isn’t entirely new but I’d love to see it brought to Orlando. Ashley was the presenter right after Brendan. I was inspired by how petite she seemed compared to the huge podium. Ultimately my cube of sugar went into the cup for her project. I am all for bringing more art to Orlando.

Jimmy Sherfey presented the Florida Coffee Symposium. This local
miniature conference will celebrate the culture of coffee producers at
origins across the globe. He is
planning the first Florida Coffee Symposium for September 6, 2014.

The winner at the first-ever Orlando SOUP on May 13, 2014 was Project ReThink, presented by Chris Castro and Clayton Ferrara.  They won $500-800 to help fund their project.  My Ivanhoe district, Fringe mural will be in the line up at the next Orlando Soup, TONIGHT 7-9pm at East End Market (3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL)! The tickets were $10 and the event is SOLD OUT. Hope to see you there as you support creativity, social entrepreneurship, sustainability, and community building.

Nerd Nite Orlando #3

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 Nerd Nite is an informal gathering at
which nerds get together for fun-yet-informative presentations across
all disciplines, while the audience drinks along. Nerds and non-nerds
alike gather to meet, drink and learn something new. Three speakers will present for 20-25 minutes each on a fascinating
subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. It’s like the Discovery Channel…with beer!

Josh, with his thick dark beard and stiff collared dress shirt, referred to himself as the “Orlando Nerd Boss.” He and Nathan Selikoff were busy setting up computer and projector equipment as people arrived at Stardust Video and Coffee. I had arrived early and ordered a “Rob Reiner” which was a meatloaf sandwich. Growing up, my mom used to make meat loaf once a week so it is comfort food. As I started to sketch, the place became packed.

The first talk was by Clayton Louis Ferrara and he spoke about the Secret Life of Nitrogen.  He outlined it’s history and how it was used in chemical warfare in WWI. After the war a chemist found that Nitrogen could be used in fertilizer and it became a multi billion dollar business. In America there is a suburban culture that takes pride in lush green lawns. An incredible amount of money is spent to fertilize, water and then cut lawns. Clayton is by a biologist. He gave us the sad news that over 200 otherwise healthy Manatees had died last year. He had photos. These giants hadn’t been hit by motor boat propellers, they died by choking on Algae. Run off from lawns has gone into the rivers causing intense red tide algae blooms. Once clear water became a green sludge killing the manatee’s native food sources. Clayton encouraged us all to plant native plants in our yards. These native plants would need no watering or fertilizer. These zeros-capes can also be incredibly beautiful with tall native grass and lush ground covers.

The second talk by Ricardo Williams was about “Absurd Movie Genres.” His talk basically outlined films that he liked and how they crossed established genres. A good story doesn’t always need to be pigeon holed.

The last talk, “Technological Telekinesis“, was by artist Nathan Selikoff.  It began with the Star Wars theme music and a look at planet Earth on the screen. Using a Leap Motion Controller on his laptop, Nathan held his hands over the computer and manipulated the Earth, zooming in as if we were approaching the death star. The Google Earth program allowed him to fly right over Orlando and fly down its streets until he reached Lake Eola. This entire flight was navigated by a new interface that before was just in Science Fiction movies. This new interface can allow artists to sculpt and draw in three dimensions. Most of the software is open sourced and the hardware has become affordable. An infrared light tracks the motion of your hands keeping track of its orientation in 3D space. Nathan wrote his own program called “Beautiful Chaos” that uses math equations to create forms in space.

Nerd Nite is every 2nd Thursday of the month.  These type of events are cropping up all over Orlando. There is Pechakuche, Cafe Scientifique, Tedx Orlando,  and the Mini Maker Faire. Get your Nerd On and help change the world. The July Nerd Nite #5 will  be  tonight at 7pm at Stardust Video & Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd  Orlando, FL)

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