Tag: music

Nerd Nite #17: Polaroids, Vampires, and Nerd Jams

If you are a fan of TED talks, the Discovery Channel, Wikipedia binges, and drinking, Nerd Nite is the show for you!

Thursday, November 19, Nerd Nite Denver goes back in time to talk polaroids and vampires and then wraps up the night with some epic rock from renowned nerd band The Stubby Shillelaghs!

Join us in November as über geek Brian Stevenson shows us how the Polaroid camera changed the world; author duo Harris Gray talk about the value of in-person vampire research in the internet age; and The Stubby Shillelaghs debut their new nerd-themed album Critical Fail. Plus, we’re excited to bust out some new Nerd Nite swag!

Grab your tickets!

  • When: Thursday, November 19 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #17: Polaroids, Vampires, and Nerd Jams

FULL LINEUP

Reminiscing Immediately: Polaroid And Instant Photography 

by Brian Stevenson 

We can take a picture any time and share it with the world at a moment’s notice. Less than 75 years ago photography was reserved for the wealthy and only on rare occasions like Births, Weddings and even deaths. Artists such as Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol and William Wegman shaped their art and careers because of Polaroid. Inventions like 3-D Movies, Sunglasses and Tinted Windows in cars came about because of the many discoveries of Edwin Land. Let’s take a look at the cameras, the company and the inventor that changed the way we see the world. 

Speaker Creds

Brian Stevenson has absolutely no official title that would qualify him to speak on any topic whatsoever. He is however, a geek in every sense of the word. He loved being in band so much that now he owns Rocky Mountain Music Repair, a band instrument repair shop. He is an avid Magic: The Gathering player, and has a collection of hundreds of board games. He once hosted an online video series about board gaming, and rides a scooter as his main mode of transportation. He has been a collector of Polaroid cameras for over a decade and has an extensive collection of cameras, accessories, and advertising examples from throughout the company’s history. 

Vampire Research in Romania…Isn’t That What the Internet is For?

by Harris Gray

In the Internet age, do authors actually need to visit a place in order to set their story there? Like a brother-from-another-mother identical twin study, our writing duo provides rare perspective. Half of Harris Gray traveled to Romania for on-the-ground research for their vampire trilogy; the other half stayed home, pouting, and surfing. Money, peril, imagination, authenticity, eye fatigue, customs issues — all the key variables have been explored to settle the age-old debate: “Can’t I just make that sh*t up?” 

Speaker Creds

Harris Gray combines the writing talents of duo Allan Harris and Jason Gray. Together, they have written three novels, two screenplays, a Christmas play and a collection of stories from Jason’s younger days. Book 1 in their Vampire Vic trilogy was named a Top 10 Pick by IndieReader. Allan is a former guest columnist for The Denver Post and Jason owns Crowfoot Valley Coffee and Crowbar, land of rumor and embellishment. Their collaboration began in Jason’s coffee shop. Allan wrote and eavesdropped as Jason entertained his customers. One day, Allan found a little yellow notepad waiting for him, crammed to the margins with Jason’s exploits. Allan typed them, touched them up, and called it good; but Jason had other ideas. As their tales converged and became inseparable, Harris Gray emerged. While the two couldn’t be more different in how they think and write, Harris says, “T here is something wonderful and incredibly cohesive when we create a story together. ” In Gray’s words, “We’re something less than Sybil and more than Siamese twins.”

Musical Performance by The Stubby ShillelaghsCritical Fail Album Cover

Album Release for Critical Fail

This crowdfunded effort by The Stubby Shillelaghs was recorded at Denver’s Decibel Garden and features 17 tracks all paying homage to various pop culture fandoms, including the roleplaying/ game derived title track Critical Fail and the band’s Simpsons inspired reggae track Everything’s Coming up Milhouse. Listeners will also recognize tribute paid to the short lived television series Firefly, James Bond (Henchman’s Lament) and S tar Wars (I .R.A. Interstellar Rebel Army ), satisfying those looking forward to The Force Awakens movie release this December. 


Sexpot Logo

As always, a huge thanks to our primary sponsor Sexpot Comedy and to our photographer partners in crime From the Hip Photo!

Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Do you know someone who should be? Let us know!

Nerd Nite #13: Schrödinger, Dinosaurs, and Exercise

Miss the show? Check out a recap of the night from the Girls of Geek!

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT:

This show is now a DOUBLE FEATURE with local comedy game show Uncalled Four. Get a discount on BOTH shows when you buy your tickets online ahead of time! 

Friday, June 26, Nerd Nite Denver celebrates our first birthday! We’ve put it on a Friday so you can get wastey-faced on a socially acceptable weekday. Isn’t that thoughtful?!

June’s show will take a crack at truly understanding Schrödinger, horned dinosaurs reveal their secrets, and financial concepts shed light on the economics of exercise. Plus, a special treat! Renowned nerd rock band H2Awesome will show up to ROCK. YOUR. FACE. OFF.

Grab your tickets ASAP!

    • When: Friday, June 26 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
    • Where: The Oriental Theater
    • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite: Schrödinger, Dinosaurs, and Exercise


Full Lineup: 

The Life [or not] and Times of Schrödinger’s Cat

by Andrew Novick

A little physics discussion for people wondering about Erwin Schrödinger and why he didn’t know if his cat was alive or not – or did he? We’ll also take a look at an art installation featuring Schrödinger’s feisty feline. For a creature with a questionable existence, that damn cat is everywhere!

Speaker creds: Andrew Novick, Nerd Nite alumnus, is a Denver native and a prolific provocateur of wackiness in town. Whether as a performer of music and/or PowerPoint presentations or running themed events (PeepsBQ, Andrew Novick’s X-Treme Pancake Breakfast, Japanese Medical Punk Dance Party and Surgery Dinner), he tries to keep himself (and others!) busy. He is also an electrical engineer (measuring atomic clocks!) and an avid collector. Andrew has been called the “world’s most recreational photographer” – snapping photos to fit into the countless themes of his visual vernacular. Past art shows include (but are not limited to): Candy, Cuts and Bruises (~2000) and Super-Relative (with Samuel Schimek, 2010) and his recent shows include Japan Popsplosion! (2104) and Unstill Life (2014), both of which showed digital prints on canvas of quickly curated shots of brightly-colored subjects. Andrew’s latest collection is FOOD FACE. Above all else, Andrew strives to feature things all around us that are fun and interesting and usually provoke conversation and new ideas. Oh! And he is also co-teaching a college class about FUN!
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What big horns you have: A discussion of horny…er…horned dinosaurs

by Cyrus Green

Ceratopsians are a group of dinosaurs defined by their large cranial horns and decorated frills. Most people know of triceratops (some of us even have one as a tattoo!), but there are so many more! To date there are over 25 species of ceratopsians. Though these magnificent animals lived for only 20 million years (a short time geologically), and lived in a very small area (known only from North America), they were able to diversify extensively. We will discuss the many different species, how they are related, what we know about them, and the many questions still surrounding their evolution, biology and ecology. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs?!

Speaker creds: Cyrus Green was an English major in a former life until a class on dinosaurs his senior year of undergrad changed everything. After graduation he went right back to school and received his second Bachelors in Earth Science. He has been volunteering with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science since 2006 and has logged countless hours in the field and lab working with dinosaurs. He has also worked with the State of Colorado and the National Park Service preparing paleontological surveys. In August he will begin a new adventure as a graduate student at Ft. Hays University in Kansas.

Running the numbers: The economics of exercise

by Aaron Roppolo

With the plethora of fitness books, blogs, and podcasts available today, one would assume that attaining your fitness goals is a highly complicated endeavor. Nonsense. By utilizing simple personal finance concepts – credit cards, reward points, piggy banks – this presentation will lead the audience through thought exercises aimed at making complicated exercise science concepts (eg: oxygen debt, neuromuscular adaptations, periodization) easily relatable.

Speaker creds: Aaron is passionate about progress – personal, professional, physical – but above all societal. He feels that being healthy is a revolutionary act that, beyond expanding enjoyment of your life, has economic and environmental impacts.

He earned a master’s degree in Exercise Science from UCF, but for him fitness is a passion not a way of life. He is also engaged in investing, craft cocktails, emerging and disruptive technologies, local food, and science fiction literature. Aaron is currently working on in a social entrepreneurship project – keep an eye out for a movement aimed at raising awareness of and conversation around sexual violence.


Sexpot Logo

As always, a huge thanks to our primary sponsor Sexpot Comedy and to our photographer partners in crime From the Hip Photo!

Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Do you know someone who should be? Let us know!

UPDATE! Nerd Nite #9: The Science of Superheroes & Theremins

SNOW BE DAMNED! TONIGHT WE LEARN!

How do the Avengers represent our hopes and fears around science and technology? And how do you play a nearly century-old instrument that you never touch?

  • When: Wednesday, February 25 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Embrace that inner early-bird and grab your tickets now!

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #9: The Science of Fitness, Matchmaking, & Theremins

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Why You’re Afraid of Science and Technology, as Explained by the Avengers

by Kyle MunKittrick

How are our collective hopes and fears about science and technology demonstrated in the characteristics of each Avenger? You might be surprised to find out!

Speaker creds: NYU educated bioethicist Kyle Munkittrick works by day to revolutionize health care, by night he a can be found oversharing his opinions and over analyzing science, philosophy, and culture on twitter @popbioethics. His longer writing can be found on Discover Magazine, Slate, and io9.

A Century of Electronic Music

by Victoria Lundy

The theremin was invented by a young Russian physicist named Lev Sergevich Termen (known in the West as Léon Theremin) in October 1920. It’s a electronically straightforward but musically difficult instrument, and it influenced everything that came after it. We’ll take a look at these early electronic instruments and see how we’ve come back to the theremin after it almost disappeared in the 20th century, only to experience a renaissance in the 21st. Victoria will demonstrate the basic principles of playing the instrument, give a short lesson, and play a few pieces demonstrating its versatility.

Speaker creds: Victoria Lundy has been playing theremin in the Denver experimental/underground/punk scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, who opened for the legendary Silver Apples in 1997; is a founding member of Denver’s acclaimed nerd rock band The Inactivists and has appeared all of their 6 CDs and EP, and as a guest player live and in recordings with other local artists. She also was a member of Jackson Induced Mutant Laboratory and performed with them at the 2011 Denver Noise Festival and at the 2013 Denver Post Underground Music Showcase with ambient project Pythian Whispers. Victoria has appeared at many venues in Denver as well as Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, and demonstrated the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention. In the last year she’s participated in a series of musique concréte performances at the Walnut Room and DU Lamont School of Music, and concentrating on solo ambient work that explores the expressive qualities of the theremin.

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Sexpot Logo

As always, a huge thanks to our primary sponsor Sexpot Comedy and to our photographer partners in crime From the Hip Photo!

Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!