Hey, if you're in or near Califormia this weekend, you need to get your ass to SkeptiCal. I'll be there, SPEAKING.
I know, you're thinking that this weekend is also NECSS… because it is. Because "Biggie Skeps" Steve Novella and Eugenie 2Scott have officially started the East Coast/West Coast skeptical war. So I'll be sippin bub with notorious skeptical gangstas… like you. Because you won't want to be on the wrong side of this rivalry.
It's exactly like the East Cost/West Coast rap rivalry in every way except that there's no rap and pretty much everyone is white… and the doctors actually have advanced degrees… and we'll be discussing skeptical and science issues that are traditionally rarely discussed in modern gangsta rap lyrics (like grassroots activism, the problems with debunking, extreme weather, and magic.) And instead of guns, we'll be overdosing on homeopathic tinctures. So maybe not much like the hip hop rivalry at all… except that we'll be on opposite coasts and Genie and I are getting matching "Thug Life*" tats on Saturday. Which I bet none of the east coast skeptics will do with you.
Ok… not technically "Thug Life" tattoos… but there is going to be a Tdap clinic, where you can get tattooed with immunity against infectious disease. Ink-free, so you don't have to cover it up at yor next job interview or lunch with your great aunts. And guaranteed not to give you autism. So it's like a tiny dot that says "Hug life! I'm vaccinated!"
Can NECSS offer you that?
No. No they can't. If someone came by NECSS and did a drive-by coughing, everyone there would die of whooping cough and diptheria. You can't be okay with that. Come to California. We can protect you and your family.
Plus, I'll be wearing a pink wig. And if you don't come to this (or Skepticamp Ohio) you won't see me until DragonCon. And even then you won't be able to find me because everyone there wears pink wigs.
But for real, if you are in or near Northern California this weekend, you should come out. It's going to be a great conference full of people far more qualified to talk than me, but with me, too. Plus it's the last time I'll be able to drink with skeptics for a long time… and I really want to drink with you. Not like you collective, you personally. YOU.
This is full of win.
Hug life 4 Eva!