Believe it or not, my life is not all work and more work. Matthew and I have had a fun couple of nights out recently; over the weekend we enjoyed a free performance of the Rhodes improv group (hilarious) and just last night we got to see the one and only Neil deGrasse Tyson!
Matthew managed to score us $5 tickets (original price: $40) to see the celebrity astrophysicist at the Orpheum Theater, and it was way fun! The theme of Dr. Tyson's talk was "An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies," which pretty much was him playing clips from various sci-fi movies and giving us a running commentary. "It's like I'm just sitting next to you in the theater and you're begging me to shut up," he laughed.
We watched movies that ranged from the scientifically ridiculous ("Gravity") to the scientifically impeccable ("The Martian"). Also, as it turns out, beer commercials can be surprisingly sound in their science-- Dr. Tyson pulled up three or four and grinned because they were so much better than certain classic films.
He also showed off his geeky side, like that time he calculated the weight of Thor's hammer and was totally shut down by another physicist (yes, many rebuttals were written to his little Tweet about a fictional object). He reminded us of the time he made national news by complaining to James Cameron about the incorrect night sky in "Titanic" for the better part of a decade. He was invited to redesign the sky for the anniversary edition.
Definitely a fantastic way to spend a Monday night!
Neil deGrasse Tyson
ReplyDeletePhysicist extraordinaire...
Entertainer, too!
Titanic sky flaws
Thor's hammer calculations:
A great evening out!