Nerd Nite 1
Hey nerds. It’s time to congregate over stimulating presentations and scintillating drink. The world wide phenomenon that is Nerd Nite has made its way to Wagga!
It’s time for our first show ever and we couldn’t be more jubilant. Our three speakers are going to launch Nerd Nite Wagga with charm, wit, and knowledge bombs aplenty. So pull up a chair, grab a drink from the bar, and get ready for Nerd Nite Wagga!
When: Thursday, May 28, 2015 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Union Club (122 Baylis Street, Wagga)
$10 in advance, includes a free drink
$10 at the door (no free drink)
*18+ event, no minors
Be there. Be square.
Inflammatory books: Book burning, censorship, and your right to smut
Becky Willson
Historically, books have been burned and banned for a variety of reasons. Books, magazines, movies, and ideas continue to be censored today, too often without anyone realising it’s happening. The issue of censorship is a complex issue. What does society find offensive? How and who should protect our innocence? How should we deal with hateful or illegal material? What gets banned, burned, censored, and refused entry into countries? The answers to these questions are not only interesting but vitally important. It’s about democracy. It’s about freedom. And it’s about your right to smut.
BIO: Becky Willson is a doctoral student in library and information studies at Charles Sturt University. Originally from Canada, she still has a difficult time with 40-degree weather and calling flip-flops “thongs.” In a former life Becky was a librarian at a university where she used to run events about censorship and intellectual freedom. In her life as a postgrad student, she spends hours organising her Post-It notes. In her life outside of being a postgrad student, she spends hours trying not to talk about her research whilst drinking gin and tonic.
This Little Piggy Went to Market
pennie scott
Trendoid eateries boast breakfasts of organic fair-trade coffee, organic sourdough bread, and free-range eggs for Saturday morning nosh-ups, but what about the bacon or ham? Most of us are familiar with the old nursery rhyme, This Little Piggy, however there is a pork [under] belly to this children’s ditty. How many have thought meaningfully about piggies going to market or, more importantly, where and how they have lived prior to their terminal trip? In this talk we’ll discuss the grubby side of industrial pork production in Australia, and around the world, known as CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). The good news is there are other options. We’ll look at movements to change this this outdated and cruel production model including farms right here in Wagga. You are what you eat, eats; so join us to find out about the how you can become an informed advocate for ethically grown pork – alongside your ethically grown others on your breakfast plate.
BIO: Since 2003 pennie has been engaged by various agricultural and business schools at universities as a lecturer, advisor, course-designer and board member. As a self-confessed serial entrepreneur, pennie has established three new enterprises in the past two years, EAT LOCAL THURSDAY, Springview Eco-Farm, and Bush Goddess Paddock Pork. Her happy place is spending time with her pigs in the paddock, rubbing their bellies and feeding them apples.
Pigeons, cannibals and vaginas: the story of my favourite parasite
Andrew Peters
They’re small, most people are disgusted by them, but they’re really important in the natural world – pigeons. Now I’m not talking here about your town-square variety whose natural diet consists of bread crumbs cast by old ladies. Instead, I’ll ask you to consider the other 300 species found around the world, 134 of which are in our regional backyard! They’re still disgusting though, and are inhabited by a parasite which appears to have colonised the human vagina – any guesses as to how that occurred… My adventures trying to collect this parasite (from pigeons, of course) took me to one of the wildest and most beautiful parts of the world, Papua New Guinea. It was here that my respect for those other disgusting but incredibly important little creatures – parasites – got a major overhaul.
BIO: Andrew Peters, a veterinarian, has spent the last six years attempting to spend as much time as possible on tropical islands with a mojito in hand. He discovered that a migratory pigeon conveniently visited all of the most interesting tropical islands in the region, and so chose this species as a subject for his PhD. Serendipitously this led to a lot of reading about vaginas and discovering the wild wonders of PNG. He now enjoys sharing his rambling stories and factoids with vet students at Charles Sturt University, when he’s not running in the mountains or fluffing around on his rainforest block in northern NSW.
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