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jubuWe're still in Austin and loving it. It's very relaxed, liberal and sane city in the middle of the conservative cookiness that is generally known as Texas. There seems to be a lot to experience here and we are doing our best to see and do as much stuff as possible without killing ourselves in this heat. It's easily 35'C in the noon, so you can't really do anything serious before 6 o'clock in the evening. But we try. Yesterday we tried to go and see the Austin's bats (1,5 million of them) take to flight, but they didn't. I guess they weren't hungry. But we'll try some other night, because everybody keeps telling us it's awesome.
For a couple of years now, I've been listening to two podcasts by ACA (Atheist Community of Austin), The Non-Prophets and The Atheist Experience. The first is a talk show for and by atheist about pressing politiacal matters and philosphy and the latter is a weekly local call-in TV-show, where people get a chance to exchange ideas about religion and confront the show's atheist host with their own views and have a discussion (like this, fo example). For me both these shows have been very entertaining and I feel they've given me a lot to think about.
Last sunday I had my first change to see the show live from TV! It was fun because I usually just listen to it as a podcast. But that wasn't the big thing for me... At the end of each Atheist Experience broadcast the hosts invite all atheist or atheist-friendly viewers to join them at some local restaurant for aftershow dinner. And since I was in Austin, I thought "Why the hell not?" and went. And that was SO much fun!
I found the godless heathens getting ready for dinner in a restaurant called Threadgill's and joined them. The shows main host Matt Dillahunty welcomed me and I sat the whole dinner opposite to him and we talked quite a lot. I was expecting to feel a bit more awkward in a new social environment, but luckily their southern hospitality made everything really easy and simple. Also, I started to feel right at home when a guy next to me (who turned out to be a Physics Ph.D.) brought a small science demonstration device to the table and we had a long conversation about how to teach children science and how to make it interesting. It was a fun dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Matt invited us to come and see the next Sunday's show in the studio if we are still in town and if we are, we most certainly will go. In the end when everyone was leaving, I bumped into a another co-host of the show, Jen Peebles. She too was really nice and somehow I was more starstruck by her, than by Matt. Perhaps because of this.
It was fun. Next Thursday there is the Athesit Happy-hour that we are planning to attend. It too sounds like fun and it'll be an easy way to get to know some locals and have a common interest to talk about right of the bat.
But tonight we are in for some serious rocking! More about that later!
For a couple of years now, I've been listening to two podcasts by ACA (Atheist Community of Austin), The Non-Prophets and The Atheist Experience. The first is a talk show for and by atheist about pressing politiacal matters and philosphy and the latter is a weekly local call-in TV-show, where people get a chance to exchange ideas about religion and confront the show's atheist host with their own views and have a discussion (like this, fo example). For me both these shows have been very entertaining and I feel they've given me a lot to think about.
Last sunday I had my first change to see the show live from TV! It was fun because I usually just listen to it as a podcast. But that wasn't the big thing for me... At the end of each Atheist Experience broadcast the hosts invite all atheist or atheist-friendly viewers to join them at some local restaurant for aftershow dinner. And since I was in Austin, I thought "Why the hell not?" and went. And that was SO much fun!
I found the godless heathens getting ready for dinner in a restaurant called Threadgill's and joined them. The shows main host Matt Dillahunty welcomed me and I sat the whole dinner opposite to him and we talked quite a lot. I was expecting to feel a bit more awkward in a new social environment, but luckily their southern hospitality made everything really easy and simple. Also, I started to feel right at home when a guy next to me (who turned out to be a Physics Ph.D.) brought a small science demonstration device to the table and we had a long conversation about how to teach children science and how to make it interesting. It was a fun dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Matt invited us to come and see the next Sunday's show in the studio if we are still in town and if we are, we most certainly will go. In the end when everyone was leaving, I bumped into a another co-host of the show, Jen Peebles. She too was really nice and somehow I was more starstruck by her, than by Matt. Perhaps because of this.
It was fun. Next Thursday there is the Athesit Happy-hour that we are planning to attend. It too sounds like fun and it'll be an easy way to get to know some locals and have a common interest to talk about right of the bat.
But tonight we are in for some serious rocking! More about that later!
