I met so many wonderful people at the Northwest Free-thought Convention last weekend!
Out of all the classes I attended, I was most impressed with the live recording session of the “Ask An Atheist” radio show. It is hosted by three people that give a lot of themselves in bringing each episode to error air.  The cast as recorded Saturday was:

Sam Mulvey – Announcer, Comedic, Snarky, Ponytail
Mike Gillis – Aquaman, Quick, Witty, Bald
Rebecca Friedman – Insightful, Patient, Sharp, Bilingual

By the way, their show isn’t free. Think about taking the Peggy Challenge to help raise funds that go directly to airtime on the radio.

Anu Garg, the man behind http://wordsmith.org, spoke around lunch on Saturday. After seeing him in Portland at the last NWFT conference, he had a high bar to jump. Anu didn’t fail to impress. He kept us enthralled with interesting factoids and comedy. Even better than last years. Hope to see him at the next con!

Just after dinner, we had a video presentation that lead into one man recounting the details of the Atheist’s Million Man March Reason Rally in Washington DC a few days ago. While the images and video production were great, the speech came off as dry and, well, contrived. You might have heard of this guy before. Dustin someone… I even heard he has a website. Should check it out.

Seriously though, the toast our own DWNOMAD started off with was a great ice breaker. Well done, grasshopper.  You did great presenting the Reason Rally to everyone.  And, on a personal note, the party and after party were great… 😉 On a more somber note, I don’t think I will ever drink wine ever again. Ever ever. Shout out to the SSA! Aleesha! Kendal! Caitlyn! Andrew! Eva! Eric! Steven! Christian! =p

A blurry-eyed Sunday came around all too early. Sean Faircloth called on everyone to be a part of the solution. Get elected to any public office and BE the change. Boy, the guy can rally people together. As much as I would like to spend a day with Richard or PZ, Sean would be on my short list of people I would love to get to know.

Richard Dawkins did not bring the fire enthusiasm that he has been known for of late. Instead he brought two members of the Clergy Project to have a discussion on stage. Jerry and Theresa were both atheists trapped in their vocation as pastors until recently. It was a very sad, yet even more heartening to hear them talk. Really wanted to give them both hugs. These two really have brass buttons, I tell you what.  Check out the Richard Dawkins Foundation or the Clergy Project.  See if you can help out.

Thank you to Robert Sanford for putting this all together! He tells me the next NW Freethought conference is already set up for next year in Portland, Oregon.  PZ last year, Dawkins this year – can’t wait for the next one. Pictures at the bottom!

 

The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson, the writer and director of There Will Be Blood, is set to release his new film The Master on October 12th. If you are not familiar with this film, Paul created a movie about the start of a religion in early 1950s America. The Master is a charismatic and smart man who – after creating a faith-based organization – attracts people to his beliefs. One of The Master’s followers is a young drifter who soon becomes indispensable to the cause.

Now, from what I’ve read, The Master is a complete work of fiction that does not parallel the life of one Lafayette Ron Hubbard – the creator of Dianetics Scientology. I truly do not recommend anyone watch it. I’ve even heard that Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those baby-munching atheists. If the rumors are true, Paul even co-founded the group: P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness And Normalcy) in Los Angeles a few years back. For photographic proof, look at this picture… Paul is on the left.

So to summarize, I’m sure it’s a good fake movie. I’m sure Paul Thomas Anderson eats babies and wears goat hair leggings on occasions other than Halloween. So, now that I’ve spoken all of these good an honest things, can I request the men in the panel van that’s been parked outside my house for the last month to please root around in someone else’s garbage for a while?

 

~Wesley

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