1. Chiropractors & Private Eye
2. Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People
3. Trick or Treatment? in Italian
4. TED
5. Competition Winner
6. Puzzle Competition
1. Chiropractors & Private Eye
You may have read an article in the current issue of Private Eye magazine regarding the British Chiropractic Association and its libel action against me. Unfortunately, I am still not in a position to say much about the case, which will probably come to trial in the first half of 2009. However, you can find out about the case by Googling various words such as “Simon Singh”, “chiropractic” and “libel”. There is also a Facebook group that is following the case. If you want keep up to date, then you could sign up to it: For Simon Singh and Free Speech – Against the BCA Libel Claim.
2. Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People
The three shows take place later this week. The events are sold out, but I look forward to bumping into those of you who will be attending. Here are a couple of previews that give an idea of what we will be doing:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/three-godless-christmas-shows-1097299.html
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/comedy/article5287689.ece
(N.B. The blueshift-redshift error was made by the journalist, not me!)
3. Trick or Treatment? in Italian
I have ten spare copies of Trick or Treatment? in Italian. I am happy to post them to the first ten people who email me. The books are, of course, free, but perhaps those who receive copies might consider making a donation of £10 (or $10 or 10 Euros, it’s all the same) to a charity of their choice. Just email me at simoncontact@hotmail.com with your address. Please do not bother emailing after midnight on Thursday as the books will go very quickly
4. TED
I was invited to speak at TED a couple of years ago, but I was unable to attend. I am hoping that I will get invited again soon, but in the meantime I have been looking at some of TED’s online lectures and discovered some fascinating speakers. Here are some of my favourites, but there are lots of other thought-provoking sessions:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionary.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/neil_turok_makes_his_ted_prize_wish.html
5. Competition Winner
In the last newsletter, I asked: “Which American entertainer with a mathematical and scientific slant to his work was supposedly introduced to the UK thanks to the patronage of Princess Margaret?” The winner was Judy Paterson from Auckland, New Zealand, who correctly identified Tom Lehrer and who receives a copy of On Space and Time edited by Shahn Majid.
Apparently Princess Margaret mentioned that her musical tastes ranged from Mozart to Tom Lehrer in an honorary degree citation. This provoked a great deal of curiosity in Lehrer, who had previously been unknown in Europe. Many entrants to the competition commented on their favorite Lehrer songs, which included:
Wernher von Braun – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro
New Math – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXx2VVSWDMo
Elements – http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html
Elements (by a four-year-old) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWkVO6Bp8VM
Lehrer also wrote satirical songs, but he remains unconvinced that his musical jibes ever had any effect: “I don’t think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It’s not even preaching to the converted; it’s titillating the converted… I’m fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin cabarets of the ’30s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War.”
6. Puzzle Competition
I will be seeing Richard Dawkins at the “Nine Carols…” events and I will be asking him to sign a copy of The God Delusion as a prize for this competition. The question is this – which famous female singer was born of a Born of a Born?
Send your answer to competition@simonsingh.net – put your answer in the subject header and your address in the body of the email. The closing date for entries is December 19.
Have a very merry Christmas.
A Festive Cheerio,
Simon.
Ps. If you need to email me, then please do not reply to this address, as your email will not reach me. Please go via the website https://simonsingh.net and click the contact button. It takes me ages to answer emails, as I am struggling to keep up with my correspondence, so please be patient.
PPs. To unsubscribe, please send a blank email to newsletter-unsubscribe@simonsingh.net. For further help with subscribing and unsubscribing, please visit https://simonsingh.net/Sign-up.html