'Until Deutsch opens his mouth again (and of course, he has), here's a couple of fun links to keep you busy. Did you know astronomers are all stuffed shirts with no emotion, passion, or capacity for fun? Well, you're wrong.
In fact, a lot of astronomers are pretty happening folks. That picture was from the last American Astronomical Society meeting (about which I live-blogged extensively, starting here). 3000 or so astronomers gathered there to discuss science, astronomy, research, the latest news, and much more. After four days, we needed to blow off some steam! Enter "Out of the Rain". This group of hip astronomers (when going through the images, look for the woman in the black cat outfit, and another in the red devil outfit, for starters) combs the city at each meeting, looking for good nightclubs that will allow a few hundred eggheads the chance to revel. In January, it was the TomTom Club in Adams Morgan. We rocked the place for about four hours, and it was fun. Astronomers are pretty cool... except for that one dork I highlighted in the picture. Well, he was a pretty good dancer, and he did find himself surrounded by exceptionally cool, witty, and intelligent people, and he did party until about 2:00 a.m., and he did woefully regret it the next day during a business meeting with the head of a very large organization of amateur astronomers. But he had fun. Incidentally, a lot of other folks wrote about the meeting. I was particularly impressed with the views of this young woman, who was attending her first AAS meeting. She's an undergrad, and has some interesting comments. The next time someone tells you all scientists are boring, point 'em toward those pictures, and tell them that should try coming to the next meeting. If they can keep up with us, that is.'
