March 19, 2007

The Secret Science Club presents "A Nocturnal Garden Party" on Wednesday, April 4

GERRY MOORE LECTURES ON "THE SECRET BOTANICAL LIFE OF NYC" AT 8 P.M.
Ready to photosynthesize? Explore the weird and wonderful world of plants—especially those that thrive in our overbuilt, human-dominated landscape—with Gerry Moore, director of science for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. While other botanists are swinging through the rain forest canopy in Amazonia, Dr. Moore and his colleagues at the BBG’s “New York Metropolitan Flora Project” tromp through abandoned train yards, vacant lots, and traffic islands—on a quest for NYC’s botanical strivers and survivors.


Is this city nothing but steel and pavement? Nein! We’re gushing with biodiversity. Put a nosegay in your buttonhole, and prepare for FLOWER POWER!

GO OUT ON A LIMB WITH SINGER/SONGWRITER LEE FELDMAN AT 9:30 P.M.
“Imagine if Charlie Brown made pop records….” and that he lived in the concrete jungle. That’s the sweet, poignant, and satisfying sound of Lee Feldman. Creative wordplay, walking on the Williamsburg Bridge, cicadas, subways, and two-dimensional superheroes—are all inspirations for Feldman’s subversively catchy melodies.

Lee Feldman’s most recent CD “I’ve Forgotten Everything” has been proclaimed “unlike anything else in contemporary pop.” And Feldman’s rock musical “Starboy” has been called “simple and direct, and smile-inducing…. a trippy experience.” Don’t miss this musical night-bloomer and his florally enhanced digital piano!

--Imbibe the Aromatic Cocktails of the Night: the walloping “Planter’s Punch” and the deadly “Black Dahlia

--Before: Groove to tunes inspired by pistils and stamens!

The “Secret Science Club” meets April 4th at 8 p.m. (and the first Wednesday night of every month) in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn. p: 718.638.4400. Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic.

No cover. Just bring your own smart self.

March 5, 2007

A Night of Cosmic Mayhem with Neil deGrasse Tyson and "Starboy" on Wednesday, March 7




NEIL deGRASSE TYSON LECTURES ON OUR AWESOME (AND SCARY) UNIVERSE AT 8 P.M.
Is the universe cuddly and friendly? NO! It’s full of “monstrous gamma-ray bursts, deadly pulsars, matter-crushing gravitational fields, [and] matter-hungry black holes that flay their bloated stellar neighbors.”

The author of Death By Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson embarks on an interstellar journey to explore quasars, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, AND what will happen if you fly your spaceship too close to a black hole.

Dr. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium, host of PBS’s Nova: scienceNOW, and current chair of the Planetary Society, originally founded by Carl Sagan. He is also the “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive,” according to People magazine,

"STARBOY": AN ANIMATED ROCK MUSICAL AT 9:30 P.M.
In composer/musician Lee Feldman’s “Starboy,” a two-dimensional superhero from a dying outer-space world falls in love with a three-dimensional girl. Starboy zaps monsters, helps old ladies cross the street, and lives in an apartment with his uncle, “the mathematician.” Feldman’s songs are haunting, way past quirky, and strangely catchy. The chunky, colorful animation is by Joe Campbell.

--Before: Groove to tunes inspired by the cosmic ballet.

--Imbibe the Quantum Cocktail of the Night: the Big Bang—it will blow your mind.....

--Purchase copies of "Starboy" and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s best-selling new book.

The “Secret Science Club” meets Wednesday, March 7th at 8 p.m. (and the first Wednesday of every month) in the basement at @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn. p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic

NO COVER. JUST BRING YOUR OWN SMART SELF.