Wednesday, October 11
>>>University Temple United Methodist Church, 7:30pm. Religious believers can be co-opted, argues distinguished biologist and secular humanist E.O. Wilson in his talk "The Creation: A Meeting of Science and Religion." Blah blah salvation of biodiversity blah glory of nature blah work together. We dislike this automatic Religion-and-Science connection ("Ballet and Groundskeeping: A New Unity"), but he's a smartie. Could be worth it. Suggested donation: $5 at the door.

>>>UW Information School, 7:00-9:00pm. Info architecture guys Peter Morville and Joe Janes discuss how the challenge of finding relevant information has changed, how those challenges are being met (or not) with current [Ed: we know this one: Google!] technologies, and most importantly, what it all means not just online but in society as well. Maybe you can peer in on the future from outside. Tickets $10, SOLD OUT.

Thursday, October 12
>>>UW Kane Hall, Rm 110, 7:00-8:30pm. "The Mind-Body Connection" is the New-Agey title of a talk given by computer science professor Raj Rao, but it focuses on the real connections hardware and software are making for people with strokes or paralysis, or who just want the thrill of being able to play Tetris by thinking at the screen. Free with ESP RSVP.

>>>Town Hall, 7:30pm. Rick "Legalize It!" Steves co-hosts Seattle Follies with his tour of "Axis of Evil" countries. With Mike "Funniest Guy in DC" Egan and Stephanie "Real Winner" Pure. Music from Joanne "Seattle Songstress" Klein, Stephen "Throat Singer" Fandrich, and Rob "Piano Man" Jones. Also, beer and wine! Tickets are $10-$15 here, $13/$15 at the door.

Friday, October 13
>>>Elliott Bay, 7:30pm. Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins and Education Director Perry Lorenzo, opera's Siskel & Ebert, hum, in harmony, the complete score to the upcoming Italian Girl in Algiers, by Rossini. Always awesome! Actually, they discuss what the show's about, what the music's like, and why it's interesting. Any humming will be brief. $5 at the door.

Saturday, October 14
>>>Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium, 2-3:30pm. Alain de Botton discusses his new book The Architecture of Happiness in one of Seattle's most architecturally distinctive venues. Someone please ask him if it contributes to happiness by embodying ennobling values. (Phrase ripped off from Publishers Weekly review.) Free. Copies will be available for purchase, courtesy of event co-sponsor Elliott Bay Book Co.

Sunday, October 15
>>>Town Hall, 7:30pm. We're suckers for a good story. Just ask Robert McKee. The Moth Story Tour gathers some raconteurs -- a.k.a. highfalutin' storytellers -- to spin short, unscripted, un-note-consulted tales about themselves. Dan Savage, Sherman Alexie David Guterson, and Jonathan Ames join a retired pickpocket, an NYPD lieutenant, and a writer/director. How did we miss the cut? $12/$10 through Brown Paper Tickets.

Monday, October 16
>>>Elliott Bay, 7:30pm. Guest soundbiter Howard Dean says Jacked: How "Conservatives" are Picking Your Pocket (Whether You Voted for Them or Not) "is the first book I have read that sees the effects of Republican incompetence and meanness through the eyes of ordinary Americans." Nomi Prins angries up the blood with reports on the 46 million people without health insurance, college students facing a 34% increase in tuition, and the doubling of the price of oil since 2003. Free with a tax cut to the richest 10%.

>>>Town Hall, 7:00pm. You win a Nobel Prize in economics, and then what? Maybe -- just MAYBE -- you get invited to Town Hall to give your talk "Shaping Globalization: Making It Work." But you hafta wait 5 long years, as Joe Stiglitz will tell you. He'll also tell you how U.S. debt is destabilizing the global financial system. Whee! Tickets are $15 for the hoi polloi, $10 for students and people who know people.

Science Geek Tuesday, October 17
>>>UW Physics-Astronomy Building, A102, 4:00pm. (There's coffee & tea at 3:45pm!) Dr. Jon Hoekstra on "Thinking globally: applying conservation science to influence global priorities and policies" -- three analyses of habitat loss and protection, with their implications for global conservation priorities and policiesZZZZZZZZ -- Whoa, we dozed off there. Thank god it starts with coffee. Presumably this is free.

>>>UW Kane Hall, Rm 130, 7:00-8:30pm. How about this one, then: "The Promise of Health for All: Are U.S. Policies Making it Harder to Achieve?" It's moderated by Dan Evans. We bet the answer is Yes! How'd we do, Dan? Somebody go and tell us if we nailed it or not. Free, but you gotta RSVP or Dan Evans will use you as a footstool.

>>>University Book Store, 7:30pm. We saw developmental evolution guy Sean Carroll last year, talking about homeboxes and hoxes. Now he's going on about the DNA "forensic" record, which he says marks the end of the cultural debate over the validity of the theory of evolution. Free to anyone with over 94% DNA homology with chimpanzees.