That which has sprung

After one or two fitful misstarts, spring seems to have finally arrived in sunny New York City!  It’s time to carefully store away all your thick woolen clothes and break out the Panama hats and dancing shoes.  (I’m pretty fond of these little numbers from Fluevog, for instance!)  I highly recommend kite flying in Central Park.  If your fancy favors the sea, though, it’s perfect weather either for sailing or that perplexing feat of strength which is rowing.  (I will never quite fathom why one is expected to face in the direction you’ve just come from.)

I recently had the pleasure of attending a reception for one Philip C. Plait, PhD.  Yes: the very same gentleman who wrote Death from the Skies, which I reviewed some time back (in summary: buy it!).  He is entirely charming in person, and came dressed to kill in a black suit and burgundy tie.  Now, readers, I have seldom been accused of being the most aggressive person in a given room.  Nevertheless, when the evening was coming to a close and a charming Norwegian lady (let us call her M.) started angling for an after-party at a nearby bar, I made my best effort to help pursuade the too-modest astronomer to join us.  He ended up joining us, along with another gentleman: George Hrab, a podcaster and musician of some repute.  I must confess that the two of them outclassed me both in range of conversation and in dress, but it was well worth the time to get to know the two of them.

This weekend I’m going to the home of one of the as-yet silent members of the Gentlemens’ Club in order to attempt a grand experiment: we are considering creating a series of brief instructional films on various topics related to the club.  Our first attempt will feature a variety of ways to knot a tie.  If these prove successful, we may make the occasional film a regular part of the blog.  I will keep you posted!