Black Rock

3614 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL

Let’s Play Ball! Spring baseball season! Moneyball made a great case for data. Sounds great that somebody applied statistics to the selection of new baseball recruits…I’m all for that (just get me started on some Tversky and Kahneman research on military pilots) But how much is actual scientific statistics, and how much is hoopla?

From Nik’s description:

Michale Lewis wrote a book called Moneyball, about the 2003 Oakland Athletics and about the use of statistics in baseball. But he may have way overstated his case, and he didn’t tell the real story about why the 2003 A’s were so good, which had little to do with his narrative. At least within baseball, it’s a very hot and heated topic, even still.

701 N. 15th St., St. Louis, MO

(From official site) http://curious1729.com

College of Curiosity is an intense one-day conference and workshop held at the indescribable City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, May 26th, 2012.

This event features lectures, demonstrations and self-guided exploration into a wide variety of curious topics. Our goal is to broaden your horizons by demonstrating some of the amazing things that are part of the world in which we live.

$30 adults

$15 kids 12 and under

Admission includes:

All-day admission to the museum, including MonstroCity
Entrance to Pre-Show Performance
Entrance to conference/workshop
Optional afternoon and evening activities at the museum
An Event T-shirt
A Curiosity Kit

Besides the actual event, the location seems worth the trip by itself!
http://www.citymuseum.org

I’ve never taken the train beyond the City of Chicago, so riding Amtrak to St. Louis would be a lot of fun too.  Carpooling is another option.

Looks like a kid-friendly event.  Kids (12 and under) get a discount.

Upper Hutchison Field

1150 S. Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL (edit map)

From Friend of the Group Hemant Mehta:

I’d like to bring together a bunch of skeptics/atheists to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I’m hosting a group for the Light the Night walk and I’d love for Chicago Skeptics to join me. All the information is in the link below and you can join the Chicago group by going here: (http://pages.lightthenight.org/il/ChicagoL12/FoundationBeyondBelief)

Hope you’ll join me!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/02/16/can-atheists-raise-1000000-for-the-leukemia-lymphoma-society/

Even though this is put under the rubric of ‘atheists’ raising the money, it his seems like an interteresting thing to do even if you’re not an atheist (not all of us are), a true showing that nonbelievers and believers can come together for a common rationally and scientifically useful cause.