Gelflog

Gelf Events Calendar

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:03:49 -0500

Join Gelf for upcoming events. Next up:

February 2: Varsity Letters at The Gallery at LPR in Manhattan

February 20: Geeking Out on Geeky Garbage at The Gallery at LPR in Manhattan

February 2: Varsity Letters With Dave McKenna, Dan Steinberg

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:03:47 -0500

Gelf's Varsity Letters sports reading series returns on Thursday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m., at The Gallery at LPR, as two of the nation's capital's eminent sportswriters take Manhattan. At this free monthly event, hosted by Gelf, Dave McKenna and Dan Steinberg will read from and talk about their work. McKenna was, for 26 years, the sports columnist for the Washington City Paper, a stint that ended in December after an eventful final year. And Steinberg writes the DC Sports Bog, a chronicle of the eccentric and enthralling in local sports, for the Washington Post. UPDATE: At the event, Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins, a Varsity Letters alum herself, will be moderating a Q and A discussion with McKenna and Steinberg.

Graphic by Mister Lister.

Please spread the word to sports fans and book lovers. Event Details: The Gallery at LPR (Official site, map) 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.) New York, NY 10012 Blocks from A/C/E/B/D/F/M/N/R/1/6 trains Doors open at 7. Event starts at 7:30. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email michael@gelfmagazine.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) More on this month's authors: •Dave McKenna, former columnist for the Washington City Paper and defendant in a 2011 lawsuit, since dropped, by Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who sued over an article he hadn't read Read Gelf's interview with McKenna •Dan Steinberg, author of the Washington Post's D.C. Sports Bog and a previous Varsity Letters guest, when he held his own in a panel with Buzz Bissinger, Will Leitch, and Drew Magary Read Gelf's interview with Steinbeg Upcoming Varsity Letters (also at The Gallery at LPR in Manhattan) March 1 •Authors TBA Email list Enter your info below to join the Varsity Letters email list. You'll receive two emails before each event so you can make sure not to miss any sports wisdom. You can unsubscribe at any time.

February 20: Geeky Garbage

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:00:08 -0500

If we are what we throw away, then what we throw away is worth a close look. Join Gelf on Monday, February 20, at 7:30 pm at The Gallery at LPR for Geeky Garbage, a look at that most overlooked aspect of the overlooked—civilization's waste. We'll have on hand the New York City sanitation department's resident anthropologist and an expert on some of the city's earliest landfills to talk about what really happens when we throw something in the trash, and how it impacts everyone. Our speakers will be Robin Nagle, anthropologist-in-residence at the NYC Sanitation Department and a professor at NYU; and Howard Warren, an elementary-school science teacher and one of the city's leading experts on its oldest garbage dumps. A third speaker, yet to be announced, will join them. The Geeking Out on garbage will be held Monday, February 20, at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm) at the Gallery at LPR at 158 Bleecker St. in Manhattan. There is no admission charge, though your voluntary contribution will help defray the costs for this and other great Gelf events. Drinks will be available. Please spread the word and bring your friends. The Gallery at LPR (Official site, map) 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.) New York, NY 10012 Blocks from A/C/E/B/D/F/M/N/R/1/6 trains Doors open at 7. Event starts at 7:30. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email vjvalk@gmail.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) Email list Enter your info below to join the Geeking Out email list. You'll receive two emails before each event so you can make sure not to miss any sports wisdom. You can unsubscribe at any time.

January 5: Varsity Letters

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:20:45 -0500

Gelf's Varsity Letters sports reading series returns on Thursday, January 5, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., at The Gallery at LPR in Manhattan. At this free monthly event, hosted by Gelf, Mark Ribowsky, George Vecsey, and Dave Zirin will read from and talk about their work. Ribowsky is the biographer of the legendary broadcaster and provocateur, Howard Cosell. Vecsey, who recently ended his 30-year stint as a New York Times sports columnist, is the biographer of St. Louis Cardinals hero Stan Musial. And Zirin is the co-author, with John Carlos, of a biography of the track-and-field Olympian who sparked controversy with his defiant Black Power salute at the 1968 Summer Games.

Graphic by Mister Lister.

Please spread the word to sports fans and book lovers. Event Details: The Gallery at LPR (Official site, map) 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.) New York, NY 10012 Blocks from A/C/E/B/D/F/M/N/R/1/6 trains Doors open at 7. Event starts at 7:30. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email michael@gelfmagazine.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) More on this month's authors: •Mark Ribowsky, author of Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports Read Gelf's interview with Ribowsky •Former New York Times columnist George Vecsey, author of Stan Musial: An American Life Read Gelf's interview with Vecsey •Dave Zirin, co-author of The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World and three times before a Varsity Letters guest Read Gelf's latest interview with Zirin Upcoming Varsity Letters (also at The Gallery at LPR in Manhattan) February 2 •Authors TBA Email list Enter your info below to join the Varsity Letters email list. You'll receive two emails before each event so you can make sure not to miss any sports wisdom. You can unsubscribe at any time.

December 1: All-NBA Varsity Letters

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:38:33 -0500

Gelf's Varsity Letters sports reading series returns with an all-NBA night on Thursday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m., at Manhattan's Le Poisson Rouge. With the lockout ongoing, this will be the only pro hoops in town. At this free monthly event, hosted by Gelf, Henry Abbott, Harvey Araton, and Scott Raab will read from and talk about their work. Abbott has been chronicling the lockout tirelessly for ESPN. Araton has revisited the glory days of the Knicks, when Walt Frazier and Willis Reed won titles. And Raab has written a screed against LeBron James, who left his and Raab's native Ohio for sunny Miami.

Graphic by Mister Lister.

Please spread the word to sports fans and book lovers. Event Details: Le Poisson Rouge (Official site, map) 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.) New York, NY 10012 Blocks from A/C/E/B/D/F/M/N/R/1/6 trains Doors open at 7. Event starts at 7:30. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email varsityletters@gmail.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) More on this month's authors: •ESPN's TrueHoop blogger Henry Abbott (Abbott spoke at Varsity Letters in March 2007, then recapped the night; he appeared again at our fifth-anniversary event earlier this year) Read Gelf's interview with Abbott •New York Times columnist Harvey Araton, author of When the Garden Was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks Read Gelf's interview with Araton •Scott Raab, author of The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James Read Gelf's interview with Raab Upcoming Varsity Letters (also at Manhattan's Le Poisson Rouge) January 5, 2012 •Dave Zirin, co-author of The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World and three times before a Varsity Letters guest •Other authors TBA Email list Enter your info below to join the Varsity Letters email list. You'll receive two emails before each event so you can make sure not to miss any sports wisdom. You can unsubscribe at any time.

November 17: Geeking Out on The Death Gene

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:39:31 -0500

While the Fountain of Youth has, to our knowledge, not been discovered, man has long tried to imagine a world without death and aging—a quest that has taken in authors and scientists alike. Join Gelf at Pacific Standard on November 17 for an evening with a writer who has imagined a postmortal universe and two researchers who are—if not unlocking the secret to eternal life—at least trying to make aging less unpleasant (and curing some nasty diseases along the way). Our three speakers will Drew Magary, a Varsity Letters alum, Deadspin contributor and author of The Postmortal, a riveting meditation on a world with a cure for death; Aubrey de Grey, a gerontologist and chief science officer of the SENS Foundation, a group that works to promote 'rejuvenation biotechnologies' that could combat aging-related illnesses and, perhaps, aging itself; and Jan Vijg, chair of the genetics department at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an expert on the human genome's relationship to aging and death. Geeking Out will be held Thursday, November 17th, at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm) at Pacific Standard 82 4th Ave (between Bergen St. and St. Marks Pl.) in Brooklyn. There is no admission charge, though your voluntary contribution will help defray the costs for this and other great Gelf events. Drinks will be available. Please spread the word and bring your friends.

Graphic by Mister Lister.

For those who prefer spacing with their details: NOTE NEW VENUE FOR THIS EVENT: Pacific Standard (Official site, map) 82 4th Ave (between Bergen St. and St. Marks Pl.) Brooklyn, NY 11217 Mere blocks from the 2/3/4/5/D/N/R/B/Q at Atlantic Ave/Pacific St Doors open at 7. Event starts at 7:30. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email varsityletters@gmail.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) Email list Enter your info below to join the Geeking Out email list. You'll receive emails before each event so you can make sure not to miss any science wisdom. You can unsubscribe at any time.

November 7th: Media Circus on 'God-blogging'

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:56:27 -0500

Kanye West once (almost) said, "They say you can blog about anything except for Jesus." He may have been talking about mainstream radio, but can the same be said about the online media conversation? Politics, sex, abortion, and all the usual third rails of polite conversation aren't just discussed, they're catalysts for some of the fiercest and most active debates across the blogosphere. But what about religious issues? Are they part of the online discussion? Or are they ghettoized into religion-centric "god-blogs" and their atheist equivalents? Media Circus returns on November 7th with three diverse speakers—Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet Magazine (read an interview here); noted philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, a professor at the City University of New York and editor of the secular humanist blog Rationally Speaking (read an interview here); and Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Senior Religion Editor at the Huffington Post—will address these issues and others pertaining to religion's place in online media in a discussion moderated by New York Times religion correspondent Laurie Goodstein at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan.

Event Details: Le Poisson Rouge (Official site, map) 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.) New York, NY 10012 Blocks from A/C/E/B/D/F/M/N/R/1/6 trains Doors open at 6:30. Event starts at 7:00. There is no admission charge. Attendees must be 21 or older, as per Le Poisson Rouge rules. (Email varsityletters@gmail.com if you are under 21 and would like to attend. The farther in advance, the better; no guarantees.) Email list Enter your info below to join the Media Circus email list. You can unsubscribe at any time.