Blog Day Afternoon 1 of 5 - Bill Nye, the Rap Guy

It has been well over a week since my last post- I have been quite busy- not getting any specific work done, but first helping out with the American Humanist Association and their conference, and then entertaining my good friends from said organization for a couple of days around the bay area.

To make up for that, or to interrupt the quiet you were getting used to, I will attempt to provide you 5 blog posts in one afternoon/evening!

Part 1 - Mike meets Bill Nye the Science Guy



At the AHA convention this year, they chose to honor Bill Nye, of afternoon kids TV fame. While most known for his work on Bill Nye: The Science Guy (Science Rules!) he has been on a few shows, and most recently hosted "Stuff Happens" on the science channel. The AHA usually honors specifically non-theistic authors and thinkers, but often the award goes to science promoters and rational thinkers. Bill Nye falls perfectly into this category.

Being good buddies with the people in charge of the conference, I was actually given the chance to meet Bill, and even cooler, hang out with him at the hotel bar for hours after the show.

I haven't had many brushes with celebrity before, but it wasn't long before he made us forget that he was one. There was some talk about oil spills, I asked if he was a fan of Richard Feynman (he is!), but the Science Guy doesn't want to talk about science. He wants to talk about old school rap music.

He talked of a favorite song by Kurtis Blow, back when rap music used to be positive. He not only remembered this song- he knew nearly all the lyrics, and recited them from memory. Unreal. This song is obscure enough, that even Google couldn't find me some lyrics for it.

It wouldn't have been that impressive, had it not been Bill Nye. We often want to typecast people- especially famous people, because we see a small bit of who they are, and we think they know them. But whenever you find yourself making assumptions about someone you've never met, remember Bill Nye loves old school rap. And that should set you straight.