Special Event – Adrienne Hill: Tourette Syndrome; Sounds, movement and myths

Join us for an evening with Adrienne at The Stolberg Hotel, 197 Plenty Road Preston.
Date: 31st March
Dinner from 6pm, Talk at 7:30pm
Adrienne is a retired high school math teacher from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, who discovered a world of skepticism from her adult children, who would buy her skeptical books and challenge her reasoning by identifying logical fallacies. Discovering the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia group run by Susan Gerbic and being trained as a Wikipedia editor opened a new world to her. She has spoken at numerous Skepticamps, Skeptics in the Pub, and the Western Canadian Reason Conference (WeCanReason).

She was a regular volunteer on Richard Saunders’ Great Australian Prediction Project and wrote her first skeptical article, titled “Not For Prophet,” about the team’s efforts for The Skeptic magazine. She has continued to write articles for The Skeptic, AIPT Comics, and Skeptical Inquirer. She is a regular contributor to the Skeptic Zone Podcast, featured in “You Can Count on Adrienne” and “The Loons From Canada with Kate and Allie.” She has also recently played Psychic Penny in Richard’s AI-written space adventure.

START TIME: 6:00 pm for dinner, with the presentation beginning at 7:30pm.
LOCATION: Function Room at The Stolberg Hotel, 197 Plenty Road Preston. The 86 tram route is close, and Bell train station – situated on the Epping line – is a short walk away. Bell Street Bus Line has buses running right past the venue.
$5 donation requested to cover venue costs.

Movie Night – The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You To See

The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You to See produced and presented by Brian Dunning, has had some impressive reviews. “It’s a master class on how to do a logical take”, wrote Philosophy professor Dr. David Kyle Johnson who also observed, the movie “is not just a movie, it’s a documentary that utilizes, and even teaches, critical thinking”, in his impressive November 2023 review.

On Monday 17 March, feel free to come along to the Stolberg Hotel, 197 Plenty Road Preston (cnr Bell St.) for dinner from 6.00 PM onwards, and a screening from 7.30 PM. We will also have time for some discussion about UFO/UAP phenomena, and will revisit some predictions about UFOs made by Australian Skeptics’ 2023 Bent Spoon winner, Ross Coulthart.

NB: Due to copyright restrictions we won’t screen the movie over Zoom. Zoom attendees may log in at 9.15 PM for the discussion (details below). You can view the movie at You Tube here.

The UFO movie THEY don't want you to see

Location: Stolberg Hotel, 197 Plenty Road Preston (cnr Bell St.), is close to public transport. Bell train station on the Epping line is within walking distance and the 86 Tram route is just nearby. Bell Street Buses run from Eltham and Greensborough to the end of Bell Street in Pascoe Vale South.

Google Map Reference

https://zoom.us/j/95836417359?pwd=N3B3b2tQcjQyQ1VBMFQ0c1NSTWRFZz09

Meeting ID: 958 3641 7359
Passcode: 704370

Donation appreciated: $5.00

Vale Roy Arnott

Terry Kelly and Ken Greatorex share their thoughts about former Treasurer, Roy Arnott.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of the former Treasurer of the Australian Skeptics Victorian Branch (Inc), Roy Arnott (OAM).

Roy Arnott

Roy was a formidable Treasurer for many years and he also contributed largely to sorting out our Constitution. He was a clear thinker, thorough, and a particularly pithy communicator…”. The Prince Of Pith” he was labelled. Those of you who attended skeptic events at La Notte in Lygon Street Carlton, may also remember Roy assessing door takings. After counting heads and coins Roy would ultimately announce, “Correct weight”. 

This ability to say a lot in a few words also enabled him to be a regularly published contributor to The Age “Letters To The Editor”. They weren’t long letters. Nonetheless, on the topic of military history and skepticism, Roy penned An Atheist in the Army in 2009 [The Skeptic March 2009, p.48].

Roy was also humorous, warm, charming and good company. He has been greatly missed in Skeptics circles since his health made it difficult to maintain his regular and much valued Skeptical activities.

In one of his other lives Roy was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) [The Skeptic Sept 2015, p.5]. The official citation states his award was on 8th June 2015 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Roy was recognised for service to the preservation of military history, and to veterans. 

Roy enlisted in the CMF (later the Australian Army Reserve) in 1959 retiring as a Warrant Officer Class 2 in 1996.

His civilian career was in the Australian Public Service, mainly in Defence related departments. In the latter years Roy transferred from Defence and his terminal posting with the APS was a six year term with the Australian National Audit Office.

He subsequently did consultancy work for the Government post retirement and was given his OAM mainly for his voluntary work with the army Museum and its history. Roy curated for the Prince of Wales Light Horse Regiment, spending a day per week at the museum/reading room at the Watsonia Barracks. Roy also authored a small book on the history of the regiment, published in 2008.

He was also adept at setting and solving cryptic crosswords. Vic Skeptics website featured a monthly skeptical crossword puzzle. For about 8 years it came with two sets of clues: Ken Greatorex supplied the “straight” set of clues and Roy provided the “cryptic” set, i.e. about 100 sets. These were popular with viewers from around the world.

Finally – and Roy might have enjoyed this – he was difficult to find in The Age Obituaries because he was listed as Roy Arnott OAM, so he was in the “O”s, a long way from the “A”s (A.I. fail?). It wouldn’t have been a laugh out loud respone, more like a wry grin and a sigh of great amusement.

Highly respected and sadly missed.

Condolences to his wife June and family.

Terry Kelly and Ken Greatorex.

Surf Coast Skepticamp 2025

It’s time once again to start thinking about Surf Coast Skepticamp – the delightful gathering of skeptics at Aireys Inlet on the Great Ocean Road.

This year the event is being held at Aireys Inlet Community Hall from 10.30am to 4.30pm. The journey from Melbourne is around 1 hour 45 minutes by combustion engine, battery, or hybrid powered vehicles. Time absolutely slides by as the stunning vista of Great Ocean Road scenery cruises by. The cost, of course, is free. But you can still help with arrangements by popping into Eventbrite here and picking up a ticket. Full details are available there also.

Topics covered in the past include: UFOs (Saunders & Dunning beamed live from Bend, Oregon!), Anti-vaxxers after COVID, Going Solar, Fake Martial Arts, Catching Academic Cheats, Climate change in Australia: fact vs. fiction, Crowdfunding Scams, Shayna Jack, sports supplements and regulators, The Weeping Woman and Other Tales: The Belief in the Supernatural in Latin America, Quiz: Just how smart are skeptics?, and much more.

Come along and enjoy the day. Or, why not bring your interests to Skepticamp and present a 20 minute-ish talk? If that sounds like you, just drop an email with your details and chosen topic to sleepy.song6236@fastmail.com. And if your topic just happens to be about sleepy songs well that’s fine also. Skeptical thoughts on public health, alternatives to medicine, communicating with the dead, UFO/UAP reports, or the many bizarre claims reaching social media; any and all are welcome. 

We break for lunch and visit the various eateries around Aireys Inlet then finish the evening with a wind down and meal at Aireys pub. 

See you there!

SKEPTICON 2019 update


The Skepticon2019 speaker lineup now includes:

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe

Susan Gerbic

Jo Thornely

Professor Fiona Fidler: The Replication Crisis in the Social Sciences

Dr Sue Ieraci: Medical Anti-Science Bingo

Ross Balch: Of Microbes and Monsters

Dr Brad McKay: Home Remedies That Work?

Tina Hanigan: Should Darwin have been surprised at the spread of Skeptism in Europe following his publication ‘On the Origin of Species’?

Brendan O’Brien: The Explosion of Citizen Science

Matt Nurse: Motivated numeracy – why smart people reject the facts they don’t like

and “Australia’s Honest Con Man” Nicholas J Johnson: Bullshit For Skeptics

SKEPTICON 2019’s dedicated website for information and booking is at https://skepticon.org.au

Important SKEPTICON 2019 dates:

5th December: Skeptics Trivia Night at The Clyde Hotel. Hosted by Tony Pitman and Ken Greatorex, this is a fund-raiser, at $15 per head. It’s not strictly a Skepticon event, and not just for Skepticon visitors. However, with our regular locals and regional, interstate and overseas visitors participating, this fifteenth annual Vic Skeptics Trivia night should be fun. Meal from 6:00 pm, eyes down at 7:15.

6th December: Conference commencement and “meet and greet” at The Dan O’Connell Hotel.

7th December: Two Day conference commences at Carrillo Gantner Theatre, University of Melbourne Swanston Street

7th December: Conference Dinner (sold out!)

8th December: Final day of conference

May 2019 Puzzles

Head to the PUZZLES PAGE for May’s aliquot of puzzlement.

The usual seven Picture Puzzles are either quaintly bemusing or the product of a deranged mind……….. It depends on your individual point of view.

The  Skeptical Crossword is, (with just a hint of sarcasm) entitled Wellness! and comes with a set of standard and cryptic clues.

with twenty “Mixed Bag” triva type questions that get progressively harder.

and ten Logic and Maths Puzzles with in-depth solutions.

Enjoy!

Puzzles for August 2018

The Skeptical Crossword for August 2018 is themed to Religious Ideas.

96 August 2018 Crossword Religious Ideas

Our Skeptical crosswords generally have two sets of clues, one “standard” and the other “cryptic”. These monthly crosswords are all available in archive, are all based on themes related to Skepticism, and go back to 2010.

Other crosswords, wordsearches and cryptograms specifically for classroom use are available here: https://skeptics.cafe/useful-info/


Our Mixed Bag Questions have a format of twenty trivia-type questions, (ten “easy”and ten “harder”), with answers supplied.

08 August 2018 Mixed bag questions

All of our previous sets of Mixed Bag Questions are available in archive.


Our Logic & Maths Puzzles consist of ten questions of varying levels of difficulty. Solutions are supplied.

Logic and Maths Puzzles 73 August 2018 

There are now over seventy such puzzles available in archive


A new set of Picture Puzzles can be found each month at the top of the Puzzles Page.

Enjoy!


PUZZLES ARCHIVES

https://skeptics.cafe/puzzles/puzzles-archives/


Puzzles for March 2018

New for March:

Enjoy!

Puzzles for February 2018

Our Puzzles Page has been updated. All monthly puzzles from 2016 and 2017 have been placed in a new PUZZLES ARCHIVE 7 
Our Puzzles Archives go back to 2010
https://skeptics.cafe/puzzles/puzzles-archives/

New for February are:

  • a new set of Picture Puzzles
  • Mixed Bag Questions (Twenty Trivia / General Knowledge questions)
  • Skeptical Crossword, this month’s theme being Astrology
  • More Logic & Maths Puzzles. 

ENJOY!