So Joe and I decided to go see the midnight premier of Prometheus in downtown Chicago last night. Yes the movie was good and my review will be up after I'm done with this post, but that's not the point here. The point here is that you should always stay until the end of the credits of the movie, because if you do you might get to meet one of your heroes. Yes, upon leaving the movie last night who should be standing outside our theater but, author, astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and People Magazine's Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive(2000) Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson Ph.D.
Lately I've been meeting a lot of people I consider inspirations and personal heroes of mine like Chris Hardwick & The Nerdist Crew, and Kevin Smith but meeting Dr. Tyson was definitely a huge highlight and because it was so unexpected will remain my favorite meeting for a long time and meeting him did not disappoint. The ensuing 30 minute conversation he had with about the dozen of us that stuck around was funny, and insightful, and everything you'd wish in a conversation with a world renowned scientist about a summer blockbuster movie about space travel and aliens. He talked about how evolution works, why aliens would build funny looking spaceships, and why you should never go to Charlize Theron for estimates of intergalactic distances.
It turns out that the good doctor was tasked by NPR to review all the recent summer alien movies and decided to start with Prometheus. It was just our good luck that he was in town this weekend to meet with former U.S. President Bill Clinton for the Clinton Global Initiative talks going on in Chicago right now when he decided to take in the flick. So be on the look out next week for his review on NPR's Morning Edition. Also I have included one of my favorite videos of all-time, it's Dr. Tyson answering the question "what is the most astounding fact about the universe?". I still get glassy-eyed every time I hear his answer, so please watch it and enjoy. Also keep your eyes out for Neil deGrasse Tyson's new show The Cosmos coming soon, and yes it is a re-make of the 80's series by Carl Sagan so it should be amazing.
Still Getting Over The Whole Pluto Thing,
Eloy
