Tuesday 30 December 2014

While I'm away...

After such an eventful year, my blog and I are taking a two-week break. We will be back in 2015.

I completely understand if the conclusion of my globe-trotting adventures has left a gaping hole in your intellectual life, and if the additional torment of a two-week hiatus in this blog seems too great a pain to bear.

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Part 9: The End

Previously: Part 8. The Meeting.


December 16, 2014. 

Here's how it all ends.

Last week's post was written way back at the end of August. You can object that I've been eking out the story of my summer over nine weeks, but I hope you can allow me this little bit of amusement while I myself have also waited to hear how it would end. You've been waiting since last week to hear what happened after I returned to New Zealand in apparent defeat -- but I've been waiting since September!

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Part 8: The Meeting

Previously: Part 7. The Magical Kingdom of Science


August 29, 2014. Wellington, New Zealand.

I agreed to meet Prof. Prick the next day at the Palo Alto Freebirds. I got a room at what I hoped was a cheap dingy motel, the sort of place where you expect to be guaranteed at least one shooting and two drug busts every night. But this was Silicon Valley: the rooms were immaculate, and I paid $150 for one night. At least Freebirds was only a five-minute walk away.

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Part 7: The Magical Kingdom of Science

Previously: Part 6. The Student's Tale


August 27, 2014. The Blue Bayou Restaurant, New Orleans Square, Disneyland.

Many serious scientists have refused to believe the scandal of Professor Prick. I like to think that has changed, since I published the stories of his postdocs, his rivals, his old boss, and, most damningly in the context of the current scandal, his fellow PhD student. Of course, his many enemies could have made all that up; none of those people have come forward to testify openly. Even Dr. Boss, who is easily identifiable from the public record, refused to have his name included on the statements he sent me, and has been unavailable for comment since departing on a hiking adventure in Thailand.