Ig Nobels - October 5, 2000

So, we headed into Cambridge for the Ig Nobel Awards Ceremony. We parked in Central Square (always easier than dealing with Harvard Square) and went to the Middle East for dinner (yummy pumpkin kibbe!). Debated whether it would save any time by taking the T, then decided to walk. Thus, the surreal portion of the evening begins. Picture, if you will, a woman wearing a full-length, hooded bubblewrap coat, walking and talking with a man who is carrying two pink plastic lawn flamingos. Then consider that, for Cambridge, this isn't anything out of the ordinary.

It was strange, like being a piece of performance art or something. Many people whom we passed on the street immediately started talking about bubble wrap. One guy actually exclaimed, "Hey, that's cool! I want a bubble wrap coat!"

It only got stranger once we arrived at Sanders Theatre. There was the usual pre-ceremony pandemonium. A woman in a lovely velvet dress rushed up to us and asked if we were the Featherstones [Don Featherstone is the inventor of the pink plastic lawn flamingo, and a past Ig Recipient]. I replied "No, but we'd love to be…"

We milled around in the lobby for a bit. Total strangers were walking up to us and asking to pop us, (and many popped without asking!). There was a man in a bear suit, and a little kid wearing an alien costume. The little alien really enjoyed popping my sleeves. A man in a flapper outfit popped me; I responded with a shocked Miss Manners-style "Sir, I hardly know you."

We tried to tag along in MOBA's delegation, but all their seats were taken. We wound up filing in with the parade of delegates (just behind MOBA), then taking our seats in the upstairs balcony. En route, the Duck representative stopped us and asked us if she could photograph us after the ceremony. We watched the festivities (which were actually more subdued this year than in other years-- not nearly as many paper airplanes, and a minimum of heckling). The quiet popping sound of bubblewrap was constant. The webcast captures some of the lunacy. If you watch the webcast at RealPlayer 100 speed (and you have a fast connection), you can actually see us (briefly) when we file in with the rest of the delegations. We are right behind MOBA-- look for our highly visible pink flamingos.

Highlights of the ceremony included:

• The Great Intelligence Debate, to determine which of the debaters is the smartest person in the world. Participants included top scientists, politicians, musicians, etc. The debaters spoke for 30 seconds only, and at the same time. Each round was scored by the Nobel Laureates, who held aloft cards that indicated the IQ of the winner. The winner was Natasha Rosenberg, a nine-year-old girl who was introduced into the competiton at the last moment.
• "The Brain Food Opera," a new mini-opera performed by professional opera singers and Nobel Laureates.
• Appearances by past Ig winners Don Featherstone (creator of the plastic pink flamingo) and Hyok-Ho Kwon (inventor of the self-perfuming business suit).
• The ever-popular Win-a-Date-With-a-Nobel-Laureate Contest. Nobel Laureate Rich Roberts was this year's prize.
• And, of course, the awarding of ten new Ig Nobel Prizes.

Afterward, we went up on stage to have our flamingos autographed by Don Featherstone. There were a lot of photos taken, although I haven't seen any of them. I've been searching for more coverage on the awards… Harvard's campus paper has a nice article; more press releases and articles here. We made our way out to the lobby, where the Duck lady photographed us, as well as a reporter from the New England Skeptical Society. During the obligatory pilgrimage to Tosci's for ice cream (mmmm, burnt caramel), we encountered more fans. The folks at Tosci's loved our bubblewrap, and we had quite the post-Ig gathering. Just wait 'til next year-- we'll have a real delegation!

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