The month of November offers two nights of Science Pub at OMSI. The first, A Savory and Unsavory History of Canned Food, takes place Wednesday, November 8, 7-9 pm. While Portland can pickle most anything, its history of food preservation goes much deeper than that. Oregon played an instrumental role in one of the most exciting developments in food technology in the industrial age—canning. From its origins and explosive failures to its transformation of American eating habits, Jennifer Burns Bright (writer, editor, educator, forager, preserver and gardener) will crack the lid on modern preservation.
Next up is Every Brain Needs Music, Wednesday, November 14, 7-9 pm. Whenever a person engages with music—when a piano student practices a scale, a jazz saxophonist riffs on a melody, a teenager sobs to a sad song or a wedding guest gets down on the dance floor—countless neurons are firing. This multimedia presentation by Larry S. Sherman, pianist and professor of neuroscience at Oregon Health and Science University, explores all the ways we encounter music and how the brain functions and even changes in the process.
Both events offer in-person and Zoom options. A Savory and Unsavory History of Canned Food is at OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave., and Every Brain Needs Music takes place at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. Advance tickets ($5 suggested donation) are recommended and can be purchased at omsi.edu.
Would love to learn more about music and the brain during Dr. Sherman’s talk on 11/14, the anniversary of my first of several strokes at age 49. It took several weeks before neurologists at Kaiser (with consultation with OHSU) to finally diagnose my bifurcated carotid artery and put me on blood thinners.
During my recovery, I listened to “A Symphony of Brainwaves” by Dr. Andrew Weil and attribute my recovery, in part, to the healing classical and toning music I played over and over.
Unfortunately we are out of town, so for now I’ll purchase his book “Every Brain Needs Music.” I would love to get in contact with Dr. Sherman to learn more.
Best of luck the night of the 14th,
Beth Bonness