Blithe Spirit

Friday February 22, 2013 @ 9:30 PM

1945, UK, David Lean, 96 min. 

Starring Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings and Kay Hammond

Introduced by neuroscientist Jason Mikiel-Hunter

Free with a $7 bar minimum

SMOKE SCREENS:

• Charles Condomine,  “It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”

• After the séance when Elvira first appears, she flops onto the settee by the fire. As her dress billows you can see wear the green ghostly make up ends half way up her leg, showing normal skin above the make-up line.

• Although they were friends, Coward was not at all happy with Lean's film of Blithe Spirit. He later asked Lean, "How the hell did you !@#$ up the best thing I ever did?"

About the Speaker

Dr. Jason Mikiel-Hunter is a neuroscientist who has been studying how mammals are able to locate and track sounds in their natural environment. Having entered the field of auditory neuroscience by the ear where he investigated the cells that actively amplify sounds, he moved into the brainstem exploring the different strategies employed by mammals to locate sounds arriving from either in front of the animal or to one side.  His findings emphasize the incredible speed and precision of the auditory system while also addressing why possessing two ears offers so many benefits to the auditory system.  Although once considered solely specialized for the task of localizing a sound's source, it is now believed that the same brainstem areas may not only help us to create an "acoustic image" of a room (i.e. how spacious is it) but also calculate how many sound sources actually exist in that space. After completing his studies at University College London, he moved to New York where he currently works as a postdoc with Prof. John Rinzel at NYU, continuing his adventure in sound and space.

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