The Flying Circus of Physics show on the road:
In January 2007, I gave the Flying Circus of Physics talk for the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio Wesleyan University, a delightful school. The molten lead demonstration went well (i.e., I did not lose any fingers), and Professor Barbara Andereck graciously stood on the bed of nails. Later, and possibly because of all the pain, the Chairman Bradley Trees presented me with a large stuffed penguin, sporting a scarf knitted by Professor Andereck, with the initials OWU at one end. If you use my textbook Fundamentals of Physics, you know that I am quite fond on penguins, placing them in illustrations throughout the book. Here is a link to a photo by Joy Parker for This Week Community Newspapers (Delaware):

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?sec=delaware&story=sites/thisweeknews/012107/Delaware/News/012107-News-294120.html

In November 2006, the Flying Circus show came to Kent State University, where the audience was wonderfully responsive. However, I could not do the normal ending with the fingers-into-molten-lead demonstration because the gas flow to the burner became clogged. I was disappointed because pain is sure-fire way to end a talk. If you would like to see the account (by Anna Riggenbach) that ran in the student newspaper (Daily Kent Stater), along with a good close up shot of the beds of nails (by Katie Roupe), visit this site:

http://media.www.stateronline.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2006/11/16/News/Nailing.Down.Physics-2463347.shtml?sourcedomain=www.stateronline.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

Links to more photographs are given below in this blog site.