Around campus

Birds in the boudoir

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Ever wonder why they call it the birds and the bees? Well, the first half of the expression should make more sense after you attend the Jan. 12 Freaky Friday lecture, "How birds really do it," at Redpath Museum. Presented by the aptly-named David M. Bird, of McGill's Science and Conservation Centre, the talk will cover some of the racier facets of avian reproduction, giving the audience an exclusive, bird's-eye view of the "Mile-High Club" and a frank, inside-the-nest look at incest, homosexuality, sex changes, infidelity and divorce. Bird's presentation on bird sex will be followed by a frenzied display of bird aggression: a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds will follow the lecture.

Friday, Jan. 12, 4pm, Redpath Museum, 859 Sherbrooke St. W. Admission: $5. All proceeds will fund construction of a giant origami Pteranodon to be suspended from the museum's ceiling. For more information, call Ingrid Birker, 514-398-4086, ext. 4094.

State of the arts

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Campus culture vultures should have plenty to scavenge from Jan. 15 to 20, as TNC Theatre will be holding its annual Artifakt festival, a showcase for McGill student artists.

Celebrating the arts of both page and stage, the festival will include poetry readings and a 24-hour playwriting competition, as well as a music showcase and a dance performance. TNC, or Tuesday Night Café, Theatre, is the student run theatre company affiliated with McGill's English department.

Jan. 15-20, 8 pm, Morrice Hall, 3485 McTavish, first floor. Admission: $6 students/seniors, $8 adults. For reservations and information, call Jonathan Asher, 514-398-6600 or 514-581-5780.

Sharp science

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Keeping current with the latest developments in scientific research isn't always easy, but a great way to get in the know is to check out The Cutting Edge Lectures in Science series at Redpath Museum. The first Cutting Edge lecture of 2007 will focus on heart science as, on Jan. 11, McGill physiologist Leon Glass presents "Predicting and Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death." Monthly talks by visiting scientists have also been scheduled for February, March and April and will touch on such subjects as sea levels, rhesus monkeys, mountains and microbes.

Established in 2003 to promote communication between scientists in different fields as well as between scientists and the public, the Cutting Edge lectures are sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada and made possible through the generous support of Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, Dean of Medicine Richard I. Levin, Dean of Science Martin Grant and Provost and CIO Anthony C. Masi.

"Predicting and Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death," Leon Glass, Department of Physiology, Thursday, Jan. 11, 6pm. Redpath Museum Auditorium, 859 Sherbrooke St. W. For more information, marie.laricca@mcgill.ca, www.mcgill.ca/redpath.

Double, double toil and trouble

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In the final act of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the tragic hero famously declares that life is "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Luckily for us, the play itself is a tale told by a genius and it is currently being staged by the bright young members of McGill's Players' Theatre. Adapted and directed by Nat Stigler, this student production of the Bard's "Scottish play" will run from Jan. 11 to 13, and Jan. 18 to 20. Naturally, it makes the story of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth its main focus, but this particular staging also promises a special emphasis on those three witches who are always hanging around the cauldron swapping prophecies.

Jan. 11-13, 18-20 at 8 pm, Jan. 14, 21 at 2 pm. Player's Theatre, 3480 McTavish, third floor, wheelchair accessible. Admission: $8 adults, $6 students/seniors. Tickets available at 514-398-6813.