Freakonomics and the SportsGuy

Two separate book events last night in DC:

The Freakonomics guys hosted a book signing at the Washington Post conference center. An amusing note beforehand - the first two rows were labeled "resevered" ... we spent some time wondering what fate was in store for those who occupied them.
They're great storytellers - it was an enjoyable hour listening to them go over some of their personal history, and stories in the book. It looks to be a fun read. And, there was an only in DC moment. Someone from the "Union of Concerned Scientists" got up during the Q&A and asked a long-ish, rambling question, the gist of which seemed to be "sorry some of us slammed you online, but I'm really a real person, and wouldn't you like to reconsider your thoughts about global warming?" which was met by a good response, which was "we're happy to discuss facts, but when you make things up, and do your best to spread them, that's really not a dialog." At which point, when the questioner attempted to suggest more discussion, he was basically hissed/shouted down by the crowd, who were clearly much more interested in hearing fun anecdotes.

Bill Simmons, the SportsGuy for ESPN, was at the ESPNZone in DC. The book signing wasn't until midnight, but he was out and about talking to fans when I got there at 9:30. According to his Twitter account, they ran out of books for the second straight visit, so I'm happy I didn't stick around until midnight. Looking forward to reading the 700+ ! pages on pro basketball at some point - hopefully, it'll be in the mail today.