I don’t see how a lecture on the history of Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) could be interesting. At all. In fact, it’s such a banal topic, so boring, so tedious, that the exectution of such a lecture just might be… perversely fascinating.

Tonight, in the vein of the old Lecture Series at the Lab (c. 2002), Gabriel Mindel Saloman of Cex Fuckx and the Yellow Swans will lecture about just that—the origins of RPS. If you’ve never been to a hipster lecture of this sort before, it’s an interesting cultural outing in which sincerity and deadpan crosspolinate, as somebody gives a fairly informed lecture about an obscure topic. The tension that’s created between the casualness of the social situation (here, a rocker at a coffee shop) and the formality of the presentation is the real draw; I doubt that most people would even bother to read an online article about RPS history, but it becomes a lot more intriguing when the lesson is removed from its natural context.

Saloman’s lecture is at 7 pm this evening at the Downtown Stumptown, 128 SW 3rd.

And if you’re interested in getting a leg up on the impromptu RPS games sure to break out after the lecture, read about how to win (and cheat) at RPS here.