Next week, we’ve got the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Australia (with a side event, the Freethought University Alliance meeting, just for students). At the end of the month, it’s the Northwest Freethought Converence in Renton, Washington. If none of those are close enough for you, here’s another: the Atheist Alliance International is meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark (nice lineup, too).
Come on. There’s got to be room in your schedule for a godless vacation somewhere. There are probably other meetings going on, too — they seem to be popping up like mushrooms.
I have plans to be in Costa Mesa this May 8. I hear some cracker-defiler may show up…
I wish that I could afford a godless vacation… I’m aiming at saving enough cash before skepticon to afford … free.
http://jesusfetusfajitafishsticks.blogspot.com/
Coming of spring? In Australia? Gotcha!
Being unemployed, there’s plenty of room in my schedule, but not so much in my budget. Hopefully Skepchicon will be at Convergence again this year.
Yes, the Skepchicks are coming to Minneapolis in early July.
Indeed, all the time in the world, very little money to spare.
But to hell with it. It’s damn cheaper than going elsewhere to see PeeZed (and Grayling). Though I fear I’ll be much too timid to go say hello …
Looks like a great conference, though one I can’t attend. I do plan on being at the Atheist Alliance International convention in Montreal, though.
The website says
Hm. No inside information, but I do have a pretty shrewd guess on who that probably is. If I’m right, she’ll give one of the most interesting talks there.
Really? You’ve become a presence here on Pharyngula. I’m sure PZ and other Pharynguloids would enjoy putting a face to your moniker. Many of the regular posters here seem like old friends, or at least identifiable acquaintances, now. Seeing pictures of David M. helped me to dispel the middle aged confident hipster image I conjured from his writing voice. The newly corrected image carries no judgment or burden, it just aligns the voice with a less false physical aspect.
Even if you don’t meet PZ face to face, could you raise a glass (or three) for me as a celebration for the cause in Ozzie land. I’ll be there in
spiritimagination.Sili #6 wrote:
No; you’re a Pharyngulite. You already belong in the category of people who say hello to PZ, because online counts, and he already knows you. So you’d actually be saying hello again.
If you think he looks scary in person, though, you can always change your mind. But PZ doesn’t look the least bit scary in person. He’s actually rather bothered by that, and I suspect he’s considering tentacle implants or something.
If he has tentacles by then, then you really do have to say hi, because what could you possibly do or say, that would draw attention away from that? Either way, you’re emboldened…
The way we can tell it’s spring in our house is to hear the catterwauling that results from one of our three neutered male cats attempting to copulate with one of the three spayed females.
Or at least attempting to.
Sad, really.
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D hipster :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Fascinating. What did I do to give you that impression? I’m genuinely curious.
I’m right, she’ll give one of the most interesting talks there.
Sarah Palin’s coming out? Kewl!
Melbourne looks like it could be fun but…it’s Melbourne.
Though it would be good to meet Mr. Myers.
Tentacle implants, would that make him Dr. Octopus?
For you skeptics and freethinkers in southern Alberta, the Centre for Inquiry offers a lecture by Nate Phelps (son of the infamous Fred) on March 14 at the U of C.
$5, or free with membership in CFI.
Man… nothing godless ever happens in Orlando.
Copenhagen sounds good, might go to that.
It was a number of things, but most likely it is my bias for wanting someone so well spoken and intelligent to be far removed from the callowness of youth. (I was an idiot at your age and I’m just a little above that at 48.)
Couple that with the insouciant way you toss off multiple languages and debunk assertions with aplomb, as well as the Cold War/Man From U.N.C.L.E. aura of your name and voilà – 40 something/retro chic/jazzy/soul patch wearing science geek and man about town.
It’s the potpourri of baseless, assumed clues driven by the detritus of too much television as a child. With no hard data to base it on, naturally I tend to create romanticized personae for people I feel I might like or admire from their writing. If there were other clues in your writing, I never caught them. It’s the appeal of old radio serials – the individual imagination fills in a custom rendering of all the images based on familiarity, likes and dislikes to sync up with what is provided aurally.
Radio voices seem to continually mislead people who haven’t seen a visual representation of them. Conjuring an suitably appropriate visage belonging to a sonorous or sultry voice is only natural, but sadly, it turns out that most on air personalities truly have a face (and body)for radio. But that voice…
Denmark’s close enough..
“Conference Pass
Be quick and you can get the conference pass for the low Early Bird registration price.
Standard pass: DKK 1100 / US$ 220
Student pass: DKK 800 / US$ 160 (LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
On April 1, these prices increase by an additional DKK 250 / US$ 50.”
April the first huh?
Now who would fall for that?
Not doing Sydney, PZ?
@#18:
I was also a little suspicious of the date, but the event is in Copenhagen, which is in my opinion the European capitol of Serious Business™.
I’d love to go to the convention in Copenhagen, but I’ll have to satisfy myself with Skepticon and possibly The Amaz!ing Meeting.
Unfortunately, Melbourne is pretty Autumn-ey at the moment. Apparently change of season in Melbourne is more of a cut over than a gentle shift…
We’ll try to arrange you some nicer weather PZ
Unfortunately, Melbourne is pretty Autumn-ey at the moment. Not sure where you are, but it’s quite warm and sultry at the moment. Not what I’d call Autumnal weather. There’ll be some rain over the weekend, but it won’t be cold. Last week has been either warm or hot.
Apparently change of season in Melbourne is more of a cut over than a gentle shift… Not really, generally the warm weather hangs about till the end of April. You get more chilly days of course the further away you get from summer. Having said that it’s not unheard of for a cold blast to occur.
PZ wrote:
I knew it! Buncha filthy freethinking druggies.
For the people living in South America there´s the Segundo Congreso Nacional de Ateismo in Mar del Plata Argentina, 2 -3 and 4 of April.
http://www.congresodeateismo.org.ar/
Bienvenidos!!
Unfortunately I live in Colombia and will not be able to go.
Hi guys,
We’re a week out from the conference and I still haven’t heard anything from BoS or anyone else regarding a Pharyngula dinner.
If I’m being politely ignored that’s one thing, but if I’m welcome to come to dinner with the rest of the horde, please let me know.
/me crosses fingers
Looking forward to seeing PZ and the Pharyngulites in Melbourne next week!
Went to see Dawkins at the Brisbane Concert Hall last night. It was packed to the rafters with 1800 people, all of whom seemed to be completely on side.
In question time, the only slight criticism was a guy who thought Richard may been a little harsh in calling theists ‘barking mad’ considering they’d been indoctrinated from birth. Richard did note that he hadn’t actually made that statement during his presentation and couldn’t recall whether he’d made it in the past but said, yes, perhaps it was a bit harsh … but not much.
A great preview for what’s to come in Melbourne next week.
And PZ, as the window between your presentation and the Saturday dinner is so tight, and we girls don’t want to miss either, you won’t mind if we bring our clothes into the Convention hall and change during your presentation, will you? ;-)
Damn! Yahoo sign in gives no ID. Comment #26 from Chrys Stevenson (aka Kristy Vensson).
Speedweasel, BoS put out an e-mail to the horde specifically asking if one of us was you – you need to get in touch with her. Her e-mail address is at the start of the dinner thread.
I can’t make it to Melbourne but I have been saving up to go to TAM in Sydney in November. Any chance PZ will be across for that one as well (Surely you can’t pass up the chance to visit Australia twice in one year! and while you’re at it, Western Australia has many charming features, particularly if you like sand).
@#26
Chrys, what is this ‘tight window’ you speak of? There is an hour between PZ’s talk and the dinner! You’re staying at the Hilton, after all.
For those who are going to the GAC in Melbourne next week, is anyone going who is not going to the dinner? If so, do you know of any organised event for attendees who don’t have dinner tickets?
There’s plenty of room in my schedule, but little give in my bank account.
How about Nashville some time soon?
I kind of got the impression that, since we’re almost going straight from the conference proper to the dinner on Saturday night, the dress standards aren’t going to be that high – really, since the vast majority of people going will be there during they day they shouldn’t be expected to either a) carry their clothes around and get changed there, or b) dress in their formal attire in the morning and wear it all day.
Does anyone know of a contact email for asking questions about things like this?
WowbaggerOM | March 4, 2010 9:07 PM:
There is only one way to sure you are not wearing the wrong sort of clothes …
Go nude.
Hi Kel, I don’t believe so. I for one have not been in the financial position to attend any of the conference (weep) and as far as I know the only things scheduled for the non-conference goers is the Friday arvo drinks at Y&Js.
Well over half the people are not even going to the dinner, we have had to juggle competing priorities as the GAC Committee in this regardl. There has hardly been boo said of the issue as people were emailed regarding the dress standard being only smart casual for this reason.
@Chrys, the Hilton is just across the foyer and 2 mins up the lift to where you are staying, there should be plenty of time for you! :)
Since Melbourne weather’s pretty changeable, I’m going to wait until I see a weather forecast before I pack.
But they’ve got a bag check for attendees, so it’ll be easy enough to take ‘shower-in-a-can’ (aka deodorant) along for a quick freshen up in between.
From the email Davo mentioned:
“There is no strict dress code for the Dinner, but at least smart casual attire is expected. Some people may go straight from the Saturday Convention sessions to the Saturday Night Dinner. It is entirely up to you if you wish to change clothes between the two parts of the Convention.”
I plan on leaving a shirt with the cloak room.
I really hope there’s something for me to do, the last thing I want is to be stuck out in Melbourne on a Saturday night.
It’s not per se a “godless” meeting but the Amaz!ng Meeting 8 will be held July 8th – 11th in Las Vegas. Richard Dawkins will be the keynote speaker. Registration has just opened.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/tam-8-registration.html
People with a “little extra money” and who would like to provide additional support to the James Randi Educational Foundation can sign up for a very small luncheon (~20?) with Randi and Dawkins on either Friday or Saturday.
George
I’ve bought my tickets for the Copenhagen meeting. Hope to meet some Pharyngulites. Though I’m mostly a lurker here, I still feel like a (distant) member of the horde. Looking forward to it all.
Damnitt, my thesis will be wrapping up in late May and I’ll already be back home by June. If it had just been a month earlier that would have been a fun diversion after defending my thesis, oh well.
Enjoy København, it’s really a beautiful city. Reccomendations: the canals, famously anarchist experiment Christianshavn, or the awesome gay district (also the punk/goth district, home to some really cool fashions, funky little stores, and some killer food).
As a long time resident, I can say that autumn in Melbourne is usually pretty nice (15-25 celsius), if occasionally damp – you’ll be needing a light jacket and an umbrella.
When we down here say “cold”, we usually mean that it’s below 17 celcius (and it would be on the tv news if a snow flake was to arrive intact in inner city Melbourne in deepest, darkest winter)
Do enjoy the conference, tell Philip Adams that gladys says hello :-)
(I personally have brokeness and family issues that prevented attendance)
The Ontario Centre for Inquiry in Toronto is having Consecutive Leadership and educational conferences. Leadership, today. Educational, Saturday Sunday. The complete program seems to be here (and not on sub-pages). It includes Magic for Skeptics, Godless comedy, and some interesting sessions.
That is sooo cool!
I’ve been on a ship next to the Sorte Diamant for the last couple of months! We just moved a bit though.
Grrrr… In June I have to be in Arhus, so I can’t attend, this is annoying! If is was held in July, I would be next to the Black Diamond again, I would invite you all on the ship, there would be much entertainment also.
Bad bad timing!!!
I wrote
[blockquote]
you’ll be needing a light jacket and an umbrella.
[/blockquote]
[p]
and, whammo, of course the next day there are torrential storms, flooding and hail the size of golf balls.
[p]
apologies to those caught short without SCUBA…
I don’t know about Denmark. Their latest tourism ads were kind of unsettling.