SoCal meeting

[marinebio_guy]

Is anyone interested in the So Cal area possibly interested in having a gathering to talk ceph stuff?

 

[monty]

Is anyone interested in the So Cal area possibly interested in having a gathering to talk ceph stuff?

count me in!

 

[hallucigenia]

Whoa, when? where? Can it be somewhere I can get to by public transportation, and sometime when I'm not in class or away?

 

[monty]

My spies tell me Erich might be back in SoCal more in the near future, too...

It seems like the recipes of visiting public aquariums, research labs, and going out for beers works reliably for the TONMO crowd... The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach seems like a fairly likely target, although I think there are some smaller ones I've never visited that might be fun. I guess you work on Catalina, right marinebio_guy? I'd love to tour your lab, but I bet the time and ferry issues would make it harder to get people together...

I hear that the Nova Express pizza place is where the plush Cthulhu costume lives when Erich isn't borrowing it, maybe that's a possibility, too.

 

[marinebio_guy]

My lab would be hard as the public ferry costs $60 round trip so maybe some other time. I was thinking the Aquarium of the Pacific 1. because it's educational 2. I get in free because I volunteer there on the weekends. The cabrillo aquarium is also nearby but is a lot smaller but I'm open to suggestions. As far as time any weekend works for me.

 

[monty]

I haven't been to the Cabrillo aquarium, so I'd be up for that, but the Long Beach one is also good.

I also really like wandering around tidepools, and haven't been to that many tidepool sites in SoCal... These sound promising:

http://www.greatoutdoors.com/published/camp/pacific/explorewhitepointtidepools/

maybe that would be fun, too.

 

[marinebio_guy]

They are all within 10 minutes of each other. I've been to those tidal pools collecting sea urchins they are about 2 minutes from where I stay when I'm over on the weekends.

 

[SanClementeEric]

I've been a member of a couple of differrent fish clubs in the past that had monthly meetings. At these meetings they talk about the particular fish species, etc. and have auctions, where members who breed the fish sell them. There is usually pizza and sodas (sometimes for sale by the club) and depending upon location (like at a pizza joint) beer.

I would love to attend something like this for cephs. The best days for me would be a Sunday (but depends on which one), as I happen to work on Saturdays and every other Sunday. I'm in the IE now, but would be willing to travel to any coastal town for such an event.

 

[marinebio_guy]

We'll if we can all agree on a time and place we can get things going.
Any of the above places work for me and any weekend is good but I would prefer to do it by this month as I might be moving.

 

[monty]

We'll if we can all agree on a time and place we can get things going.
Any of the above places work for me and any weekend is good but I would prefer to do it by this month as I might be moving.

Sundays are probably best for me. I'm actually not doing anything for Labor Day tomorrow, either, but I doubt we could get organized that fast.

As things stand now all my Sundays are open for September, and I could probably make Saturdays work if need be, but I have a few possible out-of-town things that could come up unexpectedly.

I suggest we try to do tide pools + aquarium + dinner/pub or something like that, but I'm open to other options, too. Hallucigenia has mentioned a cool fossil shop in Santa Monica (?) for the fossil ceph experience, too.

I think Erich & Rebecca are going to be in town sometime in September, but I have the impression it's a whirlwind tour, so it's quite possible that they couldn't work it into this trip... but maybe they'll speak up on that topic? If they can join us, that would probably lock us to whatever weekend that is...

 

[marinebio_guy]

Sounds good sundays work for me.

 

[erich orser]

Youch! Whirlwind tour would be an understatement. Other than our 6th anniversary dinner, most of our time is going to be spent on Rebecca's business needs! Still, clue me in as to dates and times. I'll be in town from the 20th through the 23rd!

 

[monty]

ok, in the spirit of action, I'll throw out a strawman plan:

on Sunday the 23rd, we'll rendezvous somewhere near Long Beach.

A random site I found with google says the tides will be thusly:

Long Beach, Terminal Island, CA
23 September 2007 - 24 September 2007

33.7517° N, 118.2267° W

2007-09-23 01:45 PDT -0.20 feet Low Tide
2007-09-23 03:02 PDT Moonset
2007-09-23 06:41 PDT Sunrise
2007-09-23 08:14 PDT 4.52 feet High Tide
2007-09-23 13:27 PDT 2.00 feet Low Tide
2007-09-23 17:07 PDT Moonrise
2007-09-23 18:48 PDT Sunset
2007-09-23 19:28 PDT 5.89 feet High Tide
2007-09-24 02:14 PDT -0.36 feet Low Tide
2007-09-24 04:11 PDT Moonset
2007-09-24 06:42 PDT Sunrise

So the 1:30pm low tide sounds like a great time to be mucking about in tidepools. Maybe the folks who enjoy such things can meet in the morning and look under rocks for a while, then we can meet any less adventurous folks for a late lunch, go to the Aquarium of the Pacific, and then go out for beer somewhere or something...?

I'm assuming we're more going for "casual" than min-con with talks and panels and stuff, although I'm all for any show-and-tell we can come up with...

whaddaya think?

 

[marinebio_guy]

That sounds great.

 

[SanClementeEric]

Of course that's a wrong Sunday for me, but I'll try to switch my day with someone and try to make it too.