In January I am traveling to Austin in the doomed state of Texas for the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Pamela Gay (of Star Stryder and Astronomy Cast), Fraser Cain (Universe Today and Astronomy Cast), and I are attending, and we plan on doing lots of interviews and live-blogging while we’re there.
We’re also planning on having a meetup with our readers and listeners on Tuesday night, January 8th, at 8:00 p.m. The location is tentatively set to be at Iron Cactus, a place I loved the last time I was in town. The food was great! We’ll firm up the location as soon as we can.
This will be the second day of the meeting, so I’m sure we can get some other astrobloggers to come along as well. The last blogging meetup was a raging success, so let’s do it again!
December 30th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Coolness. Enjoy!
December 30th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I’ll be there. There’s also a post on Prof. Gay’s blog along with a thread on the BAUT forum about this.
I hope the weather that week is as incredibly perfect as it was today.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I hope to see you there, i’ll plan on going to the reader meet-up.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:43 am
I’ve been told that Austin is a fairly progressive place. Still, it is Texas.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:48 am
Astronomers like to party too? How cool is that!
December 31st, 2007 at 12:51 am
you know what they are going to say.. we are so interested in the stars because we are actually interested in god’s marvels!
December 31st, 2007 at 12:59 am
I thought you said God’s marbles
December 31st, 2007 at 3:49 am
I’ll be there! I lived in Austin from ’77 to 2000. Housing costs forced me to the ex-urbs. I now enjoy Austin (and dark skies) from about 50 Km away!
BTW, there are two Iron Cactus restaurants in Austin. I assume you mean the downtown (6th street) one.
December 31st, 2007 at 6:30 am
I just finished listening to your interview on Coast to Coast AM (one of the nice things about an XM radio that can record). Among the callers, the one that I found most interesting was the woman who kept pressing you on whether the sun is actually “alive.” She raised some interesting points that have in turn gotten me thinking on the subject.
1. If the sun is truly alive, then it must also poop. Could asteroids, in fact, be sun poop?
2. If the sun was “born,” what happened to the placenta? Is it possible that planets, in fact, formed from the afterbirth?
3. If the sun is destined to eventually “die,” will it be buried or cremated? Where are “dead” suns buried? Will our descendants be able to visit the cemetery after the funeral? Should we send flowers? Will it even be possible to send flowers? After all, if there is no sun, there’s no photosynthesis, and hence no plant. In that case, would sending plastic flowers be considered tacky?
4. At one point you raised the question of whether sperm are actual human beings. Could comets actually be interstellar sperm left over from the conception of the sun?
5. Did anyone see where did I put my medication?
December 31st, 2007 at 6:55 am
So close… but just out of range for a weeknight. It would be nice to meet you in person.
December 31st, 2007 at 9:10 am
i cant wait for so many astronomers to pour into austin! the iron cactus downtown is a great choice for a meeting place. i should be able to stop by and say hello… since i dont give my talk until thursday!
December 31st, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Hey Lugosi, the Sun must not be of the religious type as it does not have a binary companion, so it’s not “Born Again.”
I think I need my meds now…
December 31st, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Remember, the slogan for much of Austin is “Keep Austin Weird.” And they mean that in a good way, since Austin is a little blue (or purple) patch in a massive sea of red.
Much as I can’t imagine ever living in most of Texas, I almost can imagine living in Austin.
December 31st, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Aww man, i would love to attend that. I live in austin and i read your blog all the time. But as chance has it, i’ll be outta town. And guess where? That’s right. Colorado. And coming back the ninth.
Oh well, at least i’ll be skiing and enjoying the trip.
December 31st, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I’ll be there too, Phil. Save me a chair at the Iron Cactus…
December 31st, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Some unexpected facts about Austin, TX:
- It is legal for a woman to be completely topless in public at any time.
- Travis County (Austin’s county) was the only county (out of 254!) that voted against a proposition banning gay marriage and civil unions in Texas.
- Every Sunday, a TV show called The Atheist Experience is broadcast on public television
- More than 20,000 people came out in the rain to see Barack Obama when he first visited — his largest crowd up to that point.
- More than one well-known homeless transvestite has run for mayor.
- Austin was rated the 2nd best big city in the U.S. to live in by CNN/Money.
January 1st, 2008 at 1:23 am
Oh man, Plait in my hometown? I gotta attend! Which Iron Cactus will you be at?
January 1st, 2008 at 4:42 am
MH -
It’s posted on Star Stryder that it’s the downtown one.
http://www.starstryder.com/2007/12/22/austin-meetup-jan-8-at-8pm/
Also there’s a thread on BAUT:
http://www.bautforum.com/astronomy-cast/68381-aas-austin-meetup-tuesday-jan-8-8pm.html#post1137775
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
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