Oh, look. A brand new godless conference, Freethought Festival 2012, to be held in Madison, Wisconsin on 27-29 April. And it’s free. You’re all going to go, right?
And don’t forget, there’s another free conference here in the upper midwest: The Midwest Science of Origins Conference, next week on the 30th, right here in Morris, Minnesota.
You’ve got no excuses.
And please don’t forget the free one in the Southeast on March 31st. Rock Beyond Belief in Fort Bragg, NC is going to fantastic. This will be a family friendly event. Camp Quest will be there with kids’ activities too.
Dawkins, Brayton, Mehta, Margaret Downey, Roy Zimmerman, Aiden and others will be appearing.
Check it out here: http://rockbeyondbelief.com/
My excuse is that I’m afraid to go to the United States.
Here’s a pro-tip for anyone unfamiliar with the Dane County Regional Airport: it’s incredibly expensive and damned near impossible to fly into.
No, I’m not at all bitter that I won’t be able to attend the Freethought Festival. Not at all.
(On the flip side, if you’re in Madison and you’ve some time to spare, the Henry Villas Zoo is a nice, small, free community zoo. It’s worth taking an afternoon to check out.)
Holey crap, you’re going to be there? I live 40 minutes South of Madison.
And I have my custom Pharyngula t-shirt!
And my Evil Little Thing sweatshirt if it’s seasonably cool!
I have NO excuses.
YES!
I have to miss the last day, but I will so be there. I only live a few hours away. Both my kids went to UWMadison, so I’m even halfway familiar with the area.
An impressive line-up of speakers… and I’m finally going to get a chance to hear/meet Richard Carrier. Yesssssss…
Freethought isn’t free, no there’s a hefty fuckin’ fee, and if you don’t throw in your buck o’five, who will?
Oh boyo!
Great line-up* and the price is right.
*Except for DJ Grothe, he is just there as a “controversialist” blogger who is only looking for an “uptick” in page hits.
Every time I read “uptick in page hits” I ask myself, “How can I turn this into a euphemism for some kind of fucking?” And, as yet, I haven’t found an answer.
God, I have so much on my plate these days.
Brownian #8 wrote:
You’re overthinking it. Just add in a leer and a wink — and, if you can manage it, a nudge. In formal public situations, a ‘knowing look’ can be sufficient.
That’s not a bad idea, but I pretty much do that with every other phrase already (in person, at least). Seems like I’m just coasting on past successes.
Brownian #10 wrote:
“Coasting on past successes.” Ooooh — yeah. Heheheh. I’ve heard about those people who … ahem….are all into “coasting on past successes” … if you know what I mean (*wink*wink*nudge*nudge*)
Ow! Stop nudging me Sastra. And what’s wrong with your eye? Is there something in it? Honestly, you’re acting all weird. Stop it.
“Is there something in it?”
Ha! Ya never know!
winknudge
Are all the speakers at this conference “pure” enough? Maybe someone there has some unreasonable fear that should disqualify them from speaking.
Really? Some people complain about an anti-atheist congressman and an antivaxxer speaking at REASON Rally, and you come up with this? Go away please.
Like of brown people?
oops, strong tag messup up there.
Ing: We haz Comic sans now!
Gah! First they schedule the Reason Rally on the same weekend I’m going to GaryCon, now they’ve got this going on the same day off where I’m going to Little Wars in the morning and Cinematic Titanic in the evening.
I can’t win.
Wish I could, but we’re understaffed where I work and I’m doing the work of anywhere from 3 to 7 people on any given day. Even more frustrating is that I’m about halfway between Madison and Morris (near the intersection of 394 and 494).
PZ,
Sure — only vicariously, admittedly.
But I hope for insider reportage.
<cough>
:-( 26 years and two college degrees in Madison, and this shows up long after I leave. The best we had back then was some “science supports creationism” speaker on campus in the early ’80s, where the speaker was soundly ridiculed and a huge fight broke out. (That’s what happens when half the audience brings beer…)
I still get back to Madison a couple times a year, but the timing for this is not to be.
Somebody please stop by the Great Dane, get an Imperial IPA and an order of deep fried cheese curds, and then come back here and describe it in great detail. It’ll be August before I get my next fix and I’m already feeling the shakes.
And somebody else please stop by the Parthenon on State Street and get a gyros and fries. I need my vicarious fix there as well. Even though Parthenon has gone downhill since the ’80s when Zorba’s was right across the street, it’s better than anything I’ve gotten in New England so far.
And yes, I said deep fried cheese curds. Ecstasy. My daughter wasn’t born in Wisconsin, nor has she ever lived there. But she’s a Wisconsin girl at heart and would kill for a basket of cheese curds. So would I.
Well if someone hadn’t stuck this stupid ocean in the way (not to mention the impertinence of the TSA), I’d be there like a shot.
(does mention the TSA in the same sentence a ‘shot’ get me on a list somewhere?)
So, I mention it to my granddaughter who is completing the process of starting a Secular Student Alliance group at her high school and that was my first “mistake”. So, I am going and all of my excuses are worthless. It’s a bit of a drive, but I’ve done it before. Madison is a great town to visit. Hope to have a chance to mingle with the luminaries. Maybe even a beer with PZ?