Official “I’m gonna be having waaaay more fun than those bar stewards who are attending SciBlog08” thread

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I didn’t want to go to your stupid conference anyway. The grant deadlines, lack of funds and holiday time were just excuses, really. (Although I probably would have missed it anyway, given that I usually fly Zoom).
So. On Friday, I will be reading stacks of papers and attempting to turn them into a coherent introduction section for a Very Important Grant. Doesn’t that sound like more fun than Matt’s science tour and a pub session?
On Saturday and Sunday I will be gardening, making fig jam, going to a couple of barbeques, and doing laundry. I didn’t want to have to meet you all, finally match online personalities to real life people, and sit through all those sessions that really interest me. And I definitely wasn’t interested in your social events either. I hope your beer is flat and your peas are insufficiently mushy.
Oh, who am I kidding. I want to goooooooo. I hope you all have fun (really). Have a beer or two for me, please!
Any chance of holding next year’s event in North America?
So. What are the rest of you non-attendees doing that’s more fun than SciBlog08?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010
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18 Responses to Official “I’m gonna be having waaaay more fun than those bar stewards who are attending SciBlog08” thread

  1. Åsa Karlström says:
    August 29, 2008 at 3:51 am

    we have Labour day here in the states. Monday is off!! wohoo!!! I am taking Sunday and Monday off (and maybe even Saturday too). And then I will be reading, talking a nice walk and maybe go shopping. I know, very shallow but I kind of need some new fall clothes and a new pair of running shoes 😉
    and then I will make good dinner and lunch boxes. I realise now that it is strange that I am so happy about this mundane weekend but I guess it is because I really want to sleep in and have a slow weekend.
    And as you, sure + being in London would have been awesome! Lets hope for the podcasts.

  2. Richard P. Grant says:
    August 29, 2008 at 7:36 am

    bq. coherent introduction section for a Very Important Grant
    I like the sound of that.

  3. Cameron Neylon says:
    August 29, 2008 at 7:51 am

    Cath, there is Science Online in North Carolina in January next year. That’s probably the closest at the moment to a similar meeting in North America

  4. Kristi Vogel says:
    August 29, 2008 at 10:41 am

    I’ll be completing and imaging some DNA repair assays this weekend. For those who overindulge at SciBlog08, I’ll be happy to provide analyses of the genomic damage incurred, at a reduced rate.
    Actually, if I could get away from teaching duties this time of year, I’d go to Burning Man.

  5. Henry Gee says:
    August 29, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    ‘coherent introduction section for a Very Important Grant’. I like the sound of that.
    This must be a meaning of the word ‘coherent’ with which I was not previously acquainted.

  6. Brian Derby says:
    August 29, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    I will be: a) Maintaining children and getting them cleaned up before the next school term. b) Preparing presentation for grant panel next week. c) Harvesting the rampant runner beans in the veg. plot. d) Regretting not being at the meeting (see lyrical lament).

  7. Bora Zivkovic says:
    August 29, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    The ScienceOnline09 website will be up in a couple of days and the registration open – we are working on it right now. It is the re-named Third Science Blogging Conference, because there were a First and a Second but we realized that blogging was only one of the topics covered in those – there are other ways of doing, teaching and communicating science online.

  8. Cath Ennis says:
    August 29, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Asa – I’d forgotten about Labour Day! Sweet! And it’s my husband’s birthday on Monday, even better. Better start planning something – maybe golf, if it ever stops raining.
    Richard, all Grants are Very Important, according to the PIs I work with! Sometimes I have to figure out which Grant is more Important than another. That’s always fun.
    Kristi, sounds awesome… there was a mini burning man-type festival up here a couple of weeks ago, but everyone bailed on me. Maybe next year.
    Brian, your weekend sounds much like mine, except there’ll be no kids here and I’ll be harvesting rampant figs and courgettes instead of beans.
    Cameron and Bora, I’ll look into it! I am usually reluctant to leave Vancouver during ski season but maybe I’ll be able to get away. Mind you with Zoom going bust my trip to the UK at Christmas will probably cost a few hundred dollars more than I was anticipating…

  9. Bora Zivkovic says:
    August 29, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    Watch this space for upcoming information. We usually have someone from Vancouver come in (e.g., Jennifer Jacquet), some other Canadians, Europeans, etc.

  10. Henry Gee says:
    August 29, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Bora — as Professor Steve Steve is here, I’m assuming that he’s your representative on Earth avatar, and has a cunningly concealed webcam that’ll relay the conference direct to Chez Zivkovic?

  11. Åsa Karlström says:
    August 29, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    Cath> I just realised that I spelled it “labour” 😉 haha, I think this time it really should have been Labor… after all, it’s an American thing to put it the 1st of Sept right?
    Sounds lika a good plan to celebrate birthdays! And be off! Sorry to hear about the rain, although I’m sure you’re use to it? Maybe it’ll clear out and be one of those lovely “late summer days” this weekend. it really should.

  12. Cath Ennis says:
    August 29, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    It’s a Canadian thing too, but the Americans probably started it! It’s funny that it’s on the same day, as our Thanksgiving is in October. Which actually makes more sense as a harvest festival, although at school in the UK we used to hold that in early September. You know, harvest time.

  13. Cath Ennis says:
    August 29, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    Yawn. Checks watch. Not quite 4 pm yet. Does anyone know any good jokes?

  14. Kristi Vogel says:
    August 31, 2008 at 8:34 pm

    Hey, I just bought one of these, so that I can paddle around this nearby lake.
    Especially when it’s really cold, miserable, and raining in Ye Olde Blighty. Yep, I’ll need sunscreen and a hat while I’m paddling, because it will be warm and sunny here, until, like maybe December. Then I might have to curtail kayaking for a month or two, when temperatures dip into the 50s. Or not.

  15. Cath Ennis says:
    August 31, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    Nice! But where is the beer hatch?!

  16. Kristi Vogel says:
    September 1, 2008 at 12:19 am

    Hmmm … the beer hatch must be included on the more expensive model.
    The photo of the woman paddling her Sea Eagle 330 kayak, with her yellow Labrador retriever in the bow, was enough to convince me (I have a yellow Lab). There had better be waterproof storage for dog biscuits!

  17. Heather Etchevers says:
    September 1, 2008 at 6:45 am

    Cath – the immediate in-person socializing is done for this round, but there are a number of transcripts and presumably, podcasts of the actual content of the conference that have been recorded and are being posted. I suppose someone will be organized and put up the information or a distillation thereof on the forum here. If you just want to be jealous (the way I get when I look at Bora’s photos from similar events) then there are some photos up at Flickr tagged “sciblog”.

  18. Cath Ennis says:
    September 2, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    Thanks Heather! I’m planning to work my way gradually through all the blog posts over the next week or two, in order to avoid a jealousy overload…

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