The "Hi honey I'm home!" thread

[Praxis]

I'm utterly exhausted, can barely walk for blisters and swollen feet, and need to get some sleep really urgently, but you know what?

IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Without wishing to sound weord or woo or anything, I really feel like I was part of something very important this weekend, on many levels.

I can't articulate properly right now, too tired for that. But I wanted to check in and say I'm home!

Meeting so many forum members was fantastic - what a great group of people!

I'll post pics tomorrow. And I'm now going to sleep the sleep of the totally, happily and proudly godless :)

PS: why is the forum running soooooo slowly? :confused:

[atheist_angel]

I can't wait to hear all about it!

When it comes to things like that, you almost hate for them to end.

...like the last day of a vacation! :D

[Sir Patrick Crocodile]

Coincidencially (sp?) I was going to start a "How the Bloody Hell did it All Go this weekend? Did you bring me some spare booze?" thread. :p

Glad to hear it went well for you. :)

I agree with atheist_angel regarding hating things for them to end. :(

So, reckon one of you convention-goers could give me a heads up on what happened ? :)

Now about the forum running slow - I noticed that yesterday, with "server not found" errors too, but then again my laptop was being fixed up and I had to use my desktop. Fairly new actually, and runs Windows NT Workstation 4.0 as well!

[Justin]

...back in Adelaide (sigh). Well that was bigger than Ben Hur! Like Praxis I felt that I'd been part of history by attending. It's going to be hard to take off my 'A' pin after that!

[Sancho]

I agree with Leslie Cannold that if the Convention doesn't spur a greater movement, it will have been mostly wasted.

[riddlemethis]

Although today was the only part of formalities I was able to be there for, I absolutely say it was one of the most intellectually satisfying and interesting days I've ever spent. I've walked away with three people whose work I need to investigate in greater depth given the enriching nature of their talks - Ian Robbinson & Robyn Williams in particular! I want Ian at my next dinner party; he's a friggin riot! RD's presentation also gave me loads of food for thought.

Then there was the quality of the conversations with fellow attendees during the day and at the gathering afterwards! It is a privellege to be engaged in conversations about finer points of evolution with someone as learned as Darwinsbulldog, let alone be surrounded by so many people who don't need a fallacious understanding of the theory basics slapped out of them!

The informalities that I was able to join in were also a privellege. I've cemented some friendships IRL which have been nutured over three years online. I met others in the flesh for whom I now have a finer understanding and appreciation. Really guys, it was terrific to be in your company and see what a wonderful, funny, kind, earnest, generous, passionate and engaging mob we all are!

Oh and not a single small child was harmed at our hand! (more than can be said for the whackjob fundie parent prozelytizing outside the centre with his wee kids in tow. For shame.)

[Worldslaziestbusker]

Home safely after a surreal road trip, but that's a story for another day.
Fantastic event.
Great speakers, great food and great company.
Besides making firm friends in X and Y (people who don't post at this forum and whose identities I have masked with a cleverly devised code that reveals their genders to Turing types) I thoroughly enjoyed not having to second guess how any discussion about the supernatural might spur inappropriately vigorous reactions by (almost) anyone around me. No peering at lapels and necklaces for crucifixes, no careful steering away from topics when you notice the twitching start. I'm by no means covert about my choice to reject ideas about gods but this weekend gave me the feeling that a little switch had been thrown, stopping an annoying buzzing in the back of my head.
It returned on the journey home but more of that later.
Religion: tinitus for your mind.
WLB

[Logic]

Waiting at the airport to fly home. Need to sleep but I agree with praxis, was totally worth it! :)

[Artemisia]

A fantastic weekend. My brain was so overloaded that I couldn't sleep well however so now I'm at work looking like I spent all night on the turps.

[Seamus]

I'm green with envy.

Sadly,the privy purse would not stretch far enough this time. I hope it becomes an annual event and/or rotates through different cities.

Who knows,perhaps other cities will now have their own conventions.

I wasn't overly annoyed withe the ABC coverage,I thought it was OK,compared with what one could expect from the commercial channels. Did they cover it at all? (I seldom watch commercial news)

Context: A snippet from "The Family Guy"; A large building with a caption over the lintel " School of Television Journalism And Other Sleazy Occupations"

[Praxis]

Waiting at the airport to fly home. Need to sleep but I agree with praxis, was totally worth it! :)
Hello gorgeous!! What a pleasure meeting you *hug*

[OzAtheist]

Home too, first things first, check the AFA Forum.
Really nice to finally meet so many forum members IRL.

It was an amazing, if tiring weekend, since when has it been part of the atheist culture to drink so much? :D

Pre-dawn flight home was probably not the best idea, but at least now I've got the rest of the day to check my online life. :)

[davo]

oh my head :( hehe. What an awesome experience!

The Convention is the Global Atheist Convention, and is being run in different cities around the world, the next in Copenhagen in late June.

http://atheistconvention.eu

Dunno if I can make it there, it would be awesome to go and looks to be a great line up of speakers as well

[Praxis]

Hello you!! Considering how many times we ran into each other and were chatting, I can't believe there's no photographic evidence of it!

It was really terrific meeting you - you're a top bloke!

[Praxis]

oh my head :( hehe. What an awesome experience!

The Convention is the Global Atheist Convention, and is being run in different cities around the world, the next in Copenhagen in late June.

http://atheistconvention.eu

Dunno if I can make it there, it would be awesome to go and looks to be a great line up of speakers as well
Seriously - this year? It says 2010 :confused:

Actually, it looks like a slightly different event - it is going under the GAC banner? Sorry if I seem a little confused. I'm still tired ;)

[two dogs]

I'm not home yet; I'm currently in Hall's Gap, enjoying a beer in the shade out on the motel lawn, with the Grampians right in front of me.

I've a ticket to see Ravi and Anoushka Shanka at the Melbourne Arts Centre next Saturday, so I'm hanging 'round Victoria 'til then, before returning home to Wollongong.

[Darwinsbulldog]

Well,

The brilliant conf just disproved the theory that atheists are just a lot of unherdable cats!

A brilliant achievement by all the team. [Clap, clap!] :)

I met many kindred spirits there. Good souls all. [Fuck it, I am not going to stop using words that have been hijacked by theists]. :D

Living in a suburb called Maylands [nr Perth, Western Australia], where I am surrounded by Churches, Mosques, etc at every turn, it was nice to be in a HUGE crowd of atheists for once. [Even though I don't like crowds!]

I wonder if poor RD's hand fell off after all those book signings?

[two dogs]

@Mr Dogs: Two Shankars? Father and daughter both?

Yes, but not Norah Jones. ;)


Damn, if I'd known I'd have almost tried to sell something and done the trip for the double-header.Indeed, I consider myself a lucky, lucky bastard! :D

They are playing at the Sydney Opera House tomorrow evening, but I didn't want to rush the drive back.

[GodlessNige]

Had a great time! Congrats to the organisers, a splendid job all round. Bring on 2012!

[Lapin]

Back in Brisbane. Read this summary (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/celebrating-life-beyond-belief/story-e6frg6z6-1225840634149) in the Australian on the plane. Seems like quite a fair summing up of the convention although rather brief. Saw a clip of ABC news footage and they spent half the time talking to the bloody anglicans. What would they know? Pathetic effort ABC!

[Praxis]

I hate that there were so many AFA'ers at the Convention and I didn't know who they were and so didn't get to meet them.

Seriously, nametags! Unless of course you want to remain anonymous ;)

Ah well. It's great to know how many of us were there :)

[owheelj]

Yeah i made it home last night. Arrived at airport about 3 hours early. Plane delayed by 2 hours. Finished my book well before the plane had left, and the only other book I had to read was a copy of the Bible. Listened to music and stared at the carpet instead.

[TimB]

I hate that there were so many AFA'ers at the Convention and I didn't know who they were and so didn't get to meet them.

Seriously, nametags! Unless of course you want to remain anonymous ;)


Sorry mum - you may call me an unsociable chicken, won't do it again promise:). I am regretting choosing to stay anonymous (what you didn't recognise my left hand from my avatar, I should have carried around the pint glass full of homebrew).

[Goldenmane]

I posted this elsewhere, too:

And so it’s over, this stretch of the great journey. Atheists have met, talked, partied, and considered. And the world did not end. Thor did not strike us down, JHVH’s ghostly hand did not manifest to write our cursed fates in blood upon the wall.

No schisms, though possibly a few polite disagreements, maybe argued with passion but without rancour, with reason and respect.

We did not plot to take over the world, we discussed how we can work toward making the world a better place. Was there invective? Of course – I was there, after all, and a world with Goldenmane in it sans invective does not, the evidence tells us, apparently exist. And four people called me a cunt, one of them twice. It’s nice to be loved.

Do I love all those at the conference? Don’t be absurd. I cannot love those I don’t know. The demand to love everyone is ridiculous. Like many of the claims made in the name of religion, it sounds admirable, sweet, and laudable on first blush; something one might try to aspire to.

But it’s actually fucking retarded. Stupid. The idea of making any value judgement of anyone based on one data point (they exist, they are pretty, the attended the conference, they think I’m sexy, whatever) is fucking juvenile. I refuse to be a part of it.

Do I love all the fuckers from my little online community whom I met, drank with, ate with, partied with, didn’t spend nearly enough time with? Fuck oath. I have enough data points for all of them to say that without equivocation. In no particular order: Praxis, LordP, Faithfree, Gingko, Riddleme, Starr, Durro, Witt, Ohnhai, NoFreeWill, and others whose names I cannot dredge up from the pit of my pitiful memory (but you know who you are) thank you, and yes, I’ll stand up in court and refuse to testify against you.

There are many who couldn’t attend (and I came perilously close to being one of them); to those who couldn’t make it I say: you missed a fucking good craic. I hope to see you at the next one.

Something a little more serious (or perhaps more vehement or something): I’m not just here to have a bit of a laugh. I want to change the world. I don’t give a fuck how twee that sounds, it’s true. There is far too much idiotic bullshit being given ridiculous fucktarded respect that it truly doesn’t deserve. Primitive blood-cults (yes, I’ve been reading the Bible) from thousands of years ago don’t deserve respect, they deserve either derision (if they attempt to impose their fucknuttery on others) or pity (for the poor cunts sucked into their iniquitous grasping embrace). I’ve been fighting the bullshit for quite some time now, and sometimes I get tired. I get worn down. The notion of retiring from the affray becomes all too alluring.

I come away from this conference with something akin to renewed enthusiasm. It’s only baby-steps as yet, but progress seems to be being made. There’s a long road ahead, but that such an event could happen at all, let alone go so well, is encouraging.

I’m posting this to both Ratz and RS. I’m home, and tequila is calling. Time to catch up with everything I’ve missed while I was away being debauched and shit. Oh, an it’s time to sign up to the Church of the Smiling Vagina.

[Praxis]

*sniff* I miss you! :D

[Goldenmane]

Well,

The brilliant conf just disproved the theory that atheists are just a lot of unherdable cats!

A brilliant achievement by all the team. [Clap, clap!] :)

I met many kindred spirits there. Good souls all. [Fuck it, I am not going to stop using words that have been hijacked by theists]. :D

Living in a suburb called Maylands [nr Perth, Western Australia], where I am surrounded by Churches, Mosques, etc at every turn, it was nice to be in a HUGE crowd of atheists for once. [Even though I don't like crowds!]

I wonder if poor RD's hand fell off after all those book signings?

Didn't know you live in Maylands, mate. I'm right on the Maylands/Bayswater border. And I missed out on catching you at the bloody convention, too.

We should get together for a beer.

[Faithless]

Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Attended on my own and had a ball taking in the talks and the possibilities. What a community!

See you all soon

F

[Goldenmane]

Good grief I'm in Morley...

Great to meet everyone, although it was hard for me to leave the AV booth as it was a 20 minute round trip to the lower floor and back and the MCEC never got my security card to work so I found myself waiting at all the doors for security to let me through :mad:

What are you buggers doing tomorrow night? I'm open to drinks at my place, if you've got the time. It's a little rare that I get free time at the same time as other humans, because I work in a pub.

[two dogs]

I'm finally home, after a wonderful fortnight interstate in Victoria, starting with the incredible GAC, followed by four relaxing days in the Grampians, including some 4WDing (which is in no way an environment destroying activity, as one of the GAC presenters (Robyn Williams?) (mis)represented it), and culminating with a stunning performance by Ravi & Anoushka Shankar at the Hamer Hall.

Whilst Ravi needed a hand under his elbow to help him walk on stage, and he couldn’t sit in the traditional cross-legged position, there’s nothing wrong with the old bastard’s arms, hands and fingers when it comes to playing a sitar. Tanmoy Bose was fuckin' fantastic on the tabla, and whilst Anoushka's performance was virtuosoic (if that's a word), she didn't have the "feeling" that her dad's 90 years affords.

My only regret is that I didn't venture from my table at the GAC Dinner to meet other AFA forum members, but I'm somewhat shy (until I get a few beers under my ample belt, and that didn't obtain).