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TAM Highlights?

Pirate_Lad said:
I think you've forgotten about a particular experience we shared. :mad:
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A cab?

ETA: In reference to my above experiences, it occurred to me after my nap this afternoon that it was probably a good thing that gin and tonics have limes in them, otherwise I was in danger of developping scurvy. Bartenders know everything :)
 
How can I pick a highlight?



If I must though ... I think it was meeting The Marquis and having all of my preconceptions obliterated. I really like it when that happens.
 
Jas said:
A cab?

ETA: In reference to my above experiences, it occurred to me after my nap this afternoon that it was probably a good thing that gin and tonics have limes in them, otherwise I was in danger of developping scurvy. Bartenders know everything :)
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No. :mad: I can't believe you forgot. The shooting, naturally.

There were more highlights than I can really come up with off the top of my head. Here are a few in no particular order:

Watching spent brass hit Jas in the head and her subsequent surprise.

Kicking all kinds of ass with a 9mm, despite never having fired a handgun before.

Helping Dr. Buzzo come up with new and inventive rhymes to the Jas serenade.

Engaging in insults with Athon. He's pretty good.

Trying to do a British accent (to hilarious effect), then watching Teek, her husband, her sister and her sister's boyfriend try to do American accents. Also, getting invited to crash on teek's couch if I'm ever in Britain.

Becoming Kitten2's honorary brother.

Getting fairly drunk during the pub crawl, then having a lengthy discussion with Kitten regarding exactly what steps need to be taken for our marriage to work. (pre-nup ahoy)

Visiting Red Rock and having dinner at a Korean BBQ place with a fellow that never posted on the forums before but said he would start now. He was great.

Hanging out with Infidel Guy. Holy crap what a comedian.

Seeing some of AK Dave's rad photography

Um...a lot more. Lots and lots more. I think I'll stop here. But there are more. If you and I spent any amount of time together and you are upset that I neglected you, please let me know and I will post an anecdote about us as well.

P.S. Athon, you can still kiss my ass, you worthless kangaroo chasing, boomerang chucking, crocodile rapist. I can't believe the minds of australia's youth have been entrusted to your care. Proof postive that god is dead, in case anyone was still holding their breath.
 
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Let's see...

Kissing certain skeptics. Yes, there was tounge.

Slapping some skepbutt.

The tastiest wine I have ever had.

Sharing my flask with Hitchens.

Urinating next to Teller.

Jeff telling me I am too cool to be there.

Being able to freely hug foxy chicks.

Not being the creepiest guy in the group.
 
JLam said:
A highlight for me was the trip back to the hotel from Lotus of Siam. Kinda had to be there.
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Maybe I should have peed first. :D




Really, too much to mention - my first TAM and first ever trip to Vegas, I am still trying to process it all.

Meeting so many of the people I have come to "know" and like on the forums...each and every one was as great or better than I thought they would be.

Meeting Randi and having him trot out his joke about being a virgin when I told him it was my first TAM. Yeah, I know it is his standard joke, but like I told him, at my age, you never think you are going to hear that again (and yes, I'm sure that's the standard answer he gets, but still, it tickled me.)

The collection of speakers, despite whatever glitches in some presentations, I was still thrilled to hear interesting, intelligent people offer their opinions and ideas.

More, much more, but that is all that is coming to me at the moment.

Oh, and I've heard rumours about a mini-TAM this June in Ft. Lauderdale...especially convenient, as it is only a 3-4 hour drive for me. Can't wait!
 
First highlight, Boo stopping in mid-rush to somewhere else to hug me hello on reg day. All my other Boo-hugs are on the highlight reel as well.

The most outstanding thing, though, was stopping by Eugenie Scott's table at lunch to pass along regards from a mutual friend, and having her invite me to sit with her. I didn't get quite as fanboyish and tongue-tied as I did the night I found myself face-to-face with Joni Mitchell, but it was close; I have been a fan of Dr. Scott for so long, I can't tell you. Be still, my heart.

Anderson Cooper's visible contempt for Sylvia Browne was right up there, though I fear that that segment might fade quickly in most viewers' minds as it was followed by 90 minutes of the usual MISSING! CHILDREN! fear-narrative.

Meeting those of you I did was delightful, and missing those I'd hoped to meet was not, but knowing that you're there gives me strength.
 
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Too many highlights to list.

But being able to meet so many cool people, celebrities and forumites alike, stands out.

Two low points come to mind:
1. Missing many of the forum folk that I wanted to meet and,
2. Sitting next to "Stars and Stripes" during Jamie Ian Swiss.
 
This year's TAM was so special because I really got to bond with a lot of people. TAM is as much a social event for me as it is a celebration of skepticism, and this year those new and renewed friendships really set the stage. Among those of whom I speak are:

Badger
rustypouch
MoeFaux
Loon
girl6
Rebecca
Wollery
TKingDoll
GazaSuitThing
Hal
Juila Sweeney (and her future brother-in-law, Joel)
Jill Sobule
Robert Lancaster
Swoopy and Derek (let's not forget Susan)
Marquis de Carabas
SkepHick
HawkeyeMD
Jas
TriangleMan
AntiqueHunter
Grayman
elaine
Athon
tim and Lynn
Linda and Karl
mumchup
Kitten
exarch
Zygar
Unk
ScottH (thanks for the wine!)
Boo
slingblade
saganite
KingMerv00
SkepticScott
KittyNH
Chaos
LostAngeles
BrianSI (I should have gone to P&T!)
Dumb All Over
Pirate Lad
AKDave
Illegal Argument
duppyraces
Stacie
Phil
Paul Agnostopoulis (or something like that)

...the list goes on and on. Thank you, my friends. I love you all.

Speaker highlights:

Scott Dikkers' moon landing audio file
Shking the hands of Trey Parker and Matt Stone and having a full minute or two with both of them (my goal!)
Hearing Hitchens cut loose on the insipid, pathetic liberals
 
TJ Stough said:
This year's TAM was so special because I really got to bond with a lot of people. TAM is as much a social event for me as it is a celebration of skepticism, and this year those new and renewed friendships really set the stage. . . .
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TJ has the distinction of being the last skeptic I encountered for the weekend, as we ran into each other in the airport just before I boarded my flight home.
 
DiskoVilante said:
I saw Teller talk...OMG OMG OMG...I saw Teller speak!
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Yes, and he has a better voice than Penn. I guess because he doesn't use it as much.

The "Irreducible Complexity Evolver" paper Sunday. Yeah!!
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It was the best paper, and a very interesting result. I'm not quite sure if it's really demonstrating irreducible complexity (need to think about it more), but it was a valuable contribution. One thing that wasn't mentioned in the talk is that the fitness function does include an energetic cost based on the length of the genome; that was one objection that I thought of at the time.
 
LostAngeles said:
I had been wondering if the Stars 'n' Stripes lady was her and asked people. Turns out she'd been telling everyone about her medical marijuana.

Which makes her question to Horatius's presentation somewhat logical.

Except that it still totally wasn't.
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So it wasn't just me who didn't understand her.....Whew! I thought the stress of talking had fried my brain!

ETA:
LostAngeles said:
She asked Horatius about being into greenhouse technology and he was like, "huh?" Most of her questions were like that.
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Well, I remember my answer being more articulate than that, but yeah, in essence, that's prety much what I was thinkning....
 
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Highlights. Um, let's see what I can remember . . .

The Forum Party was easily the best one ever, getting closed down by security was just icing on the cake. (Mental note for TAM6: put on any notices that even though it is called "Forum Party" non-forum people can attend, I met some non-forumites the next day who didn't go to the party cause of that)

The dinner at L'Auberge (sp?) at Mandalay Bay that AntiqueHunter organized. Expensive but worth doing. Some of the dishes (such as the escolar) were incredible!

Props to all of the people that I met at the meet ups for dinner and drinks at: Le Bistro, Peppermill, Riviera Buffet, Wynn Buffet, Quark's Bar (twice), that party in Rusty's room, Splash Bar, the blackjack table, the Pai Gow table, and the Food court.

Coming in 4th at the Poker Challenge, redeeming myself from my first-out finish last year.

Going to the Atomic Testing Museum, those films and other materials from the 1950s just cracked me up. If you see a flash, duck & cover everyone! Even throwing a light blanket over your head will apparantly make all the difference during a nuclear attack.

Actually winning money gambling! I wound up about $300 up by the end of it for the first time ever in my history of Vegas Trips. (I'm usually $200-300 down)

Um, oh yeah I almost forgot - the actual TAM! Loved hearing about Fab Lab and that Irreducible Complexity Program. Nice job on your presentation too Rebecca. Other highlights during the conference have already been mentioned by other posters. Those who missed it will just have to get the DVDs!

Thanks for the great time everyone, best TAM ever! :cool:
 
SkeptiKilt said:
Anderson Cooper's visible contempt for Sylvia Browne was right up there, though I fear that that segment might fade quickly in most viewers' minds as it was followed by 90 minutes of the usual MISSING! CHILDREN! fear-narrative.
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I think this was the real highlight of the week. Sitting in a room with a few hundred others and watching this, was great. Talking amongst ourselves is great fun, but until we get out into the public with a good chance to convince them that skepticism is the way to go, we're not going to get very far. Seeing Randi and RSLancaster up there, getting it done on national TV, and being taken seriously, was fantastic!
 
MadOverlord said:
Yes, and he has a better voice than Penn. I guess because he doesn't use it as much.
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Teller is incredibly knowledgeable about magic and magicians. I'm not sure who knows more, Teller or Jamy Ian Swiss, but between the two, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows more.
 
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