I'm finally going to get the chance to meet some of you people. Here are the details for next weekend's Sift Up. Please RSVP in the comments so we can reserve a table for the right size. Everyone is welcome, even if you're a scaredy-cat lurker. Come along for some fun.

BJ's Restaurant and Brewery at the Brea Mall
7PM - 'till they kick us out
Saturday July 9th

Map after the break

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I'm going to be in L.A. the 8th and 9th of July. I'd love the chance to meet some of you beautiful people carnally. Anyone up for a casual meet-up over a few Pabst Blue Ribbons? - (or whatever you guys drink over there these days). I was thinking we could all bring hammers and ban each other on the head at various times in the evening.

It's getting close to 1 year since our last meet up in SoCal.

What say we start planning?! Votes on where, as in what city and a date

"Talk amongst yer selves...."

Everyone is probably familiar with this classic, but it's a fun one:

From Oxford University's online philosophy course called "Philosophy Gym"

If there was a machine that destroyed all your atoms in Alpha Centurai, and reassembled an identical set here on Earth, would it be transporting you to Earth, or replacing you with a duplicate?

...I won't ruin it by givin yall my distilled argument for this one

~discuss

So Charms and I were the first to head out of the Red Lion Tavern (our parking meter was expired and unfortunately the second-hand smoke was a little overwhelming for the olfactory sensitive) from the most populous SiftUp yet. I don't know if anyone else showed up, but participants I had the pleasure of meeting were Volumptuous and his girl, PoolCleaner, DarkRowan, DystopianFutureToday, IssyKitty, YouDieJoe, and Blankfist and his girl.

Before I say anything else I have to say DOH! When we headed out I meant to drop a $10 on the table, but was distracted with goodbyes. I feel so stupid and sorry for whoever was left holding our bill. (I'm so embarassed.) I'll need to settle up somehow, so please let me know what happened. Sorry!
It was an extreme pleasure getting to meet very single person there and I hope we'll all have a chance to meet up again. You are all such interesting people and have such genuine, wonderful personalities. I look forward to the opportunity to get to know you all better in real life.

Several Sifters took some great photos and youdiejoe and blankfist were playing videographer. Maybe once we get a chance to review all our material we can select the best and share them here!

Whoever didn't show up, you'd better make it next time. Ocean smoshin, you better get here whatever it takes!

[edit]
Here are four of my very few photos.

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[edit]
Here are some photos from the camera of DarkRowan:

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Hola, my SoCal brethren. I know there are a number of us who live here in the southern parts of California, and I know Lucky McLuckster had mentioned doing a SoCal Sift-up at some point. Well, who's down for that? Who's in the area? Let's get some Sifter positions so we can find a decent middle ground for the meet up.

I live in Los Angeles, or more specifically in Brentwood a couple blocks from where OJ killed his wife.

SOCAL SIFTUP:
Where: Red Lion Tavern (click here for map)
2366 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA‎ - (323) 662-5337‎
When: January 10, 2009 (This Saturday)
Time: 4:00pm

I've been PMing schmawy recently, and I briefly mentioned to him that what finally made me join VS was finding this video. By itself I could write a whole Sift Talk post extolling its virtues, but I won't. Suffice it to say for now that it's an awesome, trippy video with great music.

Because of the aforementioned I've been really curious about what made all of you decide to jump into the mix that is VideoSift. I had been lurking here for months, but the video I just mentioned is what finally pushed me to join. Can any of you define similar moments of epiphany in which you finally said to yourself, "This is where I belong"?

I'd really love to hear them all. I respect the opinions of so many people here, even many of the ones with which I find myself in disagreement. Most of you express yourself so well with your choice of videos that I barely need to ask how you feel about this, that, or the other. However I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong on so many occasions, and that's yet another reason why I'd love to hear your stories.

This isn't a homework assignment for freshman English, mind you. Even a few sentences with imperfect grammar and multiple spelling errors will work for me. Share your story. It might not only be fun, but it may also help you identify kindred spirits in the community.

What have you got to lose?