count me in!

Perfect. Thanks for posting about this. As Thanksgiving's been nearing I've been wondering about this once upon a time discussed SiftUp.

Darkrowan, Grimm, and Jonny are the other OC Sifters who I think are all up for participating. (Side note: The VideoSift User Map is currently functioning again.) What say you, you three, are you in?

Great to hear you'll be there YDJ. So if the other OC guys join in, it'll be the biggest ever with 7 Sifters: Firefly, YouDieJoe, Me, Charms, Jonny, Grimm, and DarkRowan. Kickass.

Everyone okay with meeting in OC somewhere? I guess that question's mostly directed at YDJ since Firefly may also be here at the time.

I'll be there! Just as long as we don't have to wear hats. As a general rule I don't attend meetings were everyone wears the same kind of hat.

Wonderful! Seems to be shaping up nicely. Now we just gotta figure out where...!

"Where" is a good question... As Dag and I realized, it's a little difficult to have a good conversation while trying to eat a meal, so we probably shouldn't meet over dinner.

I figure the best place would be somewhere we can sit for a good while, while actually patronizing the joint. So drinking something is probably a good way to go and I figure coffee would do, but Starbucks isn't very spacious, so a comfortable, relaxed alcoholic beverage serving establishment may be the best way to go.

Or maybe we could meet at an Internet cafe and conduct a private group chat in person.

I don't drink, but as long as the place has food, I'm happy. If there's a lot of us, conversation shouldn't be too hard.
Maybe a quick lunch somewhere such as Chili's or TGI Fridays? (they have bars, right?)

I actually don't drink either. Chili's or TGIFridays both sound good. Along those lines maybe an Outback Steakhouse even. (They have good bread.) As far as time goes, Charms and I can both be wherever straight from work by say ~3:30 at the earliest.

Other participants, any thoughts?

It all sounds good to me. Here's an idea though...instead of going some place TGI Fridays or Chili's how about something more local since firefly is visiting from out of town? Something like Baja Sharkeez or whatever else.

Wave to me when you fire-fly over dude. And if you get a chance, check out the Five Crowns restaurant in Corona Del Mar. You won't be sorry.

Here's a link: http://www.lawrysonline.com/

Hey sorry for getting in here so late, I'm in at full force. I pull out of work at 4, so 4:30ish would be the earliest for me. I work by John Wayne Airport so I'm near 405 and 55/73.

For food: I just got introduced this weekend to the eating style of "Shabu Shabu". The idea is conductive to a lot of talking at the table, very communal. The place I went to has a very very nice owner, but I don't think the seating setup will be conductive to talking with 7 persons lined up in a row (the booths I think only seat 4 or 5).
Just an idea.

I'd be up for trying someplace new, and Baja Sharkees looks like it would handle a large group. We could meet, say between 4:30 and 5:00 to allow folks time from getting off work. (I hear traffic is kind of bad out there ) But I see they have several locations, so which one? Manhattan Beach? Huntington Beach? Newport Beach? I'd be coming in from Chino, so I guess Huntington and Newport would be closer, Is one particular Sharkeez better than another?

I've only been to the one in Manhattan Beach during lunch time and it was pretty good for handling groups of 5-10 people. But Manhattan Beach is near LAX while Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are local to to OC so they would be a better pick. The only thing is I've never been to those locations myself, but assuming they are setup like the one in Manhattan Beach either should work. FYI they do allow for parties of 5-10 to make reservations.

But at the same time lets not forget what Lucky's warning ""Where" is a good question... As Dag and I realized, it's a little difficult to have a good conversation while trying to eat a meal, so we probably shouldn't meet over dinner."

OK, so lunch then? (I forgot that's what I originally suggested!) I don't know people's work schedules; since it's the day before Thanksgiving, maybe y'all can sneak out early!

I think 5-ish at Baja Sharkeez in Newport Beach would definitely be the best. It'll probably be hard for all 6 of us "in-of-towners" to get out of work early enough, especially for YouDieJoe who'll be coming from LA. Is that alright for everybody?

After thinking about it more and given that everyone's psyched about a dining establishment (including Charms and myself), I'm sure it'll be easy breezy to dine and chat, especially with a whopping 7 (or 6 pending Jonny's response) of us together. My meal with Dag was a bit more of one-on-one "business" talk, and that's probably why it seemed a little difficult a setting for conversation.

If there are no objections, once we get Jonny's yay or nay, I'll go ahead and make reservations for the 6 or 7 of us at 5pm on Wed, 11/21 at 114 McFadden Place, Newport Beach, CA, 92663.

DarkRowan: Funny. You work very near me. I work just past the end of the runway (on the other side of the golf course). Shabu shabu is definitely good eatin', but you're right, not for a big group. Maybe just a couple of us OCers could meet up for some shabu shabu another time.

[edited for shift of rendezvous point (see below)]

One problem I thought I should mention about that little area beside the Newport Beach pier is that there is an enormous number of people who patronize the beach, pier, and area businesses, but extremely limited parking. The kind of limited that will likely leave most of us circling the lot for a long time or parking very far away and walking in.

I'm not a big fan of that hurdle, so if there are any other suggestions worth fielding, let's hear them?

I for one think Javier's Cantina and Grill at Irvine Spectrum would be a wonderful choice. Also a local place, but quite a bit more spacious and easily accessed.

Thoughts?

I was just going to ask about parking, too. Javier's works for me.

Spectrum sounds awesome... anywhere in there
And yeah, way better parking. Newport/Balboa is nice, but parking is ridiculous.

Excellent! Coincidentally, Fox Sports Grill also at the Irvine Spectrum is where we happened to meet with Dag. Looks like that should be the starting point of consideration for all future OC SiftUps.

Javier's Cantina and Grill
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 5:00pm PST
45 Fortune Drive, #400
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 872-2101

Again, I'll handle reservations once I've heard back from Jonny. Hopefully YDJ will bring his camcorder so we can create macro HD videos of each other. Kidding.

You don't want to see my shiny, bald, dome in HD, trust me
By the way, I'll be flying Alaska Airlines. Never used them before; any you folks have experience with them?

Fine with me...I just hope that place isn't as stuffy as their website portrays it to be.

So what's up peoples...we still good for the 21st or what?

Funny timing. I was just coming on to contact everyone.

Yep! All's ready to go. I wasn't able to get hold of Jonny; hopefully he's alright. The reservation's made under the name VideoSift.

Let's use this comment as our check list. Here's everyone's current status:

• Me - Confirmed


• Charms - Confirmed


• Darkrowan - Confirmed


• Firefly - Confirmed


• Grimm - Confirmed


• YouDieJoe - Not Attending


• Jonny - missing in action

Put me down as confirmed.

Due to some real life stuff, I'm not going to be able to attend...more later when I crawl out from under it all. Sorry I'm going to miss this one.

I'm attending, sorry if I didn't make it clear.

Hey I'd like to thank everyone here for a great night and a nice talk. I was going to put up the pictures (the whole 2 I took) and that little vid I did. I was wondering in anyone is ok with their faces being online. I know Grimm had specifically asked to have his avatar over his face, which I will respect and do. Any others?
And who is doing the Sift Talk write-up?

Thanks for coming 'Rowan, I had a great time too!
Lucky did the write-up in his blog entry.

"Grimm had specifically asked to have his avatar over his face, which I will respect and do."

I appreciate that you would make the effort...but you must not have heard me at the end of the night that I was only kidding.