[Cog]

That if the regular 20-30 people who regularly post on this board could sit down with a few drinks and a good meal, that we could actually hash out agreement with each other?
Or would we overturn tables, smack each other up the head, and go to war?

I'm thinking we would do the former. Although I think pstarr is a hippie and Ibon a commie, I don't think we are so far apart in our philosophy, we couldn't reach some accommodation.

[SeaGypsy]

I'm not sure if i miss all the full on crazies we've had here or I'm glad they are gone.

Here's a stab-

Dissident is the last table flipper here. Anyone says anything remotely resembling defending the Evil Empire (US & Allies) & it's on. Dissident has to be, well, that guy. Empiredoom corner.

MBS probably alternate between sulking & yelling, but can buddy up with Cid & take up the corner for Ultradoom.

Adam & pals- cornucopian/ technofix No Doom corner.

Me, Newfie, Ibon, Pstarr & Plant in the GTFO before Doom corner.

Cog, Onlooker- right & left moderators.

Tanada as Door Bouncer.

Probably everyone can find a team to join. Diss team have to agree to hold the table down when he gets upset.

So where & when?
There's a few options- can we crowdfund a conference? Alaska? Panama? Chicago? Tasmania? London? Brussels?...

[Plantagenet]

I'm not sure if i miss all the full on crazies we've had here or I'm glad they are gone....

As you point out in your post above, SG, we still cover almost every conceivable point of view in our collective worldviews, so I don't miss the crazies.

Plus, almost all of us who still post here once held arguably crazy views on one topic or another in the past, so we can still get crazy if we have to. Today, we have mostly mellowed, but there is nice cynical edge and a high level of intelligence among the people still posting here.

IMHO the current small number of posters is a good thing---a blessing in disguise.

I used to think this site was in trouble and maybe dying because the number of people posting had dropped so much.

Now I think this site is great with the current cast of characters. We still cover a lot of ground and discuss peak oil and related subjects at length, but without the craziness we used to have.

Cheers!

[Ibon]

IMHO the current small number of posters is a good thing---a blessing in disguise.

I used to think this site was in trouble and maybe dying because the number of people posting had dropped so much.

Now I think this site is great with the current cast of characters. We still cover a lot of ground and discuss peak oil and related subjects at length, but without the craziness we used to have.

Cheers!

I agree with this pretty much but there still needs to be some rotation of fresh blood, for me what is especially missing are the voices of the millenniels and emerging generations into the discussion. As intelligent as this collective is here we do tend to carry the baggage of increasing obsolescence.

If we were physcially all together in a room we would probably mostly enjoy each others company. The digital persona tends to mellow a bit when a real live breathing human goes along with the voice and text.

For all our differences there is an underlying agreement about the excess humanity and excess consumption on our imperiled earth, whether you see our home planet as a living Gaia or a ball of rock it is still the truth.

[Newfie]

Once or twice a year when passing through Philly we try to have dinner and drinks with some old Ethical Humanist friends. One night one of my best friends got so worked up about Trump, no actually he walked in expecting to just sit there and spew hate all dinner. Anyway after a short time I told him knock it off or I was leaving, the third time I said it forcefully enough for him to hear I wasn't bsing. He relented then, with some difficulty.

It's a pity, I really like the guy and consider him a friend. And his health is not improving.

I can't stand the hate anymore. My exWife's family do hate really well, experts. Deeply destructive stuff. Hurts my kids.

I would enjoy the gathering and exchange of ideas and being able to put faces to avatars. Some good political and philosophical argument is invigorating.

I drink IPA's mostly now. Just saying.

[MD]

I would welcome a real life visit with all of you. Watching the shift in paradigms/preconceived notions would be priceless!

No, I do not think there would be any conflict at all, unless heavy drinking where involved and it got late...

[vtsnowedin]

I can be civil with anybody that is also making a decent attempt at civility. I also enjoy a good dinnertime argument as long as it is conducted in good humor. My wife thinks it is bad manners to discuss politics or anything controversial at such times and I have the shin scars to prove it.
As to the low number of posters today I think that is a direct effect of the current oil price and supply situation. Let world supply fail to keep up with world demand for a few quarters (which I still think it will before too long) and activity on the board will rise right along with the price of oil.

[Ibon]

I would have the facilities to put you guys all up. In the low season (May - November) I could block up to 3 days. I would only charge a nominal amount to cover house keeping, meals etc. Say $ 30 bucks a day room and board double occupancy.

If your not hampered by carbon footprint guilt just choose the dates!

40km of trails, access to La Amistad National Park, hot springs, 3 species of monkeys (4 counting humans), 200 plus species of birds, etc.

Ibon

P.S. The only peak oil member to visit to date was Timo.

[jedrider]

Ibon, I would like to do a trip somewhere in Central America. Can you recommend your preserve even for non-ecologist, non-entomologists, etc? Is four days/three nights typical to get a taste of the rainforest? Do you get families at your resort? My wife speaks Spanish and Costa Rica is usually more than we want to pay for, so I'm thinking Panama could be a good option. You don't have to make this commercial, so just yes/no is OK and you could email me the name of resort.

Getting on topic, NO, we would just talk past each other and not see the other point of view unless we were already on the same page IME.

[onlooker]

Well, I am I think one of the last regular posters on this site. I have really enjoyed the discussions. You all come to your views from slightly different perspectives and it has been interesting reading and participating in our debates full of lively and intelligent discourse.
As for meeting up and having a jovial nice time without incident, yes I do think that fully possible. But yes we should perhaps talk of slightly less serious stuff and then for sure things will go very well. The biggest reward for me would be for us to all go to Ibon's Mount Totumas resort. That would truly be something worthwhile. Oh and Sea, do you have some phychological background cause you analyzed us quite well. Finally, I am a bit confused, I thought the crazies were the ones still active and posting haha.

[jedrider]

Think I found it, then: https://www.mounttotumas.com/

At high elevation. That's means temperate weather, except for rain, perhaps.

Now, how do I rent the mules to take me there?

[Ibon]

Ibon, I would like to do a trip somewhere in Central America. Can you recommend your preserve even for non-ecologist, non-entomologists, etc? Is four days/three nights typical to get a taste of the rainforest? Do you get families at your resort? My wife speaks Spanish and Costa Rica is usually more than we want to pay for, so I'm thinking Panama could be a good option. You don't have to make this commercial, so just yes/no is OK and you could email me the name of resort.

Getting on topic, NO, we would just talk past each other and not see the other point of view unless we were already on the same page IME.

I sent you a PM... Please note everyone I am not trying to promote my resort by this invitation. Frankly, we are already starting to block dates to slow down the flow of visitors since we never intended to be as busy as we are since we came to Panama to semi retire. It would be cool to actually meet some of you in real time.

Since most posters are in the US meeting in a US location would probably make more sense from an energy footprint point of view. On the other hand Miami to Panama is about the same distance as Miami to Chicago.

I am not sure we would talk past each other in a real organic setting. The Cyber persona tends to take a more rigid position and builds up a persona around a more narrow point of view. In real life I am not so ideologically fixed as this cyber Ibon character is.

Being a host forces you also to be more neutral.

[jedrider]

Anyone who wants to explore this temperate rain forest and join me on a edible mushroom hunt. Chanterelles, boletus edulis (the porcini, cepes etc) and other more exotic delicious species should pm me here. This looks to be a picture perfect mushroom year. We are having a really nice early Sept. rain.

Rain followed by more warmth is perfect mushroom weather. The underground mycelium network is now spreading throughout the forest duff. It is the truck and branches of the mushroom tree. The shrooms are the fruit and will pop as the temperature drops. Starting in the next weeks but peaking in Oct/Nov depending on species. The black chanterelles and hedgehogs are next. The last would be yellow foot chanterelles.

We get our mushrooms from France. They're all dried and brown by the time I see them. But, yummy stuff. I bet it's a lot of fun to have a reason to explore the forest floor. I can find a lot of varieties here, but I see enough of what looks poisonous to stay away from them all.

[SeaGypsy]

The airfare to Panama from Australia- almost as much from LAX to Panama as to cross the Pacific. Has been slowing me visiting for years now.

[onlooker]

I think it would be remiss of us, if we did not mention something else that makes us somewhat unique. We can entertain and explore all these rather disturbing and foreboding topics. Not everyone can. In fact I may even say the majority of people would rather not. So, we seem to have thick skin, so to speak. So, that is something else that binds us or makes us similar.

[Shaved Monkey]

The airfare to Panama from Australia- almost as much from LAX to Panama as to cross the Pacific. Has been slowing me visiting for years now.

I just had a look about 3 to 4 grand

Ive bought round the world tickets for less than that that had multiple stops
Everytime Ive gone away for a long time Ive done that 3x so far.

I might have to swing by on my next time round.

Vietnam and maybe Cambodia is my next holiday then Japan and parts of China

[SeaGypsy]

That's the prices searching as a single return trip. Far cheaper- fly direct to LAX, separate booking LAX to Panama, total under $2k AUD.