FrackNation Viewing Party in San Diego

Posted on March 1, 2013 by laforge

Event: FrackNation Viewing
Where: Hillcrest (San Diego)
When: Sunday, March 3rd 1pm-3pm.
Cost: Free!
RSVP: Required RSVP Now

I’m hosting a movie this month at my house. We will be watching the documentary FrackNation (http://fracknation.com/) which talks about the great new technology that is opposed by environmentalists – hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Please RSVP and I will provide you my address and instructions for getting into the building.

We will host a discussion in the coffee shop Toma Sol Cafe (http://www.tomasolcafe.com/) when we are done watching the movie shortly after 2pm. The coffee shop is in my building 301 West Washington St. San Diego 92103. This is open to anyone who is interested.

Reminder: January SoCal Objectivists Social

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Jason Stotts

Come network with other fans of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, and Objectivism at the first SoCal Objectivists social hosted in San Diego at the January Southern California Objectivists Society Social.

When:

Weds, Jan 16th, 6:00 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Where:

Ortega’s in Hillcrest http://www.ortegasbistro.com/

141 University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103

How Much:

FREE to attend; Food and drinks at your expense. PLEASE GENEROUSLY TIP YOUR BARTENDER/WAITER

Parking:

Limited parking in front, free/meter street parking

RSVP to the FaceBook event:

https://www.facebook.com/events/463657387026125/

Ayn Rand at Chapman (Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Jason Stotts

If you’re free on Saturday and looking for a fun event in Orange, check this out. (This is not an official SCO event, we’re simply passing along information about a good event in the area.)

—————–

Film, post-film Q&A, and food trucks in conjunction with the Chapman University Ayn Rand manuscript exhibit

Admission is FREE and open to the public

What:
• Ayn Rand manuscript exhibit, special Saturday morning hours
• Gallery talk by guest curator Jeff Britting
• Film screening
• Post-film discussion: Host Jeff Britting with director Michael Paxton and Dr. Amy Peikoff (Chapman Law School)

When:
• Saturday, June 2, 2012
Exhibit: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (special hours)
Gallery talk: 11 a.m.
Food trucks: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Film: 1 p.m.
Post-film Q&A: 3:30 p.m.

An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life examines Rand’s life and development. (http://www.aynrandasenseoflife.com/)

Where:
• “We the Living and For the New Intellectual: Celebrating the Drama and Philosophy of Ayn Rand” at the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Building 19/H-6 on this campus map: http://bit.ly/LSNkp6

• Food trucks: Orange Home Grown Farmers and Artisans Market, corner of N. Cypress St. and Palm Ave., Orange, Calif. (http://on.fb.me/tvzLD6)

• Screening: Folino Theatre, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, 283 N. Cypress St., Orange, CA 92866 (http://on.fb.me/K3QYbj)

Parking information:
To visit the exhibit, attendees might choose a more central location, such as the Barrera Parking Structure (paid), P7/E-6 on this campus parking map:http://bit.ly/KGuItb. Otherwise,

• Free city parking in public lots (all light blue areas on this map:http://bit.ly/KMXqTv); closest lot to theatre: corner of Maple and Cypress (178 spaces)

• Free Farmers Market lot, corner of W. Sycamore Ave. and N. Cypress St. (125 spaces)

• Knott Studios lot (paid), P8/D-8 on this campus parking map: http://bit.ly/KGuItb

Who:
Jeff Britting is curator of the Ayn Rand Archives and author of the short, illustrated biography Ayn Rand (The Overlook Press, 2004). Jeff developed and associate-produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life and the feature film Take Two; he is also a composer and stage producer.

Changes for SCO

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Jason Stotts

The first 9 months of the SoCal Objectivists has been a great time for both Earl and I. The group has had a lot of enthusiastic support, and we have met a lot of really fun and interesting people here in Southern California. We’ve seen some really great lectures and learned a lot of new things. Now, however, SCO is going to move in a different direction.

Earl is stepping down from his leadership role, in order to direct his time and energies more effectively toward some exciting (and demanding) new career and activism opportunities that have recently presented themselves. Unfortunately, this includes canceling his upcoming talk for SCO. To stay abreast of these developments, Earl urges anyone who is interested to follow his blog, creaturesofprometheus.com.

Also, due to other feedback we’ve had from our members, we’ve also decided to transition to more of a reading group format with only the occasional lecture. Consequently, we’ve decided to cancel the rest of the upcoming lectures and reform SCO into an organization of reading groups (there will still be occasional lectures). The Inland Empire region has had the most robust participation with SCO from the very beginning, and Jason will be continuing the club’s activities there, with a new reading group, which will focus primarily on ethical issues in Objectivism. More information about the SCO-IE group will be announced shortly.

Earl and I want to thank all of our members for their participation and feedback, and we look forward to the continual growth of SCO and our new course.

Sincerely,

Earl Parson and Jason Stotts

April-May Schedule Change

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Earl Parson

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we are announcing a schedule change and swapping our April/May events.

My lecture on SoCal Modernism and its origins in 19th Century France is postponed until May, taking place on Saturday the 12th at 7:30 pm. The venue will be in L.A. and has yet to be determined.

Our April event will still be this coming Saturday the 14th. Join us for a dinner social in Riverside at The Salted Pig, a restaurant that sounds completely amazing because they put bacon in nearly every dish! WooHoo! They have an interesting menu and a full bar, which you can check out here: http://www.saltedpigriverside.com/

We will meet there between 7-7:30 for an evening of socializing and baconey goodness. They are located at 3700 12th St., Riverside, CA 92501, and their phone number is 951.848.4020.

If you can make it, either RSVP through our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/217062161701285/
or email me directly via earl(at)socalobjectivists(dot)com.

Upcoming Events

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Jason Stotts

April 14th: For our next meeting we’re hosting Earl Parson, Architect, on architecture:

Few people realize that the intellectual origins of today’s Southern California modern architecture can be traced back to the writings of mid 19th Century French architect Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. In this talk, we will explore how Viollet-le-Duc’s search for truth in architecture in 19th Century France influenced Louis Sullivan’s search for an American architecture in late 19th and early 20th Century Chicago. We will then follow the path of these ideas as they were further developed by Sullivan disciples Frank Lloyd Wright and Irving Gill, both of whom helped transplant them to Southern California, where they inspired future generations including Rudolf Schindler, Richard Neutra, and John Lautner. We will examine samples from the writings, drawings, and buildings of all these great artist-architects, tracing the influence of their ideas and buildings across the generations and continents.

May 12th: For May we’re having a Spring Social! Come and meet other Objectivists in the area and share a good meal and fun night. (Details TBA)

June 9th: We’re hosting Craig Biddle, the Editor-in-Chief of The Objective Standard, to give a talk on living purposefully. (Location TBA, Orange County)

Objectivism holds that one’s success in life depends on one’s choosing and achieving three cardinal values: reason, purpose, and self-esteem. While much has been said about reason and self-esteem, relatively little has been said about purpose. What exactly is this value? How does one embrace it? What does it mean to live purposefully? This lecture examines the nature and importance of purpose, surveying its place in the Objectivist ethics, its role in both motivation and thinking, its relationship to the virtues, and potential misconceptions of the value (such as the error of freezing “purpose” at the level of “central purpose” or “career”) which can retard one’s life. The lecture aims to expand one’s understanding of this vital concept and thus to enhance one’s ability to live fully selfishly.

Meeting #7: Andrew Zey on “Music as a Natural Language System”

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SoCal Objectivists is coming up on Saturday! The meeting is March 10th at 7:30pm at the China Palace Restaurant (13444 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780).

Andrew Zey will be presenting ”Music as a Natural Language System,” where he will argue that music is an objective system of expressing and communicating emotions that can be understood rationally. He will also discuss the shortcomings of several other popular views. (see more)

Please make sure you RSVP to the event so that we can make an accurate reservation at the restaurant. You can RSVP by emailing Earl [Earl(at)socalobjectivists.com], sending him a tweet (Earl3D), or RSVPing via our Facebook event.

Meeting #7: Andrew Zey on “Music as a Natural Language System”

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that meeting #7 is coming up in just two weeks!

In the 20th century, Abstract Modernism has affected all of the arts with its core value of subjectivism, which distorted the objective basis of esthetic judgement. Literature was impacted the least, fine art was substantially impacted, and classical music has been completely dominated by it.

As the late philosopher Ayn Rand observed in her work, The Romantic Manifesto: “Until a conceptual vocabulary is discovered and defined, no objectively valid criterion of esthetic judgment is possible in the field of music.”

This presentation titled “Music as a Natural Language System” by Andrew Zey will seek to refute the prevalent view that music is abstract and subjective, and provide a framework for understanding music as an objective system of idioms designed to express and communicate emotions.

Andrew will provide a historical and scientific perspective on the questions of what music is, and what functions it serves. Music will be presented as an important evolutionary device that has shaped human culture. New scientific evidence will be presented that establishes the physiological ground for emotions, and what impact music has on them.

This talk is great for anyone who is interested in music and understanding the profound impact it has on people’s lives. Hopefully this stimulating presentation will provide you with a framework for reevaluating and understanding your musical preferences. The talk will be accompanied by audio and visual aids, and no prerequisite knowledge in music is required. Be sure to invite all family and friends.

Andrew Zey is CEO of Braavo Enterprises, a Los Angeles based business that conducts several classical music programs, including the Synergo Music Method. The Synergo Music Method is an idiomatic, language-based approach to teaching music and piano. For more information, please visit http://braavo.org/.

Please see our Facebook event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/275385185844436/

Meeting #6: Jason Stotts on Love, Sex, Relationships, and Happiness

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SoCal Objectivists is coming up on Saturday! The meeting is February 11th at 7:30pm at the Punjab Palace Restaurant (10359 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA). Jason Stotts, of the blog Erosophia, will be presenting a lecture on the importance of Love, Sex, and Relationships for Happiness and will present an in-depth way to understand these issues and their interconnections. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A on any questions related to the talk or to sex, love, and relationships more generally.