New Orleans SBL, ! #(&^!@#*%!!!! What’s the best local beer?
Posted on September 21, 2009 at 12:50 pm by Dr. Jim
SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE
ANNUAL MEETING
Just a few minutes ago I was calmly sitting in the (real) Thinking Shop on my new recliner doing the readings for an upcoming class (to be more precise, an excerpt from the Heart Sutra), when it struck me that the office mail should be sorted by now. The only thing I got was the SBL’s Session Guide for the New Orleans meeting (Nov. 21-24). So much for Buddhism. All is impermanent…
See my earlier post about my ambivalence about going at all.
Well, I decided to go. Have a plane ticket, a hotel room, a valid passport (in my name) and plans to get new socks in time. I’m set.
So, what sessions to attend?
Clearly, Bible, Myth, and Myth Theory session is mandatory for me, but there is a bunch of other stuff I want to see, too.
The main one is SBL Ideological Criticism Session talking about Religulous.
BUT ITS AT EXACTLY THE SAME ! #(&^!@#*%!!!! TIME™!!! AARGH!!!!!!!!!
ITS A PLOT!
Also at the SAME ! #(&^!@#*%!!!! TIME™ is the Critical Historiography: Naming the Issues session.
AARGH!!
I could have checked this before I spent any money, but chances are I would still have gone.
So, to drown my sorrows, what good local beer is there? I’ve never been to Louisiana.
I wonder if there is any chance of meeting fellow atheists to quaff a few pints with and to plot the overrunning of the SBL by the Evil Atheist Conspiracy?
September 21, 2009 at 3:20 pm
A friend from NOLA responds “Abita is the famous local beer, which is pretty well known nationally. There’s also a microbrewery pub in the French Quarter on Decatur, but I’ve heard it’s more touristy than genuine. There used to be another brew pub in Mid-City on Carrolton, but I’m not sure whether it survived Katrina or not. I think it did…”
September 21, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Thanks! I will have to try the Abita. US beer gets a bad rep up here in Canada, but mostly because it is only the industrial swill that people know very well. Our industrial swill is probably just as bad as anybody’s.
Since I’m not doing a paper this year there won’t be anything for me to panic about, so some in depth academic research is in order *hiccup*!
September 22, 2009 at 8:09 am
hey where’s my response? are you editing me out? i thought i’d never live to see the day…
September 22, 2009 at 9:28 am
No idea. You are not being edited. Your posts should show up automatically. I did not delete anything. Did you press the wrong button?
September 22, 2009 at 9:30 am
I get an email evertime someone posts something. I double checked my email and I can’t find one about your comment.
September 22, 2009 at 8:09 am
New Orleans will grow on you! I think it has been my favorite SBL venue. Unfortunately, unemployed once again, I will not be able to attend this year. My honest opinion — bad food and drink can not be found in the Big Easy. I guess I’ll have to make my way to Canada some day to engage in some serious research!
September 22, 2009 at 3:06 pm
i probably just made some snarky remark somewhere else and thought i left it here…
anyway, it was along the lines of ‘don’t forget to save some root beer for me when we hang out’.
September 22, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Jim West can be “snarky”? Absence of heaven forbid!
September 22, 2009 at 5:19 pm
It is reassuring to know your conference organizers pull the same thing as the organizers of the ones I attend. But be very careful. I mentioned this once to an associate and he replied “Great. you are now on the committee to plan next year’s conference timetable.” Th only thing that saved me was the next conference was in Syracuse and I live in Canada.
September 22, 2009 at 6:40 pm
i wish linville were on the committee! i nominate him.
September 22, 2009 at 7:45 pm
D’oh!
September 22, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I told you so!!!!!! As I tell my students “It’s a terrible thing being right all the time, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years.”
November 19, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I’m a local. Definitely go with Abita. Abita Amber and Purple Haze are pretty fantastic.
November 19, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Great, thanks for the tip. I will try to try them both.