For everyone's information, the Ad Hoc Hiking Group has its own blog. http://adhochiking.blogspot.com/?zx=becc6a0d35fde4df
Hikes are planned for the following days. Keep posted as to where and at what time. The hikes usual start at 8 to 9AM. Want to lead a hike on one of these dates? Just post your proposal on the hiking blog.
October - Tuesday, 10/20/2009
November - Wednesday, 11/25/2009
December - Thursday, 12/24/2009
January - Friday, 1/22/2010
February - Monday, 2/22/2010 (President's Day)
March - Tuesday, 3/23/2010
April - Wednesday, 4 /21/2010
May - Thursday, 5/20/2010
June - Friday, 6/25/2010
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Plato Ad Hoc Hiking Group
Interested in exploring our local Santa Monica Mountains with fellow Plato members? The members of the Winter 2009 “Look Where you Walk” SDG want to continue our explorations as an ad hoc hiking group and invite you to join us. We are thinking of a monthly hike in our local mountain (Santa Monicas and San Gabriels), on well established trails. We believe the length of the hikes should be 4 – 6 miles, depending on the wishes of the group.
We will be hiking on unpaved trails with elevation gains of 1000 feet or more. To evaluate your ability and safety to join us in our hikes, please take the following test and seriously consider the results as an indicator of your ability to meet the rigors of the hikes.
We’d like to have a preliminary meeting on either July 22 or July 29, at noon, to determine our best hiking times, days, and hike locations and lengths. Please go to the Plato Blog or email us letting us know if you will be joining us and which day is best for you.
Lee Ann Kennedy
Sol Scope
Skills and Ability Evaluation – give yourself points for each question.
1. If given the choice to either walk up 2 flights of stairs or wait 3 minutes to take an elevator, which would you do?
a. Happily, gladly wait for the elevator = 0 points
b. Reluctantly and slowly walk up the stairs = 1 point
c. Happily walk up two flights of stairs = 2 points
d. Not even consider the elevator but automatically select the stairs = 3 points
2. Would you be able to walk from Plato to the UCLA bookstore and back in an hour (2.4 miles roundtrip)?
a. I don’t know where the bookstore is = 0 points
b. Yes, I could possibly do it in an hour = 1 point
c I can’t walk that slow – ½ hour max for the walk = 2 points
3. Could you walk for 3 hours on uneven ground with rocks that includes uphill and downhill sections carrying a small backpack weighing about 10 pounds with clothes, food, water and other items?
a. You must be kidding?! – 0 points
b. Yes – 1 point
c. Yes, and I could probably carry 15 pounds = 3 points.
4. We recommend the following equipments for our hikes:
a. Hiking boots
No, I don’t have and don’t want them – 0 points
No, but will buy them – 1 point
Yes, and they are broken in – 2 points
b. Backpack/fanny pack
No, I don’t have either and don’t want either – 0 points
No, but will buy or borrow – 1 point
Yes, and can lend people my extras – 2 points
c. Water bottles
No, I don’t own a bottle nor do I drink water – 0 points
No, but I can buy bottled water for the hike – 1 point
Yes – 2 points
Yes, I’ll bring a ½ gallon for each 4 miles & toilet paper for breaks– 3 points
d. Walking Sticks
What!?– 0 points
No, but I’ll consider if it will help me keep up with the group – 1
Yes, I have them and use them when needed – 2 points
Yes and I have extras to lend to others – 3 points
Add up your score! If you have...
0 – 6 points, you definitely will not survive a hike.
7 - 8 points, you might survive a hike with an attitude adjustment
9 - 18 points – you’ll be fine and not left behind
We will be hiking on unpaved trails with elevation gains of 1000 feet or more. To evaluate your ability and safety to join us in our hikes, please take the following test and seriously consider the results as an indicator of your ability to meet the rigors of the hikes.
We’d like to have a preliminary meeting on either July 22 or July 29, at noon, to determine our best hiking times, days, and hike locations and lengths. Please go to the Plato Blog or email us letting us know if you will be joining us and which day is best for you.
Lee Ann Kennedy
Sol Scope
Skills and Ability Evaluation – give yourself points for each question.
1. If given the choice to either walk up 2 flights of stairs or wait 3 minutes to take an elevator, which would you do?
a. Happily, gladly wait for the elevator = 0 points
b. Reluctantly and slowly walk up the stairs = 1 point
c. Happily walk up two flights of stairs = 2 points
d. Not even consider the elevator but automatically select the stairs = 3 points
2. Would you be able to walk from Plato to the UCLA bookstore and back in an hour (2.4 miles roundtrip)?
a. I don’t know where the bookstore is = 0 points
b. Yes, I could possibly do it in an hour = 1 point
c I can’t walk that slow – ½ hour max for the walk = 2 points
3. Could you walk for 3 hours on uneven ground with rocks that includes uphill and downhill sections carrying a small backpack weighing about 10 pounds with clothes, food, water and other items?
a. You must be kidding?! – 0 points
b. Yes – 1 point
c. Yes, and I could probably carry 15 pounds = 3 points.
4. We recommend the following equipments for our hikes:
a. Hiking boots
No, I don’t have and don’t want them – 0 points
No, but will buy them – 1 point
Yes, and they are broken in – 2 points
b. Backpack/fanny pack
No, I don’t have either and don’t want either – 0 points
No, but will buy or borrow – 1 point
Yes, and can lend people my extras – 2 points
c. Water bottles
No, I don’t own a bottle nor do I drink water – 0 points
No, but I can buy bottled water for the hike – 1 point
Yes – 2 points
Yes, I’ll bring a ½ gallon for each 4 miles & toilet paper for breaks– 3 points
d. Walking Sticks
What!?– 0 points
No, but I’ll consider if it will help me keep up with the group – 1
Yes, I have them and use them when needed – 2 points
Yes and I have extras to lend to others – 3 points
Add up your score! If you have...
0 – 6 points, you definitely will not survive a hike.
7 - 8 points, you might survive a hike with an attitude adjustment
9 - 18 points – you’ll be fine and not left behind
Monday, June 1, 2009
PLATO Needs YOU!
The main attraction of The PLATO Society is its slate of courses. We have come to expect stimulating topics on a variety of subjects – and we are rarely disappointed.
You may ask, where and how do these wonderful courses originate?
The answer is: They are created by our brilliant membership. That means YOU.
Please share with us the burning idea or the fantastic book you have just read.
1. Ask yourself if that idea or book potentially could be turned into a 7 or 14 week S/DG
2. If you think that is a possibility, send a quick e-mail to slater.marilyn@gmail.com or put a post on our PLATO blog describing your idea in as much detail as you feel is necessary.
Kudos to Bill Clarkson for being the first to post a great S/DG idea (May 29, 2009)!
You may ask, where and how do these wonderful courses originate?
The answer is: They are created by our brilliant membership. That means YOU.
Please share with us the burning idea or the fantastic book you have just read.
1. Ask yourself if that idea or book potentially could be turned into a 7 or 14 week S/DG
2. If you think that is a possibility, send a quick e-mail to slater.marilyn@gmail.com or put a post on our PLATO blog describing your idea in as much detail as you feel is necessary.
Kudos to Bill Clarkson for being the first to post a great S/DG idea (May 29, 2009)!
Friday, May 29, 2009
SDG Proposal
Proposal fo an SDG; The Singularity is Near; When Humans Transcend Biology. This SDG would be a study of the book and related phenomena that are changing the way we think and live at an accelerating rate.
Based on the book by Ray Kurzweil I would be interested on coordinating or co-coordinating this SDG
Based on the book by Ray Kurzweil I would be interested on coordinating or co-coordinating this SDG
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Sixth Sense device
I wanted to pass along this TED talk on the development of a new device which may be available to Plato members in a few years.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Pictures of Walking in Santa Monica Mountains SDG
This session I'm part of a Plato experiment. I'm in the 7 week SDG studying the botany and geology of the Santa Monica Mountains led by Lee Ann Kennedy and Sol Scope. This has been a fantastic adventure. Spring has been gracious with flowers and dry weather for walking. I've posted pictures of each of our 6 walks showing the plants, flowers, geology and terrain we've seen along the way.
There is also a BestPics album from all our walks. Copy and paste this link into your internet browser to see the best pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/BestPicsPlatoWalks#
For those who could not join us to see the wonderful Spring in the Santa Monica Mountains, take a look. I'd be interested in your comments and reactions. Also, if you have other ideas for a SDG that gets Plato members out of their chairs and into new experiences outside our classrooms, please comment so we can begin a discussion and perhaps launch another exciting SDG.
Here are links to each of our walks.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/PlatoSocietyWalkingAndSeeing#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/PlatoSocietyRunyanCanyonWalkMarch112009#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Coral_Canyon#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Trippet_Ranch#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/La_Jolla#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Cold_Creek#
(Thanks Bill Clarkson for the blog coaching. I'm reposting this message as a new posting rather than a comment. sl)
There is also a BestPics album from all our walks. Copy and paste this link into your internet browser to see the best pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/BestPicsPlatoWalks#
For those who could not join us to see the wonderful Spring in the Santa Monica Mountains, take a look. I'd be interested in your comments and reactions. Also, if you have other ideas for a SDG that gets Plato members out of their chairs and into new experiences outside our classrooms, please comment so we can begin a discussion and perhaps launch another exciting SDG.
Here are links to each of our walks.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/PlatoSocietyWalkingAndSeeing#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/PlatoSocietyRunyanCanyonWalkMarch112009#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Coral_Canyon#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Trippet_Ranch#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/La_Jolla#
http://picasaweb.google.com/sergeglass/Cold_Creek#
(Thanks Bill Clarkson for the blog coaching. I'm reposting this message as a new posting rather than a comment. sl)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A post about posting
We look forward to your posts. A couple of hints;
When posting please use the new post button in the upper right coner of the page.
Title your post. blogspot does not have a spell check tool. If you are iffy about spelling as I am, you can compose your message in microsoft word, run a spell check, and copy and paste into the blog compose form.
When responding to a particular post, please use the comment button at the end of the post.
thanks,
Bill.
When posting please use the new post button in the upper right coner of the page.
Title your post. blogspot does not have a spell check tool. If you are iffy about spelling as I am, you can compose your message in microsoft word, run a spell check, and copy and paste into the blog compose form.
When responding to a particular post, please use the comment button at the end of the post.
thanks,
Bill.
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