@haie wanted to know about the Pacific Bitcoin Festival. I said I might write something about it. But I've learned that 99.9% of the bonios on this board don't care about Bitcoin, so I'm not going to belabor the topic and bore everyone to tears. But I'll just briefly describe my six-day trip to Santa Monica, mainly focused on Bitcoin.
Arrived last Wednesday. Spent much of the day hanging out in Manhattan Beach. Received texts from @JoeEDangerously and @WoolleyDoog that we should do a pod on the upcoming Oregon game. When I said that I was in Santa Monica and we'd need to wait until the following week, Woolley mentioned that HE would be in Santa Monica that weekend for the WSU-UCLA game. When I asked him what hotel, it turned out he was in the SAME hotel I was staying at. This amounts to a "cool story bro", but seriously, what are the odds of something like that happening? (We were able to get together last Sunday for a massively overpriced lunch at a cafe near the hotel).
Hanging out in Manhattan Beach last Wednesday
Thursday and Friday were the days of the Pacific Bitcoin Festival. There were many panel discussions, interviews and book signings. I got to meet Ms. Universe El Salvador 2022. (See photo below). El Salvador is the only nation that has officially adopted Bitcoin as a currency. Ms. El Salvador travels around to promote awareness and Bitcoin education. I also had a cool conversation with the rap artist Tip_NZ (see photo below). She's a kiwi from New Zealand who used to be in high finance but then went down the Bitcoin rabbit hole and completely altered her profession because she believes in the power and justness of its mission. She uses her artistic talents to educate people about Bitcoin. I'll put my favorite song of hers below with a YouTube video clip. When she spoke at the conference about Bitcoin, you can tell this woman is ALL IN.
Also saw and listened to speakers like Tomer Strolight and brilliant author Erik Cason. Had a chance to talk to Paul Keating, who's a guy that works for author Paul Saladino.
Alejandra Guajardo, Ms. El Salvador 2022
Rapper Tip_NZ (left) and Cafe Bitcoin host Alex Stancwyk
Tip_NZ's video, Timechain
Vijay Boyapati (another kiwi) gave a good speech talking about the differences between Bitcoin, gold and fiat. Going forward, Bitcoin will prove to be a boon not just to America but people across the third world as well. I'll post a video of his speech below
On Saturday I wandered for several miles down Santa Monica Blvd and the famous pier. I struggled to understand how a place that could be so beautiful is kinda treated like a garbage dump. At one point, I was walking along the sidewalk in front of a Lexus dealership. You'd think this would be a clean and shiny area that exuded wealth and luxury, right? Au contraire. The brand-new vehicles were coated with a layer of dust. Garbage and fast food wrappers were strewn across the sidewalk. Up ahead, some yahoo was waving a wooden sword and shouting at something invisible in the air. I wasn't sure whether to cross the street or keep going. I elected to act like nothing was abnormal and kept walking right toward him. Suddenly his head snapped and he looked at me before lunging into a nearby alleyway. I didn't know how to interpret that so I kept walking. As I reached the alley, I glanced over and he was thirty feet down the street, pirouetting and slashing his sword at the air and shouting at some unseen whatever.
Over the weekend I played golf a couple times. I'm not of @tequilla's caliber when it comes to golfing trips. He may have crossed Pebble Beach and Bandon Dunes off his bucket list. But for Stalin, I played the Rancho Park par 3... with the smallest greens I've ever witnessed. I rented clubs at $4 a piece; rusted clanging old irons that looked like they'd been manufacured during the Civil War. But I got used to them and had fun playing. Shot 36 and 33, respectively.
Finally, had lunch on Sunday with @WoolleyDoog!*
* Okay, not actually WoolleyDoog.
Arrived last Wednesday. Spent much of the day hanging out in Manhattan Beach. Received texts from @JoeEDangerously and @WoolleyDoog that we should do a pod on the upcoming Oregon game. When I said that I was in Santa Monica and we'd need to wait until the following week, Woolley mentioned that HE would be in Santa Monica that weekend for the WSU-UCLA game. When I asked him what hotel, it turned out he was in the SAME hotel I was staying at. This amounts to a "cool story bro", but seriously, what are the odds of something like that happening? (We were able to get together last Sunday for a massively overpriced lunch at a cafe near the hotel).
Hanging out in Manhattan Beach last Wednesday
Thursday and Friday were the days of the Pacific Bitcoin Festival. There were many panel discussions, interviews and book signings. I got to meet Ms. Universe El Salvador 2022. (See photo below). El Salvador is the only nation that has officially adopted Bitcoin as a currency. Ms. El Salvador travels around to promote awareness and Bitcoin education. I also had a cool conversation with the rap artist Tip_NZ (see photo below). She's a kiwi from New Zealand who used to be in high finance but then went down the Bitcoin rabbit hole and completely altered her profession because she believes in the power and justness of its mission. She uses her artistic talents to educate people about Bitcoin. I'll put my favorite song of hers below with a YouTube video clip. When she spoke at the conference about Bitcoin, you can tell this woman is ALL IN.
Also saw and listened to speakers like Tomer Strolight and brilliant author Erik Cason. Had a chance to talk to Paul Keating, who's a guy that works for author Paul Saladino.
Alejandra Guajardo, Ms. El Salvador 2022
Rapper Tip_NZ (left) and Cafe Bitcoin host Alex Stancwyk
Tip_NZ's video, Timechain
Vijay Boyapati (another kiwi) gave a good speech talking about the differences between Bitcoin, gold and fiat. Going forward, Bitcoin will prove to be a boon not just to America but people across the third world as well. I'll post a video of his speech below
On Saturday I wandered for several miles down Santa Monica Blvd and the famous pier. I struggled to understand how a place that could be so beautiful is kinda treated like a garbage dump. At one point, I was walking along the sidewalk in front of a Lexus dealership. You'd think this would be a clean and shiny area that exuded wealth and luxury, right? Au contraire. The brand-new vehicles were coated with a layer of dust. Garbage and fast food wrappers were strewn across the sidewalk. Up ahead, some yahoo was waving a wooden sword and shouting at something invisible in the air. I wasn't sure whether to cross the street or keep going. I elected to act like nothing was abnormal and kept walking right toward him. Suddenly his head snapped and he looked at me before lunging into a nearby alleyway. I didn't know how to interpret that so I kept walking. As I reached the alley, I glanced over and he was thirty feet down the street, pirouetting and slashing his sword at the air and shouting at some unseen whatever.
Over the weekend I played golf a couple times. I'm not of @tequilla's caliber when it comes to golfing trips. He may have crossed Pebble Beach and Bandon Dunes off his bucket list. But for Stalin, I played the Rancho Park par 3... with the smallest greens I've ever witnessed. I rented clubs at $4 a piece; rusted clanging old irons that looked like they'd been manufacured during the Civil War. But I got used to them and had fun playing. Shot 36 and 33, respectively.
Finally, had lunch on Sunday with @WoolleyDoog!*
* Okay, not actually WoolleyDoog.
