Past Events

September 2024: Common Knowledge

Have you asked a chatbot a question? How good do you think the answer was? Member Alex Rudnick can shed some light on the topic, as a software engineer, researcher, and educator in natural language processing. Alex will be discussing the large language models such as ChatGPT that are showing up at an increasing rate across the internet. What's a large language model? And what does it mean for it to be large? What are they good at and not so good at?

We'll also sing along with the band to these songs:

July 2024: Picnic at Cuesta Park

picnic table on grass
The dog ate my text. Then the dog died.
  • Where? Cuesta Park in Mountain View. Enter at the intersection of Nilda Ave and Cuesta Drive.
  • When? The 14th of July. You can start drifting in about 10:00 and will probably have to drift out by 20:00. Yes, I booked for the whole day. It's cheap.
  • What? No alcohol, sorry. There are two small barbecue grills for you charcoal wizards to play with; the rest of us are encouraged to bring, well, almost anything edible. It's rumoured that someone is doing a "stone soup" version of a salad.

March 2024: How's it Goin?

People

We do things differently at Sunday Assembly. We offer uplifting talks, fun singalongs, and community to all regardless of their beliefs.

If you've been to Sunday Assembly before, what do you like most about it? Are there any things you'd like to see done differently? Are there any ways you'd like to get involved? And how can we help more people in our community find us?

We're going to be exploring those topics at our next Assembly as we also better get to know each other in small group discussions. We hope you'll join us!

February 2024: Listen!

This Assembly will be fun! Our guest speaker is Dan Dugan, CEO of Dan Dugan Sound Design and senior technical advisor to the Nature Sounds Society. Dan does scientific research in the national parks, making longitudinal studies of soundscapes over time. He'll present some sample recordings, talk about how to listen to soundscapes, and why this is important. He'll present some of his recording samples and share some aspects of natural sounds that you may not be aware of.

November 2023: 10th Birthday!

Happy 10th birthday, SASV! We'll be celebrating this momentous occasion with a cake!

We'll sing along to some celebratory tunes:
Celebration - Kool & The Gang
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Happy - Pharrell Williams
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

And we will share with each other what we most enjoy about SASV and good SASV memories.

October 2023: Remembrance

Autumn Leaves

Death is the ultimate reminder that we are not in control. It is a topic that is inevitably associated with loss and grief, hence one that is often turned away from. Yet contemplating it can serve as a wake-up call to the importance of living a meaningful life today and every day. Anthea Grimason will share her experiences as a death doula and offer considerations to help us prepare for death, looking at all aspects of this human life, from the physical body, to the emotional, mental and spiritual.

September 2023: Why We Do This

With so many things pulling at us for our time -- from work and family to hobbies and Netflix -- why do we choose to come to Sunday Assembly each month? Long-time SASV member Crista Alvey will share with us why Sunday Assembly offers something unique and important in our lives.

John is our emcee and offering a Doing Your Best. Elizabeth will share a Creative Space.

We’ll sing along with the band to

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