News from the Rheology Bulletin

Three bullet items from the Rheology Bulletin

• The official SOR report from Santa Fe is on page 4 of the Bulletin.
• The next SOR meeting will be in Cleveland.  As of this posting, the meeting page has not been updated.
• The short course at this fall's meeting will be on the rheology of high-interface systems.  The course will be added to the list once I have an appropriate link.

Report from Santa Fe?

I've just realized that it's been an month since the SOR meeting in Santa Fe?  Did any readers go?  Anything to report?  Did you get anything out of the posts I put together for the meeting?  (If you want to email me something, go ahead.)

Capital Ideas

The SOR meeting in Santa Fe begins today.  One feature of SOR meetings is their presence in state and provincial capitals over the past few years.  (I would imagine there's some connection between the location of a state's main research university in the state capital; imagine all those jobs.  There's probably a history thesis in there somewhere.)  Attendees at the past few SOR meetings and International Rheology Conferences have gone to the following capitals--

• Santa Fe, NM
• Madison, WI
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Columbus, OH
• Sacramento, CA
• Boston, MA
• Quebec, QC

Which capital city would you like to visit for an SOR meeting?  My first choice would be Austin; I have fond memories of the food, bars, lakes, and city from my year there.  I would also like to visit Honolulu, but I think my boss would not approve that travel.

SF Prep Index

• Forward (official sites suggested by SOR)
• #1 -- Welcome to Santa Fe
• #2 -- Sites to See
• #3 -- It's Spelled "Chile"
• #4 -- Getting to Santa Fe
• #5 -- Book Recommendation

Update: Answer to the trivia question posed in #1, after the jump

Update #2: If you enjoyed the series, and know someone going to SOR, feel free to send them this post.

Update #3: Fixed the broken links.

SF Prep (#5): Book Recommendation

Most people know Tony Hillerman as a mystery writer.  Before he became a best-selling author, he worked for Santa Fe's main newspaper The New Mexican.  He put together a collection of his newspaper articles that celebrated facets of northern New Mexico into the book The Great Taos Bank Robbery.  The book should be available at the Albuquerque airport and Santa Fe hotel stores.

SF Prep (#4): Getting to Santa Fe

Unless you get one of the three daily flights to Santa Fe (one from LA, two from Dallas), you will likely fly into Albuquerque airport (ABQ).  Albuquerque is about 60 miles from Santa Fe.  The fastest way there by car is to take Insterstate 25 north from the airport.  There is another option just recently open: the Rail Runner train.  You can take the train from Albuquerque to Santa Fe.  If you buy your ticket online, you can use the ticket as a bus transfer from the airport.

SF Prep (#3): It's Spelled "Chile"

One of my biggest regrets about not going to the SOR meeting is that I won't be dining in Santa Fe.  However, it's been so long that I've actually been there, that I really can't recommend any restaurants.  The regional cuisine is what most people think of as typically Mexican: tacos, burritos, etcetera.  One ingredient that makes the food "New Mexican" is the Hatch green chile.  The chiles are rarely found outside the state; in fact, we see the chiles in Omaha once a year at one of the local supermarkets.
Local restaurants serve the chiles in "green" and "red" sauces.  Most often, one sauce is hotter than the other.  If you're not used to spicy food, ask your server how hot the food is.

NM Hatch chiles roasting on a grill

Link: NPR's Scott Simon ruminates on the possibility of green chile as a diplomatic tool (from 2003).

SF Prep (#2): Sites to See

• San Miguel Mission: the oldest church in the United States
  
  
• The Loretto Chapel, home of the miraculous staircase [admission required]
  An engineering marvel, the spiral staircase makes two complete turns without external support or metal nails.  The carpenter who built the staircase vanished without accepting payment.
  
  
• Palace of the Governors, a history museum of New Mexico [admission required]
  The museum is on the plaza.  Before going inside, you'll see Native American artists selling their own work.  They specialize in turquoise, silver, and pottery.  Don't forget your credit card; some of the artwork and jewelry is expensive.

• The Georgia O'Keefe museum  [admission required]
  
  
• The state capitol building.  (The oldest capital city in the US has the newest building.  Designed in the shape of the Zia symbol, which can be found on the state flag.  Its nickname is the "Merry Roundhouse.")

Update: Map of these attractions, along with the Convention Center, after the jump.

SF Prep (#1): Welcome to Santa Fe

Santa Fe, the capital of the state of New Mexico, is the oldest capital city in the United States.  Its nickname is "The City Different."
The first thing to remember about Santa Fe is that it is located in a high altitude desert (7000 ft or 2100 m above sea level).  Drink plenty of water, and wear a hat and sunscreen if you'll be out in the sun. 

(Trivia question: which saint is Santa Fe named after?  "Fe" is the Spanish word for "faith."  If you use Google, you're cheating.)

SF Prep (Forward)

Before I fill everyone's head with my own opinions and suggestions for SOR's Santa Fe meeting, here are the official links provided by the Society.

1. SOR General Meeting Information
2. Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau: Getting to Santa Fe

Poll of the Month (September)

It's time to try a new poll.  Are you going to Santa Fe for the SOR meeting?  The meeting will be held during the last week of October.

Out of SORts

Sadly, I will not be able to attend this year's SOR meeting in Santa Fe.  I would really have liked to go, but my travel schedule has different priorities this year.
I lived near Santa Fe for 10 years, and I'll put up a few posts with tips on things to see and do.

SOR Award Winners

• Congratulations to Professor Tom McLeish,  who will receive the Bingham Medal at this year's SOR Meeting.
• Congratulations to Dr. Suzanne Fielding, who will receive the Metzner Award at this year's SOR meeting.