Welcome to the end of 2013, a time of feasts and of plenty, and a time to celebrate the successes of the previous year and prepare for the next one.

Our traditional social meetup this month falls on the weekend of the 2013 Southern Summer Solstice. Lets take this opportunity to review our recent progress and bring a touch of ceremony into our lives.

Instead of our usual establishment in Carlton, you are invited to join me at the special location of my family home, in Eltham.

The focus for the evening will be on reflection and refocusing - What have we done in the past year that has lead to our successes? What could we have done differently? How can we improve our next year?

We will have an opportunity to look at these from both an individual and societal level. There will be reflections on the progress of humanity, and participatory exercises on self improvement.

In keeping with the tradition of feasting, we will have a pot-luck and BBQ dinner. All guests are encouraged to bring food to cook on the grill, a dish to share, or a contribution towards supplies. If you want to opt in, post what you are able to bring - be it meals, drinks, or deserts - to the Facebook event invitation (https://www.facebook.com/events/436330916489443). Please RSVP by Friday morning so I can make final arrangements.

Following the feast we can play some social party games, including a thematically appropriate Werewolf game, modified to include additional characters to make it even more interesting. If the clouds are clear I will bring out the telescope and we should have views of Venus, Jupiter's moons, our moon, and the milky way. We hope to end the evening with a mindfulness session.

Come to 54 Scenic Crescent, Eltham North. Parking is available up the driveway, and we will offer lifts from Eltham train station. Arrive from 7pm if you want to help with the set up, and we will kick off formal proceedings and dinner at 8pm. Sunset will be 8:41PM, and the day length will be 14 hours 47 minutes.

Let this be a ceremony to saviour, while the days remain long. I look forward to your attendance.

This month we will be discussing and doing exercises to do with communication.

For full details see http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Less-Wrong/events/143167052/

Please RSVP at the above link.

Dear Friends,

As we await the coming of summer, October in Melbourne is wet yet deceivingly warm. Thank heavens for food though! New friends and old are joining together for the much awaited Sunday Brunch Club. This time held our home, Isengard, in the Docklands with a lovely view of the city and harbour.

Come out for a good time on Sunday Oct 20 for a brunch (lunch?) we have cooked up just for you. Let this be one of the myriad of joyous occasions we choose to celebrate knowing and loving each other. Let us welcome summer, as we embark on our paths, wherever they may lead.

On to the details! Where: 2105 / 5 Caravel Lane, Docklands Getting Here: 12 minute walk from Southern Cross station, or catch a free tram straight to our front door. When: 11am-4pm You will be provided a seating time by Thursday based on your survey responses. Please be punctual so we can make sure it all works to plan! Suggested Contribution: $11-$15 per person to cover food costs, all excess proceeds to support GiveWell top rated charities. Guests: Please limit yourself to inviting one additional guest.

We need to receive all RSVPs via this form by 7pm on Thurs 16th October.

Wish you well and look forward to seeing you soon!

Your friends and hosts,

Adrienne, Allison, Brayden, Helen, and Thomas

Tentative À La Carte Menu Below STARTER

Homemade Pumpkin Bread Served with nutmeg and rosemary butter

MAINS

Patatas Bravas Latkes Apple creme drizzled sweet and savoury potato pancakes served with Gruyère cheese and rocket

Omelette du Fromage Fluffy omelettes with capsicum, ham, mushrooms, tomato, parsley, and, of course, cheese.

DESSERT Matcha Green Tea Crepes Roulade A Japanese-French fusion dusted with sugar and served with banana slices

Orange-Blossom Mead du la Glace Honey-fermented wine liqueur served with vanilla ice cream

DRINKS Sangria Blanco Spanish wine punch with chopped fruit

Practical rationality. This meetup repeats on the 1st Friday of each month and is distinct from our monthly social meetup. We aim to improve our thinking and decision making techniques, and 'level up'.

Topics for this month will be announced on our group's meetup page. http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Less-Wrong/

Discussion can be found on our mailing list: http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-less-wrong

All are welcome from 6:30pm. If the door downstairs is locked, call the phone number on the door and we'll let you in. Any formal activity will likely kick off at 7:30pm sharp an g until 9pm. Following this there will be informal discussion and rationality life advice.

Please RSVP at the meetup page above so we can be aware of numbers.

This event will give us a chance to improve out prediction and updating skills, and we have prepared 90 minutes of group exercises as formal activities for the night, which kick off at 7:30pm. This event is open to interested members who are less familiar with the LW material, and you are invited to bring a friend who might be interested. All attendees are kindly requested to RSVP via the group meetup page, where you will find more information about the event: http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Less-Wrong/events/137079922/