Some notes from my dinner with the bloggers and assorted hangers-on last night, hosted by Robert Scoble (who may think I’ve been stalking him at these gatherings, having shown up at one in New York last month) and Hugh MacLeod:

[Scoble, a cornfed American boy if ever there was one, notes tech differences between the US and UK, saying he’s “seen no Macs since leaving the states”. Actually, I’ve got one, as do many other astrophysicists — we like the Unix back-end, combined with the fact that it “just works” in ways that Linux still, sadly, doesn’t (broadband, wifi, MS office interoperability). Also, we think we’re quite stylish, for scientists.]

Got to talk with Megan (a.k.a. Jane Galt), the brains behind Asymmetrical Information, chat with frequent dinner-attendees Barry and Rachel, and debate politics with Perry. Like Gia, I think I need to finally move to my own domain — this one’s a bit hard to pronounce (and has been subject to altogether too many outages of late). Lots of expat and visiting Americans, it seems. Apologies to the others I met — and the dozens I didn’t get to meet. Along the way, I seem to have promised to lead the bloggers through a powerpoint presentation on cosmology at some future event, in order to explain once and for all this picture, which is my mobile phone’s wallpaper.

Apologies that I may have been a bit surly with Lloyd, who was recording the event for digital posterity.

Alas, despite promises of “pretty authentic” Mexican food, the fajita-ish slop, although plentiful, was bland — Central and South American food is one of few cuisines that London seems yet to master. But it was nice to find a plentiful selection of US micro-brews like Anchor Steam alongside the Mexican stalwarts Dos Equis and Modelo.

Photos here (I’m the one in the loud shirt…).