Cello

We live in a time of constant movement — always connected, always performing, always becoming. And yet, many of us feel increasingly disconnected from ourselves. We chase success, recognition, and the next milestone, hoping they will bring peace, only to discover that what we’re truly seeking can’t be found outside of us. Our Breathwork Circles at **Light House Cape Town** are an invitation to pause, soften, and return inward. Through Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB), we create a safe and intentional space to peel back layers of conditioning, expectation, and self-performance — and to reconnect with the truth that already lives within you. This practice supports nervous-system regulation, emotional release, and deep self-insight, allowing clarity and inner stability to emerge naturally, without force or pressure. Breathwork is a powerful experiential practice that can create profound shifts in a short amount of time. Participants often experience deep relaxation, emotional release, increased mental clarity, and a renewed sense of energy and focus. The practice can help reduce stress, calm an overactive mind, release stored tension in the body, and unlock insights that feel difficult to access through thinking alone. Many people leave a session feeling lighter, more grounded, emotionally clear, and reconnected to themselves — with a tangible sense of relief, openness, and inner balance that carries into their daily lives. **About us:** These circles are facilitated by Sophie and Bjoern, certified Conscious Connected Breathwork facilitators and co-founders of *onoera*. Coming from high-performance career backgrounds and having experienced burnout and misalignment firsthand, they guide each session with depth, sensitivity, and respect for individual processes. Their work blends science-informed nervous-system awareness with embodied presence, creating a grounded, non-dogmatic space where participants can explore at their own pace. Each circle is intentionally limited in size to ensure personal attention and a contained group experience. No prior breathwork experience is needed — only curiosity and a willingness to meet yourself honestly. **Address:** Light House Holistic Wellbeing 6th Floor, The Barracks, 50 Bree Street, Cape Town, 8000 **Important Booking Information:** You need a ticket for this event. Tickets can be purchased using this link: https://onoera.com/group-circles/breathwork-circle-light-house-holistic-wellbeing

Hi Deep Learners, Our first Deep Learning Meetup in 2026 is taking place on **January 26** at Sky lounge of Raiffeisenbank International in Wien Mitte. Our topics this time are: Agentic RAG and Surprise Estimation in Music. \*\*\* **Agenda:** * 18:30 **Introduction** by the meetup organizers * **Welcome** by the host: Raiffeisenbank International * 18:45 **Talk 1:** **Agentic RAG: Advances in Autonomous Information Retrieval, Quantized Indexing, and Scalable System Design** by Liad Magen *(Raiffeisen Bank International)* * 19:30 **Announcements** * **Networking Break** * 20:00 **Talk 2:** **Surprise Estimation in Music** by Mathias Bjare *(Johannes Kepler University)* * 20:45 **Networking** * \~22:00 **Wrap up & End** \*\*\* **Talk Details:** **Talk 1: Agentic RAG: Advances in Autonomous Information Retrieval, Quantized Indexing, and Scalable System Design** Agentic RAG systems enable AI to plan how to find and utilize information autonomously, moving beyond simple lookup-and-answer patterns. Traditional RAG follows a fixed approach: retrieve documents, then generate an answer. Agentic RAG, on the other hand, utilizes autonomous agents that can reason through problems in multiple steps, reformulate queries intelligently, and adapt their retrieval strategy based on what they discover. This talk examines the architecture and capabilities of agentic RAG, focusing on how retrieval strategies have evolved to support multi-hop reasoning (following chains of related information), tool integration, and agent-driven workflows. Special attention will be paid to recent advances in quantized indexing and vector search, including Matryoshka embeddings. This technique stores information at multiple levels of detail, enabling scalable retrieval with tunable trade-offs between accuracy and storage. **About the Speaker:** Liad Magen is a senior data scientist at Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and serves as the product owner of the Data Science Academy, an internal school within the RBI to upskill employees in machine learning and data science. In addition, he is teaching selected courses on NLP, computer vision and Information Retrieval as part of Master's degrees in Hochschule Campus Wien (HCW) and the university of applied sciences - IMC Krems. **Talk 2: Surprise Estimation in Music** The presentation will focus on Bjare's work on latent autoregressive diffusion models for computationally estimating experienced "expectedness" and "surprise" (surprisal) in music listening, presented at [Neurips 2025 - AI for Music Workshop](https://openreview.net/forum?id=rXUKO0ysUy&referrer=%5BAuthor%20Console%5D(%2Fgroup%3Fid%3DNeurIPS.cc%2F2025%2FWorkshop%2FAI4Music%2FAuthors%23your-submissions)). We revisit an established connection between music appreciation during listening and the extent to which humans or autoregressive models can predict musical continuations. We visit [Music2Latent](https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.06500), an open-source, computationally efficient audio codec used as the audio representation on which surprisal is modeled. We review GPT-style autoregressive diffusion models and show how they are suitable for surprisal estimation. We discuss the prediction of EEG responses to music listening based on our surprise estimates. **About the Speaker:** Mathias Rose Bjare is a fourth year PhD student at the Institute of Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. He builds computational models for the estimation of musical expectancy and surprisal in audio and general symbolic music using modern artificial neural networks. His surprisal estimates enable research into how features of general recorded music correlate with neural responses to music listening We'd like to thank Raiffeisen International for providing the venue, drinks & snacks. ** Please note that the venue has a capacity limit of 120 people and people will be admitted on a first come, first served basis. ** We are very much looking forward to seeing you at our first meetup in 2026! Your VDLM organizers

Welcome to our friendly badminton event! Let's get moving, improve our game, and make some new friends. **Very important: this event is for you if your level is upper intermediate or advance.** 🏸🙂 **If you're joining us for the first time, the organizer will contact you directly to confirm that you have the required level for this event.** Feather shuttles (Babolat 1 / Viktor Master ACE / Forza s 6000) will be provided for this event and are included in the event fee The location: Sport & Fun Halle Favoriten / Windtenstraße 2, 1100 Wien The Price: We try our best to provide you with the best price in Vienna. You will be paying 9 euros for 2 hours. How to pay: We accept cash and bank transfer Number of players: 6 players for 1 court and about 10 -11 players for 2 courts. Remember to bring your own racket, please. **Cancellation policy:** 1- 24 hours before the event = free cancellation. 2- Any time after the 24-hour limit, I will ask you kindly to pay the event fee, if we can't find a suitable replacement. (No exceptions) See you on the court :)

**What is Innate Dance?** Innate Dance is a joyful approach to movement, which invites deeper embodiment and self-connection through butoh inspired movement, Noguchi Taiso exercises, the Seki Method, somatic attention and imagination. We shake it out, breaking up stuck energy held in the body, and explore new movement possibilities from a place of alignment and sensitivity. Thanks to our open awareness we can be surprised by lesser-known parts of ourselves and come to appreciate our innate wisdom in movement. Through exercises, explorations and improvisations we build trust in the body that knows how it would like to move and express itself, and when we follow our innate dance, it just feels good! There is also time and space to dance freely, to enjoy the music in your body and to let go! Ultimately, it's about feeling more 'in' our body and grounding joy. **When? Where? How much?** **Mondays 19:30-21:00** in Studio 2, Tanz\*Hotel, Zirkusgasse 35, 1020 Wien Try out € 14\,\- \| One class € 17\,\- \| Student € 10\,\- \| 5 x class pass €80\,\- \| 10 x class pass € 150\,\- **Who teaches the course?** Jess is a dancer and psychotherapist (humanistic and integrative), who loves shaping classes that offer the space to explore the many facets of being human. Sometimes this learning involves physically embodying non-humans like trees, fish and wind, so we can get out of our limited-human-thinking-mind and into the bigger wisdom available through imagination and our body. At other times it's about dancing textures, sensations or taking on the energy of parts of ourselves so we can know them better. Jess has danced all her life and has been exploring butoh dance for the past eleven years alongside her psychotherapeutic practice. She co-authored *The Seki Method* (soon to be published!), is a Seki Method Facilitator, and was a 2024 student at the Im_Flieger Schule researching dance and healing.

**Discover the Power of Public Speaking & Leadership — Join the Blue Danube Leaders!** Are you looking for a new hobby that's not only fun but also helps you grow? Join us at **Blue Danube Leaders**, a Toastmasters club where you can improve your **public speaking**, **leadership**, and **communication** skills - all in a friendly, encouraging environment. Whether you’re just starting out or are already a seasoned speaker, you're welcome as our guest. **THIS PARTICULAR MEETING IS A CONTEST EVENT** Every year Toastmasters International holds the World Championship of Public Speaking, starting at club level for general speeches, evaluation speeches and table topics.This meeting on Jan 26 is our club contest.You are very welcome to join, just be aware that the meeting format on this evening is entirely different to our normal meetings described below. This is the usual meeting format: **What happens at a Meeting?** Our meetings follow a structured, interactive format: * **Welcome and Introduction** The meetings begin with a warm welcome from the Club President and the host (called *Toastmaster of the Evening)*. Then, we do a short introduction round where everyone - guests too - say a few words on the evening's topic. * **Word of the Day** A challenge that builds your language skills and sharpens your attention to word choice. A special word is introduced and everyone is invited to use this word whenever they speak. * **Table Topics** This is an exciting segment! Volunteers - guests too! - are invited to speak for 1-2 minutes on a surprise question or topic. It's a great way to practice thinking on your feet. * ***Short Break of 10 minutes*** * **Prepared Speeches** * Members deliver speeches prepared ahead of time, usually 5-7 minutes in length. Each speech is a step in the Toastmasters learning pathway. * **Evaluations** Every speech will be thoughtfully evaluated by a designated Evaluator. These evaluations focus on strengths, improvement tips, and encouragement. It's a crucial part of the Toastmasters experience. * **Role Reports** Throughout the meeting, members take on supportive roles that ensure the flow of the evening and give everyone a chance to grow. **Be our guest!** This meetup is open to guests. Toastmasters have a separate platform for the member registration. There are always 10+ people in the meeting. Join us at **18:45 CET** for a casual **Meet & Greet**; The program starts **sharp at 19:00 CET.** After the meeting, we often head to a nearby spot for food or drinks - a great way to relax and connect! Learn more: https://bluedanubeleaders.at/ Email: info@bluedanubeleaders.at

Die **offene Singrunde** ist für alle, die sich (mehr) trauen wollen, mit anderen gemeinsam zu singen, Hobby- und Profi-SängerInnen, die ein **energievolles, einfaches MITEINANDER SINGEN erleben** wollen. Die wohltuende Wirkung des Singens und die Freude am gemeinsamen Klang stehen im Vordergrund. ☺️🙂🤩 Nach ein paar Körper und Stimme entspannenden und aktivierenden Übungen singen wir leicht zu lernende Lieder mit Texten, die Seele und Herz berühren, auf Deutsch und Englisch. **Alle Stimmen sind herzlich willkommen, egal ob routiniert oder ungeübt.** **Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich.** Aus meiner umfangreichen Liedersammlung stehen z.B. 🎶 Segel setzen 🎶 Tanze, also ob niemand dich sieht 🎶 I am here 🎶 L-ICH-T 🎶 Vertrau dem Fluss 🎶 Wir sind verbunden 🎶 Let it go 🎶 For each child that's born 🎶 Rhythm and Syncopation 🎶 May the Circle be open 🎶 Ich stehe wie ein Baum / Standing like a Tree 🎶 Be still and know … 🎶 zur Auswahl. Das Programm wird beim Singabend intuitiv entstehen. Ich bringe die Liedertexte und meine Gitarre und begleite unseren Gesang. Mit dabei sind auch Cabasa, Klangfrösche, Chickenegg, Shaker, Schellenring, Triangel, Caxixi ("Kaschischi"), Claves, Trommeln ... die zum intuitiven Improvisieren, mit Mut und Freude am einfach Ausprobieren genutzt werden können. 💎 **Ablauf:** Check-In-Runde, Warm-Up, Singen, Check-Out (anschl. Plaudern & Vernetzen wer mag) 💎 **Ankommenszeit ab 15:45 Uhr.** Bitte rechtzeitig da sein. Wir beginnen pünktlich um 16:00 Uhr. Danke 🙏 💎 **Grätzelraum** (gleich rechts nach dem Eingang) **im GB\* Stadtteilbüro** am Max-Winter-Platz 23, 1020 Wien Das Gebäude ist freistehend vor / hinter / neben dem Spielplatz. 💝 Ein freiwilliger Wertschätzungsbeitrag wird dankend angenommen. **✅ Mit deiner VERBINDLICHEN ANMELDUNG bis spätestens 9 Uhr am Singtag sicherst du dir deinen Platz. Einfach hier zusagen oder eine Nachricht direkt an mich schicken.** Die Teilnahme ist auf 16 Personen beschränkt. Die Ankündigung und Anmeldung läuft auch auf anderen Kanälen. Nach aktuellem Stand (25.1. 20 Uhr) sind wir schon zu zehnt. Bei Fragen stehe ich euch gern bis zum Anmeldeschluss zur Verfügung. ***Ich freue mich auf euch, Karin***

Join Vienna’s longest-running English stand-up comedy open mic for laughs, live comedy, and English-language performances. Drop by to see experienced comedians work on their new jokes or maybe you will catch somebody trying to be funny on stage for the first time ever! We don't really know what will happen and that's part of the magic! Join Vienna’s longest-running English stand-up comedy open mic for laughs, live comedy, and English-language performances. Drop by to see experienced comedians work on their new jokes or maybe you will catch somebody trying to be funny on stage for the first time ever! We don't really know what will happen and that's part of the magic! **Do you want to perform yourself?** Hit us up on Instagram (@wiener.comedy) or Facebook (Wiener Comedy). Not on social media? Send us an email at wienercomedy5000@gmail.com If you’re waiting on a reply, please also check your spam folder. **Do you just want to watch?** Just come on over before 19:30, wear something comfortable, enjoy a pint and/or a burger, lean back and let us tickle your funny bone! **Tickets:** Seats can fill up fast, so we recommend reserving yours on Eventbrite. This is a *pay what you like* show so it doesn't cost you to reserve your seat. **Need a table for dinner or coming with a larger group?** Write us an email to sort everything out: wienercomedy5000@gmail.com or contact Charlie P's directly Doors Open: 19:00 Show Starts: 19:30 ***We'll hold your reservations until 19:20 at which time we will release the remaining seats to the public*** Age - 16+ Good talk, see you out there! **Do you want to perform yourself?** Hit us up on Instagram (@wiener.comedy) or Facebook (Wiener Comedy). Not on social media? Send us an email at wienercomedy5000@gmail.com If you’re waiting on a reply, please also check your spam folder. **Do you just want to watch?** Just come on over before 19:30, wear something comfortable, enjoy a pint and/or a burger, lean back and let us tickle your funny bone! **Tickets:** Seats can fill up fast, so we recommend reserving yours on Eventbrite. This is a *pay what you like* show so it doesn't cost you to reserve your seat. **Need a table for dinner or coming with a larger group?** Write us an email to sort everything out: wienercomedy5000@gmail.com or contact Charlie P's directly Doors Open: 19:00 Show Starts: 19:30 ***We'll hold your reservations until 19:20 at which time we will release the remaining seats to the public*** Age - 16+ Good talk, see you out there!

**Monthly "Pub Moot" and Lecture Series- *in English*** Pub Moots will generally be held on the **4th Wednesday** of every month. Sometimes there will be exceptions based on what is going on, so make sure to check back here on Meetup for the exact information All are welcome- experienced practioners, newbies, merely curious, Wiccans and Wiccan-curious and practitioners of similar traditions and those who have no idea why they want to come but just do and even those who don't know a thing but simply like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and suchlike... :-) **This Month’s Topic: 🌙 Planetary Magic, Music, and the Care of the Soul** What if magic wasn’t primarily about getting results, but about tuning the soul into harmony? Long before manifestation culture, Renaissance magicians understood magic as a subtle art of balance: working with planets, music, myth, imagination, and emotion to shape the inner life, and through it, the outer world. One of the most influential thinkers behind this worldview was Marsilio Ficino, a philosopher–magician who believed that astrology, song, ritual, and devotion were forms of spiritual medicine. In this talk, we’ll explore: • planetary magic as care for the soul, not control over reality • why music, images, and myth were considered powerful magical tools • how Renaissance ideas quietly shaped modern Pagan, Wiccan, and esoteric practices • and why these older approaches may be especially relevant for spiritually burnt-out modern witches **General schedule of the evening:** 19:00- 19:30- Meetup, time to eat and socialize 19:30- 20:30- Lecture and Discussion 20:30-21:00 and beyond- Open discussion and more socializing- eat, drink, and be merry! **Attendance is free** but you will need to buy something at the pub. :-) *(The Pub is old-school Austrian and cash-only, so bring paper money! :-))*

This is a series of weekly indoor volleyball events where players of all skill levels (intermediate and advanced) can play, primarily for enjoyment. The cost is €10 per person for two hours, based on a maximum of 14 players. Events are always announced two weeks in advance. This prevents booking too far in advance and then forgetting to cancel. In this sport, the number of players is a crucial factor. Please cancel at least 48 hours beforehand so that players on the waiting list can participate. Best regards.

We invite you to an elegant art experience inspired by the spirit of the Renaissance and the timeless beauty of Sandro Botticelli. During this special event, we will paint from life with a breathtaking professional model — a dancer embodying Aphrodite, semi-nude, with graceful movement and expressive poses inspired by classical art. Atmosphere & Experience * An intimate art event infused with the aesthetics of the Old Masters * Welcome drink and light snacks / buffet * A refined, inspiring, and immersive setting Artistic Practice * Painting on canvas * Oil paints * Working in grisaille / sepia * Exploring traditional Old Master techniques * Focus on line, rhythm, and sculptural form rather than photographic realism — in the spirit of Botticelli Guidance * The session is led by a professional artist * Suitable for both beginners and experienced painters Duration: 3 hours What’s Included Welcome drink, snacks, canvas, oil paints, solvents, and all necessary materials. Price: €90 All materials included — you will leave with a finished painting. This is more than a workshop. It is an aesthetic journey — a chance to step into the mindset of a Renaissance master and create your own vision of Aphrodite.

To contact the main organizer for any information about our events, please use this number: +436767401074 (Also WhatsApp) Welcome to our friendly badminton event! Let's get moving, improve our game, and make new friends. We will be playing every Sunday from 11:00 AM to 01:00 PM. **Very important: this event is for you if your level is intermediate or any higher level above that. 🏸🙂** **If you're joining us for the first time, the organizer will contact you directly to confirm that you have the required level for this event.** Feather shuttlecock will be used for this event, and it will be provided by the host. The location: Tennispoint, Baumgasse 87, 1030 Wien The Price: We try our best to provide you with the best price in Vienna. You will be paying 10 euros for 2 hours. How to pay: We accept card payments and cash (card payments are preferred) Number of players: It depends on how many courts we get, 6 for 1 court and about 10-11 for 2 courts (so we can take a small break between matches) Remember to bring your own racket please, or you can rent one at the reception for about 3 euros **Cancellation policy:** 1- Canceling 48 hours before the event = free cancellation 2- Cancellation after the 48-hour deadline = we will ask you kindly to pay the event fee if we are not able to find a suitable replacement. (No exception) In case of not paying = banned from future events. See you on the court :)

**Your Padel level must be between 2.0 and 5.0.** Padel levels are explained here: [https://www.padelpowers.com/en/events/whatismylevel/](https://www.padelpowers.com/en/events/whatismylevel/) We play on one court with 4 (maybe 5) players. **Price** * 17-21 € for 2h depending on number of players * If you need a racket, you can rent it from me for 2 € * You can pay via Revolut, PayPal, instant Bank Transfer or Cash. I prefer transfer over cash. * **Equipment** * I provide balls (usually Bullpadel Next) * If you need a racket, you can rent it from me for 2 € (limited number available). You can also rent a racket from the venue for 5 € **Cancellation** * Please cancel at least 10h before the event, to give people on the wait list the chance to jump in. Otherwise a late cancellation fee of 10 € must be paid. * Cancel at least 26h before the event in case the wait list is empty. Otherwise a late cancellation fee will be charged * Late Cancellation fees will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Ärzte ohne Grenzen). * I understand that sometimes unexpected things can come up. However, not showing up and failing to let me know is considered disrespectful and goes against the community spirit. People doing uncommented no-shows have to pay the full event fee. **Important** * Playing competitive is allowed (Smashing balls, hitting balls close to opponent player etc.) * We still value fair play and sportsmanship. * Having fun together is way more important as winning. **Other information** * We are respectful and warm with each other. Our cultural and professional background is diverse * The host or regular players can ask misbehaving players to step out from the court * The venue has changing rooms and showers free of charge (for the lockers you have to bring your own padlock) * If you have questions, you can send me a message any time. I speak german too.

To contact the main organizer for any information about our events, please use this number: +436767401074 (Also WhatsApp) Welcome to our friendly badminton event! Let's get moving, improve our game, and make new friends. We will be playing every Thursday from 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM. **Very important: this event is for you if your level is intermediate or any higher level above that.** 🏸🙂 **If you're joining us for the first time, the organizer will contact you directly to confirm that you have the required level for this event.** Feather shuttlecock will be use for this event, and it will be provided by the host. The location: Sport and Fun Halle Leopoldstadt / Venediger Au 11, 1020 Wien The Price: We try our best to provide you with the best price in Vienna. You will be paying 9 Euro for 2 hours. How to pay: We accept card payment and cash (card payments are preferred) Number of players : We have 2 courts reserved for this event and aiming to have 10-11 players in total (so we can take a small break between matches) Remember to bring your own racket, please. **Cancellation policy:** 1- Canceling 24 hours before the event = free cancellation 2- Cancellation after the 24-hour deadline = we will ask you kindly to pay the event fee if we are not able to find a suitable replacement. (No exception) In case of not paying = banned from future events. See you on the court :)

Join us for **Indoor** Padel at Padelzone Floridsdorf. **How we play**? Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced Players are welcome. Number of courts depends on the number of players. * 4-5 players: one court * 8-10 players: two courts * 12-14 players: three courts **Price** * between 17-20 € for 2h depending of number of players * I use the money to cover the costs for the court, balls and rackets. * You can pay via Revolut, PayPal, instant Bank Transfer or Cash. I prefer transfer over cash. **Equipment** * I provide balls (usually Bullpadel Next) * If you need a racket, you can rent it from me for 2 € (limited number available). There is also a machine at the venue, where you can rent a racket for 4 € (you need *SportToGo* App to rent from them) **Cancellation** * Please cancel at least 26h before the event, if nobody is on wait list. Otherwise you have to pay a 10 € late cancellation fee. * If people are on wait list, please cancel 10h before the event. Otherwise you have to pay a 10 € late cancellation fee. * Late Cancellation fees will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Ärzte ohne Grenzen). * I understand that sometimes unexpected things can come up. However, not showing up and failing to let me know is considered disrespectful and goes against the Meetup community spirit. You still have to pay the full event fee in such cases. **Important** * Playing competitive is allowed (Smashing balls, hitting balls close to opponent player etc.) * We still value fair play and sportsmanship. * Having fun together is way more important as winning. **Other information** * We are respectful and warm with each other. Our cultural and professional background is diverse * The host or regular players can ask misbehaving players to step out from the court * The host and regular players are entitled to send players to different courts to have balanced teams * The venue has changing rooms and showers free of charge * If you come by car, make sure that you park at Padelzone and NOT at Marco Polo Sportscenter * If you have questions, you can send me a message any time. I speak german too.

Come out to Improving for our monthly iOS and Mac meetings. This Month's Presentation: Nothing yet. (You should volunteer). What is Cocoaheads (http://cocoaheads.org/)? CocoaHeads is a group devoted to discussion of Apple Computer's Cocoa Framework for programming on MacOS X and iOS (including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch). During monthly meetings, members present on their projects and offer tutorials on various programming topics. What is BuckeyeCocoa (http://buckeyecocoa.org/)? BuckeyeCocoa is a group of Objective-C/Swift developers/enthusiasts. We host monthly Cocoaheads and near-weekly NSCoder meetings in Columbus, Ohio. The meetings are free to attend. Presentations! Presenters welcome! We are always in need of people willing to present material. Any Swift and/or Objective-C related topic is welcome. Times can be 5 minutes (i.e. lightning talks) to a maximum of 2 hours. Interested? Contact info is on the BuckeyeCocoa website. To volunteer for a presentation contact us at @BuckeyeCocoa on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter! @BuckeyeCocoa (https://twitter.com/#!/Buckeyecocoa/) For more information: http://buckeyecocoa.org/

**MEET FOR DESSERT**: Since it's cold outside, let's meet for warm chocolate inside! Hot chocolate and warm chocolate fondue (chocolate fondue day is Feb 5th) are offered at this cafe filled with the smell of chocolate! *The hot chocolate at Chocolate Cafe is arguably the best hot chocolate you will ever have.* They have a huge variety, including Hot Chocolate, Dark Hot Chocolate (my fave), White Hot Chocolate, as well as specialty hot chocolates, including Cherry Jubilee, LaSalle Mint, Caramel, Mexican, Kaffee Wien, Peanut Butter, Nutella, and Butterscotch. **EARLY ARRIVALS**: Go ahead and order dinner (before dessert). I love their toasted sandwiches and their soups. **PARKING**: In our parking lot, on the street (but not between 4-6 pm) or behind the Buckeye State Building. [Chocolate Cafe](https://www.chocolatecafecolumbus.com/): A fully stocked amount of *chocolate candies* including truffles, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate and caramel turtles. We have menu options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Join us for brunch or a late night meal. Soups, salads & sandwiches served daily. Check out our [menu](https://www.chocolatecafecolumbus.com/_files/ugd/7ea733_0ebab62dcfc0435aa189b6d1a3c3ec82.pdf) for more information. We also offer wine, martinis and cocktails! Enjoy a *famous chocolate martini* or hand crafted cocktail, too!

**Caller: Dan Kappus** **Band: Trillium** **Big Scioty Contra Dance** **temporarily returning to our long ago location for Jan-March - First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., Columbus 43215** WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING? Picture the Grand Ball scenes like you’ve seen in period films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, where the dancers are lined up in long lines, across from each other. That’s English Country Dancing, the predecessor of contra dancing. Now, add moves like “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” like you’ve seen in square dancing. Set it to fabulous, high energy, live music with fiddles, guitars, percussion and more, alá “Riverdance.” Finally, set the whole scene down in the middle of Woodstock, with a hip, groovy atmosphere, a bit of tie-dye, and hints of counter-culture attitude. THAT’s Contra Dancing! Wear cool and comfortable clothes (you will get warm) and clean shoes that won't mark up our nice wood floor. Be sure to come for the beginner's lesson from 7:30 - 8:00, followed by dancing 8:00 - 10:30. All dances are taught; we will help you learn! Beginners always welcome, no need to bring a partner. Cost is $10.00 adults, $5.00 ages 12-26. Under 12 free. Free parking in church lot. For more information contact me or check out our website: [www.bigscioty.com](http://www.bigscioty.com/) Please bring your own refillable water bottle. Snacks to share are always welcome!

Dale Gnidovec, Curator of the Orton Hall Museum of Geology at The Ohio State University, will be presenting a program he has wanted to share with us for a long time: Plate Tectonics. His description of his program: Continents on the move - Nothing in Earth history makes sense without moving continents - it tells us why mountains, volcanoes, minerals, and fossils are where they are. This talk examines the evidence for continental drift, why it was disbelieved, and explains how the more-encompassing theory of plate tectonics was developed and eventually proven. Dale is an energetic, incredibly knowledgeable, and very entertaining speaker and this will be another wonderful program by Dale. Hope to see you there! Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Feel free to show up a little bit early to hang out and talk. Going forward our meetings will be hybrid. You can meet us in-person or attend online Join Zoom Meeting [https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1) Meeting ID: 878 3656 4953 Passcode: 760812 One tap mobile +19292056099,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (New York) +13017158592,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (Washington DC) The formal presentation will start at noon

Let’s meet and discuss whatever comes to mind about one of Tennesse Williams’ most famous plays.

🎉 You’re Invited! 🍩 Join Columbus Vegan Meetup for a fun community gathering at Monster Baby Donuts, a vegan, peanut & gluten-free, local family-owned business that just opened their new storefront! They started as a beloved food truck, and now they have a permanent location. 📍 700 Bryden Rd, Columbus, OH 43205 🗓 Saturday, January 31 ⏰ 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Come enjoy amazing donuts, meet other vegans, and help grow our community with people who share your values. It’s a great opportunity to connect, support a local vegan business, and have a good time. 🥪🥗 The shop also has ready-to-go sandwiches and salads. 🚗 Ample parking in the back. Everyone is welcome — see you there! 🌱💚

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)