"The time has come", the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax -- Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- And whether pigs have wings." Well, *this* PIG's about to get wings! :) This is the [re-]announcement of a new Python Interest Group: the Baltimore/Annapolis/Columbia/and-Other-Northern-dc-suburbs Python Interest Group (BACON-PIG). The BACON-PIG's launch was somewhat delayed by system-administrational vicissitudes at Pan Galactic Enterprises (which hosts the mailing list) but is now imminent! Although there is a good and venerable group in Washington, DC (the ZPUG-DC or Zope/Python Users of DC, <http://www.zpugdc.org/>), some of us Maryland Pythonistas are too lazy (me :) or unable for whatever reason to schlep ourselves down into DC or Northern Virginia for after-work meetings -- hence the motivation for a group that meets in Maryland. In deference to ZPUG-DC, the BACON-PIG will make every effort to have its meetings on dates that are at least 2 weeks away from ZPUG-DC meetings (which currently appear to be on the first Tuesday of the month), and the BACON-PIG will also focus on topics other than Zope and/or Plone, since those are addressed quite thoroughly by ZPUG-DC. Of course, attendance at both groups' meetings is encouraged! The inaugural meeting of the BACON-PIG will be Thursday, October 23, 5:30 - 7:30 PM, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/home/index.html A map and directions are available at that site. The first meeting will include at least some recaps of PyCon 2008 and SciPy 2008 from attendees of those events. At some BACON-PIG meeting in the near future (maybe this one??) Barry Warsaw has promised to lead a Python 3.0 love-fest! Tune in to the bacon-pig list for all the news: <https://pangalactic.us/mailman/listinfo/bacon-pig> Cheers, Steve Waterbury