I can easily come into the city anytime except the middle of the week.
I will be there! We should go to the Baths while you're here, too, Stanley.
I vote for a Saturday! I guess that means this Saturday.
I'm up for whatever, but I must get to sleep, as it's snowing, and I'm still expected at work. A side trip to the baths sounds very nice.
I have a snow day tomorrow, but I still should sleep what with the digging and pre-schooler chasing needs of the coming dawn.
I also have a snow day tomorrow, but I intend to prepare for it by staying up late drinking.
I'm tired of the snow. And beginning to think that planning to be in upstate NY next week was a very bad idea.
I don't know whether I have a snow day tomorrow, but I'm going to assume that I do. La la la! (None seems to be here yet.)
I checked the Accu-Weather Beta* and I see that we've only had maybe two inches of fresh snow so far.
*the window
Snow is good, at least if you live in an urban apartment with no shoveling or driving needs. Come to think of it the occasional bit of shoveling can be fun too.
This is true. Stupid me, moving to a place that requires driving.
Driving in the snow is fun as long as you don't need to get anywhere and don't own the car.
Oh, drat. We're driving up to Vermont this Sunday and not coming home until next Saturday.
So it's agreed: we'll all gossip heavily about LB's purported trip to the Green Mountain State.
I can't do this Saturday evening, but any other day is fine. Monday's a holiday -- brunch, maybe?
I will be in Manhattan from Friday the 19th to the 22nd as part of an Endomorph Imbalance Rectification program. If something were held during the short period of overlap there is a good chance I'd be able to attend. (It is but a short overlap, however.)
Endomorph Imbalance Rectification
?
I guess that JP thinks NYC has too many thin people.
Got it -- I'm slow. Anyway, drat again. I'd try and set up a Vermont meetup, but I don't think there's anyone who comments from there since Cyrus left.
So the 19th or 20th, then? The 20th is a Saturday, which would satisfy Jackmormon and her stash of food and ammo. Will you still be here next Saturday evening, Stanislaus?
Don't you have work to do or something, Mobihikku?
Will you still be here next Saturday evening, Stanislaus?
It's appearing likely that I will be, considering it's either go home Friday night or go home Sunday night, according to bus availability.
Confirmed: I'm leaving town Sunday (via train! which is supposedly the same amount of time as the bus for the very same price! supposedly!), so Saturday the 20th works.
23: Snow Day!!!! I do have work to do, but I don't have to go to work.
Not to pile on, but the Lexus that had long enough to make a 911 call was driven by a police officer. I always thought that they get trained in how to drive in extreme situations.
Maybe it is a matter of learning to drive on a manual. I am still aware of the gear selector when I drive automatics and though I rarely use neutral, I do shift from D1 to D2 and back in bad weather.
Is it still piling on if you do it in the wrong thread?
23: Snow Day!!!! I do have work to do, but I don't have to go to work.
I'm having trouble reconciling "snow day! campus is closed! whee!" with "I really should be getting work done while home today".
"I really should be getting work done while home today"
This is the best part about having the day off. At home, I can actually accomplish something. Going to work (except for teaching) is basically wasted time.
29: Grant deadlines have put me behind on everything else.
I have pissed-off people at five institutions on two continents.
Is it still piling on if you do it in the wrong thread?
I blame the white-out outside.
Ha. If I opened my window, I could have it inside. It is breezy.
As you know Mobe, the product is Wite-Out™. I do wonder how many youngsters (kids these days) could identify it?
I have pissed-off people at five institutions on two continents.
Seven summits is silly, but seeing how quickly one could succeed in pissing off people on every continent could bring a real sense of purpose to an otherwise drab, bureaucratic life.
Saturday, the 20th of February is the day, then? Where shall we meet?
Bave suggested Fresh Salt or…what was the other place, Bave?
Bave suggested Fresh Salt
You don't say!
Stanley started the suggesting of Fresh Salt for this particular meetup.
The other suggestion is in Brooklyn near the Atlantic Avenue subway stop, the bar that Jack has called unheimlich.
40: I like that bar. For subwaying people, it's even easier to get to than FS (less walking, larger variety of trains), and they have cask-conditioned beer.
That bar *is* unheimlich! It's textbook unheimlich! It's also totally walking distance for me, so I'm into it. Either is fine.
Stanley started the suggesting of Fresh Salt for this particular meetup.
This is accurate and a good reason that breaking the sacred trust that is off-blog communication is a terrible idea. Sorry for getting Bave made fun of, especially by neb, of all nosflows.
I am a sensitive fellow.
Since nobody else seems to care and if no strong contrary preferences arise in the next couple of days, let's say Pacific Standard on 4th Ave in Brooklyn. It's more crowded than Fresh Salt but much bigger, and I'm sure we can get a table or two. They have a great beer selection.
Woo! Meetup! Time? I'd think 6 or 7 or 8 or 9, depending on when it gets busy and what works for people. Obviously we want to gain territory before the weirdos not-from-the-internet show up while also leaving room for the stragglers..
I should be able to be there by seven.
I might actually be in the city that day. Maybe I should contemplate getting over my meetup-aversion.
How are their offerings for non beer drinkers?
Stanley, teo, essear, and JP Stormcrow. while I'm out of town? You people all suck. I want my money back.
So what date did we settle on?
LB, Stanley is pretty regularly in town I gather, and teo lives nearby.
They have a full bar, although I wouldn't expect fancy cocktails.
Oh, sure, but they're both outside the gang of usual NYC meetup suspects, which makes missing them annoying. Don't mind me, I'm just being cranky and self-centered. It's part of my inimitable charm.
and not coming home until next Saturday.
hmmm....
Hey, you're going to be skiing I assume. No sympathy, just jealousy even if it is Vermont.
Oh, sure, but they're both outside the gang of usual NYC meetup suspects
At least you have one. What have we got out here? Josh occasionally threatens to beat me up.
57: East coast, your mom, and somesuch!11!on3!!!!
So what date did we settle on?
20 February. I'll bump up the thread the day-of or the day-before. I'll shoot to be there by 7pm.
I'll be there!
Nah, I'm just trying to make LB feel worse.
If it didn't work, don't tell me, would you?
||
OT: David Broder puts the capstone on his 40+ years of asshattery: "Sarah Palin displays her pitch-perfect populism". Those who want to stop her will need more ammunition than deriding her habit of writing on her hand. The lady is good.
|>
||
And he quotes a great segment of her speech which I had missed:
I'm not going to pretend to be an elitist. In fact, I'm going to fight the elitist, because for too often and for too long now, I think the elitists have tried to make people like me and people in the heartland of America feel like we just don't get it, and big government's just going to have to take care of us.|>
Do they ever. A Manhattan location would probably be better for that than Brooklyn, though.
We're going to be in Park Slope, the epitome of the anti-real American arugula drinking, latte eating elitists neighbourhoods.
Elitist eats latte? No story. Latte eats elitist? Now that's a story. A think piece, about how even the most fortunate among us are the least fortunate. Get the Times on the horn.
I am almost certainly going to be in SF this summer. I am almost certain that there will be no Bay Area meetup.
I am almost certain that there will be no Bay Area meetup.
The Force is strong with this one.
arugula drinking, latte eating BAWDY PIERCING
Atlantic Avenue is not quite in Park Slope, is it?
Atlantic Ave, no, but the bar is on 4th Ave, right in the corner of Park Slope on the edge of Downtown and near both Boerum Hill and Fort Greene.
61: I really wish they would just put Broder out to pasture already. He been on full-suck autopilot for so very long now. Was there ever any doubt that he was going to fall in love with Sarah Palin?
David Broder/Daniel Schorr slapfight!
The bar is technically in Boerum Hill, a neighborhood enswippled by Jonathan Lethem in one of his terrible novels, but teraz is correct to point out it has more to do with Park Slope. And they've got a Berkeley, CA theme going on.
a neighborhood enswippled by Jonathan Lethem in one of his terrible novels
Wait, I thought that was one of the good novels, before all the terrible ones. So hard to keep track.
In case you're wondering, my trip to Boston got canxd. May still be on for a couple of West Coast trips later in the year.
I'm confused. Is this thing happening this Saturday or next Saturday? In Brooklyn or Manhattan?
And they've got a Berkeley, CA theme going on.
My impression of Berkeley, CA is that it is home to many attractive women. How does the bar relate to that?
77: Next Saturday, the 20th, at the Brooklyn bar, Pacific Standard. You coming?
79: Possibly. I'd be coming from the wilds of New Jersey, so have to see how realistic this is.
I will also be coming from the wilds of New Jersey, which I consider plenty realistic. Your standards may differ, though.
Teo, I thought you were in the wilds of New Mexico.
Have you ever lived in a state that didn't start with 'New'?
Yeah, I lived in Arizona when I was a little kid.
Sigh. The snow was okay, but now there is ice everywhere, and that's downright unpleasant.
I almost fell on my can a bunch of times this morning. Didn't! Some of my students admitted they had done so.
Given the number of people coming from New Jersey, maybe we should move the meetup to Manhattan. If it would be easier for people, let me be the first to suggest Fresh Salt.
Out here, they've apparently been importing snow for the Olympics. But it snowed today up in the mountains. I'm looking forward to going to California tomorrow, especially if I finish writing the paper due tomorrow before I get to the airport.
Let me be the first to suggestion Staten Island. I've never been, but I hear there is a ferry and I like taking boats to parties.
90: ur doin it rong. You party on a boat. With your flippy floppies.
I don't like to party on a boat, at least not one that is underway, because of the difficulty involved in leaving if I accidentally break something or offend somebody.
Fresh Salt = the place where Bave Dee knows all the bartenders? I like that place.
92: Just make sure the boat has a rowboat attached.
90: ur doin it rong. You party on a boat. With your flippy floppies.
Only if T-Pain is there.
95: I can't tell if Moby got that reference or not. I suppose he'll read it over on Stanpipeblog, if not.
I did not even realize there was a reference I was supposed to get. I'll google T-Pain and see.
I can't tell if Moby got that reference or not.
I thought that was the MH MO, but judging by 97, I guess not.
This version was pulled down from YouTube. But once a copy is out there…
Good grief, even the Aussie Navy has a version!
I'm not very knowledgeable about rap.
Is Will Smith still a popular rapper?
Anyone else tired of the flirt ads google is putting over youtube videos? Just about every basketball highlight I see on youtube has them, as does that Navy video. I'd think google would have more variety in their advertisers.
I think that changed when Will Smith became the new Tom Hanks.
I also don't know what Stanpipeblog is, why Brooklyn is hip but Staten Island isn't, and why students were falling on AWB's can.
Staten Island was the only borough I didn't stay in (or visit) during my months in NY. I sort of regret not visiting, but not really.
Staten Island is a series of roadblocks disguised as toll-collection booths, which shake down people coming from points south heading to Brooklyn.
After Googling "is the new meg ryan," I can provide a list based on the first ten hits: Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, or Zooey Deschanel. I vote for Amy Adams.
Staten Island has the highest point on the US Atlantic coast south of Maine.
the highest point
Yeah, man. Have you ever looked at Staten Island? I mean, like, really looked at it?
No, never. Unless you count Ed Burns's movies.
Or Google's Street View. It seems to have a great number of duplex housing units on the part where I randomly dumped the little man.
My impression of Berkeley, CA is that it is home to many attractive women. How does the bar relate to that?
Well, I'll be there.
Let me be the first to say that I've never been to Staten Island and don't particularly care to break precedent. Also that I prefer Brooklyn to Manhattan but that the most important thing for me is being able to HEAR everybody. So I vote for wherever's going to be quieter.
So, which is it NYC/NJ people? Brooklyn or Manhattan?
Is there no one in Connecticut? Or do they not get invited?
No meet-ups for them until Lieberman is out of the Senate.
120: I have a fairly funny tour story, which I may have told here before. We played in Brooklyn but were heading to Vermont, so we slept at a friend's place in Connecticut.
We ended up lunching in some random diner off the highway in CT, and the waiter made his way around the table, taking orders, like normal, until he got to a bandmate who's of filipino descent, to whom he said, "I guess you'll be having Chinese food." Super fucked up, and the bandmate responded without missing a beat, "Yeah. Because I'm Chinese. Bring me pancakes, mother fucker!"
It was kind of awesome, and yet sad.
The only time I've ever been to CT, I ate brunch. That was pretty much the whole trip. Train from NYC, brunch, train back to NYC. You've just tainted my whole experience of CT. Now I'll never go back.
I think I've stopped in CT to do things twice. Once on the one family vacation where we went to the east coast and we stopped for dinner after taking the ferry from Long Island on our way to Boston, and once when I visited some college.
Just come right out and say "Yale" you SAT-nailing preppy.
Did you have pancakes, motherfucker?
Sorry. I have no idea where you went to school.
Nor do I have anything against Yale or preppies who didn't go into banking.
I was thinking I've never been anywhere in Connecticut other than Yale, but then I remembered stopping at Mystic Seaport on a family vacation once when I was eight or so. Not really the highlight of that trip.
125: I met this American woman on a bus in Turkey who, in the course of our conversation, told me she went to school in New Haven. So I'm all like, Oh, you went to Yale? I had no idea there was a University of New Haven, but I gather that people who go there get a little tired of people asking them if they went to Yale. Man, if looks could kill. Kind of a chilly bus ride after that.
130: You could have lied and said you went to Miami University*. Then if she said something about Florida, you could have acted pained to explain the difference between Miami U and U. of Miami.
*If you actually did go there, you could lie about your GPA or something.
I might have asked someone who said "southern Connecticut" if he meant Southern Connecticut State, but I probably just thought about saying it.
||
With one hour to go until the library closes, I don't think the person with the book I recalled is going to return it today. I leave town tomorrow, so I'm starting to think I'll never see it, because if it gets returned while I'm gone, it might be taken off the hold shelf before I get back. And then probably checked back out.
Also, I have a hold on another book, but someone else has a hold in front of me. That person has not picked up the book after recalling it despite it being on the hold shelf for almost a week now. I can't get it until that person picks it up and returns it, or until that hold expires - which will probably happen when I'm out of town.
Show some consideration for you fellow library users, people!
|>
That person has not picked up the book after recalling it despite it being on the hold shelf for almost a week now.
Have you tried begging the librarian to let you borrow it for five minutes? If you only need a chapter, you might be able to get a quick photocopy done.
The time difference to Fresh Salt vs Pacific Standard from Penn Station is small - three or four less subway stops, a couple extra minutes of walking. PS is also within walking distance for at least four attendees. But it's not like getting to Fresh Salt is difficult for the Brooklynites. I'll second JM and say whichever is better for conversation.
138: That's the plan for if it's still there when I get back.
I liked Mystic Seaport. Museums for things like whaling kick ass.
I spent six weeks at smart kids camp at some college in Connecticut and went to MysSeap on the way back. Next Connecticut experience please!
122: Ha. I was once in a coffee shop in Connecticut. This guy came up to me and started giving me a hard time about the Vietnam War, and how "I still haven't forgotten what you did to my friends back there." This was in the early 2000s, and I was in my twenties, so it was fairly implausible that I had done anything to his friends during the Vietnam War. But he was pretty clearly crazy, so I tried to gently set him right, that he had the wrong girl and could you please not stand so close? He was deterred for only a moment, before he started right back in with, "well in that case do you belong to the Thai restaurant downtown," because he had some quarrel with them as well. Grr.
Anyway, Connecticut sucks, but this still doesn't explain how Joe Lieberman turned out to be such a colossal asshole.
Barring overriding ambient noise considerations I'd vote for the Brooklyn place in part because I'm amused by Bave's implication in 74 that its location on the edge of swplific Boerum Hill* is in part redeemed by its close association with Park Slope. This presents the opportunity for the meetup to include actual inspection of the neighborhoods, man-in-the-street interviews and other data gathering to illuminate the local micro-social geography.
*I bring this up somewhat disingenuously as I have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who have lived in two separate locations in Boerum Hill since the early 90s (and no, they don't break Bave's implied form in any regard). I suspect that modern Boerum Hill was an inevitable "neighborhoodification"construct as a bridge between the more-established enclaves of Cobble Hill/Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. No Lethemification necessary.
I think Pac Stan is more convenient, even for those coming from out of town. If you'd have to take a train in Manhattan anyway, you might as well take it east to Atlantic Ave as south to the seaport, and then you're like three blocks from the bar, rather than having to walk all the way over to the river.
Re: Connecticut. This dinosaur track place is a great place for kids.
AWB's right. In my experience, that part of Brooklyn is quite easy to get to.
So, does PaciStan meet JM's and Stormcrow's conversation-volume needs?
I CAN TALK LOUDLY. I WAS MERELY BEING SENSITIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE'S CONVERSATION-LEVEL NEEDS.
I live in Boerum Hill. (Technically -- I'm on the wrong side of the projects from Michelle Williams and the other fancy people.) I don't see how 74 implied that the swplificacity of PacStand is mitigated by its proximity to Park Slope. You'll see that Third and Fourth Avenues form a grungy DSZ (deswipplified zone) between Boerum Hill and the Slope, although in the past few years there have been an increasing number of incursions, mostly from our more powerful uphill neighbor.
PS isn't totally hushed, but it's alright for conversation.
150: Yeah, I almost put in the caveat that I was most certainly willfully over-interpreting you (it does kinda read that way if you assume something being swplandiferous is "bad", which gives your "but" a redemptive connotation), but I am trying out an edgier Internet persona at the moment.
Okay, let's say Pacific Standard, then, and everyone agrees to ENUNCIATE CLEARLY and to project their voices towards me. Anyone who fails to obey these strictures will end up with me on their lap.
152: Deal. Somewhat topically, I'm about to enter the Holland Tunnel.
Anyone who fails to obey these strictures will end up with me on their lap.
Is that a threat or a promise?
Too bad you're in California and won't find out, young neb.