Alas, I'll be recruiting* prospective graduate students that day.
* For some value of "recruit".
Alas, I'll be recruiting* prospective graduate students that day.
But afterwards you will ascend to the bar in question in a fiery chariot?
I think he may be expecting the ravens to bring him beer and snacks.
Dammit, VW, you gotta drag the suspense out a bit before you tell us what we all already know. Don't kill the thread in the first post.
Just keep the door open and a glass half full of beer waiting for me. You won't see me, but I'll be there.
Drat, I'll miss it by mere hours (flight into SFO arrives at 11:15).
Drunken midnight meetup at the airport! No.
By coincidence just today I was seconded to recruit a prospective away from Von Wafer's deathly embrace. A noble cause, so I did the best I could.
Von Waffle would have strung us along for a bit.
I know very good people from Von Waffling's institution. Let us not mock it. Let us instead talk about the glory of this forthcoming meet-up and the live-commenting that everyone will be doing during said meeting.
Sure, "people."
4:00 seems kind of early for a meetup to start, doesn't it?
4pm is ambitious, no doubt. But it just means karaoke starts that much sooner, which means more karaoke. I can't possibly frown on the ambition.
Good point. If that one NYC meetup had started at 4 I probably wouldn't have had to leave before the karaoke.
So: I feel like now that I've seen a cubic yard of marijuana in a box, I'm finally a real Californian. </tweetybait>
Anyway, it was a lovely first date. I could read all sorts of stuff into our respective choices of karaoke songs--her, "It's Oh So Quiet"; me, "Tainted Love"--but why overthink things? There's a second date in 15 hours.
I mean, ok, I assume the recruitment schedule has them busy with academic stuff during the day, but as long as you drag them into SF by midnight or so, I'm sure there'll still be a few hardcore degenerate denizens of The Mineshaft still ready to help with the recruitment. So to speak.
15.2! Karaoke on a first date is a real power move. At this point I'd assume the second date will be nothing but sex.
17: Given who we're talking about, I'd assume the sex preceded the first date.
So: I feel like now that I've seen a cubic yard of marijuana in a box, I'm finally a real Californian. </tweetybait>
Because I.... want the marijuana? I don't get it.
15: I sincerely hope you sang "Tainted Love" in the style of Max Raabe.
(Not as good a song for Raabification as this one, though.
5:
I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be ever'-where - wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so professors and lawyers and IT guys can complain, I'll be there. Wherever gswift is commenting on a gun question, I'll be there. I'll be in the way LizardBreath comments when she's mad - I'll be in the way NYC commenters laugh when they're thirsty an' they know the meet-up's at Fresh Salt. An' when the 'foggetariat are eatin' the stuff they source locally and organically, and livin' in the houses JRoth designs - I'll be there, too.
Now I'm having a gout attack too, which at least means I can't spare a lot of attention for my stomach pain (which is , in any case, minor). God, I hate gout!
19: a lame attempt to provoke another "the Bay Area's not really like that!" -- forget it.
Ugh, my sympathies, Nat. My housemate has gout, and it sounds pretty miserable.
a lame attempt to provoke another "the Bay Area's not really like that!"
It definitely is like that. That part's awesome, though.
Anyway, it was a lovely first date. I could read all sorts of stuff into our respective choices of karaoke songs--her, "It's Oh So Quiet";
A difficult tune to pull off; how'd she do?
Unsurprisingly I enjoy these Max Raabe clips a great deal.
Marmalade jelled, lids sealed, meetupward I come.
I am not bringing marmalade. I am bringing a project with which Unfoggeders can demonstrate their charitable egalitarianism by role-playing as tween girls.
now I'm here, don't recognize anyone, & disturbed a non-trapnel. I hope the sausage is good.
i'm the only woman in a hat. Am about to put on black to blend better.
...Right, it's weeks from now. I'm kind of sorry I didn't get further into drunken offended liveblogging before I worked that out.
Maybe Borderlands has _Angelmaker_.
31: Did you ask him if he wanted to sex Mutombo?
If it helps, that sounds exactly like something I would do.
31-33 is of course horrible, but is also awesome. Clew is a MEETUP OF ONE!
clew has scoped the place out, knows all the regulars, and can ensure that people dress appropriately.
I like the idea that we're all having individual unfogged meetups all the time. Unfogged meetup in Alaska! Unfogged meetup in South Korea!
Ben, do you know this one? It was my favorite from when I saw Max Raabe live a few years ago. I need to learn all the words so that when it gets in my head I'm not just singing the two refrain lines over and over again.
I'm tempted to go meet Clew. But I worry that Josh might show up.
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I had no idea that McMegan was so completely lost, lost, lost. She's been fluffing the Koch brothers now, managing to say absolutely nothing of substance, and more or less acting like she's 15 years old.
Well. As you were.
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39: Mein Gott! What a hellish cacophony of primitive jungle noises!
Blume, do you know that Raabe & Co. are playing in Boston (Symphony Hall) on 4 March?
I will tell her. We saw him live a couple of years ago, and it was rather awesome. The crowd was sort of weird and old, but what can you do.
Thanks! Blume and neb have set me to looking for a Raabe cover I heard a few years ago. Of course, I can't remember the title and only a vague memory of the, catchy, tune. It was sort of tango-ish. Yeah, that'll help.
Ah well, all is not lost; I did find that they're touring the US.
39: Prior to this thread I'd never heard of Raabe at all, but I'm listening to a bunch of stuff on youtube now.
And meanwhile, with only the word "geiger" to work with, I found the damned song. I still haven't found a version by the Palast Orchester. It is up their alley, that's for sure.
Guck doch nicht immer nach dem Tangogeiger hin.
I had a perfectly nice afternoon and got to all my other appointments early & tipsy, which was fine. Did not get semi-licit copy of _Angelmaker_. Still need to playtest my STEM game for tweens.
I said something about tween girls & online friends to the non-trapnel. This might not have disturbed him so if I didn't look so much squarer than anyone else in the Mission; I don't know if he thought I was a cougar or a cop, but he moved across the room.
My meatspace crowd has been into Raabe for a while, but we are wierd and old.
the sausage was small but savory. Nice grilled veg with.
I'm still somewhat bemused about what made this particular human-who-wasn't-me a "non-trapnel"--did you originally think he was me?
trapnel: about the right age, glancing from phone to newcomers, reading a battered paperback with sort of old-Hachette layout. And humming.
I'm assuming clew has been holding the same table for the last two weeks. What a trooper!
57: Oh, that's the one I should have done for the Dirty Laundry thread! One time Emerson came to town and I wanted to take him to a puppet show (that I had seen several years before) and we got to the theater and it turned out I had been looking at the old listing for the show, which had never been taken down from whatever website it was on, and the current production was actually across town. I felt very silly.
I've occupied a high table in the back-ish. Lacking a Mutombo sign, I put my reflective vest on the table as a beacon - someone else coincidentally has one out too, so it's the one on a table, not a bench.
Trap is here. Live-blogging not guaranteed.
Out front having a smoke. WATCHING YOU.
Now that josh and chopper have gone to the bathroom together, the party's officially started.
Which table are you?
Lurker in the blue cord hat.
Two lyrkers, plus 5 regulars. One lurker is leaving now.
Oh crap. I totally forgot about this. Have fun, folks.
The beer that the guy with the shaved head liked really was very good.
I think I have a new favorite commenter.
Trapnel is telling us about an obscure philosophy we might not have heard of.
Time for a group writing of a Lensmen/Anita Blake mashup novel...
And, seriously guys, everybody does need to go see "21 jump Street" on its first day...
Lensmen are the coalgebramen of the costatemen comonadmen.
71: Josh and Chopper have been sleeping together all this time. Trapnel wants someone to fix his soon-to-be Fs, but is unsure how to go about that, other than to talk about obscure philosophy. Chopper meanwhile has been feeding his home-cured (?) bacon to Stanley. Minivet and Stormcrow are the same person. The 'lurkers' know everything.
Where's clew?! What have you done with her?
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Can I put a bleg on this thread? My facebook friends will know that I also put this bleg there.
I have to run my lab meeting on Wednesday. I wish I had data, but alas, I have just started collecting, so I have to come up with something else to do, and I'm spending part of the meeting talking about that Ioannidis "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" article, and other that talks about some critiques of Fisherian hypothesis testing, but the rest of the time I'm going to try to continue a discussion we had a couple weeks ago about graduate school, aimed at the undergrads, but in a more informal, down and dirty, real scoop way. I'd like to talk about what grad school is like and the real stressors and rewards, and what helps you succeed, and I was hoping to get some reflections from grad students and ex grad students. Not all the undergrads are planning on going to grad school in psychology (my field) if they go on at all, so it would be interesting to hear from people in lots of fields. Anyway, I wrote some questions to guide possible responses:
What do you think are good reasons to go to graduate school?
What are not good reasons?
What are the psychological stressors of graduate school?
What are the rewards?
What are the risks?
What is some informal knowledge you think would help a student do well in grad school?
What are some less-talked about factors to consider in choosing a program and an advisor?
What are some less-talked about ways to investigate programs before you apply?
So if you want to take some time to write some thoughts down for my labs' undergrads and email them to me, I'd appreciate it. Feel free to do it anonymously if you want to. I tried to set up a Formspring question I could link to and it confused me. Anyway, if you do write anonymously, I also wouldn't complain if you included your field and your current educational status.
Y'all can use the old notickling at gmail address if you don't know another way to reach me.
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68 even has a picture! (I believe.)
I assume I already missed this in the archives, but: who wants to buy gold from Mutombo?
clew has been consumed by frock/frog/crock pr0n.
82: Yep, Alex about a month ago.
Okay, things getting a little too crazy for real time updates. What happens at Rosamunde, stays atty Rosamunde.
85: That's what presidentiality is for. Just wait a week and use fake names and pretend it happened in, I dunno, Bangkok.
Sweet Jesus, lurkers are heavy drinkers.
I think we should hold the next one *at* Borderlands, instead of just checking SFnal details on our phones, or by acclamation. Acclamation's more sociable, I guess.
Also, beer in a pretty glass tastes better. (Not a drinker.)
Bravo, San Francisco. Bravo.
OT: John Carter is an excellent movie if you are a 9 year old boy. I loved it.
90: The movie's called Riggins Rigs starring Tim Riggins. I don't care what the studio says.
So wait do 68 and 81 imply that Brad DeLong went to an unfogged meetup?
One might arrive at that conclusion. I will only say that "brad the lurker"'s Jackson has now between converted into alcohol.
Sanctity of off-blog, neb, sanctity of off-blog.
I will only say that "brad the lurker"'s Jackson has now between converted into alcohol.
Alchemy!
The photo linked in 81 shows the front of the restaurant. I assume that means he was lurking across the street.
Deep philosophical arguments about the nature if operating systems!
Okay, we're calling it: that was an eight hour meetup.
Okay, so, midnight, tipsy: go home, or in search of adventure? First response decides the matter.
Doh, i should have showed up. Figured things would have been done when I got to 24th and mission 20 minutes ago.
99: Crime spree, motherfucker! Be the first person to go to jail for Unfogged.
Teo wins..and no, things were not done twenty minutes ago; you choose poorly. Off in search of adventure, but if you want to meet up, # local area code for ate for Six 7 5 six. Only got a bit of battery.
Already got arrested for bicycling under the influence in Germany, Walt; RTFA.
Teo wins
Woo! You're lucky I got in there before Walt.
El Rio is the semi official after meetup, UPETGI.
Kinda crowded here though. You may have to yell out "who wants to sex Mutombo?"
So wait do 68 and 81 imply that Brad DeLong went to an unfogged meetup?
Timing, neb. The secret of camaraderie.
The revelations I mentioned about would be better described as unfounded, wild gossip. Jaws did drop, though.
109: OK, you're going to give us some broad hints.
Did the unfounded, wild gossip concern:
A. Those that belong to the emperor.
B. ToS.
C. Romantic/sexual entanglements of member(s) of the Unfoggedtariat.
D. Future job or academic status of member(s) of the Unfoggedtariat.
E: Those that, at a distance, resemble flies.
F: Other (hard as that may be to imagine).
I'm pretty sure that those Victorian gentlemen who took their dead wive's sisters were not Acyclic Ultilitarians, but that is best discussed auf Deutsch. In the presence of wereleopards who teach to the student, not the discipline.
Something like that.
Also, ow. My head hurts.
Thanks for a good time.
Maybe it means something when rendered in Varkusan.
F. Speculated other blog of someone of auld lang syne. It didn't even make sense.
I will straight up ban you if you don't tell me, Minivet.
I'd say something like 115 falls under the sanctity of off-blog communication rule, if anything does. But everyone knows that.
Unfogged West meetup advance warning: I'm going to be in SF between the 26th and 30th of March. I land at 1335 on the 26th, but then again I'll be pretty dopey that afternoon after 11 hours in the air. Off again 1630 on the 29th. Busy during the day in between, obvs. (Jesus, I'm going to spend literally 25% of that trip on a plane.)
Will you be as amusing? Or teach me more fun facts about Isambard Kingdom Brunel?
Depends how much you're willing to pay per rat-gasm...
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I am physically capable of running a mile and not dying. This is a start.
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Woohoo! Remember Chopper was saying things like that not too long ago, and now he's talking about half-marathons.
122: Don't know why you'd run, what you're running to or from.
Yeah, I'm not looking to do anything sporty or competitive. I just want to be more generally fit and in a better mood. I'd like to reach the point where bitter grumbling is an amusing pose to strike, rather than a reflection of deep inner negativity.
Yeah, I'm not looking to do anything sporty or competitive. I just want to be more generally fit and in a better mood. I'd like to reach the point where bitter grumbling is an amusing pose to strike, rather than a reflection of deep inner negativity.
Oh, sure. I was just pointing to Chopper as a transition from quite unfit to quite fit.
(I do think that even for someone who wants what you want, I think a certain amount of ambitiousness is a good idea. Exercising is more enjoyable past a certain level of fitness -- getting to the point where you can run five miles fairly easily means that running is pleasanter than for someone who's maxing out at two miles and doesn't plan to change that.)
It's easy enough to transfer back to being unfit, too! (I got a heel spur, switched to weights, then got lazy. Need to get back to something soon.)
Speculated other blog of someone of auld lang syne.
Tweety and I were just speculating what ogged's parenting blog must be like.
Someone told me the
That's not the formatting I wanted at all but I think I like it.
113: But were those Victorian gentlemen who married their deceased wives' wereleopard sisters characters in an Iain M. Banks novel?
120: I only offered facts about facts about IKB, but even his penumbra is mighty.
I bet ogged's kid(s?) is going to be a complete master of dealing with trolls by the time s/he starts kindergarten.
Sorry I missed the afterparty, by then it was 3:30 east coast time (well body time, technically 4:30 eastern) and I needed some sleep.
"I'd like to reach the point where bitter grumbling is an amusing pose to strike, rather than a reflection of deep inner negativity."
You're proposing to do it wrong.
132: I think so, only without the 'm', and there was something complicated about torturing wasps and it spanned a couple of novels.
The Wasp Factory is quite a striking little book. Much nastier than anything else I've read of Banks'.
Banks not to read; Song of Stone (what, I don't know even, & boring too - earlier experimental stuff is weird but not claw your eyes out tedious) and Dead Air (yes dude we can fucking notice you totally phoned this one in. Underrated; Espedair Street, with which I indirectly changed the entire course of someone's life.
What the hell did you people get up to after I left?
Don't worry, we paid them to clean the blood. The reputation is safe.
The reputation, not your reputation.
Banks himself, iirc, says that Complicity is the nastiest of his books. Like emir I have a lot of affection of Espedair Street. I also liked The Crow Road, which is quite a conventional soapy novel, but I liked the characterisation and language, which rang fairly true. Much of his later stuff seems to just repeat the same themes, again and again, to not much effect.
Dead Air (yes dude we can fucking notice you totally phoned this one in
Of course, because the narrator is the host of a phone-in radio show...
Crow Road is generally agreed to be the best non-weird Banks and The Bridge the best weird one.
The Iain M books have slipped a bit since the glory days of Use of Weapons, but Matter is pretty good.
Incidentally, will be in NY next week if anyone's around?
Let me be the first to suggest Fresh Salt. Seriously, email when you have a schedule and I'll put up a post.
Looks like Thursday evening is probably going to be best. Area: I seem to be staying on something called "Manhattan".
Fresh Salt is half an hour or so from anywhere you're likely to be staying, but if there's some area that would be easier for you to get to, pipe up. We'll hash it over for thirty-forty comments, and then decide that Fresh Salt makes the most sense anyway.
As far as I can tell I am going to be in the vicinity of Times Square.
Let me be the first to suggest a meetup in the ESPNZone.
I can't think of the last time I had a drink around Times Square. There's a dive somewhere around 45th and 8th called Smith's that wasn't terrible, but was a little loud.
Any suggestions have got to be improvements on the last bit of advice I got on where to eat in New York, which was "you should have breakfast at Windows on the World tomorrow!"
Events intervened.
Happy to travel to Fresh Salt if necessary. It's only a couple of miles south, looks like.
152 -- is that the place that had a rotating wheel of hot dogs under glass (a warmer, I guess)?
154: Yeah, it's fifteen minutes on the train followed by a ten minute walk. Like I said, about a half hour.
156: I don't recall specifically, but it certainly seems possible.
153 -- really, on 9/10/01? Wow.
153: yep. Possibly the single worst piece of advice I have ever received in my life, though well-intentioned.
Even in the absence of circumstances, the food was pretty unimpressive and the view was less amazing than you'd think. I mean, the flaming death would also have been a problem, but it probably wouldn't have been a great breakfast anyway.
That's reassuring, thanks.
157: doesn't sound too bad by the standards of London.
OT: Do we have any (other) commenters or lurkers in Dallas? I have a few questions. E-mail me at mypseud@gmail. Thanks.
though well-intentioned.
Hmm, who suggested it?
Can I update my bleg in 79? I got a lot of responses, but not so many from people in STEM fields, and since the undergrads in my lab are most likely to go into STEM fields, it would be helpful to have that perspective. Thanks!
STEM. Hard S. Top 3 program. Personally came from a poor family in a smallish town in a rural state. No longer in the field.
What do you think are good reasons to go to graduate school? You love the subject, have a passion for a small subfield of it, are more capable in it than almost any of your peers, and you know a lot about the actual *job* as opposed to the work, and tolerate its vicissitudes well.
What are not good reasons? "Can't think of anything else to do." "It's just what's next." "My parents want me to."
What are the psychological stressors of graduate school? High expectations. No expectations. Competition. Pointless deadlines. Isolation. Having to communicate--to sell your results and proposals--too often. It seemed to run the gamut for me.
What are the rewards? Personal satisfaction of curiousity. Satisfaction for building, finding, making something new. Etc. Generally a cloistered life is possible.
What are the risks? If you are a "helper" you can go too long without something you "own" which can make you unemployable as an academic, though won't necessarily kill you in industry.
What is some informal knowledge you think would help a student do well in grad school? Start or join a homework/journal club first thing. Doesn't have to be formal, but it can be a support mechanism. START AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY NOW. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE A THESIS TOPIC YET.
What are some less-talked about factors to consider in choosing a program and an advisor? Believe the grad students if you talk to them. Especially the negative ones. They're not trying to scare you, they're telling the truth. You are not a snowflake, etc. They were once JUST LIKE YOU! Young advisors without tenure are risky. Very highly regarded middle-aged advisors may switch schools on you. Old advisors may die. As far as program selection: one with an actual grad student community (perennial gs organized conferences, gs-edited journal, other clubs) can be nice.
What are some less-talked about ways to investigate programs before you apply? N/A
thanks very much, AG! (And lw, who wrote.)