what are the plans again? arthegall's apartment, BYOB?
That'd work. My gf might not be too happy about it, but ...
Or, "Miracle of Science, 6pm Thursday Night" might work too.
Although if that time doesn't work for someone, pipe up!
Woo! I'll be there.
If one of y'all wouldn't mind emailing me with a cell phone number in case I (inevitably) get lost, that would be great.
Verdammt! At the last minute my department planned an open house for that night from 6-8, grad student attendance required. And there will be no alcohol, since it's to try to attract undergrad concentrators.
there will be no alcohol, since it's to try to attract undergrad concentrators
I would think that would be all the more reason to serve alcohol, really.
Or maybe Harvard is a dry campus, now.
If you people don't stop for ice cream, I'll be very disappointed in you.
Also, can't you just lie and get out of it?
"I couldn't make it, on account of my projectile vomiting."
"I couldn't make it, because I had to take my significant other out for a birthday dinner."
"I couldn't make it, because it's a completely lame idea, and making grad students show up for anything past 6pm without also plying them with alcohol is criminal."
I would think that would be all the more reason to serve alcohol, really.
Yeah, you'd think.
I'm actually interested to see how my advisor makes it. She's not the type for a flask, but I almost suspect she'll have a bottle of wine or gin stashed somewhere.
Blume, you must lie. Or just leave as soon as possible and see if we're still there (if you're in or near Cambridge). Of course then you'd have to catch up, beverage-wise.
Ice cream? Free ice cream good through Friday, although not the same quality as Tosci's, but also in central square.
I'll share my Tosci's story (also involving free ice cream) at the meetup. I knew Gus at one time.
They also have a limited selection of Toscanini's at MoS, in case you just can't bear to leave your beer.
The German department at Chicago made a point of serving beer to the undergrads, IIRC. Or at least, the one time I was at a german dept. function for undergrads there was beer and wine.
There's usually beer and wine and no problem, but this is part of a college-wide lure-the-undergrads-to-your-department week; I think that's why it's different. But so silly! German beer would totally beat the Social Studies ice cream social.
There's a simple solution -- grab a few undergrads, and bring them with you to MoS. Two birds with one stone. Problem solved!
If Brock is reading this, and will be attending, and hasn't yet sent mrh his CD, and if mrh will be attending, then perhaps a handoff can be effected.
Sounds like we should have great weather.
mrh--I'll send you my cell phone number, but you should get arthegall to send you his, since I'll probably get lost too.
18 -- already done :-).
And if anyone feels like coming early, feel free. I'll probably show up around 5:30, since MoS tends to get a bit crowded in the evenings? I'll try to get and hold a table till everyone else shows up.
mcmc, if you read this -- are you going to have your distinctive bag, again?
I missed the last one of these in Davis - how will I know who you guys are? Is there some sort of secret handshake?
The canonical method of making contact is to peer furtively about the bar in an embarrassed manner, and look for groups of people also looking around quizzically. When you find such a group of people, say "Um. Are you...?" and they'll either tell you to go away, or admit to being Unfogged commenters.
Or you could walk into the bar and bellow "Who wants to sex Motumbo." If you wanted to go for style points.
Admittedly, the last time I did this, I didn't find our group until about the third try, but it was pretty entertaining along the way. MoS is a lot smaller than the Burren, though, so it should be more obvious.
mcmc, if you read this -- are you going to have your distinctive bag, again?
The handbag is the answer, you shy lurkers. Mcmc will bring it (yay!), and hang it someplace you can see it, from the back of her chair or something. And then you sit down with us and order a beer -- unless your name is Brock, in which case you don't notice us sitting in the corner, and you leave the bar disappointed.
I'll be there early, so if anyone else comes before six you can look for the guy with a quasi-mullet and big black nerd glasses.
Arthegall's appearance just screams "nerd".
Damn you, w-lfs-n. My hair's longer now.
For me, Arthegall, Fortune came on the scene as an artist, separating us in December, before my visual impression of you could alter, before Time could change you; you will seem eternally what you were to me—a twenty-four year old, a mulletless, a handsome man.
Time has transfigured me into untruth, w-lfs-n. That short-haired fidelity I hardly meant has come to be my final blazon, and to prove your almost-instinct almost true: what will survive of us is on flickr already.
Also, "twenty-four" s/b "twenty-eight".
Flickry survival
Yogi Berra's response to
Achillean d'lemma
Ah.
You should start a quote-explaining blog.
Is this thing still on?
No way in hell I make the 6:00 deadline. How late will people be around? 7:30-8:30ish is likely more realistic for me.
As a lure to entice you to stay at least until my arrival (at which point you can up and depart, I suppose), I have in an undisclosed location on my person at this very moment three spare copies of the w-lfs-n CD. mrh gets one. Some other people said they wanted one, too, although I can't remember who. You can fight about it now or tonight, whichever you prefer.
I'd like some insurance against getting lost again. My cue last time was supopsed to be mcmc's bag, but someone thought it a good idea to hide the bag under the table or something, because I didn't see it anywhere. Could someone make a banner? (I'm not above loudly soliciting Mutombo sex, if that's what it comes down to.)
Brock! It's still on. I don't know how late people can stay, but I'll speak for myself and say: I'll stay until I'm good and drunk. I'll try to make that be after 7:30.
As for finding us -- we didn't hide mcmc's bag last time, I swear. I'll try to make sure it's somewhere (more) visible this time around but... if you email me, I'll send you my cell phone number. If you show up and don't see the bag, give that a call and then follow the sound of the ringing phone.
It's a small(ish) place, it should be hard to miss us.
The exchange-of-cell-phone-number thing would be such a very handy solution, if only I had a cell phone.
There's probably a shabby old payphone somewhere in MoS. If not, offer the bartender a dollar and borrow his. Where there's a will there's a way, Brock, and I really want one of those cds. I forgot to dupe mine though. Sorry.
Get arthegall's cell number and call it using the bar's phone. Duh.
Or, whoever gets there first could tell the bartender that there'd be some people coming to join them who wouldn't recognize the group, and ask the bartender to point them out to latecomers. There's a million possibilities.
Does that mean no one is making a banner? Darn.
Also, does MOS have food? 'Cause I'ma need some.
How often do I have to tell you people to eat ice cream? Geez.
LB, maybe NYC is beautiful, but it's cold and rainy here. It's no day for ice cream. Also, even on the sunniest day I couldn't possibly eat enough ice cream to have that be my entire dinner.
MoS does not have a phone in the joint. However, if you get off the T at Central (which is the nearest T stop) you will definitely pass pay phones as you walk down Mass Ave.
Also, LB -- ice cream is a great idea, but you realize that it's sleeting outside in Boston at the moment, right?
And yes, MoS has food.
In fact, I should say -- MoS is probably not the place where you'd ask the bartender for anything. He's busy cooking/pouring, and anyway, the barspace is much smaller than the tablespace. You could ask one of the waitresses, maybe.
We'll be sitting at a table somewhere. Seriously, it's not that big -- just look for MCMC's bag, which I swear will be visible. Failing that, look for me -- w-lfs-n linked to a picture of me upthread.
You don't eat ice cream just because it's sleeting? Weird.
I was denied access to your picture, arthegall; I'm not a member of the privileged elite. I'm not actually that worried about not finding you all -- surely that won't happen twice, right? Plus mcmc probably remembers my picture from when I posted it here the other day -- if she sees me standing around looking clueless maybe she'll wave her bag at me.
Although I refuse to scream out "Hey, Brock Landers, over here!"
LB, you're one of those people that eats ice-cream in the winter, aren't you? Sickening.
In fact, I'm eating ice cream right now. Mmmm.
Ben, what's the matter with you? That's not even my worst typo in this thread. If I paid attention to actually proofreading my comments I'd never get anything done.
Some people enjoyed the 1890s a great deal, and have a hard time letting go. (I should so not be piling on to this one -- my erratic hyphenation record is extremely poor.)
50 "ice-cream" s/b "iced-cream", of course.
Yeah, ice cream in the winter is what being in New England is all about. I mean, really. I love walking into Herrell's in harvard square when it's about two degrees and blinding snow outside; you need the butterfat to keep your metabolism going!
Well, at this point it looks like it'll be iced-cream in the driving rain. Yay!
Is "iced-cream" some sort of euphemism? Is it akin to "snowball"?
"Iced-cream" is some kind of euphuism, I think. "Ice cream," on the other hand, is probably some kind of plain-old vanilla euphemism, IYKWIM.
The Second Boston Meet-up was a success, I would say. At least Brock didn't ditch us this time.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, BAA?!?!
I sense that there may be a story here.
Ben, you'll be glad to know your CD has been delivered. You can stop hounding me know.
Also, the ice cream place LB recommended sucks.
Oh, shit, that's right -- I got an extra copy of Ben's CD! That's awesome.
A delightful evening, rain notwithstanding. I need to get an umbrella.
Brock m, thank you for following through with 60.
I listened to half of Ben's CD on the drive home, and then somewhere around track 8 I decided that I needed more familiar noises. I'll give it another shot tomorrow, because I really liked some of the tracks I heard.
A delightful evening, rain notwithstanding. I need to get an umbrella.
Brock made it safely to our table, and was well worth the wait. (Thank you for following through with 60, by the way).
I listened to half of Ben's CD on the drive home, and then somewhere around track 8 I decided that I needed more familiar noises. I'll give it another shot tomorrow, because I really liked some of the tracks I heard.
Is there a story behind 60? (Is Baa a Bostonian? Did he show?)
And based on 62, Brock, if you and I ever meet in person, there are going to be harsh words said.
Baa is believed to be a Bostonian, and did not show. Hence, what the hell?
Brock, Nathan, SP, BG (who has a ridiculously good memory), mcmc, arthegall, arthegall's lurker friend, and Blume did show, however. Nathan ordered the beef skewers, which I eyed with mixed envy and regret as I ate my (perfectly adequate) cheeseburger. Sigh. Skewers. I can't stop thinking about them. Next time!
mrh--we have tentative plans to go to a slightly bigger place next time, a spacious bar with couches that is likely to be deserted after 5 PM.
I do have a good memory and remember almost everything once I've really learned it, but I'm a pretty slow reader. I'm really not meant for modern culture where there's a huge quantity of material to sort through, most of which is easily searched. Memory just isn't that important anymore. LB, I am extremely jealous of your ability to speed read.
Brock was just confused because he tried the kuhlfee and didn't understand why it didn't taste like coffee. I think he ended up with grape nut?
68: okay, strike "sucks" from 62 and replace it with "doesn't have chocolate or vanilla or any other sort of plain fruit or other regular flavors", and then draw your own conclusions. They just had stuff like "strawberry pine-tar" and "eggplant coconut" and the like.
Also, it should be noted that not only does Bostoniangirl have a freakishly good memory, she also spent the entire evening rather methodically gathering detailed information about everyone else, while declining to reveal even basic facts about herself. Which is slightly frightening. I'm not wholly convinced she's not a government agent.
arthegall also kept claiming he was so drunk that he didn't have to make sense, wasn't required to remember basic facts, couldn't eat ice cream, etc.
Also, before last night I was very badly mispronouncing "Blume". (In my head, when I read it).
Also, before last night I was very badly mispronouncing "Blume". (In my head, when I read it)
How? I'm a chronic mispronouncer; I always want to know how people see words.
Pretty much like "bloom".
I've always pronounced it like that. What's correct?
I think I had in mind the mispronounced way when I first started using it (as in Leopold, or Harold), but then I for some reason spelled it in German. Which means that now my name means 'flower', which is pretty dorky.
They just had stuff like "strawberry pine-tar" and "eggplant coconut"
I'm going to chuckle at this the rest of the day.
Or! I can just declare that it's pronounced 'bloom'. Okay, done.
I figure most Americans, at least, associate it with Judy Blume.
Are you there, Ogged? It's me, Apo.
Thus demonstrating another point that came up last night- BG may remember all the threads she's ever read, but apo can find, in under 30 seconds, the link to any comment ever made.
88: SP, I was just about to make that point myself.
Brock, I've revealed rather a lot on this blog, but I'm still terribly embarrassed about a lot of things, so I tend to be reticent in person. I don't mean to be too one-sided though. I do grill people sometimes and am trying to work on that.
BG- my comment was meant lightheartedly. I didn't think you were "grilling" anyone at all.
90: I figured as much, but sometimes I do grill people. That is probably why I was overly concerned that I might be grilling others without providing appropriate, reciprocal self-disclosure.
I do grill people sometimes
Bostoniangirl is Johnny Knoxville!
They just had stuff like "strawberry pine-tar" and "eggplant coconut"
Hrmphf. They do have silly flavors, but they're good. And they've always had a certain amount of normal chocolate/vanilla/whatever. Some people just don't know when they have it good.
Brock, you're a freak. God forbid something should actually taste interesting.
BG, you haven't 'grilled' anyone in either of the two meetups. If anyone was out of line last night, it was me for immediately demanding that Brock tell us how old he was before he even sat down.
That was a bit disconcerting. Especially when I found out you'd all been busy placing wagers on my age.
I don't know if I'm remembering actual information from a comment, or have just guessed and then forgotten that I guessed, but somewhere around 33.
96 -- yeah, I should apologize (and take responsibility) for that. I really have no excuse, except that I think the Unfogged threads are so good that I'm always surprised when I learn that the people who comment here are (often) younger than me.
Anyway, yeah, sorry about that.
Lawyer, with first kid? I'd say early 30s, yeah.
Seventeen. (Nearly eighteen!)
I need someone
Older and wiser
Telling me what to do.
You are 17, going on 18,
I'll depend on you!
And now I suppose this thread will re-create the awkwardness of last night... the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.
Sorry Brock!
104: Dear god, that song is one of my most-loathed things of all time.
104 is definitely one of my favorite things.
105: My further guess, if it was a subject of conversation, is that he looks 15.
I'm Standpipe. I'm sixteen years old and I don't need a governess.
I'm glad you told me, Standpipe. We'll just be good friends.
Brock tried the grapenut and then got something else without tasting it first. (The store clerk made him try thr grapenut. Brock said he trusted the guy's judgment, but then the guy said, "I don't like it.".) I was a little worried about his choice to pick one without trying it, but he told me that it would be ok.
I got a hot fudge sundae, but I'm sort of regretting that I didn't get butterscotch. Kuhlfee was pretty intense. The gingersnap molasses was not bad, though I think it would have been better if it had a little bit less molasses in it. Toscanini's does have the plainest of delicious plain flavors: sweet cream. I do still prefer Herrell's whose ginger ice cream is delicious, and I have to admit that I was a bit put off by the idea of strawberry-basil ice cream.
Are you kidding? Strawberry-basil ice cream sounds great.
Not as great as kumquat sorbet, though.
I'm bummed I had to take off before the ice creaming, but then, I am lactose intolerant.
I can't figure out whether I'm supposed to be offended by 108. I think I will be, just to play it safe.
So I'm one for two. Not so bad. (Actually, I just couldn't figure out why else your age would be a subject of lively discussion.)
"I just couldn't figure out why else your age would be a subject of lively discussion."
It's like this.
We all got there at 6, except for Brock who couldn't make it until 7:30. So mcmc and I were sitting at the end of the table, and around 7:30 we started looking for him. And a series of sort-of 30ish men came in around that point, each of them looking like they were searching for someone. We kept wondering, "is this Brock?", usually until the person would pull out a cell-phone ("ah, not Brock!"). And so then I asked mcmc how old (how old looking?) she thought he would be, and then it sort of went from there.
See? Way more info than you wanted.
Wait, the "bad" ice cream was at Toscanini's? I boggle.
Hence my comment about the harsh words. Insult my children, kick my dog, but differ with me about quality ice cream and there's going to be some hostility there.
So do we get to find out Brock's age or was this a koan?
I don't care about his age. I want to know his core body temperature.
I want to note that Brock was carrying a color print of the famous handbag for reference.
121 -- and mcmc swore you were so nice in person. I boggle.
124: That makes up for everything. Brock, your slanderous anti-Tosci's rantings are forgiven.
124 -- Fool Brock once... not gonna fool him again.
the plainest of delicious plain flavors: sweet cream.
My favorite, evah. Seconded by cardamom. Strawberry basil sounds fabulous, too.
Since Apo can find any thread in under 30 seconds, he can find the comment in which he outed my true identity. Because I can't.
We have a fancy-assed popsicle shop here called Locopops, with wacky flavors that are really excellent. Grapefruit-basil is one of my favorites, along with the black pepper cream, mango-chili, and mojito, but there's a bigger list of flavors at the link there.
I want to note that Brock was carrying a color print of the famous handbag for reference.
This is extraordinarily cute, gotta say. I mean, I did click on the handbag link out of curiosity, but even with no intention of making it to Boston for the meet-up, I remember it pretty clearly.
I now envision Brock vaguely planning to pin the color print of the bag to his shirtfront, should things become desperate.
OMG I HAVE WANTED TO GO TO LOCOPOPS FOREVER. Apo, could you ship me some? Pretty pretty please?
I suspect they don't ship well. But if you ever come to visit, we'll go pick up a bunch and locopop ourselves into a diabetic coma.
Well, I was thinking super insulated shipping with like dry ice or something. But I realize that would be a pain in the ass. Diabetic locopop coma it's going to have to be some day, then. They don't happen to have a damn cookbook or anything, do they?
Out of curiosity, how do you know about Locopops? I thought it was just a local business.
I used to read a blog by someone who lived there and loved them. Sadly, I no longer remember which blog it was, or I'd link it.
136: I brougght some gelatto back from Italy this way. The particular place in Rome gave you an hour's worth of dry ice free. I got them to add on an extra 9 hours worth. The guy looked at me kind of funny. It didn't hold up as well as I would have liked. Their tiramisu gelatto was delicious, but it was a bit hard by the time it got back to Boston. You should also know, that an hour's worth of dry ice isn't so big, but the volume of the package goes up considerably for a 9 hour-trip. Overnight shipping might require even more dry ice.
I now envision Brock vaguely planning to pin the color print of the bag to his shirtfront, should things become desperate.
This is exactly right.
It probably would have been better if you'd let if melt and then refrozen it. (Assuming access to an ice cream freezer.) A lot of gelato's/ice cream's yumminess is based on how recently it was frozen.
