Immediate hijack: I'm planning to go to the New York part of the United for Peace and Justice March in favor of withdrawing from Iraq/not attacking Iran, is anyone else here?
Required reading for meetup attendees.
7. If you put a five into a jukebox at any sports bar, you must play "Satellite" by the Dave Matthews Band at least once.
Let's all agree that no one is going to do this tomorrow night, okay?
2 totally rules, and is pretty much right in every detail. Nothing for it, though.
What is this "World Series" of which you speak?
Hey, this is a baseball thread! 2 is righter than ever.
World Series MVP: LaTroy Hawkins. You heard it here first.
I should point out, however, that the doesn't-like-NE-sports side of the bandwagon includes crazy Christian fundamentalists and Gregg Easterbrook. But if that's the company you like to keep, more power to you.
Why is there an "and" in that sentence, Sifu? Have you read Easterbrook's tedious "physicists believe in twelve dimension but they don't believe in Yahweh!" Paul Harvey schtick?
The Indians World Series Meetup Thread will await a more perfect world.
9: oh, he's a fellow traveller, but he's so much more.
I went to the Dodger game about a month ago and sat next to a bunch of rowdies who were really too old for such behaviour. Turns out they it was the father of Ryan Spilborghs http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=448676 and his cronies, many of whom had coached young Ryan at various levels of play. Despite this shamless namedropping I am rooting for the Bosox, and still have the Yaz poster from my youth.
PS- you could tell these guys knew their baseball. They also introduced me to a new game. Everyone who wants in puts in a buck. The pot passes from player to player as each batter is up. If you are holding when the batter gets a hit, you keep the pot and the game starts again. That way you root for both teams, depending if you are holding. I came away slightly ahead.
To be on track, in case anybody from Boston actually uses this thread for it's' intended purpose ever I would argue for a bar with (1) lots of space, (2) not incredibly high drink prices (3) good beer and (4) a bare minimum of hooting fratboy jackasses. A tricky combination to achieve in Boston at this moment, but nonetheless.
The suggestions so far have been:
Billy Tse's in the North End.
Costello's in JP.
Either is okay by me. Should we just say Costello's because fuck it, Irish name? Boston people? Boston people?!?
Holy crap, I had no idea "Costello" was an Irish name. It sounds Italian.
To back me up, two of the famous people listed here are Italians.
They also introduced me to a new game. Everyone who wants in puts in a buck. The pot passes from player to player as each batter is up. If you are holding when the batter gets a hit, you keep the pot and the game starts again. That way you root for both teams, depending if you are holding. I came away slightly ahead.
Does that game have a name? If so, I'll try to play it with friends. If it doesn't have a name, I'll never be able to make it sound interesting enough to play.
13: Makes more sense when you spell it 'Coisdealbha.' Sort of.
Costello's sounds kind of small from the Yelp reviews (also variously racist, sickening, and townie, but I'm discounting those).
Ryan Spilborghs, of course, is possibly today's greatest base-baller of Flemish descent.
I vote for somewhere in the North End or, better yet, Porter Square (strategically located near the MBTA).
Gotta love the link in 2.
Ned I don't know about a name but it took all of about two seconds to have the eight guys in our row of seats playing. PS, you had to be present to win, so be careful about getting another beer or taking care of the end result of same.
Ryan Spilborghs, of course, is possibly today's greatest base-baller of Flemish descent.
The Marlins' Rick VandenHurk is possibly the only Dutch player in the majors, though there are others in the minors. The Netherlands has the strongest baseball league in Europe.
I suggested Costello's originally, but upon further reflection, it might be kinda small. On the other hand, it did have a lot of TVs when I was there, and I was able to get a seat when I showed up an hour and a half early for game 6 with four other friends.
Five might be the max for a booth, though.
What's the headcount? How many Boston people are planning on coming? Me, Sifu, BG, Blume, and ...? Knecht? SP? Someone else?
As a Yankees fan, maybe I'll come and sit in the corner complaining about curses and such.
The version of the game I've heard involves passing a pot (not sure every batter or every half inning); If the ball ends up on the dirt of the pitcher's mound at the end of a half inning, from a player tossing it in that direction after the third out, the holder keeps it.
The Marlins' Rick VandenHurk is possibly the only Dutch player in the majors, though there are others in the minors. The Netherlands has the strongest baseball league in Europe.
Oh, I didn't know he was actually from the Netherlands. He should go by "Rik" to make it clear, like his illustrious predecessor.
I might show up, but if I did it would be late. What's in Porter, anyway?
22: the Waterfront that I linked to above might get some of the same flavor but a little more spacious.
There must be someplace in Cambridge...
24: His given name is Henricus, Faneyte's is Rikkert; I have no idea if that makes any difference to what form Dutch people use in this country. According to this page, he's just the fifth Holland-born player in the major leagues, after Faneyte, Bert Blyleven, Robert Eenhoorn and the Red Sox's Win Remmerswaal. One is tempted to believe in a player named Win, but then again, Gagné hasn't worked out so well for Boston thus far.
he's just the fifth Holland-born player in the major leagues
Sure, if you don't count the 19th century.
The real star power will come when the Twins' 7'1" prospect Ludovicus Van Mil reaches the majors. Which will probably never happen.
Hmm, bars in Cambridge that have TVs but won't attract a bunch of chowderheads... you'd probably want something that has a bar but isn't known as strictly a bar. Christopher's in Porter? Cambridge Common? Those will probably be more expensive drinks since they're kind of casual dining preppy. Anyway, if I can come at all it's for the first 5 or so innings, I'm playing hockey at 11.
29: Oh right, I meant the majors in the modern era. I didn't know about Van Mil; Seattle has, I think, two or three Dutch prospects.
Dutch Prospect would be an okay band name.
WAIT WE NEED TO PICK A BAR DAMMIT!
Cambridge Common might actually work. Big TVs, beer, and reasonably large tables. If we show up early enough, it won't be a problem, I think.
That's not a bad idea, arthegall.
Let's just say Cambridge Common, Sifu.
Who can show up early, to hold down the fort? Me, Blume... anyone else? Please?
Yeah you don't want to spend that much time hanging out with Blume. She'll get you all into some crazy oatmeal cult.
I will try to arrive early-ish, should be able to.
If it's at Costello's I will hate all of you. Not sure which way that cuts.
Won't Cambridge Common be packed? (Even moreso than most other places, which will also be packed.)
Oh right, I meant the majors in the modern era.
Why, if you limit yourself to the modern era, it looks like there haven't been any players born in Ireland at all! To say nothing of the Hapsburg empire.
It might be hard to hold enough table space at Cambridge Common, it's true.
40: sorry, I'd love to but Wednesday night isn't good for me. I plan to have diarrhea.
I think that, if we can show up an-hour-to-two-hours early, and hold down a table, then we'll be okay when it gets packed. Like I said, that worked at Costello's last week, for game 6, for me and 4 other friends.
But if we can get at least half the people who are going to come to come early, then we might could hold down a big table or something. Maybe a large booth?
The game's at 8, right?
I can probably roll outta work around 5:30 or 6, and be at CC between 6 and 6:30. And if it's even too crowded by *that* point, then maybe we can call each other and meet somewhere else? One of the places in the North End?
It's a serious time-commitment to get a big table in a well-known restaurant/bar for the World Series. You got to take time to make time, yo.
44: DUDE you could bring your colonoscopy pictures! C'mon, strap on a bag and come hang out.
45: don't they hassle you about doing that there, though?
Bert Blyleven should be in the Hall of Fame.
The Van Halens are also Dutch.
The Dutch call themselves Netherlanders. What a bunch of assholes.
John, I was hoping you would know about other players who are ethnically Flemish.
47: I have no idea. But I would imagine, if enough of us showed up early, we could hold down the fort until the last few stragglers arrived.
That's why I keep asking who can show up early. Me, and Blume (who said so via email), that's all I know so far. Can you show up early, Sifu? If so, *how* early?
This is just not going to work at a large bar or restaurant, if we don't have a significant fraction of our party willing to show up ahead of time.
You can't just roll in at 7:45 and expect to get a seat.
50: um, early? You know, about what you said. I think. Probably. Let me look into it.
The Phlegmish have not distinguished themselves in baseball.
42: It's an imprecise term, but the 'modern era' in baseball begins roughly around 1900, when most of the rules as we know them were codified, so some of those Irish guys qualify. The Hapsburgs really should field a team; it would help them get back in the public eye after all these years.
52: I would have called Jim Leyland one of the most phlegmatic people I've ever seen, surely.
Dagnabit. I'm out of town this week. Cambridge Common should be pretty good. For slightly more out-of-the-way spots, I might suggest Spirit, on Mass Ave north of Porter, and Joe Sent Me, even farther up, towards Arlington. I've watched games at both places enjoyably. I'll be watching from Maryland.
52: Most people agree that J.D. Drew is Phlegmish. The phlegmatic Kevin Costner would be an ideal leading man in any Drew bio-pic.
But JD Drew being Phlegmish kinda proves Emerson's point.
I think we've converged on Cambridge Common, then. I'll try to show up around 6pm, and I'll wait for at least one other person outside? So I don't have to sit down alone. And then we'll try to sit and hold as large a table as we can manage, until the game. If you want a seat, try to show up early.
(I'll reiterate this via email.)
Damn. I am ultra-mega-mega-jealous.
Back in my day, the Bow and Arrow was our spot. Sadly, it is no more. Have fun!
I'm here now! Yes, I'll be outside Cambridge Common at 6:00 to meet arthegall and whomever else comes then.
Joe Sent Me is fantstic but will be absolutely mobbed. I watched the 2004 ALCS and World Series there and it was less-than-standing-room-only. The nieghborhood's only gotten more crowded since.
I will also endeavor to show up around 6:00 at Cambridge Common. Blume, the code word is "Wer will Mutombo besexen?"
Seriously, if you don't want to be packed in like sardines, I'd strongly recommend someone's living room.
I might actually show up, albeit in the sixth inning. I've never done one of these meetup things; how do I know which table to invade?
I'd volunteer my living room, but I don't have a television.
Look, it's going to be crowded. Our only hope is to show up early, so we can sit in the middle of the crowd.
If people don't want to do this, now is the time to say it.
I can't quite offer my living room, which is too bad, since the TV here is pretty swell. We'll just have to be assertive.
Dammit, where's the bar in Boston that nobody knows about?
63: Maybe mcmc will bring her distinctive bag again?
That is a good question, though. It seems likely that finding people will be harder at this particular meetup than at most. (Maybe we should all email you our pictures.)
I'd offer my living room, but my brother is too lazy to help me haul our 60-incher up three stories, so we have a 24 on top of another 24. Also, I've never met any of you: you could be an exceptionally well-organized group of thieves. I think we are doomed to overcrowding. A game three meetup would avoid the opportunists, but I suppose Game 3 doesn't have the romance of Game 1, but it would make for a better meetup.
8: I have two Dutch friends, who both refer to themselves as Dutch and to their homeland as Holland.
69 to 48, not 8. I find their behavior confusing, which it might be intended to be.
I could offer my living room again. I'd bag the hockey game if we did that, and that would solve my unable to arrive until 8:30 problem (can't leave until my wife gets home around 8.) Caveats: 1) Only a 27 inch TV, which is HD, but HD over antenna so occasionally it drops out, but if it does we can revert to non-HD over cable; 2) Not a very large living room, but it sounds like we have about 6, which is fine; if we got to more than ~8 it would be crowded, but still not at crowded as a bar; 3) Kids go to sleep at 7, and they tend to sleep through most noise, but I've never tested their response to drunken internets people.
Another detail more important than crying children: the last bus back to Harvard is at 11:25, when the game will probably not be over. That would argue in favor of staying near a more centralized location. I could shuttle people up the road to Alewife, though (last train 12:20).
For people with access to the unfogged flickr pool, my and arthegall's pictures are up there from our mini meetup with Sifu.
I'll aim for 6:15 at Cambridge Common. If we wind up going to SP's, just let me know. I'll try to check in here, but arthegall has my cell.
69: They're just being polite. And see, Holland is a province of the Netherlands. They're Holland chauvinists, damn them.
My Dutch grandparent and his family called themselves Hollanders. My guess is that they wanted to distinguish themselves from Germans (Dutch Schultz and the Pennsylvania Dutch were Germans; colonial Americans were lumpers rather than splitters.)
Historically in English, Hochdeutsch speaking Germans were High Dutch, Netherlanders were Low Dutch. It's purely descriptive, but you can see how this might breed resentment.
I was a grownup before I understood this referred to up and down the Rhine River, and not some other value.
"Netherlands" does mean "lowlands". The poor bastards.
Yeah, but they've got a wrap on the sad eyed ladies.
The Netherlands are rich in manure. Netherlandish agriculture is mostly stockraising, feeding the animals imported grain. There's not much cropland to fertilize, and the manure markets are underdeveloped, so they have a problem figuring out what to do with their excess shit. They'll pay you money to take it off their hands. A clear case of market failure.
Not at all coincidently, The Netherlanders are the tallest people in the world. They don't play much basketball, though.
A surplus of minerals [nitrogen and phosphorus from the manure] causes environmental pollution in the form of contaminated soil, groundwater, and surface water. In addition, unpleasant odors are emitted.
Eeeeuw! What a bunch of prisses, albeit tall prisses. Suck it up, guys!
Your continental neighbors in Iowa have some of the same issues with mammoth hog operations.
Netherlandish manure policy should be an example for us all. They've been very proactive in dealing with their manure situation.
81: And they like it!
So anyway, if you meet a Netherlandish person, the two things not to say if you want to be friends are "Shit flows downhill" and "I never knew that shit could stack that high".
The humor may be too sophisticated for metrosexual cosmopolitans, I suppose. The Dutch are stoned all the time anyway, so they're not real touchy.
Is it possible that non-smokers among them have been hypnotized by looking at rotating windmills?
they're probably helped by the fact that there aren't that many hills in the Netherlands for it to flow down. Don't know how that works for Iowa.
I like to use far out-of-date anti-Dutch slurs on my friends, like that they're anti-Christian soulless moneygrubbers. They seem to get off on it a bit.
86: That's actually a compliment for the right kind of Nederlander.
If Emersons ancestors had stayed here, he would now have been happily married.
If stoned.
The soulless moneygrubbers I knew of. At what date were they supposed to be anti-Christian?
Martin, what makes you think he isn't stoned in America?
The "Anythingists" were a key religious faction during a key phase of Dutch history. They were willing to be either Catholic or Protestant but didn't want to have to fuss about it. They damped the religious disputes by switching sides as convenient.
"Anythingists" were also important in Vienna, where the Catholics won decisively, and they became very lax and disengaged Catholics.
The Dutch in Benjamin Franklin's memoir are mostly drunk, God bless them. But my Hollander ancestors were very temperate. My German G-g-grandfather, however, was a brewer implicated in the killing of a prohibitionist. It did not good; Iowa went dry around 1890 and the Selzer brewery was closed down.
My Iowa Dutch ancestors were "abgescheidenists" or something like that. Like separatists. They were pretty fanatical to begin with, I think. The Dutch-Americans around here are Catholic, though, and not at all teetotallers. The NBA player Mark Olberding is from that community.
The thing I like about the Dutch is that they can be gleefully nationalistic when the occasion calls for it (say, the World Cup), without it having the least implication for foreign policy. When the Americans, or the Germans, or even the English get into this mode, it can't help but be a little scary. But a whole city full of cheering Dutchmen with their faces painted orange just comes across as cute, like kittens wearing hats or something.
Iowa is flat, but it's uphill from Missouri.
Cruyff became a Catalan patriot, more or less, and refused to play in Spain under Franco. He also has a long list of Yogi-Berra type sayings.
I actually think that our English clients are cute, with they customs and dialects and native costumes and shit.
The Dutch in Benjamin Franklin's memoir are mostly drunk, God bless them.
Most of the Dutch I've come across have been drunk. In Amsterdam it's mainly the tourists and the lowlifes that are stoned.
Minnesota > Iowa > Missouri > Tennessee > Arkansas > Mississippi > Louisiana.
Sounds about right.
94. Was that before or after he was under contract to FC Barcelona? His son has a Catalan name, of course.
Ki>In Amsterdam it's mainly the tourists and the lowlifes that are stoned
This is true only of the coffee shops frequented by tourists. Outside of the center of the city (and indeed, outside of Amsterdam) you can find a normal mix of people--students, guys in suits after work, groups of friends, etc--catching a buzz in coffee shops
88: In the early 18th century, only traders who were willing to stomp on the cross were allowed in Japan, and only the Dutch, among European nations, were wishy-washy enough in their faith (or greedy enough) to do so. This is a British stereotype though.
This time with formatting
In Amsterdam it's mainly the tourists and the lowlifes that are stoned
This is true only of the coffee shops frequented by tourists. Outside of the center of the city (and indeed, outside of Amsterdam) you can find a normal mix of people--students, guys in suits after work, groups of friends, etc--catching a buzz in coffee shops
100, cont'd: So it's not that they were anti-Christians, but they were willing to collude with anti-Christians, effectively marking them as anti-Christians.
Wisse, give us the low-down on the reverse stereotypes that the Dutch have of the English. We all know "dutch treat", "dutch courage", and the typical English slurs. What are the Dutch counterparts?
Ah. So an application of the soulless moneygrubbery. That makes sense.
Holy threadjack- I check back here to see if people are decending on my place and I'm reading about Dutch shit.
SP, you might get lucky and people descend on your place with a big baggie of dutch shit (colloquially speaking).
Yeah, DS, we're senging a long ton of the best Netherlandish pigshit your way.
Not at all coincidently, The Netherlanders are the tallest people in the world.
What about the Dinka?
I'll come, and bring the distinctive bag, as mentioned above, but I can't get there until around 6:30. It's still Cambridge Common, right?
"Tallest country" is probably more accurate.
Perhaps a Dutch shit thread should be started so these people can have their meetup. Or maybe the Dutch shit has been fully covered.
100: the two great archetypes in the Netherlands are the cleric and the merchant ie. as a country we're quite willing to wag our finger and point out other people's mistakes and preaching to him how they should lead a less sinful life, then turning around and sell them anything they want, immoral or not.
Ok, if we're doing Cambridge Common, I'll be there right around first pitch (8:20). Hopefully I can get in the door at that point.
There's the highland Dutch, and the lowland Dutch, the God damned Dutch and the IIIrish....
The Dutch had the anti-Christian reputation before the trading-with-Japan days. Everyone else was terribly shocked by the religious toleration that the Dutch practised in the early 16th century. Obviously if they weren't willing to persecute people for being the wrong kind of Christian it could only be because they weren't proper Christians in the first place.
It's still Cambridge Common, guys. I'm on my way now -- see you there in a bit.
I just did a fly-by of the Red Sox meetup, where I made the acquaintance of the charming MCMC, the level-headed artthegall, the lovely and talented Blume, the vivacious BG, and the ready-for-anything Beefo Meaty. What a pleasure to have met the people behind the pseudonyms.
the ready-for-anything Beefo Meaty
Now there's some faint praise.
Now there's some faint praise.
Truth be told, I sat in proximity to Sifu for all of 10 minutes. I couldn't come up with a more precise descriptor.
meetup says: yooooooouuuuuuuuuk!!!!
meetup says: go manny you beautiful pothead!
Please, aren't all the gloating threads at your own site enough?
What's the world series strikeout record? Beckett looks like he might break it.
says, dammit, says. Brock come over.
Also: wooooooo!!!!
Manny fans may enjoy these fifteen-year-old series on the greatest hitter to come out of the NYC public schools since Lou Gehrig.
Aw, it's all in good fun. It's a thing!
124 - Bob Gibson had 17 in 1968. I won't swear to it, but I don't think the record has been broken.
I am but the voice of the meetup.
Thanks for sticking up for me Brock! How's the ass?
Meetup says: haha learn to field rocks.
Like this Sox offense, am I right?
The guys on the railroad by the Pike are blowing the horn for the hell of it. Weird hearing that on TV.
Yeah Manny.
Except my ass doesn't leave so many people stranded on base.
Is this game going to be called for rain?
Hey! This is the Dutch shit thread!!1!!1!!
I'm a big Koufax fan, but Gibson's best year was better than Koufax's best year. Gibson was scary.
Has Randy Moss got any home runs yet?
meetup says: let's go red sox (clap clap clapclapclap)
WTF are you posting on, Sifu? Watch the game. (10-1!)
(and say hi to the meetup crew)
On my phone. Yes, it is thrilling to see if the Rockies will walk in a third run.
One out to go! Gagne's running out of time to blow it.
I just read about the Buck O'Neil thing. It's pissing me off.
BTW, if you haven't had a chance to visit the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City and happen to be by that way sometime, it's extraordinary.
150: Sorta relevant. When my band played Kansas City, MO, we made a special next-day trip to the KS side of the border. Here are, I think, the relevant facial expressions for visiting Kansas City, KS.
KC is weird that way. The Missouri side of the city is pretty interesting and cool (beautiful museum, fun hip areas, good shopping), but the Kansas side of the city is deeply economically depressed and regularly destroyed (like, the downtown) by fires and shit. However! The KCK surrounding towns, where I'm from, have excellent public schools, some good restaurants, etc., while the KCMO surrounding towns are fucking awful. Yin and yang, dude.
What do you know about this? I see a surprising amount of virology papers coming from medical scientists here.
The KCK surrounding towns, where I'm from
I saw quite a bit of Olathe depicted in a documentary about the "lost boys of Sudan". It looked like the most infinitely Republican, megachurch, exurban, faux-pastoral but consisting of giant housing developments, place in the world. My mental picture of it is as a place that makes Cary, NC look like Brooklyn.
153: (I was not aware of that. Just joshin' and all that, of course.)
The (few) people from Kansas City I sorta knew in college were all from suburbs on the Kansas side.
That's pretty much all I know about Kansas City, except that I drove through it once on one of my many cross-country drives. We were going through during rush hour, so I got to spend a long time looking at downtown KC (which the freeway goes right through).
154: I used to work as a biochemistry technician there. Amazing facilities, state-of-the-art stuff. I was really disappointed when I started working in labs at Nerd U.
155: Yes, Olathe blows. They have pretty good high schools, actually, but I'm from much closer in to town, so I can hate on them.
They have pretty good high schools, actually
This is true of many lame suburbs.
Yes, Olathe blows. They have pretty good high schools, actually,
Ah, another to add to the list of New Trier equivalents.
161: Marriage-wrecker/commenter will and I hail from the same good crappy-suburb high school. Huzzah, gerrymandering high-school districts to favor the rich. My school had enough lockers to give two to every student. My mom taught at a poorer high school in the same county, and her classroom was a trailer for several years.
It's true, my lame suburb housed many excellent schools. The trick is to learn how to sneak down to the city starting when you're in middle school.
Not all lame suburbs have adjacent cities. Ever been to Phoenix?
I have not, no. Is the city of Phoenix itself lame?
That was a pretty fun meetup, y'all. Thanks again! (And especially to Blume and Knecht, for showing up early too).
Is the city of Phoenix itself lame?
There isn't really a "city" of Phoenix in the usual sense; it's all suburbs. Very lame.