Man. I want to go. If only LA weren't so far away.
Also, if there is someone who doesn't mind sleeping on an air mattress and possibly being trampled by an out of control pit bull, I have a little bit of room to crash at my place.
Paren, you should totally come. It's just right down the 5 from you. And you can eat at Harris Ranch or In-n-Out on the way.
3 seconded. It's right down the 5 from me also, but still.
It's true, Paren. I'm going to go and I'm not much further away than you.
In fact, I'm closer than you.
But not much closer.
A candidate cocktail:
Salt & Ash
Chichicapa Mezcal, Grapefruit-infused El Jimador Blanco Tequila, Lapsang Sweet Vermouth, Maraschino, Agave, Angostura, Orange Bitters
alternate
The Arbitrary Nature of Time
Wild Turkey Rye 101, Campari, Cherry Heering, Mole Bitters, Orange Bitters
6,7: You have family in the general area, no? I would literally just be driving down for the party. I guess I could go to the Getty or something while I was there.
I would literally just be driving down for the party.
Right. And?
I would like to go, but I'll be in Israel.
I probably wouldn't go even if I weren't going to be in Israel, but I would still like to.
Paren, I'm driving down just for the party and would be up for some museum-going on the side. Still haven't been to LACMA, and I'd like to go.
9 -- do it! On your deathbed, will you wish that you had been in Sacramento when this party was going on? Possibly!
I have to drive from LA to SF next week (Christmas parts I and II). Is Harris Ranch worth the stop?
I'll put in a plug for visiting the M of Jurassic Tech too.
Mole Bitters
I have mole growing around my bar tab, the maintenance told me it's not bitters and just cocked it well it came back IT'S MOLE!
I think whichever cocktail is selected should have mole bitters in it, in honor of ogged's favorite animal plush toy.
Ok, I am 75% convinced. Throw in someone to share a hotel with and/or a space on Halford's floor (I don't need anything so fancy as an air mattress) and I'll be there.
13: LACMA is fun. I'd be up for it. It has one of the artworks that has creeped me out the most (in a good way) ever.
Great, now we just need to work on Jesus.
Jesus, how else will you be able to convey to me your fermented goodies?
Is anyone a little worried that this whole party idea is really just a devious plan by Halford to meet the recruitment quota of his fitness cult?
Speaking of which, perhaps a cocktail called a "Sledgehammer" would be appropriate.
a cocktail called a "Sledgehammer" would be appropriate.
Don't forget the paper umbrella.
There's a long tradition of men disappearing for days after telling their families they were just popping out to the store. I suppose I could try that.
I would go, if I weren't driving 1500 miles north from southern California just a few days before.
The email bounced back. I need the address so I can call the cops.
22.1: Be wary if the drink is this Paleo Energy Cocktail mixed with Everclear.
23: That looks like a perfect cocktail for serving from a pitcher. But I'm pretty sure a Crossfit cocktail is required to have meat in it.
We also need a cocktail named "The Tire" so that after you have a Sledgehammer, you can slam a Tire.
I flew across the country to attend UnfoggeDCon 2. Just sayin'.
I'll cross my fingers that someone will invite me out for an interview that week, though it's unlikely.
19 -- the floor is yours! JMQ, you need to show up with some wine.
To all of you haters, I really am thinking of making Paleo Margaritas.
35: Cave people had tequila, nosflow, but not sugar.
From the news reports I'm hearing, you'll all be drinking mudslides, whether you like it or not.
But I'm pretty sure a Crossfit cocktail is required to have meat in it.
Just replace the plastic pineapple stirrer with a Slim Jim.
The email bounced back
It appears the "mailto:" for the email address in the OP is incorrect, but the text in the OP may be correct.
They serve an inappropriately named "Meaty Mary" at a bar in Baton Rouge that's meant to be stirred with a Slim Jim. It's quite popular among the novelty drink crowd.
Indeed, they are different. In transcribing I glossed right over the second "k", which makes no sense to me.
||
Holy stupid, childish unnecessary drama Batman, START passes 71-26.
|>
Sky K Studios is one of my old stupid ideas that still happens to have a URL attached to it. Thus the second K.
45: You could offer VOIP service and hope to get customers who can't type very well.
Cave people had tequila, nosflow, but not sugar.
Tequila doesn't predate agriculture, of course, but it may well be the oldest type of distilled alcohol in the world.
Really? Haven't people been distilling by freezing since quite some time ago?
Wikipedia claims that tequila was first produced in the 16th century, making it definitely not the oldest type of distilled alcohol.
I wish I could remember the linguistic argument for vinoculture, if that's even a word, originating in Georgia*, because I always bring it up in order to have something to say about wine, and then can't explain what the fuck I'm on about and just resort to blurting out that Georgian and Basque are both ergative-absolutive, which I don't explain that well either.
*the one Stalin was from and Scarlett O'Hara wasn't from
I remember seeing an argument that Proto-Indo-European was originally spoken someplace temperate, because the oldest words for trees were things like oak, ash, and beech, rather than, say, date palm. Something like that? That there's a good argument that PIE originated in Georgia, and wine related words are (for some convincingly linguistic reason) old enough that they go back to PIE? I don't know of such an argument, just guessing at what it might be.
and wine related words are (for some convincingly linguistic reason) old enough that they go back to PIE?
Well ok, sure, maybe, since the Georgian (non-IE) word for wine is ghvino, which looks close enough to common IE words for wine that...uh...I was bad enough at historical linguistics that I'm actually not going to try to finish this sentence.
Paren and others (Josh?): I'm up for a road trip/room sharing/floor crashing. Facebook me.
49: Wikipedia cites this site, which has a detailed discussion of the theories for the origin of mezcal, the agave-based distilled spirit of which tequila is a type. That site mentions theories of precolumbian origin but dismisses them, arguing that distillation was introduced in the sixteenth century by either the Spanish or the Filipinos. This article, however, reports on experiments with replicas of prehistoric pot types that succeeded in distilling agave-based spirits. That doesn't prove that it was actually done in prehistory, of course, but it does show that it was possible and may have been done. The pottery types in question date to 1500-1000 BC, which would make them the earliest distillation system in the world if that is indeed what they were used for.
Now we just call all of you racists for talking about IndoEuropeans. This goes double for "IndoGermanische."
54: Possibly important: The Sanskrit for "vomit" is "womit."
54: I actually didn't even know that Georgian was non-IE. But given that, I bet the argument is that all the IE words for wine look to be derived from a loan word taken from Georgian (and somehow we can tell which way the loaning went).
59: Pretty much, yeah, at least from what I've been able to tell from some brief googling. Basically, the PIE "wine" word goes way back, and is similar to the Proto-Kartvelian "wine" word ancestral to Georgian ghvino. I'm not sure about the evidence for the direction of borrowing, which is hard to tell purely from the linguistics, but apparently the archaeological evidence suggests that wine originated somewhere in the Caucasus or adjacent parts of Iran (and was maybe developed more than once) and spread from there, so on the assumption that PIE didn't originate in that area the direction of borrowing would presumably be into rather than from PIE.
This post now on first page of results for a Google search of MLALA (some names and a range of hills in Tanzania).
While we're on the topic of meets-up, can I go ahead and propose one for New Yorkers on December 29 on the occasion of Bave being in town? Just for laughs, I nominate Landmarc or the bar at the Hudson.
Bostonians/Cantabrigians who want to console me, or offer me alcohol or employment, may do so in person in the first part of next week.
After the last overly noisy meetup, I have a possibly novel suggestion. Fresh Salt, anyone?
63,64: Hmm. Last item on first page for me.
69: Last item on the first page for me AOTW is this.
This thread is the first item on the second page.
Second item on the second page!
God, isn't this interesting!
70,71: Those two items reversed for me. Sorry for the boring digression, but given the googole version of the hoohole, posts here often initially get indexed in Google pretty damn quickly.
67: Which day? I could do a neb meetup on Tuesday, NYC on Wednesday
Isn't it possible that the first humans to distill alcohol drank it and then forgot to tell anyone else about it?
So, who's going to be at this LA meet-up thingamajig? I feel like I might be able to really insult Josh by attending, but it will only be worth it if the company's going to be good.
I feel like I might be able to really insult Josh by attending
Well, I'm going to be there, so you might be able really insult me not just through the simple fact of your attendance...
(And count me in for museum-going! I'm taking extra time specifically so I can go to either LACMA or, preferably, the Getty.)
78, 76: we can probably work with that. There are some nifty fancy cocktail bars around!
I could do a neb meetup on Tuesday, NYC on Wednesday
Wow, back to back unfogged meetups? That's dedication.
83: I can't wait to see what comment #235 asks!
I have no questions at this time.
81, etc: I may be able to drag myself north on Tuesday.
Possibly important: The Sanskrit for "vomit" is "womit."
I don't want to live in a world where this isn't important.
86: oh, hell yeah. I vote Lord Hobo or (perhaps optimally though it sometimes gets crowded) Deep Ellum or (pricey! but so. good.) Drink. Or elsewhere, really.
I would love to go, but I'm not sure I remember how to swim. Something about hips?
Now you've done the impossible unfogged! You've made me sorry I'm not going to mla this year!
We should be able to come, though we don't have a babysitter, so either it will have to be early and brief, or, possibly, if there is a suitable room where no partying is afoot, we could have Jane go to sleep there for a couple of hours in her handy popup bed tent.
Whoa. Becks-style, but my family seems to be thoroughly Btocked. Also, "btocked" was a spellcheck suggestion on my iPod.
Drink seems to be the easiest to get to from the hotel.
91-- Jane can totally sleep in my kids room, which will be empty -- there's a crib in there if she's still using a crib. It might be a little noisy b/c noise carries in the house, but if she can sleep through noise you're all good. I can also recommend some good local babysitters if you'd like.
How would Drink hold up as a soda fountain?
94: You're full service, Halford. Now all you need are cutie cater waiters!
Finally, we need to decide on a signature cocktail--something in a big pitcher that people can have when they come in--and are soliciting the Mineshaft for ideas.
Served by a bartender, surely.
Yay! That sounds great. She is good at sleeping through noise. Her crib analogue is the highly portable Peapod, which is basically a pop-up tent with an air mattress in the bottom, so she has a sort of traveling familiar crib and bedroom in one.
I'm in for the Tuesday plan. Interestingly, I'm supposed to be in California the week of the 10th anyway, so I may have to see if some creative travel planning can occur.
Hey Blume, did I see you getting out of the last car of the train yesterday (Tuesday) at 5:30? It's like we had our own little meetup!
One assumes the last-mentioned item is there just to make sure dsquared doesn't drop by.
to an Unfogged meetup, at the Modern Languages Association, in California? Brawd, os gwelwch yn dda.
99: You can have a signature cocktail, and you can have it be served by a bartender, but for god's sake you better not be having a cocktail party.
104: Here's a link to to the cocktail part of that thread, rather than the potato state part at the end (Mr. Blandings himself vainly attempting to set right the Boetians).
102: Wasn't me! I was in Pleasantville, NY at that time. I often have half an eye out for unfogged people on the red line, though. Someday we'll have a meetup there!
Oh no, wait, I was thinking yesterday=Wednesday. I wasn't in NY yet, but I also didn't take the train.
107: Tweety controls the remote.
103: Who knew there were online Welsh/English translators?
(Further to 110: I was terribly disappointed that it wasn't ruder.)
110: Chwaer, os gwelwch yn dda.
Well, good thing I didn't yell out "Hi Blume!" after some random woman who was getting out.
Minneapolis mini-meet up in 31 minutes!
Who was in charge of the drunken liveblogging?
Woohoo! We're in. Email sent.
116 -- Awesome! Based on the lack of reports, I assume that the Minneapolis meetup ended with someone getting drunk, passing out in the cold, and freezing to death.
Yeah, Blandings and Nati went all "To Build a Fire." So sad. But at the end, it seemed like a peaceful way to go.
I demand to know why there was no karaoke.
No liveblogging as there was only my dumbphone, Blandings' crackberry and Pongo's dumbphone/featurephone attending. I'm assuming everyone got home safely, due to email. It was a fun night! Always happy to meet new Unfoggers.
Indeed, fun times.
118: Which of us is the dog?
Which of us is the dog?
It's the Internet. No one knows.
Speaking of meet-ups, the folks in NYC should meet up and go to pretty much all of these NYE shows, including the one a friend's band is playing. Ktyhxbye.
123: I was amazed this morning to see that the NYT had actually printed the word "Butthole".
124: Thanks to Gibby, I can't eat seitan without yelling, "Seitan! Seitan! Seitan!" first.
123: I do kind of want to see Sharon Jones live, but not enough to go anywhere near Times Square on New Year's Eve.
117, 120, 121: Very fun meetup. I did get somewhat drunk, but my wife kept me from falling in the snow and freezing to death. I am now safely ... in Wisconsin!!!
oudemia and I share portions of a brain.
128: No fair if you didn't bring enough to share with the rest of us. (Mmm, brain.)
Sounds good.
And what time works for people on Wednesday?
130: okay! I'm kind of sick, but we will try our gosh-darned damnedest.
Some subset should try to be on time at Drink, as it can be crowded-ish and they would no doubt do a better job placing (not seating, exactly, but they kinda give you a chunk of the bar) a more-complete party.
Wednesday, any time is good, but shall we say 6 or 7? Where are we going?
I definitely hope to see you all Wednesday night. Unfortunately, due to some sort of screwup by Continental, my allegedly confirmed reservation for today's morning flight to Philadelphia has in fact turned out to be standby for the afternoon flight. Fuck fuck fuck fuckety fuck.
Let's say 7 on Wednesday, and I think LB was on to something when she was the first to suggest Fresh Salt.
I'll be punctual this evening.
I predict that tonight's mini-meet-up in Central Virginia will feature very little live-commenting, as I plan to have my hands full of delicious Spanish tapas. Mmm.
Protip: tapas are better in the mouth than in the hands.
Essear never stops with the cock jokes.
"Christmas won't be Christmas without Blandings," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. Pull it together, Continental!
Tonight is looking iffy for me, unless the kids magically potty-train themselves this afternoon. If I am able to get out of here, it's unlikely I'd be able to get up there before 8:30, so if someone wants to keep me posted on your plans as they evolve, I'll try to make snap decisions.
It's US Airways now, actually. And we were unable to board the 1:06. Now we're on standby for the 4:08! Still to Philadelphia, of course. It looked for a brief shining moment like we could get back onto a Continental flight to Newark. Then they canceled all of their flights to Newark for the rest of the day. Fortunately, my six-year-old's patience in the face of all this has been saintlike.
It's US Airways now
Uh oh. Never a good sign.
Old Art Buchwald line, "I'm an optimist, I flew here on Allegheny Airlines."
I'm supposed to pick someone up from a US Airways flight this evening at 11:30pm. 144 is not confidence-inspiring.
The worst are the US Air Express flights operated by Colgan, the summit of Mt. Everest of incredibly shitty cheap airlines.
From Wikipedia:
The airline was acquired by America West Airlines in 2005, with the new airline retaining the US Airways name. The name choice was based on studies indicating that the US Airways name had better brand recognition worldwide than the America West name. Despite better name recognition, US Airways consistently ranks at the bottom of customer service surveys.[2] US Airways has become a "discount" carrier compared with the remaining historic mainline companies (Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines) and has made decisions to transfer flights from larger capacity, super-hub airports like Pittsburgh International Airport to smaller, mid-sized airports with lower capacity like Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Some of these decisions in cost-cutting and down-sizing, along with outsourcing call centers for customer care,[3] help explain why the carrier ranks so low in quality.[4] Smaller airports cannot maintain service levels that the larger super-hub design terminals allow, sending passengers through limited space. The airline has had consistent monetary problems, which have cut funding for employee pay and salaries and overall service.[5] According to the reputable service ranking firm JD Power, this has led to US Airways having the least experienced, lowest ranked customer satisfaction out of the traditional carriers.[6] The full satisfaction survey continues to state the following about US Airways: "below average staff, air crafts, reservations, check-in experience, and deals."
147: Sweet fancy Moses is this true.
148: But they fly into my one-horse town!
Actually, my wife had an excellent US Airways customer service experience within the last month.
I've flown Colgan several times (both as US Airways Express and as Continental Express) without any major problems, and with only infrequent delays. Although I guess most of the US Airways Express flights to and from Ithaca were Piedmont and not Colgan, IIRC....
Even a truly shitty airline operates without major problems most of the time. But US Air Express/Colgan is the only airline I will drive for six+ hours rather than use, after a 1 hour non-stop flight between two mid-sized northeast cities turned into a 16 1/2 hour ordeal involving three different planes sitting on the ground for hours before being cancelled, and being routed through two separate connecting airports. This was on a crystal clear, sunny day without any bad weather or other excuse for delay; it was all due to mechanical failure and horrible logistics. Then they lost my checked bag (of course) and it showed up three days later, after they (twice) delivered it to the wrong city. Just a mind-bogglingly bad experience.
Colgan and Piedmont are the same now, and run the flights to Ithaca.
Even a truly shitty airline operates without major problems most of the time.
And even a non-shitty airline has major problems on occassion.
Honestly, I've never noticed much difference in customer experience across airline companies.
across airline companies
I suppose I could have just said "across airlines".
Yeah, I think it's really just not true that the main US Airlines are all about the same, though if you don't fly very often it might not matter that much on any given flight. But if you're getting north of 50K miles a year the differences really do stand out and matter a lot.
156: To assuage the pain, you could buy yourself something nice with all those frequent-flyer points.
Well, okay, maybe we're both right. These rankings show Alaska Airlines (which I've never flown, I don't think) as way above average, Continental as somewhat above average, US Air as somewhat below average, and everyone else muddled in the middle. I know I've flown US Air several times, and I've never noticed them standing out as particularly bad (nor Continental as particularly good), but I don't fly either of those airlines enough to say that I've necessarily got an accurate impression. Most of the ones I fly regularly are, in fact, about the same, at least if these sort of consumer satisfaction rankings are to be believed.
United is the only airline that's frequently been uniquely bad for me. Misdirected luggage, atrocious customer service, multiple experiences with being rescheduled to standby on flights that were already overfull, stranding me at O'Hare for more than a day.
I was really surprised a few months ago to find that Newark Toronto on Continental is operated by Colgan. With two such major airports, I was expecting at least a medium sized plane, not a tiny turboprop.
157: Like a trip to the LA party?
159 -- Yeah, I was a little surprised that United wasn't further down on the survey Urple linked to. A lot depends on the airport, though; IME United's service to SFO is particularly bad, which of course is partially understandable because SFO is fogged in so often, but they compound the problem with terrible standby/customer service/scheduling problems.
162: Our timestamps make this hard to figure out, but does that mean you've missed the 4:08 as well?
164 regretted: And I have forgotten the existence of time zones. Really, anyplace more than twenty miles from Times Square is a bit vague for me.
So a friend of mine was scheduled to fly out of LaGuardia on Sunday. Her flight was operated by American Eagle. When every major airline had cancelled all of their flights, AE and Piedmont -- which is where I recognize the no-name from -- were like, "maybe? Let's just leave it up there so everyone comes to the airport anyway."
They had the flights scheduled as on time or 30 min delayed up until they closed the airports. Until. They. Closed. The airports.
There is just no reason to dick people around like that, particularly not people who are dumb enough to look out the window, see a violent blizzard, and say, "But it says 'on time.' I better go just in case."
I haven't missed the 4:08, and can't for almost two more hours, as it's been delayed until 5:30.
A happier take on a big snowfall than I would currently be willing to give you.
look out the window, see a violent blizzard
On the other hand, if you find yourself looking in a window, and you see a Blizzard, don't panic. You seem to be at the drive thru of a Dairy Queen. Pay the nice person, and enjoy your treat.
There is just no reason to dick people around like that, particularly not people who are dumb enough to look out the window, see a violent blizzard, and say, "But it says 'on time.' I better go just in case."
I wouldn't call those people "dumb". It's a matter of having wasted the money you spent on the tickets if the flight turns out to exist.
166: At least it was LaGuardia and not JFK? (Not actually being a New Yorker, it's possible that my perception of the relative pain of getting to the two is skewed, but LGA seems accessible in a way that JFK doesn't.)
Confidential to everyone but Stanley: I'm starting to think we might have to stage an intervention....
169: Are we reading the same FB comments? Don't turn out to be the Carlos Mencia of puns.
174: Someone made that joke on Facebonk? I swear I didn't see it!
Oh, I steal things all the time. Sometimes it's even on purpose.
Not to intrude on Apo's turf or anything, but I feel someone should link this Japanese commercial for anti-itch cream with an octopus in it.
OH GOD NO NO ONE SHOULD
wtf is wrong with Japan.
I should make it clear that the octopus is in the commercial, not in the anti-itch cream.
We're meant to think of hentai tentacle porn, right? That's not the first thing that came to everyone's mind?
Right. Mine neither.
the octopus is in the commercial
Well, just its tentacles.
not in the anti-itch cream
Do you speak Japanese? Because I certainly had no way of determining this.
194: It was linked from The Stranger blog, which described the advertised product as anti-itch cream. I suppose I don't know whether or not there are octopuses in it.
I've heard very good things about Continental in extreeme situations. Everybody always said that Northwest was horrible, but it never seemed that bad to me. Haven't really flown since the Delta buyout.
Huh, an image search for "octopus tentacles" turns up a lot more NSFW content than I'd have expected. I'm so naive...
We have seat assignments! Preparing to board 6:00ish flight to Philadelphia. Rental car reserved for NYC drop-off. Wish me luck.
Woo! Live-commenting the walk to the restaurant!
Urple. I tried to warn you, in my way.
Go Blandings!
And...Stanley.
187 Huh, an image search for "octopus tentacles" turns up a lot more NSFW content than I'd have expected. I'm so naive...
You could always add "Hokusai" to the search string. Fine art is always work-safe, right?
140 Essear never stops with the cock jokes.
Really, anyplace more than twenty miles from Times Square is a bit vague rural for me.
Heh. I've already forgotten in which thread LB complained of the neighbor's assessment of her urbanity, but it has Seinfeld episode written all over it:
Elaine: "I was never so insulted in my life!"
Jerry: "I know, right?!"
Kramer (appraising): "Oh, I don't know. I see his point."
Elaine: "What!? Get out! Jerry!"
Jerry (now appraising): "Well, you do have that thing where you [insert candidate marking a rural aspect]. Y'know, George has mentioned it."
Kramer: "Yeah!"
George: "Whatevah."
------
Brought to you by someone who's watched a few too many Seinfeld episodes.
We are at the bar! I am liveblogging!
The Boston thing is tonight? Shit, I'm grant writing- how long are you there?
198: come by! We're settling in.
I will expect regular updates for my vicarious entertainment, Sifu.
I have a Wii, so I've got more options.
Have they come out with the Wii drinking game yet?
I take a swig every time Donkey Kong bites it.
I am drinking a Oaxacan Old Fashioned. It is fucking delicious.
Bave is drinking a cocktail named for William Randolph Hearst.
Nosflow's drink has like eight kinds of bitters.
I have one kind of bitters, those candied cherries, sweet vermouth, and bourbon. And I'm drinking beer because mixing things seems overly effortful.
Nosflow is eight kinds of bitter.
You're all lucky D2 is asleep (one assumes) right now.
The sight of Peter King's face on television makes me twelve kinds of bitter with a dash of homicidal.
The sight of Peter King's face on television makes me twelve kinds of bitter with a dash of homicidal.
Whereas I just find myself incredulous at the wonder that is middlebrow American popular culture. I mean, this guy is the best you could find, NBC executives? In the entire country? Well, okay then, I guess I'll just have to trust you that you put some thought into this.
And speaking of Tuesday Night Football, every time I hear Visanthe Shiancoe's name, I think, "your cock was on the Internet!" Surely this happens to everyone, right? Right?
Why isn't Nosflow coming with Bave to the NYC meetup?
Someone at Drink have a drink for me. My cold-drug-addled system isn't up for anything stronger than chamomile tea at the moment, I'm afraid.
I just returned from dinner. It turns out that Bonsaisue* and Turgid Jacobian are delightful and amusing dinner companions, and, to boot, they're raising two children who are the paragon of politeness and patience (even with the hour-plus wait for a table). And I'm not saying we saw somebody famous at the restaurant, but we might have.
*whose name I was pronouncing all sorts of wrong
My kid does O.K. for patience at times, but he's taken to berating me for not being able to get Donkey Kong past the part with all the bouncy flowers.
We also enjoyed the dinner (and the company) quite a lot. Our son said of Stanley, "You're a favorite man for me!"
Aaaaaand the person I was supposed to pick up at the airport in an hour just got stuck in Charlotte. Boo-hiss.
215: Yeah, what's up with that guy?
We are still here but you should hurry if you're going to do it.
Nah, too late to get over there- I'd either have to find a shoveled parking spot and not drink too much or take the T and only have half an hour. Maybe the next one.
Careful on the Subway for tomorrow's meet-up.
226: The article I read earlier about the people stuck on the A train all night described Howard Beach (or Ozone Park or whatever) as "a forlorn corner of Queens." Which...my commute used to take me out there, and indeed it looks pretty blah, but I couldn't help but imagine people who live out there being like "um, hey...forlorn? Really?"
Damn all you Bostonians. I am stuck in the middle of nowhere Ontario. The BF's Dad thinks Sarah Palin is an idiot and all that, but he's complaining about the CBC being too anti-Government. I fear that a further rightward slide is imminent.
I think I've been to middle of nowhere, Ontario. Carnarvon? Timmins? Moose factory?
Ontario is the Wisconsin of Canada.
Ontario.com is the Wisconsin.com of Canada.com.
Actually it should probably be Ontario.ca.
Ontario is the Plano of California.
Canada is the California of the subarctic.
Canada wears the arctic like a snow-cone hat that's melting.
The north pole is Earth's nipple, now losing its perky swell because she's angry about all of the gas we put out.
237: So that's why they call it the Areola Borealis.
Why isn't Nosflow coming with Bave to the NYC meetup?
I would that I could, JM, but I can't, for reasons many (yes) and various (streuth). The real question is, why aren't you coming to Los Angeles?
Those were some goddamned delicious cocktails. I had a something-or-other with a pine liquer that I believe has an unfogged connection and which was dynamite.
The company was lovely, too, natch.
I had a something-or-other with a pine liquer that I believe has an unfogged connection
No, what you had was Zirbenz; the stuff with the unfogged connection is made by Clear Creek.
I apologize for any unclarity on this point which was my doing.
I take full responsibility for misspelling liqueur, though.
Well, that's reasonable.
Hey, I should go to bed!
That was a lovely meetup. And that bar was kinda great, despite my misgivings about a place called "Drink." The drinks, in no particular order I can figure:
V.O.F.
Sazerac
MXLN AFFAIR
Vida
Twentieth Century
Bohemian
CELL # 34
Oaxacan OF
MamieTaylor
Reuben (not a drink, a tongue reuben appetizer)
DLB
Hearst
TORONTO
Rosita
DEJUNER
Jack Rose
Little Guiseppe
Negroni
In the spirit of competition, the Virginia meet-up, smaller in number, humbler in character, younger by mean age, *did* come up with a sweet band name.
Those drink names are definitely wrong. Nobody had a Toronto, and I had something called a "Guadalajara" at some point, the bartender having decided I was "the tequila guy".
The Maximilian affair, Mamie Taylor, and dejuner (sic! the bartender pronounced it as 'déjeuner') were mine.
The Oaxacan Old Fashioned and CELL #43 were mine, but I'm stumped about the rest.
the stuff with the unfogged connection is made by Clear Creek.
And it's Douglas fir, not Pine.
What does someone who knows these places think of 234? I think I have a great ability to know the gestalt of places I've never come close to visiting (for example -- though I would edit it today), but that may be stretching even my capabilities.
250: I'm happy for you, but oh shit am I happy for your six-year-old.
No, the Cell #34 was mine. I think. I know I ate the Reuben.
The DLB was nosflow's delicious multi-bitter thing.
Also: woo! Meetup!
252: Doesn't the fact of your attendance also mean your kid(s?) are now potty-trained?
253: or conversely, that the meet up attendees are not? Deep questions.
Yay Blandings.
I ahd the Sazerac, the Bohemian, the Hearst, and the Little Guiseppe. Really good. I think the Hearst was my favorite: gin, sweet vermouth, orange and Angostura bitters. D^2 is full of shit.
253: No, it just means that my wife is awesome.
255.2: And yet we are going to Fresh Salt.
258: They reliably have a Six Point on tap, right? That'll piss him off plenty.
Ned, I think Plano is too fancy for 234 to work. I don't know Dallas well, but I'd say Pearland is the Ontario, CA of TX. I like your talent, though!
Also, I realized what all of you coming to LA from out of town should do on Saturday -- go to the Latin American art exhibition at MOCA with a dive-in real swimming pool, first mentioned here by Eggplant. They will give you disposable bathing suits and it's art somehow, like that episode of the Simpsons where they flooded Springfield.
I don't think our cocktails will match Boston's, but maybe we can make up for it by drinking more of them.
Quantity has a quality all its own.
Man, we need to have a European meetup.
Small-village-Switzerland was about what I expected: snowy, charming, sedate. Having not done any downhill skiing for about 20 years, I'd entirely forgotten that it involves real muscle exertion. Fondue was consumed, as well as tasty pizza at an Italian restaurant run by Yugoslavians.
Heading back home a day earlier than planned, and I think I'll have an hour and change to wander around the Zürich train station. Might as well walk to the lake and back, right?
I love you guys. THIIIIIIIIIIS MUCH!
I've got Pauly-flavored kisses! Mwaaah! Mwaaah! Mwaaah!
I'll be missing the Fresh Salt thing -- family drama. Sorry not to be able to hear Snooty Law School stories.
Sorry not to be able to hear Snooty Law School stories.M/i>
Eh, it's more than 20 miles from Times Square anyway.
Hey, peep, I think Mara and I will be in Cbus Friday. Any chance of an after-work drink or Jeni's stop or somesuch before we hit the road? We're not all set and may not be there till Saturday, and I wouldn't want to interrupt your NYE, but still thought I'd ask.
I hope to make the thing tonight. Someone very beloved just showed up in town so I may need to direct my attention to her, and I am also kind of sick in the head (from a virus) and in the stomach (from reading the worst "research" papers I've ever seen in my life--no lie, I feel like I am going to vomit).
LA I can do! [Redacted], and as of right now, no other plans. I hope to have another, possibly on the 8th, which might mean I can't be very fun, but we will see! I booked a ticket back to NYC for the 12th, thinking I was going to party with a friend who may possibly be ditching me to write grants, so I might end up casting about for places to crash.
Since this comment is totally random, can I complain about the two totally bizarre European women subletting from one of my roommates? They have never been to the US before and think it's really dumb and everyone is so so fat, and also they apparently pick up the toilet paper roll and take off about 30 feet and just put it in the trash, every time they go to the bathroom. I'm not exaggerating. We're going through like three rolls a day. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
Also they listen to super-cheesy bad 80's songs at full volume all day. Go to a museum or something!
268.3: Do you have another roommate who grabs the roll with poopy fingers?
270: Gross. No. Other roommate is also European and explains that possibly in one of their homelands one doesn't flush toilet paper, but what is in the trash does not seem to be dirty at all and is about 20 times what one might actually need for even generously cleaning oneself. Another theory is that someone is hiding something in the trash, like a tampon maybe, and is masking it with a deep luxurious nest of clean toilet paper.
On reflection, I don't want an answer.
My guess is that they are putting the toilet paper on the seat before sitting down. Have seen this (or evidence of it) several times in public restrooms.
Someone would do it in a private apartment? Apparently they've been at it for a week, even with just my one roommate here. It is something I hadn't thought of.
I suppose it would be impossible to ask them?
You should get one of those seat cover dispensers like at the airports.
273: Yes, someone does this at my work bathroom. I wouldn't know except he leaves the paper on the seat. I guess he doesn't want to touch it with his hands after he sits on it.
Assuming you don't already have one.
Where is Drink? Is it that old school place near the waterfront?
276: The roommate and I discussed whether this topic should be addressed with them, but they are leaving tomorrow. If they were staying longer, we'd have words.
I guess he doesn't want to touch it with his hands after he sits on it.
I don't actually use a toilet paper toilet-seat nest myself, but I thought standard protocol was to leave one end hanging from the seat into the toilet water, so the flushing of the toilet would pull it all in and down. (That's also the way the seats dispensed by the seat cover dispensers at the airports work.)
emdash made it. Man, I'm sorry that I missed that.
282: Standard protocol for a lot of women seems to be sort of standing over the toilet and spraying pee everywhere and then walking out, delighted that they have not dirtied their bottoms or hands by touching the toilet at all, and apparently quite aroused by the thought of the next woman coming in and sitting down on the pee-soaked seat, or at least having to clean up some other person's urine.
standing over the toilet and spraying pee everywhere and then walking out
In fairness, men using public toilets do exactly the same thing. Maybe you women need urinals.
I have used urinals with success. I do think that women's bathrooms should have some spots that are just holes in the ground for this type of lady. I can't think about this behavior very long before my brain swells from the effort.
Why don't they put the toilet seat up, if they aren't going to sit on it?
I have used urinals with success.
I average at least 80% success.
289: They'd have to touch it. See, the whole point is that this kind of woman cannot imagine making physical contact with a filthy thing like a toilet, but is totally fine with spraying her bodily waste all over a public facility.
I'm not sure why, but about half of the women in my office use the men's room (both are one seaters requiring a key for entrance). Maybe it is because the seat is nearly always up in the men's room* or maybe it is because there are about six women for every man who works on the floor.
*I leave it that way because we have really weak coffee at work.
291: (both are one seaters requiring a key for entrance).
Weird how strong the "public restrooms must be single-sex" taboo is -- there's no reason at all that they should be segregated under the circumstances.
292: My guess is that the locking is only recent and for hobo-related reasons. Also, you have to double-lock the door to keep someone else from entering and there are many keys.
I have used urinals with success.
I believe it is the custom here to ask if you did a fist pump afterward.
Jesus Christ, some of these papers are so bad they might be evidence of brain damage. One of them is easily the worst paper I've read in ten years of doing this. I can't possibly tell the student this, but it's so bad it's actually disturbing; it's hauntingly bad. Usually shitty papers are shitty because they're boring or ill-executed. This is shitty because every single sentence in it is mind-bogglingly stupid.
Even if they are unreadable, they still work for providing crucial ass-toilet separation.
295: What do you tell a student like that? That maybe they should try out for a reality TV show?
What do you tell a student like that? That maybe they should try out for a reality TV show? a real estate license.
297: I have no idea. I dealt with this student before, writing comments on her last paper like, "I have absolutely no idea what this paper is about, and I don't think you do, either. Please look up all the words you used in a dictionary so that you can find out what they mean, and then choose other words that do mean something that you intend. For example, surely you did not mean to argue that everyone who reads this book should be put to death." &c. She's a native English speaker, and seems not to be mentally disabled in any recognizable way. (I did not receive anything from disability services, at any rate.) And she worked so hard on her revision of that paper, giving me all the notes she made to do the revision, and she managed somehow not to improve anything at all about it. I have literally never in my life seen anything this bad.
Does she think grading is like in an NCAA betting pool, where the worst scoring person gets their money back? Maybe she's going for the refund.
For example, surely you did not mean to argue that everyone who reads this book should be put to death
Please tell me she really argued that.
after 299, I'm not sure I'm really understanding the nature of the badness of the paper. Is it possible for you to share a sample sentence, or would that violate some rule?
Like, I'm having some trouble imaging the combination of (presumably?) misunderstood words that someone could throw together that would result in an (unintentional?) argument that everyone who reads a certain book should be put to death.
303: That sounds like a challenge.
303: "the people reading this book must be executed to learn about the character's victory"
301: That is what the words in her paper actually meant. Upon being questioned about her desire to commit mass execution of hundreds of millions of people, she blinked like something coming up out of the mud, said "uh?" and then sunk back into the blank open-mouthed stare I'm so accustomed to.
I have never had a worse class, and it's really testing my sense of myself as a teacher. My other three went great; students report life-changing awesomeness and will miss it so so much. This one was a total fucking failure, and I can't figure out what I did wrong. About half of the students didn't even attend more than a few class sessions. The literature was excellent stuff, and I tried to be super energetic and challenging. It was a total fucking failure. My most avid fan in that class brightly thanked me at the end of the semester for the fact that she was awake during class all semester. I said I'm sorry that's all she got out of it. She laughed warmly and said it's the most I can expect.
Um, imagining. It's weird--I don't think I ever spell that word incorrectly with a pencil, but I mistype it nine times out of ten.
I said I'm sorry that's all she got out of it. She laughed warmly and said it's the most I can expect.
Wow.
Maybe I don't want a teaching job....
My most avid fan in that class brightly thanked me at the end of the semester for the fact that she was awake during class all semester. I said I'm sorry that's all she got out of it. She laughed warmly and said it's the most I can expect.
That would have a major achievement for any teacher that had me in library school. I'm pretty sure none succeeded.
308: This is not normal at all. I have found every single other class I've taught to be rewarding in at least some way, and bad interactions with students have always been something I can at least work through with them. Even if I'm relieved not to have to deal with, e.g., the kid who came to my office every day to describe his favorite rape scenes in films to me until I was forced to cancel my office hours altogether, I've always still been glad to have taught that class. Once in a blue moon, I think it's just normal to have a totally sucky class. There were about six or seven truly good students in it who did good work, so I don't think it was impossible for it to go well. I've just never had so many incompetent students in the same class.
That would have a major achievement for any teacher that had me in library school.
I suspect you're wildly overestimating your importance to any teacher that had you in library school.
I once was in a bar where the Turkish toilette was simply a raised area with 3/4 doors in the corner of the main room. Everyone could see anything that, er, was produced. It did, however, have useful foot outlines painted on the floor so that you knew where to stand.
Is it possible for you to share a sample sentence, or would that violate some rule?
I'm picturing something like "Anyone who actually made it to the end of this book should die."
She probably mean "of embarrassment"?
-I don't think I ever spell that word incorrectly with a pencil, but I mistype it nine times out of ten.
You could just tell people you're an imaginative speller. Downside: you'll have to spell a word with the same letters plus others.
311: I was going to add "not that many of them seemed to care", but I decided that probably went without saying. One teacher did care, I think -- I'm fairly convinced she lowered my grade because she was annoyed by my occassional naps during class.
315: 311 would have made more sense if I'd read 309 correctly.
I think we can image what you were going for.
313: Far more complexly dumb than that. It's as if she wrote a paper, then looked up every word in a thesaurus, chose one at random, and then looked up every one of those words in a thesaurus, chose one, and then printed out the paper without reading it. It was syntactically plausible, and sounded like it was supposed to mean something really intense and possibly genocidal (and definitely requiring a lot of time travel). Upon questioning, she could not explain anything at all, except by restating her very intense certainty that things have gone terribly wrong in the world and they should be corrected at any cost.
315: Well, I just reread 309 and realized I left out a word. -- "been" to be specific.
Upon questioning, she could not explain anything at all, except by restating her very intense certainty that things have gone terribly wrong in the world and they should be corrected at any cost.
bob is taking your class????
I can't write good no more,
Not like I done before,
Prof, because the world's gone wrong
That's the thesaurus equivalent of using a spell checker without knowing the language. Eye Kant sea wear it could go wrong.
324 reminds me I was supposed to look into getting a eye exam today. I wish somebody would start optician store called "Eye Can't."
It is a store where you buy opticians as opposed to one where an optician sells you glasses.
325: I wish somebody would start optician store called "Eye Can't."
In Soviet Russia, optician can't see YOU!
Surely someone here remembers Olbermann's joke when he was still on ESPN- can't find the video, but found a description:
Last-second pass to the endzone, Falcons' wide receiver Burt Emmanuel leaps, gets a hand on the ball, juggles it, and then ... it falls incomplete.
Olbermann's call: "The pass! ... Emmanuel! ... Kant.
Thank you to the three of you who got that."
So are you going to fail her, AWB?
318 sounds like exactly what she may have done: as though she got the idea somewhere that writing is a puzzle that you solve by applying various mechanical techniques, by, say, writing a sentence, substituting fancier words for each element, writing the next sentence and substituting, and so on. I think I tried something like that as a sophomore in high school, in an attempt to sophisticate my writing. It was torture.
If writing/composition isn't what you're supposed to be teaching, it's not really on you.
The MS Word "synonyms" function makes it very easy to replace every word in a sentence with a similar word that radically alters the meaning of the whole sentence.
At Stuffwhitepeople Like University, I had to specifically warn students not to use the synonyms function indiscriminately in an effort to make themselves sound fancy. At Last Chance Community College I no longer need to do this. The mistake only comes from a certain combination of computer literacy, linguistic naïveté, and keenerdom.
At Stuffwhitepeople Like University, I had to purposely caution pupils not toward employ the synonyms meaning by chance in a crack to construct themselves thud believe.
Is there an "MS Word synonym finder" option on translationparty?
So are you going to fail her, AWB?
In a bigger sense, it was her primary and secondary teachers who really failed her.
been a while, unfogged!
Happy holidays to all.
329: She earned a D-, like about half the class. And yeah, the big problem is that it was an advanced literature survey, not a writing course. I have no idea what planet some of these students flew in from, but they're English majors, and they've never considered the possibility that professors know how to read. Like, it's not some secret skill that only they have. One person emailed me a paper that is 3 pages long (it's supposed to be 10), contains no research, and appends a works cited page full of random non-academic sources that don't even refer to the text she's writing about. I emailed her right back and said, "You must have sent me the wrong file. This does not fulfill any of the requirements of the assignment, and the sources have no relevance to your paper. Did you intend to attach something else?" She never responded.
Is there anything environmentally weird about the class? Funny time of day, bad room? Or just a random bunch of awful students?
soup!
Hello to you as well. Great to see you; hope things are reasonably well.
336: It is at a bad time in a bad room. I've let them go early almost every day because they totally shut down at a certain point and it becomes torture. But, as much as I'd like to blame the environment, there's just some crazy behavior. The 3-pager arrived late for the final exam because she'd spent the last two weeks traveling abroad and just came from the airport. So she missed the last two class sessions, the exam review, everything. When I asked her if there was some kind of emergency, she said, "Oh, I just got the bug, you know? Had to get out and see some of the world! Travel is educational, so."
keenerdom
Meaning making errors through an excess of keenness? Or an obsession with Katherine Keener?
Funny time of day, bad room?
Yeah, to the question of the general badness of the class as a whole, there is that.
I once taught a course twice (the same seminar course in terms of syllabus, anyway), once at local State U. in a seminar-like setting, small room, big long wooden table at which we all sat; and the following semester at local Ivy League wannabe private U., but in a very regular classroom situation: individual student chairs/desks in rows facing front. I insisted that we rearrange the latter to a circular chair/desk arrangement, which the students probably thought was teh ghey of me, but it didn't help much.
The second iteration was, in any case, a failure by my estimation, while the first was wonderful. There are too many variables to tell whether it was the classroom or the university's students. Or me, of course.
Yeah, the comparison thing doesn't help. When I teach at Religious College, my students are super-friendly, conscientious, and attentive. But no matter how well classes go there, they never go as well as my best classes at Public School, where a good class is intensely wonderful. But classes at Public School can also just be total duds. I just feel terrible for the few students who gave a shit and were surrounded by students who actively mocked them for caring. It's pretty sad when you're telling college students in an advanced course to please not openly make fun of the guy who did the reading and found it interesting.
342: I insisted that we rearrange the latter to a circular chair/desk arrangement
Last month, at the funeral for my friends' baby, we were all wedged into a fairly small room at the fun. home, and I thought to myself: "This is a radical funeral -- why the hell are we sitting like we're in church or in a classroom? Let's open up the circle!" I didn't say anything of course, but it did make me think that, in addition to all the music choices, I should really mandate that people at my funeral/memorial service thingy sit in a big circle. Perhaps that's morbid or weird of me, but people should remember, after I'm dead, that I was a weird, morbid person.
341: The first definition here is pretty precise.
I find both an enthusiasm for school and an enthusiasm for Katherine Keener to be quite understandable.
344: As long as you don't require any small group work.
343: It's pretty sad when you're telling college students in an advanced course to please not openly make fun of the guy who did the reading and found it interesting.
Understood.
Is this kind of thing increasing for humanities courses in private schools, where students essentially do their nails (or nod off, or just don't show up at all)?
I know this has been discussed ad nauseam. Put it this way: I just can't imagine trying to teach a philosophy course these days to students who are absorbed, in class, in their iPhones or laptops. I'd be a tyrant: Pay attention or perish, but you aren't going to be able to phone this one in, kids.
It's one of the reasons I love teaching freshmen. When you get a bunch of kids who are really looking forward to starting a new part of their lives, you get to set the tone of the discourse. Maybe you used to be a student in this way, but now you get to be a student in a new way! It seems to feel sort of liberating for them to put on the new self and not be trapped by expectations to seem cool by being lazy and mean. But when I teach advanced undergrads, I often find that they treat college like an extension of high school. Treat your profs like they're idiots, coast by doing as little as humanly possible, roll your eyes constantly, don't be caught giving a shit.
soup! Happy new year! I hope all goes well.
Treat your profs like they're idiots, coast by doing as little as humanly possible, roll your eyes constantly, don't be caught giving a shit.
So is that an extension of the ironic stance, or is it a reflection of the seeming fact that undergraduates these days are taught that college is a credentializing endeavor, in which the primary focus should be be on maths and sciences, in order to provide one with income earning potential? So humanities courses are, at best, curiosities.
We'd need some science types to tell us whether their students are eye-rollers.
346: Well, not for credit. But attendance counts for 15% of the final grade.
By the way, damn your integrity, AWB. You know we're all desperate to read these papers.
We'd need some science types to tell us whether their students are eye-rollers.
Do we have any science types who teach?
For my students, I think it's partially that they all live with their parents still. There's no "now I'm an adult who has to figure out what I want from life" moment going on. I ask every student in every class why they're English majors, and the answers range from completely stupid, megalomaniac-style ("Anna Wintour has to retire someday! I guess I'll like be her? You don't have to like reading or writing to be an editor, right?"), to the completely stupid, cognitive-dissonance-style ("I don't really like anything at school, so I guess I'll just go be a high school teacher, and why not teach English, I guess. I hate reading, and I'm too shy to have a job where you have to like talk and stuff, but teaching would be cool because I don't like kids so they don't make me nervous").
"I don't really like anything at school, so I guess I'll just go be a high school teacher, and why not teach English, I guess. I hate reading, and I'm too shy to have a job where you have to like talk and stuff, but teaching would be cool because I don't like kids so they don't make me nervous".
That explains a few of my teachers in high school .
345: I know you're closer to the border than you used to be, but is that really an excuse for cultural appropriation of Canadian slang, eh?
352: I wish they were bad in the funny way. Maybe it's just hitting a little too close to home right now, as I'm on the job market and feeling like a failure is not good, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that reading them is sickening.
352: AWB can go to the meetup and "lose" them. I'm sure they will find their way to someone with fewer scruples and a willingness to function as a cutout.
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Oh, wow, Marty Peretz's blog at TNR is no longer, and he's no longer editor of that place? That's interesting. I hadn't looked over there for a while.
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Treat your profs like they're idiots, coast by doing as little as humanly possible, roll your eyes constantly, don't be caught giving a shit.
...
We'd need some science types to tell us whether their students are eye-rollers.
I don't know if I count as a science type, but my students are not eye-rollers. They don't treat me like I'm an idiot either, but they do coast by doing as little as humanly possible.
359: I thought that was true, but I'm still seeing "The Spine" on the front page of TNR. Is it going?
I was a science major, and whenever I took a literature class I would produce papers that were essentially plot summaries. It wasn't until about three years after graduation that I found out you're supposed to write something that might be argued either way.
361, I believe "The Spine" is now going to be combined with the hopelessly-doomed "In-House Critics" section, and written by Juan Cole.
361: I don't know -- I read that on Balloon Juice. Never mind, if it's not true. I have no idea. I thought maybe everyone knew it or something.
356: It's a good word. I like the fact that it is separate from being either a brown-noser or just a big brain.
People study math and science for income-earning potential? Wacky.
366: "Math and science" in this context includes engineering and medicine, of course.
People study engineering for the income earning potential, and engineering requires math and science. Also, people go to med school for the earning potential, and that requires a really difficult biochem course.
A few weeks ago, Peretz agreed to give up his title as editor-in-chief of The New Republic. He will hold the title of editor emeritus and will continue to write for the magazine occasionally, but The Spine will be discontinued.
fron New York Magazine artice on Mr. Peretz
What was ever the value proposition of Martin Peretz? Was it just his propensity for giving vain* or immature** brown-nosers editorial authority, which heartened every four-eyed gov jock in Cambridge and New Haven with thoughts of tweed jackets and free cheese sandwiches?
* Sullivan, Kelly.
** The others.
Serious universities don't have engineering programs.
Oxford has a lot of engineers of various kinds.
A good summary of some reactions to the Martin Peretz article.
371.1: What was ever the value proposition of Martin Peretz?
Married an heiress + belligerently pro-Israeli.
Some other not serious universities. I think the last is familiar to essear.
372: I mean, it's voc ed. (Tee hee.)
Married an heiress....
Several P.G. Wodehouse plots (all resolved happily, of course) are built around the reluctance of gentlemen of modest means to wed ladies of fortune. Sexist, but I'd rather be sexist than like Martin Peretz.
With respect to the science and math = income potential thing, in any case, there's a great deal of rhetoric out there to the effect that the economic vitality of the US, indeed its very economic survival, rests on more better training in math and science. Not just for personal income potential, but, you know, for the good of the country! Because we totally suck at this, as a country, people!
It's no wonder that students (and their parents) might get the idea that humanities courses are a complete waste of time. They might even be unpatriotic.
Sexist, but I'd rather be sexist than like Martin Peretz.
I don't see any reason why you can't be both.
I don't see any reason why you can't be both.
Or, for that matter, neither.
382, 383: Let us ring for Jeeves to bisect the knot of this conundrum with the steel of his giant brain, what?
381: There's really no reasonable sense in which we don't produce enough scientists, or in which we lag behind other countries in terms of math and science in higher education. In primary and secondary education, I guess we suck, but I'm not clear on whether there are any economic consequences of that.
384: I would attribute it to my Ivy League education, but, well, you know.
386: Is that because we get many of the best mathematicians and scientists from around the world to come here for graduate school and a fair amount of them wind up staying here? Or am I wrong in thinking that a high percentage of graduate students in the sciences in the U.S. are not a product of the U.S. educational system?
feeling like a failure is not good
That totally sucks. I would tell you to hang in there! focus on the positive! etc.! if that weren't just annoying, but I am as confident as a pretend internet friend can be that you're a good teacher.
386: the quality of U.S. educational institutions increases linearly as you move to teaching more and more mature students. We have 7 of the 10 best graduate universities on Earth, but our grade schools suck. This is a real problem, because the latter kind of teaching has the biggest effect on people.
This does have real economic consequences mostly when you are looking the the labor force for mid-skill level jobs. Sure, we produce more than enough fancy theoretical physicists, but we are way short on people who can produce a simple, clear spreadsheet.
386: You know more about it than I do, since I'm not a scientist. Why are the educational rankings in math and science performance that show the US ranking pretty low cast in terms of our economic performance?
They are so cast, aren't they? And yet there are so many other factors: investment in research and development, weird things I don't completely understand about public and private partnerships. It seems that our economic structures have at least as much to do with our apparent stalling in scientific/engineering innovation as our shitty primary school education system.
Which isn't to say that our primary schools don't need serious attention.
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A Hypothetical Comment
-- by JP Stormcrow
So I just finished reading The Half-Made World (which I cleverly got my sister to buy as an Xmas present for my eldest) and was quite entranced by it, and was thinking I'd recommend it here given the opportunity, which opportunity then immediately presented itself--to my mind at least--when LB made her "snooty Law School" crack in 265 since via this interview from several years back I had just learned that the author had attended HLS and practiced law in NYC (best line in the interview, Coward that I am, I told everyone I knew that I was taking the time to write law review articles -- that way I could be confident no-one would be interested enough to ask follow-up questions). But then I discovered via Crooked Timber that LB had already read it and recommended it, and then through some of my other super-amazing tube skillz I finally figured out the author's connections here, and that I am a big fat idiot because I had actually participated in some of the threads with indirect announcements of a prior book and discussion of cover art etc. Then I thought, "should I post this?" or maybe e-mail LB and ask her since in her plain countryfolk ways she has good common sense about things like that; but then I decided, "Fuck that shit" and felix (or anyone else) can come bitch me out if they don't like it. And then I put $5 in the Unfogged meet-up kitty.
But do read the book. Highly recommended. Here is a short story based in the same world a few years after the book takes place (and centered on a minor character from the book). The story is possibly best enjoyed by folks who've already read the book, but then again maybe it's a good quick read to whet the appetite of those unfamiliar with it.
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Sure, we produce more than enough fancy theoretical physicists, but we are way short on people who can produce a simple, clear spreadsheet.
Is being able to produce a simple, clear spreadsheet a goal of primary and secondary mathematics or science education? I mean, I guess it could be, but it also seems like something where people could get more specialized vocational or on-the-job training in how to do whatever is needed for their specific job.
I'm a lot more concerned by the political consequences of having lots of innumerate people who aren't good at critical thinking, than by the economic consequences.
our apparent stalling in scientific/engineering innovation
Is this a thing? I thought we were still doing quite respectably on the innovation front.
392: Thanks for the tip, Stormcrow. I just put it on hold at my library.
393.2: This is my concern as well--basic innumeracy and the like.
So, is 7 at Fresh Salt still the plan?
Teo, we just barely got an Ivy League education! At least we don't have too many motherfucking New Republic editors as almuni.
And I can reiterate that it's good stuff. Better than his first two, which were both themselves quite good. (Obviously, not for anyone who doesn't enjoy fantasy about cowboys and trains, or doesn't think they could manage enjoying that kind of thing.)
basic innumeracy and the like
Uh oh.
I'm a lot more concerned by the political consequences of having lots of innumerate people who aren't good at critical thinking, than by the economic consequences.
I think we all are. The topic came up because Parsley noted that people like Tom Friedman are always decrying the decline of US competitiveness stemming from our poor math & science education. But she wasn't even endorsing this sentiment, just noticing that a lot of people have it.
||
You know what one of my favorite Springsteen lyrics is?
Hey, bus driver, keep the change / Love your children, give them names
|>
basic innumeracy and the like
Say what you will about The Like, but I think they have some catchy songs.
402: Or like Rendell's stupid crack on postponing the football game where he said the Chinese "would have been doing calculus on the way down".
403: I though that was *cough*Dartmouth*cough*, but I see I was confusing her with *cough*Laura Ingraham*cough*.
My impression is that a lot of the hysteria over the US "falling behind" in math and science education is left over from the hysteria during the 80s that the Japanese were overtaking us economically due to their awesome educational system and super-smart engineers or whatever. The Japanese economy doesn't look so threatening these days, of course, and a lot of the hysteria seems to have been transferred (with much less plausibility) to China and maybe India instead.
We definitely have to bear the responsibility for Coulter, as well as Bill Maher (about whom opinions vary widely). But, you know, Janet Reno and Bill Nye too. And yeah, really only technically an Ivy League education.
The Ivy League (unlike some other conferences) is actually an athletics-only affiliation.
I went to state schools. We're mostly embarrassed by athletic department stuff.
Actually, I think that the place where innumeracy causes the most damage is individual medical decision making. A friend of ours is helping her mother deal with cancer treatments, and one of the things she told us was that her mother could not make any treatment decisions based on statistics. She needed to be told an uplifting story. This sort of thing is incredibly common.
Is being able to produce a simple, clear spreadsheet a goal of primary and secondary mathematics or science education? I mean, I guess it could be, but it also seems like something where people could get more specialized vocational or on-the-job training in how to do whatever is needed for their specific job.
Being able to explain things, whether through text, tables, graphs, or other methods, is a very general skill. And I don't think either science-sorts or humanities-sorts get very good training for this.
408: Before that there was the Sputnik hysteria, that we were falling behind the Russians.
I wish there was more of a push against this zero-sum mentality-- it's a good thing that the Chinese and Indian people are becoming less poor.
it's a good thing that the Chinese and Indian people are becoming less poor.
That way, when they start shooting at each other, the wounded will get first rate care.
412: Is that really about education? Don't even very smart people often cease to be rational when facing their own mortality? Not even counting the possiblity of actual dementia.
Cornell is technically an Ivy in the same sense in which Jews are technically white and graphite is technically coal.
412: I was thinking something similar, about the credibility given to anti-vaccination folks.
418: It probably won't be that bad, but I'm wary of any economic optimism.
400: fantasy about cowboys and trains
Accurate, but I'll just say that while reading the book, the narrative never really led me to conceptualize it that way*. Part of why I liked it.
*However, I am generally neither a critical nor analytical reader.
Somebody confirm 398! Poor teo's on tenterhooks.
422: I think that's always the plan.
Cornell is technically an Ivy....
That Girl is inexplicably annoyed by my gentle, good-natured jests about Cornell.
422: Thanks.
423: Well, yes, but it would be helpful to know if anyone else is in fact going to be there tonight before I get on the train, which I'll have to do soonish if I'm going to go.
...fantasy about cowboys and trains....
Didn't China Miéville strip-mine that particular vein?
When I was a lad, I had a Martini with Bill Maher, then on a college tour, and his accompanying floozy at Ruloff's. He claimed to remember almost nothing of his college days.
421: It's a terrible description of the book, but the sort of person who'll be put off by fantasy and cowboys will be put off by the fact that it can be reduced to that. Like Flip in 426.
There was a cross-blog debate about whether we have too many scientists, at least in biology/chemistry.
I taught science at Ivy League 10 years ago- TA for 3 semesters, head TA for one. I don't recall people who were literal eye-rollers in terms of disrupting classes, although there were some people who didn't care and did the minimal amount of work to pass. It's extremely difficult to fail someone at Ivy League- lots of paperwork involved- but I did manage to do it once.
I'm not necessarily put off by that description, just trying to remember the Miéville novel to which the good people at Crooked Timber hooked one of their colloquies, which I don't otherwise remember very vividly.
Although, if I had to come up with one thing that puts me off, it would be "and," as a plot device. It seems kind of the-first-ten-minutes-of-The Player.
425.2 Bave and I are certainly going to be there. It is my impression several others will be there, too.
432: If you can't hold my attention with war, why should I stick around for peace?
And I can reiterate that it's good stuff. Better than his first two, which were both themselves quite good. (Obviously, not for anyone who doesn't enjoy fantasy about cowboys and trains, or doesn't think they could manage enjoying that kind of thing.)
Reading this I thought you must surely be talking about Mieville's "Iron Council". Then I realized that nobody on earth could think it was better than his first two.
If I make it to Fresh Salt, I'll make myself obvious by means of a kelly green pocket square, because what the hell.
435: Spill Blanding's beer on yourself for me.
Didn't remind me of Iron Council at all. Not all that far from Mieville generally, but not Iron Council. If it reminded me of anything, and I hate to say this because it sounds like a slam but I don't mean it negatively, it brings to mind the Stephen King Dark Tower books. Not really -- the glaring difference is that the Dark Tower series is severely dumb, and Gilman's book isn't -- but there's something, even past the 'fantasy cowboys' commonality, that reminded me.
I'll make myself obvious by means of a kelly green pocket square
Because you want to sex an Irish Mutombo?
Because you want to sex an Irish Mutombo?
Who doesn't?
Flippanter: Objectively patronizing and sexist. (Unless you were talking to teo, in which case, carry on.)
439: Cosma Shalizi made the same comparison (although he's kinder to King): The most natural point of comparison is Stephen King's The Dark Tower, especially The Gunslinger, which I love; this is more ambitious in its themes, sounder in its construction, and more satisfying in its execution.
I'll be there! Perhaps just a little late.
Okay, I'm leaving now. I should be there about 7:30.
445: You'll understand when you're older.
For the record, I fully endorse the pocket square, even if I'm neither the appropriate age nor the appropriate sex to be Flippanter's son.
447, 448: Consider me sulking enviously.
Is the family drama at least entertainingly dramatic?
451: Although choosing the place but not then attending must be worth points in some context.
I suppose that makes me a puppet master, able by my lightest command to draw the commenters to the same bar they would have shown up at spontaneously if one hadn't been specified. I am drunk with power.
404: Ahem.
Hey, bus driver, keep the change / Love Bless your children, give them names
I blame Texas.
456: Good lord! Imagine my shame. (I swear I heard "bless" in my head, despite what my traitorous fingers typed.)
455: You're only watching the game, controlling it. I understand the feeling.
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Bank of America forecloses on a couple who were never even late for a payment. This is a nice follow up to foreclosing on someone who paid for his house in cash. Basically, computers at Bank of America are generating foreclosure notices randomly, and sheriff's offices are enforcing them, because hey, it says here I gotta change the locks on your house.
Via Emerson.
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400: Huh. I had a very different reaction. (I enjoyed his first two much more.)
459:BofA is insolvent and going down. They are in a panic mode to get the toxic waste off the books. Panic isn't adequate, more like the pointless looting as the tsunami or nuke is on its way.
Stuff makes more sense if you realize we are a third of the way down the slope, and the PtB know it.
Three from Naked Capitalism
BLS created a new category of long term unemployment
Chris Whalen on the Warpath ...video with summary transcript
"We understand what the problem is for Bank of America. They are insolvent. They still have huge losses to take on their mortgage book, and balance sheet. They also have to deal with everyone wanting them to buy-back mortgages." ...CW
Cheers. Party hearty. Life is a caberet
Actually, I'm pretty sure my life is just a cabinet.
Hey, how come no one showed me this video before.
"You're good at stealin'
You're good at lyin'
Now lets see
How good you are at flyin'
Jump you fuckers!"
I forget exactly what you're supposed to say when you liveblog. We are here, as is our old friend, Alcohol.
I'm here, too. No family, just me, a six pack of beer, and a very annoying program review I need to complete.
Also "Hey all you bankers with your made up books, your bottom line is closer than it looks."
I guess my here is not your here.
462:
I don't see you guys rating,
The kind of make I'm contemplating.
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the government we use would then indict you.
468: excelsior! Now chart the path of your drunkenness.
I guess my here is not your here.
For that matter, I'm here.
343: I lucked out in my undergrad by majoring in two subjects that were fairly unpopular such that most people wanted to be in the classes and actually participated.
Law school was such torture by the third year because I had to take general classes with people that were completely apathetic. I become one of those people students hate because I answered every question. Not because I wanted approval from the teacher but because otherwise he would ask people one by one what the answer was and none of them had done the reading or even cared to pretend that they had.
476: I would find that so infuriating, or, let's say, dispiriting, from a teacher's perspective. I think helpy-chalk has said before that he uses short quizzes to combat this problem, but I must say I find it challenging to come up with what a short quiz in a philosophy course would look like. But I'd probably apply myself to the puzzle if I were in that situation now.
MORE LIVEBLOGGING! POCKET SQUARE LIVEBLOGGING!
Tweety, there must be something else you can occupy yourself with while some other people get together in a bar in another city.
Nerf football! You and Blume can play nerf football!
Or remove the dust jackets from your books.
Oh, don't do that.
It turns out we now have a .. boat! A big boat on top of the tv here! My housemate's father has sold his house and is moving to Florida, and my housemate has brought here his dad's replica 3-masted schooner model sailboat thingy. Which is now on top of the tv. It's like 2.5' wide x 3' high. Wow.
I'm just trying to get somebody to post something interesting.
I am drinking, according to the bartendron, Glög or something. The phrase "mountain of foreskins" was just uttered.
I have a half-assed post. Hang on.
Everyone can comment like crazy now.
But evidently they do not choose to do so.
Maybe they think it's crazy not to comment. Which it isn't.
So, Stanley is excellent. We (Bonsaisue, the Patial Derivatives, and I) went to dinner at a great restaurant of his recommendation and had a wonderful time. Unattached (or even just unrestricted) ladies, take note that he has an eminently pettable Christmas hat (not a euphemism).
Peep! Mara and I will be in your fair city (well, W/rthingt/n) Saturday and would be glad to meet you if there's an opening in your schedule. If not, some other time, perhaps.
My previous comments to 488, I suppose.
Unattached (or even just unrestricted) ladies
Just like KR? Huh.
493: I didn't know she had a blog. Awesome!!
497: she's a dedicated blogger usually, even. And our oldest is nearly Mara's age (he's not quite three). Hang in there, it seems like a super fun age just seeing the lights come on and the wheels turn.
Yes, Thorn, soon blogging will seem really fun!
Glög is good, not only for the taste but also because of the strong incentive to finish the glass before it cools off.
486, 500: so this is just nasty punch with nuts in it?
So, Stanley is excellent.
Aw, shucks.
The phrase "mountain of foreskins" was just uttered.
Made out of a molehill by rubbing.
The meetup was quite successful. Well worth the trip.
Worth a detour? Worth a special journey? How many stars does Smearcase get?
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This has nothing to do with anything, but I just realized I never did check back in after asking for advice re: depressants months back.
Good news! I made my appointment with the psychiatrist, and within a week started feeling better, and it's stayed that way until, well, now. (I still did go see the doc, and he agreed with my self-diagnosis, and now if I have another episode I can get back in much quicker as I'm on file.) I'm not like, completely cured, but at the same time, no meds seem to be needed.
|>
I'm not like, completely cured,
Who is? Good news regardless.
504 You're really making a mountain out of a mohel.
Jeez, nobody else liveblug.
510: Like a Swedish mulled wine with spices and whisky in it, traditionally served at Xmas time. I lived in the (used-to-be) Swedish neighborhood of Chicago for a long time, and as part of their Xmas festivities, all the bars -- Swedish or no -- served it throughout December.
510: I'd assume some variant of this. That's what I used to drink (a little of) at friend's (with Swedish roots) holiday party.
Swedish mulled wine with spices and whisky in it
I'm put in mind of Clarence the Angel ordering a mulled wine at the bar in the newly fun/alarmingly decadent Pottersville. Fresh Salt's version is a bit down market from this. I think it was hot water, rum, lemon juice, and something or other else. I mean it was good but no wine was mulled.
513: That's not glogg, that's a toddy. I think -- I've never heard of non-wine-based glogg.
Yay! Peep and I are planning to have the first meetup of 2011 on January 1 in Columbus because we are the best!
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Woohoo! Just talked a client into settling something I didn't want to litigate. (Actually, two different cases, but one of them I knew was going to settle.)
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515: The First Unfoggedian Columbian Exposition? Bully!
Maybe you can pick up some Ohio State football rings or the like.
515: Ummm, I'm sorry, Thorn, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do Jan. 1 -- family stuff.
515: Never mind! That's fine too. I was unclear at first which day we'd be going. Enjoy your family stuff!
520: Thanks for understanding, Thorn! I'm sure we'll meet soon.
Someday someone else will be in your town and I'll use that as an excuse to escape my life for an evening, or something like that. And Lee keeps trying to plan trips for us for this year, so maybe I'll run into someone else. There aren't any of the commentariat in Laguna Beach, surely?
Oh, hey, here's something I meant to ask at the meetup but forgot: What's the best way to get from Penn Station to LaGuardia?
523: A cab. OK, if you don't want to do that, take the 1 to 125th St. and then hop the bus (don't remember the #) that goes down 125th and ends up at Laguardia.
hopstop.com
Yeah, I was thinking a cab was the best option. Taking the bus seems like too much trouble with bags and all. How much does the cab ride cost?
Although hopstop says the E to Jackson Heights and then the Q33 to Laguardia.
525: I'm guessing around $35 or $40. No more than that I should think.
Isn't there a fixed price, Manhattan to the airports? Let me google.
Just JFK. For LaGuardia, it's a regular trip. And 35/40 sounds about right to me too.
Although hopstop says the E to Jackson Heights and then the Q33 to Laguardia.
Yeah, there are apparently two buses that go there, from different directions I guess.
527: That sounds reasonable. Thanks.
I will say that I've done the 4/5 to 125, and the bus from there trip, and it's surprisingly non-annoying. If you have lots of luggage, a cab's worth it, but if the cost of the cab is an issue at all, and you've got one or two bags you can carry pretty easily, I'd give public transportation a shot.
Eh, the flight's free, so I figure I can spring for a cab. Time is also a potential concern, and I figure the cab would be quicker.
. . . a Swedish Norwegian mulled wine with spices and whisky in it, traditionally served at Xmas time.
Don't give those Swedish bastards credit for our gløgg (the proper, Norwegian spelling).
I in fact have no evidence that the Swedes came up with it before the Norwegians or Danes, but I am a Thorsen and duty-bound to resent all forms of Swedish imperialism.
What's the best way to get from Penn Station to LaGuardia?
Practice, practice, practice.
Heh. I figured someone was going to say that.
The M60 bus?
There's also some bus (non-MTA) that leaves from Grand Central and costs $10, IIRC.
The M60 is the one from 125th, yeah. There's also the Q48 from Flushing.
I've been drinking my dad's home brewed glögg this christmas.
Glögg is from Sweden.
It's a remnant of how everyone drank their wine from antiquity to the 17th century. I don't mean heated but with spices. The avg quality was so much lower.
It's official: I will be making the trek across the arid wastes of California to the UnfoggeLAon! If anyone is able to give me a ride from my crash site near West LA to Halford's, or a return trip afterwards, it would be a service and an honor (email me).
Hoping this gets bumped.
Don't give those Swedish bastards credit for our gløgg (the proper, Norwegian spelling).
Glögg is from Sweden.
It almost certainly predates the differentiation of the North Germanic languages and anything recognisable as state formation north east of Francia.
I had a friend once. He was a caveman!
Halford, any tips on parking near your place?
I have a rash that I'd like one of you guys to look at, when you get a chance. It's... not the best.
:(
Minivet -- Awesome!!! I will email you to see about a ride.
GB -- there's usually ample street parking within a block or so, and often right in front of the house. Parking shouldn't be too much of a problem unless every house on the street decides to throw a party tonight.
hey, since the MLA are my peeps, I'll plead the indulgence of the hivemind and ask a question: I need temporary health insurance--anybody know a good shopping website? had good luck anywhere? I lack preexisting conditions, though just having to do this is giving me an outbreak of anxiety symptoms.....(grew up in Canada, never get sick, weirdly phobic about medical issues in general)
Also, I'm making (non paleo) Margaritas.
550: The National Writers Union offers insurance (at not entirely obscene rates). Pretty much anyone vaguely associated with academia qualifies for membership.
I used a company called Assurant when I needed temporary health insurance for a few months. It was something like $250/month for a family of three.
Hummus or Tzadziki (spelling?)?? What say the masses?
Tzatziki. That was just for spelling -- I have no vote since, hélas, I will not be there. I like both though.
I used a company called Assurant when I needed temporary health insurance for a few months. It was something like $250/month for a family of three.
$250/month for a family of three? Was this in 1982? Or did the policy have a $25,000 annual deductible and a $100,000 lifetime payout cap? Or what?
I'm also buying bread, but I will feel bad doing so.
556 -- it was temporary insurance with a maximum, non-extendable 6 month term. Those kinds of policies can be pretty cheap.
Hummus or Tzadziki (spelling?)??
This is less important than when the live video feed begins.
I'm also buying bread, but I will feel bad doing so.
For the dip? Why not use bacon?
Video feed starts at 8pm PCT at www.fragglerockcostumesexparty.com. Check it out!!
Why not use bacon?
New mouseover text! Useful in any situation.
And I'm off, woo. 6 hours in the car, oh my.
If I read 6403(a) correctly, two people can predecease each other in California.
"Escheat" doesn't look like an English word.
That's because it's law French.
571 says the answer to 572 is yes, I guess.
I wish we still used law French:
Richardson, ch. Just. de C. Banc al Assises at Salisbury in Summer 1631. fuit assault per prisoner la condemne pur felony que puis son condemnation ject un Brickbat a le dit Justice que narrowly mist, & pur ceo immediately fuit Indictment drawn per Noy envers le Prisoner, & son dexter manus ampute & fix al Gibbet, sur que luy mesme immediatement hange in presence de Court.
I suppose 564 is a joke, but it shouldn't be.
I'm back and I'm wearing my smile! No grumpity-grumps allowed!
Comme ça?
Ma Melody Nelson,/ aimable petite conne./ Tu étais la condition/ sine qua non/ de ma raison.
|| I am never watching anything on the internetz but this. |>
Please, people. Video feed is so aught-naughts. There should be enough iPhones there with FaceTime, right?
Hi all! Is anyone driving down from or through downtown and desperately wanting a white bear in your car with you? I won't bite!
AWB, I'll be passing through downtown on the way to the party and can give you a ride.
Excellent! Can you email me at istherenosininit at gmail and we can coordinate?
It's probably a bad sign for an employment relationship when you leave your boss's office attempting to come up with a means of self-expression that would be as emotionally satisfying as punching a wall, but less noisy.
What about punching a soundproof wall?
Haven't got one. I suppose I could challenge Alexander Hamilton to a duel, that always makes me feel better.
580 reminds me that if there's anyone else who needs a ride, I'm happy to oblige.
And.....my car broke! Woo! No idea what's gonna happen now.
I suppose in light of 587, I should amend 586 to say "anyone else who needs a ride who's in Los Angeles county.
(More seriously, that sucks, Paren! Where are you?)
Just north of Kettleman City. Two Chippies to keep me company till AAA arrives, probably a broken coolant hose or something like that, safely off the road, just stuck in nowhereville and not sure how it'll play out.
Ugh! Good luck, paren! I want AAA to fix this immediately so you can resume your trip!
Augh. On the plus side, you're close to the only really decent food on 5 between the Bay Area and L.A.
Thanks..if I comment more it'll be on the thread below. My phone is too dumb for this many comments. I might be able to rent a car, or I will more than likely just be stuck here for the night.
On the plus side, you're close to the only really decent food on 5 between the Bay Area and L.A.
What do you mean? She's over 50 miles from Planeta Rojo.
I will more than likely just be stuck here for the night.
That seriously sucks.
That really sucks, though as Josh says, at least it's Kettleman City.
Hey, this reminds me... Anyone got any recommendations for where I should have dinner before the party? (Anyone wanna grab food with me?) One of my cow-orkers recommended this place, but I'm open to other suggestions.
And nosflow, the prime rib sandwich I had yesterday at Harris Ranch disagrees with 593.
Well, look, there's three hours before the party. Somebody go get her. You'll be back in time for cake.
596: french dip at Cole's! Or the Lardon truck, if you're anywhere near it.
Kobe says the bacon truck is too far away. Dammit.
Whoa, Paren, that sucks. Josh, where are you? BCD Tofu House is great. If you want a French Dip, I'm a Phillipe's man over Cole's, but Sifu has a good idea.
That does suck. Yet another argument for high-speed rail in CA?
601: I'm in Koreatown. (Would you believe that despite having lived in LA for 4 years I've never been to either Philippe's or Cole's?)
There's a Kogi truck downtown. Or you could head north to the Cat & Fiddle, maybe see Morrissey.
The best Thai in LA is near k-town, but I totally forget where or what it's called.
Hrm. At the moment I'm leaning towards Guelagetza. (And no Thai! Thai I can get at home.)
Morrissey moved back to England. 605 is totally mysterious to me, though there's great Thai within 20 minutes (wrong direction from my house, though). If you're in the mood for Korean barbecue, can't go wrong with Soot Bull Jeep which has charcol, not gas burners. Also Guelaguetza for Oaxacan.
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Finished 'Broom of the System,' not feeling super positive about it.
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609: I'm way back. And unfortunately busy.
And nosflow, the prime rib sandwich I had yesterday at Harris Ranch disagrees with 593.
Since your original claim was that she was close to the only decent food on the five, no amount of good food at Kettleman City helps your claim. You'd have to establish that the food at Planeta Rojo isn't good.
I'm about to go eat at a Denny's. It's that or a donut house or McDonald's within walking distance. So please, taunt me some more with your descriptions of good food.
My duties as co-host have been reduced to "show up after a friend's baby-naming ceremony and try not to give anyone the flu." Thanks for letting me off the hook. All props to Halford.
Josh, Jonathan Gold recommends Kobawoo and I dig it too.
Seriously, people, make with the drunken antics.
WHY SHOULD I LIVEBLOG, LET THE GROWNUP DOGS DO IT
You spelled your name wrong, O.W.
616: Isn't there an In n Out? Or is that too far from everything? (I remember it being near only gas stations and the freeway.)
Never mind. I see you ended up in the metropolis of Fresno.
Yes, because there's no mechanic in Kettlemen City. It's turning out to be a thrilling night.
If only the party could be so well documented.
You spelled your name wrong, O.W.
Those who wouldn't give up a little orthographic orthodoxy for a little cheap humor deserve neither orthography nor humor.
OT: If only there had been some indication that No County For Old Men was so good I would have seen it four years ago.
If I were there, I would be documenting it. Bitches.
In the absence of liveblogging, we can only assume that the most wanton acts of debauchery imaginable are happening now.
This is some pitiful liveblogging. Some of us are on the East Coast and bedward. Set up a laptop, as has been done at many an UnfoggeDCon.
(And sorry to hear that, ().)
I'll live-blog my reason for not being at the big party. My daughter is in L.A. for a few days and the DE's son wanted all of us to have dinner together tonight.
Therefore, I, my daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and the DE's kid spent the evening eating, chatting, reminiscing, laughing, growing pensive, and all like that.
Hoist one for the DE and party on, y'all.
Sorry in advance for the lack of lurid details, but three big cheers for Halford, k-sky, and the rest of the Cali/MLA Unfoggeders. For a few hours there, it almost seemed as if the specter of the Hub City had faded entirely away. Thanks, everyone.
Well done, it was almost like being there ourselves.
I got the power-up and won the game! Power-ups are the best!
634.1 seconded---Halford and k-sky are gracious hosts, the assembled company was lovely, and there was enough tzatziki to fill the Hollywood Bowl.
There are inchoate plans for a trip to the Museum of Jurassic Technology this afternoon. If you're around and interested, email me soon---my phone is not smart, and I'll only have hotel wireless for another hour or so.
Well, I made it home. The car has not. I'll get the diagnosis on Monday.
639: in my hometown there has been, since my childhood, a mechanic's garage has had a sign advertising their "Computer Diagnois".
When will there be another DC meetup?
