Me, and I'm bringing along my college roommate. Is there a location?
You all should chat about how you wish you were joining me for birthday drinks tonight.
i might could come and represent lurkerdom. wherezit?
all of y'all
Northerners shouldn't try to fake familiarity with the dialect of the South.
I'm in negotiations about my status that evening.
We don't have a location yet. LB, I'll assume, will be near Grand Central. I'll be on most major subway lines. Where will others be coming from?
And of course we wish we were joining 'Smasher for birthday drinks!
WOO HOOK 'EM BIRTHDAY!
QNS represent. I'm down with midtown, except I've yet to go to a good bar there. Maybe Hell's Kitchen somewheres?
Yay, another year older and closer to death!
5: Who among us does not love NASCAR?
I'll be there. Is the Ginger Man terribly unpopular? Scott's events there have always been pleasant, reasonably priced, quiet enough to talk in, with a good beer selection and particularly attractive waitstaff.
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're older still.
i might could come and represent lurkerdom.
Then what could I represent? Occasional commenterdom?
I just got some pecan pie, y'all. Feeling old n' crabby will have to wait.
I'm going to try to make it out on Thursday. Count me mildly opposed to the Ginger Man, however.
Yay for birthday pie! Happy birthday, Armsmasher.
19: Is it the Ginger Man or midtown that you're mildly opposed to? I'm dying to know if someone knows a reasonably-priced and decent bar in midtown that isn't unlovable for its midtownness.
22.--My mild opposition results from the waitresses' being snotty about the Modesto Kid's kid. At the time, I wanted to bite them and stayed mad for at least an hour. Now, I'm just registering a mild preference.
I thought the Ginger Man was kind of loud. Of places like that we've gone, I preferred the place we had the election day/Ben w-lfs-n meetups.
O'Reilly's on 35th is fine with me. I can practically spit to it from the door of where I work.
The election night place wasn't particularly interesting - something in the style of where we met Mlle LeBlanc last time (Luca Bar?) would be much cooler.
Happy Birthday Smasher!
Wish I could be there--(either New York or D.C.).
30 - That is very true. Can you think of a Luca Bar-ish place that is transplanted to Midtown, since that seems to be where many people are located?
The election night place wasn't very exciting upstairs, where we were the only people.
My first section meeting's in 87 minutes.
Section meeting? Do you mean like class with you as the TA?
First rule to teaching undergraduates: they are not grad students.
Being a TA is much easier. All you have to do is be modestly more helpful and approachable than the professor.
Just remember, when you're looking at the crowd of people waiting to hear you speak, that you're in your underwear.
Our little bitch is all grown up.
*sniff*
Also, if your voice cracks, sing a few bars of "It's Time to Change." You'll bring the house down.
ben, act as if you own the place and you will. You're at a school populated with overachievers; they'll think they're smarter than you, but they'll also be conditioned to respect the authority of the office. Just like President Bartlet.
You know more than they do. And if they're not talking, just call on someone.
Or flash 'em a bit a thigh.
One last thing before you go!
Your students are not going to understand your sense of humor at first, if ever. Make sure you don't make (unsuccessful) jokes that could be mistaken as making fun of your students. That's really important; they'll turn on you en masse if you seem to be belittling one of them.
It's a good thing I don't think that you mean my specific sense of humor, JM, because otherwise I might get the feelign that you're belittling me, and I really don't think I could handle that.
Does Monsieur Ben w-lfs-n have a sense of humor?
That joke would be fine. You could only be mocking yourself by telling that joke.
'Sup, y'all. Hooray! Just wanted to register my presence, since I haven't been around in a while. I will still be showing up at the meetup and bringing my friends that are tagging along with me on this trip. That's right, I've got an entourage.
Anywhere located in anywhere is fine by me, although I do have to say the opportunity to see places that aren't Midtown appeals to me.
Oh, non-Midtown is easy. We all love non-Midtown.
Good luck, Ben. You'll be great. Whatever you're thinking will be hard about it will be easy. Also, later in the semester, you'll suddlenly realize that everything you thought would be easy is really hard. But that's later.
I'm pondering places and will suggest one if I think of it, though I'm not yet sure I can attend.
LB is usually the one who has trouble with non-Midtown. Could you do non-Midtown on the 4/5, LB? Like Union Square area?
Sure -- mostly I resist leaving midtown out of laziness rather than genuine hardship.
LB is grieving her abortion so treat her gently.
Luckily, being non-pregnant, I can drown my sorrows in alcohol.
I'm looking very forward to seeing all of you.
Also, if any savvy folk want to recommend to me interesting things that I might want to check out during the remainder of the weekend, as I'll be in town for a few days, such suggestions are quite welcome.
58: Actually, you are "pre-pregnant" -- it's best to avoid.
L'chaim, all. Wish I could join you.
go to the museum and look at the dinosaurs!
No, go to the Central Park Zoo and look at the rainforest birdies and polar bears!
It's really pretty awesome.
I may attend, in which case occasional commenterdom will have a solid presence.
Had I been thinking, Trapnel, I would have given this post the title you have given your blog.
65: the problem with those book sculptures (furniture? really?) is that they tend to warp and flatten out when people sit on 'em. The Demaines are cool, though.
That would have been cute, BW.
The first time I ever TAd, I'd just been up all night writing my MA paper, and all I could think about was Joseph Raz's service conception of authority. Luckily I was supposed to lead a discussion on Genesis and Exodus, so of course Raz was a perfect fit.
At least, that's how it seemed at the moment.
I've only read it once, but are you suggesting that what Raz has to say about authority makes sense to you? In that case, I will take your opinions to be decisive even if I didn't previously have reasons to believe they were right, for truly you must be a god among men.
I can think of lots of bars that are fun, but very few that are pleasant to meet at or are easy to find.
And part of the issue is that what everyone wants to do at meetups is talk, which puts a premium on quiet bars. The overlap between quiet and fun is a tricky area to identify.
74 - Or conducive to conversation. Like that place you and me and a few other people went a couple of weeks ago? I couldn't hear a damn thing and had to move. Missed your entire waxing story.
Missed your entire waxing story.
Now's your chance, AWB!
The overlap between quiet and fun is a tricky area to identify.
Boy, ain't that the truth. I have recently had to accept that I am now officially too old for gay bars. Hollering over the noise all night makes me hella cranky.
I only like non-fun bars where you can talk. They often close down right when I've gotten used to them. I'm the Angel of Death for a bar, and not because I don't drink enough.
It wasn't much of a story, except to say that while I was admitting that it's a prohibitively humiliating process, a Brazilian does have some pretty impressive sensation benefits in the sack.
Right. The reasons one goes to O'Reillys are that they will accomodate unwieldy groups, it's never loud, and every fourth drink is free. All these things mean it's not that cool and the bar area is usually populated by conference-goers from out of town and after-work drinkers who don't particularly want to socialize.
If Union Square is an option, Heartland is loathesome but is big enough to accommodate a large group.
I know a fantastic little bar near the South Street Seaport: usually quiet, great atmosphere, the owner was named "perhaps the most unspeakably handsome bartender in New York" by the Voice (and he's a good griend of mine), but it's probably too far downtown. Not far from the Fulton Street subway, though, which has many lines.
Maybe this is an IE thing, but this post's text is initially invisible. It shows up in parts if I highlight it, mouse over a link, or move another window thereover.
pretty impressive sensation benefits in the sack
Oh yeah, everybody loves bare pussy.
84: Oh noes! Now I'll never be able to look at a cat without wondering what it looks like naked.
Heartland's also too loud.
Belmont Lounge near there could be an option. Heck, if we're hosting some rube from the sticks, maybe she'd like the bar where O. Henry wrote all his stuff?
Hey, I was thrown out of there at 16 for making fun of a plate of hot antipasto.
Jesus, LB. What did you say? That antipasto must have been deeply offended.
It was more being sixteen and drunk with another sixteen year old girl, and having a fit of the giggles. I think the giggling made them notice how young we were.
I strongly suspect Belmont Lounge will be too loud for conversation, especially if the group is large--Thursday night is the new Friday, after all.
O'Reilly's sounds pretty good from what AWB said. Aren't we our own entertainment?
I'd make constructive suggestions, but I'm actually pretty ashamed of my taste in bars.
[And that was very cute, Washerdreyer.]
These are proper gimlets you'll be drinking, right? I mean, you're not going to waste your money and reputation on ones made with vodka, right?
I'd hate to make m. leblanc think we're not cool. We're cool! We're Back Room cool! We're just lazy and talkative!
I love vodka gimlets, but I've never tried one made with gin. Maybe I will.
All I can say is that we should go somewhere close to the subway because it's going to be hellishly cold tomorrow night.
And I'm fine with not being cool. Just fine!
I've never tried one made with gin.
I believe this means you haven't actually had a gimlet.
Wherever y'all decide is fine by me, but as you come up with this decision will someone who has my number text me and let me know the final details so I can show up? KTHXBYE.
Isn't it a Screwdriver if you use gin?
That's with orange juice. I used to wonder if there was some system of naming gin+fruit juice drinks after hand tools, but gave it up without ever checking it out.
Gin and orange juice is an Orange Blossom, right?
Then what's a Screwdriver -- vodka and orange?
Clearly, you need to get out and drink more, Mama Bear.
Surprisingly good and unbelievably dangerous: Shinedriver (moonshine and orange juice or, as I first had it, Tang - no, really). Nothing like a little lead poisoning to finish off a buzz.
Moonshine doesn't have to have lead in it--you just have to solder the joints in your still with non-lead solder. Not that I've been investigating still making. I, uh, just heard about it once.
Also surprisingly good: tequila gimlets.
Apricot-peach brandy moonshine? Very tasty, and I didn't go blind even a little. Probably would have been good with some orange juice in it too.
The shine I had came from way up the mountain in TN. I wouldn't be surprised to hear it was lead-free; neither would I be surprised to hear it wasn't.
It's actually really absurdly good with any sort of fruit flavor added, whether by mixing with a fruit juice or by soaking fruit in it and drinking the result.
What about by just distilling the fruit itself, in the good old-fashioned way?
That's what the Louisiana lawyer who made the stuff I was drinking did.
Drat. I won't be able to s/t/a/l/k/ l/u/r/k/ m/a/k/e/ /i/t/ stalk tonight.
Corrado's in Jersey sells copper stills. They're very pretty and who knows how legal.
I think the worry is not lead poisoning but methanol in your drink as well as ethanol.
109: While I know there is off-the-books production of brandies, etc., particularly apple in the WNC/ETN highlands, the traditional meaning of moonshine where I grew up and the shine which I got from TN a few years ago was your standard old-fashioned corn mash moonshine, aka White Lightning (at least, as far as I know, and in this instance I sincerely mean that I may be misinformed). I don't know jack about the actual production because those members of my family who operated stills played their cards pretty close but what limited amount is known to me doesn't involve fruit until after the fact. I know much more about how to spot a still than what goes into it while it's operating.
112: Used to be that lead poisoning was the main concern due to the use of old radiators in the construction of your standard hillbilly still.
Completely off topic, but when you're trying to figure out a knotty and unfamiliar legal issue (all sorts of interplaying state and city regs, questions about what pre-empts what, etc.) having the expert within your own law firm explain that what supports our position is this law, well, it's not exactly a statute, that is, it never got codified, but it's really still good law, everyone agrees, but it's not on Westlaw, he has a copy in a box somewhere, is a little nervewracking. I figure that he does have to be talking about something real rather than simply having gone mad, but looking at a memo that cites to a statute that isn't on Westlaw or in McKinneys is really unsettling.
I'm a complete moron, LB, but if a statute was never codified, what authority does it have?
The boutique moonshines have cadmium, manganese, cobalt, etc., in place of the lead.
116: Hence my disquiet. I think I may have found the statute he was talking about by now, and if I'm right it was codified, he's just an incredible slob for not knowing where.
118: Oh, I was wondering if maybe it could be used as a sort of precedent as an argument, even if it wasn't an interpretable piece of law.
The worst Allied casualty incident of the first Gulf war involved a Romanian unit that built a still in its lines somewhere in Saudi and accidentally produced methanol rather than ethanol, leading to blindness, insanity, and death, rather than drunkenness.
Problem solved. This guy makes me really nervous, though -- if you're going to rely on a statute, come up with an actual cite for it, rather than leaving the next person to go scrambling through the statutes looking for where a law on that topic might be.
"if you're going to rely on a statute, come up with an actual cite for it, rather than leaving the next person to go scrambling through the statutes looking for where a law on that topic might be."
I thought this was exactly what the partner-associate relationship was built on.
Dude's an associate, and didn't know where the law was codified when a partner asked him.
Oh my. Romanian moonshine in Saudi Arabia. Say, has anyone given Alex a fruit basket yet?
Weiner was the fruit basket welcome wagon organizer, and he's left us. And I'm not linking to it.
As the person who encouraged him in the practice, I suppose I'll take up the duty.
A fruit basket for the Yorkshire Ranter!
Ok, you can be the bestower, Apo.
Perhaps by now the fruit has fermented into a rough brandy.
Which one was the speech act? The first one? What do you call a graphic internet speech act?
It's a task big enough for you and I to share, JM. Now let us clasp hands and sing.
Ladeez, I'm going to have to bow out of tonight's festivities, I'm sorry to say. Have a good time!
Shucks. No Jack, no Halfway Done... who is showing up?
Brandy is the result of distillation, not fermentation.
Strictly speaking, fermentation, thendistillation.
Though both processes are involved in its production.
who is showing up?
Meeeeeee! And Silvana and friends. And I think mike d and AWB and maybe Scott Lemieux and maybe some of the others who said maybe (Chris the Lurker, mikey, w/d, etc.)
i'm gonna try to make it around 8. and bring washer.
Well then perhaps the fruit has fermented and the act of giving the fruit basket is the act of distillation.
138: Me definitely. And LB and her college roommate, right?
Yep, assuming she can get out of the scary germs lab.
She'll wash her hands first, right?
We can but hope. Alcohol's a disinfectant.
144- Only if it's 120 proof or higher. Sounds like it'll be Wild Turkey tonight.
Okay, I am now leaving my place of work to grab some food to eat before I meet you at O'Reilly's. See you very soon!
Bacardi 151 would have bad memories written all over it, if I could actually remember any of it.
Go classy with your high-proof rums, and get Wray & Nephew.
Bacardi 151 was responsible for the one time I've actually blacked out from drinking. The last thing I remember was chugging from the bottle.
Or Stroh 80 (not actually classy).
That's actually not quite right, B.Wo -- Wild Turkey Rare Breed is 108.4 proof. Still not 120, and it's not like any bar actually serves it, but still.
The lack of comments from drunken meeters-up disheartens.
That CJ Wray overproof rum is pure evil in a bottle.
There are some expensive bourbons and ryes of 120 proof or greater. One, I can't remember what, is 124.something, I think.
156: The bottle of Booker's I have on top of my fridge says it's 126.4. 120-proof whisk(e)y isn't that difficult to come by; that's cask-strength.
Well, I take my error as proof that I'm no longer drinking heavily enough, because I thought standard-issue Wild Turkey was available in varieties up to and including 120 proof, and it's apparantly not, but I'm positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have had 120 proof Wild Turkey in the past, which must have been some sort of special issue.
But Bacardi 151 would work just as well, I suppose.
Everclear moonshine goes to 190 proof or so and is your preferred disinfectant / throat cancer beverage.
I've had cask strength Scotch that was up around 130 proof. Can't remember whether it was particularly good, though.
Everclear has a warning on the bottle not to drink it straight. An friend of mine once took that as a challenge.
Didn't we all? It's a pretty unpleasant shot.
Everclear-and-tabasco shots got me through my sophomore year of college. Just barely.
I somehow managed to avoid doing that particular one. Made up for it with a bunch of other unpleasant stuff, though.
164 to 162, though it applies to 163 as well.
154: I fucked it up by bleeding all over the place from my head. Otherwise, we had a really lovely time!
You okay? Cold-induced nosebleed, or accident involving a one-armed man, a trumpet, and a PT cruiser, or what?
I posted about it on my blog. Somehow I managed to hit my head rather violently. I wasn't particularly drunk, just had bad balance.
The point was, it was humiliating and weird and everyone was really nice about it.
Bartender: Do you know this girl?
Me: Yes.
Bartender: Is she on any medication?
Me: I don't know
Bartender: Does she have any medical conditions?
Me: I don't know
Bartender: Has she fallen like this before?
Me: I don't know
Bartender: I thought you knew her?
Me: I do know her. I just don't know her medical history.
Bartender: How do you know her?
Me: Well, there's, like, this discussion group and we sometimes get together and have drinks or go out.
Bartender: What organization is this?
Me: It's...from the Internet.
(Looooooong silent stare from bartender like I'm on crack.)
What a time to have to explain the internet to someone.
Everclear has a warning on the bottle not to drink it straight. An friend of mine once took that as a challenge.
Didn't we all?
Um, no.
Poor AWB! First, giving birth on land, and now head wounds!
171: "Okay, see, there's this series of tubes..."
As far as I know, we didn't manage even a paper-cut in Austin. I guess we just can't party like you coastal elites.
What organization is this?
The National Association for Putting Down Nosey Bartenders.
WTF? Woman was lying there bleeding and he wants to know what club she belongs to?
You OK, AWB?
Yeah, I think so. My thumb hurts worse than my head, which looks scarier than it is. I'm about to go meet my bf for a movie and trying to figure out how best to explain the thought process that went "Nah, doctors are chumps. Stitches are for sissies. I'm going to bed." I'm also not looking forward to teaching in my Night-of-the-Living-Dead state.