From commentor Ruemara, in whose honor it was called:
Well, the meetup got a wee bit maxi for a mini appellation. We had the great pleasure of Mary G, Ruckus, Higgs Bosun Mate, Something Fabulous (who is aptly named, I say), Mnemosyne, Roger Moore (on break from spying), Cthulu, Mrs. Cthulu (too nice to be married to an eldritch horror), El, Russ, Woodworker (who gets the award for making the most of last minute notice), and Jebediah. If I forgot you, or misspelled your nym, I beg your pardon. The food was fine Am/Irish pub chow, the booze was good, Applejack tastes of neither applejacks nor apples-discuss-and we managed to converse freely despite a music trio making an appearance. But they were quite good too. There was much chatter of general things, genial conviviality and Ruckus and Higgs started talking of plane things in sentences constructed in English, yet managing to make no sense to me. It was fascinating. It was like hanging out with a good group of friends you rarely see, which is not a bad way to spend a Saturday. We honored our blog host with a toast, spent 3 hours yapping but did not find any urge to discuss Edward Snowden at all, if that can be believed. It was with much regret we tore ourselves away and slipped back to our regular lives. Here’s a few pics of our rowdy crew.
raven
Nice.
Baud
Wow. You can’t even tell from those pictures how much Juicers all hate each other.
Shortstop
Glad it was fun! Who’s who?
raven
Looks like the balloon went up in Kiev, 9 dead and in flames.
IowaOldLady
What a good-looking crew.
cleek
that’s a pretty nice lookin p38 above the woman in blue, in the 2nd pic
catclub
@raven: While in Egypt, 500 dead on a given day. And the response is about the same.
raven
@catclub: Suit up, they could use you.
raven
Is that the joint right outside of LAX?
schrodinger's cat
Looks like a lot of fun!
catclub
@raven: Which side?
Southern Beale
I’d say TN Gov. Bill Haslam and TN Sen. Bob Corker have a lot of egg on their faces:
Wow and here Republicans are supposed to be so PRO-BUSINESS? Yet they interfered in something a business wants? How … odd.
JPL
It appears that a good time was had by all. I’m jealous!
@raven: BBC online has amazing pictures.
ranchandsyrup
Nice! Glad you all had fun.
schrodinger's cat
You got green balloons, while we got more snow.
cthulhu
@cleek: In Burbank, so quite a few Lockheed pics
BillinGlendaleCA
@cleek: It was held in Burbank, where they built the P-38.
BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: It’s a few miles from Bob Hope airport.
MrSnrub
My previous comment fell into moderation land. Waaah.
Just got back from second interview. Not sure how it went. Hard to read the people I talked with. Also trying to judge whether I’d want to be there if I got an offer. Hrm.
Big R
@Southern Beale: N.B.: For the current incarnation of the Republican party, “hating things that liberals like” is more important than “supporting what our constituents want.” Constituents only get what they want if liberals hate it.
Roger Moore
@raven:
Not even close. It’s close to Bob Hope Airport, though, which used to be Lockheed’s home field. There’s a lot of P-38 memorabilia at Bob Hope.
ETA: or what everyone else said.
schrodinger's cat
My review of episode 6 of Downton Abbey here. Review of episode 7 coming up shortly.
Warning: It has spoilers.
schrodinger's cat
From BJ archives; Cute Tunch pic from 2012, in his floofy glory.
IowaOldLady
@schrodinger’s cat: I don’t watch Downton Abbey, but I did a meme on FB and it said I was the Dowager Duchess. I think that’s a good thing.
schrodinger's cat
Who is the slimmer and younger version of Sully?
Aimai
Im jealous. I always wanted to meet ruemara.
schrodinger's cat
@IowaOldLady: She is a snob, but she is funny and snarky!
raven
@BillinGlendaleCA: Aha, in dat valley.
WaterGirl
@MrSnrub: I hate interviews with people who think they need to be a blank slate. How the hell are you supposed to know if it’s a good fit if one side hides behind a mask? grrr.
raven
@Roger Moore: My BIL’s father worked in the airline industry out there. Van Nuys I’m pretty sure. I guess the freeway was a mess this weekend because of the olg cuz my Sherman Oaks bro couldn’t make it to the Hawthorne birthday gig.
James E. Powell
Very sorry I couldn’t make it. I’ve been without wheels since Thursday. Very much hoping to get the “it’s ready” call today.
Shortstop
@Aimai: so do I!
lurker dean
@schrodinger’s cat: great pic, must’ve missed it the first time around.
Amir Khalid
Why are there never Balloon Juice meet-ups in Kuala Lumpur? WHYYYYYYYYYYYY? Sob.
On another note, there’s good news for sneaker fans: The Nike MAG sneakers worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II might come with actual power laces, just like the ones in the movie, next year. (The MAG was released in 2011, but with only regular laces.)
Roger Moore
@raven:
This weekend was “Jamzilla”, the younger sibling of “Carmageddon”. Both involved weekend long closures on the 405, which is drastic enough to create ripple effects throughout the region. In practice, they seem to have scared enough people off the road with threats of apocalyptic traffic that things were actually quite manageable for the bold few who went out against advice.
Violet
That looks like fun! Glad you all had a good time!
negative 1
Have any of these ever been done in the Northeast? It would seem as though they should, yet I can’t ever remember one.
Or maybe I just wasn’t invited.
Roger Moore
@schrodinger’s cat:
If you’re talking about the distinguished looking gentleman with the beard, that’s Ruckus.
Randy P
C’mon Philly Juicers. I know you’re out there. When are we going to step up to the plate?
imonlylurking
Another Winter Storm Watch was posted-I really picked the wrong week to screw up my back.
I was thinking we could plan another Twin Cities meetup. Maybe after the snow melts? Of course, the way things are going that would put us into July.
Betty Cracker
Awwww, y’all look so nice and normal! I was expecting something more along the lines of the Blade Runner market scene.
jibeaux
@Amir Khalid:
I’m gonna make a firm commitment right now: if I am ever in Kuala Lumpur, I am going to look you up. You can take that to the bank.
We should have an RTP meetup sometime, except I think y’all are all coders.
Jebediah, RBG
@Betty Cracker:
Los Angeles is, of course, completely Blade Runner-y. But we were in Burbank, which is a dystopia or two behind the times.
catclub
@Roger Moore: “threats of apocalyptic traffic that things were actually quite manageable”
The safest day of traffic in Sweden was the day they switched from left to right -side driving.
catclub
@imonlylurking: “that would put us into July”
And whatever mosquitoes survived the winter will be hungry.
? Martin
@Roger Moore: Doing the construction in this way is MUCH cheaper than finding a way to keep the road open. The original effort left them with almost no choice but to close the freeway. Now they’re looking at projects that could be done with the road left open and choosing to close it to save costs. It’s a good deal. A few days inconvenience to save enough money to run an entire additional project is well worth it.
schrodinger's cat
@Roger Moore: Thanks, but you all look respectable and distinguished.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: How is your mother?
Manyakitty
Looks like so much fun–need one in NEOhio!
Just Some Fuckhead
Seems like that same homicidal-looking redhead is at every meetup.
feebog
Sorry I missed it, but the Mrs. had knee surgery on Thursday, so my time was spent at the hospital.
Belafon
@Southern Beale: Republicans are pro-Serf.
Seanly
@Amir Khalid:
There’s never a meet-up in Boise, ID, where I reside. Would love to meet with some fellow juicers (or is it fellow ballooners?).
WaterGirl
@negative 1: Maybe it’s because you’re so negative. :-)
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: Still a very dicey situation. We’re waiting and hoping. Can’t do anything else at this point, but she’s a tough bird, or she wouldn’t have hung in this long, so there’s that.
raven
@Roger Moore: Ah so it wasn’t just the Rivera, I was wondering!
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: Are you the one with the green balloons right in front of you?
raven
@Betty Cracker: Lovin ya’ll girl.
ruemara
@Betty Cracker: no one would let me run through a few windows.
MikeJ
@ruemara: Perhaps if you’d shown up wearing a transparent raincoat.
something fabulous
@ruemara: (We are spoilsports like that. Beautiful Downtown Burbank and all that.) What a nice gathering/readership capture! Great photos. So glad I was able to escape from the Ikea Vortex and join y’all; as a frequent-lurker, I did feel a bit awkward at first, but needlessly!
Thanks for finding the place/having the idea when coming to town/bringing the balloons/putting faces to names/the kind ride home, everyone! Nice to chat with so many, and even exchange info with several of you to (gasp) perhaps stay in contact IRL. VERY not-LA of us, but let’s do it!
ruemara
@MikeJ: I knew a sensible sweater and shoes were the wrong choice!
@something fabulous: BJ mani-pedi meetup.
Avery Greynold
I didn’t see much in common between us until people started handing around pictures of their families (animals, in normal-speak)
–Russ
Roger Moore
@schrodinger’s cat:
We may all look respectable and distinguished, but I believe there’s only one gentleman with a proper beard- as opposed to my scruffy, couldn’t be bothered to shave- in the pictures.
PurpleGirl
Definitely a fine looking group of fine people. Glad you all had fun.
It’s time for another meet-up in NYC. (After some more snow/ice disappears, though.)
something fabulous
@ruemara: Oooh, airport mani already looks like crap– let’s do eet!!
ranchandsyrup
I saw FPer Randinho randomly on the facebooks and asked him when he was coming back to football (soccer) blawg. He said he hopes to soon after he moves.
This is an unsolicited Juice report.
Anne Laurie
@Just Some Fuckhead: Oh, sure, all us homicidal redheads look alike to you!
(But now Mnemosyne may have to kill you.)
Amir Khalid
@ranchandsyrup:
Yay!!
ruemara
I resent being called respectable & distinguished. Those were hooligan stockings I wore!
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: Its not my fault that I can’t see the stockings.
@Roger Moore: Mr. Bond sports the Hollywood stubble.
kc
Nice-looking crew!
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I’ll cut you, man.
Also, ruemara needs to tell her story of Ruckus picking her up and who was going to be to blame if things went wrong.
MomSense
Look at all the beautiful balloon-juicers! So pleased you had a good time.
We are having more snow. I can’t take it anymore and I’m pretty sure the snow plow drivers have just given up. The roads are not in good shape.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
My brother in law is visiting us from Chicago and is REALLY enjoying the pictures his mom and sister have been sending.
Roger Moore
@? Martin:
I’m not intending to suggest that shutting down the 405 completely was a mistake. The planning and public announcements did a good job of making sure the whole thing went smoothly. If anything, the whole thing has been a big success, both in terms of the construction and in proving that people can survive a weekend without driving across the city.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
When I read that you were on the train with your brother, I so wanted to find out how the visit was going. I have a joke with my dear friends (my chosen family) about what the “f” in family stands for. I hope you are enjoying your time with him.
The idea of being in SoCal with warm sun sounds so appealing right now! I am watching the snow and the temperatures fall and wondering why the hell I live in the Northeast. The funny thing is that come the first beautiful day this Spring— all will be forgiven.
This winter has been brutal in Chicago (my favorite city!) so I can imagine your brother is loving being in California.
Cheers, M!
shortstop
I would have reversed Ruckus and Roger Moore. I don’t know why; I never think DJs or voiceover artists look like their voices, either. Is that the cthulus in upper right? Who’s the friendly-looking lady in the blue and green?
shortstop
@MomSense: It wouldn’t still be your favorite if you’d been here all winter. Today is sublime, though. Mid-forties! Yes! Yes!
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
Yes. I’m the guy in the white T-shirt who needs a shave.
MomSense
@shortstop:
The funny thing is, I only ever visited in the winter. Happy to say that my oldest loves it too. He hit all the blues clubs and the people he stayed with treated him to a ridiculously fancy and delicious steak house so now everything is on a scale of 1 to Chicago.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: I used to work with someone who would refer to the dean of our college as Bill F. George. it went on for months before I asked “why so formal?”
Turns out that if he really didn’t like someone, he would just put the middle initial F in there, kind of a private joke and the recipients of the F were none the wiser.
shortstop
@MomSense: “1 to Chicago” — nice!
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: That was the Madison one last summer. No one ever posted pics.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
That’s great! I may steal that!
@shortstop:
It’s a beautiful city with great arts, music, universities — what’s not to love!
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: The Bears.
shortstop
@MomSense: You know, we moved to the 23rd floor of a high-rise last summer. It’s on the lakefront, and our place has sweeping lake and city views. (It’s a low-key building that could use some attention in the common areas, so assessments aren’t heart-stopping. Also, our unit hadn’t been updated since the Middle Ages, so we got it for a song and are slowly renovating.). We have an express bus stop and cab light right out front, and it’s a quick jump onto Lake Shore Drive.
I was thinking about all this the other night and it occurred to me that we’d be excellent candidates for house exchanges with people in interesting locations across the globe. In the summertime, it seems like half of Europe, Australia and parts of Asia are here…and we welcome them!
If I can get over the idea of someone I don’t really know sleeping in our bed (none of the rest of it bothers me in the least), we’re going for it. We’re travel whores and this is another way to stretch the wander budget.
MomSense
@shortstop:
I’m a PK and when I was a kid my Dad would do pulpit exchanges with other ministers. It was a lot of fun. We would swap houses for a week or two at a time and get to see another part of the country. We never did international swap but I say go for it!!
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Good thing for you that raven has moved on to another thread!
LanceThruster
Next time, I hope.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
Thanks but I think that’s the liquor talking.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
The visit is going fine — the main problem is that we’ve been walking too much. Seriously, I’ve been logging more than 13,000 steps a day since he got here. Now we’re both exhausted.
(And it’s my brother-in-law — G’s brother — not my brother. Just to be clear and not turn it into a Wodehouse dialogue.)