Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Petty moves from a petty man.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Shut up, hissy kitty!

“But what about the lurkers?”

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Meetups / Open Thread: North of Boston Meet-Up Proof of Life

Open Thread: North of Boston Meet-Up Proof of Life

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suchang-jonathan-efg-mrs-jeff
Jonathan (lurker), EFGoldman, Mrs. EFGoldman, Jeff R

A smallish group, but select — and the food was delicious. I underestimated how noisy it would get during the Saturday rush, though.

Photos by Mary (Lakhe), who thereby avoided having her own included. Also not shown, by request, Tenar.

We agreed (as always) that we need to do this again, preferably at a venue more suited for talking. Anybody got suggestions for an eatery in Waltham, Cambridge, Brookline, or that area?

How about those of you in New Hampshire or Maine — maybe in Portsmouth? Or Manchester?

suchang-mike-stuart-all
Mike (Cataphract), AL’s Spousal Unit, Anne Laurie

Reader Interactions

130Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Nice to see a few familiar faces from the Watertown meet-up I was privileged to attend over two years ago now! Hope y’all had a great, if overly noisy, time tonight.

    ETA: And by my count (full disclosure: I am not very good at The Maths), you had nine people in attendance. I’d call that a good turnout.

  7. 7.

    gogol's wife

    I can’t stop watching that Rachel Bloom video from this morning. I think it’s going to (maybe) get me through until Wednesday.

  11. 11.

    Immanentize

    So sorry I missed you all. But it looks like good cheer, food and company was
    enjoyed by all.

    So next time, is a place near route 2 or 3 (Burlington) or 93 (Somerville) preferable?

  14. 14.

    WarMunchkin

    Pleased to report that I’ll be at the Javitz Center for Election Night festivities on Tuesday. Tickets are free and such, so if you’re in the NYC area, I highly recommend picking up what you need at the Democratic Party HQs in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn or Westchester.

  16. 16.

    divF

    Great to see all these faces.

    Geez, efg, would it kill you to crack a smile? You’re looking right into the camera :-).

  17. 17.

    Jim Bales

    @SiubhanDuinne: I, too, I have fond memories of the Watertown meet up. (I played the role of lurker at that one.)

    For a west of Boston meet up, does anyone have a sense of the sound levels at the Zaftigs deli in Framingham? I am on the one here in Brookline, but it is a little loud and crowded for this purpose, I think

    Best
    Jim

  20. 20.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @John Cole: It’s funny. I was just about to comment that he looked quite cranky.

    ETA: I suppose that I now have effectively made that comment.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @Schlemazel:

    ” How come nobody ever looks like I think they will? ”

    I had a hunch the efgoldman looked like a curmudgeon Joseph Stiglitz. Don’t get me wrong, i mean a very distinguished handsome and fit man-hunk curmudgeon Joseph Stiglitz..

    @John Cole: Any school child could tell that he is curmudgeonly, not cranky. IMHO.

  22. 22.

    satby

    Fine looking group! Nice to see you all out enjoying yourselves.

    Edited to fix Kindle’s unneeded assistance with spelling.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    Hello you beautiful juicers. Glad you had a good time. Once this election is over I would love to go to a meet up in NH or Mass.

    I’m wiped out tonight. Three more days.

  32. 32.

    Jeffro

    Tell me this campaign-closing-argument-ad from Trump…the words, the voiceover, at least…isn’t about 98% straight-up Bernie Sanders (which, in all fairness would still make it about 96% straight-up Hillary Clinton)

    Blur the lines…pretend like he wouldn’t do exactly what the “regular” GOP wants at every turn…no mention of SCOTUS, abortion, guns, etc…I have to admit, it’s pretty clever. Fortunately it changes nothing and after Nov 8th he can fuck off to whatever scheme he and Bannon have cooked up for Nov 9th & beyond…

    …let’s go win this thing, bigly!!! GOTV!!!

  33. 33.

    JanieM

    Anybody got suggestions for an eatery in Waltham, Cambridge, Brookline, or that area? How about those of you in New Hampshire or Maine — maybe in Portsmouth? Or Manchester?

    These aren’t fancy but they’re among my favorites for lunches/dinners when I’m in Cambridge: Le’s (Vietnamese) and Takemura (Japanese), both in Harvard Square, and Dumpling House (Chinese), down Mass. Ave. between Harvard and Central. None of them are all that noisy, all are reasonably priced (well, Japanese…hmmm), and the food is decent. There’s a newish ramen place (I never knew what ramen could be!) called Santouka, next to Grafton Street just at the edge of H. Sq., but though the food is good, it’s hideously noisy and there’s often quite a wait.

    I would love to attend a meet-up if one ever happens when I’m in Cambridge, which is a few days a month, typically, but not on any set schedule. I’d go anywhere I can get to on the T.

    I’d travel within Maine, too, and maybe to NH depending on location and timing, but unless people wanted to come all the way to the Augusta area, which seems unlikely, I don’t have any restaurant suggestions. (But in case anyone is ever nearby and hungry, Cafe de Bangkok in Hallowell has the best spicy salmon roll I’ve ever had. And I’ve tried it at a lot of places; it has become a sort of quest.)

  34. 34.

    Eric U.

    @Jeffro: I thought the same thing about his ad, if I didn’t know he was a straight up republican, I’d think he was Bernie with a hint of racism

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodinger’s cat: Well, you know, MomSense and I (and maybe satby) talked about moving next door to Betty Cracker. Good thing all this talk about the Crackers moving came up BEFORE we sold our houses and moved to the tiki bar.

  42. 42.

    schrodinger's cat

    I have a crazy idea, can I have a gas range and an electric in the kitchen at the same time. I like the gas cooktop and the oven/broiling on the electric. The home came with a newish smooth top cooktop which has an excellent oven and I just purchased a gas range. Any thoughts, suggestions?

  53. 53.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jeffro: No, its 100% evocative of themes and tropes used in NAZI propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s. Bernie Sanders would never had done something like this and neither would Hillary Clinton.

  57. 57.

    divF

    @schrodinger’s cat: There are hybrid ranges (gas cooktop, electric oven). Another option is to get just a built-in gas cooktop, and a built-in electric oven. One big advantage of an electric oven is that they mostly come with self-cleaning capabilities, whereas the gas ovens can’t get up to that temperature.

    ETA: when we remodeled 15 years ago, we got a gas range (came with two ovens), as well as a built-in electric oven (i.e. three ovens). We mostly go to the electric oven first, except that the gas oven has a really good broiler.

  63. 63.

    Anoniminous

    Trump threatened by nonexistent gun in Reno. Hustled off stage by Secret Service. Bravely comes back to finish speech in the face of almost certain continued life.

  64. 64.

    Pogonip

    @Bill E Pilgrim: It requires strong lurk-do.

    I am pleased to hear a good time was had by all!

    Cole, have you ever done a demographic poll of your readers? They seem pretty evenly divided by sex, but the ones pictured are always white as a Trump rally. Who all’s out there? I’m (mostly) white and look it, female, 57, live in the mysterious wilds of flyover country. In Columbus my neighborhood was about evenly black, white, and Mexican; here in the more rural area we’re about 70/20/10 white/black/Mexican, with a smattering of middle easterners and east Asians. (Peoples who have been noted through the centuries as knowing how to assemble a good smatter.)

  65. 65.

    Schlemazel

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    The plague of the month club. We woke up one morning to find the entire side of our house entirely covered with frogs. Still, it was the two-legged vermin that I found most troubling.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    What about a stand-alone gas cooktop? You could keep the electric range, or you could get rid of that, too, and get one or two cabinet-mounted ovens. That would require a little reno work, though. But installing a gas cooktop in a counter or island would be a pro job, too.

  74. 74.

    David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch

    Bernie Sanders ‏@BernieSanders 9h9 hours ago

    I do not believe that most of the people who are thinking about voting for Mr. Trump are racist or sexist.

    0 replies 7,014 retweets 13,382 likes

    Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders

    Some are, but I think most are people who are hurting, they’re worried about their kids, they’re working longer hours for lower wages.

    12:37 PM – 5 Nov 2016

    0 replies 2,001 retweets 6,080 likes

    I don’t know what wrong with him. He has either a real blind spot or he’s in irreparable denial. But Pepe exists.

  79. 79.

    Immanentize

    @schrodinger’s cat: I have an excellent dual fuel range just like you want — gas cooktop (6 burners) with electric convection oven. Thermador. Kinda pricey but it was my absolute present to myself when we renovated our kitchen.

  80. 80.

    divF

    @schrodinger’s cat: Keep them both, then? Having more than four burners is really handy if you entertain a lot, or have ambitious cooking projects. Are the cooktop burners all standard output (12K / 9K / 9K / 5K BTU)? If so, that’s another reason to keep both, so you have have more high-thermal output burners.

    ETA: Having two ovens is even more of an attraction.

  81. 81.

    Pogonip

    @debbie: Did you see the picture of the Australian displaying a huntsman spider she found in her yard? It (the spider, not the yard) really was saucer-sized. It is still living happily in the yard, catching an assortment of Australian bugs, Australian mice, and the occasional Australian meter reader.

  89. 89.

    TS

    @Anoniminous: He will legislate for open carry everywhere – except in a 2 mile radius surrounding himself
    It will be a joy to see the SS leave the instant Sec Clinton wins the election

  92. 92.

    schrodinger's cat

    @satby: I have never been to Delhi myself. Are you going to make the trip to Agra to see the Taj? Let me think about the gift. Gift for the couple or the bride or the groom. Are you friends Punjabi?

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No, its 100% evocative of themes and tropes used in NAZI propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s. Bernie Sanders would never had done something like this and neither would Hillary Clinton.

    Adam, I am admittedly not up on whatever “themes and tropes” were used back in the 1930s-1940s…and I’m not saying Sanders or Clinton would ever have run an ad like this (with the Fed and Soros and CFR and what not in the background – they would have had the Kochs and Walker and some of the more obvious GOP puppets)…but the language is close enough that it sure sounded to me like a pitch for disaffected Sanders voters.

    I like to think I have half a brain (ok, a third of one) – why did this ad’s language immediately make me think that Bannon & Co. were pitching to Sanders voters, young people, and working-class whites?

  97. 97.

    satby

    @schrodinger’s cat: last names are Singh (bride) and Gupta (groom), so possibly. I worked with the bride when I was in IT. I was thinking a wedding gift for the couple, and I know cash is acceptable.

    I’m looking forward to it, I just enjoyed your wedding clip, but I will not be dancing like this guy. Too klutzy.

    I went to Agra the last time I was in India, just so moving to be there at dawn. I doubt I’ll get out of the city this time, I only have a week.

  99. 99.

    Anoniminous

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    The big box stores, e.g., Home Depot, have* Kitchen planner software you can use. The one I had took a bit of getting used to but really made things easy when I figured it all out.

    FYI, I put two stoves in our kitchen, separated by an island, because Herself and I do a whole bunch better when cooking together if we are on opposite sides of the kitchen, protected by a demilitarized zone.

    * at least they did 7 or 8 years ago

  103. 103.

    schrodinger's cat

    @satby: Singh=Punjabi (could be either Hindu or Sikh) Gupta = Hindi speaking from the Indian heartland.
    Don’t worry most Indians can’t dance like the professional dancers you see in Hindi movies.

  104. 104.

    gogol's wife

    @WaterGirl:

    I don’t know, but he’s hilarious! I hardly knew any of them. I love the one that somebody identified as Jamie something.

  109. 109.

    satby

    @schrodinger’s cat: my new house came with one of those too, and I hate it. I have to learn to live with it, but the way the heat element turns on and off under the pot is so annoying, I can’t quite judge how anything is cooking.

  112. 112.

    divF

    @divF: My experience with those pretty much lines up with satby’s – they are a PITA to cook on, and you might end up avoiding using them, especially if you have the Samsung with the high-BTU fifth burner.

  113. 113.

    seaboogie

    @Pogonip:

    @schrodinger’s cat: Aren’t those things horrid? Floridians call them “palmetto bugs,” as if a cute name will erase the horror of a 3-inch-long roach flying across the room.

    Forget flying across the room. During my brief stint in Miami, I feel asleep one night while reading with the light on. The sheets kept brushing against my belly where my jammy top gapped from my bottoms. Rubbed my eyes and looked southward. Not the sheets brushing on my belly – A PALMETTO BUG ON MY BELLY!!! Time elapsed between seeing said bug, flinging it off in horror and beating it to death with my book – about 2.5 seconds. And then I was VERY AWAKE for quite a while…adrenaline.

  114. 114.

    Anoniminous

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I can’t show you pictures because I took out the second stove to put in an extra freezer. And our kitchen is 14 by 12 foot wall to wall so what I did probably wouldn’t be of any use to you. Go get the planning software. Really. It’s a great tool.

  118. 118.

    Aleta

    @seaboogie: i used to live in a land where the buffalo-sized ones roamed, and we’d only encounter them at night. We slept on the floor. Turn out the lights, begin to relax, and winngggggg they would go flying across me so low their wings would vibrate my whole face. I don’t mind bugs but these shook me up. My then-guy was very good at the house stuff and had a lot of cleaning rituals that kept insects at bay most of the time. I began to understand the point after I met those flying tanks.

  120. 120.

    Tenar Darell

    Tonight was fun. Really enjoyed meeting fellow juicers, even if I couldn’t hear you all ?. (Also too, the leftover crab rangoons were good).

  121. 121.

    jl

    @Jeffro: That Trump ad was flirting with straight out, old school straight up vile and outright antisemitic hate and fear mongering Jew banker world conspiracy BS, spiced with some miscellaneous racist dog whistling, I cannot imagine either Sanders or HRC, even with their most progressive messaging producing anything like that. One thing is that there is no factual basis for any of it, zero. George Soros and others shown (coincidentally all Jews, funny, aint it) aren’t running or flunkies for no world wide conspiracy to keep the white Xtian man down. Idiotic. It was chilling and disgusting.

  122. 122.

    Gretchen

    Thanks for the photos. It’s nice to be able to put faces with names. Since I live in Kansas City, I’ll probably never be able to join in. But I have a daughter in Cambridge, so it could happen! I’m glad it went well.

  125. 125.

    Jeff R.

    Thanks Anne Laurie and EFG for setting it up. It was a good time. Amazingly, or maybe not, we didn’t talk politics all that much.

  127. 127.

    Applejinx

    @David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch: Koch, THINK for a moment. Bernie’s line there leads directly to ‘and they should vote for Clinton, as I’m doing, because she’s better about all those things. If you like what I said do as I’m doing and support Clinton, that’s how to get there’.

    We need to TAKE voters from Trump. You’ve gotta break yourself of this manichean thing. Who the fuck is going to vote for someone who calls them a racist deplorable? Those that are, find it convenient that Bernie’s denying that. Those that are NOT… should be swung into the Clinton column, and this is how.

    We want Presidency, Senate, AND House. Smarten up, for God’s sake.

  129. 129.

    J R in WV

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    If you have the room, no reason not to have the cooking appliances you want to have. Different purposes for different ranges, no problem.

    I’ve seen big kitchens with multiple ranges in the house magazines.

  130. 130.

    maurinsky

    I would love to be part of a get together. I live in CT, but I do have a lot of obligations (with 2 jobs and a non-paying but beloved activity, my women’s a cappella group). This weekend, my singing job was on tap, with Christmas caroling at a Christmas bazaar – this stuff pays my student loans, so I can’t really bow out very often.

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