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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Boston Meetup

Boston Meetup

by John Cole|  March 31, 20175:52 pm| 81 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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We are here and doing it live.  So far it is me, Conster, Turbulence, and Flying Toaster so far.  I have my back against the wall so Anne Laurie can not stab me.

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Previous Post: « I never knew the charm of spring
Next Post: Boston Meetup part two »

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    TaMara (HFG)

    March 31, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    LOL. I hope someone is taking photos of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

  2. 2.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 31, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    Pictures or it didn’t happen. Freezing rain here, too timid to make an hour long drive in nasty weather.

  3. 3.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Enjoy. I am still under doctor’s orders not to go out.

  4. 4.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Fuck it! We’ll do it live! We’ll do it live!

  5. 5.

    bystander

    March 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Ask if you can get scrod, JC. Always good for a reference to the pluperfect subjunctive.

  6. 6.

    Mnemosyne

    March 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Don’t let AL have any forks — she can stab you from the front with one of those.

  7. 7.

    jeffreyw

    March 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Don’t let Cole take the photos!

  8. 8.

    Mary G

    March 31, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    The curmudgeons congregate! @schrodingers_cat: So sorry the weather is bad. I read that link you posted yesterday about the two doctors in Houston who were told to leave the country because the government gave them documents with two different expiration dates and I am still pissed off. For fucks sakes, do these idiots think that there are excellent American neurologists who are sitting around sending out resumes because they can’t get a job? I have doctors from Mexico, Korea, and the Muslim part of what used to be Yugoslavia. Trump better leave them alone.

  9. 9.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    Do it live! I never grow weary of that.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 31, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Heh. First thing I thought of. (Probably first thing John thought of, too.)

  11. 11.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:04 pm

    Stewie does it live!

  12. 12.

    debit

    March 31, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): There’s no words on it!!

  13. 13.

    Mart

    March 31, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @bystander: Still upset I spent the time last night to look up the pluperfect subjunctive. Never heard of it. Obliviously an elite east coast liberal snob term.

  14. 14.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @debit: Fuckin’ thing sucks!

  15. 15.

    debit

    March 31, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): ‘Play us out?’ To end the show?

  16. 16.

    debbie

    March 31, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Is the pain getting better?

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    March 31, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Whenever I think I have a really clever comment, it’s already been done.

  18. 18.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 31, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    @debbie: I don’t think pain gets better, it goes away.

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    March 31, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    We need to hear from these other people who are supposedly there. I second @TaMara (HFG): ‘s request, this event must be photographed for posterity!

  20. 20.

    zhena gogolia

    March 31, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    That really is evergreen, isn’t it?

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    March 31, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    How’s the restaurant?

  22. 22.

    debbie

    March 31, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m sure G&T knows what I meant.

    O/T: Does anyone know anything about Trump stomping out of a signing ceremony after being asked a question he didn’t like? It showed up on my FB feed, but the source is not anything I’ve seen before.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): That was unforgettable!

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 31, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @debbie: Bill is right. But it is generally more manageable. At this point the discomfort of the cast/splint is more of a factor than pain per se.

  25. 25.

    Kropadope

    March 31, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    I’ll be able to arrive around 8 if u think you’ll still be there.

  26. 26.

    japa21

    March 31, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    @debbie: He was asked a question about Flynn. Didn’t even sign the EO’s. He signed them later.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    March 31, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    I have my back against the wall so Anne Laurie can not stab me.

    Like that is enough to stop her.

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    March 31, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    @debbie: Video
    https://mobile.twitter.com/politico/status/847922615960428544
    (Bonus feature: Pence audition for Remains of the Day)

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    Have we ever had 3 front-pagers in the same room at the same time? Not to mention our beloved blog host!

  30. 30.

    japa21

    March 31, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    @Kropadope: If Conster is still there, I want more than photos, Sound please.

  31. 31.

    T S

    March 31, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    But can she play you out? Wait..what the FUCK does that mean???

  32. 32.

    Mike J

    March 31, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @debbie: Bloomberg & Politico had it. Major Garrett of CBS asked about Flynn, Trump left without signing. Pence had to go back and get docs off desk.

    https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/847906179082792962

    Looks like he was doing it in the Oval so he could use his big desk. Earlier this week he complained the signing desk was too small.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    March 31, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @japa21: Five Juicers enter, only four leave.

  34. 34.

    bystander

    March 31, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @Mart:

    Still upset I spent the time last night to look up the pluperfect subjunctive. Never heard of it.

    And there you were using it all the time. The more you know…

    Time spent learning about grammar is never wasted.

    An Irish bar in Cambridge on a cold rainy night sounds great. Hope everyone has fun!

  35. 35.

    wmd

    March 31, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @Baud: watch your neck… It is a preferred stabbing location these days.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    March 31, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @Aleta:

    Thanks. That was an odd walk he had walking out, like something lumbering. Bet he was fighting himself not to go back to the podium and say something stupid.

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @Kropadope: Go for it!

  38. 38.

    debbie

    March 31, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @Mike J:

    The problem with his desk is that it’s empty and devoid of work.

  39. 39.

    Mike J

    March 31, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @Mike J: Hilarious for Trump to storm out of his own office. It’s like a scene in a bad sit-com. “Why am I leaving?! This is my house!” cue laughtrack

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @Baud: At first I assumed you were thinking of Cole & AL, but then I saw what you were replying to. What do you guys know about Conster that I don’t?

  41. 41.

    Patricia Kayden

    March 31, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Not quite as funny as O’Really’s rendition.

  42. 42.

    debit

    March 31, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @wmd:

    watch your neck… It is a preferred stabbing location these days.

    Also for punching.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    March 31, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Look for yourself.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2017/03/31/excellent-read-is-there-nothing-j-kush-cant-do/

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @wmd: It definitely is on TV, stabbing and shooting. If you see someone holding their neck on TV, well, it’s all but over.

  45. 45.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Shiv the fat bastard, Anne!

    Wait…. can Cole see this? ;)

  46. 46.

    different-church-lady

    March 31, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Alas, were I not so private and paraniod, I would unquestionably be availing myself of the opportunity to meet our fine and fabled blogmaster. Someone please do raise a toast to him on my behalf.

  47. 47.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 31, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @WaterGirl: I think TL is also supposed to be there.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @Baud: Looking now. I saw that thread title earlier and decided to skip it. Perhaps that was a bad decision.

  49. 49.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 31, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Wait…. can Cole see this? ;)

    Everyone knows that Cole doesn’t read his blog.

    Though his mom sometimes does.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    March 31, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @different-church-lady: I would be paranoid around Cole too. He might try to shave my ass.

  51. 51.

    Donna K

    March 31, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Rats! I moved to Upstate NY from Gloucester a year ago. Are there ever any meetups up here? I’m in the Syracuse area so Albany and Buffalo are both fairly convenient.

  52. 52.

    Mike J

    March 31, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @Mart:

    Still upset I spent the time last night to look up the pluperfect subjunctive

    Had you not looked it you wouldn’t recognize when people used it.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Baud: I would buy a ticket to that! I would defend your honor.

  54. 54.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @Baud

    Waxing works so much better… uh, or so I am told.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    March 31, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @Baud:

    Yikes. No one there should have their backs to the door.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    March 31, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @WaterGirl: Ha!

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): I read that somewhere.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    March 31, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): hahaha

  58. 58.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 31, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    No further reports from the meetup and no pics, I’m concerned.

    ETA: I’m sure they’re plotting against us, maybe planning on shaving Baud’s ass.

  59. 59.

    Gravenstone

    March 31, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @wmd: I thought that was a preferred punching location around this joint.

  60. 60.

    Mart

    March 31, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @Mike J: I was just trolling with the east coast snob stuff before I realized I “had used” a pluperfect subjunctive in the post. Now that my daughter is a correcting H.S. English teacher, my aversion to grammar rules is all the worse.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    March 31, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    @Aleta:

    Love the GIF in the comments.

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    March 31, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I hope there is a designated front-pager in a secure location in case Asgard is attacked (by, like, ice trolls or whatever, presumably).

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    @Steeplejack: I thought that was Kiefer Sutherland?

  64. 64.

    khead

    March 31, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    WrestleMania 33 – Boston?

  65. 65.

    Steeplejack

    March 31, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Designated Blogger—that was the edgy show CBS passed on to do CSI: The Cyber. Bad choice.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Steeplejack: That made me laugh! CSI: The Cyborg. Is that awful show dead yet? I made it through 1.3 episodes. Could not believe when they renewed it.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack

    March 31, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes, it is long since dead. I am only recently getting over my embarrassment on behalf of Patricia Arquette, whom I really like.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @Steeplejack: Maybe there should be a BJ lottery. Anyone interested could throw their hat in the ring and BJ could hold a drawing once a week and the winner would get to do a single blog post.

    That could be fun!

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @Steeplejack: It really was an embarrassment! I would rather be part of an edgy show that just didn’t make it instead of a totally totally lame and embarrassingly awful show like that.

    What were they thinking?

  70. 70.

    Aleta

    March 31, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): That’s perfect. Now for the spin off the track and the crash into the concrete wall.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    March 31, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I always feel sorry for the actors, because they are so much the visible “face” of the product, but I think it’s very hard for them to gauge ahead of time the worth of a project based on a concept pitch, maybe a sample script or two and some number of agents, managers, producers and studio weasels egging you on. Not to mention the perennial pressure on actors to keep working. How was Patricia Arquette to know that show would be the death knell of the whole CSI franchise?

    On the other hand, if a really bad show becomes successful and the actors ride it all the way, then I have no problem blaming them. Looking at you, everyone on CSI: Miami and Criminal Minds.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @Steeplejack: I take your point in paragraph one, for sure. But her acting in that show was an abomination. So lame. That was the first thing I had really seen her in and it wasn’t a good first impression.

    Agree on CSI: Miami. As for Criminal Minds, I am really fond of some of the characters – even though I have to fast forward through all the creepy parts of the episodes. Why the hate for that show?

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    March 31, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Arquette’s film work is very good. Check out True Romance (1993), written by Quentin Tarantino; The Hi-Lo Country (1998); Boyhood (2014; she won the Oscar for supporting actress!). Lost Highway (1997), if you’re a David Lynch fan. Even in the potboiler TV zone, her series Medium was pretty good, and she won an Emmy for that. She was supposed to be good in one season of Boardwalk Empire, but I didn’t see that.

    I started out liking Criminal Minds somewhat, but it descended so far into relentless—and ridiculous—carnography that I just couldn’t get past that to anything else. It’s not just that we’re surrounded by serial killers all around us, but they’re all really elaborate and out-there serial killers. Every blue-collar misfit or transient “unsub” apparently has the resources to acquire and equip a rape dungeon, underground lair, exotic weapons or whatever else needed to further his nefarious schemes.

    Also, something that is common to a lot of these shows but really gets a workout on Criminal Minds: apparently they’re the only fucking BAU team in the whole FBI, so they have to drop everything and go everywhere no matter what. Just once I’d like to see: “Well, your wife is still in critical care after that last revenge attack, so we’ll pick up someone from the B-team. Or, you know what, just send the fucking B-team. We all need a break.”

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    …apparently they’re the only fucking BAU team in the whole FBI

    You are making me laugh tonight.

    I have a friend who absolutely HATED the tv show JAG because he could do fucking everything. Fly a plane? No problem!

    I will check out some of Arquette’s film work. Thanks for the titles.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    March 31, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    In retrospect, the tl;dr of my previous Arquette comment was that the tragedy of CSI: The Cyber was that not only was the show so bad, but she came across so badly in it because of the awful, awful writing. That show was like your grandparents’ concept of Internet security and, well, the cyber.

    “I’ve got it! The killer is using emojis to cloak his messages.”

    “That’s it! These emojis, or humorous icons, if you will, are being used to—” (Laughable explanation follows.)

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): I know exactly what you mean about the technology – it was laughably ridiculous. I thought maybe that’s part of why I hated it so much – maybe someone with no technical knowledge might have seen it differently and been impressed?

    I do wonder how you can put your heart into acting in a terrible role in a terrible show with terrible writing.

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    March 31, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s professionalism, I guess. You do the best you can with what you’re given. And you try to make sure that you never get into an awful situation like that again. At least she probably paid off the mortgage on the Malibu beach house.

  78. 78.

    J R in WV

    March 31, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    @Donna K:

    We would come up there for a meet if the timing was right. Mrs J wants to visit that waterfall up that way for some reason.

  79. 79.

    CB in Natick

    March 31, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    I guess I’m the first person back from the meet up. I was paid by George Soros to attend. I think I should have asked for more money. We had the back room to ourselves, but the acoustics were so bad you had to shout to be heard. It was a good group of people. I wish I had more time to have met the people at the other end of the table. That’s me in the grey sweater. First person on the left. Of course, I’m on the left. Where else would I be?

    Chris

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    March 31, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    @CB in Natick: We are all jealous. Who all was at the meet up? Are there more photos?

  81. 81.

    CB in Natick

    March 31, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    I was sitting too close to John so all of my memory cells were disintegrated. Mostly I got people’s first names rather than their user names. So I’m not much help. efgoldman did show up with his wife and sat across from me. Annie Laurie showed up without her knives. Tom Levenson was there but I only had a chance for a brief hello. All in all, I think there were about 25 people. No Republicans.

    I will add that John is much more urbane and sophisticated than he likes to let on. Don’t be fool by the overalls and flip flops. There’s a reason the blog is as successful as it is.

    Chris

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