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You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Meetups / NYC Proof of Life (and Open Thread)

NYC Proof of Life (and Open Thread)

by WaterGirl|  July 8, 202410:36 pm| 67 Comments

This post is in: Balloon Juice, Meetups, Open Threads

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RedDirtGirl sent in a NYC proof of life photo!

We had a nice gathering this evening. Shown here is Emily B., JAFD, RedDirtGirl, Mr. Bemused Senior and strange visitor. We were also joined by a “complete lurker” who left before we remembered to take the picture. Maybe he will comment someday soon!

Maybe we should ask Betty Cracker to draw a lurker in the photo.  Lurkers represent!

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

67Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    July 8, 2024 at 10:38 pm

    Glad you all found one other!  I like the vibe the restaurant gives off, and I love all the color in the photo.

  2. 2.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 8, 2024 at 10:41 pm

    JAFD:

    Okay, now I know what you look like. Come down to the tourney area at Hcon!

  3. 3.

    Old School

    July 8, 2024 at 10:45 pm

    Nice! Hope everyone had an enjoyable evening.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    July 8, 2024 at 10:48 pm

    Feel free to use this as an open thread to talk about things that are more interesting than a repeat of the past 10:days.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    July 8, 2024 at 10:52 pm

    Looks like a good time had by all🤗

  6. 6.

    caphilldcne

    July 8, 2024 at 10:53 pm

    Go NY balloon juicers!

  7. 7.

    The Voice

    July 8, 2024 at 10:54 pm

    Posted downstairs and now a more complete video.

    Lawrence O’Donnell rips the The New York Times and our nation’s lame ass commentariat.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CNHCkm-KYc

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    July 8, 2024 at 10:55 pm

    Nice photo!  I am always surprised when pics from balloon-juice meet-ups reveal actual humans.  I’m always imagining everyone as phone screens and keyboards.  LOL

  9. 9.

    strange visitor (from another planet)

    July 8, 2024 at 10:57 pm

    it was very nice. and i had easy trains.

  10. 10.

    brendancalling

    July 8, 2024 at 10:58 pm

    @WaterGirl: it is too hot to think in Philly, and no relief in sight.

    In terms of topics people haven’t brought up in 10 days? My rock band, The No GoodCrowd, is mixing down the new album. We got Adam Weiner from Low Cut Connie to lay down piano on one track, and we just finished backing vocals and percussion for David Bowie’s “Cat People”, one of two covers on the album. We might get one of Bowie’s backup signes to do a backing vocal, but that’s still in the works.

  11. 11.

    Poe Larity

    July 8, 2024 at 10:59 pm

    shopped, how did they perfectly fit in one booth?

  12. 12.

    Princess

    July 8, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    @Scout211: I think of everyone as the shape of their nym.

  13. 13.

    brendancalling

    July 8, 2024 at 11:01 pm

    Also, I just finished “Tje Dort”, the Mötley Crüe bio, and feel I wasted my rock years. Been doing this since I was 14 and not ONE Cocaine-and-ecstasy fueled orgy.

  14. 14.

    strange visitor (from another planet)

    July 8, 2024 at 11:03 pm

    @Poe Larity: we didn’t. i pulled over an extra chair (and my back is killing me) until the lurker bailed.

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    July 8, 2024 at 11:04 pm

    NY Jackals, in the wild.  Glad the meetup came together.  Meatspace is good.  With adult beverages!

  16. 16.

    Elizabelle

    July 8, 2024 at 11:06 pm

    @Scout211: I know.  They’re not dogs.  But they could be.  (On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.)

  17. 17.

    FastEdD

    July 8, 2024 at 11:17 pm

    My kind of demographic!

    @brendancalling: I’m finishing up an album too. I was so angry and depressed last week I threw myself into songwriting. If I think too much I’ll go nuts. Better to throw myself into work.

  18. 18.

    Geminid

    July 8, 2024 at 11:22 pm

    Looks like a nice, pleasant gathering. I don’t see any pie the table either. That sure is a good thing.

  19. 19.

    brendancalling

    July 8, 2024 at 11:27 pm

    @FastEdD: it’s the only way.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    July 8, 2024 at 11:35 pm

    Chicago is gonna cool down tomorrow.  Eighty-seven is too damn hot.

    Oh, and afternoon/evening rain.  Good cooking and cleaning weather.

  21. 21.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 8, 2024 at 11:51 pm

    NYC? Hey I’ve been there!

    Hmm we should arrange a Denver meetup, shouldn’t we.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    July 8, 2024 at 11:53 pm

    @strange visitor (from another planet):

    😹 I thought “strange visitor” in the OP was a random person, not the strange visitor. We should take up a collection and get you some capital letters—make a proper noun of you.

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    July 8, 2024 at 11:55 pm

    @The Voice:

    👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

  24. 24.

    strange visitor (from another planet)

    July 8, 2024 at 11:56 pm

    @Steeplejack: awww, that’s so sweet! no one’s ever thought that i could be proper before!

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    July 8, 2024 at 11:59 pm

    Gee, did the lantern on the wall used to illuminate a silhouette of a little bird?

    The fingers of Musk spread far and wide
    :)

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    July 9, 2024 at 12:08 am

    Water was shut off in the immediate neighborhood for most of the day so made a snap decision to run my monthly errands in town earlier than usual.

    Went looking online upon discovering the outage this morning and couldn’t find so much as a peep about the no water situation. At any rate, it’s back on now.

  27. 27.

    BeautifulPlumage

    July 9, 2024 at 12:08 am

    Nice looking group and it looks like a cool place.

  28. 28.

    Fair Economist

    July 9, 2024 at 12:09 am

    Hi all and I’m sure you had a great time!

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    July 9, 2024 at 12:13 am

    @NotMax:

    Good outcome. There’s a water main down at the end of my cul-de-sac that they work on every few months, turning off the water for some variable number of hours. They give a couple of days’ notice, but once or twice I have been caught unawares because I hadn’t ventured out of the bunker to see the notice in the foyer downstairs. Bummer.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    July 9, 2024 at 12:16 am

    Brights of the Round Table.
    ;)

  31. 31.

    Sister Golden Bear

    July 9, 2024 at 12:35 am

    Murdercorp PG&E is turning off my power tomorrow for “needed repairs.” At least it wasn’t during last week’s heatwave, but I’ve got three video meetings. May need to take them in the car at a local park because whenever the neighborhood power goes out, everything tries to use their phone for internet, which brings 5G to its knees.

  32. 32.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 9, 2024 at 12:42 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Denver, Denver Denver! I’m in

  33. 33.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 9, 2024 at 12:45 am

    @FastEdD: do you think that poem a few days ago would lend itself to being set to music, some singable catchy tune? If the poet is ok w it?

    im in the mood to sing something useful.

  34. 34.

    hitchhiker

    July 9, 2024 at 12:51 am

    A good day here in the PNW! Left the island, as we do every Monday, to see the grandboy who lives to the east. Our friends had invited me to raid their loaded cherry trees last week, so I brought along 5 cups of pie cherries I just picked yesterday and made a pie from scratch.

    Turns out I’m that kinda grandma. Unexpected! This grandboy is 2 and a half, which is a good age for helping bake, if by helping you mean tossing flour everywhere and eating the dough while inventing rhymes.

    Back at the island, the sunset is subtle and beautiful. The old dog is asleep in his favorite spot, and I’m happy to see the faces of juicers in the wild.

  35. 35.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 12:51 am

    @strange visitor (from another planet):

    Ha!  I didn’t realize from the write-up that strange visitor was your nym and not a description of someone who just stopped by for no reason!

  36. 36.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 12:51 am

    Looks like fun!  Thanks for the photo.

  37. 37.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 12:53 am

    @brendancalling:

    Very cool.  Good luck with Bowie’s backup singer!

  38. 38.

    LesGS

    July 9, 2024 at 12:54 am

    @brendancalling: I have to say, all my orgies (back in the day) were completely sober, and perfectly acceptable.

  39. 39.

    strange visitor (from another planet)

    July 9, 2024 at 12:55 am

    @eclare: plz, come on. i’ve been here for a loooong time.

    before i was (from another planet), i was eddie blake.

  40. 40.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 1:01 am

    @hitchhiker:

    That sounds like a good day!  I used to “help” my mom make pies, and for some reason raw dough is addictive.

  41. 41.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 1:02 am

    @strange visitor (from another planet):

    I remember that name!

  42. 42.

    Mapaghimagsik

    July 9, 2024 at 1:13 am

    @Sister Golden Bear:
    Murdercorp made me chuckle

  43. 43.

    Sister Golden Bear

    July 9, 2024 at 1:21 am

    @Mapaghimagsik: It was coined by a former commenter who actually worked at PG&E.

  44. 44.

    eversor

    July 9, 2024 at 1:35 am

    The heat got so bad here (Arlington VA) we had a boil your water warning after the aquaduct dried up last week.  While my AC wasn’t working.

    So my military ass set up a wind tunnel through the apartment with sacks of ice placed between them.  Still didn’t stop the cat from having a heat stroke and being taken to the vet.

    It’s all so stupid.

  45. 45.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 1:44 am

    @eversor:

    Is your A/C working now?  How is the kitty?

  46. 46.

    eversor

    July 9, 2024 at 1:47 am

    @eclare:

    I don’t eat cookies but I will go to town on some cookie dough.  I also only eat blood rare steaks and the SO is convinced it will kill me.  But as I tell her I don’t really care and something eventually will.

    As a kid I used to eat all sorts of raw foods and I did not realize this was not normal till I grew up.

  47. 47.

    thruppence

    July 9, 2024 at 1:50 am

    @Major Major Major Major: We had a Denver meetup a while back at Hickenlooper’s Wynkoop Brewery. I’m pretty sure I was the least interesting person there, but it was still a good time

  48. 48.

    Damien

    July 9, 2024 at 1:57 am

    Can I propose a thread idea?

    I’d love to have a positive actions only thread, where we only share and discuss what we’re DOING personally to win this election.

    I also propose that anyone who goes off into the negative bullshit fucking weeds gets banned until November.

    Who’s with me?

  49. 49.

    cain

    July 9, 2024 at 2:07 am

    @Damien: it’s a bit harsh to ban people.

    I think it’s worth just focusing on what we can do to move forward.  Biden is not going to quit.

  50. 50.

    eversor

    July 9, 2024 at 2:12 am

    @eclare:

    The AC has been down for three months.

    Boo Boo is fine.  She’s not a water shy cat.  She hates showers but if you take a bath she’s going to show up, bump heads, and probably jump in.  So I dunk her ass in ice water off and on and she’s not upset.  I’ve also taken to making cat popsicles.  These are my own blend of liver, fat, more fat, bison, and pumpkin that I whip into a blend and freeze in molds and leave out.  She loves it.

    I’d put up a video of Boo Boo swimming in an ice bath but I’m naked when I do that and you don’t want to see that!  But she’s happy.  She was a rescued feral kitten who couldn’t even walk at the time and she promptly fanged me and shat on an alpaca blanket.

    She’s a people cat.  Provided you are her people.  If not, she’ll fuck you up fast.  If you are she’s diving into the ice bath and you can dunk her and she’ll be happy.  Shit she sits on the ice bags I’ve rigged up to move cold air.

    She’s also the terror of MS Teams/Zoom meetings.  You want cat ass in a meeting!  Random punched in the face by cat!  That’s her.  But everyone loves her.  She is she.

  51. 51.

    ColoradoGuy

    July 9, 2024 at 2:14 am

    I sometimes wonder if Lawrence O’Donnell, or one of his staff, are quietly lurking here.

  52. 52.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 2:15 am

    @cain:

    I need to call my D rep tomorrow to make sure he stands with Joe, pretty sure he does/will.  My senators are both RWNJ’s, although Bill hides it better than Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.  By hiding it better I mean he doesn’t speak that much.

  53. 53.

    Damien

    July 9, 2024 at 2:18 am

    @cain: No, I don’t think it is. Let there be ONE GODDAMN THREAD where it doesn’t get to devolve into whining.

    Banhammer’s the only way to be sure.

  54. 54.

    eclare

    July 9, 2024 at 2:20 am

    @eversor:

    Three months!  What is going on with your landlord?  I lost power for about three days last July, and I ended up going out to my car every few hours to cool off.  I saw some weird things in my neighborhood one night at 3 am.

    I’m glad BooBoo is ok.  She sounds like a petite tiger, pretty much the only cat that likes water.

  55. 55.

    piratedan

    July 9, 2024 at 2:22 am

    @Damien: we do a bit of that here already, but maybe we should tweak it a bit with positive stories from our localities about what is going on locally via the resistance and the positive effects of already implemented policy?

    kind of a crowd-sourced thread

  56. 56.

    Splitting Image

    July 9, 2024 at 2:32 am

    @Damien:

    I’d love to have a positive actions only thread, where we only share and discuss what we’re DOING personally to win this election.

    I also propose that anyone who goes off into the negative bullshit fucking weeds gets banned until November.

    Who’s with me?

    Not John Cole, and he owns the blog.

    Cole has always had a lenient policy as far as commenting is concerned. Usually this is a good thing, but every four years there is an influx of new and long-forgotten nyms to explain how the Democrats are doing it wrong. It will pass.

    Direct insults of the racist, sexist, or homophobic sort will get you the banhammer PDQ. For just about everything else there is the pie filter.

    For positivity there are regular posts on books and music, gardening, photography, travel, and fundraising. Don’t overlook the fundraising.

  57. 57.

    Damien

    July 9, 2024 at 2:38 am

    @Splitting Image: Well, given what an unbelievable shitshow every single thread has been turning into, maybe he’ll make an exception.

    I await his largesse

  58. 58.

    Jay

    July 9, 2024 at 2:42 am

    @Splitting Image:

    And since the BlogFather became a Democrat, the ban hammer has been replaced in most instances, by kindergarden rules, time outs. parole, bigger time out, parole, then maybe banhammer.

  59. 59.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    July 9, 2024 at 2:43 am

    Hold it… we actually exist outside of this place? Hmmmm…

    Great pic! Speaking of Betty Cracker, the table needs a butter lamb. ;)

    Tonight I got Dark Brandon’s eyes wired up (LEDs & resistors, pigtails), installed and hot glued in place on the yard sign. I need to work on the power supply tomorrow and then the Dark Brandon 2024 yard sign is ready for deployment!

  60. 60.

    KrackenJack

    July 9, 2024 at 2:55 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: Can’t wait to see the finished product!

  61. 61.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    July 9, 2024 at 3:20 am

    @KrackenJack:

    The power unit is an old Critter Ridder motion sensing sprinkler. For some reason the power circuit comes on and immediately goes back off with the sprinkler solenoid disconnected and just the LEDs being powered. I didn’t try it with the solenoid in place (thought I would save some battery life removing it) so I’m going to wire it back in to the circuit to see if it stays on the 8 seconds it normally does.

    It’s possible that the circuit design has a minimum load to function and the LEDs are not enough.

  62. 62.

    Jay

    July 9, 2024 at 3:41 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    It’s possible that the circuit design has a minimum load to function and the LEDs are not enough.

    High wattage metal cutting lasers instead to fix the problem?

  63. 63.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    July 9, 2024 at 4:15 am

    @Jay:

    That’s a bit TOO dark. We want to convert them, not cut them in half!

    I wonder… if we can keep both sides alive can we get two votes?

  64. 64.

    brantl

    July 9, 2024 at 5:35 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: Lots of one shot timers are dependant on the load, to determine the length of time they are on.

  65. 65.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 9, 2024 at 11:21 am

    @thruppence:

    When was that?  We had a very small one in Jan 2019 right before The Plague Times.  Somebody traveling here, stayed downtown.  Me and one other jackal met.

    If there was another one later in the year, either I missed it or wasn’t invited. ;)

  66. 66.

    ChrisSherbak

    July 9, 2024 at 1:10 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: So don’t we have some Midwestern/Chicago duty to push back on NYC Jackals coming together and propose a Chicago Jackals meetup? I work from home but can be convinced to come into the city for a good cause. Greektown? Uno’s? Due’s? Gino’s East? Lady Gregory? Mrs. Murphy’s and Sons? Berghoff? Lou Mitchells? The Choo Choo up by me? Speak up!

  67. 67.

    dnfree

    July 9, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @ChrisSherbak: Sadly, no one who lives in the northwestern suburbs will be motivated to come into the city right now.  We had occasion to go to the area near Rush and Division during the day last week, non-rush-hour.  The express lanes are currently closed for construction on I-90/Kennedy, and the trip took twice as long as normal.  Traffic was backed up for miles both directions, both when we drove in and when we drove out.  It’s a great idea, though!

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