July 19, 2004

• Yes, let's go for it. I had been thinking it might be best to wait until September, given the holiday season, but maybe late August would be OK (?) Would we go for cultural uplift, or is this going to be a straight pub session? Is a central location best, or do people fancy the South Bank, West End, Brick Lane, or what?
• I'm really sorry. My boss refuses to let me go till mid to late September. *sigh* I'll just have to wait for the next meetup, since I'll be in UK till September 2005. *goes off somewhere to cry*
• MonkeyFilter: lovely place, great sausages. /apologies
• Ooooh count me in, please! Whenever, wherever. Whatever.
• yes please ... I'd like to play ... Central is good ... Brick Lane is good ... come to think of it, South Bank is good too! On holiday until August 22
• August good ... South Bank very good! ... September bad (hiss).
• take pix! we expect a full report!
• I am very sorry to hear you won't be here until September, Alnedra - I was looking forward to being able to meet you. My limit on being able to come is August 31 - but anytime before that is okay. Where is South Bank? The only bits of London I know are beside King's Cross Station, or near Eggham/Royal Holloway (where I've a friend). I'll be staying in Eggham in August sometime. (I think that's the name of the suburb).
• Only one g in Egham, jb (shame, really). The South Bank is, well, the south bank of the Thames, near Waterloo station, with the Royal Festival Hall, National Theatre, Tate Modern gallery, reconstructed Globe, and indeed, the big wheel. and my office, heh, heh! But perhaps we should wait for a few more votes before plumping for a venue.
• Yo. I'm massively up for this. I also agree that Central (Soho or Fitzrovia especially) is good, Brick Lane/Commercial Street is grrreat and the South Bank is very nice. Also, Central London's small enough that we can walk between places nice and easy... So, what do people fancy doing? Maybe swinging by some cultural venue such as the Tate Modern of the British Museum - perhaps discussing the influence of Hockney on Emin's wilfully childish drawings, or considering how late Etruscan pottery styles reflect societal changes? Or, alternatively, headin' daaaahn the boozer to get well pissed up, then grabbin' a kebaaahhb and tryin' to nut a copper? (Me, I vote for a combination of both...)
• I'd be interested.
• I want pictures! Evidence! I want lots of info so I can squirm in envy while I'm thousands of miles away! Don't make me go there and... uh... beg you! Yeah.
• Pity you'll miss jb, Alnedra, but if our first one goes OK, maybe we'll meet again in September/October. First things first, though. Is it Friday 27 August we're talking about here (or do you prefer a less busy day)?
• South Bank works muchly for me - or anywhere central really although it's possible to book a table at a bar called porters in poland street (just off oxford street) at anytime AND online too! http://www.porters-bar.com/ won't be here at the beginning of september but august works for me
• (little bump to Mr. Sidebar) So, mid-to-late August, then? And somewhere in Central London/South Bank? That Porter's place looks pretty decent (if a little bit Poncy McMinimalist), those of us based in the 'hood can also scout out other places if there is a general desire that we be able to sit down, maybe eat food, and imbibe contentedly. I have several friends who scare me with their apparent knowledge of every restaurant and bar within zones 1 and 2, so I might ask them. So - further preferences, ideas? And anybody else want in? Just to note that I probably won't be able to do around the 21st/22nd/23rd, because one of my mates is doing something a bit daft up in Edinburgh. And any earlier in August than the 16th is also a teensy bit awkward for me, though not impossible.
• I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you.
• Calling London monkeys. jacobw, I know you're out there...
• They are talking about it over in another thread, but planning must be done. My request would be a little closer to the middle of August than to the end, as I have to fly on Sept. 2, and I will be very stressed by then. I am flexible about weeknight versus weekend, so long as I can get on a train at King's Cross by 10:30-11pm.
• 20th - 25th August are almost certainly not possible for me. I can do before then, although I would like to point out that I will be tired, stressed, distracted and grumpy for reasons of work. As opposed to being tired, stressed, distracted and grumpy at any other time, which is just my fabulous personality shining through. Weekend best, perhaps? So that we can maybe start a little earlier, the better to spend quality time with each other (whilst ensuring that jb doesn't have to catch the Chav Express from Liverpool St back to Cambridge at 1am...)
• Which other thread, jb?
• quidnunc, flashboy and dng are forming a boy band to play at the meetup. I think they might still be looking for their Peter Tork, if you're interested...
• So what we got so far ... jb - available until 31st Plegmund - late august quidders - whenever dickdotcom - after 22nd ilyadeux - August good, September bad dng - ? flash - prefers after 25th emilybear - august good 27th (or 28th or 29th) is looking good, yeah? (sorry, jb!)
• I can probably do any time in August. The pleasures of being unemployed...
• As a specific proposal, how about: - Meet at the Founder's Arms (outside by the river if the weather's OK) between 6 and 7. - Stroll around Tate Modern (opens late on 27th, as it happens). - Stroll East or West along the river, taking in such bars, restaurants, monuments of culture, etc, as may take our fancy? Just a suggestion - I can manage most dates, locations, times, whatever.
• That sounds good - but where is the Founder's Arms? Is that outside the Tate Modern? (Very ignorant of London - sorry.)
• Yup, it's here, jb. Not to knock Pleggers, but I'm not the biggest fan of the place ... although if it's a nice day, we can sit outside, beer in the evening mmmm!
• Would you prefer the Anchor? Or, as they say, something completely different?
• The Founders Arms seems to have many bad reviews, but that might not be so much of a problem unless people were wanting to stay and eat there. Apparently the beer is not too cold, which would be nice to try. But I am very agnostic if there is a better place nearby. Myself, I'll probably be coming from checking out St Pauls or something (if I'm going all the way to London, I want to have a bit of fun - the only other time I've been there, I was in class most of the day.)
• Actually I was thinking of the Anchor ... I'm easy though, Plegmund ... any other suggestions? Lemme have a think ...
• Anchor 's good: 5 min. from the Arms anyway, also has outdoor seating and is you know, "historically significant" so jb can continue her Day of Culture.
• I'd be more than happy with the Anchor , and the "historical English boozer" point is a good one. The only other place nearby on the river so far as I know is Doggett's, which I'm a bit less keen on.
• Are Sam Smith's pubs historically significant? One of them would be nice...
• You monkeys better bring cameras.
• I'll draw some pictures
• Don't you all know that I hate history? Especially anything pre-1800 - those early moderns and medievals were all crap. (Can we go by the Globe too? Yipee!)
• flashboy, yes to both the Citte of York & the Cheshire Cheese (Dickens, Johnson) and the Cheese is one of the oldest pubs in London. Possible downside being they're in the City (well, Hoburn and Fleet St.)
• flashboy, yes to both the Citte of York & the Cheshire Cheese (Dickens, Johnson) and the Cheese is one of the oldest pubs in London. Possible downside being they're in the City (well, Hoburn and Fleet St.)
• I don't mind where we go. I'd like to be able to sit outside (or stand, or whatever), though. (Assuming its nice and hot, obviously)
• hey! I did not do that. At least, on purpose. I think. Maybe.
• Citte of Yorke is a shithole. I work near there. Let's go to the anchor. I can't wait to meet you crazy freaks! :) /drunk, again.
• Anchor looks good to me ... Citte of Yorke is a tourist-trap ... I'm with dng except for the assumption that it will be nice and hot! So are we talking 27th? Looking forward to putting faces to handles!
• *waves at dickdotcom from Coldharbour Lane*
• hello any concrete plans yet
• Yes, that would be a good idea. I like Plegmund's plan for Friday, August 27, and the vote seems to have been for the Anchor. I would lean for 6pm (more time before I have to go catch the train) - is that a problem for monkeys coming after work? As a specific proposal, how about: - Meet at the [Anchor] .... between 6 and 7. - Stroll around Tate Modern (opens late on 27th, as it happens). - Stroll East or West along the river, taking in such bars, restaurants, monuments of culture, etc, as may take our fancy?
• - Get well pissed and ATTACK A POLICEMAN. I concur. ;-)
• sounds good to me. (but then, I don't have a job, so can make pretty much any day. its the monkeys with commitments who need to make the decision)
• I was replying to jb. damn flashboy, making me look like I agree with thuggery against the Queen's Constabulary. I am no traitor.
• Isn't that exactly what you'd expect a traitor to say?
• damn
• I'll wring the neck of any fucking bastard says a word against my bleeding fucking king.
• But you haven't got a king.
• Oh, right.
• At this stage, I would like to ask a question - perhaps a stupid question - concerning meetup etiquette. I imagine that when we all arrive at the designated place, some of us furtive and shy, some confident and curious, some ever-so-slightly sexually aroused, that we will - as is natural when meting new folks - introduce ourselves and begin the consumption of various and diverse beverages. My problem with this is that I am unsure I will be able to refer to any of you freaks by your actual names, and will instead call you (for example) "Plegmund" or "flash" or "dng" (which, to my mind, should be pronounced "ding!"). This will occur for (primarily) two reasons: (1) I'm terrible at remembering names; and (2) I've never called anyone "ding!" before. Please tell me if you would find that terribly gauche.
• quidnunc: At MeFi meetups, it's normal for everyone to refer to everyone else by their handles unless they know each other personally (or unless their handle easily provides a name: eg, "jonmc" is usually addressed as "Jon"). When I showed up at the latest one (mmm, beer!), jonmc hollered "Hey, it's languagehat!" even though he knows perfectly well my name is Steve. It's just easier that way. (But if you get into ever-so-slightly sexually aroused mode, you will want to remember and use the actual name of the target of your, uh, affections.) Now, go have fun, don't forget the pix and shoutouts, and have one for me -- wish I could join you evil imperial masters!
• As long as its ding! and not dinge, I don't mind, quidnunc
• I'd always pronounced it like that deep-in-the-throat-here-I-go-about-to-come noise. But I bet that'd be hard to hear in a pub setting.
• YOUR NAME IS STEVE?!? /shattered_dreams
• In NY, Captain Psyko aka "Keith" carried a very large bunch of bananas, which made it very easy to find him. Perhaps someone should bring one this time. (I realise that as the big mouth I may be nominating myself, but I am also finding the picture of me touring St Paul's with a large bunch of bananas very amusing. Perhaps I should do that simply for the glances it might provoke.)
• jb - hand a banana to each of the shows. Share the glances.
• jb, on your way to the Anchor you can drop by the cornucopia that is Borough Market (conveniently open on Fridays and only 3 minutes away, right next to the Golden Hind), a fantabulous if posh farmer's market that is both well worth a visit for fun and sells bananas, amongst other myriad things.
• Ah, cool. Thanks Steve languagehat. I feel a bit silly now. However, this is a good thing for y'all, as you may find "quidnunc" much easier to pronounce than my real name, which is Saparmurat Niyazov, Jr.
• /shattered_dreams Hey, what's wrong with Steve?? *sulks*
• *sings* shattered dreams, oh-oh-oh-oh
• Quidnunc - you stalking me????? *baffled*
• No, but I live in Brixton too. *sings* That's when good neighbours become good ... etc
• Aha .. that explains it. I had also forgotten that I'd posted that I lived in Brixton ... If you're on Coldharbour Lane, we are mere yards apart. *pops round for a cup of sugar*
• No no no! You do not borrow a cup of sugar! *stamps foot petulantly* You borrow a bucket of cocks! That's the Mofi way! Nobody can tell at all that I'm rabidly envious. Can they?
• Alnedra - you should propose another meetup for a few months after you get to the UK. It's not too hard to get to London from most places (though it can be expensive), or you could propose one closer to you. Where will you be studying?
• I am not Alnedra. But a cursory reading of these pages might suggest that this person who is not me may be studying at Loughborough. Soon. I hope, because Alnedra is a darling and a stalwart of this site. (As, of course, is jb.)
• Thanks, Wolof - I should have read upwards, but didn't remember if she had said on this thread or the previous. I just looked up the trains - Loughborough (Leicester - hope that's the one) to London is a 2hr train journey, between 30 - 40 pounds off-peak (after 9am) return (20-30 pounds with Railcard discount). National Rail enquires. Alnedra - if you'll be taking the train a lot in the UK, you probably will want to get a Young Person's railcard when you arrive. It costs 20 pounds, but saves you 1/3 off all train journeys (which really adds up - I buy one each summer I come and it always pays). Everyone 26 or younger, or a full-time student of any age is eligible - I used my ISIC card for proof of student status - I think that British mature students usually present a letter from their university or college proving full-time status.
• I'm really looking forward to this. (I just want to get drunk, I suspect)
• don't wait for us dng - you just go ahead and get drunk whenever you choose!
• I'm drunk right now
• Wolof, jb, thankee with all my heart :) Yes, I used the ISIC card in the past when I was younger. And I'll be applying for one before I get to Loughborough. Yay! Definitely will callout for another Mofi Meetup when I get there! Just that I was hoping that I would be in UK by mid-August (aka now). Alas, work and family obligations have laid those plans to rest.
• Yay for two meetups! Yay for Alnedra!
• Or instead of the (horrible) National Rail Inquiries site, you could use the Accessible version of the National Rail Enquiries site. Much better. Oh, and - two meetups? Woo yay to that. Means more drinking, to which dng clearly has the right attitude. That's what I like to see. Which is more than I can say for all you freaks who live in Brixton. Totally the wrong end of the Victoria Line. Bah. /flashboy tries not to do "south of the river"
• Walthamstow 'Village' ? Flashboy?????
• Any finalised plans, yet. I've got to sign on on Friday, and will go straight to London from there, so if anyone wants to meet up at about 3, thats good for me. Otherwise, I'll have to amuse myself for a while...
• I think the finalised plans were - The Anchor (has someone got a street address/intersection for that?) around 6 (shout if this is too early for anyone), then to the Tate Modern, and generally wandering Thameside. I can meet you at 3, if you'd like. Since I'm paying for the train anyways, I've decided to make a day of it. I'm so disorganised that I never arranged to be a proper tourist in London, so my fiance and I are going to go see the Tower, St Paul's, etc. I don't know whereabouts you'll be coming in, but if you'd like to join us, we can try to arrange the perambulation to swing by about that time.
• I get in at Liverpool Street Station.
• Is it this anchor or another?
• I'm totally not employed right now, so I can meet you whenever. And the Liverpool Street area's good for me, I can get a train straight down there in fifteen minutes from where I live (which isn't Walthamstow, I hasten to point out - I was just generally hatin' on Sarf Lahndahn with the "wrong end" comment. Seven Sisters is actually my nearest Victoria Line station, for all you tube nerds out there who like to keep a tally of such things.)
• Can we please expect way more pictures from you monkeys than from the last meet-up in...New York, I believe it was????
• Yeah, more pics! Otherwise, we're coming to your house and flinging poo at your door.
• OK, OK! I once saw a party of Swedish tourists in a restaurant. So many of them stood up to video the occasion that there were only 3 out of about 20 left sitting down. The videos must have looked like some avant-garde paranoia musical chairs film. I should be able to get to the Anchor about 6. (Yes, dng, that's the one.)
• I'll be 6.30-ish if that's OK. If you wait for me I shall be eternally grateful.
• Hmm, gonna be in Devon on the 27th... wonder if it's possible to catch a train over to London for the evening... prolly not...
• Aw! What's Devon got that could compare with a bunch of drunk freakish strangers with funny names who are obsessed with "the internet"? Eh?
• Cider Lots and lots of cider
• Moors. Beasts on said moors. Cream. A vanishing fishing industry. Xenophobic farmers. Some nice geological features. Sheep. Donkeys. Cider. Lots and lots of cider. Slightly more rain than London, if that's a concept you feel able to get your head round, because, jesus goddam fuck, it's raining a significant amount in London right now.
• Moors. Beasts on said moors. Cream... Sheep. Donkeys. Pictures? Streaming video? Yummy nummy? Hmn?
• Also a very nice capital city. And a cool 16th century parish account from Morebath, which covers the whole of the Reformation.
• Mmm, Devonshire tea. What do they call Devonshire teas (tea with scones with jam and clotted cream) in Devonshire?
• tea
• Right! So apart from cider, moors, beasts on said moors, cream, a vanishing fishing industry, xenophobic farmers, some nice geological features, sheep, donkeys, cider, lots and lots of cider, slightly more rain than London (if that's a concept you feel able to get your head round), pictures, streaming video, yummy nummy, a very nice capital city, a cool 16th century parish account from Morebath (which covers the whole of the Reformation), Devonshire tea and tea - WHAT THE FUCK HAS DEVON EVER DONE FOR US, EH?
• Oh, I left out the aqueduct. shit.
• Well, Sue Barker comes from Devon. That's a contribution to the good of the world, surely.
• Man. Now you've convinced me that Devon really fucking needs to be destroyed
• Although Peter Cook and Charles Babbage have convinced me to grant the county a temporary reprieve
• Er... the Devonian period?
• I like the phrase "Devonian Explosion" (from the article, referring to the colonization of land by primitive plants in the Devonian Period).
• the Cambrian (i.e. Wales) Explosion was where it was really at -- well, until all the psychotic lifeforms died off, room for the plants to colonise (my favourite: Anomalocaris, from the Burgess Shales in BC -- scroll down to see pic of truely bizarre bad-ass creature).
• I, too, have been a big fan of Anomalocaris for some time. Love those fronds. Wiwaxia rules, also. "Devonian Explosion" would be a fine name for a South-West based avant-garde post-rock collective. Was there anybody else up for meeting earlier tomorrow? I believe a small breakaway group is forming at around 3 in the Liverpool Street area...
• You'll all be drunk before me. Then when I get there, you'll all point and laugh and say "oooh look, quidnunc's sober, what a loser, let's throw him in the Thames". It's happened before :(
• You can thank a Devon man for pyjamas.
• Well, since I was planning to be at St Paul's and the Tower of London, I don't think I will be tipsy. Unless the Thames fumes will do that to you anyways.
• Actually, dng, if flash is meeting you, do you mind if we don't? I don't really know where we will be in London at that time (maybe on the Thames), since we'll be all touristy. Unless you have a hankering to do that too.
• Sir Richard Burton must be spinning in his grave. I took my daughters to St Paul's only recently, and was slightly disappointed to find bits of it covered up with scaffolding. Still worth going up the dome, though.
• nah, thats fine, jb. As long as you make the meet up proper. also, who has cameras?
• Me! (Although it's shite)
• shite is good. All the better for out-of-focus, distored photos that can't be held against you at a later date.
• My fiance has a digital camera - we're looking for it right now :)
• I have a small one, not brilliant but it does the job. Ooh, missus!
• I get jealous every time there's a meetup thread. Of course, TenaciousPettle and I will be getting drunk and watching bad independent films soon, which you could call the Arkansas meetup, I guess.
• Would you care for a shout-out, mct?
• Tell you what, when you drink your first pint of the black stuff, think of me. And when you do, think of me kindly. And picture me shirtless.
• Yes, sir!
• Shout-outs? oh, no, someone better bring a pad and marker pens
• Yes, sir!
• also crayons
• I wish I was going to a meetup today.
• \i hAVRNT' GOTTa digertall camerwa However, I shall have my notebook with me, and shall be writing small, pithy character descriptions, and observational essays on the tiny but emotive slices of life we create as we stagger like glorious wankers midst the filth and genius of subLondon's psychogeographical markers, making fantastical wanker signs at Iain Sinclar and Will Self as we go. That's the plan, at any rate.
• Sir Richard Burton must be spinning in his grave. I don't know about that, but here's the grave, complete with ladder and viewing window so you can peer inside and watch him spin. Have a great time at the meetup, everyone. I wish I could be there.
• Monkeyfilter meet up - a sneak preview
• HAHAHAHAHHA!!!!
• dng - that's great :)
• If anyone goes home with anyone, you better be prepared for an interrogation. ;)
• It's funny because it will be true.
• Wow, SlightlyFoxed! A tomb with a view. I'm awfully sorry - I seem to have a touch of Fozzy's syndrome Well, today's the day, and it's... raining.
• and it's... raining. What? In London? Have a great day out, all.
• Yes! And no killing each other and throwing one another in the Thames! Have a beer for me. Make sure it's not warm.
• Oh it will be warm ... nice and warm ... none of yer frothy southern hemisphere lager for me ... ugh
• I happen to be drinking a "frothy southern hemisphere lager" right now, thank you very much! Ah, Friday.
• BTW, for recognition purposes, I look like this. ... never gonna tell a lie, never gonna say goodbye ...
• I hope to find bananas, but if not, I will be in a technicolour skirt, and with my fiance, who has a large Australian style/ Indiana Jones Tilly Hat. What with the English phobias of hats, he should be easy to pick out. I will also be speaking in a loud grating North American accent : )
• I'll be carrying a banana. Will be so nice to meet you all!
• I'll be carrying flashboy
• and flashboy will be carrying some bananas
• *Contemplates rain and public transport vs. beer and total strangers*
• Does this mean you might be joining us, Carolingian? If it stops raining (and I think it has) will that make it more or less likely??
• Sorry, just arrived home from work, don't see myself managing to walk out that door again :)
• Okay already........Pictures, people, details, information. Time's a'tickin! Stuff should have been posted by now. Don't you realize that I am living vicariously through you????? It's like my life has come to a stop until I hear/see flash/quid LOLROTF antics! Come on, come on, come on!
• Looking forward to this, did anyone get pictures? Anyone awake yet? Not quite as excited as Darshon......'cause I actually have a life;)
• There is massive wazzock. Shout outs be loud. Many many. "The Carolingian" was said (ho ho) in amusing accents. We drew a Language Hat. All Brit-based Monkeys nice, Quidnunc disturbingly Antipodean, but nonetheless good. All is excellent, drunk now, dng sleeping on sofa, England test series 2005 will be big win, Flintoff Flintoff Flintoff, many pictures to show, goodnight now, Bed, yes yes Bed. Oh drunk drunk silly drunk. Superb. Night night.
• *sniffs, lonely*
• Sighs heavily, taps foot impatiently, silently rails against inability to control all Monkeys to do what Darshon wants, when Darshon wants it. Pucker lipped pouting. Pout, pout, pout.:(((
• And I do sooo have a life, Indica! /sticks tongue out while still pouting.
• It was a great evening. We met outside the Anchor - the weather had improved enough for us to sit outside - and in point of fact, we never ventured to the Tate (or anywhere else). We did produce some art of our own, however: the whole shout-out thing sort of grew into an attempt to document the membership of Mofi in cartoon form. I believe dng, who also provided the crayons and paper, undertook to scan the results (it might take him a while). What a nice chap he is. I only managed to take eight pictures before my flashless camera found the light too poor, but here they are (geocities, I'm afraid). Click for a double-sized version. There should be lots more to come from the others.
• Wonderful pictures, Plegmund! Thanks so much. Missing your picture, however. Looking forward to the rest. Glad it was a success!
• Some excellent conversation, much of which I now recall only in fragmentary form, for some reason. I laughed so much at one point I began to think I was going to suffer a serious asthma attack. Flash showed us the newspaper he is about to unleash on London. dng explained that in football terms, claiming (a) to come from Manchester, and (b) to support Man U, amount to a logical absurdity. I was the first to leave, and I just caught my last train, arriving home a bit after midnight.
• Looks awesome, you guys are all so cute and summery. I'm going to assume at least one of those beers was previously chilled, just for me. Funny, jb doesn't look Canadian...
• excellent evening, excellent photos ... JB looks more Canadian close up! Plegmund's laughter (and the rest of ours) prompted by Flashboy's excellent suggestion that JB's fiancee should be the new Dr Who!
• ilyadeaux is also canadian, and the fiance (actually Dreadnought, even if he usually comments vicariously through me) is half-canadian. So it was a British-Antipodean-Canadian meetup.
• Yes - there are more photos coming, though they wait on my installing some software to shrink them to something much kinder to dial-up users. Dreadnought says: "Canadians. They walk among us, unseen."
• We want Pleg! Good on you, you wacky bastards.
• Oh so jealous am I! You lovely folks, all sozzled and happy. Big smiling bananas to you all. Can't wait to see the rest of the pix!
• Very cool! Although am in mild state of shock. Always thought of quidnunc as a cowboy. But still, very handsome profile! More pics! More pics! *jumps up and down*
• More photos. (please email if any links seem to be broken)
• Just to note - I've broken the pages up into four different pages, but they still might take a while to download on dialup, as each is about 200K
• Oh man, jb!! Great, great, great pictures! Plegmund, you look so distinguished. I'm am satisfied now. Somehow, I didn't expect Quidnunc to be quite so handsome! You all look fabulous!
• I got shoutedouted to! *creams shorts*
• Plegmund is dapper, emminently British, and says he works for the British Civil Service. Clearly, he is actually a secret agent.
• Great pictures, and I'm deeply proud of my Hat Shoutout. Merci, spasibo, sankyu velimoch!
• ooh...is that quidnunc? *drools*
• Top pictures of quidnunc all of you. quidnunc everyone looks great. Any more pictures of quidnunc all of you? Hurray for quidnunc the London meetup!
• Cute as a bug's ass in frilly panties. Every single one of yis. :) London Meetup Cartoon! London Meetup Cartoon!
• wow. I'm so touched. *wipes away tear*
• Hooray for international sex god quidnunc! And I appreciate the shoutout, although it reminds me of unpleasant stuff I'd really rather forget.
• Sorry, Wolof. That was my fault. I shouldn't have written it, obviously
• I'm still drunk. Everyone is so nice, intelligent, attractive and well-educated! Also, the boy band thing is go!
• /buys every ticket to the opening boyband concert
• Are you trying to prevent the world from knowing what wonder (or horror) the band might be?
• I'm sure tracicle plans on sending them as complimentary tickets to all Mofi members. If you hold it in a better class of nightclub or bar, one thousand seven hundred *peeps at top of page* and nine headcount is pretty respectable.
• flashboy is noticeably absent......
• Umm, I have a cool (if slightly out-of-focus) photo of flash, but nowhere to post it :( Anyways, when dng scans in the shout-outs, you will all be AMAZED at our mad shouty-outy skillz and will declare us the ULTIM8 KINGZ AND KWEENZ OF THE LAND OF SHOUTOUTZ. So stay tuned for zany pen-person-ship.
• Hey! Who you calling absent, absent-boy?
• *cough*psstpsstpsst...absent-girl*cough*
• flashboy's in about 1/2 the pictures I had (he's in the black hat) - I think Darshon was talking about his being absent from the thread.
• there is no such think as sex on the internet, Alnedra, we are all essentially genderless. we shouldn't try to undermine that by constntly referring back to some supposed 'real world' - rather, we should celebrate the fact that we are freed from the crass classifications of flesh by our essential anonymity and gender neutrality. Except for me and FaceMan, of course, who have gender-specific screen names.
• I like how the arrow under my name is pointing straight into the gutter. I'm wracking my brain, trying to think of what that might indicate...
• there is no such think as sex on the internet, Alnedra, Aw gee, flashboy, did ya have to go burst *that* bubble too??
• I'll put up my pictures later - there is very few decent ones, though. Also, I'll scan in the shout outs, too. Hopefully by tonight.
• there is no such think as sex on the internet Is that the first time anybody has ever said that, do you reckon?
• If you e-mail your picture of flash to me, quidnunc, I can post it with mine if you like. E-mail address in profile.
• there is no such think as sex on the internet It's true...
• Wow, what a bunch of nice monkeys! Looks like a good time was had by all. And my first shout-out! With an exclamation point! I love meetups.
• That looked like all kinds of fun! [banana]
• photos: A daytrip told in skyscapes 3pm-6pm 6pm til sunset Sunset til closing time - monkey shoutouts Sunset til closing time - monkey photos shoutouts: alnedra beeswacky the_bone the carolingian cock daisy may (and her boyfriend/victim) Dizzy f8xmulder Fes forksclovetofu goetter homunculus Ignorant Slut middlesclasstool Nostrildamus Mickey The Pete Best Collective quonsar and quonset rocket88 SideDish A quite frankly disturbing shout out to tracicle Wolof - also, a special shout out/boast from dng to Wolof (later rewritten by ilyadeux into something approaching English, if you can overlook the north american grammar...) The mysterious Zippity Buddha And hundreds more (Mickey's name was cropped from the top of this one - stupid scanner) other stuff: Our calling card A new mascot Another (odd) mascot And some portraits of a few monkeys at the meet up, by ilyadeux
• I'm so glad to see the shoutouts again - they are as cool as I remember (and I can say that since most were drawn by others). But do you have the language hat?
• languagehat (sorry, I'd uploaded it, but failed to link to it)
• Yes, dng. We'll see about that, won't we?
• I think we both already know its just hopeful lies on my part...
• So am I a mermaid, or melting, or what?
• Oh, and maybe we should have a fark-style photoshopping session with the blank shoutout cards. Bags not hosting the photos, though.
• Devious minds and fingers evidently hard at work at The Anchor. Sets the bar high for subsequent monkey meet-ups. Thanks dng for those shouts-outs and especially the pictures of the eternal English skies! Just the way I remember them, especially the first two! Also, many thanks to Plegmund and jb for the amazing and delightful pictures above!
• Excellent work, dng (may I call you ding?) Yes, those shoutouts are exactly as random and unconventionally drawn as I (vaguely) remembered. I thank David for mostly showing me from a position in which my terrible hair was not quite so apparent, and my extremely pale skin was shown off to an advantage. I thank you. Future Monkey meetups (including the hopefully imminent UK/Alnedra/100TonHammer meetup) must now all produce artwork. Perhaps you can improve on the representation of tracicle, one which I choose to characterise as the "sperm mermaid Christ" vision. A visualisation to which, it must be admitted, I do not wholly subscribe. Anyway, great night. Outstandingly drunk. England win Ashes 2005; Flintoff rampant. That is not a prediction. It is fact.
• I don't know..."sperm mermaid Christ" might be the new black.
• I thought that "Sperm Mermaid Christ" was a Butthole Surfers album.
• Thanks, y'all for the shout out. I accept this award on behalf of me, my computer and my cat.
• Best Shoutout Evah!! That is my new desktop wallpaper. In fact, I am going to wallpaper the livingroom with it.
• Ummm ... clearly monkeys don't share my creative vision re Tracicle's shoutout ... the intention was to display you in a creative, giving kind of a way, cos you've given us this big playground ... with the bottom bit an icicle version of a mermaid ... The new Rock and Roll?
• blushes furiously Kid, there's just no stopping you, is there? From now on, I am going to have a hard time picturing our fearless leader with 2 legs.
• O wot a fine fellow I am in the shout-out! Expressive antennae, soulful eyes, the...uh? All right, now... just wot IS that strange object behind my bee-hind?
• Touched. I am touched. In the good place. My own personal shoutout, from the one place in the world in which I'd most like to get drunk. Many thanks from the colonies, monkeys. I'll be downloading these and doing something wallpapery with them, I can assure you. Maybe someday I'll get to thank you in person...
• Yay! I love you guys! *Happy Dance*
• I think it's fabulous, dahlink. I'm the new black rock and roll beige.
• Bees - if you mean the bulbous object, it is meant to be your abdomen - apologies if the bulbosity of the same has been overstated.
• Thanks for the clarification, Plegmund -- I am very much taken with the picture. And have placed a scan of it on my wall the better to admire me.
• MORE PHOTOS sorry about the delay - old fashioned technology, film n'all y'now ...
• That's my favourite picture of me, ever. Also a good basis for a photoshop contest - "give flashboy the facial features he so tragically lacks.."
• OK, I've just stumbled on this thread. Is it too late for me to meet you guys last week? What happened was, I spent most of July in a mad haze directing a play that went up to Edinburgh. Unlike Flashboy's mate, my production was not a roaring success that ended in me getting engaged (which is probably just as well, since my wife might not have approved.) In fact, it was canceled after 4 performances. But anyway, the point is, I had other stuff on my mind, which is why I didn't notice this thread when it was first posted. Next meetup, I will be there. Probably. Unless I go mad and direct another play.
• What a bunch of cute monkeys! :) I enjoy these small 'meatspace' encounters' graphic results. Ah, London, London...
• Thanks for those, ddc. Nick (aka Dreadnought) will be happy to see the one of him as Dr Who - he was wondering where it went :)
• I'm back (albeit on borrowed time)! Have been in Loughborough, Leceistershire for two days now, and had no end of problems opening my bank account. The broadband connection will have to wait till at least 5th October *sigh*. How is everyone? Can we tentatively talk about a meetup in London sometime? I can't make it for the 3rd and 4th October(registration/term starts), but anytime before that is fine. I missed you all loads.
• Please not 2nd October, quidders busy. Friday 1st October?
• Could that be any more my birthday?
• Now I'm the jealous one :) Alnedra - how did the move go and all?
• What does an English Chandler Bing sound like?
• Oh, everyone in the British Isles should go to welome Alnedra, whether you can afford it or not. Maybe even all of Europe. She's a star-quality Mofite. Someday she'll go back to Singapore and you'll be sorry you didn't meet her.
• What does an English Chandler Bing sound like? I'd say, exactly how flashboy said it.:) Oh, Alnedra!!! We missed you so! Very happy to hear your in one piece and back into our monkey arms. I'm kicking myself for not being able to see all the lovely mofites in the U.K. (once again). There better be lot's and lot's of pictures, more of flashboy this time, and try not to make him look like the ghost of Christmas future, will ya. Oh, and of course, more of quiddy would be ok, too.....:))
• I like the sound of another meet up
• Alnedra - how did the move go and all? Actually, much better than I expected. The landlord was nice and everyone I've met have been very nice, and there's a very high population of Chinese students here at Loughborough, so I'm actually looking forward to improving my Mandarin and English at the same time. Please not 2nd October, quidders busy. Friday 1st October? Well, I'm actually pretty much at loose ends for next week. After some trouble, and a fair bit of monkey screaming, I got my bank account set up. My room's all right, just need some final touches, and registration with the uni will have to wait till the 4th. So anytime between tomorrow and the 4th's fine. How's 1st sound then?
• I have a feeling it might be flashboy's birthday (or is it Chandler Bing's? I'm so confused). Is 30th Sept viable? Where?
• Can't make 30th/1st or 2nd I'm afraid - shout-outs to you all
• Owing to my incredible popularity and high social status, I'm free for any evening from Tuesday 28 September to, umm, let's see, oh yeah, THE END OF FUCKING TIME ITSELF.
• Except for 2nd October.
• Oh, and I'll be celebrating Flash's birthday on the first with a moonlight vigil at his grave.
• Or someone else's grave, in case the assassination attempt on 31 September fails.
• Sorry, did I say "assassination attempt on 31 Sepetmber"? I meant "hug from a cute furry teddy bear on a date that actually exists".
• Hmm... well, I suppose we could arrange a meetup after the 4th? Term starts already, but I think that's not such a big problem. Might even be better for me, since I'll get my NUS card, and I can go apply for the Student Train card, which would save me valuable $$$ when buying tickets. God, UK is expensive! I keep multiplying every price by three because that's the actual price in Singapore dollars.
• a) *appeals to UK monks to give alnedra good advice on geting hold of cheap shit, fortunately knows there are plenty of willing souls* b) *adores al as a matter of public record, so there*
• I'd possibly be up for meet-up-mark-two in London. Let me know when...
• Alnedra - unfortunately, I don't know where to get cheap stuff (other than charity shops and Woolworth's - but they are still more expensive) - but I do know that doing the exchange rate in your head everytime you buy something will drive you batty (pound is 2.5 times the Canadian dollar). It really just is that expensive - breathing is more expensive : ) Budget in pounds - and buy whatever you can in Singapore.
• Wolof: Thank you :) I wurve you too *kiss* jb: Yep. I brought almost all my clothes from Singapore, and am planning on begging my parents to send me certain things from home, rather than buy them here. But there are things that I have to buy here, like food and heavy things. Oh well. Learning where all the cheap shops are (Wilkinson's, Saver's, Argos, and got myself a nice lavender sweater from Oxfam for only
• May I ask a wee favour? Would everyone interested in the meetup write me an email? Cos I'm really blowing alot of
• Most times are OK for me. Since you're coming from Loughborough, I think we should try to conform with your plans as far as possible. Will you stay over in London or head straight back? If the latter you might want to meet up earlier in the day than otherwise, and perhaps within easy reach of St Pancras (will you be travelling by train?) I feel really stupid asking, but doesn't your library provide free Internet access? Do people think Alnedra in London (sounds like an opera) ought to have a separate fpp, by the way?
• Dear Zog! Now, count me unfortunate and out this weekend, surgery beckons. Kisses to Alnedra herewith and via parallel e-mail.
• Eh, make a new post. Go on. Also, kiwi friends who moved to London got a lot of their furniture off the side of the road. Honest. Where's that old thread about free stuff?
• Just to clarify, in the absence of a new post: My birthday is on the 1st. Yay. I will frustrate your knavish plans to assassinate me on a date that does not exist (how very Borgesian). However, I can't make anything on the 1st or 2nd, because I am at a grand total of three birthday parties over the course of those two days. None of them are mine - I simply know far too many people born within two days of my birthday. I had to have mine last Saturday, because those organised bastards had totally booked the weekend. However, I would definitely be up for some kind of craaaazy meet-up thing on Sunday or Monday. Although with the twin provisos that a) I will be tired and hungover, and b) I have to watch The O.C. early on Sunday afternoon. That is all.
• Those MetaFilter guys sure choose dumb venues for their October 2nd London Meetups. If you go ahead with a Saturday meet, maybe you might want to hook up with them? Or maybe not. I dunno. Anyway, the Vibe Bar tends to get pretty noisy, crowded and expensive very quickly on a Saturday evening. Also, quidnunc, this "surgery" you speak of - are you being surged upon, or are you surging at someone else?
• I will be appearing in a theatre near YOU playing the role of "The Surgee" in the award-winning medical drama "Please Excuse Us While We Cut Open Your Face And Jiggle About With Your Eyeball". I expect to win various plaudits, prizes, book vouchers and so on. Hollywood will surely beckon! I will of course remember you all fondly when I am an incredibly rich, famous, bloated cocaine addict. Perhaps you may see fit to erect a statue in my honour in your own hometown in order to stimulate your local tourist trade? I will probably not object, subject to the necessary licence fees being paid for the use of my likeness. Please write to my lawyer, Mr Kaloff Kthulu, enclosing an 8 x 10 photo and the entrails of a sacrificial hamster, and wait 6-8 weeks for a reply.
• Ack! I just found out about this post today! Please, can we make this a front page post, because people like me who never got the hang of that side bar thingame will be missing out. And, why didn't you tell me about this jb? How, knowing me so well, can you assume I'll be competent?
• Oh, it is a front page post. Please reffer to my previous comment about my incompetence.
• I'm sorry Dreadnought, but we're going to have to kill you for this. It's not my decision - its clearly stated in the FAQ that a violation of community standards of this magnitude demands the death penalty. Please bend over and await the avenging hand of sweet justice.
• It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.
• Yeah yeah, whatever. Now, this will hurt more the more you clench. *pulls on rubber surgical glove*
• *looks in* *Thanks the gods that she started the second FPP* *walks out backwards, always facing quidnunc*
• Dammit, quidnunc! You're a doctor, not a miracle worker!
• Ooh...quid is a doctor? A handsome doctor? How come i never get handsome doctors? Quid...please come surge me!!!
• Umm, I'm neither attractive nor surgical. I'm an ugly patient.
• You poor fuck. Get well soon.
• Thanks, I'll try!
• England win Ashes 2005; Flintoff rampant. That is not a prediction. It is fact. Yeah, I'd stand by that.
• I was waiting for you to bring this up... *cries*
• Should be feeling a bit better today then!
• /laughs like a loon kookaburra
• Despite my baiting, flasher's prediction is looking more solid than mine.
• I will resist the temptation to gloat, or to say "I told you so". To do so would be ungentlemanly and unsportsmanlike, and ill-suited to the wonderful display of sporting excellence we've seen throughout this summer. I will not, however, resist the temptation to drink a huge amount and run around in joy with my underpants on my head. YEEEEEAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!
• Congratulations, flash and compatriots, on achieving something that the significance of which is totally and completely lost on me. (My loss, shurely. Well done!)
• Congratulations to the victors! Fantastic series, I enjoyed it a lot.
• Yeah baby!! Whoooooooooo!! *ahem* Congratulations to both sides, actually - brilliant brilliant series. Pimms all round!
• Hurray for us! We're number one!