August 10, 2005

• /gnashes teeth
• I'd be tempted by the 21st as we have our company picnic on the 21st. On the other hand, I've never made an FPP so do I dare?
• Of course you dare! It'd be great to see you! Are you specifically trying to avoid the company picnic? Or are you going to party-hop?
• MoFi meetup... ...harghrumphmurmurlamurmurla... /gnashes teeth louder than Koko
• Summer, the season of Pimms and mellow hose-pipe bans, close bosom-friend of the maturing triumph over the Aussies in the cricket... ...and deadly rival of my being at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Bugger, bugger, bugger. (And I completely failed to say hello to the good Mr. DangerIsMyMiddleName at OpenTech the other week, as well. I'm not doing well here.)
• How long are you in Edinburgh for, flash?
• Probably 18th - 26th, but I've not really finalised the details yet. Or even beginningised them, to be perfectly honest. But there's a load of screenings of things I want to see on the morning of the 19th, so I definitely want to be there by then. And then, you know, there's Serenity.
• flashboy, given that this is MoFi I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the new Gaiman film either.
• I've got MirrorMask pencilled in for the 24th, as it happens...
• Settle on a date, and I'll be there (barring any terrible accidents/ sup blowing a fuse etc...)
• Busy both the Fri and Sat ... but could do Sunday ...
• mothninja> Oops I meant the picnic is on the 20th. I can do either the Friday or the Sunday once good old WAGN runs on time.
• I just had my first Pimm's Cup a couple of weeks ago. A buddy from out of town purchased a bottle during his visit to San Francisco. Yummy and refreshing. When he left, he left behind half a bottle of Pimm's and a full bottle of Mr. Pibbs, a root beer-ish (actually more Dr. Pepper-ish) concoction, and made me promise to make myself a Pimm's 'n' Pibbs. I've been afraid to make good on my promise, though. The Pimm's is too good with club soda, cukes, and lime. Hope you Brit monkeys have a nifty meet-up.
• Bugger, bugger, bugger. And as always, the thread degenerates into buggery.
• How about we have something in late August or early September up here in Cambridge? The weather will still be lovely, and we can do all that sipping of pims on the banks of the Cam, and maybe get in some croquet. I will have moved to Grantchester by then, which is a very nice place for a picnic.
• YES! I'm there. I'm doing the Fringe this weekend (theoretically), so I'll be free next weekend. I'd give my left nut to see Serentity, but my gf leaves on the 18th, so the trip is our last hoo-rah before we have to part ways. Just name the date, and I'll be there. And Dreadnought, that sounds delightful!
• I'd prefer Saturday or Sunday, but could make any, really
• Hey -- isn't anyone going to notice Koko and I gnashing our teeth pouting? I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up. I suppose I could switch to shaking my fist angrily... *shakes fist* Damn you! Damn you and your hoity-toity country picnics! *slinkers off, still wondering what the hell this Pimm's nonsense is all about*
• Yeah, quit acting all cheerful and ignoring us, you jerks! *knocks something off the table*
• *hands the Capt. and Koko a nice glass of Pimms each* Cheers! *clink*
• But -- but, I don't understand -- why ruin perfectly good gin with herbs and fruit and lemonade? I guess it's one of those English things I'll never understand. Like why they still rerun 'Are You Being Served?' Allright! Allright! Mrs. Slocombe's pussy! I. GET. IT. Let's move on!
• Blimey, we got us some grouchy bears today, haven't we? Dreadnought, Cambridge sounds really good! My list of places in UK to visit next (in no particular order): >Dublin or Shannon >Cardiff (and see if I can get a glimpse of that big blue box!) >Oxford >Cambridge
• Capt. Renault, when you've heard your grandmother describe an episode of "Are You Being Served?" to your deaf greatgrandmother, you understand it on a new level.
• Pimms in the house right now *raises glass to lips* aaaaah I'm free for Pimms at Granchester in August. Early Sept no good for me though unfortunately.
• Patita, I'll have to trust you on that one. *takes glass of Pimm's, chugs* *chokes on cucumber, coughs it up* Scheezus -- cucumber in a drink? Still dunno. Gimmie 'smore.
• Pimms sounds damn tasty.
• Dreadnought> Cambridge would be ideal for me. Anything to avoid the arduous trip into King's Cross on the shuttle and the even more dificult trip back after beers ;-) Alnedra> If you do ever make it to Dublin be sure to keep clear of Temple Bar. That's where all the tourists go so you won't experience the real place. Having said that, I left there over three years ago and have no intention of leaving Cambridge to go back.
• HEYysr great buncha monke*hic*eys y'got her.e. MEETUP!! MEEEETUUUUP! *hic* Daughtinton station pleeze driver 'n steb on the *hic*blancmange! Ha! hahahah . . Nerfciester football R*hoo*UUULLES!! *sways, stars bleary-eyed in the direction of Capt. Renault & Koko, raises PimmsTM* HEEyyer Che*hic*eers! ah ya bastards. *klunk*
• so a gin sangria? with cucumber? count me in for the jealousy! and drunkeness!
• Well, according to a certain little asswipe, I shouldn't be asking for photos, but fuck it, I am. Little Timmy is dead, but squidranch isn't. Mothninja (and other London monkeys) it'd be cool if you could wear your shirts to the meetup, and post here or to this thread.
• I can't get to the UK until late Sept/Oct. : ( Stupid qualifying exams.
• And that's my house in Grantchester, at that - If you go, you will see my house before I do!
• Thanks to the miracle of email, one of my current employers (or clients, I suppose) is the Cambridge University Press. I doubt, however, that they'd spring for a ticket. Drink up, have fun!
• Cambridge would be great. But please, no punting. I've already wasted enough hours of my life spinning slowly round on a plank of wood in the river with people pointing and laughing at me, thankyou very much...
• Fret not flashboy-- if the Cantab meetub is after Sept 14, I shall take up the pole to ensure your passage down the river is smooth as a chorister's bottom. ninja, as far as that weekend goes, I'm pretty free-- Friday or Sunday would be marginally better than Saturday, but I can probably make time any day. Hurrah, a meetup I can actually come to! Duuuuuude.
• Friday I think I have to show a friend just returned from LA Dr. Who, Saturday daytime is good but I think I have a couple of parties in the evening. Sunday good, although I may be a bit sleepy. Will you be so good as to pour coffee through my irises and directly into my brain, Ms. Athena?
• Wolof, maybe they can fax you over?
• How's this for a potential plan: late-ish leisurely lunch on Sunday 21st Aug, somewhere central town (dim-sum in Chinatown maybe? cheap, cheerful, convivial), followed by a bit of a stroll about and who knows what adventures; and then messing about in boats on the Cam a few weeks later? Dreadnought, do you want to suggest some dates? Paging all the rest of the crew to the thread: Pleggers, quiddy, kitfisto, Carolingian, altolinguistic, jacobw, LandOfGreenGinger, zimf, flameproof, Wibbleflex, prandial, nedrichards et al...
• *sighs*
  I shall be in Sicily on and around 21st Aug. Have a good time, and I'll toast you in whatever they use for the purpose in Palermo.
  
• Just regular toasters, I think, but with different plugs.
• Many pints and a Chinese to follow somewhere in town? Sounds like fun, but won't the Chinese notice the group tailing him/her? Sorry I can't come down for it. A Cambridge meetup sounds great, and much more convenient for me. If I'm around then count me in.
• /pours coffee into Tannhauser's irises You may feel a slight sting.
• what, no little prick?
• petebest, you provide all the little prick we need (sorry, couldn't resist)
• Oh Snap! heh :)
• nono, don't snap the little prick. That's usually a bad thing.
• I'll get back to you all on the Cantab meetup date. I need to negocaite this with my flatmate.
• And me! Can't I come too?
• Hey, some little pricks like to be snapped....or so I'm told. 'Cause I don't like my little prick snapped. At all. NOR do I have a... Right. Anyway. SO. Has anything been decided? This weekend sometime, with the drinking and the meeting and the good times?
• I wish I was able to go. As does everyone who met me last time, I'm sure. *cough*
• Uh. If it is this weekend, does anyone have a spare couch or floor I can crash on? I'll be bringing my own sleeping bag.
• Definitely with the drinking and the meeting and the good times and no little pricks. Does Sunday seem to be the preferred day? So far I'm counting Alnedra, dickdotcom, djryan (if you can bear Kings Cross, and I totally sympathise if you can't), dng, tannhauser, Pallas, Weezel and myself - is that right? Any ideas as to where we should go?
• Get the train to Liverpool, that's where. I'll make you all cheese and beetroot butties.
• Actually, why not have a Liverpool meetup? There's you and BBF for a start - and I'm sure there must be lots of people who just haven't liked to mention where they came from.
• BBF? Who hell he / she? We shall become firm friends and play hoopla in the street together...
• Another beet butty buddy for kitfisto.
• Blaise Bailey Finnegan. I'm sure he lives up your way somewhere.
• Yeah, but to you Londoners, anything from Birmingham to Glasgow is 'up my way'! Tee and hee.
• Warrington. I'm fairly sure he lives in Warrington. That's up your way, isn't it? By "your way", of course, you understand that I mean "the hideous, troglodyte-ridden, culturally-retarded, witless-dialect-spouting blasted wastelands that lie just beyond Northampton".
• That's funny, that's what I mean when I say Warrington... Only kiddin, any Warrington monkeys. We all know it's Runcorn really.
• Sunday good. London good. Liverpool...how far is that from London? And how much to get there. Having done Paris and the Fringe this month, I'm a broke-assed monkey. London would be better (especially if we're hitting Cambridge in September, which I'm all about) but I'm down for whatever. Count me "teh in."
• I didn't want you here any way sniff
• There, there, kitfisto. Have some Chocomel.
• Yum. *Feels better*
• Any ideas as to where we should go? I'll leave any decisions up to more knowledgable people. I'd still prefer Saturday, but if everyone else says Sunday thats fine with me
• So what's the plan then, peeps? Are we going with Sunday? Lunchtime-ish? Dim-sum is the best idea I've come up with - there's a good cheap and cheerful place called The New World on Gerrard Place, off Shaftesbury Avenue, opposite the fire station (Leicester Square or Piccadilly tube). Or any other ideas?
• New World sounds OK, although it is consistently impossible to work out who has eaten what... Maybe a fallback for post-food Monkeys... the Kings Head next door? I will, as ever, make a shout for the Polar Bear (the West End's only non-smoking pub, with non-expensive beer to boot), but I don't expect much love.
• Okie dokie, I'll be down then! Anyone else joining us?
• Just so you know, I've got some choccy milk, so you Londoners can all go and have your good time, I'm living la vida on my own, thanks...
• Living la vida mocha?
• Ha Ha Ha. V good.
• I'll be sticking a beetroot up my arse and coming as kitfisto's beetroot butty. What time?
• Any time's beetroot time!
• Will be there for post-prandial drinkies
• You know the n00bs buy the beer all night? Have fun!
• Hmm ... it's Chelsea-Arsenal on Sunday afternoon so I'll be watching that somewhere - will try to catch up with you monkeys after depending on the result ...
• Will there be post-prandial dinkies?
• As a nonsmoker, I vote Polar Bear post-lunch, but will respect the majority opinion. really I will
• There are nonsmokers in London?
• Only if you don't count second-hand smokers. Seriously though, every time I come back from London and shower, my snot is black. Yuck.
• So Sunday lunchtime (noonish)? Then the King's Head and/or the Polar Bear (non-smoking good!) All of this in Leiscter Square? Yes?
• Hello! I am going out now, so might not see Monkey filter again until tomorrow Oh no! I will try to get there I have emailed me phone number to a couple of you I hope you are excited! Also, I will be here tonight, if anyone is interested in coming along
• (I'm not playing, obviously. I am watching the bands)
• Shall we say dim sum at the New World Restaurant at 1pm, and then onwards for post prandial drinkies? My only concern about the Polar Bear is that they've got a big Sky widescreen telly thing and they'll probably be showing the footie - this might be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view of course, but it might not be the best place for communing with the monkeys... Can't think of anywhere else good off the top of my head either, mind... One of the bar/cafe places on OId Compton Street maybe? Balans?
• Dig! I'll try to make 1pm or else see you in the bear (or elsewhere).
• HEY! I tried to email you, mothninja, but your address doesn't work. Someone drop me a line to the address on my profile with a mobile I can call. I won't make it to lunch, but I want to see you all
• Email duly sent. I'll try to keep an ear out. Don't panic if I don't pick up the first (couple of) times. Sometimes I just don't hear the bloody thing, no matter how loud I set the ringer.
• Crap! I can't get into that account. Long story. I sent you an email from an account that works. Can you please try again? Thanks!
• Done (^_^)
• Not sure what happened to my email earlier, Weez - I mailed you, but I guess that didn't work either ... See you all tomorrow! Wheee!
• So, it turned out that, unexpectedly, I wasn't in Edinburgh after all... I think I went into almost every bar around Chinatown and Old Compton Street looking for yous. I can only assume you were in a bar buried deep underground, because all your phones were off. Hey ho.
• Pics? Mmmmmmmmmmmm?
• Flash! Mate! What a nightmare! So so so sorry to have missed you - not sure what happened there, all phones were on to the best of my knowledge. The gods are conspiring against us! *shakes fists at sky*
• *rages, howls vengeful wrath towards the uncaring world* *sighs* *goes and sits in pub, reads book*
• Sad, Flash. It was a good time, as all Monkey Meetups are.
• However, there WILL be another one before Alnedra leaves in early September. And I'm out of town before Halloween, so I'll probably try to weezel drinks out of folk then too!
• Aww.. I'm so sorry, flash. We all did have our phones on, and didn't go underground. *sigh* Yeah, hopefully we can get a meet up before the 17th Sept, which is when I'm supposed to fly off. But that might change. Watch this space! It was really great meeting all of you. Pallas Athena, you were wonderful (^_^), and SlightlyFoxed as well! See ya'all soon!
• Ach, it's all right. I had a nice walk around Soho, and I got to finish my book. Such things happen... Anyway, I demand pictures. Pictures! Now! Now!
• Yeah, where are the damn pictures? I demand to see the hottt London monkeys.
• Indeed. I need them to program my holodeck...
• *grooms for photo-nits*
• Apologies to everyone for not turning up - I was a little the worse for wear, and ended up sleeping all afternoon. Like a big fat baby
• PICTURES!!!!!!
• I didn't take any. Except for a signpost near the hostel I was staying at that said, "London anal Museum". And I can't upload that because my steenking mobile phone cable doesn't work.
• NOooooOOOOoooooooo!!!!!
• Best bit of London signage was those ones you used to get on building sites saying 'This is a temporary façade'. There was one on the South Bank near the Globe always caught my eye.