Greetings from Boston! [Archive]

Mation

03-10-2005, 20:17

Hello there :)

Thought I'd do a self-indulgent thread to post occasional ramblings while I'm over here in the U.S. of A.

Arrived here in style yesterday having made a big cry-baby, panicky fuss on the plane when they wouldn't let me assauge my flying terror with alcohol on top of valium, but instead upgraded me to first class! :cool:

Slept all the way in a full-length bed with a duvet and big fluffy pillow, I did :D

I'm staying in a lovely flat in Brighton, which is a studenty area about 15 minutes on the T (train/tram thing) away from Boston University.

Haven't seen much yet bar the department I'll be in and my bf's brother and his wife's house, but I'm off to explore Harvard Square shortly.

To everyone who tried to tell me I'd freeze* I should actually have packed my bikini because it is currently hot and sunny and lovely :p

* Yes I know I'll pay for this later...

Strumpet

03-10-2005, 20:23

*waves at you*
Hope you have a wonderful time mation! :D

Look forward to your adventure blog!

Pickman's model

03-10-2005, 20:24

are you going to salem?

fat hamster

03-10-2005, 21:12

Woohooooo!

You made it! Yay!!!!

<jumps up and down and waves frantically to Mation>

http://www.upnaway.com/~fly/pix2/bounce.gif

Arrived here in style yesterday having made a big cry-baby, panicky fuss on the plane when they wouldn't let me assauge my flying terror with alcohol on top of valium, but instead upgraded me to first class! :cool:

Slept all the way in a full-length bed with a duvet and big fluffy pillow, I did :D

<makes a note of Mation's technique for future reference when flying out to see her> ;)

So what time is it over there?

axon

03-10-2005, 23:47

Welcome to the Land of the Free (terms and conditions apply) Mation ! I've baked you a metaphorical electronic apple pie. Enjoy !

Mation

04-10-2005, 04:06

<makes a note of Mation's technique for future reference when flying out to see her> ;)

So what time is it over there?Tee-hee I can highly recommend flying Wuss Class :) And it's now 5 past midnight and I'm wery wery sleepy. Come and visit Hammy come and visit Hammy come and visit!

I've been out wandering about Harvard library, trying and failing to step quietly on marble floors and attracting snooty glances all the way. Snuck in to their fabulously grand and ornate chapel too. Very impressive organ. I'll post some pictures in a couple of days when I've taken a few more. (Oh joy! cries everyone)

I'm going to try to get to Salem for Halloween or thereabouts, Pickman's. :)

I tried to get myself in the mood with the very same pumpkin beer you were talking about the other day axon, but got served ginger and cinnamon beer instead in a bar in Harvard Square. Very nice it was too (the beer, not the bar). Did badly in a pub quiz... the plural of octopus is octpodes, apparently. :rolleyes:

Thanks Strumpet :)

treefrog

04-10-2005, 08:32

Yay!! 'Ello love, jammy you for getting into first class! :D

Snake is doing very well, has discovered the delights of using my neck as a place to snooze..

flimsier

04-10-2005, 08:54

Tell everyone on the streets, '"unlucky v the White Sox" from flimsier' please!

Roadkill

04-10-2005, 13:04

Lucky you. :) Boston's lovely.

dingleweed

04-10-2005, 20:47

i love boston its very nice!!
have fun

flimsier

04-10-2005, 20:48

Tell everyone on the streets, '"unlucky v the White Sox" from flimsier' please!

Errm, after one inning of their first game, they won't be laughing!! :):)

MarkMark

04-10-2005, 22:36

Glad you made it safe & sound! :)

madamv

04-10-2005, 22:45

I look forward to hearing all about your travels. :cool:

I never get to go anywhere me :(

Mation

05-10-2005, 02:14

*waves hullo to all*

<minutiae>

Did some work stuff today (apparently I'm expected to do some :confused: ) and then spent some time wandering around Brookline. very odd that it's a separate city given that it's right in the middle of Boston and starts over the road from from my place, distinguished only by the general swishness. Very affluent, very beautiful houses, huge gardens, and funnily enough, full of people who made eye-contact and smiled at me... I thought Boston is supposed to be cold and unfriendly? Oh... it wasn't Boston. Hmmmm.

I found a pretty good supermarket at Coolidge Corner where the chap on the till asked about my Necker cube tattoo, and then reeled off a whole load of links he thought I should look at from the Society for Neuroscience website :cool: And indeed I should as I'm off to their conference in Washington in November.

Found some good Indian food too! I saw a really cheap and grotty-looking 'all you can eat' buffet and thought 'that's the place for me!' and indeed it was.

I'll do some proper touristy things over the weekend...

Facsnating this, isn't it! :D

Any other tips for me to endear myself to Bostonian's after flimsier's helpful suggestion? ;)

Has Isobel had scale to scale contact with Mir yet, frogperson? :)

tastebud

05-10-2005, 07:20

glad to hear it's going well. enjoy!

Agent Sparrow

05-10-2005, 09:42

Excellent! Keep the news coming, and so glad you've had a good start! :)

Iemanja

05-10-2005, 11:32

I tried to get myself in the mood with the very same pumpkin beer you were talking about the other day axon, but got served ginger and cinnamon beer instead in a bar in Harvard Square. Very nice it was too (the beer, not the bar). Did badly in a pub quiz... the plural of octopus is octpodes, apparently. :rolleyes:

Cinnamon beer??? If they do them in bottles you have to get me one!!! Sounds wonderful, I love the smell of cinnamon above everything else...

Glad to hear you're settling in ok! :cool:

fat hamster

08-10-2005, 21:34

Been checkin' this thread now and then...it's been three days...you still out there, Mation?? :eek:

Hope you're just having so much fun you haven't had time to post! :cool: :)

Mation

09-10-2005, 14:33

Still here! :D

I've actually been doing some work! (First time I've been absorbed rather than just busy in ages. :o )

But! Also got out and about a little... It's been really hot and sunny here all week until yesterday when it just poured buckets all day, on my first proper sightseeing fest.

Really wanted to go on a whale watching boat but the weather was so filthy it didn't seem worth it, but I did go to the Aquarium. They have leafy sea dragons. I *love* leafy sea dragons! But I got depressed when there was a big harbour seal training show and left...

Wandered around downtown to Quincy Market and Fanueil Hall and did some of the Freedom Trail to Boston Common...

Managed to get to the Christian Science centre when the last 'mapparium' show had sold out, so I might try again later. Despite being a misnoma, the centre has a big stained-glass globe of the world as it was known in 1935... You can walk on a bridge through it and the acoustics are all odd - it's a whispering gallery. Was talking to one of the professors in the department here at BU who made acoustic measurements of it years ago and apparently sounds just move very strangely up, down and around as you walk in a straight line through it...

Made it to the Museum of Fine Art and looked at lots of beautiful stolen things... my favourite being a beautifully painted, red porcelain arse from Tibet (iirc).

Went to the top of the Prudential tower on Friday night for hideously expensive cocktails and did some people watching in Back Bay. There are some terrifyingly glamourous bar staff here!

Ooh and I had dinner in a very posh restaurant last night, on my own, eating only side dishes of macaroni and mashed potato with champagne as they didn't have a vegetarian main. :D

I need to meet some Americans... Properly, I mean, not just in passing. (Lab mates don't count as they're all weird geeks anyway! ;) ) Haven't really got a sense of the place yet beyond the very friendly but superficial politeness. Haven't spotted any racism yet, but I'm trying not to look toooo hard...

I stopped a random black woman on the street to ask where she got her hair done as I haven't seen any appropriate salons yet, and she gave me her phone number, so I'm going to call and see what I can see...

<thinks about brainaddict's travelogue compared to this>

:o

crustychick

10-10-2005, 16:41

*waves*

Hi Mation!

Glad you're having a cool time :cool: :)

11-10-2005, 07:16

Have you been to Jamaica Plain?

There were - and probably still are - some cool arts collectives in that area.

I bet you'd find a fair number of places to have your hair cut in Roxbury.

bluestreak

11-10-2005, 11:00

ello sunshine, *waves*

all goes well then?

Miss Caphat

12-10-2005, 17:53

Have you been to Jamaica Plain?

There were - and probably still are - some cool arts collectives in that area.

I bet you'd find a fair number of places to have your hair cut in Roxbury.

Oooh, actually there's a really fun place in J.P. I used to live there and I'd pass this place on the bus, I forget what it was called but you really can't miss it, it's famous.

Ask people, I think they'll know what I'm talking about..it has a funny name. Or you can just take the main bus route that goes through Jamaica Plain (the #39) and look out for it.

Sorry to be confusing!

Anyway, also check out the Arnold arboreatum in J.P. it's gorgeous and very big. (this is all assuming you're still there)

pseudonarcissus

12-10-2005, 18:15

I'll be in Boston the weekend after next. It's the Head of the Charles rowing race. I expect to see you there cheering me on :D

fat hamster

12-10-2005, 20:57

<waves to Mation> :)

Mation

13-10-2005, 00:57

I'll be in Boston the weekend after next. It's the Head of the Charles rowing race. I expect to see you there cheering me on :DOoh! PM me - I'd love to come and cheer you on :)

<waves enthusiatcally to crustychick, bluey and Hammy>

I'm planning the Arboretum for next Sunday, Miss Caphat, for a bit of local leaf-peeping, and I'm venturing into New Hampshire (gulp) on Saturday for the same.

D - I'm definitely going to Jamaica Plain for a post-conference party in a few weeks, but I should think that will alll be a bit stuffy. Will investigate the arts collectives...

And meanwhile, from the comfort of my chair, i'm quite enjoying the vagaries of Boston life on craigslist (http://boston.craigslist.org)....

13-10-2005, 06:45

Ah, craigslist. The wonders of the internet.

MarkMark

13-10-2005, 10:56

Glad to hear you're settling in there. Liked the story about finding a bid red Tibettan arse in The Museum Of Stolen Things (sounds a bit like our 'British' Museum then) :D Enjoy yourself & keep us posted.

pseudonarcissus

13-10-2005, 12:57

Ooh! PM me - I'd love to come and cheer you on :)

a friend reports:

"I was amused to read in Vanity Fair's (Sept 2005) autumn diary section
detailing ("cool places to be and when") the following -

October 22-23 BOSTON
Hunky Ivy League rowers converge on Boston's Charles River for the Head of
the Charles, a weekend of preppy handbook without irony. On the sidelines,
corduroyed young men hook up with girls in pearls; think of it as America's
version of European royal-family inbreeding."

I don't read Vanity Fair and my friend claims she found it lying around at the hairdresser. Anyway, maybe we can find ourselves some hunky ivy league types for the weekend. I must dust off my corduroy. I'll PM

I was up there a few years ago and we rented a car and hiked up Mont Monadnock (http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/Monadnock/Monadnock.html) which was very pretty.

Mation

14-10-2005, 03:49

October 22-23 BOSTON
Hunky Ivy League rowers converge on Boston's Charles River for the Head of
the Charles, a weekend of preppy handbook without irony. On the sidelines,
corduroyed young men hook up with girls in pearls; think of it as America's
version of European royal-family inbreeding."Yikes! I don't have any pearls, but I do have rather a lot of courderoy.

I shall come in drag! :cool:

Mation

16-10-2005, 19:54

Well I've perked up a bit after being such a moaning misery-guts over in shagging and diseases and have managed to leave the house, despite the weather's best efforts to prevent me. It has been raining like a bastard for the last 9 nine days.

Found a local bar on Saturday night where I sat on my own for a bit listening to 80s rawk and hip-hop and reading Piers Morgan's diaries until I noticed 3 young Americans giggling and apologizing to me for using such filthy language within my earshot. I hadn't noticed them saying anything, but took the opportunity to introduce myself to some clean-living college boys. Two students of criminal law and one hip-hop producer who was heroically drunk.

They told me all about how they used to take ketamine in church even though they believe in god 'n' all :D , were keen to know what 'cracking one off' meant (they brought it up!) and practised their English accents on me. Ooh and they (all white) warned me not to go to South Boston as while Boston is apparently becoming less racially segregated in some areas (like Brighton/Allston, where I'm staying), not so down there and they didn't think I'd be safe. Happy to take their advice at the moment. :eek:

Tried to go leaf-peeping yesterday. Got up very early for a pick-up from a hotel in town. Despite assurances from the concierge that the Fall Foliage Spectacular bus wouldn't arrive for ages and that he'd tell them to wait while I went to the loo if they were early, I got left behind. After calling me a liar and telling me he wasn't deaf and that I'd definitely said I was going on some shopping trip I hadn't heard of, he called the company and asked them to come back, only to be told that 'someone' had phoned them and cancelled my booking and that the tour was over-subscribed and I could just sod off really. (He put me on the phone so they could tell me themselves.)

I jumped in a cab and went to the tour offices, to find a line of people waiting for the bus which hadn't yet arrived and was still doing the rounds of hotels - so I joined it and got the last seat on the bus. No problem with my booking as far as they were concerned! And there was no-one behind me in the queue - it was just exactly full....

Sat next to a lovely, black (it's relevant!) woman from Texas who'd just moved to Boston and was being a tourist for a bit...

We decided to find the tour funny. It rained all the way, the leaves hadn't really turned much, we couldn't stop anywhere as it was too wet, the driver and tour guide spent the whole trip telling us he wished he'd stayed in bed and that he should have stayed retired instead of coming back to tourism after 10 years, and talking on his mobile phone as he sped down the fast lane of the motorway with one windscreen-wiper broken and looking almost anywhere but the road. I had a good view of the windscreen as I was in the front row of seats.

At lunch, Regina and I sat with a Scottish couple and were asked by the rather dotty woman whether we were sisters or just friends... "Er, we just met on the bus." ''Oh! Do you sing?" "No - I'm a neuroscientist". :rolleyes:

Still! At least I went off for a 3-hour whale watching tour this morning. At least, I got to the harbour but despite this being the first warm and sunny day for ages, the trip was cancelled due to gale force winds that have now arrived and are trying to re-arrange the park outside my window.

:D

(I did manage a quick trip round the harbour on another boat but even then the plastic chairs started to blow off deck!)

And I'm going to hook up with Regina again, possibly to go hiking in the White Mountains.

And I got Stobes a fridge-magnet.

:)

fat hamster

16-10-2005, 21:54

"Do you sing?" "No - I'm a neuroscientist".
:rolleyes: indeed, but also :D .

laptop

16-10-2005, 22:04

I shall come in drag! :cool:

* Takes cold shower *

* Realises the boiler is broken and there isn't any other kind tonight *

:mad:

So much for the sincerity of that servile "have a nice day" service, then. Glad to hear it's shaping up Soviet :D

Mation

16-10-2005, 22:51

:rolleyes: indeed, but also :D .The timing was a bit off as Regina went to the loo as I said what I do, but when she arrived back I did ask the Scottish woman whether -she- was a singer. It went *whoosh* but amused us!

Glad to hear it's shaping up Soviet :DIndeed. :D

<girly bit>

Oh and I forgot the other reason I'm feeling better.. I went to Filene's Basement at Downtown Crossing, where the clothes get marked down and then down further automatically, by a percentage of the original price according to how long they've been there. Saw loads of bum-length, soft, grey, flannel dressing-gowns with hoods and was wishing very hard for a longer one with pockets to see me through Sundays and the already quite nippy mornings. And after looking at least 20 of the wrong sort, one materialised!

For $7.50. :cool:

Mation

17-10-2005, 01:12

I went to Filene's Basement at Downtown CrossingSpeaking of which, I just saw this article in The Boston Phoenix (http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/05025910.asp) about Wal-Mart trying to take over the Filene's/Macys building, but Boston doesn't seem to want them.

Good!

mango5

17-10-2005, 09:19

Hey you I've only just seen this :rolleyes: You write what you want it's not a competition ;)
*subscribes to thread*

LilJen

17-10-2005, 13:51

[also subscribes to thread]

Have just emailed you gorgeous :)

Mation

18-10-2005, 00:13

:eek:

One of my neighbours is freak...

I did something naughty - I admit it. Last week I took the rubbish down as I was on my way out... This was the first time and I thought I'd read in my sublease agreement that rubbish was to be left behind my building, #76. When I got downstairs I saw that I couldn't get through the gate to the back of the house without a key, and thought that the person I'm subletting from (Esther) must have forgotten to give it to me (as she had with the key to the letterbox). So as I was already late, I left the bag by the gate. Felt a bit guilty. I did this precisely once.

Today I got an email from Esther who had in turn received an email from the company that manages the building. There was a complaint about me leaving the bag in the wrong place (it should have been behind #79, as I found out when I looked at the lease again).

How did they know it was me?

The person who found the bag *went through my rubbish* and found something that mentioned this flat.

:confused:

Johnny Canuck2

18-10-2005, 00:15

Speaking of which, I just saw this article in The Boston Phoenix (http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/05025910.asp) about Wal-Mart trying to take over the Filene's/Macys building, but Boston doesn't seem to want them.

Good!

Filene's Basement is an institution.

18-10-2005, 05:51

Mation - is your tagline a reference to Cheers?

That's very Bostonian of you.

:cool: :p

Mation

18-10-2005, 11:46

Mation - is your tagline a reference to Cheers?

That's very Bostonian of you.

:cool: :pIt is! I went and sat on his stool at the bar in the Cheers-interior-replica bar that looks nothing at all like Cheers! :D

No-one cried "Mation!" so I'm thinking of changing my name...

djbombscare

18-10-2005, 14:54

Now this is just freaky. . I've just found out I've got to fly out to Boston for a week on Nov 28th.

Skim

18-10-2005, 14:57

The person who found the bag *went through my rubbish* and found something that mentioned this flat.

:confused:

:eek:

That notwithstanding, it sounds like you're having a fab time :cool: :)

Mation

19-10-2005, 02:58

Now this is just freaky. . I've just found out I've got to fly out to Boston for a week on Nov 28th.Spooky!

I'll be an expert Boston bore by then and can tell you where to go. As it were. And if you're about for a cuppa that would be lovely. :)

*waves to mango5, LilJen and skim*

laptop

19-10-2005, 03:01

Today I got an email from Esther who had in turn received an email from the company that manages the building. There was a complaint about me leaving the bag in the wrong place (it should have been behind #79, as I found out when I looked at the lease again).

Er...

How long has Boston been in Switzerland?

Don't hang any washing out!

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 03:10

Mation

19-10-2005, 03:54

Isnt' the Boston chinatown the crappiest ever?

I didn't realize you were a neuropsychologist. That must be why you knew who Muriel Lezak was, a while ago - at least I think it was you.

Judging by the weather, you might as well be in Vancouver.Had a wander round Chinatown after my mini harbour tour on Sunday. Wasn't desperately excited by it, but then I don't know what would make me so.

I'm *not* a neuropsychologist! There's a difference! :D And I don't know who Muriel Lezak is. I was however, wearing blue.

Appropo of the silly thread in general, did I mention the queue (sorry, line) for the loo on Saturday?

Leaf-peeping tour bus stopped for a nanosecond at a cafe so we could all go to the loo, and the queue was all muddled. So people (all from the bus) attempted to work out who was in which place. The woman in front of me looked straight past lil old me, to the woman behind me (who was only half inside the room as it was so crowded) and said "You were after me, weren't you?" and the tosser blatantly lied and answered, "Yes, I'm next, after you." I looked back and forth between them and realised that they weren't likely to look in my direction anytime soon, so just said "Erm, I think you'll find that I was before you", to the queue-jumper. She didn't say a word, and the one in front said "oh" and looked away again.

:rolleyes:

Mation

19-10-2005, 04:00

Don't hang any washing out!No chance of that! I'm using the residential laundry in the building across the road. Seven quarters for a wash and seven for a dry. Grrrrr. Fucking fiddly money. :mad:

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 04:05

Appropo of the silly thread in general, did I mention the queue (sorry, line) for the loo on Saturday?

Leaf-peeping tour bus stopped for a nanosecond at a cafe so we could all go to the loo, and the queue was all muddled. So people (all from the bus) attempted to work out who was in which place. The woman in front of me looked straight past lil old me, to the woman behind me (who was only half inside the room as it was so crowded) and said "You were after me, weren't you?" and the tosser blatantly lied and answered, "Yes, I'm next, after you." I looked back and forth between them and realised that they weren't likely to look in my direction anytime soon, so just said "Erm, I think you'll find that I was before you", to the queue-jumper. She didn't say a word, and the one in front said "oh" and looked away again.

:rolleyes:

Ah yes:the good old USA.

The problem in the US is that if you're black, you aren't sure if that kind of stuff is racial, or is just generalized rudeness.

Then, there are some things that you know boil down to race.

I hope you have a thick skin. If you do, you can laugh at the silliness of it.

19-10-2005, 04:10

Mation

19-10-2005, 04:21

The problem in the US is that if you're black, you aren't sure if that kind of stuff is racial, or is just generalized rudeness.Well that's just it! I seldom know, here or at home (though I think this time it was definitely racism given how polite everyone was being to everyone else).

I've had white friends outraged on my behalf before when they've spotted things like me being overlooked at a bar, while I've just been thinking it was busy... Hard to tell and I'm not keen to tot up all my experiences of this compared to some (white) other person, but I suspect that if I did there'd be an imbalance.

I did find it quite funny though. :D

D - yes I remember you saying that when I was asking about New Orleans before my trip there last February and thinking 'oh fuck!' :D

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 04:24

You know, I've never lived in Boston; but a number of people I know who have say they encountered far more abundant, insidious, and totally let's-pretend-it's-not-there racism in Boston than they did living in New Orleans, Washington DC, Baltimore, most anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line.

I think part of it is that you're not expecting it there, or in other northern cities, so it takes you unawares.

I know that during my limited travels in the south, I was braced for all sorts of nonsense that never happened. Maybe I was lucky, but the racial issue seemed fairly relaxed - at least where I was.

But I've been totally floored by minor racist incidents in places like SF, Chicago, ..... and Great Falls Montana.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised at that last one.

Mation

19-10-2005, 04:34

Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised at that last one.Why not?

laptop

19-10-2005, 04:38

Why not?

We know that Montana is north of the Mason-Dixon but lots of them aren't that hot at geography :(

19-10-2005, 04:45

djbombscare

19-10-2005, 10:29

Spooky!

I'll be an expert Boston bore by then and can tell you where to go. As it were. And if you're about for a cuppa that would be lovely. :)

*waves to mango5, LilJen and skim*

I think a cuppa a tea in Boston has gotta be a must.

Im well excited. Im going on my own so its like a little adventure :D

Mation

19-10-2005, 13:04

I think a cuppa a tea in Boston has gotta be a must.

Im well excited. Im going on my own so its like a little adventure :DCool - I'll investigate some tea rooms :)

D - I went to Washington DC for a week or so a decade ago. I was staying with a white friend and her mother in the suburbs and just remember both of them being very frightened everytime we went out in the evening, especially if we were near somewhere 'urban'. Her mother actually assesed my handbag for size and was slightly reassured that it looked big enough to contain a gun! :eek:

When my friend and I missed the last metro home one night after a concert at the Wonderland Ballroom, she was so terrified that some blokes were hanging around about 75 metres away that she opened the door of a cab that had stopped at the lights but had its light off and a passenger inside, and asked if we could jump in and share! We did. It was a bit bizarre.

Went to a club and got talking to the (black) bouncers there. They were very friendly but warned me that if I did find myself in a poor area that it wouldn't matter what color (sic!) I was - I should just keep my mouth shut so they wouldn't know I'm English!

Am of to DC again in a month or so for a week... Will be staying in town this time.

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 21:38

Why not?

Parts of the Pacific Northwest, mostly in parts of Montana and Idaho, are home to a number of white supremacists.

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 21:40

JC2 - Have you been to Detroit? Newark? DC?

I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of those northern (DC's kind of neither north nor south, really - just its own weird, dreadful political apparatus divorced from the rest of the country) cities where the population is predominantly black.

No, none of those. Places I've been with the largest black populations were Chicago, Oakland; and East St. Louis, of course, but I didn't linger there very long.

Mation

19-10-2005, 21:50

Parts of the Pacific Northwest, mostly in parts of Montana and Idaho, are home to a number of white supremacists.Ah.

Good thing to know in advance of my solo camping holiday adventure then.

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 22:03

Cool - I'll investigate some tea rooms :)

D - I went to Washington DC for a week or so a decade ago. I was staying with a white friend and her mother in the suburbs and just remember both of them being very frightened everytime we went out in the evening, especially if we were near somewhere 'urban'. Her mother actually assesed my handbag for size and was slightly reassured that it looked big enough to contain a gun! :eek:

When my friend and I missed the last metro home one night after a concert at the Wonderland Ballroom, she was so terrified that some blokes were hanging around about 75 metres away that she opened the door of a cab that had stopped at the lights but had its light off and a passenger inside, and asked if we could jump in and share! We did. It was a bit bizarre.

.

I think one of those unspoken things about urban whites in a lot of US cities is that blacks tend to scare them shitless.

I recall walking down a street in Chicago one evening. Everything ok, me minding my own business, no one paying any attention. Then some ragamuffin type street kids/dealers started walking beside me, trying to sell me a rock or something. There was nothing menacing about it, but they were walking beside me for maybe half a block.

While they were there, the oncoming white pedestrians regarded me and them with looks of horror, like they were witnessing a knifing or something. I don't know what it was, whether my acknowledgement of the street people somehow made the dealers visible to the whites, or if my speaking to the dealers took me down to their level in the eyes of the whites.

After the dealers took off, it went back to normal, and the whites stopped noticing me. Very weird.

Johnny Canuck2

19-10-2005, 22:04

Ah.

Good thing to know in advance of my solo camping holiday adventure then.

Just cross the border into BC, and you'll be fine.

Except for the bears, of course.

Mation

20-10-2005, 01:17

Just cross the border into BC, and you'll be fine.

Except for the bears, of course.Don't worry! I have no trips planned that way at all. :)

Mation

20-10-2005, 01:36

I think one of those unspoken things about urban whites in a lot of US cities is that blacks tend to scare them shitless.

I recall walking down a street in Chicago one evening. Everything ok, me minding my own business, no one paying any attention. Then some ragamuffin type street kids/dealers started walking beside me, trying to sell me a rock or something. There was nothing menacing about it, but they were walking beside me for maybe half a block.

While they were there, the oncoming white pedestrians regarded me and them with looks of horror, like they were witnessing a knifing or something. I don't know what it was, whether my acknowledgement of the street people somehow made the dealers visible to the whites, or if my speaking to the dealers took me down to their level in the eyes of the whites.

After the dealers took off, it went back to normal, and the whites stopped noticing me. Very weird.Yes very odd.

I had another 'is or isn't it?' experience today... At lunch in a very crowded cafe/bar I sat alone at a large table for four as it was the only place left.

Two young white women stood near the table, glancing at it frequently in visible distress, but not sitting down (while they were waiting to pick up their meal). Eventually someone else got up and they could take that table instead. Hmmmmmm.

Stobart Stopper

20-10-2005, 05:24

Don't hang any washing out!I have never understood this, it's the one thing my sister misses, even after almost 30 years of living in the US. Why is it frowned upon to hang washing outside? :confused:

Johnny Canuck2

20-10-2005, 21:27

Mation

21-10-2005, 03:25

That's not 'is or isn't', that 'is'.

The US is great for generating racial paranoia in us minority types. What I do now when I'm there, is just ignore it as best I can. No point in letting ignorance make me upset: fuck 'em.I can ignore it easily when I'm with other people, but when I'm on my own, instead of upsetting me as such, it makes me feel the need to justify myself. :rolleyes:

Just got back from Symphony Hall where I got an $8 'rush' ticket to see a Sibelius concerto (very good) and Shostakovich's symphony #8 (I *love* Shostakovich!).

In the first half I sat in the second to last row of the stalls and had a pretty awful view, but there were lots of unsold seats so I moved upstairs to the lower balcony after the intermission. Lots of people did it, moving to better seats. But the looks I was getting from the people around me made me start blathering on to the the chap I was next to about my PhD as if to say, no honestly, I *am* civilised enough to be here. :mad: :(

Fantastic concert though. :)

21-10-2005, 05:54

Just got back from Symphony Hall where I got an $8 'rush' ticket to see a Sibelius concerto (very good) and Shostakovich's symphony #8 (I *love* Shostakovich!).

In the first half I sat in the second to last row of the stalls and had a pretty awful view, but there were lots of unsold seats so I moved upstairs to the lower balcony after the intermission. Lots of people did it, moving to better seats. But the looks I was getting from the people around me made me start blathering on to the the chap I was next to about my PhD as if to say, no honestly, I *am* civilised enough to be here. :mad: :(

Fantastic concert though. :)

Boston is great for classical music. Sorry to hear that people were unfriendly. :(

Re DC - I lived in the District (which was bad enough...I wouldn't have survived a day in suburbia!) in an area called Adams Morgan, which has been massively gentrified. At the time, though, it was still the heart of the largest Ethiopian community outside Ethiopa (Washington DC is - or was - that place overall).

I also looked at some flats in Columbia Heights and considered NE and SE - all of which are predominantly black areas.

If it's anything like it was, go to the U Street corridor when you visit. And I'll be curious to hear how SE has changed - it was really beginning to transform when I was there (2001).

***

Oakland is a great town. I prefer living in SF, but I spend loads of time in Oakland. It's too bad it's one of those places where downtown is deserted after the workday (save for one really cool bar...the name escapes me right now).

Mation

21-10-2005, 19:49

Boston is great for classical music. Sorry to hear that people were unfriendly. :(Ah they weren't so bad... Some very hostile looks from some people, but others were friendly and chatted to me.

In any case, I wasn't really there for the audience. Although! I was greatly cheered by a young group who sounded as though they were perhaps from Berkelee College or one of the music schools. One guy had the most humungous afro I think I've ever seen and I felt very sorry for the person sitting behind him!

laptop

21-10-2005, 20:23

Two young white women stood near the table, glancing at it frequently in visible distress, but not sitting down (while they were waiting to pick up their meal). Eventually someone else got up and they could take that table instead. Hmmmmmm.

This is where you mess with their heads, if they look as though these have contents worth messing with, by inviting them to sit down, in your very best and Most English accent.

You could also try out different English accents - see whether you can hold an entire conversation in West Yorkshire, or Mockney, or Princess Di, or whatever.

(When I was first in Philly my mother - born within hearing of Bow Bells - made her first ever international phone call, so she spoke politely to the huge and incomprehensible machine she'd just connected to - with the inevitable result that the cry went up "Laptop, the Queen's on the phone!" Only actual trained dialecticians can tell.)

If there doesn't appear to be anything worth messing with, just spread out a large newspaper and enjoy the elbow-room :)

Mation

22-10-2005, 01:15

This is where you mess with their heads, if they look as though these have contents worth messing with, by inviting them to sit down, in your very best and Most English accent. Yes, you see I can and often do do that... but it's a thin line between that and the justification thing. Depends on how much I've had of it recently and how dented my confidence is, really.

Love the idea that Bow Bells = RP :D

Mation

22-10-2005, 14:23

Oh bloody hell, my head!

Went to Avaland (America's #1 club night!) at Avalon to see Carl Cox last night... A lab mate and his partner were going and invited me along, which was nice.

I'd forgotten what clubs are like really... This one was a complete meat market and there seemed to be very few people there for the music. Lots watching the barely-clad go-go dancers though (pots, kettles etc :o).

I followed LilJen's instructions and got down the front to jig about... The music was so-so - I've got no idea on genres but it wasn't techno - so to amuse myself I borrowed a pen and a bit of paper, and then leapt up on stage before the bouncers could get me, and handed Cox an instruction to play One Night in Hackney and then jumped down again.

He pissed himself laughing. :D

Then I went off to the side of the stage to chat to his 'people' as they seemed to want to know what I'd done. This got me entry backstage and lots of free vodka and champagne!

And after the show I had a nice chat (iirc, but I was steaming) with Carl... Made him say 'I'm Carl Cox and this is urban75 radio' into my phone and then made the poor man listen to a voice record I have of my boyfriend snoring, as I was missing him! :o

But I did manage to keep my clothes on and go home without propositioning anyone! :cool: :)

22-10-2005, 14:49

Well done!

That's impressive.

:D

MarkMark

22-10-2005, 14:58

:D

wahey! fuck american express! From now on I'm gonna use the all new "one night in hackney" blag!

<makes notes>

Mation

22-10-2005, 15:33

If only I'd tried it at Symphony Hall! :D

mango5

22-10-2005, 16:01

Good on you gal... you're getting those stories to bore us all with forever... keep going ;)

fat hamster

22-10-2005, 19:09

so to amuse myself I borrowed a pen and a bit of paper, and then leapt up on stage before the bouncers could get me, and handed Cox an instruction to play One Night in Hackney and then jumped down again.

:D

(read this to BH, who says, "Wow, she's cool!" ;) )

Mation

23-10-2005, 05:38

BH thinks I'm cool? :cool:

Had a lovely (if wet) day today at the regatta with G & R... Attepted to cheer on pseudonarcissus, but probably arrived too late as we waited forever for a bus.

After a quick return to Filene's basement where I got me some bras, I went off to Vinny T's (where they serve the largest plates of pasta in the entire world, I'm sure) to meet pseudo.

He's lovely. :) Here we are, a couple of hours ago:

http://www.loadofold.com/pseudonarcs&mation.jpg

Pseudo! You have to come to London and bring your lovely friend with you. She's a natural urb if ever I saw one.

(And I'm not sure why but dinner and drinks seemed to be gratis :confused: :cool: )

Johnny Canuck2

23-10-2005, 05:47

I But the looks I was getting from the people around me made me start blathering on to the the chap I was next to about my PhD as if to say, no honestly, I *am* civilised enough to be here. :mad: :(

)

Don't do that. Something to remember: if they're giving you dirty looks, they're probably too scared to actually say anything to you...

Johnny Canuck2

23-10-2005, 05:49

Bravo on the Carl Cox thing: good old English pluck.

LilJen

23-10-2005, 09:42

Told you you could get backstage didnt I :D

Tits, smile and an English accent got me *everywhere* in the US

Mation

23-10-2005, 13:35

Told you you could get backstage didnt I :D You did indeed! :cool:

laptop

23-10-2005, 13:39

Told you you could get backstage didnt I :D

So now you're set up for a few months of intense ligging, Mation :D

Tits, smile and an English accent got me *everywhere* in the US

I was about to say "it worked for me even without the tits" but then I remembered how much weight I put on when I got there...

Iemanja

23-10-2005, 13:49

Great to see a photo of you Mation! :D

http://www.cisco-records.co.jp/cgi/jacket/63/63097.jpg

Nice one! ;)

LilJen

23-10-2005, 13:57

I was about to say "it worked for me even without the tits" but then I remembered how much weight I put on when I got there...Pizza and beer diets will do it every time :D

(Where is that Mation....and how the fook do I use skype??!!)

LilJen

23-10-2005, 13:58

Great to see a photo of you Mation! :D

Had you forgotten what she looks like? :)

Iemanja

23-10-2005, 14:01

Had you forgotten what she looks like? :)

Nearly, it's been so long! :p

Nah, it was just nice to see Mation's smiley face from the other side of the pond...

Mation

23-10-2005, 14:37

Nearly, it's been so long! :p Waaaaahhh! Homesick! Miss you! :(

Just got off the phone with LilJen and am planning to come straight to the u75 christmas party after I land on the 16th and have a little kip. :)

Mation

23-10-2005, 14:41

So now you're set up for a few months of intense ligging, Mation :DAh yes, and I always have better ligging adventures if I'm on my own... So I shall see what's coming up and launch a full fluttery, bosomy onslaught! Off to Noo Yawk soon. Hmmmmm. :D

mango5

23-10-2005, 14:52

...launch a full fluttery, bosomy onslaught!
Glad to see you're keeping up with Urban trends.

Mation

23-10-2005, 15:00

Glad to see you're keeping up with Urban trends.Perhaps I should get one of these...

http://www.enlighted.com/media/bras/whitebluebra/whitebluebraanix400.gif

mango5

23-10-2005, 15:03

With your smile? You don't need it :)

pinkmonkey

23-10-2005, 15:24

Just to say how much I am enjoying this thread. It is really cheering me!

Sounds like you are having a ball..... :)

Mation

23-10-2005, 15:33

Aw.. ta you two :)

Right - off out to the gym now to listen to some acid techno on my shiny new shuffle and pretend I'm at a squat party :o

Crispy

23-10-2005, 17:46

Ooh, you missed a classic example last night :(

Good to hear you're having fun. Show them thar murkins how to do it u75 stylee :) Fantastic blag skills btw - I'm impressed!

treefrog

23-10-2005, 18:13

Mation

23-10-2005, 20:33

Genius blag skills! Happen to be listening to that very track right now, Cox should have played it and put the wind up those gogo girls!

Isobel says hello, she's grumpy 'cause she's about to shed her skin...Hehe I think he would have if he'd had it there... he was giggling about it afterwards :D

My poor grumpy baby! Shedding her first skin away from home (since I've had her ok so the occasion isn't *that* momentous!). Have her eyes gone Village of the Damned blue?

If the skin comes off in a big enough piece, put Mir inside it to confuse her! ;)

treefrog

23-10-2005, 21:43

they have. Mir shed last night, so both of them were looking very odd for a day or so.

that's a very mean idea, poor baby! :D

Magneze

24-10-2005, 00:37

I followed LilJen's instructions and got down the front to jig about... The music was so-so - I've got no idea on genres but it wasn't techno - so to amuse myself I borrowed a pen and a bit of paper, and then leapt up on stage before the bouncers could get me, and handed Cox an instruction to play One Night in Hackney and then jumped down again.

He pissed himself laughing. :D

Then I went off to the side of the stage to chat to his 'people' as they seemed to want to know what I'd done. This got me entry backstage and lots of free vodka and champagne! :D Nice one.

pseudonarcissus

24-10-2005, 13:57

BH thinks I'm cool? :cool:

Had a lovely (if wet) day today at the regatta with G & R... Attepted to cheer on pseudonarcissus, but probably arrived too late as we waited forever for a bus.

After a quick return to Filene's basement where I got me some bras, I went off to Vinny T's (where they serve the largest plates of pasta in the entire world, I'm sure) to meet pseudo.

Well, I finally got to meet my first Urbanite!

After a day getting all nostalgic about British weather (it rained and I froze half to death) and finishing 20th in the men's masters 8 category of the Head of the Charles Regatta I had dinner with Mation. A slightly surreal internet date at a quite table for 20. Mation is wonderful. I really was starting to miss London. I think we really do need to organize a Usa75 meet though.

I'll try and get Ellie on the boards too

Mation

25-10-2005, 13:26

:o :)

</mutual slapbacking> :D

Goshy it's windy and rainy ouside at the moment. Must be the fringe of Wilma, I think.

MarkMark

25-10-2005, 13:38

:o :)

Must be the fringe of Wilma, I think.

Yeah, she tells me it's been windy over there!
http://www.jlcreations.net/LonsSites/Wilmalg.jpg
before <---------> after

sorry.. couldn't resist that - keep the stories coming!

Mation

25-10-2005, 14:01

:D :D

mhendo

25-10-2005, 20:07

Yes very odd.

I had another 'is or isn't it?' experience today... At lunch in a very crowded cafe/bar I sat alone at a large table for four as it was the only place left.

Two young white women stood near the table, glancing at it frequently in visible distress, but not sitting down (while they were waiting to pick up their meal). Eventually someone else got up and they could take that table instead. Hmmmmmm.Yeah, i'm never sure how to interpret stuff like that here in the US. It could be about race. But it could just as easily be about Americans' general propensity not to impose on the personal space of others. They might simply have been worried that trying to sit at an already-occupied table would somehow offend the current occupant (you) and instead decided to wait for a free table. Or they could be crackers. :)
Had a lovely (if wet) day today at the regatta with G & R... Attepted to cheer on pseudonarcissus, but probably arrived too late as we waited forever for a bus.

After a quick return to Filene's basement where I got me some bras, I went off to Vinny T's (where they serve the largest plates of pasta in the entire world, I'm sure) to meet pseudo.I think i must have been in Filene's Basement around the same time as you. Except i was buying socks. I've just left Boston after a five-day visit. The weather was great on Thursday and Friday, but the weekend was pretty sad. I was hoping it would be nice for the regatta.

Have you been to the McIntyre & Moore bookstore in Davis Square yet? I've been to excellent used bookstores all over the US, and this one has to rank right near the top, especially for a history grad student like me. Heaps of literature, great art books, politics, etc., etc.

I see you've been to the MFA. The collections there are just amazing. It's a bit expensive, but it's nice that you can go back again on the same ticket in the next ten days. When i wander around these art museums, i wonder that places like Egypt and Greece have any damn artifacts left, after all the pillaging. Sad thing is, i guess, there's more ancient art outside the ancient world than there is in it.

Anyway, glad you're having a good time. Boston's a great town. But the drivers and the pedestrians are homicidal and suicidal, respectively.

Mation

25-10-2005, 22:49

Yeah, i'm never sure how to interpret stuff like that here in the US. It could be about race. But it could just as easily be about Americans' general propensity not to impose on the personal space of others. They might simply have been worried that trying to sit at an already-occupied table would somehow offend the current occupant (you) and instead decided to wait for a free table. Or they could be crackers. :)No I don't think they can have been crackers as they didn't come with soup. Crackers come with soup here. Not bread. (Scuse me whittering about my latest minor irritation!) But yes, it could have been a personal space thing. It didn't feel like it, but then I suppose it wouldn't given what I know/am learning about attitudes to race here. I think i must have been in Filene's Basement around the same time as you. Except I was buying socks. I've just left Boston after a five-day visit. The weather was great on Thursday and Friday, but the weekend was pretty sad. I was hoping it would be nice for the regatta. I'm in an office in the basement, so I missed the nice days!

I think we should have a new t-shirt that says 'Urbanites say aye!' to be worn at all times lest I miss others while out and about :D

Have you been to the McIntyre & Moore bookstore in Davis Square yet? I've been to excellent used bookstores all over the US, and this one has to rank right near the top, especially for a history grad student like me. Heaps of literature, great art books, politics, etc., etc.

I see you've been to the MFA. The collections there are just amazing. It's a bit expensive, but it's nice that you can go back again on the same ticket in the next ten days. When i wander around these art museums, i wonder that places like Egypt and Greece have any damn artifacts left, after all the pillaging. Sad thing is, i guess, there's more ancient art outside the ancient world than there is in it.

Anyway, glad you're having a good time. Boston's a great town. But the drivers and the pedestrians are homicidal and suicidal, respectively.Not been to Davis Square yet - thanks for the tip :) I've found one good second hand bookshop so far, in Kenmore...

I got to the MFA about an hour and a half before it closed and they let me in for free, so I think when I go back (and I will - there was lots I didn't see), I'll go at the same sort of time.

On the driving - so far people have actually been very considerate (or bewildered by my London crossing). I'm a Camden girl and thus used to wandering regardless across the street, and as everyone else seems to do that here I've been feeling quite at home. And on the occasions I have hesitated when I can't work out which direction the traffic will come from, I've found that cars will stop (when I think they have right of way) and wave me on...

Anyway, hope you had a good time while you were here :)

mhendo

25-10-2005, 22:56

I got to the MFA about an hour and a half before it closed and they let me in for free, so I think when I go back (and I will - there was lots I didn't see), I'll go at the same sort of time.If that doesn't work again, you could try going on Wednesday evenings.

After 4pm on Wednesdays, it's "pay what you want" time, as entry is by voluntary contribution. They suggest a donation of $15 (the normal entry fee), but you can pay as much or as little as you like. My partner went and paid four or five bucks.

Mation

26-10-2005, 01:10

If that doesn't work again, you could try going on Wednesday evenings.

After 4pm on Wednesdays, it's "pay what you want" time, as entry is by voluntary contribution. They suggest a donation of $15 (the normal entry fee), but you can pay as much or as little as you like. My partner went and paid four or five bucks.That's good to know :)

On the ligging front - I've found, via the interweb, what seems to be Boston's only club that stays open all night... Most of them close at 2am. It's a private members club for which you have to pay a few hundered dollars a year, plus entry on the night, and so you can only get in if you're a member or a member has invited you as a guest.

I posted on their message board to complain about the lack of proper partying provisions in this town and have received an invitation from the owner of the cub to come along to check it out! :cool:

Will keep y'all posted.

laptop

26-10-2005, 01:24

I posted on their message board to complain about the lack of proper partying provisions in this town and have received an invitation from the owner of the cub to come along to check it out!

Lig + ½ !

How did you let them know you were British?

What will you say when they say "just say something in that se-xy ac-cent - I don't mind what!"?

Mation

26-10-2005, 01:35

How did you let them know you were British?

What will you say when they say "just say something in that se-xy ac-cent - I don't mind what!"?I just said I'm from London in my post.

Erm...I could try

"Did you know that cream tea is a euphemism?"

What do you think?

(For what..? Post your suggestions here please!)

:D

MiddleMonkies

26-10-2005, 23:20

Even though I dont know you-I really enjoyed reading about your impressions of Boston, having grown up there myself. Right on.

Mation

26-10-2005, 23:52

Thanks MiddleMonkies :)

And I'll bore everyone with this thread for weeks yet. :p Not much to report mid-week though, as I'm mostly just doing home --> office and back.

Whereabouts in Boston are you from?

MiddleMonkies

27-10-2005, 16:59

I'm from Dorchester- I don't think you went there during your trip.

Mation

27-10-2005, 17:53

I'm still in Boston - here till mid-December. What's Dorchester like, then? Should I visit? :)

Mation

29-10-2005, 08:21

Ow. My head. Again. Too pissed to post properly but suffice it to say tat I ended my evening out lying on a marble staircase at MIT stroking the ground and worshipping. I don't think they'll let me enroll.... :o

laptop

30-10-2005, 17:29

It's all right, no-one here was looking, you can come out now...

Unless this weekend's silence is the harbinger of tales of heroic ligging to come. Whose snow-bedecked yacht? :D

* Runs away to underused-words thread *

Mation

31-10-2005, 03:53

No yachts, sadly, but plenty of snow!

Friday was fun. Started off irritatingly when I tried to get a bus to Central Square but discovered the one I needed only runs once an hour. As I was very late I tried to hail a cab but found myself waving at a vetinary surgeon's ambulance (they look like taxis). The driver (of the cab, not the vet) was Eritrean and could tell me all about the restaurant I was going to.

Met KC (labmate) and several of his MIT chums there. Learned some new words (from some film or other) like Chinegro :D (Everyone there, bar a Dutch guy) was Asian-American and laughing at how specific racial terms can get in the States.

Had some delicious homemade honey wine - sweet and quite spicy. And the food was gorgeous - lots of lentils and an Etheopian version of sauerkraut and things... Best meal I've had since I've been here! :)

Then we all went of to Middle East, which is apparently a very hip music venue. It was a Latin night and halloween party and most people were incredibly elaborately costumed. I thought I heard one of our lot say "Look! he's come as a favela!" and wondered what on earth it entailed, but turns out she said banana.

A friend of KC's is the singer in a Latin rock band and they were the star turn. Not really my sort of music (unless it's Los Lobos' Kiko) but they were fun and the place was packed ith people who knew all the words and were bouncing around like mad things. Did lots of crap fake-salsa-ing (I can't do the step properly *at all*) and drank gallons.

Went round to KC's afterwards for an impromptu party. He lives in a very very swish flat near Harvard, with the most humungous telly I think I've ever seen...

Got a lift home from the designated driver at about 4... The car was parked opposite an MIT building, and he needed to go in and use the loo, hence my lolling about on a staircase inside while I waited (obviously).

Woke up on Saturday to huge, fat and fluffy snowflakes. It was, of course, freezing but beautiful and a big improvement on the soul-destroying rain we've had.

Just about managed to get myself to a capoeira class in Brookline. My first ever. I'm really shit :D (But I'll get better!). Mestre Calenga is a very patient teacher and it helped that the class only had four people in it. Turns out he used to live in London, a couple of doors down from my mother and the house I grew up in! And he knows the woman who runs the capoeira class at my local gym in Holborn, where I am planning to start in January. Titchy planet, eh?

Had a peaceful walk back past some mansions in Brookline. Everywhere looked stunning and opulent as hell. The leaves have turned and the snow was settling and I ignored the fact that I'd chosen to wear shoes that aren't in the least bit waterproof...

My thighs hurt a lot today. Probably not helped by all the jigging about I did last night. I went to Rise - a mostly gay club that opens at 1:30 in the morning and stays open till half six. Doesn't sell any booze (bugger! I didn't drink before I went, thinking I could do so inside) and the security was very, very tight, so I couldn't get any other enchancement either.Probably just as well. Another weekend where my clothes stayed on!! Everyone else was 'rolling' though. They came prepared.

I saved the $20 entry for guests by blagging an invitation from one of the owners of the club, tee-hee. And it was lovely. Really friendly, small and much less like a commercial club than Avalon.

I was adopted by a group of guys who saw off the occasional straight bloke that made unwelcome advances toward me, and made sure I didn't look like Jenny No-mates.

There was a fire alarm in the middle - I thought it was a breakdown section in the techno at first :D - and we all had to evacuate. But it was just the smoke machines on overdrive... I'll definitely go again. I have instructions to let them know when so I can go in free again, and my bodyguards will sort me out first so I can roll if I want to!

Got outside this morning into brilliant sunshine and had a few hours kip. It was so warm this afternoon that I didn't need a coat at all.

Sorry for the long post!

This was a good weekend. :)

axon

31-10-2005, 05:03

Goshy it's windy and rainy ouside at the moment. Must be the fringe of Wilma, I think.

I'll show you fucking Wilma! :p
40% of city still without power. They lifted the boil water order earlier in the week. On a lighter note, the local paper's front page was a simple but enigmatic picture of Wilma Flintstone with the words "Bitch" imprinted over her head. I can't imagine London's Metro ever running with a front page like that.

Hurricane Beta about to fuck up Nicaragua (no Americans or Europeans so doesn;t deserve a newscast).

And worst of all, my kebab is nearly done!

Mation

31-10-2005, 23:15

I'll show you fucking Wilma! :p
40% of city still without power. They lifted the boil water order earlier in the week. On a lighter note, the local paper's front page was a simple but enigmatic picture of Wilma Flintstone with the words "Bitch" imprinted over her head. I can't imagine London's Metro ever running with a front page like that.

Hurricane Beta about to fuck up Nicaragua (no Americans or Europeans so doesn;t deserve a newscast).

And worst of all, my kebab is nearly done!You're just not taking *my* suffering seriously, axon! :rolleyes: ;)

spring-peeper

31-10-2005, 23:19

Mation,

Any little trick-or-treaters out your way?

Mation

01-11-2005, 02:58

Not one! I expect they're all across the road in Brookline if they know what side their unnaturally-sweet bread is buttered on. It's all students and foreigners round here!

I did see a very good pumpkin at KC's party on Friday.. His flatmate carved it and won first prize in a competition. I thought it was rubbish at first until I realised that the face wasn't a face at all - it was that Linux penguin. Very geeky! :cool:

laptop

01-11-2005, 03:10

pumpkin penguin :cool:

:(

Mation

01-11-2005, 04:32

:(But whhhhyyyyy?

The bloke wot dun it was the geekiest of MIT geeks!

Mation

03-11-2005, 05:02

<carries on regardless>

Had a nightmarish talk to do this morning for the lab (which inlcdes some big-brained names in the field) and it went ok. :)

Got my program working :)

So! I can start looking forward to New Yawk on the weekend. I'm hoping I can stay there till Wed for Offline rather than coming back on Monday and returning.

And then I'm off to DC later in the week for a huge neuroscience fest and to catch up with people I haven't seen for too long (like axon! :) :))

Ooh and I had dinner with G & R tonight and had peanut brittle afterwards. I've read about peanut brittle in books. :cool:

03-11-2005, 08:27

is very tasty and very sugary

laptop

03-11-2005, 12:47

But whhhhyyyyy?

The bloke wot dun it was the geekiest of MIT geeks!

Ah. So long as it was a bit of self-mockery... next year, the GNU gnu...

Mation

04-11-2005, 03:01

Ah. So long as it was a bit of self-mockery... next year, the GNU gnu...Caramel filled pumpkin, anyone? It's really GUI.

:o

So I'm off on travels for 10 days or so on Saturday... I was going to New York this weekend anyway, but instead of coming back before heading to DC, I'm going to stay till Offline. Yay! :D

I can't wait to get to a *proper* city! :p

And I had some collard greens at lunch today. I've read about collard greens in books. :cool:

laptop

04-11-2005, 09:04

I've read about collard greens in books. :cool:

And that's where they belong. As do grits.

Have fun in The City...

Mation

05-11-2005, 04:08

Oh ffs. Just come back from the post conference party that is held every year at very swish home of one of the leading names in the field. My labmate took my 'if I were 15 years younger' comment and relayed it to the object ;) claiming that I'd told him to! I feel 12! :o I left the party early to be on the safe side.

Spent a good half hour of the time there listening to another big name do his impression of a generic ultra-right fuckwit... Was very funny. We were asking him (his character) serious questions on US politics, foreign policy, global warming, intelligent design etc and he just kept it up (almost) straight faced.

And I've got an invitation to Conneticut to stay at one of the other big guy's sometime before I come home before Christmas. He's rather intimidating and bullish to established career auditory neuroscientists, but very sweet to confus-ed me-types. I think I'll go. :)

What's Conneticut like, anyone?

axon

05-11-2005, 04:38

Mation

05-11-2005, 12:05

Stop referring to people as big names..please. Kick them in the bollocks, and then refer to them as people that have achieved great things in an insignificant field through a disparate combination of luck, background, employees, insight, and skill.Yeah yeah... it -is- just shorthand. I don't think I'll impress anyone by having met the *big names* in auditory psychophysics! :D (But I -am- impressed by what they've done :))

Jazzz

05-11-2005, 21:05

My labmate took my 'if I were 15 years younger' comment and relayed it to the object ;) claiming that I'd told him to! I feel 12! :o "Be careful what you wish for..." :D

Mation

06-11-2005, 23:32

"Be careful what you wish for..." :DOh shush! :p

Just popped in to an internet to caff to say how much I fucking love New York!! :D :cool:

It's *wonderful* here and I'm having a brilliant time being dazzled and feeling like I'm on a film set. Everything is HUGE! :eek:

laptop

07-11-2005, 10:38

It's *wonderful* here and I'm having a brilliant time being dazzled and feeling like I'm on a film set. Everything is HUGE! :eek:

But not an original sight in the entire city. I mean, I'd seen it all before. Had even seen bits of the South Bronx that USians never see, while watching Soviet TV in East Berlin :)

What's Conneticut like, anyone?

Er, preppy?

djbombscare

07-11-2005, 12:48

I got my dates in Boston fly out on the 28th and I'm Westborough from Mon-Thurs then they are moving me to downtown Boston for Fri/Sat so I can see the sights etc. My flight is on the Sunday at 8.15am.

Sooooo Im on me tod in a big bad city, and I've promised Fizz I wont get arrested. Any suggestions?

Oh and I gotta go pressie shopping

Mation

11-11-2005, 15:17

But not an original sight in the entire city. I mean, I'd seen it all before. Had even seen bits of the South Bronx that USians never see, while watching Soviet TV in East Berlin :)Nowt original, no, but lots of fun nonetheless.

Did lots of touristy bits, up the Empire State Building, Staten Island ferry, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, through central park, went to MoMA, had my hair done in Harlem (and came out looking like Carol Vorderman impersonating Tina Turner :eek: :o ), went to Offline (yay! :D).

In DC now for Neuoscience.

Er, preppy?Bugger.I got my dates in Boston fly out on the 28th and I'm Westborough from Mon-Thurs then they are moving me to downtown Boston for Fri/Sat so I can see the sights etc. My flight is on the Sunday at 8.15am.

Sooooo Im on me tod in a big bad city, and I've promised Fizz I wont get arrested. Any suggestions?

Oh and I gotta go pressie shoppingHurrah! Go to Newbury Street in Back Bay for pressies (go to the T station called Copley on the B branch of the Green Line)... It's all a bit swish but street is very pretty, and there are a few interesting little shops in amongst the designer ones.

Doing the Freedom Trail (http://www.nps.gov/bost/freedom_trail.htm) is a good way to see a lot quickly - the city isn't that big so you can get around much of it in a day and the trail is only 3 miles long. (Edited to add that there's a big red line on the pavement to follow - you don't need to go on one of the guided tours.)

If you fancy coming along to Rise for a jig about, let me know as we can probably get on the guest list.

:)

djbombscare

11-11-2005, 15:33

Cool Thanks Mation,

I'll let you know whats going on when Im out there and sort something out : )

I think I'll potter about on the Saturday Day take some pics, and search for fizzer pressies and stuff. Wouldn't mind checking out Salem but dunno how far it is and I'm sort of planning on walking distance or public transport being my range.

I've benn told I gotta go to harpoon louis or something like that. And stay away from the cheers bar. I'll just line up with the japanese tourists and take a pic of the sign I think.

djbombscare

11-11-2005, 15:35

Hey if I packed my Blades or Skateboard is it cool for that ?

laptop

11-11-2005, 18:06

Er, preppy?
Bugger.

Sorry, that was based on reputation only. Here's hoping it's wrong...

Mation

11-11-2005, 20:54

Hey if I packed my Blades or Skateboard is it cool for that ?Seen a few people on skateboards but can't remember many (any?) on blades... Not much help.. sorry!

MiddleMonkies

11-11-2005, 22:28

No-not really :)

MiddleMonkies

11-11-2005, 22:29

Sorry--that was in response to whether you should visit Dorchester--the answer: No, not really :D

Mation

15-11-2005, 13:27

Wonderful wi-fi here at Neuroscience (just about to have a mini-symposium thing on time and the brain and I can faff about on here and lookup refs at the same time! :cool: )

fat hamster

15-11-2005, 13:41

<waves to the lovely Mation>

mmmwwwaaahhhhh!
n loadsa huggles

xxx

Mation

16-11-2005, 16:51

<waves back>

And to you Hammy! :) xxx

Feeling terribly emotional today... One of my labmates is currently having his viva - the first in our lab to have one, and I'm waiting for a phonecall from the lot of them before they go off to celebrate. Wish I could be there too!

Just went to a brilliant lecture on scrub-jay cognition. They're very clever! They can remember what, where and when for specific past events, can make predictions about specific events in the future, and change their behaviour accordingly. And they're sneaky... They can hide and re-hide worms depending on whether they have been observed and by whom, but tend to do this only if they are in the habit of pilfering from others.

The dalai lama lecture the other day was pretty interesting too. He basically said that if there's anything in Buddhist teaching that is demonstrated by science to be untrue, then the teaching should be changed, and that if brain implants or drugs could enable one to acheive a 'higher state' of consciousness without loss of critical thinking, then he'd be happy to adpot them! Said it would save him hours of meditation every day :D

Back to Boston tomorrow...

bluestreak

16-11-2005, 16:57

cool! that's my excuse as well!

glad you're having fun mation :)

Mation

16-11-2005, 17:07

Indeed :D

Yay! Hooray! Miles is a doctor of philosophy!! :) :) :) :)

pseudonarcissus

17-11-2005, 18:11

MarkMark

17-11-2005, 21:04

The dalai lama lecture the other day was pretty interesting too. He basically said that if there's anything in Buddhist teaching that is demonstrated by science to be untrue, then the teaching should be changed, and that if brain implants or drugs could enable one to acheive a 'higher state' of consciousness without loss of critical thinking, then he'd be happy to adpot them! Said it would save him hours of meditation every day :D

That's what I like about buddhism. If it doesn't work for you then don't take it any further (say the buddhists). Historically, Buddha is supposed to have said 'this is how it worked for me, try it for yourself, if it doesn't suit you don't worry.. try something else'.

Having said that, tibetan buddhists believe some bonkers stuff.

(ps. no I'm not, if anyones wondering)

Mation

18-11-2005, 13:45

Mation....have you put your Xmas tree up yet? Enjoying the lead into the "holiday season".

6 years here and the fact the the decorations go up in early November is killing me....next it will be bad xmas music...

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? It's one holiday that's quite nice, Americans seem more hospitable. One year friends and I got stumbled upon a bar in the middle of nowhere in NM and ended up aving a lovely dinner all for free.

I think I'll have a house full of orphans so i'm looking at Delia's roast turkey recipe. I can't quite bring myself to deep fry the bird..<waves> Hello there! :)

Nope, no tree - haven't thought about Christmas yet at all! No plans for Thanksgiving yet either. Will have to investigate and make orpahn-eyes at people!

Deep-fried turkey??!

ps. no I'm not, if anyones wonderingYep - if you're going to have a religion it seems a fairly innocuous one, but not for me, thanks. :)

pseudonarcissus

18-11-2005, 17:37

Nope, no tree - haven't thought about Christmas yet at all! No plans for Thanksgiving yet either. Will have to investigate and make orpahn-eyes at people!

Deep-fried turkey??!

My neighbours put their tree up last weekend. You'll be aware of Christmas pretty soon, I assure you. It all really starts next Friday. Round the clock jingle bells, including radio stations dedicated to saccharin xmas hits.

Deep fried turkey is the cooking method of choice in the south. You can buy humungus deep fat friers specially for the job. Lots of people are killed or burn down their houses/trailers every year (top tip: put bird in frier, fill frier with oil cold....remove bird.....heat oil and immerse your turkey, that way the thing doasn't overflow with boiling oil) (I have never fryed a turkey, I hasten to add, I'll be following Dehlia online)

You're welcome to get your orphan eyes down to Texas, it would be nice to have an English speaker around, it looks like my house will be full of Mexicans/Colombians/Nicaraguans. Turkey and tortillas and refried beans!

I'm sure you'll get invitiations close to home anyway and have a good one. Enjoy the one holiday when you're not expected to shop for anything other than food

Mation

19-11-2005, 15:32

Thanks for the invitation! I'll have to stay up this way, having been off a-skiving for ages, but sounds like it will be good fun round at yours :)

Had a great night out last night playing darts all evening with the two sociable people in the lab. Finally found some non-preppy bars, and near where I live to boot. :)

Mation

20-11-2005, 05:26

Finally got round to uploading some pics (http://www.pbase.com/mationusa)!

Lots there, all in a jumble from Boston, new York and DC.

Some of my apartment and my street and the park next door, The Museum of Fine Art (including that red arse, on page 10!), MoMA, The Museum of African-American History (and the woman I met on the way, wearing her 'I heart being black' badge on her lapel), Neuroscience (and the Dalai Lama), the Head of the Charles race, the chapel at Harvard, the Aquarium, a blurry eme at Offline, and axon's in there somewhere :)

A few of them are a bit squished - the batch resizing was veeerrrry slow and I by the time I spotted it...

Johnny Canuck2

20-11-2005, 05:33

Great photos: I'd love to get back to Boston, and I'd love to visit NY for the first time.

Looks like a great visit so far.

fat hamster

20-11-2005, 09:33

Wow! :cool:

Sunspots

20-11-2005, 10:45

Finally got round to uploading some pics (http://www.pbase.com/mationusa)

Cool pics Mation, thanks for sharing! :cool: The NY ones reminded me of my own visit there. :)

Mation

20-11-2005, 14:26

Thanks :)

JC2 - Have you been to Detroit? Newark? DC?

I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of those northern (DC's kind of neither north nor south, really - just its own weird, dreadful political apparatus divorced from the rest of the country) cities where the population is predominantly black.
I didn't take many pictures in DC, but what really struck me (apart from 34, 000 neuroscientists in one place!) was how many homeless people there are. Everywhere (downtown, at least). Virtually every bench I passed had someone living on it. And they are all black.

Also went into south east DC to the African-American museum (part of the Smithsonian, but curiously hidden away, a metro and then a bus-ride away from the rest) and absolutely everyone I saw in Anacostia was black and poor. The whole area (that I saw) was ridiculously run down, although the woman I mentioned earlier was saying that, having moved out 40 years ago, white people were starting to move back in and the house prices were going up...

laptop

20-11-2005, 15:10

Nice photos.

They let you take photos in galleries?

And did you get to a show at the Apollo?

spring-peeper

20-11-2005, 15:18

Thanks :)

I didn't take many pictures in DC, but what really struck me (apart from 34, 000 neuroscientists in one place!) was how many homeless people there are. Everywhere (downtown, at least). Virtually every bench I passed had someone living on it. And they are all black.

Also went into south east DC to the African-American museum (part of the Smithsonian, but curiously hidden away, a metro and then a bus-ride away from the rest) and absolutely everyone I saw in Anacostia was black and poor. The whole area (that I saw) was ridiculously run down, although the woman I mentioned earlier was saying that, having moved out 40 years ago, white people were starting to move back in and the house prices were going up...

That's America's dirty little secret. You can read about it all you want, but you have to see it to believe it.

It's a real eye-opener though. Well, it was for me the first time I encountered it. Actually, every time I see this it never stops disturbing me.

It just re-enforces the idea that America should look after their own people before trying to save the world.

btw - lovely pictures and excellent thread!!!

Mation

20-11-2005, 21:27

:) Just added a few more from today on pages 11 and 12...

http://i.pbase.com/o2/60/615160/1/52524161.016.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/mationusa/inbox&page=11)

Finally made it to the Arboretum.. Leaves mostly gone but it was still gorgeous :) And saw some murals on Washington Street and Columbus Ave.

Got talking to a (black) man round the corner on my way back home today... He says Boston has really changed and that in the 70s he used to be asked for 3 sets of ID before he would be allowed into any bar (if he was allowed at all). Another guy - homeless - came up to cadge a cig the other day and asked me (on hearing my accent) whether it was true that 'they treat black people good over there'.

No show at the Apollo laptop - I just went to have a look round (but in fact it was all being renovated so I didn't see much).

It was fine to take pictures without using the flash - I did ask :)

fat hamster

20-11-2005, 21:36

Another guy - homeless - came up to cadge a cig the other day and asked me (on hearing my accent) whether it was true that 'they treat black people good over there'.
Whatever did you reply?

Mation

20-11-2005, 22:12

Whatever did you reply?Didn't know what to say... Ended up mumbling something about how there is some racism, but yes pretty good really. He then turned to a couple of white guys nearby and said something I didn't catch, before walking off.

Johnny Canuck2

21-11-2005, 00:06

Mation

23-11-2005, 16:13

spring-peeper

23-11-2005, 16:30

Bah!

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow but my orphan-eyes aren't big enough and I don't have any invitations :( (apart from to Texas with the lovely pseudo :) - I come if it wasn't so far!)

Phoned a few homeless shelters to see if I could volunteer, but they don't want any more people.

</sob story>

So! What shall I do tomorrow then? :)

Thanksgiving is very much a family time - bigger than Christmas, imo. It doesn't surprise me that no-one invited you. Still sucks, though. :(

We always plan to do touristy things while down there at Thanksgiving because they are less crowded.

But you have to go and eat turkey somewhere - it's unamerican not too. Don't forget the pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

Enjoy!!!

23-11-2005, 17:50

Well, it's farther than Texas, but you're welcome to join our hippie Thanksgiving and have some

TOFURKEY

***

I'm surprised that nobody wants anymore volunteers. I bet there are some cool things happening in Boston around T-day. Any Native American cultural events?

Concrete Meadow

23-11-2005, 20:50

Mation

23-11-2005, 21:26

Come on down to Nueva York, Mation. There are still plenty of places looking for volunteers to serve at all hours!

Thinking of you -- and D, JC2, fat hamster -- and all urbanites from the States ...

Tippy Hanksgiving :)Thank you, and I'm sure JC2 and fat hamster will appreciate that too! ;)

Don't worry spring-peeper - I'll find sommat to do :) I'm a veggie though, so no turkey for me.

Just been out looking for tofurkey D :D Didn't bloody find any though and settled for tofu turkey slices instead. Thanks for the invite :) - would come but for time and money

<goes off to browse craigslist and the Phoenix>

laptop

23-11-2005, 21:46

<goes off to browse craigslist and the Phoenix>

If anything, I found Thanksgiving more mawkish than Xmas. Being exposed to other people's dysfunctional families - and was it just in Philly that there was this huge lie about the happy happy Injuns?

By the third one I wanted smallpox blankets :D

But there's bound to be a gay bar having the US equivalent of "bah! humbug!" day, no?

fat hamster

23-11-2005, 22:36

fat hamster -- and all urbanites from the States ...
Well, I've been called many things in my life, but never until now a USer! :D

Mation, have a lovely day tomorrow - I'll be thinking of you.

23-11-2005, 22:55

I have just transferred my !TOFURKEY! from the freezer to the fridge and I bought about 10,000 lbs of swiss chard, baby bok choi, spinach, broccoli, and kale to feed 12 tomorrow. I've also got some apricot butter for the basting.

mmm.

Johnny Canuck2

23-11-2005, 23:43

Bah!

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow but my orphan-eyes aren't big enough and I don't have any invitations :( (apart from to Texas with the lovely pseudo :) - I come if it wasn't so far!)

Phoned a few homeless shelters to see if I could volunteer, but they don't want any more people.

</sob story>

So! What shall I do tomorrow then? :)

I was in India once during Holi. People throwing paint on each other. It didn't mean a damn thing to me.

Thanksgiving isn't your holiday; you don't celebrate it at home, so why worry about it? Get in some DVDs, and treat yourself to a day of indolence and eating rich food you don't normally eat.

Johnny Canuck2

23-11-2005, 23:47

Well, it's farther than Texas, but you're welcome to join our hippie Thanksgiving and have some

TOFURKEY

Mation, don't do it. If you do, you'll immediately start speaking with a nasal Brooklyn accent, your feet will reform into the shape of a Birkenstock, and your body will immediately become allergic to any non-wholistic sanitary products. Who needs that?

Magneze

24-11-2005, 09:35

Happy Thanksgiving! :)
http://perfectflyer.com/Thanksgiving.jpg

24-11-2005, 09:48

Aaaah! My eyes!

Mation

24-11-2005, 15:50

Thanksgiving isn't your holiday; you don't celebrate it at home, so why worry about it? Get in some DVDs, and treat yourself to a day of indolence and eating rich food you don't normally eat.I'm not worried about it! I just thought that as I'm over here it would be interesting to see something of it. I can do without (another ;) ) day of indolence, so I'm doing a bit of work, then I might go for a wander later and see what I can see (where can I get some of those smallpox blankets? :D ).

Magneze. Thanks my love, but, erm, :eek: :eek: :p

laptop

24-11-2005, 15:53

(where can I get some of those smallpox blankets? :D ).

You're the one surrounded by biochemists, non?

Mation

24-11-2005, 15:57

Non. Engineers and signal processors mostly. Plus the odd physicist.

I need to rethink. Some kind of machine maybe...

Aha! Yes, yes it's all much clearer now.

If only I had a DeLorean I could go back and nick some blankets!

SubZeroCat

24-11-2005, 16:00

Hello Mation!

Hope all is well :)

My sister is NY at the moment, doing an internship. She says it's freezing out there (like over here!). What's it like in Boston?

laptop

24-11-2005, 16:01

Get the physicists to build a wormhole somewhere in mid-Atlantic. Effective in, say, early 1492.

Would save a whole lot of problems...

But come back before they turn it on :-)

Mation

24-11-2005, 16:23

Good thinking! Will do. :D

<waves to SZC>

Hello there! :)

Snow flurries today, proper snow tomorrow and it'll be -5 tonight apparently. You're due for snow too, aren't you?

I have warm things and waterproof things, so i quite fancy a long walk about town..

LilJen

24-11-2005, 16:25

So! What shall I do tomorrow then? :)Answer your friend's email :mad: ;)

Mation

24-11-2005, 17:01

Answer your friend's email :mad: ;) :o

Check your inbox.

:)

LilJen

24-11-2005, 17:06

[blows kisses to Mation]

pseudonarcissus

24-11-2005, 18:54

Mation,

I hope you have fun today.....wrap up warm. I'm just waiting for the stuffing to cool before I prepare my bird.

Go for a walk, I'm sure you'll find a convivial atmosphere in the bars once the family tensions have risen to boiling point in everyone's homes. Not even a Queen's Speach to use as an excuse for a little nap this afternoon

Johnny Canuck2

24-11-2005, 22:58

I'm not worried about it! I just thought that as I'm over here it would be interesting to see something of it. I can do without (another ;) ) day of indolence, so I'm doing a bit of work, then I might go for a wander later and see what I can see (where can I get some of those smallpox blankets? :D ).

Magneze. Thanks my love, but, erm, :eek: :eek: :p

Well then, Happy Thanksgiving to you, and all the americans here.

LilJen

24-11-2005, 23:11

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving :)

25-11-2005, 01:57

The verdict is in:

do not overcook tofurkey or it becomes something akin to leather.

But it comes with stuffing and very tasty vegan gravy.

And my basting kicked ass.

I'm stuffed and preparing to head over to a friend's place to watch a movie and have tea.

:cool:

Johnny Canuck2

25-11-2005, 02:12

Makes sense: it rhymes with beef jerky.

Mation

25-11-2005, 03:01

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving :)Ta my lovley :) And (rather late in the day!) to all you US urbs like JC2 and Hammy! :D

<sticks bottom out for some of D's basting>

Wandered about locally today. A few of the bars were doing free turkey dinners for all, which was nice. I stopped for a drink in one.... As I'm still struggling with oversized (for my wallet) US bills and can't tell them apart at a glance, I was faffing about with dollar bills and counted out the four I needed rather slowly. A woman at the bar smiled kindly up at me when I reached four and said "You did very well!" :D

Off to a lesbian bar/club downtown shortly. My bf seems very interested in this for some reason. ;)

Mation

25-11-2005, 21:04

That was fun :) Dire music - some chart rnb bollocks with the odd bit of christmas drivel - but met a friendly group of women and had a dance about anyway.

Was a bit surprised when I arrived at the club to open the door and find many, many men dressed up to the nines in tacky couteur, but then realised I wanted the side entrance instead.

Had a wander about Boston College today. Tried to take some pics but my camera is misbehaving. It's such a glorious, sunny day, and absolutely freezing (there were a few snowflakes last night), so I stopped and had some homemade ice-cream in an ice-cream parlour. And it's going to be 18 degrees on Tuesday. Mad weather!

There is no structure to this post at all. :)

26-11-2005, 00:10

Homemade ice cream is what Boston's all about if you ask me.

My friend and I went on a bike ride on a couple of the many trails that criscross and loop around the greater Boston area. Our touring map was devoid of things like emergency/petrol stations and the like, but it had an infinite number of independent ice creameries listed (and there seemed to be one every mile or so).

:D :p :cool:

Mation

26-11-2005, 03:45

26-11-2005, 08:24

Well I thought that if they could manage to open on a quiet day, in a quiet area when it was -1C and sell ice-cream, then it was the least I could do to go in and have some!

Recovered from the leathery tofurkey yet?

My slices were vile! :D

The tofurkey would have been okay if it hadn't been reheated so many damn times. There's nothing to speak for it over plain ole toful, though...Baked tofu with the same glaze (apricot, tamari, sesame oil - mmmm) would have done the trick and been considerably easier to chew.

The gravy, however, was divine. And my greens were scrumptious.

I still have lots of pie, some dumplings, and some veggies.

26-11-2005, 08:36

Mmm. Warm pumpkin pie and persimmon.

Mation

26-11-2005, 16:33

Mmmmmmmm. You're making me really hungry! And I haven't had any pie.

Put some in an envelope for me?

Speaking of persimmon fruit.. I bought one the other week when it was still a bit green and so left it to ripen. It was quite a bit bigger than any I've seen on sale in the UK, and I was greedily looking forward to it. When I thought it was ready, I tried some and all of the moisture in my mouth vanished in a nanosecond. :eek:

I was barely able to pull the pieces of fruit away from my tongue to throw it away - spitting out was impossible.

What happened to my lovely sweet sharon fruit?? (Are they ever called sharon fruit in the US?) They usually taste like Tcp when they're not ripe (which I quite like, actually). The thing I had could be used as a weapon!

26-11-2005, 16:37

I've never heard them called "sharon fruit" and, well, I have no idea what happened with your persimmon.

The fruit in California is far superior to the fruit anywhere else in the country. It's the only place I've lived where everything grows and it's possible to buy anything immediately ripe.

But I know what you mean about the occasional dryness of persimmons.

Mation

26-11-2005, 16:55

Occasional? Ok, they have some less freakishly oversized ones in the Chinese supermarket and I need to go there today, so I shall try another.

26-11-2005, 16:58

Make sure you get the fuyu ones, not the ones that start with an "h". The fuyus are the short, squat ones that look like tomatoes. I cannot stand the sort of torpedo/cone-looking ones, which get soft and squishy and leave this disgusting gummy coating on my mouth (maybe that's the kind you had?).

The fuyu ones are crisp, not too soft when ripe, and delicious.

Mation

26-11-2005, 17:15

ah! That must be it. I had a torpedo, but I'm used to having the tomato type. The latter are on sale at Super88. Hurrah! :)

fat hamster

26-11-2005, 17:37

I've never heard them called "sharon fruit" .
I have. Maybe it's an English thing.
But I know what you mean about the occasional dryness of persimmons.
They can be horribly astringent.

<purses lips at the memory>

I prefer my sharon fruit cooked, in a pudding. I had a wonderful recipe for persimmon pudding once...gotta find that again before Christmas. :)

Mation

26-11-2005, 19:12

I have. Maybe it's an English thing.I'm sure my mother (from Guyana) calls them sharon fruit too...

Hurrah! My bf's friend - the chap I stayed with in Battery Park - is in town with his lady-friend tonight, so we're going to go out for dinner and dancing. Wonder if i can get on the Rise guestlist again..

And tomorrow I'm going to get a free tour of Boston! I saw an ad on craigslist from someone who wants to start a tour business and needs people to practise on. So, assuming she's not an axe-murderer I should get to see a bit more than I have, from a native's perspective. :cool:

Mation

27-11-2005, 21:20

Excellent night out last night! :)

Went to a strange sort of middle-eastern burlesque tapas bar in Cambridge for dinner. Delicious food, though too much dosh for too little. Then went on to Rise..

This time both dance floors were packed and the music was banging. Met a friendly bloke who was there last time and remembered my name straight away .. There were no disturbingly intense-looking men trying to chat me up and pretending they didn't know it was a gay bar.. Was prepared for the lack of alcohol. Danced till dawn in my bra and was rather overdressed given the state of everyone else! :D

And I just had a great tour of Boston. It was a bit odd - felt like I was pretending to be a customer and the woman showing me around was pretending this was her job (about the size of it, really). Saw lots of things I had missed - graveyards, parts of the black heritage trail, little restaurants in North End, John Kerry's humungous house in Beacon Hill and photos of how Back Bay looked before the landf