Vancouver meetup

March 23, 2004 2:43 PM

Let's try this again.
Vancouver MetaFilter Meetup
Date: April 23, 2004
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Somewhere downtown
Featured guest: five fresh fish?
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter gatherings at 2:43 PM (24 comments total)

Oh, god, please don't make me a featured guest. It makes it sound like I've got to entertain everyone. I'm not entertaining.

I'm down there because I'm hitching a ride on my wife's conference; my free time may be constrained by her expectations that I attend any convention parties.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:48 PM on March 23, 2004

Sounds good. Should we do a lounge-esque / bar thing or a restaurant thing? Any venue suggestions?
posted by antifreez_ at 2:50 PM on March 23, 2004

Relax, fff. It's just that you're an out-of-towner. Maybe mathowie will come up and take the pressure off you.

A restaurant would be good for me. How about Delilah's? We'd probably need to reserve on a Friday night, so we'd need a certain level of commitment.
posted by timeistight at 3:45 PM on March 23, 2004

I'd have name-checked MiguelCardoso there, but he's declared war on British Columbia.
posted by timeistight at 3:50 PM on March 23, 2004

Heh. I haven't been to Delilah's in ages. Count me in.

Also, fff, a word to the wise: we haze our featured guests. I'll tell fgj to shave his stomach for the event (better grip that way).
posted by antifreez_ at 3:50 PM on March 23, 2004

Cool, Delilah's it is. Is six still okay, if it's dinner?
posted by timeistight at 3:53 PM on March 23, 2004

I'd have name-checked MiguelCardoso there, but he's declared war on British Columbia.

Yes, I brought down the righteous fury of Miguel on all of us poor British Columbians. I'll be praying for your safety from the confines of the island.
posted by The God Complex at 5:38 PM on March 23, 2004

Teehee! British Columbia came to mind because it seems such a silly name: imagine a county in England called Canadian Vietnam. ;)

Hope you all have a great time!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:53 PM on March 23, 2004

I miss Vancouver sometimes.

Go buy some drugs down in Pigeon Park for me, willya, just for old times' sake?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:22 PM on March 23, 2004

Is the Churchill Arms still open, down at the yawning cusp of the Hastings strip, and is it still an old-man bar, with an ambience like a Sergio Leone spaghetti western parody of Barfly, as filmed by Federico Fellini? I used to love that place, back in the day.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:25 PM on March 23, 2004

Teehee! British Columbia came to mind because it seems such a silly name: imagine a county in England called Canadian Vietnam. ;)

Yes, but is it decidedly sillier than New York, New Mexico, or any other number of American "news"? The answer is no! And I would posit that those names are even sillier, so take that, America!

I miss Vancouver sometimes.

Come, visit, and regale passer-by with your tales of misanthropic woe! I'll even buy you a pint of your favoured ale ;)
posted by The God Complex at 9:50 PM on March 23, 2004

Not to mention the embarrassingly high number of places named after Lisbon and other European cities... That just can't be right, can it, TGC? :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:20 PM on March 23, 2004

I don't know. I think Lisbon has a beautiful phonetic quality. Then again, I'm biased, as I've always been overtly fond of Lisbonians...
posted by The God Complex at 10:40 PM on March 23, 2004

I ask her "What's going on for you on Friday," and she replies, "Probably the banquet."

"What about the banquet?" I ask.

"I bought a ticket for you," she replies. "I could probably cancel you, though."

I note she makes no offer to cancel herself.

I'll have to think on this.

Any chance we can bump this to Thursday or Saturday?
posted by five fresh fish at 11:09 PM on March 23, 2004

I don't want to play the spoilsport since the plan for Delilah's seems to be rolling along; however, might I suggest that based on certain factors, it might not be the best spot for a meetup (I've never been there, so feel free to tell me if I'm misinformed):

* reservations require commitment and as we've seen with the Portland picnic (et. al.), commitment is a bad thing for meetups — people are much more likely to go to something more casual where they can drop in, have a drink and leave

* Delilah's own (rather atrocious Flash-enabled) site quotes Zagat as saying "Not a place for peace and quiet"

* two points: their set-price menu isn't very vegetarian friendly (as I don't eat fish) and again, this is a $30 commitment (where commitment == bad)

That said, if people want to go to Delilah's I'm game, but I just thought I'd point out a few concerns with the venue. LET'S MAKE THIS THE BEST DAMN VANCOUVER MEFI MEETUP EVER!
posted by filmgoerjuan at 11:15 PM on March 23, 2004

And five fresh fish, we're trying to schedule this to coincide with your visit...you could at least try to pretend that you are not totally whipped ;)
posted by filmgoerjuan at 11:17 PM on March 23, 2004

Any chance we can bump this to Thursday or Saturday?

I can't do Saturday, but Thursday's fine with me.

Delilah's *is* pretty lively but not like live rock band lively. I don't think I've ever been there with a non-flesh eater though – you could call them and see if they could accommodate you. Or you could subsist on martinis.

Or we could try somewhere else. Ideas?
posted by timeistight at 3:29 AM on March 24, 2004

Oh, and you can certainly drop in to Delilah's for a drink. It's a drinking kind of place.
posted by timeistight at 3:31 AM on March 24, 2004

Hmm. Thursday is bad for me as it stands now, but I may be able to change that, closer to the date. More later.

Also, I'm fine with a change in venue. As long as I can get a decent cup of coffee wherever the meetup is, I'll be happy.
posted by antifreez_ at 9:42 AM on March 24, 2004

Hey, I was lying in bed, typing on the laptop, with my wife beside me. Of Course I'm whipped. Whaddya think would happen if I'd told her right there and then, "Hey, babe, I'm dumping you for a buncha metafreaks."

I'll pursue this a bit more this evening, find out how she feels about hanging with strangers, find out how annoying her party is going to be, and make a decision.

My vote is for cheap, good beer, and not too noisy but ready to put up with us.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:50 AM on March 24, 2004

Doh! I will miss this by one week!
posted by Quartermass at 7:02 PM on March 24, 2004

Righty-o. Although she says she doesn't have a problem with geeks (are we geeks? I don't think we're geeks. I might be a bit geeky, but I doubt all of you are), she'd rather go to her banquet. And I, I am quite sure, do not want to go to her banquet. My god, no.

So I'll be there. If we figure out where "there" is.

We'll be in the Burnaby (Metrotown) area, and I know how to catch the rail to downtown, if that makes any difference...
posted by five fresh fish at 10:00 PM on March 24, 2004

So we're back to Friday. How about a venue?
posted by timeistight at 1:30 AM on March 25, 2004

Wherever you get it together, make sure you post lots to pictures, yo!
posted by squirrel at 4:56 PM on March 26, 2004