Comments on 12976

I'd be interested, and formal hall sounds like an excellent plan. For the uninitiated, formal hall is lots and lots of fun, and "formal" does not equal "stuffy and strait-laced". The details depend on which college's Hall we go to, but they're all surprisingly cheap, especially at the older colleges — certainly less than £10 and sometimes less than £5.
posted by matthewr at 8:16 AM on October 28, 2006

reposting from metachat...

Wikipedia can make formals look daunting, but they're really lots of fun and not intimidating. Each Cambridge college has formals regularly - at some colleges it's twice a week, at others (like Trinity) it's five days a week. The food is generally great. Price-wise, they're heavily subsidised by colleges, so it'll be under £10, and about £3 at some colleges. Guys wear suits, girls wear something smart (but not like a ballgown or anything...), and college members wear their gowns on top.

As for getting invited, anyone who's a member of the College can invite people, so that's not a problem. A couple of days before it, you tell the college how many guests you want to have, and pick up tickets.

Don't be put off by an image of Cambridge as full of wine-quaffing sneering toffs, we're perfectly normal these days.

Grouse's college's formals will be better than those at mine, so I propose grouse's college... (if that's alright with him).
posted by matthewr at 9:10 AM on October 28, 2006

I'd be interested, (is there a date in mind?) if I can find a reasonably-priced hotel or b&b for the night. I don't fancy a long drive home.
posted by essexjan at 9:36 AM on October 28, 2006

I could do 17 November. It would cost less than GBP 8 (including wine!). What do y'all think?
posted by grouse at 9:52 AM on October 28, 2006

Oh, my gosh, if you go to Magdalen, you have to take a photo of yourselves at the gatehouse or something and post it. I spent a summer there and I'm getting all misty thinking about it.
posted by Medieval Maven at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2006

Yeah, 17 November would be fine with me.
posted by matthewr at 10:05 AM on October 28, 2006

Medieval Maven meditating on Magdalene makes Medieval Maven misty.
posted by grouse at 10:11 AM on October 28, 2006

This sounds awesome. Count me in.

P.S. What became of the last Cam FoHa MeFi Meet-Up?
posted by chrismear at 2:41 PM on October 28, 2006

This sounds awesome indeed. I'm very interested, and the 17th probably works for me.
posted by sueinnyc at 3:07 PM on October 28, 2006

Drat, I fly into Heathrow via USA November 18th noonish or I'm sure my friend whose already in Scotland and I would be game. Anyone up for another meetup while we're there through the 26th?
posted by jmd82 at 3:47 PM on October 28, 2006

Hmmmm, that's do-able, even though the next day I'm meant to be going to my sister's for the rest of the weekend. But Cambridge is 50 miles closer to her house than mine, which means I'd be almost halfway to where she lives anyway, so yes, I'd be up for 17th.
posted by essexjan at 4:21 PM on October 28, 2006

Don't know, chrismear, but I found this bunch of pics documenting an epic multi-day MonkeyFilter meetup in Cambridge.
posted by matthewr at 5:37 PM on October 28, 2006

I was just thinking: someone should really turn my last comment into a tagline.

jmd82: Cannot do the 24th, sorry.

Will contact matthewr, essexjan, chrismear, and sueinnyc by e-mail to make arrangements. Since I must book and pay for in advance, I unfortunately must have firm numbers. If anyone else would like to join in, please e-mail me at the address in the profile.
posted by grouse at 8:37 AM on October 29, 2006

The last train back from Cambridge to London is the 23:19 to King's Cross, arriving at 00:40.
posted by grouse at 9:14 AM on October 29, 2006

The last one never materialized as there wasn't enough interest. Good luck to this one.
posted by allen.spaulding at 2:08 PM on October 29, 2006

Just moved into Cambridge myself, but can't do the 17th and the only time I sniff a suit is when someone gets married.

I'll meet anyone, any time in the Champion of the Thames though.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 4:37 AM on October 30, 2006

I'd be up for that (never went to very many formal halls during my time there), but not sure I can do the 17th...
posted by flashboy at 4:47 AM on October 30, 2006

I'd definitely be up for a mefi meetup in Cambridge, but not at a formal.

I may well be painting everyone with the same brush, but I've been to a couple of formals at Robinson and was disgusted with the attitude towards anyone who wasn't wearing a gown (ie, waitressing staff and visitors)

Make sure you post the pics though!
posted by twine42 at 4:57 AM on October 30, 2006

I would be up for this altho' not-the-17th would be better.
posted by i_cola at 5:43 AM on October 30, 2006

I may well be painting everyone with the same brush

You sure are.

I've been to a couple of formals at Robinson and was disgusted with the attitude towards anyone who wasn't wearing a gown (ie, waitressing staff and visitors)

We aren't going to Robinson (which is, in fact, noted for its rowdy drinking societies, banned this year after members pushed total children into the river). I frequently don't wear a gown to my college and am not treated any differently. YMMV.

Let's do a traditional meetup some other time.
posted by grouse at 6:22 AM on October 30, 2006

twine42, I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I've never seen anything like what you describe. I'm sure it happens from time to time at some colleges with a big drinking-society contingent, but it really isn't common.

Anyone else thinking of coming, don't let twine42 put you off.

Even if what twine42 described was in fact the norm, the formal we're going to won't have any undergraduates anyway.
posted by matthewr at 9:45 AM on October 30, 2006

Have e-mail confirmation from matthewr, sueinnyc, essexjan, crocomancer and chrismear. Sounds like a fun night! Please be sure to tell me if you have any special dietary needs.
posted by grouse at 12:38 PM on October 30, 2006

you don't wear a gown? But that's the funnest part! I wear my husband's spare gown, and I don't even have a degree as far as Cambridge is concerned.

I'm also in Cambridge*, but I'm not sure about the 17th (I may be working). But can you really invite that many people? My husband's college has a guest limit of 2, except for a special out of term post-grad formal hall.

*Grantchester to be specific - that's my husband's webpage you've linked to above. It was a multiday meetup so that people (ie the 2 monkeys who came) didn't have to rush back to London. I wasn't there, but they seemed to have had a lot of fun.
posted by jb at 9:27 AM on November 3, 2006

October 28, 2006 7:31 AM Subscribe

October 28, 2006
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