Jan 6 NYC Dopefest: Official Countdown(Linked! Don't Delete!)

Nemo:

The last SF/Fantasy specialty bookshop left in the city (Science Fiction & Mystery, in Tribeca) packed up and moved out to New Jersey a year or so ago.

St. Mark’s Bookshop (31 Third Avenue, near 9th Street) reports to the Locus magazine bestseller list, so they may just be the best general bookshop for science fiction.

I’m also fond of Coliseum Books (57th and Broadway) as an all-purpose independent bookstore who seem to be well-stocked in everything, but they lack the Locus seal of approval for SF.

maybe we should talk about a pre-Chumley’s SF bookstore walking crawl?

Do you mean I’ve been cleaning my apartment for nothing?!!

Bwahahahaha! You owe me a keyboard, Billdo. :smiley: As luck would have it, I don’t have a dog. But the cat has been acting a bit strange…

Also, I’m interested in the museum tour. Sign me up!

Really? Now I’m embarressed. I live two blocks from there, and I never thought to check out the SF/Fantasy section. I guess I’ll just stop there on the way home from work.

My Most Seriously Updated So Much It Makes Me Dizzy List so far (37 total dopers and guests so far)
Chance the Gardener
Friedo
The Tim
Little Nemo
Vix
MerrySquirrels
Maeglin
Brachyrhynchos (bristlebeak)
Tymp (first drink’s on me)
Tripler
MannyL
Falcon
Rosebud
Cajun Man and DrMatrix
Billdo
Green Bean
Soulsling
DaveW0071 (your friendly neighborhood hired killer)
BigGirl and Hubby
Capacitor
Ankh_too
StuyGuy
Lux Fiat
SuaSponte
Annie X-mas
SaxFace
Manhattan (the other Manny.)
Ukelele Ike
Thespos
Alessan
Swimming Riddles and (lucky)Guest
Slowhand53
Zebra
Wonko The Sane
Hopefuls-
Friedo
LurkerNoMore
Little Nemo
Waterj2
Opalcat and UDD (Mebbie)
Juniper200

If I’m wrong or you want to join in, just post your intent, or my error.

Thanks for starting this list Billdo. It’s Fun!

We’ve paid for our hotel room, so we’re not a “mebbie” anymore. :slight_smile:

OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN TO NYC DOPEFEST VI: SOIREE AT THE SPEAKEASY

Two Weeks, Five Days and counting

In the lead story of today’s news update, Wonko the Sane has released his updated list of attendees. In our effort to be your best provider of news of the upcoming dopefest, we’ve asked a self-important commentator to explain the differences between the official Wonko list and the unofficial official countdown list:

*ahem. Yes, after a careful and deliberative review and comparison of the two lists, I have determined that the two lists are largely similar but differ in several significant ways.

First of all, Wonko’s list has a listing for “Biggirl and Hubby,” while the our list has Biggirl and her husband, Housman, each listed. Although he is not as, um, verbally effusive as Biggirl, Housman is a registered user and a great contributor to dopefests in his own right.

Wonko’s list has manhattan listed as “(the other Manny),” an obvious comparison to MannyL. Subsequent to the publication of Wonko’s list, the Committee for Dopefest Name Usage came out with a ruling on the similar nicknames. In light of manhattan’s extensive tenure on the board, impressive post count, august status as a moderator, and most important, his habit of buying manny, manny rounds of drinks, the Committee decided that manhattan will remain known at the dopefest as “Manny.” MannyL will be referred to as “Murgatroyd.” On the other hand, on the pre-dopefest museum tour, MannyL will be referred to as “Manny,” and manhattan, should he decide to attend, will be referred to as “Winky-Pinky-Icky-Picky-Poo-Doo.”

Lurkernomore was listed on Wonko’s list but not our list. After a review of lurkernomore’s response in the original dopefest thread that he was “probable,” he has been added to our list. On the other hand, delphica was not on Wonko’s list, and considering her enthusiastic request to attend, will be maintained on our list of attendees. Also, the guest of SwimmingRiddles (who we are counting on to leave the tip) is listed on our list as SwimmingGuest and by Wonko as (lucky)guest. We belive either description will describe the guest swimmingly.*

In other attendee news, Nacho4Sara has announced that due to employment concerns, she may be unable to attend. The New York dopers are negotiating with the DC lunch bunch (if Lynn’s cousin
Vinee is unavailabe) to make a short trip to Nacho4Sara’s job to, ahem, talk to her boss if she is not given the weekend off.

Filling in the alphabetic hole that may be left by Nacho4Sara’s possible departure, OpalCat has confirmed her attendance, along with her husband Undead Dude. Surprising few, she mentioned a BDSM-themed cafe she had visited on a prior trip (and provided a picture of a waiter that Cajun Man described as “Mmmmmmm”).

For the alphabetic clean sweep, we still are looking for posters to attend with screen names starting with: E, I, K, N (unless Nacho4Sara can make it), P (possibly PattyCake), Q, X, and Y.

Zebra has inquired as to whether new attendees would be responsible for bringing a goat. Appropriate goat resources have been arranged for. However, anyone who has not attended a New York City dopefest before will be required to bring the following items: a 12-foot bullwhip (leather only), a black woolen watch cap, fingerless gloves (sailing, bicycling, or weightlifting gloves will be acceptable), an unopened box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a 750ml bottle of Balsamic vinegar, and a used whitewall tire. No footwear with velcro closures will be permitted (not a problem for possible attendee andygirl). Also, it is recommended but not required that new attendees bring a neoprene “farmer john”- style wetsuit.

Based on popular demand, we were going to plan a walking tour of the specialty bookstores of New York, but due to their demise, we will have to have a walking tour of their modern substitutes, the Barnes & Noble megastores. We’ll start at the multi-level store with cafe at 86th Street and Second Avenue, move a few blocks over to the store at 86th and Lexington, cross Central Park to the two level plus mezzanine store (with cafe) on 82nd and Broadway, and shuffle down Broadway to the five level Lincoln Square behemoth (with cafe and music section, of course) at 66th and Broadway. After a quick subway ride (skipping the midtown stores that are not nearly so massive), we’ll stop at the almost block-wide Chelsea store (with music department and mezzanine cafe) at Sixth Avenue and 22nd Street. We’ll pay homage to the Fifth Avenue and 18th Street main store (sadly a shadow of its former self), and pass quickly to the giant four level Union Square store (with cafe and music department) at 17th and Park Avenue South. We’ll end our journey walking to the Astor Place store where we can celebrate its completion with a cup of Starbuck’s in the cafe.

For those more interested in arts than literature (now including Maeglin, MerrySquirrels and Falcon, if she can get her butt into the City early enough), we will be going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, unless someone violently protests. We may also be able to fit in a visit to the Guggenheim (or another Fifth Avenue museum if someone has a preference). Further details will be provided when they are available (and someone explain what that last bit means to soulsling so he stops asking “when are we gonna get details on the museum tour” every five minutes like a kid in the back seat on a long car ride).

A special thank you to Eutychus55 for fixing the word wrap problems on yesterday’s installment. For that he gets added to the list of requested posters. (Come on Euty. It’s not that far from Rhode Island to New York.)

Yeah, try tellin’ that to H.P. Lovecraft.

– yr obd’t svt, , A Proud Dweller in the Noxious and Nightmarish Elephantiasis of Climbing Stone

Oooh…museums or bookstores? MerrySquirrels and I are torn…this is cruel.

MR

I held off on posting to the previous thread because Saturdays I’m usually out of town, and I’m still not sure I can make it… but please add me to the list of maybes. I don’t want to hear anymore about all the fun I’ve missed.

The book store tour sounds great. Any plans to have a U-Haul trailer to carry everyone’s buys? :wink:

Count me in as a maybe for any daytime activities-- I may actually have to work that day (though I will OF COURSE be free in time for dinner hour debauchery, even if I’m spelling it wrong) but the suggested museum crawl sounds fun. I dig that stuff. Ha, ha, dig… museum… archeology!

If it would make things easier for the evening,I would change my name to Not MANNY but Manny thus ending the Manny confusion and more importantly giving the letter N it’s spot back. Otherwise you could call me Mr. X taking care of the X problem

OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN TO NYC DOPEFEST VI: MAYHEM IN MANHATTAN

Two Weeks, four days and counting

When: January 6, 2001. 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Cecil Standard Time)

Where: Chumley’s, 86 Bedford Street (corner of Barrow Street), New York, New York 10014
Note that this is an old speakeasy with an unmarked door.
For more info, click on their website: http://www.chumleys.citysearch.com/
Ask for “Cecil Adams” party.

Transit: Take the 1 train to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square, A-B-C-D-E-F trains to West 4th Street or the PATH train to Christopher Street.

Parking: See map.

Pre-Dopefest Activity: Saturday Afternoon Museum Tour. Details to follow.

(Possible Post-Dopefest Activity: Sunday Brunch.)

Who: (so far) Alessan, Ankh_Too (offering sexual favors at low, low wholesale prices), Annie-Xmas, Biggirl, Billdo*, Brachyrhynchos (bristlebeak), Cajun Man, capacitor, Chance the Gardner, DAVEW0071(your friendly neighborhood hired killer), delphica, DrMatrix, Falcon**, friedo, Green Bean*, Houseman, Juniper200, Little Nemo*, lurkernomore, Lux Fiat, Maeglin*, manhattan, MannyL* (to be known as Murgatroyd at the dopefest), MerrySquirrels*, OpalCat, Rosebud**, SaxFace, slowhand53, soulsling*, stuyguy, SuaSponte, Swimming Riddles (she’s so swell), SwimmingGuest, THespos, The Tim, Tripler, Tymp (his first drink’s on Wonko), Ukelele Ike, Undead Dude, vix*, waterj2, Wonko the Sane, Zebra

(* Going on Museum Tour. ** Museum Tour mabye)

Possibles: andygirl, Fillet, Green Bean’s husband, Nacho4Sara, PattyCake, RobotArm, Rosebud’s boyfriend

Requested but not responding: Alphagene, Eutychus55, Eve, iampunha, quietgirldownthehall (we need a ‘Q’), TubaDiva

We’ll raise a glass to: Sakura, Surgoshan

Why: To fight ignorance (and kill a few brain cells along the way).

Today’s news update:

Today was a quiet day on the markets, with low trading volume. The only major movers were Fillet, gaining half a point as a maybe, and Rosebud, who went up 1/8 on rumors of possible museum tour attendance. Ukulele Ike surged in early trading, but ended the day unchanged after nobody got his Lovecraft joke.

MannyL submitted a request for reconsideration to the Committee for Dopefest Name Usage, hoping to play off the uncertainty in the letter N based on Nacho4Sara’s potential scheduling conflict. The Committee’s issued their official response: “Tough filberts, Murgatroyd. You ain’t getting out of this so easy.”

To avoid scheduling conflicts and to mitigate the noise pollution of low-flying ‘woosh’ sounds, the walking tour of Barnes & Noble outlets in the City had been replaced by the following virtual tour: http://www.bn.com

Because we have people coming in from all directions (except perhaps, southeast, unless aquaman decides to swim in), to serve the NYC Dopefest community better, Official Countdown will be instituting a ride sharing board. If you are driving in to the Dopefest, or any associated activities, and are willing to take along a passenger coming from your direction, please post the area where you are coming from, when you plan to come, and whether you plan to stay overnight. Brachyrhynchos has already offered a ride from Central Jersey. (Side benefit from ride sharing: only one of you has to be a designated driver.)

In a correction to yesterday’s edition, vix was inadvertently left off the list of museum tour attendees. The editorial staff regrets this error, and requests that vix put on her tin foil hat before mentioning this to her cat.

Geesh! What a crowd!

Hope y’all don’t think that this is a dorky suggestion, but should we consider getting some name tags? I’ll make them if people want them.

I only gained a lousy 1/8?! I need to work on increasing my market value.

See, the joke is, Lovecraft lived in New York briefly in the early 1920s while he was married to Sonia Greene, first in a nice apartment just off Prospect Park in Brooklyn, then in a studio in Brooklyn Heights, after their separation. Two fairly good stories, “The Horror at Red Hook” and “He,” were set in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village respectively. As loneliness set in he became more and more repulsed by the city, finding it cold and impersonal and incidentally swarming with both Blacks and the recent Mediterranean, Eastern European, and Jewish immigrants which he loathed. By the late '20s, he was able to return to his family home in Providence, the city for which he had the greatest affinity, and to produce his work of the late '20s and early '30s, which most critics call his finest.

Ah, nuts. Euty woulda got it. Two things Rhode Islanders can do: drink coffee syrup and quote Lovecraft trivia.

{gets under the covers with his stuffed velveteen Cthulhu and sucks his thumb}

Mr. Bean (aka Overengineer will be there.

I’ve not posted too much on this thread because I’ve been practicing not talking too much. Two days four hours, almost.

If Nacho doesn’t come, I could change the first letter of my username to an “n”.

Nope, don’t think I like that username.

O.K., I’ll shut up now.

Please add me to the list of maybe’s. I’m way out in eastern LI, but I’d love to attend if possible.