Well, Mr. Cynical and I should be able to make it this year if we start saving now.
I start looking for THE SHIRT tonight, I’m sure I’ll find it by January.
I think I must send my regrets this year. I was able to come the last two years because I was in New York for the holidays to visit family, but I can’t stay as late as the 18th.
Most likely, I will be on a research vessel off the Caribbean coast of Panama at that time . . . 
I was afraid of that! We’ll miss you, Col.
Thanks for the thought. On the other hand, I almost certainly *will * be in NY from just before Christmas to a bit after New Years, so might be able to join some NY Dopers for lunch, dinner, or dimsum sometime in there - though it’s a tough time of year to schedule anything.
I’m thinking of buying a bigger, flashier tiara for this one. Either that or dressing up as Lady Liberty, à la Klinger from MAS*H.
Or I might just end up wearing a kilt and line up for inspection with the rest of the boys. :eek:
I have a few suggestions
-White Horse Tavern (567 Hudson Street at West 11th Street)-site of Dylan Thomas’ collapse and death after drinking 18 shots of scotch
-P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue Long Island City, Queens (718) 784-2084)- http://www.ps1.org/cut/main.html
-Frick Collection 1 East 70th Street (at Fifth Avenue) Manhattan(212) 288-0700)-a lot of Renaissance paintings
Can some of it be somewhere where actual group conversation and interaction can occur?
Hi, Opal. I’m looking forward to meeting you.
Yeah, I pretty much had to scream conversations at both bars we went to this year, and my voice was hoarse after the first night out (because sooo many people wanted to talk to me ;)) There must exist slightly quieter nightspots where debauchery is still permitted. {{Thinks of Beerchick lying on the ground underneath GrandfatherTrout, snapping a picture up his kilt. Now that’s a Kodak moment.}}
I only have the memories… {{sigh}}
I went to the NYC one a few years back and the main activity was at a restaurant/bar where there was barely walking room and everyone was seated at different booths and you pretty much only got to talk to the people right around you. There were people there I didn’t even get to be introduced to. 
For the most part, things are all right, but for some reason each year we manage to hit one place that is just completely awful as far as stuffage. Er, being stuffed. Um, crowded.
Two years ago was that Tin Roof place manhattan is such a fan of, and last year was, I believe, the Bleeker St. Bar, wich was downright suffocating.
Anyway, Miss Creant, it’s good to hear from you. I’m glad y’all will be able to make it this year.
[sub]And the Shirt … yessss … precioussss.[/sub]
Gorgon Heap and Acrylic Vessel, bring the Egyptian Rat Screw. I’m ready.
That sounds so dirty.
It would be cool if everyone could chip in a few bucks and rent out a banquet room.
OOoOOoooh! A 75 person game of Egyptian Rat Screw! MUAHAHAHAHA!!! we’d have to use suction-dart guns instead of slapping…
Ok. Opal knows how to play Ratscrew. You have just risen another point on my Cool-O-Meter.
And I’ve always got a deck of cards on me, so this could be fun.
<hijack>
ok I have to ask… there are various regional rules and for some reason some of the east coast folks don’t play the add-up-to-ten rule. Do you?
Here is my Egyptian Rat Screw Page if you are interested </hijack>
Thanks for the suggestions guys. We’ll be looking into them. (Ah the challenges of planning – investigating the bars of the City.)
As to the bars for Friday and Saturday night, I think that there’s no getting around the fact that they’ll be crowded and noisy. I think the back room of No Idea on Saturday night last year worked out pretty well. Yes it was noisy, but we could all hang out together. We’re seeing about repeating it this year. Bleecker Street Bar was too crowded last year, and we’re trying to find someplace better, particularly someplace with a separate room we can use.
Unfortunately, the bars and restaurants of New York are quite far behind on their disability access issues. Most places haven’t gone through a major remodeling in years or decades, so they haven’t been required to be ADA compliant. For instance, the White Horse is a wonderful, historical, literary bar, but there’s just no way to get a wheelchair in there. And many of the places that have a separate room have it downstairs, an obvious no-go.
Anyway, it can be a real challenge finding places that meet our needs, particularly as we haven’t been able to find an effective source of disability access ratings on- or offline.
One of the things I like about our expanded format is that we’ll have more time to break up and have smaller-group activities. Any event that has 75 people in a room together isn’t going be conducive to meeting everyone. But going through a museum with a dozen lets folks get to know each other.
P.S. 1 and the Frick are good suggestions. I like the idea of introducing visitors to the smaller museums of the City, particularly those in the outer boroughs. We’ll keep them in mind.
I appreciate the suggestions, folks, and please keep them coming. Also, if you’re interested in helping organize or lead the smaller group trips, please e-mail me.
October, a lovely three-paycheck month, will be the make or break with me. And I don’t get MLK, so I’d either have to take it or I’d have to do the short version. Still, let’s count me as a desirous maybe.
[whistles] Opal, I have heard of the Runs rule before, but found it impossible to play since we have never done so in some 9 years of playing the game.
The Sums rule sounds way too much. The game is so fast to begin with, actually having to think about what’s in front of you sounds awful.
Oh, sorry for the hijack, Bill.
Rawr! I hope one of those is owed to me! I believe I owe you a mint, as well.