Chicago: They paved a fetid swamp/and put up a parking lot

Red Shoe Diaries: alone or as a couple?

R watches True Blood solo as well, or, at least, on the computer w/ headphones while I play video games or whatever.

I find Louie kind of inconsistent, but there are a handful of episodes that balance wry humor, flights of fancy, existential angst, and dramatic tension in a way that I think is pretty remarkable. I was trying to describe the show to Kr, and the only analogue I could come up with Annie Hall.

Well that's a bullet between the eyes for that show then.

Well, it was one of the only comedies to win a Best Picture Oscar. So there's that.

Annie Hall is great, fuiud.

^^^

I guess there's been an earthquake in NC/VA, including GSO?

Apparently a big one, felt all the way up the east coast.

H0oly what? Did the entire East Coast have an earthquack??

xp - OK

speaking of dad jokes, i couldn't believe no one acknowledged my response here: random overheard conversations that annoy you

I saw it, chuckled, thought about responding, then decided I didn't have anything to say except "lol" and sometimes it feels stupid to write that.

I'm kind of irrationally happy we've pulled off scheduling this thing. I also have this mixed feeling of dread/elation (as is the case with most things Malort) that I'm not going to see the destruction the inevitably results.

lol

H0oly what? Did the entire East Coast have an earthquack??

please stop me from larfing at my desk

I went home sick from work (really achy, run down, headache) and the thought of Malort makes me want to malort in my bed.

Fucking fever dreams last night: I kept dreaming that if I could switch to the right dream, I'd feel better and the pillow would be cool again, but I never found the right dream. Instead I got up and brought two ice packs back to bed with me.

xp - ha! It's the simple things!

Feel better, Jesse. Fever dreams are just your body and mind going into overdrive trying to GET STUFF DONE in a hurry. Sleep stuff. Like healing tissue and fighting infection. Sometimes they're kind of neat.

Nothing beats boat dreams, though. Sleeping on a boat give you the wildest dreams you've ever had.

Is Kuma's still an interminable wait? Still haven't gone, but I'd like to go next Tuesday night for my birthday. Do I still need to plan to wait 90 minutes to 2 hours?

yes

Ah fuck. Guess its another no go this year too. Fucking hell.

Take the day off and get there at 10:30 and you'll only have to wait 30 min.

My eight and a half month pregnant wife is, very understandably, not really wanting to put up with a really long wait right now.

Although if it's a nice day it can sometimes be really easy to get a table on the patio.

I do have to say, it must be really nice to open a restaurant that can still be riding this wave of hype five years later.

I hate sick days where I feel to sick to do something productive around the house.

I went to Kuma's on a Thursday around 5 PM with a group and we were able to get two tables on the patio in no more than 20 minutes.

Well that sounds more promising than the Yelp and other reviews I've read from the past few weeks.

Yeah, this was about a month ago. Actually, we might've gotten there closer to 4:30, so that could've made a difference.

Get it to go, bring it to the wife.

they don't do to-go there last time i checked

Nope.

Hot Doug's backup plan?

How about a place with reservations. There are tons of them.

Well, yeah, the point was I wanted to try Kumas though.

When K8e, Jenny, and I went to Kumas we must have gotten really lucky. We were there on a weekend afternoon and we sat at the bar after a wait of maybe 15 minutes, if my memory is to be trusted.

Jenny didn't even get food that time. What a waste!

She didn't?? Wow.

K8080 and I split the Slayer
Pile of fries topped with a 10 oz. Burger, Chili, Cherry Peppers, Andouille, Onions, Jack Cheese, and Anger - $15

Just noticed on their website "To go service ends during patio season. Or when the patio is running. Whether it is sooner or later than the dates posted."

You're conflating multiple Kuma's trips, doggie. The time I went with you, we managed one seat at the bar and drank beers while Katie ate and then we went somewhere else that I can't remember.

I think we went to the cheese shop in Oak Park.

So I guess it was on another trip that Katie and I split the Slayer.

I like your display name.

Man, the term of affection "doggie" absolutely. positively. THRILLS me! I just want to snuggle up with you for calling me that. Or rub my face on you, like a cat.

To go service never starts because I've tried during non-patio season. And got mocked.

Jesse, I think you're right re: cheese shop.

I started to explicitly invite you over for snuggles, but I choked on raisin bran, which is clearly God's way of preventing me from making a terrible mistake.

The Slayer was delicious. I, too, have been pretty lucky on weekdays--usually a 15-30 minute wait, but I've probably only been 3 or 4 times over the years. If I were giving advice (which I am), I would go to Kuma's to see what the wait is, but make a (n easily cancelled) reservation at another nearby restaurant for 30-45 minutes after that. My personal recommendations in the neighborhood would be: Buona Terra, Lula's (which, on second thought, I think is closed on Tuesdays), Urban Belly (no reservations, but I've always gotten a seat, even on weekends), or Staropolska.

Urban Belly is our Kuma's backup -- loooooove the pho-spiced DUMPLINGS!, atmosphere leaves a little something to be desired but I do not like communal seating very much.

dumpling s

DUMPLINGS!

Communal seating is a scourge. Can't wait for that trend to die.

Got the Bill James book but I'm going to finish the book I'm reading first (previously mentioned The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart), which is maybe appealing to some posters here. It is about two murderous, Mary-worshipping brothers who travel through the Alps in the 1300s robbing graves and encountering folkloric monsters and demons. It's kind of historical horror comedy in book form. Good stuff, glad I stuck with it.

Nick what kind of video game console do you have?

Playstation 3

Haha thanks, Nick.

I don't mind communal seating, especially at places that don't require interaction with your neighbors.

require? to me they basically force. i had to hear this couple arguing about their in-laws the last time i went to urb. belly. i just wanted to eat and talk about my food with a little bit of fake privacy, but there they were across the table from me, bickering.

in better news, look what just came in the mail!!

http://www.cargo-records.de/cover/00046634.jpg

I hate it almost as much as poor data connectivity.

K8e, are you saying there are places that actually do *require* interaction between diners at a communal table? Like group participation? If so, I agree that those are worse, but communal seating passively demands interaction, and I can do without it. It was a novelty that I associate with the trends of things being wholesome, "natural," "peasant-ish," or organic.