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

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.

rustic! unpleasant!

RUSTIC!! Thank you. Jesus, I was wracking my stupid brain for that word.

Lol. I like to think that there is a fad of things with the theme "unpleasant."

I'm a broad shouldered broad and I hate feeling like I have to do the round-backed public transpo slouch when I'm out to eat and should be relaxing and flailing my Bier Frau arms all around my personal space.

I love your display name. And your Bief Frau arms. Let's cuddle soon.

Yes, Jesse, there are some places that more actively require it. I'm thinking, in particular, of a restaurant in Nashville that sets you up family style at the tables....i.e. communal seating, with family passed dishes and conversation. I kind of get a kick out of it, but I like shit like that. Also, I wouldn't go there if I was in the mood for something more solitary and intimate (which I often am).

Places like Urban Belly don't really bother me. Again, I wouldn't go there if I was in the mood for a more private dining experience, but I like the food and the fact that it's BYOB, and I don't feel that I have to make conversation with neighbors.

Jenny, I would like you to flail your Bier Frau arms all about the next time I see you.

the notion that you're somehow required to interact with people in that situation is weird to me

back off, the doggone bier frau's mine

xp

oh god being forced to eat "family style" (share troughs of food with strangers) is (to me) just utterly repulsive! if i wanted to go to church and eat in a basement i would do that. i think i taught myself to cook so i could avoid the possibility of going to restaurants for things i could conceivably make myself and eat at home in peace while wearing my housedress.

let it be known
communal dining is not for me

CHANGE OF TOPIC
have any of you seen the interrupters? i really want to see it but don't know when i can make it downtown to the old siskel.

But you're not being forced---if you don't want to do it, you don't go to that restaurant. And, it wasn't all stuff that I would make at home easily.

made. not make.

oh i know
i realize i'm totally neurotic about this!

Ha. A note, too, that the communal place wasn't a huge restaurant bringing out big pails of food. They only took reservations for something like 15 people per seating.

Oh my jeez. In this conversation "forced" and "required" will refer only to what is necessary when dining at those restaurants, not in life in general.

or even dining in general.

I'm getting better at writing boilerplate agreements and legal documents. I could put together some stipulations for the purposes of this discussion.

The forced dining with strangers thing was interesting on our Chicago to Sacramento train trip. Mostly fine, some decent conversation and one really charming meal with a brother and sister who were apparently travelling away from their very religious family/community group for the first time...and one meal with a woman who was so full of rage that she couldn't even express herself. She just sneered at everything the rest of us at the table said, and then accidentally threw her dressed salad all over herself trying to saw away at a tomato.

Communal tables don't really bother me. I've been to tiny storefront restaurants with separate tables where I've felt closer to my fellow diners than I have at Urban Belly or the Publican.

have any of you seen the interrupters? i really want to see it but don't know when i can make it downtown to the old siskel.

I've seen it. It's good.

Speaking of the Siskel, don't you have something to announce?

There's an artisinal pizza place in Atlanta that has a couple of two-tops out front, but most of the seating is at three long picnic-table-style benches back in the kitchen. Hot, boisterous, fun (for the people facing the ovens).

yeah i guess so! i kinda forgot tbh, there has been a lot going on this week and in general. (could explain my outburst re: communal dining as well)

it's harvest time at the siskel too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53GudoAMQes

this one just might be my favorite in the series btw

part of same festival as interrupters
no pressure btw

anyone know anyone looking for an apartment? one of my colleagues is moving.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/2563148658.html

No, but that's pretty nice.

Since I mentioned it, looks like I'll be at the Q & A on Sunday (but probably not on Wednesday) and D will (obvs) be at both screenings/Q&As.

Beautiful day out today, eh?

Screenings of what?

Preacher, the doc I posted the trailer for up there ^^^

When will we get a proper movie about Jesse Custer and his vampire friend Cassidy?

I'm not sure I can answer that question.

It's a good question, though, and one that needs an answer.

Who would you cast as Arseface?

Ryan Gosling

*snert*

no idea what you guys are talking about tbh

It's ok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preacher_(comics)

yeah i still have no idea but if y'all are amused, i'm amused

There is a comic book. It is called Preacher, like your homie's movie. Kenan (and me and lots of ther fans of the comic i bet) would like a movie to be made from the comic.

Subjoke - Arseface has a face like an arse due to a botched suicide attempt w/ shotgun and Ryan Gosling, being dreamy, is a silly choice to play him.

I thought I heard at one point they were either developing a movie or an HBO series for Preacher the comic.

Oh, I see you already delved into that a little. Is that Gosling thing a rumor?

I think the Gosling thing was a joke.