[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: The Good Labor day dinner

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
The Good Labor day dinner
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1157486744.shtml


   Many thanks to Judith Weiss for organizing last night's [1]Labor Day
   dinner at the [2]Good Restaurant.

   Truth in advertising - the food really was Good.

   Michael Totten was in town for about 24 hours, [3]returning from Tel
   Aviv, on his way back to Portland. He adjusted to the jet lag, culture
   shock and temperature changes with an ease that seemed effortless.

   Some of his info about traveling in the Middle East:

     In the summer sun, follow the advice of the natives and never go
     out without something to cover your head. As one turbaned rural
     Tunisian once asked MJT (in perfect English) "Do you think we wear
     these things to make a fashion statement?"

     Camel spiders do exist, they really are [4]unfathomably ugly and
     they're all over sandy places. However, they're not really spiders,
     they're scorpions.

     Unlike McDonald's, which changes names and sauces to fit local
     tastes, Starbucks are the same everywhere. If you're in Tel Aviv,
     Dublin, or Beirut, and if you're feeling homesick for yuppies with
     laptops, oversized rice crispies squares and coffee, head to the
     nearest Starbucks.

     Most people want to talk to Americans (although they don't
     necessarily agree with us). If these discussions take place in bars
     or cafes, (without guns), they're usually polite and often
     enlightening.

     The majority of reporters in the Middle East are doing their best,
     given the constraints of editorial policy and Hezbollah's men with
     guns, to report an honest story.

   The [5]Young Curmudgeon, Eric Deamer and his fiancee Kim rejoined the
   blogworld for a few hours, meeting with liberal hawk regulars like
   Steve, Pamela They're doing great, and I hope to see them again soon.

   I met [6]Fausta for the first time (in person), and she's just as nice
   in person as she is on her blog. Tony Badran of [7]Across the Bay was
   there, but unfortunately he was on the other end of the long table. I
   spoke to an erudite reader of Judith's blog who introduced himself as
   [8]Adam Bellow.

   We were one of two large groups in the Good restaurant. One woman from
   the other group was curious about who we were. Her first guess was -
   we were part of a dot com. Her second guess - we were with Wikipedia.
   I guess something about us screamed 'internet'.

   The curious lady (oops, woman) turned out to be Susan Brownmiller.
   [9]Judging from her site, we all could have had an interesting
   political discussion.

   Like we do at most blog gatherings, we indulged our addiction to talk.
   We pretty much closed the Good Restaurant. Once again I did the
   [10]night-owl thing, following Judith and MJT to a a nearby bar, which
   we closed. They literally folded the chairs out from under us. Then we
   wandered onto a fenced-off walkway by the river until a ranger chased
   us away. Sometime about 2 am, we caught a taxi home. This time I
   didn't fall asleep in the taxi.

   Hope there will be more good gatherings like this.

References

   1. http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2006/08/tottendinner.php
   2. http://www.goodrestaurantnyc.com/
   3. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001256.html
   4. http://www.camelspiders.net/
   5. http://youngcurmudgeon.typepad.com/
   6. http://faustasblog.com/2006/09/dinner-at-good-restaurant.html
   7. http://beirut2bayside.blogspot.com/
   8. http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/rnc/9676/index.html
   9. http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/
  10. http://www.whataretheysaying.org/archives/001341.html