Present Perfect

It went a little something like this.

I wrote a mail to our internal mailing list saying 'if anyone's coming to FOSDEM, I invite you to my place and I'll make moules frites for you.'

I was expecting, oh, I don't know, maybe four or five people.

After that, Pierre, our development manager started negotiating with our CEO to invite all the developers to FOSDEM. And he succeeded. And then the support team wanted to come too.

The result is now there are 14 people coming over for mussels and fries tonight.

This is what 14 kilos of mussels and 7.5 kilos of potatoes look like before preparing.

By the way, if you like mussels, you like programming (especially Python), and you like Barcelona, we are hiring again. (Actually, we also hire people that don't like mussels). You can also come talk to anyone on our team if you happen to be at FOSDEM so you don't have to take my word for how awesome working at Flumotion is. You should be able to recognize them by their shirts.

It went a little something like this. I wrote a mail to our internal mailing list saying 'if anyone's coming to FOSDEM, I invite you to my place and I'll...

day 4

Went to Ellis Island on the ferry in the morning, impressive, best thing so far. How anyone in the US could keep up being racist after a visit here is beyond me.

Walked around Financial District a little, went to the WTC site and saw nothing. Did an incredibly disappointing NBC studio tour (advertised as 70 minutes, started with a 15 minute overview video, then a behind-the-glass look at the SNL sets, a make-up video, and then a fake news show with two
people from the tour, and that was it.)

Went to see the New York Knicks play the Portland Trailblazers. Knicks lost, but still very entertaining. They really keep you busy at every time out or break.

day 5

Got up, went out for breakfast, 2 eggs on a platter with bacon. Went to Brooklyn Bridge, walked across, clear blue sky, great view. Went to Coney Island, mostly closed. Faded glory. Had Nathan's hot dog and corn on a cob, not impressed. Walked along the boardwalk to Brighton Beach into Little
Odessa. Had Borscht and meat with buckwheat at a Russian restaurant, interesting.

Back into town, shopped a little, then went to Momofuku to meat up with Luis and Krissa. Had a nice dinner, fresh food, good ice cream. Went to a bar and scored the best cocktail, called 'Tie me up to the bed post', which had a twig of rosemary skewering some cranberries as decoration.

day 6

Up and out, leave our bags in the bag storage room for the next two days, and take a cab to the Tick Tock diner to catch the bolt bus to Boston. Had blueberry and raisin/walnut pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. The Bolt bus is nice, clean, and has electricity and wireless.

Got off in Boston South and met up with Ward, April and Ruth. Dropped off our stuff at the Free Software Foundation headquarters where Ward works. Had a Chili-style steak sandwich, walked around Boston Commons, the Garden, Beacon Heights, and down Newbury (why can't I pass by a comics store without buying anything ?), then took the bus into Harvard where sadly the skating rink was closed.

Back home to Somerville, then out to Davis Square for dinner at Johnny D's (good food, but the live band was pretty bad, the waiter begged us to 'please take me out with you guys'), and then on for drinks at the Diva Lounge.

day 4 Went to Ellis Island on the ferry in the morning, impressive, best thing so far. How anyone in the US could keep up being racist after a visit...

Road summary for the folks back home.

day 1

Arrived around 20:00, past security, took a cab, and checked into the Morningside Inn in Harlem/Morningside Heights.

Went out for dinner at Metro Diner, great burger. Went out to Lenox Lounge in Harlem, with a jazz show in the Zebra room. Took the subway back home at 1.30, which apparently is not the sort of thing we should be doing.

day 2

Got up, went to Times Square and queued for tickets to the matinee of Speed-The-Plow with Jeremy Piven from Entourage. Walked around a bit, went back to Harlem to go to Alice's Queen of Soulfood. OK but not
awesome. Went back to Broadway to see the show. I thought it was pretty good and definitely funny but Kristien found it overacted. Walked around Times Square some more, saw the M&M store (almond and peanut butter M&M's) and Toys R US.

Went to dance tango in uptown east, nice bar, friendly people.

day 3

Got bagels, walked around Harlem. Had Gumbo and meatloaf somewhere. Saw Saint John's Cathedral, massive - apparently it's the biggest cathedral in the world and they just finished it yesterday. Suck on that, Sagrada Familia. Moved to Carlton Arms hotel, after some debating took room 12c - the spider room. Walked around, saw Grand Central Terminal, 5mins of New York Public Library, lobby of Chrysler building.

Hunted for wine and/or cake, went to Stijn. Had Thai food at Stijn's place, saw his kid. It's good to know people around the globe.

Went to the famous Blue Note, where a band had their CD release show, but jazz just really isn't my thing. And you pay 15 $ for the Blue Note privilege.

Road summary for the folks back home. day 1 Arrived around 20:00, past security, took a cab, and checked into the Morningside Inn in Harlem/Morningside Heights. Went out for dinner...

So, we could use one more important tip.

We're arriving this Saturday fairly late at night, and I want to jump right into the nightlife I still have the strength.

But I have no idea where to go, and I hear it's hard to get into places... so drop me a line and tell me where to go, or if you live there, and take us on. (BTW, I'm more into rock/guitar or RNB and not into electronic, if that helps)

So, we could use one more important tip. We're arriving this Saturday fairly late at night, and I want to jump right into the nightlife I still have the strength....

My baby and I have decided to take a trip to New York City! After a few years of not really taking a holiday just the two of us together, it's about time. I've been preparing work for it, and now I'm preparing us. NYC - home of Interpol, Strokes, The Walkmen, The National, and lots more.

We'll be going for a full week, arriving Saturday evening November 29th, and leaving again on Sunday evening December 7th. Inbetween we're probably going to stay a night in Boston and visit Ward.

Since I want to make the most of it, I'm asking all of you for ideas for things to do there. I'm sending a 30$ Amazon gift card to the person who gaves us the suggestion we ended up liking best!

What we've already planned:
- A NY Knicks vs Portland basketball game on Tuesday
- A free greeter that looks like a great idea
- A Nada Surf concert

Here's stuff we've been told about or think about but don't know where it is:
- there's supposed to be a huge toy store somewhere - any idea ?
- I'm sure there must be a huge comics store too somewhere - where's the biggest ?
- same for music - preferably collector stuff
- there's supposed to be some 'live system-shock-type RPG/puzzle experience' which was featured in Wired once and now also exists in Madrid - any idea ?
- Where to get the best hamburger and/or hot dog ?
- Where's the best movie theatre ?

Here's a bunch of stuff we want to do but not sure where to get:
- a theatre play
- a musical
- a tv studio
- stand-up comedy
- good concerts
- good food

And of course, any other kind of tips are welcome as well.

NYC baby! This ought to be good.

My baby and I have decided to take a trip to New York City! After a few years of not really taking a holiday just the two of us together,...