Boss Ross is being sent down on the company account, so he'll have to stay sober and be "on duty" the entire time. I am travelling on my own nickel, and am free to bail out at any time, drink Guinness with Ryan and flirt with the locals. I can't afford Day 1 on my own, so I figure I'll just spend Saturday afternoon hanging out (Day 2, which I'm attending, is free). Any Boston/Cambridge-area folks up for a Saturday afternoon of Guinness and accordion-powered fun?
If you're wondering what BloggerCon Saturday Dinner I'm attending, it's AKMA's, for two reasons:
- I've always wanted to meet him.
- It's at a Mexican restaurant, and no Mexican restaurant in the history of all civilization has ever kicked out a guy for wailing on the accordion.
Boss Ross will be attending Doc Searls' dinner (I did one with him, Dave Winer, Wes Felter and Scobe Doggy Dogg at ETCon 2002). Doc, if you're reading this, I owe you at least a couple of beers -- my getting this job is in part thanks to you.
Office phone:
Google Talk:
Well, um, if you'd like to hang out and get some Guiness in the Havahd area, I'd love to join you! It'd be great to actually meet you since I read your blog all the time.
Anyway, if you're interested, please feel free to drop me an email!
Hope you have fun in Boston,
Jason
PS. If you'd like more info before sending along a random email, take a look at my very geeky blog.
I don't know your email address, so drop me a line so I can get back to you!
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Cambridge:
Dive bar - the Hong Kong, for drinks (Scorpion Bowls) and late-night after-drink chinese food.
Faux dive bar - the B-side Lounge, for hipsters and excellent food. The staff usually puts on a good rotation of rock and/or roll.
Microbrew - John Harvard's has a good selection of their own beers, and decent pub food.
Miscellaneous - Harvard Square has some other decent spots. Shay's is good for low-key hanging out. The Red Line is sort of upscale/yuppieish. The Border Cafe has good margaritas.
Boston:
College kids - the Allston area has several bars, where you're sure to see some hot young 'uns, and probably a couple of fights.
Dance clubs - Landsdowne street has several, I just don't know what their names are.
Miscellaneous - the Faneiul Hall area downtown has a wide variety of bars. It has: the Boston branch of the Hong Kong, the Bell in Hand (the oldest tavern in the United States (1795)), the Rack (girls hoping to hook up with professional athletes), and the Black Rose (excellent Irish bar). Plus there are about 8 million other bars in the vicinity.
Personally, I prefer the Washington Square Tavern in Brookline. The food is excellent, there's a decent (although not large) selection of beers, it's pretty relaxed, I know the owners and staff, and it's a 5 minute stumble home.
You might also want to check out the Octoberfest at the Harpoon Brewery. There will be some oompa bands playing, and you might be able to get up on stage with them to jam. Although I'm not sure if it's even technically possible for an oompa band to jam; I think it contradicts the very laws of time and space. Go early if you don't want to wait in line for an hour.