Morning After Recap of the L.A. Meetup

Posted on by

The rumors are true kids, and we have pictures to prove it (need to join as member to view pix). To quote Vinod, last night was “the BEST Sepia Mutiny Meetup EVER!”

GujuDude and his macaca

The quick run down- the place was hip, the people that came were cool, the drama kept at a minimum and the party was a great success. It started at happy hour time, and went late into the wee morning as 15 of us broke bread together at The Pantry at 1am. As you can see from the pictures, everyone was smiling and having a great time. Big ups to all the mutinous (I’d guess we had a posse of 50 throughout the night) that came: Abhi, Vinod, Sumit, Karthik, Rumi, Builder, Vinod (x2), Hanish, GujuDude (+1), Prashant, Lata, Payal, Ravi the lurker, Amar, Gaurav, Pawan, Sharat, Sachin, Rajan, Lavanya, Arun, Deep, Shivani, 1 /26, Satish, Thomas Kurma, Shruti, Dimpal, Vivek, Anu, Ami, Mad Guru, – and all those others that didn’t sign in!

What exactly happened that made it so kick ass?

Though it started at 7pm, people were naturally on IST time. As people joined the mutiny, they had a sepia rakhi tied to their wrist to let them know they were now a ‘part of the mutiny.’ People slowly filtered in, and folks hesitantly approached our table of brown folks. We then loosened folks up (or was it the alcohol?) with an icebreaker. The icebreaker was to a list SM handles that people had to match with real names and on the flip the Sepia Mutiny Trivia (after the jump). First to answer all corrrectly was GujuDude and his prize, as you can see from the picture, was a toy macaca.

  1. What city does Amardeep live in?
  2. What is the name of Neha’s assistant monkey?
  3. Who was featured on the candy bar that we “sold” last April Fool’s day?
  4. Where will the newest SM blogging offices open in January of 2007?
  5. Where is SM’s world headquarters located?
  6. What University did the original Macaca attend?
  7. In what year did the Sepoy Rebellion take place?
  8. Name one of the books that Kaavya V. plagiarised from:
  9. Who is the desi congressman from Louisiana?
  10. Last year did an Indian kid win the Geography Bee or the Spelling Bee?

<

p>

The juicy details everyone is waiting to hear…? The whole bar waited in baited breathe, one eye on the door, for the infamous pardesi gori to arrive, but she never did. I don’t recall any ass grabbing, but, I do remember seeing lots of shots being had. The room was heavy with chemistry, and though, Sepia Destiny made no love matches last night, I do forsee some connections in the future. Let it also go down in the SM records that 3100 to 12790 was the Ms. Pacman score that I beat Abhi with. But the real winner to the Ms. PacMan Mutinous Challenge was bike-riding builder, who royally kicked MadGuru’s ass at the game.

Lata and Payal show off their mixtape CD

The goody bag? It was The Sepia Mutiny End of Summer Blow Out: The Mixtape, a compilation of a song by each mutineer, and some great other “mutinous” songs. I wish I could share but the lawyer in the bunker has informed me that it may not be the best thing to post online. I will say this- there are some musicians that will let you download music legally off their myspace site, and almost all of the bands have been talked about here on SM. Until the lawyer changes his mind, this will be a list for the special few that came out for the Sepia Mutiny End of Summer Blow Out!

Abhi, Taz and Vinod Thank You for the Fun

Much love to everyone that came out and thanks to all the bloggers, commenters, and lurkers for being so open and friendly about meeting new people.

**The first person to answer all the trivia questions correctly (and doesn’t live in the Southern California area) has a chance to win the last CD I have from last night. Just answer in the comments and include your e-mail address.

This entry was posted in Meetups! by Taz. Bookmark the permalink.

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

105 thoughts on “Morning After Recap of the L.A. Meetup”

  1. “You’d have to fly to DC this fall for that event, but I’m glad you enjoyed L.A.’s greatest meetup thus far. :)”

    The beef paneer lingers on. I think someone’s gonna have to be the Eminem here and take it back to 95.

  3. PS Gujudude, I think you can just sprinkle worcestire sauce and Mr. Crazy will come running =)

    Of course! That should do the trick. What was I thinking(slaps forehead with palm)?

  4. OK. Let me explain why I did not enter that bar, even though I was right there in the vacinity.

    On the ride from San Diego up to Long Beach, when telling my cousin about all the comments and what-not here on SM, she was like, “girl, if you go there you will simply be disrespected”. And seeing as I was again banned just 48 hours to coming, I indeed felt slighted.

    However, when we reached Long Beach and she was able to read the various comments on SM, she thought the whole thing was incredibly funny and that I should go, just for the hilarity factor. So she did drive me to LA that night and I did see some of you entering the bar. However, I could not bring myself to go in.

    Anyway, no hard feelings. I read here that you all had a great time and perhaps the good cheer of the occasion may have been hampered by my presence. On the other hand, it may have been aided by my presence too. We’ll never know.

    But I am back on the southern east coast, so maybe one day I’ll pop into a north-east meetup.

    Would like to inform you all of the “Demystifying India” tour that is making it’s rounds around USA. I attended one and it was great fun. Local dancers and musicians performed, local restaurants offered their fare, and then the exhibit was very informative and the IMAX movie “MYSTIC INDIA” was great, although not keeping with the theme of “demystifying” India, since the movie itself was about a child mystic who grew up to become the famous Swami Narayana. You could say that the movie portrayed the “exotic” side of India. Anyway, it was a feast for the eyes and surrounded you on all sides due to the dome-like IMAX screen.

    You can check out http://www.demystifyingindia.org or .com to find out when the tour comes through your area. I highly recommend it.

  5. So she did drive me to LA that night and I did see some of you entering the bar. However, I could not bring myself to go in.

    That is WEAKsauce. And creepy to picture you sitting in the car outside the bar watching people go in.

  6. That is WEAKsauce. And creepy to picture you sitting in the car outside the bar watching people go in.

    very creepy…

    and SM: why is PG banned, not banned, banned? very very um.. in flux? not understanding..but just curious..

  7. My plan was not to stalk you guys, I had planned to go in and that is why we went there. However, upon reaching, I felt intimadated, thus I just sat and discussed for a bit whether to go in or not with my cousin

  8. PG: i haven’t followed all the discussions and rants and raves people have had about you…but if you’re taking the time to drive out there.. might as well go inside… most people are ‘outside’ of this blog and ramblings are fairly fantastic human beings..and am betting (if i was a betting gal… can we say $100 on black? ;)), they would’ve welcomed you as any other macaca being who showed up for that meetup…

  9. Chick Pea, you are probably right. But I felt both shy and intimadated. Part of that is my nature (shy) and part of that was from the experiences I had (getting banned alot, and right before the meetup) on this blog.

  10. It isn’t always clear if someone has been banned. Often its just a technical glitch. Just ask Nina P.

    Pardesi Gori (who went by another handle at the time) was banned a year ago but that ban was cleaned out as we routinely refresh IPs. We’d have to assign several monkeys to the task of determining if one of the bloggers did in fact ban her just before the meet-up. In general, aside from racist or religiously intolerant comments or spam, SM only bans people who either peronally attack bloggers or readers (e.g. “you suck and are stupid and smelly”) or routinely make wild comments that repeatedly de-rail otherwise worthwhile discussions.

  11. Thank you for clarifying, SM intern. You (as well as Rajni and the other macaques) are doing an amazing job.

    e.g. “you suck and are stupid and smelly”

    Unless, of course, they really do suck and are stupid and smelly. Such people exist! In fact, I’m sometimes two of those three things, though almost never all three at once.

    religiously intolerant comments

    cough anti-secular comments cough

  12. i don’t think it is hard to imagine what it must feel like right before you are about to walk past a door where people that have been mocking you for the past few days are waiting for your arrival. i think it took courage to even drive there and consider going in. someone with a bigger ego and snubbish attitude would have either dismissed the meet-up all together or showed up and acted like a defensive smart-ass.

  14. i don’t think it is hard to imagine what it must feel like right before you are about to walk past a door where people that have been mocking you for the past few days are waiting for your arrival. i think it took courage to even drive there and consider going in. someone with a bigger ego and snubbish attitude would have either dismissed the meet-up all together or showed up and acted like a defensive smart-ass.

    I don’t know the extent of PG’s offenses, but it seems to me a bit like saying “David Duke must have it real hard, I mean he drove up to the NAACP meeting, and really wanted to go in, but imagine how intimidated he must feel trying to walk in, when everyone will be so hostile towards him”

  15. I don’t know the extent of PG’s offenses, but it seems to me a bit like saying “David Duke must have it real hard, I mean he drove up to the NAACP meeting, and really wanted to go in, but imagine how intimidated he must feel trying to walk in, when everyone will be so hostile towards him”

    LMAO HMF

    or it’s like senator allen waiting outside a netip/saaja/sepia meetup… but of course, we’re just whiners (per tucker carlson..the loser/tool/3 footed idiot who was voted off first on the ludicrous ‘dancing with the stars’–now that tucker is whiny…)

  16. HMF: there’s a difference in viewing a situation from the stance of defensiveness/ego and of empathy/understanding. ur duke reference is a little extreme for this case don’t u think? anyway, i am not seeking to defend PG, i’m just finding the attitude towards her unnecessarily harsh.

  17. Personally, I read this site and enjoy it, but I don’t make a point to remember who said what etc. At the meetup, I wasn’t really too concerned with (nor do I really know about) any petty rivalries that anyone might have. I hope that PG or anyone else should feel welcome next time. I’m sure if you had come in, you would have been welcome, but with people’s comments I can see why you might hesitate. I don’t really care what points of view anyone has (in terms of how I treat them), this is just a place for discussion and no one should be made to feel unwelcome like that. Bad monkeys. Play nice.

  18. Well, I felt that I would have been welcolmed by the bloggers here, but I had a feeling that some commenters might be mean or rude or cold to me. I’m very sensitive. Plus, I had a very handsome Bengali friend with me who would’ve definitely gotten alot of attention from the ladies, and he would’ve reciprocated that, and I wasn’t in a mood to battle inner jealousies.

    Anyway, I travel up and down the east coast so maybe I’ll pop into one of the Northeast meetups.

  19. Plus, I had a very handsome Bengali friend with me who would’ve definitely gotten alot of attention from the ladies, and he would’ve reciprocated that, and I wasn’t in a mood to battle inner jealousies.

    PG are you for real? honestly.

  20. PG: I’m one of the rudest and most polarizing mofos ever to comment on this site, and I’ve been to 3(?) meetups now (maybe 4?). I’ve never been treated rudely or coldly for my idiocy online; rest assured that in person this group is the most personable and warmly welcoming bunch of jackasses you’d ever care to meet. 🙂

  21. Yes, Chick Pea, I am for real.

    I have a past romantic history with this Bengali and it effects my present relationship with him. He is on the same level in looks as Sendhil who everyone is gushing over, but, dare I say, even more attractive. Big, dark, lotus-petal shaped eyes. Eyebrows arched like the bows of Cupid. Long, dark curly hair in classical Bengali fashion. He’s an artist. The stereotypical suffering poet type. And he knows he’s gorgeous and works it to the max. Everywhere we go women and men (men especially in Long Beach, hee hee hee), are oogling him. He’s another one of those who everyone is trying to guess his ethnic background and who, to the untrained eye, could probably pass as an “arabian prince”. Though, if you’ve ever been to West Bengal, you know he has typical Bengali features.

    Ami ki korbo?

  24. Plus, I had a very handsome Bengali friend with me who would’ve definitely gotten alot of attention from the ladies, and he would’ve reciprocated that, and I wasn’t in a mood to battle inner jealousies.

    My guess is that people dislike Pardesi because she knows exactly what she is doing, but tries to mask it as if she doesn’t know any better. That’s just my take, because I think the above quote reeks with stereotypes and generalizations…

  25. It’s a stereotype based on experience. He stereotypically flirts with anyone and everyone who shows him attention and I just can’t take it anymore.

    I didn’t even ask the guy to accompany me to the meetup but after hearing about it he invited himself.

    However since we provided the ride, I did’nt allow him to go in unless I went in.

  26. That’s just my take, because I think the above quote reeks with stereotypes and generalizations…

    I must watch too much fox news or something, because i see no stereotypes or generalizations (especially of the racial kind) in the above-mentioned quote. I’m constantly reading over comments here on SM to decipher why people find them as offensive or oppressive.

    Unless women flirting with good looking guys is a sterotype of some sort. I thought it was just universal human naure. Personally, I can’t keep ’em off me, especially those punjabis. O Man, are they randy.

  27. He stereotypically flirts with anyone and everyone who shows him attention and I just can’t take it anymore. … I did’nt allow him to go in unless I went in.

    As I said inside the bar, I wish you had come 😉

    sigh Oneup, why don’t you live in SoCal? I’d have driven out to Hell (aka Orange County) to give you and your boy a ride to the meet-up if I had to.

  29. Yeah, I’m with Manju, where’s the racial, cultural or even gender stereotype here?

    Sexual stereotype? Maybe. I dunno.

    Manju – You’re a guy? Thought that was a girl’s name.

    Oops! I did it again!

  31. because i see no stereotypes or generalizations (especially of the racial kind) in the above-mentioned quote.

    That’s because you’re probably looking for racial ones… having read this blog for a year now, I think the women who comment are intelligent enough and have enough self respect not to claw each other apart over some guy they don’t know at a meetup that is supposed to be insanely fun. Especially not over a guy who is friends with someone like Pardesi who has admitted to pimping her male friends “of color.” Women aren’t always catty.

    That aside, I think her friend is bull$*&@… much like her innocent facade.

    *sigh* Oneup, why don’t you live in SoCal? I’d have driven out to Hell (aka Orange County) to give you and your boy a ride to the meet-up if I had to.

    Awww… I really hope I can make it to at least one of these things. I don’t know how the boyfriend would feel about coming though.

  32. Razib, do you know me? Why did you assume I have a big booty? Does it come across in my writings.

    Yes.

    Why?

  34. Oh my god, now it’s the women-fighting-over-men stereotype that I’m guilty of?

    Wow.

    Mature.

    It’s simple mathematics. A guy who surpasses even Sendhil enters a social atmosphere where there are alot of women. He’s outgoing, charming, talkative. Yeah, he’s gonna talk to women and they are gonna talk to him. Flirting may ensue. That’s enough to make me jealous.

    Where does the cat-fight come into play? Get real.

  35. Man the wrong coast seems to have all kinds of drama that us “simple” right coasters seem to miss. We are all randy here and we all love each other. I’ve fought with some of these people online and was more than happy to break bread with them. Big group hug…kumbaya and all. I simply refuse to believe any Mutineers have the potential to come across mean or cold or rude to anyone especially not at a meet up because the vast majority of them are mature intelligent adults. Next time for your sake PG I hope you just simply go in. I mean if you feel unwelcome you could always leave.

    And the unnecessary business of dragging the Bengali boy into the justifications is going over my head. I admit I have been MIA and don’t know the history of the ire towards you. But you mean to say you had insecurity issues that had nothing to do with being bitched out on Sepia Mutiny that prevented you from going in in the first place? Lord…

  36. That’s enough to make me jealous.

    Oh, I wasn’t aware you were talking about your own insecurities.

  38. lol let it go Pardesi Gori. You’d have been the only catty one at the meet-up. You should know that a guy who isn’t into you isn’t worth chasing after and getting jealous over. Feminism 101. Besides, you’d consider any guy a chauvanist loser if he couldn’t let go of you and disallowed you from going to places just because he wasn’t comfortable with you flirting with other guys even after you had broken off the relationship. Don’t be that guy 🙂

  39. OK Razib, what’s up with the round booty comments?

    Did my afro-centrist boyfriend finally write to you regarding the Indians are Africans topic like I said he would and say something to you about my booty?

  41. I’m tired of magazines Sayin’ flat butts are the thing Take the average brown man and ask him that She gotta pack much back So, bhai! (Yeah!) Bhai! (Yeah!) Has your betti got the butt? (Hell yeah!) Tell ’em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!) Shake that healthy butt! Baby got back!

  42. Did my afro-centrist boyfriend finally write to you regarding the Indians are Africans topic like I said he would and say something to you about my booty?

    OK wait now you have a boyfriend but you are jealous of the friend? This is the very reason I quit Sulekha…the fictional dramatics. Hard to take people seriously.

  43. What does dsm and STAT mean?

    Dominant Sado Masochist? No S and M for me, though I am a bit dominant sometimes.

    I’m real, I’m just eccentric, I guess.

  45. I think I’m a bit too open to you all on here.

    Yes, I have boyfriend but being that Bengali friend used to be a boyfriend of sorts too, years ago, there is still some lingering romantic affection lying dormant in my heart for him. Hence, a little jealousy.

    Unfortunately I am very jealous by nature but am trying to keep it under control.

    Razib, I posed a question regarding the genetics of masculinity for you in I think the American Babel thread.

  46. dsm and stat: look them up PG..some homework for you..maybe will keep you occupied for a bit..

    to be frank..you bring more drama to this forum then any of my macaca mamas on this blog combined.. you ignite yourself..from watching it happen over and over and over again i can say it’s comedic/pathetic/and plain sad…

  47. Razib, I posed a question regarding the genetics of masculinity for you in I think the American Babel thread.

    grrrl, clone me. that’s all you need to know about the genetix of masculinity 😎

  49. to be frank..you bring more drama to this forum then any of my macaca mamas on this blog combined.. you ignite yourself..from watching it happen over and over and over again i can say it’s comedic/pathetic/and plain sad…

    Exactly. Which makes me doubt she’s coming from a sincere place. That said, if I ever say anything crazy here, PLEASE let me know. I would do it for you guys!