Coffee Meetup before the Rally at the Capitol
posted March 9, 2011 10:14 AM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Sat March 12 at 11:00 AM, Michelangelo's Coffee House
114 State St, Madison, WI, USA (Map & Directions)
There are 3 events going on Saturday afternoon around the capitol: Noon - Farmer Labor Tractorcade around the Capitol Square, 2 pm - Arts Workers March Together (from the Overture Center for the Arts), 3 pm - AFL-CIO rally at the Capitol. So let's meet up before all that to get warm, get caffeinated and get ready. I'm flexible on location, I picked Michelangelo's because it's close and I was there last weekend.
posted by desjardins to Meetup (39 comments total)

Either my wife or I is thinking of going Saturday. So a firm maybe.
posted by drezdn at 10:58 AM on March 9, 2011


Can we march against the Overture center while we're at it?

Michelangelo's is a nice place, I've only been there a couple times.
posted by symbioid at 11:02 AM on March 9, 2011


I'll be protesting with my mother and two nieces, but we can't leave Janesville until 11. The Tractorcade, btw, has been moved to 10-11am.
posted by dhartung at 11:10 AM on March 9, 2011


I'm helping to organize the arts'workers' march, so I'll be pretty busy, but I'm hoping to stop by. It's going to be a big day!
posted by Mngo at 2:48 PM on March 9, 2011


GRARRRRRRRRRRR this has taken on a new sense of urgency has it not??
posted by desjardins at 5:55 PM on March 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh, hell yes.
posted by shesdeadimalive at 6:01 PM on March 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


possibly my father in law (longtime chicago public schoolteacher) will be coming
posted by desjardins at 7:32 PM on March 9, 2011


not sure if i'll make it to the meetup but there's nothing that can keep me from the capitol this saturday. i'm rallying as many people as i can from north-central WI. my band has a show in wausau friday night, so i'll have to crash on the ride down, but nothing will stop me from being there and shouting at the top of my lungs. it's how my wife and i are going to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, and i can't think of a better way to do so !!!
posted by g.i.r. at 8:29 PM on March 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


O HAI; we're having an open house at our lovely pied-a-terre two blocks from the Capitol.

One or both of us will be home all day. If you want to come over to a quieter, more homey place and decompress, or if you want to not use a Port-a-Potty, or if you brought some food and need to warm it up, or if you JUST NEED TO SIT DOWN AND GET WARM (I see you there, desjardins!), feel free to stop by.

We will have beveragey things, refueling nibbles, maybe a crock pot of chili or something.

For contact info, please MeMail.
posted by Madamina at 12:32 PM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


maybe a crock pot of chili or something

Don't give any to my husband or father-in-law. I have to ride 85 miles with them, remember.
posted by desjardins at 1:51 PM on March 10, 2011 [2 favorites]


Mrs. Augustus and I may attend. We would be arriving from far out of town... where should we park, such that we can be assured of (relatively) easy entry and exit from Madison?
posted by AugieAugustus at 6:34 PM on March 10, 2011


As my endless Ask MeFi questions on the subject have presaged, I am having elbow surgery tomorrow afternoon.

I asked the nurse on the phone, "will I be well enough by Saturday to go downtown and tell Scott Walker what I think of him?"

She said, "See you there!"

So I'll try to make it to Michelangelo's at 11, with escabechito and my mom-in-law along.
posted by escabeche at 8:20 PM on March 10, 2011


some parking info...
posted by g.i.r. at 9:06 PM on March 10, 2011


With regard to parking: the garages downtown will likely fill up early, and it'll be difficult to get out unless you stay very late. For easy entrance/exit from the east (including I-90), I recommend coming down East Washington (highway 151) and looking for street parking in this area. The rectangle bordered by East Wash, Williamson Street, Ingersoll, and Blair is the power plant and surrounding light industry. Since it's not residential, there's lots of spaces available. It's very safe, as it is in most places in Madison. It's a fifteen minute walk to the square. I live on the east side and when I don't have time to walk all the way, this is where I park.
posted by echo target at 7:01 AM on March 11, 2011


I've got an appointment at 11. Ugh. I don't think I can make it to the meetup :(
posted by symbioid at 7:34 AM on March 11, 2011


"With regard to parking: the garages downtown will likely fill up early, and it'll be difficult to get out unless you stay very late."

I had no trouble parking in downtown garages either of the last two Saturdays. And I'm not sure what you mean by "difficult to get out."
posted by escabeche at 8:08 AM on March 11, 2011


Yeah, e.t., I have more the same impression as escabeche. If the rally's really huge, maybe the lots will fill, but getting out should not be a problem.
I have also heard about shuttle buses running in from the two big malls on the east and west sides. No definite info but if I find it I'll post it here.
posted by Mngo at 10:20 AM on March 11, 2011


I have also heard about shuttle buses running in from the two big malls on the east and west sides. No definite info but if I find it I'll post it here.

Looks like this is it:
Madison Bus SHUTTLE (Kobussen School Bus)
Start Time: 8:00 am
Stop Time: 7:00 pm
1) Westside 2 buses: AFSCME (No pick up at the Alliant Center)

2) Eastside 4 buses: East Towne Mall (In Lot By Dick’s Sporting Goods)

posted by AugieAugustus at 10:46 AM on March 11, 2011


Hey symbioid, I'll memail you my cell and if you're on the square later, text me and I'll try to meet up (fair warning, this was really difficult last weekend with the crowd). If anyone else wants my #, memail me or @ me on twitter (desjardins).
posted by desjardins at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


OK, I wasn't going to explicitly invite Mefites to the Arts Workers' march, because not all of y'all swing that way, but if you check out the FB page, you'll see that a ton of artists are coming as the "Blue Tape Brigade," and that seemed like the kind of silliness even the least-arty among you would like.
I'm hoping to run by the actual meetup, but you're also welcome to walk back up to the rally with us at 2.
posted by Mngo at 5:49 PM on March 11, 2011


hi all

pretty out of it now

hopefully will be more recovered after good nights sleep, if so, see you, if not, my regrets
posted by escabeche at 7:47 PM on March 11, 2011


(I'll be at Michelangelo's for coffee, and also I'm planning to be a pretty short kinda Asian woman wearing a totoro hat tomorrow, if anyone sees me randomly and wants to say hi)
posted by Vibrissa at 8:30 PM on March 11, 2011


As to the garages, I did see people having to wait in line to get out (from the closer-in structures) later in the day (past 4 or so) because of the sheer exiting volume at that point -- peak rally being, apparently, 3pm.

I also parked myself a good walk down East Wash, by the athletic field, and it was free, last weekend (the week before that I was in a pay space but lucked out because all the cops were doing traffic instead of enforcement, only paid for 1:15 of a 4:30 stretch). The only problem was that I was wearing boots in case of slush and it was all uphill (going in), but others may be in better shape on both counts than me there.

I'm thinking of carrying a small sign with a MeFi in-joke, just for the irony factor and the odd bit of random recognition -- along with some other sign which I haven't made up yet. I think my somewhat generic Wisconsin Solidarity map is getting old and crusty, but I can't ever come up with something that says everything I want to say.
posted by dhartung at 10:05 PM on March 11, 2011


Can't make it... have to make an unexpected doctor visit instead. Maybe another day...
posted by AugieAugustus at 4:47 AM on March 12, 2011


Hey, my husband isn't feeling well, and my father-in-law was only coming because my husband was coming, so it'll be just me.

I'm a short (like really really short) white mid-30s woman with short brown hair. I'll be wearing a gray jacket and a purple fleece and I'll have a camera around my neck.
posted by desjardins at 5:05 AM on March 12, 2011


OK, I'm out of here in a few minutes. I can't check mefi from my phone, so @ me at desjardins on Twitter if you need to.
posted by desjardins at 6:54 AM on March 12, 2011


Me: pacman hoodie, short girl with glasses and brown hair in pigtails. See you there!
posted by lriG rorriM at 7:07 AM on March 12, 2011


As it happens, I can't make it. Some kind of bug. I really wanted to go, I got all dressed in my Dropkick Murphys shirt, but had to make a go/no-go decision. I'll sleep in, maybe make the afternoon session if I feel any better, but don't see myself up there this AM.

We have a Janesville event tomorrow, anyway, so I can save my strength for that. Here, we're fighting apathy and post-GM disillusionment.
posted by dhartung at 7:16 AM on March 12, 2011


running late (as usual)...hopefully see y`all out on the square. brown jacket, fdny hat, fighting bob sign, pounding on a big red drum ! ......
posted by g.i.r. at 9:10 AM on March 12, 2011


desjardins is tweeting that she's at Michellangelos already. Says she doesn't know what anybody looks like. I said "I think we all describe ourselves as short.."

I saw someone with a sign a couple of weeks ago that said "DTMFA" and I shouted "metafilter" at her. She didn't know what I was talking about...
posted by Mngo at 9:12 AM on March 12, 2011


Desjardins is standing outside - my friend and I ate grabbing some hot chocolate. We are from the Internet!
posted by lriG rorriM at 9:22 AM on March 12, 2011


I couldn't make it because of a family obligation, but I really wish I could have been there.

Does anyone have good tractor pics?
posted by drezdn at 9:46 AM on March 12, 2011


I like this one.

posted by Mngo at 9:47 AM on March 12, 2011


Oops, this one.
posted by Mngo at 9:48 AM on March 12, 2011


sorry everybody

was not up and at em enough to protest or indeed leave the house today

sounds like it was great
posted by escabeche at 5:00 PM on March 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


It was great to meet lriG rorriM and Vibrissa (and lriG rorriM's friends, whose names I've already forgotten).

Michelangelo's turned out to be a horrible place to have a meetup. The line was 30 people deep when I got there. There was no place to sit, so I stepped outside. It was windy. Some dude was waiting and looking around. I said "Are you from the Internet?" and he was all, um, no, wtf.

Vibrissa helped me shop for a hat and marched with me until my knees started to protest my protesting. We saw a potential mefite, but he (rather curtly) denied it. I met some other people from the Internet but they got swallowed by the crowds.

I am tired and sore and pondering Vicodin. But happy. It was a great day to be a cheesehead.
posted by desjardins at 7:56 PM on March 12, 2011 [4 favorites]


Sorry to miss y'all. Yes, it was a great day. We had more than 200 Arts workers who marched from the Overture center, and were almost instantly swallowed up by the enormous crowd. Really glorious.
posted by Mngo at 10:42 AM on March 13, 2011


I actually tried to make the art march, too, but I was on the other side
posted by lriG rorriM at 12:01 PM on March 13, 2011


(argh posting from a phone with clumsy fingers!)
... side of the square and the crowds were amazingly dense. Sorry I missed it!

It was lovely to meet vibrissa and desjardins and I'm only sorry we split off so soon to go work on new and spiffier signs. It was an amazing day!
posted by lriG rorriM at 12:04 PM on March 13, 2011



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