Twenty-one years later

Tonight was the MITG&SP Old Fogies party. Twenty-one years ago, on 29 Feb, we started the group, and so tonight we assembled at a B&B in Lexington and sung and laughed and reminisced. Some people had flown in from the West Coast; one flew in from Edinburgh. Others are still local. Some attended via Adobe Connect (and no, that wasn't my idea). Tonight's party wasn't the official MITG&SP party --- that was a few months back, and you may recall I blogged about it at the time, too. Tonight's gathering was just for those of us who were involved with the group for the first two years, the 54-100 era.

It was amazing being with these people again. As recordersmith said, walking into that room was like taking twenty years off. We sang for much of the night. Deb Kreuze and I reprised "Dear Friends, Take Pity on my Lot" from Sorcerer. "Extra Cheese" sang for about half an hour, just as they used to at our post-show parties. At 11:45 we took a moment of silence to recall Arthur Fuscaldo and Roland Green, the Frederic and Pirate King from our opening production, both of whom died of AIDS in the 1990s. Then we sang "Hail, Poetry," wished Frederic a happy birthday, and moved on to the Act I finale of Iolanthe.

And while I may have been the "first cause" of the MITG&SP, tonight reminded me that the reason it succeeded was because I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a bunch of extremely talented people who wanted the group to succeed as much as I did, and who were all willing to contribute their time, their energy, and their abilities. I was but a tiny grain of sand, fairly useless by myself, but I was in the right place at the right time, and irritated the right environment, and around me formed a pearl.

I have been a very fortunate man, indeed.

Twenty-one years later

Tonight was the MITG&SP Old Fogies party. Twenty-one years ago, on 29 Feb, we started the group, and so tonight we assembled at a B&B in Lexington and sung and laughed and reminisced. Some people had flown in from the West Coast; one flew in from Edinburgh. Others are still local. Some attended via Adobe Connect (and no, that wasn't my idea). Tonight's party wasn't the official MITG&SP party --- that was a few months back, and you may recall I blogged about it at the time, too. Tonight's gathering was just for those of us who were involved with the group for the first two years, the 54-100 era.

It was amazing being with these people again. As recordersmith said, walking into that room was like taking twenty years off. We sang for much of the night. Deb Kreuze and I reprised "Dear Friends, Take Pity on my Lot" from Sorcerer. "Extra Cheese" sang for about half an hour, just as they used to at our post-show parties. At 11:45 we took a moment of silence to recall Arthur Fuscaldo and Roland Green, the Frederic and Pirate King from our opening production, both of whom died of AIDS in the 1990s. Then we sang "Hail, Poetry," wished Frederic a happy birthday, and moved on to the Act I finale of Iolanthe.

And while I may have been the "first cause" of the MITG&SP, tonight reminded me that the reason it succeeded was because I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a bunch of extremely talented people who wanted the group to succeed as much as I did, and who were all willing to contribute their time, their energy, and their abilities. I was but a tiny grain of sand, fairly useless by myself, but I was in the right place at the right time, and irritated the right environment, and around me formed a pearl.

I have been a very fortunate man, indeed.

I never expected to hear....

At the supermarket this morning:

"Would the owner of a red truck please hurry to the customer service desk. Your truck is rolling down the hill."

I never expected to hear....

At the supermarket this morning:

"Would the owner of a red truck please hurry to the customer service desk. Your truck is rolling down the hill."

That's my boy!

I know a lot of the NPL Krewe are busy with the ACPT today, but I wanted to crow a bit about flat 56 in the March Enigma. Tani thought of the base and told it to me as a joke (with the same premise as we used in the flat). He then asked if it would make a good puzzle for the Enigma. I said it would, and I helped him with versifying it.

I think it would be cool to start a "Juniors" division in the NPL, with "Enigma Jr" coming out four times a year. Anyone else think it would be fun to get the kids writing and solving puzzles?

ETA: For non-NPL'ers, a quick translation: About a month ago, Tani came up with a "base", that is, a cool pair of phrases that serve as the answer to a "flat" puzzle. I helped him write the poem, and it appears as puzzle #56 in the March issue of the Enigma, the NPL puzzle magazine, which came out this morning.

That's my boy!

I know a lot of the NPL Krewe are busy with the ACPT today, but I wanted to crow a bit about flat 56 in the March Enigma. Tani thought of the base and told it to me as a joke (with the same premise as we used in the flat). He then asked if it would make a good puzzle for the Enigma. I said it would, and I helped him with versifying it.

I think it would be cool to start a "Juniors" division in the NPL, with "Enigma Jr" coming out four times a year. Anyone else think it would be fun to get the kids writing and solving puzzles?

ETA: For non-NPL'ers, a quick translation: About a month ago, Tani came up with a "base", that is, a cool pair of phrases that serve as the answer to a "flat" puzzle. I helped him write the poem, and it appears as puzzle #56 in the March issue of the Enigma, the NPL puzzle magazine, which came out this morning.

Tani's drash

Over Shabbat, Tani was reading Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) and had gotten up to the Covenant between the Parts (Gen. 15). He exclaimed, "It's all Avraham's fault!"

"What is?" I asked.

"The slavery in Egypt."

( Tani's interpretation of the text, and the search for a precedent )

Tani's drash

Over Shabbat, Tani was reading Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) and had gotten up to the Covenant between the Parts (Gen. 15). He exclaimed, "It's all Avraham's fault!"

"What is?" I asked.

"The slavery in Egypt."

( Tani's interpretation of the text, and the search for a precedent )