Weekend in "Lamebridge" or Why I'm Glad I Don't Go To Harvard
So, I probably should have written this post sooner after the fact, being as the "Weekend in Lamebridge" was really, like, two weekends ago, but anyway . . .

First of all, I reiterate that I think Cambridge, MA (affectionately known as "Lamebridge) is ugly. And so are the people. Really. Harvard is not nice people. They're just bad people. They have no idea how to have a good time, and are totally socially inept. But, they happen to be good at football. This is compounded by the fact the we happen to be exceptionally bad at football. So I guess it's a good this that Yale-Harvard weekend really has nothing to do with football.

The Glee Club concert in Lamebridge on Friday night went soooooo well. We get better every time we perform, and we sang so well! It was really exciting. It was also the first time we performed "David's Lamentation", which is my fav piece that we sing, and it was so powerful! The Harvard Glee Club is good too (though theirs is all men), and much fun and light-hearted rivally was had during the football medleys and alma maters (almae matris, actually . . . though theirs is all about the "sons" of Harvard and the preservation of the "Puritan stock" . . . some people call that racist. Like I said, bad people).

The next day at The Game, it was ridiculous how much more of a party the Yale tailgate was than the Harvard one. Honestly - NO idea how to have a good time. Our football team got killed. If I cared about football, it would have been really humiliating (especially when one of their players intercepted a pass in our endzone and ran it 100 yards in the other direction to score . . . ouch). But, as the YDN proclaimed on Monday, Eli outsmarted Harvard at The Game. A clandestine group of Pierson seniors infiltrated the Harvard side of the stadium cleverly disguised as the Harvard Pep Squad, and got them to hold up colored paper about 8 sections wide that spelled out "WE SUCK". HAH! (and it was documented on film. Double click the pic for a bigger version) Losers . . . And then we stole the Harvard flag from their cheerleaders (like we do EVERY year - get a clue), and then their little male cheerleader has to run after it while we try to burn, defile, and otherwise destroy it as quickly as possible. The capture of the flag was carried out by an agent of the Yale Precision Marching Band (who shall go nameless here, in order to protect his identity) - we'll call him Agent Avenging-Yale's-Humiliating-Football-Loss. In order to steal the flag, one must go down on the field, which of course, means you get arrested . . . if they catch you. Agent Avenging-Yale's-Humiliating-Football-Loss snuck across the field to the Harvard side undetected, grabbed the Harvard flag and sprinted back with it to the Yale side. The field security guards were in hot pursuit. But as soon as Agent Avenging-Yale's-Humiliating-Football-Loss hit the stands, he threw the flag to the Yale fans, ripped off his hat and blazer, pulled on a different sweatshirt, and instantly melted into the crowd. The security guards searched and searched, but to no avail. And then we destroyed the flag. Agent Avenging-Yale's-Humiliating-Football-Loss is my new hero.

There's more drama that went on towards the end of The Game that accounted for much of the misery experienced (eg: my cell phone died halfway through The Game, I almost missed the bus back because certain people were too drunk off their asses and I needed their help to get to the pickup spot, the bus broke down on the way back, I realized I got 5 spider bites sleeping on the floor of Harry's basement, etc). But when I returned to New Haven, later than expected and in typicaly disgusting New Haven weather, all I could think about was how glad I was to be home, and that home was Yale and not Harvard.



- posted by Nicole @ 11:58 PM

 
And one more thing
I forgot to write about the lovely dinner that Nick and I had together on Sunday for our 9-month anniversary. We went to Hot Tomatoes, which is this really snazzy, amazing restaurant right by campus. It's a really cool place - actually one of the very first restaurants I went to in New Haven (mommy and I went when we came to look at the school). We had a really great time - he's so sweet! And, perhaps most importantly, it wasn't dining hall food.
- posted by Nicole @ 3:10 PM

 
Lots of Stuff
These past few weeks, the number of amazing events on campus has really picked up. Last week, the Under-secretary General for Communications Public Information of the UN (Shashi Tharoor) came to talk about Iraq. It was pretty interesting, though his assessment of the situation was a bit more positive than the reports from international media seem to imply (but then, that's why he's the secretary of "public information" for them). One thing I didn't know was that it will be the indepedent electoral commission that will decide whether or not the elections will take place in January - not the US or the UN. Interesting . . .

On Vet's Day, the Concert Band did this fabulous concert: the first half was a lot of patriotic stuff - a lot of things I played on the AMA trip to Europe, including Irish Tune from County Derry and Fanfare for the Common Man. They also played Armed Forces Salute - a medley of the fight songs of each branch of the service, and it's always moving when they ask the veterans of each one to stand when they hear their fight song. And then the second half of the concert was a reenactment of the Glenn Miller radio programs broadcasted from THE SAME concert hall at Yale 60 years ago. The music was marvelous, of course. They went all out, with commercials and everything, and the band even wore old army uniforms. It was really cool. I love Glenn Miller.

Then on Saturday night I went to see a play called A Bright Room Called Day, which was fascinating, disturbing, and commanding. It was phenominally well done, from cast to sets. It follows the life of a group of friends in Berlin in the 1930s - just as Hitler and the Nazis are rising to power. It shows the difficulty of the decisions the people had to make, the compromises, etc (and they were representative of groups targeted specifically by the Nazis: communist, homosexual), and the environment of uncertainty that dominated their lives. At points, it was profoundly insightful (esp the scene when the Devil comes in to the main character's apartment; his monologue is a discourse on the manifestation and progression of evil throughout history - incredible - and he's dressed formally with a black top hat, cane, and tails; as he leaves, he removes his hat to reveal a strikingly toe-head blonde German crew cut beneath - absolutely chilling). Between scenes, they projected onto the set documentary footage from Nazi Germany and a timeline in order to contextualize the play. I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the play, but there was also a strong element of leftist fanatical raving (comparing George W. to Hitler) that I thought was extreme, but all in all it was a powerful, thought-provoking play.

And then today, I skipped my polsci class to hear Howorth give a talk on the Transatlantic relationship after the election. The man is absolutely brilliant. He is THE best public speaker I have ever heard in my entire life. Incredible. He's a genius. And he's flying to Munich right now to attend a conference on how to save the world or something.
- posted by Nicole @ 11:29 PM

 
For We Need a Little Christmas . . .
Words cannot express how much I am looking forward to the Christmas season. I can actually almost taste it! So this is my "Favorite Christmas Stuff List" (stolen from Leah's blog.

1. Fave holiday movie?
Probably Muppet's Christmas Carol ("Light the lamp not the rat, LIGHT THE LAMP NOT THE RAT!"), but I also love It's a Wonderful Life. And I absolutely destest a Christmas Story
2. Real tree or fake tree?
Fake, cuz mommy's allergic. (We have a fiber optic one for our suite!)
3. Fave holiday memory?
Two years ago when EVERYONE was in Buffalo for Christmas!
4. Is it cool to sit on Santa's lap?
Of course
5. What are you doing this holiday season?
Going home. And then after New Year's, going to Arizona, California, and Nevada with Glee Club.
6. Where does Santa go in the summer?
Someplace warm, duh.
7. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.
8. Are you counting down the days until it's Christmas?
I practically made one of those paper chains.

Add on's
9. Favorite Christmas book
Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. I actually re-read it every year. It's one of the few books I've ever let myself read twice.
10. Favorite Christmas carol
Carol of the Bells
11. Favorite Christmas cookie
There are so many . . .


- posted by Nicole @ 10:36 AM

 
Crisis in the Sudan and How You Can Help
That's right, all you aspiring activists. Here's a very easy way you can help stop the violence in the Sudan. If you don't know what I'm talking about (i.e.: have lived in a hole for the past 6 months), the government of Sudan is currenly committing genocide against the people in its westernmost province. Millions of people have been driven from their villages, and thousands killed and raped. And the international community is too caught up in self-interest to do anything about it. But YOU CAN do something about it.

Here are links to Amnesty International's website, where you can send an email to the government of Chad, urging that they assist the thousands of refugees pouring across the border. Also, you can print a letter to the president of Sudan, demanding action. You then send the letter to the embassador to the UN in NYC. I think you may have to set up an account, but it's free and takes approximately 27 seconds. If you have any questions on how it works, call or email me. Yea! Saving the world!
- posted by Nicole @ 6:06 PM

 
Movies I Want (need) To See
1. Alexander (Colin as a blond?)
2. Vanity Fair (Cuz I love Reese)
3. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
4. Wimbledon
5. Head in the Clouds (even though it got bad reviews, I love Charlize)
5. Finding Neverland
6. The Polar Express

. . . and then the oldies that I STILL need to see
1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. Gone with the Wind
- posted by Nicole @ 9:17 PM