Yesterday, though a monster day at work, Megan and I made time to attend a Hillsdale reception hosted practically in my own backyard. This marked the first time I was able to attend one of these functions, although I have attended similar "Hillsdale events" back in the day, including "THE Hillsdale Event," the inauguration of Larry P. Arrrrrrrrnn and the subsequent initiation/christening of the Good Ship Hillsdale.
That was a night to remember. The College went all out, setting up a giant pavilion in the Quad, putting in A/C and false floors and transforming my humble Ultimate pitch into a rough approximation of a convention center ballroom, or the deck of a sailing ship. Drinks, both alcoholic and non-, flowed freely as the Captain doubled our daily ration of spirits for this occasion. SAGA outdid itself with bacon-wrapped filet and the biggest shrimp I've ever laid my oxymoronic eyes on. After speechifying, a band played and my girlfriend (now my wife) and I danced the night away in the soft summer evening.
The reception certainy echoed that initial inauguration--say what you will about the Captain, but at least he throws a decent shindig. Probably the high point of the evening, aside from seeing old friends and professors again (Dr. Conner is looking particularly well), was a brief conversation my wife and I had with the Captain himself. He was very complimentary, particularly of the old gang of miscreants and malcontents that I used to run around with (we called ourselves the "BackPage Staff" then). Dr. Arrrrrn even went so far as to say that he learned a lot from how we treated him, the Administration, and even the rules of the College itself, and paid us the very flattering compliment that he used our example as his model for student engagement at the College in the present day.
If that's the case, where's the Backpage? What happened to the funny?
Oh well. My wife and I both left invigorated, reminded of just how special a place Hillsdale is, and particuarly how special the people there are.
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3 comments:
They couldn't allow something as 'subversive' as the BackPage to continue. Also, the editors became less interested in it as the thing generally sunk into mediocrity and then the HalfPage. That, plus several re-designs and a few backpage controversies finally killed it (the DTD scratch and sniff logo and the Carol Ann Barker jokes come to mind).
We did put out a satire edition a few times, including when I was web editor. This practice ended December 06 near as I can tell. Here is the first and last satire page I was allowed to work on. I'm the guy with the laptop, and I wrote the Calvinism story.
BG, great to hear the updates! You're pulling ahead in the blog race now, I believe :-)
Doc rules! Glad to hear he is doing well. He is one I hope to see this weekend.
Nice article in National Review about the Dale rebounding.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDE0YjVmM2EzYjA4NzYwZWQzYzBmMTk0NjM3MjRmZDQ=
Go Chargers!
Andy Losik, Sig House '94
Chargerblue.com
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