From: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com (edheads-digest) To: edheads-digest@smoe.org Subject: edheads-digest V5 #114 Reply-To: edheads@efohio.com Sender: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Errors-To: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Precedence: bulk edheads-digest Saturday, May 25 2002 Volume 05 : Number 114 Today's Subjects: ----------------- ok that's it ["Scott & Trea McReynolds" ] Nicole's cruise report (long) [Nicole Carlson ] cruise Q [Beth Simons ] Re: cruise Q [Andrea Biklen ] Re: cruise Q ["Kerry Frey" ] Mike Photo Alert! [Andrea Biklen ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 10:05:17 -0400 From: "Scott & Trea McReynolds" Subject: ok that's it Ok Ok Ok I have had enough!!! I told the hubby last night if it kills us we r selling the kids and going on the next cruise ;) My weekend sucked more than humanly possible and the thought of yawl on the cruise haven fun was more than I could stand. Then to read the "reports" I couldn't take it any longer, I began to pout and pitch a fit that would have impressed my 18 month old ! Tree (who started saven her pennies, dimes and nickels so we can go next year) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 13:41:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Nicole Carlson Subject: Nicole's cruise report (long) OK, I'm finally checking in. Literary excellence takes time. *pause* So, of course, I have no excuse. :) Part the First: A very large boat is spotted; we come aboard; free drinks are consumed Our narrative begins as we cross over the causeway from Miami Beach to Miami proper. From one moment to the next, I feel as though we've strayed into a Hollywood-style miniaturizer, because I feel positively ant-sized compared to the ship I've just spotted. I struggle to find the right words to express the very very obvious. "Jess," I finally say, "that ship is HUGE." After a lengthy process involving several queues, we eventually board the good ship _Fascination_. I am mildly disappointed that there is no grizzled old sea captain of whom we must ask permission to come aboard. We deposit stuff in our cabin, squeal in anticipation, and head off to explore. The usual metaphor applied to cruise ships is "floating hotel". I mentally correct that to "floating *Vegas* hotel". Same goofy extravagance. Same meretricious decor. Same international relentlessly-cheery-even-at-3-AM staff. The only difference, really, except for the floating factor, is the mannequins. They're spaced every hundred feet or so along the main hallway, posed naturally and dressed in real clothes; it is at first difficult to tell that they are plastic. (Faint memories stir of a really bad '80's movie. I ruthlessly supress them.) They are dressed in the height of fashion circa at least ten years ago--think "Dynasty". God knows what the intended effect on cruisegoers was, but every one *I* talked to was creeped out. Eventually we locate a cluster of Edheads who are making a head start on the weekend's drinking. We eagerly join them. Toes are painted by Helen Schaefer. Greg Wells and I compare our toes to each other and to Mike's toes, which have been painted without his knowledge because he is fast asleep. The rest of Mike's person has also been decorated during his slumber. I wish I'd been around when he awoke. On returning to our cabin, we discover, to our delight, that it has been invaded by cool people in the persons of Shelley and Andrea. Friendships thus strongly started, we head off to the first official function: the cocktail party welcome hour. I hug and make the aquaintance of Edheads of all stripes. With some sort of fruity rum drink in hand, I sit with my cabinmates and we watch as EFO is introduced. They explain the request system for tomorrow's show, prompting outbreaks of whispering amongst the Edheads. ("What are YOU going to request?") Stof presents the band with the fruit of monklike labor: a poster of all the lyrics ever written by EFO, hand-written in flyspeck around a freehand Eddie Guy. Everyone is awed. We turn out to be at his table; the four of us cabinmates, Stof, Ben, Jill, and Kerry (who turns out to be a GUY). Julie confides that she'd seen the seating arrangements and that, in her opinion, we're the Fun Table. Damn straight. We discuss requests and note that no one's lists are alike. After dinner, we all repair to the Lido deck, to hang out and drink more fruity rum drinks. Part the Second: Nassau is seen; THE CONCERT; my booty is shaken There really is not a lot to say about Nassau. It is a poor area dressed up strictly for the benefit of tourists, that they might not bruise their eyes on anything so unsightly as poverty. Fortunately there is also an extremely cool public library that used to be a prison. (The Davis public library, by way of contrast, is a perfectly ordinary box-shaped building.) They have some historic artifacts and, for some reason, a forlorn-looking marble bust that we nickname Percival. The shopping area offers a wide variety of goods such as duty free liquor, jewelery, cigars, jewelery, generic mementoes, liquor, liquor, jewelery, cigars, jewelery, and liquor. There is also traditional island cuisine, such as Pizza Hut and Dunkin' Donuts. Many people are anxious to either braid my hair or whisk me off to some unspoiled beach somewhere, but I opt to return to the boat, where lunch is free and the drink of the day is the "Bahama Mama". Fortunately, I have THE CONCERT to look forward to. Anticipation hangs heavy in the air. The four of us discuss the problem of being with 100+ other Edheads--namely, everyone will want to sit in front. We get good seats anyway, in the curiously musty-smelling "Puttin' On The Ritz" lounge. Well. It was an Edhead's dream concert: 3 hours long, tons of songs, tons of rarities, wonderful sound, enthusiastic if not psychotic audience. I can't even begin to list what we were treated to: an altered version of Tom Burleigh, Schoolhouse Rock medley, a torch song called "Fire" that I'd never heard of (though apparently it'd gotten enough requests to be played), a Train Song medley that included four or five other songs, etc. The most memorable part, for me, starts with "Let's Get Mesolithic". As if by mutual agreement, EVERYONE rushes the stage. Now, I've attended EFO concerts in small venues where there is really no room to dance. And I've attended EFO concerts in venues where there IS room to dance, only no one's brave enough to start the dancing. Mere words can't describe what it's like to be in the middle of a crowd of psyched-up Edheads singing along while dancing madly, but I will try: it is cool. Hella hella hella cool. I'm not sure the band could hear *themselves* over our din. It was awesome. The dancing frenzy lasted four or five songs, after which everyone was pooped and glad to sit somewhere and sing Candido. It seems impossible that the people in the dining room below *didn't* hear anything. I bet they were simply green with envy. It sure didn't *seem* like three hours had gone by, but apparently they had. We changed into our formal duds (showered, too, due to the dance-fest), and went to the EFO Prom. I couldn't help but snicker admiringly at everyone dressed up so nicely. I'd never seen Robbie in a suit and tie before. I couldn't even imagine Eddie in a suit and tie. After dinner, which included singing waiters, it's back to the Lido deck for more dance madness. I like to think that I was dancing things like the Electric Slide and the Macarena with the ironic detatchment of the terminally jaded, but really I was just having fun. When the novelty wore off, we hunkered down for more boozin'. I theorize that a cruise ship is a device for turning alcohol into urine. After a few Bahama Mamas, we decide that it would be a good idea to sneak notes, _Twelfth Night_ style, into Eddie's unguarded sport coat. Most unfortunately, we're caught on tape, so the next morning we have the distinct pleasure of watching ourselves in the evil act. :) Part the Third: Questions are answered; sunbathing is interrupted; another concert is attended, without dancing this time Ten o'clock comes much earlier than it should. We manage to haul ourselves out of bed and to the lounge, where we find that the other Edheads--not to mention the band--had just as much trouble getting up as we did. The floor is turned over to us Edheads, and we spend a happy hour peppering them with questions. Shelley took copious notes, as is her wont, so I won't bother with a transcription. I asked what EFO's Ben & Jerry ice-cream flavor would be; apparently it would either be an eggnog-flavored concoction called "Eggie From Ohio", or it would involve chocolate out of deference to Julie. Now Greg has been spending the weekend, in part, telling everyone who'll listen that we should all gather on the back part of the Lido Deck and hang out. This we all agree to do, and shortly the back deck has been turned into Edhead Central. The word even gets around to Daniel, the drink waiter who's been serving us all weekend, because he joins us too. Alas, it was not to last. No more than an hour or three after we'd stormed the deck (time flies with edheads), the sky clouded over. "Stick it out, stick it out!" said Julie. But "Run away, run away!" was the consensus once it started raining. After some false starts, we eventually ended up at the Beverly Hills Bar and hung around. (There was a LOT of hanging around on the cruise. I just loved it.) Eventually it was time for the special unplugged show. I'd heard EFO off-mic before, of course, but only for the ocassional Irish Blessing. This was a whole show off mic, and it was magical. I was surprised at the subtle harmonies I'd missed before, and the sheer beauty of voices and instruments without any intermediaries. Color me even more impressed with them than ever. I'd half-expected Bob to take the afternoon off here, maybe sit up front and kick back, but such is not Bob's way. No. He was *recording* the whole effort (via area mics), and hopefully we'll be able to enjoy his labors soon. The mellow mood persisted through dinner and beyond, though we did rouse ourselves for one last hurrah at the Beverly Hills Bar. Stof and Ben introduced me to the joys of after-dinner liquers, which of course led Robbie to tease me about drinking sissy drinks. The next morning, after a subdued breakfast, we all gather in the Palace Lounge for last goodbyes and an interminable wait to get off the boat. Of course, the most important parts are left out: all the conversations, friendships begun, jokes shared (and played). I met all kinds of fabulous people and had a marvelous time. And it was almost entirely because of the *people*--Lord knows the cruise itself wasn't anything special (IMHO, of course). So a great big mushy thanks to everyone, and I promise that wild horses will not keep me off the next cruise (or other fun activity). That's all from here... I'm off to pick up my pictures! Whoop! - --nicole twn *** "We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow-worm."--Winston Churchill Visit Nicolopolis! http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~carlsonn nmcarlson@ucdavis.edu ana.ng@tmbg.org carlsonn@seclab.cs.ucdavis.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 17:03:55 -0400 From: Beth Simons Subject: cruise Q were julie's kids along? <>o<>o<>o<>o<> Beth Simons beth@simons.mv.com Merrimack, NH (and St-Brieuc, France, at heart) "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." --Douglas Adams ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 16:09:44 -0700 From: Andrea Biklen Subject: Re: cruise Q Nope--she was very enthusiastic about her (and Greg's) freedom for the weekend. But of course, I'm sure she missed them too. At 05:03 PM 5/24/02 -0400, you wrote: >were julie's kids along? > ><>o<>o<>o<>o<> >Beth Simons >beth@simons.mv.com >Merrimack, NH (and St-Brieuc, France, at heart) > >"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up >where I intended to be." > --Douglas Adams &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Andrea Biklen Assistant Director-Academic Advisor Division of Adult Learning Simpson College (515) 961-1692 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 17:22:33 -0400 From: "Kerry Frey" Subject: Re: cruise Q Nope, Greg's idea. She said it was a "fabulous idea". Kerry > were julie's kids along? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 17:08:28 -0700 From: Andrea Biklen Subject: Mike Photo Alert! There has been an initial cruise posting on the website with an EXCELLENT photo of Mike's infamous lido deck adventure! Andrea from Iowa ------------------------------ End of edheads-digest V5 #114 *****************************