Sam M. '07 | March 19, 2006
"All my pasts and futures"
DID YOU KNOW? Beethoven wrote only one opera and it was called Fidelio.
Tonight we had the Burton-Conner Trivia Competition. Prior to the competition, I sent an e-mail to my floor telling them to keep three things in mind.
1. The third-largest city in Ireland is called "Limerick"
2. Beethoven wrote only one opera and it was called "Fidelio."
3. The first message ever sent by telegraph was "What hath God wrought?"
The second one came up in the lightning round.
Do you do quiz bowl? You should know these things!
One of the questions was "What is the more common name for lateral epicondylitis?" I won the "funniest answer" prize (a free entree and drink at California Pizza Kitchen) for guessing "leprosy." I don't know, I thought it was a pretty reasonable answer.
I know I promised an entry on a portrait of my UROP as a young man, but I got so involved writing the stream-of-consciousness prose and doing chemical kinetics homework that it will have to wait until oh, let's say Thursday.
No time... you know what that means? PICTURE ENTRY!
Presenting... The World-Famous, Nationally Renowned, Often Copied But Never Cloned, Unforgettable (No Matter How Hard You Try), Super Phat, Super Fly, One and Only, MIT Marching Band.
This picture needs no caption.
We tried this one at 77 Mass Ave, but were unsucessful and almost died in Boston traffic. Note the lack of a shoe on Kim '09. Kim is dead.
Another one of our many traditions is to cram the entire band into an elevator. However, it's one we'd gladly forgo if it meant we could get more than a dozen members in the band!
This was the first day I had ever played tuba. I figured out that you can just not press down any valves and just do alternating Bb, F for most march songs.
Sometimes we are a laying band, too. We are that talented. Actually, sitting here, looking up at the skylight with the bright March sky shining through it, we played the absolutely most transcendent rendition of "We Are The Engineers" I have ever heard--I wish you were there to hear it.
But maybe you can come on our Marching Tour of Campus during CPW.
Tennis elbow.
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Cool! I'm one of two marching tubas in my high school marching band. We have 100+ members, including colorgaurd. Anyways, I'm a junior who will definately be applying next year. I have perfect grades and everything, but I doubt I'll get in. What other schools would you reccommend applying to? Nothing compares to MIT, but are there any other good schools that aren't on the west coast? What other schools did you apply to?
Posted by: Sam on March 20, 2006 03:16 PM
I'd be in it. No prior experience required, right?
And yeah, his ^ questions too. Just because.
On April 10 i'm coming to Boston for a few days!!
Yes. Fun. Look out. >.>
Posted by: Kate on March 20, 2006 05:22 PM
Your entry title is from a Radiohead song, plus you mentioned Beethoven AND leprosy, which means this is an awesome post.
I play a mean glockenspiel. (I don't really; I just wanted to say "glockenspiel.")
Posted by: Colin on March 20, 2006 06:01 PM
Colin noticed the Radiohead title before I did (which is even more reason why both he and you are awesome in my book), which doesn't surprise me, actually. Curse him, I think. ^_^
The second band picture brought the "Abbey Road" album cover straight to mind. Audiophile, you ask? Why, of course I am! (And quite proud of it.)
Posted by: thekeri on March 20, 2006 08:16 PM
Sam at the top and Kate right below, I'd try Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY). As far as I can tell, they provide a roughly equivalent education, but its significantly easier to get in. Also, they provide sufficient envelopes with the application(unlike Harvard, Yale, and MIT), and come with added bonus of having been reccommenden by Ben, admissions office extraordinaire.
thekeri, I totally saw "Abbey Road" too. That makes me happy.
Posted by: Rhiannon Carr on March 21, 2006 09:08 PM
recommended, that is. My typing is not doing so well today.
Posted by: Rhiannon Carr on March 21, 2006 09:09 PM
Yeah, you know that you definitely are in Quiz Bowl if you knew all those three things. And somehow manage to incorporate them into normal conversations. And still seem normal.
I seriously hope you guys all saw Abbey Road. Geez.
Posted by: Shannon on March 21, 2006 10:16 PM
I'm also a tuba playing junior. And a line leader - which means I can actually march a little and instruct others on how to not get their feet tangled up in a bad way. And I've actually dodged cars honking at me on the original zebra stripe at Abbey Road Studio. And I'm already a science/math geek. So, do you think I can now can be recruited as an MIT band geek?
Posted by: Tuba07 on March 21, 2006 11:38 PM
Nice to meet you!
Now,I'm a freshman so I want to make a friend with you.I hope you can help me.Thank you.
Posted by: april on March 22, 2006 02:17 AM
Math is magic. National champions?
Posted by: Mitra on March 22, 2006 11:24 AM
Whoa, this had, like, four comments the last time I looked at it. Let's answer you guys.
Sam -- We would adore having another tuba. I wish that the marching band had some influence on the admissions process, but we really don't... yet. I applied to Harvard, Harvey Mudd, and the University of Rochester. I had meant to apply to the University of Chicago also, but ended up not doing so. If you're into engineering, Carnegie Mellon is also a pretty good choice on the east coast, I think--I have a few friends who have gone there and been very successful.
Kate -- Yeah, you can always bang on a drum or twirl a flag or something. We're more about quantity at this point, I think, although we'd love it if you had some instrumental experience.
Colin -- Good, because we don't have a glockenspiel... yet. It's a rebuilding phase.
thekeri -- Well, I'm glad you got the Abbey Road connection. Radiohead isn't my all-time favorite band, but I do like some of their creepier stuff (How to Disappear Completely, the Gloaming, Pyramid Song, etc...)
Rhiannon -- Yeah, I hear that RPI is pretty good also, as is RIT if you're looking for other technology-oriented schools to apply to.
Shannon -- Haha, glad Abbey Road is so obvious.
Tuba07 -- YES! Is there any way you can graduate early? Although our current tubist is a grad student with no apparent intention of leaving anytime soon, we can definitely use as many tuba virtuoso nerds as we can get.
April -- Well, making friends is always good, so they say. Are you coming to CPW? Maybe you can check out the "Meet the Bloggers" event there. If not, feel free to send me an e-mail or something once you get here.
Mitra -- Why did you kill my dog?
Posted by: Sam on March 22, 2006 03:27 PM
Does band really not mean anything at MIT, because it's my main EC-activity. I'm practically an All-State(Tx.)(by 3 chairs :'() Hornist. (No not Frech Horn, just Horn!)I'm also a nerd, so I'm hoping on being class of '12, though I know it's highly unlikely.
Posted by: DeafeningHorn on March 22, 2006 10:03 PM
