Welcome to the first ever post on the new F15 Blog! A group of about 7 of us have spent the last few days in California, and so I thought that maybe people would be interested to hear what the wild and crazy week had in store for us.
"Did you see them eating the sausage canoe? They're SO fat and happy!"
We started off the day bright and early with piles of bacon. Woody, however, slept through the feast due to our ignorance of the fact that he was asleep in the other room...We were told to be at the T-Bagg residence at 9:00 and so left the house promptly at 8:15. Well...8:30... OK... 8:45.
We then left to go to the beach. The drive was a bit lengthy, but absolutely worth it; the weather was perfect and the waves incredible. Going to school next to Lake Michigan is nice, but its got nothing on the ocean. The huge waves and freezing water quickly kicked our asses and we spent the rest of the trip running along the coast. Well... T-bagg and I ran... the rest wondered. T-Bagg got a pretty bad sunburn, and I made fun of him for it; that only lasted until he pointed out the killer thigh sunburn that I had managed to acquire. It still hurts.
After the Beach we headed to the house of one of T-Bagg's relatives to start the second night of celebration.At the house we performed a few more songs and enjoyed a feast of delicious Mexican food and drink. The house, like everything else in San Francisco, was perched atop a gigantic hill with an incredible view. T-bagg and I spent some time in the pool with his brother and cousin; two whirlpools and one belly-flop contest later, we were ready to go.
We also spent a few hours in Washington Square Park and singing through our song list for that night's performance. We chose not to actually "perform" in the park and instead sat just enjoying the music we were making. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.
Once the main course was finished, we went into a back room and changed into our jeans and bowling shirts. We performed a much longer set for this crowd ("Zoot Suit Riot", "That Thing You Do", "Get Ready", "Awake", "Feliz Cumpleanos", and "Me and My Gang") and really made a good impression. I got many requests for CD's and we were even asked to perform at an October birthday party in Chicago; plans are already being made and it looks like this performance is a sure thing!
"If I were a critter I would rather be screwed than rarred."- Woody
Since it was the last night that we would be together until the start of school, we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, chatting and distracting the sister who was preparing for her first day back at school. Snapz, our resident politician, did his best to help her with AP Gov; this quickly turned into a rant about the conditions of the world today, and I quickly lost interest.
This trip had its start at the beginning of summer, when T-Bagg, my roommate and new F15 social chair, sent out an email inviting us all to come to San Francisco to sing for his mom's birthday extravaganza. The invite sounded too good to be true, but as time went on, and ticket confirmations were made, it became clear that this trip (the third of the year, preceded by a trip to Wash U in St. Louis, and New York City) was a sure thing.
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
This was the main travel day. Snapz and I both took the same flight out of Chicago and met with T-Bagg on the other side. After a few hours of trips back and forth to the airport, the majority of the group (or at least those who could make it), were all gathered in Doug's car and ready to get "Hyphy" in the "Yay" area... not to be confused with getting "HIV" in the "Gay" area... which we generally worked to avoid.
We spent the night in The Haight with T-Bagg's lovely and wonderfully charming sister perusing the large amounts of ridiculous hippy goods and odd sex shops; we also purchased dollar CD's at random from a record store.
At dinner, we were waited on by a very disagreeable women who suffered from the inability to understand the phrase "French role", and the lack of any personal opinions. We took our revenge by consuming vast amounts of Ketchup.
Since T-Bagg's mom was still oblivious of our musical birthday surprise, we had to part ways with him. We instead spent the night at Gameboy's house, about a 45 minute drive away. Along the way, we listened to our newly purchased CD's; particularly worth noting were the songs "Sausage Canoe" and "Box of Colors".
We got there just in time to see him perform in the Musical, "Hair", and see him and his friends dance on stage in their birthday suits.
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
We started off the day bright and early with piles of bacon. Woody, however, slept through the feast due to our ignorance of the fact that he was asleep in the other room...We were told to be at the T-Bagg residence at 9:00 and so left the house promptly at 8:15. Well...8:30... OK... 8:45.
Once there, we left to go see the Golden Gate Bridge and quickly realized that the morning's tardiness would prevent us from doing so. We chose to cut our losses and instead take a driving tour of the city.
Around 11:30 , we picked up Slutkin B. at the airport and went back home to practice for the party. Since Gameboy had "Hair" that night, he taught the T1 part to one of T-Bagg's Little cousins. For the first time in F15 history (or at least in the past few years), we were co-ed.
We arrived at the Olympic Club early to warm up and practice before the surprise; once we had gotten comfortable performing in our new configuration (six boys, and one 11 year old girl), we went down to the locker room to wait. Seeing as I was having some slight congestion problems... and I was in a frikin' ritzy Country Club... I thought that a good steam was in order; the other guys couldn't help but to agree.
After our romp in the steam room (and I mean that in the least sexual way possible), I decided to give the Jacuzzi a try. Only after I had removed my towel and entered the water - to some suspicious looks from the older men in the locker room - did I see the sign specifying that bathing suits must be warn at all times. My bad.
Once T-Bagg's mom arrived, we went back up and performed our surprise set. She was completely blown away and especially liked our rendition of Feliz Navidad entitled..."Feliz Cumpleanos." We also sang "Chariot", "Change the World", "Get Ready", and "I'll Make a Man Out of You."
The rest of the night was filled with incredible food and drink and even some dancing with the extended family. We left as the party was dying down, and continued the festivities at the house. This has to have been one of the most incredible nights of my life.
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
We woke up this morning to a breakfast of champions and headed to the back yard for a three on three game of basketball. I am happy to say that my team won, AND I scored about 150% of our baskets. We decided that this year we're gunna do some F15 sporting events, hopefully including F15 softball, basketball, and soccer. Maybe even an NU A Cappella Olympics of some sort?
After the Beach we headed to the house of one of T-Bagg's relatives to start the second night of celebration.At the house we performed a few more songs and enjoyed a feast of delicious Mexican food and drink. The house, like everything else in San Francisco, was perched atop a gigantic hill with an incredible view. T-bagg and I spent some time in the pool with his brother and cousin; two whirlpools and one belly-flop contest later, we were ready to go.
We spent the rest of the night in the city at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store in San Francisco. Although we wanted to spend the night on the town, we quickly succumbed to a food coma and chose instead to return home.
Sunday, August 24th, 2008
On Sunday, we spent most of the day in the city. We did some shopping, sight seeing, and walked up alot of very steep streets. In the parking garage elevator, we very inconspicuously got into the elevator with a group of teenage girls. As soon as the door closed, Woody started singing "Get Ready", and the girls awkwardly laughed; when the rest of us joined in, the girls must have thought they were on some sort of hidden camera game show... they kinda were... enjoy : )
We also spent a few hours in Washington Square Park and singing through our song list for that night's performance. We chose not to actually "perform" in the park and instead sat just enjoying the music we were making. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.
This, the third day of celebration, was the most extravagant of them all. The party took place at a beautiful school in the city. When we arrived, we changed into our suits and went into the side courtyard with the rest of the party-goers to enjoy an open bar and await the arrival of the birthday girl. Once she arrived, all 200 or so guests re-entered the main hall and sat down to begin dinner. Once again, the food was incredible.
Once the main course was finished, we went into a back room and changed into our jeans and bowling shirts. We performed a much longer set for this crowd ("Zoot Suit Riot", "That Thing You Do", "Get Ready", "Awake", "Feliz Cumpleanos", and "Me and My Gang") and really made a good impression. I got many requests for CD's and we were even asked to perform at an October birthday party in Chicago; plans are already being made and it looks like this performance is a sure thing!
After our performance, we ate dessert and then went to the dance hall. There was a live band and lots of ridiculous dancing, wigs, and blow-up guitars.
We left the party early and went back to the house to continue the festivities, which included a late night trip to "In and Out". Double Double and a Neapolitan Milkshake = Heaven.
Monday, August 25th, 2008
On Monday, most of the fellas got on planes to go home, but Gameboy, Snapz and I stayed around for an extra day. Since Woody had a late afternoon flight, we got up a bit early and headed to the Muir Woods, a redwood forest about 45 minutes from the house. The woods were absolutely beautiful, and well worth the trip. During the car ride to drop Woody at the airport, we discussed the ethics of Beastiality.
"If I were a critter I would rather be screwed than rarred."- Woody
After dropping Woody off at the airport, we went back to the house and, after a quick dinner with the family, went to the Giants game. Now, I may not be the biggest baseball fan in the world, but I do know enough to tell you that the Giants are not very good. The game was not the most exciting, but was a good chance to sit around with the guys, chatting about the approach of one of our friend's playboy debut, Iphone applications, and, much to T-Bagg's dismay, the attractiveness of his sister. Sadly, the Giants lost.
Since it was the last night that we would be together until the start of school, we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, chatting and distracting the sister who was preparing for her first day back at school. Snapz, our resident politician, did his best to help her with AP Gov; this quickly turned into a rant about the conditions of the world today, and I quickly lost interest.
The next thing I remember, it was 8:00 AM the next morning. After a quick shower and a bowl of cereal, we were off to the airport, thus ending one crazy week in the "Yay" area.
