Mr. Andrew Fleming, Traveling

Ask me what I love to do, and I'm likely to answer (among other things): travel. I love to travel, to see new places, to meet new people, to just go somewhere. Anywhere. Everywhere. Well, eventually. And so it is that I look back at the ol' blog, see that I haven't written in over six months, and realize that I have a great excuse--the best excuse--I've been traveling. A lot.

Let's see, where to begin? The last post was in March, and shortly thereafter I was in Roanoke, Virginia for Mu Beta Psi's National Convention. Lynn was ill, so I was on my own. It was a good time, as usual, and I even managed to get myself appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees....whoops. And while I didn't write about it in this blog, I did manage to write a post for the Psi officers' blog over here.

Then suddenly it was April, and Lynn and I were off to exciting Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Typically when we travel to Wisconsin, it's to spend time with her family out on the family farm in Janesville. This time, though, it was a pleasant trip to spend time were her cousins who live in Milwaukee, and just catch up. Of all the trips this summer, this one was probably the most relaxing.

In May, I turned 30. And knowing she would be doing the same later this year, Lynn suggested we celebrate by running off to Disney World. Who could argue? We spent a whirlwind long weekend in Orlando, Florida and hit up all four major Disney Parks, and of course the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Even I have to admit, that was cool. We even ran into some good friends along the way--one who was there for a bachelorette party, and one who works at Hollywood Studios and was able to hang out with us in the parks before going to work. Spending a great weekend at Disney was sort of eye-opening--not just that we had such a good time, but that it was so easy to pop down there for a weekend. Could be dangerous...

May ended with a quick trip with friends up to Killington, Vermont. And June was a much-needed rest. Instead of us traveling, a few friends came to visit us in New York. Then in July, it was back to Killington where we hosted Psi's Alumni Association mid-year meeting.

August was the biggest travel month. Lynn's brother got married, and we joined them in La Paz, Bolivia for a second wedding reception in the bride's hometown with all of her family. On the way, we traveled through Peru and saw Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Lake Titicaca. These are deserving of posts of their own, so hopefully I'll get to that.

Finally, that brings us up to September. Not long after returning from South America, we made a quick trip to Janesville, Wisconsin and then a trip to Austin, Texas for a swing dance event: The Hot Rhythm Holiday. Along with several of our dancer-friends, we'd been working on a piece of group choreography in collegiate shag. Although I had a fever and spent much of the time being generally ill, it was still a good weekend.

And now, we are home, and plan to be home--for a while at least. The holidays are coming up soon, which means Detroit, Michigan and probably back to Killington. And then 2013 kicks off with what promises to be a truly unforgettable trip, Antarctica.

Bon voyage!

Shag Now or Shag Later?

Shagging in public--the scandal!

I expected this post to be about shagging. In Ottawa. It's cold up there, you see, so one of the more enjoyable ways of keeping warm is to shag long into the night. I'm speaking, of course, of the annual Shag Explosion dance event and competition.

Alas, it was not to be. Lynn had unfortunately taken ill, and the weekend was instead spent watching movies at home.

But, that's not going to stop us from shagging as much as possible. In public, no less.

Collegiate Shag, like all of the swing dances that arose in the early part of the twentieth century, has a somewhat hazy history. Terms like "shag," "swing," and "jitterbug" were used more broadly to label any of the swing dances being danced in those days. (People from that time period would laugh at how specifically we label our dances today; to them Swing, Charleston and all the rest were interchangeable and determined only by the tempo and style of the music.) It's thought that Collegiate Shag as a distinct style arose out of New York City in the 1930s. From the ferver of fast-tempo dances this particular style of shag was adopted by the younger--you might say, collegiate--set of dancers.

It looks a little something like this:



Lynn and I have been learning shag from Tony Fraser, who is an awesome, energetic teacher. He and his partner Jamie Shannon are pushing the limits of the style and really having fun with the dance. What I enjoy most about them is that they really emphasize the playfulness of the dance, always encouraging everyone to put their own spin on the style. There aren't a lot of shaggers in NYC these days, so we're building on the small community here. And I'm happy to say that those who did make it to Ottawa, like Eryck and Liz shown in the picture above, did exceptionally well.

Here's Tony and Jamie:

Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning died today, at age 94. He was the heart and soul of the swing dancing scene. Inventor of air steps, pioneer of the dance for two eras, and inspiration to thousands of dancers all over the world.

I was lucky to have taken a few workshops with him years ago, and to have been a part of the NYC scene. You could always find Frankie out in New York dancing, not a care in the world but what fun step he could still do after all these years.

Tonight we celebrate his life in the way he would have insisted--dancing to his favorite band, the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra at Swing46.

Fluffy Pillows

An all-balboa weekend taught by Joel and Alison Plys. Great dancing, great people, and a great band on Saturday night. I'm a little sore, quite tired, and still recovering from being sick, but happy to be dancing again.

Mmm...Balicious.

Catching Up: Part I

Once again, life has gotten in the way of updating this thing. I suppose that's a good sign, indicative of my freedom from the bonds of my computer. Or it's simple lethargy. No, surely it's the former. Surely.

At any rate, the Viennese Opera Ball has come and gone. (Check here for background information.) It was magical.

I arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria at 3:30pm, having taken a cab down there with some fellow waltzers. The girls ran off to start the costume/make-up process, while another leader and I cruised the neighborhood for some food. Ah, cheese steaks on Park Ave. We then had to dress in our tailsuits and be ready by 5pm for some more rehearsing (we had rehearsed at the Waldorf every day that week but one). We had to wait for the debutantes to rehearse their polonaise, which was finally starting to pull together, so a few of us snuck out of our green room to see the ballroom. It was beautiful, centerpieces of roses and long-stem candles on every table, all the places set for dinner, and the whole ambiance of the grand ballroom lit only by candle-light.


We rehearsed a few times ourselves, whilst mingling with the debutantes, a ballet couple from Austria, and the Met Opera singers who were also performing that night. It seemed to go on forever. Finally, at 9pm, the evening began. There had been a reception in a salon since 8pm, while we were rehearsing, so we didn't get to see that. As all of the guests, wealthy patrons, and UN Ambassadors took their seats, we watched the opening ceremonies from our staging area. A merchant marine bugle corps announced the procession of dignitaries (mostly members of the Austrian government). The debutante polonaise followed, and then the Austrian ballet couple with their minuet. Then we were on. Our performance went very smoothly, and was very well received. Over too soon, we bowed before the applause of the ballroom and started the Alles Waltzer (Everyone waltzes) to, of course, the Blue Danube Waltz. It was amazing to be dancing in that ballroom, in tails, at the Waldorf. Unbelievable.

During the Alles Waltzer, my dance partner and I were joined by our guests on the floor. (Each member of the waltz performance group was allowed to bring one guest.) My date looked beautiful, and seeing her for the first time on the floor I nearly tripped. (Well....) After the dance, we all went to our tables for dinner. Our table was on the balcony, overlooking the entire ballroom. We enjoyed the opera performances and an exquisite meal before the orchestra took up again and we danced some more. This went on until 1am, when the ballroom finally closed for the evening.

Far from from being over, everyone moved to a couple of salons--each with its own music, drinks, and snacks. Here we mingled, and danced to a jazz band, until nearly 5am. Finally, exhausted but overjoyed, we took a cab home. Parting gifts included a bottle of nice wine, some Austrian chocolates, and $1,000 off my next private jet charter of $10,000 or more.

What an amazing night. Quite literally, a dream come true.

A Random Walk

Looks like I've yet again let this thing sit for a while without posting. Ah well. I'd like to say that I try, but the truth is, it's still just a diversion from work. So on the rare occasion that I am actually working, it doesn't get updated.

So, since the last post, I've gone skiing at Killington, had Christmas in Michigan, New Years in NYC, gone observing at Kitt Peak, and ran a 420-couple ballroom dance competition--in which I also competed. How's that for a run-on sentence, eh?

The ski trip was wonderful, the perfect end to a semester. Granted more time was spent being lazy by fire (and not being lazy by the fire) than actually skiing, but that was fine with me. I needed to relax and unwind, and I couldn't have asked for a better time.

After that, it was a whirlwind 4-day trip to Michigan and back for Christmas. Not much to report there, beside the usual huge Italian family craziness.

Back in NYC, I met up with a friend from swing dancing to go to a New Year's party not far from Times Square. (No, I did not actually go to Times Square, that would be silly.) It was a nice party, sort of low key, but lots of good people. For the actual count-down to the new year, we went up on the roof to see/hear the Times Square crowd. They fired off fireworks in the square. I couldn't believe it; fireworks being shot off between skyscrapers, exploding next to windows, and raining ash down on the crowd. No kiss on the dawn of the new year, though, as the only one I would have was far, far away.

Then it was off to Arizona for an observing run on a 1.3-meter telescope partially owned by Columbia. For the most part, we had perfect weather, and got lots of good data. As usual, I met some great people there, as well. I love meeting people on observing runs, it's one of my favorite things about what I do.

When I returned, I had only three short days to finish the preparations for the Manhattan Amateur Classic 2006 ballroom competition. I've been on the organizing committee for this since last spring, and preparations began back in June. While there were, of course, major crises every ten minutes, we were able to quell most of the problems and work out reasonable solutions. It was a lot of work, a lot of effort, and long hours. But in the end, the event came off well, and we received a lot of positive feedback from competitors and audience members. When the competition ended, the other members of the organizing committee took me out to nice dinner. Then we went to the hotel room of one of the organizers for an after-party. Oh, and in the competition, my partner and I placed 5th in Silver, which is the highest we've achieved thus far. Good times.

And now it's back to the grind. Today is the first day of class (I like to emphasize that I'm only taking one--and it's the last class I will ever have to take!). Though my class actually starts tomorrow. Nonetheless, there's much work to be done on my research. Data from the observing run to analyze. Officemates with whom to catch up on things. And of course, all my webcomics to read!

My "Big Screen" Debut

So a few says ago, I received a fairly random phone call from a swing dancer friend of mine. Apparently, she was invited by a friend of hers (a break dancer) who used to work for MTV to do a holiday spot for them that involved dancing. She, needing a partner for swing, called me.

Yesterday we went down to MTV Studios in Times Square. We were there with hip-hop, salsa, bhangra, and break dancers. The spot is to celebrate the holiday season with all different kinds dancing, and will show on MTV's giant video screen in Times Square. When it was our turn to shoot, they took us into a studio and decorated us with tinsel and Santa hats (which quickly came off). They did some lighting and sounds tests, and one guy showed us on the ground where we could move to and still be in the camera's view. When I asked him how high vertically we could go, he looked at me funny, and we had to run a few of our aerials to make sure we'd still be in the shot. We put on a song and just danced for about four minutes. They'll edit it, pull out what they like, and put together the piece. It'll be on the screen by next week.

Oh, and one of the break dancers, who went in the studio after us, said that we were the crew's favorites so far.

I also "met" another celebrity at MTV. Ludacris was there for the Total Request Live (TRL) show. I ran into him in the men's room, thinking to myself "I think that's Ludacris, but I can't say anything now, we're...." Well, you get the idea. So as we both went to the sink to wash our hands (yes, men do that), he looked over and said "Yo, yo." I, drawing on my adept command of the spoken word, replied with, "Hey."

I do so love this city.

A White Tie Affair

Every January, the Viennese Opera Ball is held in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria here in New York. It is a charity ball to celebrate opera and the arts related to the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria, and is attended by dignitaries, ambassadors, and lots of incredibly wealthy people. Tickets start at $750 per person, but if you want to sit at a table and eat dinner, that jumps to $2,500 per couple, or as high as $25,000 for a table. Of course, you get a seven course meal and performances from opera soloists from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Symphony Orchestra, and a group of professional Viennese Waltz dancers. Cocktails are at 8pm, dinner at 9pm. Dancing goes until 1am when the ballroom closes and the attendees retire to three salons--each with its own string quartet, naturally--to spend the rest of the night socializing until around 4am. Dress is strictly white tie and decorations for men and long ball gowns for women.

On Saturday, my ballroom partner and I auditioned for a spot with the V-Waltz group and were accepted! She will be provided with a ball gown, and I a proper white tie and tuxedo with coat-tails. (It has always been a dream of mine to dance in a fancy ballroom to a live orchestra in tails.) We get dinner, dancing, and all of this for a mere three-minute performance. Can it truly be real? I'm still trying to convince myself that it's actually true.

Oh, and per years of tradition, there will be a parade of debutantes making their societal debut and dancing the Polonaise. In other words, lots of very wealthy girls my age....

Ballroom in Beantown

This past weekend was a ballroom competition at MIT up in Boston. Fortunately, the competition was primarily in the mornings, so I had evenings to wander around the city. I remember the very first time I went to Boston thinking how huge and busy the city was. Now, after living in New York for a while, Boston seems so little, and almost empty. Please don't misunderstand, it is a beautiful city (all that Jacobsville sandstone....ah, takes me back to the UP, except for the whole urban part....). It's just that I was walking downtown on Friday night and the sidewalks were empty, restaurants were quiet, and there weren't even any police or fire sirens. It gave me quite an eerie feeling to be in such an urban area that was so obviously not as densely populated as it looked. Ah, New York, look how you've jaded me. (I don't mind.)

The weekend was nice, after all. My partner and I did well in the competition, winning 4th place in Waltz, 3rd in Quickstep, and 2nd in Viennese Waltz, out of 96 couples. Since it was at MIT, I got to visit an old friend and Brother who is now a grad student there in physics. We went to see Sin City, which was well worth it. Even if you don't care for violence, or want a plot that is profound and intricate, go see it anyway. It is so visually stunning that it simply cannot be missed.

And now it is back to the proverbial grind. Proposals to write, homework sets to finish, and of course, research to eventually find time for. The end of the semester is on the horizon, though, I just have to make it there. Then I have all summer to work on nothing but research--how wonderful that will be!

I've had "Barrett's Privateers" in my head for three days now, as well. If you don't know the song, you should. If you do know the song, then you surely must know how much I miss Thursday nights at the Ramada in Houghton....