Update 2-3-04


Hi,

Super Bowl week. Heavy on excitement. Light on letters. Here's the batch:

From Booker Gibson: Thanks very much for directions to Stu Borman's pictures. I've always loved teaching. This can help show why.

From Emily Kleinman Schreiber: You even have some of us oldsters from the Class of '61 in the 2nd photo down on the left -- at the Forest Road Celebration! Judy Egor and her brother Greg (I think that's his name) are next to me (the one in blue and red hair). Betcha' didn't think I'd find us!

From Lynn Nudelman Villagran: I was wondering if you'd be interested in adding a photo I found from South to the Reunion web page. It's of the freshman cheerleading squad, when we were in 7th grade, I think, and includes: Nancy Nudelman, Andrea Gladstone, Ellen Nudelman, Gwen Camhi, Terry Aquasanto, Judi Fingerhut, Mary Sipp, Carol Bunim, Valerie Nelson, and me.

[Rich -- I'll try and get the photo on the home page by the end of the week. Just now, I'm really busy at school.]

From Robert Fiveson: I have been thinking more and more about the tribute to Vince. Let's make sure that there is a mechanism to see to it that the scholarship not only continues past our stewardship, but that succeeding generations know who the man was, and why there is a memorial fund in his name. I am not sure how that is done, but it should be attended to somehow. In that I have now made these suggestions, please know, too, that I will contribute whatever native skills or energy I can bring to that effort.

[Rich -- Right now, we've pledged to keep the scholarship going for 10 years, and I think we have just enough donors to make that possible. We'll have to see what happens as we go along. Meanwhile, I got the official confirmation letter from South today.]

From Anthony Iadevaio, president of the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education: I am pleased to advise you that at its meeting on January 13, 2004, the Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the establishment of The Vince Tampio Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $500 for 10 years.
     The South High School Awards Committee will select the student based on the following criteria: the student must be a theatre student (actor/actress or production technician), must be a senior high student in grades 11 or 12, and has made a major contribution to the theatre program.
     Please accept the Board's sincere appreciation.

Barbara Blitfield Pech contributes her latest Internet find, a website devoted to Fifties' nostalgia. It can be found at: www.fiftiesweb.com and includes a section on the original names of famous dead people. Barbara also notes: Just doing my good deed for the day. Check this out and enjoy. Feedback welcomed.

It must be really cold in Nebraska, because Jerry Bittman keeps sending pictures of Hawaiian women in their native dress. He also includes this bit of history (relax, Robert, it's not a test):   Do you know what happened this week back in 1850? California became a state. The state had no electricity, the state had no money, almost everyone spoke Spanish, and there were gun fights in the streets.
So, basically, it was just like California today -- except the women had real breasts.

Finally, some more traditional culture. But let me preface this by saying, I am not now in Cairo, I have never been to Cairo, and I don't expect to spend any time, ever, in any part of Egypt. This was forwarded by a friend, and was reportedly written by Stancil Campell.
     What do you get when you combine ballet, murder, the circus, square dancing, nightmares, opera, movie soundtracks, Restoration costumes, Scarlett O’Hara, Captain Kangaroo, fog, 18th century scenery, a 15-foot head of Michelangelo's David, and a dwarf? I call it The Barnum and Bailey Hamlet.
     Last night, I witnessed one of the strangest performances I've ever seen, performed at Cairo's National Theatre, in Arabic, of course. Add to the all the above, mysterious new characters appearing in the play for the first time, and some, occasional, good acting, when not obscured by the director. My favorite scene was the torturous nightmare Hamlet endures as he meets his father’s ghost.
Hamlet is discovered sleeping, then is awakened by 4 dwarfs and 4 demons, all with white hair and skeleton heads. The dwarfs tie Hamlet with 2 long red cloths, perhaps 30 feet each, representing Hamlet’s blood ties to the ghost. That figure appears in his usual fog, but not before Ophelia dances a ballet of death. Is her partner Laertes? Oh, the incestuousness! Hamlet is then pulled by the red cloth, which nearly strangles him. Tugged to the right, then to the left, then up- and downstage by the dwarfs, he finally fully wakes, aided by Ophelia, who's somehow survived her ballet.
     Next, The Players enter, straight from Fellini. The troupe is maybe 20-strong, each with an individual entrance. A particular delight was the tiniest dwarf, maybe 30 inches high, and able to walk under tables without disturbing his top hat. Whenever he was on stage, he stole the show, simply by being there. Who was he? No one in Shakespeare's play. Sometimes, he seemed to be a servant; at other times, Hamlet's alter-ego. The highlight of his performance was some pre-recorded Yanni melodies he "played" on a flute -- while Hamlet conducted with a baton.
     Unfortunately, we had to leave at midnight, to catch the last train. This was just after the Murder of Gonzago was performed by circus clowns. As we hurried away, we noticed the walls of the National Theatre were stained and reeking of urine, with fresh pools every several feet. Apparently, every Egyptian man who could had pissed on the production.
     I wondered how it all ended, what I missed, and what other extraordinary things the dwarf did to upstage Hamlet? And Shakespeare! -- poor old Will.

The home page: http://hometown.aol.com/vssouth65

Rich