[3321] in APO News
Re: Fulton's Follies
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jim Fulton)
Thu Jul 2 12:57:59 1998
From: Jim Fulton <jim@eris.ncd.com>
To: "'Bradley J Lichtenstein'" <robocop2@MIT.EDU>
Cc: "'apo-news@mit.edu'" <apo-news@MIT.EDU>,
"'apo-summer@mit.edu'"
<apo-summer@MIT.EDU>,
"'apo-friends@mit.edu'" <apo-friends@MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 10:03:25 -0700
> Also, just for curiosity's sake since no one in the active
> chapter seems to know the story, we would love to hear about
Fulton
> and the reason his annual stakeout was considered unwise. Even
> better, we'd love to hear from Fulton himself...
You'll learn better than to ask a moldie to tell a story....
The "Follies" actually started not as an AXcoAPO event,
but as a gathering of my friends and friends-of-friends in
the summer of 1982. I had decided to throw a party and
figured that the Esplanade on July 4th would be fun place
to hold it. Ah, the naivete of youth. :)
So, my roommate and I gathered a bunch of our friends, mostly
from Baker House and members of THA (Technology Hackers
Association), held a pre-party party to pack the night before,
and then trouped out to the Esplanade at about 2am. (Up until
Michael Dukakis ran for president in 1988, you could go the
night before. Boston PD had been wanted to close things off
and used the precident set in 1988 to prevent people from going
early thereafter). Of course, nobody really got any sleep, but
that just added to the enjoyment.
During our first year, we took a spot in the shade next to the
first footbridge that goes from the shell to the spit of land.
It was a nice enclosed area, but ended up having a lot of
traffic around us. Although we brought a lot of food, we
still encouraged people to bring something to share. Potlucks
are always more festive.
The second year, we were sort of silly and took a spot
on the oval along the Storrow Drive side. What we hadn't
fully appreciated was that spending the entire day under the
sun would end up being really draining. Of couse, we had
thought ahead this time and brought a surprise for everyone:
a gallon and a half of Tosci's ice cream packed on dry ice
("liberated" from the basement of the Green building).
By the third year, the number of Brothers attending had
dramatically increased (I didn't pledge until the fall of
1984, but had a large number of friends in the chapter).
We learned from the previous year's position and immediately
grabbed the well-shaded peninsula between the path surrounding
the oval and Storrow Drive. I think this was the first year
in which we had 100 people show up. It was also one of the
hottest Fourths on record (high 90s); after enough people had
asked one of the gardeners to hose them done, the concert
organizers set up a hose and had staff water down anybody
who wanted to cool off.
Perhaps the most memorable year was the fourth (1985) when we
decided to punt the crowds of the oval for the more serene
banks of the river (many of us had just graduated and just
wanted to relax). We chose a lovely shaded spot, still
close to all the action and next to nice fenced-off area.
We figured that this would help cut down on the number of
people trampling all over us. We hadn't realized, though, that
the fenced-off area wasn't for VIPs or something. So, of
course, at 8am up rolled the howitzers to take their station
in preparation for the evening's 1812 Overture. Yup, in the
fenced-off area. You know something, howitzers are really loud
when you're up close and personal....
It was about the fifth year that the party really became mostly
AXcoAPO folks. I think that was also the time that we started
putting up the pink lawn flamingos to help people find us. I
think this was the zenith of our overpacking efforts: Mike Repeta
and I brought 5 barrels of KFC along with gallons of iced tea
and lemonade, lots of food and ice cream (I think we started
buying the dry ice about then because "hacking" and "liberating"
rapidly become "trepassing"and "theft" when you're no longer a
student).
Things sort of trailed off for me by the late 80s. I got tired
of getting stepped on by people who ran in at 5-6pm and tried to
throw down a towel between blankets if there was a blade of grass
showing. So, other folks started organizing the trip in 1989
(John Kohl, didn't you do that one?) and in 1990 I moved away from
Boston.
I'm glad to hear that some traditions live on, especially
for those who have the stamina for it. We had lots of fun
and it was always a great place to meet new friends (hey,
you've got a lot of time to pass, so make conversation :-).
Best wishes and Yours In Friendship,
Jim
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Jim Fulton Network Computing Devices
VP, Product Management 350 North Bernardo Ave.
Email: jim@ncd.com Mtn. View, CA 94043-5207 USA
Phone: +1 650-919-2783 Fax: +1 650-961-6289
The Thin Client Company http://www.ncd.com/
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