Roll Call

Graduates and others who joined us along the way:

John Adams, Frederic Allen, Carlos Arias, David Ashton, Alan Au, Chris Bailey, Mauricio Barberi, David Barnett, William Beasley, Steven Becker, Nicholas Bell, David Bernhardt, Chuck Berwick, Stephen Black, Peter Blain, Brian Brophy, Wen Brown, David Burstein, Stephen Cameron, Edward Carroll, John Cassidy, Edward Cates, Somchart Chantasiriwan, Alexander Chmielewski, Ben Chou, Stephen Clarke, Alexei Cowett, Todd Czarnecki, Nino Dajani, Matthew Davidson, Ian de Nolfo, Yann de Rochefort, Fred Dearborn, Greg Delts, Reter Dill, Ren Dimond, John Donaldson, Jim Dorman, Jeff Downing, Chris Drew, Chris Dube, Troy Duncan, Jamie Dwinell, Evan Eggers, Joe Elias, Kevin Ellingwood, Jason Ellis, John Emery, Peter Esty, Richie Farr, Matt Fawcett, John Filippone, Greg Fitzgerald, Alex Flagg, Jay Flemma, John Flicker, Fitz Flynn, Matt Fox, Mike Freedman, Brad Geist, Peter Gowdy, Andrew Grant, Adam Greenberg, Alan Hall, Kris Hall, Boe Hamilton, Lee Hansen, Matt Harrington, Daniel Harris, Edward Herdiech, Stephen Higgins, Matt Holland, Malcolm Hollensteiner, James Hoyt, Frederick Ilchman, Paul Jahnige, Craig Janney, Thomas Johnson, Dennis Julio, Brian Jurek, Peter Kapinos, Joseph Kaufman, Kevin Kenny, Yong Hyun Kim, Timothy Kirker, George Knight, Kirk Koenigsbauer, David Kuehn, Peter Kurto, Mark Ladley, Andrew Landis, George Larkin, Adam Leff, Kenneth Liao, William Lin, Bruce Loewenberg, Matt Lotspeich, Adam Lussier, Bret MacFadyen, Robert Maggard, Ty Mahan, Mark Mariani, John McAtee, John McCreery, Prescott McKee, Dan McNay, Jeff Meyer, Derek Moore, Jon Moro, Bruce Moulton, Michael Mullowney, Chris Murphy, Terry Murray, John Myers, Christopher Obetz, Dennis O'Connor, David Olds, Mattias Oster, Brad O'Sullivan, Rick Overholt, Fred Park, Steve Patch, Keith Pennell, Rob Perkins, John Peters, Andrew Pinkowski, John Plimpton, Bart Polacsek, Chris Pollard, Wes Pratt, Chris Preston, Francis Prince, Mark Redeker, Brian Reed, Hunter Reichert, Edwin Rivera, Mark Rockefeller, Everett Rodormer, Ron Rossi, Suchat Saelim, Rennie Salerno, Kevin Sanborn, Mike Schetzel, Lorenz Schielke, Devin Schlickmann, Craig Schwitter, Tim Scott, Pedr Seymour, Mark Slayton, Danny Smith, Tim Smith, Billy Smith, Richard Smolen, David Spey, Adrian Steckel, Andrew Stewart, Spencer Stewart, Bill Stout, Mike Subak, Lowery Sullivan, Andy Tepper, Eric Tetrault, Woody Thompson, Ian Thompson, Billy Thornburgh, Chris Tierney, Bruce Timberlake, Evan Todd, Stephen Turko, Jason Tuttle, Ted Ullyot, David Van Riper, Bobby Vargas, Karl von Kries, Scott Walker, Russ Wall, Carson Warden, Thomas Warren, Mark Wasserberger, George Weeks, Seth Wheeler, Bill Whitfield, David Willcutts, John Williams, Sydney Williams BJ Wills, John Wilson, Matt Wolanske, Ricardo Wood, EG Woods, Edward Ziter, Greg Zuckert

Play Review: George Larkin's Dead Lawyers

I wrote a review of the play on my website, www.jayflemma.thegolfspace.com, but Syd was kind enough to ask me to post it here as well. We should try to get a group together and go see it en masse. Heck, we cna make an Deerfield evening out of it and go eat dinner at Yann's restaurant or something.

Call me at 917.403.5317 or email jaymusiclaw@yahoo.com if you'd like to do a meet-up.

The master of the revels despises us as peddlers and purveyors of bombast,

But my father was granted the first license to open a public theatre company from her majesty, the Queen. And he drew from poets the literature of the age.

Richard Burbidge – Shakespeare in Love

Literature – that’s a good word to describe George Larkin’s work. Larkin has been a lifelong literature and theatre student. At Deerfield Academy, he breezed through the school’s legendary English Department, racking up A after solid A. After excelling at Yale, even by Yale’s lofty standards, he went on to study at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-on-Avon. He’s also worked extensively in the film and TV industries. A rising star of a writer, he blends his boundless mastery of literature with a street-smart comedic wit, rapier-sharp critique, and touching philosophical observations without preaching or screeching. He has a smooth, well-polished delivery and an observant eye. Moreover, when needed, he’s uproariously funny.

Dead Lawyers is vintage Larkin. Part whodunit murder mystery, part social critique of the banality and moral vacuity that is the practice of law, Larkin produced a madcap, laugh-a-minute romp, that also – subtly – provides good old fashioned common sense counterpoint to the bad behavior and insensitive attitudes that have sadly become woven into our social fabric.

Briefly, a group of vacationing lawyers (and one depressed social worker), arrive at their Hampton time share to discover a dead body, a suicide note, and sensitive legal documents. Mix in “the storm of the century,” a closed bridge trapping them in the immediate vicinity, mistaken identities, and plenty of suspicion, and the paranoid, domineering characters quickly devolve into gibbering idiots.

Enter the EndTimes Production team, the cast, and director Matthew Kreiner. The cast features at least one breakout star, (perhaps two or three), and good performances through the line-up. Well blocked, the cast runs around zanily in a small space, but smoothly makes it feel a lot bigger. While there were a few sound glitches early, the performance proceeded cleanly and crisply, which is important because so many characters do so many things at the same time in Larkin’s rich screenplays. Occasionally, you need two heads to follow the action on opposite ends of the stage. Overall, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts without being outlandish, overdone, or overacted. Let’s meet the actors:

Although diminutive Josh Hyman is built like a fire hydrant with legs, he delivers a performance as large as Yao Ming. As Douglas, a wisecracking, oily, overly-litigious, arrogant lawyer, Hyman is the wheel that turns the performance. His role is critical: he’s both comic relief, (delivering one hysterical zinger after another), and a suspect. Delivering us a lawyer that’s half Joe Pesci and half George Kostanza, (at one point, he sounds exactly like the hapless Seinfeld nerd, shouting, “Sorry for bothering you people again, but I’m the man bleeding to death in the bathroom, and I would very much appreciate it if you would get me some medical attention in here!”), he is the sturdy backbone of the cast. At many points in the performance, he delivers his lines from off-stage, yet you can clearly hear every word.

That shows you how good Hyman is: he’s a breakout star and half his lines (and most of his skewers), are delivered from behind a bathroom door.

Complimenting Hyman well, Leal Vona and Matthew Watkins – respectively, a lawyer who hires someone to kill his fiancé, and a manic, struggling actor who agrees to be his hatchet man – provide rock solid support with zany, colorful portrayals of their hyperactive, yet hapless characters. Watkins is a man with a thousand faces playing a role with a thousand facets. First posing as the dead woman’s fiancé in Vona’s place, he convinces you he’s a maudlin loser. Then, as the actor-turned-ersatz-killer, he erupts into a hilarious send-up of the stereotypical insecure, yet egotistical and seedy acting wannabee. (“I’m in Cymbaline next week!” he boasts.)

Vona, in turn, gets more uproariously funny with each line as his plans to have his fiancée’s murder look like a suicide fall apart around him, and his role in the planned murder is discovered. His chemistry with Watkins percolates energetically throughout their shared scenes, and they never fail to deliver laughs in their characters’ frenetic struggle to one-up each other.

Anthony Mead is the sleeper star of the ensemble. Fighting depression and thoughts of suicide, this social worker is the sensible voice of the everyman. Exploring a wide range of feelings, love, fear, bravery, and frustration, he also moves seamlessly into whatever emotion Larkin asks of his character. Even Larkin was impressed, “Anthony showed me a side of the character I never saw anyone else bring to the forefront. It was really interesting watching him.”

Two women round out the small ensemble. Serena Miller plays the philosophical but deeply troubled lawyer who contemplates suicide, but is instead targeted for death by her fiancée. Miller is a talented actor with a beautiful, rich voice, and she delivers her lines with an ornate, experienced polish, but she spoke too softly during the first act. Moreover, she frequently spoke too fast as well, and occasionally mumbled. Too often, we just couldn’t hear her, especially during the first scene.

That being said, she has a tough role which she handles well. In Act I, her “shade” recites passages from the diary that portray her as a forsaken soul, but in Act II, as a living breathing character that interacts with the rest of the cast, she becomes as Machiavellian a schemer as anyone else, spiking several drinks in the process. “She handles the duality of the role well,” said Matt Kreiner, her director. “She nails both sides of a deep and complex character.”

Finally, tall drink of water, Kerstin Porter, plays a ditzy tax lawyer trying to make sense of all the furniture throwing, knife-wielding, drink-drugging mania erupting around her. Porter got stronger as the performance went on. She has a high pitched voice, so she, like Miller, needs to slow down and concentrate on her diction. This will also help smooth out her delivery.

That being said, she is also as solid an actress as Miller. Much of the action runs through her and there’s no question she has the chops to handle it once she slows down just a tad. Here’s a great example of Porter doing the little things right: when another cast member who was on the floor feigning injury had a much-needed prop out of reach, Porter deftly heel-passed it to him in perfect stride walking across the stage. There’s a lot more to being a good actor than just reciting your lines, you know.

In fact, the whole cast shines that way: they do the little things right and work smoothly and confidently with each other. Throughout the entire production, you couldn’t help but get the impression that they had worked together for a long time. Maybe it’s because the screenplay is so much fun, maybe it’s because the physical comedy is so silly, maybe it’s because the all like each other, but whatever it is, their togetherness was palpable and enjoyable. The audience felt it as well. “They seemed to have so much fun in every scene,” said Jennifer Richman, an audience member from Williamsburg.

Even stage disasters fail to daunt them. Watkins finished one performance with a broken finger. As one scene ended, it got caught in a folding chair and was mangled in a twist of metal and flesh. He shrugged it off and finished the show.

“I didn’t know it was broken at the time,” he explains mildly. Then his eyes bug, and he adds, “I knew it hurt, though.”

Hey, the show must go on. You gotta love that attitude.

Screenplay – 6.5 stars (all ratings out of 7) – Larkin dots every “I,” and crosses every “t” in his stage directions, develops characters cleanly, and winds plot twists deftly. If there is one tiny drawback, the plot line involving the legal documents needs just a little more backstory and exposition to be perfectly smooth.

Acting – 6 stars - While diction and delivery need some polish, the cast is eager, hard working, energetic, intelligent, and works well together. As they become more comfortable in their roles and as they think about more sincere and convincing delivery, the dialogue will improve even more. Nevertheless, in a slapstick comedy such as this, where chemistry is critical, they soar.

Directing – 5.5-6 stars - Matt Kreiner seemed to have as easy a time managing the actors as Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has with his talented team: just let ‘em go and have fun and they’ll do just fine. Larkin’s stage directions are so detailed and well planned, little tinkering or interpretation is needed. After all, he was trained at the Shakespeare Institute. Would you correct his stage notes? Moreover, Kreiner successfully gets the characters to negotiate a lot of action in a tight space without any glitches. The opening scene needs some polish, but other than that, he did fine. The energy is superb, and the morale of the cast is running high.

Overall – 6 stars – At $18, the show is a good bargain and a fun evening. Go to the early show to get home by midnight, the late show will kick off your all-nighter with a smile.

Running through November 2, performances are Wednesdays at 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 10 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m.

EndTimes Theatre is located at 24 Bond Street, on the NE corner of Lafayette.

Travels with Coop...

Coop and I recently spent 2 weeks seeking out some family history in Minnesota and exploring every corner of North Dakota. I will spare you a lengthy summary but there are some good stories, and pictures from Coop, over at our journal... www.leastvisited.blogspot.com.

People say it's good but I'll let you make your own judgment.

Cheers,

JW

One More

On Tuesday, June 24th, we welcomed Edith as our fourth – and final! – child. She arrived at 12:04 am, weighing 7lb 6oz. Mother (Beatriz) is in great shape, though like me a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of managing four young children. Our other three are ages 7, 5 and 3.

Edith completes the sequence of boy-girl-boy-girl, which we hope keeps a natural balance to things. ("Thank goodness for summer camp" is what we're now telling each other.)

At the very least, her arrival marks an auspicious start to a busy summer of establishing routines. Not much travel in the cards other than a hiking trip to Mt. Washington with my father and oldest child, and a few days on the Jersey shore in August.

Should anyone be passing through Greenwich, please let us know. We always enjoy seeing old friends.

We may also organize an end-of-summer/early autumn gathering in Old Lyme, CT, if folks are available. Old Lyme is exactly half way between Boston and NYC (about two hours).

Sydney

Writer's Bloc

Here I am writing to you all, while my focus should be on a topic for my firm's upcoming newsletter; maybe this will help...

Last month, we wrote on how Internet-driven mass collaboration is upending the business models of IP-centric industries such as software development and financial services. We argued that today's Sandy Weill must now leverage a different sort of scale than what's traditionally measured on a balance sheet or inside the "four walls"; he should look to the open source software movement or Wikipedia for inspiration. The topic, though, and the collaborative spirit of Lyceum mean that it's up to our member community to follow up on this.

On June 5th, we're launching a roundtable series on health care reform. Maybe we should write on that – at least update what we wrote last October when Rudy and Hillary were leading the way. Still, party positions don't seem to have changed much: the Dems want managed competition under a centralized approach, and the GOP open competition and a federalist state-by-state approach. For the electorate, it seems to be a decision of how much responsibility it's willing to bear.

There's also the possibility for a piece on market risk. From February to April we wrote successive articles on market conditions: how does the stock market perform after big one-day moves? Are there patterns during a recession? What's the connection between inflation and the financial system? We certainly don't claim to be prognosticators, but we're hopeful that market efficiency will continue to absorb economic shock, and that transparency is the best way forward.

Maybe we should make it more personal: Beatriz and I are expecting baby number four at the end of June, and quickly finding ourselves outgrowing our home. Leaving us zero time for ourselves, our days have become chock-full of child activities: keeping a watchful on an adventurous 3-year old, trekking the older two to school, weekend soccer and t-ball, and the endless stream of birthday parties and after-school activities. There could something in there about "responsibility-shifting" – moving from something-for-me to something-for-another. (Golf? Oh, yeah, I remember that!)

In any case, my firm, Lyceum Associates, is about bringing different perspectives together: the more a participant contributes, the more value that person takes away. From what we can tell, it's a much different service than what's currently out there: good but also challenging in the work that goes into it – the panic in building a session with the right people and the right chemistry.

It's also been a great way to get back in touch with classmates: we need access to a diverse talent pool, and there's no better place to begin than DA. Dave Willcutts, Andy Tepper, Fitz Flynn, Dennis O'Connor, Mauricio Barberi, Troy Duncan, Ted Ullyot, Joe Kaufman, John Williams, Kevin Sanborn, John Plimpton are some of the people who have participated in Lyceum or become aware of what we do.

But, really, it's not just business... it's something that's fun; a way for our community to break from corporate shackles, and reflect on each person's individual expertise and experience free from constraint.

For anyone living in or passing through southwestern Connecticut and the NY-metro area who doesn't mind the chaos of children, we'd love to see you. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the above topics, I'd love to hear from you: our newsletter deadline is coming up, and it's hard to concentrate when perfect weather is beckoning!

Sydney

I've relocated

Those of you at DA who remember me as an avid Celtics fan may be surprised by this news. Earlier this year, my wife Sally, 9 month old son Bradford (not named after Mr. Hastings), and I relocated from Washington, DC to the Philadelphia area (or as I used to refer to it the home of the dreaded Dr. J. and his Philadelphia 76ers).

All kidding aside, we are very excited about this move which was precipitated by my decision to take a job in the institutional asset management department at the Vanguard Group. For many years, I have been a very satisfied investor of Vanguard mutual funds and have always admired this company's investment philosophy and integrity.

I have been in contact with Matt Harrington since our move and hope to touch base with our other classmates in the Philly area. Please let me know if any of you are visiting Philadelphia. Would enjoy catching up with you.

Chuckie B

Clemens: Hiya, Congress! Have I got a Cock-and-Bull Story for you...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Like a lyric out of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Roger Clemens went skating on the thin ice of modern life last week, dragging behind him the silent reproach of a million disdained eyes. Of course, cracks in the ice appeared under his feet and he was left to claw helplessly as the last support disintegrated beneath him. We watched transfixed, horrified, but we could not turn away, jolted to the fence by the lightning strike.

Yet we must tear our gaze away from what appears to be the formerly iconic Clemens’s spectacular self-immolation, and instead focus on how to avoid repeating this sad situation. The clear message of the combined House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform Hearings on “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball” was that Congress will be watching to see that professional sports testing policies, procedures, and punishments are effective. Moreover, when asked if they would convene hearings regarding drug use in other sports, several prominent Committee members were adamant that, if necessary to protect the public health and promote proper testing and education regimens, they would.

Though the pyre of Clemens will burn like a proprietary torch in sports pages throughout the land for months to come, the real purpose of the Congressional investigation was not only to see whether the Mitchell Report “should still stand as proof positive that baseball’s effort to combat illegal drug use needs a fresh look,” as Ranking Minority Leader Tom Davis (R-Va) said, but to remind the world that Congress would do what it must to hinder profiteering off a drug-fueled workplace in the world of sports in general. Davis specifically praised the depth and breadth of the Mitchell Report “in the face of a daunting list of obstacles: no subpoena power, little cooperation from players, and only tepid enthusiasm among owners more concerned with filling seats than promoting public health.”

Davis defined the battle lines clearly, saying “Those attempting to sell HGH are scamming consumers and breaking the law. We learned of the terrible risks associated with unapproved use. We learned yet again of the dangerous and phony messages being sent to young athletes that there are magic pills and wonder drugs that can grease their path to the Hall of Fame….We’re here to save lives, not ruin careers. Why? Because the health of young athletes across the country is at stake, and he won’t hesitate to defend their interests, even if the process isn’t pretty.”

I'll show you something else that isn't pretty: this list of sports in which either the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the World Anti-Doping Agency, or other professional sports organizations had athletes caught and punished for performance enhancers (not recreational drugs) in the last four years: Wrestling, Archery, Cycling, Track and Field, Racquetball, Weightlifting, Paralympic Track and Field, Paralympic Alpine Skiing, Judo, Paralympic Sled Hockey, (Paralympic Sled Hockey!?), Paralympic Basketball, Boxing, Taekwondo, Bobsled, Ice Hockey, Swimming, Sled Hockey, Team Handball, Snowboarding, Curling, Fencing, Synchronized Swimming, Baseball, and Football.

If paralympians, synchronized swimmers, bobsledders and archers are taking drugs to enhance performance, every sport, no matter what their altruistic history or ethos, needs to closely monitor their own testing and enforcement. The problem in every sport is resisting the allure of the last dollar on the table. Money gleams, but in the world of professional sports it gives off a manic glint to too many players and sports business people. People will be tempted to dance with the devil, thinking only of the short term. But secrets need to be kept forever, just ask Marion Jones, who surrendered her medals before getting sentenced to prison. When trouble comes, cold winds blow and hot water runs deep. For every drug cheat you protect, it’s another dirty secret ticking like a time bomb that you have to conceal. The best way to avoid it is transparency and strength of will. If a league is an open book if they are doing everything they can to catch drug cheats, that is more beneficial to sports in the long run than breaking records.

That’s the message of Congress to Sports Leagues and Commissioners. All leaders face difficult decisions. It is how they handle themselves in those instances that they are judged. Bud Selig or Roger Goodelle? The difference is the same difference between the lightning bug and the lightning, courage and cowardice, but it takes nothing more than a moment’s resolve and sound judgment.

Now that we all agree on the macrocosm, let's take care of one last pesky detail, what to do about Roger the Dodger. Almost as casually as if he were facing the Washington Nationals on a bright sunny summer day, Roger Clemens swaggered into Congress for the biggest confrontation of his life armed with only knuckle-balls and curves, not unhittable gas. Here's a few nuggets that sound like they came from your friendly neighborhood six-year-old in trouble with Sister Mary Matthew down at St. Stanislaus Elementary School:

"Andy misheard me. I was talking about an elderly gentleman I saw on TV."

"Andy Misremembered."

"I didn't get the letters from Senator Mitchell."

"My wife did HGH. McNamee injected her without my knowledge;"

and my personal favorite, from when Congress asked him if he thought it was wise to prep a witness - the nanny who confirmed Clemens was the Canseco party that Clemens denies attending - thought it was wise to prep her before handing her contact info to the Committee:

(shouted) "I was doin' y'all a favor!"

So there it is. Clemens takes a Congressional investigation as seriously as though it were just another chit-chat glad-handling his adoring fans, the Committee request nothing more than just a passing fancy like any other party invite. Fortunately, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform didn't see it that way. In the back of the room, wedged neatly between camera crews and Congressional staff who had the next to me, I only got occasional glimpses of Clemens's bald spot, but I had a great view of the Committee's reaction to his excuses and by the time this whopper came along, they were all looking daggers at him, eyes focused hawkishly on him, lips pursed tightly.

Clemens just walked into Congress the subject of a drug investigation and alleging prosecutorial misconduct on the part of the government during the biggest scandal in sports history with nothing more than a cock-and-bull story. (..to call that a mere dog-and-pony show would insult every mongrel and donkey from Baja to Bangor). He tried to wrap himself up in the flag, the All-Star team, and the pinstripes. Everyone was lying but him. He blamed his wife. He wasted our time, Congress' time and the taxpayers' money. He did all this in the face of a perjury beef. Rep. Elijah Cummings probably said exactly what you or I or millions of other Americans were thinking: "You're one of my heroes, but I have a hard time believing you."

Cheating, lying about it to the fans, filing a specious lawsuit, blame allocation and trying to play Congress off like they were simpletons? Prosecute him on general principle.

Photo Credit: Seattle Times. Look top left for Deerfield sighting.

China Times

I am sitting in my classroom in Nanchang which is the capital city in the province of Jiangxi in the southern part of the People's Republic of China. I'm watching a DVD called "Smoking Aces" there is a scene where I see Matt Fox and Nestor Carbonell face off. I tell my students "Hey do you know that I went to school with both of these guys?" The looks in response tell me that they think that I am lying... "You?" "Hah!" But it is true... I am an American living China teaching English and History to young college students. I use movies to help speed of the comprehension and understanding of my students. Sometimes I hear or spot a Deerfield moment. Like when watching "The Departed" hearing DA being mentioned in a split second. It can bring you back to a different time of my life then what I am doing right now.

Life in China is so much different than life in America. Just learning how to learn how the Chinese deal with toilets, lines, and shopping to adjusting to the customs and practices like driving, eating and dealing with the opposite sex is really tough job. China is a daily adventure. I have traveled all over China, living in three different cities along the way. Dandong, Jinan and Nanchang. I will be heading to my fourth city, Qingdao when I return. Every day I live with the stares and comments from the Chinese amazed to see such a different looking guy in their town. I get what I call "the Drive-By Hellos" where a Chinese person will see you, walk past you and then shout out at the top of their lungs all the English that they have ever learned at you. "Hello!" "How are you!" "Welcome to China" I hear in anonymous shouts from a crowd. It is funny, but also a bit grating as well.

I am really trying to learn how to speak, read and write the language. I have a class to learn how the write the characters, my classmates are two ten year old boys, and guess who is the worst student? The most frustrating part of my travels and learning Chinese is that when I finally do speak it correctly, I still get stares and silence from the Chinese folks, who are now shocked that I can really speak their language, CORRECTLY! All in all, I enjoy my times living in this wonderful country.

I stay in touch with some DA folks, but mostly it has been Alan Au, who has been my best friend all this time since Deerfield. I was best man at his wedding and he is my son's Godfather. He also helps me with my Chinese, not laughing too much at my mangled struggles. It has been over twenty years already since high school. As I look back, I wonder, "How did I get so old so fast!"

If you are coming to the Olympic this year, the sailing rowing competitions will be held in Qingdao. They also have a great beer festival in August as well. Drop me a line or email me anytime.

Remembering BVL...

Though sad to hear the news of Mr. Lambert's passing, it brought back so many great thoughts...as he would have wished. A character larger than life, in my view. Arriving to DA as a sophomore he was daunting, hearing of table 49 fork stabbings for poor manners, an automatic D grade if you wrote "a lot" as "alot". Then I faced Shakespeare with BVL. In the end, I survived them all. I was honored to to get to know him, and dare I say, become close. Ultimately I proctored for him with KK. An honor, really. His impressions left with me were terrific, many useful now as a parent. Too much to say to do him justice in these posts, so I'll leave it by publicly thanking him and will cherish the fond memories.