Return of Interhouse

Interhouse was already gone by the time I entered Caltech as a frosh in 1994. However, the memory of it (I think the last one was in 1989) was still quite strong, as some people on the N >4 year plan were there for it (as were then-recent alums). I had heard things about it, especially during frosh year and at the various times I've talked to old alums. For the current students, that's a distant memory. I was having lunch with an undergrad I know during the bbq (the food was pretty decent), and she never heard of it before. (She had also never heard the term 'slAvery House' before, and I was really surprised that hadn't stuck.)

I think Tom Mannion's spearheading to bring it back in some form is a very good idea, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple years. I was certainly curious to see the construction, which (in true Techer tradition) wasn't finished until the 13th hour (i.e., after the parties had already started). I went on the tour of the last-minute construction and then I went back at the beginning of the party. (Though it involved the least construction, the Dabney-Page party, which had a jazz band including some Caltech students, was the one that was the most to my tastes.)

I saw a couple undergrads I know and also a couple alums from my era that I know (and some Alumni Association people I know---I know some of the older alums these days because of the book, etc), though most of the alums in attendance were people from the 80s and earlier. There were rumors that a couple other mid-late 90s Lloydies would show up (at lunch, I saw Anatole Faykin '96 for the first time since something like 1998; I also saw Ben Miller '98 at the party per se), but I didn't feel like sticking around without many people to talk to until that may or may not have happened. There weren't many places to sit, so if my foot weren't gimpy, I would have walked around more to try to find people I know. However, walking and--to a lesser extent--even standing are major problems at the moment, so I started limping home at about 9:35.

I was never much of a partyer, but it was cool to see a big project, and I think the potential of having current students and alums interact more through this is a great idea. (I was told that something like 500 alums [including their families] registered for the event, which is pretty impressive.) Not that I saw too many alums talking to students, though I talked a bit to ones I know and a couple of my SURF students for this summer encouraged me to go. I am not qualified to compare this to the older iteration of Interhouse, and it will be interesting to ask some of the 80s people about this. Oh, and I also like the idea of increased interaction between the North and South Houses. There always seemed to be a bit of a divide there, and there are definitely cool people on both sides of the walk.

The light show was cool, but the band Caltech hired was memorably awful. (The Alumni Association people are already aware of this and seem to share this opinion quite strongly.) It's a good idea to have events other than Interhouse per se, but there are some kinks to work out. For example, there are some local Caltech bands, and if one could get them to volunteer, that would be greatfully preferably to a crappy band like the one they had. At least a crappy band of Techers would be our crappy band, and some of them have actually been pretty decent. Hell, Dave Antonio '01 is in a jazz band, and I was digging their music at Casino Night.

Anyway, I'm glad I showed up, though staying up late for the full festivities is not something I was about to do without compatriots with whom to hang out.

I need to do something about my gimpy foot. The long limp home was not fun.