June 2003
Women with kaleidoscope eyes. Men with blonde wigs. Baroclinically Buoyant Amateurs kicking up their heels. Gaggles of scientists bearing torches and peace signs. An unnaturally predictive weatherman.
It all added up to a great lip sync competition. This year’s annual Spring Fling on 9 May drew hundreds of staffers and their families for food, music, and the Tarot & Astrology Lip Sync contest. The party, usually held behind FL2, was moved to the Center Green auditorium because of an all-day rain.
Daniel Ziskin, full of stories and jokes, hosted the event for the Employee Activities Committee. He set the tone early, hailing the purple-clad and crystal ball-bearing judges as people who “know how to behave with decorum.”
Kicking off the contest, Wendy Abshire and Bob Roesch gave an interdivisional rendition of “My Husband Was a Weatherman,” an admittedly obscure song by the Bobs. Our Bob performed excellently as the weatherman who could predict his wife’s cooking and, er, bedtime successes, chasing a frustrated Wendy out of his life but predicting her eventual return.
Next up, RAP performed a peace-promoting and planet- spinning version of “Aquarius.” Deirdre Garvey led the rousing performance, helped out by a corps of staffers and even a few of their children.
Working on a potentially winning equation for MMM are (left to right) Joe Klemp, Cindy Bruyere, Juanzhen (Jenny) Sun at the keyboard, Andrew Crook, and Josh Hacker.
Then came the Association of Baroclinically Buoyant Amateurs, an acronym-happy quartet better known as ABBA who featured performers from MMM and Communications. The four, clad resplendently in disco-era accoutrements, gave a rousing performance of “Dancing Queen.”
Ellen Leslie (Communications) shines in her ABBA role.
Although the joyous lip sync celebrations are not customarily a time for scientific competition, MMM staffers bearing torches faced off over math equations to the throbbing beat of “Eye of the Tiger.” Charlie Knight kicked off the show with a traditional blowing of a conch shell, and the dueling scientists, after failing to win a clear judgment for their equations, engaged in a closely fought tug-of-war.
EO performed a reprise of “Aquarius,” then launched into a literal interpretation of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Heidi Lewis portrayed the girl with kaleidoscope eyes, as Tim Barnes sang the Beatles classic.
Karen Smith-Herman (EO) shows the moon is in the seventh house.
Wrapping up the show, the “Ladies of HR”—including Bob Roesch as a blonde—danced enthusiastically to the disco beat of “Ladies Night,” delighting the crowd with expert choreography and energetic hip shaking.
How to decide the winner? “Tough decision,” groused one of the judges, Chris Knoetgen. “No bribes.”
In the end, the judges named EO the overall winner. They awarded prizes to a number of other performers and groups, including Bob Roesch for playing both a man and a woman (the “Victor/Victoria” award), HR for its hot dancing (the “sexiest performance” award), and MMM for its scientific squabbles (“best use of collaborative science”).
As always, the EAC did an excellent job pulling together the event—thanks in no small part to Daniel; Teresa Harris, who helped chair the event; Eron Brennan, who provided the sound system; and other committee members. Velma Ryan and the food services team served up a great vegetarian buffet; Rhythm Method provided musical entertainment; and psychics (including card-readers and an astrologer) provided additional insights. •David Hosansky
Also in this issue...
NCAR again hires a diverse cadre of young scientists
“I’m From the Government and I’m Here to Help You”
Random Profile: Eric Gilleland
A new rapid-scan radar for fast-changing storms
