The Young Academicians Speech

Eighth  grade graduation was a pretty big deal in my town, so when one of my teachers told me I would be giving a speech during the ceremony I was pretty excited. I'm not really sure why I was chosen as I was not the valedictorian or even close . I was to be listed on the program as a "young academician."  Whatever that was.

Mr. B, who was the teacher who advised me of this honor, wrote out the whole speech for me and of course I spent many hours practicing it. I had the speech transcribed to some index cards, but after a short while, I had the speech down pat. Or so I thought.
The speech was in two parts, the first part being the longer part, followed by what was supposed to be a short pause, followed by me saying " honored guests, parents, blah blah blah. I present to you the class of 1967." I have absolutely no recollection of what my speech was about besides those words.

So the big day came that fateful day in June and the auditorium was packed to the rafters with family members and friends. My speech was to follow a stirring rendition of Bless This House sung by one of my classmates. I stepped lively up to the podium with my index cards with the speech on it tucked into my back pocket.  Brimming with all the confidence a cocky 13 year old can have, I was sure I would never have to even glance at my note cards.

Sure enough, I eloquently gave the first part of my speech, using the gestures and inflections I had so carefully practiced for several weeks. Then came the dramatic pause before I gave the "honored guests" part ending. So, I paused. Then, for some inexplicable reason, my mind went totally blank. I had no idea what I was supposed to say next. My mind was racing wildly. Should I grab the note cards from my back pocket? No, I reasoned, that would look awkward. I sought out Mr. B, hoping he could prompt me as to what the next words were. He shrugged his shoulders. I started to get really hot and nervously patted my hands against the sides of my suit. The audience started to realize I had forgotten the rest of my speech.

There was a quiet buzzing in the crowd as they too were unsure of what to do, or how this was going to play out. I looked out at the crowd hoping an answer to this nightmare was somewhere out there, but it wasn't! I don't know how long I stood there like a  clueless moron, but it still seems even today, like it was an eternity.

Then, without warning, the words came back to me. I finished off the speech and got what I thought was an extra loud round of applause from the relieved crowd.

I returned to my seat and one of my snarky classmates greeted me with the two words I would hear many times over the next few days: "nice speech".

The Sound Guy

My eldest son Greg has been a Beatles fan for as long as I can remember. It's not because of me or my wife, he just has loved them ever since he was a little kid. He has read dozens of books on them, seen every movie any of the Fab Four were ever in, and has collected much Beatles Trivia, including a beautiful quilt made by my sister.
For several years now, he has gone to The Fest For Beatles Fans which was created by a huge Beatle fan himself,

Mark Lapidos, who  thought that somebody should do something to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Beatles arrival in America - 1964-1974. It was at weekend of September 7-8, 1974 for the initial Fest , and they are still held to this day in the NY area, Chicago and LA.

Greg has been to many of these thru the years, and was the winner of The Beatles trivia contest one year.  His knowledge of them is encyclopedic. He decided to attend this years festival along with two of his cousins, who are also fans.

By chance, Greg happened to be in the area where the event in Jersey was being held this year on the day before the 3 day Fest was scheduled to begin. He decided to go into the hotel to look around and see what was going on. just out of curiosity's sake. Since he's attended the Fest many times at the same venue, he knew exactly what events would be taking place in the various banquet halls and rooms . He did see the techs setting up in the main ballroom and there were already sellers setting up their Beatles ware in the vendor room. He went over to the room where the trivia contest would be held, but there was nothing going on there. But, there was a nice piano in the room and Greg played his heart out for a good 45 minutes and then decided it was time to go.

He stepped out into the hall only to find Mark Lapidos, the founder of the Beatles Fest walking towards him . Greg greeted Mark, recognizing him from photos on the festival's website. They shook hands and Mark said, "Are you the sound guy?' Greg, thinking Mark had heard him playing the piano since the doors to that room had been open, responded "Yes".

Mark then told Greg that he was unhappy with the size of the tv screen in the media room where they run Beatles films all during the event and could Greg take care of that for him.  Greg then realized that Mark had mistaken him for one of the tech crew . For whatever reason, Greg did not correct Mark's mistaken identity of Greg and after clarifying as to what exactly what room had the small tv in it, Greg assured Mark he would take care of the matter immediately.

Greg found the room in question, noted the official hotel name: "The Diamond Room", and found himself agreeing with Mark, that the screen in question was indeed too small. He worked his way back to the one of the big ballrooms where he found a lone tech guy setting up . After determining that this particular tech guy could be of assistance, Greg explained to him what Mark's request was and was assured  that a tv with a much bigger screen  would be in place by start of the festival tomorrow.

Greg thanked him and then set out to find Mark to tell him that the issue was solved. Greg soon located Mark and said " Boss, there will be a much bigger screen in place by tomorrow, just like you asked" Mark was delighted .

On Saturday, Greg was sure to check out the media room during his time at The Fest, and sure enough, a much bigger tv had been set up.

Just another day!