It Is To Thee

Here is a version of It Is To Thee that has never been recorded or seen before. Turn your volume down and hold tight while D. Jardeleza leads us in song.

One Week

Apparently, you need one week to recover from 1) a record # of Beam shots in your 30's, 2) a dreadful bout of some kind of flu bug that causes fluids running through your body quicker than a Suzette special, and 3) a bad video card to be able to use your computer again.

Please forward any pictures you would like posted to me (brian.woodard@gmail.com).

I had an awesome time. In fact, I am surprised the whole town didn't know I had an awesome time. I've had a few days to reflect on every one I remember speaking too and catching up with. I enjoyed seeing every one of you, including Shevin.

It was quite impossible to speak with everyone in such a short period of time. Every time I engaged in what I can only assume was about to be a poignant conversation, someone else walked by that had not been seen yet.

Here is an S-Load of pictures that I have from the event. Still haven't received any kind of final stats, only know that we had roughly 650 people in attendance. Again, GREAT job by brother Kramer.

Weekend Update (Short Version)

That was a blast!


I will be home later this afternoon and will add a couple pictures then. You can however start sending in some of your pictures to post, (Send to brian.woodard@gmail.com).



Here is a quick recap of my day:

Some of this,

Went here,

Had some more of this,

Then saw this.

Ended up here for dinner.

Not surprisingly, it lived up to the hype.
More later.

Happy Travel Day

To all those flying or driving today or tomorrow morning, I wish you godspeed in your travels. May your airline properly care for your luggage, may your flight attendant get plenty of exercise bringing your fresh drinks.

If you are driving in from Jacksonville, I hear there's a speed in Waldo.

If you are driving in from Orlando, leave your I-4 rage on the Turnpike.

If you are coming in from Miami, hopefully you have left any clothes you obtained from other rooms in the house at home and have a fresh pair of boxers to sport for some lucky ladies later.

After six + months of promotion and preparation, we have arrived to the day that inspired this blog. Its purpose was to help build excitement and spread the word for this event. It has in turn graciously provided ample opportunity for me to meet brothers from different era's and reconnect with many from mine. It has been a tremendous pleasure as well. I am still amazed at how many page loads we have had over the course of the last six months. I look forward to all of you that are able to join us this weekend, and for those that can't, we will use this forum as a place to post any stories that are provided for public consumption, pictures, videos (if available), and any thing that you would like to see as long as it is available. In short, this site will not face a shut down because the event has taken place.

Lastly, while I might have another couple thoughts just before I leave for Gainesville this afternoon, I would like to personally thank Brother's George Kramer and Josh Weingard for all of their help. Without them, those of us who normally go games without stopping by the house would have a normal weekend. Those of us who routinely watch at home, would be on the couch or at a bar. There was a time in my life where I thought stopping in Gainesville without dropping by 10 Fraternity Row was blasphemy. Between the alcohol ban, marriage, and many other reasons, we have all stopped by less frequently. Something tells me 10 F Row will be back on the radar for future trips. Here is to the brotherhood that binds us, the memories and relationships it has provided, and the extended hand we have given and received.

This weekend? Yeah, Break. It. Down.

Hi-iiii, This is Michael!

Here's a Fun Fact:

Party's kind of die down when there is no more beer. I'd like to offer a quick reminder to make a stop at Publix or Wilbert's or wherever you do your GameDay shopping to grab a six-er, or case or whatever. I don't drink beer myself, so if you are thinking you can bribe me to keep that embarassing picture of you that will be taken sometime Saturday night off the blog, McCallands is a fine scotch. But don't think of me first, think of the other people that show up and drink beer. I invision some periods of order, but also, some of natural choas. If we can all band together and bring a couple extra, we will be sure to avoid the state of anarchy that only exists when the last beer has been hidden deep in the ice chest in the kitchen. Sounds like a real good reason to bring a couple extra, right? There will be plenty of places to store beer in a tundra-like environment, but tundra is dry. Don't let the tundra take over.



Sound like a plan? Oh yeah, any Scotch works too.

Fired Up Yet?

Down to three days to this little event of ours, there is little that can be done to get me more excited. Then I opened an email from someone traveling down from NYC. I pleaded with Brother Dauphin to post an email he sent to a smaller group. Dauphin has always been able to provide generously with his wit and opinion, especially in written form. Although with time and maturity factoring in, his emails offering a plethora of laughter and perspective don't appear in my inbox often enough. Enough of the Wednesday morning suck-off.

He graciously obliged to allow me to post the email, with a few edits for a public viewing:

I was just on Facebook (surprise) and I stumbled on some wedding photos from a sorority girl that was a few classes behind us. Younger crowd, and you can tell that there were a lot of single folks there. Then I compared that to some photos from Poisson's recent wedding. And it begged the question:

Remember when weddings were all about trying to hook up (and failing miserably)?

I think it's funny how they've morphed into much tamer friend reunions as we've transitioned into kinder, gentler forms of our ridiculous selves. Which also begs the question (to borrow Mike Ray's running rant from Phil's wedding):

WHEN THE HELL DID EVERYONE COUPLE OFF?!?!?!

Now I wouldn't trade where I am now for the world, but it did get me thinking - especially given the shenanigans on tap for this weekend - when's the last time we had a real boys weekend where we just said, "Fuck it?"

Fact is that times are changing for all of us in one way or another. I'm not advocating the "trying to hook up (and failing miserably)" aspect for most of us, but I think this coming weekend merits taking a step back just to appreciate what's in store for us all. This may be the last time that our group will be able to descend upon Gainesville in such magnitude - with our significant others at home (for the most part) and kids still just a concept (for the most part). Think about it - the biggest thing that most of us will really have to worry about this weekend is simply making it home alive and in one piece at the end of the weekend without having to post bail.

This is the type of weekend:

• When someone will try to take down the stalls in Big Head.
  
• When some of us will be shocked to learn that open container is indeed a law and not merely a suggestion.
  
• When each of us makes fun of the guy who has to check in with his lady, even though we all know that we're only five minutes away from checking in ourselves.
• When someone will ask a pledge to give him the Creed - only to be informed by said pledge that hazing is illegal on the University of Florida campus.
• When we raise our glasses in honor of Ernest's 17 kids...all twins.
• When someone will lose his breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the beers in between to a little game we like to call CAPS.
• When Prible becomes Dribble...becomes FRIBBLE.
• When one of us goes from being THAT GUY to being THAT OLD GUY (because he tried to hook up but failed miserably...with an 18-year-old).
• When someone actually weighs the pros and cons of puking in the empty Krispy Kreme box vs. the empty Five Star box.
• Where one of us realizes that his lifetime ban from Balls is still very much in effect.
  
• When Cola still wishes he pledged Sigma Chi.
• When Kramer screaming, "A-BAA-DAA-DAA" becomes a universally understood signal to take cover immediately.
  
• When naked just kind of happens.
  
• When we are all reminded of just how hard it actually is to polish a turd.

So to quote Prible from a rare moment of lucidity earlier today:

"I've got essentially 36 hours to have fun and enjoy all of your company, and I plan on not wasting many of those hours on sleep. So sack up boys and take those bloody tampons out."

Looking forward to it...

Today's Commitment: Mike Welch

• Pledge Class: Fall 1999
• Chapter #: 1840
• Major: B.S. Advertising, 2002
• Current Residence: Indialantic, FL
• Profession: Financial Advisor w/ Merrill Lynch in Melbourne, FL
• Family details: No children. Engaged to be married to Cassandra Whelan in March, 2009.
• Email address (if you choose): michael_w_welch@yahoo.com; or michael_welch@ml.com
• The reunion will be great because? I expect to see some old friends whom I haven’t spoken to in quite some time.
• What has been most memorable in my last ten years? Personally, asking Casey to be my wife. Gator-wise, the SEC Championship victory against Arkansas vis-à-vis UCLA’s defeat of USC on December 1, 2006. A close second would be the 2003 FSU loss in The Swamp – still the most horribly officiated game I have ever witnessed.
• Additional info? Jeff Cola is my hero.

Today's Next Commitment: Chad Kersting

• Chad Kersting
• Fall 1997
• Chapter # T'1780
• Major - Marketing
• Current Residence - St. Pete, FL
• Profession - Sales Manager, 98Rock (Tampa)
• Family details - Married to OX dream girl (a.k.a. Woody's cousin Lauren) for over 7 years. We have a son, Nash (21 months) and another baby due in June.

• Email address - chadnk@msn.com
  
• The reunion will be great because? It'll be great to go back to the house, catch up with old friends and walk to the game from the house. Too bad I won't have a loft to pass out in if I leave at halftime.
  
• What has been most memorable in my last ten years? Getting married... traveling with Lauren... building our first house in Atlanta then moving to St. Pete... having our son
• Additional info?
  
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Today's Commitment: Tim Adair

• Tim Adair
• Fall 2000
• T’ 1889
• Recreation, Parks & Tourism
• Leisure Studies
• Vail, CO
• Real Estate Broker / Property Manager for Bold Real Estate Solutions
• Single – ish, no kids.
• adairtm@yahoo.com
• The reunion will be great because it is 10 degrees in Colorado and we still don’t have very much snow. It’ll be nice to get out of town one last time before winter settles in. The women, the warmth, the whiskey, exchanging war stories of Copasetic Lounge with a bunch of other dinosaurs, and of course you nut jobs.
• What has been most memorable in my last ten years? Happily, I can still say college dominated the first part, and that was pretty cool. Since then, I’ve lived in Jackson Hole and Vail respectively, and can’t say enough about either. I spend my days working with some of the best people on the planet, including 2 of our own, Adair elder (T’1827) and Cardoso (T’1888). Other notable brothers are close by (Yeatman, Schultz, and we hear Vinny V. is on his way out soon) Winters include 40+ days of skiing, and summers in the mountains are simply unspeakable. Meeting up with some of my more socially liberal brethren at music events around the country has definitely been a highlight.
• Additional info? Of the attached photos, the first is me and my big B, lil’ Cola, who now has a little Cola of his own. Taken at Langerado 2008 aka Wes Samuels’ wild and crazy bacchanalian dance party. The other is a shot I dug up, taken back in 03 or 04, with a group of the arguably least qualified but possibly most vocal brothers at the time, chosen to represent the House at a regional gathering of other OX leaders held at Kennesaw State. Like any politico worth his mettle, we fought hard for our constituents (tau) during the day, did unthinkable things with the locals at night, and eventually were run right out of town.
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