Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Princeton picture of the day
The lame blogging continueth, but since we are attracting a lot of alumni these days, perhaps you will enjoy this picture of Nassau Hall, last Sunday morning at around 7 am:
11 Comments:
By 
Escort81, at
Wed Apr 04, 05:35:00 PM:
Well, at least when this building served briefly as our nation's seat of government, there were no major problems with "earmarks."
According to the Orange Key guides (at least a few decades ago), there is supposed to be a mark where a British cannon hit a wall. Maybe the early Princetonians (then called The College of New Jersey) took the British soldiers hostage after that and threatened to try them. They wouldn't have to worry about the Geneva Conventions since it hadn't convened yet.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Apr 04, 06:44:00 PM:
Escort81 -
Actually, it was an American cannon that hit the wall after British soldiers occupied it. From the (always accurate!) Wikipedia entry:
The New Jersey Legislature met for the first time in Nassau Hall on August 27, 1776.
The British Redcoats seized control of Nassau Hall in 1776, and American soldiers were forced to fire upon their own building in the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. Three cannonballs were fired, but only two made contact. One glanced off the south side of the building. The damage can still be seen today. Another cannonball flew through a window in the Faculty Room and "decapitated" King George's portrait. The result of the battle was a decisive Patriot victory, and Nassau Hall was retaken by the Americans.
The Congress of the Confederation convened in Nassau Hall for a bit more than four months (from June 30, 1783, to November 4, 1783). The normal location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had to be vacated due to a rebellion among American soldiers.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Apr 04, 06:48:00 PM:
This post from more than two years ago seems germane, too. Some will say it is prescient, and others will say that I was tragically optimistic.
By 
, at
Wed Apr 04, 08:30:00 PM:
Ahh, Old Nassau. The picture is working up a bit of excitement for the upcoming reunion.
Not to make our esteemed blog host (or Escort81) feel too old here, but this is a big one for me... #5!
By Escort81, at
Wed Apr 04, 08:51:00 PM:
I stand corrected, even though the facts got in the way of a lame attempt at sarcasm.
By Escort81, at
Wed Apr 04, 08:56:00 PM:
Howard -
If you are not already aware of this phenomenon, you will find that the reunion number is inversely related to the time when the party winds down. Enjoy the 5th. I will be there for my father's 70th (my 25th was last year).
By , at
Thu Apr 05, 06:41:00 AM:
The big 40 for me. Drop by, I'll be the guy in the orange jacket.
Many years ago when I worked at Bell Labs in Holmdel in mid June after a particularly wet reunions weekend, a co-worker came up to me and said, "J..., I've just been over to Princeton and the grounds are a mess. At Purdue we always kept the grass in excellent shape." You have to experience Princeton reunions to understand them. Alumni from other institutions just don't understand. For many years I was a P-rade Marshall, going back to the days of long time chief Marshall Major Gorman. Most years my post was at 1879 Arch where my duties involved keeping the P-rade moving, helping to get baby carriages down the steps, and convincing alumni to throw their open alcohol containers into the trash cans conveniently provided before they moved off the confines of the campus onto Prospect Street and down to Ryder Lane.
JLW III '67
By TigerHawk, at
Thu Apr 05, 06:45:00 AM:
I used to be nostalgic for the old P-Rade route, but no longer. Not only has the new route grown on me, but as a townie now for eight years I understand why it might be such a great idea to block Washington Road for three hours. Even one day a year.
By , at
Thu Apr 05, 12:35:00 PM:
The old P-Rade route predates me, but blocking Washington Road seems like a disaster.
Escort81 - thanks for the tip. I've been coming to reunions since 2000 (my sophomore year) and have started to make it a habit of heading to the oldest reunions first for three reasons:
1) They close earlier
2) The alcohol quality is much higher
3) If I take enough advantage of reason #2, the swill at the 5th goes down much easier
JLW: I'll see you there... I'll be the drunk guy.
By , at
Thu Apr 05, 01:18:00 PM:
Me, CC, PT, MK, JW, MF, HC, MS and other TI idiots will be there this June for our 25th. I'm thinking of carrying a "Solidarnosz" sign during P-Rade. Or perhaps a portrait of Ronald Reagan.
By TigerHawk, at
Thu Apr 05, 01:29:00 PM:
