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Oyez
11 November 1971
by Sue Baldwin

SCUNA history » Oyez » 11/11/1971

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This is the first daylight saving Oyez.1 I have been very thrifty with my daylight, and have managed to save enough to write this Oyez. Usually I have to resort to a steam-driven gaslight.

Sic Fugit Conductor. Do not be misled, folks, Ayis is quite well. However, he has decided to resign from the conductorship, since he has spread himself too thinly over his thesis and the Canberra musical world, and is feeling a bit stretched.2 We quite understand and are very grateful for all the good work he has put into Scuna.

His successor, Brian (P.P.)3 Hingerty, brings a new look to the conductorship. I am trooly delighted, as are we all I'm sure, to have Brian leading us through the Madjicklandovmiusick.

First stop is the Palestrina "Missa Papae Marcelli", which, Brian swears, was written to prove that polyphonic music was so bad and decadent that it had to be taken under the Church's wing. (I think I've remembered that right). We started it last Sunday and it is absolutely tremendous (honestly). Since there is only one more practice proper before the end of the year, why not rush along and try your hand at this Papier Maché Mass (Mess?).

The tape for Scuna's Greatest Hits4 has been sent to Jim B_______ (SUMS) who is having it recorded for us. Those of you who have indicated your Desire in this direction can soon expect a visit from Mark. He (brave man) has generously offered to perform the exhausting task of exacting $4.50 from some 40 people (!!!!!)5

As you all know, Val ("white as an orchid she rode quite naked")6 and Julian ("impetuous child with the tremendous brain")7 are being forced to flee the country (O weep, child, weep). There will be a few wakes to mourn their passing (before they go). The last of these (sob) is on Saturday 27th November at the pool (and house) of Elizabeth I___, __ Parkhill Street, Pearce.8 So mark this down in your songbook, which of course you will bring along with you to make a suitable rousing farewell.

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Sunday 21st: Instead of a rehearsal there will be a Bar-b-squna at Pine Island. B.Y.O. everything, i.e. meat, grog, bread, grog, cutlery, fruit, swimmers, grog, waterproof songbook etc. Horsedrawn buggies are requested to assemble at Burton/Garran Central Block at 11a.m., as are those of you who want transport. Should be a bag o' laughs9 and a grate way to celebrate the end of exams.

THE DATE AGAIN: SUN 21st 11a.m.

This is the last Oyez for 1971. Scuna goes into dark Shelobian10 hibernation over Christmas to raise its ugly head again sometime in February.

Till then, your weary (note the abridged Health Report) correspondent, having almost run out of daylight, bids you a fond ............(wait for it!)

Orriv Wah
Sue

Notes

1I have no recollection of the introduction of daylight saving, probably because I was leaving for London on 12 December, and frantically packing. The practice where Brian started the Papier Maché Mass was my last SCUNA rehearsal till 1976. Daylight saving was indeed trialled that summer (it's a wonder we didn't miss the plane!) and became a regular thing from then on.

2In the picture, Ayis [Ioannides] has been stretched to match Brian, who is quite a lot taller.

3"Passion Pants" - I'd love to know who was responsible for that! [Brian blames Pender.] Sue's illustration shows Brian wearing the pants in question, and also features Jim and Moriarty. Jim was a golden labrador that a bunch of us clubbed together to buy for Brian, having seen a sign somewhere along the Hume Highway advertising pure-bred pups for $25. I believe it was Dorelle who actually made the purchase. No way was Jim a pure-bred labrador, but he was a lovely dog. Moriarty (son of Phil's dog Cook) was, too.

4The SCUNA record. SCUNA's first (and perhaps only) record. More information to be added!

5The brave man in question was Mark Hyman. Michael B____ will have to be invited to repeat the $4.50 joke, which he told to great acclaim at a mulled claret party in Brian's room at John XXIII in 1969. $4.50 became a SCUNA byword.

6C'est moi. A quote from Hymn to St Cecilia which was probably not meant to be a compliment - Sue thought I was rather a hoyden at this stage, and I thought she was excessively well-dressed. We'd never really had a conversation, despite having served on the SCUNA committee together since 1968. It was only in 1974, in Paris, after she'd been followed round the world by a Christmas letter from me saying "Where on earth are you?", and after she told me that she and her Burton Hall mates used to share their clothes, that we became friends.

7C'était mon mari (and another quote from St Cecilia, which we'd sung in 1st term 1970).

8How kind and long-suffering Elizabeth's parents were! And Tony's! Those were great parties - for us - but they were also noisy, drunken, and not very couth. People were always being flung into the pool; I believe Brian and Gilbert once (?) had to borrow dry clothes from Mr I___.

9I blame Brian, who has always been obsessed with those tinny guffawing orange boxes.Bag of laughs

10Lord of the Rings was extremely popular when this Oyez was written. See the Wikipedia article, particularly the sections Publication history and Impact on popular culture, for possible explanations.