I'd been so busy over the past few weeks, what with Wendy's birthday and our engagement, that I hadn't given any thought to attending homecoming at Crazy Go Nuts University, which took place this past weekend. On Saturday night at about 6 p.m., I went "Oh, what the hell," threw my accordion into the car, ran a couple of last minute errands and motorbootied down to Kingston.

A couple of hours later, I pulled into town, where I joined Eldon and the gang from Science '94, after which we went to the student ghetto to check out the street party taking place on Aberdeen street. It turned out to be a four-block long bacchanal, with the street blocked off from traffic and packed with people. People began to yell "play something on that accordion!" (one guy mistakenly called it a "banjo"), I broke out the rock and roll, and that's when the fun began. I snapped a few photos and Eldon snapped more while I played; you can see them in album or slideshow format.

Photo: Me playing accordion for the students at the Crazy Go Nuts University homecoming street party.
The accordion: social hardware!

The crowd joined in and sang along. There are two videos you can check out:
Every other person seemed to have a digital camera, a technology that wasn't readily available during my years there (1987 through 1994). A zillion flashes went off in my face, and I spent half my time playing "snowblind" and feeling the keys.

I was surprised to find that a number of the students, perhaps ten or so, came up to me and said, "Hey Accordion Guy! I read your blog!" One girl clung to my sleeve and tried to drag me to a party until her friend came up to her and said "Don't hit on the Accordion Guy! I read he's engaged!"

Who needs social software when you have a blog and an accordion?