Opening Night

After what seemed like weeks of solid work, Helen, Julie, and Karen put the final touches on what became The Project.

The ostriches, surrounding the prima donna, who showed a not-so-surprising temperamental side when it came to performing.

The hippos, who hopped valiantly despite their generous swathings of tulle.

The elephants, who are not, as some may believe, standing sideways.

And the head-swelling combo scene, in which two mechanical Lego arms violently propelled heavily burdened alligators at an unsuspecting audience.  All this, of course, was accompanied by Ponchielli himself, whose notes floated from an obliging stereo courtesy of Helen.

The alligators, who, despite their surly misdemeanor, put on a show worthy of Uncle Walt himself.

The performances were few and far between, as the trio busily reset music, motors, and bits of cotton mist that unfortunately were eaten up by the gears.  But every show was a (near) success, and the general impression was that The Project made a very good "puppet show," as some called it, or a "bridal show," as others believed it to be.  It was agreed on by all, that the vast amounts of time and effort invested by Helen, Julie, and Karen, were not in vain.  The final adjustments of ribbon, cotton, tulle, and bubbles proved that there is an aesthetic side to engineering that should not be neglected.  It behooves the engineer to remember that presentation, more often than not, greatly augments the mechanical merits of an endeavor.

NEXT.