Acrobats under the dome

On Wednesday morning (the day after the dalek got put on the Stata Center) I walked into lobby 7 to discover a CIRCUS had appeared under the dome at MIT!

I love it so much! Although the dummies are a bit creepy.....

Unlike the appearance of a dalek on the Stata Center, every person who passed by this hack noticed it. You can see from my photos that lots of people stopped to have a look and take pictures. I thought the the ribbons to turn the Dome into a big top were particularly pretty and I love that there were so many performers to look at! The suspended ones were really impressive.

There was something on or above all four platforms (headstand guy balanced on chairs, upside down hanging guy, ringmaster and hanging circle guy, man being shot out of a canon), a tightrope walker going across the middle of the dome and my personal favourite, the trapeze artist above the main automatic doors.

You can even see the trapeze artist from Mass Ave, outside lobby seven.

The most astonishing thing was that the trapeze guy had a SWINGING mechanism!!

I'm sorry about the poor quality of the gif, but note the swinging!
Also marvel at my ability to make gifs. Marvel.

The campus appears to have a higher than normal number of visitors at the moment. I think that that might be why the hackers felt the need to put lots and lots of this sign up around the dome this morning (on day two of the hack). 

Maybe people were confused? MIT hacking is confusing initially (in my case, after being exposed to a hack for the first time I thought it was an official thing). I do like the fact that the circus has a name too;

"Mens et Manus Bros. Lobby 7 Circus"

Back to back hacks this week, people! *And* it's been a four day week (for Patriots Day, I patriotically went shopping in American Eagle and Clarks, whilst feeling sorry for the poor marathon runners in the 30C heat). I wonder if there will be any more hacks this week? It seems like a lot of the hacking space is already in use. Don't worry - I'll keep my eyes peeled.

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

Yesterday, there was a DALEK on top of the Stata Center!!!!

Look on top of the inverted cone, right in the middle of the photo.

It took me 40 minutes of sitting on the grass in front of the Stata center yesterday lunchtime before I noticed the dalek. It blended in pretty well to the glorious shininess of the Stata, which is my favourite MIT building. I even had to ask my lunchtime companions if the dalek was always there (the answer was a resounding no). I went back in the evening to try and take some clearer pictures, but the light had changed unfavourably. I'll check today to see if the dalek is still there and try and take some more pictures, or alternatively you could look at the photos on the hacks website (they're awesome).

Dalek at the end of the day

I wonder if the dalek will join some of the other old hacks inside the Stata building..... The area around the cafe has a cow wearing a mortar board (from this hack) and the police car that ended up on the dome.

Hacks of yore

As it's nearing the end of term, I imagine the hacks might start ramping up a bit, so the students can blow off steam during this stressful time. Poor lambs.

Papier mâché bomb under the dome!

There's a papier mâché bomb under the dome this morning.

I wonder why......

Quidditch on Boston Common - mission accomplished

When I first got to MIT I was MASSIVELY excited to pass a poster for the MIT quidditch team, the most-excellently named MIT Marauders. 

Quidditch is the sport from Harry Potter. You know - with a snitch? And bludgers, and beaters and a quaffle? Played on flying broomsticks?

Here's a video of Oliver Wood explaining quidditch and here is what it looks like in the films (I am sure both links will break soon enough, as they are clearly copyrighted material)

Now here is a video of it being played by muggles.

My friend Rita has seen the Harvard students playing (I think in the yard!?) and said it was very surreal. So, obviously watching quidditch had to be added to my list of things to do, but I kept failing to actually make plans to go and find a Quidditch practice. It also seemed kind of creepy to actively go to some random sports field to watch a bunch of undergraduates running around with brooms between their legs. Plus, they might talk to me and then I might find myself playing quidditch. Contrary to the impression you may get from blog title, I am not really very good at the whole "talking to people you don't know" thing, I am still more of a cowardly explorer at heart.

Watching quidditch got put on the back burner until I got brave enough to meet new people and have converstions and stuff. But fortunately, when I was meeting a friend from the other Cambridge and I was showing him around Boston (we went to the cupcake shop) we stumbled across muggles playing quidditch on Boston Common! I shouldn't really have been surprised, muggle quidditch is big in Massachusetts as this Boston.com slide show on the quidditch world cup proves.

Real life quidditch seems very complicated. There are as many officials as there are players on one team, the brooms have to be regulation in some way (tape was required to fix one before the beginning of what seemed like the second half), there are several balls involved and most confusingly the snitch is a real person. A real person wearing a yellow jersey, yellow tights and fairy wings with a ball in a sock hanging out of the back of his shorts. 

This looks like the snitch is returning to play

The first job of the snitch was to run of the pitch and down the road, only to disappear into the common. It was unexpected. While the snitch was not on the field quidditch seemed a bit like lacrosse and a bit like dodgeball and generally like quite hard work. When the snitch reurned to the field it became even rougher, as the seekers were trying to retrieve the sock. There was some kind of time penalty that would get applied to the seekers and so sometimes the snitch would be on the field but not being pursued and at that point he would try and interfere with the play of the other players.

The whole thing was remarkably complicated to watch, but lots of fun. It was also nice the way other spectators were so chatty, and were also fairly bemused by the whole experience. I think there is quidditch most Sunday afternoons from 1-3 on Boston Common, although I imagine it's fairly seasonal and is about to be replaced by softball. However, I highly recommend watching quiddditch! Especially in a public park, then you don't seem creepy and weird. 

Ahoy there, Happenings in the Infinite Corridor

First day back after Spring Break and what happens? MIT becomes all MIT-y again.

All aboard the fail boat?

So yeah, there's just a sail boat in lobby ten (under the dome of Killian Court, here's a map to help you out).

Just in case you were in any doubt, here is a more close up photo of the boat. I think it has a rudder?

"Why is there a sail boat in lobby ten?" is what I guess you are wondering.....

I asked this very question at lunch of my officemates, and later of the internet, and apparently it's because the MIT sailing pavilion is now open. Beginners sailing for students starts on April 3rd. I'm guessing that the boat is one of the tech dinghies, but boats are not one of my special Mastermind topics. Or even something I have read about on Wikipedia.

Interesting boat-related MIT fact - the students who complete the sailing, fencing, pistol shooting and archery courses offered by MIT can now formally receive their "pirate certificate" from the physical education people.

“Ahoy, Avast, and finally, Arrrrrr!’’

P.S. Lobby ten is the place where I see people juggling on a Friday evening. I may have mentioned this to some of you IRL as it confused me. I checked the MIT calendar and a) The juggling people are in the MIT calendar every nearly Friday afternoon/evening and b) If you try and juggle they will give you a cookie!

It was summer for two days in March

Ten days ago it was 28 degrees C! 82 F! On a Thursday in the middle of MARCH!! I bought a comforter on the 28 degree day and the man in Macy's laughed at me (justifiably, and in a friendly way). His precise words were "A comforter?! In THIS weather?!!?". Unsurprisingly, the comforter was on sale. And now it's below freezing, so who is having the last laugh? Me! That's who! 

The result of the record breaking weather that we've been having is that it looks completely and utterly like spring now! Despite the new coldish snap, the trees have committed to spring very whole heartedly and it is beautiful! But risky for the trees. 

Blossom, cheery bridge graffiti and sunset from the Esplanade, with MIT visible over the river

Here is a collection of the pretty blossom-y photos that I took when in first got pretty, nearly two weeks ago now! (The pink trees I made a special trip across the river to take photos of, because I spied them from the Cambridge side. Just a little bundle of pink level with the Prudential Center, you can see then in the south west photo of the collage below).

Apparently the buses always wish us a nice day, but I didn't notice that until the weather became beautiful. The magnolias are on Commonwealth Avenue, in the Back Bay.

It's cold again now (where cold means that wearing ballet pumps is a mistake, even in sunshine. I didn't realise that last Monday morning). It was even meant to snow at the weekend (I wore my Boston coat), and it hailed today! Let's remember warmer times, when I could wear my sunniest of sundresses and flip flops, and when the blossom had not been pelted by hail until it was driven from the trees. 

Boats on the totally not frozen Charles (Explorer not for scale), Instagramed blossom on the Esplanade and pretty, pretty blossom outside the Walker memorial

PS I'm wearing heart-shaped sunglasses in that photo, not because they are fabulous (although they are!), but mainly because my regular pair are broken. You now what else is broken? MY KINDLE!!!! Electronic devices continue to be falling like flies. Do not lend me anything that you value, because I am clearly still the destroyer of electrical things (not worlds, not yet).