"Did I tell you the story about Steven Segal? That guy can't act his way out of a paper bag." -An AU professor, overheard addressing a morning block class.
Prospective update: Around 11 a.m. Wednesday, an AU tour guide was seen herding a group of 50 camera-toting prospective students and their parental units into the School of International Service building. We weren't aware this many people could actually fit inside the building.
__
Street performers aren't uncommon in the District, but a particular pair of gents playing their hearts out in Dupont Circle Monday afternoon get a special accolade. Sporting a beat-up tuba and gleaming trombone, the duo positioned themselves between crosswalks and jammed like there was no tomorrow -and like that Starbucks across the street was really a hip jazz bar. In the golden rays of the six o'clock hour, the parade of homeward-bound young professionals walking through the circle seemed custom-tailored for the pair's raw, authentic rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In." Poetry in motion.
__
Some people just don't understand the term "dedication." Despite the beckon of free ice cream from every Ben and Jerry's in the nation on Tuesday, better known to true B&J junkies as Free Cone Day, many weak-willed passers-by were intimidated by lines stretching far onto the street. On Connecticut Avenue, suited cubicle jockeys could be heard exclaiming everything from "Oh, look, that MUST be two hours long, at least!" to "I would so much rather just pay for it at this point." Cooler-headed cone seekers, some of whom had reportedly skipped work and academic obligations just for the event, smirked in silence and enjoyed the sweet, chocolatey rewards of their mere half-hour wait. Thus, Free Cone Day was, once again, a rousing success.
__
Quad recreation: Cool. Theft: Not as cool. A squadron of student filmmakers shooting on-location footage of guys in sweater vests playing croquet on the Quad recently reported an undercurrent of intersport rivalry when some Frisbee players conspired with a nearby sunbather to "borrow" one of the film crew's wickets. Upon questioning, they returned the integral piece of croquet equipment, saying they thought it would be "funny" to take it. Well, last time anyone checked, stealing stuff that other people paid for isn't only really unfunny, but it's kind of really illegal, too. In light of recent laptop and iPod thefts, it would be refreshing to see AU students show a lot more respect toward each another, sweater vests or not.
__
Obviously, staffers here at The Scene just can't get enough of the Quad (probably because it's the closest they usually get to the real world). Now that the thermometer's cracked 85 degrees, the people-watching is prime. Just Wednesday afternoon, a white Chevy truck with a huge trampoline in it was spotted heading toward the tunnel. Only God knows what it was needed for, but a lounging bloke on the Quad, wearing a larger-than-life Tupac T-shirt and blaring Snoop Dogg from a boom box, provided ample distraction for a clump of TDR workers bobbing their heads to the old-school hip-hop goodness. Directly across the Quad, a reception of suit-clad professionals munching hors d'oe vours only briefly shielded the fact that Ben Ladner, our fabled university president, was actually out on the steps of Kay, actually talking to people, and actually existing.
__
A Scene staffer made a 12-year-old's day when she approached him behind SIS Wednesday evening and asked if he needed a Jimmy Eat World ticket. He stared blankly for a moment, and then thanked her for "saving his life." "You don't even know! You don't even know!" he exclaimed. He and his little brother first exposed their matching braces, complete with black rubber bands, before embracing and squeezing her tightly. Another bout of pre-adolescent pain taken away by your average, do-good Scenester.
The Out of Context Tipline Send us your anonymous Out of Context dirt: totallyoutofcontext@gmail.com
