Former Host Interviewed

Stars Shine at 10^th Anniversary Organ Pump

The Tenth Anniversary Organ Pump was held on Friday February 22, 2002 at 11:59 p.m. And boy did it draw a crowd. Students dropped what they were doing, which wasn't much, to rush over to Finney Chapel and experience the sounds of the mighty Fisk first-hand.

Students weren't the only ones in attendance however. There were also many celebrity sightings in the audience. For instance, former Vice Presdient Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was enjoying the pump.

"I wonder what kind of lockbox it would take to hold that organ" considers Al Gore in this picture (left) after discussing the matter with first-year John Barrow.

It was announced at the Organ Pump that Al Gore was the inventor of the organ. Organ professors David Boe and Haskell Thomson are skeptical.

"Ahh, what are you doing at my house?" said Professor Boe when a Smoking Pipe reporter went to his home for an interview.

"Oh my! There is certainly no way that Mr. Gore could have invented the organ!" exclaimed Professor Thomson.

Also in attendance, Oscar winning actor Russel Crowe (pictured right). His new movie which opens February 31 is called "A Beautiful Organ"

In the rear balcony beneath a cloud of cigar smoke, Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) could be seen enjoying the Organ Pump. Well what he heard of it anyway.

Others in attendance included Linda and Howard Miller (right) of the Suffolk County Dental Society. No one really knows why they came, but we are glad they did. We think.

And who can forget the uproar when rap star Lil' Dawg made an appearance. No one was expecting him.

"I was just enjoying the pump, and then he came in and started barking and everything," explained fifth-year Lindsey Young.

The pump was briefly interrupted when adoring canines from all over Finney Chapel rushed Lil' Dawg (left) in an effort to get his scent.

The concensus is that February's pump is one of the more memorable pumps in recent memory.

The Friday Night Organ Pump will be ten years old in February of 2002. We can only be greatful to the brilliant organ majors who have blessed us with this long and unique tradition. And you have to admit, Organ Pumps are cool! Oberlin students love them. No wonder other schools have tried to duplicate the success of the Organ Pump. I can't find any school that has successfully copied our program. They all seem to be pretty lame.

• Most notable among the offenders is the Organ Romp [bottom of the page] at Wesleyan University.

  Midnight Organ Romp
  An annual evening of merriment, Ronald Ebrecht's Midnight Organ Romp features performances by students and faculty of works by Albright, Bruce, Mikhailov, and faculty and student premieres.
  Location: Memorial Chapel

  Organ Romp? Starts at midnight? That's awfully similar. Well, let's see: First of all it's only once a year. And who is this Ronald Ebrecht guy? I see, he is the University Organist. Why don't the organ students perform on the Organ Romp? You mean there are no organ students?




• Our next stop is at Harvard University where we are sitting in at a "Late Night" Organ Recital. So when did the recital start? 10:00 p.m.? I rest my case.



• Brown University sure is trying to be cool. They have two late-night organ events anually (for the record, we have six this year). The first is the Halloween Concert again played by the University Organist. Second, is the Midnight Holiday Concert in December, but this seems to have more to do with a capella groups than with organ music.



• Last year at Dartmouth students were treated to a "late-night" (again, starting at 10:00 p.m.) Halloween Concert (again, performed by the University Organist). Couldn't the students have done anything for the concert? Of course! The chapel was decorated by the "brothers" of the Phi Tau Coeducational Fraternity.