Friday, May 20, 2011

Irvine Valley College Commencement Ceremony

Lots of smiling faces. (Click on graphic to enlarge)

Board Prez Nancy Padberg, VPI Craig Justice, engaging in serial beamage

IVC Commencements are very blue. We're the blue state to Mission Viejo's red state

Sun glasses on a professor are like sun glasses on a cop

"WTF"

Is it just me, or are people showing up to ceremonial events wearing less and less? I don't mind, but it is odd

The lone cameraman (on BSTIC). He shot everybody from there

The invocation/prayer (chosen by Commencement Planning Committee). "Let us pray," boomed the charismatic preacher.

The usual blue and white balloons, representing (if memory serves) "avarice" and "self-absorption"

Some teachers of the year

Some in the audience played "Commencement Bingo." Click on this and read the boxes.

Bingo page #2. Funny stuff.

For some reason, my shots of this building always make it look like The Aluminum Monolith on the Moon. The scene is all very dystopian, post-apocalyptic.

The harsh sun seemed to sap everyone of their intelligence. Faculty seemed like black goo, with yellow streaks

One guy kept yammering on a cell phone, "this thing just goes on and on!" But he was a jerk, one of those people who doesn't care how loud he is

A long day for administrators; these two nearly broke out into a fistfight (well, no)

The event as seen from inside the Performing Arts Center. From there, the world seems divided up by some Grand Geometrician

A well attended event, I guess. A good time was had by all, except the guy with the cell phone

Lots of little ones

Little ones next to a big one

Note the kid climbin' around under some guy. Gotta be careful you don't take pics up ladies dresses when you do this kind of thing. (Sorry, Dianne)

Trustee Fuentes was absent. Prez Roquemore sent him well-wishes

Guest speaker Martin Smith noted that the world will end tomorrow: "this could be the last advice you'll ever get."

He spoke about how, late in his journalistic career, he finally started writing fiction, inspired by the likes of Marjorie Luesebrink, an IVC instructor. He's been successful.
I think they should institute a Q and A after these speeches, make these darn kids pay attention

Awaiting their moment in the sun

Melting in the sun. Cursing the brightness

Few snafus. One kid tripped, going up the stairs, but she handled it well. One shoe went flyin'

An evidently serious young man

From this angle, the PAC looks like a large container for white rats. The throng was reflected in the hot glass

The student speaker was a remarkable young man with Asperger's. He theatrically tore up his prepared speech, saying we probably didn't want to hear such a thing. (But, um, the previous speaker read a prepared speech. Sheesh. I wonder if he was pissed.) The kid did pretty well, I think.

More little ones. They were climbin' around like they do. Sometimes, they were spinnin' on the grass

Students from the Early College Program. Their Superintendent showed up, beaming furiously, as though he were about to receive valuable cash prizes. People stood back from him, so furiously did he beam

No doubt this fella will go into botany. Or arranging.

Lots of faculty retirees this year. Don't know what they were yammerin' at me about. I was pretty much deaf and blind through most of this. And I didn't say a goddam thing. Don't mean to be mysterious

Some friends of mine

Instructor Wendy E, with her student, headed for Berkeley. He seemed nice

The after-ceremony scene: iced tea and cupcakes and weird-assed yellow sculptures. Not that I'm complainin'. It all seemed to work out fine

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ceremony at IVC was a bit long, but still it was fine. Great weather, happy people, good speakers.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your photos! They should hire you!

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps if the committee that chose IVC's "speaker" who offered a "prayer" were more diverse in its make-up and in its understanding of our diverse audience we'd get something beyond what we got. I don't know what the demographics are but we have a sizebale Muslim population at the college - certainly visibly present that day. Next year, an iman please.

Anonymous said...

It all begs the basic question--why a prayer in the first place? Why is primitive mythology routinely shoved down the throats of the general populace?

Anonymous said...

Nice photo essay Roy, splendid.
"Little ones next to big one" is a classic.
And yes why the heck does the school insist to sit everyone in the blasted sun. While the bigwigs sit in the shade. So dumb. We are not BACON!!!

Anonymous said...

Great photos! As usual. I wodner about the effects of the sun though - could we have the ceremony earlier in the day to avoid heat stroke? Say 10 am? Or on the other side of the PAC in the shade?

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...