It’s hard to have a bad trip to California. Mild weather, cable cars, great views at every turn–my homeland, Northern California, has got it all.
For a few Yalies, though, winter break in San Francisco didn’t prove to be such an enjoyable experience.
The Baker’s Dozen, an all-male a capella group from Yale, took an ill-fated West Coast tour in over winter break. While in San Francisco, the group of renowned singers decided to make a New Years Eve stop at a house in the Richmond district.
Bad move.
 |
| One of the Baker’s Dozen after the incident. (Courtesy of Ivy Gate) |
See, California is more than just another state 3,000 miles away from lovely
New Haven. You see, on the West Coast, people don’t do a capella–which caused a lot of confusion when I got to Penn.
Freshman year, when I looked around and saw the masses of people heading off to a capella tryouts, I was miffed. Even more baffling, Penn students–a vast number of them–even attend a capella shows. Sure, people sing in California. But, as Josh Pollick wrote last year, a capella “takes an art form and makes it worse.” And in California, that just isn’t cool.
And that’s fine. I do plenty of things that aren’t cool. I play golf (badly), and I taught myself how to make a Web site (that, however, does probably make you cool in California).
However, I don’t do those things when I’m out–and Californians certainly don’t bust into a capella performances at parties, because if they did, they’d “either get their asses kicked or everyone would be so drunk they’d think it was hilarious,” explained Bay Area native Durell Williams, who now studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Unfortunately, Williams didn’t get the chance to explain this to the
Baker’s Dozen before New Years.
The boys, after arriving at the Richmond party, soon began to unleash a
(high-pitched, I’m sure) rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” And,
in return, some members of the crowd began to unleash a bevy of
insults. Soon after, when the Baker’s Dozen left, the were jumped by a
group of guys at least “20 deep,” badly injuring the Bakers and sending
one member back to New York for surgery.
Amazingly, the Yale Daily News reported,
Dan Toubolets ’08, the Baker’s
Dozen winter tour manager, said the group will continue its tour of
California and is scheduled to return to New Haven on Jan. 14.
Can’t imagine the next concert had the usual gusto.
Back to the point though. This whole frackus didn’t start because of
target="_blank">homophobia (it’s San Francisco,
after
all) or
target="_blank">anti-Americanism (though I can’t
imagine Nancy Pelosi’s happy
about people singing the national anthem getting beat up in her
hometown). It started because the Baker’s Dozen crossed the line of
acceptable party etiquette. A bunch of guys singing, sans instruments,
at a party in California will never end well.
Californians don’t hate singing or art; Williams even noted that enjoys
the “Folgers a capella song.” He just wouldn’t sing it in public.
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January 25th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Evan,
What you were you thinking in writing this piece of doltish, irrelevant trash? You come off as an empty jackass. Were you trying to be cute? Funny? You failed at both. Perhaps this whole incident is comical to you being from Palo Alto. Yet your worthless words do not merit the presence of that poor kid’s bashed in face. Your tone is voice in writing this article is disgusting.
It doesn’t matter where this happened. I don’t could care less whether they were at a “Cali party” or a homeless shelter, or whether they sang the National Anthem of the Iraqi Anthem. This is America, you sick piece of dung. There is no justice in what those 20 thugs did. Mr. Goldin, you are disgusting.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Chill out dude. You’ve taken this way too personally.