Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180035
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Virginia Tech. Then she landed a job as an interior designer with the architectural firm Hayes Seay Mattern & Mattern Inc. in Roanoke.
But Linda topped it all last week when she shared the best-costume award with fellow employees Jamie Gaabo and Gretchen Honeycutt at the firm's annual atelier.
(That's an artsy word for workshop, by the way. I looked it up.)
The three women dressed as Pigs in Space. And, yes, they did squeal when they learned they had won.
This was by far the best theme party I've attended in four years of Mingling. Credit goes to Jackie Keffer and Jennifer Kelly of HSMM and Dawn Turner, who works for the Holiday Inn where the event took place.
``It's an annual meeting where we bring in people from all 10 of our offices to show off what they've been working on,'' explained Jennifer when she called to invite me. ``And this year we're all dressing up as science fiction characters.''
What?!
The Pigs in Space were wild in home-made pink regalia. Zapping top executives with fazer guns, they ruled the party.
Perched atop their heads were pink satin pig ears with pink blinking eyes attached to spiraled wire that booiinged as they worked the room.
Linda made the head gear.
``I made the noses,'' Gretchen said proudly of the pink painted Dixie cups.
And Gretchen designed the Swine Trek logos - pink pig behinds on a silver boomerang sort of background.
Howard Noel, commander of the starship HSMM, wimped out in the costume department, wearing only a Caribbean shirt and a sign that read: ``I was kidnapped by architects from outer space!''
``These people are out of their minds,'' he said from the sidelines, shaking his head. ``But the theme is `Architecture: The Final Frontier.'''
The purpose of the party, er, meeting - atelier? - is to bond and socialize and cross-pollinate, Howard told me.
Gary Leivers of Nottingham, England, won second place for his space elephant get-up. It was made of a fencing helmet topped by a bicycle helmet, all covered with aluminum foil, and it came complete with a voice synthesizer that kept cutting out.
All I heard Gary say all evening was, ``Wait! I'm losing power!''
Bill Bowling looked a lot like a space wolf, but when I asked him what he was, he said he was ``Aztec Rentals' Best Galactic Warrier.''
This event, held in a ballroom at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood, was really far out. It made the best use of a disco ball I've ever seen at a party. Stars and moons dangled from the ceiling.
And televisions in various sections of the room played everything from ``The Jetsons'' to ``Star Trek'' to ``Dune,'' all part of David Jones' extensive sci-fi collection.
But the creativity of the meal was the part I enjoyed most.
Credit for this goes to the Holiday Inn's executive chef, Kimba Myer, who looks a lot like Eldin on ``Murphy Brown.''
There was dry ice at each table. And those silver things they put on top of plates when you order room service covered each plate at the tables. On top of these were space toys.
When given the official order, we removed the silver things.
On the plate we found an upside-down saucer.
When we removed the saucer we found our meal: red, orange, white and green pills (they were really Tic Tacs) that looked like what we used to think people in space would eat.
Then the real meal came out. Kimba had carved weird, geometric shapes in fruit. On the chicken was a strange-looking, but very tasty, green sauce that I later discovered had some kiwi involvement.
The beef, vegetables and potatoes were equally interesting.
I sat next to Timm Jamieson, whose costume was mighty impressive. He looked like a transformer. More appropriately for an architect, a transformer that turned from a building to a man.
Decked out in silver tights, he was wearing a blond wig and had silver paint on his face. Even though he greeted me with a huge squeeze from behind (with big silver triangular hands), I wouldn't know Timm Jamieson if I ran into him on the street and he bit me.
I have no idea what this man really looks like.
``He looks like Ace Frehley gone cosmic,'' said Howard, referring to the former member of the glam/metalhead band, Kiss.
It was quite a sight to see Timm trying to get the meeting started in that get-up, sandwiched between life-sized stand-ups of Captains Kirk and Picard.
Gary Brown and Homer Thompson fiddled with slide trays while wearing magenta and silver Mylar wigs.
Not everyone dressed up. Those of us who didn't were looked down upon as ``earthlings.''
Except Don Haney.
``I was caught in a time warp and transported back to the 20th century,'' he explained, wearing a suit and a tie.
``That's the same excuse you use when you're late coming back from lunch,'' said Linda Palmer.
Poor Gary Jackson, who sat to my right at dinner, looked at his co-workers as if he thought they'd lost their minds.
Gary wore just a single silver star smack in the middle of his forehead.
He did enjoy dinner, though. Except for dessert.
Kimba had concocted Moon Pie-like things of chocolate meringue with chocolate mousse sandwiched inside.
``I'm not a chocolate person,'' Gary explained.
Gee. He must be from another planet!
by CNB