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By Dave Pratt We had snow on the ground for our previous Movie and a Pizza Night back in November, and snow on the ground again! The latest storm apparently dumped more on Dedham than on most places (we got a little over a foot), and that, combined with the size of the sell-out crowd, made parking a little dicey. But our intrepid movie-goers and pizza lovers arrived en masse around 5 pm. We munched on Newman's Own popcorn and sipped on our various beverages of choice while we waited for the pizza to arrive. The delivery guy had a little trouble with the parking too, but he managed to balance eight large pizzas up the sidewalk and into our waiting arms, whereupon we dug into the offerings of Pizzeria Alto Strada (a.k.a. Dedham's High Street Pizza) plus the salad that Vi had put together for us.
Our main feature for the night, Ferrari: Race To Immortality, was more about the drivers who raced for the Ferrari teams back in the 1950s than about Enzo himself. This was a period when the cars were getting pretty fast but safety measures (both for the drivers and spectators) weren't keeping up. It was a dangerous time to be racing, and the drivers needed to possess bravery and foolhardiness in addition to skill in order to succeed — and many of them perished in their pursuits. The movie even used somber background music throughout its entire length. As the film ended, a certain guest was heard to say, "I'm in the funeral business and even I was depressed!"
After chatting about the movie we'd just seen and enjoying the many confections, we returned to the "theater" to watch an assortment of clips from movies, TV shows, and advertisements in which Alfa Romeos made appearances. Unfortunately, the parking situation was such that people pretty much had to leave en masse, just as they'd arrived (LIFO — last in, first out). So we made the clips brief to accommodate people who had to be heading out. Thanks to Jim Miga, who contributed several of the clips in this batch. These appear to be quite popular, so if you have suggestions for more, in the form of video files or links to clips on the internet, please pass them along (webmaster@velocissima.com) and I'll assemble another batch for next time. By the way, I discovered the following morning (duh!) that the club's new projector has an adjustment that lets it be positioned well off to the side, not directly in front of the screen. This will let us move the seating forward a little and make more room ... next time. Thanks to everyone who came! Hope you can make it to the next Movie and Pizza Night in the fall. We promise that the next feature will be a little more ... uplifting! Movie and Pizza Night Attendees |
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view, and then
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See the original event announcement
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Having devoured all of that (there were only three slices left over!), we all shifted into the living room, which had gotten sufficiently dark and where the club's big-screen multi-channel A/V system was set up. It would have literally been standing-room-only, had John DeWaele and Greg Stidsen not brought a few folding chairs along. Thanks, gents!
As the lights came up, we sauntered back to the kitchen for coffee and dessert. Several folks brought some rather amazing sweet concoctions, and there were also some healthier options — thank you! It wasn't long before our spirits had recovered from the sobering but enlightening and interesting film, and the party spirit returned. 
