Meet the Infernal, sorry! - Informal Committee or Gang of 4.5

You may as well meet the players in this Greek drama, before you start thinking "the whole thing is Greek to me." Granted, this may influence your decision to participate in the reunion, uh, hopefully in a positive way. "We" also wish to prove to you that we are hard at work planning, organizing, hashing and bashing things out for you.

That-was-then, this-is-now reality images are a must, so that when you see us, you do not scream in terror, as people do in those "cheesy" horror movies when Frankenstein suddenly crashes through a door or wall. Therefore, let us travel back in time via our yearbook to the fateful year one-thousand-nine-hundred-and-sixty-eight.


Nelson Orta - he actually looks like a decent human being here, albeit much more serious than he is in real, as opposed to two-dimensional life.

Then there's Quiroga, he always liked headgear - perhaps to hide the fact there weren't - and still are not - too many working gears inside his head. This one, by the way, did not come from Signum. Instead, he found it in a box in his parents' garage this weekend. No wonder he's experienced a boxed-in feeling for years.

Jorge Pastoriza - now Jorge Pastoriza, MD; we're glad to have a doctor in the house now, to help with this endeavor. You will see why having a physician around is important to the survival of this Committee.

Gotta love Ricardo Reimundo's - AKA "Lumumba" - unique, rambunctious sense of humor. "For where two or more of ye gather, better have a funny type around so that ye will not brawl amongst yourselves." That quote comes from...OK, just made it up.

Last, but not least, Guillermo "Bill" Urbizu - likes to organize and move things along. Say Bill, what's with the "deer in the headlights" look?

Last Saturday the 22nd, the Gang of 4.5 - you guess where the 0.5 comes from - decided to gather at the Xixon Cafe and tapas bar on Coral Way, in Miami of course.
It is a cozy, congenial place. In fact, it should become a casual gathering place for all ILS Class of '68 types-to eat, drink, be merry and keep the connections alive. No need to wait another forty years to informally gather there.

First, some of the Infernal, there he goes again with the Freudian slips...INFORMAL Committe members decided to engage in some "R&R" in preparation for the expected, arduous planning session at Xixon. So we went off to enjoy one of the unique Dade County Parks and Recreation sites the County's taxpayers are lucky to have at their disposition.
We just wanted to shoot the breeze a little bit, if you catch our drift - puns definitely intended.

Now, if you wonder what the relevance of all this was to planning the reunion at Xixon, we will explain: (1) It guarantees there will be highly trained security at the reunion; (2) It helps the Committee stay on target...(3) The Committee wanted to be prepared just in case Billy the Kid barged in on our meeting. Really, these things can happen...in the Twilight Zone.

At least one member of the Gang of 4.5 has extensive firearms experience, dating back to his days spent trying to get Castro in his sights, a long time ago. Never came across the stinker, however.


He liked headgear then too.

The Doctor posed for the obligatory "touristy" photo at the range, next to a strange, seemingly armless alien creature, sporting some type of earpods which no doubt Dr. Pastoriza found anatomically interesting.

"OK, Nelson...do you think I can nail Albert in the butt at this distance?" "It's kind of iffy - anyway, not a good idea to aim there. After all, that is the seat of his intellect; we need it at least until the reunion is over."

"Albert...you know we were JUST KIDDING about targeting your derriere...right?"

Bottom line: When it comes to getting this reunion off the ground, we the Committee Members aim to please!

Having thus practiced so as to keep our aim true and stay on target with all the planning and organizing required for our reunion, we went off to meet the rest of the group at Xixon. Once there, we engaged in sober and serious discussion on the subject.

"No garbanzos, no beans of any kind for you, Alberto. You know why! Don't argue. Doctor's orders."

The doctor agreed with Ricardo's observation, to wit: "Beer enhances kidney function."

"Now I think there will be more interest in the reunion, if we can get Pam Anderson to make a cameo appearance and sign some authographs." Hey, no disagreement there, Bill! But what about the ladies? How about Barry Manilow for them? Brilliant!!


Maybe someone shoulda kept his hat on...what the heck, don't matter - a scary sight is a scary sight.

Well, in the end it was a good, productive day. Your Committee members shot the breeze, met, ate, argued but fortunately not to the point where the Doctor's healing skills were needed as there were no brawls; drank responsibly and yet again argued, then decided...we need another meeting! Alright - don't go ballistic on us - just kidding! We'll let you know the results, in terms of date and definite venue, within a week. You have our word. Remember: "We aim to please."