So Dragon Day came and went this past Friday, and the scene was pretty much the same as it has always been: drunk architects in silly costumes, digicam-toting onlookers, and a shabby-looking dragon that makes us glad those first-years have four more loooooooong years of studio. There was one detail that was suspiciously off, however: the Engineers’ suprisingly decent Phoenix.

 The Dragon’s breast plumage (can we even call it that?) featured yellow cups taken from the Green Dragon Cafe (AAP’s mysterious cafe in the dungeon of Sibley Hall). At least it beats last year’s lumbering, spartan beast–but we are of the opinion that the not-so-fabulous mythical creature could have used a little sprucing up from TXA students, especially in the “scales” (a.k.a. squalid rags) department.

Props, though, on what might be loosely termed “animatronics.” (We’re trying to keep true to our informant’s tip.) Check out around the 15 second mark on the “animatronics” Youtube video, and watch for the moving spikes on the dragon’s nape. Kinda cool, but again–where’s the glitz. Let’s get some Engineers in here to fashion some real stainless steel stega-spikes for next year, why don’t we?

In an AAP email sent sometime last week, students were informed in no certain terms not to make any mythical creatures besides the dragon, and the phoenix was not allowed to ”chase the dragon” (I wrote a drug reference joke here, but decided it was too easy) onto the Arts Quad. I think they wanted to make sure the firepeople didn’t have to do any more work than is necessary and that, most importantly, Cornell University™ is not liable for any damages incurred thereof. 

But screw you, Big Red Corporation! We miss the Art Student’s lovable (if creepy) Velveteen Rabbit of two years ago, and implore them to defy AAP administration and create a cutesy Thumper.

After all, Uncle Ezra offered some of his boundless wisdom on why the bunny was such a wonderful addition to the Day: “The students chose the bunny for its cuteness and as a polar opposite to the aggressive dragon that engages in battles each year with the Engineer’s phoenix before succumbing to its own fiery doom.  In contrast, after the festivities, the bunny hopped back to its rabbit hole to be disassembled.”

So here’s everything I know: according to [AAP source], this year the first-years who traditionally build the dragon have been working on what [source] calls ‘animatronics,’ or mechanized creations that mimic the movements of animals. Some projects mentioned: a praying mantis arm, an elephant’s trunk that could actually pick a stick up off the ground, and an octopus that crawled out of a box, looked around, and slunk back in. These aren’t robots–they’re basically really intricate puppets. So [he] was hinting that this year’s dragon should be able to move more and be more puppet-like than any of the previous dragons.

Our source even cooked up some ridiculous speculations about what the dragon might do:

Some ridiculous speculations about what the dragon might do: fly away on leathery wings? break free of the architects and start humping Ezra Cornell’s leg? crawl up the side of Uris and disappear into the ventilation system?

Publicity for Dragon Day came today in the form of bare-chested architects slathered in green paint, wearing exercise clothes. As they ran around campus looking very, very cold, they yelled at to anyone with a grin, “DRAGON DAY!”