Tekneek

The buildup is silly if it isn't going to be something that is truly newsworthy.

If DCI were willing to rollback all the changes that have come primarily to please G7 when they leave, I can guarantee I'd be back involved with the activity. It is those "innovations" that have made drum corps largely uninteresting to me in recent years.

I cannot remember the last time I read a proposal from George Hopkins that I thought was in the best interest of DCI as a whole. I'm sure there have been some, but I either didn't read them or have long since forgotten. I don't think he is evil. We're just unlikely to ever agree about who the activity needs to be serving and how that should be done.

I would rather DCI go under than be held hostage by someone like George Hopkins.

Indeed. How exciting. I'm way more likely to attend a non-G7 DCI event than a G7 event.

Hopefully they will not perform anything that has to be redacted from the recordings. I'd consider it a successful season if they can avoid that.

Very unfortunate. My thoughts go out to the alumni. I have my own thoughts on why this has happened, but no doubt it is due to a combination of factors that ultimately proved impossible to overcome.

I don't think that will ever happen again.

I could only hope and wish that George Hopkins would leave DCI, even if it meant he dragged his G7 buddies out the door with him.

Funny that Hopkins would bring this up. A man who has been trying to drive up the expenses of all corps for years. A man who has worked hard to push older corps fans out the door, while not able to replace them with fans of all of his innovations. A man who has pushed the innovations that reduced the appeal of audio/video recordings due to copyright violations. Expenses go up. Revenue goes down. All so him and his cronies can then use his self-created catastrophe to launch a coup. And people said we were crazy conspiracy theorists years ago when we saw this coming.

While I have previously stated that we need serious copyright reform in America, this also reflects poorly on the drum corps who don't secure clearances ahead of time. Why put something on the field that you have not secured performance and recording rights to? Just to #### off fans and hurt DCI's merchandising efforts? Is it more important to "be creative" than address these other factors?

Seems like the biggest accomplishment of this trend is getting performance material blacked out from the DCI recordings.

At the risk of completely missing the point, why is marching band a "testing ground" for drum corps? Is that how it is these days? Seems like it used to be the other way for a long time.

In Florida, I think I woke up in the middle of the night and saw bugs walking across the floor on their back pair of legs. I was shocked and thought there is no way I can sleep with these bugs all over the place. Too tired to do anything, I apparently went right back to sleep anyway.

First night on tour, I could not imagine how I would ever sleep. That problem takes care of itself pretty quickly, as I ended up tired enough to sleep anywhere after a while. It got to the point where I couldn't stay awake very long once on the bus. They had TVs and a VCR on the bus and I saw the opening credits for a lot of movies, but not much else. I had a few foam pads that I rolled up, with the shells, for travel.

My understanding was that Spirit didn't ask for it to be exhibition. It was taken out of their hands, given the circumstances.

Because of the way copyright laws have been changed, starting during the 70s, there is almost nothing going to the public domain any longer. Just when a lot of things from the 20th century would hit public domain, Congress extends them again. Anything to keep Mickey Mouse from entering public domain. The idea of copyright law was not the destruction of public domain. This is the exact reference from the US Constitution: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. 70 years after death of the author doesn't sound very limited, nor the alternative 120 years length for corporations. Sure, it isn't granted forever, but given the trend of regular extensions it might as well be forever.

Copyright law needs some serious reform.

Electronics and amplification have really turned me off. I keep trying to give it more chances, because I loved drum corps for a long time, but it just isn't what I'm looking for anymore.

I always regretted getting sucked into all the anti-Star nonsense back in the day. There were people in the activity that seemed to hate Bill Cook, even members of corps who Bill had financially helped in the dark of night (and didn't grandstand about or even ask that it be mentioned). I am thankful to have had the opportunity to exchange some emails with him over the years, and read quite a few of his thoughts about how drum corps should be built/managed. It is no surprise that he accomplished so many wonderful things. I wish every email I ever read had me as fired up, optimistic, and ready to take on the world as the ones I received from him did. Some people are leaders, who inspire their followers to accomplish more than they originally thought possible. Bill Cook was one of those men. He left everything he touched better than before he got there. It is the entire human race that has lost a special member of their community.

The answers you seek are contained in this thread.

No. I was merely expressing the reason why I continue to try, in response to someone saying they couldn't understand why I would bother.

Of course not. I expect my comments here to be part of the discussion. Nothing more. What part about it made you think it was a plea to DCI to make a change?

No. I even said I am not sure I can blame the rules changes for it. It might just be that show designers are putting crap on the field, at least when it comes to my tastes. I suspect it is a combination, though. What did I really say that was disparaging? I went pretty easy on it, and I was merely commenting on an existing thread (on page 6 of that, even!). I didn't tell them to be boring. I keep trying because I used to love drum corps so much. I keep giving them chances for that very reason. In many circles, that effort would be commended. Apparently, it is regarded with disdain here. I'm glad I don't actually need your approval to post here. Is this the part where I say, "Good for you!" at? It wouldn't bother me if you did those things. Go express yourself!

I have to say I agree with the original poster on a few points, though. I don't think DCI has ever been more boring than it is right now. The activity is totally self-serving and has earned the downturn in appeal that it has. I'm not saying that the members don't work hard at it. I am sure they do. I just don't enjoy the product of all that effort. I love a significant amount of what DCI put out for the first 30 years or so, but it really drops off after that for me. I've tried to like it. I've tried to enjoy it. I want to like it. I want to get beyond some of the recent rules changes, and it is possible that it isn't all the fault of those changes. Whether it is the rules changes or just a shift in the world of program design, or a combination of those things, it doesn't really make the experience a positive one for me.