KVG_DC

For high school, we had to have all white shoes for summer parade (white shorts, the years orange band T shirt, and specific calf high socks that we bought from the school. Fall uniform was black shoes of our own, must be all black with high black socks. Often the spray paint was pulled out to ensure "all one color" much to the annoyance of parents on a budget trying to balance kids' fashion desires with a need for marching band shoes. [waves] I became proficient in using tape well enough and picking the most bland shoes I could. So my shoe game was terribly dull until college. When I promptly got the loudest most colorful running shoes I could. My senior year though we had new uniforms with white pants and white shoes that were uniform marching shoes, so that at least alleviated the shoe budget for some families

[bookmarks post for the “why did I buy these seats and extra water? I missed a corps because I had to go down and up all these steps to use the toilet” post] 😅

A lot of bands had 'copy and switch to school colors' uniforms from the DCI 'iconic uniform' era. Ours were an orange jacket/brown pants version of the Blue Devils classic.

Deaf or hard of hearing is still the preferred term by most of us, particularly those who sign. Hearing impaired measures one by one's deficit after all. Even in the best of conditions, the best lip readers get about 25%-30% by lip reading and the rest by context or a lucky guess.

Not sure i've heard that one directly. Lip reading isn't the magical thing TV and Movies would have you believe. The huddle has its orgins with us though.

[laughs] Pink is a solo act, not a band. She could sell that dome 100 times over what DCI could put in it.

Yup. Although they've got some new tech helmets to play with these days.

[reads list] [realizes each and every one of those probably happens to every corps, every year, every tour...to multiple marching members]

The neighbors in Trinidad would be "WHAT IS THIS LOUDNESS? YOU'RE A DEAF SCHOOL."

I'm now envisioning this and realizing just ONE corps caravan would probably take up half the Lincoln Circle road that loops through campus. Lulz.

That'd be fun but, we don't have the stands. We'd be a pretty cool housing site tho.

Boo. I loved going to that stadium. Although if they tap College Park, its even closer for me.

That pretty much sounds like my band in 1988. We'd sometimes have instruction to 'scallop' into the spot for the last four counts. Although the emphasis on basics had us moving better. We had an alum (Mike Hardiek) come back and work as a M&M cleaner early in the season as we were up against Marian Catholic who was marching their summer championship show though so it was drilled into us to clean fast.

Interesting. I had friends who marched with me in high school (ISSMA finalists every year MBA regional top tier competitor when we went and grand nationals finalist when we went) We had dot book drill sheets and were taught to use the "two markers" from dot to dot my first year (85) as we got started. But after awhile the use of the markers was dropped. I forget who wrote that drill. We had Chops Czapinski as a drill writer my sophomore and junior years. We'd still start with the two markers and a dot book method but after DCI season was done, Chops came in person and we had a lot of "on the lot" changes to the drill we just sort of did via the "ok bring this line over here now, there. that. those are your new dots." By my senior year (88), we had a dot book for the drill (Greg Cesario wrote this drill, lots of solid forms that morphed into lines and back). we were told to leave the markers at home as we started learning the drill. But also were drilled on a variety of basics of different ways to approach our dot rather than marching directly from dot to dot. Lots more emphasis on intervals and who would be setting the arc of a line. Then guiding off of that. it was an entirely new way to learn the drill for us and more intuitive. Prior to this year, we were largely known for our excellence in music and keeping our Marching and Maneuvering 'good enough' not to pull down our scores. This approach though was heavy on individual technique and movement and we quickly got noticed for our M/M scores then. We had new uniforms with white pants and a stripe down the leg rather than our 'brown pants that hide things...that even the stripe of sequins down the leg couldn't help.' So moving to more exposed legs meant a lot more attention on person to person movement being clean. There was a lot we did in basics block throughout the season for warm ups that was largely muscle memory building for foot movement, placement, and upper carriage adjustments that really made the viz pop in the end. Greg was writing and instructing and Phantom Regiment in this time and we had judge tapes that noticed. Some of the folks I marched with went on to march in corps after graduation with a fair few to Star for their best years. They described pretty much what supersop talks about with learning drill. A lot of 'on the field' experimentation that was learnt and became body memory.

That was pretty much my first thought and reaction to saying the quiet part out loud too.

"psst...wanna buy a band circuit?"

That standard is all over churches now as yes, it was written by legal teams in the employ of the insurance industry who then made it a stipulation of your insurance coverage for liability. Like most things in America, laws that legislate behavior can be tough to enforce but laws/policies that hit the pocketbook are more effective.

Presenting their 2024 show, “Ohio Metaphors” DCI is embarrassed to present….

To be fair. Buffalo and Toledo are both armpits on the end of Lake Erie…

Yeah, I was in a grad school seminar in a fairly progressive school where a guest speaker from the Navy (recently retired) in 1993 was giving his two cents on why the forthcoming "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was a terrible idea because, "we have men as young as 18 joining the military and there might be perverts after them." A woman in the back stood up to presumably ask the next question and simply said, "Tailhook," and sat down. Navy guy shut up pretty fast.

Why not both?

Keeps the seat stealers away.

1983 - I was 13 and enthralled all way from Rocky Point Holiday to Simple Song 1987 - We sat around in August band camp talking about how great that closer was and how cool the play to exit the field tag was (something not really seen again until Phantom 2010 I think?) 1993 - For all that I was pulling for Star because I had friends in that show, the Holsinger was incredible and not to be denied. 2000 - Forgot to add this one on the initial post. I was there in College Park and the "anything you can do, I can do better" between the sections was bonkers. 2014 - for all the criticism it got, I loved it (until they did the banners at finals, i could live with the ramp). The narrator nailed that night after night.

And people annoyed by Damp Otter announcing “The Blue…..”

As a professor of religion and interfaith studies I presume it isn’t because whatever consultant they’re using as they develop this doesn’t have it on their radar. Which is something that would be a red flag to me for any diversity and inclusion work. There are surely marchers who need as the least dietary considerations for religious reasons.