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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/19/2012 in all areas

  1. Since you know the real reason, perhaps you'd like to share? Corps making significant announcements in the vaguest way possible is exhausting and stupid. If one of the most crowd pleasing and successful organizations in DCA has suddenly decided, "We don't want to play in this playground anymore", I think that merits a reasoning by the group and a discussion by the public. DCA as a whole is affected by this and it would be selfish to think otherwise.
    5 points
  2. 1. This is how we lose housing sites. Though not likely in this particular case, given the staff connections. Still, this is not the first camp for 80% of anyone there, and cleaning up a school is something you learn and perfect after first camp. 2. Youth Performing Group is an accurate and useful term for drum corps these days. It's how we get donations from rich people who have no idea at all what we are. It implies education and artistry, which are certainly attractive things to donate towards. So, IMO, idiot newspeople got it right. Props also to Jim Coates on excellent damage control.
    4 points
  3. Longer school hours are not the solution, because time is not the problem. Neither is money. Here schools are pretty simple... last day June 1, first day September 1. Much of Europe is uniform as far as dates go. Spending per student where I live is several times less than the US (based on PPP, not actual), yet students here outperform those in the US (including every state if only compared on that level) by a considerable margin. The reason is very simple... 1) Teachers are paid a competitive wage compared to other options in the market. In addition, culturally, being a teacher is considered a highly respected position and teachers are given very attractive pension opportunities if they remain in the teaching profession. 2) The system is structured that continual parental engagement is mandatory. Schools are not taking on the full responsibility of educating the student, but exist to support the parents in educating the student. The push for extending education hours has nothing really to do with education, but rather extending free babysitting hours. There is a considerable need for education reform in the US, part should include uniformity of schedules and days (there is no need for constant wheel reinvention) and massive pay increases for teachers.
    3 points
  4. Very disappointed to hear this. I loved 2011 and 2010 and hoped they'd stick with those types of shows. I personally am not a fan of any type of dancing hornlines - or drumlines.
    3 points
  5. But those numbers do not remotely take into account at how much the world has changed in the last 35 years either. People are no longer left with only limited options for entertainment. They can watch recent movies at home and have a choice of hundreds more on any given night. There are video games with a few hundred options instead of the same 5 board games anymore. You can't look at it and say it was all going on because Vince Bruni was there.
    2 points
  6. Missed my point, many people think that once you are hooked by DC you will never leave no matter what happens. Over the years many things besides DC changes, you pick what's important to you and move on. My point is: it isn't that hard to leave... And to follow your second sentence, who knows what the future will bring and it's the future that concerns me. OK, agree.... I was talking about alienating by age and sounded like you were broad brushing all older fans. If you meant just the ones "holding back progress" (not sure how fans can do that) wish you would have said it earlier. As for "calling me out" if you post things that someone might disagree with, expect them to post disenting views. So what ego problem do I have.... I do not slam others for their opinion or say <whatever> "ain't drum corps"..... If expressing a different opinion is "ego" well... welcome to real life.....
    2 points
  7. Let's hope your predictive skills rival your grammatical abilities.
    2 points
  8. haha do your family a favor and buy lots of life insurance because there is a picture on facebook that has a piece of music in it that says "Chapter 4: Triumphant Journey" and the music on the page is as nimrod as it gets
    2 points
  9. hey sex and violence get ratings
    2 points
  10. Sphere with a rope attached? What, did they think Wile E Coyote set a trap?
    2 points
  11. it's not because it's too dark or offensive or anything like that, it's because it already got old. but that was then, this is now, hoping for an amazeballs show
    2 points
  12. 2 points
  13. While I have chosen to stay out of most discussions - after all - I AM retired... I will make a point here which might seem to support Lee's comments: When I was corps director of a top 5 DCA corps, as a businessman budget was everything. One of the things I tracked was how much was spent per performer overall and then I broke it down per section. It was as you would expect... Horn line was by far the cheapest due to larger number and the number of seasons a set of horns lasts. Color Guard was next cheapest. Then came the BIG expenses - first drum line due to the amount of ancillary spending necessary and the cost of instruction for so few members... had a staff member for each small group: Bass Drums, Tenors, Snares and even cymbals... Then came the PIT... The amount of money spent on the pit per person - instruction, ancillary items, amotized cost of equipment etc. was ridiculous... it was enough to make me sick. It made it obvious that the beginning of the end of the activity I have shared with you for over half a century was in the late 70's when the pit as we now know it began. The good news is that the pit gave opportunities for those performers that might have otherwise never have happened. Drum Corps is all about people (or at least is supposed to be) and I have many dear friends who played in the pit and deserve all the credit that can be possible to give to them. BUT, with the advent of electronics and its extreme cost, Lee's comments about limiting the pit some how seem to deserve consideration. Probably because I devoted such a large part of my life to this activity, but it seems now that every week I lose someone who was like a brother to me. This morning Joey Geswaldo, last week Dave "Waxer" Hayden - who's next? Whenever looking at the activity, its costs and its changes PLEASE remember the PEOPLE... and make decisions balanced by the people those decisions effect.
    2 points
  14. Played without using valves (well almost). Very cool!
    1 point
  15. Stop making so much sense!
    1 point
  16. I swear... If they end in yet another company front...
    1 point
  17. So sad. Way too many of the good guys leaving us way too soon. sigh Ray
    1 point
  18. Just my opinion here.... but along with what you have said, I think show design and music selection would/should be much more of a factor in growing/maintaining an audience than amplification ever will be. Put another way.... a corps playing "out there" stuff that does not connect with an audience (and by "connecting with an audience" I mean people saying "that's GREAT... I would pay to see that again")... or stuff that is over the head of, say, the talent level of a smaller corps... won't draw fans, no matter how well those corps use electronics.
    1 point
  19. The rest of the composers would be against working with a Germanic composer.
    1 point
  20. Hopefully the teachers will be compensated...
    1 point
  21. While I think amps will be good for the sound of a drum corps (hopefully, and if not, they get worse scores) I don't believe for a second that having amps in drum corps will attract more people to play in pits in various drum corps as well as putting more people in the seats. In the end, more people will go to drum corps shows to hear the drum line and brass, as well as watching the guard and visual element than people will go to hear a pit. I'm not putting the pit down, but when you have a section that is made up of about 10 people out of 128, chances are people are there to watch the other 118 people. If there is to be some recruitment of band circuits, let's put the emphasis on the meat and potatoes of drum corps, rather than the 10 people. Again, not trying to diss the pits, but they are only 8% of a drum corps.
    1 point
  22. I figured you'd have objected to the word "band". By contrast, "performing group" sounds pretty good! :rolleyes:/>/>/>/>
    1 point
  23. What's taking so long for the official announcement? And where the hell are the camp videos?!?
    1 point
  24. maybe there will be TITANS and maybe they will have an epic battle on ice... in the summer and it might catch fire... forever, and it might be glorious?
    1 point
  25. I guess there's no chance of ever hearing them play Revolution, by the Beatles. (Cool song.) Didn't Lenin Lennon write that one?
    1 point
  26. Don, I think the changeover was before that, because Mickey Petrone was already DCA president when I joined Sunrisers for the 1977 season. But your point is well-taken. Vince was one of the all-time greatest people in the drum corps activity.
    1 point
  27. 2013 will be my LAST EVER DCA CHAMPIONSHIPS It is obvious that DCA and DCI are GOING TO MERGE! This was told to me years ago by a DCI corps manager and I did not believe him! I DO NOW! Amplification is for me the last straw! I would also suggest that DCA save thier money and NOT do an Alumni spectacular as those of us who enjoy it will not be in attendance at finals weekend!
    1 point
  28. Interesting how you count on "old die hards" to continue their support, while at the same time dismissing them as "too old to support DCA moving forward".
    1 point
  29. How about this... 1 marimba, 1 xylo, 1 vibe, 1 set of bells & 1 set of timps - all amplified. Then one more player could play THIS for a rack...
    1 point
  30. You are one of the people who post the most, using yourself as an example just supports my thought. What you did 10 years ago doesn't matter, look what you are doing presently. The "sad" comment was referring to the number of open class corps competing, I should have been more clear. I would never like to discredit members and staffs working hard to perform. Nice try to "call me out". I didn't alienate any class, I spoke about one class of competing corps, and frankly, the class that is supposed to generate the most revenue for DCA. If you were referring to the age comment, you are correct. I am alienating any old die hards who can't let go and are holding back progress to keep DCA fresh, alive and innovative. Stop, think, swallow ego… then post. Note to the 8 old die hards on DCP that will be upset with my post.
    1 point
  31. /sarcasm on I think it's obvious that they're going to DCE, but they aren't among the 16 corps listed as going so it's probably moot anyways. /sarcasm off
    1 point
  32. Given his connections to Chicago, I'm surprised the Cavaliers didn't get this piece of graft. Or maybe Obama asked for the best DCI corps, and the G7 already plan to split off at the January meeting, making Boston the #1 DCI corps come inauguration day.
    1 point
  33. Several years ago (2005) I suggested adding mini corps as an actual season long competitive category, just like Open and Class A,..............this would further extend the number of available units to fill out show line-ups, further legitimize it as a competitive category and not just an I&E event, and provide the true competitive springboard that is now currently missing for units with less than 35 members,............The same 50 x 70 boundaries could very simply be marked by cones, and removed when the bigger corps hit the field,........ I know that the gap between 21 and 35 currently exists, but that void could be filled with a visual program component (guard, etc.),............then for the corps that do not wish to compete with a mini corps at this level could continue with the current 21 member, I&E, once a year effort,.........
    1 point
  34. I'm sort of with you, I loved 2011 and 2010 as well (so did the masses....and the judges) , and was hoping that was the direction they would be going for a while. I will wait to see the show though, maybe it will be great.
    1 point
  35. If Phantom plays Nimrod, I might die. (For the record, BK's arrangement of that piece was spectacular! Chill city!!!)
    1 point
  36. It is not because of the Edge. The Empire organization will continue to exist only the competetive field corps will not. And no, electronics has nothing to do with it. That is a silly suggestion.
    1 point
  37. Tell that to a couple of members who had "accidents" during rehearsals!
    1 point
  38. that's strange... doesn't Obama know that the G7 are the draw? why would he invite such a podunk corps?
    1 point
  39. I called Ticketmaster and spoke to a person! The result is 2 tickets in 237. When I tried to buy them online, the best I could do was 537, so it definitely paid off to call. See you in Indy! Go Blooooo!!!!!!
    1 point
  40. Maybe they'll be playing when they enter the arena and they'll be playing when they exit?
    1 point
  41. No. This event is funded by a Lithuanian non-profit.
    1 point
  42. Yes, In fact... The corps you came from and are so very fond of, has been folded/disbanded in an offort to bring drumlines to Lithuania!
    1 point
  43. The Return of a Professional Rock Star. SAN FRANCISCO. Renegades are proud to announce that ED TELEKY will write the 2013 pit percussion book. Ed has two music degrees from the Juilliard School of Music and has taught championship drum corps at every level, including the Santa Clara Vanguard and the Renegades, and his pit percussion sections have won multiple I&E titles in DCI and DCA. Ed is currently the drum major and flight chief of the Ceremonial Brass, The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C Team Evil Welcomes the Return of Ed Teleky!
    1 point
  44. Can we please quote you on that?
    1 point
  45. you have to things here going head to heard that often don'tgo together like peanut butter and chocolate. you have the business decisions, aka worrying about how to pay for something. and you have the artisitic desires and visions, which usually do not give a rats ### about the cost. Now, I do think amplification can actually limit some long term costs, as it may extend the equipments life because it won't have to be hit so hard. so there I see some sound business thinking. Conversly, the artist will just want more, which only drives costs up initially. and quite honestly, and I saythis with love, some DCA front ensembles need to do some serious inward looks before the sound they produce are amplified. It could actually come back to hurt them on the score sheets.
    1 point
  46. lol, bricks would be #### if phantom ever played anything by mackey and bryant (and not in a good way)
    1 point
  47. Exactly. Why aren't we limiting corps to 4 contras, then, to further limit costs? $8K contra versus $1k soprano. Mike
    1 point
  48. Cadets, SCV, Phantom. Haven't seen BD yet, so I'll reserve judgement there.
    1 point
  49. Madison Crossmen Phantom SCV Cadets
    1 point
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