HornlineDiva

Meow! Scouts in uniform! That's male enough for me. That's all I've got to say. OK, it's not. Bowties are for showchoirs and weddings. And those silver mardi gras beads are the same beads that were on their jackets last year. They looks like citation cords, but are probably a lot cheaper.

I second Tenacious D and Rage Against the Machine. I'm also a big NIN and Led Zeppelin fan. To sleep, I made a "sleep" playlist on my iPod with choral and orchestral music. edit: we plugged an iPod into a Long Ranger for pre-show hype music. That was fun. What wasn't fun was, the guy in front of me that would hook his MP3 player to personal speakers, then crank it. Annoying!

Two tickets for both nights.... 4 tickets total. Semis: Section F, Row 21, Seats 17 & 18 Finals: Section CC, Row 9, Seats 7 & 8 PM me if you're interested.

Yeah, it has an impact..... it makes you look like a ####. We more or less got booed when they announced a rival corps in the placement that they thought we should've gotten. The crowd certainly didn't mean to be offensive, but it stung.

They only had about 6 minutes on the field.... I don't think they have the ballad or closer (which is pretty sweet.) They had that slow backroll part that the low brass does, but I think that's just part of the second movement. I wouldn't worry, I've been on the phone with friends in 3 other corps, and they all seem to have about 6-7 minutes on the field.

I was just at that clinic last night, and I watched them rehearse at EIU for the past two days. I don't really even have words. It's amazing and most people will probably love it. It's going to be one of those years!

Awww, be nice to the bando. He was just kidding around. They are the future. :) I doubt any one of us could have done better in our bando days. I couldn't have. Cadets backwards roll is ridiculously hard to master. That's what I looked like for the first few weeks of it. I giggled at the others, but that back roll is a #####, so it's not his fault.

Cavies have the most "effective" uniforms, I think. They are perfectly tailored, and make them all look 10 feet tall, buff, and masculine. They hide dirt in lower body technique with the dark pants, and the white aussies create "dots" on the field so the drill is recognizable. But as for a favorite.... Boston. Don't know why. They just do something for me. They're a little modern, and a little military. They're also red and sparkly, and for some reason I love cords on a uniform. I can't wait to see the new CR and Madison uniforms.

All corps say they have a high expectation level. But I can say from experience that the November camp at, say, SCV and the November camp at most 13-24 corps are very, very different. I will admit that it's more of the mentality of the members than of the staff, but there is a definite feeling of "well, this isn't the Bluecoats, so I guess the pressure is off and I can relax." A lot of that comes from the attitude of the vets. They do get away with breaking. I broke my whole rookie year. I was a total tick. Look at some of the lower-placing corps..... I see lots of bad horn angles, and sloppy technique. So, clearly, they do get away with it. If they didn't, they'd be in the upper 6. I'm not trying to speak for everyone.... I'm sure there are other factors that hold corps back. I'm just saying.... there is a big difference between upper and lower level corps. Now I talk to my friends that are in SCV, Cadets, etc. almost every day, and all they have to tell me is how different it is, and how everyone just cleans their own house. Even though the average ages aren't all that much higher. They achieve excellence because it is made clear that that is what is expected of them. It's just established as the norm. That is so, so different from my experience with lower-placing corps' camps.

That's all good advice! The rookie experience is the same across the board. If you're going to tick, you're going to tick, whether it be at Pioneer or the Cavaliers.... so why not get that out of the way and be one of the best, instead of getting it out of the way and struggling to make semis? Honestly, you'll probably tick less at a high-level corps. This is why: The difference between the top 12 and lower 12 is, the expectation of excellence. When you start out at SCV or Cadets, you don't break. You just don't. It's not because the kids in SCV and Cadets are inherently better, it's because in drum corps, people basicly do what is expected of them. In the lower 12, there's a mentality that "it's ok, because they're young/inexperienced/immature/a rookie" and that's what kills them. That attitude is with both staff and members. Don't ever sell yourself short... if you can make a top 12 corps, you should do it. Lots of those rookies have never done corps before.

Oh, and one other thing..... out of our bari/euph line of 22 last summer, there were maybe 8-ish people whose primary instrument was baritone/euph. Almost all the seconds were woodwind players, and we had some high brass people as well, and a couple of percussionists. We even had a first that is a bassoon major. We always joked that we should enter I&E as a woodwind ensemble. A lot of those people were music majors, or are planning to be music majors. One switcher is actually using euphonium as her primary instrument in college. I think that attests to the AMAZING brass education we got. It's just really hard to get into a high brass line, plus it requires a stronger set of chops, which take a lot longer to develop. I'd say baritone and mello are the easiest to pick up cold.

Clarinet was my instrument. I had never even held a brass instrument before. I procured a marching baritone at the end of October, and I taught myself to play. I went to the November camp for my corps. I had never played brass with an ensemble, or done a lip slur. I was a total bag. But I kept coming back and practiced every day and I got a contract at the March camp. Just based on improvement, dedication, and the fact that I could pay. I wish I had switched 5 years earlier. It really wasn't that hard. Staff doesn't "put" you anywhere, at least not in DI. You get to choose.

2-3 more minutes is a lifetime when you're marching today's shows. I can't imagine that anyone who has marched in recent years would entertain that thought for too long. And that's also how long it would take to clean 2-3 more minutes of show... a lifetime. Staff is strapped for time as it is, even with a large staff of techs and caption heads. Corps don't even seem to get all their drill on the field until late June at the earliest.

When you have to buy more show shirts, make sure you don't grab the little boy's size on accident. Because then you won't realize until you're AT the show site, and you'll have to wear a tiny boys shirt for a show, and you might get mocked. Not that that happened to me.

That's why it's amazing.

I have a gut feeling about Cavies this year. The picture in your sig is amazing. edit: I have no real basis for this prediction. It's not even a prediction, really... I just have a feeling that it's going to be tough to beat. But how fun would it be if PR won a ring? Yes, they have to compete with Cadets, Cavies, etc.... but I'm allowed to dream.

I love seeing that some things don't change much.

What bags do you have....? If it's bus box, field bag, and suitcase, put the things you'll need ONLY on the bus in that (bus food, letter-writing or journal-writing stuff, photos from home, extra show shirt, etc.) Put the things you'll need in the gym in your suitcase (clothes, shower stuff, etc.) Put things that need to float between the bus and the school in your field bag (MP3 player, cell phone, etc.) as well as your field stuff (valve oil/guard gloves, dot book, etc.) Don't worry, you'll have access to it all for the next few weeks (I assume) since you'll be in everydays. Things just have a way of falling into the places they should be.

Aging-out is awful, but I openly admit that one thing I am excited for is watching drum corps in Madison with a beer in my hand, and one in my purse. I'll bet the Cadets show will be a real trip!

Your friend and I deduced that after an evening of debauchery. Tell Tony I said hi. :) That said, Spin Cycle is AMAZING when viewed under the influence of substances. Sober, I'm not a fan of either, though I prefer BD.

I'm a big fan of the ziplock freezer bag.... it keeps things organized in your suitcase. Socks, underwear, wet clothes, disposable cameras, extra food, makeup, hair ties..... I took a whole box with me, and I used them all summer for assorted things. Girls, if your corps has a strict show hair policy, then Herbal Essences' "Citrus Lift" line makes an detangling spray that is AMAZING. WalMart has it. You can use after for your pre-show shower, and it doesn't make your hair greasy at all. It makes show hair time a lot quicker. 2 free day outfits, not one. If you only bring one, and you wear it on laundry days, it never gets washed. I learned this the hard way. I'd bring bungee cords, if for nothing else than to attach your bedroll to your suitcase. My bedroll wouldn't balance on the suitcase, and when you have a field bag, pillow, and suitcase, the bedroll has to be attached to something. It's not fun to deal with at 2 a.m. If you're a heavy packer (like me), you will need bungee cords at some point. Gatorade pouches in your field bag, for when you fill your water jug and find that the water is brown/yellow/red. I did it last summer, and I only needed it twice. There is some nasty, smelly water out there that will make you gag. Get $10 in quarters before you leave, and keep it in a ziplock along with dryer sheets, travel bottles of detergent, etc. You won't have to stand in line when you get to the laundromat, or deal with the ensuing drama if their change/detergent machines are broken. Everyone has different things that work for them. Everything other than essentials is just personal preference.

Ok. I had a thermarest pad my rookie year, because we weren't allowed to have air mattresses. Basicly for no good reason. Yes, I slept fine. I got used to it, and I slept well. And then last year, we were allowed to have twin air beds with battery-powered pumps. I can't imagine why anyone would bring one you plug in.... there's already 30 cell phones plugged into one outlet within 10 minutes of pulling into the gym, plus iPods and god knows what else. I got an Aerobed that had a sleeping bag attached to it. Yes, you sleep "fine" on a sleeping bag or camping pad... it won't hurt you. But every night I giggled a little at the people on the floor. I looked forward to getting on my mattress SO much more, and the sleep was so much more sound. It felt like a bed. It took under a minute to inflate... honestly, if it took five, I'd still take that over unrolling a sleeping bag and passing out immediately. The only downfall was that an airbed with a sleeping bag attached is heavy, and was not fun to carry at 4 a.m. But still totally worth it. I had a thermarest pad, and it claims that you just open the cap and it inflates.... lies. It doesn't inflate fully. You still have to sit there and huff and puff to get it full. Blah. My pump filled my bed so fast, I didn't even have time to leave the gym to find a bathroom.

They just wear different bras and shorts, so they tan evenly. That's all anyone means by a "uniform look." All the girls in my corps did this. You just roll your shorts a lot, and pull your straps down one day so you're wearing a strapless, then the next day you cut a bra into a halter, the the next day you wear spaghetti straps, etc....

I wasn't justifying it. I'm just explaining the policy. Wow. Our tech took our shades for a visual sectional once, and I found out that I had been using my eyes improperly for 2 years. I'm not saying you should sacrifice your health for the sake of a visual score, but if someone had taken my shades during rookie move-up, instead of one month before I aged-out, I would have understood the eye's function a lot more. Like I said.... maybe during a week of death camp, lose the shades during visual sectionals, visual ensemble, or during ensemble. The sun sets during ensemble, anyway, and if the staff is smart, you won't be facing the setting sun every day. I don't think that is unreasonable, or horrificly damaging, considering the damage done to your joints and skin, which don't get any time off. Maybe the Cadets do go too far. I don't know..... I'm not a Cadet. We wore hats and shades all summer. edit: I'll also say that it's pretty obvious when a corps isn't concentrating properly.

It's so they can watch your eyes to make sure you're using "crazy eyes".... looking from DM, to form, to front sideline, and back. Your eyes should be constanly moving, not fixed on the DM, or the box, or something. I was taught by an all-Cadets staff, and they used to say that if we didn't start using our eyes more, they'd make us stop wearing shades. I can't imagine not wearing shades. But I have sensitive eyes. If I lost mine for a day, I was miserable, even though hats were mandatory. I wear them all the time here at home as well. But I guess the Cadets get used to not having them. Honestly.... outlawing shades isn't really the worst thing for your health in corps, compared to so much else - lack of sleep, damage to joints, sun damage to skin, excessive exercise without sufficient water, etc. I'm not saying this all happens all the time, in every corps, but before I go on a rampage about sunglasses, I'd go on a rampage about the lack of proper sports medicine and lack of sunblock breaks. That's not to say that damage to the eyes isn't a serious problem.... but there's a lot that could be fixed.