drumelloboe

Be sure to get a cross-trainer shoe, as running shoes are made with the intention that your feet are only moving forward. I've seen people recommend Asics and New Balance more than anything- I had a pair of Adidas that lasted 3 or 4 cycles in the washing machine for a year after tour... heck, it's been 2.5 years and I still have them. Also recommend the Spenco Polysorb Cross-trainer insole: http://www.spenco.com/polysorb_2.shtml Had a pair in my rehearsal shoes and a pair in my marching shoes.

So... I'm not as well-versed on Philip Glass as I thought. For those of you that named his music from the video, what piece is it? Thank you :)

WAY TO GO, TROOPERS!!!

Southpark Meadows in Austin, TX

Ha, wow, first time I've EVER figured out a member's parent!

....the new Tim Burton film "Coraline" comes with 3D glasses... and I have some pretty sweet ones from when Nightmare Before Christmas was in theaters in 3D a few years back, somewhere...

Troopers have some wallpapers at the bottom of this page: http://www.troopersdrumcorps.org/features/media.htm

The high school I tech for does the same thing- I've noticed it's become a common thing in Texas to do "Cavaliers-style" forward and straight-leg back. I've never asked the specific reason, but I have some guesses. I've marched both techniques- Cavaliers-style at my University and straight-leg with my corps. I had to fight every single day of corps to not bend my knees. For *me*, bending my knees helped my upper body stay still, allowed more fluid movement, and the ability to stay steady and slow and fast tempos, forwards or backwards. I'm a very awkward person and have a horrible sense of balance, so this was a big deal for me. That being said, the backwards Cavaliers-style technique was VERY hard for me to get the hang of for a while. Going backwards is unnatural no matter what, and having marched straight-leg first, it was an automatic reaction. However, once I got used to it, I found that it was SO much easier to move around the field at faster speeds with my feet completely touching the ground each step. Reasons for the "hybrid" in high schools? My guess would be that bending your knee as you move forward is natural- and I do not believe that the very slight bend in a straight-leg technique is anywhere comparable to the natural bend when you walk, making it easier to transition to a Cavaliers-style forward march. However, the backwards marching feels rather unnatural and would be very hard to teach and very hard to clean with a large group of high school students. But... that's just a guess.

Blue Stars: San Antonio housing: Pearsall High School 1300 N Oak Street Pearsall, TX 78061

Can't get here fast enough! I'll be there!

From Boston's site: San Antonio, TX Show Day July 18, 2009 Rehearsal Site: Poteet HS Leming Road Poteet, TX 78065 Possibly updated?

There's Poteet HS in Mesquite (near Dallas), and Poteet HS in Poteet (near San Antonio)... I'd imagine they're staying at the SA one.

Last year I made 13 care packages to hand out at the San Antonio show (I couldn't afford to mail that many!) so funds were limited, but here's what I included: 2 packages of their favorite candies 1 box of the Gatorade water-bottle-drink-mix-thingies (you know like the Crystal Light water flavor things?) 1 DCT (Blistex's Daily Conditioning Treatment, or "Drum Corps Treatment" 1 Lip Medex (Also by Blistex) About 10 large homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies made the day before and a few pairs of new socks for each box. I couldn't afford an entire package per box. The biggest thank-yous I received were for the cookies and socks. Trust me, almost nothing feels better than a brand new pair of socks halfway through tour. This year, since I've been aged out for two years there are fewer friends marching so I'm going to try to add in some Wal-mart gift cards- very handy for those end-of-tour runs when you're out of shampoo and out of money! The particulars took some planning- I posted a note on Facebook a month before tour to get people's favorite candies and Gatorade flavors, but that was just me being picky. Who would turn down candy and Gatorade?!

I was one of, if not the only member in my corps to wear sunscreen the entire season. SPF 30 with only one burn my first day of pretour, and SPF 50 the last two week of tour (for one, it was my friend's sunscreen he wasn't using anymore, and I was on an antibiotic that warned me to avoid exposure to the sun... ha!) It was hard to find time to put it on enough to stay protected... we'd get slightly longer breaks at the beginning of the season to re-apply, but towards the end of the season I was only able to put it on between 4-hour blocks and I still got ridiculously tanned. Seems like this is something that should be pushed with staff as well as members- members won't always put it on if they're not reminded or not allotted the time.

High School- Style Plus I think? I was in pit so they were incredibly painful if you were just standing there. Not sure what they were like to march in College #1- Tennis shoes (uniforms were khakis, polos, and a baseball cap. Yeah...) College #2- MTX Corps- Dinkles I HATED my Dinkles. I had Spenco Polysorb Cross-training insoles in my rehearsal and marching shoes and they still couldn't make up for how awful the Dinkles were. Rubbed my heels raw, too. Lots of members' soles began coming apart about halfway through the season. Even though they're kinda ugly, the MTXs were far, far more comfortable and easier to march in. They were cushioned, absorbed shock, had good tread, felt great in direction changes, and my feet felt secure in them.

Agreed. The reaction you hear from the audience is just a glimpse of how incredibly fantastic the performance was. I think my favorite part was just watching the percussion section rock out. The kid with the trashcan.... holy cow! I've listened to the recording repeatedly since John posted it yesterday, but it still pales in comparison to being 20 rows up from the band last Saturday night.

I tend to go up to the top level... 311, 312, 313 I'm guessing? I believe the 12s are in the center. Anyway- great view of the drill, and still plenty of volume. Just make sure you're at least 6-8 rows up so you're not trying to watch through the bars at the end of the level (you know, the ones there to stop people from falling off the balcony :p )

Dude... that needs to be on the field YESTERDAY. I kept laughing during the performance at the sheer awesomeness of the piece. Another excellent piece by Mackey.

Same goes for Troop- our 2nd generation Troopers' jackets match their parents'- pretty cool

Luckily... http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education...and_shines.html

I know of at least 2 2007 Troopers members that were with Crown this past season- one in the hornline, one in the guard. Semifinals night in 2007, Kevin Smith saw me and two of my friends in our corps jackets, and said something really cool along the lines of "Thank you for coming back- now don't leave your corps, don't audition for my corps or anyone else's, because they need you to stay and build it up to be great again." I didn't go back, but that's I'm too old So... someone on staff may have said something along those lines, but I doubt it was 100% serious. But I won't argue, Troop could use the guard numbers!!!

No, it was arranged by Dean Westman and the drill was by Mike Sloan

If you're really not sure and don't want to give up your summer, try an open class corps that does a regional tour, or senior corps. It'll give you a taste of the activity without as big of a time commitment.

Comments on the rest of this thread aside, there was a big thread last fall about this girl. She apparently injured her knee very badly and was actually incapable of taking that step. She was taken off the field after the show to get checked out and wrapped up and actually missed the announcement when the corps won. Anyone who was there or has more knowledge of the ordeal or feels like searching for the thread is welcomed.

That's my issue. My high school band put the pit between the left 35-45 (I think) in front of the hashes (again, I'm not sure... field markings meant nothing to me at the time) in 2001. I was a pitster in high school, and the transition was rough for one main reason. As a pit, you are taught to listen back- if you watch the DM, you're going to be ahead of the ensemble. By moving us to the field, we now had to listen back, sideways, forward, watch, etc. It's not that it's not possible, it's just a pain in the butt. With guard, my school typically places 200-250 on the field. I am unsure as to whether or not it created issues in the drill, though I vaguely remember some alternates not putting the road barriers (Construction-themed show) around the pit correctly and people running into them from time to time, but that's a prop problem. Could it be done? Sure... but power sources aren't 100% reliable, as our battery died on the very last note of our show my freshman year at UIL State. Wireless mics cut in and out... It could be a cool effect, but to me, it's more trouble than it's worth.