jjeffeory
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Posts posted by jjeffeory
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3 hours ago, Hook'emCavies said:
Send the rain to Texas
Even Houston?
I was in Austin last week, and it was raining there and STILL 103 while it was raining!
LOL
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You can leave and return with a hand stamp.
I always eat at Shapiro's Deli on E. McCarthy Street. It's SE of the stadium and within walking distance.
There's Greek Islands, Iozzo's Garden of Italy, White Castle (ick), Arby's, Slippery Noodle Inn, Subway, Old Spaghetti Factory, and a few other things not too far away.
Wear a hat. The food inside the venue is terrible and the lines are long. The elevator attendents range from snarky and unhelpful, to just indifferent and uncaring.
Be on the lookout for self-entitled staff who think they own the joint. THEY DON'T. Be courteous, but don't expect the same in return.
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...and congrats on the Cavaliers for breaking 90 too to be in that grouping with Cadets, Mandarins, and Phantom Regiment.
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Congrats, Mandies! You're very awesome! We ALL love your show!
Thanks for being so creative and skillful this year!
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7 minutes ago, DCI Fan 9287928734 said:
In fact, can someone explain to me what factors actually go into the General Effect score?
There's a whole thread on that, which doesn't explain anything, but the topic is there.
It certainly is frustrating to see GE being applied differently, or at least seemingly so....
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3 hours ago, saxfreq1128 said:
how can you say that without even meeting me 🤔
We can't argue with that logic, and I'm sure your mom would agree with you. You are perfect!
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Can't wait to see the new ending!
It's great that their score is keeping pace for a potential top 5 finish!
Really, it goes to show how much the corps in this 5-10 range have stepped up their game this year.
These guys have had more adversity than many realize this year, and I'm just glad that they're keeping their spirits high and working with what they have. It's a good show! Thanks for performing it!
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11 hours ago, KVG_DC said:
I think the deal with California bands is simply the COST of doing BOA as a circuit. Typically a finalist band that is gunning for top half of finals is doing at minimum one super regional and likely one or more regular regionals.
BOA sometimes runs a regional out there but I'm not sure they've stacked a Super Regional out there. And the Texas bands and Indiana bands don't have the means or motive to travel to California. So any show west of the Rockies is likely to be smaller and reliant on the California bands. Travel distance just WITHIN the state is absurd let alone travelling out of it.
So Western Bands is a more predominant circuit out there. And I dunno how well the sheets translate across the circuits. Does a show designed for the Western Bands circuit match up with BOA sheets? Would the BOA judges have enough reads on their show and feedback to them on how to adjust to the BOA sheets? I say this as an issue because I marched ISSMA (indana) circuit in the 80s when it was sort of well noted that ISSMA sheets and BOA sheets didn't align. A show designed to do well at ISSMA state (which was THE primary goal of bands in that era) would sometimes struggle at BOA. And a show designed to do well at BOA (like Western High School) would sometimes struggle at ISSMA. Since my time, ISSMA and BOA have reconciled a lot...in large part to GN being in Indy all the time now.
Also i'm not sure if the outdoor activity in California is the feeder to DCI World Class as much as the Indoor activity in California feeds DCI World Class. Also California has developed an outstanding Open Class corps enviroment with their own mini circuit going on in June. It end fairly ealry enough that it might have solid overlap with California scholastic bands and that might be where those kids are marching in the summer more than the big tour corps?
I'm sure the folks at PC have a better read on where kids are going for what. If they can become a destination for some of those outstanding open class kids and then retain them...they'll start attracting kids form other parts of the countryWestern Bands scoring translates to DCI sheets better than SCSBOA, and there's always some third circuit in SoCal that tries to lure bands from time to time. Also, the Las,Vegas and Arizona bands sometimes try to do SoCal circuits.
The numbers are here. The drum talent there is undeniable at all levels.
There's always a regional out West, it's either in SoCal, Flagstaff, Vegas, or southern Utah
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Just now, spacewill said:
It is interesting too that I don't see videos of California marching bands like I do Texas, Florida, and the majors from Ok, and Indiana. I'll keep an eye out for one their BOA shows this year, it'd be awesome to see what their bands are like!
https://www.westernbands.org/events/
Chino Hills, Ayala, Upland, Mission Viejo, Murietta, Hart
https://www.scsboa.org/fall-spring-marching-band-events-2023-24/
Rancho Bernardo, Mt. Carmel, Covina, Poway, Arcadia, Etiwanda, El Dorado, Rancho Cucamonga
Lots of bands not mentioned here, and there are other circuits that popup from time to time....
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7 hours ago, denverjohn said:
So if World Class shrinks down to 15 corps and we have 3 corps shows
and ticket prices that are ridiculous for young families are
we still good to go as long as those 15 corps have million dollar budgets?
What is critical mass?
You've made a leap with the qualifiers.
If there are 3 corps shows, then they'd probably play more material. There have been 3 corps shows in the past.
I went to one in 2010 where it was Cadets - Cavaliers - Crown in Norfolk. The show was sold out.
I'm not for fewer corps, but I don't agree with you that it's pointless to have a show with only 3 corps.
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4 minutes ago, spacewill said:
I know nothing of the High School Marching band scene in California, but I've quickly learned about their awesome indoor focus. So question, does california have the same amount of Marching Band competitions you see in Texas? Heck starting in late September you can't go a weekend in East Texas without 3 or 4 major comps happening. Does California do this also? If not then that might be a small reason why more of their bands don't go to GN (aside from costs too).
There are two major circuits in SoCal( Western Band and SCSBOA), and Northern California may have even more circuits. Lots of contests, and BOA sometimes has a regional in California. Lots of BD influence and SCV influence everywhere.
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On 7/23/2023 at 6:57 PM, Chief Guns said:
I am hoping PC can tap into that hot bed of SoCal talent.
Quite a few kids from SoCal hopped on planes and flew to other parts of the country (and the state) to march. If PC can keep some of those kids home to go along with the amazing talent they currently have...........lookout.
This is why I don't know why SoCal or even California bands do not have very good luck at BOA GN finals. They get 1 band in, mostly Ayala, but there are lots of other great bands in that state and those bands should be able to compete with Texas and Indiana bands...
Texas had two bands in GN last year that weren't part of the big rotation of Texas names, yet they still made it. I don't see why California couldn't do the same, and I call it a bad year with those bands making it, and I know there are a ton of California bands and talent that could compete.
YES, Pacific Crest needs to be a force.
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Prayers, I've been there.
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53 minutes ago, skevinp said:
I’ve been watching shows that are my cup of tea not win for 25 years and I have never been angered by that. A little disappointed maybe but not angry.
Only one corps can win in any case, and I like a heck of a lot more shows than one each year. So if I was angry all the other shows didn’t win, I would have to be angry every year.
Doesn’t seem like a good way to enjoy the activity.
Great for you!
I wouldn't call it anger, but frustration. The winning shows cause other shows to emulate them, which, if you don't like the winning shows isn't a very fun thing to see being emulated by most of the other shows.
One of the things I don't personally care for is all the staging and the shimmy... Whelp, every corps does staging, and many of them are doing a hip shimmy that looks dumb and is never together.
...so for me, not anger, but frustration.
Even this year, there are fewer shows to love, and one of my long-standing friends who has gone to Championships for a long time is considering not renewing his DCI finals week activities in the future.
He's hoping that BD can be that one corps to get him excited by the end of the season, but he's not been excited for many years. He was, of course, reluctant to share this with me, but so many of my friends have left the activity over the years, and it's exactly because of things like this...
Imagine how many more shows would be needed because of the demand if shows weren't so polarizing. I'd imagine at least a double-digit percentage increase. I mean, students are going to love whatever they're given to perform, but fans aren't...
Just my opinion based on what I've seen over my time on the planet.
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56 minutes ago, ContraFart said:
In so many ways, they already are. Look at the Bluecoats. They are literally doing an reenactment of a poem. Then look at the amount of body movement and how everyone simply restages these days and you see how so many corps are moving to some of the tropes of BD.
That's the problem. If you don't act like BD, you have no chance to win....
....and you have no chance to win, because BD has been doing it longer than everyone else, so it's not really a fruitful task and boring. My issue is that you should be able to design any way you want, and if it's clean, it should compete.
Here we have a situation where almost everyone I read from says "BD can't be beaten because they have the most experienced staff", and stuff like this. Well, congrats, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a group of people think something is the best, then it is the best. It's all subjective, but now the activity gets pulled in the direction of what wins...
People complain about "old-fashioned" shows, which get knocked because they're not modern. We see it this year, and I've been guilty of it in the past too.
Everyone does the BD shimmy. Even the old-fashioned show this year...
....and people don't see this piece of psychology happening right in front of them...
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13 hours ago, Chief Guns said:
Studying the recaps from San Antonio, McKinney, Monroe and NightBeat, we are starting to see a pattern. Brass and percussion is what's holding the Mandarins back. Every other caption they are either leading or on par with Phantom and Cadets.
Two captions, brass and drums appears to be the Achilles heel.
Not sure what can be done if anything with 12 days left on tour.
Brass issues can be improved upon considerably in 12 days, but the percussion is a little more exposed and difficult to address. Either way, they're going to have a record-high placement and may earn a top 5 or top 6 placement!
Totally special year! Let's have 'em make this placement or higher a routine happening!
Incidentally, if you look at the Cavalier's score relative to Cadets, it's getting pretty tight if you dare to add the Cavaliers into the discussion with Cadets, Mandarins, and Phantom.
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On 7/27/2023 at 1:24 PM, Chief Guns said:
Just watched last night's run. Looks like my son's white uniform got caught on something in the opener. He had trouble getting it off.
I know it happened to a couple of other kids earlier in the season. Maybe it's getting caught on the red costume underneath.
He's still a boss, so no worries!
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Congrats on closing the gap more and more, Cavaliers. 5th is not out of question!
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3 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:
But the percussion can't pull the score up much more when they are almost perfect 😅
The other scores will come up, and so will Blue Stars
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Congrats on your first show win of the season, Cavaliers, and still within striking distance of 5th despite all the adversity and jeers!
Great show!
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10 hours ago, dureau said:
That’s is not something you could know. And probably wrong.
He was responding to another poster who poorly called out the Cavaliers for having poor medical practices and no medical team.
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17 hours ago, dcifanforlife said:
Cavaliers Medical Health and Wellness team is a joke. How can the Cavaliers be the only World Class corps doing a standstill? Members must not be following basic hygiene procedures. It is time to call out those that are responsible for this.
They started the whole Medical Health and Wellness thing that other corps now do, so..... laughable!
Other corps have people out, and the Cascades sat out too.
What's with these ignorant and asinine comments? It's tiresome. It's also destructive. Stop it!
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Lots of missing tubas and Percussion.
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37 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:
Alright sign me up
Short weed run?
Mandarins 2023
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
You just never know this week.
Waaaaaay back in the day, in '88 Blue Devils entered finals week undefeated and untied and lo and behold ended up third at the end. This last week is when some surprises happen. Like the Ink year, where it was anyone's chance, but BD ended up with the win on finals night.