BigW

The Cavies did the Christmas Anthem show BITD as well. They played several of John Rutter's sacred works as well around that time. Great programs. Star 1990- Belshazzar's Feast, 1991- Roman Images had a lot of religious images as well. Both very well liked and remembered programs. Heck, Belshazzar's an Oratorio. I know of a few religiously affiliated HS in the NE that compete every year with a sacred-religiously themed program and have done well and are well received. Why not? I'd like to think the activity at all levels is supposed to be an arena of ideas, the water's warm. Take a jump in and go for it!

Sorry- I wasn't clear on it. My bad Not this weekend- maybe come championships. If either of the top 2 right now keep progressing and don't flat-line, maybe then.

Thanks, much appreciated. We could see a new record score. Evidently the Govies look good, and I know White Sabres are running strong with some time to go.

Ray, I've seen the Brassmen at a couple of standstills- they really do a fine job and do some really solid stuff- great musicians.

Sounds solid, Scott+Brian. Some good info from the Midwest. Just ordered my Big Sound ticket on line. Much easier for people on a night schedule such as myself. :) Scranton, Big Sounds, and Prelims. Should be three good shows over vacation. :)

Looks like the White Sabres number stabilized and settled where it "should be" at their last contest. The question is, what's the highest Class A score? Anything over 80 for Class A is pretty daggone good. Are White Sabres looking at a possible record high score in A? They're not foolin' around and look like they're pushing ahead and not looking back.

Will contact Monday. Can't miss a chance to say hi to brother Dave.

The point is, Dan, that they were not full for that performance. Yes, people get sick. And the holes were obvious on the video. I realize that you can declare the holes, etc. of necessary, but they were distracting. When people judge, they judge by what is there or in this case, not there. Not by what should be there,and excuse it or imagine a whole lot and fill in the blanks and ignore it. Maybe cruel- but that's the way it is. You know that. I also realize it's harder to fill holes in emergencies now as well. So, Dan, yes... really. When you set up at least 2 solid blocks on the field and there are holes in the middle and edges, it's distracting. Sorry if it irritates you. Hopefully the situation will be dealt with when it counts.

The CT/TBT pairing is the really interesting one there. Both have a lot at stake at that contest. I haven't seen CT, their numbers look good. Too close to call. Whomever stays frosty for their performance may be the edge. They both need to see if they can threaten Sun Devils. They owe themselves that much to give it a go. Watched the DCI video for Gold and CV. Big issue for CV is whether they can fill the 2ish horn holes ASAP. A lot of their drill uses blocks and the holes are a distraction. The question for CV will be where they relate to Bush and C2. Scores, I won't make a solid guess. What they need and what they get might be two different numbers. that's up to them and how they do. Gold also has to throw down a strong, hard number if they want to be in good shape at Prelims. They need to try to attempt to extend beyond Kilties and Sun. No fooling around for them, no margin for error. Sun Devils need to see if they can get close to White Sabres. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The show is really critical for every competitor. It should prove a very good contest for the fans.

Glad to hear the turnout was strong. Hopefully the corps and HS groups both gathered up some solid funds. Good to hear people are turning out. Looked at the map, not a bad drive for me, maybe a bit long, we'll see about next year when the time comes.

Now there was a corps that would have benefited from Class A to a T. Solid smaller group, great solo work.

As late as 1983, we pulled Love for Sale, replaced with Winnetka for the first show of the season, than reinserted it after Frank insisted we could do the chart once we worked on it with him and began to understand it. He was correct. that being said, most of the corps knew Winnetka, and there were maybe 3 drill sets. As for designer ego, I see it a lot. Judging ego, I saw it BITD. No names, but in 1979, one of our DCA competitors evidently rewrote a lot of their program based on the suggestions of one individual. They overreacted when they saw that show at Bucknell with all of their suggested changes- and they were major changes- and called the contest. Not a good thing when every other panel member has your corps up and one judge alone puts another ahead by themselves by a serious swing in numbers. Needless to say, that individual was gone for that season. The job is not to rewrite the show for the group, Don. The thing you need to do when judging, and you're paid to do this as one of your responsibilities- is to try and point out things that may not be working as well as they should be and why you think it's not working. The question then becomes for the staff, do they agree or not? Can they take what they have and make it better? Do they need to tweak part of it? And if the answer is yes, how and how much? That's the staff's decision. I've been on staffs where those conversations came up. We put some serious discussions down on it, sometimes we changed stuff sometimes, we kept it. On the flip side, if they continue to do what they wanted and it starts to work, You have to man up and realize they had things right and credit where credit is due. John's spot on though about ability to make major alterations. Sometimes you may just be better off knowing it's not good at a certain spot because the season's so short and you just have to clean the bejeezus out of it and take the effect lumps. You get more clean than you do if it's 'better' material but not performed very well, that's a fact you deal with. Sometimes changing a shape of a form by 2 steps or less in certain spots can work miracles. Changing how a couple of people get from a to b with the path they take can make things better with the shows the way they are now. My guess is the Cabs have been doing both of those things all season- small changes that make a bigger difference than anyone realizes.

Brother Dave, Sorry, the shows were kinda in other intergalactic sectors from where I live, and I had some other commitments. Taking care of a good friend's Border Collie is an intense thing for me. They're too daggone smart. Gimme a cat a any day. I'll be back for at least Scranton and Prelims. Still need to get a Big Sounds ticket, debating on that. Watch. Amy will be chasing me down now. I have a feeling I'll be boarded by Pirates and taken there at cutlass point.

Hmm, Ray makes me think... Well, I avoid the DCI end. What's scary to me is they're supposed to be the smarter more sophisticated crew, and all I read there is "DON'T BOO ANYONE U STINK AND ARE A HORRIBLE BAD PERSON IF U DO, APPLAUD WILDY FOR EVERYONE BUT BLUE DEVILS EVEN IF YOU'RE BORED TO TEARS BY THE PROGRAM U JUST SAW, CROWN IS THE GREAT WHITE HOPE, EVERYONE LUFF CROWN COS OF THAT LOUD LOUD DID I SAY REALLY LOUD? HORN LINE!!!! AND OF BD WINS TEAR DOWN THE STADIUM AND RIOT!!!!" As for DCA-- I haven't seen anyone yet that makes me wish I was scoping out what was at the concession stand and thinking about eating a Taco in a Bag or some Vinegar Fries instead of sitting there watching the show. Ream will tell you food is a very strong motivator for me. It doesn't take much to get me running for that Taco in a Bag. I'm more worried about it being engaging over who will win, who might win if the right scenario occurs, or what score x gets right now. I just wanna see people going for the gusto and performing with some inspiration with something fun, inventive, and thoughtful to watch and listen to. If that happens, I'm not worried about DCA. Things will be okay in the long run if that keeps happening.

You tap really well. I tap dance more like Bill Cosby myself.

Donny, no need to apologize for stating truth that anyone could go to the DCA site and look up on their own from carefully reading the recaps and counting on their fingers if necessary. Something would be wrong if you WEREN'T a bit disturbed by it. Hopefully you had a good dialogue about it post contest and the issues are resolved for the good of the corps and really, everyone else. That's what counts. Stuff like that happens, as long as everyone ends up on the same page and things are worked out, it'll be all good.

Wish I still had mine. Thinking of getting the local hippie airbrush guy to make me a special pigeon shirt.

Baby Power, Baby Powder? You mean they had a baby pedaling a tricycle hooked up to a generator to power their synthesizers? Or you mean baby power like the Wacky Races cartoon? Man, explain this. It has to be better than the Pigeons.

Lord.... that was something, especially from my viewpoint on the field when I was trying to catch them. It started crazy, and went from that to worse. I did catch one.

Hey! You been reading this with the aid of that gi-normous white telescope?

Yes. I could be struck by lightning or win the Powerball. It could happen. But it's not likely. I'm more of a guy who believes in seeing the performance rather than dreaming. Someone could implode. Believe me, I know that, too. I've been a part of that as well. I'd rather wait to see what actually goes down than predict it. I think what bothers me, Jeff, is that some of the scenarios cooked up pretty much imply a major implosion/meltdown of one or all of the top 3. I kind of find that insulting to those corps. The staff and personnel of those organizations deserve better. I know enough of them to know they have their acts together and are pretty professional. They're not very likely to let things slip out of control like that. As I said in the review on C2, potential is a filthy word to me, it's the way I was trained. You can talk up all of that potential and dream of what it could be, but it's what you do with it in reality that counts. When a guy like Truman Crawford tells you that as a kid, it sticks with you. I'm also certain one of the people who also drilled that into me as a kid is drilling that into the heads of the Cabs as well at every rehearsal.

Agreed. I don't know what show other people are seeing with the Cabs that's "tapped out". Again, I have seen them live- I don't think they have. BIG difference in perceptions, but we have been down that road before. If they were tapped out they wouldn't have won at Kingston, period. I don't know where some of these individuals get their information. I do know the staff there was ready to make serious tweaks and enhancements to that program as early as Bucknell and I would guess have been the entire summer. The program has strong potential, and is being undersold with the statement it's "Tapped out". That's in the realm of "Crazy talk". Based on the Kingston numbers and the way they skew, the Cabs still have a lot of room for growth based on top number to bottom spreads in most captions. If the bottom numbers were over top, I would agree with the "tapped out" claim, but that's obviously not the case where they are concerned. Too much wishful thinking and not enough looking at the scores and seeing performances.

Problem is--- Again, as Jeff said, fans complained. There are good smaller organizations, very good ones, but the fact is that many people who see marching organizations equate good with big and loud. The dreaded college band effect. Seen it. Been a part of it. Played like crap at a major band circuit championship when I was in college, parents from one of the top bands told us we were great because we were "LOUD". Got high fived off the field for one of the most "grotesque performances EVER!" by one of our fan-boys, Director told us in the Tuba section we sounded like "Elephants in heat", we did... but the fans dug it. In certain big city regions, the "good" bands are the big, loud ones backing great football teams. Just ask anyone who lives out there. They'll tell you. Most of them are pretty lame, but... they're BIG and LOUD. That's what Joe hot dog digs. Doesn't matter they play the same old crap Jenson arrangement of "On Broadway" over and over until you want to run away and escape the torture, it's LOUD, therefore it is GOOD. The other problem is this: So... you see a good small corps under 35 peeps. What do you drop it to? What's the magic number? Otherwise, you leave the door open for some of the fly by night operations that plagued DCA BITD. You also leave fans and contest sponsors grumbling.

C2, win championships? Really? You see them at Downingtown as compared to what MBI and the Bucs offer? Sorry. Any theoretical C2 "best run" will fall short to those programs. They also are rehearsing and improving. And really, the Cabs program is also a very solid package as well from the effect triad standpoint. I still put it ahead of the C2 package. In terms of coordination/overall package, the top 3 right now have that element covered in spades over C2. It would take a lot more than they have now. Miracle? Possible. I can keep open to something like it happening. But I don't put it at a very high level of probability.

Hold on- May be possible with a 5 corps contest. Memory can make that also a problem in a large contest. Also, if the boxes are used correctly, the competitors will be ranked and rated pretty much where they should be. Ever been in the hot seat and tried to remember what you saw an hour or three before and then fairly try and relate it at the end of the contest and THEN stick the numbers down? Not as easy a solution as is offered. I would think a DCI level adjudicator can competently manage their numbers in such a way that if someone good is on early, they can deal with it in as fair and professional a manner as possible. If not, well, there are a lot of others out there they can call in for the future.