year1buick

To be honest, I've never been one to get too much into the minutia of recaps and subcaption scores. (About as fun to me as watching Congressional recounts on C-SPAN.) But then, to each his own... :)

Well, as far as the 94 drill goes, I have mixed feelings. I was blown away by Tony's work in 93--like previous posters have mentioned, there were so many unique ideas, such as the on-field pit integration, marching around the helmets, etc. (I hadn't heard about this prior to seeing the corps in Dallas. I remember watching them rehearse-- a painful experience in of itself becase I wanted to freaking be out there!!!-- and thinking "Why are they carrying around little parking cones???). That year set my expectations high for 94. Yet, it felt as if the staff (including Tony) were still somewhat caught up in the previous year and had a hard time breaking out of that ground breaking mold. The pit was back on the field, the helmets came off in the ballad, we played Death Hunt again and so on... I think that the mid-winter reboot from Rite of Spring to Songs of Summer Night set the tone for this. It was as if the "big idea" for November fell flat and they were left scratching their heads, wondering what to do next... (Remember Cesario's idea for 3-D drill and different uniforms? Never made it past November) Granted, the staff and corps still managed to work their tails off and pull out a pretty entertaining show, but it never felt to me as though it had its own voice and direction. For example, they could never make up their minds about what to do with White Witch Doctor-- I remember spending a lot of time during that song hanging out with a group by the pit, waiting for us to be tought how to play some percussion stuff. Never happened. (Similar issues surrounded the death shrouds in 92.) We were eventually written back into the drill. As creative and talented as Tony is, (I wholeheartedly believe this) it always seemed as if he showed up with only a notion or two about what he wanted to do--certainly no charts-- and winged it until he got close to what he liked. Even though the results were good in the end, it was sometimes frustrating to be on the other end of this style of creative process. I've always wondered about "the show that could have been" (Rite of Spring). One with a completely unique style of its own, not built up from leftovers of the previous year. One where Tony and Cesario, for better or worse, could have been cut loose to come up something completely new. On another note... I think the same person Nikk mentioned, if I'm guessing correctly(I can hear the Imperial March as I type this), may have put the breaks on a few visual moments of the 94 show, such as when the guard staff got a little too "out there" with the horn line during Clair de Lune. I'm talking about the interpretive dance and ballet work while we were playing. As soon as they put it in, our sound went to crap. And this was during the hornline's big moment. I can still see his and the brass staffs' faces while we practiced it, as if some kids from another neighborhood were trying to take over their ball field. Needless to say, it didn't last...

I'd wondered the same thing. Never heard of it before...

Well that certainly clears things up...

Since when was booing considered "general politeness?"

So let me get this straight. You show a complete lack of disrespect for other people's opinions, yet demand it for yourself? Irony or idocy?

And duct tape.

"Stupid is as stupid posts."

I think it was the year prior (94) that he made a comment about Crossman's "big balls" during one of the in-between breaks. (He was refering to props used in the show.) My mother was at the Finals simulcast and said she could tell that he and Rondinaro nearly cracked up over it--it was cut out of the actual broadcast/videos but he did say, with obvious joking emphasis, something about their large "spherical objects."

Dan Farfell actually did use pixie dust on the hornline in 94, a couple of weeks before Finals if I recall correctly. (Wouldn't be safe to administer any sooner...)

Heh--I thought this was pretty funny. One man's inspiration is another's reason to duck and cover. (I wasn't quick enough last fall--there about a million of them overhead! Thank goodness for Hagar stain-resistant shirts.) Now it's not uncommon for North Texas to fire shotgun blanks at dusk to scare off the beautiful Vespertine Formations. Could make for some great GE effects for August... :P

I've never understood why the level of difficulty has to be considered so heavily by some as the deciding factor on who should win. (I'm also not agreeing on the point that their show is easy in the first place...) I just don't think higher/faster always = better. I think some corps often become too interested in how their show may translate onto the scoring sheets and less as to how it actually affects the people watching it.

Very cool--it's tough to pan at just the right speed to get that kind of sharpness with a moving subject. (Were you using a vibration reduction lense?)

I read several comments in reviews that mentioned it.

I think describing those four as the "normal" grouping is a little misleading. Regiment has been in that mix many times before. I've got a feeling they'll be there this year too.

Yeah, I've got some in the cabinet, for the summer months... (No gentle kisses, however!) I haven't used Drum Corps Treatment in a long, long time.

Heh, actually snorted when I read this. Yeah--easy. (NOT) Your view on show design is (ironically) rather simplistic. (Reminds me of the begining of Dead Poets Society and the formula for great poetry...) Of course, I don't think it sounds too "easy." It's even funnier to imagine people walking out of a symphony performance; "They played well, but I thought it was a little easy." Just like I said after viewing Fantasia 2000 in the theater. I really enjoyed it except for the lsat segment. Yep, you guessed it. Way too easy. Needed more notes, for sure...

That was 92-- you beat me to the punch. (Same year we encountered the mythical Wookalar)

Gunter glieben glauchen globen.

I think I may. It's at my parent's house, but I'll be there this weekend. (I think) I can scan them and send you a jpeg. Both are from 92--one is from a full page add put in Rockford newspaper and the other a Jolesh (sp?) shot. (Both of me. Moms--you gotta love em...)

That looks really good Nikk. Do you have any shots where you're wearing the helmet?

Cool work there on Photoshop, Nikk (I'm just learning, myself. Can't afford CS3--have to use 7.0 still...) I think I like the ones with the older, "classic" era Buicks --that first one looks like the same model used on the Stephen King book From a Buick 8. Here's a website that has tons of Buick pictures, by year.

Hate it. I'd never want to be associated with that kind of riff-raff. :P Seriously, I think it's a cool idea--just get a cool design.(I'm no help there at all-- not much of an artist...)

You left out kitten killers. I used to get worked up about your posts but not anymore. Heck, I smiled this time. I take them about as seriously as the tamtrums my youngest son gives when I don't let him get a lollypop out of the candy jar. (Which reminds me--I forgot 'steal candy from children' ...)

You know, I was traveling from Krum to Granbury, Texas around 10:30 this morning on I-35W and noticed 4 tour busses in a row. Wondered if the Crossmen could be on the move but, seeing as there was no corps logo and I didn't see the equipment truck, I guessed probably not. However, I just noticed that yesterday they were in Austin and today in Keller--which I passed through (more or less) on the trip. Hmm. Maybe it was them after all... (still doubt it, but ya never know--cool if it was) edit: my wife and I have been up with all the severe weather tonight--tornado warnings, flood warnings, etc. I just heard a report that there was flooding in the Keller area as well as Denton (which is getting hammered right now...)