BOBSMYTH

Some people will never be happy - unless they have something to complain about. Comparing the price of the subscription to the cost of either paying individually for several pay-per-view shows or paying for a couple of tickets to each of those events (not to mention the travel cost to attend those events), the subscription still seems like a reasonable deal to me.

No argument from me - if there is an argument, it is with the IRS. If a private school is a not-for-profit and qualifies as a 501C3, the IRS allows you to make a donation and deduct it on your tax return, just like any other charitable contribution. By their definition, it is a charity.

Here are some of my thoughts and opinions: Chase wants to give away money. Chase can choose to give away the money to whomever they please. Chase gets to set the rules by which they give away their own money. Chase says that DCI, WGI and similar groups qualify to receive money. It would be foolish for DCI to take a pass on this opportunity. A vote for DCI is a vote for all of the corps who participate with DCI.

In the US, the IRS is the arbiter of which groups are considered "real charities". In general, if you are designated as a 501C3 organization by the IRS, you are a real charity. People who donate money to a qualified 501C3 organization can deduct the amount of the donation as a charitable donation. There are many types of organizations that qualify as "real" per the IRS. Some examples: religious, educational, support of youth programs, arts related, non-profit hospitals, public safety, amateur sports, defense of human rights, relief provided to poor and underpriviledged. I am sure that DCI and the corps are all 501C3 organizations.

Ummm...OK. No thanks on the bet. Some additional thoughts: 1) "Dylan Dog, Dead of Night" ticket sales beating DCI? Just means that there is a w-i-d-e spectrum of taste (or lack thereof) in the American movie going public. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. - HL Mencken 2) I'm still going to be in a theater watching drum corps and enjoying every minute of it. 3) The DCI events in Texas were originally announced as Tour of Champions events but are now "just" drum corps shows featuring some of the best from the prior year. Thus, there is no TOC theater event. Just a really good early season drum corps show in a theater near you.

Some thoughts and opinions: Drum Corps being shown to fans all over the country featuring some of the best corps on the field today. I can't make it down to Texas to see the show but I can make it to my local theater. The competition between these groups - who normally do not see each other until later in the season - will virtually guarantee that somebody (maybe a couple of somebodies) are going to be gunning to take down last year's champ. That might take care of some of the "it's June - our drill's not done and our guard uniforms are getting delivered next week" problem. DCI wants you to come to the show. Bring a friend, even better. The target audience is anybody who likes drum corps - or who might like drum corps - and has a valid credit card or enough cash for some tickets and popcorn.

Good thing DCI isn't an orchestra.

There is one very good reason why the corps directors did not sell DCI to Bill Cook. They didn't want to. It isn't about the money, it's about the mission. It's a non-profit thing.

I remember watching parades in both Madison and Orlando. Every drum corps fan I know liked the parade and it exposed our activty to significant numbers of the general public. Sounds like a win-win.

Drum Corps has been declared dead or dying since at least the 60's. That is before DCI came into existence. I too remember the tee shirts proclaiming 1971 as the year drum corps died. Frankly I do not understand the death obsession of drum corps fans (and an occassional director) that keeps us returning to this discussion. There may be periodic storm clouds or strong winds causing some damage. This happens to be one of those periods in a cyclical pattern. There is a causal relationship between these points in the cycle and the difficulty of some corps to navigate through the winds and the waves. It is extremely unfortunate that we have lost many corps along the way during such periods. That being said, drum corps is not near the end and the sky is not falling. IMHO.

Michael, Biggest problem - you tried to pick only 5. Why not a top 12? There is some precedent for using the number 12 in drum corps. I would concur with 27. Many high points in many years including the spinning rifles while laying down and the work done with the double flags. A personnal favorite moment - the Guardsmen from about 1979 when the Contras formed a line down the 50 and raised their horns as high as they could over their heads. Then, the rifles do equipment exchanges over the top of that.

The first two shows of the season in Texas are NOT TOC events. They do have the top 8 corps from last year and were originally going to be TOC events but plans changed. They are "just" drum corps shows where the 8 highest scoring corps from last year kick off the season in an unprecedented weekend. Adding in a theater broadcast so that the rest of the country can see is an intriguing idea.

Some of us of a certain age view just about everything as INconvenient. I'd gladly pay for a little more convenience in my life.

DCI added a section on their site that has a lot of great information for parents of potential members. You should check it out - or send your parents there: http://www.dci.org/parents/

There is an official rule against water on the field that was passed after Magic of Orlando used water as a prop in 2004(?). The water got spread around the field in random locations. This created a dangerous field condition for the corps that followed Magic. With the speed at which the marchers move these days, adding any foreign material to the field creates safety issues.

Trombone players do not have to learn to play baritone in corps. They can learn to play anything they want (as long as the corps is marching it that year). I knew one guy who could spin a mean rifle.

Never a shortage of "bandos". They're just all going to be in Muncie Indiana because Bands of Amercia moved their week-long event from Normal, Il. This DCI show has always been attached to the BOA camp.

Yeah - saw the bassoons first. Then I also noticed at least one oboe, bass clarinet and bari sax. Any second I was expecting to see a contrabass flute (or maybe a bagpipe).

Thank you Michael. I am really enjoying your series. It keeps reminding me of some hidden gems that sometimes get overlooked in our history - like the SkyRyders. Keep 'em coming.

First off - I don't think you can eliminate alternate angles. You're missing the audio tracks and want them back, somebody else will want to add back the guard cam or the drum cam or both. To give everybody what they want, you aren't just recording directors/designers commentary and grabbing judge tapes. You are taking those audio tracks and syncing them up to the video options on the DVD and adding in additional functionality. That way you can switch back and forth between watching the multi-cam option to the judge track to the high cam to the commentary and back again all on the fly in any order as often as you want at any point in the middle of the performance for every corps on the DVD. Guessing that the biggest cost would be in the editing booth - even if you stick with just the high cam and multi cam. Include all 4 video options like they used to have and that just continues to increase the edit time and cost. And then create similar functionality for the Blu-Ray product, too. Sounds expensive to me.

I'm sure it comes down to cost of the project vs. the price that DCI can charge for the product. The Blu-Rays and DVD's already carry a high price tag because a DCI DVD is such a small quantity, specialty product. There will never be enough volume like you'd get with a Hollywood DVD. As an aside, I still think it is a great value - the Blu-Ray looks spectacular on my HD TV. The question comes down to - would there be enough people willing to pay an even higher price for the end product to cover the costs associated with creating, editing and including the additional material. The Fan Network option seems to be more practical. DCI did something like this a couple years back. I recall it was done as part of the San Antonio live show with the corps' show designers(but I could be wrong on the details). Did anyone see that commentary broadcast and what did you think?

It is not the initial pile of money that is the biggest hurdle. You need reliable, sustainable, ongoing fund raising - like a huge bingo game or a stand-alone band circuit. Those don't just happen. The corps itself will likely never be profitable. It will cost more to tour, provide a safe and satisfactory experience for the members (and otherwise fulfill your dreams and corporate mission) than any money you will receive from DCI or can raise from member fees and dues. You must view the corps as one component of a larger non-profit entity in order to have that larger effort support the corps. It is difficult to start such a thing from scratch. It is all but impossible to do such a thing as a solo effort.

Watch what happens with the NFL - Union contract and you will have your answer. It's not a direct conflict with the Cowboys. It is just that everything is on hold waiting for the Billionaires and the Millionaires to figure out how to divide the piles of cash. If it is settled before the old contract expires or soon after, the Cowboys will know what there pre-season schedule will be and can release the hold they have on the Alamodome. They will still use that facility for training camp but they'll be able to put together a schedule that allows DCI to have their event, too. If there is any uncertainty - lockout, strike, negotiations that drag on - the Cowboys are not going to commit to anything and DCI may have to go to plan B.

Yep - you're right. DCI did not just pull its system out of the air. (3-letter word beginning with A. ) Instead they invested quite a bit of time and effort to develop new systems. The build up system that was instituted in the early to mid 80's bore little resemblance to the tick system it replaced. Since then, there have been numerous tweaks and additional development work to bring us to the system currently in use. Most of the creators of that intellectual property are/were DCI employees or outside contractors working for DCI or volunteers receiving some kind of stipend from DCI. So the answer is yes. DCI is compensating - or has compensated - the creators of that material. Those payouts are much higher than any revenue raised through the sale of the rule book. I suspect that DCI sells less than 10 rule books per year so there's not much money to go around. And now, many on DCP want DCI to give it away for free. From personal observation (going way back): seeing both the DCI side and the band/color guard side of the balance, while it goes both ways, the flow has often been significantly out of balance. IMO. It appears NASCAR may not have its rules available to the public (per the other posts above). Additionally, if you go to the NFL website, there is a link on the bottom that says "Rulebook" but it only gives you a summarized "fan friendly" version. The official NFL rulebook also does not appear to be available to the general public. Those are two of the biggest competitive activities that exist and they don't seem to think it is incredibly idiotic to hold back some portion of their rules. But - at the risk of repetition: Once again, it is not hidden. It is available for $35. Just call. Operators are standing by.

Most Anticipated Corps Shows of 2011 - Top 3: 1a) Finals 1b) Semis 1c) Quarters / Prelims - an all day drum corps marathon. From Blue Saints to Blue Devils - what's not to love? 2) Allentown (both nights) 3) Atlanta honorable mentions: Minneapolis, San Antonio (back in the Alamadome, I hope), Orlando and Drums Along the Rockies in Denver. OR, as someone earlier said - All of them.