contra love

I usually have a problem of losing too much weight on tour. Came home last summer 55 pounds lighter, but probably 40 pounds of that was muscle. Knowing I'm going to get beat on for four hours immediately after eating did not do a lot to encourage me to eat more (enough) at each meal. Been trying to gain weight this year before everdays. Don't know if it will actually help, but I've always come home way scawnier than I leave.

wait... you're a cadets hopeful? As in a Gino Cipriani run hornline? And you're worried about blue devil's overwhelming trumpets? Not that I don't love the way the Cadets play. But I'd say they are often way less balanced than BD is.

Wait, that means you're drinking anywhere from a quarter to a half gallon of water per break? Aside from being able to drink that much water that fast... how would you be able to not immediately throw it all up within the next few minutes?

Was it at Stanford? Was sitting right near him, "Show me ridiculous direction changes" was the actual statement. Got a few chuckles from the crowd, don't know if they could hear it from the field though.

Is there a version of Godwin's law for unnecessary and off topic references/discussion about Cadets + narration? Also, can we please get those bears into souvie trucks?

If you can remember what music they played it should be pretty easy to find out who it was.

Haven't heard much from members this year, but anyone got any inside info on this?

While I'm not even going to say that "someones long winded explanation" necessarily a bad thing, the OP never was asking for that, a 30 second synopsis is more like a movie trailer and not really any amount of deep thinking. The point, while I may be incredibly wrong, is not to explain what the shows mean to the viewers or to enlighten them before they view the shows, but to give them something more to expect than "its kinda like a marching band." I mean, most of us look forward to, at the very least, musical selections of each corps. We might not care about why they chose to put those songs together or what they want to portray with that selection, but just knowing the repertoire is a little exciting. With a non-drum corps audience, telling them what they are playing could mean a lot, or nothing (none of us know who the OP plans to show the shows to, or how much musical background of any kind they have). Telling them the basic story that is being presented can produce imagery in their own minds no matter what kind of knowledge, musical or otherwise, they currently have. Giving them a short idea of what they are seeing is not going to ruin the show, nor should it really have much of an effect on their personal enjoyment of the show as they are watching it. A 30 second synopsis is just that, 30 seconds.

But the environment effects/energy required to make a new can from non recycled aluminum is higher than that of making one from recycled aluminum.

But the environment effects/energy required to make a new can from non recycled aluminum is higher than that of making one from recycled aluminum.

so... I really don't see it happening at any time, but what would happen if a corps accepted, or didn't accept members based on race? Would the same rules and arguments apply, or would it be completely different?

So, I just saw it, and oh my wow they're good. Especially at this point in the season. As far as the narration, mostly, it just seems like another part of the show. I don't really see it as annoying or taking away or even adding to what the show is/could be. It's just there. I do however hope the narration is practiced just like any other part of the show and not just feel like it's already great and ready for finals or anything. As far as the rest of the season, I can't wait to see them live.

While I just about never agree with hrothgar I do think you are being a bit unfair. You may not like him, but when he asks you to remove his own quote, it's just a personal attack that you don't. And drumcat, you're just being a jerk. Really. Hrothgar, if you had already, I apologize, but it might have been a mite wiser to pm him rather than request it publicly. As far as the actual topic at hand, I have nothing to share, except... Yay?

First of all, I really have to disagree with you about how individualism is something that should not be part of the performance. I believe I understand what you are saying, but personally, I use my individual experiences and ideals to help me perform, whether it is simply to become more emotionally attached to the show/music or for the extra strength and energy needed when you feel exhausted. Aside from all of that, one of the main reasons I've pretty much always believed drum corps never gets much attention from anyone outside the activity, is the lack of individualism shown in a performance. With all of the more popular sports and activities, fans are fans of people, not teams and not organizations. The closest you ever get, is during the Olympics when you cheer for a country, but even then, most people are cheering for a specific star athlete. In drum corps, you get The Cadets, or The Cavaliers or whatever. If you know the history and traditions of the corps, it is easy to be a fan. But with an individual, a simple view of their face or short story of their journey is all you need to make a connection with the person. In short, people are more personal. Now that I've read what you have to say, I think I have an even better attitude about the design of this show. Maybe the show wont work, and wont place well/be loved for years and years. But I'm finding less and less things I disagree with about The Cadets choices this year. I have no delusions that this one show will change the activity or anything like that, but I think the very exploration of the possibilities of where drum corps could go is worth the effort. Maybe it wont work at all. Maybe everyone will hate it. But what if it's amazing? I really didn't want to compare it to Star, because it's a completely different situation, but what if it's just as effective? Is it not worth the risk? I mean really, what is there to lose? The Cadets aren't going to fold because of on unsuccessful season, people who hate the show don't have to watch it, and members didn't have to join this specific corps if they didn't like the decisions being made.

I don't actually have a problem with it at all. Sure they could play some music and then stop playing music when it's over and yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it's not like people and corps shouldn't do that. So, I think I can understand when people say they hate the narration or the arrangement or whatever other design issues there are. It's just not your cup of tea, and that is entirely fine with me. But I have pretty much always heard people supporting the kids who march there, even if the design team is going crazy. In 05 and 06 DCPers were pretty much always on the side of the kids, and always saying that the kids were doing great and it's the design they hated. In this thread, numerous people have ragged on the soloist, the brass line, or the narrators. So you don't like what they are playing, cool. But please don't kick the performers. They're just doing something they love. On a side note, a lot of people have said something along the lines of, "if you have to use narration to explain the show/make me feel a certain emotion, your design team failed." I find this to be a horrible argument. A corps can't use narration or other long standing story telling devices, but are allowed to use major/minor chords and agressive/soft drill moves to make the audience feel a certain way? Okay, I know it's a musical activity, and that this is the expected way for a corps to convey messages and feelings, but why limit it to just that? We hear a minor/major #th and we know "oh, I should feel this." But what is so wrong about hearing somebody speak through a mike knowing "oh, I should feel this."

I'd like to know though, how many unamped pits actually sound better than those scoring at the top? I'm certainly not saying they don't, but I'd like your opinion as to what "amp era" ensembles sound better without amps.

aren't they normally relatively quiet during the winter/spring months?

1980 SCV - Pretty obvious as to why. Despite the lowest placement, I'd say it was a major success. Just look at drill from before and after. As well as their 1981 placement.

So, yeah, his constant complaining about how much he hates amps idoes get annoying. But he clearly said he liked all of these shows and that deciding is "way too hard..." Clearly, he had to pick someone, BD just gave him a reason to pick them.

I believe that blackness is from the RC car races they hold over there

not an excuse at all, but it's not suprising either, when you've seen the results of milgram's expirements

I'm curious as well

well, right now, I'd say most corps (atleast div 2 and 3) aren't exactly certain how many of the people they see now are going to still be around by the time summer hits. I've seen december camps with huge turnouts, but february and even january camps with struggling numbers. So, right now, I'd say most corps have 0 "for sure" members.

I think, from a design/staff prospective, being serious is necessary. Not because the whole idea about being so bad## or whatever, but because it's easier to be technically "better" when you come in with a serious mindset. Of course I'm not saying you can't play well when you ignore or supress your emotions, but how many finals show have you seen that were dirtier than semis because of the emotions of the performers? Again, this is probably good for the activity (the emotional content, that is), but it isn't always good for score. I'm also not trying to say staff are always trying to get the best score, or are trying to only perform a judges show. But it seems to be necessary in order for many corps to survive and retain membership. All corps get people to join, but there are alot of corps that don't march a full 135, and usually none of them are in the top 6.

A bigger milestone for me? Obviously DCI, but then again, I only just now heard about this dotting the I business. A bigger milestone for the most amount of people? I'd probably say dotting the gets it, their affiliation with OSU probably makes that event more widely known than all of DCI, but then again, I'm just guessing.