MelloSteph

My completely uneducated guess... the cowl-neck tops the guard wears in the 2nd tune are really the dress skirts attached at the shoulders. I haven't seen them live though. I was kinda bummed that they waited until Stanford to put unis on the guard.

OK - so when PR was here in AZ I hauled myself out of bed bright and early to drive out to watch their visual block in the morning while the heat was bearable. (Why is it that drum corps shows out here are on some of the hottest days of the summer?!?!) Anyhow... I got there while they were cleaning drill. Everything looked like a normal cleaning rehearsal BUT, they didn't have their horns in their hands... because their hands were above their heads. A little more relaxed than a football ref would do the touchdown signal. They continued cleaning the rest of the block like this until they broke for their horn warm up. Any ideas about the real reason they do this? This was my first time seeing them rehearse. The members just went there every time they started a rep - it looked so natural with them that it seemed like something they do on a regular basis. I can only assume it's a spatial awareness thing, but I'm curious as to the real answer... Anyone out there know it?

You could probably find a trumpet teacher that might be willing to help her. What part of Phoenix are you in? I coach at a high school (well... the high school) in Anthem and there are two middle school directors up there that do private lessons that would be happy to help her out. PM me and I'll see what kind of names I can throw your way... Did her band director give you any names? I would have her start there... Stephanie

I can't WAIT for someone to put Serenada Schitzophrana on the field... I just hope a corps gets to it soon...

Some smaller local businesses might want to help you out... a lot of times though, national and local chains have giving guidelines that they have to follow and a certain budget they're allowed to work with. Wal Mart, for example, has a form to fill out, and at least in AZ will not give to 501©3 charitable organizations that are not religious or do not receive government funding. You may want to talk to your corps director about how they handle tuition sponsorships - some (I have heard... and if anyone knows what corps, let me know!) will credit it as a donation that gets your sponsor a tax deduction, while others will credit it toward tuition, which a sponsor can't get a tax deduction for. That should help you narrow down who else you can approach.

Wow I'm boring compared to all of you - I listened to Barber's Adagio most of the time... the CD (gasp) that has several different versions of it. Helped me focus...

Oh I'm not denying that at all! It's going to be great exposure! I'm just questioning whether I can personally stomach parking someplace with 50K other people. I moved away from CA and the I-5 for a reason. I'm just gonna be patient and see what they come up with on Dec. 12...

UGH.... Now I'm questioning whether it will be worth it. I guess it depends on who the corps are. Parking was bad enough with the people IN the stands for DCI. Who am I kidding, I'll probably still just suck it up and deal...

I love the way they packaged what this study churned out... The stuff in Critical Links (I don't know if that's available online) is also pretty profound. My boss (I work for a local-level arts council) also brought us an article last year stating that (believe it or not) other countries who we look to as far as math/science scores go, are looking at US models of education to figure out how to better their workers through a more rounded education. What those other countries are finding is that although they have the book smarts, they're lacking the creativity necessary to innovate. I wouldn't trade the education I got through my participation in music for the world...

So many times I've had to fight singing this around HS kids...

And that would make me even happier! :)

Didn't Academy do the July 4th Celebration at the Rose Bowl last year? I wonder if it's going to be in conjunction with some larger things the city has planned... Either way, I'm blocking that weekend off for SoCal shows... Hopefully the PC home show and RCC will fall into the same weekend. That would make me VERY happy!

I think it was 01 (possibly 02) that Pacific Crest played with the Dallas Brass....

The Mission Viejo Show has also been cancelled... the OC Dept. of Ed has cancelled/postponed all outdoor activities. This will be a huge financial blow for these programs... My heart goes out to all those involved. I know if I were still living where I lived a year ago, I'd probably be scared out of my mind. I know for a fact you can see the flames coming down the canyon from both my old apartment and the house I grew up in. We've gotten pictures from my family friends/ old neighbors in Trabuco Canyon. It brings back memories of the Ortega fire in 1995... when the orange glow came over the ridge... scary when you're just a freshman in HS. My prayers are with the evacuees and the fire fighters who are working so hard to save homes and lives. God bless you all!

I wonder if some of it has to do with the appearance fees a corps gets paid to perform at competitions? I know a lot of corps rely on this for a good portion of the funds for the summer. Maybe it has to do with how corps financials are set up and how much they rely on that money.

Grantwriters, community work (ie... small ensemble that performs in school assemblies for a fee... these sports team ensembles that keep cropping up), and actually doing something with your donor base! It's amazing to me how little communication I get from some of the corps I donate to... because every donor wants to know what their money is doing, even if you "know" in the back of your mind. It's all admin stuff at this point... you can't really strip down how a corps tours any further, IMO.

I don't know if the concept has been permitted/around long enough in the Div 1 (excuse me... World Class) arena to be considered an option. As far as I know (and correct me if I'm wrong) PC was the first D1 corps to do regional touring in 2001. It may just be that not enough of the right people have been exposed to it to make it something they'd want to do, let alone know how to do successfully and still make membership goals. That's even excluding the work that needs to be built into the show as to when it is designed to peak, which is a whole other beast unto itself. Just my 2 cents...

Well... it's sad... but hopefully they're being cautious and taking a year off before it gets REALLY bad or before any trouble with the IRS. Good luck to Southwind in getting their ducks in a row!

Or even better (and I'd die if I had a student like this) SHOW them what you learned. Be there early, have your music and drill learned, offer help to those who need it, do things without being asked, etc. Slowly they'll (hopefully) come around. They'll see that you've changed for the better and want to know more. I agree though, talking about it during band season without being prompted to is like talking about marching band during drum corps season. You've got to concentrate on the work at hand and not the work you've done. If you get annoying with it, it's going to turn them off to the activity in a big way.

BOA has a feed/listing on their homepage that picks up a lot of the political arts ed news: http://www.bands.org

I should add, that I'm not afraid to admit my "sneaking in" partially because I dropped a chunk of $$ in the souvie booths AND have been donating to at least one of the performing corps a total of about 15 times what I would have paid for the tickets. Hunt me down... I'm not a millionaire, but I can guarantee that I "invest" my money by supporting corps, and not just through souvie stands like I'm sure a good bit of people. Granted, there's nothing wrong with supporting a corps through souvie sales, but they can do A LOT more with an outright donation. My 2 cents.

I cringed watching almost all of the guards (esp. Boston) trying to make it through their shows with the horrible wind at the Phoenix regional. I swear that stadium is a giant wind tunnel.

I'm guilty... but no one was there to take my money! We decided at the spur of the moment to run out to DeKalb in 02 after the show had already started (living west of Chicago at the time). By the time we got there, the box office was closed and ticket takers were all gone. We only got to see two corps... but one of them was Cavaliers... Right from the bottom of the stands on side 2. :D

I thought about this... I wonder if he'd do it since the truck is so limiting... it's a challenge in some corps thats for sure. Not all food trucks are made alike! I also wonder if the guy from Dirty Jobs would take on the food truck for a day. That's a great show too... and I'm sure he could appreciate the kids on another level too since he's a musician himself (pro opera singer).

Well said. I'm with you on the follow up. I realize that the staff has just gotten back from a long summer on tour, but to maximize the impact of the ESPN2 Broadcast, you've got to keep them engaged when the TV goes off. If they could spread the content they got over the summer out a little further (they did an AWESOME job this year of getting content on the site daily, IMO), I think it would really get their moneys worth out of the deal.