BASTimpanist

i know that a couple people from the pit plan to march with the troopers. the pit techs from capital are following brian as well. let me get this one straight...capital is in better shape than "several finalist corps"? sorry man, but i'm just not buying that one....financially or otherwise and you can schedule all the lunch breaks you want to, but they don't mean diddly until you can put food on the table. by the way, brian didn't schedule that day. but i'm sure you had that all straightened out a long time ago right? ::wink-face:: i mean c'mon, you guys that only spent a few days volunteering know exactly how bad it was, right? the colorgaurd was asking, "why all the drama" right? the colorgaurd? fo real? the section that saw several people fall over, shake and get carted off to a hospital was asking "why all the drama"? i'm not buying that one either.

is this the 2008 line up? other than that the only thing i could really pick out is that none of them have heads. or headwear. maybe you're just doing pit uni's? i don't know, seems like a fairly important part to me.

how 'bout the academy? picking up crosby, gusseck and hardimon from capital is pretty sweet. UNBELIEVABLE teachers. all of them.

pretty big year for drum corps in general i'd say. quite a bit more "news" happened this year than any previous year (the ones i've marched at least) kind of a cool transition period to be a part of, although some of the transitions i don't agree with-like the indy move, which is probably the biggest announcement to me. i think most of the news has been mentioned, but i wanted to add that competition elsewhere in div. 1 was stepped through the three years i marched-the hunt for 11/12 place and even to make it into semi-finals was just a flat out dog fight. maybe a little more of a push from certain corps would've put them into finals. my caption in 2004 said one of the smartest things about drum corps i ever heard: "there are two places you want to be (as far as scores and placement are concerned), fighting for the title, or fighting to make finals for the first time."

this is kind of a touchy subject...so, i'm going to try my best not to sound rude. but i think that drum corps would probably be too hard for someone with that condition. you have to take into account the things other than playing instruments and marching. like, getting ready to move, being on a bus all night, being around 135 other people all the time that they have not met and so on. what about showering? or what of people with autism? would they be able to handle a summer? and if someone with a condition like these were in a corps, would the other corps members be able to handle it? would the special needs of these kids get in the way of learning or making friendships? the outcomes could certainly be interesting and amazing, but for the most part i just don't believe kids with downs or whatever else should be exposed to something like marching in a drumcorps. and i'm certainly not saying that she or anyone can't do it...but the physical and mental stress is enough to drive people who don't have the condition to complete misery at points. and what about physically deformed kids? at capital we had a couple of kids try out that had deformity in their hands. despite their condition, they suprised us all and were able to play fairly well. but there was certain important aspects that were physically not possible for them to do, which led to them getting cut. i think everyone should be given the fair chance, but some situations (like this) require a great amount of thought before something really, really bad happens.

so alright, i'm sure a free day thread has been and gone...but what harm comes in a new one? post the funniest things that happened to you and your corpsmates... mine: our section leader, being the leader due to his infinite wisdom and mad leadership skillz, was sitting amidst the group of us waiting in a theater for the showing of the "Omen" remake that came out this past summer. we were conversing as we do during the pre-previews, when a blip about turning your cell phones comes across the screen. but how they set it up was weird, they made it sound like someone's phone was ringing during a regular commercial. everyone but fearless leader realized that it was just a commercial with a semi-lame premise. but he decided to turn around and yell: "WHO'S PHONE IS ON THAT LOUD?!?!" nice.

nobody? nobody is gonna say something about scv 2004? meh bluecoats this past year were unbelievably clean, although i didn't really like the music or the show.

i find phantom as a corps that isn't folding to the "innovation" or whatever...that whole cadets/crown/blue knights/bd sort of/cavaliers design that is just so...pretentious to me. they didn't spell everything out...not even close. it was a show for those who demanded more than a big sign over faust that said "this is faust, he's the good guy" i see them as a more intellectual corps than any other. scv is close. i just hope they remember that what they have is something special and different, whether you like it or not, it is something against the grain in these days of...stupid ### shows. i would hate to see them jump into the fold like they almost did in 2005, and i hope they continue a tradition of shows like 2006. that being said, no, it's not the greatest show ever. following this example might turn out one in a few years probably a championship too...but scv 2004 is still my favorite.

sounds like the board of directors is in desparation to make new friends. i highly doubt the need for money with the bingo hall being as succesful as it was...especially without the cost of putting on the tour-de-farce this next season. and i really, really doubt that the board of directors will let his precious buses slip out of his control. especially with how old they are, and god knows how many miles have been put on them...right now the board of directors has about 18 months before he needs them again which is waaaaaaaay more than enough time to fix them all up...you know, things like...brakes and...air conditioning...if done right (ha) it would be a great time to fix them up and give them an overdue and extensive break.

can't wait to see it

if for no other reason...the hands of the players in the pits benefit from being mic'ed. coming from a place that didn't have amps for two years, and did for one...i can say with a pretty high level of insight that it is MUCH less stressful for the hands. plus if you can use softer mallets and not have to play above your eyeballs, then you get better sounds. just a funny on the barbaric comment...we called the mallets we used for two years the caveman series. and baseball bats. and rocks. timpani, however, doesn't matter so much...in fact i kind of just laughed when they said i was getting mic'ed (which got taken out after 1 show) edit: we used our amps on days where we had a good stadium to rehearse in, which meant usually the captions had a good vantage point to teach from.

huh?

yea, so was the pit. and the drumline...i really didn't like their entire percussion section...it just didn't seem to mesh as well with the horns and the music. writing problem? maybe...

hmmm....where did it go? i don't really know, but i can take a good guess...how 'bout you? and capital is only going to come back div. 1 if they get 135 rookies who get brainwashed into thinking it's all better. and um...you know...that word i'm looking for...can't....quite remember...one of those things you need....run a drum corps... A STAFF!!! who would work there now? who? "...and on to journey's end..." for the sake of other's who still have a passion, who live 3 months a year, who revel in the fact they are going to get worked all summer, who are willing to give blood, sweat and tears 23 hours and 49 minutes a day for 11 minutes of sheer exhiliration and power, who who get joy from the thrill of a performance from a semi-crowded, 40 year old high school football stadium in b.f.e. oklahoma to a roaring stadium full of drum corps fanatics, who are willing to push through pain, make sacrifices, who pull friends into family, who still have the untangible in them that makes drum corps what it is...i can only hope you do it somewhere besides capital regiment. after three years of being beat down, cursed at, lied to and having the great misfortune of meeting some of the most unethical, rude and flat-out stupid people-i have nothing left...no desire, no drive, no passion, no pride in what i've done. three years of it, and the best thing that ever happened is the corps i marched in went inactive for a year. what was i supposed feel? i should've felt sad, remorseful, disheartened but i didn't. all i felt when i heard the news was the emptiness that i left dci and capital regiment with, wondering what it was like to tell people where you marched and not getting a "oh, i'm sorry" from anyone (everyone) who asked. wondering what is would be like to have pride in what i've accomplished. to see all of my (and everyone else's) efforts go to better something... instead, here it is. struggling to maintain it's own existence.

Uh....screw president...bryan tracht for emporer of the world!!!!!

uhhh....i want you to do something. go stand over a 32" timpani...and then decide to strap it on. then send me a picture of you 6 seconds after when your back gives out and EXPLODES.

so wow... and wow... great move for the crossmen. i think long term especially is to benefit from the move. and i think the turnout is going to be awesome. a lot of kids from texas march D1 and travel...oh wait ALL of the kids from texas who march D1 travel...maybe the lure of less expense to march will be enough to pull from the top line groups. not that i would be worried if i were phantom or bluecoats or scv, but i wouldn't be surprised if some kids showed up from the top 6 or 8...i think the south has just opened up one big f'n early christmas present. and sure, it sucks to have to travel to be a part of "your" corps. but if you were true to the crossmen you wouldn't complain...you would be finding a way to get there. and don't give me the soppy "i raised my own money" thing. i did too. plane tickets from texas to ohio every month cost more than my tuition into the corps. try that for three years. besides, it's not like there isn't ANYWHERE else to march. i understand loyalty but it's not going to kill anybody to march somewhere else. and it's not like a whole lot of corps aren't within driving distance. or take a greyhound bus for pete's sake...moping about it is going to get the pa kids exactly nowhere.

maybe he got it from the capital regiment website. under the section that says "2006 staff" the only people who work there are rick and karen. that doesn't really leave a lot of room open for interpretation...

i believe you're referring to juball's (sp?) show this past season. at the end of the show one member broke out of the "jail" prop. another member chased him as if he were the police. completely hauling ### off the field...kinda funny actually.

the "pit hype" circles we had at capital, especially this year and last year, were nothing short of hilarious. one of the finer points we got: don't lay a dook.

of course i don't speak for everyone at capital, and i'm sorry that nobody caught to what i thought was pretty blatently clear sarcasm. just because someone volunteers doesn't mean they can't say dumb things. ran over her on a four wheeler? hahaha...no. not even close. kinda funny, but not even remotely close. if you want that story i'll message you with it. As far as any "rick sucks" chants, again, no-i wasn't apart or even aware of that happening. and i'm pretty sure david wasn't either, because he was with me most of that night. and my usual antics? please, do explain that, because i'm pretty sure you don't know anything about me.

CLEARLY, i was kidding by saying that. OMG. Who in the #### would take a statement like, "the whole world believes what i believe" seriously? And telling me what happened to me, is foolish as all ####. Like I don't know what happened to me.

I got the cold tomato sauce/half cooked noodles off the food truck. I got the CHEESE SANDWICH off the food truck. It could be that you weren't there. It could also be that you don't know what I and many others went through, so you don't need to try to negate what I said, because that makes you a FOOL. I was grateful for every meal and every person who cooked them, and I always said thank you. THAT is the gratitude you got from me. If that is not enough for you then you are asking too much. I'm saying right now, to you, thank you for being there for us this summer. Yet, I'm calling you a fool because you are trying to tell me what happened to me, and that IS absolutely foolish of you. I never felt I was in danger either, because whenever those feelings arose (which was often) we took care of ourselves. And just because I'm telling personal accounts of what happened, doesn't mean I'm committing slander or blowing anything out of proportion. The truth just hurts. And the reason it's being made so public now is because people are tired of nothing being fixed and in fact...getting worse. But I suppose I'll let it go now, so that the masterful broom handlers at Capital can sweep it under the rug and not do a #### thing about it. Again. And I hope you are not accusing me of not having fun this summer, because I did. The family around me made it awesome to be there everyday, through the next wave after wave of crap that came at us. And of course when I say something, I speak for the whole corps and everyone involved with it. In fact, whenever I say something, I speak for the entire DCI organization. And the whole world. The entire world believes what I believe. ^0^

we did call our parents. all the time. and quitting and walking away from something like this is more b.s. than what we went through. it's called determination. clearly you haven't read anything in this thread so far so i'll be a little nicer...the webmaster waited until now because he was waiting for, and didn't recieve his and his girlfriends/co-tour managers paychecks. and legally, yea, he probably could be charged for that. but you've missed that issue completely...which is unliscensed and intoxicated drivers. and to bariparents, if you are going to get up here and defend something you better be ABSOLUTELY right because now, in my eyes, you look FOOLISH. if you are going to get up in front of everybody and tell me that i didn't eat a CHEESE SANDWICH (that's a piece of cheese in between two slices of bread for those of you who didn't know) for dinner, cold tomato sauce and half-cooked noodle spaghetti on more than one occasion, cake and ice cream for dinner, every local pizza shop from ohio to south carolina that couldn't handle the large orders and didn't cook half of the pizzas for dinner, one bowl of raisin bran for breakfast, or HALF AN APPLE FOR LUNCH, or the atrocious amount of SLOP that was served to us then YOU are the one lying. and hot breakfast? are you kidding? we had 4 MAYBE 5 if i'm forgetting one (which the staff cooked one anyway) and i don't and never will believe that oatmeal is a hot breakfast. and if you got up 2 hours early (which by the way, DOESN'T matter one #### bit because you had the priveldge of going back to sleep) to heat up that pot of water for the oatmeal, then you were wasting a LOT of time. believe me, we ALL appreciated having people on the food truck but the food situation this year was laughable at best. and if all you nay-sayers want to wait until some...haha..."official"....word from rick (which by the way, i can't ####### WAIT for) and you want to tell me that what i went through is just HEARSAY then you all need to check in to some sort of i.q. reversal center because your minds are slipping away from you. was it all his fault? no. of course not, that is ludicris. was A WHOLE FREAKING LOT of it his fault? yes, absolutely.

We told our parents, and believe me-they got involved pretty quickly. The problem of not having drivers and volunteers was because rick chewed them out for bs reasons and they left because they don't have to put up with it. You WOULD think that the volunteer situation would all get worked out before tour, but lo and behold... and whenever we got to texas, the texas parents showed up...and stayed for as long as they could...