kbmartin

Well, I don't know, gang. I have pondered at considerable length the fact that YEA!, barometer of what preicsely I do not know, has changed the name of The Marching Store -- where one heretofore could purchase items small and great, from a t-shirt to a full season's worth of Crossmen or Cadet tour fees, not to mention DCI event tickets irtually to your heart's content (okay, I mentioned it) -- to BANDGEEK.COM. I tell myself that it is a sign of nothing, but it keeps coming back like an annoying song. Think "Small World." I dare you. No, really! Think about it! The song, of course. Regards, Kathy Martin

I TOTALLY said Birdland in another thread -- the Quincy Jones version. Best thing I never heard in person. If it was that good on the recording, it had to be electrifying on the field.

Ted, you will have to be willing to drive around the Disco Ball. -- Kathy M

Surely there are some more on-topic stories that can be posted in this thread. Come on, Taylor, entertain us! -- Kathy Martin

Theme "Back on the Block" - Quincy Jones's stuff never sounded better than when Crossmen played "Birdland" practically verbatim off the album. Provocative juxtaposition of double entendres; fabulous music. If the brass can handle it ;-) In this day of narration and vocals, the rap that precedes Birdland could enliven and set up a show. Somebuddy should look at the ballad that Sarah V sings on that album -- very instrumental. Kathy Martin

Amen. Great note to close on.

I am not an alum, but have been around -- . I'd love to think of Gary's photo montage becoming part of History Night ritual, script and all. Makes me smile every single time I see it. Fitly begun by Bones at the Alamo, it's a great demonstration that Bones has been everywhere, and always will be. Yeah, Gary, thanks for helping us turn a corner -- hard left, or right, depending on where you were arriving from. Hard for sure, but Crossmen can make it.

Amen Chris. Thanks for this and your other helpful posts. Hope you can make it to Kennett Square -- here's to hope, family and future. And for some, sadly, closure. Thanks for all you have always done for the Crossmen. Why some are so eager to have this thread closed I don't know. If it rankles, there are lots of other topics. Thrilled, sad, thoughtful, ecstatic, angry, afraid, optimistic -- I hope all will be welcomed here at this challenging, (your description here) time.

Yes, Disney rights are challenging, especially when it comes to video. No corps would want to have a performance that DCI couldn't put on the DVD.

I have read the comments of all here with interest. While I was relieved to see Rick Reedy's message on behalf of the Alumni Assoc., it was concerning to learn that CAA had apparently not been included in the "move" loop by Hopkins and YEA. The contribution of alumni and volunteers who will be cut off (for lack of access and means) should not be underestimated. I want to say something about them because folks like the Reedys, the Shearers and, for an extraordinary run, the Terrys, truly have taken on (and taken to heart) the effort not just of getting the kids and staff and volunteers fed, but of getting them down the road, and of knowing them and caring for them over a long period of time. Others of us have pitched in as we can, but there is the fact of a core group in the East who never really turned out the lights at the end of a day or a week or a month. This is not at all to diminish the tremendous efforts of those who fly in to help. But as big as Texas is, do they have a Donna Reedy or a Cherrie Terry waiting in the wings? An aspect that has been left out of the discussion comes back to me as well-meaning folks have frequently pointed to how Crossmen simply drained YEA resources and gave nothing back. This ignores a couple of very real issues: First, of the Crossmen volunteers having taken up the slack for the dearth of Cadets volunteers at the auditions and local camps, and even at times on training and tour meet-ups. The YEA/Cadets coordinators will be in for some surprises if they do not now scramble to address what in the past they've had the luxury of ignoring. Second, I think it is a matter of some relevance that there were times when Crossmen fed Cadets with no reimbursement that I am aware of, and with only a couple of (wonderful) Cadets volunteers showing up, when a full complement and even a contribution of food, was promised. People are fond of saying that money is the bottom line, and these issues do cocncern money, and more. They are part of a set of tangible financial issues that have, conveniently for YEA/Cadets, been able to be rendered intangible and invisible. These thoughts are my own and in no way are intended to represent the opinions of the people or entities mentioned. I know where I'll be sending my check. -- Kathy

It gave me pause to imagine the reaction to History Night 2007 of a Crossmen rookie who thinks the topic of the move has been "beaten to death." That's all. As volunteers, some of us won't have the means to be at camps, at training -- ever again. But I predict one heck of a party for Crossmen at DCI Allentown 2007. And I thank you for all you have done for the Crossmen.

Good on ya for planning to go to camp, but "beaten to death"???! History Night will be a drag for you at Spring Training unless they leave that tradition back in Monticello.

Thought-provoking comment on the singability issue. My rejoinder is may be a bit off topic for this thread, but I have always thought a Lambert Hendricks and Ross-based show would be great -- what better than translating the most fabulous, catchily singable classic jazz solos into drum corps arrangements? LH&R made the lyrics, but the music is totally the thing. Tremendously challenging for brass, a feast for all. Avenue C, Cloudburst, Give Me That Wine, Moanin', Centerpiece, Soul Food, I could go on and on, but I'll stop -- though hearing a top corps do this is a dream of mine. -- Kathy

True, that . . . Can you imagine hearing "The More You Ruv Someone" or "You Can Sing as Loud as the #### You Want" without the lyrics? ;-) On the other hand, I can't get away from thinking that "Fine, Fine Line" is a great ballad that stands on its own apart from Avenue Q. I can hear a brass choral at the beginning, adding in the pit and then percussion, brass popping up the octaveson the final repeats of the chorus, and feel the drama of bringing the whole corps back to a pianissimo with a solo sop or mello on the last "waste of your time," and ending with the choral feeling again, underscored by low pit. Familiarity (and love of that show) may be swaying me, but I think it could be as worthy a ballad as Crossmen's arrangement of "If I Had My Way," for which Linda Eder's version didn't have the universal recognition of, say, a Norah Jones hit, yet on their best days it was a really affecting and dramatic ballad. Thanks for this thread. -- Kathy

I wonder how many people actually read the whole announcement. In two years' time, YEA! will have divested itself of Crossmen.

The quoted reply is nothing if not generous. But I took Aaron's question as just that: a thoughtful question. By any journalistic standard, the "guts" of a news story -- and this was certainly that -- should be up front, and this was not the case with the YEA! announcement, in addition to the fact that, perhaps surprisingly, it was not even on George Hopkins's very public radar screen. The YEA! announcement seemed to me designed not to inform, but to "spin" the virtually buried fact of the planned divestiture -- like, we're going to tell you how you should feel about and respond to an event that we're not going to describe precisely until many of you have stopped reading, and we're going to make you like us, really like us, while we do that. I will always have the highest respect and affection for the Crossmen, and for those who wish them well. -- Kathy

Having had the dubious distinction of generating a "closed" topic, I'm taking the thoughtful suggestion of the Moderator, and reposting my original post in this thread. Some squeaked in a response. So, Yes, "duhhh," I know that YEA! issued a complete press release. My comment was limited to the Press Release and the Executive Director of the entity that generated it. I reprint it below, but would like first to respond to some of what's been said in this forum. For those who think Hopkins and YEA! were God's gift to the Crossmen -- okay, sure. Some are quick to brand anyone who doesn't think so a "Hopkins-Hater," or worse. But there are thoughtful, good people who know the myriad, often not-too-subtle ways the Crossmen received a message from above that they were and would always be just "the other corps," especially when Crossmen scored too close to Cadets for George's comfort. Sometimes you can't look only at what a person says to know him (George gives us plenty of opportunities to hear what he has to say); you have to look at what he does and what he arranges to have done. Most folks who are Cadets fans and family see matters in a very positive light, quite understandably. Please do not misunderstand me: Over the years, I have developed an appreciation for the man and his work, but that does not change some distressing facts, no matter how hard they are to accept. "MUSIC & KIDS & WHAT'S GOING ON" - Posted September 22 "For those who did not tune into George Hopkins's weblog (accessible, of course, on the YEA! homepage) yesterday, his topic was a cut-and-pasted article entitled "Music & Kids" -- and the day before that, "What's Going On," thoughts for the day on his bronchitis. I hope George is feeling better. "These are what we have from the Executive Director and CEO of YEA! on the day that YEA! announces, not a little cryptically, that it will be "fielding the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps through a new management team." The news is buried, like some item of major interest that one finds on page 42 of the New York Post (after the classifieds but before the sports). I am not saying that the "transition" is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a fact that Crossmen have brought honor to YEA! and as such they deserved to be honored with a proper, true announcement given appropriate gravity publicly and privately by the head of that enterprise. Within two years, at least one can be reasonably assured that the conflict of interest constituted by the Executive Director of YEA! also holding the position of Cadets Corps Director will no longer have the ability to adversely affect the Crossmen." I send my warmest regards to BONES and BONES supporters everywhere. They know who they are. Sincerely, Kathy Martin Never-Marched Crossmen Mom Way-Too Enthusiastic Crossmen Food Truck Volunteer Lover of Drumcorps

For those who did not tune into George Hopkins's weblog (accessible, of course, on the YEA! homepage) yesterday, his topic was a cut-and-pasted article entitled "Music & Kids" -- and the day before that, "What's Going On," thoughts for the day on his bronchitis. I hope George is feeling better. These are what we have from the Executive Director and CEO of YEA! on the day that YEA! announces, not a little cryptically, that it will be "fielding the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps through a new management team." One has to read the continuation of the emailed, linked article, and read far "below the fold" to understand that YEA has made the decision to divest itself of the Crossmen. The news is buried, like some item of major interest that one finds on page 42 of the New York Post (after the classifieds but before the sports). I am not saying that the "transition" is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a fact that Crossmen have brought honor to YEA! and as such they deserved to be honored with a proper, true announcement given appropriate gravity publicly and privately by the head of that enterprise. Within two years, at least one can be reasonably assured that the conflict of interest constituted by the Executive Director of YEA! also holding the position of Cadets Corps Director will no longer have the ability to adversely affect the Crossmen. Sincerely, Kathy Martin

Hey Dan, my kid (Cymbal Steph) says you are wonderful and amazing. I have heard a lot of comments similar to yours from folks unfettered by cloudy alliances -- just that so many of the corps are delivering great, entertaining shows and at an overall higher level across the board. The way I put it: the 12 this year is very crowded. The goosebumps is what it's all about; and at least for a parent, that feeling that these are ALL our kids.

Yup, having the chance to break the chains of the food truck (naw, I love it) once in a while and go to a few of the shows, some of the more enjoyable moments are provided by hearing the crowd around me -- once they hear the "sound check" start -- say stuff like "Oh no -- are they going to talk to me? I don't like that." "Man, I'm hope they're not going to sing." "Not THIS again." . . . And then hearing those same people completely won over, laughing, enjoying, digging the whole package that supports what the pit is doing, and vice versa. The Standing O's are not of the "yeah, that was decent, I'll get up for that" courtesy O, but rather the shot-out-of-their-seats-like-a-rocket, spontaneous jubilation O. If I have to settle for that over a finals spot, I won't go quietly, but I'd rather have the joy than the courtesy. In harmony, K. Martin

The top 5, 10, 12 obviously provides plenty of fodder for discussion, but there is life beyond the 5 and the 10, etc. I only wish that given their creative, challenging, yet wholly accessible show, Crossmen were scoring better. One thing I've noticed is that as I follow them on their tour schedule, they don't seem to be competing as much as their "peers." There have been a couple of rain-outs, but other than that, a couple two or three shows go by -- and no Crossmen. Doesn't it potentially hurt them if they are not going head-to-head with their closest competition as often as they could be? :sshh: Thanks, K. Martin