kaplac

I will be posting twitter updates via cellphone while on tour.

not digging how the baldric fits on the model. I think if it was a little bit wider, and didn't hug his side that much near the bottom it would look good. This isn't a bad uniform by any means, I just don't think it's really clicking very well with me.

Does Mr. Casella live in the Portland Oregon area? huh, he's no more then 30 minutes from where I live.

no one said marching band was a sport. On the same note, I've never considered football or any other collegiate/high school sport as life-threatening. Also runners, body builders, bicyclists, snowboarders, skateboarders, skiers, pole-vaulters etc don't experience any direct competition during performance either. Yet, all of these disciplines are still considered within the genre of sport. There is also a degree of danger in terms of injury for all of them sports as well. We can't forget the dancers either. There is no direct link that says one is at y risk of injury due to x degree of it's competitive nature. I think this recognition of physical activity by an accredited associate of sports medicine will do nothing but good. Although some groups already have physical trainers that monitor the members carefully, there are still other groups around that do not work effectively or efficiently. Information on marching specific conditioning that's widely available to all marching groups, corps and bands alike, will likely show benefit in terms of injury prevention and mental stamina.

painting your shoes with lacquer is not a good idea. Lacquer takes a long time to completely cure. Depending on how much you sprayed on in one go, it can take 6 hours to a couple days for it to completely dry up. And even then, in extreme temperatures it will get sticky for weeks afterwards. This can mean dirt, grass, turf buddies, rocks, gum, pinecones, children etc. all getting stuck to your shoes with little chance of them coming off easily. Also if you get in the habit of spraying multiple layers, then it will undoubtedly begin to crack or peel. You also run the risk of getting the orange peel effect (texturized bumps on the finish due to the spray can nozzle) and capturing water between layers and getting a cloudy finish rather than a clear finish. Finally, I just don't think it's very practical to bring around a can of spraypaint with you just to clean your shoes. Personally, I find a good rub-down with alcohol wipes (I use armour-all cleaning wipes) then a thin layer of polish buffed to oblivion works wonders for polishing.

I'll be doing the same as fhqwhgads this summer for friends and family. Full-sized blogs are a bit unwieldy given current consumer technology. Perhaps in the future...

Did anyone notice how the overall placements are pretty much exactly the same order that the performances were showed?

A large majority of Northwest schools get out mid-june. Cascades move in on June 14th and Oregon Crusaders on the 17th. For this reason both corps miss out on about a week of all-days and the the first two weeks of tour.

Everything was dandy in Beaverton Oregon. Volume could afford to be a tad bit louder, but it wasn't extremely quiet either.

American drum corps do I have to tune in next week to find out the results?

also check out Anderson Silver Plating. They do more then just silver plating, and I have personally had a great experience with them. http://www.andersonsilverplating.com/index.html

getting some 3-5lb ankle/wrist weights for the wrists will achieve the same effects without throwing off the balance of the horn.

If you wish to look up "chord sequence 1" in a certain tube that may be considered yours. There is a pretty neat version of space chords done by the innovators themselves.

Digital recording is definitely more economic. It would make emailing tapes to corps a possibility, as well as quick tape editing, if the corps wish to splice together some comments they wish to let the members hear. It would also make the transfer from digital media to DVD or online streaming a very easy capability. And the recordings will also not deteriorate as tapes would. I do believe that DCI uses digital recording devices versus cassettes. However, I cannot make a comment regarding the public availability of these tapes. note: post #5 corrects my assumption.

I didnt' exactly understand what was going with this whole deal at all. Anyone care to explain?

I really liked the vanguard 06 tag drill.

02 seattle cascades

The Northwest Youth Music Association are getting ready for their annual Memorial Day merriments! Come visit Washington wine country, get a great deal at the Annual Auction, enjoy the performances by the 2009 Cascades or any combination thereof. Many packages will be available for purchase. All proceeds support the NYMA organizations and their hundreds of Northwest youth. read more...

If you want the finish to look factory. then I recommend shipping it to Andersen plating as suggested above. The home plating kits while still very usable, aren't teh same process followed by industry standards. Industrial plating services uses a cyanide based silver solution that is much faster and provides a much more brilliant shine to silver. Whereas home kits work much slower and often don't have properly prepped base metals. In theory if you plate the mouthpiece enough times it is possible to get the same effects of silver cyanide techniques. It's just a matter of how much work you want to put into it. If you wish to take a dive at messing up the first time or so then by all means go ahead and try it out. In the end you will only learn from your mistake and get better. However, if this is a mouthpiece you rely on for a living, then I suggest getting it done professionally.

alternating two different shoes every so often will help to prevent overuse of the smaller muscles in the leg. I have been using a pair of adidas response cushion 16s and have had no problems with them. I recently bought some asic gel-nimbus 10s for this coming season. But to aid in preventing foot problems, I highly recommend going to a shoe specialty store and getting your gait analyzed. There are specific shoes developed for different kinds of strides, it is vital that the foot is properly supported in the right places otherwise pain is likely to follow. The staff at the store will ask various questions, examine your stride, and provide several different shoes and maybe even orthodics. This may total up to be more then what you typically spend on shoes, but I highly recommend not cutting corners with shoes. I've had friends that found all their leg/back pains from marching/running completely alievated by proper shoe choice. Personally, I've never had a problem with running shoes. But I do know people who use trail running shoes, performance shoes, and cross-trainers with no ill-effects. As long as the shoe properly supports your foot and it feels comfortable go ahead and use it. Also, be sure to break in the shoes before all-days. Do a good deal of marching, walking, and running in them about ten miles is usually enough. You may find the shoes have hot spots on your feet, give you discomfort, or don't fit your feet well. Then you can always return them and get something else instead of trying to bear through the whole season with ill-fitting shoes. good luck on your shoe shopping expedition :) edit: Nike Free is specifically designed to be a training shoe. It's built to strengthen leg muscles. For runners, this shoe is used for only short periods of time to prevent injury from it's extreme flexibility. I would also not recommend using these shoes for marching, I personally found them much too uncomfortable but it may be different for you. Also, unless you want to march all day in loafers, I don't think you will find anything that resembles a marching shoe. I wouldn't worry about it very much. The key things to worry about when shoe shopping are proper fit and support. It is vital that you know if your feet pronate when you move, that way you can find the proper shoe to correct it. This is why I highly recommend getting your gait analyzed if it hasn't already been done.

the copper in brass and the silver in plating don't adhere very well to eachother. Typically, a plating of nickel is applied before the silver to promote adhesion.

Well it's "official", DCI released the press release to announce that the Cascades were voted by the full board of directors to be in world class. Now that the DCI representative has observed the Cascades' February camp and reported back to the DCI headquarters with a thumbs up. Cascades are completely cleared by DCI to march world class. Sal Leone just received the letter from headquarters today.

If you go to www.seattlecascades.org, check out information>staff Send and email to Chris Grant and let him know you're interested

they have a general knowledge of where the main key point of interest that they want to shoot are in all of the shows. They have two months to do their research. The camera director just tells the varous camera men where the key points are. Then all the other stuff is vamped for the most part. The director will just tell someone to find a good shot in however many seconds, they switch ect... at least that's how it usually works

fantastic! thank you guys