contraBand

Regiment members parked at a local Rockford business that was in some way (not sure exactly how) affiliated with the PR organization.

Pay attention to the vets, both during rehearsal and outside of it. You can figure out a lot of things that will make life a lot easier by just paying attention to the way they act, the things they do, etc. Think "when in Rome." EDIT: But don't force it. Be yourself, and be open to suggestions from both the staff and the vets.

Two Crusaders in World Class, two Thunders in Open?

Phantom was pretty exclusively toe-first into halts. I can't recall a single instance we went heel-first into any halts, or anything other than very gradual direction changes at slower tempos.

Work. Lots of it. Or so I understand from a number of vets and staff...

There are a number of east-side schools that have a fair number of corps members as well- Central Valley, Mt Spokane, and Mead (Spokane) and Hanford, Chiawana, and Kamiakin (Tri-Cities) all had decent representation at various corps this year as far as I know. Also, while there are comparatively few "very strong" marching programs on the east side of the state, CV and Mead both have had exceptional success in the region, and schools such as Mt Spokane, Hanford, and Chiawana have all shown marked improvement in the last few years- at least, from my perspective.

Ummm.....

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Very enjoyable, thank you.

1.) Well it was way back in 2008, before I had any knowledge of marching band and certainly not any of drum corps, when I saw an excerpt of a show on the interwebs. My first thought was something to the effect of, "Whoah that's crazy, what on earth are they doing?!" and my second thought was, "Whoah, 'Phantom Regiment' is a really awesome name." And that name stuck with me for the next three years until I actually got involved in the activity (with a small open class corps, because it was close), and I knew that's where I wanted to end up. 2.) It probably helped that the video I watched was, specifically, 2008 Phantom Regiment...

May I point out that the second corps you mention is from the region of the most-dammed river in North America, and not a certain South American country...

My observation is that several corps seem to be on a three-year cycle with any given uniform or style of uniform. Crown had effectively the same uniform jacket 2007-2009, just with different braids and other details that changed; and 2010-2012 they had the same style of jacket. Bluecoats did the same thing, 2007-2009 they had the two-shaded blue jackets with the dark blue on the black, 2010-2012 they had different shades of blue with black on the back, and they are getting new uniforms for 2013. I believe Blue Stars may be on the same cycle, and from the looks of it Madison may be starting it as well. I heard a rumour that Blue Knights may be getting new uniforms, but I heard the same thing last year, so take that how you will. Phantom doesn't quite fit the pattern enough to make predictions, Cadets and Cavies don't seem too keen on changing their uniforms too drastically, and Vanguard I am not familiar enough with their recent uniforms to comment on. This all conjecture on my part, and may be entirely correlation with no causation. Just what I have observed and deduced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXQvsbqu74

I discovered this floating around Facebook today. Given the proximity to April 1st, and the lack of any official word, I am extremely skeptical, but one can always hope... Thoughts?

Stop. Please.

Well since this is "just for fun," I'll bite 1. Phantom- because I'm biased, that's why 2. Crown- because I would rather see Phantom win, but Crown probably deserves a medal too 3. Bluecoats- bias, again 4. Blue Devils- because I know it's completely unreasonable to even consider placing them outside the top 4, and even this is pushing it 5. Cavaliers- just because 6. Cadets- because #4 is already taken 7. Vanguard- because #5 is already taken 8. Boston- though I wish I could place them higher, I don't suppose people would find it too reasonable... 9. Blue Knights- because in spite of the alien birds, I think they can do a little better 10. Madison- slightly biased towards BK over Madison, so that's why 11. Spirit- seems reasonable 12. Academy- it's feasible, right? 13. Crossmen- someone has to drop out, unfortunately... 14. Blue Stars- which means someone else has to drop even lower... 15. Troopers- from what I've heard, the new staff is excellent, so moving towards finals in the next year or two? I feel like 16-18 could just as easily be any combo of Oregon Crusaders, Glassmen, Colts, PC, etc... But I'm rather less informed about the quarterfinalist corps, so I shall mostly leave them alone. But hey, this is totally reasonable, is it not? ;-D

Me too, but you're still evil because I thought I would actually be able to tell people

How are open class corps neglected by DCI?

UPDATE: Columbians website is officially up and running. From the Columbians Facebook page: 29 Nov: "The new website is now live! www.columbiansdrumcorps.org Over the next few days, improvements will be made to add even more functionality and features. Stay tuned and we'll let you know what's next!"

I would be a little surprised if OC skipped the Oregon shows, I suspect they will probably be added to the Medford and Hillsboro shows, meaning their tour would start a few days earlier. EDIT: Oregon Crusaders are listed in the line-up for the Medford, Hillsboro, and Renton (WA) shows on June 27, 28, and 29, respectively, on the DCI website.

It already happened, you just didn't see it.

I truly hope you are the absolute and total master of incredibly dry, subtle satire. If so, well played and I salute you. But I do not believe that to be the case. (Thought I admit, "Musicians Offering Righteous American Leadership Supersonically" does scream "practical joke" to me) Wicked desires? Facebook promotes positive values? Shows that damage the audience? Tracking devices? Morally objectionable shows? Audiences are reserved when enjoying the activity- and feel guilty for clapping and cheering? What about people who have chosen not to follow religion- what do they do? Since when are shows are restricted to those under eighteen...? Also, please provide some examples of shows that expressly promote negative values. Not to say there are none, but I would like you to name some concrete examples. What I am a little more skeptical of is the shows that damage the audience and/or are morally objectionable... Examples of those, please?

I am still not clear on what jonnyboy meant when he talked about corps being "for real"...

I was turned off before I even read the article, when I noticed that "disagree" had spawned an extra 's'.

I'm not saying it's a bad name at all either; I wouldn't go so far as to say I like it, but that's just me. However, I believe there are a fair number of other word choices they could have gone with to convey the forest-y theme... But I'm not one to judge, I'll support them regardless of their name.