AlanAndreasen

I have a friend who teaches in South Central LA. They too have year-round schooling. Her students could really get a lot out of marching corps instead of gang banging and teenage pregnancy (her students are very underprivileged).

I was on an Emerald Knights (Iowa) bus as we crossed the border back into the US. The customs/immigration dude asks "You're all US citizens, right?" I swear the whole dang bus turns and stares at me. Everyone was dead silent. How the heck the guy didn't think that something was suspicious I'll never know. Oh, yes by the way, I'm British.

I guess I take a "punctuated equilibrium" approach to changes in drum corps. Punctuated equilibrium is the notion in evolution that things gradually change constantly but there are bursts of dramatic change that occur from time to time. To be honest, there have been many great folks that have shaped drum corps. Some of them just constantly being great teachers and others showing bursts of brilliance. Well, that's my 0.2. But being a visual guy myself, Zingali was my hero.

Thank you. I stand corrected.

IIRC Blue Stars in the early 80's.

My thoughts and prayers are always out there for the troops. I have a friend that did two tours in Iraq, He's now been home for nearly two years. He has PTSD big time. Not being political, but a lot of young troops are hurting in so many ways. Again, thoughts and prayers.

In the UK there are no high school marching bands and at my school (at least) if you played an instrument you had to be a real geek and were teased mercilessly. So I joined my scout troop's marching band. That was back in 71. The band played Bb no valve bugles, snares, scottish style tenors, cymbals and one bass. Eventually, we evolved into trumpets, mellos, baris, tubas, quads, pitched bases, key boards and timpani. There was a surge corps in the late 70 and 80's but they've been dying off slowly since. Some friends at a scout band convention had just got back from finals in Atlanta and couldn't stop raving about it. The first corps I ever heard was a pirated DCA 1980 finals tape. That was it, I was hooked. I flew out to Miami in 83 and the rest is history. Oh, I never got to march corps as I discovered it when I was 22.

MOST WELL?

SCV 2009 - a beautiful, beautiful show. Blue Stars hitting top 12 again. Slightly off topic but seeing my eldest march his first show at high school - I teared up big time. Here's hoping he marches Colt Cadets in 2010.

Ha! LMAO Only slightly better than Vogon poetry.

Interesting thread. My middle child, Thomas, is a french horn player and is dead set on marching Madison Scouts. (He decided this at age 2 - Ha!)

On SCV's calendar for Dec. 26th is an entry for Winter Percussion performance at Emerald Bowl SCV events

I knew Mark from his earliest corps days back when he marched with the Caversham Ambassadors. He did indeed make some good friends in SCV. He and Dave Oster (snare) are, I believe, still buddies. The last time I saw Mark was the summer of 90. I was back in the UK to visit my parents and took in a corps show in London. There he was parading around in an SCV membership jacket. I must admit I was pretty P'd off at the time and avoided talking to him. I was mostly angry that every overseas marcher would hence forth be under suspicion. On my first trip to the US in 83 I toured/voluteered with a corps for three weeks just for the experience of being around corps. I was 22 and was offered a contra spot. I turned the director down saying "Are you kidding? All of the Dagenham Crusaders know who I am."

I attended my son's first Tuba Xmas concert today. He had a blast and so did the family. This will definitely become a new family tradition. There were 110 players - pretty good for a small city. The conductor was Thad Driscoll who is a high school band director here in CR and who marched SCV in 89.

My son is extremely pumped to play in his first Tuba Christmas this Saturday in Cedar Rapids.

There was a guy that would climb everything... lamp posts, road signs, gym rafters. We pulled into a McDonalds with a state trooper car parked outside. When he drove away he had no license plates. Another guy was famous for finding a hair 3/4 of the way through every Big Mac he ever bought and always got free one.

If critiques can be considered off field then... 1. I have seen instructors use critiques as opportunities to educate judges as what is going on in their show and point out strengths. 2. I have also seen instructors just go ape-#### and be insulting. I can't help but think that these approaches would influence a judge's mindset the next time he/she gets to judge that corps. Oh, and judges do talk to each other.

...

Again is a gain.

Thank you, fixed.

What do you expect? With a character named "BRAINS" you 'aint gonna get any respect. (reference TV series Thunderbirds)

Don't bother I've just found his website.

Now there's a name I have not heard in a long time. In 83 he was working the Emerald Knights of Cedar Rapids. So we get to Miami and it's a bazillion degrees and humidity is off the chart. Dave offers to make lunch- he makes CHILI! Of course there's the trademark pre-show "BOO." Any one know what he's up to nowadays?

Too true.