OrlandoContraAlum

Sorry, not being into your corps' show is NOT a stupid reason. There is no way that I would go out on tour and put the work in (not to mention the $$$$ and a summer of my life) if I did not believe in the vehicle. Further, I would HATE to become "that guy"... the attitude problem that is always bringing others down. Not that I am saying that kids WOULD be that guy, but I can imagine that it would be pretty hard to keep that guy at bay.

Exactly. I had weekly sessions with both PhDs and MS to discuss the issues and quarterly sessions with a Psychiatrist who could prescribe. They all worked at the same practice.

Thanks for the link, that IS an awesome cover. This from a DM fan...

Or perhaps they would appreciate that a) people involved in the activity are talking about, and speaking out against, an issue that exists not only in drum corps, but in MANY youth activities and b) trying to do something about it. If one of my kids wanted to march corps and I read this thread, I know that I would be asking the management of any corps they were interested in some pretty pointed questions now. This is not a Bad Thing. Perhaps if enough parents ask, corps will take in on themselves to look into who they have working for them. Again, not a Bad Thing.

Stu, I was the one who said that if it does not affect you, it should not be your business. From THIS post, I can certainly see why you feel the way you feel, and would go so far as to say that these incidents DID affect you. I can also further understand your position. Now for mine. I suffer from acute anxiety and depressive disorder. I started feeling VERY out-of-control around the time my first child was born (1997). It originally manifested itself in a SEVERE case of fear of flying, which was odd, as my family regularly took air trips in my youth, and I loved it. I would literally have to have multiple shots of liquor before getting on any flight, which was not a great thing to have to deal with when one travels for their job. After 9/11, I started experiencing anxiety attacks with far greater regularity. I would also have significant depressive states. At the time I was married, had great kids and a great job. I was finally starting to make "grown-up" money and moving forward in my professional career, so I had no idea why I was having these issues. Eventually it was to the point where I would wake up in the middle of the night in a full-fledged panic attack. I did not want to frighten my wife or kids, so I would go downstairs and ride it out. Unless you have had a true panic attack, you cannot imagine the feeling of absolute terror that they bring to a person, as well as the absolute helplessness you have in dealing with them. Trust me, I tried just about everything I could short of medication to do so. Finally, I agreed to go on meds. It took a while, I had to try 3 or 4 different meds before I found one that worked. I no longer have the anxiety attacks (unless I forget to take the meds for a couple of days, which has only happened once in the last 5 years), and I very rarely feel depressed (for no reason, there are still things that are depressing). One of the side effects is that I ALSO rarely feel overly happy or elated, which sucks. However, I will accept that as part of the deal to not have debilitating panic attacks. So, at least in my case, the meds are absolutely necessary. Our society needs to remove the stigma from mental disease, because it is there. My therapist told me that no diabetic feels shame for having to take insulin, why should someone who has a disease of another type be castigated for it? I do agree that we tend to be an over-medicated society, and I am very much against the medication of youth (especially for ADD and ADHD) as there simply has not been enough time to perform long-term study of the effects of meds on kids. I have 4 kids, and 2 of them are most certainly ADD, but I will not put them on medications. Anyway, just throwing it out there that the world is never black and white, and that I can understand where you are coming from, even if I don't agree 100% with it (in the abstract sense).

Ooooh. Have to check that out. While not a fan, per se, I have always enjoyed their stuff when it comes on...

I won't. Not my business.

Here's an idea... If a person feels the need to use drugs/alcohol/whatever to deal with something, and it has no chance at all of affecting your life, why can't they do whatever they choose? You have already stated that you deal with your issues through a strict adherence to a diet. That works for you. That may not work for others. Who are you to judge them?

You have a home in Bavaria? And you want a second? Wow... some people.

Just watched 2012 Surf, then Crown, then BD. I think that I will dip back into the 80s in a bit, for a soundtrack to a Friday in the office.

Not a lawyer, but I remember hearing at some point that copyright holders have to be vigilant for their brands because if they don't aggressively defend them, that sets precedent that they are not all that concerned for their brand, which in turn makes it more difficult to prosecute those that infringe. In the case of the YouTube vids, that is an interesting area. I am not suggesting that DCI should go down the road of "well, they can't care too much about their brand, look how many videos are on YouTube". The only place where you could make that argument would be in court, and that's not a place where DCI wants to be. Interesting discussion though...

I am fairly sure that drumcat (DCI Audio Staff, posts here) said that for Quarterfinals, he uses a limited set of mics, just on the field (behind the speakers) so the QF APDs are more "pure". You can still hear the amped stuff, but not nearly as loud... and usually only during down phrases in the music. For the Semifinals webcast and Finals proper, there is a whole spectrum of mics in use, including crowd-facing, speaker-facing and end-zone mics. I will see if I can find his post about this...

BD 2000 had a contra hole due to injury (her story is on the Inside the Blue Devils video from that year). Suncoast 88 had 2 (I think) holes at finals due to chicken pox.

This is true. I know that on Fan Network, they have retroactively "fixed" the on-demand video files, so I would assume that they would also similarly fix the VPDs.

Or just buy the semifinals APDs when the bundles come out! :) (I have all of the top 25 in their pristine, night before finals glory!)

Agreed.

Thank you for that. I am in tears. Incredible.

You can prove that all of those "pages upon pages" are DCA corps members? (Hint: You can't) In fact, a LOT of the posts ripping BD (specifically) were fans of the corps that they were beating (especially Crown and Cadets... this I CAN prove). "Many drum corps alumni" =/= the Bushwackers or other DCA corps. Your arguments are misguided and spurious. I saw a great many DCA jacket at several DCI shows this year. That's REAL support of DCI. The posts of some individuals on a marching band website are not indicative of the beliefs of the fan base as a whole. But you know what? You are entitled to your opinion. Too bad your closed mindedness will keep you from enjoying another side of the drum corps world.

Ok, I can see your point when you put it that way.

And now we have the other side of the story... Best of luck to the Bushwackers AND Mr. Kapp.

Stu, you are moving the goalposts. You originally stated that the corps should have paid off the creditor in lieu of spending funds to travel to DCA. Once you were educated to the reality that it didn't cost the corps money to make the trip (and, in fact, is a money MAKING opportunity), you changed your tune to this (IMO silly) "they should not have taken the equipment to DCA". Sorry, but that makes no sense. For what it's worth, I agree with your INITIAL opinion, that you would be willing to donate if Bush was in trouble because of some unexpected situation, but not if their situation was brought on by poor management. Apparently it's somewhere in the middle?

By the way Cathie, I hope that in no way I was coming across as anything other than thankful for your review! :)

Actually Cathie, I would disagree with you 100%. Reviews of Alumni shows are FAR from "useless". Competitive corps get scores as their feedback. We do this for two reasons: for ourselves and for the fans. When someone like you goes out of their way to provide us feedback in the form of a review, it is SO appreciated (at least by me!). So, THANK YOU for taking the time to write down a couple of your thoughts. And thanks for enjoying the shows. My only hope is that you were able to enjoy our show as much as we were able to enjoy putting it out there for you! (The royal you) (p.s. - Yours was an excellent review!)

She's not. Again.

Having marched with a corps that got yelled at A LOT, I can tell you that there were two distinct types of yelling. When Frank Williams yelled, you got the point. Quick. He was very intense, but I never felt that he yelled just to yell. He yelled when we sucked, and we KNEW that we sucked. It WAS effective. He would also, very occasionally, give praise. When this happened, we were beside ourselves with joy. I can't speak for everyone who marched Suncoast (or any of the many other corps Frank has worked with) but I know that I wanted to be better to impress him, knowing how hard that would be. Other staff members like Robert Smith, Larry Clark, Karl Lowe, etc. very rarely, if ever, yelled. On the other hand, we had other staff members who would always yell, and it was decidedly INeffective. Not only would they yell, but they would demean and treat us like children. To the point of calling us things like "stupid" and "babies". Unfortunately, with the youth of the corps the years that I marched, this did not go over well. Those were not fun days. I personally know of 4 people who went on to march Blue Devils after Suncoast folded in 1989, and to a person they describe the environment there as completely different. I attended BD's last rehearsal before quarterfinals in 2003 and saw first hand the drastically different level of instruction used there. Much more is expected of each marching member, and the members live up to the expectations. Nothing is personal, and it seemed very relaxed. Amazingly, the rehearsal field was pin-drop silent while Wayne was talking, and when tiny things were pointed out to be fixed, they were fixed. In the next, and every following, run. It was impressive.