Weaklefthand4ever
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Posts posted by Weaklefthand4ever
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13 minutes ago, BigW said:
Many people consider the activity kitsch. It's why I've pretty much given up trying to really expand it to others. You get it or you do not. I know that comes across as negative, but when an individual told me he thought the Miss Saigon show was "Kitsch" and "Cute", that was when I gave up. I can only waste my efforts on so much.
Understandable. It's hard to explain to someone the amount of hard work, dedication and desire to learn, improve and perform that goes on in the activity. It's supposed to be about entertaining an audience in a unique way. An arrangement simply isn't going to match note for note when you have only brass and percussion and you aren't going to jam a 2+ hour stage production into 12 minutes and have it communicate the same effect to those who don't want to accept that it can. /shrug
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I would also like to say that 2016 Bluecoats stands out to me as well. Not as much from an "innovation" standpoint (though there were some unique innovations with the split front ensemble and miking.) I think it's more of "getting everything pretty much dead nuts right" perspective. The staging was great, powerful hornline, great drill and overall show concept, attainable music concept that was easy to understand and enjoy, and a solid drumline. To me, it's more a "culmination of the last decades improvements" type of situation. My only "even better if" moment is the snare lick at the first part of the show on the ramps. Mic'd up, it sounds like shoes in a dryer. But up close it was clean as a whistle.
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10 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:
I keep saying that it’s very difficult to change mindsets. Here’s some real validation.
Certainly in the case of people with narcissistic tendencies you're 100% correct Terri. They would view a change of mindset as being either weak or it would be an admission that they were wrong about something. I get it in the case of GH as many people saw him as such an "innovator" that he got a pass on his bad behavior. I don't get it with RB. I can't for the life of me think of anything he "innovated." He wasn't even the first to successfully drive a corps directly into the ground. I truly feel bad for the kids, staff and volunteers who have tried to make a difference.
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On 12/4/2018 at 10:21 PM, 84BDsop said:
72 Kmen, 76 Bridgemen, 83 Garfield, 85 Suncoast, 93 Star, 14 Bloo??
That's a pretty good list.
I had certainly watched 76' Bridgemen (My aunt on my fathers side marched there probably right around that time.) My father called them "The Bananamen."
1983 was my 2nd year watching Drum Corps closely in earnest. There were shows ALL OVER the southeast. It was the year that DCI came to Chattanooga, TN. (where I still live today.) I think we went to 3 or 4 shows that year and it was the year I told my father I was going to march. 4 years later I did.
1985 Suncoast - Saw them in ATL. My band director at the time met us there and when Suncoast was coming out, he turned to my father (who was later to supposedly have some involvement with Suncoast) and said "Arthur, they're supposedly doing original music this year." My fathers response was "Uh Oh." It became one of my favorite shows for a long time after.
1993 Star - No one needs to say much about this show and it's doubtful that anyone can change the minds of those of us who love it.
2014 Bloo - Tilt is still one of the shows I suggest to people who say "My son / daughter plays 3rd clarinet in (insert_random_band_name_here) and they could beat any marching unit in the world." Please understand I try not to roll my eyes. I was a band director at one point too...but I still chuckle a little on the inside.
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6 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:
Rochester Crusaders did it unmic'd in 1990
Reaaaalllyyyyy??? I was completely unaware. I went over to the "Tube of You" but couldn't find anything. I'll have to do some further research.
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17 minutes ago, TRacer said:
It is 30 proof, goes down wonderfully, warms the senses, then you wake up with a time gap
Last time I had a time gap like that I literally woke up married to a stripper. Ahhhhhh...youth.
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14 minutes ago, BigW said:
Dllllakada daudaudau dutdutdutduh dau!!!! Dsshdsshdssh Gikgikgikdigik!!!!
You almost had it! You have to add "GOK! GOK! GOK! duz giduzzzzzzzzz" at the end.
I showed my girlfriend that 2005 show (I think we're both talking about the same one,) and she said "Did they just say Husqvarna? I thought they made chainsaws and ****." I laughed my *** off.
I remember not long after my junior corps days, Modern Drummer Magazine ran a contest where you had to transcribe some ridiculous drum lick to win a prize. Back then it was probably an amp'ed up Terry Bozzio kit or something similar.
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On 12/6/2018 at 10:08 AM, Jeff Ream said:
in some cases yes...bass drops, thunderous goo
Jeff, you know you loved all the bass drops at DCA Finals this past year.
On another front, electronics bothered me quite a bit at first when they hit. Some of it was my fathers influence, some from my own "that's not Drum Corps" bias. But when used with taste and discretion, electronics can really add some great things to a show.
P.S. - Please never bring back the "verbal drum break." I didn't think it was cool the first 600 times I saw / heard it.
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23 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:
one saying he was going to Sky instead of Cabs because he was sick of Latin music lol.
Now THAT....is some funny ****
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15 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:
And Troop had a year off, too
I had forgotten about Troopers going inactive for a year and that wasn't all too long ago if I'm remembering correctly now. They were always one of my fathers favorite corps.
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3 minutes ago, BigW said:
The second you go inactive... it just becomes a lot harder to get the momentum to return. Case Study... Glassmen.
And VK, Bananamen, Southwind, etc.
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13 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:
Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA. They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air. These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.
Keep the faith. They are righting the ship. 😊
I think that's absolutely true in as much as it can be righted at this very moment. We all know that patience and drum corps don't usually lay in the same bed often or for extended periods. Especially from our posterior comfort-friendly positions in the living room (or in my case, from the training room at the moment.)
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12 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
And keep in my a lot of dci’ers who have posted here said they could only do DCI one season. So why spend that one year rebuilding a corps for the same amount of dues, etc a Finalist would cost.
I think you MIGHT get away with it (let's say 1% chance,) if you ended on top (both financially and placement wise,) took a season off to "check the landscape" and then came back the following year with twice the budget and some good information on what corps were heading in which directions. I think a lot of folks thought that's what Star might do but Mr. Cook was smarter than that.
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5 minutes ago, garfield said:
Buckner's "Competitive Inertia" theory would agree with you.
LOL. We were just talking about this a few months back when our founder came in to discuss what was going to happen in 2019. Not reacting fast enough to a changing landscape puts you at a disadvantage that cannot be ignored. Oddly enough, they asked every member of leadership in the room to chose which company we would invest in if we could go back 20 years. Most people would choose the typical Microsoft, Samsung, Facebook etc types. I decided immediately on Domino's. They took a chance on the whole internet craze when it was in it's infancy, choosing to ignore the "way things were always done" mentality.
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47 minutes ago, George Dixon said:
I wonder if 1. Improving the USB band relationships & 2. Ability to trim YEA office staffing played more into the C2 decision than did C2s actual deficit
Even just from a $$ standpoint - eliminating 9 staff from the office is a boatload of $$ saved, much more than C2 deficit
Well, and let's face it George, though the financial breakdown isn't very detailed I think a lot of us get the feeling from just looking at the numbers that something doesn't quite add up. A 600K deficit is a lot of money for a DCA corps which didn't travel or compete very much during the season. At least in my viewpoint from the Ancient Aliens / Illuminati private box seats (we have room BTW if any other old farts wanna join in,) it would certainly APPEAR that monies might be getting shifted around to "cover some assets" in the form of legal fees, etc.
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7 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:
you pull C1, you kill it forever. Eventually the C2 stuff will blow over. You pull C1 out, and the feeding frenzy really comes alive.
I would agree 110%. Even if it where to be financially a smart move, it isn't feasible from a recruiting perspective. I can't think of many folks of marching age (DCI not DCA) that would come flocking to a corps which had just come off of a hiatus like that. People want to march somewhere that they think they'll have a chance at being competitive and a corps just coming out of a missed season isn't going to look very appetizing.
.10 that someone now says "Well....if it were Star, they would come..." o_O
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7 hours ago, BigW said:
I wished that person and I wish everyone out there that whatever happens, they land in some place where they'll feel wanted and love their experience
And that is the key. That should be the goal first for every member of ANY corps. There are plenty of open spots within DCA and DCI between Open and World Class for folks to have a great experience. It doesn't make it any less sad that C2 is not going to be active (at least for now,) but here's hoping that they come back stronger than ever and financially stable.
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It really is a shame. I know that the organization is trying very hard to right the ship in any way that it can. The corps lost in DCI and DCA over just the last few decades make me very sad. It's a great activity and one that I constantly encourage people to check out. When C2 first hit the scene, my selfish concern was that with the financial backing of Cadets, there would be an unstoppable power house in DCA and my corps (Corpsvets now CV) would end up having their growing momentum stalled. Again, it was selfish and in the moment...but it was an honest moment. Times change, younger people grow older and priorities become clear. Both corps fostered and I was happy to see it.
I wish the former members and staff all the best on the next leg of their journey in Drum Corps. I hope C2 returns to the field if the situation is right. But the situation MUST be right for those kids.
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13 hours ago, George Dixon said:
And please don't say "Drum Line" or I may have to ask them to close the thread lol
Thank you!!
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1 hour ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Thinking cholesterol heaven... donner vetter...
Rum, Brandy and Whisky if I remember. Sehr gutes zeug!
I think our version of dancing was probably back 8, slide/crab left 4, forward 8 annnnnnddddd hit my dot! BOOM
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2 hours ago, BigW said:
You could be more right than you know if someone would come up with some type of composite that would work well enough to be useful and effective.
Great resin line, carbon fiber... FRP...
Wondering even now if it might be lighter and simpler to build the horn if certain bracings or say... valve casings were made of those materials. Afraid to know the cost, but knowing BD and System Blue, who knows!?
In the world of custom billiards cues, we use linen based phenolics for that type of thing. I generally use them for anything that requires that the part vibrates at a certain frequency such as ferrules or joints. I even add in phenolic plugs in areas of the cue that could vibrate apart over long lengths of time (usually decades.) Linen based phenolics such as masons micarta are nearly indestructible and vibrate almost identically to ivory.
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On 11/23/2018 at 7:55 PM, JimF-LowBari said:
Think the store had a brass plated plastic trombone for “purists” lol. When I tried to look at the tag my knuckle rapped against it and hardly any weight at all. And didn’t sound like a metal horn when you tap it.
lol thinking of corps using different colors for effect in telling the story...
Like when we used to wrap our crappy green Ludwig Vistalite drums in that amazing 1980's chrome contact paper. Still sounded like you were drumming on a wet turd, but it looked NICCCCEEEE!
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3 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Interesting as now says “discussed income and expenditures” and no year given. Yesterday pretty sure it said something about finances and 2019 was specified. Yesterday having 2018 and 2019 a few words apart caught my eye so that’s why I’m trusting my memory more than usual. Plus before I commented yesterday I re-read the article to make sure I saw it right.
99.999% sure that you're correct as I noted the same thing. Then again, I'm getting old according to my 27 y/o girlfriend and my memory is failing (usually that statement is attached to a "you told me I could buy...." type statement.)
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I remember my father asking me a few times "Sohn, was ist das korps?" for every single marching unit that he saw on TV. Eventually I just started proactively telling him "Before you ask dad...that's not a corps." My mother ALWAYS (even to this day,) watches the Macy's Day Parade and declares it officially Christmas when Santa shows up.
“Failure to Protect”
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Valid question and I think it was actually touched on by a few of us in one of the MANY GH threads. I don't think anyone who has been around this or any other activity involving youth (especially in the type of touring situation we have in drum corps,) would be so naive as to believe that there are not people in positions with a past that should disqualify them them immediately from being within 1000 feet of a school, much less an underage student. My hope, is that many of the corps saw this coming and have put in the proper checks to avoid putting MM's (and possibly staff,) at risk. Has that happened? Only time will tell if so and to what effect.