MikeN

Same as it ever was. A judge once told us - on tape - that our repertoire of Kanye and Kendrick Lamar was "pedestrian." Sure thing, buddy. Mike

1995 Velvet Knights was the only one I can think of off the top of my head. Their show Harlequin Carnival was entirely the music of Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira. Played Lau Flora, Afrika and Starfish. Afrika in particular was a *jam,* I liked it a lot. Mike

Yup. Mike

That show was so good. It hit the perfect balance between complexity and accessibility. Mike

From my experience, that doesn't mean, though, that there were 1,000 kids who could actually afford tuition. Heck, a large part of my wife's drum corps experience was chasing the 150 contracted members we signed on to make their payments... Mike

We ran into that issue back in my last year with Guardians. Our saving grace was the company we ended up using was run by an ex-corps guy, so he was able to convince the drivers on our behalf. Mike

Signed up yesterday - I'm looking forward to trying this out! Mike

I was there when we switched over from Michigan City in '19. It's a lovely stadium in a kind of remote location, and that was ok, but my only gripe was how *far* the warmup, parking and stadium were from each other. That was a massive hike to get from place to place. Mike

Because in the last few years we've had solos from harmonica, cello, guitar, vocal, vocal *and* guitar, soprano sax and oboe, and they haven't really changed the fundamental sound out there? Turns out they're just fun little add ons that add to the vibe. Mike

Nouveau BD is very media quiet in the offseason, and their members and staff don't talk on social media much, so people don't have much to work with. I don't think they have to blow anything up - they're master educators and the pros' pros - but we'll see if they're up for some self-examination about what they've been programming. I love modern Bluecoats, but to me there's no question by the end Boston had the superior vehicle and (also to me) the better performance. I think we can let that one go now. Finally, for judging, if you have to keep explaining to people that your "intuitive" scoring system is not in fact intuitive, then it's probably a badly designed user experience. <shrug> Mike

My daughter and I do as well! The best part was going to the Alamodome, as the San Antonio crosswalks use that same voice. :0 Mike

Only if they can do block drill moves during the program. Mike

Japan's Yuma Kagiyama tonight will be skating to new music to Turandot in the men's long program. Turandot (most recently in DCI by Phantom in 2012) was unfinished, as Puccini died before completing it. Several other composers have given a try at it over the past century, and a new one was composed in 2024 by Christopher Tin and the Washington National Opera. Christopher wrote about 20 minutes of new music for the Turandot finale, and he wrote his own arrangement to cut it down to 4.5 minutes for the figure skating. The DCI connection - Christopher first came to most people's attention with the song Baba Yetu, used as the soundtrack to the video game Civilization 3. Songs from his first two full albums, Calling All Dawns and The Drop that Contained the Sea, have been used by Carolina Crown (2019), Blue Knights (2024), Genesis (2024), Spartans (2018), Louisiana Stars (2018) and Vanguard Cadets (2017). Tin is fully aware of his DCI connections - I have spoken to him about it before - and he was absolutely blown away at how his works translated to brass. Anyways, for those who are looking for a rooting interest, here you go! Mike

I think I can rather confidently state it wouldn't have soothed it at all. Mike

The halftime technically outdrew the game, 128m - 124m. (Though the broadcast peaked in the second quarter with 137m before everyone decided the Pats weren't 28-3'ing *this* one.) Mike