jplattSCV

Brant Crocker as the voice of God. Would that qualify as "asurbity"?

What did "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" mean anyway? Based on their uniforms, I think it meant "I'm going to blow up the earth." with my Pew-36 space modulator http://www.gargaro.com/MaRvInWaVs/goody.wav

Before Madison started one of the year's in Orlando someone yelled... "Let's Get 'em girls!!!" Mel Brooks would have been proud.

I remember in 1988 when they announced that Blue Devils were in 3rd place, there was the hugest roar from the crowd. All that was left was Madison and Vanguard which were both sentimental favorites with the crowd, overwhelmingly so in the case of Madison. Then obviously the crowd went crazy again when Vanguard was announced as the silver medal. That was huge. Madison pulled it off. I can't imagine how nuts the crowd will go if they announce Cavaliers in 3rd followed by Devils in 2nd. Obviously that will be devastating to Devils fans and members and I don't wish that pain on anyone. On the flip side, there have been dozens of examples of corps placing lower than the crowd wanted. Once again, Madison through most of the 90's is the clear poster child for that. But, Phantom has been right there in that unfortunate group many times through the late 70's, 80's and 90's. Once again, they have the potential to be a jilted bride's maid. This time with what appears to be almost universal support. Anyone who did not begin the season rooting for the Devs or Cavaliers is probably rooting for Phantom. No matter what order they end up with for spots 3,2, and 1...there will be some serious tension. Man, I wish I could be there. I think this is going to be the most exciting finals night in 20 years, maye ever. :smile:

That would be awesome. But what would people Bee-atch about at their hotels on Friday night?

I hope that's true since it happens every time I hear it. If so...I like it. If its accident...I like it.

No disrespect intended to the individuals, but clarinet solo at DCI individs? saxophone? pbthbthbth... flute? As long as we're at it with things that don't belong, who is DCI's next top model?

He messed it up in San Antonio as well. And I think in Atlanta. My parents were in Allentown, I'll have to ask if he messed it up there also. Fantastic.

Is there a joke I am missing or can he not pronounce the word "absurd"? On purpose or not, risking asurbity is funny to me.

They did the star proud tonight. And bloo did whatever it is they do proud as well. Its great to see so many corps performing at this level. Welcome to the 90's Blue Stars. (The score not the decade.)

aaahhh. Its all clear to me now. Nice to know.

When referring to Boston Crusaders, I have seen for 20+ years of marching and following the activity that they are often referred to as BAC. What does the "A" stand for? I can take a pretty good guess at what the "B" and "C" stand for. I've asked before and none of my friends or family know. Anyone care to clue me in?

Unfortunately for SCV fans like myself, it is much more likely they will be passed by Bluecoats than catch up to Cadets. It would be fun if they close the gap though. Its fun to hope though.

Shoshtakovich's 5th? On a classical station? What are the odds? I do kinda hope its an omen. I'm on the fence about the top 3 shows from last night. I really love all three shows but if I had to root for only one I think I would pull for the white team. By the numbers, they are the underdog and everyone loves an underdog. This is the first year since 1986 that I will not be at finals and I am super jealous of everyone that will see it live. 8+ month pregnant wife = no trip to Indiana.

I was in the SCV pit and was happy on the rare occasion that we were asked to march during retreat. Mostly we were loading the truck or preparing to play again at an encore during retreats. It meant that we got to wear the Aussie. They issued us one just like everyone else though we only wore it about 4 times per season during the retreats of major shows. The pride of wearing the Aussie balanced out the embarrassment of how we "marched". I never knew what to do with my arms. I still have my Aussie along with my prized green feather.

I'm a Madison fan but the funniest thing I've ever heard yelled from the stands was from 4 aged out Madison color guard guys before Madison started their show (some time in the '90's). They yelled "Let's Get 'em girls!!". I thought of that when I saw the Bluecoats boxer start dancing with the rest of the guard. I pictured De La Hoya prancing around in pink boxing trunks. <----- Do I get a gift for achieving "Veteran" status?

I played in a 6 per side soccer tournament on small fields that they set up in the Cotton Bowl right after they removed the grass and put in the rubber pellet turf. It was August and not only did the rubber make it feel like it was about 125 degrees, it smelled like burning tires. There was a steady stream of heat related incidents exacerbated by the stinky air all day. The pellets can make it slick until they get packed in also.

And I am still in disbelief. ;) I am there with you. The judges are fine, I guess. I always thought that was what the Spirit of Disney award was for. They should call it the Sorry-The-Judges-Hate-You-But-The-Crowd-Loves-You award.

From wikipedia... Most instruments known as "aerophones" are defined as wind instruments such as a saxophone whereby sound is produced by a person or thing blowing air through the object. However, the following example instruments, if played at all in a musical context, are played by the percussionists in an ensemble. Examples of aerophones: * Whips * Siren * Pistols: The explosion of hot expanding gases from the muzzle of a starter pistol produces sound. Not that wikipedia is the best source, but this sounds reasonable to me. I am guessing that a whistle would fit in this category because it is not intended to play specific notes. Though not technically a percussion instrument, its not a woodwind either. So, it is legal. And its an instrument that is typically played by the percussionist, but it is clearly not a percussion instrument. My personal experience with a slide whistle was definely a big fail. At the beginning of the 1991 season in SCV, we tried to use a slide whistle to play the Flute sound from the Overture to Miss Saigon since a a flute or recorder was not allowed. This proved to be impossible because A) it was impossible to control the pitch and B) it was not nearly loud enough. If you blew hard enough to get any volume it would go dog whistle on me. Sounding quite a bit like what they are getting this year from the Cavies pit. Incidentally. That was Jim Casella's age out year in the bass line. He probably doesn't remember that we tried this in the pit that year because it was very short lived, but it is an interesting link. Eventually one of the sops played the part instead. This was the first sop solo about 30 seconds or so into the opener. The sop played it way better than I ever played it on slide whistle and the sound projected more than 6 feet, which was nice.

Maybe its a percussion instrument because they use 2 people to play it. One guy puts it in his mouth and another guy smacks him musically in the gut to get air to move through it. They get the overtones by over-beating the first guy. Seems perfectly legal to me.

1989 Suncoast Sound formed a delta with their horns at finals retreat in tribute to Spirit who had dropped out of finals for the first time since they started getting good. For years, those two corps seemed to place right next to each other and they were clearly their closest respective rivals. I was a little choked up at that gesture.

You have to watch the finals video to hear it. The '89 CD that was sold has semis or quarters on it. for their performance. I assume this was because of the epic fail that was the middle 30 seconds of that show. For some reason though, the BD Through The Years CD has the finals performance also. I don't know why. It gives the exact opposite feeling of phantom's ending this year. I have only heard it a couple of times, because it is too painful to endure. There are cracks and missed notes every year in someone's sop solo, but this one is the biggest train wreck I ever heard. It makes me wan to cry.

I am officially on board with PR winning it all. One of the earlier posts spoiled some of the surprise but I watched the PR ending and holy ###### is all I have to say. I was sitting at my desk with my feet up drinking a beer and when I saw the ending develop, you see it warming up for a couple of seconds, I actually yanked my feet down, put the drink down and sat up totally straight with my elbows on the desk. My parents were there tonight and I am jealous. That was just as good as a last second buzzer beater in a basketball game. totally totally totally exciting. I won't give it away too much in case someone wants to see it for themselves unspoiled. Wow!!!

DCI Fight Club. nice

Amen brothers and sisters. As great as SCV was in 1989, I am convinced that silly section with the Maynard Ferguson ride cymbals cost them that year. I know this is not a realistic statement, but I'll say it anyway. The ride cymbals were a full point worth of misplacement. Uhg. The rest of it was magic though. I'd love to hear it again.