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The wit and wisdom of Tom Float


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Great read. What a personality. Has he worked with anyone in DCI since 90? Probably considered too old school now. Too bad. Since the blog was done he did get into the HOF which I agree was long overdue. Along with Larrry McCormick, my favorite percussion arrangers of all time.

By the way what or where is Mars? Assume practice area but never heard of it till this thread.

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Great read. What a personality. Has he worked with anyone in DCI since 90? Probably considered too old school now. Too bad. Since the blog was done he did get into the HOF which I agree was long overdue. Along with Larrry McCormick, my favorite percussion arrangers of all time.

By the way what or where is Mars? Assume practice area but never heard of it till this thread.

Mars is the practice site. When I marched it was on the other side of town for the bingo hall, but the hall was moved a number of years ago to an industrial park that happens to bump up against the property where Mars is located. A lot more convenient for the corps!

IIRC, the field is leased from an oil company (hence the "atmosphere" we all had to endure) for a whopping $1/year! Jerry Seawright could've pulled a $20 from his pocket year ago and covered the corps for years!

It's called Mars because the field resembles a lunar landscape....but if you can march clean at Mars, you can march clean anywhere!

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It's called Mars because the field resembles a lunar landscape....but if you can march clean at Mars, you can march clean anywhere!

Now that you mention it, how in the world did they ever work with those chairs at MARS? They had to be as un-steady as they could be! Imagine how secure the corps felt when they finally got to use them on a level field, especially artificial stuff!

Garry in Vegas

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Now that you mention it, how in the world did they ever work with those chairs at MARS? They had to be as un-steady as they could be! Imagine how secure the corps felt when they finally got to use them on a level field, especially artificial stuff!

Garry in Vegas

Ok....if you can SIT clean at Mars, you can sit clean anywhere! :cool:

I kinda doubt the field is as bad in the old days, tho....the mid 80s field with modern drill = disaster waiting to happen.

Need to ask some recent Devs about that...I wasn't able to get to the field in 07 (they have a guy watching the gate now, and if you aren't on the list, you don't get in).

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Mars is the practice site. When I marched it was on the other side of town for the bingo hall, but the hall was moved a number of years ago to an industrial park that happens to bump up against the property where Mars is located. A lot more convenient for the corps!

IIRC, the field is leased from an oil company (hence the "atmosphere" we all had to endure) for a whopping $1/year! Jerry Seawright could've pulled a $20 from his pocket year ago and covered the corps for years!

It's called Mars because the field resembles a lunar landscape....but if you can march clean at Mars, you can march clean anywhere!

The land belongs to Tesoro Oil. The first time I went up there I kind of had to laugh. Back in the day in Bayonne, we always kind of imagined BD practicing in some bucolic NorCal setting, unlike the chemical factories and some of the other dumps that we'd practice in. Little did we know that Mars was a desolate field with a view of an oil refinery.

I understand that the patchy grass (or grass-like substance) has improved the place a lot since the old days ...

Edited by DCIHasBeen
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Being in a "Float line" was the all-time drumming experience! His sense of humor and personality added so much to not only my "chops", but to the success and ultimate fun of being in the Blue Devils!

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Great read. What a personality. Has he worked with anyone in DCI since 90?

Tom and Cat Float taught Velvet Knights 92-94. Most people don't know that Catherine is a well accomplished actress and appeared on the Soap Santa Barbara as Catherine Gibson.

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Tom and Cat Float taught Velvet Knights 92-94. Most people don't know that Catherine is a well accomplished actress and appeared on the Soap Santa Barbara as Catherine Gibson.

Really? She doesn't show up on either IMDB or the show cast listing...either at Float or Gibson.

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