hairbear Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Seems many of us only remember the good times when we marched oh so many years ago. I think there were alot of bad times. Here are a few of my not so good memories. My Ludwig french horm was junk and fell apart alot. My uniform stunk from the last guy that used it who sweated alot. The guy that got my solo always cracked the notes in the show. The school bus seats were hard as rocks. I was hungry most of the time since we didn't have chuck wagons. Several times we practiced in old corn fields. Since none of us could read music we had to learn it by rote, that was boring. We slept in the most god awful places and ate cold hot dogs. We routinely got beat by all-girl drum corps. The daggone drummers beat on the back of my bus seat. My shako didn't fit. We marched so many parades, I still have nightmares of stepping in horsecrap. Just trying to keep it real! Why then, did you participate? Just retorical, but if you had so many bad times it wouldn't make sense to continue. True enough, I experienced alot of the examples you listed, in my corps days. But Those were trivial, when I compare them to other experiences, soon after my Jr.corps days ended. Viet-Nam comes to mind, as an example. When I compare the feeling of sitting in a bunker in the middle of the night wondering when the rockets and sappers would come, while also wondering about poisonous snakes, scorpions and such.... and feeling like I have a "bull's eye" painted on my chest.... Missing my family, home and all that was familiar, all before I reached the age of 21....well ..... Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it? I would have LOVED to sleep on a gym floor, pee out a window, eat a BUCKET of cold hot dogs ( WAY better tasting than the fare I had, in Nam)... really, this might be an extreme comparison, but the concerns you listed are trivial, dude. They are however, a very important part of the COLLECTIVE experience of Drumcorps! Really, when I think about my own experiences in Jr.corps: good, bad, doesn't matter! I enjoyed ALL of it! NOW: About peeing out the bus window..... We had a hole rusted out in the floor of our old school bus that worked just fine for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I enjoyed ALL of it! NOW: About peeing out the bus window.....We had a hole rusted out in the floor of our old school bus that worked just fine for this! Uh, are you sure that isn't how the hole formed to begin with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeOtherJoe Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Driving somewhere cross country in the 70's with the director, Jack Bevins, following close behind in his Datsun Z, at least half the drum buss "unloaded" out the rear windows. Jack had his windshield wipers on & off for a good 15-20 minutes. Pull in late night, go to sleep, get up the next morning, and start shootin' the breeze around breakfast time. Somehow, the topic of "last night's rain" comes up, and Jack points out how it was the wierdest rain he'd ever seen... kept starting and stopping and starting and stopping. Not a word out'a the drum line. Don't know (or care) if times were good or bad, comparatively, but they were ###### well memorable. Edited October 1, 2009 by SomeOtherJoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairbear Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Uh, are you sure that isn't how the hole formed to begin with? Positive. Because the hole was there when we bought the old school bus. And there, it remained. Some "alteration" of said hole was conducted. It was much more efficient, once we completed the alteration. As an added option, The girl's bus that travelled behind us now had a makeshift "windshield washer"! Edited October 1, 2009 by hairbear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Flynn Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I don't remember things being that bad. Of course, we (Blue Rock) were known to always travel better than anyone else in the activity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Positive. Because the hole was there when we bought the old school bus.And there, it remained. Some "alteration" of said hole was conducted. It was much more efficient, once we completed the alteration. As an added option, The girl's bus that travelled behind us now had a makeshift "windshield washer"! I beg you to not tell us how the hole was "altered." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baja Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Why then, did you participate? Just retorical, but if you had so many bad times it wouldn't make sense to continue. True enough, I experienced alot of the examples you listed, in my corps days.But Those were trivial, when I compare them to other experiences, soon after my Jr.corps days ended. Viet-Nam comes to mind, as an example. When I compare the feeling of sitting in a bunker in the middle of the night wondering when the rockets and sappers would come, while also wondering about poisonous snakes, scorpions and such.... and feeling like I have a "bull's eye" painted on my chest.... Missing my family, home and all that was familiar, all before I reached the age of 21....well ..... Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it? I would have LOVED to sleep on a gym floor, pee out a window, eat a BUCKET of cold hot dogs ( WAY better tasting than the fare I had, in Nam)... really, this might be an extreme comparison, but the concerns you listed are trivial, dude. They are however, a very important part of the COLLECTIVE experience of Drumcorps! Really, when I think about my own experiences in Jr.corps: good, bad, doesn't matter! I enjoyed ALL of it! NOW: About peeing out the bus window..... We had a hole rusted out in the floor of our old school bus that worked just fine for this! Marched 6 years bear. Just saying it wasn't all good. Again not talking about the whole experience collectively. There's two sides to every story and once in a while we need to discuss both. I had many great memories or I wouldn't bother reading DCP would I? BTW glad you made it back. Thank you for your service. Now back to the "pee" stories. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I don't remember things being that bad. Of course, we (Blue Rock) were known to always travel better than anyone else in the activity! Wait a minute! I remember your gosh awful busses!!!! You used to have to push the darn things to get them started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyfromhowardst Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Seems many of us only remember the good times when we marched oh so many years ago. I think there were alot of bad times. Here are a few of my not so good memories. My Ludwig french horm was junk and fell apart alot. My uniform stunk from the last guy that used it who sweated alot. The guy that got my solo always cracked the notes in the show. The school bus seats were hard as rocks. I was hungry most of the time since we didn't have chuck wagons. Several times we practiced in old corn fields. Since none of us could read music we had to learn it by rote, that was boring. We slept in the most god awful places and ate cold hot dogs. We routinely got beat by all-girl drum corps. The daggone drummers beat on the back of my bus seat. My shako didn't fit. We marched so many parades, I still have nightmares of stepping in horsecrap. Those are the good memories--what's the problem? Edited October 1, 2009 by tommyfromhowardst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanAndreasen Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 We marched so many parades, I still have nightmares of stepping in horsecrap. As Monty Python's four Yorkshiremen would say "Luxury." Once did a parade where it rained so much the street sewers overflowed. Shoes, socks, and pants ruined. Oh, and the bus stank to high heaven. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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