The DCI Birthday party

[kickhaltsforlife]

Well, except for those G(7)8 events down in Texas, right? I thought that was too hot for some of the more delicate corps in the G7, and the bus rides too long? And the shows sucked because the corps had only had a mere several months to prepare? Right?

I LOLed a little....

[kickhaltsforlife]

The the argument that what drum corps offered pre-dci doesn't exist, I believe it still does exist, with the tons of great high school programs that students can participate in for free or little cost and get a BETTER experience than corps offered BITD. Heck even better than some current corps. Have those corps been replaced? Not exactly, but I think there is a better option now.

Also, the economy was quite different back then.. in fact a lot was different. Things change... get over it already. Yah?

[DrillmanSop06]

The best part about dinosaurs is that while there may still be some lurking in the parts of the world no one cares enough about to explore, they're extinct.

[madalumni]

OK, Spicoli.

Glad someone caught it.

[Rifuarian]

Let me make this clear...I have been "off my meds" for 5 years now, and was not "drunk" at the time I posted the DCI Birthday message.

But some of you will always consider me an ########. Hey, I can live with that. But...

Over the past few years I've spoken with many of you Classics, Alumni, and people from other BITD Corps who THINK what I SAY! In short, most of the men I marched with had neither the Talent nor Finances to make it in the current DCI "Activity". What we did have was an open door policy that excluded noone.

What was once a Veterans Youth Activity for anyone who wished to participate has become Show Business; let me emphasize BUSINESS, a place to where, largely (but not all) wealthy Music/Arts students can flesh out their resumes (and never look back). Check YOUR Corps Alumni and see how many post-2001 FMMs remain active.

I wish this were only my opinion, but I believe facts bear me out.

Corps Directors making 6 figure salaries? DCI Staff ditto, "Designers/Caption Instructors" getting fat while the Corps sleeps on gym floors?

Hell, in '61 we stayed at a beachfront HOTEL in Bal Harbor for VFW Nationals, '63 in a really decent MOTEL in Seattle after getting a chartered ride to & from on the Burlington Northern RAILROAD.

I'm sure it must be painful to see the version of drum corps you grew up with loved fade away. But don't blame the survivors for the demise of the type of corps you knew and loved. DCI didn't kill it . . . sure, DCI has made some unfortunate decisions, but DCI isn't large enough or powerful to kill off the hundreds of little competitive corps and the untold numbers of non or partially competitive corps that once existed.

DCI found a way to survive. When all those organizations that once sponsored drum corps were shrinking and dying, and were cutting corps loose left and right, the corps that joined DCI found a way to endure. Sure, it was inadvertent, but they did it. Just be glad that drum corps has managed to endure in some form or fashion. Without DCI it wouldn't have. And, though you may not like to here it, there are thousands of competitive corps style bands that share 80%-90% of the qualities that you loved about those old corps.

[Rifuarian]

The best part about dinosaurs is that while there may still be some lurking in the parts of the world no one cares enough about to explore, they're extinct.

Fighting the obnoxiousness of dinos with an obnoxiosness that's ten times more irritating solves nothing. Just let em ramble on. Period. The end. Over. Done. Finis. The end. Period.

[glory]

...Still, I maintain, DCI has become a fat, greedy entity, feeding a select group of so-called "Adults" living off the sweat & blood of the "Kids"...

Now that we've been properly introduced, I don't mind suggesting you're exaggerating a bit. Sure, there is a business component to DCI. And it's true that the product DCI sells derives from the commitment and energy of the young people who sweat out the summer.

Don't start the "Occupy Lucas Oil" movement just yet though. This isn't ExxonMobil or Goldman Sachs. Some things might have changed less than you think.

Money was leaking out of the drum corps tubing before DCI too. Back then your ticket purchases supported a wealth of non-drum corps services and activities. Church and veterans groups used drum corps to raise funds for themselves, not just the corps. Indeed, that drain was among the very reasons why the combine and DCI got a start.

The church/veterans infrastructure subsequently dispersed (church) or crumbled (veterans) to be replaced in the drum corps context by organizations devoted to a single purpose. So began an evolution from volunteer to paid leaderships. Churches and veterans groups had a ready supply of resources and volunteers. These news custom organizations had to import both. Paying people to do so isn't nefarious, it's natural. And given that many of these organizations require full-time, 12-month attention, it's also natural that the best leaders might rate competitive salaries. Again context: that $100K salary today is the equivalent of maybe $23K in 1975. Healthy? Yes. Worthy of Occupy Wall Street attention? I don't think so.

So what I'm saying is DCI is different and the same. We can focus on the difference. Or we can focus on the achievements. My idea of "Occupy Lucas Oil" is three days in August. Glory.

HH

[DrillmanSop06]

Every August, 99% of drum corps entertain 1% of the population. #OccupyLOS

[Jeff Ream]

Let me make this clear...I have been "off my meds" for 5 years now, and was not "drunk" at the time I posted the DCI Birthday message.

But some of you will always consider me an ########. Hey, I can live with that. But...

Over the past few years I've spoken with many of you Classics, Alumni, and people from other BITD Corps who THINK what I SAY! In short, most of the men I marched with had neither the Talent nor Finances to make it in the current DCI "Activity". What we did have was an open door policy that excluded noone.

What was once a Veterans Youth Activity for anyone who wished to participate has become Show Business; let me emphasize BUSINESS, a place to where, largely (but not all) wealthy Music/Arts students can flesh out their resumes (and never look back). Check YOUR Corps Alumni and see how many post-2001 FMMs remain active.

I wish this were only my opinion, but I believe facts bear me out.

Corps Directors making 6 figure salaries? DCI Staff ditto, "Designers/Caption Instructors" getting fat while the Corps sleeps on gym floors?

Hell, in '61 we stayed at a beachfront HOTEL in Bal Harbor for VFW Nationals, '63 in a really decent MOTEL in Seattle after getting a chartered ride to & from on the Burlington Northern RAILROAD.

Understand this, I've come to grips with the innovations now an integral part of DCI performances. While I didn't always agree with them I see now how beautifully they can enhance a performance.

"Mad World" & "XtraaordinarY" wouldn't have worked at all without them.

Still, I maintain, DCI has become a fat, greedy entity, feeding a select group of so-called "Adults" living off the sweat & blood of the "Kids".

Disagree all you want, but don't lower yourselves to the point where you dismiss my beliefs as the Rantings of an under medicated drunk.

And I still believe that The Cavaliers decision to join the G7 Insurrection, ("to keep an eye on the competition") while tactically wise, was strategically much more disrespectful to DCI than I could ever dream of being.

Can you say "Combine" within the Combine?

I wish you all the very best.

P.S. ####### rhymes with glass pole

sory, but I'm the head ######## round these parts

that said.....no designers are truly getting rich off of this activity unless they write, oh 80 shows a year.

otherwise you just described DCI in the same way you could describe college football. bet you love that right? or Congress? not so much.

however in todays economic climate, you can not run a drum corps for what you did when you marched. you cant even doa decent parade corps on that. vets organizations...barely alive. can barely afford things now especially with states cutting down on their "raffles" and prizes etc.CYO pretty much gaveup on everything except basketball and even in some areas they did give up on that.

that said, most of your argument, IMO, stems with your dislike of the on field product and you falling for many overly perpetuated myths about the activity.

and for what some of these directors get paid for the hours they put in....please. go tell your boss you want to work those hours and get paid accordingly

[chaddyt]

In a recent Post on farcebook to my Brothers in the Classic Cavaliers, I said

"So...2012 marks the 40th Anniversary (or 41st; DCI is not famous for being good with numbers; - i.e. "Samurai", " "Mad World", "XtraordinarY") of the formation of DCI. And we are asked to participate in some sort of celebration of the birth of a monster that Dr. Frankenstein would have aborted. Ask Don Warren what he thinks of this abomination he helped create. While I realize that more of you marched DCI than we "Dinosaurs" (and we get fewer annually), you can't honestly tell me that it was the ultimate Drum Corps dream as initially hoped. It turned my Corps into a multi-million $ money hungry entity continually begging for every red cent anyone could offer. Celebrate DCI? I would sooner (get ready for a gross exaggeration) host a Hitler Retrospective in Jerusalem. I cannot, in good conscience, be part of any event in its honor - nor be a member of an organization that would, no matter how politically expedient that may be."

"... someone's been peeing in my Cheerios every morning for the past 40 years and I'm gonna make sure all the inter webs knows about it!!"

Noted. Thank you.