Someone please explain e=mc^2 to me, because I really don't like/g

[BRASSO]

Get ivory tower high brow educational academic types out of the way, place working professional musicians and entertainers into the corps design positions, and DCI will be vastly different.

In a moment of levity I imagined a creative Show Designer intentionally designing a show with the theme " Totally Confused ". The Show Designer meets with the GE Caption judges before the season to explain his theme. The judges still leave the preseason meeting with the Show Designer but most still remain a bit confused with the Theme and what the Show Designer will be attempting to convey, despite the lengthy and detailed verbal explanation... but all judges keep an open mind. The season begins and as the season unfolds, the Show seems more confused than ever. The GE judges have no idea what the theme is all about and conclude on Finals Night that he or she is now " Totally confused ". Then it dawns on the GE judges that this was the intent all along, so despite the GE judges being totally confused on the nonsensical and convoluted theme, the GE judges agree that the Show Designer " brilliantly " accomplished his stated goal with the theme on Finals Night. Since the show is well executed the GE judges give them perfect scores because the Corps effectively was able to make everyone in attendance on Finals Night, including the judges, feel totally confused with their Theme of " Totally Confused" for that season.

Edited August 30, 2013 by BRASSO

[charlie1223]

Charlie1223: I would completely agree with you, I mean all of it, from Performance Art to Show Design to Sense of Purpose, et al 'if' DCI was not promoting itself as an entertainment major league with performances in major pro stadiums desiring to max out the seating capacity in those stadiums with big buck paying fans just like all other major entertainment groups. However therein is the conflict; the movers and shakers of the DCI corps design and judging staff 'do' see this activity, like you, as Performance Art which engages in Progressing the Art Form in new exploratory ways; and what y'all do not seem to grasp is that concept is, has been, and always will be appealing to just a select few people relative to the number of people who attend major events for shear entertainment. You want to keep it in the direction of Performance Art; fine; cool; I will be there with you; but it needs to be performed at way, way, way smaller venues. However, if DCI wants to fill those pro stadium seats with fans it had better get out of the Performance Art Progressing the Art Form mind set and get to designing shows more accessible to general fans or things are going to get ugly sometime in the near future.

So Maybe the DCI market right now is too unspecific obviously we want more people interested but what does this new fan look like? Are they frequent Cirque de Sol viewers? Music Students? Dinos? Joe Schmo? etc.

I don't think in today's society you can cast a wide net with drum corps anymore. The Internet has made everything its own niche and you can successfully tune yourself out of everything you even remotely dislike.

If we want to play the numbers game you need to have the variety.

[Cavfan930]

In a moment of levity I imsagined a Show Designer intentionally designing a show with the theme " Totally Confused ". The Show Designer meets with the GE Caption judges before the season to explain his theme. The judges still leave the preseason meeting with the Show Designer but most still remain bit confused with the Theme and what the Show Designer is attempting to convey, despite the lengthy expnation... but all judges keep an open mind. The season unfolds, the Show seems more confused than ever. The judge has no idea what the theme is all about and concluded on Finals Night that they are " Totally confused " Then it dawns on them that this was the intent all along, so despite the judge being totally confused on the convoluted theme, he reluctantly asgrees that the Show Designer accomplished his stated goal with the theme on Finals Night, the shows is well executed, and so he gives them a perfect score because the Corps effectively was able to mske everyone in attendance including the judges totally confused with their Theme of " Totally Connfused".

But immediately after that, they are no longer confused, thus the show fails. So, the corps receives the first ever, "Ah shoot, somewhere between 60 and 100" as their official total.

[Stu]

double post; see below

Edited August 30, 2013 by Stu

[charlie1223]

As someone who early in the season deliberately posted provocative quotes from a negative review of Glass's opera, and someone who argued vociferously against fans of Carolina Crown's show who defended its obscurity (to some) on the specious grounds that the show was faithful to its source material, and someone who has a practically allergic reaction to amplification in drum corps (see my signature), I have to admit that when I finally saw it (less than a week before Finals; I made a point of not watching any show on video until I saw it live), I loved Crown's show. As was the case with Phantom Regiment's "Spartacus" (I groaned when I saw the preshow business on my first viewing of that show in the Quarterfinals theater-cast), what could have been ridiculous rose to magnificence. I'll quote again the reaction of one of the eight friends who joined me for their first drum corps show in Massillon--this is what he said as he watched both Cadets' and Crown's shows: "Wow. Wow. Oh, wow!" (My friends were evenly split between Crown and Cadets as their favorite for the evening, with one dissenter who liked Bluecoats the most.)

Did you do a review of your unspoiled impressions?

And what was the academic intelligence of your first-timer who enjoyed Carolina Crown? That show was reserved for experienced drum corps viewers.

Edited August 30, 2013 by charlie1223

[Cavfan930]

DCI does need clearer goals. They want to fill huge stadiums, but they also keep offering new ways to watch the shows in the comfort of my home. Live broadcasts on the Fan Network are cannibalising their sales. Yeah, they get the money from the subscription, but then I can take that live feed, hook it up to a big tv and sweet speakers and boom. 10 people can watch the shows all at once, with only one person paying for it. Those are 9 tickets they lost out on, probably a couple hundred dollars if we're considering finals. And that adds up real quick. Pretty soon, DCI is gonna find that the stadiums don't want to host their events because it isn't profitable to them. Or, even worse, DCI isn't going to be able to afford it. That's one way DCI is killing itself.

The other is, as was also discussed, the lack of interest from other groups. Even people who are music lovers can have a hard time getting into DCI without someone there to guide them through it. If the Cavaliers hadn't played Mad World when they did, I probably wouldn't be here right now. If I hadn't shown Ballet for Martha to my parents as their first exposure, they wouldn't be interested either. In fact, when my mom was in high school she loved DCI. But, as color guards got weird, and shows more esoteric, it drove her away. She was hesitant to sit down and watch that show with me, but now her interest has finally been rekindled. The fact is, most people are introduced to DCI. They don't just stumble upon it and become the kind of stark-raving mad fanboy I am somewhat ashamed I have become. People see the weird uniforms on BD and Crown, say, "What the heck?" and then walk away. It's all too weird for them.

Art for Art's sake kills Art.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Cavfan930

[charlie1223]

DCI does need clearer goals. They want to fill huge stadiums, but they also keep offering new ways to watch the shows in the comfort of my home. Live broadcasts on the Fan Network are cannibalising their sales. Yeah, they get the money from the subscription, but then I can take that live feed, hook it up to a big tv and sweet speakers and boom. 10 people can watch the shows all at once, with only one person paying for it. Those are 9 tickets they lost out on, probably a couple hundred dollars if we're considering finals. And that adds up real quick. Pretty soon, DCI is gonna find that the stadiums don't want to host their events because it isn't profitable to them. Or, even worse, DCI isn't going to be able to afford it. That's one way DCI is killing itself.

I don't know a single fan of DCI that would rather watch drum corps on Tv than watch it live especially if you are close. There is no evidence that the Fan Network is hurting ticket sales. And if you have used the fan network recently it would be pretty clear to you that risk of this happening is slight.

Fannetwork:Buffalo... I was there! ... No literally. I was IN there in your belly button and nostril.

The other is, as was also discussed, the lack of interest from other groups. Even people who are music lovers can have a hard time getting into DCI without someone there to guide them through it. If the Cavaliers hadn't played Mad World when they did, I probably wouldn't be here right now. If I hadn't shown Ballet for Martha to my parents as their first exposure, they wouldn't be interested either. In fact, when my mom was in high school she loved DCI. But, as color guards got weird, and shows more esoteric, it drove her away. She was hesitant to sit down and watch that show with me, but now her interest has finally been rekindled. The fact is, most people are introduced to DCI. They don't just stumble upon it and become the kind of stark-raving mad fanboy I am somewhat ashamed I have become. People see the weird uniforms on BD and Crown, say, "What the heck?" and then walk away. It's all too weird for them.

Well this gives evidence to my claim that it is all about variety. Mad World got you into it. Martha got your mom back into it. Every person has a single aesthetic that they can cling to. From there they can appreciate the wider spectrum of drum corps design.

Art for Art's sake kills Art.

I can't really think of a better reason to do Art. Is doing art for money, power, prestige, food, or anything else more desirable?

[Stu]

So Maybe the DCI market right now is too unspecific obviously we want more people interested but what does this new fan look like? Are they frequent Cirque de Sol viewers? Music Students? Dinos? Joe Schmo? etc.

In relative terms of numbers of people attending major events, not that many people actually pay to go to see Cirque de Sol, Blue Man, Stomp, etc as compared to many other musical events like major Rock Concerts; most music students pay big bucks to go see Nickelback and Coldplay but attend Performance Art programs out of scholastic requirements; Dinos stay home unless it is the 27th Lancers Alumni Corps playing Danny Boy; and the Joe Schmoes will attend if it has beer and toe-tappin' music.

I don't think in today's society you can cast a wide net with drum corps anymore. The Internet has made everything its own niche and you can successfully tune yourself out of everything you even remotely dislike.

Yes we have the internet, and people can access and watch their favorite band any time they want to for free at any time they please and ignore other stuff. However, let's pick the band Coldplay. A person can watch or listen to almost every piece of music they have ever performed for free online; yet that same person will pay $200 for a ticket, along with hundreds of thousands of other fans, to see Coldplay live in a sold out event at a large stadium. Why? Because they are willing to pay big bucks to receive live raw entertainment not to receive intellectual educational stimulation via Performance Art.

If we want to play the numbers game you need to have the variety.

Ok, you just, sorry to say, contradicted yourself. You just said that we cannot cast a wide net and then turned right around and stated in the very next sentence that we need varitiy. Be that as it may. If you want to get the numbers via variety it needs to be done in a manner like the musical venues where seven bands play one set on stage back to back at an outdoor Saturday event. However, here is the thing about those types of musical concerts: There really is not that much variety. All of those bands are within the same musical genre (they are all alternative bands or they are all classic bands). With the exception of Woodstock, which was a very unique abnormality, it is not variety in the sense of the first group is playing classic rock, the second playing punk, the third playing horn based funk, the fourth playing country/rock, the fifth playing folk, the sixth playing pop, and the final band playing progressive asymmetrical free jazz. However, that type of variety is what we now have in DCI; and it is not working to increase the fan base.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Stu

[kcbari]

None of this is going to make sense without at least skimming the link, sorry.

So I found this, figured you would love it. http://waltzofwords....n-on-beach.html

I for one have always disliked the extremely common, "we're all sheeple and our lives are so routine, but I'm the different one" moral. I think it's dated, no longer contributes to social commentary, and just needs to be retired. (Yes, I recognize and laugh with you at the irony inherent in those sentences). That being said, I pretty much never listen to music and consider what the social commentary is. When I listen to music I want to be taken to that place where only music can take me. I'm very selfish in that music is all about me, nothing and nobody else. So that right there is why e=mc^2 cannot possibly ever appeal to me.

So, my problem with the poem/short story comes from my love music as a form of emotional expression far beyond any other art form. And in this show they covered up the music with the spoken word! That sort of decision just drives me crazy. First time I watched e=mc^2, the first thing I said (read:shouted through the house) was, "You idiots, let the music talk!" There are very few instances of words moving me to tears the ways music can. And part of me feels that if you can't tell the story without the narration (somebody said that somewhere on this thread), then you've got a story that simply doesn't belong on the field. Music can be so extremely beautiful. We all know that. My late grandmother used to say that music is either true or it isn't. Music that is true: 2009 Ballet for Martha. That music strikes a chord inside even the most callous of people. Somehow, it touches everyone who hears it. Music that isn't true: To take the pressure off Crown, and onto my beloved Cavaliers, 15 Minutes of Fame. That show just didn't touch people.

And I know it's demanding, but I think all music ought to touch the people who hear it. I think all of us have that song, or section from a show, that we consider ours. It's practically sacred to you. That moment can fill you with joy on some days, but on others it brings you down so low, that up seems impossible. And, we secretly loathe when other people say they love that moment too, because its supposed to OUR moment.

Neat link, good read.

Never give up thinking. You're doing a pretty good job of using your brain. Having taught public school for 20+ years, it's always refreshing to come across a young person who is willing to consciously step outside of the box that their parents gave them (their box of beliefs may be fine, but it should be accepted on its own merits, not just because they felt that way).

I am a doughnut.

[13strokeroll]

Counting: My quick search found that apparently the counting is supposed to be "...an interpretation as a reference to the mathematical and scientific breakthroughs made by Einstein himself." And I'm sorry but as someone majoring in math education and dating a physicist, that just rubs me the wrong way. YES, Einstein was a genius. YES, he shaped modern physics. However, more modern physics is finding that he may be completely wrong. I protest that such beautiful achievements be referenced by counting over and over again to the number 8. Yes, I know that musically 8 is convenient to count to. But I mean come on. The equation is squared, and 8 is a cube. To me, that's like drawing a line and saying it exists in 2 dimensional space. It's just silly.

Poem: Couldn't find the name, someone help?

Actually, science isn't proving him wrong, simply that his theories don't translate to the subatomic level. No one has been able to disprove him. As far as the content of the show, Also Sprach is critical. Zarathustra taught essentially that man moves in cycles of revelation in a path to further enlightenment. When that enlightenment is reached, the next revelation presents itself. Neitzche took that thought and ran with it. The show describes how Einstein was able to make sense of apparent disorder. The park bench takes this order and implies there is yet a further revelation, impossible you say? As difficult to digest as it might seem, the narration is critical to the development.