Stu Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Do you mean an honor section standing over in the corner of the field? Why would at least two people want to spend thousands of dollars to go stand in the corner of the field? Or even if they were told it is free...why would they want to waste their time doing nothing but stand in the corner for months? Even in the early days of DCI, corps stopped using real American Flags and used faux ones to avoid any chance of a flag violation. So, a person standing strong to honor their country is a waste of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 So, a person standing strong to honor their country is a waste of time? Yes, standing there doing nothing is a total waste of time, talent and money, because doing something you are mandated to do is not "honoring the country". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 So, a person standing strong to honor their country is a waste of time? Yes. As is the playing or singing of National Anthems before sporting events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Yes, standing there doing nothing is a total waste of time, talent and money because doing something you are mandated to do is not "honoring the country". a) Standing proudly, or doing very simple tasks, are a total waste of time? Hmmm, try telling that to the military personnel who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. That position is one of the most coveted in all of the United States Military; not because it is so simple by waisting time doing nothing except pacing back and forth, but because it is so extremely, um, 'honorable'. By the way, the guards are 'mandated' to fulfill that duty. b) A child is 'mandated' to do things by parents. And when the child willingly does those mandated tasks, as opposed to resisting, whining, or downright disobeying, when the child willingly does those tasks that certainly is 'honoring thy Father and thy Mother'. c) Drum corps youth are 'mandated' to perform many tasks every day by their staff. And when they willingly perfom those tasks, whether on the field with performance issues or off the field with something like picking up all the trash, they certainly do 'honor' the staff, the corps, and the activity. d) Many corps have alternates who willingly pay to be alternates and travel with the corps; these youth could be utilized to carry the guarded colors into the stadium with the corps and stand on the sidelines with the staff during the performance. e) A possibility for corps who do not travel with alternates could, as a gesture of good will, seek out youth from the school in which they are being housed (ie the band drum majors, ROTC youth, etc..) who would be more than happy to enter the field with the corps at some capacity and stand proudly on the sidelines during the performance. Edited January 16, 2014 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Yes. As is the playing or singing of National Anthems before sporting events. One of the beauties of our country is that we have the right to free expression whereas the right 'not' to be offended by that free expression is nowhere to be found in our Constitution. I respect your right to free expression, but just note that the offense to me, and especilly to those who died to protect this particular free expression view of yours is rather overwhelming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rifuarian Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 This statement of yours I completely agree with and here is why: Many people sing the National Anthem, as well as recite the Pledge of Allegiance, in a routine manner. I certainly do believe they are sincere in their emotions while engaging both. However, very, very, very few of them take the time to comprehend the words. So what ends up happening is that they have no understanding as to what the words actually mean. Well I'm glad to hear that. Usually when I say this I get responses like "Durrr, you must hate America!" But wouldn't reciting the Pledge of Allegiance once, alone, in front of your classmates be more meaningful than doing it everyday? Instead of a mindless task it becomes an important ceremony. And why not save the anthem for only the most important events rather than playing it before every peewee league soccer game and quilting bee? Same idea. I'd rather wait til DCI finals to hear the marine band play the anthem than hear some nervous kid stutter through the anthem at a local competition because we have to. So I'm very much in the less-is-more camp here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) ... But wouldn't reciting the Pledge of Allegiance once, alone, in front of your classmates be more meaningful than doing it everyday? Instead of a mindless task it becomes an important ceremony. And why not save the anthem for only the most important events rather than playing it before every peewee league soccer game and quilting bee? Same idea. I'd rather wait til DCI finals to hear the marine band play the anthem than hear some nervous kid stutter through the anthem at a local competition because we have to. So I'm very much in the less-is-more camp here. I am sort of with you on this; things can sometimes get mundane and trite through repetition. But I do not think the frequency is the real issue (ie. DCI performers go through massive repetitions every day yet they continue to understand and respect the material being repeted). The lack of a person learning what the words mean in the National Anthem and Pledge, then actually living by the standards set forth by those words every day, is the real issue. For example: Every time I recite the Pledge I do a self-check to see if my life reflects what I am saying; and when I hear someone getting on a soapbox that we in the United States live in a Democracy I just smile and think of the Pledge as well as the words of our Founding Fathers who created for us a Representative Republic not a Democracy. Edited January 16, 2014 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 From what I've read (right/wrong/in between) the hardness of singing the song was part of the reason it was sung while drinking. IOW - when you are so blotto you can't sing it any more, you've had enough. Sort of like an pre-tech breath-a-lizer. That sucks; I'd fail the test BEFORE I even had a drink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) To me this is not about disrespecting singers or singing the National Anthem at DCI events. Nor is it about dishing out on the DCI show venues that use singers. It is more along the lines of continuity; like this example: It would be rather odd for sponsors of a national touring 'choir competition' to mainly secure brass players to perform the National Anthem when the contest organizers have at their disposal excellent singers to perform. Going back to this. I think its rather insulting to our activity that we are basically a drum and brass arena. At least for now. And we are trotting out singers to kick off our events. Again not to disrespect the kids that may have great singing talents in our DCI inventory but lets hear some horn players belt out the NAtional Anthem at our shows! Edited January 16, 2014 by camel lips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 a) Standing proudly, or doing very simple tasks, are a total waste of time? Hmmm, try telling that to the military personnel who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. That position is one of the most coveted in all of the United States Military; not because it is so simple by waisting time doing nothing except pacing back and forth, but because it is so extremely, um, 'honorable'. By the way, the guards are 'mandated' to fulfill that duty. b) A child is 'mandated' to do things by parents. And when the child willingly does those mandated tasks, as opposed to resisting, whining, or downright disobeying, when the child willingly does those tasks that certainly is 'honoring thy Father and thy Mother'. c) Drum corps youth are 'mandated' to perform many tasks every day by their staff. And when they willingly perfom those tasks, whether on the field with performance issues or off the field with something like picking up all the trash, they certainly do 'honor' the staff, the corps, and the activity. d) Many corps have alternates who willingly pay to be alternates and travel with the corps; these youth could be utilized to carry the guarded colors into the stadium with the corps and stand on the sidelines with the staff during the performance. e) A possibility for corps who do not travel with alternates could, as a gesture of good will, seek out youth from the school in which they are being housed (ie the band drum majors, ROTC youth, etc..) who would be more than happy to enter the field with the corps at some capacity and stand proudly on the sidelines during the performance. None of the above have anything to do with DCI mandating that every corps must have an American section on the field, which has not been required since 1971. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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