Looking at the hate

[Galen]

Hop has Livejournal- interesting.

Although being as net-savvy as he is, I wouldn't be surprised to find him on Myspace or Facebook soon.

[Michael Boo]

Wow... that insight into the context of that does change things considerably. Thanks for posting, Mike.

...

You're most welcome. This is one of those Internet things that has developed a life of its own. And the context rarely (if ever) gets included.

[Bluefan]

About the phone calls: what was the purpose of his entry about it? If somebody does recognize the numbers, what is that going to change? Does he want these guys to stop and apologize without "busting" them. Whenever I read something that man has posted, I always feel like he wants somebody to throw him a pity party. But I'm sure he doesn't mean to come off that way, he must write these things in just a minutes time.

Oh, and I don't know who would have his number, but I'm going to go ahead and start the rumor that the Cavies staff is doing a little misbehaving.

[Lance]

If I may be so bold as to comment on that famous/infamous PowerPoint presentation George gave at the January 2004 DCI seminar in Orlando, the "DRUM CORPS = MARCHING BAND" slide that Vince Lamb wrote about in Drum Corps World that was picked up on and reacted to with a resounding explosion of sentiment...

I was there for the presentation. Indeed, George put up a "slide" that said that verbatim.

HOWEVER, the context in Vince's article was totally missing, and personally, (NOT speaking on behalf of DCI in any way, shape or form, but for my self), I thought it got twisted by the lack of a preface to the "slide." George had stated immediately before that went up on the screen that we needed to do a better job of marketing to the public what we really were, because in the minds of the average person on the street that didn't know better, "DRUM CORPS = MARCHING BAND."

See how the context changes dramatically?

Forgive me if that wasn't what you were directly referring to.

Mike

Thanks for saying that again, Mike. A lot of people don't realize the actual context of that quote since it was one of the catch phrases the more vociferously anti-amp crowd used over and over again. As for the rest of the original post, good points, and things that have been discussed in part or in total on this board for years. Thanks for articulating your view and sharing.

[WWonka]

I pretty much agree with everything the OP said.

[Hrothgar15]

Heh, the original poster is basically me if I were somehow given the ability to express my views maturely. :P

Edited July 31, 2006 by Hrothgar15

[bdavis]

The original poster said something to the affect of there being a stark separation between the governing bodies of DCI and the fan base. Is it so wrong for people who have marched in years past to feel betrayed by a perversion of what their idea of drumcorps used to be? Why dont these so called governing bodies listen to what these people have to say....Im all for innovation and change, but please pay attention to these red flags people are talking about, and instead of renovating the overall idea of drumcorps from the future, base and build your ideas from the past. By doing this, we dont lose our sense of pride and arent forced to talk about "how things used to be".

B.Davis

[jjlet]

You can like George, or not. The facts of his impact to drum corps I think speak fairly clearly over the years, and they say that DCI and drum corps in general would not be the great activity it is today without the impact of people like George.

Again, you don't have to like all his ideas, but deep down, George's ambitions are to make drum corps a better activity through innovation, new ideas, finding ways to get into the audience's heads and hearts, etc. And he has done that, so let's give him the credit he deserves for what he's done, not blast him because it's not what your own personal reality "should be".

[vferrera]

Rusty, that was brilliant.

I for one have no problem with Hopkins (or any other director) pursuing their vision of drum corps. However, there have to be safeguards against one person coming dominating the activity. Let's face it, Hopkins has become the Bill Gates of drum corps (insert obvious money joke here) and The Cadets are Windows. Whatever they do becomes the "industry standard" whether it's good or bad.

There has to be a chance for others to express their vision of drum corps. We've already lost Scott Stewart's vision as well as many others who have been forced to the sidelines. This is a huge loss for the activity.

Who is to blame? Well, frankly, it isn't DCI and it isn't the corps directors. It's the judges. They decide what gets rewarded and therefore they have the biggest impact on the overall direction of the activity. In my opinion, the current slate of judges has a narrow definition of what constitutes excellence in drum corps. The result is that we have lost a lot of the variety that flourished during the 80s and early 90s.

[geluf]

I read the title of the thread wrong at first.

I thought it said Looking at the *Hat*!

I'm not much on hats myself really.