In this case Ashley Calabotta (please hit me if I spelled this wrong.)
Today was the final day of Color Guard and Drum Major tryouts.
Renata Shirlee, Chase Travaille, Ashley Calabotta, Sean Rast, and I (Christopher Queen) worked valiantly for 2 days perfecting the techniques necessary to grasp an understanding of the basic drum major concepts. Marching, vocal commands, and conducting were all scrutinized by two third-party judges, Mrs. Abbott and another musician who's name escapes me at the moment.
We began by giving our commands, then we proceeded into our conducting, which was followed by our salute, then a final round of questions.
Quite the daunting task no matter how prepared you are.
Though the scores were close, Ashley came out on top, and will be our Drum Major next year. Truly, a sight to behold, Ashley will put up with nothing and dole out commands like no one's business. Congratulations.
And I would like to congratulate everyone who stuck it out, and tried out.
It takes a lot of guts, and everyone who tried could've done a fine job as Drum Major.
Remember, it was a friendly competition and the best came out on top.
Grudges should not be held, and hopefully won't.
Goodnight.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
...whoops. (with new and improved text!)
That's about the only word I can use to describe this dismal mistake on my part.
WHOOPS.
Anyways, back on track.
I realize, looking back at my last post, that I haven't edited this thing since last October. Trick or Treat?
In more recent news though, we have a concert tomorrow night!
I'm excited. Of course I get to play the accordion, and open up Jazz-a-ma-Tazz (the suggested spelling of "tazz" was "tizz"...) with a few words.
Not everyone gets the honor of playing such a beautiful instrument. People have been brought to tears by the accordion...I'm sure they have some where.
We'll be playing a nice mix of music, a fruit salad of notes if you will.
In true Sylvan Hills fashion we'll be playing music about a pirate/ship.
This time it's about Black Beard, the most notorious pirate on the high seas. Well, was the most notorious pirate on the high seas...until his head was lopped off by a rival ship commander.
The Lion King: Broadway Selections is on the list for tomorrow night as well!
Which begs the question, where is my Lion Suit Mr. Bailey? Hm? We can't have a proper Lion King Broadway show without acceptable costume! Although, if you listen to the last few measures of it, you'll here a little auxiliary noise. A creative choice by Mr. Bailey that I whole heartedly agree with! (though honestly, it's hilarious to listen too...)
And of course, we have the mandatory slow, yet challenging piece "A Quiet Music." My opinion may be biased because no one thinks to write music for the stunning contra-alto clarinet (we're people too!), but this song is truly beautiful when played as an entire band. Truly a piece to savor with the ears (do ears have taste-buds?)
Lastly, we come to the cream of the crop in our show, the song Declaration and Flourishes. Conducted by none other than our own Natalie Kerr, this song is a romp through the classical, semi-march style that will leave bass clarinet and contra-alto clarinet players craving more of it's low, hard-hitting tones. I for one would enjoy more pieces that include a bass clarinet solo, or two, or five. Mr. Bailey should really consult me before purchasing music.
The Jazz Band will be performing as well, but hey, I can't ruin all the surprises. Though I can say, the Sylvan Hills Jazz Band has a rockin' auxiliary percussion section (wink, wink.)
Some other band news, includes that of State Solo and Ensemble as well as The Festival of Winds.
Solo and Ensemble first though. Now, to put this into perspective: You have normal Region Solo and Ensemble where you have a piece prepared for a judge, who you will then play for, and receive a rating of 1 through 5. 1 being the best, 5 being an "Oh my gosh, why did you come?" Now imagine that, on a scale 10x bigger. That's State Solo and Ensemble. Each of the participants worked a little more on their prepared piece, and played it for a judge (with an audio accompaniment.) Please realize, this is STATE. Nothing is ever easy on the STATE LEVEL.
Having said that, everyone who participated received the best possible rating of a 1.
Let me say that again, EVERYONE GOT A 1.
Festival of Winds! Oh, Festival of Winds how you've come and gone so quickly.
I can tell you this though, it is some of the most fun I've had playing my instrument. Once again let me set the tone for this: You are given an application (much in the vain of a job application), you must fill this application out with your most outstanding musical achievements and merit (all-region, all-state, solo and ensemble). You then give the application to your band director who, will then confirm and add notes and comments to anything you've written. The applications are sent in, and young musicians are selected to play in the Festival.
The music was given to us about 2 weeks before the concert, and we were asked to practice and learn the music. It was our responsibility (oh, how I dread that word!)
We received some pretty off the wall pieces like Interruption Overture and MetaMarch, and some other slower, calm pieces like Bloom and Sleep.
The best part was the fact that the composer of three of our pieces (MetaMarch, Interruption Overture, and Bloom) was our guest conductor, none other than Steven Bryant.
He graciously accepted the job, and it was a joy to work with him on his own music.
Story time!
There once was a very handsome Contra-Alto Clarinet player who was excited to play in the Festival of Winds! He sat down eagerly, barely able to contain his excitement, when he pressed his High B key down, and to his dismay it was loose! What was he too do? They were about to go on stage! The handsome Contra-Alto player dashed through the auditorium looking for someone to help fix it! He ran to his band director who wanted to help, but his magical tools were in the his car, three blocks away, and it was raining (...). Just then, a magical giant from the Arkansas Wind Symphony said, "I know someone who could help!"
We ran to the chapel (don't ask) and to our dismay the magical instrument fixer-guy (names are hard to come up with) was nowhere to be seen! Just then, like an winged-seraphim descending from heaven, came the Bass Clarinet player for the Arkansas Wind Symphony (who earlier that day the Contra-Alto player had a sectional with!) said, "I have just the tool!" And in front the young mans eye's the Bass Clarinet player took out a magical screwdriver (there is a lot of magic at the Festival of Winds...) and fixed his Contra-Alto in a snap! "Thank you..." replied the lowly Contra-Alto. "No problem," said the Bass Clarinet, "Do you think you'll need this tool again?" The handsome young man pondered the question and replied with a stern "Yes!" The Bass Clarinet player then handed the tool to the young man who was ever grateful for the gift bestowed upon him. He ran back to the auditorium, overwhelmed with pride and joy. He then layed out some phat beats on his Contra-Alto, saved the Galaxy from Darth Vader, and slayed the dragon.
The End.
The moral of this story?
It pays off to be a handsome Contra-Alto Clarinet player...
PSH. No, I'm playing.
The real moral?
It pays to have connections to professional musicians.
That was serious.
Till' next time!
WHOOPS.
Anyways, back on track.
I realize, looking back at my last post, that I haven't edited this thing since last October. Trick or Treat?
In more recent news though, we have a concert tomorrow night!
I'm excited. Of course I get to play the accordion, and open up Jazz-a-ma-Tazz (the suggested spelling of "tazz" was "tizz"...) with a few words.
Not everyone gets the honor of playing such a beautiful instrument. People have been brought to tears by the accordion...I'm sure they have some where.
We'll be playing a nice mix of music, a fruit salad of notes if you will.
In true Sylvan Hills fashion we'll be playing music about a pirate/ship.
This time it's about Black Beard, the most notorious pirate on the high seas. Well, was the most notorious pirate on the high seas...until his head was lopped off by a rival ship commander.
The Lion King: Broadway Selections is on the list for tomorrow night as well!
Which begs the question, where is my Lion Suit Mr. Bailey? Hm? We can't have a proper Lion King Broadway show without acceptable costume! Although, if you listen to the last few measures of it, you'll here a little auxiliary noise. A creative choice by Mr. Bailey that I whole heartedly agree with! (though honestly, it's hilarious to listen too...)
And of course, we have the mandatory slow, yet challenging piece "A Quiet Music." My opinion may be biased because no one thinks to write music for the stunning contra-alto clarinet (we're people too!), but this song is truly beautiful when played as an entire band. Truly a piece to savor with the ears (do ears have taste-buds?)
Lastly, we come to the cream of the crop in our show, the song Declaration and Flourishes. Conducted by none other than our own Natalie Kerr, this song is a romp through the classical, semi-march style that will leave bass clarinet and contra-alto clarinet players craving more of it's low, hard-hitting tones. I for one would enjoy more pieces that include a bass clarinet solo, or two, or five. Mr. Bailey should really consult me before purchasing music.
The Jazz Band will be performing as well, but hey, I can't ruin all the surprises. Though I can say, the Sylvan Hills Jazz Band has a rockin' auxiliary percussion section (wink, wink.)
Some other band news, includes that of State Solo and Ensemble as well as The Festival of Winds.
Solo and Ensemble first though. Now, to put this into perspective: You have normal Region Solo and Ensemble where you have a piece prepared for a judge, who you will then play for, and receive a rating of 1 through 5. 1 being the best, 5 being an "Oh my gosh, why did you come?" Now imagine that, on a scale 10x bigger. That's State Solo and Ensemble. Each of the participants worked a little more on their prepared piece, and played it for a judge (with an audio accompaniment.) Please realize, this is STATE. Nothing is ever easy on the STATE LEVEL.
Having said that, everyone who participated received the best possible rating of a 1.
Let me say that again, EVERYONE GOT A 1.
Festival of Winds! Oh, Festival of Winds how you've come and gone so quickly.
I can tell you this though, it is some of the most fun I've had playing my instrument. Once again let me set the tone for this: You are given an application (much in the vain of a job application), you must fill this application out with your most outstanding musical achievements and merit (all-region, all-state, solo and ensemble). You then give the application to your band director who, will then confirm and add notes and comments to anything you've written. The applications are sent in, and young musicians are selected to play in the Festival.
The music was given to us about 2 weeks before the concert, and we were asked to practice and learn the music. It was our responsibility (oh, how I dread that word!)
We received some pretty off the wall pieces like Interruption Overture and MetaMarch, and some other slower, calm pieces like Bloom and Sleep.
The best part was the fact that the composer of three of our pieces (MetaMarch, Interruption Overture, and Bloom) was our guest conductor, none other than Steven Bryant.
He graciously accepted the job, and it was a joy to work with him on his own music.
Story time!
There once was a very handsome Contra-Alto Clarinet player who was excited to play in the Festival of Winds! He sat down eagerly, barely able to contain his excitement, when he pressed his High B key down, and to his dismay it was loose! What was he too do? They were about to go on stage! The handsome Contra-Alto player dashed through the auditorium looking for someone to help fix it! He ran to his band director who wanted to help, but his magical tools were in the his car, three blocks away, and it was raining (...). Just then, a magical giant from the Arkansas Wind Symphony said, "I know someone who could help!"
We ran to the chapel (don't ask) and to our dismay the magical instrument fixer-guy (names are hard to come up with) was nowhere to be seen! Just then, like an winged-seraphim descending from heaven, came the Bass Clarinet player for the Arkansas Wind Symphony (who earlier that day the Contra-Alto player had a sectional with!) said, "I have just the tool!" And in front the young mans eye's the Bass Clarinet player took out a magical screwdriver (there is a lot of magic at the Festival of Winds...) and fixed his Contra-Alto in a snap! "Thank you..." replied the lowly Contra-Alto. "No problem," said the Bass Clarinet, "Do you think you'll need this tool again?" The handsome young man pondered the question and replied with a stern "Yes!" The Bass Clarinet player then handed the tool to the young man who was ever grateful for the gift bestowed upon him. He ran back to the auditorium, overwhelmed with pride and joy. He then layed out some phat beats on his Contra-Alto, saved the Galaxy from Darth Vader, and slayed the dragon.
The End.
The moral of this story?
It pays off to be a handsome Contra-Alto Clarinet player...
PSH. No, I'm playing.
The real moral?
It pays to have connections to professional musicians.
That was serious.
Till' next time!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Region 6 Assessment: CONSISTENCY
Back again to voice my amazing (manly) opinion on our performance at the Region 6 Assessment.
Unlike our other events, which were competitions, this was an assessment. We were not competing against any schools. We received a single score, an overall band rating.
Band Overall: 2
Not cool Region 6 judges, not cool at all. A two? A two? At least we're consistent. (finding the light in the dark abyss here)
I could handle all of the other 2's we received, but this was our best performances to date. We gave everything we had, and what did we get in return? The same comments we've heard over and over again.
-More sound
-More sound
-Play louder
-That bass clarinets steps aren't high enough. (oops, my bad)
Don't get me wrong, constructive criticism is great. It's necessary to improve.
But having it banged against our delicate heads does nothing for us as a band.
We played our butts off. They literally fell off, I'm pretty sure mine is still at NLR somewhere. I have to go back and get it sometime.
I had third party collaboration, and they say that it's the best we've ever sounded!
Mind you, these were band parents, but harshly opinionated band parents. (if there is such a thing?)
I can't say I'm horribly distraught, though. We weren't the only school to receive a 2. In fact, the only school to receive a 1 was North Pulaski, (like they always do.)
Every other school received a 2, or dare I say lower !
That's right. Certain schools received a 3. In all my professional marching career, I've never heard of a band getting a 3. It hurt me to hear that. I cringed.
Guess what we have to look forward to now? CONCERT SEASON!
Tomorrow we will begin our escapades in concert music.
Sure, we can't take Sweepstakes, but we can still try our hardest to get a 1 during concert competition.
Don't forget about All Region either!
It's right around the corner so start practicing now!
That's all she wrote.
Unlike our other events, which were competitions, this was an assessment. We were not competing against any schools. We received a single score, an overall band rating.
Band Overall: 2
Not cool Region 6 judges, not cool at all. A two? A two? At least we're consistent. (finding the light in the dark abyss here)
I could handle all of the other 2's we received, but this was our best performances to date. We gave everything we had, and what did we get in return? The same comments we've heard over and over again.
-More sound
-More sound
-Play louder
-That bass clarinets steps aren't high enough. (oops, my bad)
Don't get me wrong, constructive criticism is great. It's necessary to improve.
But having it banged against our delicate heads does nothing for us as a band.
We played our butts off. They literally fell off, I'm pretty sure mine is still at NLR somewhere. I have to go back and get it sometime.
I had third party collaboration, and they say that it's the best we've ever sounded!
Mind you, these were band parents, but harshly opinionated band parents. (if there is such a thing?)
I can't say I'm horribly distraught, though. We weren't the only school to receive a 2. In fact, the only school to receive a 1 was North Pulaski, (like they always do.)
Every other school received a 2, or dare I say lower !
That's right. Certain schools received a 3. In all my professional marching career, I've never heard of a band getting a 3. It hurt me to hear that. I cringed.
Guess what we have to look forward to now? CONCERT SEASON!
Tomorrow we will begin our escapades in concert music.
Sure, we can't take Sweepstakes, but we can still try our hardest to get a 1 during concert competition.
Don't forget about All Region either!
It's right around the corner so start practicing now!
That's all she wrote.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Showcase of Bands: At least I got a t-shirt.
Reflection time again.
Drum Major: Division 1
Good. That's what he deserved. The only complaint last time was his tiny down beat.
He fixed it, and thus his division goes up. Keep going Luke, and keep getting one's.
You've made everything very clear. Every count, every crescendo, every decrescendo, I can tell exactly where it is.
Thumbs up.
Percussion: Division 1
Woohoo! What more can I say?
I said it last week, they weren't going to put up with the rating they received, so they changed it. It's amazing considering only 4 percussionists were present, not including pit. I will say this though, there is always room for improvement. Maybe you missed your spot once, maybe one of your hits was off? Next time, fix it, and you'll have earned that 1 even more so.
Color Guard: Division 1
Consistency is a good thing. Great job! You twirled through the wind, and didn't let it affect you.
Well, I mean that, you kept going despite the wind, you egg-beater(ed?), tossed, and spun like no one's business. You deserved what you got, but a word if I may,
like I said last week, don't get cocky, because it'll come back and smack you in the face. Quite possibly in the form of a flag pole ramming into your face. Not pretty, at all.
Band Overall: Division 2
I'm not exactly sure what they want from us anymore. I'd like to make a point if I may.
Band class is determined by the size of your school. Not the size of your band, the size of your school. How is that a fair representation of our band?
Example time!
School A and B have 500 students each. School A has 100 participants in band, while School B has only 25. Not the same is it? Then why should it be fair to judge them equally? Of course School B isn't going to be as loud as School A. It's just not possible, well it is, but School B would sound like crap if they tried too.
So...
given this situation, do you believe it's fair to judge them equally?
Hmmm? It'd be easy to stick microphones and amps on the sideline, but how does that prove anything?
Telling us to play out, when we are putting everything we have into an instrument, is completely ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
You know what? I'm not dissappointed, at all. How can I be?
We put everything we had into that show, and nothing less. If they think it's only worth a 2, that's fine. We know we tried hard. We did our best.
I will tell you what really hurt me. I don't get frustrated much, but this is sickening.
While leaving the field, everyone was excited. We did ten times better than last year. We were happy! Nothing could bring us down.
Boy, was I wrong.
Sitting down to hear that every group around us had gotten a division 1 brought our spirits up so high there was nothing that compared to it.
But to sit there and hear that we got a Division 2, crushed me.
The idea that our best, wasn't good enough, disturbed me deeply.
At that point the excitement I had before, was quickly drained.
Of course I clapped when the other bands got their awards, but nothing would bring me back.
And here I am, typing this out. Still feeling horrible.
Oh, well, nothing I can do now...
except sleep.
Hey, at least I got a neat t-shirt.
Drum Major: Division 1
Good. That's what he deserved. The only complaint last time was his tiny down beat.
He fixed it, and thus his division goes up. Keep going Luke, and keep getting one's.
You've made everything very clear. Every count, every crescendo, every decrescendo, I can tell exactly where it is.
Thumbs up.
Percussion: Division 1
Woohoo! What more can I say?
I said it last week, they weren't going to put up with the rating they received, so they changed it. It's amazing considering only 4 percussionists were present, not including pit. I will say this though, there is always room for improvement. Maybe you missed your spot once, maybe one of your hits was off? Next time, fix it, and you'll have earned that 1 even more so.
Color Guard: Division 1
Consistency is a good thing. Great job! You twirled through the wind, and didn't let it affect you.
Well, I mean that, you kept going despite the wind, you egg-beater(ed?), tossed, and spun like no one's business. You deserved what you got, but a word if I may,
like I said last week, don't get cocky, because it'll come back and smack you in the face. Quite possibly in the form of a flag pole ramming into your face. Not pretty, at all.
Band Overall: Division 2
I'm not exactly sure what they want from us anymore. I'd like to make a point if I may.
Band class is determined by the size of your school. Not the size of your band, the size of your school. How is that a fair representation of our band?
Example time!
School A and B have 500 students each. School A has 100 participants in band, while School B has only 25. Not the same is it? Then why should it be fair to judge them equally? Of course School B isn't going to be as loud as School A. It's just not possible, well it is, but School B would sound like crap if they tried too.
So...
given this situation, do you believe it's fair to judge them equally?
Hmmm? It'd be easy to stick microphones and amps on the sideline, but how does that prove anything?
Telling us to play out, when we are putting everything we have into an instrument, is completely ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
You know what? I'm not dissappointed, at all. How can I be?
We put everything we had into that show, and nothing less. If they think it's only worth a 2, that's fine. We know we tried hard. We did our best.
I will tell you what really hurt me. I don't get frustrated much, but this is sickening.
While leaving the field, everyone was excited. We did ten times better than last year. We were happy! Nothing could bring us down.
Boy, was I wrong.
Sitting down to hear that every group around us had gotten a division 1 brought our spirits up so high there was nothing that compared to it.
But to sit there and hear that we got a Division 2, crushed me.
The idea that our best, wasn't good enough, disturbed me deeply.
At that point the excitement I had before, was quickly drained.
Of course I clapped when the other bands got their awards, but nothing would bring me back.
And here I am, typing this out. Still feeling horrible.
Oh, well, nothing I can do now...
except sleep.
Hey, at least I got a neat t-shirt.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Cabot Invitational: A reflection.
Hi. Not much of an introduction, but that pretty much describes my mood.
Not much to say, not much I can do.
I plan to critique each of our scores, you may agree with my critique you may not.
I call it as I see it.
Cabot Invitational Scores
Band Overall: Division 2
That's understandable. I can think of ten things we could've done better. Really. We could've been much louder. We could've used more accents. We could've stayed in time.
etc.
But guess what that means? We have to fix it. We have a week to do so?
This means we try our hardest and fix the problem.
Drum Major: Division 2
Say what? Excuse, did I hear that correctly? According to our "critique", Luke may have been the best part of our band. Our "critique" said that Luke had the confidence, and that we had to return the sentiment. That's right, I can dig that.
But to have it turned around, and miss Division 1 by a single point, really grinds my gears. I realize a judge can't add up all their points as they write them, but by 1 point. I don't know, that just seems a little "messed up?"
Color Guard: Division 1
Now, this is a score I really don't understand. Each color guard member is an amazing person as individuals, but together, it's not what it could be.
I mean no offense to anyone, but it could be much better.
And I believe the color guard knows it, and I have faith they will strive to improve.
Don't take this 1 as, "Improvement isn't needed."
Take it as, "Yeah, that's nice, but we could do better."
In my eyes, the color guard is at the same level as the band.
And following that logic, we should've gotten a 1 or the color guard should've gotten a 2.
Percussion: Division 2
Not much to say here. I know they will try to improve.
Judging by some dissappointed attitudes, they didn't their score.
I have faith they'll try even harder.
My Opinion:
Hey, guess what. We can do better. We are going to better.
We have to do better. I may not agree with all the scores, but there is nothing I can do about it.
The past is past is the past. We can't change it.
All we can do is look ahead, and make sure it's better than before.
Not much to say, not much I can do.
I plan to critique each of our scores, you may agree with my critique you may not.
I call it as I see it.
Cabot Invitational Scores
Band Overall: Division 2
That's understandable. I can think of ten things we could've done better. Really. We could've been much louder. We could've used more accents. We could've stayed in time.
etc.
But guess what that means? We have to fix it. We have a week to do so?
This means we try our hardest and fix the problem.
Drum Major: Division 2
Say what? Excuse, did I hear that correctly? According to our "critique", Luke may have been the best part of our band. Our "critique" said that Luke had the confidence, and that we had to return the sentiment. That's right, I can dig that.
But to have it turned around, and miss Division 1 by a single point, really grinds my gears. I realize a judge can't add up all their points as they write them, but by 1 point. I don't know, that just seems a little "messed up?"
Color Guard: Division 1
Now, this is a score I really don't understand. Each color guard member is an amazing person as individuals, but together, it's not what it could be.
I mean no offense to anyone, but it could be much better.
And I believe the color guard knows it, and I have faith they will strive to improve.
Don't take this 1 as, "Improvement isn't needed."
Take it as, "Yeah, that's nice, but we could do better."
In my eyes, the color guard is at the same level as the band.
And following that logic, we should've gotten a 1 or the color guard should've gotten a 2.
Percussion: Division 2
Not much to say here. I know they will try to improve.
Judging by some dissappointed attitudes, they didn't their score.
I have faith they'll try even harder.
My Opinion:
Hey, guess what. We can do better. We are going to better.
We have to do better. I may not agree with all the scores, but there is nothing I can do about it.
The past is past is the past. We can't change it.
All we can do is look ahead, and make sure it's better than before.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
My formal apology.
I hate this feeling I have. I hate it, and can't stand it. I feel like I've done something wrong and there is nothing I can do about it. Scratch that, I know I've done something wrong.
I did not mean to come off cross at practice Mr. Bailey, I don't think anyone did. A mix of all kinds of factors, just contributed to my attitude and everyone else's. I can't really speak for everyone, but I would like to apologize for my attitude tonight. It was wrong of me, and I shouldn't have acted like I did. I should've been able to play my music at the drop of a hat, but the pressure of playing alone, with two others who had not passed off their music got to me. I broke under the pressure, something that usually happens, and I do what anyone does in that situation. I became frustrated and angry. That was a big mistake. And it shouldn't have happened.
I really want us to do well, but the attitude's displayed tonight were not condusive to doing well. I would like you to know that I am looking back over my music, right now. I looked like a fool tonight, having passed off my music, but not being able to play it. But I only have myself to blame. I really do hope you understand.
I hate this feeling, I was hoping this post would help, but it's still nagging at me.
All I can do is improve tommorow morning, and hope everyone does the same. I want us to do well, and I want to help us succeed. I have to shape up, and so does everyone else.
Please take this as a formally apology, first and foremost, Mr. Bailey, but Luke, and the rest of the band.
And by the way, NLR game tommorow night, bring your game faces. >:D (<- gameface, in case you didn't know)
Remember, Nightmare Show Shirt, Blue Jeans, Black Socks, and Drill Masters. A lack of any of those will result in a grade deduction. Make sure you have it all!
I wish us the best of luck.
I did not mean to come off cross at practice Mr. Bailey, I don't think anyone did. A mix of all kinds of factors, just contributed to my attitude and everyone else's. I can't really speak for everyone, but I would like to apologize for my attitude tonight. It was wrong of me, and I shouldn't have acted like I did. I should've been able to play my music at the drop of a hat, but the pressure of playing alone, with two others who had not passed off their music got to me. I broke under the pressure, something that usually happens, and I do what anyone does in that situation. I became frustrated and angry. That was a big mistake. And it shouldn't have happened.
I really want us to do well, but the attitude's displayed tonight were not condusive to doing well. I would like you to know that I am looking back over my music, right now. I looked like a fool tonight, having passed off my music, but not being able to play it. But I only have myself to blame. I really do hope you understand.
I hate this feeling, I was hoping this post would help, but it's still nagging at me.
All I can do is improve tommorow morning, and hope everyone does the same. I want us to do well, and I want to help us succeed. I have to shape up, and so does everyone else.
Please take this as a formally apology, first and foremost, Mr. Bailey, but Luke, and the rest of the band.
And by the way, NLR game tommorow night, bring your game faces. >:D (<- gameface, in case you didn't know)
Remember, Nightmare Show Shirt, Blue Jeans, Black Socks, and Drill Masters. A lack of any of those will result in a grade deduction. Make sure you have it all!
I wish us the best of luck.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Great Flood came, and we danced.
I got some splainnin' to do, I know.
I would have writtin' a blog last night, but I was wiped out. As I'm sure many of you were.
Last night was a first for me, as well as many others. We were washed out by rain, and tons of it. It would start, and then stop, and then start again, and stop.
Literally, we rushed to get our insturments in our case, only to have it stop a minute later. Meanwhile the brass and percussion kept playing 'Born to be Wild.'
Of course the rain started up again, and we were out there dancing to 'Born to be Wild' soaking wet. Quite a fitting seen if you ask me. A bunch of wet band kids dancing to a song about be wild? Couldn't ask for anything better.
At one point the rain became so bad, we were rushed into the Cabot Bandroom, which I must say was very hospitible of them. They could've let us get soaked, but no, they opened up their classroom to us, the soaking wet bears.
The coolest part of it was, one of their Drum Major's ran up to us, seeing our condition, and asked this very question:
"Do you guys need some towels? I mean, we don't have any towels, but we have a bathtub? We should have some towels."
It sounds funny now, but it just goes to show how nice people can be. You can almost always count on a fellow band to help you out. Of course, we declined in a nice manner, but the thought that they would help us out, meant the world to me.
Of course, the rain sent us packing early. Not much else to post about.
See you Monday!
Remember Part 3 was due Friday. May Mr. Bailey have pity on your small band souls and allow you try for another 100% Monday.
I would have writtin' a blog last night, but I was wiped out. As I'm sure many of you were.
Last night was a first for me, as well as many others. We were washed out by rain, and tons of it. It would start, and then stop, and then start again, and stop.
Literally, we rushed to get our insturments in our case, only to have it stop a minute later. Meanwhile the brass and percussion kept playing 'Born to be Wild.'
Of course the rain started up again, and we were out there dancing to 'Born to be Wild' soaking wet. Quite a fitting seen if you ask me. A bunch of wet band kids dancing to a song about be wild? Couldn't ask for anything better.
At one point the rain became so bad, we were rushed into the Cabot Bandroom, which I must say was very hospitible of them. They could've let us get soaked, but no, they opened up their classroom to us, the soaking wet bears.
The coolest part of it was, one of their Drum Major's ran up to us, seeing our condition, and asked this very question:
"Do you guys need some towels? I mean, we don't have any towels, but we have a bathtub? We should have some towels."
It sounds funny now, but it just goes to show how nice people can be. You can almost always count on a fellow band to help you out. Of course, we declined in a nice manner, but the thought that they would help us out, meant the world to me.
Of course, the rain sent us packing early. Not much else to post about.
See you Monday!
Remember Part 3 was due Friday. May Mr. Bailey have pity on your small band souls and allow you try for another 100% Monday.
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