Totally awesome - thanks, Jules! (and Izzy!)

Rochester 2008

Sky Alumni does drill!!!



It was a great weekend! Some highlights below...

Ron and I walked into a liquor store in New York... Ron asks, "Do you sell beer here?" The store owner answers, "You can't buy beer in a liquor store in New York. Try the nearest gas station." (Wha?)

And now about my night at the opera DCA preliminary competition. My friends manage to get themselves and me let into the VIP section right around the time the larger corps were starting to perform. I was standing behind the two rows of chairs, using what I thought was my indoor voice (but there was beer involved, so maybe I was a little animated...) I had not been seeking conversation, but in the course of a half an hour, several people I knew and one person who seemed to be trying to impress me approached, and we talked. All of a sudden, in the middle of Bush's show, which I had been trying to watch with an open mind, a woman snaps at me, "Can you PLEASE move back. You talk through every corps!" I, naturally, apologized profusely, and as I was walking away, this older woman connected to an oxygen tank chimes in (rudely), "Thank you - I'm trying to hear the music." This led me to the conclusion that I am obviously not cut out to sit in the VIP section. You couldn't pay me to spend time in their company again. It's a shame that not everyone has figured out that drum corps is just as much about the people as it is about the music. I guess maybe you'd have to have MARCHED it to know that. I do feel badly that I disturbed these ladies, though I think they both certainly could have handled themselves better. I'm glad that I took the higher road by simply apologizing and walking away, even though my friend offered to tell them what he thought of them. :-)

The funniest thing about the situation is that if you know me, you know I am not rowdy, so it definitely makes for a funny story. Reminds me of the time someone that I marched with kicked a garbage can when he found out our score and almost got kicked out of the stadium. He was not the usual profile for rabble rousing, either.

It was definitely fun, and I'm glad that we went.

Tuesday night rehearsal

I was having a pretty good night playing mellophone yesterday, when all of a sudden, we finished playing a song, and my friend turns to me and says, "Lisa - you blew your BALLS off on that!" Figuratively speaking, of course.

Later that night, I was trying to figure out why my stomach felt like I just did 50 crunches, and then I realized I must have been breathing correctly (yes - there is a correct way to breathe and most of us do it wrong.)

So - yeah - that was pretty cool.

My voice is on a Google compilation video!

You can't make this stuff up!

2 cell phones - $150
Family Share Plan - $70 a month
Calling your other half and finding out he's on stage (where you're supposed to be!) - PRICELESS!

(Ring!)
He said: Hello..... We're on stage. No, really - we're on stage.

This event occurred through a miscommunication, but it was pretty funny, nonetheless.

DCA Weekend!!!

Well, it's DCA weekend, and you can tell I've been having a good time since it's taken until Sunday for me to hook up to the hotel's Internet.

First of all, let me mention (to get it out of the way) that Fusion is run by truly classless individuals. Ron and I had decided that we were going to be cordial to them and that was about it. So, Holly decided to make it a game to try to get us to talk to her. I used to consider her a friend. Now I can see that she had me completely bamboozled and I'm glad that I made the decision to not associate with her or (con)Fusion Core.

Besides having to associate with the above unpleasantness, everything else has been a blast!!
Skyliners mini-corps was EXTREMELY fun and we actually placed 11th out of 18. When you think that we only had 6 rehearsals, that was a HUGE accomplishment. I enjoyed watching prelims and I'm wondering how on earth Cabs placed above Empire. I'm hoping for the flip flop tonight at Finals.

Back to having fun - later gators!

Here's an awesome picture of Empire that I took.

Con-Fusion Core: my analysis

So, Fusion competed in their first contest last night in Clifton, NJ, and I was desperately trying to stay objective while watching. However, it's difficult to get past the cloud of suspicion surrounding their formartion, so this review might be a little biased.

Overall, the performace was not as bad as the monstrosity that the directors put out on the field when they were the directors of the Skyliners last year. The performance level was good. Everyone seemed confident in their marching and playing. They had low numbers in the guard and drumline which probably affected the score.

The show itself was boring. No highs or lows and it seemed like they played forever. But then again, a lot of DCA corps are boring to me and they do okay, so maybe that is not a problem.

The soloists sucked. They were mainly former Skyliners and played just as poorly as they played solos for the Skyliners in previous years. They have a lot of young players that seemed like they had talent - I think that maybe the folks they had out in the spotlight last night should put their egos away and let the kids do the work. There was a young soprano soloist in their corps who did brilliantly for his one solo, while a veteran player kept coming out for a million solos sounding like he was "choking a chicken from the inside" (don't ask!)

In the end, it seems that a mediocre era for the Skyliners was ended so that a mediocre Fusion Core could be born. Makes me glad that I stopped wasting my time with marching competitive weekend corps.

You have not experienced life....

...until you have brilliantly played the ending of a song you have played on a weekly basis for two years only to find out you were five measures early. And then I played it again (yay for recovery!) :-)

Fourth of July was fun. Second parade went much better - must have been the beer.

New Photos Available!!!!

Got some Melrose pictures up from Memorial Day / Elks / Legion weekends. Check it out:

http://home.comcast.net/~leftylmv78/Melrose2007/

I finally found software to create web albums that doesn't make it a big production and actually produces something simple and functional!! JAlbum rocks!

http://jalbum.net/

Wildwood Weekends

Okay, so I haven't posted in a while. But I did spend two really great weekends in Wildwood. The first was for the Elks parade and the second was for Legions (we won 2nd place - woo hoo!). And the folks who came in first were ringers from Ct (Park City Pride - I enjoy watching them), so I feel pretty good about it - they only beat us by 8 points. I have some pictures but some of them aren't ...ehrm, nice, so we'll see what I end up posting here.

How Could Anyone Not Love This?

This is totally going onto my digital photo frame! (A birthday gift from Ron)

2007 NY Skyliners Season Kickoff Dance

Woo hoo - it's time to paaar-ty!!!

2007 New York Skyliners Season Kickoff Dance

Date: April 21st, 2007
Time: 8:00PM - Midnight
Place: Dover American Legion (2 Legion Place Dover, NJ)
Cost: $35 per person
Price Includes: Hot and cold buffet / beer, wine and soda / coffee, tea and dessert
For tickets contact: Ron Lawrence (908)756-0289 / ronlfrmnj@aol.com

You do not have to be a member of any of the Skyliners organizations to attend. This event is limited to 150 guests. Must be 21 or older.

Sean Holton, you'll be missed!

Sean Holton, someone I met in the Skyliners, passed away this morning. He was a very good man with many friends in drum corps. I'm always at a loss for what to say in these situations. :-(

CD's for Sale from the Brooklyn United Show

If you love alumni drum corps, this would be a good buy for the holiday season.

B.U. Fundraiser

Brooklyn United Presents
Music Under The Bridge

A 2CD Audio
Offered @ $25 including shipping.
Paypal @ www.BrooklynUnited.org
or
check payable Brooklyn United D&B Corps Inc.
Thomas Breen 7401 4th ave apt#3C
Brooklyn,N.Y. 11209-2542

CD#1
Bon Bons chorus
Quest Jr. Corps
Emerald Grenadears
Melrose Blackhawks
Selden Cadets Alumni
Blessed Sac Golden Knights
CD#2
Romeo Cadets
Brooklyn United Alumni
Wynn Center Toppers
The Brassmen Alumni Corps
Lambertville Volunteers
Skyliners Alumni

Both CD's for $25 including shipping.
Thanks for your support. Tom Breen Brooklyn United Alumni Director