Last night, Tonya and I decided to go play tennis at Robinson High School since it is up the street from our house. While we were hitting, the band was practicing around on the side of the school. We could hear them as we have before. The night before, we could hear them practicing late into the evening from our living room since we had the windows open. While at the courts, people starting coming from all over and walking towards the football field. Then the lights came on and we wondered what was going on. Tonya saw a cart go by with the pit instruments on it and wondered if maybe they were going to practice out on the field. We had had enough tennis for the evening and decided to go see what was going on. As we walked over to the football field, we saw the band marching from the parking lot. We knew they were going to run through their show.
This was the first time they had performed in front of an audience this year. I guess this was a chance for their family and friends to come see this year's show before the season started. It was interesting watching them go through segments of their show. The director would have them start in a certain place and run until they got to another point and then stop. Once they went through the different parts, he had them start from the top and perform the entire show.
I was amazed at how you can stop in the middle and tell them to go back to a certain point and they can know exactly where they were on the field at that exact point. I used to think that marching band was for geeks that couldn't play real sports. But now that I have seen practices and have gone to many Drum Corp International shows, my mind has changed. It is remarkable how they can remember where they are supposed to go and what formation to do and count how many steps left or right and stay synchronized with everyone else on which foot they should be stepping with. Oh and doing all of this while playing the music that they have memorized. It is just amazing.
I have been spoiled by going to see so many DCI competitions where they are some of the best drum corps in the world. My favorite corp is the Cavaliers. In my opinion, they are THE best corp in the world by far. But I have never seen high school marching band competitions and didn't know what to expect while watching Robinson play. You could tell that there were a lot of young freshman who had never marched before. Unfortunately for all of them, their first performance is during the football game tomorrow night and they will not be practicing between now and then. I am no expert, but they have a long way to go. They made a lot of mistakes last night and look like they need a lot more practice. But I know they will get better as the season rolls on.
I'm glad that we happened to be in the right place at the right time to check out their show. It was entertaining and I can't wait to see more of the competitions.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Buying a Championship
I think the Dodgers are trying to use a page from the Yankees book and buy a championship. They have been busy at the deadline for trades via waivers in order to have players be eligible for the playoffs. The only problem is that they really aren't that good. They might have the best record, but they play mostly west coast teams. They all suck. So that is why the Dodgers are now trying to bring in all the help they can get. That is fine, but I still don't think they are going to past the first round of the playoffs if they have to play an east coast team. I really doubt they make the World Series. I think, and it pains me to say this, but the Phillies are the team to beat right now in the National League. The NLCS goes through Philly.
On the other hand, I don't really care anymore since football is starting up and there is a buzz in Minnesota. My two favorite teams (Vikings and Ravens) will probably win their divisions and maybe even play each other in the Super Bowl. That is if the Ravens can beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship. With Brett Favre at QB, there is no stopping the Vikings. They have too many weapons and know how to use them. I was actually excited to watch the preseason game last night against the Texans. This team reminds me a lot of 1998 Purple Reign team. And the good thing is that Longwell won't miss the chip shot field goal in the league championship game this year. (Damn you, Gary Anderson!)
That's all for now. What do you think?
On the other hand, I don't really care anymore since football is starting up and there is a buzz in Minnesota. My two favorite teams (Vikings and Ravens) will probably win their divisions and maybe even play each other in the Super Bowl. That is if the Ravens can beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship. With Brett Favre at QB, there is no stopping the Vikings. They have too many weapons and know how to use them. I was actually excited to watch the preseason game last night against the Texans. This team reminds me a lot of 1998 Purple Reign team. And the good thing is that Longwell won't miss the chip shot field goal in the league championship game this year. (Damn you, Gary Anderson!)
That's all for now. What do you think?
My Week
So, it has been a little bit since I wrote last. I have been pretty busy at work and haven't had much to write about. So I figured I would just tell about my week.
Last week, we started to pick up at work some. We do jobs for many of the schools in the area (MD, DC, & VA). With school starting up again, we are starting to get more work in. That is good news since it was a difficult time leading up to the summer and I didn't know if the company would make it through. I guess I can credit management with that. But it was at the expense of some of my friends who are no longer working here.
This past Saturday (8/29), we celebrated my sister's 50th birthday. I know what you're thinking, she's old. Well, my brother will be just as old in two years from this Thursday (the 3rd of September). Then there is a long gap before I even get close to that mile stone. Her birthday is actually on the 17th, but she and most of her family were in Florida with my parents that week and so we couldn't all celebrate together. So, come to find out, my sister had pretty much been told about this party on Saturday even though it was supposed to be a surprise. There were a few things that happened leading up to that day that tipped her off. It is a shame since my two nieces and nephew worked so hard setting this all up. Oh well.
We bought a new computer and so I set it up. It has been somewhat of a hastle, but it is all set up now and everything seems to work. When the installer came for COX to set up my phone, internet and television, he put a splitter on the cable going to my modem. This worked out great for me. I hooked it up to my SlingBox and now can watch my cable TV anywhere I want over the internet. The only problem (and I haven't figured out why just yet) is that I can't pick up many of the channels. Especially the local channels. It doesn't make sense, but I can't get 4, 5, 7 or 9. I can get ESPN, ESPN2 and MASN which are the channels that I watch the most other than the local channels. I think I have a plan that I am hoping will work to make things even better. I will hook the SlingBox up to one of my Directv boxes and then I will be able to watch all of those channels. (HBOs, Sports Package, Sunday Ticket, etc) The only thing I have to do is find my cable that has ethernet on one end and USB on the other. The main problem is that the SlingBox is the first version and there is no USB port in the back. That is why having the splitter at the modem was so great. I could just plug the unused cable into the SlingBox and the ethernet cable into the router and I am done. But in order to use my Directv box, I need to go wireless. Or use the proline boxes I have which will send the signal through the electrical current in the walls. I couldn't get that to work before, but I think I can now with the new router. But I can only find one box right now. The other thing I can do is use the wireless adapter that I have, but it uses a USB port. That is why I need to find the cable that I have somewhere that will work with that.
I know this is a lot of info that most people would probably think is either boring or just don't understand. But it helps me think things through and get stuff off my mind. I doubt anyone will actually read this anyway. But if you do, comment.
Until next time. . . .
Last week, we started to pick up at work some. We do jobs for many of the schools in the area (MD, DC, & VA). With school starting up again, we are starting to get more work in. That is good news since it was a difficult time leading up to the summer and I didn't know if the company would make it through. I guess I can credit management with that. But it was at the expense of some of my friends who are no longer working here.
This past Saturday (8/29), we celebrated my sister's 50th birthday. I know what you're thinking, she's old. Well, my brother will be just as old in two years from this Thursday (the 3rd of September). Then there is a long gap before I even get close to that mile stone. Her birthday is actually on the 17th, but she and most of her family were in Florida with my parents that week and so we couldn't all celebrate together. So, come to find out, my sister had pretty much been told about this party on Saturday even though it was supposed to be a surprise. There were a few things that happened leading up to that day that tipped her off. It is a shame since my two nieces and nephew worked so hard setting this all up. Oh well.
We bought a new computer and so I set it up. It has been somewhat of a hastle, but it is all set up now and everything seems to work. When the installer came for COX to set up my phone, internet and television, he put a splitter on the cable going to my modem. This worked out great for me. I hooked it up to my SlingBox and now can watch my cable TV anywhere I want over the internet. The only problem (and I haven't figured out why just yet) is that I can't pick up many of the channels. Especially the local channels. It doesn't make sense, but I can't get 4, 5, 7 or 9. I can get ESPN, ESPN2 and MASN which are the channels that I watch the most other than the local channels. I think I have a plan that I am hoping will work to make things even better. I will hook the SlingBox up to one of my Directv boxes and then I will be able to watch all of those channels. (HBOs, Sports Package, Sunday Ticket, etc) The only thing I have to do is find my cable that has ethernet on one end and USB on the other. The main problem is that the SlingBox is the first version and there is no USB port in the back. That is why having the splitter at the modem was so great. I could just plug the unused cable into the SlingBox and the ethernet cable into the router and I am done. But in order to use my Directv box, I need to go wireless. Or use the proline boxes I have which will send the signal through the electrical current in the walls. I couldn't get that to work before, but I think I can now with the new router. But I can only find one box right now. The other thing I can do is use the wireless adapter that I have, but it uses a USB port. That is why I need to find the cable that I have somewhere that will work with that.
I know this is a lot of info that most people would probably think is either boring or just don't understand. But it helps me think things through and get stuff off my mind. I doubt anyone will actually read this anyway. But if you do, comment.
Until next time. . . .
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