I met with a few places the past few weeks about employment opportunities, but this was an internship that caught my eye. Had a great time with them, and really thought I nailed this one. Well, few places actually send notes these days, so despite the daggers in my heart, at least I know the status and the why.

I’ve been trying to break into this particular area, and since my background is a little spread out, thought this internship would let me in at ground level and focus. Now I keep asking myself how to even get in, when ground level is closed. This isn’t the first internship in this field I’ve gone for either (I was “over qualified” at a previous one!). Where do you go to get a chance?

     This weekend was our town’s big annual holiday parade.  Now, why on earth a town would choose to have a “holiday” parade before we’ve even carved the flippin’ turkey is beyond me, but apparently, that’s how they roll in these here parts.  Normally we are out of town and miss it, but this year we got to experience all of the <ahem> “excitement” (ok, I can’t even use that word without laughing — hahahaha!).   We really didn’t have very high expectations since the only thing we had to compare it to was the Memorial Day parade, where we accidentally blinked and missed the whole damn thing.  Nevertheless, we had to put on our proud parent party hats cause our daughter’s Girl Scouts troop would be marching their little hearts out in it.

     When we pulled up, I honestly expected there to be five trucks, a police car, and maybe a fire truck or two zipping down a street staggered with a few onlookers, but surprisingly, there were floats and balloons and everything.  It was actually gonna be a real, live parade!  Who knew? And because the crowd was so large, I decided I would walk with my daughter and the other moms, so I wouldn’t lose her in all the chaos. I was truly amazed at the amount of people gathered at the starting point.  I have no earthly idea where they all even came from.  They must’ve recruited people from the surrounding towns to fill in the cracks or something.  We searched through the sea of Girl Scouts uniforms to locate my daughter’s troop and had just enough time to snap a quick photo or two before we were told to head on out.

     The girls were all jazzed up to hand out the candy they’d brought for the crowd, but unfortunately, the amount of spectators at the beginning of the parade route was pretty slim to none.  I’m quite certain it’s because the whole freaking town was marching along right behind us. Luckily, we came upon more bystanders about half-way through, and the girls went balls to the wall with their candy hand-outs.  They were completely out of sugar WAY before the ending, but they continued to smile and wave the rest of the way like they were the mother plucking Queen of England.  

     We scooched onto the curb with all the other town saps after we’d finished our walk of fame, and WOW, were there some interesting sights to see.  The most ironically funny participants were the “go green” promoters who drove a Prius through the crowd and held up pictures of CFL lightbulbs, immediately followed by a pack of Harley’s revving their engines and blowing smoke exhaust fumes all over the green movement message. Awesome timing, people, awesome timing. Santa rounded out the parade as he was the last one to finally float down the street.  And I’m not quite sure what he did to the little elves riding next to him, but they looked absolutely scared shitless for some unknown reason.  Guess they didn’t get the memo that said they were supposed to be out spreading Christmas cheer, because their petrified little faces told a whole different story.  It really put a whole new spin on that whole “Santa is watching” thing.  I suppose you just don’t mess with a man in a red suit.  Yikes!

     When it was all said and done, I had one very happy, very proud little Girl Scout on my hands.  She’s already asked when she gets to march again cause evidently, she’s completely hooked on strutting her stuff.  I’ve always heard people say that everybody loves a parade, and normally I would have to disagree.  This time, however, I gotta admit that I actually did have a lot of fun.  It appears that my town just doesn’t mess around when it comes to a holiday celebration in November cause this parade totally kicked the Memorial Day parade’s ass.

I think most of us grew up learning the “old school” version of this song, especially if you were ever in band.  I remember when I was in 4th grade, my mom put together a composition of this song for me to play my trumpet to, with my friend, Ang, on the flute… harmony and all.  We actually played it for the talent show that year.

I also think most of us think of Saints in terms of Catholicism, such as St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. John etc.  but really, who IS a Saint?

According to the dictionary, there are many ways of being a saint:

1. a person who has died and gone to heaven.
2. an extremely virtuous person.
3. any of certain persons of exceptional holiness of life, formally recognized as such by the Christian Church, esp. by canonization.
4. a founder, sponsor, or patron, as of a movement or organization.

That sure does leave a lot of possibilities, as far as what EXACTLY a saint is.

Sara Groves has a wonderfully, unique take on the ancient term that for me, pretty much sums it up.  There are a few lines that speak to me, and each time I hear it, I think “thats exactly who I want to be marching in with“.

I see the long, quiet walk along the underground railroad,

I see the slave, awakened to the value of her soul,

I see the young missionary and the angry spear,

I see his family returning with no choice of fear,

I see the long, hard shadows of Calcutta Lights,

I see the sister standing by the dying mans side,

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor,

I see the man with a passion, come and kicking down that door,

Oh When the Saints, Go Marching In, I wanna be one of them……

So, who do you want to be marching in with you???

This afternoon I heard my newest student, the 4th of this school year, play the sweetest tones on his trumpet! Trouble is, he cannot yet read music fluently. He’s sort of stuck at that stage where he still has to think about the name of each note and then recall the fingering. But when he finally blows, his attack is clean and his tone is big, solid, full, round and fat! It’s so natural to him.

He’s been thrown into a 6th grade band class, handed a band book, and told to go learn to play Exercise __ or Song __ on pages __ with little or no guidance or instruction about the horn and technique. It’s forced “do it yourself” learning. Well, with this teaching approach, what results does the band director at this north Seattle elementary school expect?! Struggles, frustration, and a probable band drop-out someday.

It is my pleasure to help this gentle boy overcome these obstacles. Let’s give the kid some successes! and who knows? maybe we’ll be listening to him play in the jazz, concert and marching bands soon…maybe in the symphony or opera orchestras someday…maybe on some CDs or in the movies when he’s that good. Let him dream! Help him dream! Help him achieve his potential. Or maybe he’ll simply enjoy playing in the school band with his friends for a few years and never take it any further…that’s fine, too. You find good people in bands. Good memories accumulate with the many events, and lifetime friendships often form–even marriages!

Thanks to his Mom for giving me the opportunity to help him come to love music and the trumpet. Let’s motivate him to practice more. Let’s have fun while we work hard. Let’s see what he can do, if he really wants to.

POLLYANNA COWGIRL RECORDS PODCAST

SHOW #52

November 18, 2009

Direct Link to Mp3:

http://m.podshow.com/media/17171/episodes/197815/pcowpodcast-197815-11-17-2009.mp3

Podcast Feed:

http://www.mevio.com/feeds/pcowpodcast.xml

Song 01: DIRTY ON PURPOSE – “Your Summer Dress” 

Song 02: PREFONTAINE – “Stupid Beneath Myself” 

Song 03: RUSSELL KILBEY – “Tara” 

Song 04: DEASTRO – “The Shaded Forests” 

Song 05: PAPERCUTS – “Future Primitive” 

Song 06: MARCHING BAND – “For Your Love” 

Song 07: THE LIFE THERE IS – “Garrie” 

Song 08: PLUS MINUS – “Unsung” 

Song 09: TRACY REDHEAD – “Where It Fits” 

Song 10: AFTER TOUCH – “Mr. Sunshine” 

Song 11: TECHNOIR – “Manifseto” 

Song 12: PRETTY POP feat. FRAU – “Seaside Solution” 

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ALS CHARITY CD FOR PATIENT CARE AND RESEARCH, “SONGS FOR JENNY” @ WWW.SONGSFORJENNY.COM 

 ALL THINGS TONY PUCCI @ WWW.TONYPUCCI.COM  

 “DIGGING FOR MUSIC YOU’LL DIG!” @ WWW.POLLYANNACOWGIRL.COM

 ONE MAN’S PERSONAL/ARTISTIC JOURNEY @ WWW.FATALINTERVIEW.COM  

(promos played in this week’s show): 

NERD HURDLES @ WWW.NERDHURDLES.COM    

 THE ICE PODCAST @ WWW.THEICEPODCAST.COM

386366     โยธวาทิต     Marching Band

ศึกษาประวัติและความเป็นมา ตลอดจนหลักการบริหารการจัดการและดูแลวงโยธวาทิต

(History, managing and conducting of Marching Band, rehearsal discipline and development of musical skill.)

(386366 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

When the drummer banged the drum, we all started marching. Left. Right. Left. When the trumpets started blaring, we all did our best to focus. To concentrate. Left. Right. To avoid mistakes. Left.

Somewhere in the distance, I can hear the waves crashing on the rocks. Left. And singing. Right. Or crying. Left.

When I was a child, I was told I could be anything. Go anywhere. Left. Right. Left. When I was a child, I believed it. Left.

I can smell the ocean air now. Right. I can feel sand on my feet. Left.

When the drummer banged the drum, we all started marching. One by one. Left. Right. Left.

[photo link]

Six million Jews were murdered in World War II.  A lot of them did not have to die.  Instead of  Walking themselves into the ghettos and concentration camps they should have fought with all their might.  Instead they walked to their untimely death with the Nazi’s leading them like sheep into the gas chambers.

The Nazis terrorizing methods where no match  for the faint of heart. Yes the Nazi’s did what they did, but the Jewish victims allowed their perpetrators to dominate them. Whether it was safer to follow the marching orders of the day or,  to stand up and fight the enemy is for you to judge.

When, the going gets tough so must you.  Being a victim is sometimes a choice not to be made.  Americans are a people who like their freedom.  President Obama’s Administration  is hell bent on throwing the freedoms of the Constitution under the carpet, and replacing it with a Radical Socialist Marxist agenda that has no place  in the United States Government.

The Obama administration will continue  using Chicago style intimidation tactics to further strengthen their radical agenda, for as long as they feel safe doing so.  It is up to every Conservative, Liberal or Independent citizen, who is worth their salt,  to stand up and take back our government.  Tea baggers of America , you need to double your efforts and start marching into Washington. Bring the city to a deadlock. Remember who you are, and what you stand for.  To all of you that are watching  America turn into a third world country, I say stop whining and behaving like victims.  This is your Country too.  To all of you I say” Stand up, Unite and Fight back”.  It is time to claim back what is yours. 2010 is coming quickly.

Should Americans sit back and do nothing, they will truly know and discover what it is to live with tyranny, sickness and abject poverty. This is the only way a Marxist Socialist government can rule.  The new America will be a nation whose citizens will work for the government, and whose every freedom will be non-existent.  And, the lessons learned by the Poles, Czechs, Romanians, Germans, Russians – the list goes on of failed Socialist “empires” who were eventually destroyed.

Andrea

New image in the repetitive patterns photography contest

MSU marching band …
Marching band photography picture

Saturday, November 7, 2009, Ascension Parish had a strong showing from their parish.  Three of the local high schools, Dutchtown, East Ascension and St. Amant competed in the Showcase of Marching Bands at ULL’s Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana.

All three bands had excellent performances.  It was such a pleasure to watch our Ascension Parish band students excel in what they do.  The crowd loved what they saw!

A huge round of applause is needed for all of the band directors, students and parents.  All of your hard work certainly showed on Saturday night.  I personally thank the band directors for their dedication and genuine care of the students that they teach. You have inspired these young people to excel at so many levels.  Each of you are truly special.  I also would like to thank all of the parents that help the bands.  Without the help you all give, much of this would not be possible.  From the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU.

It is no secret that I am a St. Amant High School Band Fan…  I have a special interest there. With that being said, you can click the video below to view the performance of the St. Amant Golden Gator Band.

I will monitor YouTube and as I see the other schools performances uploaded I will provide a link for those as well.

I wouldn’t either.
Anyway, busy busy busy. ALL THE TIME. I’ll cover everything one at a time. Here goes.
All-Region Choir auditions went well. Eighth chair in my room, which means I made the choir and I get to go to pre-area. My goal there is to make top 5, but I don’t know if I’ll keep going after that. If all goes to plan, I won’t because I’ll be going to area for band instead. *knock on wood* I need to work on audition music for both pre-area choir and all-region band so I can meet my goals for both.
Next. Marching band. Poteet got third place behind Dripping Springs and Friendswood. I was really upset because it was the first time we hadn’t been state champions since the 2003 Pirate Band, the one that didn’t even make it to finals. But, looking back, I’m glad we got third because hey, we placed, didn’t we? That’s good enough. We gave our best performance of the year and it was awesome, first place or not. It was a great NOTE to end senior marching season on.
I’m looking forward to concert season. I love playing my horn, and I love playing with the honors band because we’re awesome. Hopefully we’ll have some more great music this year.
AP classes are kicking my butt. I’m not doing terrible, but the work load is weighing me down. I don’t know, maybe it will get better now that marching season is over and so is the six weeks. Hopefully.
Obviously, my relationship status hasn’t changed. I don’t know if it will any time soon. I’m not super worried about it right now. I want a date to prom and banquet season though. That’s my goal as far as that goes.
I’m ready for the musical to start up. I’m almost assured a lead role *knock on wood* this year now that I’m a senior and I’ve been a lead two years in a row (making me the most experienced musical theatre person in the school right now; wow, I just thought of that!). I’m hoping to end with a bang with a great show that will really show off my talents. I want to start stepping up all of my theatre stuff because I don’t think I’m a good actor at all. Theatre goal: score the lead in the musical and get an award at UIL One Act.
That’s pretty much it for now. I need to read the rest of Hamlet. Anyway, goodnight everyone!

EDIT: I came up with this yesterday; let me know what you think: Plan for the future, but live for today.

That is all.

Marching season is coming to an end…  The St. Amant High School Golden Gator Marching Band will culminate the season in Lafayette, Louisiana on Saturday November 7, 2009 at the Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands. The event will be held at ULL Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana

Over 30 high school bands from across Louisiana come to compete.  The first performance begins at 9:00am and the awards will be presented at 7:30pm.  All day admission is only $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children ages 5-12, children 4 and under are free.

I heard someone the other day describe this event as “being like Drumline (the movie) only with more class”.  This is a pretty good description of the event.  The best bands from the state come to one place to comptete for their bragging rights. Marching bands are surely different from what I remember so many years ago!

Good luck to the St. Amant High School Golden Gator band. You guys Rock!

New image in the animal search photography contest

…
marching elephants photography picture

Vietnam’s benchmark was dragged down a further 3.93 percent Tuesday as the vigorous buying power last month has now weakened.

VN-Index, which tracks 180 companies and four mutual funds on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, dropped 22.06 points to 539.65. Around 69.6 million shares worth VND3.2 trillion (US$179.3 million) changed hands.

Fear dominates the market as 11 companies on the index advanced and 173 dropped.

According to some analysts, investors have also been discouraged by warnings that securities lending is going to be contained.

Mekong Fisheries Joint Stock Co. (AAM), based in the Mekong Delta’s Can Tho City, was the biggest loser on the southern market Tuesday, losing 32.10 percent.

The Hanoi-based Vietnam Mechanization Electrification & Construction Joint Stock Co. (MCG) and the HCM City-based industrial refrigeration company Searefico (SRF) both leapt by the maximum five percent allowed by the exchange.

Saigon Securities Inc., Vietnam’s biggest brokerage, returned to the spot of most active shares with 5.37 million traded on the city’s bourse. Saigon Commercial Bank, or Sacombank, (STB) came next with 4.5 million shares changing hands and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp. (REE) in HCM City with nearly 3.5 million.

The northern market also saw another retreat as the Hanoi-based HNX-Index continued to lose ground, dropping 4.97 points, 2.64 percent, to close at 183.05. More than 33.65 million shares worth VND1.32 trillion were traded.

The UPCoM-Index also fell by 0.25 points, 0.36 percent, to 69.84. A total of VND1.34 billion was spent trading 111,020 shares.

On the global markets, US stocks have gained but investors were concerned about warnings that stocks are vulnerable to a steep pullback. Since mid-October, fresh doubts about the economy have hurt the US market and many foreign equity markets, Tribune said.

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Holocaust: (n.) The Judeo-Masonic destruction of former Christendom. Present situation: perverts and godless racial supremacists write and enforce the laws, and brainwash the enslaved population through their ‘educational’ and infotainment franchises; elders are euthanized and babies are slaughtered; temporary survivors are enslaved, numbered, tracked like criminals, and farmed for profit.

If you too go off the reservation, escape from the plantation, free your mind, and publicly  state that you no longer believe in the Holocaustianity Cult in which so many of us are raised, you will soon be labeled a “Nazi”, a “Neo-Nazi”, a “Fascist” or some such thing. Why one’s religious belief should effect one’s economic or political philosophy in this manner is unclear.

The Nuremberg Blues Blues [Nürnberg 1945]

You will also discover that the High Priests of Zion and their Goyim minions would prefer that you pretend to be a card-carrying Neo-Nazi, than that you be a reasonable and pleasant apostate, such as Bradley R. Smith (“libertarian-anarchist”) or Germar Rudolf (his politics are…?).

If you are an obliging type, and choose to play along, and accept this “Fascist!” label, in order to satisfy those of the Holocaustianity Cult whose world-view is so threatened by your pubic apostasy that they are thereby susceptible to succumb to some sort of psychic malady, you will soon discover that one of the key elements of Fascistic expressionism is the need for uniformity and order, including a passion for marching.

Of course, since most n0n-Holocaustianity Cultists have not the slightest passion for marching in unison (on the contrary) you will likely find yourself at a loss, and are marching around your bunker (if you choose not to believe in The Myth, all of a sudden your basement will become a “bunker”; for example, when the Polizei crash in and arrest you in your basement – for your apostasy – while you’re watching The Tudors, you will read in the next morning’s fishwrap: “Neo-Nazi nabbed in Bunker praying at Hitler Shrine!”) asking yourself, “What should I do with my arms? Is goose-stepping really necessary?”

Just Chillin’ at the Auschwitz Swimming Pool

I hereby suggest the Algorithm March for your consideration:

]]> http://introvertism.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/what/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:07:47 +0000 swanktown http://introvertism.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/what/

The pit and battery have to stay an hour after everyone else on Tuesdays, so I wait by my chimes and try to not look bored as Percussion Director readjusts the battery’s drill. They move this way and then that and the tenor never moves his feet right so we have to watch this about fifteen times.

That’s when I look over and see Pit Social A looking at Pit Social B, motioning with her head and eyes towards George, who is on the field only a few yards away. And then she looks to me and we hold a confused gaze for a few seconds before we turn away, the image of her eyes burned into my retinas.

I suspect she was Talking About George and Me. It’s quite possible; she knows I have a crush on him. But I’ve never seen her look at it this much. I heard she dated George last year. Maybe she’s trying to communicate something to the other Pit Social. But it’s something that leaves me in the dark. It makes me wonder what it was she was saying.

But I won’t meddle with it. For now.

My husband Wesley and I were both in marching band in high school; he played the trumpet, and I was on drumline. For us, band was the only thing that existed. Okay, maybe not the only thing, but certainly the main thing. Probably the first thought that pops into your head as you read this is, “This one time, at band camp…” We are all accutely aware of the stereotypes that go along with being in band. Enough, I get it, we’re dorks. Got the memo.

What people don’t realize sometimes is that band, to the people that are in it, is kind of like a fraternity. You see your bandmates more than your friends or family, and you tend to gravitate toward making most of your friends in band because, frankly, that’s the only way you’ll have time to have friends at all. It should also be noted that there is intense emotional bonding in marching band. Although many people view the band as a not-so-noteworthy accessory to the football team, there actually is a huge subculture in which people make large sums of money writing music, show concepts, drill (where you march on the field), and the like. Contests are taken very seriously; the intensity of the competitive environment surrounding marching band might be surprising to an outsider.

Why is it such a big deal? Because when you spend five to eight exhausting hours a day developing your talent, with the same group of people, working toward the same goal, you become emotionally invested. It can’t be helped – the rehearsal schedule and demands tend to force out the ones who really don’t want to be there.

Many people in America love to watch Sunday football. Or is it Saturday football? Wait, wasn’t there a Monday night football at one point? I don’t know; the point is, I don’t get all you sports fans. I don’t find watching sports any more entertaining than I would find watching people work out in a gym. It’s really hard for me to understand and empathize with people who are genuinely upset over “their” team’s loss; I’m not trying to say that their feelings are invalid, I just truly cannot relate (probably the same way most of you would not be able to grasp why someone would pay ten dollars to watch a marching band contest).

This makes me the odd person out most of the time – especially at work, where every single one of my colleagues is a football fanatic. In fact, I have one co-worker who actually buys a new outfit in her team’s colors every week in honor of the game – whether she is physically at the game or watching it at home! To be fair, it is the team where she went to college, but come on… really?

August through December are usually very lonely months for me at work because I can’t really participate in sports discussions. Occasionally, someone will pop over and ask if I’m going to watch the game this weekend, to which I usually respond, “No. In fact, I don’t think it would be physically possible for me to care about football or any sport less than I do at this very moment.” Am I taking crazy pills here? Surely I’m not the only one in America who feels this way. I’m sure my attitude about the whole thing is quite offputting, but LBH (let’s be honest) – would any of you want to stand around and talk about the drum break before the closing number or so-and-so’s new uniforms? Probably not.

Perhaps my aversion to football and sports as a whole is based on how athletically deficient I’ve always been; I wanted to play sports as a child, but not only did I not (and still do not) understand all of the rules for how the games are played, I felt extremely awkward running or doing any physical activity in front of other people (PE was a nightmare).

This may be why I always gravitated more toward the arts – music in particular. You sports people have football season, we band dorks have marching season. You watch games, we watch shows. You have fantasy football, we have… well, there isn’t such a thing as fantasy band, but you get the idea.

Going to marching band contests is quite nostalgic for Wesley and me; we met through band when we were juniors in high school. For us and most other former marching band/drum corps participants, keeping up with our favorite schools’ bands keeps us connected with something that helped shape us into who we are. It’s not just the performance aspect, it’s also the lasting friendships we found, the senses of humor we cultivated, the leadership skills we developed, and the culture and community bonds we created.

Basically, if loving marching band is wrong, then I just don’t want to be right.