To My Little Einstein: "We're going on a trip ..."

Anyone with little kids knows the rest.

Seven years ago we completed our little band of four brothers with the arrival of our Surprise Symphony (SS). While MP had "Barney" to keep him company, SS had musical/artistic descendant, the Disney Channel's "Little Einsteins" TV show.

This show has taught him wonderful music, complete with a visual story (including fantastic art). I think I was much older before I could appreciate "In The Hall of the Mountain King" from the "Peer Gynt Suite" by Edvart Grieg the way he does.

SS wants to play the flute. I think he likes it because it is something he saw on the show. Regardless, I hope he continues to appreciate music and art that he was exposed to. I know even at age 4, he was able to follow along as MP's band show performed the "New World Symphony."

Happy birthday, surprise guy. I hope I am able to give you the gift of music, and you carry it on your trip through life.

P.S. The Little Einstein's go on their trip in a little rocket ship. SS loves airplanes (he's playing with a whole set now). You never know ...

Something to share with school boards at budget time

Why We Teach Music

Music is a science.
It is exact, specific; and it demands exact acoustics.
A conductor's full score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities,
volume changes, melody and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.

Music is mathematical.
It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions
which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.

Music is a foreign language.
Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French;
and the notation is certainly not English but a highly developed
kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas.
The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

Music is history.
Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation,
often even the country and/ or racial feeling.

Music is physical education.
It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lip, cheek and facial muscles,
in addition to extraordinary control of diaphragmatic, back, stomach, and chest muscles,
which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.

Music is all these things, but most of all, music is art.
It allows a human being to take all of these dry, technically boring
(but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion.
That is one thing science cannot duplicate;
humanism, feeling, emotion, call it what you will.

That is why we teach music.
Not because we expect our students to major in music
Not because we expect them to play or sing all their life
Not so they can relax
Not so they can have fun.
But so they will be human
So they will recognize beauty
So they will be sensitive
So they will be closer to an infinite beyond this world
So they will have something to cling to
So they will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good
- - in short, more life.
Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live?
That is why we teach music.

Author Unknown

Incidentally, I picked this up simultaneously off a band website as well as an elementary school wall. The elementary school had a bit different wording than the above, but it also had this ...

Music is reading.
It reinforces correct pronunciation, language experience, squencing of ideas, sight vocabulary, and memory.

P.S. Happy birthday, artistic sis!

Dear Middle School Parents,

Well, school's back going again.

I bet you are thinking about the 9th grade now. You've heard things about the marching band program. Maybe you've seen it, too, with an older sibling. And you've seen the competition increasing in the sports programs. You're wondering now about the potential for scholarships. But, you don't know. So you want to put it to your kids to decide.

My advice? Don't. You decide.

Now, because I know you will hear from the coaches, let me speak for the person you (unfortunately) may not hear from, the band director. I want to speak to your concerns about band - marching band in particular - and why you should encourage your kids to do it. (Especially if someone told him it's "puff".)

It's physically demanding. Moving feet. Moving fingers. Ten intense minutes that require more than one hour of practice. A week. Per minute. There can be no busted plays, either. There is no injured reserve. And everyone plays.

It's musically demanding. It's not oom-pah up and down in straight lines. (C'mon. You know that. It hasn't been that way since before you were in band!) It's a symphonic display. A rock opera. A full story in a brief time. It's 8-to-5 lines and curves at 7/4, 6/4, 5/4, 4/4, 3/4, 2/4. (I know, because I saw the music!) Speaking of fractions, did you know music students score >100 points higher on the SAT?

It's performance demanding. The largest crowds your kid will play for short of making a career out of music. (And maybe even if he or she does?) It's gratifying instant feedback when the show connects with the crowd. Besides, before you say he's not going pro in music, consider that he probably has better odds of that than going pro in any of the other big 3 - NFL, NBA, MLB.

Need another reason? You can volunteer and ride the team bus!

You make the call, Mom and Dad. Call it band.

Yours. Truly.

Soundtracker

P.S. Did I mention the spectacular color, motion and sound?! Well, if that doesn't move you, you can still ride the bus.

It's the Most Musical Time of the Year

If you listen to the radio, it's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." At least for music!

Two weeks ago I listened to the jazz band play in Santa at the local shopping center. Color and lights - what marching band geek doesn't love color and lights?! - are every where.

This last week concerts ran us in a whirl: All County Orchestra, High School Band, Elementary School Band, Middle School Band. I guess I'm in need of a "Silent Night." (And this past week also was the famous Midwest Clinic.)

Actually, in listening to the cacophony of sounds this year - mostly yelling, loud music, and car horns at the mall - it seemed to me that everyone was on an abundance of jingling bells and dashing through the snow. I remarked to my wife, "I thought the economy was bad." But there's a lot out there who are going to giv-a-giv-a-give-a-garmin (ruining for me now one of my favorites), even if they have to run over someone in the process.

So, anyway, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And when the time comes, remember that a garmin won't help you find music ... or peace. There is a reason it is Christmas. He came on one night devine ...

O Holy Night.

National ChampionS

Plural.

Nazareth Area HS Blue Eagle Marching Band won the USSBA National Championship. (As they say, "Wahoo!")

Avon HS Marching Black and Gold was crowned Bands of America Grand National Champion. (LD Bell, last year's champion, was second, leading to the following IM comment: "Ding dong. Avon calling.")

There are countless state champions, too - divided by various classes - and other associations such that award "super-regional" championships such as the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Champions and the Western Band Association and others I know I've missed. (Note: The TOB link will take you to a high school band site that is generally more up to date that the TOB home page).

In a way, crowning a National Champion in band is like crowning a national champion in college football. Lots of divisions, lots of bowl games or playoffs, lots of polls - er - scoring methodologies and philosophies. And not everyone competes at a certain level, even if they could. Witness the debate about non-BOA appearing Flower Mound (TX) Marcus HS band! A national high school football champion is nearly easier to award (witness the USA Today weekly rankings).

Professionally I work in medical practice management with a focus on anesthesiology. Finding the "right" and "best" is about as hard. Is the care team best or not? (Band speak: Do we count the guard in the members or not?) What is the optimal way to determine a band class - experience, band size, school size? (Anesthesia speak: Is medical direction best at 1:3? 1:4? 1:10? Or does it matter?)

Besides, how do we weight General Effect and Music? (Anesthesia speak: What is good vs. excellent vs. superior anesthesia care? Well, yeah, they wake up and are pain free, but the bedside manner was a mess and the case is always delayed, so ...).

I wrote before, I think, on one of the best bands I saw - a relatively small band from a relatively small Texas border town winning Class 5A, where then big boys and girls play. It hasn't happened since then.

Lately I have wrestled with the concept of excellence, especially personal sustained excellence. It is not easy, nor is it easy to do in everything. We succeed. We fail. We fail at previous successes. We succeed at previous failures. Sometimes we fail a lot and figure out that maybe we shouldn't play that game, or use that particular scoresheet. Sometimes we succeed and own the game. Sometimes we succeed and forget to check to see if the rules changed.

So are we all champions? Well, clearly we cannot be. But we can at least give our best in the field of play, whatever it is, and we can give our best at each "game".

I guess all of this is to say what a National Champion really is (six words?): Singular performance in a singular time.

Six Words

Earlier this week USA Today columnist Craig Wilson wrote on the book "Not Quite What I Was Planning", where celebrities and others were asked to summarize their life in six words. Some examples:

... "I wrote it all down somewhere." - Ben Greenman
... "I colored outside the lines." - Jacob Thomas
... "Many risky mistakes, very few regrets." - Richard Schendl

What would we write if asked to summarize our band experience in six words? Hmmm. I guess I would say this:

I should have found a way.

What would you say?

Thankful

For music.

For music teachers.

For band.

For band directors.

For band boosters.

For DCI. (And the 2009 schedule!)

For people who make DCI and the corps happen without so much as asking for a dime in return.

For Band Moms. And Dads.

For former band geeks.

For current band geeks.

For Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Well, back when it was made for kids and big balloons and bands, and not made for television.

For football - American style.

For the United States of America itself.

Without any of the above, there would not be the uniquely American tradition of marching band. I'm sure those who sat down to the first Thanksgiving dinner (without first checking for when the kickoff is) never had that in mind!

Audio.File.

About the time I was in 9th grade I began to break my TV addiction. I say that for the benefit to anyone at that age who has one. Breaking it is a great way to see more of the real world and less of the "reality" (or non-reality) world. (If you say you don't have one, let me just say that these days the addiction is disguised by calling it interactive, i.e., video games, iPods, Facebook).

Since my formal education ended several comedies and dramas have found their way to my "can't miss" list. If I had to file them, they would be in the folder Loosely Political ("The West Wing", "24") or Barely Medical ("M*A*S*H", "China Beach", "ER", "Chicago Hope", "House", "Grey's Anatomy"). But then there is another file - the Audio file!

Two that go into that file are "Ally McBeal" and "Cold Case". I know; you cynics are going to say it isn't audio but the visual, particularly Calista Flockhart (as pictured with "Indiana Jones") or Kathryn Morris.

Both shows took a variety of music - one by a singular artist who became part of the cast - and established it as a storytelling elements of the show. More shows do it now ("Grey's Anatomy" is one, and it's a way to hlep sell the music on iTunes as well), and maybe these were not the pioneers. But to me, "Cold Case" really does a great job of using music to set the stage at the beginning of the show, and then tell the story at the end of the show.

If Sunday night football doesn't grab you on NBC, cruise on over to CBS (especially if there is no CBS late game that pushes everything off schedule) and grab an episode.

What does this have to do with marching music? Not much, I guess. Unless you are an audio.visual.file.


(Another recent mold breaker was "Criminal Minds". However, I claim an exception - its first star was Mandy Patinkin, you see. You may have seen him act. But have you heard him sing? If not, all I can say is get "Sunday in the Park with George" and listen to that voice, particular the duets with Bernadette Peters! And about the Kathyn Morris link: I have no clue who Amanda is, but she has an interesting hobby.)

Passion

Today is another birthday in our family - that of "TP" (Trumpet Player). TP is not as passionate about music as MP, but that doesn't mean he does not enjoy playing. I hope he does join marching band with his brother next year. (They will need another mp, but I am told he already is making friends in the trumpet section.

TP is passionate, however. He loves horses. He wants to ride bulls. He just bought a camera that is fancier than anything I've ever owned. (Yes, including now. And, yes, he bought it, with money from mowing lawns and birthdays and so forth.)

If you know me. I wish he shared my passions. But what I really hope is that he keeps any passion, whether it is the one (ones?) he has now or another. I have rediscovered through this blog and other recent life experiences and events my passion for marching music. I hope everyone discovers a life passion. But I especially hope this for all my boys.

* Yeah, this is a retro post. So? :-)

The 4 Seasons

Marching band has - at least for me - ended. I don't think I have seen so many bands (more than 100) in so short a time as I did this past weekend at the USSBA National Championships and 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Now comes winter (guard and percussion for some, but usually contemplation for me)

Then comes anticipation ...

... and then comes drum corps - "junior" and "senior"!!

I've been disappointed before in this anticipation, but based on what I saw this year, 2009 looks to be another great one. I can't wait ...!

USSBA National Championships - Live Blogging

I'll be blogging live from the USSBA National Championships weekend on the USSBA ning.com site (click for the link). Three days - 120 bands - wonderful Annapolis weather! If you can't stop by the stadium, stop by the website!

Contemporary Flashbacks (A Review of TOB Chapter 9 Championships)

It was a beautiful day for a band contest, and so I went to see most of the TOB Chapter 9 championships. In a way, it was a contemporary flashback.

As is the case this year, Huntingtown (playing 1980s MTV hits in "Video Killed the Radio Star") and Annapolis Area Christian School ("... But the Greatest of These Is Love") battled it out with two very distinctive but well performed shows. I think the recaps came down to music, which I gave to AACS but the judges gave to Huntingtown. AACS had strong effect, but maybe were dragged down by their visual performance, which is rougher than usual. Kudos to Brandwine for a taking on some difficult music by Ron Nelson ("Rocky Point Holiday" and "Sonoran Desert Holiday"). It was a good arrangement, at the right level, and therefore was well played by the kids. The guard (3rd overall) was enhanced by thoughtful design that allowed them to be featured. The third place band, Parkside, had a nicely done show that didn't quite match the title. If it was up to me, I would have called it eMotion, because that is clearly what they demonstrated - emotional variety and a lot of good movement!

The Towson University Marching Tiger Band did what they usually do - halftime! That is the first time I've seen this band, and they mixed one part corps style and two parts "college band" into a recipe for a show that was fun for the audience and great for recruiting. Did you know every member of the marching band gets a $500 scholarship?! Too cool!

Group 1 Regional and Championship divisions bookended Group 3. The Group 1 bands are smaller, and to some less talented. This is the first time that I really sat through the Group 1 bands, and I can tell you, talent is not what they lack! What they lack is just sheer numbers. I don't know if it is because the school is small, or the school district discourages music, the feeder programs are weak, or all of the above. But the enthusiasm of the kids and staff (about 1:8 staff:kids) was phenomenal. I don't think any had more than 18 winds, a half dozen percussion and rarely that many in guard. For that reason, the demand on each individual member is high, but they have to still be an ensemble. The result?

Calvert playing entertaining funk (and recovering nicely from a runaway sousaphone bell) ... Delaware Military Academy shedding their "military bearing" for some slow-then-fast rock ("Come Sail Away" by Styx and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney's other band) ... McDonough putting "West Side Story" on the field in a way that required every member to contribute at a very high level ... Laurel having fun with music from tense and scary "Movies You Watch in the Dark" (which I think is all movies, but you get what they mean!) ... LaPlata (6 percussion, 2 front ensemble, 3 guard, 3 sax, 1 bari sax, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and 1 trumpet) capturing the nightmarish darkness of the music by Danny Elfman ... Thomas Stone resurrecting high school memories with with the music of Styx ... and champion Chesapeake not being fearful of music and drama, bringing out the hidden talents of their kids.

I came from a small band. Memories get fuzzy after 25 years, but I hope anyone who saw us perform maybe had the same feelings I did watching these bands.

Of course, MP is in the Group 3 bands. Meade started the group with a neat take on "The Four Seasons", setting you up for Vivaldi but then playing more contemporary music ("Autumn Leaves", holiday favorites, and even "Summertime"). Severna Park followed with "Les Misrables", led on and off the field by their award winning pit crew and drum major. I have really come to admire the drum major of this band (see the previous post). He runs a great rehearsal, is positive in his criticism, friendly to everyone and yet still commands their respect. (MP, I hope that rubs off on you some!)

The State of Delaware then took the field, starting with Middletown taking a little bit of Cadets-inspired narration to a show that opened up "Pandora's Box" and landed them in 5th. Smyrna ("smur-na", not "smeer-na") also went 1980s, finishing their season with solid accomplishments and a 6th placement. It is too bad they are short of funds to go to the ACCs or even the USSBA championships. They are a good band with a good contingent of staff that still marches today.

Of the next four bands, William Penn (4th), James M. Bennett (3rd, from nearly-Delaware Salisbury on the Maryland Eastern Shore), and Caesar Rodney (1st) all performed well rounded shows. They were well designed, musically strong and competently performed. But my first place (and the judges 2nd) was the Cab Calloway School of the Arts.

A school of the arts gears itself toward cultivating the most talented visual and performing arts students. (My sister went to one of the best!) The students are good artists and musicians intent on becoming better. But in all these years I have never seen a school of the arts with a marching band. Until now. And this one is GOOD!

Performing "The Rodin 47" (go to the band website for a listen) the Cab Calloway band was not just musically strong (which you would expect) and guard strong (which you may not expect but when you think about it you should), but they were visually strong, too! The entire band was thematically costumed, and the marching was taken as seriously as the music. (My initial reaction in a text message: "I just saw a drum corps!") Since SPHS isn't going to Allentown, I wish this band the best!

So with 80s music, small bands and a nice November night, I definitely was flashing back 25 years ago to my own Texas high school days. But unlike TV's "Life on Mars", this still had modern twists!

(P.S. Congratulations to Maryland's Westminster HS on a 4th place finish at the BOA Super Regional in Atlanta.)

Kids these days ... (another scoring rubric)

Every now and then a high schooler can teach you something.

In one of my recent seen-but-not-heard-in-the-bandroom trips to aid in the showing a video of the weekend performance, I overheard MP's Senior Drum Major sharing with the band something he learned about scoring ...

* If it's in the 60s, you're just playing notes.
* If it's in the 70s, it's now a song.
* If it's in the 80s, it's becoming music.
* If it's in the 90s, it has become magic.

I applied this methodology over the past few weeks, adding a twist or two for marching and visual ("you're just moving", "it's now a picture", "it's becoming a performance", "it has become enthralling").

Darn. I hate it when kids are right.

Wind, Rain, and some Thunder

Wind and rain canceled today's performance. I feel bad for the kids, who missed the chance for performance and adjudication (but they got in some quality time on the bus and at McDonald's!). I feel bad for the host band, too, because having been there on the drum corps show side, a shower can sometimes cause you to take an unneeded (financial) bath.

Hopefully this weekend was it for rain - at least until bands start to move their performances indoors! It's ironic that most "indoor" marching venues are not in the mid-Atlantic, but in places like Indianapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, Phoenix, or Tampa. So, for the next two weekends, we need some clear skies for a series of band events coming up ...

- TOB Chapter IX Championships at Broadneck HS (near Annapolis) on November 1
- County Marching Band Exhibition at Annapolis HS on November 4
- USSBA National Championships in Annapolis on November 7-8
- USSBA Anniversary Celebration in Baltimore on November 9

Who would have thought Annapolis is the alternate center of the marching band universe! We have everything Indianapolis has ... well, except a retractable roof stadium.

Speaking of Thunder, I heard from my good friends at the Carolina Thunder Percussion Ensemble. About 10 years ago this group took some very innovative shows to the WGI World Percussion championships, one of my favorites being Leonard Bernstein's "Overture to Candide", played and marched forward - then backward.

After a hiatus, the group has re-emerged as the official percussion ensemble of the Carolina Panthers. I've noted before that other NFL teams have bands or ensembles - it's good to see the Panthers have connected with some great people to bring some fun to the pre-game!

If you can't live on the field, at least you can watch (... or read ... or play.)

Since I spent some time talking about it before, I want to say that the documentary "From the 50 Yard Line" is now available for purchase. Perhaps this is the perfect time for some early holiday (and birthday?!) shopping ... hint hint ... or for long bus rides to Championships!

One of the cool things the producers did is cut the documentary down to 50 minutes (hmmm - about the length of a new 6 period day band class ... despite there STILL not being enough total classroom time) and tie it to a lesson plan and marching band book for educators. It's pricier, but probably worth it for some band booster to get as a gift for their band.

Or a band geek like me ... hint hint ...

While on the web looking this over, tracked to several other books on the topics of bands and drum corps. Some are novels, such as Chuck Edwards' "The Lorin Solo" (set within the 1985 Blue Devils), or Courtney Brandt's debut books "The Line" and it's sequel "A Fine Line", both set within a fictional high school drum line and both targeted at teen girls.

Then there are the experience books, such as Gregory M. Kuzma's "On the Field, From Denver Colorado ... The Blue Knights!" and Jeremy 'Spike' Van Wert's "Not for the Faint of Heart" (about the Santa Clara Vanguard.)

Don't forget "American Band", by Kristen Laine, also promoted here before, a great behind the scenes look at an Indiana band that could just as well be the script for the movie that started this post.

Any others? (Hint ... hint ...)

Don't like movies? Don't like to read? Sigh.

Well, there is always a video game ...

Weather or Not

The weather was beautiful this weekend, especially if you had an afternoon rehearsal and/or show. But at the contest, it seems that when the sun goes down, all kinds of things go awry. Like pitch. Tone. Dress. Cover. And the occasional flag trying to be its own show, "Gone with the Wind".

MP's band's score inexplicably went down a few points, although it was clearly an improved product. As I texted him from home, "shows what I know." (I was home because in that stadium I apparently also forgot to dress and cover. Brrr.)

I saw a lot of kids in several bands who were not ready for what happens when the sun goes down on a clear, mid-Atlantic October night. Sixty degrees become cold! I hope band directors are now reminding the kids that the shorts-and-tee-shirts in the afternoon may need to become something warmer on the legs and arms at night.

I also saw what I now feel are too many small bands last night. Group 3 bands come from schools capable of fielding larger units, Group 1 bands are really pulling on the talents of their kids and directors, and I admire what some of the Group 2 bands are attempting to do despite limited bodies and instrumentation. I suspect that all of this is a result of music programs being scaled back, starting at the lowest grades.

This week I tip the shako to the Group 2 Lake Forest HS Band (Fenton, DE). The have a big guy who looks like a linebacker leading the line as drum major, then picking up a marching tuba, and then a mellophone (or baritone, I could not tell at that moment, and you think I could!). I know bands have switched kids around in instrumentation to get things more in balance, and occasionally you find woodwinds playing brass. But you don't see it often in midshow. No, they didn't win. Or place. But I am glad that they at least showed.

Umm, No: School Board Kills the Music Stars

Wun-der-ful.

As if school bands (and orchestras) aren't struggling enough, the Anne Arundel County School Board is implementing a 6 period day for middle school, a switch from the A/B day. Good idea, right? Not so fast.

Instead of music every day, or at least every other day, music instruction stays every third day, but now class time is cut to 58 minutes from 86 - a 32% cut in instruction time.

Wun-der-full of ____.

Why do we need music, after all? We have to teach kids how to count! (Music does that.) We have to teach them to read! (Music does that.) We need to teach them history. (Music does that.) We need to teach them appreciation for other cultures. (Music does that.) We have to teach them self-expression and self-esteem! (Music does that.) We need them to get physically fit! (Marching music does that.)

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

To join in the crusade, send a thoughtful, kind but firm e-mail or letter:

Dr. Kevin Maxwell, Superintendent
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
2644 Riva Raod
Annapolis, MD 21401

School board members can be found by clicking here.

Tell you own story, and back it up with your life experiences. And if you need more information, click here to access a great document on the Music For All website.

Concert Band Killed the Marching Band Stars?

Two weeks, two TOBs for MP's band. This week was much improved over last week. I was pleased tonight with not only their improvement but how close they were (in my eyes) to their other in class competitor. I don't know the scores yet, though. Last week MP had the solo, with three members of his band being benched for violating a rule on the day of the show. This type of discipline is hard on the kids who had to sit and those who had to step up. And for that reason is was absolutely the right thing to do.

Last week at our own show I got a chance - between volunteer obligations - to watch most of the Group 2 bands. When they finished, I ranked my top 3, and the judges agreed.

Patuxent HS brought a "Bacchanale" to the field, calling up the spirit of past shows by the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps. Annapolis Area Christian School went the other direction, focusing on the Love of God. (Yes, I shortened the title.) Both performances were were musically and visually stimulating and well performed at this point in the season. AACS seems to be more of a "part 2" on a twist on last year, but still was well done.

Huntingtown HS, however, landed clearly in the mid 80s in points and in their theme, "Video Killed the Radio Star." Taking a string of early MTV hits one usually doesn't think of as translating well to the marching field, this band made the music, well, musical, and the visuals complemented the sound on the field. I had the chance to pass my impressions on to some parents, and one nearby young man commented on how much he liked the show and wished he had the chance to perform it (having just graduated). That is a great compliment to the band director and the band.

Tonight, I want to give a special "shout out" to Chesapeake HS and La Plata HS, Group 1 bands. When you have fewer than 20 members, it sometimes is hard to do a marching band show, much less one with more complex music. Chesapeake presented "Into the Darkness" with music of Bach and Saint-Saens; La Plata went dark as well with music of Danny Elfman. Both took advantage of the talent available, and delivered engaging shows.

Marching band has definately not killed the concert band stars. And concert band stars shouldn't kill the marching stars, either. I fear this is happening in too many schools. If it is happening - or may happen - in a school near you, there are four weeks left in the season. Take someone to see that marching band is definately a musical program, the most visible one a school has!

Field of Dreams

Shhhh.

In the middle of our drum corps show tour in July and August, MP said if he marched one day, he would march with Carolina Crown or the Cadets. I say (to myself), "Yeah! Cool!" I say, "You could do something I never ..." --- shhhhh.

My field of dreams was to march. To play third cymbal for Santa Clara Vanguard. To wail like the first soprano of the Blue Devils. To wear the cape (Phantom Regiment or Crossmen!). Now I want to push you to ... shhhh.

I would love these to be your dreams, too, mind you, so I could teach you my mistakes and save you time and effort. But ... no matter what it seems ... and no matter how disappointed my face may look ... this is not what I expect from you.

Don't chase these dreams for me. Chase them for you.

But if it is your field of dreams, chase it. Chase it hard. You have within you the raw materials, but it takes a desire and work ethic that is beyond the ordinary. If it seems like I am pushing you, what I'm doing is trying to help you understand that. It is the only thing I can give you.

I can encourage you and support you, and sometimes that support seems to become more of a hard shove. I want to be that "helicopter parent" hovering over your life, swooping in to help you every time I sense failure coming (or I see you stopping short of success). Sorry about that but, unfortunately for you, you are the first 16 year old I have ever raised.

What I see is that I have to help you get the most of out these last two years of high school, because - selfishly - I want YOU and I together to make the most of the time we have left (because one day I will change the locks, no matter what your mother says!) .

Two years.

Don't let me forget, though - you are young, and have years ahead. You are still seeking your passion(s) in life, and those cannot be mine.

Maybe you will march drum corps, and maybe you won't. That's okay. Just make the most of what you have and are given. Learn, and teach. Teach your peers, your brothers, and your know-it-all parents.

I am very proud of you. I look forward to this marching season.

Happy birthday, and thank you for the gifts you give me.

Birthday Season

Birthday season kicks off today - one a month (including Christmas) until February! I guess this is how we know time ... marches on?

Son #3 began his frantic entry into the world a decade ago today. Each arrival was memorable; his by a cross city run that was somewhere between an "I Love Lucy" episode and the Marx Brothers.

Although like his uncle, whom he is named after, he plays saxophone, he seems to find some strong interest in the parts of a football game that actually take place before and after halftime! I guess I need to start to make a habit of getting my hot dog, nachos and Dr Pepper before kick off ...!