TIME TO PUT ON THE LAMPSHADE (original) (raw)

please forgive any stupid spelling errors. i typed this in text edit, not knowing that it's doing its best microsoft word impersonation and auto-correcting my document as i type.

tuesday the 2nd
'twas my baby brother's 21st birthday. we all had dinner at mcgill's then geoff and i went out for what turned out to be an uneventful night. we went to the max where i tried to buy him his first legal drink, but he'd run into some guy he used to be in band with and this dude bought him some blue thing. (really dude, your clothes & attitude were screaming "douchey" then you buy a girly, blue drink?)

sidenote: there was a guy at the bar that looked ridiculously like robert pattinson.i mean, this guy could legitimately pass as him. it was kind of unnerving. i kept stealing glances and then getting frustrated with myself because, while i obviously knew it WASN'T robert pattinson, i couldn't stop looking. weird.

after the max, we went and played shuffleboard at mcnellie's. i took this picture. i won the game. the end.

monday the 8th
i won a team coco tshirt from the bustedtees.com giveaways conan o'brien was doing. took a long lunch to go film some of pride's rehearsal at the expo center.

tuesday the 9th
it was addie's birthday, but with the pride sendoff and last-minute packing for the indy trip, i didn't make it over to her place to celebrate. :(

the pride sendoff was a big success and luckily, it wasn't effing freezing like it had been in years past. afterward geoff and i ate at a new bar/grill in BA called paradox. terrible name, quasi-douchey clientele, but GREAT burger.

wednesday the 10th
worked. finished packing. waited. got on the bus and left for indy at 11:59pm.

thursday the 11th
around 2am, bus #2 hit a deer, providing one of my favorite quotes of the trip. "we hit a deer at highway speed and so-and-so asks me 'is it dead?' um yeah. deer is dunzo."

we arrived in st. louis at 7am for breakfast. while i'm not a breakfast connoisseur by any means, this marked my second time to have breakfast at the bands' st. louis hotel and this breakfast is FANTASTIC.

we left. watched old band shows and slept off and on through illinois (the wi-fi was being funky so my dreams of putting a serious dent in my netflix instant queue were squashed) and arrived in indy earlier than expected. met up with geoff (who'd flown in earlier to attend the percussion conference) and we went to lunch with the drumline techs, billy and jake. they left and i went shopping until dinnertime.

had dinner at buca di beppo. great. freaking. italian. food. i wish i could've had their meatballs, but when you're in a party of about 300, you eat what they put in front of you. (seriously a marvel of organizational prowess that this dinner happens and is over and done with in about an hour.)

after dinner we had rehearsal for a couple of hours. now, i don't know about anyone else, but i ate myself to the bursting point (really. i had a serving of ziti, spaghetti & meat sauce, chicken parmesan, AND a slice of pizza.) and i can't imagine doing anything more physically challenging than wandering around with my video camera. so to imagine the kids doing a full rehearsal… bleh.

friday the 12th
didn't have anything to do until warm up at 5pm, so i absolutely used my adult privilege (as opposed to being a student and having to follow the itenerary or else) and skipped the 8am breakfast and slept in. went to watch ld bell and a few other bands with my roommate noren and the other guard staff, mrs. vento and brandon around noon. when geoff said that he wasn't free for lunch, i wandered a bit thinking i'd just eat in the mall food court, but then i passed pf changs and decided if i was going to eat alone, i might as well enjoy it. i bypassed the long waitlist and sat at the bar and enjoyed my honey seared chicken thankyouverymuch. then, instead of walking over to the indiana history center to see the titanic exhibit (like i'd told myself i should do) i ended up walking around the mall again for another few hours.

finally met up with the band. did the warm up thing. did the performance thing. bowed out early and went to dinner with geoff at weber grill. i was SO excited for this because four years ago i practically had a religious experience when i ate their au gratin potatoes. SO. AMAZING. of course, that meant that they'd since been discontinued. that set the tone for the whole meal unfortunately. geoff and i were both exhausted and knew that saturday was going to be brutal "assuming we make finals" so we ate in almost-silence and then went back to the hotel and crashed.

saturday the 13th
woke up early. ate half a gross breakfast at the hyatt. ate half a gross make-up-breakfast at subway. marched over to the dome. got terribly rained on, mid-trip. did the warm up thing. did the performance thing. encountered a very grouchy security man on the field who didn't want to accept that mike and i'd been given special permission to film on the field as long as we didn't film during the competitive portion of the show (basically we could film the preshow and the exit, but anything between "joining us!" and "the broken arrow high school marching band!" was strictly off-limits).

after the performance, the kids had to go back to the hotel and rest. in the past they were allowed to hang around for the rest of semi-finals and the announcement of the finalist bands, but since last year they drew first (or really early) it was apparently a total clusterfuck trying to get everyone back to the rooms, changed and back to the convention center in time to make it to warm up. so. hotel. geoff and i stayed and ate a really expensive but surprisingly good "colts burger" and watched the rest of the semi-finals performances. then i went down to the drum major staging area to meet with our drum majors and film the semi finals awards/finalist announcements.

BA won the high visual caption and 2nd place in class AAAA (the largest schools in the competition) which was amazing. we've never placed this high in class. it's different from the finals placements, class placements are based on your semi finals (i think) performance. for example, the year BA won the national title, we actually placed 4th in class (only the first three are announced at semi-finals awards so we didn't even know we had actually had a shot that year in finals!)

after the awards, they announced the finalists. we made the cut and i followed the directors and drum majors to the drawing room and waited for them to come out and announce the order (hoping to god we'd be late enough that i'd have time to eat/change/maaaaybe put my feet up). naturally that didn't happen (as serenely as i'd pictured it anyway) as we drew 6th. this is actually an ok draw (especially considering we usually have the worst luck and draw early all the time), but it meant that chaperones were called and the kids were ordered to finish dinner quickly and get to the convention center rooms in less than an hour.

i, against my better judgement and the objections of my aching feet, speed-walked all the way back to the hotel in the spitting almost-rain, picked up mike's still camera from his room, went to my room, repacked my backpack for the night (shoes, accessories should we have the need to go out and celebrate later), then i WASHED MY HAIR (it was getting ridiculous. seriously.), dried my hair (a feat considering how much hair i have) ate dinner (ok, a rice krispy treat), and made it back to the convention center on time. i know, i know. if only i could be on time in real life.

anyway. we did the warm up thing. did the performance thing. and that was it. like that, the season was over. we all went to the stands to wait until massing.

by the way, all three performances were great. i don't know why i don't go into detail, but it's hard to describe marching band to the general public and, frankly, standing on the sidelines isn't the best place to watch OR hear a band show. so, while i know that the performances were great, i don't really have anything specific to add.

i wish i could give you a link to the full show, but it's impossible to find. the kids and parents know that posting videos of pride to youtube or facebook is discouraged so you kind of have to rely on videos from people outside the organization. i found only one snippet from grand nationals, but it didn't include the best parts. the best i could find was this video from the OBA state championships.. it's the closest i could find to a completed show (we don't lock in the ending until the week of usually). what you don't see after the end of this performance (which i won't spoil for you, you should really just watch it) is that they reprise "somewhere over the rainbow" at a faster tempo then outro with a small selection of band members playing "ding dong" again while riding bikes off the field. oh. and flying monkey costumes.

anyway. after finals we gathered for massing which is always hectic and crowded, but it's fun to see the kids interact with other bands. (somewhat by accident i think a high-fiving tradition was started at the st. louis contest when high-fiving a few kids from a waiting band on our way to get in place for massing turned into a massive high-five reception line that streched half the perimeter of the dome. this happened again in indy, albeit in a much more organized fashion that didn't leave us asking "is that the last of our kids? nope, here come some more!")

so. massing. they block up. i go out on the field to film faces and reactions. talk talk talk. montage video of the weekend. no fireworks anymore. :( placements. no matter how many times i've attended i always love/hate this part. it's a bit easier when i'm just watching because i can bounce/shake/whatever to expel my nerves. but, holding a camera, you kind of have to be still and internalize it all.

BA won the esprit de corps award which is a really awesome thing to win, IMO. here's the description from the BOA website:

"This is a special award and is not based on any scores from the competition. It is open to all bands in the competition. The Bands of America staff will evaluate groups throughout the complete event to select the one group most exhibiting pride, spirit, enthusiasm, friendliness, and unity of purpose for the activity of marching bands in this country."

so we were all quite excited about that. the pride member's attitude is something that i, as an outsider, really admire. these kids (and really this goes for almost all the bands at these big contests) show so much respect to their peers, other bands, authority, everyone. they stand and applaud every band they watch, or really any band that walks by. they will sometimes stop everything they're doing and begin to congratulate other kids as they walk by.

anyway. down off my "aw, shucks, aren't these kids just so great!" soapbox…

finals placement announcements. they kept calling places and not announcing our name. i can't begin to explain the excitement. we again won the high visual caption. carmel placed 3rd. then the general effect caption announcement… avon. 2nd place… BA. 1st place…avon. quite the successful season if you ask me. that's the second highest we've ever placed (behind the win in 2006) and i don't know of one person who was disappointed with our result (frankly, most everyone was just happy to break our 666 curse from the past three years). so anyway. "break ranks!" much celebrating and excitement. cross-band congratulations. mass chaos.

we ended up back at the convention center rooms (the kids were greeted by a cheering crowd of parents/supporters). the original plan was to go out with geoff and a few other people, but by the time the staff got back from their post-contest meetings/etc it was already 1:30am so we ate pizza and went back to the hotel to crash.

if you're interested, here are two links of avon's show. unfortunately, since it's in two parts, the ballad is missing from the middle, but they are absolutely fantastic. i really freaking love this band. ignore the youtube/cell phone sound quality and pretend you were there getting blown into the back of your seat by these guys…

part 1 part 2

sunday the 14th
we left indy around 8am. i can't imagine i'd leave without eating something, but for some reason i have no memory of eating breakfast.

edit (01.27.11): doh. we had our traditional hard rock breakfast. i don't know why it took me this long to remember. we walked down the street to the hard rock cafe in the freezing cold and had a buffet breakfast. *i* liked it, but i think the general consensus was that the food sucked. hm. after that, i walked back to the hotel with geoff and mcgillen and waited in the lobby until it was time to leave.

anywho. we left, i stayed awake for a little while listening to the directors' insane knowledge of BOA trivia. example topics: "what place in the finals performance order yields more winners?" (i think it was 7th or 10th) and "what placement has marion catholic NOT won?" (i think 9th and 2nd? though i really can't remember that one).

we stopped in st. louis again for lunch. it wasn't that great, but no one cared because we were among THE MOST AMAZING MASHUP OF GROUPS EVER. there was apparently a big revival or something at the edward jones dome and, staying at the hotel, there were hundreds of black women with THE MOST amazing assortment of church hats you have ever seen. i mean, horse races and polo matches would be put to shame! the incredible fashion of this group would've been enough people watching fuel for the hour that we were there, but on top of the revival there was another convention happening in the hotel ballroom…

A TATTOO CONVENTION.

best. people watching. ever. there was actually one moment when a mom and daughter with full sleeve and neck tattoos and chest pieces greeted an older churchgoer right next to the table where i was eating. the tattooed women were GUSHING to this older woman about how they thought her BRIGHT PINK dress was the greatest thing ever and how she was "HOT, SMOKIN' HOT!" the woman was extremely uncomfortable and the tattooed ladies were insisting that they all take a picture. being the ornery people that we are, someone at our table jumped in and was like "i'll take it for you!" so the picture happened. it was hilarious.

i slept, read, watched movies and played iphone games the rest of the way home. we arrived back at the school around 9(?) and were greeted by the now-traditional chorus of car alarms and flashing headlights. pretty cool, and overall, an awesome trip. i'm much more well-rested, but i'm still a bit sad the season's over.

monday the 15th
i took the day off work. actually unpacked! got all bundled up for tennis and drove out to lafortune only to find out my lesson had been rained out. i was bummed because i was totally in ninja tennis mode.

thursday the 18th
had thanksgiving lunch at work. after work i met up with addie, caleb and jordan, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at panda and then went to wait in line for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS! we ended up going to the new cinemark in BA this time and it was fantastic! we always go to the tulsa one, but when i heard tickets had gone on sale, the only theater selling any was the BA cinemark and i figured it was better to be safe than sorry. i did miss the excitement and diversity of the tulsa theater (our crowd was a little more subdued), but the BA theater was SUPER organized. this was the best-managed midnight showing i've ever been to. plus, everyone seemd to know everyone else. i guess BA's still a small town. even though we got there at 9, we were still early enough to get a place in line INSIDE. but even if we hadn't it would've been ok because they let us into the theater before 10pm! usually you have to wait until 11:30 or 11:45 because the theaters are full with other showings until that time. but not at BA. i was able to set up camp and continue re-reading deathly hallows in a comfy reclining chair in a room with heat. awesome!

the movie. i really really liked it and i know that the number one reason i liked it so much was that it covered only half the book. by not forcing themselves to cram an entire, gloriously detailed novel into 2 ½ hours, they were able to examine more details of the plot, use more quotes directly from the book and generally just not rush the story like they always have done. there are a few things i wished they'd have included.

…SPOILER ALERT…

leaving out dudley's semi-redemption disappointed me, and i felt like they could've set up the dumbledore backstory a little more (i mean, harry's pissy the whole first half of the book because he feels like he never knew the real dumbledore). plus the knowledge harry learns about dumbledore is supposed to create the hallows vs horcruxes character conflict. there was none of that in part 1 (i'm holding out hope for part 2). i would've liked to see a little more of kreacher's backstory and lily's letter in sirius' bedroom. also potterwatch would have been nice. they included a lot of ron listening to the radio, but no explanation. also, harry and lupin's fight wasn't there! oh, and voldemort's flashback in godric's hollow wasn't there! those last two and dudley were probably the three black spots on the movie for me.

but those are really my only complaints. the beginning sequence, especially where hermione wipes her parents' memories, was just…i knew this movie was going to be gut-wrenching when i saw that. and the action in the seven potters chase, hedwig… kingsley's patronus at the wedding was chilling (and verbatim from the book, thank god!). the tension between the trio while camping was awesome. as was the whole ministry sequence. then the fight between harry and ron! hermione's depression. the whole silver doe/locket sequence was BY FAR my favorite part. it's one of my favorite parts of the book so i was really hoping they'd do it justice and they ABSOLUTELY did. i know a lot of people didn't like the naked harry/hermione thing, but i think it really worked and heightened the sense of betrayal and unwanted feelings that ron had to fight in order to kill it. the way they visualized the "tale of three brothers" was cool (i didn't know if i liked it at first to be honest). the scenes at malfoy manor (especially hermione being tortured...oh my god. i didn't expect that!) it was haunting and chilling and even a little uncomfortable to watch. WHICH IS PERFECT! then there was dobby's death. so sad and so brilliant. it was beautiful. i also loved the way they ended it. i'd made it without being spoiled on where the split would happen (hey, i don't have any books to be anti-spoiler for anymore, i've got to get my fix somehow) and it was a great place to end. hopefully that will set up the second film to begin/catch up on the hallows vs horcruxes debate.

friday the 19th
went out to kelly kerr's new show at ida red, "axe men." it's portraits of notable tulsa guitarists. pretty awesome. admiral twin played a short acoustic set, then brit, travis, geoff and i went to eat at cafe ole. then we walked across the street, met up with jason and watched admiral twin's electric set. or we talked and by the time they started playing we only stayed for a couple of songs before going to the harvard sports bar to see (i almost typed swampfox) the fiddlebacks. but they were on break when we got there and geoff and i were tired so we went home.

thursday the 25th
mom and i totally absused the fact that there were a ton of stores open on thanksgiving. i think we made four trips to the grocery store while cooking. i gave myself the task of setting the table because i desperately needed an art project. i'm pretty proud of what i made with the available materials. (pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6) even though poe ate no human food all day, by the look of him, you'd think he ate the whole turkey and went into a tryptophan-induced coma.

friday the 26th
i learned that the 2TB external hard drive that target was offering for only $70 was only available in-store. so i stupidly decided to go to target at 4am. ok, so i'd only fallen asleep an hour earlier and when my "maybe" alarm went off i didn't have a problem getting up so i bit the bullet and went. i got there around 4:30am and…. i thought the media was exaggerating about black friday! the entire parking lot of the BA target (a small target that no one ever goes to) was completely full. by the time i made it to the electronics section at the back of the store i was praying that they WOULDN'T have it just so i wouldn't have to wait in the checkout line. the checkout line that ALMOST MADE A FULL CIRCLE AROUND THE STORE.

thankfully they didn't have it and i went back home and got some sleep. then that afternoon my parents and i ended up going out and finding my 2TB at the tulsa target. then we went to every other target in town to find geoff's 1TB portable one, but didn't have any luck.

saturday the 27th
did some christmas decoration shopping and put up christmas lights with poe's help (3 different pictures). then we watched OSU try their hardest to and succeed at losing to OU and ruining their awesome season.

sunday the 28th
was a bad day, but sundays tend to be like that when i've had a 4 ½ day weekend. i also, prepare to be grossed out, got the most epic bloody nose ever. it was disgusting and didn't help my already sour mood.

monday the 29th
made another christmas purchase thanks to cyber monday deals. had my last tennis practice IN THE FREEZING COLD. but it was fun AND a great workout since the goal of the day was to stay warm by never stopping moving (that sounds grammatically wrong).

tuesday the 30th
went to leon's $5 pizza night with brit, travis, jason and later, lesley. 'twas a fun time and jason's pretty cute. need to stop with those thoughts RIGHT NOW. i'm an intelligent person and i know the signs of attraction and they're not there. moving on.

that's the month of november, i'm ready for christmastime but only because it means work will slow. to be honest, with the events of this fall, i'm really not looking forward to christmas itself. i miss my grandma terribly and i can't imagine christmas without going to see her in eufaula. plus, there's some unfortunate family drama going on…it's all such a cliche and it frustrates me to no end. but nothing can be done so…

see you in a month-ish.