Christmas happenings

So Christmas at the Coan's wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I drank a lot of Jack and cokes to help numb my brain so I wouldn't have to deal with my aunt lol. The rest of my family was more or less sane minus the idiot who gave my 4 year old cousin a drum. WHY?!?!? My grandmother was good and not too demanding so that helped.

I saw the new National Treasure movie. I liked it but Bombard said he hated it. Well fuck him :-P It was as good as the first so it was nice that it didn't suck.

Other than that I haven't been up to anything, just watching movies and playing on my brothers old xbox. Definitely looking forward to heading up north for Drill and eventually BRIGS!

Home for Christmas

So I'm home in NJ for Christmas. I have no idea what I am going to do for the next three weeks. I may just kill myself before the end but whatever lol. I haven't finished my Christmas shopping yet so I plan on going out tomorrow, today actually, to finish it up. It is nice however to actually have enough cell phone reception to talk to someone on my cell. Usually I only get enough to send texts and such when I'm home. Go outside the valley I live in and you're fine, but go figure I live in an area with barely little cell phone coverage.

I think that my only plans I have is Christmas Eve dinner with my whole family. For some reason they decided that they would come here this year. Which means I can't come up with some excuse for missing out lol. So I'll have to be nice and actually pretend I care about my screwed up family.

I do have something to look forward to however. The first weekend in January I have drill, so I will be out of NJ sooner than I thought. Then the weekend after that I have camp *crosses fingers* Hopefully there will be no snow so we will actually hold camp. I'm excited to see the number of contra players we will have. Supposedly double digits but we shall see. Plus it'll be nice seeing all of my friends again. Maybe I won't be the only one still awake come 2 AM. Last year it was a tradition to close the bar and stay up until morning during normal camps/non show days. Maybe it was because it was the first camp but it seemed like me and Mike Brooker were the only ones up. I need to recruit some people lol.

No Brigs :-( / Idiot / Goal

Well there is no Brigs camp this weekend which kinda sucks. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again but I have to wait another month. Now I need to find a place to keep my contra for the next month haha. My kitchen will do fine for now I guess.

I've put in a couple of applications to a bunch of places but I've only heard back from United Airlines. So hopefully I start hearing back from some other places otherwise I'll be commuting to Burlington for work.

I've also come to realize that I'm an idiot. I never thought I would still feel this way after so long of putting it out of my head. But I guess they will never go away.

I've taken the steps and I've started eating a lot healthier than I have been the last couple months. I hope I can stick to it otherwise I'm screwed. So now that I've started eating better I need to start exercising more. I haven't been doing it nearly enough and it's time to kick it into high gear. I need to fit into my Class A and Dress Blue uniforms come March, so I have my work cut out for me. I refuse to get them altered because 1. it costs money and 2. it's an incentive to lose weight. My goal is to reach my weight I was after I came back from AIT. So yeah, lofty goal, but I think one worth attaining. Oh please I want to look better in my Brigadier uniform being that the pants are pretty tight.

So we'll see how everything works out.

Thanksgiving, First Brigs camp

Well the weekend before Thanksgiving was the first Brigadiers camp of the 2008 season. It was also the first time we got to play on our "new" Bb horns that we bought from the Blue Devils. I have to say that I pretty much love the Bb contra. It's about 7-10 pounds heavier than the old G bugle contras we had last year, but the improved sound is worth it. The Bb seems to respond a lot better to the lower end of the range, which is awesome because I play the lower part. As far as numbers go, it looks like we will be putting out a 64 piece hornline. Last year we went out with something like 45 and we still could put out a wall of sound, mostly thanks to the G bugles. only Reading went out with a full hornline. I'm stoked that we'll end up with 10 contras, possibly even 12!! :-D But the corps is looking and sounding absolutely amazing so far. The hornline already has a couple simple chorales and stuff memorized which was unheard of last year. So yeah, first camp of the 2008 Brigadiers was awesome!

So Thanksgiving is over and it was yet another boring break for the most part. I went to Atlantic City with Bombard on that Tuesday. He was down seeing his girl for the holiday so I dragged him away for a day. I blew about $80 which I shouldn't have, but I did anyway. Friday night I went to PJ's with Kelly and then went back to her house to watch a movie. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful week.

Saturday was the 2007 Brigadiers banquet. This was a lot of fun, it was good to see some of the people who aren't marching this year for whatever reason. I was awarded "Rookie of the Year" for the brass section, which I have to admit was pretty cool. Andy Buchmann got "Most Improved Performer" in the brass section. So basically the contras received 2 of 3 awards for the brass. Not too shabby for the best section in the corps :-P

This weekend is a drill weekend. All of our MST's (Musical Support Teams, or small ensembles) are going out and playing at a bunch of the different unit's Christmas parties. Saturday is a rehearsal day for my MST but on Sunday we are play for the Aviation guys. it makes sense to sound the loudest group to the place where the party is in a huge open hanger lol. My group is the brass group, which is basically the people who didn't fit into the Jazz group or the Country group. So we have 6 trumpets, 2 mellos (yes the play mellos and not french horns), 3 trombones, 2 tubas, and a drumset. So basically we're along the lines of a mini-corps from DCA. We don't play the same music as a mini-corps we go for more entertaining stuff. I don't remember everything we're playing, but I do know a majority of it is Blues Brothers stuff. I'm one of the Blues Brothers, they just don't know which one yet.

Sleeping problems...

So yeah it's like 0230 and I am still up. I don't understand why I just can't fall back into a normal sleeping pattern!!! AHHH! It's so frustrating going to bed at 3 or 4 and not waking up until noon. So much of the day is wasted by this and it's pissing me off. I need some sleeping pills or something

About damn time...

Well it's about damn time that drum corps started again. My first camp is this weekend and I can't be anymore excited. One, to not only get out of the house, but very far from the house and two, I kinda miss being somewhere else other than fucking Vermont! Plus, after camp is done on Sunday I'm heading home for Thanksgiving which will be kinda nice. Although it's going to be just like every other time I'm home in NJ. No one around so I'll be stuck at home doing nothing again, as always! But hey at least it'll give me some time to finish reading Stephen Colbert's book, which I've only gone through the first chapter and partly into the 2nd but I love it already.

The one thing I am looking forward to is Bombard and I are going to Atlantic City one night since he'll be with Jes in Jersey for the holiday. It'll be my first time in AC but it should be pretty awesome. I invited Kelly to come along but I don't think she will because of work, but we'll see.

So with camp coming up I've been going over the new exercises that Pete sent out. I'm glad that there are more chorale type pieces than last year. It'll provide some more variety than there was last year. I'm particularly excited about playing Adagio this year. We played for part of the year last year, but for some reason it was dumped. Hopefully we stick with it this time because I really like it as a piece and even more so because of the contra parts. The numbered exercises are different too but not any more difficult or anything. I'm just glad to be back in the game finally.

Nothingness

Well a whole lot of shit has gone down since I posted last, which was something like 2 months ago, man have I been slacking. So last time I posted the drum corps season had just ended and now only 3 weeks from now it starts back up again!! OK, so let's start with the bad and move to the good...

Matt Clancy, my unit's newest member died Thursday morning. I found out on my way to Boston. Although I didn't know him that well, he was an amazing player and seemed like a really nice guy. RIP SPC Matt Clancy

Ok, so now onto the good...

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Boston. Headed down Friday with Bombard after my long drive back from NJ visiting my parents. Friday night we headed out to the bars with Lauren and her friend Erin. spent the night just drinking and having a good time. Saturday was the Flyers/Bruins game (the main reason we went down in the first place) and of course the Flyers WON!! I didn't feel so stupid for wearing that Flyers jersey after all haha. After that we headed to a bar right across from Fenway Park to watch the World Series game. The place was so incredibly packed that we decided to head back to Lauren's place and order some pizza and watch the game on TV. I can't remember what else we did for the rest of the weekend. Man did it suck to leave.

My week home was pretty uneventful and boring. I had dinner with Kelly one night and that's really all I did. Everyone else was doing something so I kinda just hung around the house and bought a bunch of stuff that I needed.

I'm looking for a job to start putting away money for drum corps, rent, and other things. I convinced my little brother to come and check out my corps. So we'll see if he stays with us or if he goes because he doesn't like it. So who knows.

I'm still single of course, not like that will change for a long time.

I do need to break out of this funk that I've been in. Just being lazy and not doing anything, yeah that needs to end right now.

Wow, ok...

So wow, umm yeah lots to talk about here.

First, drum corps season has come to a close. DCA Championships were definitely the highlight of my summer BY FAR!!! I mean I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend not only this past weekend, but my entire summer. I absolutely loved the contra section this year. The 6 of us got along so incredibly well. The other 5 guys (well one's a girl) are some of the best people I have ever met. Never once did we get into an argument, bicker, or put down one another. Everything was constructive criticism in order to make ourselves better individually as well as a contra section. I'm glad I picked this corps and can't wait for next season.

- Shawn, our section leader, is an unbelievably priceless asset to have in the section. His experience with the Blue Devils and his years here at Brigs is about as unmatched in superiority as they come. His wealth of knowledge no doubt led to the greatness our section became famous for in the circuit.
- Christine, is one tough chick and no doubtable the most attractive person in the section haha. I learned a lot from her this year especially early on with just the little hints that she gave me now and then. She always had a good attitude and could make anyone smile on a hot muggy day, especially in Reading lol. I'm a little sad that Shawn and Christine aren't coming back next year, but they need the time together and as Randall put it, "to make babies to keep this corps goin". So I wish them luck in the future as a family.
- Jason, also brought a lot of experience to the table for the section. His years in Spartans and Cadets were also key to our success. What he learned there, he shared with the new guys and thereby improved us all. I'm glad he's coming back next year, we're gonna need his experience to keep the section going.
- Andy, while new to the section he was in his second year in the Corps. This kid had so much heart it amazed me. My first camp here I saw him standing behind the contra thinking, "there's no way this kid can play this thing, it's as tall as he is and he's way to small to carry it". But sure enough this kid proved me wrong and by the time came to marching on the field he could easily carry this hunk of metal. His playing improved so much from the first camps it amazes me. I'm definitely proud of him and happy is coming back
- Randall, the late comer to the section lol. This was his rookie year in drum corps and he definitely picked the right year to start He did struggle at first because he did join about 5 months late and therefore was that much further behind everyone. Sure enough though he did catch up and proved to be able to hack it with the rest of us and made a fine addition to the section. Glad to have him back next year.








So I guess the biggest thing for me is that I might have to move back to NJ. My financial situation has hit dire straights and therefore a move back to NJ I think is inevitable. I spent a lot of money on gas this summer traveling for Brigs, mainly because I'm so far away. I easily spent at least $3500 on gas alone. So I think this is really the only option I have left for me because staying here just isn't going to work. None of the jobs I was hoping for ever panned out so now I'm stuck jobless with absolutely no money.

I'm taking classes online instead of at Norwich for a lot of reasons. But I think it's gonna work out for the best in the long run,


*sigh*

Time to kill

So I've had plenty of time to kill but nothing to do with it all. So I figured I would update this thing because I always forget about it.

Drum corps is going rather well so far. Last weekend at our home show in Syracuse we posted an 89.263, which is only 2.5 points behind the 1st and 2nd place corps and we are just over a point from Minnesota Brass. With the way we've been rehearsing we should be able to break into the low 90's this weekend for sure. This weekend is definitely going to be a fun one. I'm picking Bridget up at Philly Airport Friday night and then heading from there to Reading where our show site is this weekend. So she's the only friend I have that has/is coming to see a show and she's from Wisconsin. Makes me think about my friends just a little you know. So I'm really looking forward to this weekend, it's really the only I have to look forward to since I don't have a job or anything lol.

I don't know if that Barre PD job is going to work out anymore, I've been trying to get in contact with the chief but he hasn't gotten back to me. So I'm thinking about going on some ADSW orders for a little while. oh I forgot to mention that I'll be taking online courses now since Norwich kinda kicked me out because of my grades. So now I'll go somewhere cheaper and transfer all my credits in and still get a NU diploma. Since it's a state school, unlike NU, the Guard will pay for most if not all of it.

So I guess the big thing going has really been job hunting. It's funny that this happens now because I got a call from a couple companies who read my resume online and wanted me at their companies, go figure that I turn them down because I thought i was getting this PD job. UGH!

Ugh

Well I should have been in bed a couple hours ago but yet here I am. So let's see....

My week home in Twp basically consisted of doing nothing, nothing, going to the bar, nothing, going to the movies, and that's about it. Things have definitely downgraded in Twp, but that probably has to do with the fact that I've lost touch with so many people since HS. Oh well. But it was definitely a nice break from the usual routine here.

This week coming up I have a National Guard class that runs Monday-Thursday. It shouldn't be all that bad because I know Carrie is taking it and some other people from my unit. The only thing I'm worried about is the IV needle part. We have to stick each other with these things in order to get practice in it. Great, nothing like being a pin cushion for these huge ass things lol. But the training is worth it in the end I guess.

This coming weekend's show is in Syracuse NY. So at least I know how to get there and not get lost haha.

Sorry this isn't more enlightening but it's 0100 lol....I'm sure you all understand

Last week of summer school...

So yes the final week of summer classes has finally come. It has been a long time but I am so glad that I will finally get a break. I plan on going home this weekend after my drum corps show in I think Endicott, NY but I'm not sure. I have no idea what I am going to do when I get home because, I don't many friends left in NJ anymore, so it'll probably be pretty boring but then again I could use some time away from here and doing nothing.

This past weekend was a camp weekend for the Brigadiers and not a competition weekend. We really needed the extra rehearsal time to clean and improve the show. Although for me, I have to relearn parts of the ballad and the entire closer because we closed 2 contra spots we used to have. And the way I was positioned on the field with the 2 holes, I was about 10-15 yards away from the rest of the contra line for the closer, which looks pretty weird. So I have all new dots which kinda sucks but I'll be fine. Plus I also have to learn the lower splits of the music now because Shawn needs help with the lower part since John isn't coming back. It's more or less just octave stuff but some of it is 4ths, I'll be looking at it the next couple of days so I can get it down.

Hmm what else....ah, during our FTX in September we have the oppurtunity to either do a 10K ruck march or a 10K run/walk. So a couple of us are rucking up and bringing our instruments along, I think we're playing something from National Emblem, but I forget I haven't looked at the email in a little while. So I think that will be pretty funny to see/watch.

I guess that's it really, I know my life is pretty boring, but it should pick up in the next 2 weeks as school gets closer. But we'll see.

"Why is my car smoking?...."

"...oh because it's on fire." Hmm yup, never in my life would I think that my car would ever catch fire, but Friday night, it indeed did. I was on my way to Lewisburg, PA for my drum corps show when I noticed the smoke coming from my car. I pulled off the road, noting that I had no brakes, and saw that my left rear tire was engulfed in flames. Pretty cool at first been then I realized I was about 4 hours from the closest person I knew, I was in Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton area. So luckily I had like a huge ass bottle of water with me and I put the fire out with that. I then called my roadside service and they towed me to a Volkswagon dealer in Scranton and I spent the night in a Howard Johnson hotel. Come morning, I walked back to the dealership only to find that they were closed for the weekend. So, I called my company again and told them to tow it to somewhere that was open, which happened to be a Pep-Boys. Pep-Boys told me that they would look at it but depending on what was wrong I still may be stuck in the area for a couple days. FUCKING AWESOME, but luckily they did indeed did have the parts I needed. It took them about 7 hours and $600 to fix all the damage. Well there goes a shitload of money that I really neeeded. So I go back back on the road at around 630ish, realizing that it was too late to make it to Lewisburg in time for the show, I just headed back up to Vermont. So yeah that's my story in a nutshell.

I think it's time for a newer car and one that won't keep breaking down.

Moving on...

Well so a lot has been happening since I’ve last updated some good and some not so good.

- Yulia and I aren’t together anymore

- I’ve moved off campus into my own place

- Summer AT is over with

- 2^nd session of classes has started

- Drum Corps season is still going strong

So yeah, Yulia and I aren’t together anymore. The night she came back she said that she didn’t have feelings for me anymore and that she would like to remain friends still. It’s kinda funny how girls always say that but always run and hide so that it’s impossible for that to occur. But it was odd because we still hung out over AT and it wasn’t too weird for me. I mean you figure the 3 ½ months we were together, 3 months of it she was away so it’s almost as if we weren’t ever really together. But as of right now, it looks like the whole “staying as friends” thing might actually pan out.

I moved off campus and I like it so far. It’s nice to have a place to call my own in a sense. I mean yeah I have to admit it is a mobile home and it looks shitty from the outside, but it’s really nice on the inside. My internet isn’t up yet because I’m still waiting for it from my parents. Not like I’ll be online more than I am now, because the only people I really talk to are the people in the contra line, but it’d be nice not having to use Jen’s computer all the time.

So another summer comes and another week of AT goes by. This was my first summer AT with the band and it was just as fun as the two spring AT’s I have done with my unit. These people are possibly the greatest group of folks I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. We had a bunch of concerts in all of these small towns all over Vermont, of course I don’t remember any of the names haha. But we were well received as we always are and that’s what makes my job so enjoyable.

The 2^nd session of classes started last week when I was on AT so I am now trying to play catch up and I am failing miserably. I’m trying to teach myself the stuff we’re learning now but I can’t because it all requires the knowledge of the 2 chapters of work I missed. So the test we had today was possibly the worst out of the 2 sessions combined. Oh, I got a B in the first session so I am hoping that I can get another one so I can raise my GPA. It’s pretty much the same people as the first session except we lost 2 people and gained two different ones. So the class is the same size, just a couple different people

The Brigadiers are driving on through the drum corps season. We have changed about 65% of the drill so we are still a little low on our score. But I think the main thing that is killing us now is our brass and percussion scores. We seem to be dragging ass out there but I have faith in us. This weekend is one of our home shows at Central Square High School. I have no idea where it is but it can’t be too far from the Middle School where we normally rehearse before the competitions start. Since I’ve had off this week from work I plan on heading out there early so that I can actually get some sleep before a full day of rehearsal.

After the show on Saturday night, I need to drive back to Vermont for an Air Force deployment gig that is scheduled for Sunday morning/afternoon. Also on Sunday is the ceremony where RSP officially hands Yulia back to the band after successfully completing all of her training. So it is yet another really long weekend for me with very little rest and a lot of driving.

Today, I sent in a request for some USMCR officer info. Figure I need to keep my options open for what exactly I want to do with my life. While actually commissioning in the USMCR is very remote, it is still a possibility.

Another thing that has been bothering me is that I find myself a bit depressed over the last couple of weeks. I know it has nothing to do with me breaking up with Yulia because it’s been happening since before she came back. I don’t know what It is exactly, maybe I don’t get out much, my life is too mundane, or what it is. But I do hope that I will be able to snap out of it pretty soon because I’m tired of it.

Well I should finish unpacking, clean up and do my homework. Later

Back at it

Well things here this weekend were pretty boring so I actually have the time/will power to update this thing.

Summer classes are going well so far. I mean it's not necessarily hard but it is a lot of time consuming work. Which kinda sucks because I don't really have as much free time as I would like at night. But I'm doing pretty well in the class so hopefully I can keep that up.

Work kinda sucks the big one. I mean all I do is weedwack for 5 hours everyday. I mean yeah it doesn't sound that bad at first, but when you do it over and over and over again it really sucks. The only thing good about it is the money. I mean once I start getting the normal paychecks it'll be nice having the money to pay off my credit card which has a shitload of stuff on there because of my trip to South Carolina which ended up costing a hell of a lot more than I thought. But the trip was worth it.

Drum corps is going ok so far. We had our first competition in Wildwood at the Convention Center. We did ok for our first show, but we still placed 4th. People are saying the numbers were screwed up and we should have been in 2nd, but who cares, if anything it'll give us more incentive to work harder. This coming weekend we have a show in Conneticut somewhere. Bristol is coming to mind but I don't know if that's the right place. It's on an actual football field unlike Wildwood, so maybe we won't be sliding everywhere.

I guess the biggest news is that I might be moving off campus into this trailer type thing. It's one of those permanent trailors thats more of an apartment then anything. It's only $300 a month because my friend will be paying the other half. She's pretty nice so I don't see a problem living with her, besides none of us will really be there besides to shower and sleep lol. So we'll see how that goes.

Yulia is at AIT right now at Little Creek Amphibious Base, VA. She's suppose to be done right around the 4th of July but I don't know when I'll see her. Her friend who's been watching her stuff, is picking her up from the airport. I'll be on AT with my unit and she's suppose to join us at some point but I don't know if she actually will. So yeah, it's up in the air as to the first time I'll get to see her.


So I guess that pretty much sums up everything that I've been doing. I know not at all exciting believe me I wish it were otherwise lol.

Yeah sorry....

So yeah sorry for not updating in a while, like an actual update as to what has been going on here. Hopefully I remember most of it...

Yulia is still in boot camp. She is supppose to graduate on the 8th. I'm flying down on the 6th so I can be with her on family day which is the 7th. I then fly out on the 8th, her graduation day around 7 PM. So I at least get to spend some time with her, even though I know its not as much time as we would both like but it's better than nothing, especially with how expensive it is. So I'm really looking forward to that because I do miss her. She actually called me on Friday when I was heading up to Syracuse, the second time she's called. I was surprised that she did call because I told her to use her phone calls to call her family in Russia but hey I'm not complaining lol.

Drum Corps is going pretty well. We have the whole show down on the field and now the staff is hard at work to change it so we can relearn a bunch of it the bastards lol. But I really like the show, I just hope we get better at playing it lol. Wildwood show is only 3 weekends away so we need to get on the ball.

I just moved back into Norwich yesterday and classes started this morning. The class doesn't seem like it'll be too hard but it will be a lot of work unfortunately. I'm rooming with Bombard which is awesome because with some of the people here I would have gone nuts. With what we've planned out so far it shouldn't be a bad summer. We are looking into this job that we were offered last night. It pays $10 an hour with the only problem being we won't be able to work as much as this guy likes but maybe with two of us he'll let us work there. So I hope it goes through because I could really use the money for gas for all my drum corps shows.

My two weeks home in NJ were pretty boring. I only hung out with Kelly and did some house work and such. So it was boring for the most part, but I kinda needed to do nothing for a little bit.

I guess that's about it for now. I mean thats pretty much what's been happening here in a nutshell.

While it may be true that an Army travels on its stomach, the modern warrior also needs highly developed weapons, armor, communications gear - and maybe a trombone and trumpet combo to get the foxhole jumping.

OK, that may not describe the standard gear for most soldiers, but it’s quite accurate for the members of the 25th Infantry Band, who along with their Army brothers and sisters have recently been extended in Iraq. Yes, Schofield Barracks has a band in Iraq and they’re playing in places not even Toby Keith would visit.

Armed with rifles and bullet-proof vests, they tote their instruments far beyond the so-called safety of Baghdad’s “Green Zone” to small security stations that are strewn throughout some of the most dangerous places in the world. And they would have it no other way.

“When you’re standing there in your full battle gear, when you got your vest on and everything else on ... and they’re holding flashlights so we can read music and play Christmas carols, and all the guys are singing Christmas carols with you, and you see their faces, and they come up to you and put their arms around you, you can’t beat that. That’s when you realize, that’s why I am here,” says Sgt. 1st Class Michael McClaran of one of his favorite military moments.

Military units have used music for a variety of purposes for centuries - to position troops, signal orders in camp and to spur men on to victory. The jobs may have changed, but the spirit remains. According to the U.S. Army website, our nation’s fighting musicians got their start in 1633 when drummers were used by the Colony of Virginia for marching practice during militia drills. The first actual band in the colonies was formed in New Hampshire 20 years later, and consisted of two drums and 15 oboes. Col. Benjamin Franklin marched a thousand men with hautboys (musicians) and fifes in ranks in 1756, and throughout the Civil War, two world wars, Korea,Vietman and anywhere else U.S. forces have been sent, the bands have gone along to provide much-needed relief to service-members.

Think about it. How many of us plug in our MP-3s to get us through a difficult day at the office? Now imagine what kind of stress reliever you’d need when your biggest worry is not a cantankerous boss, but a sniper hidden among a thousand innocent civilians just waiting to part your hair with a high-caliber projectile.

While the 25th Infantry Band took off for Iraq last year, one member was left behind for another, more somber mission: to play Taps for fallen soldiers and for veterans who have passed. It’s a job that’s as soul wrenching as it is inspiring.

Sgt. James Sproul, a trumpet player for the 25th Infantry Band, has played at more than 160 such events throughout his five-year career, and though it may seem like the toughest gig a musician can have, it’s one that he takes great pride in doing.

“It’s an honor,” he says. “I do the best I can for the family. Even if I wasn’t a military person, I would want to do something for them. Something genuine. It’s also an emotional thing ... I had a number of times when a mom or a wife that was left behind comes over and mentioned how well it was done, how well Taps was played. For those types of performances, that’s what I am there for, for the family.”

McClaran agrees on the importance of playing the simple song well.

”Taps is not a difficult bugle call to play, but it’s the hardest, hardest bugle call to play emotionally. When you play at a funeral and the family is there, it’s very emotional and it’s very difficult because you want to do your best. It’s a lot of pressure.”

In addition to their duties raising the spirit of those in combat, members of the 25th Infantry Band are expected to stand a post like any other soldier. Their musical duties sometimes come a half day after providing security wherever they may find themselves.

“I’ve never had a problem with somebody getting off a 12-hour shift and then picking up their instruments into a 5-ton, doing a performance, then pack things up and go back to base, then unpack everything before going to bed,” says McClaran with pride. “I’ve never had anyone complain about that because it was an opportunity for them to play, and that’s what all of us want to do. We want to go over there and play for the troops.”

Units wanting a visit by the 25th must put in a request. From there the band figures what it can do and sends the appropriate group, whether it’s a jazz ensemble or something a bit more uptempo. It can sometimes be as few as two musicians going out to the middle of nowhere. All of the musicians are capable of playing in numerous configurations.

“If a unit is ready to go home and they’re having a farewell barbecue, we’re not going to send a brass quintet, we’re send a rock band or a combo and they’re gonna have some fun,” says McClaran.

The current French horn player and former tank commander has another idea for the guitar-and-drum-based segment of the band. McCaran said he would like to set up the rock band in one of the old forts that line that Iran/Iraq border, turn the amps toward Tehran and let the rock ‘n’roll fly.

Some Brigs reviews so far...

So here are some reviews off of www.drumcorpsplanet.com about our show this weekend in Rochester...

Brigadiers.....nice fake out with showing only 20 brass and then openingthe curtain, after introduction, to show the rest of the corps'. Nice move. Great, Great show. IMO the BRIGS are way ahead of their normal learning curve. If their drill matches their show they're going to be a force to deal with. Did I mention the Bari solo....? Does she play sweet or what....? WOW!!!!!!....and.....did I say WOW!!!!

Brigs were on next. Large pit in front of the stage was largely unheard, again just an acoustic thing. I think I counted 37 brass. Oh My God "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was the lushest, most full (great grammar eh?) sound of the evening. Beautiful balance. The young lady baritone soloist in this piece was exceptional, as was her partner in the duet portion. I heard they expect and are writing for more brass members for summer competition. Large and clean percussion section. They seemed totally in control and confident. My buddies, who are sort of DCIish...thought they had a great show for this summer and can't wait to see them on the field so the visuals can help interpret the music. I would love this corps to play "Shenandoah" for a warm up or corps song.

Syracuse Brigadiers - I am on record saying that I did not like their 2004-2006 productions. I am also on record as saying that 2001 is one of my all time favorite drum corps shows ever. This show has the potential to be one of that latter for me. A "Greatest hits" mix if you will of classic brigs stuff that boarders on amazing. "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is just as beautiful now as it was then, Guenevere (I believe that's who that was) was absolutely amazing, easily top 3 all time DCA bari/euph soloist. I'm a huge fan of Spanish Fantasy and unfortunately I have to say this.... I miss Roland. While the trumpets you have playing the solos and fills are doing a good job they do not project as well as some of the soloists in the past. I'm not saying it sounds bad, but it just doesn't have that UMPH that the previous version did. Everyone can't march with every corps so you play what you've got and you did a nice job. Definitely a top 5 show at this point, great work!

Junior Ring and Brigs camp...

So this weekend was an incredibly busy one. I had two things going on basically at the same time.

Junior Ring was fun as always. Bridget came out to be my date since she's one of my good friends and it gave her an excuse to get all dressed up haha. Obviously Yulia couldn't have come because she is still at BCT. But anyway the ball was kinda lame so we ditched out of there with a bunch of other people and headed for the Band Co condo. It was a good time there. We played a bunch of games of pool until we were too tired to stand lol. But we couldn't go to sleep because I had to take her to the airport really early.

So I left for Brigs camp right after I dropped her off at the airport. It was a really long drive this time...I needed to stop and sleep for a bit because I was falling alseep driving, which isn't usually a good thing lol. I was a couple minutes late but whatever. We learned the drill for the entire opener, both As Time Goes By and Spanish Fantasy. It's not too terrible but it's pretty challenging remember that shit after a long night of drinking and no sleep lol. So Saturday night I ended up just sleeping in my Army sleeping bag because I was too tired to worry about the air mattress. I must of fell asleep right as I layed down because I didn't answer Bridget's texts even though we were in the middle of a convo, oops haha. Oh well she's done that to me when I've been on my computer texting her so now we're almost even. BUT, next weekend is our first live performance in front of an audience. So we'll unveil most of our program which is everything from the opener to the drum break in the closer.

I'm hoping to get another letter or even better, a phone call, from Yulia this week. It's been about a week so she should have the letters I sent with some answers to the questions I asked about what the deal is with her, so when I know I'll let you all know.

Other than that, it's the same shit just a different day. School sucks, I'm usually bored, and I never get enough sleep hahaha.

Wow, been a long time...

So yeah it has definately been a long time since I've updated this thing. A lot has happened but I can guarantee you that I don't remember most of it.

Well Yulia is still at Basic Training. She hurt herself there so she might be sent home or recycled, hopefully neither. I've gotten two letters from her so far but I'm sure I'll get another one this weekend sometime. As bad as this sounds I hope she doesn't call on the weekend because it's Junior Ring plus I have to be out in Syracuse for drum corps. If she does call hopefully it's during a break or something so I'll be able to talk to her. I missed her first phone call and I feel really bad about that, so I hope I don't miss this one. I do miss her though and I can't wait to see her in June for her graduation :-)

Drum corps is going well so far. We have most of the show memorized music wise so far. It's the closer that I'm not very sure on. I think we are learning the Pre-opener/opener drill this weekend. It's not bad drill so it should be fun to see how it all fits. Of course the tubas are mostly in the back attached to the drumline lol. Next weekend is our first show, granted its a standstill performance but it's a show nonetheless. I still need to buy my gloves for the season as well as that stupid cap that the contras wear :-(, I'd rather just wear a normal shako.

School is just as shitty as it has ever been. The only good thing that we have going for us is that the weather is finally starting to turn nice. Today it was absolutely beautiful out, I was almost hot walking around haha.


Umm so yeah there was a bunch of shit that happened but being that it's been so long I don't remember.

No real title

Well Sunday was my last night with Yulia because she was leaving on Monday. So I took her out to dinner, we saw a movie, and then went to Chilli's for some drinks, it was a great day. We talked awhile and got to know each other some more. I'm going to miss her but at least I'm going down for her graduation so that'll be fun.

Other than that things up here have been pretty boring. It's the same old shit just a different day.

I do have drum corps this weekend so that's going to be a nice break from this place. Although I don't have my music memorized just yet but I think I got most of it.


Oh I guess one big thing is that I've decided I want to stay in Vermont and move here. Since I don't really have any friends left in NJ I might as well not go back. At least here I have my unit of whom I'm pretty close with them all.

Annual Training and Skiing

So my Spring Break was taken up by Annual Training for the Army National Guard. It was so much fun. We went around to a bunch of high schools and performed concerts and workshops. But it obviously wasn't the concerts or workshops that made it fun. It was all the bus rides to places and the partying at night. I mean if it wasn't for A.T. I wouldn't have my girlfriend right now. But we would hang out at McKee's and play some pool, drink, and just have a great time. In fact one of those nights, Buzz Night, I won free lift passes to Smuggs.

Well Buzz Night is when the radio station 99.9 The Buzz comes to the bar and has all these things to do, like any typical rock station would do at a bar. Well we played Boner Bingo and I won and that's how I got the tickets. So I asked Yulia to come with me since we both had never gone skiing before and I thought it would be fun. We both had a lot of fun and didn't make fools of ourselves that much :-P

Update before bed..

Well for some reason I'm extremely tired tonight. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from the weekend or something I don't know.

So this past weekend was a Brigs camp. We had a nice turnout considering it was a rescheduled camp. We worked on Sparkling Diamonds (parade tune) for the parade that I wont be there for. The rest of the time was spent memorizing Spanish Fantasy and First Time Ever and trying to work out the one part in Spain. John and Jason weren't there this weekend so I didn't have anyone to get drunk with, which I guess is good and bad lol. I need to start paying my tuition so I can bring home a contra and practice. I'm getting the fingers and rythms down but I don't have the pitches in my head which makes memorizing pretty difficult.

But I guess the biggest news was my check from the VA that I got today. It was for over $1600 which is back pay from I guess around October/November time period. This is awesome because now I can pay off my credit card and pay the rest of my Brigs tuition before I spend all of the money lol. The rest I need to put somewhere where I won't spend it.

This weekend and all of next week is Drill/AT for the Guard. We're doing a concert tour to a bunch of high schools in Vermont and doing a bunch of clinics with them. Hopefully it's not like last time where there is a lot of down time doing nothing all day. Don't get me wrong I love doing nothing but this was just a ridiculous amount of time last year lol. We have this convoy training thing on the 17 which is a Saturday and right after we get out of that I need to haul ass out to Syracuse for the Brigs camp. I'm missing the parade but I think I'll live :-P.

Other than that nothing really exciting has been going on. Norwich is still as boring as ever but everyone is looking forward to Spring Break this coming week, which I obviously don't have yet again this year thanks to the National Guard.


Well that's it for now....

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U.P 500, Battle of the U.P. and other stories

So yeah I guess a lot has happened since I last updated on here.

School has been ok so far. I mean my classes are for the most part pretty boring. I guess you get out what you put in so I should probably start doing more of the readings and such. I went to the hockey games on Friday and Saturday nights. They were good games, we won both of them but at points during the game it looked like it was going to be too close for comfort. but it's all good because we clinched home ice for the ECAC playoffs!! HOOAH!

We finally held the U.P. 500 this year. We actually had to have the Juniors and Sophmores do it this time. Last year, the then Sophmores who are now Juniors, didn't have enough snow to make it happen so we had to put it off until this year. So when we got the 2 1/2 feet of snow or whatever it was, we had both classes run it one at a time. I even took a video of it which apparantly certain people in the chain of command don't like. I don't know why he's being such a douchebag but he is, but he's just going to have to deal with it because I'm not changing it. So be sure to check out the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ebNQ5P8vg

Also another huge, one-of-a-kind even took place here on campus. With the amount of snow we got people, mostly just the Cadets, decided it would be fun to build forts all around the U.P. Well after awhile a huge snowball fight was planned out and executed like clockwork. Again I was on hand to videotape the events. Another video receiving rave reviews from everyone except the chain of command. But yet again, I don't give a fuck about what they think. So here is the link to what has become known as "The Battle of the U.P." Also be sure to check out the pictures up on my facebook courtesy of Bombard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXR-vg1ik8E



So moving on from Norwich stuff...Brigs camp was postponed due to the fact that they were getting even more snow. So rather than only have half the Corps show up they decided to put it off until March 3-4. Which I guess it fine because I don't have drill that weekend or anything. I was kinda looking forward to going. I needed a little break from this place but oh well. I guess it'll have to wait until March.


I'm going to be trying to put this new daily schedule into place to see if it'll work with getting more schoolwork during the day and actually getting healthy meals in there somewhere. So hopefully this works out.

Tours and a general update

So my weekend totally sucks. My tours finally went through so now I am in the process of trying to work them off. For those of you don't know a tour is marching back and forth on the "tour strip" for an hour. I got six tours which means I have to walk back and forth with my rifle for 6 hours. I did 4 of them today and I have to do 2 more in the morning. The tours themselves aren't bad at all it's just that they start at 0730 and on the weekends :-\.

Last night we went to the Norwich hockey game against Williams College and we totally kicked their ass. After the first 4 goals they pulled their goalie and then we scored 3 more goals on their backup goalie. We ended up putting out third string goalie in, who is a freshmen in the Corps and we still got the shutout with a final score of 7-0. Tomorrow is the game against Middlebury which is being broadcast on ESPNU and we are going to that game too. Me and Ben are going down like an hour early to get good seats. I mean we already have tickets for the student section but that shit gets crazy when people start vyying for seats. Usually Middlebury is a really good team but this year they aren't doing too well so now instead of barely beating them we'll fucking crush them. After the game we'll probably end up at the Rustic for the celebration.

School has been going ok so far. Precalc is definitely kicking my ass and I need to go see someone who can help me catch up and stay there. The last thing I need to do at this point is to fail another class and be even further back from graduating. So hopefully I can turn that around.

I have drill this upcoming weekend. I have to teach a class on.....something....I don't remember exactly what but I think it's something to do with head wounds maybe.

Next weekend after that I have Drum Corps. I always look forward to camps. It's one of my few chances where I get to play with a bunch of great people, especially us contras :-P. I think I finally got that weird ass rhythm in Spain down. Now I just need to work on getting the fingerings correct lol. Hopefully for this ride I won't have to go through a fucking snowstorm and go 25 MPH on a major highway.


Well I'm sure there's more that I could put here but I need to go to bed because I need to get up in the morning.

It's been a long time...

Well it has been quite a long time since my last posting and a lot has been going on.

First off I'm back at Norwich for the semester and things are going smoothly so far. I think my classes this semester shouldn't be too hard except for my precalc class, not that it'll be hard but just time consuming. I finally got my ring after all of the stupid bullshit that this school makes you go through if you aren't part of the normal crowd.

Drum corps is going pretty well so far. We've been doing a lot of cleaning of the music so far and we're now just starting to get the music for the closer. I was looking at my schedule and I noticed that I will have to miss like 3 or 4 camps and thats not good, especially since most of when we'll be learning drill. But I hope to be able to trade some weekends off between the Guard and the Brigs and figure something out with them. Hopefully the Brigs will understand with all of that. Plus one of the camps falls on Jr Ring weekend which I obviously am not going to miss because my date is flying out from Wisconsin. So hopefully they wont be too pissed at me *shrugs*

So it's official that I am completely broke. I don't know how I spent so much money over break but now I have nothing. I'm waiting for my tax returns, drill pay, and GI Bill (if they ever figure that shit out) to help me catch up with everything. But as of right I can't do a damn thing because of this which absolutely sucks.

I've been sick since right before I left to come up here from NJ and I don't know what the hell it is. I'm so pissed because its been driving me fucking crazy. It just won't go away! I can't go an hour without almost coughing up a lung or two.

Well I don't know what else has really been happening. I mean its good to be back here because it's not as boring as it was back in NJ. It seems like I'm always doing something which is nice.

Almost done...

Winter break is almost done and I can't wait to get back up to Norwich. Breaks here in NJ usually suck so I always look forward to going back to school. Well I guess I should give you the run down on what's been going on here.

I've gone to two Phantoms games. The first game they lost and and the second one they won. Kelly and Nick came with my brother and I to the second one. We were only like 6 rows from the ice which ended up being a bad thing. The glass ended up screwing up our view down the other end of the ice so we couldnt really see what was going on down there. Our seats from the first game were better.

I've gone to see two movies since I've been here...wait no three...Stranger than Fiction, Night at the Museum, and The Good Sheppard, all of which were pretty good movies. I'll probably end up buying them all when they come out. My favorite guy in Night at the Museum was the Roman guy, but for those of you who know me would find that pretty obvious haha.

Let's see what else...

I spent New Years over at Kelly's house. We played pool for most of the night right up until the ball dropped and then we just ended up trying to figure out how to play a game which we never ended up playing haha. She got sick from the champaine (sp?) so I helped clean up a little bit and then I headed home. And that was pretty much my New Years haha.

Well now that its the start of the new year and many people have resolutions and what not, I didn't bother with any of that. I have to much that I have no choice in doing that there was no point. Since drum corps season starts up pretty quickly I need to get into shape. I won't survive on the field if I'm in the shape that I'm in now. I've let myself go ever since I got out of BCT/AIT and I'm pissed at myself for that. So I have to work that much harder to get back into shape especially my arms and legs. With the tuba weighing as much as it does my arms and legs will take a beating on the practice field learning the drill. So getting in shape is a must if I hope to keep up. My schedule actually allows me to work out twice each day in between classes so at least I'll be active most of the day. I just have to stick with it and watch what I eat.


I've already started packing up my clothes and getting my car ready to head back up. I had way too much laundry to wash, dry, and fold that I just procrastinated it all haha. I washed it all awhile back but only now got around to folding it all up and separating it.

Well other than that I guess nothing else has really been going on. So I guess no reason to keep boring you :-P