Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Gotta catch em all!!

October 25, 2011

Have you heard enough about my son and the high school marching band?  Quite enough?  Well, too bad.  This is essentially a blog for him to read after I die in a horrible disfiguring accident, so let's keep it about him and how proud I am of him.

(I just spelled "die", "dye" up there and for the record, I would rather not anyone use RIT dye to make me another color after I am hit by a truck.  Not classy.)

Did you ever see the uplifting movie starring Michael Keaton called My Life?  It came out in 1993 and was about Keaton's character with a baby on the way discovering he had a life-threatening disease.  Keaton, not the baby.   He (Keaton, not the baby) decided to video tape pieces of wisdom for his child to watch and get to know his/her now dead father.  A real laugh riot this movie.  Anyway, that is what I thought of after my opening paragraph up there.  For the record, my birth certificate does not have an expiration date, and I do not have a countdown timer on my arm telling me that I have only a specific amount of time on planet Earth; so that was just me being morbidly funny.  And that is why you cannot drink coffee and read my blog since you may spew it on your screen with the jocularity and all.

So last Saturday was another band competition.  We traveled to Newark, Ohio for this one.  The site was Versailles High School.  I am assuming there are no classy people reading this blog, so I do not need to explain that no one pronounces it like a city in France here in Ohio.  We were at Ver-sales high school.

It was a 2 hour drive during which Beth and I were really nervous.  The drum line was going to be short two people.  The second snare has been ill, and the first tenor had a state tournament soccer game.  The young lady playing second snare has missed a couple competitions as her illness was somewhat serious (she is doing way better now), but CJ has never played in a competition alone without his tenor buddy.  And, they were trying to be the first drum line from this high school to take the "Best Percussion" award at all five of their competitions.

As it turns out, Beth and I were way more nervous than CJ was, and the drum line played that funky music like a bunch of white boys and brought home the title again.  I would put their names in here with hearty congratulations, but I do not use real names without permission.  They have given themselves nicknames based on Pokemon characters, but I do not know all of them.  So congratulations to Geodude, Squirtle, Syther, Charizard, Eevee, Arcanine, Machop, Ash, and Magicarp.  Gotta catch em all!  Done.

7 comments:

  1. You and Beth are the real deal. There are not many like you left. You guys rock.

    Ver-sales? Really and truly?

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh, i just have to add, my wv was farkled. how awesome is farkled?

    ReplyDelete
  3. See? I learned something. I wouldn't have guessed Ver-Sales in a million years. Not even two million. Like duffylou said, "Really and truly?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I was growing up way back in the day, there was a Versailles St in our neighborhood. Some of the locals pronounced it VER-SAY-LEEES.

    My mama told us to never do the same.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Traveling band parents! You guys are so great. It's our last year doing it. Congrats CJ and a great performance!
    My middle son was in the drum line, played the tenor. Their band went to Indianapolis one year and he was so nervous. The drum line was slamming Redbulls and Monster drinks because of their crazy schedule. Shortly before they had to go on my son is looking a bit green. We sat for a few, he stood up, stuck his head in the trash can, tossed his cookies and went on to perform. They placed 2nd that year I believe.
    They also got to play in Macy's which was really cool. My youngest plays trombone and they go to Macy's next year. Only he graduates this year. Bummer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, both truly and really. I also grew up in Kentucky which had a city with the same name also pronounced Ver-sales. It is a wonder that I am so refined now.

    Thanks for the sentiment all. I have learned that band is very special and the trips are awesome-usually more tiring for the parents than the kids. Tenors rule and I guess trombone players are cool too.

    Duffylou, wv farkled? What are you talking about? And, do you have a blog?

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Steve,

    When we leave a comment on your post, we have to type in a word verification, (wv). Yesterday, mine was farkles. It struck me as funny. Don't ask why, it did and still does.

    I do not have a blog. I was toying with the idea so I did create a profile then politely chickened out. I did leave it in case I ever get the itch. Also, as a way for peeps with similar interests to converse. That panned out just fabulously. *Insert sarcastic font here.*

    ReplyDelete