Hey percussion! In case you haven't heard, Dalton has taken a new job and will not be our clinician this year. :(
However, Mr. Brock Barrett (who some of you may have had as a bus driver or seen around campus--husband of the choir teacher) will be working with us this year. However, since he is a school employee, he'll have to be at the same boring, I mean exciting, meetings that I must attend. Therefore, you will NOT have rehearsal on Thursday, August 9th. We will discuss as a group during band camp when to make this day up. You WILL be rehearsing on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons (Aug 7-8).
Monday, July 30, 2012
Try-outs on Thursday!!!
Has it really been this long since I've blogged? Wow. Perry says he misses everyone.
Band camp starts THURSDAY. Here are a few reminders.
1) School song should be memorized. Please do the best you can. If you cannot get it memorized, then play it with music. You will not get as high a chair, of course, but at least I won't force you to eat worms during our lunches next week because you refused to play. (Note: this song has to be memorized for pep assemblies, ball games, etc. You might as well just get it over with.)
2) Chromatic Scale....I see a few of you are freaking out over the "big kid" chromatic scale. If you are in 10th-12th grade and trying out for honor bands, you have to know it so you might as well learn it. First of all--YOU CAN USE YOUR MUSIC. This does not have to be memorized. Second, I will ask you to start on the lowest note that you can and play to the highest that you can and back down. So for example, if Andrea can play three octaves up and down, but Neil can only play one octave yet they are both perfect, Andrea will get the higher chair and Neil will be dethroned.
Note to the newbies: Try-outs are not really that scarey. I will only yell at you if you are Caleb and come in playing Iron Man. The purpose of tryouts is to set the music for basketball tunes/marching, not for you to freak out and quit band. :)
Note to all: We are doing uniform checkout on Thursday. It is easier to try stuff on if you come wearing loose shorts/t-shirts instead of jeans and heavy clothes. That way you can just slip uniforms on and off quickly as you find the "perfect" fit. (Yes Tommus, you must wear a shirt. I'm sorry.)
Band camp starts THURSDAY. Here are a few reminders.
1) School song should be memorized. Please do the best you can. If you cannot get it memorized, then play it with music. You will not get as high a chair, of course, but at least I won't force you to eat worms during our lunches next week because you refused to play. (Note: this song has to be memorized for pep assemblies, ball games, etc. You might as well just get it over with.)
2) Chromatic Scale....I see a few of you are freaking out over the "big kid" chromatic scale. If you are in 10th-12th grade and trying out for honor bands, you have to know it so you might as well learn it. First of all--YOU CAN USE YOUR MUSIC. This does not have to be memorized. Second, I will ask you to start on the lowest note that you can and play to the highest that you can and back down. So for example, if Andrea can play three octaves up and down, but Neil can only play one octave yet they are both perfect, Andrea will get the higher chair and Neil will be dethroned.
Note to the newbies: Try-outs are not really that scarey. I will only yell at you if you are Caleb and come in playing Iron Man. The purpose of tryouts is to set the music for basketball tunes/marching, not for you to freak out and quit band. :)
Note to all: We are doing uniform checkout on Thursday. It is easier to try stuff on if you come wearing loose shorts/t-shirts instead of jeans and heavy clothes. That way you can just slip uniforms on and off quickly as you find the "perfect" fit. (Yes Tommus, you must wear a shirt. I'm sorry.)
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Kidnapped!!!
Today started out like any Sunday. Church. Once the service was over, which went long because of the long winded preacher (which was me, but it was actually it was because it was communion Sunday), we headed to the beach. Typical Sunday island activity.
The beach destination was Fifi Beach. It is a rather secluded beach around a cliff. It is a great place to go because 1) it is usually not crowded except for a few Japanese that go there as a tour a group for snorkeling 2) when they Japanese are there, they have a life guard 3) the snorkeling is really good 4) sometimes you see dolphins.
I have had a cold for a week now. A few days I felt really crummy, but mostly it is head congestion and a sore throat. Sadly, you can't dive when your head is stuffy, so we've just been going to the beach. (Perry was a little mad because he really wanted to dive.) Since I'm trying not to get much water in my ears (ear ache), I just sat at the beach while Ashley snorkeled. Perry was nice and stayed with me.
A couple of times I thought heard noises and turned back to look. I didn't see anything, so I figured it was just Perry. And then the next time I turned too look, Perry and all my stuff was gone! I was probably only 10 feet away from my stuff, but Perry had been platynapped. The first thing I did was try to get Ashley back to shore, but she was in snorkel-land and couldn't hear me. So, I yelled at the thief in the jungle. I said things like "You are not a nice person"...."My dive mask leaks, you know" (it actually doesn't)...."You can take my camera but it isn't working properly and is really old" (that is true)..."What? You took my seashells? Seriously? We live on an island; get your own."..."It's not nice to steal on the Lord's day. I think that makes it worse."...I'm fairly positive he was still hiding in the jungle and heard me.
Eventually Ashley looked up and I motioned for her to come in and I took off to find the vehicle. You see, they stole our keys...car keys, house keys, house sitting keys, etc....I was relieved to see no stolen vehicle and then when Ashley came, I explained that all our stuff was stolen...and yes, that meant our clothes. I figured the person would probably dump our stuff once they picked through it and got anything worth anything. So, I wanted to go around the cliff and search. But I was scared of getting Smittynapped. Eventually, I saw a man with a kid going around the cliff, so I kind of followed them and then asked if they'd make sure no one killed me while I looked through the edge of the jungle for my stuff. The man had already spotted some of it.
In one place I found my bag, my other swimming suit, my sunblock, my mask defogger, my shorts, my t-shirt, and my bag of shells. Later, I found Ashley's shorts, shirt, and sunblock. (And rest assured, Perry was safe!) Sadly, they had unzipped Ashley shorts pocket and took the keys...along with my camera and dive mask/snorkel.
I found a local family having a BBQ on the beach, crashed their party, and called 911. (No one knew the phone number for the police.) As the adventure unfolded we eventually had 4 cops show up in 2 cars (you'd think this was a high profile crime). The police were actually really funny and made the experience slightly more enjoyable. Adding to all of this, we had a to get a tow truck (with another funny driver), which was also exciting, but expensive, and then break into my friend Ben's apartment so we could feed his cats since he's in the states and because my purse was locked inside. I am now considering a life of crime since picking locks seems to be so easy. (On a side note, breaking in to Ben's place was a lot of fun. Ashley, Pearl who is the pastor's wife, and I all dressed in black along with Tisoy who is the pastors son. On the way home, I asked if we could break into something else. They laughed but did not stop at the bank I suggested.)
Well, there may not be any cool pics posted for a while. And I guess diving/snorkeling is out of the question.
The beach destination was Fifi Beach. It is a rather secluded beach around a cliff. It is a great place to go because 1) it is usually not crowded except for a few Japanese that go there as a tour a group for snorkeling 2) when they Japanese are there, they have a life guard 3) the snorkeling is really good 4) sometimes you see dolphins.
I have had a cold for a week now. A few days I felt really crummy, but mostly it is head congestion and a sore throat. Sadly, you can't dive when your head is stuffy, so we've just been going to the beach. (Perry was a little mad because he really wanted to dive.) Since I'm trying not to get much water in my ears (ear ache), I just sat at the beach while Ashley snorkeled. Perry was nice and stayed with me.
A couple of times I thought heard noises and turned back to look. I didn't see anything, so I figured it was just Perry. And then the next time I turned too look, Perry and all my stuff was gone! I was probably only 10 feet away from my stuff, but Perry had been platynapped. The first thing I did was try to get Ashley back to shore, but she was in snorkel-land and couldn't hear me. So, I yelled at the thief in the jungle. I said things like "You are not a nice person"...."My dive mask leaks, you know" (it actually doesn't)...."You can take my camera but it isn't working properly and is really old" (that is true)..."What? You took my seashells? Seriously? We live on an island; get your own."..."It's not nice to steal on the Lord's day. I think that makes it worse."...I'm fairly positive he was still hiding in the jungle and heard me.
Eventually Ashley looked up and I motioned for her to come in and I took off to find the vehicle. You see, they stole our keys...car keys, house keys, house sitting keys, etc....I was relieved to see no stolen vehicle and then when Ashley came, I explained that all our stuff was stolen...and yes, that meant our clothes. I figured the person would probably dump our stuff once they picked through it and got anything worth anything. So, I wanted to go around the cliff and search. But I was scared of getting Smittynapped. Eventually, I saw a man with a kid going around the cliff, so I kind of followed them and then asked if they'd make sure no one killed me while I looked through the edge of the jungle for my stuff. The man had already spotted some of it.
In one place I found my bag, my other swimming suit, my sunblock, my mask defogger, my shorts, my t-shirt, and my bag of shells. Later, I found Ashley's shorts, shirt, and sunblock. (And rest assured, Perry was safe!) Sadly, they had unzipped Ashley shorts pocket and took the keys...along with my camera and dive mask/snorkel.
I found a local family having a BBQ on the beach, crashed their party, and called 911. (No one knew the phone number for the police.) As the adventure unfolded we eventually had 4 cops show up in 2 cars (you'd think this was a high profile crime). The police were actually really funny and made the experience slightly more enjoyable. Adding to all of this, we had a to get a tow truck (with another funny driver), which was also exciting, but expensive, and then break into my friend Ben's apartment so we could feed his cats since he's in the states and because my purse was locked inside. I am now considering a life of crime since picking locks seems to be so easy. (On a side note, breaking in to Ben's place was a lot of fun. Ashley, Pearl who is the pastor's wife, and I all dressed in black along with Tisoy who is the pastors son. On the way home, I asked if we could break into something else. They laughed but did not stop at the bank I suggested.)
Well, there may not be any cool pics posted for a while. And I guess diving/snorkeling is out of the question.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Ahhhhh...Band Trip Memories
I mostly wanted to post a few band trip pics so you could see how the crazy girls greeted me each night for room checks.
For the band students...
You should have received your band camp packet. In a few weeks, I hope to post a little more information, so please continue to check Perry & Smitty Blog after I return to Oklahoma. What you need to know is the following:
- August 2nd is the day festivities begin. (I know you guys cannot wait to see me!) On Monday, August 6th, we will all travel to Camp Bond for a day of rehearsal, team building, swimming, food, and fun. The cost for this day is $10/person.
- I did forgot to list that new students will need to pay approximately $50 during the first few weeks for their polo shirt & marching shoes. Former students, you should have your shirt & shoes. We do have a box of used shoes. Anyone may look through these on a first come, first serve basis.
- Please do NOT let a lack of money keep you from coming to camp. If you are in need of financial assistance, please talk to me when camp begins. :)
- Tryout is the school song (Our Director) MEMORIZED and the chromatic scale for the full range of your instrument.
- There was a question asked about $500 that was listed on one of the pages in the mailer. I have no idea what that refers to. I have looked through the letters I emailed our band parents to place in your packets, and my original does not show any large sums of money. All students are welcome to bring me $500 for my shopping pleasure. However, my guess if that does exist on your copy it is a formatting difference between my document and Mrs. McGaha's.
- You may contact me AFTER July 13th if you need to check out an instrument to practice. If you already have an instrument--PRACTICE!
American Tanker
On Sunday, Ashley & I went on a boat dive. It was a two tank dive. First stop was American tanker and second stop Barracuda Rock. Sadly, my hose on my regular started swelling and leaking when I hooked everything up for the second dive, so I got to do cannon balls off the boat while everyone else went diving. (I am attempting to post a video at the end. If it works, my diving is a little off b/c I'm trying to figure out why my tank keeps moving around.)
Diving
After the treasure hunt (where I found no treasure--but got a cool t-shirt...and a jar of honey which was random), Ashley & I had air in our tanks, so we went diving with a half of tank. (Hey, I don't have much money this summer, so I'm squeezing every penny out of everything.)
Old Man By the Sea.
I took a little hop back to Saipan for a couple of days and a couple of friends and I went hiking down to Old Man by the Sea. (See rock formation below that looks like an old man.) I was hoping to find treasure, but nothing that will keep me from working next year. :) It had recently been raining and it was a very muddy hike down and back. Thankfully, over the years, some hikers have added ropes that we could pull ourselves up without have to swim the mud cliffs.
Brown Tree Snake
My friend Ben is off-island so we are feeding his cats. As Ashley was locking up, I said I'd go throw the food container in the dumpster. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the lights on the van caught something move under the dumpster---a brown tree snake. For those of you like me who grew up in Oklahoma, snakes aren't that big of deal. Sure we don't like them (or at least my dad and I don't), but it's not as if the world ends each time we see one. Or if one is spotted, it doesn't make front page news. On the islands, snakes are a rarity. Most islands are snake free. The brown tree snake was introduced into Guam in Guam in 1952 from either PNG or AUS and was responsible for taking out almost the entire bird population. On surrounding islands (like Saipan) they have the no symbol (the circle with a line through it diagonally) and a brown tree snake in it. Saipan checks every plane landing from Guam for snakes. After I had braved the great outdoors from the van and took a pic of the snake under the dumpster, we were about to drive off, when the headlights caught another glimmer of something. TWO more snakes were in the fence. I have seen 6 brown tree snakes total. one was in a cage at a tourist attraction. One I ran over with my car in my yard...and three were in fences with a fourth next to a fence. Perhaps Guam should just take down all the fences.
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