Friday, August 24, 2012
FYI
I wanted everyone to know that the reason Mr. Barrett wasn't in band this morning is because his father passed away suddenly last night from a heart attack. Remember him, Mrs. Barrett, and the rest of the family in your prayers this weekend.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Great week!
Perry's mad at me. I didn't take him to band camp. I tried to
explain that if THE Perry showed up, he would distract all the new
students. It's hard enough for me to get you to listen to ME...imagine
the difficulty if a "star" was in the room. I don't think that helped.
I wanted to thank everyone for a job well done at band camp. As always I came in expecting the worst. (I am not as dumb as you think and know that most of you never pick up your instrument over the summer.) And as always, you prove me WRONG! I was overwhelmed at the balance we have already started with. I was impressed with the newbies who actually learned their music. (Trace & Eddie only had their instruments for a few days and came in like pros!) I have compiled a special list of "thanks" and "no thanks" for the past week. Enjoy....
Special thanks to....
Enjoy your last few days of freedom.
Oh, don't forget.
PRACTICE BEFORE WEDNEDAY
A LOT! :)
I wanted to thank everyone for a job well done at band camp. As always I came in expecting the worst. (I am not as dumb as you think and know that most of you never pick up your instrument over the summer.) And as always, you prove me WRONG! I was overwhelmed at the balance we have already started with. I was impressed with the newbies who actually learned their music. (Trace & Eddie only had their instruments for a few days and came in like pros!) I have compiled a special list of "thanks" and "no thanks" for the past week. Enjoy....
Special thanks to....
- Caleb, Matthew Holmes, & Tommus for keeping the insanity to a minimal. (Only once dressing up in the 1984 color guard outfits? I'm impressed.)
- Ashley, Sarah, & Savannah for checking out uniforms/tuxes for me on the first day.
- The percussion--for keeping their aloofness to a minimal. Kade...Blake...now that I know it is possible, I'll make
- Neil for not acting like the low brass so I didn't have to yell at him this year (and then later feel guilty and draw flowers for him as an I'm sorry.)
- Trace for bringing me get well cookies
- Rebekah who is going to be an amazing band-aide. The library is neater than it's been in...a LONG time!
- Andrea for not hurting Neil.
- Caleb for sitting right next to me. You may have thought you were ignoring me, but I rather enjoyed hearing your mature tuba sound.
- Braden for bringing me sausage rolls!
- The low brass for actually DOING their sectional.
- David for wearing the hamburger shirt. As ugly as it is, it has this special cool factor about it.
- Matthew Hu mom for being there to fill in if I needed to go to the doctor.
- Maddi & Leandrea for not falling off the cliff on the day they SKIPPED band camp.
- Tyler who helped me carry stuff in one day.
- Kai because I can't think of anything naughty he did.
- Caleb for changing the background of my computer to the ugliest dog in the world.
- Caleb (again) for stealing my phone and changing the names of my contacts....For example: Ginger (Andrea)
- The people who took extra pizza and we ran out before the poor 8th graders got food (naughty)
- The ants, wasps, and scorpions who once again found their way into the bandroom over the summer. (I'm sure we'll find a snake soon.)
- Dylan for coming up with a ridiculous question to everything we had to review. (Where do you come up with these things?)
- Caleb & Tommus who had to had their own comments to every little rule in the band handbook.
- Caleb & Matthew who switched instruments when I had to go into my office.
- Savannah for spilling Braden's coffee all over the uniform room, the fan, her shoes, her legs...
- Everyone who always seemed to be on their cell phones when I walked into sectionals.
- Cade and the bass drums for always playing over. Typical trumpet, but percussion?
Enjoy your last few days of freedom.
Oh, don't forget.
PRACTICE BEFORE WEDNEDAY
A LOT! :)
Friday, August 3, 2012
Band Camp Schedule (Revised)
Saturday
(Aug. 4)—Color Guard Fundraiser Only
Monday (Aug
6)—CHANGE: STAYING AT BYNG
9:00-10:30—Music
Rehearsal
10:30-10:45—Snack Break
(Provided)
10:45-11:30— Sectionals
11:30-12:00—Marching
Rehearsal (Indoor)
12:00—12:30—LUNCH! (Provided)
12:30-1:00—Sectionals
1:00-2:00—Music
Rehearsal
7:00—MANDANTORY Handbook Meeting for
Students and Parent/Guardian. (Signing of Medical release forms—bring insurance
card so we can make a copy or bring a copy to staple to the medical release
form.)
Tuesday
(Aug 7)—As Originally Scheduled
9:00-10:00—Music
Rehearsal
10:00-10:30—Marching
Rehearsal (Indoor)
10:30-11:15—Sectionals
11:15-12:00-Music Rehearsal
12:00-5:00 Percussion
(lunch provided for percussion only)
6:00pm-8:00—Color Guard
Practice
Wednesday
(Aug 8)—As Originally Scheduled
9:00-10:00—Music
Rehearsal
10:00-10:30—Marching
Rehearsal (Indoor)
10:30-11:15—Sectionals
11:15-12:00-Music Rehearsal
12:00-5:00 Percussion
(lunch provided, percussion only)
Saturday
(Aug 11)—
8:30-2:00 –Car Wash
(New Location—Ada Ford)
(Sign
up for times next week. We will have a
tent this year to wash under!)
5:00-7:00—Band Camp’s
Over Party! (Location, Map, &
Details given next week.)
Perry, My Hero
The following account is Smitty's kidney issues from Perry's point of view.
The night was like any normal Tuesday evening. Smitty returned from Bible study and was settled into her house watching some Olympic activity. I do recall Smitty getting angry at once of the announcers when they mentioned a female swimmer of age 29 was really too old to be a competitive threat. (Smitty is still convinced that she can find an Olympic sport she isn't too old for.)
Sometime after midnight, I heard Smitty thrashing around the bathroom. She was somewhere between vomiting and trying to kill a scorpion. I decided to be the gentleman that I am, and kill the deadly creature while Smitty focused on her toilet. I knew Smitty was sick when about 30 minutes later she crawled into the living room for a phone and called her parents. I learned this summer that Smitty likes to be alone when she's sick. I couldn't imagine her wanting an audience.
When her parents arrived about 10 minutes later, it was quickly decided that Smitty needed to go to the hospital. I volunteered to drive. Her parents declined the invitation. However, when Smitty learned that her dad was going home sick and her mother would be driving, she secretly wanted me to escort her to the hospital.
After much moaning and vomiting, the people at the ER finally got enough drugs in Smitty's system that she could talk in complete sentences instead of exasperated groans. (Probably some of the exasperated groans was the fact that the ER asks the same questions over and over and over and over.) A CT scan soon revealed that poor Smitty had a kidney infection and some stones in her kidney's. Smitty was given more drugs in the IV, meds for home, was told to drink a lot, and to rest.
The night was like any normal Tuesday evening. Smitty returned from Bible study and was settled into her house watching some Olympic activity. I do recall Smitty getting angry at once of the announcers when they mentioned a female swimmer of age 29 was really too old to be a competitive threat. (Smitty is still convinced that she can find an Olympic sport she isn't too old for.)
Sometime after midnight, I heard Smitty thrashing around the bathroom. She was somewhere between vomiting and trying to kill a scorpion. I decided to be the gentleman that I am, and kill the deadly creature while Smitty focused on her toilet. I knew Smitty was sick when about 30 minutes later she crawled into the living room for a phone and called her parents. I learned this summer that Smitty likes to be alone when she's sick. I couldn't imagine her wanting an audience.
When her parents arrived about 10 minutes later, it was quickly decided that Smitty needed to go to the hospital. I volunteered to drive. Her parents declined the invitation. However, when Smitty learned that her dad was going home sick and her mother would be driving, she secretly wanted me to escort her to the hospital.
After much moaning and vomiting, the people at the ER finally got enough drugs in Smitty's system that she could talk in complete sentences instead of exasperated groans. (Probably some of the exasperated groans was the fact that the ER asks the same questions over and over and over and over.) A CT scan soon revealed that poor Smitty had a kidney infection and some stones in her kidney's. Smitty was given more drugs in the IV, meds for home, was told to drink a lot, and to rest.
Monday, July 30, 2012
To the Percussion
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).
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).
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.
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