Small Reads for Brighters Days
By Laura
1) I’ve been watching some of the Olympics, and it’s so heartbreaking when a supremely skilled athlete has a bad day and watches golden dreams slip away. 2) I’m “driving” a prop car for Minnesota Brass this season in our Bonnie & Clyde show. Due to a perfect storm of drill changes, storms, equipment issues, […]
By Laura
I was on a bus trip from Minneapolis to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and back from Thursday afternoon to Sunday night with Minnesota Brass. Here we are in the full retreat portion of the show we were in Saturday night. To say it was a long bus ride each way is […]
By Laura
My Minnesota Brass drum corps adventure came to an exciting close this weekend–we won the world championships in Rochester, NY! It's the first time in the 30+ years that Minnesota Brass has been competing in DCA that we've won the championship. How lucky am I to have picked this year to participate!? I'm sure I'll […]
By Laura
One of the biggest things I've realized over the course of my drum corps adventures is that I have a very inaccurate sense of what my body's doing when it comes to learning flag work. In slow motion, I have excellent body control, so I'm fine in yoga, workout classes, weights, etc. But the speed […]
By Laura
If you’re a regular reader, you know about my summer drum corps adventure and how far out of my comfort zone I am. I thought it would get easier as the summer went along, but, well, that’s just not happening. Instead, I just keep realizing how much further I need to go. A couple of weeks […]
By Laura
From Thursday evening to Sunday evening, I was on a drum corps bus trip from Minneapolis to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. We took charter buses for the almost 24-hour trips there and back. Randy and I rode the "baby bus." The "wine and cheese bus" (adults, light drinking) was full, so we had to choose between the "party bus" […]
By Laura
Photo: Patty McKenna (This pic is from our very first show.) I’ve been feeling in waaaaaaaaaaaaay over my head in color guard. Staffers will call out commands that I have no idea of the meaning of, like, "If it’s windy, spin outside the silk more." Or something like that. Anyway, there’s just so much stuff […]
By Laura
Well, I survived my first two drum corps shows. After a disastrous run-through at practice, I said to staffer Heather, "I’m clearly not ready to do the opener." That’s the opening number that includes the oar work above. "You need to," she said. And that was that. So I did all my planned songs in both […]
By Laura
Quick update for anyone following my color guard adventures. Our first show is tonight. I will maybe (if I can get oar work figured out this afternoon) be doing everything but the closing piece. I am terrified. That is all. If you’ve never seen drum corps, here’s a sample from Minnesota Brass’ show two years ago. […]
By Laura
In color guard, there are two conflicting techniques for how to know where you should be on the field at any given beat of music: March Your Dots – Know exactly what your position should be for every step–for instance, 3 steps outside the 45-yard line and 8 steps behind the front hash mark. Guide […]