salience
July 26, 2004
It's Monday morning and work is buzzing with the entire Ascend family back in Waltham. Friday, that day before the weekend, it seems like yesterday. Only there were two days in between that are a blur. The best kind of brilliant blur life is supposed to be.
About a month ago, Alex and I started talking about going to the DCI Eastern Classic. A regional DCI competition in Allentown, PA (right next to Quakertown, just to give a reference, and yes, that is the actual name of the town, *ahem* Kirstin. Wait, not Ahmish, never the mind.). Five hours away is the closest DCI is coming to Boston this season, three weeks before the finals in Denver. We decided to go, both being marching band fanatics. Alex Clark decided to go too, as the driver and somewhat less enthused music dork. We left Boston Saturday afternoon, making the hour and a half trek to Glastonbury, CT, Alex Clark's hometown, for some of his mother's famous taco salad. We made it to Johnny Cake Lane after seven attempts at playing Culture Club's Karma Chameleon, fighting for the right combination of 1991 tape deck adapter position and horrendous Sponge Bob CD player placement. I know now all the lyrics Boy George croons through that track, as well as I'll Tumble For You. As a matter of fact I haven't been able to get the line, "Loving would be easier if your colors matched my dreams" out of my head for 39 hours straight. But moving along, the taco salad was inhaled and we were back on the road after a fun half hour with Alex's mom, dad, brother and random brother's-acquantaince-not-friend who is staying at the Clark house because his parents chose to vacation without him. (Also known as the kid who nervously speaks to his shoes and makes everyone else in the room uncomfortable but desperately keeps talking because he'd rather be saying something to dispell all of his eager energy so here is my entire life plan and red sox devotion in the minute span it takes to eat two forkfulls.) The drive was scenic, even with Alex's allergies and his sneezing every 3.478 seconds. However, after stuffing half a box of kleenex up each nostril, everything quieted down enough for some good old angsty, nineties tunes. :) My favorite moment of the drive down was crossing the river into NY with all of the windows down, the sun roof open, and the Verve Pipe blaring. The warm sun, salty wind and nostalgic lyrics were such a good place to be ya'll.
We made it to Allentown just before six pm, the show started at seven. We wandered around the park surrounding J. Birney Crum stadium, watching all of the bands warm up. It's a very scenic place, with a lake in the middle, and brooks which run from it. Everywhere there were ducks and RVs and drummers warming up by the shores. There was so much excitement everywhere, families finding their loved ones tan and lean after months of drill and moving air. Alex and Alex paced frantically amongst all of the trailers along the park road. Kavaliers, Spirit of JSU, Magic of Orlando, Crossmen, Blue Knights, Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Devils, Cavaliers, but where was the Madison Scouts trailer?! Where was Luis, aka Crystal Meth boy (nickname for being his skinny, Puerto Rican self)?! The three were old bcmb friends from freshman year, Luis now goes to Central Florida and marches center snare. Almost an hour after the event staff said their bus would arrive, some catch in a neighboring field and a few pages of Voltaire's Candide, we found the line unloading and heading to warm ups. There were the initial grins and nods, some regal business with Alex Clark being the old man that he is and smoking the pipe he carries, and then the individual warm up when the three finally got to be together. Clark got so excited he shoved his pipe in his pocket still lit.
We watched the line warm up and then headed into the stadium to get to our seats. We got to see the Crossmen (from Delawhere??, I was so surprised, such an amazing show), Madison (whoa!! Luis started off the show with a snare solo, their drill literally stopped my heart in a few places--they milked this pinwheel so well, and literally pulled a perfect General Effect score from the hearts of the audience, Madisonic was the name of their show, dealing with sound and what you hear and how and whatnot). THEN WE GOT TO SEE MY BLUE DEVILS, FROM CONCORD, CA, MY OBSESSION FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS, AND I SWEAR I COULD HAVE DIED HAPPY RIGHT THEN AND THERE BECAUSE OH MY GOD THEY WARMED UP ON THE FIELD AND YOU KNOW I KNEW EVERY NOTE AND DRUM PROGRESSION AND THEIR SHOW WAS SO INNOVATIVE AND COOL AND AMAZING AND MY HEART STILL FLUTTERS WHEN I THINK BACK ON IT. It was bliss, truly. I was spazing all over Alex and the people around me for sure.
That being said, I do believe Madison had a stronger show, it made more of an impact with the audience emotionally, although BD was more out there (the show ends with all of the winds in the end zone and just visual spanning the field) and creative, and their sound and the precision with the visuals, and and and and and... ::sigh::
By this time it was after 10 and we had to head out to avoid the mass fan exodus chaos at the end of the competition. Luckily, Alex and Alex were able to see Luis again to walk, talk, and catch up. (Sonic wave?? That independent, indoor drumline?? Yeah, I'm the Membership Coordinator, Maria's the Visual Coordinator and Clark?? He's the Coordination Coordinator, if you can catch this baseball when he hurls it at you randomly, you're in!!) Brief bye's and we'll talk soon's and then it was off to Wendy's for comida and then back on the road. It was a long way back, not only distance wise but just because everyone was so tired. There were short dances to Boy George but then all of the darkness and excitement sunk in, and really, where do the ducks go when it gets dark?? There was nodding off and Beck and random rest area stopping for energy drinks whose prime ingredient is milk thistle. Liquid sweet tarts is more like it, yuck. Regardless we were milk thistle sick and back in Boston around 4 am.
Sunday was spent sleeping, getting de-car stiffed and meeting up with Flora (who was visiting from BoA in NYC) and Kelly (aka Mike). There was Marche fun and stories and conversation on just how mean magic marker death threats are and laughing and volunteering to be bcmb managers both and yay. Then it was off to get Flora to Chinatown to catch her bus, a great time with DNC traffic. We made it finally after much weaving and creeping, but success was ours at last. :) Can't wait til band camp!! It's going to be like all of our Mod in band!! w00t!! :) The rest of the afternoon was pretty lazy, a good time to catch our breath before breaking down the Clinton party for Rafanelli. It was some book event, complete with drunk campaign interns, cheap mirrored jewels, and a rotunda room that wrapped around the top floor of 60 State Street with a wall of windows facing out into the city. It would be a cool place for a wedding reception actually. But there was much fun with Alex and Alex, plus I got to meet the famous Brazilian Marcello (one of the planner guys) and Mike (not so famous planner and short) as well as this inane, ex-militant who insisted he was a professional so back off--he made loading the truck so much more pomp and circumstance work than it had to be. He insisted Alex, Alex and I were all related and would not shut up about his cherished floral chandelier. However, we were "the best, awesome, so great" and done before three am.
On the way home, I couldn't stop thinking about watching My So-Called Life Friday night, how I reminisced about when I was ten years younger and watched that show, hoping my life would be as dramatic and substantial as that of Angela Chase. And I don't know if dramatic is the right adjective, but my life is definitely substantial, better than I even knew how to hope for all those years ago, you know??
About a month ago, Alex and I started talking about going to the DCI Eastern Classic. A regional DCI competition in Allentown, PA (right next to Quakertown, just to give a reference, and yes, that is the actual name of the town, *ahem* Kirstin. Wait, not Ahmish, never the mind.). Five hours away is the closest DCI is coming to Boston this season, three weeks before the finals in Denver. We decided to go, both being marching band fanatics. Alex Clark decided to go too, as the driver and somewhat less enthused music dork. We left Boston Saturday afternoon, making the hour and a half trek to Glastonbury, CT, Alex Clark's hometown, for some of his mother's famous taco salad. We made it to Johnny Cake Lane after seven attempts at playing Culture Club's Karma Chameleon, fighting for the right combination of 1991 tape deck adapter position and horrendous Sponge Bob CD player placement. I know now all the lyrics Boy George croons through that track, as well as I'll Tumble For You. As a matter of fact I haven't been able to get the line, "Loving would be easier if your colors matched my dreams" out of my head for 39 hours straight. But moving along, the taco salad was inhaled and we were back on the road after a fun half hour with Alex's mom, dad, brother and random brother's-acquantaince-not-friend who is staying at the Clark house because his parents chose to vacation without him. (Also known as the kid who nervously speaks to his shoes and makes everyone else in the room uncomfortable but desperately keeps talking because he'd rather be saying something to dispell all of his eager energy so here is my entire life plan and red sox devotion in the minute span it takes to eat two forkfulls.) The drive was scenic, even with Alex's allergies and his sneezing every 3.478 seconds. However, after stuffing half a box of kleenex up each nostril, everything quieted down enough for some good old angsty, nineties tunes. :) My favorite moment of the drive down was crossing the river into NY with all of the windows down, the sun roof open, and the Verve Pipe blaring. The warm sun, salty wind and nostalgic lyrics were such a good place to be ya'll.
We made it to Allentown just before six pm, the show started at seven. We wandered around the park surrounding J. Birney Crum stadium, watching all of the bands warm up. It's a very scenic place, with a lake in the middle, and brooks which run from it. Everywhere there were ducks and RVs and drummers warming up by the shores. There was so much excitement everywhere, families finding their loved ones tan and lean after months of drill and moving air. Alex and Alex paced frantically amongst all of the trailers along the park road. Kavaliers, Spirit of JSU, Magic of Orlando, Crossmen, Blue Knights, Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Devils, Cavaliers, but where was the Madison Scouts trailer?! Where was Luis, aka Crystal Meth boy (nickname for being his skinny, Puerto Rican self)?! The three were old bcmb friends from freshman year, Luis now goes to Central Florida and marches center snare. Almost an hour after the event staff said their bus would arrive, some catch in a neighboring field and a few pages of Voltaire's Candide, we found the line unloading and heading to warm ups. There were the initial grins and nods, some regal business with Alex Clark being the old man that he is and smoking the pipe he carries, and then the individual warm up when the three finally got to be together. Clark got so excited he shoved his pipe in his pocket still lit.
We watched the line warm up and then headed into the stadium to get to our seats. We got to see the Crossmen (from Delawhere??, I was so surprised, such an amazing show), Madison (whoa!! Luis started off the show with a snare solo, their drill literally stopped my heart in a few places--they milked this pinwheel so well, and literally pulled a perfect General Effect score from the hearts of the audience, Madisonic was the name of their show, dealing with sound and what you hear and how and whatnot). THEN WE GOT TO SEE MY BLUE DEVILS, FROM CONCORD, CA, MY OBSESSION FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS, AND I SWEAR I COULD HAVE DIED HAPPY RIGHT THEN AND THERE BECAUSE OH MY GOD THEY WARMED UP ON THE FIELD AND YOU KNOW I KNEW EVERY NOTE AND DRUM PROGRESSION AND THEIR SHOW WAS SO INNOVATIVE AND COOL AND AMAZING AND MY HEART STILL FLUTTERS WHEN I THINK BACK ON IT. It was bliss, truly. I was spazing all over Alex and the people around me for sure.
That being said, I do believe Madison had a stronger show, it made more of an impact with the audience emotionally, although BD was more out there (the show ends with all of the winds in the end zone and just visual spanning the field) and creative, and their sound and the precision with the visuals, and and and and and... ::sigh::
By this time it was after 10 and we had to head out to avoid the mass fan exodus chaos at the end of the competition. Luckily, Alex and Alex were able to see Luis again to walk, talk, and catch up. (Sonic wave?? That independent, indoor drumline?? Yeah, I'm the Membership Coordinator, Maria's the Visual Coordinator and Clark?? He's the Coordination Coordinator, if you can catch this baseball when he hurls it at you randomly, you're in!!) Brief bye's and we'll talk soon's and then it was off to Wendy's for comida and then back on the road. It was a long way back, not only distance wise but just because everyone was so tired. There were short dances to Boy George but then all of the darkness and excitement sunk in, and really, where do the ducks go when it gets dark?? There was nodding off and Beck and random rest area stopping for energy drinks whose prime ingredient is milk thistle. Liquid sweet tarts is more like it, yuck. Regardless we were milk thistle sick and back in Boston around 4 am.
Sunday was spent sleeping, getting de-car stiffed and meeting up with Flora (who was visiting from BoA in NYC) and Kelly (aka Mike). There was Marche fun and stories and conversation on just how mean magic marker death threats are and laughing and volunteering to be bcmb managers both and yay. Then it was off to get Flora to Chinatown to catch her bus, a great time with DNC traffic. We made it finally after much weaving and creeping, but success was ours at last. :) Can't wait til band camp!! It's going to be like all of our Mod in band!! w00t!! :) The rest of the afternoon was pretty lazy, a good time to catch our breath before breaking down the Clinton party for Rafanelli. It was some book event, complete with drunk campaign interns, cheap mirrored jewels, and a rotunda room that wrapped around the top floor of 60 State Street with a wall of windows facing out into the city. It would be a cool place for a wedding reception actually. But there was much fun with Alex and Alex, plus I got to meet the famous Brazilian Marcello (one of the planner guys) and Mike (not so famous planner and short) as well as this inane, ex-militant who insisted he was a professional so back off--he made loading the truck so much more pomp and circumstance work than it had to be. He insisted Alex, Alex and I were all related and would not shut up about his cherished floral chandelier. However, we were "the best, awesome, so great" and done before three am.
On the way home, I couldn't stop thinking about watching My So-Called Life Friday night, how I reminisced about when I was ten years younger and watched that show, hoping my life would be as dramatic and substantial as that of Angela Chase. And I don't know if dramatic is the right adjective, but my life is definitely substantial, better than I even knew how to hope for all those years ago, you know??
lasaliente, 09:24
