An Open Letter to the Squires Alumni

Between 1998 and 2001, I was involved in the start-up of the Copper Star drum corps (both the senior corps, which started first, and the junior corps). I hope you won't mind, then, if I give you all some friendly advice about trying to start up a drum corps.

First and foremost, do know that this will be a time-consuming endeavor. It's amazing just how much time drum corps takes up, and the world is not the same as it was in the 70s when there were much fewer distractions. So be prepared to take this activity on as the equivalent of a second job if you're wanting to do this right.

Second, treat the organization like a business. One of the most important activities corps personnel are going to undertake, especially at the beginning, is fundraising. Do everything you can to raise money. Because this will be an adult activity as opposed to a youth activity, fundraising will be more difficult; people will donate to help out kids, but not for other adults. Expect to work hard for the money. Likewise, be creative in your fundraising. The old, traditional methods for raising money are difficult to use today (e.g., bingo). How else can you earn money? (Another thing: keep out of debt as much as possible. Use cash for all corps purchases.)

Third, accept everyone. Don't limit yourself to actual alumni of the Squires and Pages. Bring in as many people as you can. Consider various levels of commitment, a la the Empire Statesmen, who had three levels (those marching in the DCA shows being in the third and most committed level). Likewise, don't limit yourself to adults. If you compete, make the organization an all-age corps so that you can help keep the drum corps activity in upstate New York alive.

Fourth, build up the organization as you can. Don't think that you have to have a full-blown competitive DCA corps in your first season. Equipment is expensive, especially horns. Build up the guard and drum line first; those two groups have the most opportunity to perform in the off-season through WGI events. Uniforms aren't a must have, not at this time. Nice polo shirts in the corps colors will work just as well for the time being.

Five, use momentum to help you build the corps. Competition is key. You're located in the heart of DCA country: take advantage of that. Build up by performing in as many venues as possible (WGI, DCA/Minicorps, parades, other exhibitions). The more exposure you get the easier it will be to recruit; the bigger the itinerary, the easier it is to retain membership. People will drop out if there are no events coming up in the future.

I may update this if more points come to mind. Don't be afraid to ask specific questions; I can respond publicly or privately.

Keep up the good work!

Drum Corps: Amplification Not Required

This video's being passed around various drum corps alumni over at Facebook. As the junior corps activity slowly fades away due to the excessive tinkering of drum corps directors who can't leave well enough alone ("If it ain't broke...") and the exorbitant costs from corps needing to tour coast-to-coast each summer, I thought it would be nice to share a video from a time (1979) when the junior corps activity was still robust and the brass instruments were still bugles, which are designed to project sound outdoors, instead of using wimpy B♭ horns that require amplification for the audience to hear the music.

The corps in this video are the Santa Clara Vanguard, Phantom Regiment, 27th Lancers, the Bridgemen, Blue Devils, and Spirit of Atlanta.

DCA Rankings - Mid-July

Below are the current rankings for DCA corps as of July 15th. Once again, take these rankings with a large grain of salt. Of the 21 corps, only 6 marched two shows or more, and 3 corps didn't march at all in this time period. What shouldn't be taken lightly is the sorry state of DCA performances so far this year compared to this time last year. Only 5 corps are doing better this year than last and 6 corps have abysmal scores compared to what they did last year. Let's practice a little harder, people! (Note: The rankings have been updated as I had forgotten to add Fusion Core's results to the listings yesterday. Mea culpa!)

1 Reading Bucaneers (up 2)
2 Connecticut Hurricanes (down 1)
3 SF Renegades (up 2)
4 Empire Statesmen (new)
5 Minnesota Brass (down 3)
6 Hawthorne Caballeros (down 2)
7 Syracuse Brigadiers (new)
8 Bushwackers (down 1)
9 CorpsVets (down 3)
10 Fusion Core (new)
11 Governaires (down 2)
12 Rochester Crusaders (down 2)
13 Kingston Grenadiers (new)
14 SoCal Dream (down 3)
15 White Sabers (new)
16 Carolina Gold (down 4)
17 Alliance (new)
18 Anaheim Kingsmen Sr. (down 5)
19 Sun Devils (new)
20 Excelsior (new)
21 Shenandoah Sound (new)

Average High Score: 66.976 points


Improvement Rankings (1st Half of July):
1 SF Renegades (5.662)
2 Reading Buccaneers (5.175)
3 Rochester Crusaders (3.987)
4 Bushwackers (3.950)
5 SoCal Dream (3.075)
6 Connecticut Hurricanes (2.250)
7 CorpsVets (1.750)
8 Anaheim Kingsmen Sr. (0.863)
9 Hawthorne Caballeros (0.675)

Average Improvement: 1.304 points (includes the twelve corps that had no improvement this period)


Improvement Rankings (Year to Date):
1 Bushwackers (6.975)
2 SF Renegades (6.137
3 Reading Buccaneers (5.175)
4 SoCal Dream (4.825)
5 Syracuse Brigadiers (4.687)
6 Minnesota Brass (4.250)
7 Rochester Crusaders (3.987)
8 Hawthorne Caballeros (3.862)
9 Connecticut Hurricanes (2.250)
10 White Sabers (2.225)
11 CorpsVets (tie) (1.750)
11 Governaires (tie) (1.750)
13 Anaheim Kingsmen Sr. (0.863)

Average YTD Improvement: 2.321 points (includes the eight corps that had no improvement for the year-to-date)


Year-over-Year Rankings:
1 Syracuse Brigadiers (3.762)
2 SF Renegades (3.525)
3 CorpsVets (2.513)
4 Minnesota Brass (1.375)
5 Governaires (0.125)
6 White Sabers (-0.325)
7 Connecticut Hurricanes (-0.613)
8 Empire Statesmen (-1.262)
9 Fusion Core (-1.875)
10 Reading Buccaneers (-3.362)
11 Bushwackers (-4.038)
12 Rochester Crusaders (-4.538)
13 Hawthorne Caballeros (-5.213)
14 Carolina Gold (-6.250)
15 SoCal Dream (-7.300)

Average YOY Improvement: -1.565 points


Other Notes:
* Hardest working corps the first half of July: SoCal Dream (3 shows)
* Hardest working corps this season: SoCal Dream (5 shows)

For the June Rankings, see: DCI World, DCI Open, and DCA.
For the other Mid-July rankings, see DCI World and DCI Open.

DCI Open Class Rankings - Mid-July

Below are the current rankings for DCI's Open Class corps as of July 15th. I would still take the Open Class rankings with a large grain of salt. There are a number of corps I would expect to show up at DCI Finals in August that haven't done a show in almost two weeks. Likewise, a number of corps started their seasons in the past two weeks who weren't in the June rankings; thus, there's a lot of volatility in terms of corps going up or down since the last published rankings. Caveat emptor!

1 Citations (no change)
2 Capital Regiment (up 5)
3 Teal Sound (up 2)
4 Blue Devils B (down 3)
5 Gold (up 4)
6 Raiders (new)
7 7th Regiment (down 1)
8 Vanguard Cadets (down 5)
9 Mystikal (up 2)
10 Velvet Knights (no change)
11 Revolution (down 7)
12 Colt Cadets (down 4)
13 Impulse (up 2)
14 Oregon Crusaders (new)
15 Legends (new)
16 Incognito (down 2)
17 Racine Scouts (down 5)
18 Dutch Boy (new)
19 Memphis Sound (new)
20 Spirit of Newark (down 7)
21 Blue Devils C (down 5)
22 Les Stentors (new)

Average High Score: 67.286 points


Improvement Rankings (1st Half of July):
1 Impulse (11.800)
2 Gold (10.350)
3 Capital Regiment (10.300)
4 Mystikal (9.350)
5 Teal Sound (9.250)
6 Velvet Knights (8.450)
7 Incognito (6.350)
8 Citations (5.200)
9 7th Regiment (5.000)
10 Colt Cadets (4.900)
11 Racine Scouts (4.000)
12 Revolution (2.200)
13 Blue Devils B (2.000)
14 Vanguard Cadets (1.200)

Average Improvement: 4.107 points (includes the eight corps that had no improvement this period)


Improvement Rankings (Year to Date):
1 Impulse (13.500)
2 Capital Regiment (12.800)
3 Racine Scouts (tie) (12.400)
3 Velvet Knights (tie) (12.400)
5 Colt Cadets (11.700)
6 Gold (10.950)
7 Mystikal (9.750)
8 Teal Sound (9.250)
9 Dutch Boy (8.150)
10 Les Stentors (7.400)
11 Incognito (7.350)
12 Revolution (5.400)
13 Citations (5.200)
14 7th Regiment (5.000)
15 Vanguard Cadets (4.200)
16 Blue Devils C (3.700)
17 Blue Devils B (3.300)
18 Raiders (3.200)
19 Legends (2.750)
20 Memphis Sound (0.250)
21 Oregon Crusaders (tie) (0.000)
21 Spirit of Newark (tie) (0.000)

Average YTD Improvement: 6.757 points


Year-over-Year Rankings:
1 Spirit of Newark (12.900)
2 Raiders (12.300)
3 Mystikal (10.850)
4 Gold (10.450)
5 Legends (9.900)
6 7th Regiment (9.350)
7 Colt Cadets (5.800)
8 Citations (5.200)
9 Impulse (4.100)
10 Blue Devils C (3.400)
11 Racine Scouts (2.100)
12 Velvet Knights (1.850)
13 Vanguard Cadets (1.400)
14 Incognito (tie) (0.300)
14 Teal Sound (tie) (0.300)
16 Blue Devils B (0.000)
17 Revolution (-0.700)
18 Les Stentors (-3.500)
19 Oregon Crusaders (-5.800)
20 Dutch Boy (-5.950)

Average YOY Improvement: 3.713 points


Other Notes:
* Hardest working corps the first half of July: Teal Sound (7 shows)
* Hardest working corps this season: Colt Cadets (11 shows)

For the June Rankings, see: DCI World, DCI Open, and DCA.
For the other Mid-July rankings, see DCI World and DCA.

DCI World Class Rankings - Mid-July

Below are the current rankings for DCI's World Class corps as of July 15th. I've added some new information in the regular rankings so let me walk you through it: The number on the left, of course, is the current ranking; for example, the Blue Devils are currently in 1st place. In the past two weeks (between July 1st and July 15th), the Blue Devils were ranked as low as 3rd place and as high as 1st place. (Rankings fluctuate daily, so I'm giving the range of rankings through these past two weeks.) The last number (up, down, no change, new) tells how well or poorly the corps has down since their last published ranking back as of June 30th. Once again, the Blue Devils were ranked 3rd back on June 30th, so they've jumped up two places.

1 Blue Devils (Low: 3; High: 1; up 2)
2 Carolina Crown (tie) (L: 5; H: 1; down 1)
2 The Cavaliers (tie) (L: 7; H: 2; up 3)
4 Holy Name Cadets (L: 5; H: 2; down 2)
5 Santa Clara Vanguard (L: 5; H: 3; down 1)
6 Bluecoats (L: 7; H: 5; up 1)
7 Blue Stars (L: 10; H: 7; up 2)
8 Boston Crusaders (L: 9; H: 8; no change)
9 Phantom Regiment (L: 9; H: 6; down 3)
10 Blue Knights (L: 10; H: 8; no change)
11 Glassmen (L: 14; H: 11; no change)
12 Troopers (L: 14; H: 12; no change)
13 Colts (L: 13; H: 11; down 1)
14 The Academy (L: 17; H: 13; up 2)
15 Madison Scouts (L: 17; H: 13; no change)
16 Spirit (L: 17; H: 14; down 2)
17 Crossmen (L: 17; H: 13; no change)
18 Pacific Crest (L: 20; H: 18; up 1)
19 Mandarins (L: 19; H: 18; down 1)
20 Pioneer (L: 22; H: 20; up 1)
21 Jersey Surf (L: 21; H: 18; down 1)
22 Seattle Cascades (L: 22; H: 21; new)

Average High Score: 79.664 points


Improvement Rankings (1st Half of July):
1 The Academy (10.350)
2 Blue Knights (9.650)
3 The Cavaliers (9.200)
4 Troopers (9.100)
5 Blue Stars (8.600)
6 Colts (8.550)
7 Blue Devils (8.200)
8 Pacific Crest (8.100)
9 Crossmen (7.900)
10 Glassmen (7.750)
11 Bluecoats (7.500)
12 Madison Scouts (7.350)
13 Pioneer (7.100)
14 Santa Clara Vanguard (6.950)
15 Seattle Cascades (6.650)
16 Boston Crusaders (6.500)
17 Spirit (6.350)
18 Mandarins (5.850)
19 Carolina Crown (5.200)
20 Holy Name Cadets (5.150)
21 Jersey Surf (5.100)
22 Phantom Regiment (3.950)

Average Improvement: 6.852 points


Improvement Rankings (Year to Date):
1 Blue Stars (17.100)
2 Colts (15.250)
3 Carolina Crown (15.100)
4 Blue Devils (13.750)
5 Boston Crusaders (13.600)
6 Troopers (13.300)
7 Madison Scouts (13.150)
8 The Cavaliers (13.100)
9 Glassmen (13.050)
10 Santa Clara Vanguard (12.500)
11 Holy Name Cadets (tie) (12.250)
11 Spirit (tie) (12.250)
13 The Academy (12.050)
14 Crossmen (11.700)
15 Pioneer (11.600)
16 Blue Knights (11.400)
17 Bluecoats (10.050)
18 Pacific Crest (9.700)
19 Phantom Regiment (9.650)
20 Mandarins (8.200)
21 Seattle Cascades (6.650)
22 Jersey Surf (5.100)

Average YTD Improvement: 11.841 points


Year-over-Year Rankings:
1 Pioneer (6.050)
2 Troopers (4.700)
3 Blue Stars (4.250)
4 The Academy (3.750)
5 Colts (2.400)
6 Boston Crusaders (tie) (1.350)
6 Glassmen (tie) (1.350)
8 Blue Devils (1.250)
9 Santa Clara Vanguard (0.850)
10 Blue Knights (0.650)
11 Spirit (0.600)
12 Carolina Crown (0.450)
13 Bluecoats (tie) (-0.050)
13 Madison Scouts (tie) (-0.050)
15 The Cavaliers (-0.500)
16 Crossmen (-1.050)
17 Mandarins (-1.300)
18 Holy Name Cadets (-1.650)
19 Pacific Crest (-3.350)
20 Phantom Regiment (-4.650)
21 Jersey Surf (-6.000)

Average YOY Improvement: 0.431 points


Other Notes:
* Hardest working corps the first half of July: Troopers (9 shows)
* Hardest working corps this season: Blue Stars and Boston Crusaders (16 shows)

For the June Rankings, see: DCI World, DCI Open, and DCA.
For the other Mid-July rankings, see DCI Open and DCA.

DCA Rankings - June 2009

The DCA Rankings are very much in the "for what it's worth" department as many of the corps haven't started their seasons yet, so, for what it's worth... :)

June 2009 Rankings:
1 Connecticut Hurricanes
2 Minnesota Brass
3 Reading Buccaneers
4 Hawthorne Caballeros
5 SF Renegades
6 CorpsVets
7 Bushwackers
8 Governaires
9 Rochester Crusaders
10 SoCal Dream
11 Carolina Gold
12 Anaheim Kingsmen Sr.

Notes:

The top six corps have all scored above 70 points already.

Every corps has scored above 56 points.

The average high score for all DCA corps was 68.379 points.

Year-to-Date Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since their first show of the season.)

1 Minnesota Brass
2 Hawthorne Caballeros
3 Bushwackers
4 Governaires (tie)
4 SoCal Dream (tie)
6 SF Renegades

Notes:

The average for YTD Improvements was 1.203 points.

The high (Minnesota Brass) was 4.250 points.

All of the remaining corps, the Anaheim Kingsment Sr., Carolina Gold, Connecticut Hurricanes, Corvettes, Reading Buccaneers, and the Rochester Crusaders, have had no improvement for the year-to-date because they have only marched one show so far. (Anaheim has actually marched two shows, but their first show was an exhibition.)

Year-on-Year Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since the same time last year, so we're comparing the end of June 2008 to the end of June 2009. This ranking shows who the pleasant surprises are and which corps are not doing so well compared to the previous season.)

1 Connecticut Hurricanes
2 Hawthorne Caballeros
3 CorpsVets
4 Minnesota Brass
5 Governaires
6 Bushwackers
7 Reading Buccaneers
8 Rochester Crusaders
9 SoCal Dream

Notes:

The average for YOY Improvements was a negative 0.526 points.

The high (Connecticut Hurricanes) was 4.075 points; the low (SoCal Dream) was a negative 8.000 points.

All corps in places 1-5 had positive changes since last June's high score, while corps in places 6-9 had negative changes.

Anaheim Kingsmen Sr. is not listed here because they didn't march last season; Carolina Gold and the SF Renegades aren't listed because they didn't march last June.

DCI Open Class Rankings - June 2009

The Open Class Rankings aren't quite as meaningful in June as they are for the World Class corps (as not all corps have started their season just yet), but we'll do them anyway.

June 2009 Rankings:
1 Blue Devils B (tie)
1 Citations (tie)
3 Vanguard Cadets
4 Revolution
5 Teal Sound
6 7th Regiment
7 Capital Regiment
8 Colt Cadets
9 Gold
10 Velvet Knights
11 Mystikal
12 Racine Scouts
13 Spirit of Newark
14 Incognito
15 Impulse
16 Blue Devils C

Notes:

Blue Devils B, Citations, and Vanguard Cadets have all scored above 70 points already.

Every corps has scored above 53 points.

Hardest working corps: Colt Cadets - six shows.

The average high score for all Open Class corps was 63.709.

Year-to-Date Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since their first show of the season.)

1 Racine Scouts
2 Colt Cadets
3 Velvet Knights
4 Blue Devils C
5 Revolution
6 Vanguard Cadets
7 Capital Regiment
8 Impulse
9 Blue Devils B
10 Incognito
11 Gold
12 Mystikal

Notes:

The average for YTD Improvements was 2.150 points.

The high (Racine Scouts) was 8.400 points.

Citations and Spirit of Newark had no improvement for the year-to-date because they have only marched one show so far.

7th Regiment and Teal Sound have marched two shows, but have yet to register any improvement over their opening scores.

Year-on-Year Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since the same time last year, so we're comparing the end of June 2008 to the end of June 2009. This ranking shows who the pleasant surprises are and which corps are not doing so well compared to the previous season.)

1 7th Regiment
2 Colt Cadets
3 Mystikal
4 Citations
5 Blue Devils C
6 Gold
7 Racine Scouts
8 Vanguard Cadets
9 Incognito
10 Revolution
11 Blue Devils B
12 Teal Sound
13 Velvet Knights
14 Impulse

Notes:

The average for YOY Improvements was 1.268 points.

The high (7th Regiment) was 7.950 points; the low (Impulse) was a negative 5.100 points.

All corps in places 1-8 had positive changes since last June's high score, while corps in places 9-14 had negative changes.

Capital Regiment is not listed here because they didn't march last season; Spirit of Newark isn't listed because they didn't march last June.

Update: I've modified the various rankings to reflect Jersey Surf's jump from Open to World Class status.

DCI World Class Rankings - June 2009

It's time for the June drum corps rankings. Hopefully, this year, we'll be able to follow up by posting the July and August rankings. :) (Work issues prevented those posts from being written in previous years; hopefully, that won't be the case this year.) On with the show, then.

June 2009 Rankings:
1 Carolina Crown
2 Holy Name Cadets
3 Blue Devils
4 Santa Clara Vanguard
5 The Cavaliers
6 Phantom Regiment
7 Bluecoats
8 Boston Crusaders
9 Blue Stars
10 Blue Knights
11 Glassmen
12 Colts (tie)
12 Troopers (tie)
14 Spirit
15 Madison Scouts
16 The Academy
17 Crossmen
18 Mandarins
19 Pacific Crest
20 Jersey Surf
21 Pioneer

Notes:

Crown, Cadets, and Blue Devils have all scored above 80 points already.

Every corps has scored above 63 points.

Hardest working corps: Blue Stars, Crusaders, Crown, Colts, Glassmen - all with eight shows.

Slowest start to the season: Jersey Surf - one show.

The average high score for all World Class corps was 72.812.

Year-to-Date Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since their first show of the season; there's a definite benefit for corps to have done more shows than fewer: the more shows a corps does, usually the higher up they are in the YTD rankings.)

1 Carolina Crown
2 Blue Stars
3 Holy Name Cadets
4 Boston Crusaders
5 Colts
6 Spirit
7 Madison Scouts
8 Phantom Regiment
9 Blue Devils
10 Santa Clara Vanguard
11 Glassmen
12 Pioneer
13 Troopers
14 The Cavaliers
15 Crossmen
16 Bluecoats
17 Mandarins
18 Blue Knights
19 The Academy
20 Pacific Crest
21 Jersey Surf

Notes:

The average for YTD Improvements was 4.736 points.

The high (Carolina Crown) was 9.900 points; the low (Jersey Surf) was 0.000 points (due to having only marched one show in June).

Year-on-Year Improvement Rankings:
(This measures how well the corps has done since the same time last year, so we're comparing the end of June 2008 to the end of June 2009. This ranking shows who the pleasant surprises are and which corps are not doing so well compared to the previous season.)

1 Carolina Crown
2 Troopers
3 Holy Name Cadets
4 Blue Stars
5 Madison Scouts
6 Bluecoats
7 Boston Crusaders
8 Pioneer
9 Glassmen
10 Blue Knights
11 Phantom Regiment
12 Spirit
13 Colts
14 Crossmen
15 Santa Clara Vanguard
16 Blue Devils
17 The Cavaliers
18 The Academy
19 Mandarins
20 Pacific Crest
21 Jersey Surf

Notes:

The average for YOY Improvements was 0.224 points.

The high (Carolina Crown) was 6.000 points; the low (Jersey Surf) was a negative 9.350 points.

The Colts had no change in their score since last June's high score; every corps above them (places 1-12) had a positive change while every corps below them (14-21) had negative changes.

Update: The rankings have been modified to reflect Jersey Surf's move from Open to World Class status.

Drum Corps Saturday - 2005 San Francisco Renegades

The last video I can find for the 2005 DCA championships (for the Open Class)* is of the San Francisco Renegades. The corps scored 92.525 in the prelims and 93.738 in the finals, placing fifth in both competitions. This is the highest ranking the corps has had in DCA to date. The corps' show theme that year was "Days of Future Past," with the following repertoire: Ave Maria, The Ascension, Halloween, Niner-Two (Drum Solo), Open Up Wide, Nights In White Satin, and La Villa Strangiato.

If anyone can point out any other entire shows for this particular championships, I'd appreciate it.

Drum Corps Saturday - 2005 Hawthorne Caballeros

The next corps up in the 2005 DCA Championships were the Hawthorne Caballeros, who scored 90.050 in the prelims and 89.688 in the finals, placing seventh in both shows. (This was actually their worst showing at DCA since 1969!) The Cabs' show that year was themed "Passage To The Pyramid," playing the songs "The River Nile," "Sandstorm," and "The Riddle and Passage to the Great Pyramid."

Drum Corps Saturday: 2005 Carolina Gold

In eighth place at the 2005 DCA finals was Carolina Gold; they had a score of 85.588 in the prelims and 85.988 in the finals, just barely beating last week's corps, the Atlanta CorpsVets. This would be Gold's best showing at DCA to date; they haven't done quite as well since 2005.

The show's theme was "Reflections," and consists of Summertime (from Porgy and Bess), Fascinating Rhythm (from Lady Be Good), I Got Rhythm (from Girl Crazy), Autumn Leaves, and Remembrance.

Drum Corps Saturday: 2005 CorpsVets

Finding decent drum corps videos on Youtube can be very much hit-and-miss. As a result, for at least the next few weeks, insha'allah, I'm going to be highlighting a number of DCA corps.

In 2005, the tenth place corps at the DCA Open Class finals was the Connecticut Hurricanes, who scored 84.075 at the preliminary competition and 84.425 at the finals. In ninth place was the Atlanta CorpsVets, who had 85.488 in the prelims and 85.500 in the finals. Their show that year was "The Music of Don Ellis," with the songs Open Wide and Strawberry Soup.

Bedtime Music: Khachaturian - Adagio From Spartacus

One of the benefits from being involved in the drum corps activity is that it exposes participants and audiences alike to a wide variety of music. A couple years ago I first heard part of the Adagio from Aram Khachaturian's (1903-1978) ballet, Spartak (Spartacus). Khachaturian wrote the ballet in 1954, and it first premiered in 1956.

In this video, pianist Matthew Cameron performs the Adagio for CUNY-TV, a cable channel operated by the City University of New York.



To me, this is one of the most romantic melodies I've ever heard. And while the song has been played in a number of movies over the years, I must admit I got all excited when I heard the Adagio playing at the end of Ice Age 2, in the scene where Scrat, the saber-toothed squirrel, had gone to acorn heaven (the 7:43 mark in the below video). ;)

Pop vs. Soda

One of the blogs that I have on my RSS reader is Strange Maps, which is not so much devoted to "strange" maps as it is to unusual maps. This being an interesting map, IMO.


In 1996, the Journal of English Linguistics published an article (Soda or Pop?, #24, 1996) and the above map by Luanne von Schneidemesser, PhD in German linguistics and philology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and senior editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English. The article shows the regional variation in American English of the names given to that type of drink as of the mid 90s.

The reason I find this of interest is that this topic was the subject of much debate when I was a teenager. :) In the fall of 1977, the drum corps I was marching with at the time (the Mark Twain Cadets) merged with another corps sixty miles to our east (the Grenadiers of Broome County, NY) to form a new corps (the Empire State Express) that I marched with in the summer of '78.

Being typical teenagers, we all loved our soft drinks, except that we discovered there was a significant difference between the two sides of the corps: all the ex-Cadets called pop "pop" (as I still do) and all the ex-Grenadiers called pop "soda." And that was just something we had the most difficult time getting over. What do you call a soft drink? Is it pop or soda (or some other word)? And what I find extremely interesting about this map is that it shows exactly why the two corps could not agree on such a trivial matter. The county I grew up in, where the Cadets were located, is the furthest southeast in New York (along the Pennsylvania border) of the blue counties where people say "pop" (in the 50-80% range). And the Grenadiers came from two counties over to the east along the Pennsy border, which is an 80-100% "soda" county. And I never knew until now that my county was literally on the border of that great northern swath of "pop" drinkers that extends all the way from central New York to the Pacific, and from the Canadian border down south to roughly the latitude of 37° North (i.e., the southern border of the states of Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado and Utah).

So for the entire summer, whenever we'd travel to some city or town for a parade or competition, there was this running joke in the corps: "Hey, let's see what the local people call it, soda or pop." And as you can see, whenever we were in the eastern half of New York or Pennsylvania (or, later that summer, Massachusetts), they called it "soda." And when we traveled to the western halves of New York and Pennsylvania (and Ohio), people called it "pop." (BTW, we corps members were also warned prior to our trip to Lynn, Massachusetts that the people around Boston called pop "tonic," as is mentioned in the last bullet point below.)

coke: this generic term for soft drinks predominates throughout the South, New Mexico, central Indiana and in a few other single counties in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. ‘Coke’ obviously derives from Coca-Cola, the brand-name of the soft drink originally manufactured in Atlanta (which explains its use as a generic term for all soft drinks in the South).

pop: dominates the Northwest, Great Plains and Midwest. The world ‘pop’ was introduced by Robert Southey, the British Poet Laureate (1774-1843), to whom we also owe the word ‘autobiography’, among others. In 1812, he wrote: A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn. Even though it was introduced by a Poet Laureate, the term ‘pop’ is considered unsophisticated by some, because it is onomatopaeic.

soda: prevalent in the Northeast, greater Miami, the area in Missouri and Illinois surrounding St Louis and parts of northern California. ‘Soda’ derives from ‘soda-water’ (also called club soda, carbonated or sparkling water or seltzer). It’s produced by dissolving carbon dioxide gas in plain water, a procedure developed by Joseph Priestly in the latter half of the 18th century. The fizziness of soda-water caused the term ‘soda’ to be associated with later, similarly carbonated soft drinks.

Other, lesser-used terms include ‘dope’ in the Carolinas and ‘tonic’ in and around Boston, both fading in popularity. Other generic terms for soft drinks outside the US include ‘pop’ (Canada), ‘mineral’ (Ireland), ‘soft drink’ (New Zealand and Australia). The term ‘soft drink’, finally, arose to contrast said beverages with hard (i.e. alcoholic) drinks.

Handphone A'ishah

A'ishah's definitely in her colic season, and Daddy spent a fair amount of yesterday afternoon walking back and forth in the corridor outside the flat, humming old drum corps songs as he tried to get her to fall asleep. In the meantime, I thought I'd download three photos from my handphone that I took of A'ishah.


This is the first picture taken of A'ishah. As you can see, the image is rather crappy (the "joy" of a handphone camera). :P The photo was taken about ten minutes after she was born, when they had wheeled her into a small family reception room for me to see her.


And, as you might expect, this is the second photo taken of A'ishah. I've been using this photo as my handphone's "wallpaper" for the past few weeks. When A'ishah was born, certain parts of her face were rather puffy. In these two pictures, you can see that her lips were quite puffy; however, in a few days, all of the excess fluids drained away and now her lips are normal looking.

After I took this photo, I spent the next five and a half minutes videotaping her before the nurse wheeled A'ishah away.


This last photo was taken about two weeks after A'ishah was born. We had needed to go to one of the local polyclinics to have a blood test taken for A'ishah's jaundice level. She was sleeping in her carseat and I thought she looked adorable like that, so I used the only camera I had with me (the handphone) to take her picture with.

Special note to my sister EFva: Thank you so much for the package; we got it yesterday. Milady was a bit shocked that you had wrapped everything up individually, and then almost had an overdose of sweetness and cuteness. ("Oh, this is so sweet! Oh, this is so cute!" :) ) We were both very, very pleased with your gifts. Thank you so much!

Drum Corps Saturday: 1975 27th Lancers

Placing fourth in 1975 was the 27th Lancers of Revere, Massachusetts. In an indirect way, an incident that took place at the 1966 VFW National Finals set the stage for the 1975 corps. Before there was a 27th Lancers, there was the Immaculate Conception Reveries, more commonly known as the I.C. Reveries. In '66, the Reveries had placed 14th at the VFW Nationals prelims; however, due to political nonsense that was more commonplace pre-DCI, the 13th place-Racine Scouts were allowed to compete in the finals (while the Madison Scouts, who placed tenth in the prelims, didn't march in the finals) and the Reveries were left out in the cold. However, through a bit of trickery, the Reveries were able to get onto the field and then sat down on the starting line until their grievances were heard. In the end, the corps was allowed to perform their show, but were not judged in the competition.

Between this incident and several other reasons, the Immaculate Conception Church that was sponsoring the corps at the time decided to withdraw its support at the end of the 1967 season. Some of the corps' management and staff decided to reorganize the corps as an independent unit, and renamed itself the 27th Lancers, supposedly after one of the units in the Charge of the Light Brigade. (The only "Lancer" unit in the charge was the 17th Lancers; there has been a 27th Lancers in the British military, but they were formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1945.)

By the time of 1974, the 27th Lancers had become very successful, but most if not all of the charter members had aged out. As a result, 1974 was a rebuilding year for the corps and they placed 20th at DCI, the lowest the 27th Lancers would ever place in the corps' history. However, 27th rebounded very strongly in 1975, rising up to fifth in the prelims with a score of 85.85, and fourth place in the finals with a score of 88.05.

Incidentally, when the church cut off support for the I.C. Reveries senior corps, another group carried on the Reveries name, but as a junior corps. The junior Reveries continued on through the 1974 season, when half the corps defected to join the 1975 27th Lancers, the group in these videos. The other half of the Reveries first merged with the Blue Angels of Danvers, Massachusetts in 1975, and then with the Beverly Cardinals in 1976 to form North Star. So, out of one corps were the seeds of two great drum corps of the '70s and '80s.

The Repertoire: Crown Imperial * Chameleon * Celebrate * Spectrum Novum * Danny Boy

Drum Corps Saturday: 1975 Blue Stars

Formed in 1964 as a color guard, the Blue Stars began marching in field shows in 1966 and became a top drum corps a year later, in 1967. By 1972, the corps had reached second place at the DCI finals, followed by a third place finish in 1973. The 1974 corps had a bit of a scare, falling to twelfth place before rebounding in 1975. The corps actually placed sixth in the prelims with a score of 85.10, but moved up to fifth in the finals with a score of 87.50. This is the highest ranking the corps has had since 1975, but with the Blue Stars' return to Division I/World Class status, there's a chance the corps may return to its previous level in the future.

Blue Star Trivia:

The corps at that time was actually known as the First Federal Blue Stars, their major sponsor being First Federal Savings & Loan.

The Blue Stars were the first corps to wear gauntlets.

The Blue Stars' helmet design is trademarked; no other corps or band can use a copy of it without the corps' express permission.

The Repertoire: Canzona * I've Been Searching So Long * Introduction * The Ballad of Billy the Kid * Soulero

DCA June 2008 Rankings

DCA rankings in June don't mean much, considering that the season for the all-age corps doesn't get into full swing until July. Still, here are my current rankings:

1. Buccaneers
2. Minnesota Brass
3. Hurricanes
4. Caballeros
5. Bushwackers
6. CorpsVets
7. SoCal Dream
8. Kilties
9. Chops, Inc.
10. Governaires
11. Crusaders
12. Gulf Coast Sound
13. Frontier
14. Fusion Core

The average high score for the month was 67.436, with the top seven corps above the average. The hardest working corps was Minnesota Brass with four shows, followed by Chops, Inc. and the Governaires with three each.

In terms of the year-on-year improvement rankings (which compares the high scores from this June with the high scores from last June), most corps are doing better this year:

1. Minnesota Brass +8.887
2. Chops, Inc. +7.937
3. Governaires +4.237
4. Hurricanes +3.712
5. SoCal Dream +2.625
6. Gulf Coast Sound +1.000
7. CorpsVets +0.850
8. Kilties +0.762
9. Buccaneers -2.375
10. Bushwackers -2.538
11. Caballeros - 4.062
12. Frontier -7.000

The Crusaders and Fusion Core are not included in these rankings because they didn't compete in any competitions in June 2007.

The average year-on-year improvement was +1.170; in comparison, last June's year-on-year improvement average was +5.487. The difference between 2007 and 2008 is that, in 2007, there were three corps who had had double-digit increases over 2006's scores (CorpsVets, Kilties and Music City Legend) and only two corps with negative "improvements," whereas this year, as you can see, the numbers are down all around.

There is one other set of improvement rankings, this being for the year-to-date. Here, we're taking the maximum score obtained by a corps so far in June and subtracting the very first score they received for this year. The result is the amount of improvement in the score to date. All of the improvements are (by definition) positive. We will skip the six corps that had only one performance in June.

1. Chops, Inc. 7.250
2. Bushwackers 3.325
3. Minnesota Brass 3.250
4. SoCal Dream 2.125
5. Buccaneers 1.437
6. Kilties 0.525
7. Caballeros 0.313
8. Governaires 0.000

The average improvement for the month of June was 1.302 points.

DCI June 2008 Rankings - Open Class

If the rankings for the World Class corps was sketchy, the Open Class (Div. II/III) rankings are very shaky. While 20 corps marched in June, only five corps performed in more than two shows. My current rankings are:

1. Blue Devils B
2. Jersey Surf
3. Vanguard Cadets
4. Teal Sound
5. Revolution
6. Citations
7. Velvet Knights
8. Yamato
9. Gold
10. Impulse
11. 7th Regiment
12. Spartans
13. Colt Cadets
14. Raiders
15. Mystikal
16. Incognito
17. Dutch Boy
18. Racine Scouts
19. Blue Devils C
20. Targets

The average high score for the month was a very respectable 61.923, with the top eight corps above the average. The hardest working corps this month was the Colt Cadets, who performed in six shows, followed by Revolution, who marched in five.

In terms of the year-on-year improvement rankings, the Open Class corps did much better than the World Class corps.

1. Citations +9.95
2. 7th Regiment +9.65
3. Velvet Knights +9.05
4. Racine Scouts + 8.20
5. Mystikal +6.55
6. Gold +5.65
7. Revolution +5.60
8. Targets +5.20
9. Dutch Boy +4.95
10. Jersey Surf +4.55
11. Blue Devils B +3.20
12. Teal Sound +2.55
13. Vanguard Cadets +2.05
14. Colt Cadets +1.20
15. Impulse +0.65
16. Blue Devils C -3.30
17. Spartans -10.75

Three corps (Incognito, Raiders, and Yamato) are not included in these rankings: Incognito, because it's a first-year corps; Raiders, because they didn't do any shows in June 2007; and Yamato, because they were inactive last year.

The average year-on-year improvement was +3.82; last June, the year-on-year improvement had been +5.96. Still, it's very pleasing to see fifteen of the seventeen corps coming in with strong improvements over last year's efforts. The big surprise, of course, is the Spartans, who have really dropped in comparison to last year. We'll have to see how well they can recover in July.

Update: One more set of "improvement" rankings, this being year-to-date. Here, we're taking the maximum score obtained by a corps so far in June and subtracting the very first score they received for this year. The result is the amount of improvement in the score to date. All of the improvements are (by definition) positive.

1. Revolution 11.60
2. Racine Scouts 9.00
3. Colt Cadets 6.10
4. Blue Devils B 4.60
5. Dutch Boy 3.60
6. Incognito 3.20
7. Targets 2.75
8. 7th Regiment 1.90
9. Citations 1.40
10. Impulse 1.30
11. Velvet Knights 1.20
12. Raiders 0.90
13. Jersey Surf 0.70 (tie)
13. Vanguard Cadets 0.70 (tie)
15. Blue Devils C 0.00 (tie)
15. Mystikal 0.00 (tie)
15. Spartans 0.00 (tie)
15. Teal Sound 0.00 (tie)
15. Yamato 0.00 (tie)

The average improvement in June was 2.493 points for the Open Class corps. The rankings for the last five should be taken with a huge grain of salt. As mentioned above, most of these corps have not performed in very many shows (e.g., Blue Devils C, which did only one show in June). This type of ranking will become more meaningful as July progresses.

DCI June 2008 Rankings - World Class

The season started late this year, on June 21st, so the rankings are rather sketchy right now. For the World Class (Div. I) corps, my current rankings are:

1. Blue Devils
2. Santa Clara Vanguard
3. The Cavaliers
4. The Cadets
5. Phantom Regiment
6. Carolina Crown
7. Bluecoats
8. Boston Crusaders
9. Pacific Crest
10. Blue Knights
11. Blue Stars
12. Glassmen
13. Mandarins
14. Colts
15. The Academy
16. Spirit
17. Crossmen
18. Madison Scouts
19. Troopers
20. Pioneer

The average high score for the month was 72.515, with the top nine corps above the average. The hardest working corps were the Blue Stars, Carolina Crown and Pioneer, each of which performed in eight shows.

In terms of the year-on-year improvement rankings (which compares the high scores from this June with the high scores from last June), only three corps did better than last year:

1. Pacific Crest +4.45
2. Mandarins +0.75
3. Blue Devils +0.05
4. Madison Scouts -0.05
5. Boston Crusaders -0.15
6. Santa Clara Vanguard -0.35
7. Crossmen -1.15
8. The Academy -1.45
9. Spirit -1.70
10. Blue Stars -1.95
11. The Cavaliers - 2.20
12. Pioneer -2.50 (tie)
12. Troopers -2.50 (tie)
14. Carolina Crown -3.35
15. Phantom Regiment -3.60
16. Colts -3.75 (tie)
16. Glassmen -3.75 (tie)
18. The Cadets -4.15
19. Blue Knights -4.25
20. Bluecoats -5.90

The average year-on-year "improvement" was -1.875; in comparison, last June's year-on-year improvement average was +1.626. I'm fairly certain that the June scores are below last year's efforts because the season started five days later this year than last year (June 16th). Hopefully we'll see real improvements when the next set of rankings are done in two week's time.

Update: One more set of "improvement" rankings, this being year-to-date. Here, we're taking the maximum score obtained by a corps so far in June and subtracting the very first score they received for this year. The result is the amount of improvement in the score to date. All of the improvements are (by definition) positive.

1. Pioneer 9.40
2. Blue Stars 8.90
3. Troopers 7.80
4. Glassmen 7.30
5. Spirit 7.10
6. Boston Crusaders 6.90 (tie)
6. The Cadets 6.90 (tie)
8. Carolina Crown 6.80
9. Blue Devils 6.30 (tie)
9. The Cavaliers 6.30 (tie)
11. Blue Knights 6.20 (tie)
11. Bluecoats 6.20 (tie)
11. Santa Clara Vanguard (tie)
14. Crossmen 5.60
15. Mandarins 5.40
16. Colts 5.20 (tie)
16. Phantom Regiment 5.20 (tie)
18. Madison Scouts 5.00
19. Pacific Crest 0.90
20. The Academy 0.00

The average improvement for the month of June was 5.98 points. The rankings for Pacific Crest and The Academy should be taken with a grain of salt as both corps have only appeared in two shows so far this season.