The Red State Blues

May 13, 2008

Leo Selected "Best Musician" in Dowell MS Symphonic Band

Leo was awarded "Best Musician in Symphonic Band" at Dowell MS Band by assistant band director Kathleen Moy during the Spring Concert held in the cafetorium. As with so many achievements this year, Anne and I were thrilled, proud, and not at all teary (well, I was :-} ). I’ll post a video of him accepting the award later this week.

Posted by Steven at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

Leo's Jazz Band Wins Top Honors

Leo's Middle School Jazz Band (Ruth Dowell MS, McKinney) won "Outstanding CCC Class Jazz Band" at the Sandy Lake Fun-Fest band competition today. They played two compositions and Leo had a solo in the first performance. This is the first year that Dowell MS Jazz Band has won this award at the Fun-Fest. They sounded like a high school band, they're so polished it's amazing to listen to them.

Congratulations, Leo!

Posted by Steven at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2008

Leo's New Saxophone

After last night's concert, Anne and I decided to buy Leo a concert-grade saxophone. He's been playing a worn and mechanically damaged horn that we rented two years ago. That same horn malfunctioned last night right before the concert, and he ended up borrowing a Selmer Paris II from Nick Ose. Anne went to Music & Arts today, and saw that they had the Selmers on sale and with twelve months 0% financing (music to my ears). We went down to the store in Allen, and the salesman took Leo in to the practice rooms to play on the horn. He seemed to like it and was a bit dazed by the whole experience. We picked out some music, and I got a stand for the Roland Edirol keyboard I got Anne for Xmas, and then headed home. This horn will be Leo's concert horn, and the older rental will be his marching horn (assuming he goes into Marching Band).

Posted by Steven at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)

March 07, 2008

Leo's Jazz Band Solo

Leo surprised us with a saxophone solo at the Boyd HS Jazz Festival (featuring all the middle and high schools).

His saxophone broke down before the concert, so he borrowed Nick Ose's horn (thanks, Nick!). We had no idea he was playing a solo (improvisational, no less), so both Anne and I were taken by surprise.

Posted by Steven at 08:16 PM | Comments (2)

December 01, 2007

Marching Season Ends (finally!)

Like many Boyd band parents, I was both elated and exhausted to find or 0-12 football team (2006) playing into post-season, but last night we ended our run in the Texas 4A playoffs against Copperas Cove HS. We lost, 49-28.

Without going into too many gory football details, we were up against a team with at least three players who looked like college students, one who could kickoff into our endzone (we never started before the 20 yard line), another who could pass well, and a running back whom we could not catch. We scored better than their previous opponents, and even put one last TD on the board with 0:01 left on the clock, but we never caught up to these guys (14-13 was our best score).

Too bad, as well, because we'd be playing Highland Park next weekend had we won. HP took down McKinney North HS at Texas Stadium in late Nov. of 2005, when Alanna was there (and I got to do the announce at Texas Stadium). I doubt we would have beat HP, but now we're hoping Copperas Cove does. They could well win the State Championship, which would take some of the sting off of the loss.

Now I have to get my act together and produce a Marching Season DVD, and soon.

Posted by Steven at 01:15 AM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

Boyd HS Playoffs: Week One (we won!)

McKinney Boyd HS won it's first (ever) playoff game tonight (49-35), propelling the school to Tyler, Texas next Saturday for the second playoff game. We don't know if it will be an afternoon or evening game, but we're definitely doomed to ride the dreaded "Yellowhound" buses for at least 160 miles (round trip) to Tyler. Alas, most of the band kids are hoping the football team loses so they can stop having to perform, but what they are not seeing is the fact that this is not likely to happen again for quite some time at Boyd as we move up to 5A (AAAAA) competition next year.

I'm actually starting to enjoy high school football, a mental condition I thought I would never contract. I guess I really am getting old.

Posted by Steven at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2007

Boyd Beat North

Tonight McKinney Boyd HS beat McKinney North (Alanna's freshman HS, the one you keep reading about in the newspapers and Penthouse Letters) to become the town champion football team. The Boyd Band also did very well against the North Band at UIL Region on Wednesday. We meet in competition next Saturday (Oct. 27th) where Boyd has a shot at going to UIL State Competition on Nov. 5th in San Antonio. This is quite a turn around from last year's "Boydageddon" when North pummelled us 63-7.

Posted by Steven at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2007

Summer Band Camp

Band started for Alanna this morning, bright and early, 8am sharp.

The Booster Board stood outside Boyd HS in dry-lightning weather, handing out the Marching Season DVD from last year to new Freshman parents. This was a variation of an idea I had to meet-and-greet the new parents, and to try and get them excited about Band. We only gave out thirty-four of the thirty-nine remaining DVDs I had made last Christmas season, so it wasn't the smash hit I had hoped for, but at least the inventory is no longer sitting in my home, unwatched.

The kids ambled down to the new practice field and promptly got showered on. The weather's weird ... overcast and muggy with spectacular storm cells blowing through. Not much fun!

Posted by Steven at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2007

UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest

Today and tomorrow Anne and Alanna are in Austin for the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest (TSSEC). Actually, today they are at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas (about 50 miles south of Austin). I had to get them both to McKinney High this morning at 6am so they could board a "yellow hound" for the trip. The weather was damp, windy and ugly, but by the time they got down to the park, the Sun was out and the partying was on.

Tomorrow Alanna performs last in her Solo, and sometime mid-day for her ensemble with Kelsey Kingston and Dylan Malone. She got a "2" last year, and we're not really expecting that to improve this year.

Anne is accompanying around ten kids, so she's busy all day on Monday.

I'll post updates as they arrive.

Posted by Steven at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2007

"Fantasy Marching Band"

Now I no longer need be envious of my baseball obsessed friends. Now there's Fantasy Marching Band! This is just too silly to believe ...

Posted by Steven at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2007

Leo Earns His First Music Competition "1" Rating

Tonight Leo competed UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest at Scott Johnson Middle School and earned his first "1"! Anne accompanied him on piano in their first successful collaboration.

Posted by Steven at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2006

Marching Season Almost Done

Today's the last major Boyd Band marching event, the final football game in The Colony against a pretty strong team. Expect another fifty-point spread.

It's been pretty crazy around here, with the band and political seasons both peaking at the same time. Hopefully I can get back into the casual blogging scene.

Check out the band blog for directions to the stadium for tonite's game.

Posted by Steven at 02:17 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2006

It's a Band, Band, Band World

I've been working on a lot of features and content for the three MISD band websites and preparing the Boyd Band student directory. As a result, I've not posted (as you can well see). Once the school year settles down, I'll have time to catch up. For now, enjoy the YouTube stuff (I finally figured out how to get my MacBook Pro to play YouTube content -- thanks to Dave Miller!) and stay tuned.

Posted by Steven at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2006

Alanna is a Band Officer!

Alanna joined the first Band Leadership Team (BLT) at Boyd HS today with the announcement of the band officers by Mr. Nuñez this morning. She was one of four clarinet players selected for BLT.

Posted by Steven at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2006

Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest Weekend

After months of preparation and competition, Alanna performed in the TSSEC today on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. She's now spent more time at UT than I did, and I was going to attend UT before RPI showed up.

We drove down Sat. night and stayed with the Werth's. Holly brought Chloe to our house on Friday, before the MNHS Graduation Ceremony that night. Alanna performed with the MNHS Wind Ensemble for the ceremony. Chloe came up to see her friend Zeb graduate. We brought Chloe back to Austin with us.

Sunday we and Chloe went to the Schlitterbaun. I'm not going to elaborate on this ... it's an older water park that has some pretty dated rides, and is perched alongside the Comal River, for which New Braunfels is more famous thanks to the brisk business in inner tubes, coolers and beer one can find at the upstream end of the river. I injured myself in several places and got a nasty sunburn ... on my shins. I did take a lot of photos of the MNHS band students who were there (around sixty) for the TSSEC (they're on the MNHS Band Photo site).

After driving back to Austin (with me on my MacBook laptop trying to debug a problem with a phone program at work), we went to Fujiyama (Anne going for the first time) and had a great meal at the end of a long, arduous day.

Monday was the competition. Anne came to the competition because she is the piano accompanist for six of the students, including Alanna. After a return drive to take Alanna and Anne to the correct building, Leo and I went Kerby Lane on Guadalupe, and then to my co-worker's home in North Austin. Leo played X-Box all morning while Nick and I worked on VoIP code. I was most impressed with Nick's collection of Kodak brownie cameras! We went to EZ's for lunch, and then parted ways.

Alanna had to perform at 11am, and then again later with her ensemble. Anne was supposed to play at 5pm with her last student, which would have been the last performance had there not been students who didn't show up to compete.

Leo and I went to Barton Creek Mall, where I got my iBook keyboard fixed and some advice at the Apple Store. To get that service, I had to wait until around 3p, which delayed the start time we could take in X-Men III. By the time we were in the theater and the movie started, Anne called saying she was done and she wanted us to come get her. I had to bail on the film just as it was getting started :-(.

We made good time back to UT (Memorial Day traffic is light on the MOPAC) and started for home. We decided not to eat fast food with the MNHS bus crowd, and instead headed north for Yanni's. Unfortunately, they were closed on Mon. so we ended up at the Black-Eyed Pea in Hillsboro. Traffic on I-35 was not good, but far from the stop-n-crawl we experienced last June.

Alanna earned two Division Two ratings in both solo and ensemble work (her entire school's results are here). Most of the really strong kids in MNHS earned this rating, so she did well. She will receive two medals, and as I understand it, now qualifies for a letter-jacket at Boyd. No doubt we'll get her one.

I spent most of Sunday walking on flat feet, which aggrivated the plantar fasciitis I have in my left foot. As a result, I hobbled around all day Monday, and am only now starting to not feel the pain ("The pain! The pain!") without Ibuprophen. Waterparks are hard on me!

Posted by Steven at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2006

Boyd Beginnings

Today Alanna and I went up to Fabion MS for Boyd HS band officer tryouts. I had asked Mr. Nuñez about it this afternoon, and he said that Alanna needn't come to Fabion, but Mr. Harkey gave somewhat contradictory instructions to the band this afternoon, and so we went.

Almost all the kids from North who are seeking an officer role were there! So much for Joe's announcement. One student even chided me for not posting it on the Boyd site. It turns out he was only interviewing kids for Drum Major. Several were trying out from North, and in the end, Mr. Nuñez only chose one student from each high school (I know this because he e-mailed me the results for posting -- in two days).

Posted by Steven at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2006

MNHS Band Spring Concert

Tonite MNHS Band held it's Spring Concert, a more light-hearted affair that features "guest conductors" (who are chosen by out bidding others). A few weeks back, Alan Harkey (band director) asked me if I would "narrate" the event. I said yes, assuming he meant sitting in the sound booth and reading a short copy between each performance.

This afternoon I received an e-mail from Josh Kurzweil (asst. band director) with the two pages of content they wanted me to read. I called back and confirmed (to my surprise) that I was the master of ceremony and that I would be on stage at the lecturn reading the announcements. I asked about not wearing a suit (a sport coat and golf shirt would suffice) and then began trying to figure out what I had to read.

It turns out that I didn't know how to pronounce more than a few of the names, which was awkward since they were all Russian. Josh and Anne helped me with some of them, but I still managed to mangle the former student guest conductor's name, among others. Anne said that, by and large, I was too quiet (it didn't sound that way on the stage!).

Me and Victor Manuel, just before he conducted The Liberty Bell March

As I was getting ready to head over to the school, Anne and I came up with the idea of my using some of my silly hats during my annoucements. I ended up taking my propeller beanie, British judge's wig, a beret, some of Alanna's silly hats (including a Cirque du Soilel jester's hat) and making a Monty Python's Flying Circus "Gumby" hat out of a wash rag for the Liberty Bell March which most people recognize as the theme to the British TV show. It took some doing, but I talked Mr. Harkey into letting me do it. The results were hilarious for the audience, embarrassing for my daughter. :-).

After the concert, I went with the directors to Snuffer's for a belated dinner. On the whole, it was a lot of fun and one of the funniest bits was after the concert, the folks who came up to me with a question all asked, "Where did you get those hats?" I had to confess I owned each and every one of them.

Posted by Steven at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

It's Over!

We completed the 2nd MNHS Band Golf Tournament today at Stonebridge Country Club. It was weird being back in the building where Anne worked from 1990-2, especially since so little has changed. We had thirty-three golfers, which originally was not enough to show a profit, but some last minute re-negociating netted us a profit somewhere in the $1500 range.

It was a lot of work putting this thing together, and Victor Manuel and Marcella Gaughan were running full speed the last week (on the bus trip back from Copper Mountain Resort they were making calls to potential sponsors). I threw together the tournament program yesterday night, and even a gift certificate for a local dry cleaner at the last minute. This whole thing was just an impromptu nightmare, honestly!

I brought $800 in golfers and sponsors to the fund raiser, so I did my part. I really want nothing to do with golf tournaments in the future.

Posted by Steven at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2006

MNHS Band Trip (review, short)

We just got back into McKinney after an eighteen hour bus ride from Copper Mountain, Colorado. We were over two hours late, and over four hours behind the original schedule. Going up we took seventeen hours, and arrived an hour late due because we were detained at the Colorado border for an hour at a weigh station (our bus company's busses were not registered in Colorado).

We scrambled at the Vilar Center for the Arts in Beaver Creek Resort to get on stage and perform at the Rocky Mountain Music Festival. Our bands earned five trophies in the competition, and the Concert Band earned its first trophy.

The first afternoon of skiing was interesting. Over one hundred of the students were first time skiers (including Alanna), and many struggled just to stand up. I took many photos of the bunny slopers in ski class.

Dinner was at the Italian restaurant in the resort. I went with a group of twelve kids (including Monse, Alanna and Katie). It took over two hours to get food on our table, and we had several items served cold and uncooked. The manager indicated that it was the end of the season and that help was hard to find, but that didn't justify the awful service.

The next day's skiing was better. Alanna went up the lift and actually did the beginner's slope. Later in the day she went down the intermediate slope which took her from one end of the slopes to the middle.

For dinner I went to the Chinese restaurant in the resort. They were running a buffet that looked like it was on day #2, so I just ordered some pot stickers and soup. About half the adults who ate from the buffet were not doing so well later that evening, so I probably made the right choice.

We were up at 5am on Monday, and on the bus by 7am. We stopped three times (once at the NM border, twice for meals) and that added the two and one-half hour delay to the drive (it's as if we simply didn't account for the time to eat at all in the schedule). I bummed a ride home from one of the chaperones so Anne didn't have to get up at 2am to pick us up. I was in bed by 3:40am ... and had to get up at 7am for the election today :-(.

Trip photos are posted on the bottom of the MNHS Band Photos page.

Posted by Steven at 02:30 AM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2006

Band Trip to Colorado

It's almost upon us ... the MNHS Band trip to Copper Mountain, CO.

Starting at 4p on Friday, we embark on a sixteen-hour drive to the resort, where upon arrival we will have to suit up and perform in a music festival. Then the band gets to change (again, in the buses) to go skiing for the afternoon. Only after 4p will we be able to check into our cabins (please let there be heated showers).

I'm going as the official photographer chaperon, which means I'll not be tied down to any particular event but will be able to wander and take photos willy-nilly. Hopefully I'll get some great shots of the bandies doing their thing against the backdrop of Colorado's mountains.

If there is Internet service there, I'll try to post a photo or two Sat. night.

Posted by Steven at 06:07 PM | Comments (1)

March 03, 2006

Meet Joe Nuñez, Boyd Band Director

I had the privilege of meeting Alanna's future Band Director today at MNHS. His name is Joe Nuñez, and he currently works in the Birdville ISD near Ft. Worth.

We had a very friendly meeting where he explained his needs for communication with the Boyd Band community, and he expressed a strong desire to use my skills and the Internet to facilitate communications. I offered both Drupal for a web site engine and a mailing list manager for doing direct e-mailings. I explained that in both cases, the users choose what they will or won't see, and that gives them more control over their experience. He liked the idea of not having to maintain a mailing list himself, with all the hassles that entails.

On the whole it was a very encouraging experience and we even shared a n obscure bond -- he drives a Mazda RX-8, the great-grandchild of my favorite car, Sasha (the RX-7). "This looks like the start of a beautiful relationship ..." as the movie line goes.

Posted by Steven at 11:42 AM | Comments (1)

February 25, 2006

Alanna Earns First Division Rating in Area Solo and Ensemble Contest

After weeks of prep, Alanna earned a first division rating (a '1') in the Area Solo and Ensemble Contest at North Garland HS today. She and a substantial number of her MNHS Band peers advance to the State UIL Solo and Ensemble competition in May, in Austin. We'll probably all come down for the event.

Posted by Steven at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2006

Meet the New Publicity VP for MNHS Band

I got an e-mail from the McKinney North HS band booster President, asking me if I'd like to assume the role of VP of Publicity for the Boosters. I've been doing a lot of the work for this post, so it was a natural fit for me, but I'm glad the woman who has been doing it finally stepped down. She's been dealing with sick parents all year and was really overwhelmed, so I tried to "step up" and help as much as I could. Of course, that included taking 12,000 (more to come) photos, and redoing the website to her surprise (and at times, shock). Still, I got the band mentioned in the new Dallas Morning News edition (McKinney Neighbors) more than once, and that's in color.

This will give me a little more "throw weight" when the Boyd Band Boosters start to organize this next month.

Posted by Steven at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

MNHS Holiday Concert

Tonite Alanna performed in the MNHS Music for the Holidays! concert, the last time she performs in her MNHS Northstar band uniform. She was in both the Bye Bye Birdie! and the Wind Ensemble (high band) performances. Anne rejoined the band for the Bye Bye Birdie! performance, too, and was delighted to have a real piano to play on stage (instead of the Kurzweil synthesizer).

I took photos and at the last minute was asked to tape the performance with the band video camera. To my surprise, I was listed on the credits as "Booster Photographer, Videographer, and Road Announcer for the Bulldog Band". ;-). I'm editing the footage and photos to create a concert DVD that I hope we can sell to band parents as a fundraiser.

Posted by Steven at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2005

MNHS Football Playoffs

The Bulldogs beat Hillcrest HS (soundly) last Friday, and advance to meet Highland Park HS in Texas Stadium this coming Thursday. We're not the odds on favorite to beat HP, but Alanna will almost certainly march in Texas Stadium, and if I play my cards right, I may get to announce our school's band as well. Look for the photos next Thurs. night.

Posted by Steven at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2005

Last Regular Football Game for MNHS Band

MNHS Marching Band did a short performance at the last (10th) regular game this season, against neighboring Frisco Centennial HS. The MNHS football team stomped Centennial, which was celebrating its first Senior class. We had already clenched a playoff berth, so this just made our overall score slightly higher (MNHS is ranked 18th out of the top 20 in the 4A schools).

I made the announcement for the band over the stadium PA (for the second time) and did a slightly better job than my first try two weeks ago. One of the girls who rides on Alanna's bus (the nerdgrrl bus) was selected as "Freshman of the Week" so once again I was able to tease the girls about the Fish Hat. Monse is beginning to despair over ever winning the nerdly covetted hat.

Speculation is beginning to run wild [Ed. no thanks to my comments!] about the split of MNHS students for Boyd HS. I assume (openly) that Boyd will become the "It" school and there will be a small stampede towards it after the dust settles in January and people realize that they're really going to have to switch schools. A lot of kids who can choose one school or the other will go to the newer one, based on its location and population (i.e. Stonebridge High).

Silly photo of me is here.

Alanna is here and here, the last photo of her long red hair (she's getting it cut today).

Posted by Steven at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2005

Not Going to State UIL

MNHS Marching Band didn't make the preliminary cut this afternoon in the Area UIL Contest in Mesquite. McKinney High did, but didn't finish in the top three, either, so once again, no band from McKinney is going to State UIL.

The kids were pretty heartbroken about it, and the girls were (many) weeping. It was a hard day for everyone. As always, photos on the MNHS Marching Band Photo page.

To add to our misery, the football team won last Friday, making it very likely we'll have to stay in town for the playoff game after Thanksgiving, which will ruin my trip to KC at Thanksgiving time.

Posted by Steven at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

Boyd Bound

This in the Dallas Morning News today confirms what we've suspected for some time (Alanna will attend the new Boyd HS, being built across Virginia Pkwy. from us):

McKINNEY – School officials have rolled out a proposal to open McKinney's third high school to ninth- through 11th-graders next year, forcing hundreds of teenagers to switch schools.

Superintendent Tom Crowe said students from the district's two current high schools would be reassigned to the new Boyd High School with the aim of creating a socioeconomic balance at all three schools.

Few transfers would be allowed.

Of those reassigned, only siblings of seniors could remain at their schools.

"It's going to cause some consternation in some parts of the community," Mr. Crowe said.

The school board is set to vote on Monday to determine the basic grade configuration and the guiding philosophy for how Boyd students would be selected.

Once those guidelines are set, a community group will develop a final proposal with geographic boundaries for a school board vote expected in January.

Mr. Crowe told the school board on Tuesday that his plan would prevent McKinney High School and McKinney North High School from growing into the University Interscholastic League's 5A classification, which includes larger schools.

"It's not just the athletic side," Mr. Crowe said. "It's the academic and extracurricular activities that would also be the challenge."

He and other school leaders said being in the larger classification would make it more difficult for greater numbers of students to participate in activities.

Cody Cunningham, the district's spokesman, said the 5A classification would also be much more competitive because the McKinney schools would probably be on the smaller end of the 5A group.

"Whenever you have a small 5A competing against a large 5A, you run into issues with a school not being competitive, and that also impacts student morale," he said.

Mr. Crowe said opening the new school solely to ninth-graders or to ninth- and 10th-graders would not solve overcrowding problems.

The district is projected to have 5,100 high school students by next year, about 700 students over the capacity of the current high schools.

"We all know the kids are much more resilient than the parents are," Mr. Crowe said. "It depends on how the parents approach it, how the kids will handle it."

Tamara Miller, whose son is a freshman wrestler, said her family is looking at the situation the best way it can. Since most of her son's friends live in their neighborhood, she expects that at least they would move together if reassigned to Boyd High School.

"It's not as big of a deal as it could be," Ms. Miller said. "I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm not sure what else they could do."

Unlike many districts, McKinney does not assign students based only on geographic location. Rather, the district tries to create an economic balance at each school by busing students.

Mr. Crowe said he wants to maintain that goal because it has been academically successful for the district.

Developing rezoning plans is often a contentious process in fast-growing districts. Nearby Frisco recently settled on a plan for a new high school that sparked significant objections from parents.

Mr. Crowe said he developed his parameters regarding the grade levels and socioeconomic balance to help relieve the pressure from the community.

Geralyn Kever, school board president, said she expects that many parents will want to be involved in the decision process.

As the parent of a current 10th-grader who may have to switch schools, Ms. Kever said she has heard from parents who are excited about the extra opportunities that could be available at the new school.

Ms. Kever said she also understands why the superintendent doesn't want to allow transfers.

"If we're not firm in the boundaries and transfers are something that are easily solicited on the part of the citizenry, you end up spending significant manpower on those types of issues," Ms. Kever said.

Mr. Crowe asked principals to submit names of parents who might be interested in joining the group. Other names have been given by board members and directly from parents themselves.

The community group is expected to start meeting at the beginning of November. All meetings will be closed to the public, but the group will hold a public hearing before making its final recommendation to the board.

While the Superintendent is right, it's not entirely about athletics, they still drive most decisions about UIL issues, and drag the band nerds and smart kids along with them. Such is life in Texas.

Posted by Steven at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

MNHS Marching Band Earns a Top "1" Score at UIL

Tonite the McKinney North HS Marching Bulldog Band earned a score of "1" at the UIL competition in Mesquite. A score of "1" is the highest possible, and it means that we'll be competiting in the "area" UIL competition at Mesquite Memorial Stadium on Oct. 29th.

The photos are here.

Posted by Steven at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2005

MNHS vs. Frisco

Tonite the Bulldogs beat the scraps out of Frisco's (aptly renamed) Racoons, 31-7. See the many, many photos of Alanna and her buddies here.

Posted by Steven at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2005

Denton Golden Triangle Contest

Today was our second MNHS Bulldog Marching Band competition in nearby Denton, TX. We were at the Denton ISD uber-stadium, and this time we didn't start first, so we left McKinney around 1:30pm for a brisk drive across US 380 to north Denton.

In a field of ten bands, with only Newman Smith HS competing in our division, we did a pretty good sweep of the division awards (all) and we ended up 3rd over all. Our color guard and drumline won best overall, but the drumline shouted out "In your face!" when they won, which marred our victory. Mr. Harkey and Kurzweil were furious at the drumline; there seems to be little that can be done to discipline the percussion group and I think they act up knowing this. Frankly, I'd sack the jerks after UIL this coming 19th.

I took nearly one-thousand photos today ... and you can wade through there here.

Pictures featuring Alanna are here, here, here, (a whole series starting) here, (on the left) here, (on right at attention) here, (peaking behind the third guy) here, here, and finally (just ahead of the tubas) here.

Posted by Steven at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

October 07, 2005

MNHS vs. Hebron HS (away)

Tonite we got a shelacking from Hebron HS. They beat MNHS 45-7, but at times it seemed like the score would be much, much higher. The band photos are here.

Posted by Steven at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2005

P.D.Q. Bach Jekyll and Hyde Tour

I'm taking a break from the (possible) second round UIL competition of Alanna's marching band to go to the Eismann Theater in Richardson to see Peter Schickele doing his P.D.Q. Bach shtick. I thought I had missed the final tour he did several years ago, so this is an unexpected and wholly delightful surprise.

One review says:

Peter Schickele arrived in a wheelchair for his concert Thursday night at Severance Hall. Pushed down the aisle at top speed by Nurse Crumley, he was unceremoniously dumped at the foot of the stage. Picking himself up and brushing himself off, he lumbered on stage and launched into a nutty monologue. For the next two hours, he kept the audience in stitches with his zany new show, The Jekyll and Hyde Tour. In his absent-minded professor persona, Schickele lectured, sang and played the piano, tromboon (a hybrid instrument combining the worst features of trombone and bassoon) and lasso d’amore (a hollow tube that produced musical tones when whirled above the head). He was assisted by soprano Michèle Eaton, who portrayed Nurse Crumley, and tenor David Düsing, who also functioned as keyboardist, percussionist and stage manager. After intermission, Schickele departed from the printed program and launched into a delightful series of musical party games. Among the clever tricks were three-part rounds with ridiculous words, canons in inversion and retrograde, musical greetings composed for family celebrations, a lampoon of French lyrics and a medley of ’60s-style songs in close harmony.

The show is at 8pm on Oct. 29th, and tickets cost from $32 to $43 each.

Posted by Steven at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2005

Tournament of Champions

Alanna and I spent the day in scenic Carrollton, Texas at the Tournament of Champions Band Competition. We marched against twenty-eight different bands in four "divisions" (I still have no idea what distinguishes one division from another) from all over the Metroplex, and even as far away as Georgetown, Texas (just north of Austin). Let's cut to the chase:

McKinney North HS Bulldog Marching Band won Best of Division II!

Unfortunately, that didn't mean we were in the top ten bands, so we performed a second time "in exhibition" but didn't compete in the second round. According to Mr. Harkey (MNHS Band Director) our Color Guard, Drum Majors and Drumline all scored very high and "pulled up" the band's overall score.

Anne got up early and took Alanna to the band hall by 7:30am so she could see the video LaDonna took at the Crosstown game the night before. I staggered in around 8:50am, expecting to be herded onto a bus and leave by 9am. Instead, we sat around until 9:30am. We had to check in by 10:15am at the Stanridge Stadium (near Valwood Pkwy. and I-35E), and amazingly, our bus ride down Central, across LBJ, and up Stemmons only took thirty-five minutes.

Stanridge Stadium is in the middle of an industrial park area in Carrollton, which means it is no where near any restaurant, grocery store or other convenience store. Almost all the volunteer band parents rode on the buses, so we had no way to run errands the whole day we were there. This was not good planning.

We had to be on the field by 11:45am, and before that, warming up at 10:55am, so it was a mad scramble when we arrived. We parked at the opposite end of the complex from our cargo trucks, so the pit crew and all the students with heavy instruments had to walk about a half-mile to get at their equipment. Fortunately, they put the trucks near the warm up area. LaDonna and I scrambled up to the top of the enormous stadium (which I kept referring to as El Ziggurat) to film our performance. She didn't bring a tripod for the video camera, so I loaned her mine. I took around 400 photos of our performance.

I found out later that Mr. Harkey was pretty peaved at our scheduled performance slot (#3), since it meant rushing to bed from the previous night's game, and then rushing back to MNHS early in the morning for today's events. Some bands didn't have to show up until 4p to perform. They were very fresh compared to ours, where most of the kids didn't get a chance to clean their uniforms from the previous night.

After our performance, the band posed for a group photo. I took the opportunity to shoot a wide collection of photos of the kids getting setup, and (essentially) the same photo this guy was doing. I'll post a link to it here when I get it cleaned up.

Lunch was catered by a BBQ vendor we used last year. When I got to the tent with the food (at the other corner from our buses and the equipment trucks), I found out that the caterer had not brought any drinks; he assumed the parents were doing that. We had to scramble to get our afternoon water hauled over and handed out to the students, which depleted our supply. Then, while waiting in line, Alanna's captain was knocked backwards onto the parking lot cement by two other male students who were horsing around and chasing each other. I saw (in horror) as this girl fell backwards and her head bounced off the cement. It was a tense few minutes while our RN band parent tried to treat her. A Carrollton EMS medic showed up and looked her over. The first concern was concussion, and then later hematoma. She was unconscious for a few minutes, and was very sick for about an hour. All this happened before Mr. Harkey was even "on-site".

When he showed up, he took the two young men to the side and read them the riot act. I talked to one of them afterwards -- he figured he was going to get expelled from the band. He was sick to his stomach about what happened, and seemed sincerely upset about the girl. Alanna was very upset since this was her clarinet officer. By the evening, the injured student was sitting up and she even performed in the exhibition. I'm continually surprised by how many kids get seriously hurt doing this marching stuff.

After lunch, we had nothing to do for hours and hours. We sat in the stadium, slowing getting sunburns (my Tilley hat kept my face and head from burning, but my arms sting). We were dissappointed in how rowdy other bands were. They were tossing crap from the higher seats, dumping food all over the place, and in general, acting like undisciplined monsters. Not surprisingly, those bands didn't place at all.

The bus ride back was long and I had to tend to one of the flute players with a bad knee. I had to open another cold compress pack (bursting the internal fluid chamber took a long time to figure out) on the ride back; this girl was in serious pain after marching twice with a bad knee. Some of the boys in the bus were so goddamned loud I wanted to knock heads together at one point. Riding on busses other than Alanna's is a pain in the ass!

I took Alanna to El Fenix for dinner after we left the band hall around 8:45pm. We got home, stuffed, filthy, and very tired, around 9:20pm. That was the end of our thirty-six (plus) hours of Band this weekend.

Amen.

Posted by Steven at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2005

MNHS vs. MHS (Crosstown Game)

Tonite was the big "crosstown game" where McKinney HS played against Alanna's McKinney North HS. MHS beat North savagely last year, so the expectations were not high (on our side) going.

The usual Friday afternoon ensued; I left home around 4:00 pm to get Alanna some food and spend the next eight hours helping out and taking several hundred photos. As predicted last week by the volunteer coordinator, there were more Band parents showing up to volunteer at this game (but not an avalanche more). I asked Mr. Harkey (the Band Director) for a Press Pass so I could photograph from the Press Box and he lent me one. Alanna shared her french fries with her other band fish friends (Emma, Melanie [the other redhead], Aimee and Katie) before heading out to the JV field for warmup practice.

When they came back in from the heat (it was nearing the mid-ninties on the thermometer) they looked awful. They marched badly, primarly because Mr. Harkey decided to have them march to the visitors side, where MNHS would be sitting. We had the "home" side last year, apparently. This didn't bode well. It turned out that Harkey overruled the MNHS principal and had the band march to the vistor's side, which meant I couldn't photograph them from the press box, either.

After arriving at the MISD "complex", I ran into Jim West and his son on their way in to the game. Jim took a few minutes to tell me his past experiences at the same complex, built when Faubion Middle School was MHS, and he was on the football team with no equipment.

After three home games, I was surprised by how scummy the visitor's side of the McKinney ISD stadium is. Mud and trash pooled by the concession stands and the bathrooms were substandard. The metal benches were flimsy and would bend when you stepped on them, making it easy to fall. It was embarrasing how bad it was, compared to other district's stadiums we've visted. And the MISD kids who were swarming around out back were down right feral.

We got to see MHS's performance, and while the musicianship sounded fine to me, the theme, which involved Crayola™ flags, see-saws, and large colorful props, was weird. Actually, a group of A/V students I hang with at the game called it "gay" and then later amended it to "gay, and retarded". So much for political correctness.

The real surprise, however, was the football game itself. MHS continually got flagged on plays. They were rough. They hurt a few of our players; one was removed by stretcher to an ambulance. They ran one TD and had it rescended on a penalty. The score at half time was 13-0 in their favor. We were going down.

Then a miracle occurred. We scored two TDs, and made both field goal kicks (a flag was called on one -- they charged the kicker!). At 4:56 left on the clock in the fourth, we had the lead. MHS worked the ball all the way down to the 26 yard line area, and then missed a field goal attempt at 0:07 on the clock.

We won!

MNHS fans went nuts. The game was brutal, but we eeked out a one point victory. The band was jubulant, and hoped that the good luck would carry over to the the Tournament of Champions tomorrow. We took forever getting back to the band hall and unpacked; Alanna and I were home around 11:30pm.

Posted by Steven at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2005

Experience McKinney!

Ok, I've volunteered to sell tickets to an event at the McKinney North HS that directly benefits Alanna's band and Alanna in particular. The event is called Experience McKinney! and it features performances by local HS talents, and an agora-like area where local restaurants display their menus and foodstuff.

On Monday, October 17, the McKinney Independent School District will host the first ever district wide event called Experience McKinney. This special event, to be held at McKinney North High School, involves local restaurants hosting booths for the public to sample their menu selections and numerous student performances including fine arts, career and technology education.

Approximately 40 local restaurants will provide samples of their menu items and students from all grade levels in the district will entertain visitors to the event with music, art, drama and career and technology class talents. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and concludes at 8:30 p.m. and will be held throughout the hallways of McKinney North High School.

Tickets for the event are $15 for adults and $5 per child (ages 4 – 11. Three and under free). All proceeds from tickets will go directly to the MISD organization of your choice (i.e. PTA, PTO, boosters, clubs, principals fund, etc.).

Tickets sold by my family directly benefit Alanna's band trip account (each student has a seperate fund raising account that subtracts from their eventual trip cost on the April band trip to Colorado). If you live in Plano, Allen, Frisco or McKinney, please consider buying a ticket and attending -- you might find a restaurant you didn't know about!

Posted by Steven at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2005

New Band Photos Webpage

I've created an index page for the MNHS band photos: click here.

Posted by Steven at 04:54 PM | Comments (1)

September 10, 2005

McKinney North HS vs. R. L. Turner HS

Alanna's third marching band football game was tonite. They finally wore their uniforms! The photos are here.

The uniforms look like Star Trek: The Next Generation costumes (minus the helmets). They're very form fitting, which is awkward on some of the kids. The silver sash makes it difficult to photograph them with a flash, so on some photos there is a distinct glitter shining off their faces.

I'll point out some of photos with Alanna in them since there are seven hundred and twenty-nine images from the night (hey, I can shoot and shoot and shoot), starting with the one (fitting the helmet) here, here, (with Monse Garcia) here, here, and here. She won "Freshman of the Week" so she gets to wear the "fish hat" seen here (looks like a transporter accident to me, Capt. Picard). Apparently she's been working hard to earn the right to wear this hat (she is the first Frosh to pass her music for AC/DC's Back in Black) and she prizes it greatly, wearing it all weekend long around the house.

The photos start with the post-game gathering at CiCi's pizza, in case you were wondering. That's Alicia giving Alanna a neck rub in line -- she met us there after the game.

Anne volunteered to man the Band tchotky booth, which is buried in the photos pages.

Oh, and the MNHS football team won the game ... they're 2-1 for the season and have a better record than the cross-town McKinney HS team. If they do really well, the band will have to perform more than ten games.

Posted by Steven at 02:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2005

McKinney North HS vs. Mesquite Poteet HS

The photographs from Alanna's 2nd football game/marching band event are here.

Alas, they did not wear their uniforms due to the weather. Hopefully next week they will don the gear.

I rode with the band in bus #1, along with the band directors and Alanna. The drive down US 75 (Central Expressway) and I-635 (LBJ) was surprisingly traffic free (perhaps $3 gasoline had something to do with that).

Poteet has an enormous stadium with an equally impressive radio/TV/cell tower next door which I could not stop photographing.

Last week I took 514 photos, including the after-game get together at CiCi's pizza. Tonite I tood 563 photos, including what I think are better shots of the actual marching on the field. Next week I promise to get in front of the band when I do this.

Thanks to a construction constriction on Scyene Rd., we took almost thirty minutes driving onto LBJ. We got to MNHS around 12:15pm and after taking Monse Garcia home, we got home around 12:30am, with little more than seven hours to go before having to get up for AnimeFest 2005.

Update

Alanna can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Posted by Steven at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2005

McKinney North HS Band Practice

I took some shots during an evening band practice tonite.

Posted by Steven at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2005

McKinney North HS vs. Denison HS

I'm too tired to fish through the 514 photos I took tonite at the McKinney North HS game against Denison HS to show you just the photos of Alanna. here is the link to the thumbnails for all the photos ... there are quite a few of Alanna but many more of the other kids.

Some notes of interest ...

The MNHS football team was crushed by Denison last year. Tonite, they won by a respectable score and beat the odds as a result.

Mr. Harkey said this was the best opening concert and marching performance he's had at MNHS, and he also said that the parent participation was the highest/best so far. My family name was called out by the announcer for some kind of donation ... I was startled by it, actually.

The Nikon D70s performed admirably. There are some capabilities I'd like to refine (in particular, shooting with the flash disabled) as I learn more about the camera, but overall, it was worlds apart from shooting with the Coolpix 5400. I took numerous high-speed sequences that were utterly impossible on the Coolpix, as well as many shots that required "instant on" shutter opening. Both the SB-600 speedlite and the built-in flash performed admirably. I'm very pleased with this camera and the photos on the link above (unretouched) show it.

Alanna seems to tolerate my presence at the game very well, and I thank her for letting me be part of the experience without it being uncomfortable for her. It's a real joy being able to participate in this with her and to document it so extensively. I hope that someday she appreciates it as much as I enjoy doing it. Except ... next time, I'm taking ibuprophen before the game! My back is not a happy camper.

PS. We got our Band Parent shirts today, with our names and Alanna's as well as her school and instrument, sewn onto the shirt. I wore my and the sideline pass with great pleasure tonite!

Update

Alanna can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I caught Anne here with Leo.

Posted by Steven at 01:26 AM | Comments (0)