is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.

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DCI One: The Four Freedoms.

Obviously, I enjoy watching Drum Corps International. However, this one corps, called Blue Stars, did this program called The Four Freedoms, about how great it is to be American and why, and it was so embarrassing, so pedestrian, so R.Kelly-literal (reference by Evany Thomas), that I felt sick to my stomach, and also wasn't sure where I should be looking during most of the entire 11 minutes. (Programs are 11 minutes long. That's right. Evany Thomas and I watched 18 11-minute programs, and also saw various snippets of older programs between, as corps got on and off the field and waited for judges to enter scores. It took 5.5 hours.)

Apparently we all have freedom of speech and religion, and are also free of want and fear. Freedom from want, I suppose, depends on how you define it. I won't get too technical about that one right now. But FREEDOM FROM FEAR!? That is one of the four freedoms set forth by the founding fathers? Well, I am so very happy to hear that the founding fathers somehow figured out how to give us all hard exo-skeletons, clairvoyance, and hearts of stone, so that none of us would ever have anything to fear again! You can't be a human being and also be free from fear altogether.

Annnnyway, during this embarrassing program (which was called "a crowd favorite" by the commentators, and that does give you an idea of what some major cross-section of the crowd is like), corps members would stand up and read out what the freedoms were, with amazing dramatic earnestness—that was the embarrassing part, the putting-into-words of hamfisted underthought and thus undervalued freedoms. I kind of wish I had taken dictation while it was happening so I could prove it to you, but at the time I was too busy not knowing where to look. And then the corps would play thematic music and the color guard would act out insanely literal renderings of the theme. Like for freedom of speech they all got on soapboxes and danced around a bit. And then when it was time for freedom of religion, the soapboxes conveniently became alters for prayer.

Blue Stars, here's the advice you never asked for: if you are working on a piece of music, or a dance piece, and you find that you simply cannot communicate your point without having someone narrate the piece with explanatory text, YOU HAVE FAILED. Also, I'd ask you to give a bit of thought to what freedom actually means, what it stands for, and what it requires of each of us, before you get on your too-literal soapboxes and start celebrating it for an audience.

Oh, and I have a question, too: WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?!

Speaking of DCI (but this time in its better moments), today I was IMing with Evany. I thought maybe I'd post the part where we were talking about how terrible it is that the unicorn-riding carebear got booted off Project Runway. And then she posted that part! But I can still post what led up to it. Oh yes I can!

---------------------- 1:59 pm ----------------------
evany: and I am wondering if you remembered anything about that trivia they asked at DCI, was it "which corps featured both the wizard of oz and X" in their 199X routine?
evany: something like that?
evany: I'm specifically trying to think up the Q that got that awesome duo in front of us to yell out the answer
---------------------- 2:06 pm ----------------------
jill: it was
jill: "which corps did west side story and wizard of oz in consecutive years"
jill: the sky ryders
evany: hahaha
evany: did you write that down, or did you memorize that??
jill: a bit of both
evany: man, you are GOOD
jill: and yet I think I just mailed my stamped parking ticket in a box to pennsylvania?
evany: hmmm....will they mail you the ticket? if so, do they have the correct address?
jill: ha, it will go to my DAD
jill: it's his car
evany: haha, hi dad!
jill: yeah, I’ll just tell my dad to let me know
jill: hahaha
evany: he is so not going to let you pay for that
evany: at least not with money
evany: SWEAT, however...
evany: [thud]
evany: [of my dance instructor stick]
jill: oh, he might let me pay... it's $50!
---------------------- 2:51 pm ----------------------
jill: should we just eat at chevy’s on saturday?
evany: chevy's, chevy's, chevy's
jill: there's a dragon fly caught in a cobweb
jill: and I don't know what to do
evany: Tho chevy's always makes me drunk
evany: I'm not exactly sure why!
jill: maybe it's the margaritas
evany: I don't think margaritas get people DRUNK, that's crazy
jill: it's a theory I'm working on
evany: Yet, like evolution, just a theory
jill: haha
jill: jeff is getting the dragonfly
---------------------- 3:58 pm ----------------------
evany: holy how did alison get the boot????

And so on.

11:25 p.m. - August 17, 2006
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