Goodbye 2007

There are only about 5 hours left in 2007 so I thought I would recap a bit:

Band - Band was good. Swansea received a Superior Rating in Class V which was something a lot of people told me was not possible. We also received a Division 1 rating at BOA and were 3rd in lower state and 5th in the state the first year in AAA. We saw a major change in that we got a new assistant/middle school band director. I think he has done great although C.B. is missed. I honestly feel like I am just now coming into my prime as a band director. Watch out in 2008!

Home - My wife and I moved! This has got to be the biggest change in our lives this year but it sure was worth it. I am now 5 minutes from the lake and we love being in town closer to everything.

Fishing - Fishing just seems to be getting better and better. I don't know how many I caught this year but I hope it is more in 2008.

Friends - This is one area I wish I have done better in. My old friends seem to have other things to do but I have made some new friends too. So I guess it balances out. I hope to make more new friends in 2008.

Key West - I finally made it back my birthplace and it was great. We are already talking about a return trip.

Family - Our family continues to grow older but they are great. We have already made a pledge to see more of them.

The Boyz - They have been great and I hope 2008 continues with their happiness and the happiness they bring us.

All in all 2007 was a pretty good year.

The Last Day of 2007

I went fishing today and it was a great way to end my 2007 fishing year. I found them and I caught them. I did have some help finding them from one of lake buddies but no the less the two fish pictured were 15 and 13 pounds. One was 32" and the other 31". I released several others too. What a great day. It took me about 10 minutes to get each fish in as I use lighter line in the winter. In case you were wondering where I caught them, I have add a picture. Good luck figuring out where I was! We have big plans tonight! We are going to eat fresh fish (and by the way winter, cold water striper is the best!) and then try to stay up to ring in the new year. We are middle aged and tired, but I can't think of anybody else I would rather grow old with other than Cindy. I hope everybody has a great night and be careful.

Fishing Report

Yep I was off today so what did I do? Sleep in? Not a chance. It was just too nice of a day to waste it doing something constructive so fishing I went. My primary bait shop was closed for the holidays so I had to go with my secondary source. Richard at Lakeworld was all too happy to help me out. I did find a bunch of fish just outside of the Crystal Lake area. I lost what must have been about an 8 pound largemouth but that is why it is called fishing and not catching. I guess I actually about 10 stripers so that is not too bad in the winter. None were very big but still worth the effort. All fish except one were caught on live herring. One was also caught on a flex-it spoon.

Merry Christmas Eve to All!

I really love Christmas Eve. It seems to be the most peaceful night of all. Remember that tonight at Midnight all animals can talk. It is God's way of telling them thank you for taking care of the baby Jesus in the stable. I hope everyone has a peaceful and wonderful Christmas Eve and at least say hi and thanks to the animals at midnight.

Back from the Windy City: Chicago!

My wife and I have been in Chicago since early Wednesday morning and it was incredible. We went up for the largest band clinic in the world, The Midwest Band Clinic at the Chicago Hilton. Not only did we spend time at the clinic taking in a lot of the clinics, visiting acres of exhibits, and meeting famous composers, we also took in a few other events that Chicago had to offer. We started out the day by being delayed 3 hours in Columbia but finally reached out destination. After checking in, I registered and visited the exhibits. They are great. Any and everything you can imagine related to band is there. We went to dinner the first night at Gene & Geogetti's Italian Steak House. This place was incredible. They have to prepare one of the greatest steaks in all of the world. Friday we paid a visit to Buddy Guy's Legends blues club. Now this is the real thing in blues. Thursday morning I attended several clinics and heard many different groups. We visited The Art Institute of Chicago and saw many, many things I had only previously seen in books or on TV. I obtained a rather cheap ticket to see the Chicago Symphony's Brass section. They truly are the best in the world and Symphony Hall is a work of art itself. Thursday night we ate Chicago style pizza and then we were off to see Wicked the Broadway musical. It was unreal! By that I mean you got lost as if you were just watching or you were actually a part of it. It deserves a post of it own. Simply put it was something I will remember forever. Friday brought more fun. I enjoyed a concert by South Carolina's only performing group this year, Wando High School. They were great and deserve a hearty congratulations for their achievement. As a surprise, I attended a clinic that Jeff Quay was putting on. He is one of the members of the Blue Man Group. The surprise was that he brought them with him! I got to see a shortened version of their performance and there was only about 200 people present. It was a great surprise. Friday night ate great food again at Miller's Pub. They serve some the best rib's anywhere. To top off the trip, we made it back on time. If you have been watching the news the travel out of O'Hare airport has been terrible but this time luck was with us and we made it back rather easily. All and all this was one of the best trips I can remember. Anybody that has any interest in band should make it a priority to attend this clinic. I know we are already making plans for next year.

To anybody viewing this blog, please take a look at the links and enjoy but look at them and explore what thing there out there for everybody to enjoy. You don't have to be a famous or rich person to be an artist. You just have to become involved and try new things. Everytime you try something new, you just make yourself a better person.

Question Day

So we had Question Day in percussion class today. It is a small class and it is easier to do a Question Day with a smaller class. What is Question Day you may ask? Question Day is just that, the student can, in turn, ask me questions. Some of today's question were as follows:

What is your favorite color? Blue
Do you have any brothers or sisters? One sister, 13 years older than me!
Who is your favorite super hero? Daredevil, I have about 5000 comic books.

Stuff like that. I really don't mind answering their questions. It is important that they know there actually is a human being inside the man on the podium.

Does anybody have more questions?

Beginning to Feel Alot Like Christmas

I am out to do some shopping this morning. Oh boy! It is not that I really hate shopping, I just like to shop for things like boats, trucks, fishing stuff, and tubas. Cindy does not have any of these things on her list though. Too bad! Speaking of bad, the movie "SuperBad" is about as funny of a movie I have seen in a long time. The whole McLovin' thing is just hilarious. The forecast for today is rain. We sure do need it. Only two days of work this week and then we have two weeks off. This school year seems to be flying by.

What a Concert!

I have to say that I may have performed more difficult music at a Christmas concert before, but I have never performed such a pretty concert. The students just played beautifully. They were not high school students but musicians. My wife paid us the biggest complement. She said she forgot that she was at a high school band concert because the music was so pretty. I have to say that the audience was a treat as well. Everybody seemed to be very respectful and pleased. Could be possible for a group like a band to change a communities view of what a band is capable of doing? Concert band may (just may) be catching on in Swansea. I have always said that in a small town the high school band is the Symphony Orchestra. I hope we put on a good show for all. I certainly was pleased!

Sometimes It Does Seem to Count

Lately I have been wondering if what I do really does make a difference to anybody. I have even been considering going into administration. I don't want to because I love Band so much but lately that doesn't seem to be enough. But as I was checking my "blocked" email (all of our email goes through a censor and then we can go through it), and I noticed one that didn't look like the usual SPAM so I forwarded it and opened it. It basically said that did care alot about band and that I had helped them and they really wanted to win state. We have been talking a lot lately about apathy. Here is the number one definition:

Apathy -
Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.

This student made a difference to me. I won't go into details but it made me want to teach. It is a little known fact that I get notes and emails from people that tell me thanks or good job or just something that makes me happy, and I print them and put them in my black bag and they stay there until I need them. Some are over 15 years old. When I really feel like I don't do anything important I read them. So I guess what I am trying to say is thank you to that student for making me feel useful and wanted. You made my week and more.

Parade Time!

You know when I was a younger band director I use to loathe parades. I thought they took time away from more important things like teaching and learning competition things and stuff like that. I have to say that the more experienced I get (that is a graceful way saying "I am getting older!") I find the usefulness in parades for a lot reasons. One thing about having a good band is that you really don't need to practice for parades. We spent absolutely no after school time to prepare for today's parade and I did hear any complaints. Parades are often the only time some people in the community ever get to see and hear the band. They also let the band be the star of the day. What would the Christmas parade be with out the band? Not much. We were actually in the number one spot today to make it even better. Small town parades are, in my opinion, the only way to go. Not that I would turn away an invitation to Macy's Day. Now I do have to admit I wish that parades were on work days so I would not have to miss time away from home but that is just part of being a band director. I have to say though I saw a pleasant surprise tonight when I returned home...Cindy had put up the Christmas tree in our front window. It was nice.