As a former high school band geek (currently college band geek) that video brings back memories of competitions...Man...I absolutely detest getting sick. Some gut bug grabbed me and completely turned me into its bitch...ugh. About this time last night I woke from passing out in the living room and actually considered going to the ER...I had a rhythmic "whooshing" in my ears that was likely being caused by a serious blood pressure spike, my hand joints felt like they were full of glass (inflammatory chemistry in our bodies can do that when fighting to kill off a bug) and I felt like my head was afire. Scary shit, I am here to tell you.
I got up at 0530 to get my kids up and moving for school; went back to bed at 0630 figuring I'd catch just a little more sleep as I was feeling marginally better though still battling a headache. Next thing I remember was waking and
looking at the clock: Damn-near 2PM!! I felt like a bear trying to come out of hibernation and my dogs were having an absolute fit because they were still crated. I can do without any more such experiences, thank you very much.
On the MtG front, I've been pretty much just theorycrafting and living vicariously through others--I'm thinking at this point I'm going to write Sally off for good. After looking at a number of "Competitive" threads over there today, I recognized the repeating pattern: Person starts a reasonably decent topic, a few people try to carry on a productive conversation, then a flock of scrubs with the combined brainpower of a paramecium descend and utterly derail all meaningful conversation with total-horseshit-my-mind-is-made-up-don't-confuse-me-with-facts-because-this-guy-did-this-at-this-FNM comments and then perist in arguing their pet theories as though they are
somehow lifechanging. It's utterly frustrating, and as Helios observed, I feel like I'm leaving pieces of my life wasted and unrecoverable every time I pull up a thread over there. It seriously punctuates the impact this clan has had on me...I am far from a talented player, but my understanding of the game has grown exponentially over our year together. You people rock, plain and simple.
I'm also dealing with a bit of melancholy tonight...the marching band competitive season is drawing to a close, and I feel that keen sense of loss that accompanies the end of such shared experiences. These kids and parents are such fantastic, dedicated and enthusiastic people...I'm going to very much miss spending time with them and seeing the band take its dreams into reality as a single, focused entity.
For any of you who are interested to see what I've been blathering on about over these past weeks, the following is one of the best performances of "What If?" by the Jaguar Pride. All parental bias
aside, take a look at this and realize that this is not a pro-level band but rather a bunch of teenagers who've practiced together two nights a week who are generating this level of drama and emotion...it is truly awe-inspiring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY5L_FY8H48
I didn't watch the whole vid but they sounded (and looked) pretty good, especially for a high school band.
