Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Marching Band refused to Yield...

It's been a busy two weeks... The Marching Band season officially kicked off with Band Camp on August 12th. Joining the staff this year is our good buddy, Jared who up until a few months ago was out on the West Coast. He'll be lending a hand with the woodwind section... while all of the brass instructors came back in full force: Me, RJ, Graham, and Tom. It's such a weird season when you start in the Summer... and finish at the beginning of Winter! It goes by so quickly... This season we are performing THE KNIGHT (fitting since our school mascot is the Blue Knight!). Every year we always have so much potential... hopefully this year the kids will realize it. Not that they haven't in years past, but I can't tell you how frustrating it is to set your sights on a specific goal, then "settle" for something else. Unfortunately, we the instructors can only help... the kids have to be motivated to get the job done!

Other things to be excited about... Ahh yes. It's exciting to look at the date and still talk about Yankees Baseball. Last year we weren't so lucky. This year, the team looks solid (most of the time). Let's just hope they can stay in first for the remainder of the regular season. 6 Games in 1st is GREAT... but definitely not safe when both the Sox and Rays are playing good baseball.

ALSO, looking at the calendar, you HAVE to get excited about the beer season. While I love all beer seasons, the Fall/Autumn/Octoberfest season is by FAR my favorite. No, I don't want the summer to end either, but let's be honest, the idea of Fall beer gets you gitty. Michelle and I took at trip up to Maine a few weeks ago for Jack's birthday and stopped by the Shipyard Brewing Co. Home of the most excellent PUMPKINHEAD ALE!! At the time it hadn't come out yet... but I found a 6-pack at Southington Wine & Spirits last week. It's AWESOME!! And Shipyard also announced that it'll be releasing a new "Smashed Pumpkin Ale". I think it'll only come out in their big 22 oz bottles... but the description sounds awesome:

Smashed Pumpkin is a big-bodied beer with a light coppery orange color and pleasing aroma of pumpkin and nutmeg. The OG and final Alc./Vol. provide the structure and body. Pale Ale, Wheat and Light Munich Malts combine with the natural tannin in pumpkin and the delicate spiciness of Willamette and Hallertau Hops to balance the sweetness of the fruit. 1.088 OG, 9.00% Alc./Vol.

Another beer that I'm very excited to try is the new PROBST variety from Clipper City. These guys have put out a few great styles in the past: Loose Cannon, Holy Sheet, Uber Pils just to name a few. Of course I'm looking forward to other varieties from Sammy Adams, Thomas Hooker, Spatan, Dogfish... Man, let's just say that I'm glad that Aida was not a Fall show. See, when I was training for the role of Radames, I swore off ALL alcohol until AFTER the show. I went about 2-3 months with a drop. I don't know if I could do that in the Fall!!!

Ok, that's it for now... be on the lookout for some GREAT local Theatre coming up in the next month or so. Next update will include information on Wedding Singer, Rocky Horror and more!!!