A Mustering of Forces

Item number one:

Skywatches. I choose two from the myriad recent sky shots because none were particularly remarkable on their own. Nothing wrong with twice the sky, anyhow.

Item number two:

Olympus (the camera people, not the mountain) hosts a video contest. Most people plop themselves before their webcams and proceed to give a speech (if this is you, take no offense). My brother and I lug our camera about and churn out a short stop-motion film (which, if you ask me, is not too shabby).

The thing is, it's based primarily on popular vote. Meaning that we'd greatly appreciate if you could lend your support by popping over to Youtube before June 6th and giving a 'thumbs up' (or two) if you so feel inclined.
Many thanks for the time, in any case!

This.

A2 Google Fiber

You know when Google announced their Google Fiber project and suddenly every US city started pulling stunts like jumping into lakes and chilling with sharks and... I don't know, riding flaming cows or something? Yeah, that.

So Ann Arbor (MI) decided to get its gig on today. What did everyone do? Lined up on the campus square and chanted and waved their arms around and in general looked rather silly.

Here's a little stop-motion. I had no video.

Everyone was sent notices of "Hey! Flash mob at noon!" Not quite what it really ended up being, though. I'm all for Ann Arbor, hurrah and all that, but I supposed I just imagined something more dignified. Or more energetic, and less staged. One or the other.

Video Post 1

This's been sitting around in my drafts for a while under the title of "video post 1." By "a while" I really mean "a few years." Or however long this blog's been up.

"Medicine Man" from The Hush Sound's Goodbye Blues.

Look, I Iz All Gradumicated.

I'll try not to make this too long. I promise.

Here's the deal. A couple days ago, I was suffering from the so-called seasonal allergy like none other. (They're year-round though, so I guess there's one for every season. Liars.) I mean, they were so bad I don't know if I went one continuous minute without my nose in a tissue. All day. It was not pretty. Especially irritating, because we'd a commencement ceremony to sit through the next day.

The problem with doing well in school is that when you graduate, they make you talk, and sit on the stage when you're not talking. Which would be perfectly fine, if I wanted to show off my snivelling and snot-dripping skills and keep my composure at the same time. After some negotiation I was told I could leave my bag under my chair, so I'd have tissues up there.

It ended up being that the chairs were all squashed together, so when I tried to reach under my chair, it probably looked like I was groping my neighbour or vomiting or a combination of both. Sometimes life is special like that.

Making my valedictory speech. I suppose there's a reason I write instead of talk:

I Found

...a video of our marching band this past season. It's only the last half of the show, and yes, I'm posting several months late, but this is state finals after all, and I'm quite glad to have found it. Thanks to whomever took and posted this!

But Wait, There is More

That's right. We're too cool to be the marching band. We're the marchin' band. (Tho' we're on the verge of becoming a bazd.) The tower does not lie.

More, I say- marching band is not yet over. Today we had terrific fun playing at the last home football game, but this time it really is the last. The weather was spectacular- not freezing or raining, for a change. A video will be posted as soon as I can force it to upload. Meanwhile:

Instrument sharing abounds; playing in the stands.

Edit: At long last, I've uploaded a fight song during the game.

Here is also a three-minute recording (batteries were running out) of a run-through during our rehearsal (this one known affectionately as the shirtless run-through). It's not a terribly good video, I'm afraid, it doesn't include the best parts of the show, and the angle is quite limited. The camera was sitting on my keyboard, so at least one of my instruments is audible, for a change.

Click here for another great video of the Friday performance. It's the best recording I've seen yet.

At the End of the Day

For the past several months marching band has been devouring all my time. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, because despite all the exhaustion, they've been some of the best I've experienced. How I wished I had joined earlier. (We rehearse in all weathers, don't use flashy visual props, are consisted entirely of voluntary members, and we get to play rock music. Of course we're awesome.) Unfortunately, the end of the season is in sight, as state finals are this upcoming weekend. It's been a spectacular year.

Here are some snapshots from the past few weeks:

Playing at the last(?) football game.

Happy band members after a competition; marching back to the bus.

Lifesavers; an armful of trophies.

We've also scored quite well as of late; at this point we're ranked fourth in the state for our flight. As for finals, we're on last this year. It's a good feeling, I tell you.

Belding 54.85

Atwood-Flushing 63.60

Clarkston 71.05

West Bloomfield 74.00

Plymouth-Canton 70.35

Huron Valley 74.70

And finally, a video of a game several weeks ago- the only thing I did not take. For some reason it focuses more on the pit than everyone else (will you look at that- my section is sadly lacking in discipline- though that's no surprise, is it ...?). But then again, I'm not complaining, because I'm in pit.