Is anybody still checking this blog out?

I haven't posted here in AGES.
Just thought of it the other day...
Had to think hard... really hard... of my password.

So is anyone still checking this page out?
I have been thinking of picking up where I left off and write some more...

FIRST SHOW

After having missed the Austin (TX) Tour of Champions show last Sunday, the Hattiesburg (MS) show was the first event I’d get to see.

Shortly after brunch was done our vehicle “The Nest” and the food truck went to the show site to prepare dinner. We were parked in the exact same spot as in previous years, quite a walk from the stadium.

I was excited about this show, because I would get to see three of our Jubal members, Maarten Walraven, who is playing top bass drum for Spirit of Alanta. Dennis Clausing, who is playing bottom bass for the Cavaliers and Melanie Verheul, who is in Santa Clara Vanguard's color guard.

Maarten had travelled to the States several times last winter to attend auditions and camps, and was accepted at Spirit of Atlanta. What a great experience!

Some heavy rainstorm delayed the show by about half an hour. Fortunately the rain held off later in the evening, so everyone got to perform.

Shortly before the show I briefly got to talk to Maarten, as he was already in warm-up. He’s having a wonderful time with the corps. Spirit of Atlanta has a cool show this year. The Bass Drum line doesn’t come to the front of the field all that often, so I didn’t get the best pictures of Maarten yet. Looking forward to seeing Maarten and Spirit again soon.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see or talk to Dennis or Melanie. I will see them again this Friday night in Murfreesboro.

Vanguard has a beautiful show. Les Miserables is working well for them.

Blue Devils’ show “the re-Rite of Spring” is another winner. Very artistic and hard to get at first. With Phantom Regiment as the only closest rival in competition present tonight, it was an easy win for BD with a score of 91.35 versus 86.80 for Phantom Regiment.

And again... BD is the last corps to roll out of the parking lot.
We're off to Murfreesboro for two days.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS

OK, I admit,… I do know quite a few people in various countries… But what are the odds… Monique, a very good friend of mine from my home-town Dordrecht (back in the Netherlands) got transferred to Houston for her work for a couple of months. And guess where we were going after San Antonio!!

Right… HOUSTON.  To be honest, until Sunday I didn’t even realize we were going to Houston. I thought we were heading straight to Hattiesburg Monday night. So we communicated on Facebook a little to see if we could make a meet & greet happen after her work.

Houston was scorching hot. The humidity was ridiculous. And we spent pretty much all day in the food truck, fixing my favourite drumcorps dish: Stir Fry Chicken Teriyaki. The band director of the school we were staying at prepared some delicious Texas Ribs on his barbecue for the food crew right in front of our food truck. Yummie !

The corps rehearsed at a stadium nearby, so there wasn’t really a chance to go there and watch rehearsal.

Monique had sent me a message that she could come to see me and the Blue Devils rehearsal. And so she did. How cool is that!!  She brought three of her colleagues too (also Dutch) and picked me up from our housing site so we could go to the stadium and see the corps rehearse.

I have only been here two days , and they’re the best ever.

Monique is a lot of fun! OMG,.. what a character! Have known her for some 20 years I guess. She used to play in a Mardi Gras Band too, and has come on two trips to Paris with me. It was absolutely great seeing her here,.. so far away from home. Both our parents back in the Netherlands followed our arrangements to meet on FB.

Monique was completely blown away by the Blue Devils. She knew about drumcorps (Jubal), but this was definitely something else. Her colleagues, unfamiliar with the activity, enjoyed it a lot too!

What a fun evening!

Enjoy,

HK

FREE DAY

A free day on tour is always nice! Especially – in my case - if that’s the first day of tour. Blue Devils usually have two free days per summer. The Sunday in San Antonio is always one of them. Every summer I toured with the Blue Devils we had a free Sunday here (together with about 8-10 other corps).
This year the corps had a show in Austin on Sunday night, so they returned to San Antonio for a free day on Monday. And everyone liked it. Less crowded, shops and mall open till 8PM instead of 6PM. Movie theatre discounts,…

The members first had the opportunity to do laundry, and then spent all afternoon and evening in town, and along the popular Riverwalk.

I hung out with fellow cook Mike. Great guy! I met him last summer when he spent a good week on Devils Food at the end of tour. His wife Vicky will join us later next week.

Obviously we walked the Riverwalk, spent some time in the mall, had a great sirloin beef burger (the jalepeño bacon and jalepeño aioli were a perfect accompaniment!

It was a pretty sweaty day. The humidity made it unpleasant. But hey… I shouldn’t complain. I’m here, having a wonderful time again!

Next stop was the famous historical site of the ALAMO. I blogged about the Alamo before here (look it up). Still not impressed. Pretty boring site alright, but the tourists seem to like it. A quick walk through the Shrine and through the premises was more than enough to absorb the story.

Tasted some excellent oil and balsamic vinegar at a new store. Interesting combinations (coconut, fig, white truffle…)!

Dinner was exceptional! We went to Landry’s on the Riverwalk, and had a nice table right at the water. Landry’s is a restaurant specialized in fish and seafood. Not exactly my first choice with my allergy for both, but they were said to serve good steaks too. I was stunned by their service! As I mentioned my allergy, the waiter informed the manager and the chef. The manager came to our table to explain how seriously their restaurant took serving guests with allergies. The grill would be scrubbed clean before my steak would go on. Excellent!! Started dinner with a delicious Mango Mojito.

After a drink at Mad Dogs some  other support staff joined us, and we ended up in Howl at the Moon, a piano bar with a fabulous atmosphere. Two pianists played any request song that was written on a slip of paper and left on their pianos. Pretty unbelievable how many songs (and especially lyrics) they know by heart!

All Blue Devils vehicles left the Convention Center around 10:30PM and we’re on our way to Houston. I didn’t even know we were stopping in Houston until today. I thought we were going straight to Hattiesburg.

Good night everyone!

Enjoy,

HK

PICKPOCKETS, DELAYED FLIGHTS AND MISSED CONNECTIONS

Yes, it was a very short night! As far as nor sleeping before I leave for the States this year was no exception. Took a taxi to central station little after 6AM, and the train to Schiphol airport at 6:38. It was pretty quiet on the train. At Rotterdam more people came on board.

They when we got to The Hague and I wasn’t paying attention pickpockets took my laptopbag. I noticed and ran after the guy. They worked in a group, so my bag had already made it out of the train. When I looked outside on the platform I saw this guy carrying my bag and shouted. Railway security stopped him and handcuffed him. Fortunately I have my belongings back, but it sure scared the shit out of me alright.

Couldn’t stay obviously to report the crime as I had a plane to catch, so they took a photo of my passport and took my number. I was called by the police when I had just checked in and was on my way to the gate to file a police report. I am glad they bastard got caught. His companion ran away.

AT the airport the line for checking in was ridiculously long. I was able to go through the Delta Sky priority check in line (for Gold, Platinum and Diamond members), so I was done in no time.

No time for tax-free shopping this time. Well, not at first but  at the gate it was announced there were some technical problems with the intercom on the plane. Guess it’s not safe to fly if we can’t hear the purser or the captain. All in all good for a 3+ hour delay, so I already knew I was not going to make my connecting flight to Austin. Oh well,…

The flight itself was very smooth,… at least the part I didn’t sleep. Gotta keep up with traditions,… sleeping at least two third of the flight. Tried to watch a film the last hour or so.

Once in Atlanta every non-US citizen has to go through Homeland Security. Obviously I picked the wrong line and ended up going through as one of the very last passengers of my flight. My connecting flight to Austin was long gone, so I tried getting on a later flight. Only possibility was stand-by. Not a good idea, as the Blue Devils would not stay in Austin. I had them rebook my flight and flew to San Antonio instead, where the corps will have a free day all day Monday.

Little after ten PM did I get to the school, where our bus had stayed. Felt like coming home! All of Devils Food staff were there. I will be working with some great people again! As if the day had not been long enough yet, I went to a bar in town for a few drinks with fellow-cook Mike, and drivers Warner and Dan. Now off to bed! Let’s see how and when my jet leg kicks in this time.

Oh,... and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD !

Enjoy,

 HK

PACK, UNPACK, PACK, UNPACK, PACK

It is generally known that I love travelling and that I regularly go on trips abroad, but these last weeks have really topped the list of planning. By far. What a ridiculous schedule!

I had to be in Moeskroen (Belgium) Saturday July 6, drove there with my friends Ivo and Paul, then I had a performance with Jubal in Douai (Northern France) on Sunday the 7^th. Fortunately I could stay overnight with some French fiends near Lille so I didn’t have to go back up to the Netherlands for 220 kilometres, and back the same route the next morning. After the performance we drove straight to Paris, as the bus for the annual school excursion to Paris that I organize was to leave at 2AM on Monday morning, so I hooked up with them at 8:30 upon their arrival. Another fun trip, taking 72 teenagers on a trip to Paris, with three jam-packed days!

Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Champs Élysées, Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, Sacré Coeur, Quartier Latin, boat trip on the Seine, La Défense, Louvre, Place de la Concorde,… and a full day in Disneyland Paris. I was pooped when I got home.

Thursday was the last day at school. I was glad I was able to finish everything I had planned to do to finish this schoolyear and get ready for the next adventure: We were taking the corps (Jubal) to Italy for 8 days! And the bus would be leaving that same night at 11PM. Well,.. I don’t need all that much time to pack, so I had my stuff together in no time.

I wasn’t looking too much forward to a 16-hour bus ride, but hey,… the trip would be more than worth it. One hour after arrival in Vicenza the corps was marching through the streets of Vicenza. I don’t think Jubal has ever had a performance that quickly after such a long busride.

Saturday all day rehearsal and a performance of our show in Cogollo del Cengio, plus a parade into town. Sunday all day in San Felice sul Panaro. Monday another rehearsal day and a parade, concert and town festival in Cogollo. We stayed in Cogollo del Cengio all week. What a beautiful venue!! Surrounded by mountains.

Tuesday we had a day off in Venice, Wednesday rehearsal and free time in Verona, Thursday a 12-hour busride to Ludwigshafen (Germany), Friday on to Geleen for an afternoon and evening of rehearsal. Saturday was the day of the World Music Championships in Kerkrade. We participated in World Division Show and took first place with a score of 90.18 points.

When I got home around midnight I had to unpack my duffle bag and repack a suitcase, as I was leaving for the USA 6 hours later to join the Blue Devils for three weeks. I don’t think I ever packed this quickly! It was a very short night!!

HK-Blog to be continued

It's the time of year again... Back on tour with the Blue Devils this summer. Quite a few friends have asked me if I would be updating my blog again. Way back when I started this blog and updated on a pretty regular basis, but it soon turned into a "Summer with the Blue Devils"-only blog.

I hadn't intended to write this summer, but as we have LOOOOOOOONG bus rides I should have ample time to write and post photographs. So yes.... the blog will be back.

Enjoy,

HK

A GREAT DAY IN DALLAS WITH SOME GREAT FRIENDS

This day was due a looooooooooooooooooong time ago! I met Charles back in 2005 or 2007 I think. Charles is an excellent photographer and had been shooting BD a lot too. But his real job is spectacular! He is a model maker (or better yet: architectural model-making specialist) . I had only seen pictures of his work, and found it hard to believe I was looking at a model… I honestly thought it was a real beach resort!

I have seen lots models of various types of buildings, but this is by far THE BEST state of the art work I have ever seen in this line of work!

Charles picked me up at the school and we had a lengthy conversation about a lot of things on our way to Dallas. Once at the studio I was completely blown away by his and Susie’s work. Absolutely stunning! Right now they are working on an assignment for which they are creating a model of London’s Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace ánd Tower Bridge. I wish I could see the final results to that! I got a nice preview though.

After the tour of the studio I helped them out finding some additions to their new kitchen. Funnily enough I think we can find all their needs back in Europe. Apparently it’s hard to get plinths and accessories here in the States, especially with their classy taste! I’m sure I can hook them up with the right companies back home.

Charles and Susie took me out for an excellent meal at Mi Cocina, a Mexican restaurant. Wow… that was really good ! And far too much of course! Hooray for the doggie bags (another thing that’s not all that well-known in the Netherlands).

We met the corps when they were about to leave the school in Little Elm. We rode to the stadium in Denton with them, following the buses. My All-Access pass helped getting us a parking spot near the buses.

The Denton show was a good one! Cadets, Blue Knights, Blue Stars, Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment, Blue Devils… You certainly don’t hear me complain. The advantage of volunteering with a top-corps also is that you get to attend top-contests!

Enjoyed seeing Krijn and Melanie again. Still having a hard time spotting her in the show though. Cavies are a bit disappointing this season. Phantom has a BEAUTIFUL show. Lots of focus on the guard. Bluecoats,… well,.. maybe I have to see them again a few times. I start liking the Cadets show a lot more than I did when I first saw them. No matter what they play, always a fine corps!

Thank you Charles and Susie for a wonderful day! I should definitely come and visit you when you’re in Bali !

Enjoy,

HK

LITTLE ELM REHEARSAL DAY & WALMART

Today I spent most of the day at the school in Devils Food (the nickname for our foodtruck). It was a busy morning having the food order come in. We usually try to get the truck to arrive either well before breakfast or well after, but for some reason they always manage to show up right AT breakfast,… as if we don’t have anything else to do at that time.

I baked a few cakes, which turned our rather nice if I may say so. Have had a number of requests already for some special cakes. I don’t think we will be doing too many birthday cakes this year.

One of the BD alumni members is a representative for the Monster energy drinks. he shows up at the Little Elm school every year with his Monster truck filled with cans for the members and a special stash for us (the food crew). This year it was 600 cans for the corps (at truck stops they are sold 2/$4!) and I think we got about 100. I especially like the coffee-kind (Java Monster Kona Blend). And I never drink regular coffee!

Rehearsal today was at the beautiful school district stadium. A hot day! (as usual when we’re in Texas!) The corps made “sack lunches” which were stored and taken to the stadium around lunchtime, so we didn’t get to see the corps during the day.

Spaghetti on the menu for dinner! They always love a good pasta. You should see some of those plates! My god,… as if they’re feeding a whole family. Some go crazy with the Shriracha hot sauce as well ! My kind of meal! Add hot sauce!

After dinner we got a ride to Walmart on the equipment truck trailer from driver Brenda. Mike Trotta is here too and came along on our Walmart-hunt. He’s touring with us this week until Houston, helping out in the souvie trailer. I love Walmart, but for some reason ended up buying only a few things this time.

Brenda dropped me off at the stadium. I took some pictures of rehearsal. Again,… some nice changes in the show.

An excited about going to Dallas tomorrow. Charles will pick me up at 10AM.

Enjoy,

HK

BUS BREAKDOWN

The ultimate nightmare of every corps on tour! But you still hear stories about these from pretty much every corps. This year Blue Devils had quite the experience. It turned out not to be a very big problem after all (for the bus that is) but it definitely changed the schedule a bit and the drive to Little Elm (Texas).

At about 3AM (I was still awake) we pull over to the side of the highway, and phone calls are made between our bus and corps manager Pete Emmons in the motor home, a few miles behind us.

Apparently the lead bus (Funliner) had some issues and had to stop, so all vehicles stop. The Souvie truck/trailer was travelling with us. That vehicle took the exit, went through the toll-booth and came back the other direction, but Toby (the driver) told us to make a U-turn BEFORE the toll-booth and go back. The funny thing was, he had explained the situation to a cop at the toll-booth, and we made the U-turn seeing the patrol car right there at the booth, so you can imagine our driver (Warner) got a little nervous.

When we got to the buses (after another U-turn – funny you can do this on a highway, probably not supposed to though…) the problem seemed to have been solved, because everyone was ready to roll again. Well,… within two miles we all stopped again. It was definitely a bus-breakdown.

All members on that bus were to be divided on the other vehicles. We would get 13 extra people on “The Nest” (our staff-bus). The other staff bus got a bunch too, a few extra members on the motor home, and the rest had to travel on the other two member buses (I really feel sorry for those guys!)

Before they moved to the other vehicles we (six of us on the support staff bus) helped move all the members’ luggage from the bus into the souvie truck & trailer. I guess the whole operation took about an hour before we could continue our way to Texas (another 400 miles or so).

Once we got to the school the truck drivers had cereals and stuff ready for everyone to eat. Because of the delayed arrival, the afternoon block was cancelled. Everyone got to sleep in a few extra hours till 4PM. That meant a short rehearsal day with only the evening block at the school district stadium. Kind of weird waking up and having dinner being served right away.

I added a little DADA to the mashed potatoes. (In general I have become known here at BD for adding things to the food here that normally don't always go in...)

The Little Elm High School we’re staying at is probably my favourite school building of any of the tours. We come back here every year. I posted about the school here on the blog a few years ago too. It’s HUGE! I got the know the band director Frank well too over the years.

A great thing this school provides for the members is the Walmart/Starbucks-runs they do on their school shuttle bus. The band director or his assistant drive the shuttle back and forth to the shopping area nearby during the breaks, and early in the morning before rehearsal starts. Great service!

My dear friend Charles Kendrick (who lives in Dallas) had come to watch tonight’s rehearsal. Too bad I wasn’t there. Fortunately he stopped by the school. So good to see him again! Last time was in 2010. He has been trying to “steal” me away from the corps and take me to Dallas to show me his work and studio. Unfortunately it never worked out, but guess what… I am spending the day with him and his wife Susie in Dallas this Thursday!

Enjoy,

HK

JUBAL MEMBERS MARCHING DCI

This year marks a record!
Jubal has 7 members marching with DCI World Class corps this summer! Unfortunately in Minneapolis I missed Glassmen’s performance, but did get to see Demy, Krijn and Melanie. Tonight I got to see Demy and Krijn again. Before tonight’s show Silvio, who had only flown to the States to join the Colts last Wednesday, told me he was going to march the very last segment of the show only tonight, even though he had learnt most of the drill.


This was the Colts’ home-show, so they were going on last after the Blue Devils. A pretty good crowd attendance tonight, and quite responsive too.


The Colts Cadets opened the show. Very interesting cymbal line outfits! The Madison Scouts blew the house down. Good to see they’re back where they belong. After a few down years they have definitely regained their “crowd’s pleaser” position. What a cool show! Martijn, one of the Juliana mellophone players is marching Scouts for the second year in a row.

Spirit of Atlanta takes the crowd along on a trip to Las Vegas. Huge stacks of roulette/poker chips form little podiums used by both brass and guard.
Krijn and Demy fit in really well in both Blue Stars’ and Boston Crusaders’ baritone lines.


Blue Devils have made quite some changes this week and once again walked away with a massive win.

Chatted a little bit with my fellow Jubal-friends after the show. They are all enjoying their summer a lot. That’s great! Silvio hopes to march his first full show later this week, but definitely this coming weekend in San Antonio. San Antonio will be the first show I get to see ALL seven Jubal members in action. Can’t wait to see Glassmen too.


If I can get everyone together in uniform in one of the breaks I will try and take a group picture of the Jubal-team. Not sure if we can realize that though, but it would be a neat shot!


We’re on our way to Texas. Yeah… more heat!!


Enjoy,
HK

TOUR OF CHAMPIONS IN ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS

For the second year in a row DCI organizes “Tour of Champions” shows around the country. Today was the first edition of this season in Rockford (Illinois), Phantom Regiment’s home-show.

Nothing unusual about today’s time in Devils Food (our food truck). I made some stir-fry curry for the vegetarians, and decorated a few cakes. This year’s DADA show is an easy theme to put in a cake decoration (well,… not the show logo they created!) The other cakes were white cake with pineapple and chocolate cake with marshmallows and almonds.
Always lettuce/salad on the dinner tables, ánd fruit! This corps gets fed really well.

The Tour of Champions lineup for this year is: show sponsor Phantom Regiment, Santa Clara Vanguard, Cavaliers, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, the Cadets and Blue Devils of course.

De volgorde van optreden rouleert dit seizoen. Vandaag waren Blue Devils als EERSTE aan de beurt. Dat is natuurlijk uitzonderlijk. Ze spelen nooit om 19:00 uur ’s avonds nog met de volle zon op het veld.

My friend Dan Potter once again is the announcer for the TOC series. Always good to see him back again after a year! This season Dan is assisted by former BD color guard Holly Medellin. The Rockford stadium was sold out tonight, as it is every year. They could easily fill a much larger stadium, but this show has been held at these facilities for years and years, so they’re sticking to their tradition.


Lots of familiar faces at tonight’s show. Ed Demspey (whom I marched with back in 1987), Christina Mavroudis, Scott Litzenberg (tonight’s show coordinator) and a bunch of staff members of various corps that used to march with Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils show was pretty good considering the field condition (very high grass!). The average crowd member has a hard time getting into this year’s show production. It’s a little over the top to them.

Despite the fact the corps went on first, Blue Devils topped tonight’s TOC and made the gap between them and second place (Crown) even bigger.
Finally met up with Demy, who is having a blast with Boston Crusaders this tour. We talked a little after the show. He showed me his TOC pass. Papendrecht has apparently been moved to Florida now.

The cake was a hit at snack and lots of members wanted to take a picture of it before it was touched. As usual BD are the last ones to pull out of the parking lot after pretty much every show. Today was no exception. After we hit the road to our next stop (tomorrow we will be in Oletha, Kansas) our bus always stops at one of the first truck stops outside the town we just came from. Most of us need a potty-stop and freshen up a little before we really put some miles on the odometer.
Kansas, here we come!

Enjoy,
HK

DCI MINNEAPOLIS

Good to talk to my parents for a while on Skype this morning. What a great invention!
As I wrote yesterday…. Today was the big event for the top-corps. The first time they’d meet in competition. Luckily the weather held off today. It was a perfect day,… perhaps a little too hot. I bet a lot of people in the crowd got sun burnt as well today.

Last night I met up with some of the DCI staff at the stadium. Good to see them again. They all asked about Jubal and wanted to know how we were doing this season, and most of all WHEN we were planning on coming back. I figured I’d leave that question unanswered. We’ll see… 2014/2015.

Our Jubal buddies Demy, Krijn, Melanie, Michelle, Ilja, Anton, Silvio and former snare Gilles were in this show as well, but due to my commitment to the BD I was only able to get to the stadium late. Too late to see the Colts, Glassmen and Blue Stars perform. Michelle & Ilja had stopped by our food truck looking for me. I had just gone to the stadium. They left me a cute note. Shortly after that I did get to see them and talk to them though.

I did see Blue Knights perform with Melanie and Boston Crusaders with Demy! Will have to try and catch the other corps perform in San Antonio next week.
Melanie was very hard to pick out in the first half of the show. The guard is wearing feathers and their faces are creatively decorated as well. Once they took the feathers off and switched to a red outfit it was easy to find her in the show. She’s doing a fine job!

Boston Crusaders opened in all four corners of the field. Demy was very easy to spot. He’s probably the tallest guy in the entire hornline. Boston has a beautiful music book. Obviously being on the frontsideline with my camera I haven’t got a clue what they do in drill. I will try and see these shows from up top at one of the contests too some day.

Blue Devils were on fire tonight. They placed first with a lead of 0.5 point. Enough room to improve the show even further.
We’re on our way to Rockford, Illinois now. A trip of about 350 miles. Life is great with WIFI on the bus!

Enjoy,
HK

SACK LUNCH & SYSTEM BLUE CLINIC

Today the corps would rehearse in the stadium (where the show will be tomorrow), so we prepared breakfast and the members could make a “sack lunch”,… a lunch package in a paper bag with all sort of goodies beside their ham/cheese or PB&J sandwiches (I will do a separate post on PB&J later).

After the corps had left for the stadium we would pack & clean and leave too. Dinner would be served at the stadium. These days Blue Devils organized a System Blue clinic for marching band kids. An intense training programme for these youngsters, who eventually got to play with the hornline and drumline.
The stadium is really spectacular. A very good venue for a drumcorps show!

I walked through the area around the stadium a bit and checked out some of the local stores. That came in handy because I needed a new (extra) memory card.
I got to see quite a bit of the afternoon rehearsal as well. Exciting stuff going on on the field! Have to get into and see their show a bit more though to fully get what is going on.

When it was almost time for dinner we were in for a surprise. Clouds had started to fill the sky shortly before dinner and we knew they had predicted early evening rain, but right when literally EVERYTHING was out on the table waiting for the members to come from the stadium, things started being blown from the table. It took less than 5 minutes to move everything inside the loading area of the stadium, set up the tables again and serve our Taco Salad dinner. Great teamwork!! Only seconds after we were inside a pretty intense rainstorm hit the area.

This made me think of 2010 when the show was cancelled halfway down the program because of a Tornado-warning. Back then sirens went off throughout Minneapolis. Phantom had just entered the field and was taken off. All the spectators had to gather in the restrooms, and all the members of the participating corps were brought together in the same area we were now having dinner in. A cool gathering, but pretty scary weather outside. Fortunately today’s storm only lasted a good hour.

The evening block today didn’t even have much of a delay, opening with the System Blue clinic activities. The hornline (with addition of extra trumpets, trombones, sousaphones, and even flutes, clarinets and a baritone saxophone!) played John Meehan’s “Autumn”. The drumline played through a number of exercises.
Back at the housing site now. A little party going on in The Nest (our staffbus). These first few nights I am sleeping on a mattress in the school though.


Tomorrow is the big day… all World Class corps will get together in competition for the first time. BD haven’t been up against Crown, Cadets, Bluecoats, Madison Scouts or Cavaliers yet. Should be an exciting event!
Goodnight everyone!

Enjoy,
HK

JIM MEISTER'S GERMAN BAR - STILLWATER, MN

As if a jet leg would hold me from having a bit of fun!

Last night I watched BD rehearsal in the school stadium. Quite a few Blue Devils alumni were present as well, among which my friends Jeff DeMello and Todd Tanji.

They introduced me to some other former BD people which led into some interesting conversations. And my God,… this music activity (hobby) we’re all in once again proved to be such a small world.
Got to talk about people we both know, but who I haven’t seen in years, and they only saw them a few days ago.

Met Phil McArthur, a member of the Advisory Committee to the BD Board of Directors. Turns out he also knows my friend Retha Cilliers of the Field Band Foundation in South Africa.
Well,… to make a long story short,… They invited me to join them in going to the Jim Meister’s bar in Stillwater, a few miles outside Minneapolis. What a cool place!

This bar has a long BD history, dating back to mid-70s, when the corps used to stop here first on their DCI Tour and held a camp of a few days. Stillwater used to be one of the first shows on the tour outside California. Well,.. the story goes that all (or at least most of the staff) used to go here every night after rehearsal,… but ALSO a bunch of members. Apparently this was one of the few bars in the country that also served underage clients. I doubt very much that would happen nowadays.

Had some great conversations about Jubal, about the drumcorps activity in Europe, mutual issues in corps and organizations, where this activity is going, about work, friends, family,… you name it… we probably talked about it.
The waitress was very friendly, but was freaked out by me speaking to her in German. Her knowledge of the German language didn’t go much further than the word “Oktoberfest”.

Good food, nice beer and great company. What else could one wish for on a first real night in the States with a body that says it needs some sleep?
Well,.. . it didn’t get too much sleep after all, because I was up at 6:30, ready for breakfast.

Enjoy,
HK

YESTERDAY WAS A LOOOOOOOONG DAY!

My flight, correction… FLIGHTS to the States yesterday took a bit longer than I had hoped, but hey… I never have any trouble sleeping on planes, so it wasn’t all that bad after all.

My folks were so kind to drive me to Brussels airport. Yes,… I left from Belgium. Saved quite a bit of money on the flight(s) compared to leaving from Amsterdam. Looked around on the internet for decently priced flights and ended up with Air Canada as my best bet.

The fact that this flight would go through Toronto didn’t bother me, not even the fact that I had a 5-hour layover there. All airports in the USA and Canada have free Wifi, so I never got bored.

Checking in at Brussels airport didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped. The guy checking my passport needed to see my ticket…. My return ticket to be precise! And guess what. Obviously I had NOT printed that one. Apparently they need to see if everyone leaving for the States will also return at some point. They couldn’t find my return flight in their computer either.

When I eventually got to the check-in counter I was surprised to hear my flight was going to go through Montreal first! Jeeezzzz,… I never checked my flight schedule too well I guess. The same plane would fly on to Toronto, so it was only to clear customs in Montreal and then move on.

The flights were fine. Even though I slept good, I didn’t miss the drinks or the meals/snacks! Didn’t see all that much of the movies though!
In Toronto I already had to clear customs and Homeland Security for the USA, so that made it a lot easier. Spent my time at the Toronto airport effectively. Grabbed a bite, and had a few beers (Molson!) at the airport bar.

Got to Minneapolis in a much smaller plane. Coincidentally it had the word JAZZ on the side, almost exactly in the same font as Blue Devils use for that word on their corps jackets.

Trinet picked me up from the airport and drove me to BD’s rehearsal site, where they were just having snack. A very warm welcome was awaiting me. So many members came by and said they were happy I was back on tour with them this summer. Always nice to hear.

I sleep on a mattress in the school these first few days, since we’re not leaving for the next city until Saturday night.
This morning they let me sleep in a little bit. Guess what… with the jet leg that doesn’t help much. After 3 hours of sleep I was up and running. Took a half an hour power nap this morning.

This morning the weekly food-order was delivered too, so we had a shitload of boxes and stuff to find a storage space for. Today the corps had split laundry day and rehearsal at the school stadium (Impressive school complex!!). I will go and watch some of rehearsal tonight. Fixing dinner now!

Not too sleepy at the moment, so I think I will be fine.

Enjoy,
HK