Showing posts with label band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label band. Show all posts

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Crazy-busy-awesome week

Wow, I'm exhausted....

Lat Friday was the high school awards banquet. It was fun hanging out with most of the other senior guys, laughing at Coach Walker. I got the English award, which is surprising because I usually fall asleep in that class about once a week. Plus, when she asks if we liked a certain poem/short story/book I usually bluntly say no. Maybe she thinks I'm joking. :P  Also, I got the John Philip Sousa Band Award again! Now Geoff Adams won't be the only one on the plaque twice! Mr. Pollard got the President's Service award, which I think he definitely deserved. He's spend most lunch periods practicing with jazz combo, early Friday mornings with jazz band, and lots of afternoons with whoever needs to practice with him. He's a really great director.

After the banquet, I left to go on my last campout with my Boy Scout troop at Pedernales Falls State Park. We left my house at about 11 p.m., took about 8 wrong turns because Google maps told us to go through private property with "no trespassing" signs, and a cop we asked gave us bad directions too. We got there at about 3:30 a.m. and took a nap in the car. Then my mom left, and I set up my tent and slept. Shortly after waking up, it started raining, so a couple friends and I sat in my tent and played cards. Then, while it was still raining, we went and hiked around on some rocks, got completely soaked, and had a great time. We got back to the campsite, ate a cold lunch (cuz we were too lazy to cook grilled cheese), and I took a nap. :)   Then, since it had been raining all day, we packed up our stuff to leave. We went on one more little hike, drove to Dairy Queen(a tradition) and went home.

Sunday afternoon, I went to Lake Travis for my Youth Group's end of the year party. Mini golf, boat riding, swimming, and water balloon fights ensued. Fun was had by all. I threw ice at a priest(Father Rusty) who threw ice back. :P

Today(Friday), most of the seniors went to Six Flags, which was fun. I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I left. When I got home, I left to go perform at Brentwood's first annual "Jazz Under the Stars." Jazz combo played a bunch of songs, most of which we didn't know very well, the full jazz band played 3 songs, and jazz combo played some more. It was really fun, and everyone I talked to really enjoyed it. StuCo did a great job organizing it, and I think we raised nearly $1,000 for the band!

I have now finished my last year of Youth Group(except for one more retreat), my last Boy Scout campout(except possibly working a BSA summer camp), my last day of school(except for review days and 1 final), and my last BCS band performance. College seems ever closer,which is really exciting and daunting. I'm usually the type of person who sticks with the way this are because they are comfortable and predictable. Now I'm getting ready to leave my school of 9 years and my house of 15... overwhelming...

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

TAPPS

Today was my last TAPPS district band/choir contest. Brentwood did really well. Anything rated "1" goes to state, and the only things that got 2's were one of my trombone trios and the Jr/Sr girls' choir. That means that, at state, I will be competing in concert band, sight-reading, jazz band, jazz combo, a trombone trio, and a percussion quintet. Woohoo! I had a blast, even though I had to be at school at 6:30 a.m. and didn't finish unloading everything back at Brentwood until 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

All-Region Band and Saving Lives

Last Friday and Saturday I went to the ATSSB All-Region Band Clinic and Concert. It was awesome! Our director was Robert W. Smith, a pretty famous composer. He was a great director and was pretty funny, though a bit long-winded. :P Our finale was a song he composed called Inchon, dedicated to his father and other veterans of Korea and Vietnam. It was based around a Korean folk song which Polly and Lucy Park know, which was pretty cool. There were some great sound effects, like using timpani heads to sound like helicopters, which actually worked really well. Inchon is definitely my favorite song that I've ever performed.

On Wednesday I donated blood for the first time. A big tye-dye bus came to Brentwood and most of the seniors gave blood, along with a few junior and teachers. It wasn't too bad, though it was kinda weird because I could feel the needle going into my vein. Plus I got a free tshirt and some food. That's right, I'm a hero. Saving lives one pint at a time!

So, the Superbowl is tomorrow, and as usual, I really don't care who wins. Football is overrated. Once they make professional ultimate teams, let me know.