Reichal: Here they are again... those band memories that leave us wondering if band is just another group-insanity thing.
Becka: It is.
Reichal: Okay. Anyway. Gah, we do have to write a disclaimer! We don't own Mr. Thompson, Mr. Townsend, Melissa, Carmen, Thomas, Josh, JC, Harold, Stephanie, Susan, Meghan, the rest of the band, any mentioned song, the drummers, Solo and Ensemble Festival, or the Florida Band Association, do we?
Becka: No, and in certain people's cases, thank God. Hey, why are the drummers nameless?
Reichal: _ 'Cause they are ...on with the show-list-thingy.
Becka: Yes oh intelligent and eloquent one...
Reichal: Dirt Princess.*
Becka: Ice Witch.*
Both stick their tongues out at each other.
*inside joke: don't ask.
In case you'll be wondering, which we're sure you will be, here's a brief guide.
Becka: second chair clarinet, the co-author and writer of many fics, aka Dirt Princess.
Reichal: first chair flute, the other co-author and writer of ficcies that never leave her computer, aka Ice Witch.
Mr. Thompson: our director.
Mr. Townsend: the sub we usually get when Mr. Thompson's gone. Very crazy and fun.
Melissa: the second chair flute, our friend.
Carmen: the tied-for-first chair sax, our friend.
Thomas: the just-moved-from-third-(last)-to second-to-a-tie-for-first chair sax. Our wacky and strange friend, aka Puffy-chan.
Josh: the like sixth chair trombone that has frightening crushes/obsessions with Becka and Reichal.
JC: the last chair trumpet who likes to play football music that everyone hates.
Harold: the first-or-second chair tuba, who we are either pretending to beat up or playing along with.
Stephanie: the second to last chair clarinet who's our friend and the sanest of us all.
Heather: the just-moved-from-second-to-third-chair-sax, who's actually pretty normal but doesn't look down on the rest of us.
Susan: Reichal's friend from seventh grade (who was an eighth grader at the time) who played flute.
Meghan: first chair clarinet, normal, but her and Becka are always giggling.
The rest of the band: Your normal group of misfits, which we say affectionately.
The percussion: a group of 3 in their own little world, whose personalities range from sweet to odd and goofy to ditzy.
Solo and Ensemble Festival: took place about 70 miles away this year. Abbreviated as S&E Festival.
Florida Band Association: holds a competition yearly, where all the bands in the district come to one location and play 3 songs of their own choosing, but one of which has to be a march, and sightread for a rating. Our school has been superior all around for eleven years straight. (sorry, had to brag. _)
Our history class: Is over half band members. Frequently asks if there were cannibals hidden in America's history. (like whenever the teacher comments that someone died on a ship or expedition, someone will ask "did they eat him?")
Band Memories from Middle School
1. Mr. Thompson losing his glasses when they were really on his head the whole time.
2. Mr. Townsend screaming "shoot them!" while the band was supposed to be accenting certain notes in Lexington March.
~ We were playing the march and he stopped us, saying that this was a war march! Play it convincingly! Then he said that the accents were gun shots. He made us go on again, screaming "shoot them!" when we reached the accents.
3. Dodge sticks.
~ Two of the drummers were throwing their sticks at each other. Mr. Townsend called it dodge sticks.
4 Mr. Townsend shoving a cleaning cloth up the bell of the clarinets and getting them to try and make a sound.
~ It was a power exercise, since we only have 6-7 clarinets.
5. Reichal, Becka, Carmen and Melissa singing our parts to various songs.
~ We were bored in gym...
6. Thomas playing with his balls. (6 gold ones)
~ Thomas found six golden balls about the size of a quarter somewhere and played with them all of practice.
7. Eating at McDonalds in Chipley in our band uniforms.
~ On the way to Solo and Ensemble Festival we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, wearing our uniforms/nice outfits. Some of us had just woken up, so it was kinda weird. :)
8. Talking about Tuesday night hoedowns at Bozeman on the way back from S&E Festival.
~ We were really bored. Bozeman is this elementary-middle school way out in the boonies. We had just finished discussing those big houses way out in the middle of nowhere, and how their kids must wear overalls and work on the farm, and every Tuesday night they gathered 'round with the rest of the families and had themselves a hoedown.
9. Singing "His Cheeseburger" on the bus.
10. Singing "Mmm At Went The Little Green Frog One Day" on the bus on the way to the FBA competition. *lyrics below
11. Playing "Lean On Me" at football games.
12. The band cheering louder than the cheerleaders at games.
~ Admit it; that's pretty sad.
13. Mr. Thompson yelling at us to cork it (during "Lean On Me"), which we misinterpreted as 'fork it'.
14. Practicing "Zephyrs" for All-County, then a storm coming.
~ Zephyrs is a tribute to a city that was obliterated by a hurricane. It's so kewl, and one of those weird-yet-fun alientoric pieces. The song sounds like a real storm.
15. The delay at Graceville.
~ At S&E Festival, which took place in Graceville, there was a half hour delay for Thomas's turn to play.
16. "The flutes are the leaves falling from the trees, and the rest of you are the moles and stuff crawling around underground." -Mr. Townsend, on this one part of "Lexington March".
17. Reichal and Susan having a contest judged by Mr. Townsend on who could play "Oh Susanna" the fastest and most accurate.
18. Discovering that when Thomas's hair was patted, a cloud of white came up.
~ It was actually too much hair gel.
19. The brass at All-County taking half an hour to learn quarter notes.
20. Josh being obsessed over Becka.
21. Josh getting over Becka (by cussing her out constantly) and asking Reichal 3 times to hug him in one day.
22. Goofing off with Becka's ex-boyfriend (more of a best friend) at All-County practice.
23. Meeting a bunch of Reichal's old friends at All-County.
~ She switched school zones between elementary school and middle school.
24. Playing "Zephyrs".
~ That was just so fun in itself.
25. Carmen and Thomas stressing out over their ratings at S&E Festival.
26. Carmen and Thomas's judge locking herself out of her room at S&E Festival.
27. The Casassa Rebellion.
~ Thomas deciding that he will eventually beat Carmen to first chair.
28. Becka squeaking on a B flat concert note.
29. Becka kicking Harold and making him fall 'cause he jumped at the same time.
30. Dancing (head banging) to "Smoke On The Water".
31. Watching Becka react to "Frosty The Snowman" and "I Need To Know".
~ she hates those songs with a passion.
32. Reichal and Melissa getting 3 measure 'duets'.
~ the other 7 flutes couldn't get it.
33. Heather playing the wrong notes purposely.
34. Reichal, Becka, Melissa, Meghan, and Thomas laughing so hard we couldn't play and ended up faking the music.
35. Becka and Meghan laughing so hard 'cause Becka messed up that they couldn't play.
~ they were really cracking up. Tears, shaking, the works.
36. Reichal finally getting that rhythm to that measure in "Les Miserables".
37. Like 15 band members screaming at JC to shut up in history (in unison) 'cause he was humming "Ghostbusters", a song we all hate.
38. Harold, Reichal and Becka pantomiming instruments once after a history test.
~ we used pencils. It was so... strange.
39. Finding a coupla more otakus.
~ yeah, like 2. ^_^
40. Singing/humming "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead".
~ We were playing excerpts from the Wizard of Oz.
41. Singing 'The band on the bus got superior'.
~ Our preferred method of celebrating when our band was rated superior in the Florida Band Association District competition.
42. Reichal and Thomas singing "SesameA Street" (a parody of Sesame Street) when we were supposed to be watching a movie.
43. The band sub seriously asking if Harold was mentally handicapped. (later Reichal told the sub that if anyone was, Becka and Thomas were)
44. Grape shooters.
~ There was this variation of a trumpet in the movie we were watching that reminded Melissa of a pea shooter, only it was a little bigger, so she called it a grape shooter.
45. Multiplying tubas.
~ In the same movie, there was a scene that started with one tuba, and they kept coming 'til there was about 10.
46. Challenges.
~ Nerve-wracking tests where the player gets to play a portion of a song by him/herself in front of the band and gets graded, also determines chair arrangements. Known to cause shaking and palm-sweating for the next two periods.
47. Blitzes.
~ The same as Challenges, only the student plays as many scales as fast as possible in front the band for a major grade. Even more nerve-wracking, and known to cause extreme nervousness for days.
48. Movies.
~ Use your imagination.
49. The drummers putting their arms around each other's necks and swaying to the slow part of "Way Down Upon The Swannee River", then running frantically to their instruments when their part came up.
50. The tubas bouncing in unison during "Tequila".
51. The whole band, including flutes, trying to move to "Tequila".
52. The flutes just not getting the countermelody to a part in "Oh Susanna". (we still haven't got it...)
53. In history, Reichal was humming "Over the Rainbow". As soon as she stopped, Harold started whistling the same song. A few minutes later Reichal and Harold were whistling, Becka was humming (she can't whistle) and one of the drummers were yelling at us to shut up.
54. Mr. Thompson saying that Thomas was despicable because he was like a second off in starting a song in a rehearsal.
~ Reichal doesn't like that memory but Becka thinks it's funny.
Lyrics to 'Mmm at Went The Little Green One Day':
Mmm at went the little green frog one day
Mmm at went the little green frog
Mmm at went the little green font one day
And its eyes went mmm at too
Honk honk went the big red truck one day
Splish splash went the little green frog
And its eyes don't got mmm at anymore
'Cause it got licked up by a dog
Arf Arf!
Becka: It is.
Reichal: Okay. Anyway. Gah, we do have to write a disclaimer! We don't own Mr. Thompson, Mr. Townsend, Melissa, Carmen, Thomas, Josh, JC, Harold, Stephanie, Susan, Meghan, the rest of the band, any mentioned song, the drummers, Solo and Ensemble Festival, or the Florida Band Association, do we?
Becka: No, and in certain people's cases, thank God. Hey, why are the drummers nameless?
Reichal: _ 'Cause they are ...on with the show-list-thingy.
Becka: Yes oh intelligent and eloquent one...
Reichal: Dirt Princess.*
Becka: Ice Witch.*
Both stick their tongues out at each other.
*inside joke: don't ask.
In case you'll be wondering, which we're sure you will be, here's a brief guide.
Becka: second chair clarinet, the co-author and writer of many fics, aka Dirt Princess.
Reichal: first chair flute, the other co-author and writer of ficcies that never leave her computer, aka Ice Witch.
Mr. Thompson: our director.
Mr. Townsend: the sub we usually get when Mr. Thompson's gone. Very crazy and fun.
Melissa: the second chair flute, our friend.
Carmen: the tied-for-first chair sax, our friend.
Thomas: the just-moved-from-third-(last)-to second-to-a-tie-for-first chair sax. Our wacky and strange friend, aka Puffy-chan.
Josh: the like sixth chair trombone that has frightening crushes/obsessions with Becka and Reichal.
JC: the last chair trumpet who likes to play football music that everyone hates.
Harold: the first-or-second chair tuba, who we are either pretending to beat up or playing along with.
Stephanie: the second to last chair clarinet who's our friend and the sanest of us all.
Heather: the just-moved-from-second-to-third-chair-sax, who's actually pretty normal but doesn't look down on the rest of us.
Susan: Reichal's friend from seventh grade (who was an eighth grader at the time) who played flute.
Meghan: first chair clarinet, normal, but her and Becka are always giggling.
The rest of the band: Your normal group of misfits, which we say affectionately.
The percussion: a group of 3 in their own little world, whose personalities range from sweet to odd and goofy to ditzy.
Solo and Ensemble Festival: took place about 70 miles away this year. Abbreviated as S&E Festival.
Florida Band Association: holds a competition yearly, where all the bands in the district come to one location and play 3 songs of their own choosing, but one of which has to be a march, and sightread for a rating. Our school has been superior all around for eleven years straight. (sorry, had to brag. _)
Our history class: Is over half band members. Frequently asks if there were cannibals hidden in America's history. (like whenever the teacher comments that someone died on a ship or expedition, someone will ask "did they eat him?")
Band Memories from Middle School
1. Mr. Thompson losing his glasses when they were really on his head the whole time.
2. Mr. Townsend screaming "shoot them!" while the band was supposed to be accenting certain notes in Lexington March.
~ We were playing the march and he stopped us, saying that this was a war march! Play it convincingly! Then he said that the accents were gun shots. He made us go on again, screaming "shoot them!" when we reached the accents.
3. Dodge sticks.
~ Two of the drummers were throwing their sticks at each other. Mr. Townsend called it dodge sticks.
4 Mr. Townsend shoving a cleaning cloth up the bell of the clarinets and getting them to try and make a sound.
~ It was a power exercise, since we only have 6-7 clarinets.
5. Reichal, Becka, Carmen and Melissa singing our parts to various songs.
~ We were bored in gym...
6. Thomas playing with his balls. (6 gold ones)
~ Thomas found six golden balls about the size of a quarter somewhere and played with them all of practice.
7. Eating at McDonalds in Chipley in our band uniforms.
~ On the way to Solo and Ensemble Festival we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, wearing our uniforms/nice outfits. Some of us had just woken up, so it was kinda weird. :)
8. Talking about Tuesday night hoedowns at Bozeman on the way back from S&E Festival.
~ We were really bored. Bozeman is this elementary-middle school way out in the boonies. We had just finished discussing those big houses way out in the middle of nowhere, and how their kids must wear overalls and work on the farm, and every Tuesday night they gathered 'round with the rest of the families and had themselves a hoedown.
9. Singing "His Cheeseburger" on the bus.
10. Singing "Mmm At Went The Little Green Frog One Day" on the bus on the way to the FBA competition. *lyrics below
11. Playing "Lean On Me" at football games.
12. The band cheering louder than the cheerleaders at games.
~ Admit it; that's pretty sad.
13. Mr. Thompson yelling at us to cork it (during "Lean On Me"), which we misinterpreted as 'fork it'.
14. Practicing "Zephyrs" for All-County, then a storm coming.
~ Zephyrs is a tribute to a city that was obliterated by a hurricane. It's so kewl, and one of those weird-yet-fun alientoric pieces. The song sounds like a real storm.
15. The delay at Graceville.
~ At S&E Festival, which took place in Graceville, there was a half hour delay for Thomas's turn to play.
16. "The flutes are the leaves falling from the trees, and the rest of you are the moles and stuff crawling around underground." -Mr. Townsend, on this one part of "Lexington March".
17. Reichal and Susan having a contest judged by Mr. Townsend on who could play "Oh Susanna" the fastest and most accurate.
18. Discovering that when Thomas's hair was patted, a cloud of white came up.
~ It was actually too much hair gel.
19. The brass at All-County taking half an hour to learn quarter notes.
20. Josh being obsessed over Becka.
21. Josh getting over Becka (by cussing her out constantly) and asking Reichal 3 times to hug him in one day.
22. Goofing off with Becka's ex-boyfriend (more of a best friend) at All-County practice.
23. Meeting a bunch of Reichal's old friends at All-County.
~ She switched school zones between elementary school and middle school.
24. Playing "Zephyrs".
~ That was just so fun in itself.
25. Carmen and Thomas stressing out over their ratings at S&E Festival.
26. Carmen and Thomas's judge locking herself out of her room at S&E Festival.
27. The Casassa Rebellion.
~ Thomas deciding that he will eventually beat Carmen to first chair.
28. Becka squeaking on a B flat concert note.
29. Becka kicking Harold and making him fall 'cause he jumped at the same time.
30. Dancing (head banging) to "Smoke On The Water".
31. Watching Becka react to "Frosty The Snowman" and "I Need To Know".
~ she hates those songs with a passion.
32. Reichal and Melissa getting 3 measure 'duets'.
~ the other 7 flutes couldn't get it.
33. Heather playing the wrong notes purposely.
34. Reichal, Becka, Melissa, Meghan, and Thomas laughing so hard we couldn't play and ended up faking the music.
35. Becka and Meghan laughing so hard 'cause Becka messed up that they couldn't play.
~ they were really cracking up. Tears, shaking, the works.
36. Reichal finally getting that rhythm to that measure in "Les Miserables".
37. Like 15 band members screaming at JC to shut up in history (in unison) 'cause he was humming "Ghostbusters", a song we all hate.
38. Harold, Reichal and Becka pantomiming instruments once after a history test.
~ we used pencils. It was so... strange.
39. Finding a coupla more otakus.
~ yeah, like 2. ^_^
40. Singing/humming "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead".
~ We were playing excerpts from the Wizard of Oz.
41. Singing 'The band on the bus got superior'.
~ Our preferred method of celebrating when our band was rated superior in the Florida Band Association District competition.
42. Reichal and Thomas singing "SesameA Street" (a parody of Sesame Street) when we were supposed to be watching a movie.
43. The band sub seriously asking if Harold was mentally handicapped. (later Reichal told the sub that if anyone was, Becka and Thomas were)
44. Grape shooters.
~ There was this variation of a trumpet in the movie we were watching that reminded Melissa of a pea shooter, only it was a little bigger, so she called it a grape shooter.
45. Multiplying tubas.
~ In the same movie, there was a scene that started with one tuba, and they kept coming 'til there was about 10.
46. Challenges.
~ Nerve-wracking tests where the player gets to play a portion of a song by him/herself in front of the band and gets graded, also determines chair arrangements. Known to cause shaking and palm-sweating for the next two periods.
47. Blitzes.
~ The same as Challenges, only the student plays as many scales as fast as possible in front the band for a major grade. Even more nerve-wracking, and known to cause extreme nervousness for days.
48. Movies.
~ Use your imagination.
49. The drummers putting their arms around each other's necks and swaying to the slow part of "Way Down Upon The Swannee River", then running frantically to their instruments when their part came up.
50. The tubas bouncing in unison during "Tequila".
51. The whole band, including flutes, trying to move to "Tequila".
52. The flutes just not getting the countermelody to a part in "Oh Susanna". (we still haven't got it...)
53. In history, Reichal was humming "Over the Rainbow". As soon as she stopped, Harold started whistling the same song. A few minutes later Reichal and Harold were whistling, Becka was humming (she can't whistle) and one of the drummers were yelling at us to shut up.
54. Mr. Thompson saying that Thomas was despicable because he was like a second off in starting a song in a rehearsal.
~ Reichal doesn't like that memory but Becka thinks it's funny.
Lyrics to 'Mmm at Went The Little Green One Day':
Mmm at went the little green frog one day
Mmm at went the little green frog
Mmm at went the little green font one day
And its eyes went mmm at too
Honk honk went the big red truck one day
Splish splash went the little green frog
And its eyes don't got mmm at anymore
'Cause it got licked up by a dog
Arf Arf!