Ciao, Indy!

DCI Finals Week 2014

Departure Day

Sunday, August 10, 2014

I had breakfast courtesy of room service, which was pricey, but whatever.  I wanted to take my time before checkout, and didn't want to leave the room to eat.  There was a lot of food on my tray, so I ended up taking a croissant and mini muffin with me to snack on later.

Good morning!

I went to the business center to try to print my FlyAway reservation, because the printer thing didn't work the night before.  It also didn't work in the morning, so the gal let me use the computer without paying for the time.  The gal asked me to bring our CA weather when I come back next time.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was humid in CA when I left.  

Bye, JW!

I was early for my shuttle reservation, but figured that I should just get in line anyway, in case they had room for me.  The first shuttle that stopped had no room for anyone (I was 10th or so in line), and the driver told us that there was a shuttle coming up "right behind" him.  When this statement is told to us while waiting for the Gold Line, a shuttle would come pretty much 2 minutes later, instead of the regular 6 minutes later.  This is not the same definition that this guy used.  The shuttle "right behind" him came about 30 minutes later, for the regular pickup time, which was actually a few minutes late. All I could think of during that 30 minutes was "I don't think that means what you think it means."  I wasn't even sure that I'd get on because rude people had cut in line, but when I got up the steps, there were 2 seats left: one in the very front, and one toward the back.  I decided to be polite and go to the back.  Well, that decision sure paid off for me!

The guy sitting next to me was wearing a Vanguard jacket.  He looked at the shirt I was wearing, which was my "Do You Hear The People Sing" shirt from SCV's Les Miz show last year, and asked if I was a Vanguard parent or knew someone in the corps or marched in the corps.  I told him that I am just a huge drum corps fan, but Vanguard is my favorite.  I told him that I did know someone who knew someone in the corps that I screamed for, but I didn't actually know the guy.  I asked if he marched in the corps, and he said that he is on SCV Staff and does the props for the show.  AAAAAHHHH!!!  The Pillows!!!!  So we engaged in some Pillow Talk, by which I mean that we talked about the pillows.  He was glad that we took pictures on them, and said that they had started offering that opportunity at their Denver show.  He said that at one show, the pillows from the souvie booth were all banged up and he wondered what the heck the fans were doing to them.  It turns out that one of the metal shirt displays fell on the pillows due to a strong wind.  See?  Wind again!  Glad I wasn't there for that.    The pillows had a light coat of plastic on them, and were very easy to carry.  

We also talked about the change in lamps.  When we first saw the show in So Cal, the lamp was metal.  Chris (that's his name) said that the judges told them that the lamp was too small.  So while he was away, they made a bigger one, which wasn't the right shape and was too crafty-looking.  This was the lamp with the "A" that I had seen during a Fan Network broadcast and hated.  They finally made one that he liked, which was cut out of one block of compressed styrofoam, like the pillows.  I approved of the final rendition.  

He said that the big cloth at the very end (that covered the corps) was made of the same material as flag silks.  The design on it was silkscreened, and the cloth itself was in strips and put together.  I told him that everything was just gorgeous, especially the colors, the uniforms, everything.  He was glad that the fans liked it.  I said that we kept wondering with every broadcast if we had seen the final rendition of the ending.   He said that when  he saw Jean (Zade) rise up through the final silk for the first time, he thought, "That's how it should end." It really was perfect.   

Chris first saw drum corps in 2004, when SCV performed "Scheherazade".  He talked about how the big blast at the end just blew him away, and from then on, he wanted to be in drum corps.  He marched mellophone with Glassmen  and then became drum major, aging out with Glassmen's last year in 2012 with their "Glassworks" show.  We talked about the sad state of the Glassmen's demise.  But what's really cool is that here he was, 10 years after seeing SCV, and he gets to be on staff for "Scheherazade: Words 2 Live By".  That's just way cool.  I told him how we got into the activity, and about Bro's shoes and license plate. 

As for this year's Finals night, I told him that I was screaming so much that I became lightheaded when SCV won best percussion.  He said that it was their goal all year, and it was a little bit scary toward the end of the season because of the surge by BD and Bloo.  They did so well at Prelims and Semis, though, that they could pretty much sail through Finals for the drum trophy, but they didn't.    

We talked about SCV's style and how much he hopes that the beauty of this show and its kin will receive more accolades as the activity progresses, and that the corps continues on this path.  We were certainly on the same page with that.  He talked about last year's audience reaction to "Les Miz" and how that show was just perfect with the way it resonated with fans, and was understandable.  I told him how much we cried from Day 1, the moment we saw the corps enter the field, seeing that show at Stanford, and it just kept getting more beautiful as the season progressed, culminating in me being in a mess of tears on Finals night.  I told him to pass on to the rest of the staff how much we love these shows, as if they didn't already know.  He said that he doesn't know what SCV has in store for 2015, but hoped to see me at Stanford next year.  He even let me take a picture with him to prove to Bro that I didn't make up this whole thing. I showed him how crazy I am by indicating to him that my smartphone wallpaper is of the Vanguard shield.  He, of course, thought it was cool.  Well, it IS cool!  Thanks for talking to this loyal fan, Chris!

At IND, I ended up in the SWA line behind a tuba player from Pacific Crest.  He's thinking of auditioning for Bloo next year.  Well, I like them, too, but it's sad that he's thinking of leaving PC.  As Bro said a few weeks ago, corps like PC and Academy have a lot of promise, but as soon as the kids improve, they go for one of the top 10 corps, so that it's difficult for these other corps to improve much in placement year after year.  

The first leg of my flight felt crowded because the lady next to me took up the entire armrest and then some between us, and the guy on my other side was wearing shorts and body heat isn't fun when it's from a stranger.  My interim stop was at MCI (Kansas City).  That's a small airport!  I considered volunteering to take another flight, but then I'd be sitting there for another 3-4 hours, and there just wasn't much to do there, and I didn't want to risk missing the last FlyAway shuttle.  There was a gal in a BD jacket on the flight to LAX, but she sat elsewhere.  Our FlyAway driver was pretty cool, looking like a limo driver in his shades, and informing us of safety measures before we left LAX.  I would definitely take the FlyAway again.  They even have an outlet at each seat so that you can charge your stuff!

That was a great trip.  Thanks to Bro and V for the always awesome company, to DCI for putting on such a great show, and especially to the Santa Clara Vanguard for my favorite drum corps moments again this year! 

I"ll miss this view