Food and Appliances

 MidCal Showcase

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Adolfo Camarillo High School - Carl Thomps on Field

Camarillo, CA

We interrupt all of the non-posting of Sherry's overseas adventures to bring you Drum Corps Season!  There is entirely too much going on, but I figured I should really post before Finals comes around.

MidCal Showcase this year was nowhere near the middle of California, either lengthwise or widthwise.  For those of you unfamiliar with our beautiful state, Camarillo is 51 miles northwest of Los Angeles, kind of near the coast.  But whatever.  It's "mid" somewhere, I guess.

Why are the "s" and "o" so far apart?

Bro decided about a week before the show that he was going, and asked me if I wanted to join him and the niece.  Sure!  I had to move my 1 day/week telework day to do it, which was a new thing for me because we just went back to work 4 days/week as of July 1st.  Fortunately, my boss is just as irritated as me with this new mandate, so he was OK with it, and laughed when I told him.   The show was supposed to start at 7:30 pm, so we had time to get a quick dinner from Subway before heading out to Camarillo.  When we arrived near the place, we wondered why we saw people walking to the campus when we didn't seem to be near the school yet.  It turns out that people probably didn't want to lose their parking spaces when they walked to the nearby grocery store, because there wasn't any parking available in the lot, nor on the street next to the school.  So, like many others, we ended up parking in a nearby residential area.  I wonder if the neighbors get really irritated when there are events at the school.  I was especially irritated because of the incline of the driveway to get to the campus entrance.  You know how I love hills!  Not.  We followed other people who seemed to know where they were going, and arrived at the spectator entrance to the stadium.  The person with the wristbands asked Bro how many tickets we had, and he said 3.  They gave us the wristbands, but never actually checked his tickets.  So...did we even need to pay?  

They didn't really have much of anything ready for concessions, so I was glad we ate beforehand.  We checked out the souvenir stands, and I contemplated what to get from the Bluecoats to support them for coming out to California this year.  I'm not really fond of their color schemes, so I didn't get their California Tour shirt, and decided to think some more.  I had more shows to see on the schedule, so I had time.  The Academy had a dress and xylophone vest from their "Drum Corps Bride" show on display.  Display only, not for buying, otherwise the niece might have acquired a new color guard dress tonight.

How has it been 10 years since this show?!

We went inside the stadium, which was bleacher seating.  I don't know why they put seats directly behind huge light poles, but we did not sit there.  We wanted to sit near the corps because this was an exhibition performance, and we knew they would get to watch each others' shows, which is cool.  We ended up sitting across the aisle from the Blues:  Bluecoats and Blue Devils.  They were very friendly with each other, and very appreciative of all the corps.  Later, Bro heard them say that they needed a picture of the Mandarins.  Mandarins is not performing this year (sadness!), but many of their corps members joined the other corps, probably mostly Vanguard and Blue Devils if they're from Northern California.  Bro called our area the "Bluecoats / Blue Devils Reunion stairs" because people kept seeing each other and hugging in the aisle next to us.  

So glad that guy didn't drop his ice cream on us.

Bloo / BD Reunion Stairs

For those unfamiliar with my methods, I post repertoire of the corps I see for the first time, and do not do so when I see the show again.   So y'all just need to memorize.  

The announcer welcomed us to "Caro Mio".  Does he not know how to pronounce the name of this place?   Or is he Italian and really loves it here?

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by a French horn duet from the Bluecoats.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Repertoire:  "Set in Motion" - Newton's Cradle by L. Einaudi, Free Running by R. Buckley, Movement by Hozier; Windsprints by R. L. Saucedo

They needed to inflate the big silver balls before the show for them to stay smooth and shiny, and their device is near the pit.  Nice, full sound throughout.  Big balls, small balls.  I like the pendulum part.  I thought those hanging small balls would do something, or they were speed bags for boxing, but they nope.  They all die at the end.  Or something.  I know this show isn't finished, but will they wake up and play again?

Prop Inflation

Nice Extension!

Shiny, inflated balls

Between shows, the niece and I tried to figure out the props that we saw on the side of the track.  At one point, I thought there were bicycles in a show, then Bro informed me that what I was looking at was tenor drums on their side.  Duh, Sher.  Like you've never seen that before.  This is what marching withdrawal does to me.

THE ACADEMY

Repertoire:  "In the Center of the Ring" -- Scene 1: The Greatest Show by B. Pasek & J. Paul; Scene 2: Millionaire by A.R. Rahman; Scene 3: Never Enough by B. Pasek & J. Paul; Scene 4: The Greatest Show on Earth: Ghost Love Score by T. Holopainen & M. Hietala

Ooh, "The Greatest Showman"!  Dodie is going to like this show.  She was very excited to share the music with me after she saw the movie.  Wait.  Your opener has a contra feature?  YEAH!!  I think they're going to build a circus tent over those poles.  The color guard has these props that are some rings stuck together.  Fun stuff with the tenors playing from behind a black cloth wall, as the color guard holds their drums.  The trumpets did their thing, too, but it wasn't as cool.  I wish the sound effects weren't so much, though.  Also for Golden Empire.  Bloo and BD folks were singing along to "Never Enough".  Pretty pink sparkly flags during this song.  The show isn't done yet.  Well, none of these shows will really be done until finals, but there was definitely a song missing.

That wall has arms!

That guy is upside down!

Who is in the center of that ring?

PACIFIC CREST

Repertoire:  "Irresistible" -- The Great Refusal  by C.M. Self; Moth by V. Cuong; Moonlight Sonata by L.van Beethoven; Goodnight Moon by E. Whitacre; Everything In Its Right Place by Radiohead; Heaven (Butterflies) by J. Collier

They have capes!  They also have some orange thing in the front of their blue uniform where a tie would go, which I didn't really like.  It turned out to be the fastener for the cape, which looked like wings when they did certain poses.  What is that flower bud-looking prop?  Is it going to open someday?  There are also big leaf props.  Very nice use of dynamics.  Aw, it's a lot like old school drum corps without the crazy synthesizer sounds.  They did have birds tweeting at the beginning, but it wasn't overbearing, and reminded me of the SCV show "Force of Nature".  The show isn't done yet, so I'm thinking the soloist will be playing from that leaf on which they're positioned.

That better open up someday.

Just hangin' out on my leaf.

BLUECOATS

Repertoire: "Gravity and Grace" -- Familiarity by Punch Brothers; The Wheel Has Come Full Circle by E. Galperine; Don't Look Down by C. Cerrone; fullmoon by R. Sakamoto; Ritual Being by P. Le Boeuf; God Only Knows by The Beach Boys; Inhale Exhale by A. Meredith; Hot Saturn by Sungazer; I've Seen All Good People by Yes

Ah, yes.  This show has the props we saw on the sidelines that I thought looked like salmon sushi.  The niece figured it was bacon.  It was neither.  At least I don't think so.  Bro thought something was air conditioners.  They were not.  So, what is this show, if it's not about food and appliances?!  

I like those drums!

I like the effects of their pants as they run across the field.  Mind you, the uniforms are a bit dizzying to me, but they're better than the last couple of years.  Bro got a bucket hat with that pattern sometime between shows.  He thought that he saw another bucket hat, too, but it turned out to be reversible, so two hats in one!  Nice!  

I like the pretty teal/white flags.  Oh, those are teeter totters, not food.  Oops, someone almost fell on his ramp.

Play Time

Cool effect of the spinning amplifier thing, but I could have done without the other sound enhancements.   Bass drum ensemble: YES!!

BLUE DEVILS

Repertoire: "Zei" -- Mishima by P. Glass; Turbine by J. Mackey; I Just Had to Hear Your Voice by A. Rich & J.J. Friedman; Nevesk by T. Reedy;  Assembly by D. Glyde; By Three They Come by R. Amon; Escape by H. Zimmer; Posterity by L. Goransson; Triumph of Time by P. Graham

Wings.  Bro asked me if I thought their wings would be the same size by Finals.  Nope.  They'll be bigger.  Very nice show.  I like the teal of their sleeves, and I really like the flash of teal that shows at the lower legs as they walk.  I also like the pink drums.

I really like the color scheme.

There was a kid in front of us, about 4 years old, conducting when BD was on the field.  He had a mini BD rifle, and I overheard his parents telling him that whomever he wanted to see would be busy with their corps duties, so they might not see them tonight.  Aw, I hope he got to see his older sibling or whomever it was.  He was so excited to be there!  

Future BD Drum Major

I feel like he's being sacrificed.
Oh, yeah, Icarus.

No scores because this was an exhibition show, but there were judges present to offer their critique to the corps.  I wish that it could have been like the show we went to in Oxnard (?) when each corps also performed their encores.  Alas, that was not to be this evening. 

We walked back to the car and there seemed to be a bottleneck of some sort in the parking lot.  Somebody didn't know that they needed to get close to the gate in order for it to open so they could drive out.  Good there was some student there to tell them to move forward.  

I thought Bluecoats performed the best show tonight, but my favorite show was probably Academy's show because I liked the singing from the people in the corps next to us.  :)

Next up:  Gold Showcase

Bowing for Biscuits

 SWCJ Trip 2025

Nara and Kyoto

Monday, April 14, 2025

I went to the free hotel breakfast buffet.  They didn't take my ticket but asked me how many seats I needed.  I was shown a few tables for 4 and I sat down at one.  The family was taking longer than I expected, so I put my ticket down on the table and walked to the buffet to take a look.  When I returned, someone not in my family was sitting down at my table.  I guess they didn't tell him the table was taken.  Or he didn't pay attention to my ticket.  He kindly moved to another before V arrived.  We took turns getting our food before Bro and Miss O finally arrived.  Breakfast was delicious!  I had some Japanese breakfast -- ride, fish with a yummy sauce and vegetables, and tamago (scrambled egg).  I also had American breakfast -- pancake, pastry, and hash brown, and smoked salmon.  I also had matcha tea, which was from a latte machine. 

Breakfast

Everything was oishi (delicious).  Well, except for the spice that I tried from a cute tin that had no label.  It was very spicy, which I didn't expect because it looked kinda like ground black pepper.

We weren't really planning anything until Brady, at his dorm room in San Diego, sent a message to Miss O about a park where we could feed deer.  V was in.  I was in.  The Millenium Falcos were in (I shall now refer to them as MFs, but don't take that the wrong way.  They are lovely people).  And thus we came up with a time to meet the MFs at the subway station.  We went back to our rooms to get our stuff and met in the lobby.  We took pictures beside the rickshaw (I felt like I was too big to get inside.  I'm self-conscious these days, especially when I'm with all of these skinny folks).

At Gojo Station, we waited for a while, I think because we thought their hotel was equidistant from ours to the station.  All was well, though, and we met up with them on the side with no elevator where I had started my harrowing journey up the steps with my luggage the day before.  

Just a cute sign holder

On the train, we could see a lot of the countryside, including the Sakura trees.  We were there a bit late in the season, but a least this day, the weather cooperated, and the flowers were not droopy, and they were beautiful.  As we stopped at different stations, we could see that the platforms all had vending machines with drinks, and I wished they had those at the metro stations back home.

We got off at Kintetsu Station, and I got my first gachapon of the trip.  I got a meerkat with a fishing pole!  I was hoping for a hippo, but I like meerkats, too, so I was happy.  

Me and my teeny tiny meerkat

I think this was a store that wasn't open yet

Once outside the station, it was a bit of an uphill trek to the park, and the deer were abundant!  There were several stands where they sold packs of biscuits to feed them, and the deer followed all of the people with biscuits.  V bought some and gave a couple to me to feed some deer.  They were so cute the way they bowed their heads to ask for biscuits!  Some of them were a little aggressive, and one butted V as she walked away because she was empty-handed, having given away her last one.  It was hilarious.

Bowing for Biscuits

We found vending machines, and on the side of the machine was an ad for iced green tea, featuring Shohei Ohtani.  Bro told me that there was corn soup in one of them, which Bestie Mich had told me about.   So I bought one and it was cold, which I saved for later.  I also wanted iced tea, so I got Shohei's brand to take a picture with him.

Posing with Shohei

We found the public restroom, which wasn't great but at least it had Western-style toilets, and they weren't terrible.  This was one of the places without towels or hand dryers, which was a perfect example of why most Japanese people carry small towels with them.  I knew of this custom and yet, there I was without a towel.  When I exited the restroom, I saw that Miss O and Miss A were on their way to buy django at a little stand.  They kindly shared with us, and it was tasty!  I t was grilled mochi on a stick with a little bit of char.  YUM.

On the way to the temple, we passed the museum.  Outside, there were sculptures of big hands, and I practically yelled at V to get her attention because she needed photos with them.  Turns out that they were full-sized replicas of Buddha's hands, which we would see later.

The right hand of the Grand Buddha is called a Semui-in.
This hand means "taking people's fear".
The left hand of the Grand Buddha is called a Yogan-in.
This hand means "granting people's wish".

We saw a creek and Miss O and Miss A were trying to get a perfect picture of a deer, but it kept showing its but to them instead of its face.  Rude.  But then when we got in line to enter the temple grounds, there were 3 of them looking at us, and I named them Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  

Corner outside ticket booth entry

It's a turtle dragon!  Maybe?

Huey, Dewey, and Louie

We paid for our tickets and entered the temple grounds of Todai-J. Daibutsen (Great Buddha Hall).  We needed to descend a few big stone steps to get to the grounds and walk around.

My ticket

Miss O's Signature Pose

I asked V to take a photo of me washing my hands with the sacred water.  You could also drink from it, but I refrained from doing so, although it looked quite refreshing and it was nice and cold.  

There were several steps to climb to get to the entrance of the hall.  A lot of people stopped outside the entrance, and I thought it was because they really wanted the incense to cover them.  But it was actually because it was the best place to get a full shot of the Great Buddha.  Buddha is HUGIGANT!  Like HUMONGOUS HUGIGANT!  It's almost 50 feet high and weighs 500 tons.  

Great Buddha

Great Buddha different view

There were some other statues there, as well as a model of the temple grounds.  V, Miss O, and I made personalized coins like the ones you used to be able to make at Disneyland, but more solid.

Buddha to the Great Buddha's right

Warrior Statue

Model of the temple grounds

Model of Great Buddha Temple

You can see Great Buddha inside!

Buddha to the Great Buddha's left

I saw that people were in line for something and went to the front of the line to see what was going on.  People were trying to thread their bodies through a hole in a pillar.  I looked for V because I needed help doing the coin thing, then showed her the line.  She just kept wondering why they were doing that. I kinda wanted her to try it because I knew she would fit, but I also forgot that she had shoulder issues, and that would have really messed her up, because people were contorting themselves to get through.  We later learned that the thole was the size of one of the nostrils of the Grand Buddha, and "Anyone who can pass through it will have a long and prosperous life and is guaranteed to find enlightenment."  (Thanks, Google!)

As we were leaving the temple, we took some stalker photos of the rest of the group before meeting up with them for actual group photos.  Miss O and I lagged behind to get a couple of trinkets from the souvenir stand.  I found a way to get around the whole stone step thing back to the main pathway, and then bought a couple more little things.  I just couldn't get over the cute deer and their biscuits!  

We were hungry and some of us had spied a crepe place down the road, so we made our way there.  Well, this place was absolutely charming!  Some of us ordered tea, for which each of us received a big tray with a pot, cup, strainer, cream, and a time so we knew when it was done steeping.  The crepes were delicious, as well as the tea, and I loved the cute heart-shaped cups.  

We then had nice full bellies and therefore enough energy to go to the shopping center near the train station.  We bought some cute stuff like a wood-carved hippo.  We saw a vending machine with macarons!  I refrained from getting them, but I was very tempted.  We saw a photo place where you could rent kimonos like this deer.

How did they get the kimono on the deer?

Mmmm....macarons

Kawaii Nara Deer

V needed to take photos with giant beer taps, which just started today at the train station.  Mom MF and Miss A shopped for Kit Kats.  I got a cute drawstring bag that was Nara-themed out of a gachapon machine and was really excited that it was the design I wanted.  

We walked back to the train station to get back to our respective hotels to rest a little and freshen up.  Then we met up with the MFs in the same building as the Pokémon Center to get dinner at a bar.  I tried to order in Japanese, but I either mispronounced or said the wrong word, so the server needed to clarify.  there was some unlabeled seasoning that I was too scared to try because of what happened in the morning.  

My order was chicken on a stick with some mild dipping sauce, and it was tasty.  We marveled at the very realistic-looking food in the display case before heading upstairs to the Pokémon Center.

Pikachu with Parasol

Top of Pikachu's Parasol

I'm not a Pokémon collector, but I had recently seen one that I liked.  So I asked Miss O to help me find Rapidash, which is a unicorn with pretty colors in its mane, and is an evolution of Ponyta.  Have I confused you, or do you speak Pokémon?  V and I got cute Pokémon Center pressed pennies of Pikachu, too.  

We had walked in a little bit of rain before dinner, and it had mostly dissipated by the time we walked back.  I watched a Japanese game show where in the celebrities (I think) tried to list stuff in the category they were given, kind of like $100K Pyramid back home.  Then I watched other TV until I fell asleep.  

Next up:  KYOTO