Apr, 17:

-With the band festival season over with, I thought I would do a spring update on the website! This project took an entire weekend and I hope you will enjoy the new pictures and music from the Poway Festival. Luckily, I was able to obtain all of Poway's performance recordings from the directors to share with you. All of the credit should go to our wonderful band teacher, Mr. Fitch, who recorded everything. -After I had finished with the music, I decided to turn my pictures from the past two months into one big photo album! During the season, I was able to see every band and the orchestra perform, so there are tons of people on this page. Finally, I would like to thank Roblen G. for taking the pictures of Wind Ensemble. -That's all for now but I may do one more update in a few weeks regarding Percussion Ensemble. In fact, we have a competition this weekend! Anyway, thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to have a relaxing and/or fun-filled vacation!

Feb, 25:

Surprise update! I just added a link above to a new video of our perforamance at Arcadia that I found. This video was on the official DVD that the Arcadia Music Boosters released. Unlike last year, this recording switches between different camera angles. EDIT: Sorry, some text deleted for your own good. And if you are reading this, thanks for checking back! No promises, but I will try to update with stuff from the concert season and percussion ensemble if I can! Thanks for your loyalty and tolerance of my randomness!

December

Sun, 31:	-In life, all things have a beginning and an end. Change is what makes time travel possible...I mean, allows life itself to exist! With the end of the year just hours away, I must let change take its course and discontinue the website until next year's marching season. I really hope my efforts have come to mean something, because I did it all for the band (for the better or worse!). In fact, I've already started making plans for next year: New Year's Resolutions Start the website as soon as school gets out for the summer. Start publisizing website much sooner. Make hundreds of flyers. Create band humor page. Write band lingo dictionary. Design layouts with CSS and Javascript. Learn more about photography. Join Winterline. Learn to play the flute, trombone, and re-learn trumpet. Buy more band shirts. Note more styles of articulations. Learn to tune by ear. Crack fewer reeds. Write about the philosophy of music. Listen to the classics. Enlist volunteers for the website. Create a hierarchy of jobs. Make more friends. Get a psychiatrist. Become a section leader. Just to name a few. This is all just silly stuff, but I really want to improve upon the website's quality instead of its quantity. Here are this year's totals: over 1000 pictures, 20 sound clips, over 6000 words on the Log, 18 photo albums, and a grand total of 29 pages. My plans do not include making things bigger, but rather better. In that mindset, I really have my work cut out for me. Thanks for all of your support online and out on the field. I owe it all to my friends, the true rewards of being in the band. You friend, Joshua Hoh See you next year!
Sat, 30:	-As 2006 quickly comes to an end, so must this website. As you can see, I have put up the new MM album with the last and final surprise album planned for Sunday the 31st. It is a great way to wrap up the year. Please check back tomorrow for more surprises on New Year's Eve!
Mon, 25:	-It's 5 AM. I stayed up the entire night to finish my gifts to you. Please enjoy while I sleep for the rest of the day...Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Sun, 24:	-So how, you ask (or not), did I spend my Christmas Eve? At the Poway WalMart wrapping gifts for those really late present buyers. As some of you know, the Emerald Brigade organizes a gift-wrapping fundraiser on a few weekends in December. The shifts run from 10 AM to 6 PM. I stayed for the afternoon and you would not believe how hot it was! The sun was blazing it's merciless rays down at us quickly fried my energy, and on Christmas Eve! Besides that, it was nice to see some friends after a week. As a bonus, I got to wear my EB travel shirt for the day. That's all there is to say. See you all after break!
Thur, 21:	-Thank you for all of your patience this past week! The Arcadia album is huge and it took me several days just to create the pages! Plus, expect Winter Concert pictures later this weekend!
Tue, 5:	-The Emerald Brigade played one more time for the Prep Pigskin Report televeision show!
Mon, 4:	-The Emerald Brigade plays at Qualcomm Stadium! Check out the photo album for some goodies from the event!
Sun, 3:	-The following events will be on telvision in the next few days: -Monday: CIF Football Championship Poway vs. Carlsbad: Station-San Diego (Ch. 4 on COX), Time-8 to 10:30 PM (may go overtime) -Tuesday: Prep Pigskin Report: Station-KUSI (Ch. 9 on COX, Time-9 to 10 PM
Fri, 1:	Attention! Recall! ----->Our 2006 band season is not over! I repeat, it's not over! Just a day after I posted the previous announcement that stated that marching season was over, I was proven wrong and have to take back my word. Just see what things are in store for the Emerald Brigade this coming week: ----->The biggest news piece is this: The Poway football team beat La Costa Canyon 7 to 3 in the semifinals game on November 30th, Thursday afternoon. Why is this so important? I'll tell you why! Because now the Emerald Brigade will perform at Qualcomm stadium this coming Monday night (Dec. 4) for the football championship game! The game is scheduled to begin at 8 PM so be there or have your television tuned into to see us (and the football team)! ----->It is very exiting to be going to such a big game with such a big audience, but unfortunately Mr. Cook and Mr. Sybilski have already announced that we will not be doing our halftime show there. Instead, a reduced number of band students will play pep band music in the stands during the game, however, not dressed in uniform. Only the pep-band students are being asked to attend, but everyone in the band is invited to come. For myself as well as others, the news of not performing our field show at Qualcomm was dissapointing, if not very disheartening. It felt like ordering really good food at a drive-thru, but then realizing that they got your order wrong once you get home. It sort of felt like that... ----->So besides that, we have something even more exiting happening on Tuesday, December 5th! This year, the Emerald Brigade was invited to play at a television show with the football highlights from this season! We will be playing pep band music going in and out of commercials for the show on television in full uniform! I will try to find out more about when the program will be on TV. It will be tons of fun! ----->As far as updates go, I did some log updates for past dates throughout November so scan that section for new stuff if you feel like it. Plus, I will be posting Vista Tournament pictures tomorrow show check back. On a closing note, I really am happy that we will be doing so much stuff next week. Not to even mention the orchestra concert that starts at 7 PM on Wed. Dec 6th! If you can convince your parents to let you go to all three nights, you are one very lucky bando! Mas mañana!

November

Sun, 26:	-Well, the 2006 Marching season is over! It is safe to empty the astroturf out of your shoes now! (Unless leaving it in makes you feel at home!) Anyway, I'm sorry that it has taken over an entire week to update! I was away during Thanksgiving break and was weighted down with homework pains. For you patience, there is a new photo album waiting for you, Page 2 of our homegames! Check it out! -So now you're probably thinking to yourself, "marching band is finished and now I don't have to check Josh's silly band website..." Well, you are wrong! First off, I still have rehearsal, Vista, Arcadia, and Magic Mountain pictures to add to the website! I plan to stretch those photo albums out to the new year! Plus, you might see new stuff here during concert season in the spring so keep checking back! Thanks for all of the support and I will see you soon!
Sat-Sun, 18-19:	-Before: The 53rd Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands. Its big. It is the most important tournament of the year for bands across Southern California. 44 bands will be competing tomorrow for the heart-racing recognition as being the best. I know what it feels like. Last year we took the sweepstakes for the field show in overall, general effect, and music! Words cannot describe those emotions, only the experience can. We have so much potential to take it all tomorrow. I felt that our show run-throughs this week were very consistent and continue to get even more exiting in every run. Parade band is going very too. At tonight's rehearsal, we nailed almost all of our parade music on the first tries! In the words of Mr. Cook, "only things that happen in rehearsal can happen on the field." Or something like that! So here's what I am trying to say folks. We're going to have so much fun this weekend and I hope to make my friendships even stronger. If you are reading this, please say hello to me this weekend so that I can get to know you better! Finally, I encourage you to take time to savor these moments. You will NEVER get them back. Photography is more than just a cheap hobby for me. I hope I have made that clear through my efforts. Here's what it boils down to. All of the hours, sweat, stress at times, dirty laundry, and labor for a single performance that could alter bando life itself. How much do you want it? We can take it all, as a team! Queen "Will Rock You." The Emerald Brigade has "Already Rocked You." Oh, and by the way, don't you dare...forget to have fun! Watch out Magic Mountain, its time for the bando takeover! See you there! Your Friend, Joshua -After: Poway's big weekend of fun. Go to the Arcadia Tournament album and then to the Magic Mountain album for all of the details!
Fri, 17:	-We had our last marching rehearsal of the season that night. It was much more serious than the previous Thursday night rehearsal in order to get ready for the Arcadia Tournament. Parade started at 5:15 as usual and we had a great rehearsal. We were nailing sections of the parade march on our first tries leaving Mr. Cook with few things correct! -Later during the field practice, the directors put the final touches on the show, including a whole new introduction before the show! Our new routine went like this: we would marching onto the field as usual; then at the "Poway, you have one minute" announcement, the drumline begin to play "boom-boom-chick-rest boom-boom-chick-rest" (From ROCK YOU). After that, we will go right into the show with Rachelle conducting the downbeat based on the drumline's tempo. All I had to say was this: "OH MY GOSH! THIS IS SO FREAKIN' AWESOME!" It really was an awesome addition to the show.
Thur, 16:	-Go to the Senior Night Rehearsal page for everything you'd ever need to know about that evening!
Sat, 11:	-Before: So today is the legendary Vista Tournament, our third competition this year. The reason why this one is so important is because of the Emerald Brigade's win there in 2004. Two years ago, Poway took the Vista Sweepstakes which had been breakthrough from the previous years. I am sure that many of our Juniors and Seniors are sentimental about today because it brings back old memories. That is why we need to win this one. It's a RACE to the finish! No matter tonight's outcome will be though, we are sure to have a blast and ROCK the house like we always do! "Anyone can see, that's all that really matters...to me." But leaving as CHAMPIONS would be nice too so that's exactly what we're going to do tonight! See you there!-macgyversfriend -After: Go to the Vista Tournament album!
Fri, 10:	-Today we had no classes so that meant a full marching band rehearsal! As usual, it went from 9 AM to 3 PM with a lunch break from 11:30 to 12:30. Sad to say, but I am writing this at a much later date so I can't remember any specifics except that it was the middle of a very tiring weekend. With a football game the previous night and Vista Tournament the next day, it was another long but fun weekend for the band students.
Thur, 9:	-Last home game against Rancho Bernardo. Poway loses. Run-through sloppy. Pep-band blasting. Not the best night. Enough said.
Mon, 6:	-It's a bright early Monday morning when most students get to sleep in until 9 AM. But not us! Parade band practice starts at 7:30 AM with Mr. Reed (and his Monster energy drink) and regular band begins at 8:45 AM on Mondays. It might have seemed like a nice way to start off the week but all we could think about was the blistering rays of the sun pouring into our skin and sucking out all of the energy. It was in the 90s that morning, turning the 55 minute rehearsal into something that felt like hours. Ninety-degree weather in November? Only in southern California...
Sat, 4:	-The first ever MBOS Tournament at Mission High School! Please visit the photo album for lots of stuff from the event!
Fri, 3:	-This Friday's football game vs. Mt. Carmel was an important game due to the fact that the team that won would get to keep the Kiwanis Cup for the year. Poway was lost 38 to 35. More importantly, Friday was another dress rehearsal for our tournament the next day. This was my personal opinion. It's plain and simple: we were just not focused that night. Our entrance into the stadium playing the fight song was sloppy and the entire band seemed to be talking even minutes before showtime. The effect of all of these distractions became apparent in our field show performance. I don't know for sure, but the music and drill felt too loose and were not locked in perfectly. However, that would all change within the following 24 hours... On the other hand, the crowd seemed a little more attentive during Bohemian Rhapsody! Some were even singing along with the music, which felt both flattering and direspectful at the same time. Yes, at least the teenage spectators was paying some kind of attention, but at the same time showing-off *cough* flirting *cough* with their friends instead of listening. What do think?
Thur, 2:	-So the past few days have all been based upon the outcome of Saturday's tournament. In our individual band classes, the directors showed us videos of both the field show and parade band. There was also an audio recording of our field show that I got my hands on that I have put up on the sounds page! I got a litle carried away and ended up doing an entire analysis about the recording (on the sounds page). It all boiled down to balance and timing problems which lead to the lack of clarity of certain parts. We also had Monday off from school which left us a little more refreshed for band this week.
Wed, 1:	-October news email sent out, right before midnignt! Today's school rehearsal was focused on the music. The directors pushed us to create bigger crescendos at our impact points. Reed also cleaned a trumpet follow-the-leader and various horn movements.

October

Sat, 28:	-Before: So the 30th Annual Mt. Carmel Tournament is today. It's hard for me to believe that this will only be our first tournament! It will consist of both parade band and field show judging which means it will be an all day event. Poway's parade goes on at 2:15 PM while the field performance will be at 7:15 PM. It will be a really great super fun day but the apprehension remains: Can we take the Sweepstakes? Are we good enough? I believe so... -So as usual, I will be taking as many pictures as I can! I always feel torn between performing and taking pictures. I just can't be in two places at once! No parade band pictures either because I'm in the parade this year. Maybe I can trick, I mean, convince Keenan to take some! Check back for new pictures and logs later in the week. Good Luck Emerald Brigade!!! -After: Please visit the Mt. Carmel Tournament page for full coverage of the event!
Fri, 27:	-This week was jam packed in preparation for the Mt. Carmel tournament! Parade band students practiced everyday including extra practice after school on Wednesday. Plus, we all did full run-throughs of the show everyday! Everyone worked hard, but maybe just a little more this week to win the elusive "Section of the Week." This grants the chosen section the front of the line for uniforms and food! We all recieved a great surprise this morning when the section who won was none other that the Pit! They won without even having to run back to sets or to stay still at attention! Still, they do have a lot of extra work including extra Tuesday night rehearsals and transporting all of their instruments and equipment. Go Pit!
Sat, 21:	-Practice was cancelled because so many students had to take the PSAT including me. On the downside, the test was long and monotonous. However, I think it was beneficial for the band to have one day off!
Thur, 19:	-Sorry for not updating for a week! It was an extra tough week for me so thanks for your patience. On that note, I thought that the band had a rather tough week as well. The show seems to be dragging in the excitement category, so the directors are adding tons of dance movements throughout the show to spruce things up. Although the lunges and pleays might liven us up visually, musically it may weaken us. I find that thinking about so many extra things distracts me and the people around me from focusing on musical style, which is by far more important. Overall, I found it to be a long and tough, or as Mr. Cook would say, "lethargic" week. Mt. Carmel is only a week away! We've got to get moving!
Sat, 14:	-The Poway Invitation Field Tournament of Champions! Check out the photo album for more info.
Fri, 13:	-Friday the 13th. October. Prime Number. All premonitions of bad luck. Well, whatever we were afraid of was wrong because we performed beautifully at our highest level so far this year. It was the Homecoming football game (Vs. Torrey Pines) that night so we performed before the game started. Halftime was to be saved for the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen. -Here's the catch: During both our performance and during the Homecoming ceremony at halftime, the rain poured out the sky as if it had been stored up in a balloon that had finally exploded. There has been no rain all summer long and mother nature decided to finally let us have it on this special night. I don't know what the rain did to us that night, but it must have given everyone that extra boost of exhilaration needed to have performed so well. Our uniforms were soaked completely to the bone even before entering the field. I was really exited however because this would be our first full performance of the year! Somehow the rain was comforting rather than a being a nuisance. The chilling winds felt like they were breathing away tensions. The downside of the rain was that it probably had a negative affect on us musically. It is hard to remember correctly but I'm sure we had some intonation problems amongst deficiencies in style and dynamic variance. -Overall, the end product of it all was amazing. The crowd was even more focused than usual. Our directors later commented that they enjoyed our performance, and that's saying something! Afterward the show, we rushed back to the band room to undress. We did not go to sit in the stands for the sake of our uniforms and instruments. Only brass players in Pep band were allowed to return to the stadium if they wished to play. Anyway, the people that were hit the hardest by the rain were the Pit section. Almost all of their instruments are wooden and soaked up the water like sponges. They were immediately taken inside, disassembled, and dried off You gotta love the dedication of the Pit members!
Thur, 12:	-Parade practice went very well. The focus was on the musical half of parade band. The only sad thing was that many people, including euphoniums, clarinets, and flutes (?) were told not to play for a soft section of the march called the "trio." It's a tough break to be taken off something that you've worked on for awhile, but these changes were better for the band as a whole. (Paraders remember: Don't rush quarters in Intro; the 1st strain is not our greatest dynamic, Don't rush consecutive accented half notes in 2nd strain.) -Later in the main field show practice, we broke down the entire show starting from the beginning and, well, ending at the end! Everyone had to be a little more disciplined as there was the distraction of the students building floats for Homecoming at the front of the stadium. Even though everyone knew it would happen sooner or later, we finally performed a full run-through of the show. Besides for some timing issues in the beginning, the whole thing went pretty well considering that we had learned over 30 pages of drill in the last two weeks! And did I mention Homecoing? At the end of the evening, the band Homecoming court was announced! They were all given sashes to wear around their shoulders as proof of their, uh, "achievements." Congratulations to all of them for, well, just being popular!
Wed, 11:	-So again, we were racing to perfect the show this morning. We did several runs of the new drill with music and it is somewhat easy compared to the rest of the show. I also found our ending drill to be boring. Our ending set is not what I'd call impressive either because we're in a basic rectangle design. Not to get anyone down or anything, I just think we can do better. Also it was my birthday today, so it wasn't all too bad!
Tue, 10:	-It's official! We've finished learning this year's field show! After reviewing the stuff we learned yesterday, we found and marched our last two sets, #88 and #89. I am a little sad that we won't get any more drill for a whole year. As far as the morning practice, it was pretty funny when our instructor, Mr. Sybilski taught us the wrong music for a particular spot in the fourth movement. Hopefully everyone was able recover from having learned the music the first time.
Mon, 9:	-The Poway Tournaments is only five days away and our goal is to finish our entire show by Saturday. Just this morning we received our drill pages #81-89 to finish off the show. With Mr. Reed, we learned pages 81-87 and will learn the last 2 sets tomorrow morning. I am sad that we won't be getting any more new drill, but even more disappointed that we end on a prime number. Why can't we just have 1 or 11 more sets! Is that too much to ask!?! *sob, sob* Also, Paraders have to arrive to school at 7:30 on Mondays, a full 90 minutes earlier than when school starts! This morning we only worked on rank practice and marching techniques.
Sat, 7:	-Practice started at 9:00 AM this morning, but those in parade band had to get there a whole hour earlier at 8:00. In parade rehearsal, we worked on the Roll-off, Introduction, 1st and 2nd Strains. More info on this topic coming soon. The biggest changes made that evening were in the ranks. I am really exited and this is why: All of the clarinets were moved up to the front of the parade block! This was done because the clarinet parts are so vital in our march this year. The clarinets now take up the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rows of the block. Again, I am really exited about this switch. (Notes for Paraders: Don't rush quarter notes in Intro; Bring out eighths and accents in 1st strain; Shorten notes in measures 2, 6, and 10 in 2nd strain.) -Once we got into the main morning session we received drill sets #67-80 which took us all the way through the 12/8 section in the music. It was a major chunk to learn and considering how much drill we had learned in the last week didn't make things any easier. Overall, I felt that everyone was restless that morning. Every repetition felt so painful and many people continued to not listen to instructions. In the evening block, we put all of the new drill together with the music. Then we broke down our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd movements down and practiced them in chunks. Finally, the highlight of the evening was our first almost full run-through. We performed the entire show, standing and playing the end which we didn't have drill for. It was a pretty tough and tiring day, but very much necessary. -The most difficult sets were #67-68, expending over 90 minutes working on them in the morning. These are by far our most challenging drill sets in the show as a whole. In the move there are several lines that move back-left directly diagonal (which I call a 1:1 angle, or a step that moves back and across exactly one step). At the same time, the very back line is moving forward-left also at a 1:1 step. As the back line passes through other lines, both lines form one line temporarily. From there, every 4 counts, the line at the very back changes direction from back-left to forward-left to make a 90 degree direction change. The midsets, or dots in between dots that we have made things even trickier. It is one of our coolest, but also the most accident-prone move in the show..so far.
Thur, 5:	-The practice kicked off with something new: our first Parade Band rehearsal! Parade Band is a smaller group picked to participate in another aspect of our judging at tournaments. I have plans for a new page that will explain more on this topic. Anyway, the practice started at 5:15 PM and we were able to spend time on the entire parade march that evening. We did this because Mr. Cook had wanted to give us an overview of what the season would bring. -Having learned new drill on Wednesday, we spent the rest of the evening putting it together with music. We have a pretty routine method of doing this. First, the battery and pit (the percussion section) play their parts while the band marches a specific move in the show. Next we play the corresponding music with the battery and pit, but without marching. Finally, we put both the music "on the move" by playing and marching the section at the same time. We do a few repetitions of each section that we practice and eventually put all the pieces back together. At the end if the night, we did a full run-through of all of the new material we had worked on.
Wed, 4:	-October has arrived to push us even faster in the race to finish our show. When the Pit section wasn't rushing to get out the door and down to the field, I knew it could mean only one thing: Drill Day! Yes, today we received drill sets #55-66 to take a giant chunk out of our fourth movement. In the music, it takes us right up to a couple measures before the 12/8 section. We learned all 12 pages in less than 90 minutes which contained some pretty cool designs. I heard that some of the brass players also have a new "bone crusher," but I have no idea what it looks like or its scale of difficulty. It all leads up to my final conclusion that: we are all going to fall over, dead, after each performance due to overwhelming exhaustion and ear-shattering applause that breaks marching band volume levels! That is all...

September

Sat, 30:	-We had even more fun today because we received drill pages #47-54 to finish the third movement! And I'm sure everyone was just brimming with energy after three consecutive days of practices. The rehearsal consisted of the same hours as last Saturday. -Anyway, I was gone for the morning rehearsal block...because I was taking a four-hour exam including English, math, and some tough science! I arrived back at the Poway campus around 12:30 and then frantically attempted to learn my new drill. I believe that the heat caused people to have short tempers which made things even more difficult. -So again, I do not like our ending set for our third movement because the entire band is in one perfectly straight line across the 100 yards of the field. I honestly think that it is highly unoriginal, especially because it will be the set that we stand in while the audience applauds (hopefully). Not to mention the fact that everyone is only one step apart from each other, which is not good for claustrophobic people...
Fri, 29:	-Since we had Wednesday off, our morning was turned into period 1, or marching band. For most of the class, we practiced the music for Bohemian Rhapsody. Since we had had a music test on Bohemian earlier that week, everything went smoothly and Mr. Sybilski later commented that we played well that morning. It was fun watching the regular PE students running by and seeing their reactions to our music.
Thur, 28:	-Nothing special. I was too tired to notice. That evening it was announced that we will be having our own band Homecoming court. I don't believe in Homecoming because it is a popularity contest. It's just another opportunity for students to feel bad about themselves. Plus I think the band students should spend time playing music instead of wasting their time playing favorites. Just because it's tradition doesn't make it right... (You can now see that I am the most optimistic person in the world.)
Wed, 27:	-We have the day off from school! Well, if only academics. Today Mr. Reed took over our rehearsal from 9 AM to 12 PM which meant we were completely focused on our visual progress. In the morning, we learned a new exercise called flip-flop. It works on sliding, hip-switching, and smooth upper-bodies which is what makes it such a good exercise. Later, Mr. Reed experimented with some new horn visuals and worked mostly with the brass and trombones individually. Section leaders also worked on basics with their sections. Finally, we broke down parts of the entire show to "clean" the drill even more. Mr. Reed ended by telling us that we were reaching higher performance levels, but that we shouldn’t let our heads get to big either. We've still got a long way to go...
Sat, 23:	-Another Saturday, another rehearsal, and today was an excruciatingly long one for most of us! The rehearsal this morning went from 9-11:30 AM and then started back up again from 12:20-300 PM this afternoon. From the majority I spoke with after, we were all pretty worn thin, but not without good reason. Today we received drill pages #37-46 for the 3rd movement, or the ballad section of Bohemian Rhapsody. At the end of the day we had learned, marched, and played all of our new material, as well as had time to do a full run through of everything! Wow, I'm tired just writing this! Anyway, things went pretty smoothly and the rehearsal was very well spent. Good job to Katrina as well for sticking it out with all of that solo playing too! (Our trombone soloist) -Now for a little insight from me. Personally, I was not too impressed with our new drill sets as a whole. While I was examining the field, it seemed like all we did was move lines back and forth across the field. Not to mention the fact that I was next to the same two people for all of the new drill. Today there were some people who were given the exact same dot as other people which is a hassle to fix. Finally, I don't like the idea of our "big hit" set just being one perfectly straight line (ignoring the flute/sax block in the front). This is supposed to be the impact point of our show and a straight line really doesn't impress in my opinion. Also, the CG (color guard) are going to be awfully cramped and lonely in the back all by themselves! Anyway, sorry for all the flaming! We really did have a productive day and I should just be content with that much...Well, thanks to all of you who actually read today's entry. I just had too much on my mind! -Oh! And one more thing! The list of people who got into parade band was posted today so congratulations to all of them! For all of you who didn't make it, just start practicing for next year and thanks for being good sports!
Thur, 21:	-Our second home football game performance! (vs. El Camino) It was also middle-schooler night; you'll find them as well as more details in the Photo Album!
Sat, 16:	-The annual Poway Days Heritage Parade! As always, we marched in playing our fight song! See the Photo Album for more event details... -After the parade, we also had a rehearsal from 12 to 3 PM. It was hard work but we received and learned drill pages #27-36 to finish off bicycle race. Despite the extreme heat, we did our best. I was disappointed that I wasn't marching my new sets absolutely perfect, but I guess I'm not the best marcher...Still, we made tons of marching progress.
Thur, 14:	-Hooray for rehearsal! We didn't get any new drill like many had hoped, but we worked out the bicycle bell and vocal parts of Bicycle Race. The two color guard members also had their first bicycle race across our field! Overall, we made plenty of progress and it was a fun evening.
Tue, 12:	-Back to School Niiiggghhht...Ok, so not very exiting but the Pep Band did get to play for the parents at the beginning. At around 6:00 PM we played, "The Hey Song," then "Land of 1000 Dances," and as always, the Fight Song. I thought our performance that evening was at the very best mediocre. A third of the Pep Band didn't show up and we didn't have enough time to warm up. (Both band rooms had been used for the Senior parents.) Not to mention the horrible intonation problems and horn blasting. On the good side, I did get some pictures that I might put up soon...
Sat, 9:	-Marching Band Picture Day. The full band photo was taken at 9:30. See the Photo Album for more event details...
Fri, 8:	-Before: Our first performance will be at the football game vs. Mission Hills. -After: Well, the football game went well with Poway being victorious 12 to 0. As always, we marched into the stadium playing our well-known fight song. Once in the stands, we had many opportunities to play it again. For our field show, we performed everything that we know up to that point, which included the first second movement up the fermata in Bicycle. Afterward, the pep band played a lot as well. To be honest though, I was completely bored out of my mind. I had no inspiration to take pictures, so I don't have any. Sorry! -Our field show was great, but did not go without it's flaws. At the beginning, we were a little thrown off when the drumline came in a measure late. The real problem was that a power cord had been forgotten for our performance. This meant that there could be no amplification for the tenor sax solo, the pit, and other electrical equipment. These were just minor mistakes however. As far as I could tell, we did a good job and received average crowd response. I cannot give a good evaluation of how we did musically though.
Fri, 1:	-Clarinet Marcher of the Week announced to start next week. Also, the clarinets have been assigned to help the out the Pit Section this year!

August

Thur, 31:	-First Thursday night rehearsal; it went by quickly but it was still very tiring. It was also announced that Katrina L. won the shirt drawing contest for the Poway tournament on October. Congratulations to her!
Tue, 29:	-Recieved drill pages #19-26 for half of "Bicycle Race"
Thur, 24:	-First Day of school; The EB played at the school assembly in the stadium. The turnout? Let's put it this way: the cheerleaders did more cheering (the monotonous and boring "Let's get fired up" cheer) than the 3,000 students in the stands. Along with the intense heat, it wasn't the most enjoyable performance...
Tue: 22:	-Last day of Band Camp; As always, we had a mini-concert for the parents in the evening. Having learned so much, we marched our first movement without music. Then we played all of our music standing in warm-up arcs including the field show music, the Directorate, and the fight song. In between there were also introductions for the directors and student leadership. It was nice to see the alumni from last year who came too.
Mon, 21:	-Recieved drill pages #1-18 for "We Will Rock You;" we learned 16 pages in one day!
Fri, 18:	-"Twin Day", (I dressed up for the spirit day with Emily M!) I had the opportunity to meet the band cameraman. He came that day to get some footage for the band video at the end of the year. If you ever see him, thank him for his work!
Thur, 17:	-Recieved music for "Bicycle Race"; "Tacky Day"
Wed, 16:	-"Super Hero Day"
Tue, 15:	-"Hawaiian Day"
Mon, 14:	-Band Camp starts; In my personal opinion, it felt as though we were put through a lot on our first few days of band camp. A new exercise routine was added to our usual warm-up which included rigorous stretches, running, and drilling. I was also disappointed that we received such harsh instructions from some of new marching coaches. By the end of the day, I was stressed out, tired, and especially angry due to our almost military-like practice that day! I hope that Mr. Reed will take over soon...

July

Tues, 4:	-The EB marches in the July 4th parade!
Mon-Fri 10-14:	-Percussion camp! our dedicated percussionists spent a week of summer practicing from 6 to 9 PM each night. Go Pit and Drumline!
Sun-Mon 2-3:	-Two-hour band rehearsals took place each day for the July-4th parade.

June

Wed, 21:

-Graduation Day for the Class of 2006! Congratulations to all of them. We will miss you! On a side note, the band played "Pomp and Circumstance" and "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the ceremony. Pomp and Circumstance had three different endings which allowed the song to be repeated for a good 10 minutes while the emerald green gowns filed in. It was very tiring! I had a great time seeing some of the greatest band Seniors for the last time... *sob sob*

May

Mon-Thur 22-25:

-Pre-season rehearsals were held even way back in May. If I remember correctly, they went from 4 to 7 PM, however they usually ended an hour or more early. It was here that we received our music for "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody"! Not many incoming freshmen showed up however...thanks to those who did!

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