say what you will

heading north

2009-06-16T19:12:00.002-05:00

i leave tomorrow for my annual summer trip to OH. this trip will be longer than usual, almost 5 weeks. looking forward to temperatures less than 100 degrees.

like woody guthrie sang

2009-05-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

so long good been to know you

now that i've told the proletariat and the administration i can post that i am going back to school full time next year at UTSA. i have accepted a position as a graduate assistant to work with the concert bands, basketball pep bands and to develop the marching band which will debut in 2010 along with the football program. my excitement is balanced by a little uncertainty regarding the graduate student lifestyle: little income and a pile of debt (chuck i'm sure you are playing the worlds smallest fiddle for me). its been a good run here but without a doubt it is time to move to civilization.

swine flu

2009-04-29T22:56:00.001-05:00

chill out people

american idol pisses me off

2009-04-14T22:48:00.003-05:00

for the second week, i have missed the last few minutes of fringe because the bitch asses at american idol can't end their show on time. isn't that someone's job? attention fox: there are actually people in america who don't give the smallest roach shit for american idol. piss off.

ive been hiking and birding a lot. TX is a great state. you all (y'all) should come here sometime.

VICTORY!!!

2009-02-01T21:37:00.000-06:00

Steelers win record sixth Super Bowl - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

two great ones

2009-01-24T17:23:00.000-06:00

Positively Pennsylvania Avenue: Hendrik Hertzberg: Online Only: The New Yorker

Late Show - Farewell to W

2009-01-21T22:34:00.001-06:00

dont' let the door hit ya...

quote of the day

2009-01-09T18:23:00.002-06:00

i get a lot of emails at work. many of them of quotes in the signature. because of where i live most of them refer to jesus or right wing politics. this one takes the cake.

"hippies and cowards ask why. hero's and leaders ask what and how."

give me a fucking break...

good stuff

2009-01-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

Bushisms over the years - Yahoo! News

as my uncle said to me a few weeks ago: "a village in your state is getting its idiot back".

october 27th!!!

2008-12-03T19:50:00.003-06:00

wow i am a lazy ass. a few good times have been had since then but nothing of any unusual significance.

the band placed 19th at state which wasn't exactly the plan but i'm sure the other 180 schools that weren't there don't want to hear me bitch. i did however recieve a wonderful collection of yard signs in the week leading up to the event.

i traveled to indy for BOA nationals in november. it was a good time but not the best finals show i have seen in my 16 years of attendance (i should note that very few TX bands made the trip this year). i regret not taking any photos of lucas oil staduim as it is quite spectacular.

i spent my thanksgiving break in austin and houston. last saturday i went the final weekend of the TX rennaisance festival. i thought that were but a handful of those kids in high school who dressed funny and talked in fake brit accents but apperently there are tens of thousands of them. i was a great time though and i would surly go agian.

moving along

2008-10-27T21:28:00.002-05:00

it's been an exciting few weeks. on saturday the band advanced to the state contest. this is the second time in the schools history that they have done so. it is really bad ass that we made it but now we have to deliver the goods or look like morons. not much else going on. i managed to not throw anything through the tv yesterday when the steelers collapsed like a house of cards against the giants. i've been working on anger issues lately...

troy polamalu

2008-10-16T22:13:00.000-05:00

ESPN - Polamalu says NFL's fines for hits more about money, not player safety - NFL

you haven't lived

2008-10-15T20:34:00.003-05:00

until you have experienced a presidential election season in small texas town. i think that i could spontaneously combust if i hear one more declaration of "obama's gonna take our guns away!" from a twelve year old. i saw a bumper sticker today that said something like "democratic votes cause $4 gasoline". the irony to anyone with either all their teeth or an IQ higher than 12 is that this sticker was on a big ass dodge ram. shouldn't i be watching the debate right now? yeah probably.

Damn

2008-09-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies at age 65 - Yahoo! News

tis the season

2008-09-10T21:16:00.003-05:00

for octoberfest!!! this is my first sam adams octoberfest of the season. it is tasty but still young. of course all varieties of this delicious seasonal brew are not quite as good without the season itself. that is one of about three drawbacks of living in texas. the pros still outweigh the cons.

RNC

2008-09-03T20:48:00.003-05:00

i tried to be open minded tonight and watch a little of the red-staters big event. not to far into my viewing mike huckabee convinced me that my americanismfacation (see, i can make up words too) may be in question for a few of the following reasons.

i don't own any toby keith albums
my dad was an accountant, not a laborer*
i didn't bath in lava soap as a youth. we had lava soap but i didn't wash my balls with it.

he then proceeded to tell a story about some teacher who didn't give her students desks on the first day of class until they declared what tasks they needed to complete in order to earn a desk. at the end of the day after not one student had successfully guessed her answer, a group of veterans entered her classroom with the desks and placed them in neat rows. her day concluded with a statement resembling "you don't have to earn them because they did it for you". i have complete respect for veterans but...

perhaps if educators would avoid wasting instructional time with political propaganda we might not have "no child left behind" (which smells like damn big government to me). you are paid to stamp out ignorance and stupidity by way of thorough and intense instruction.

*he did labor hard working through college and served in the navy during the vietnam war. does this increase my americanismfication-worth?

howard cuts his hair

2008-08-19T08:13:00.000-05:00

Columbus Local News: Region > News > Firefighter grows, shears long locks for kids who have cancer

how to raise a dog in gatesville TX

2008-08-17T18:43:00.002-05:00

step 1: buy dog or take a free bastard mutt from your inbred neighbor.

step 2: put dog in yard

for multiple dogs repeat steps one and two.

other news: the wedding in buffalo was great. my friends rule.* this is the last week before school starts. hopefully the pointless meetings and praying in school will be kept to a minimum. band is off to a great start. all of the shitty attitudes have graduated or quit. this could be an exciting season if they keep kickin it.

*this of course applies to all of my legions of friends, not just those in attendance a the event in question.

happiness

2008-07-20T23:19:00.002-05:00

i have no words to describe what this sounds like live. fortunately, i have seen the coats twice this year and may be able to sneak in a third viewing before it's all done.

oops

2008-07-14T21:16:00.002-05:00

almost for got that i have this thing. the trip to ohio was great. highlights included: the fam, seeing the pirates actually win a game, spending a week with bob and hanging with all the central ohio band folks, the usual festivities at the lake and applying for a job. what? yes. an informant alerted me of a job open at a sweet school in suburban austin. the drag was that i was without my resume and list of references. with a little help from the informant i was able to put together a good enough package to get an interview. this resulted in me having to fly back to texas two days early (which is a story for another time). i did not get the job but it was great to interview at a program of that caliber. they ended up hiring someone with woodwind experience. another edition of the G-Band is starting up this week with percussion and guard. the rest of the hooligans show up next week.

cooling off

2008-06-16T21:41:00.002-05:00

i'm departing at 6:22 am tomorrow for ohio. it will be a nice break from the heat but i will have to deal with rain. i'm really looking forward to seeing the fam and all the ohio folk. be back july 10.

gotta love canadians

2008-06-06T18:46:00.000-05:00

Hockey Night in Canada theme song may be benched permanently from broadcasts - NHL - Yahoo! Sports

be sure to also visit hockeytheme.com to purchase you cd and sheet music.

Red Stripe Reggae Dance Commercial

2008-05-21T21:53:00.001-05:00

i don't know why i find this commercial so amusing. perhaps because it hits so close to home.

no hitter!!!

2008-05-19T23:21:00.000-05:00

The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: News: Boston Red Sox News

from the hometown

2008-05-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

Free Smiles and a Good Morning

i actually saw this on headline news this afternoon. i should bitch less about things...

news from cleveland

2008-05-11T20:51:00.002-05:00

the following is the contents of an email from paul regarding papa johns' recent 23 cent pizza adventure. i had to share.
"I am seriously beginning to think that I live in the poorest city in America. Who would wait 3 1/2 hours in line for a 23 cent pizza? I cruised by a Pappa Johns to check it out and the line was 2 blocks long. Maybe I'll go stand in line and impress all the ladies with my tales of indoor plumbing, and my full set of teeth."

jackass

2008-04-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner - Yahoo! News

great day for a ride

2008-04-24T22:56:00.001-05:00

-1.jpeg
Originally uploaded by so many roads

i'm not sure what county road this was but the temporary moment of bliss inspired a pose. photo courtesy of gene.

um what's happening?

2008-04-16T22:09:00.003-05:00

were the words that came from my mouth as the hair stylist applied hot wax on select locations on my forehead. she had just finished the usual shampoo after the cut but this was an unsolicited and unexpected service. she is a band parent so i'm sure it was done as much out of amusement as it was kindness. it was a rather tame in relative terms of the procedure but very strange as i would have never anticipated being part of such a thing. oh well, this should provide insight to the status of my non-working life that an event like this would merit a blog post.

other news:
junior high contest was two weeks ago and went ok but not as well as we had hoped. the high school bands go tomorrow. should be interesting to see my group of zombies at 6:40 am.

eric case is moving on from google. it has been a brilliant adventure for him and i have enjoyed following along (although often confused by the technical jargon) from a distance.

the kolsch turned out fine but not quite to the level of the brown ale. i think a raspberry wheat is next for the H-brewery.

the sox have been on tv three times in the last week so it has been nice to watch a few games although they just lost a shootout to the evil yankees.

indoor drumline championships were march 29th. we had our best show of the year and finished third in our class. we are a little miffed about finishing behind a show based on the tortoise and the hare but that is just the way it goes sometimes. being the only 3A school in our class, it was nice to bring our hillbilly operation down to houston and hang with (a whip up on some) 4A and 5A schools.

SPRING BREAK!!!

2008-03-18T12:02:00.002-05:00

the headline above may suggest that i am preparing to head to the gulf coast to spend the week fraternizing with scantily-clad party chicks. no, i am staying here in gville. the exciting activities for yesterday included going to the bank, dry cleaners, post office and smoking some ribs. todays adventures consist of doing my taxes and watching in rain. hopefully the rain will be finished tomorrow afternoon as expected so that i may engage my original plan of disgracing the game of golf on the fairways of central texas. perhaps i will join gene and company for a bike ride on thursday.

2/21/08

2008-02-21T20:21:00.002-06:00

the rest of the debate is on the dvr and can wait for my attention span to return.

as to the list of activities mentioned in the last post you may add being sick and subtract cycling. between health issues and "winter" it just hasn't happened much. fortunately "spring" is here and i am looking forward to perusing the coryell county countryside once again.

the brew pot has been has been purchased and has produced a promising kolsch. i hope to bottle it on sunday and then begin the agonizing 10-14 day (i rarely make it to 14) wait for bottle conditioning to be complete.

i spent last weekend in san antonio for TMEA and enjoyed getting away for a while. the convention came at a great time as we have a concert in a week and our first drumline contest saturday in north houston. it was great to start the week refreshed we are curious as to how we will be perceived as this is our first year in this particular circuit.

apathetic blogging

2008-01-24T21:21:00.000-06:00

here is why. my life consists of (in no specific order):

work, drinking, playing guitar, PS2, work, drinking, ride a bike, drinking, guitar and so forth. not much happens here. i made an amazing brown ale before christmas and am planing on buying a sweet new brew pot this weekend. indoor drumline is off and running and should be good.

news: (the three of you who read this blog most likely now all of this already but what the hell)

matt rosato and carrie got married and moved to florida. he will be working for GNC in the middle east.

Dan and Kellie are getting married in september.

buddi lang and his girlfriend are having a baby.

gavin and sarah are getting married in august.

happy new year. peace.

officially a bad ass

2007-12-03T16:22:00.000-06:00

Two touchdown catches move Ward past Stallworth on team's all-time list

a quick one

2007-11-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

damn october blew by. here is my month (dominated by band of course) in a nutshell: the killeen contest went well. we won our class by a mile and placed 5th overall which had the band in the thick of it with 4A 5A bands. we recieved our 5th consecutive first division rating at region contest. the show was the expected crap fest with only 4 of 16 3A bands earning that rating. saturday we go to the BOA regional at san antonio. this contest is as potent as nationals but without the variety. we seem to be on a track to not make asses of ourselves. also we are in class A so we should be competitive within that class. i have been on a few good bike rides with gene and company, tonight being one of them. the weather here is quite nice.

twenty years?

2007-10-03T21:17:00.000-05:00

i am a little behind in my reading of rolling stone but i finally got to the august 9 issue today. on the cover is a photo of guns n roses to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the release of appetite for destruction. first off, damn twenty years already? i can still remember seeing the videos for paradise city and sweet child o' mine and thinking (in a pre-pubescent voice) "those guys must have a lot of girlfriends. second, was it such a landmark album that it needs to grace the cover of RS in 2007? the writers inside believe it to be but i haven't though much about the release since i discovered the beatles somewhere around 1990.

moving right along

2007-09-24T22:56:00.000-05:00

damn i can't believe that we are in the last week of september. things are returning to "normal" as mike is back working with us and the school year is settling in. unfortunatly steve fucked up the third movement of our drill so i am spending more time pissed off than i should during rehearsal.

however, the buckeyes and steelers are stomping ass so i have many reasons to be happy. i can't say that our HS football team is doing as well. they are 1-3 which is a shame because the new coach is a great guy, but i think he is slightly lacking in raw material right now. i have been on a few great bike rides with gene and company. the evenings are getting to be quite nice this time of year.

preview show

2007-08-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

the G-band had our preview show tonight and the event was not without incident. we had an entire day of in-service which consisted of a woman who is a retired coach/teacher/administrator, who works for something called the flippen group talking to us for six fucking hours. this is not an exaggeration. the title of the session was called "building champions" or some bullshit like that. she seemed very proud of her accomplishments and anecdotes. she used the words "I" an "I'm" 104 times in a 20 minute span during one of her sermons. the best part was when they compared the methods of a famous horse whisperer to those which we should use to establish relationships with at risk students. i can only imaging the reaction to this outside of the south.

after we were liberated from the days barrage i went to go check the stadium only to find that the field had not be lined. i know that mike had made arrangements to use the stadium before his surgery but do not know the exact details of the communiques between mike and the district administration and therefore unsure if a request to line the field was actually made. (i suppose here would be a good time to say that mike had a bypass last week and will be out for a few more weeks leaving jason and i running the asylum) being the flexible folks that we are we moved the show to our practice field behind the stadium. doing the performance on this field was not a big deal in itself, however it was published in the local rag that we were to be performing in the stadium so now we look like jackasses.

along with the show the boosters were doing a hamburger dinner as a fund raiser. (however it is unclear to the band staff what they are raising money for since the stock response when we ask for something is "can't the school pay for that". it is not that we are short on funds from the school but doing a purchase order for $100 worth of random nuts, bolts and other such things from the local hardware store seems a bit ridiculous. also, the district really wants us to stop spending so that they can finish up their books before the fiscal year ends at the end of the month ((which to me is a reasonable request)). the grill which the school district provided (so the boosters could make money=irony) did not work so we had to scramble to round up smaller gas grills for the event.

if anyone is still reading this i will now discuss the subject of the post: the preview show. the previously mentioned practice field was re-seeded last spring and a sprinkler system installed over the summer. it is great to have these upgrades but because of them we have not yet been allowed to use that field (nor has the football team to be fair). our only other practice field is a parking lot so we boldly made our debut without actually marching on grass yet this season (however unlike the previous issues we know this one was coming). i need to mention that grass fields in TX are usually kept quite short. the grass on this field reminded me of ohio turf. our natural turf in TX makes the ohio stuff look like fescue on a golf course.

despite all the the madness, the show was acceptable. it as been a strange post camp experience because everyone is used to starting school much earlier. normally we would be in our second week by now. we are really looking forward to school starting next week so that athletic two-a-days will be over and we can start a reasonable rehearsal schedule.

i'm special

2007-08-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

today i was informed that i was the only employee in the entire district that did request a sick or personal day last year. my reward, $50. now that's what i call incentive...

ian jennings

2007-08-07T01:14:00.000-05:00

i went to high school with ian. he has spent the last several years in the middle east. this is a recent interview of him done by a local station in AZ.

off and running

2007-08-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

we started rehearsals on july 24 and finished three days of drill camp yesterday. it is very encouraging to see that the membership has retained a great deal of skills from last year. not just from the marching aspect but from all the work we did in the concert bands as well. so far we have put 17 sets on the field which is the entierty of sun dance (sans the intro). the design team did another great job and the transparencies concept is working well from visual and musical standpoints. we have a real guard instructor this year so that mess is finally cleaning up. however she lives in waco (40 miles away) so some things like flag design are still left to me. so for the first time ever i ordered custom flags from FJM. they are freaking sweet but freaking expensive and won't be here until the second week of september. oh well, we have the money.

what a trip

2007-07-15T22:13:00.000-05:00

it was a great 3 weeks in ohio. i guess one does not realize how many people you know until you try to see them all in such a short time period. it is also hard to believe that my summer break is practically over. tomorrow rehearsal begins for the drumline and guard. although i have no instructional duties mike and i have a lot to do as far as paperwork, organization and logistics before the hornline shows up next week. i am quite excited about this years program and the design team has put together another gem.

heading north

2007-06-18T22:46:00.000-05:00

i fly out tomorrow for ohio. my tour looks something like this:

6/19-6/25 columbus

6/25-7/4 marietta and western PA

7/4-7/8 columbus and the lake

7/9-7/10 ???

7/10 return to TX to sweat my ass off.

seattle

2007-06-05T21:28:00.001-05:00

IMG_2725.JPG
Originally uploaded by so many roads

the trip was great. it was nice to see dan, meet kelly and be away from fat, redneck republicans (i've learned to coexist with the latter but we all need a break) although we never made it to mt. ranier we managed to take a day hike in discovery park, go kayaking, see a ball game eat lots of great food and drink lots of good beer and wine. pics are here.

billy bragg

2007-05-25T23:14:00.001-05:00

here is a clip of "bush war blues" from the henry rollins show.

another one done

2007-05-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

today was the kids last day at school although we are not quite done yet. graduation is friday night and we are taking two students to state solo contest on monday. fortunatley i won't spend the whole weekend doing school stuff, jason, doug and i are going to see the sox play the rangers on saturday night. i hope the sox tap that ass and that the weather is nice. it is hard to believe that my first school year in texas is over but i feel good about what we were able to get done. there are only a few classes of students remaining that were nearly ruined by the previous regime.

get out of my head

2007-05-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

the good news: the junior high/intermediate concert went well and is done.
the bad news: i have music from harry potter stuck in my head from the sixth grade band. they did however throw down and stole the show in my opinion. it was interesting to see the progression of the three bands and observe the influence of the current staff in contrast with that of the previous regime....

school is done next friday, i can't believe it. on tap for the summer is a trip to seattle to see dan at the end of may, and a three week tour of ohio and western PA. i hope to see as many as you as possible.

happiness

2007-05-06T21:19:00.001-05:00

IMG_2674.JPG
Originally uploaded by so many roads.

this is the headstock of my new martin. it as a MMV model and kicks ass.

i hate to talk smack but...

2007-04-22T22:51:00.000-05:00

The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: News: Boston Red Sox News

up your ass a-rod

2007-04-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: News: Boston Red Sox News

a thing of beauty

2007-04-12T20:40:00.001-05:00

IMG_2634.JPG
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

for any non-homebrewers this is yeast bubbling out of an airlock. while this is a little messy and slight sanitation risk it means that i have achieved some wild fermentation. this current batch is a belgian single abbey ale.

buddi blogs

2007-04-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

ladies and gentlemen buddi lang is now on blogger. check him out here.

push to the end

2007-03-28T21:06:00.001-05:00

IMG_2591.JPG
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

this is the final stretch between spring break and the end of the year. things seem to already be in shut down mode, especially in the academic arena. junior high contest is friday morning in midway and drum line championships are friday night in arlington. going out west was enjoyable. most folks around here thought we were nuts for driving out there but they are lacking in sense of adventure.

Hank Williams Jr, Hunter Hayes: Jambalaya

2007-03-16T19:40:00.000-05:00

this is ridiculous

spring break

2007-03-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

i can't believe it but spring break is already here. however it has been a whirlwind week up to this point. last week both of our concert bands recieved first division ratings in concert and sight reading at our UIL contest. this combined with a division one rating at region marching band earns us what is called a sweepstakes, a mark of excellence here. we had a drumline contest on saturday but most of the minds were already on break so there were some auspicious moments in the performance.

for break jason and i are traveling west. first we will spend a day in the guadalupe mountains and a few days in el paso.

spring is here i think

2007-02-25T22:36:00.000-06:00

well at least the weather seems damn nice to me. although yesterday was rather bizarre. it was extremely windy and an enormous amount of dust was pulled off the ground. when the wind died down we were left with a dust haze. it is quite a sight to see, the sun seems to loose it's color and is reduced to a ball of white. i experienced this scenario as i was driving back from waco where i was taking my teacher exams. yes, these were the same tests that i took six years ago in ohio but texas wants my money too. the real downer is that i missed a drum line show to take the tests.

other news: our pre-contest concert is thursday and UIL is on the seventh. we seem to be on pace but the details left to tackle will be challenging. the brown ale i brewed a few weeks back turned out great. gavin and sarah are getting married. wine from argentina sucks.

out with the old, in with the new

2007-01-23T23:13:00.001-06:00

IMG_2465.JPG
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

i traded in the dodge for a 2007 chevy colorado. i was at a point where i had good trade i value so i went for it. the colorado is a little less truck but it's all i need.

after missing two days of school last week due to ice we are back on track. both bands are busting ass getting ready for contest in march. our first drumline show is this weekend and mark will be arriving on thursday to help us prepare and finish writing the drill.

glendale

2007-01-08T23:01:00.000-06:00

there is a town named glendale in California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. apparently the buckeyes could not figure out that the game was in glendale, Arizona. that game really was a piece of shit.

indoor!!

2006-12-18T21:52:00.001-06:00

we had our first drill camp over the weekend. mark flew down from wisconsin and is a freaking genius. the show, Spelling B should come together well assuming the music rehearsals are productive after break. if you need an explanation of the show, you may ask me but i am not going to post a libretto here.

the bands had our christmas concert last thursday (yes, here in small town central tejas we can still call it christmas). all went well although our ancient auditorium does not to the bands justice. tomorrow is the last day of exams and the teachers have a half workday on wednesday.

here is my ohio schedule in a nutshell:
12/21 fly to columbus stay with bob
12/22-12-28: marietta and western PA
12/28-1/2 columbus staying with several gracious hosts.

i know this guy!

2006-12-09T19:15:00.000-06:00

Eric Case Talks Beta Blogger on Videoblog

casino royal

2006-11-27T20:12:00.000-06:00

i finally got around to seeing the new bond flick. here is my report card:

bond girls:
quality A
quantity B-
exposure B
overall B+

stunts and effects
shit blowing up B+
fight scenes A
the car and bond gadgets B (the car was sweet but short lived, even for a bond film)
overall A-

plot
overall B ( 1:about as predictable as most of the 007 films, 2: the amount of twist in the last 15 minutes was somewhat annoying.)

bond himself
ability to kick ass A+
success with the ladies A- (not the usual quantity but i realize this was the "beginning". however after 43 years of movies there is definitely an expectation.)
one-liners and dry british humor B
overall A-

overall film grade B+

scary stuff

2006-11-24T13:58:00.000-06:00

My Half-Year of Hell With Christian Fundamentalists

GO BUCKS!!!!

2006-11-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

happiness

2006-11-14T22:49:00.000-06:00

john says it is a warm gun buy i say it is a new korg synth. the TR has all of the groovy sounds of the famed Triton but not all of the sampling sophistication that bands can't use anyway. and it cost's 1k less. now to figure this mother out...

time off

2006-11-11T11:45:00.000-06:00

this is the first saturday in quite a while where i have nothing to do. the last few weeks went something like this:

made finals at area but did not advance to state. i'm not going to say that we were robbed but seriously misread. the band that won our area received a severe beating at state making it more obvious that the team of special ed judges who we had at area sent the wrong bands (again).

i have been to san antonio 3 times in the last week. first to check out churchill's rehearsal, then for the BOA regional where L.D. Bell nearly achieved maximum badassness, and finally for the 3A and 5A state contest. watching 5A prelims is like watching national semifinals and as far as 3A finals, i'll just say i now have a better understanding on how to program. don't do anything too difficult or innovative because you will receive no credit.

hopefully the channel that is scheduled to have the osu game today truly does, and not this "not available in your area" manure.

i'm wound up

2006-10-24T22:36:00.000-05:00

we moved on, out of region. saturday seventeen bands go into the area contest and three go to state. the boot is on.

madden 2007 pissed me off. you can't challenge after checking instant replay? WTF. this is how coaches check to see it they should challenge. the game could also pronouce players name correctly.

band gone wild

2006-10-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

FOX Sports - COLLEGE FOOTBALL - Wisconsin warns marching band to shape up

first contest

2006-10-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

IMG_2279.JPG,
originally uploaded by rchanf.

our first show was on saturday and it went quite well. we won our class and placed third overall. it was a prelims-finals show so it was a very long day. fortunately killeen is only about 45 minutes away. this stadium is impressive and i was told that it is only a moderate sized facility for a 5A school (actually all 4 of the KISD high schools share the stadium). this is not a surprise however, considering that we are a 3A school and our press box is 2 stories, air conditioned and has an elevator. GISD didn't have school today so i was able to rest up after watching the steelers get it handed to them sunday night.

and there was much rejoycing...yay

2006-10-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

on sunday i filled up the truck for under 40 bucks. i can't remember the last time that happened. we finished up the show tonight and have the rest of the week to clean. i'll tell you this, $2,000 worth of hand crafted turkish metal can really make one hell of a crescendo. our first show is saturday at killeen and we are definitely looking forward to it. we took the drum line to a standstill contest last saturday. it went well and gave us a trial run with our new PA system. unfortunatly the case for our sweet new synth did not arrive so we had to use the old lame one. some sweet lines (4A and 5A) were there for us to see and mike macintosh was one of the judges. of course we made it home in time to watch the buckeyes.

homecoming at GHS

2006-09-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

as expected this was quite a spectacle. friday's madness was preempted by a powder-puff game on tuesday night. they actually had to have traffic and parking control for it. the temperature at kickoff of friday was a cool 95 with no wind. i am glad that i don't have to wear a wool uniform. anyway the most fascinating aspect of the homecoming ordeal is the wearing of the mums. yes, the girls all ware these genetically engineered flowers that resemble very large jellyfish.

they seem to be a status symbol with multiple flowers and more extravagant ornamentation giving the bearer a great sense of pride. the kids were stunned when i told them that we didn't have such things in ohio.

gatesville won big and we don't have a game till october 6th. the drumline has a standstill show on saturday and we are currious to see how everything pans out.

i like the five day week

2006-09-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

i know this sounds crazy but there is too much to get done with holidays. we had a 9/11 gig this morning at the county courthouse and the band got major props for being there. we only got 2 new sets on tonight but also got some much needed cleaning done in part 1 and some tempo adjustments in part 2. our football team man-handled at top five AAA team friday night so i may be doing football games for quite a while.

it is nice to be an OSU fan right now. however it sucked watching PSU get whipped by ND.

game one

2006-09-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

IMG_2224
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

ok, one down and nine to go (hopefully. i enjoy marching band but i really don't want to be at a playoff game on november 17, my birthday) i just wish it wasn't going to take us ten weeks to do so (we have a bye week). all went well for the most part. court said was "cold and shitty" at the lake so that was the only good thing about not being there for the first time in years.

game day

2006-08-31T22:14:00.000-05:00

i have never anticipated a football game as much as the one tomorrow. we had a good run this morning (the days of rehearsing for six hours between thursday morning and game time are gone) so we should be all right. i'm just curious to see all the other elements that make up a game night in small town texas. we are away so i'm sure it will only be a prelude to the madness of a home game.

rain?

2006-08-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

after 48 days in the lone star state it actually rained. i'm just wondering what kind of effect it will have on things looking like this.

storms are in the forecast for the next few days, hopefully we can dodge it during rehearsals.

on a roll

2006-08-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

we finished the drill for part one on wednesday. steve has written another gem (which is usually the case when he digs the music). the horn line is really starting to throw down and hopefully will continue to do so.

tomarow jason and i are going on the hunt for a semi trailer part two. a few weeks ago he drove past a pair of them in killeen just sitting in a field. last weekend we located the owner and are supposed to get inside of them to see of they are worth pursuing further.

it's still in the 100's and high 90's but the mornings have been a little cooler. we even had a few clouds this week.

preview show

2006-08-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

we put on a show of our whopping 10 sets of drill monday. ten seems like a small number for a preview show but this band has never started drill this early so everyone was quite thrilled. unfortunatly monday was the first day of athletic two-a-days so rehearsal was not the most productive we have had. the last few days have been filled with ever popular new teacher training and meetings. we start school on the 14th and i'm looking foward to getting back to a regular schedule.

on a separate issue, if you need a distraction check this out.

go bucks!

2006-08-05T11:21:00.000-05:00

Ohio State No. 1 in preseason coaches' poll - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports

week one report

2006-07-28T19:09:00.000-05:00

upon returning from TBA full of newly acquired knowledge and enthusiasm, the new regime of the GHS band initiated the re-education of the aforementioned ensemble. (most people just call this pre-camp) however, re-education is probably not the best term to use because evidence shows that there was not and abundance of education of any sort happening under the previous regime. the membership has demonstrated impressive work ethic and patience with all of the new information being cast upon them. visually they are developing quicker than expected (of course backward marching is still listed under "abominable"). they are enthusiastic when it comes to yelling out counts (four "te" one!!=four "and" one!! "and" is a two syllable word here) and retain information well. unfortunately, the brass section lacks intensity. they don't have any musical attitude or identity yet but they sing surprisingly well and were excited about getting BERP's. tonight jason and i will grill and consume.

off to san antonio

2006-07-20T23:15:00.000-05:00

only this time GISD foots the bill. mike, jason and i are headed for the TBA convention in the morning. apparently this event makes a mockery out of OMEA and lets face it, san antonio is way better than cleveland, cincinnati or columbus.

heat wave

2006-07-17T23:39:00.000-05:00

IMG_2199
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

it is quite ironic that just days after i move to texas that a heat wave sweeps the nation. however, the temperatures here are only slightly above normal. after living in ohio for so long it is nice be see the sun every day and not have a nasty haze lingering over you. today was a big day. i moved the lawn furniture out and moved in a couch as well as putting the texas plates on the truck. perhaps people will now stop looking at my funny when i'm driving through town. people in texas are really into texas. even the budweiser bottles are customized.

so long its been good to know ya

2006-07-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

this is the last post from the buckeye state. i am packing up the mac in a few and the truck is getting loaded tomorrow. it has been a great five years (nine if you count college) and i have learned many life lessons. next time you hear from me i will be typing with an accent.

is this the price we pay?

2006-06-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

Steelers' Holmes charged with assaulting woman - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

after winning the super bowl against all odds we steelers fans have been reeling lately. not only are we dealing with big ben's smooth move, we must now cope with the moronic actions of santonio holmes. it was quite exciting to land such a player with the steelers place in the draft, but now i'm wondering if all the wheeling and dealing will come to fruition.

seeger sessions

2006-05-31T15:15:00.000-05:00

here is the quick post on the latest springsteen project:

the album, buy it.

the concert, if you can afford it go. i had a blast last night. (however i was lucky enough to get a comp ticket)

elaboration to come...

two more weeks

2006-05-22T15:46:00.000-05:00

well folks year five of my illustrious career is rapidly concluding. when i reflect back on the 2005-2006 school year our successes are even more significant due to the trials we endured to have a "normal" year. despite our levy passing a year ago our district is making 14 million in cuts for next year including one of my staff members. it is sad to see the state of this district, it was quite healthy not to long ago. so...

i will not be returning to westland next year. jason was successful in luring me to texas. starting in july i will be assistant director of bands and brass specialist for the gatesville independent school district in gatesville, texas. it was quite a decision to make, to uproot and move across the country but overall i'm really excited about it. it's been fun columbus but it's time to go.

texas pics are up

2006-04-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

IMG_1903
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

i really enjoyed my week in texas. i got to see a decent ammount of the state by visiting gatesville (waco area), houston and san antonio. there is still much to see but it is a start.

nickles and the lone star

2006-03-22T22:41:00.000-06:00

yesterday before our jazz concert i changed a dollar bill in a vending machine. the damn thing gave me 20 nickles. i was for some reason comical yet profound. anyhow i am headed for texas tomorrow to see my friend jason and do some observations at some amazing programs in san antonio. the current weather situation around here makes this even sweeter. perhaps when i get back i won't have to scrape ice off my truck.

DOH!!

2006-03-13T21:45:00.000-06:00

this is the bad side of the nfl salary cap issues. however, it really is better for the game.

2006

2006-02-21T20:45:00.000-06:00

here is my year in review so far

The good:

THE STEELERS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!! it took a great amount of focus and foamy pop but we got there.

the bad and ugly:

my school district is falling apart physically, financially and otherwise. i may loose on of my staff members.

the surprising:

capital (swearingen really) gave me a student teacher. it is bizarre that i have been teaching long enough to have one and that with all the big programs in central ohio, i seem worthy of the task.

hope the year is off to great start for all of you

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!

2006-01-23T21:20:00.000-06:00

Detriot, look out big ben and the bus are coming!!

cooking up some holiday cheer

2005-12-03T19:59:00.000-06:00

IMG_1474
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

with the holidays fast approaching buddi and i decided to get in gear and make some homebrew. it was a particularly exciting occasion because matt had made some significant equipment upgrades .

first his brew pot. the caldron consists of an open 16-gallon keg with internal thermometer and spigot for draining. the second and most important of the two is the wort chiller. for those who are not familiar this is a device that cools the boiling wort as (or before) it travels into the fermenter. this method has three notable advantages. since the wort is cooled instantly, one may pitch the yeast as soon as the wort is in the fermenter rather than waiting hours until the liquid is a suitable temperature for adding the yeast. also the cold break that results from the accelerated cooling will make filtering process more efficient. the second advantage of using a chiller is that the wort has a much smaller chance of coming in contact with anything that may contaminate the beer-to-be.

but alas! not all was well in the river city! our one fear was that the chiller would become clogged with a hop flower or some other solid ingredient. we of course paid the price for not acting upon our fears. a lone hop flower quickly made its way into the coils of the chiller and the brewing process came to an abrupt halt. this caused an instantaneous flurry of activity, as we were not prepared to transfer the wort into the fermenter by another method. fortunately there were a few onlookers whose services we enlisted as we rearranged our equipment and drained the wort from the brew pot. the beer itself will still be quite good (a brown spicy christmas ale) the disappointment is that all of our (mostly buddi's) efforts and intentions did not come to fruition.

one week later.

with a drainage screen inserted on the inside of the brew pot and one more batch worth of experience we set out to make a stout. the process worked as intended and we will now be able to enjoy two types of homebrew when the holidays arrive. so if you find yourself in the great metropolis of marietta during the holidays stop by and have a homebrew!

and i'm spent

2005-11-03T18:47:00.000-06:00

the official conclusion of marching band was tuesday night at the district band showcase. this is an annual event where all four bands freeze our asses of and perform for each other. it is great for public relations but it kind of takes the dramatic finish away from the season after championships. we finished fifth out of the twenty in our class this year which is a good place for us to be.

another personal accomplishment was finishing norman mailer's the naked and the dead t0night. it was a great read and i enjoyed it very much. however i found frustration in my lack of commitment as i was not able to devote very many long term reading sessions to the book and have been chipping away at it since august. i will have to check out some more of mailer's work.

now it's time to get the new place organized for good. matt is in austria for two weeks so this is good timing to get some work done. brewing batch of christmas ale is also in the near future.

damn it's october?

2005-10-11T21:48:00.000-05:00

i can't believe how quickly this fall is progressing. between the move and marching band it's been a crazy time. the band is heading up to a show in pontiac michigan this weekend and championships are two weeks after that. matt and i are all moved into the new digs but still have stuff everywhere. i am amazed at the quantity of shit that we own.

i love moving (and time warner)

2005-09-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

this will be my last post from the wex being that everything will be transfered to the new place on thursday. time warner wouldn't schedule a time to get our wireless system set up until we had the cable tv on. i would have to put foward a great effort to make things any more of a pain in the ass than time warner does.

summer time come and gone, my oh my

2005-08-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

wednesday is the first day of school and our first game is friday. i must say it was a grand although unusually hot summer. we have dived head first into band season with a very challenging program. it may be a rough going for a while but we will persevere in the long run. all is not gloom and doom however. i still have labor day at the lake...

off to camp

2005-08-06T20:27:00.000-05:00

i can't believe how fast this summer has gone. we leave for band camp tomorrow after two weeks of intensive preparation. i am however looking forward to getting into the meat of our 2005 program beyond the spectrum and seeing this years group grow into their own.

been a while

2005-07-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

IMG_0876
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

its been a month since i last sounded off. i've made an effort to get away from the computer and get outside more considering we freeze our asses of a good part of the year here in beautiful central ohio. i have made a few trips to the lake and spent some time in marietta. i have another two weeks before rehearsals start so i plan to do some more camping in that time. having time off is a wonderful thing.

back from bonnaroo

2005-06-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

IMG_0695
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

we got back at 3:15 monday morning. i am still not sure how to put this experience in words so i will let the pictures do the talking. i may post something more descriptive when i am done with the workshop at capital.

bonnaroo bound!

2005-06-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

IMG_0672
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

one week from tonight rosato and i head south for three days of music and camping. there is still much planning to do but it will be enjoyable.

final concert

2005-05-15T21:15:00.000-05:00

IMG_0609
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

we finished our concert band season thursday night with fine performances by our orchestra, middle school symphonic band, high school concert band and the high school symphonic band. the grand finale was "america the beautiful" by the combined forces of all three bands. the concert was bittersweet though. it was the last performance with a great senior class, and also means that i won't get to do any real conducting until november. but there is much to do preparing for graduation and the fall season. now if i can only figure out how to import the video of the concert from brian's camera...

the end is near (please)

2005-05-11T19:56:00.000-05:00

as expected may is turning in to a crazy month. there are 3 weeks left in the spring quarter and osu and i am finding myself spending alot of time at my computer doing work instead of doing geek stuff. not that the class itself is bad, infact i am being re-introduced to some great music, but i am finding it difficult to stay focused on the class on a consistant basis. there are also 3 weeks left in the school year at SWCS. our final concert of the year is thursday night and after that it is all preparation for fall 2005. i am really excited about our 2005 show and can't wait to see it take shape. that first day of summer vacation will be very sweet. ..

victory!

2005-05-04T22:09:00.000-05:00

IMG_0527
Originally uploaded by rchanf.

our levy finaly passed on the third try. this means business as usual, for next year anyway.