Aloha, readers!
Alright, I've got a question for everyone... What in the hell happened to American music and dancing?!
Seriously. This has been bothering me since approximately my junior year in high school, and I'm going to give you an extensive list of the reasons why.
1) Maybe I'm just not "with the times," but do tell me, since when is a DJ playing canned music better than hiring a live band at clubs, school dances, etc.? Now, this is by no means meant to offend DJs who are actually good and mix their own tracks, and you know, DO SOMETHING besides occasionally hitting the spacebar while going through the top 40. I have a special place in my heart for electronica, dubstep, and techno, and can appreciate a sick beat just as much as, if not more than, the next guy. But come on, if someone gets paid 500+ dollars to sit there on their laptop hitting a freaking spacebar... They can gtfo. That requires no talent, and we don't need trash in the entertainment industry when there's true talent out there. Which brings me to my next point...
2) Why in the world is it not only ok, but almost encouraged, for the somewhat attractive, non-musically talented person to get a hit on the radio? I mean, really, there's entertainment value in Keh-dollarsign-hah and LMFAO and those like them, but COME ON. They don't even orchestrate their own music 99.9% of the time. Some other dude usually gets stuck writing the song, putting down the beat, and they take all the credit. Plus, their music is trashy and usually makes me feel like trash when I have to listen to it. Especially as a music major, it really bothers me that I'm surrounded by people who are just outrageously talented, practice forever, and I know that just because they play REAL music, they will never achieve the mainstream success that the aforementioned have. People may argue, "Well, they're good club hits because we can dance to them." I counter with:
3). Swing dancing. Salsa. Tango. Waltz. The Twist and everything from the 60's. A bajillion other things that I'm not mentioning. THAT is DANCING, people. Grinding is not actually dancing. At. All. It really does not require skill. And you know what else? Maybe America would be more willing to lose weight if, when they wanted to go out DANCING and have fun, they'd learn to do something as strenuous and physically demanding as, say, the jitterbug, because that certainly burns more calories than rubbing your body against someone else's body. Just saying.
4) I'm a bit biased as a saxophonist and jazz singer here, but I'm just going to throw this out there... Why do more people not listen to jazz? Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, it takes SKILL, is a very versatile genre, you can slow dance and swing dance to it, and is all around just freaking awesome. Why does Wynton Marsalis not get played in the top 40 vs. Taylor Swift? Seriously?! She literally writes every song about practically the same thing, using most of the same chord progressions, and, when she's feeling crazy, she might change the key. Whoop-de-freaking-doo. I could write a song similar to hers in less than 5 minutes, but will I? NO. Why? Because I have STANDARDS as a MUSICIAN, people. Music isn't just a means to get famous for me, as it SHOULDN'T be for those who truly love it. It's my PASSION. Not nearly enough artists these days write music for the love of music itself, they just produce and produce and produce more and more trash so they can become famous. Fame should NOT be the motivation behind anything, especially something as beautiful, profound, and moving as music can be.
5) Now, I'm not suggesting that all good music is complicated music. Far from it. Some of the best music uses simple harmonic structures and chord progressions, but can still be very profound. For example, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Lyrically, one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. "Let it Be," by the Beatles. Also, another lyrical beauty, and it uses only 4 chords. Anything by the composer Philip Glass. He pretty much started a new genre, minimalism, on his own, and his music is extremely contemplative and beautiful, but normally very simple. What sets these apart from, say, Taylor Swift? (If you can't tell, I hate her music, as well as Miley Cyrus' (gag) more than pretty much any artist out there, period.) I don't know, they're not either:
A) In Ms. Swift's case, just whining about problems or talking about my boyfriend.
B) In Miley's case, just plain stupid as hell. She sang Party in the USA without knowing who Jay-Z was, and for God's sake, if you're going to perform music, KNOW WHAT IT'S ABOUT. For all that is good and holy, don't desecrate this purest of artforms like that.
But the real reason that the examples I listed are better than these two popular leading ladies is this: Music is something that needs to be personal, and come from the heart. It is something that rises from inside of you, and can be powerful enough to burn down the world or raise it up in glory...
I'm sure Taylor was really feeling heartbroken when she was writing however many songs she wrote about the subject, but frankly, her emotions seem extremely petty and immature and that's why I hate her music, not because it isn't personal, but because the personality in her music just leaves much to be desired.
Ok, so, I've kind of gotten myself worked up here, not gonna lie, and am going to leave this and drink a cup of hot chocolate and forget about why the world is making me sad.
Today's song of the day, something I consider real music, is called Typhoon by Young the Giant. It's a beautifully crafted song, and it leaves something for music majors (glorious countermelodies and harmonies!) to enjoy, and for those of you who aren't, just a really really pretty song to listen to. By the way, you don't actually need to be a musician to enjoy most of the music I listen to, just someone who actually likes music.
Anyway, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2XjNZz19uw
Thanks for reading this rant, I hope it entertained you.
With love,
Gilmore
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Potpourri.
Hello beautiful internet people!
So, it's been about a week and a half since my last post, and, to be honest, I haven't really been able to focus on anything lately. After a crazy weekend last weekend, and an even crazier night on Friday, it's high time that I start decompressing and getting my thoughts in order. In fact, my scatterbrained-ness has been showing in my composing. I've started about 6 new pieces of music, and I've written at least a page or two in all of them before finding no motivation to continue them or just throwing them away. This is kind of problematic, especially since I need to nail down what I'm doing for my semester project, keep working on my big band chart, finish a choral arrangement, write a trombone duet, and write about an hour of music for my filmscoring class this semester... Oh, and I still need to get last semester's project recorded. Yikes.
Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being a composition major and a composer and wouldn't trade it for the world... But no matter how far ahead I work in any class or get in any composition, I'm technically forever behind. Seriously. As a perfectionist and a person who hates procrastinating, this is stressing me out big time. I know that the rest of my life is probably going to be like this, but still... It's a bit crazy. Seriously though, I would much rather have this craziness than be bored doing something else, so, I guess I can't really complain... Except I just did. Whoops. My bad.
Other than my attention span apparently deciding to take a 2-week (hopefully not longer) vacation, my life has been pretty great. Nebrasketball won a fantastic game against Indiana by 1 point, and I got to be the lucky kid playing synthesizer when it happened, which is pretty awesome. All of my classes are relevant to what my future plans are, and most of them are not only relevant but really really fun. I'm busy, but a good kind of busy, because I realize that if I completely sucked at composing, people would probably not be asking me to write them things. Meaning, I'm at least somewhat competent, which makes me a happy camper because I can only get better thanks to the awesome professors and extremely talented people I get to call my friends helping me out along the way.
I keep thinking back to the word that my professor, Dr. Lee, used when we were talking about how I ended up at UNL: Serendipity. Which, for those of you who don't know, means a happy accident. I used to think that I would hate staying in Nebraska, because at the end of my senior year of high school, I really hated this state and the small-town feel of everything. I now realize that having gone to Hillsdale, though still a great opportunity, would have probably just given me the same problems in a different geographic location. This is a nice balance before I have to go out into the real world and make a living, and I know that this is probably going to be the smallest town I end up living in for the rest of my life. So, I intend to make the most of it, and am actually more than happy that I'm here.
A song that I think sums this up, and that I've been listening to a lot lately: We Are Young by Fun. Featuring Janelle Monae. This song is really great to harmonize to (coughcough fellow music majors coughcough), and is just catchy and awesome and fresh and cool, so you should listen to it and be happy. I'm not personally a Glee fan, but I hear tell that they covered this song, which is cool, because I love seeing not-so-mainstream bands like this one getting exposure like that. I've yet to hear the Glee version, but here is the original. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6dMFF_yts
Thank you to those of you who actually read these, hopefully I get around to writing again before the month is out. But, if I don't, know that I'm really busy and regret not keeping you updated, but that the next post will be more juicy than this one if that's the case.
With love,
Gilmore
So, it's been about a week and a half since my last post, and, to be honest, I haven't really been able to focus on anything lately. After a crazy weekend last weekend, and an even crazier night on Friday, it's high time that I start decompressing and getting my thoughts in order. In fact, my scatterbrained-ness has been showing in my composing. I've started about 6 new pieces of music, and I've written at least a page or two in all of them before finding no motivation to continue them or just throwing them away. This is kind of problematic, especially since I need to nail down what I'm doing for my semester project, keep working on my big band chart, finish a choral arrangement, write a trombone duet, and write about an hour of music for my filmscoring class this semester... Oh, and I still need to get last semester's project recorded. Yikes.
Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being a composition major and a composer and wouldn't trade it for the world... But no matter how far ahead I work in any class or get in any composition, I'm technically forever behind. Seriously. As a perfectionist and a person who hates procrastinating, this is stressing me out big time. I know that the rest of my life is probably going to be like this, but still... It's a bit crazy. Seriously though, I would much rather have this craziness than be bored doing something else, so, I guess I can't really complain... Except I just did. Whoops. My bad.
Other than my attention span apparently deciding to take a 2-week (hopefully not longer) vacation, my life has been pretty great. Nebrasketball won a fantastic game against Indiana by 1 point, and I got to be the lucky kid playing synthesizer when it happened, which is pretty awesome. All of my classes are relevant to what my future plans are, and most of them are not only relevant but really really fun. I'm busy, but a good kind of busy, because I realize that if I completely sucked at composing, people would probably not be asking me to write them things. Meaning, I'm at least somewhat competent, which makes me a happy camper because I can only get better thanks to the awesome professors and extremely talented people I get to call my friends helping me out along the way.
I keep thinking back to the word that my professor, Dr. Lee, used when we were talking about how I ended up at UNL: Serendipity. Which, for those of you who don't know, means a happy accident. I used to think that I would hate staying in Nebraska, because at the end of my senior year of high school, I really hated this state and the small-town feel of everything. I now realize that having gone to Hillsdale, though still a great opportunity, would have probably just given me the same problems in a different geographic location. This is a nice balance before I have to go out into the real world and make a living, and I know that this is probably going to be the smallest town I end up living in for the rest of my life. So, I intend to make the most of it, and am actually more than happy that I'm here.
A song that I think sums this up, and that I've been listening to a lot lately: We Are Young by Fun. Featuring Janelle Monae. This song is really great to harmonize to (coughcough fellow music majors coughcough), and is just catchy and awesome and fresh and cool, so you should listen to it and be happy. I'm not personally a Glee fan, but I hear tell that they covered this song, which is cool, because I love seeing not-so-mainstream bands like this one getting exposure like that. I've yet to hear the Glee version, but here is the original. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6dMFF_yts
Thank you to those of you who actually read these, hopefully I get around to writing again before the month is out. But, if I don't, know that I'm really busy and regret not keeping you updated, but that the next post will be more juicy than this one if that's the case.
With love,
Gilmore
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
An Enormous Amount of Awesome.
Buongiorno, amici!
Well, it's nearing the end of the second day of my second semester in college. I'm rather excited for the rest of this one. Since I enjoy lists and thinking in lists and writing lists, here's a lovely numbered collection of all the reasons I'm thinking this will be a great semester.
1) I don't have to get up at 6am. Instead, I wake up at the much more reasonable hour of 7am, and this makes me very happy.
2) I'm taking filmscoring with 3 pretty cool dudes, and I have a pretty cool professor. Yeah, our class is only made of 4 people. So much win.
3) I'm taking Organismic Biology instead of AgriScience for my science class this semester, and this is actually something I'm interested in/pertains to my major.
4) My theory and aural skills classes are filled with some pretty fantastic people.
5) I'm playing synthesizer for Big Red Express, which is rather fun and I'm realizing is not something I should have been worried about.
6) I'm getting more than 2 hours of sleep a night (so far, knock on wood).
7) At some point this semester, I'll hopefully be singing with either the UNL jazz orchestra or Big Band. Which is definitely one of the most amazing, wonderful opportunities ever.
8) I got to pick the song/key of what I'm doing for 7), plus, I get to arrange it.
9) My professors all seem pretty awesome, some I've had before, and the new ones are pretty great, too.
10) I will actually have all the textbooks I need by Friday.
11) Jazz choir gets to travel this semester!
12) I (might) get to travel with Big Red Express this semester!
13) I (might) get to go to Chicago over spring break to watch The Black Keys in concert!
14) I'm getting progressively more excited as I type this list!
15) I have a crazy amount of fantastic opportunities as a musician here, and my biggest problem is having time to pursue all of them. I seriously feel limited only by how much work I put in, and not by other people or circumstances, and it's a fantastic feeling to have that I never had in Columbus.
16) There are seriously a lot more, but I don't think I have time to write it all.
So there you go, a list of why this semester is probably going to be my best semester of school to date. I'm extremely happy with my life right now. And, I also have wonderful friends and family who are the cream cheese frosting to my carrot cake of happiness.
The song of the day today is: Are You Gonna Be My Girl, by the band Jet. It's a rather old song, but a good one, and it's happy and makes me even happier. So here it is. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuK6n2Lkza0&ob=av3e
With love,
Gilmore
Well, it's nearing the end of the second day of my second semester in college. I'm rather excited for the rest of this one. Since I enjoy lists and thinking in lists and writing lists, here's a lovely numbered collection of all the reasons I'm thinking this will be a great semester.
1) I don't have to get up at 6am. Instead, I wake up at the much more reasonable hour of 7am, and this makes me very happy.
2) I'm taking filmscoring with 3 pretty cool dudes, and I have a pretty cool professor. Yeah, our class is only made of 4 people. So much win.
3) I'm taking Organismic Biology instead of AgriScience for my science class this semester, and this is actually something I'm interested in/pertains to my major.
4) My theory and aural skills classes are filled with some pretty fantastic people.
5) I'm playing synthesizer for Big Red Express, which is rather fun and I'm realizing is not something I should have been worried about.
6) I'm getting more than 2 hours of sleep a night (so far, knock on wood).
7) At some point this semester, I'll hopefully be singing with either the UNL jazz orchestra or Big Band. Which is definitely one of the most amazing, wonderful opportunities ever.
8) I got to pick the song/key of what I'm doing for 7), plus, I get to arrange it.
9) My professors all seem pretty awesome, some I've had before, and the new ones are pretty great, too.
10) I will actually have all the textbooks I need by Friday.
11) Jazz choir gets to travel this semester!
12) I (might) get to travel with Big Red Express this semester!
13) I (might) get to go to Chicago over spring break to watch The Black Keys in concert!
14) I'm getting progressively more excited as I type this list!
15) I have a crazy amount of fantastic opportunities as a musician here, and my biggest problem is having time to pursue all of them. I seriously feel limited only by how much work I put in, and not by other people or circumstances, and it's a fantastic feeling to have that I never had in Columbus.
16) There are seriously a lot more, but I don't think I have time to write it all.
So there you go, a list of why this semester is probably going to be my best semester of school to date. I'm extremely happy with my life right now. And, I also have wonderful friends and family who are the cream cheese frosting to my carrot cake of happiness.
The song of the day today is: Are You Gonna Be My Girl, by the band Jet. It's a rather old song, but a good one, and it's happy and makes me even happier. So here it is. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuK6n2Lkza0&ob=av3e
With love,
Gilmore
Thursday, January 5, 2012
New Year. New Stories.
Hello readers!
Well, I didn't bring my laptop to Orlando, and I'm glad I didn't, because I really would NOT have had time to use it, plus, Wi-Fi at the hotel was apparently 10 extra dollars, anyway.
So, I'm going to tell you the events of my (All expenses paid, oh thank you UNL and the Capital One Bowl) trip to Orlando.
Day 1. Arrival.
Well, our flight left Lincoln at 3am CST, and we arrived in Orlando at approximately 11 EST. We went from the runway to a charter bus, and immediately to rehearsal from there. Rehearsal lasted a few hours, then we went back to the hotel, and had the rest of the day to ourselves. I opted for a pretty low-key night (I hadn't slept since the night before), and hung out with some friends, exploring the area around the DoubleTree Hotel near SeaWorld, getting milkshakes, and eating in this awesome little pizzeria across the street from the hotel. After that, we explored the hotel itself, which had 3 outdoor pools, an indoor pool, and a Jacuzzi... And did some karaoke with another friend. My on-the-fly harmonies will eventually be found on my friend Josh's Facebook.
Day 2. Parade. Universal Studios.
Well, that title was pretty much my day. But here are some details.
The Parade:
Long. Hot. Sweaty. Boring.
These 4 words sum it up the best, but seriously, it was kind of grueling. The Florida heat and humidity didn't help, and it we played the whole time and stopped pretty much every 30 feet for almost 2 miles. Not the most enjoyable experience of my life. Also, there wasn't really water for us after the parade, which sucked. Thankfully, I'd forgotten my water bottle on the bus the night before so I shared that with a few section members to tide us over until we got back to the hotel. After a nice, quick shower, we headed to...
Universal Studios!
Amazing. Fantastic. Wonderful. Thrilling.
Yup, these 4 words sum it up best.
Seriously, I had an amazing time. After a quick performance in our band polos (instead of full uniform, thank God), we embarked on a wonderful journey through the entirety of the Universal Studios park. My group, which consisted of 3 guys named John, Josh, and Cory (and me. Duh.), had a fantastic time riding all the rides and seeing all the sights that were to be seen. My two favorites had to be the pharaoh rollercoaster where the ceiling lit on fire (way cool), and the Rock it, a rollercoaster that was rather fast and rather fun, where Josh and I got to sit in the front row both times with our arms up.
We spent the magic midnight moment in the park, and went to get our stuff... To discover our stuff was gone. Turns out we couldn't get the locker open because the electronic lockers didn't register that we put our stuff in in the first place, and it was all still locked... So... Yeah. We were about 5 minutes late for the busses. But hey, we got all our stuff back, so that's all that matters.
Day 3: Practice. Pep rally. Universal Studios part 2.
So yeah, we had to wake up rather early the next morning after getting back to the hotel circa 1am or later... And after another 4 hour rehearsal, I took a nap, and played a pep rally in full uniform with the band (it was a rather uneventful pep rally.). After said pep rally, we went back to the hotel, showered, and my friends from the night before, plus my good friend Harper (that's his last name. We don't call him by his first name.) went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. This park had separate admission, and we were only there for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. But it was a rather magical 2 hours and 15 minutes. See, the great thing was, when we were getting there, almost everyone was leaving since the park closed at 10pm. So, we went to guest services, they gave us a 25% discount from the admission price, and we went into the park to experience only 5-15 minute waits on almost every ride. Which was so super fantastic. Plus, Harry Potter world at night is WAY FREAKING COOL. Seriously. We were able to explore most of Harry Potter world, go on the Hogwarts castle tour/rollercoaster, the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster, enjoy a ButterBeer, and buy pumpkin juice (which Harper and I brought home and still need to drink.). We also got to go on The Hulk (The biggest, best rollercoaster in the whole park) two times in a row. I also got a chocolate frog, which I still need to eat. Very very worth the money and the time. We took a cab back to the hotel, and went to Village Inn for a late dinner afterwards. That was definitely a fantastic night.
Day 4: Pep rally pep rally pep rally. Foo'ball foo'ball foo'ball. Gameday gameday gameday. HOME.
This was our last day in Orlando... I really wasn't ready for the trip to be over until it was, because I came home extremely exhausted.
We played a few pep rallies before the game started, were herded into the stadium, and marched a very condensed version of our pregame. The game was kind of sad, we really shouldn't have lost as badly as we did, but oh well. The halftime show went well, and the band played well, so at least it isn't a reflection on me personally. After the slightly disappointing game, we went straight to the airport, and waited around for about 4 hours, then finally went home. Not a whole lot of interesting things to report about the flight, it was pretty average. I talked to my friend Michael for awhile on the plane, then we both passed out until we got back to Lincoln. From there, my mom picked me up after I (FINALLY) got my luggage, then I went back to Columbus. I left C-town on the 4th around 3pm, and now I'm finally back in Lincoln in my dorm again. I missed hanging out here in Lincoln, I really feel at home here, and am ready for next semester and all its stress to start... Because I'm a bit crazy like that.
So there you have it, my days in Orlando, and a rather fantastic end to my marching band career. I'm going to miss marching band during gamedays and during the bowl trip next year, but what I didn't realize is that marching band isn't just an activity in college.... It's a lifestyle. And I can't lead a marching band lifestyle and a double major lifestyle next year without killing myself from stress and overwork, so this will have to be my last year. I've made some amazing friends throughout though, and I'm definitely going to miss it, but I'm also glad it's over. This was probably the best way to end my band career, and I ended it with some pretty great people. Thanks for everything, Cornhusker Marching Band, this year meant so much more to me than all 4 years of high school band did put together. Even though you had less time to make an impression than my high school years did, you sure made a hell of one on me, and I feel I’ve gained a lot more from it. I’m so glad I got to have this experience while I was able to fit it in my schedule. You guys will always hold a very special place in my heart.
With love,
Gilmore
P.S. Today's song of the day is called Lonely Boy by The Black Keys. It's from their newest album, El Camino. Still blues-rock, but so gritty that it's the listening equivalent of chewing on a dirt road. In other words, absolute fantastic-ness. I've been obsessed with this band for awhile now, and their quality of music has been amazing from their first album, and keeps outdoing itself with every new release. I love them a lot, and after watching this guy dance to this song (yeah, all they have for their current music video is this random guy dancing. It's all ya need.), you'll probably be in love with them, too.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_426RiwST8
Well, I didn't bring my laptop to Orlando, and I'm glad I didn't, because I really would NOT have had time to use it, plus, Wi-Fi at the hotel was apparently 10 extra dollars, anyway.
So, I'm going to tell you the events of my (All expenses paid, oh thank you UNL and the Capital One Bowl) trip to Orlando.
Day 1. Arrival.
Well, our flight left Lincoln at 3am CST, and we arrived in Orlando at approximately 11 EST. We went from the runway to a charter bus, and immediately to rehearsal from there. Rehearsal lasted a few hours, then we went back to the hotel, and had the rest of the day to ourselves. I opted for a pretty low-key night (I hadn't slept since the night before), and hung out with some friends, exploring the area around the DoubleTree Hotel near SeaWorld, getting milkshakes, and eating in this awesome little pizzeria across the street from the hotel. After that, we explored the hotel itself, which had 3 outdoor pools, an indoor pool, and a Jacuzzi... And did some karaoke with another friend. My on-the-fly harmonies will eventually be found on my friend Josh's Facebook.
Day 2. Parade. Universal Studios.
Well, that title was pretty much my day. But here are some details.
The Parade:
Long. Hot. Sweaty. Boring.
These 4 words sum it up the best, but seriously, it was kind of grueling. The Florida heat and humidity didn't help, and it we played the whole time and stopped pretty much every 30 feet for almost 2 miles. Not the most enjoyable experience of my life. Also, there wasn't really water for us after the parade, which sucked. Thankfully, I'd forgotten my water bottle on the bus the night before so I shared that with a few section members to tide us over until we got back to the hotel. After a nice, quick shower, we headed to...
Universal Studios!
Amazing. Fantastic. Wonderful. Thrilling.
Yup, these 4 words sum it up best.
Seriously, I had an amazing time. After a quick performance in our band polos (instead of full uniform, thank God), we embarked on a wonderful journey through the entirety of the Universal Studios park. My group, which consisted of 3 guys named John, Josh, and Cory (and me. Duh.), had a fantastic time riding all the rides and seeing all the sights that were to be seen. My two favorites had to be the pharaoh rollercoaster where the ceiling lit on fire (way cool), and the Rock it, a rollercoaster that was rather fast and rather fun, where Josh and I got to sit in the front row both times with our arms up.
We spent the magic midnight moment in the park, and went to get our stuff... To discover our stuff was gone. Turns out we couldn't get the locker open because the electronic lockers didn't register that we put our stuff in in the first place, and it was all still locked... So... Yeah. We were about 5 minutes late for the busses. But hey, we got all our stuff back, so that's all that matters.
Day 3: Practice. Pep rally. Universal Studios part 2.
So yeah, we had to wake up rather early the next morning after getting back to the hotel circa 1am or later... And after another 4 hour rehearsal, I took a nap, and played a pep rally in full uniform with the band (it was a rather uneventful pep rally.). After said pep rally, we went back to the hotel, showered, and my friends from the night before, plus my good friend Harper (that's his last name. We don't call him by his first name.) went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. This park had separate admission, and we were only there for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. But it was a rather magical 2 hours and 15 minutes. See, the great thing was, when we were getting there, almost everyone was leaving since the park closed at 10pm. So, we went to guest services, they gave us a 25% discount from the admission price, and we went into the park to experience only 5-15 minute waits on almost every ride. Which was so super fantastic. Plus, Harry Potter world at night is WAY FREAKING COOL. Seriously. We were able to explore most of Harry Potter world, go on the Hogwarts castle tour/rollercoaster, the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster, enjoy a ButterBeer, and buy pumpkin juice (which Harper and I brought home and still need to drink.). We also got to go on The Hulk (The biggest, best rollercoaster in the whole park) two times in a row. I also got a chocolate frog, which I still need to eat. Very very worth the money and the time. We took a cab back to the hotel, and went to Village Inn for a late dinner afterwards. That was definitely a fantastic night.
Day 4: Pep rally pep rally pep rally. Foo'ball foo'ball foo'ball. Gameday gameday gameday. HOME.
This was our last day in Orlando... I really wasn't ready for the trip to be over until it was, because I came home extremely exhausted.
We played a few pep rallies before the game started, were herded into the stadium, and marched a very condensed version of our pregame. The game was kind of sad, we really shouldn't have lost as badly as we did, but oh well. The halftime show went well, and the band played well, so at least it isn't a reflection on me personally. After the slightly disappointing game, we went straight to the airport, and waited around for about 4 hours, then finally went home. Not a whole lot of interesting things to report about the flight, it was pretty average. I talked to my friend Michael for awhile on the plane, then we both passed out until we got back to Lincoln. From there, my mom picked me up after I (FINALLY) got my luggage, then I went back to Columbus. I left C-town on the 4th around 3pm, and now I'm finally back in Lincoln in my dorm again. I missed hanging out here in Lincoln, I really feel at home here, and am ready for next semester and all its stress to start... Because I'm a bit crazy like that.
So there you have it, my days in Orlando, and a rather fantastic end to my marching band career. I'm going to miss marching band during gamedays and during the bowl trip next year, but what I didn't realize is that marching band isn't just an activity in college.... It's a lifestyle. And I can't lead a marching band lifestyle and a double major lifestyle next year without killing myself from stress and overwork, so this will have to be my last year. I've made some amazing friends throughout though, and I'm definitely going to miss it, but I'm also glad it's over. This was probably the best way to end my band career, and I ended it with some pretty great people. Thanks for everything, Cornhusker Marching Band, this year meant so much more to me than all 4 years of high school band did put together. Even though you had less time to make an impression than my high school years did, you sure made a hell of one on me, and I feel I’ve gained a lot more from it. I’m so glad I got to have this experience while I was able to fit it in my schedule. You guys will always hold a very special place in my heart.
With love,
Gilmore
P.S. Today's song of the day is called Lonely Boy by The Black Keys. It's from their newest album, El Camino. Still blues-rock, but so gritty that it's the listening equivalent of chewing on a dirt road. In other words, absolute fantastic-ness. I've been obsessed with this band for awhile now, and their quality of music has been amazing from their first album, and keeps outdoing itself with every new release. I love them a lot, and after watching this guy dance to this song (yeah, all they have for their current music video is this random guy dancing. It's all ya need.), you'll probably be in love with them, too.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_426RiwST8
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