Friday, April 25, 2008

"The Final Countdown!"

I apologize to my non-MySpace friends who have been without my whimsical ponderings for the past couple of weeks. With the new job looming, I've kept any job-related blogs confined to my MySpace blog (grudgingly) because I can lock it down to "friends only". Some of the stuff I tend to post regarding my current place of business, can be construed as - how shall I put it - somewhat unprofessional, hence me desire to leave there. My new place of business (which I have the utmost respect for, given the initial impressions I've gotten) is pretty tech-savvy and might have occasion to read it. Not a wise move to post any grievances regarding your employer for all to see, even if they are your soon-to-be-ex-employer.

Anyway, if you want those blogs, let me know or add me on MySpace. If I can trust that you or my blatherings won't leak to relevant parties and compromise my or my new employer's professional integrity, I may consider sharing my stories and news about my soon-to-be-former employment. As for anything about my new job, I'll be keeping a pretty tight lid on that. It's a very professional place and I don't want to do anything to screw up my new opportunity.

Anyway, on to personal (and safer) topics...

Last night I went with my buddy Chris Rohn and his wife to see the DCI countdown show on the Big Screen. I was going to boycott this one, due to my disfavorable attitude towards the direction DCI has been taking the last 10 years or so, but with a good friend along for the ride, it was worth bending my principles a bit for the social aspect of it.

It was a decent compliation of the top 6 shows of the past 3 years of DCI Finals, as voted on by the fans at DCI.org. I can't say I agreed with the fans' choices entirely (my brain still hurts whenever I see a Cadets show from the past decade or so), but aside from that, it was fun. I still have no idea how Carolina Crown was able to produce so many IMPECCABLY in-tune chords in one show!

There were FAR fewer attendees than most of the DCI events I've been to. Probably due to the limited scope of the event (the past 3 years tends to exclude old-school drum corps afficianados and all but the die-hard drum corps fans) and the increased access to the event at other locations.

Also, the audio was a bit screwed up at the Walled Lake location. At first, it was tinny and soft, but after Chris complained, they cranked up the volume a bit. Still, even after that, the theater only produced the right channel. Chris and I complained to the manager, who was superficially appologetic, but unwilling to offer any kind of reimbursement to resolve the situation.

Meh - lots of other theaters showing the DCI events these days. I've been going to this theater for every DCI Big Screen event I have attended so far - mostly because it was the only one showing it at first. Now that other local theaters have joined the bandwagon (pun sort of intended), I'll just go to the Livonia location from now on. A bit closer to me and hopefully without the apathetic management and better facilities.

I pick up my freshly restored laptop from my friend Chris DeLaney later today. The guy's the network administrator for a local school district and a techno-whiz. He was able not only to wipe my laptop down and re-install XP (not an easy thing, given the Frankenstein nature of Compaq's innards), but he was able to save all my files and charged me a pittance for the work! The guy's a genius and a saint.

Anyway, only about 23,000 seconds to go here! I wonder what fate has in store for me! Could I possibly be blessed yet again? Will I just resume to even-keel? Could I be due for and audit by the Universal Forces of Karmic Balance?

I'll be vigilent, but right now, I'm gonna soak up all the happiness I can and wallow in gratitude for the past week, sure to be regarded as the best week of the year...

...Then again, I have a new job starting up next week. Could even BETTER times lie ahead?

1 comment:

JimB said...

Thanks for the post about the Countdown. You answered a question for me; I went to the showing in Memphis, TN. The audio problem there was that it was delayed... for the ENTIRE show. We were told it was the satellite broadcast that was the issue, but if so, it obviously didn't affect all locations the same way.