Day 75

*ATTENTION* This is a SPECIAL EDITION BLOG. Since I figured all you readers may know about my summer but may not know a lot about me as a person, I decided that I will be the last spotlight. So with that said, I am letting one of my fellow pit members, Justine Lempicki, write the blog for me today. Enjoy!!


Date: July 28, 2011
Time: 11:45pm (EST)
Playing on iTunes: "Ocean" by John Butler Trio


Location: Chattanooga, TN
Recent Trip: 480 miles

We're back in Tennessee, Chattanooga this time though! After a long, restful bus ride including rest stops one of which the inside temperature challenged that of the Arctic Circle and a beautiful sunrise, we arrived at our housing site around 9 am. Not a high school this time, but the actual stadium! After a short nap until 11, breakfast and the day meeting, the pit was off to find an excellent shade zone for the afternoon sectional block. We worked on a couple of changes, one in opener that gives the vibe part a much more demonic feeling and another to the closer to make the company front more angelic. 


After lunch it was off to Percussion Stadium for an hour and a half with the battery. Having that much time was phenomenal and we made giant strides with tempo in the opener. Percussion stadium is absolutely my favorite part of the day when we get the opportunity for it. We always get so much done and things always feel that much better in ensemble when we know exactly what is going on behind us.

 After Percussion Stadium the pit split so that the acoustic keyboards worked on our new pit tune "Who Says" by John Mayer  and the back row (North Side) cleaned the truck. I've never gotten into listening to John Mayer but after downloading a few extra songs to get into his vibe I now have a renewed urge to work on playing guitar again and expand my music library.


Ensemble block brought AWESOME new guard uniforms, some more white effects for back field and a fabulous addition to our lead angel's uniform for the finale. I'd tell you more but I'd hate to ruin the surprise. I will however say that back field "effect" works great and the addition is truly beautiful. I'm very excited for everything to be added throughout the shows this weekend.


After ensemble and a great dinner featuring both demon and angel rice we had a short hop meeting while the corps as a whole peeled and retaped the dowels used in Angels and Demons during the show. The CBCCG did a great job organizing the taping and we're all super grateful for their taping expertise. I know what would have happened if I had been in charge of the actual taping and it would not have been a good result. 


After the grand retaping, the CPit Chicks (CPC) had a short "sleep over" where we hung out, ate starbursts, muddy buddies and read magazines. We also reflected on how long ago Spring Training seems to have been and different things we had forgotten had even happened. I can't wait for December to come so I can sign online and read this entire blog and have all of these memories come back. This whole summer has been amazing and I am so lucky to have gotten to experience it. 

 CPIT Spotlight 2011

Having known Bobby for the past two years I can honestly say that he is an extremely hard working, caring and dependable person. Hailing from Chelmsford, MA Bobby started playing piano at the age of seven and drumset when he was ten. In high school he participated in both winter percussion (drum set) and marching band (quads). After high school Bobby has gone on to attend UMASS Amherst where he is a music performance major concentrating in both Piano and Percussion. At UMASS he is a member of the Minuteman Marching Band where he plays in the pit and will be one of the section leaders this upcoming fall. He has also been a member of the Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble where he plays both piano and percussion. This past spring Bobby entered the Umass Concerto Competition, which he won with Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F. 

Bobby had been thinking about marching quads at a smaller drum corps for this summer, however after the encouragement of Colin McNutt and Thom Hannum he decided to audition here at Cadets. His favorite Cadets show from before the year 2000 is 1987 Appalachian Spring (also my favorite, definitely worth listening to if you haven't, or listening to if you have!). When it comes to drum corps dinner, Bobby is a large fan of chicken patties and mixed fruit, can't go wrong with that! Through our travels he has found a great love for the state of Texas. Everywhere we have stayed has been very clean, well kept, and built to fully accomodate the activities it houses. This includes music facilities and schools in general, which we all know is lacking in some towns. Bobby is excited to be heading back to Massachusetts so his family and friends can see what we've been up to all summer!

Thought of the Day: You only have time to be GREAT.