Date: August 10, 2011
Time: 11:43pm (EST)
Location: Knightstown, IN
Recent Trip: 290 miles
We have finally made it to our last destination...Indianapolis, IN. We traveled 17,000 miles, toured through 37 states, and have gained uncountable fans along the way.
Here’s our route from this summer, but now complete:
Unbelievable how far we traveled and how much we have done and it is almost over!
Today is our only rehearsal day for finals week, which is ahead of us. It’s also our last full rehearsal day of the summer. In preparation for these three huge days of finals, we need to make sure that logistically we are perfect throughout the entire pit. One big thing we got done today was spray paint the accessory bars for the marimbas, xylophone, and vibraphones. While the girls spray painted, the guys shined cymbals in the showers. That was an entertaining time to say the least!The percussion section got a special visitor today. His name is Vic Firth. The owner of Vic Firth (link) stick and mallet company, he leads the worlds most reliable, versatile stick company. We are endorsed by Vic Firth for our sticks and mallets.Pumping out 82,000 sticks in a two 10-hour shift day, Vic Firth is known as the place for the worlds best sticks and mallets. I could talk about him for ages, but if you’d like some background about the man, check out this link here and read about him on Wikipedia. He has a lot of experience with anything you can think of music.
He came to talk to us and make sure that we were ready for finals week and that we got his blessings. It was great to know that someone so important in the percussion world had our backs and was excited to motivate us. He is a very wise man. The most important thing he said in our “question-answer” that he had with the percussion section was, “Do what you do well, and do it extremely well.” This really stuck to me because he’s very right in that you need to do something great and do it better. That’s the only way to continue to become greater than you were before.
Dinner tonight was VERY special. We got steak!! And luckily for me, a girl in the pit is a vegetarian so I got her steak as well! I haven’t had steak since the Huntington Beach free day and felt great to have steak again. The steak was very good as you can see below. I would have had a third piece but I decided that wouldn’t be such a good idea. Thank you food truck for cooking us that great food! We, especially the pit, appreciate it!
After our dinner we had our final Hop meeting of the summer. It was great because he summed up everything he had talked about all summer and it was amazing to hear everything that we had learned throughout the three months without even realizing it. All the lessons he has taught us I will take with me forever. This summer has changed my life and George Hopkins has definitely been a part of that. Thank you.
After the Hop meeting, I helped keep some pit kids nice and spiffy for the upcoming shows by cutting their hair. I love cutting because I know it makes people feel good. I love getting haircuts, thusly I love giving them. I gave three hair cuts tonight and they all look good if I do say so myself! All three victims seemed to be very thankful for the haircuts. I also had Taylor cut my hair as well. Now we all match and look great for finals week! We sound good, now we got to look good.Here we go Cadets! Three shows, what can we make out of it!!
Thought of the Day: “Do what you do well, and do it extremely well.” -Vic Firth
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