Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Over the years, college marching bands have been disciplined because of problematic behavior. Here, from Chronicle reports and published accounts, is a roundup:

Stanford University:

-- Suspended for trashing the Band Shak rehearsal trailer, 2006.
-- Student "Tree" mascot suspended for performing while drunk, 2006; replacement "Tree" mascot ejected from women's basketball tournament for dancing in undesignated area.
-- Banned from University of Notre Dame for routine in which conductor, dressed as nun, used crucifix as baton, 1991.
-- Suspended for "mooning" fans, 1986.

UC Davis:

Probation after student director was accused of sexual harassment, 1992.

Texas Tech:

Suspensions for 19 members who attacked mascot "Rex L. the Bat" during University of Texas game, 1995.

Texas Southern University:

Suspensions for 12 members and probation for 17 others for shoplifting on trip to Coca-Cola Bowl in Japan, 1993.

Prairie View A&M, Texas, and Southern University, Louisiana:

Suspended for halftime brawl in which Prairie View's sousaphones were damaged in the amount of $20,000, 1998.

Southern University, Louisiana:

Probation after a freshman band member's knee was injured during hazing, 2001.

University of Wisconsin:

Suspended Friday for hazing, alcohol consumption and "inappropriate sexual behavior." Probation for "seminude dancing," head-shaving and hazing during Michigan road trip, 2006.

Alabama A&M University:

Probation after eight female musicians said they were blindfolded and paddled in a hazing ritual, 2005.

Jackson State University, Mississippi:

Probation for forcing musicians who played their parts incorrectly to do push-ups, 2007.

Florida State University:

Probation for forcing new band members to drink alcohol while blindfolded, 1994.

Florida A&M:

Probation for 74 members who stole items from a hotel in Detroit, 2006.

University of Virginia:

Pep band disbanded after a halftime skit mocking the University of West Virginia as hillbillies, 2002.

Yale University:

Suspensions for four band members who dropped trousers at halftime, 1985.

Now...my question is.....Where are the Marching Chips in this wonderful melay of fun!? Have none of these people ever been told..."What happens on the bus...stays on the bus"? I....want to party with these people!

Thank God for Jack!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

What to say when....

It's been a hella long time since I've blogged!!! Baseball had certainly taken over my life. It's officially time for me to do some things for myself. First of which is the glacier of laundry that seems to be living in my basement. Clean the cracks and crevices that don't normally get a weekly cleaning, who knows what I'll find!! Jimmy Hoffa is still missing.....right!?

So....so women go through mid-life crisis' like men do. I think they do and I am certainly in a big one. I've been introspecting the last few weeks and I honestly don't think that I like what I've found. It's time to make some internal changes and see if I can essentually become a better person. For me, my family and yes....if a higher power interveens...my husband.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OhVwUPK6cY

For my friends...I love you all so very, very much. Circle the wagons, animals....I need you!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

RUT...RUT....RUT.....

Yep, you guessed it, I am officially in a rut. Baseball has started and we are at one ball park or another 4 days a week and every other weekend. Oh, yeah....I am a mom that has to pull dinner out of her *ss 4 nights a week in less than 15 minutes. I am Rachel Ray on crack!!! I am bored to death with my job. I love learning alot of the legal world, but I am honestly bored to tears. I want to go back to school and get my EMT license and work on one of the local rigs. However, as a low man, I would be working some really odd hours and family is a hard thing to work around. My props to my Gal Pal...Great Lakes Running Gal, she is my hero!! As I know she has done it, is doing it and has accomplished alot.

I am seriously underpaid for what I do here but, I'm sure an EMT makes close to what I do, just crappier hours. So......goes the conflict. Do what I want and have always wanted to do....or continue being this pseudo super mom in a dead end job as a legal secretary day in and day out.

Any comments from my peanut gallery are very welcome.

XO

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

I can't remember who this came from.....but, it's funny. Sorry if it's a repeat of yours! :)

You Know You Go to CMU When...

-Town is a total of about 5 miles, but it takes you 15 minutes to get across it.

-You can't manage to make it to your 9 am class, but you never miss a 7 am tailgating call.

-You've been told by Preacher Rick that you are going to hell.

-You have Central Girls by DJ Greenup on your Ipod.

-Driving off campus is like waiting in line for Top Thrill Dragster, except there's nothing exciting at the end.

-You use more gas in the parking lot, waiting for a spot, then you do driving home.

-You know what the "medallion" is and you stay up till 4am looking for it.

-Tailgating is an Olympic sport.

-Teachers understand that Friday is a holiday

-You know how to pronounce Anspach

- You have completley embarassed yourself at lil chef more than once

-You've gone tailgating, walked through the gate to "get counted", and went right back out.

-You still don't understand why those giant puddles in front of the SAC are called "ponds"

-You know that the SAC is somewhere you go, not a part of the human anatomy.

-You can wear maroon and gold/a central t-shirt everyday for a week straight because they give away so many free shirts.

-You have never been more excited than when you moved back in last fall and saw that Taco Bell was finally open 24hours.

-You've broken the suspension on your car at the intersection of Mission and Broomfield

- You were dissapointed that Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, Forever21, Victorias Secret, Express, The Buckle, ect. are all at least an hour away, but have learned how to make one good looking outfit with just TJ Max, Pennys and Old Navy.

-you spend tuesday at "o'kels" wednesday at "the bin" and thursday at "the stone"

-you skip class when its raining, but have no problem walking to mainstreet during a monsoon

-when you ask your roommate "you want anything from the store?" they know exactly what you're talking about

-you dont get ID'd at the store anymore

-you're friends with the bouncer at o'kellys, the stone, and the pub

-you've been told to follow the train tracks home after a night out

-you know what the RFOC is

-you have the drunk tank's number on speed dial

-You get "stalked" every time you walk out to your car

-"The Towers" don't make you think of New York City.

-You've referred to the RFOC as "RFUCK"

-You regretfully spent one night getting molested at the Wayside, and then somehow continue to get talked into joining your friends there...

-You thanked God himself for switching Broomfield to Michigan Lefts, instead of the deadly free-for-all that it once was.

-you come to expect coach kelly to try and pull at least one trick play out of his ass per game!

-you actually listen to and appreciate your college Marching Band!

-half of the girls in your friday morning classes have red X's on the sides of their faces.

-You've used the phrase "good in the SAC" in a non-sexual sort of way.

-Hearing the word "Trout" reminds you of where you passed out last weekend, not the big fish you caught last summer.

-When someone asks you if you're going to "His House," you don't know if he means an actual house or a church.

-You know what the Warriner circle is and avoid it at all cost

-The elevators stop at every floor but the doors don't open

-During ice storms school closes after all the ice has cleared up instead of in the AM when it's the worst.

-You have been pulled over by the county police, CMU police, State police, tribal police, etc. . .

-You think Krapohls and Assmans are perfectly normal names for a business

-Your classes are virtually empty the morning of November 15th

-You have seen more than 5 cars in the ditch at one time on Deerfield Rd. in the winter

-You know that the Underground Party store isn't really underground anymore

- Island Park ice tea tastes a little better than a Long Island

-You have regular conversations about how taco bell should deliver, and how much more money they would make if they did

-you see little kids being forced by their parents to pick up beer cans, not just on the weekends, but every day of the week

-More booty calls take place on tuesdays and thursdays....than fridays and saturdays

-98% of your orientation group dropped out.....the first semester.

-you know a guy that has hooked up with 5 of your friends.

-girls go to the SAC to look cute in their outfits, not to workout

-You know what a Bar Star is, who THE bar star is, or have been accused of being a bar star!

-Your average blood alcohol level is higher than your GPA

-You have "the fevour" and it's not a illness

-You know all about the shoes on the electrical wires on S lansing st

Thursday, March 20, 2008

When family and death smacks you in the face..

I know....it's been quite a while since I've been able to do this. But, I have a good excuse. I almost lost Joel. He has been very..very sick and in the hospital for a little over a week. He's been off work for almost 3.

And..all of this may have been avoided if the damn doctors would have taken a little more time and effort in his initial care. We are looking in to getting damages from Pipp/Borgess hospital.

Joel's had kidney stones BAD......BAD...kidney stones since October. He had been to the ER twice, once by ambulance. "yep..stones"...take this pain medication and good luck.

Well, almost 4 weeks ago..an excrutiating pain developed in his right side...down his groin and into his boy parts. Almost debilitating...he endured. March 4th...I convinced him to go to the Dr. He stayed home and I called...they were too busy...go to ER..it may be appendicitis. So....we did.

Pipp ER.....No urine specimin...no blood test...they put him on IV...gave him Dilladed (sp) and some Toredol (sp) and said...it's stone related. After the pain didn't go away....gave him more Dilladed. As he started seizing and trying to scratch his skin off...I got a nurse. They injected Benedryl and Adivan.....and SENT HIM HOME ONLY 15 MINUTES LATER!!! With a script for pain and nausea. Good luck...hope it passes soon. Four hours later...gone.

As we arrived home...he barely go up the stairs to the kitchen and I then figured out that I CAN carry my 160 lb husband. He went down...seizing again. We spent 20 minutes on the floor in the bathroom. After about 10 minutes he got into bed...ate....and got up to have a smoke....down he went again. Another one. This time..I needed our "brothers"...I called 911 and got my firemen there. They transported him to Borgess and almost lost him in the ambulance.....where we spend another 4 hours and several tests. They admitted him...they had no clue. He was in there until last week....colonoscopy, upper GI, a couple more seizures......still nothing.

Come to find out...he has a stone the size of a large pop top that he is tomorrow...having Lithrotripsied as an out patient. The seizures you ask....oh, come to find out that he is allergic to Dilladed.....and he was on the verge of having such severe ones....that he could have died. But, hey..."it's just stones...good luck."

For all of you special people in my life...you know who...all will be ok. He has to visit the pain clinic for some steroid injections in his groin (he's really happy about that)..and with the surgery tomorrow...... all will be ok, eventually.

Hmm...should we sue?!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

How did our parents do it??

Hunter came home from school yesterday with a letter from Tom Matthews, our resident JV football coach turned....apparently baseball coach. Stating that he wants Hunter to play baseball for him on his newly formed Otsego Bulldogs U12 travel ball team. Now those of you who know me, I may have boasted last fall that Hunter had tried out and made the Kalamazoo Kings youth baseball team. (it was kinda a big deal). Well, due to coaching problems and lack of enough good pitchers....they decided to not have a team. Hunter was devistated. He then tried out for the Grand Rapids Diamonds.....they travel to Florida...UM, no! We had resigned ourselves to going back to Alamo Little League....watching our "little leaguer" make the all star team and be on his way to the Little League World Series again this year.

Much to my surprise....Hunter's catching prowess has apparently been the talk of all the coaches associated with Otsego Public Schools and a whole team......has been designed around HIM! Someone should'a filled me in!!!

So...the note came home and life as I know it ended! ......6 weekends througout the summer..every other weekend, however. At least 19...count'em....19 guaranteed games (this doesn't count the games they'll play on in the tourny if their actually good) and THEN.......every wednesday evening for 6 weeks....DOUBLE HEADERS!!!

Hey... they do get a snazzy uniform that costs $100. Any playing fees....oh, that was a mear....$300! What the hell....I'm made of money! Add that to the new catcher's gear....$180.00...new catcher's mitt...his, too small...$60...and all the other CRAP...I sound like a Master Card commercial. Priceless!

And by the way...his last tournament date......July 25-27!!!!!! In Charlotte!!! Yes campers...that is the last weekend of our blissful week together. Not to worry.....we will be working this little issue out. Mama needs some friend time!!!

The day after this......another letter home.....Hunter's first band concert. Yep, we've all been there.....pre-puberty boys and girls squeeking mercilessly on their instruments!!! He now needs black pants...white button shirt and black shoes!! WHAT THE HELL! I apprently need to start stripping or selling drugs to accomodate my familys hobbies!!! That with the hefty rental of a lovely snaredrum set with bells (whistles etc.). YES...my son is a PERC!!

How did my parents do this. Poor Grace is going to be 16 before she can play extra sports, take dance classes etc. My parents must have shelled out a fortune to keep this little old "joiner" me happy and in hobbies. My hats off to them....

Ranting finished...love to all.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Ghosts from the past and so forth....

Ok....do you ever look back through the people in your life that you've either had a "relationship" with or what would be a one night stand with. Or even a friend with benefits..............people that just give you warm fuzzies when you think of them no matter how long it has been since you've seen them or talked to them?

I had an encounter with one today and my heart still skips a beat when I think about him.

I just got off the phone with one of my very favorite friends with benefits. I hadn't talked to him, other than a few random emails, in almost 14 years. I received an email from him that I just had to talk to him about in person. I called him at work.....and I honestly think it blew him away that I did. We talked for quite a while and exchanged misc. pleasantries... We weren't on the phone for more than 15-20 minutes. But, it was so very nice to talk to him and the warm fuzzies.......still there!!!

Are there people in your life that you feel this way about and always will? I know there are.

Random thought of the day and just had to share.
I also got this from Lisa...and from GKnee. Very, Very interesting to say the least!!
What Lauri Means
You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.
You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.
You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way.And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life.You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.
You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.
You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.