Trina's page of Blogginess

WGI Finals - streaming to you LIVE from Dayton, OH!

Some of you may know that I usually make an annual pilgrimage to Dayton, OH to attend the Winter Guard International Competition. I've been going since 1986 (watching since 1983) and up til last year, had only missed going twice.

I think it was three years ago that WGI started to offer a streaming-video options for a subscription fee, which allows you to watch the entire competition (yes, that's three days chock-ful of color guard) LIVE.

I watched finals live, by myself last year. (long story, but I wasn't really up for any crowds last year) I really enjoyed it, but I have to say, my experience this year was so much better!


Nikki, Chad, Philip and Mom

Yesterday afternoon, through evening, I had over a few of my dear local guard friends. Chad (who marched in Miller's Blackhawks and San Jose Raiders), Nikki (San Jose Raiders and taught at James Logan HS), Philip (Cavaliers, Generis, and WGI writer) my Mom (she's my Mom first and foremost, but she also used to judge in our local circuit) and Miguel (who was the brave soul of the group who had never actually seen color guard, but has many friends, including his boyfriend, David (Miller's Blackhawks) who have been through the winter guard and drum corps activities). Freddie (Emerald Marquis and Cadets) was supposed to come, but unfortunately for us, was a no-show.


Mom and Miguel
I'd like to point out that my Mom is wearing her/my WGI sweatshirt, circa 1989 for the occasion!

Watching Finals Live, from the comfort of my own house, surrounded by a bunch of friends of like-minds was just fantastic! We had so much fun! For once, we were able to watch a show and say things in our "out loud" voices that we would otherwise have to keep mum if we were actually there. :)

Some of our favorite quotes of the evening:

"Wonder if those dresses will become chain flags?"

"OMG! They're spinning Jesus!" (an image of Jesus was ON the flags)

But nothing could prepare of for the shocking results of the evening! We were little screaming at the TV in disbelief as they announced the placements and scores for the top 3 guards in IW. In all my years, I've never seen an upset like it!

Oh, and let's not forget to mention WGI's major flub-up: after announcing all of the scores and placements of all of the finalist, and while the top three groups were receiving their medals, the announcer announced that a mistake had been made. Apparently, they had mixed up the fourth and fifth placements, and asked the two groups to please switch their plaques. How tacky.

...oh, and lest we forget - the other flub-up of the night, when the announcer spoke too early during the middle of Pride's performance. Crazy.

Congrats goes out to all of the SW and IW finalist. I thought it was one of the strongest IW competitions ever. Special personal mention to some of the groups that my friends teach who had amazing performances: Pride (loved you!), Santa Clara Vanguard, Mayflower (my friend, Rob's guard from the UK!), Carmel, Logan, Arcadia and Little Elm (who won SA, where Mykail teaches).

A great and memorable WGI!

I definitely watched more color guard shows at home this year than I ever have when I actually went to Dayton. I have to say that the WGI Fan Network was such a fantastic option and a great way to partake in the excitement of the weekend.

Labels: color guard, friends, wgi

It was quite the evening here in His 'n Her Condos.
Quite busy, and exciting, actually - especially considering that we didn't leave the house, and didn't have anyone over!

It's a double whammy kind of evening. Tonight two big events (at least big events in our world) and they happened to coincide on the same night - at the same time!

What on Earth am I talking about?

Well, for starters, it was the Final Four games for the NCAA Tournament. Dick's beloved UNC Tar Heels were one of the 4 teams playing, and happily, won their game, and will be advancing to the Final game Monday evening. The first game (Michigan State vs. U. Conn) started at 3:00. The second game, UNC vs. Villanova started around 6:00pm.

Okay, keep that in mind...

Also on tap for this evening: WGI World Class Finals!
Yes - that crazy color guard event that I usually travel to Dayton, OH to attend. For various reasons, I decided not to go this year. It turns out that it's only the third time since I first went in 1986 that I haven't gone. Crazy, huh?

Anyhow, one thing that makes not attending much easier is that I was able to sign up and pay for an online live webcast of the event! Very cool!

Here's the funny part: The Scholastic World Class Finals started at.... 3:00pm.
The Independent World Finals started at... 6:00pm.

So, yes.... lots of exciting stuff happening.

Dick watched his games via our Xbox (Media Center Extender) in the upstairs front room. (We still don't have a TV in our main TV room where the media center lives).

Dick, watching the Final Four

I watched WGI from the TV in our bedroom. Dick and I hooked up his laptop to our TV so that I'd be more comfortable than in the office, and could watch it on a larger screen.

Trina watching WGI!

The part that I think is especially funny is that these two televisions are on opposite sides of one wall, with a pocket door seperating the two rooms. This means that inbetween guard shows (there was about 5 minutes between each guard for tear down/set up) I could just open the pocket door and watch the basketball games with Dick. Occassionally, Dick would pause his game (really, only the first game, when his team wasn't playing) and he would watch a guard show with me.

Another fantastic part of the evening: I was able to send SMS messages via my mobile phone to various friends who were also watching the show. I had friends who were actually in the arena, watching the guards in person, and also friends in Chicago and San Jose. We were all sending texts to each other during the shows, making comments, etc., Very fun, and almost as good as being there! :)

What a fun evening it was. I love technology!

Labels: technology, wgi

After the show.....

This is just a small example of the scene at the Marriott Hotel across the street from the UD Arena. It's where everyone flocks to after the show. It's nuts, but loads of fun.

Labels: wgi

Wow.
That was amazing. I got the chills.
Kudos to you, Misha Mouse! :)

Labels: wgi

Pride of Cincinnati
Loved it.

Labels: wgi

Rich, Tiffini and Benji watching Independent World Class Finals!

Labels: friends, wgi

what are the chances?

I only fly to Chicago once a year. I usually fly on United. I can't remember the last time I flew on American Airlines.

So, what are the chances that the one year that I decide to buy a ticket on American, it coincides with one of the three days that American has to ground 2,400 flights (most of which are flights to Chicago and Dallas).

I should be boarding a flight to Chicago right now. Instead, I'm at home typing this blog post.:)

First of all, I should say that my story has a happy ending, and that it is all going to miraculously work out. I have heard from from some friends who were not so lucky and had to cancel their trips all together.

So, it's that time of the year again! That time in early April when all of the World's Color Guard geeks converge onto Dayton, OH. I've been going to WGI as either a participant, an instructor or an spectator for almost every year since 1986. (I've only missed 2 since then!)

The last few years that I've been attending in spectator/social butterfly mode, I've flown into Chicago on Thursday evening, hooked up with my friend Tammy, and the two of us would drive to Dayton on Friday, arriving in the evening.

We usually get up early on Saturday, and make our way over the Kentucky border to make our annual shopping spree at the Gap Clearance Center in Hebron, KY.

So, here's the funny part:

My sister (who is coming to Dayton for the first time in 10 years!) and I found out yesterday afternoon that our flight to Chicago for this morning was canceled. Not a huge surprise, given that American had been grounding flights for the past 2 days already. The only thing was: we really didn't know what kind of options we would have, and whether we would make it to Dayton at all.

There was no way we were going to get a flight into Chicago anytime today - it just wasn't possible. Plus, flying into Chicago on Friday wasn't an option, as we would have missed our ride to Dayton. Instead, we managed to secure a flight on Delta Airlines from SFO direct to the Cincinnati airport. Cincinnati is only about an hour away from Dayton.

Luckily, Tammy and I are planning our trip this year with 6 people (!), instead of just the two of us. This means that Tammy will have plenty of company (and fun) on her drive from Chicago, and the whole gang will get in just in time to pick up my sister and me from the airport.

But wait: that's not funny yet, is it? Here's the funny part:

Little known airport trivia: the Cincinnati airport is actually just over the border in the state of Kentucky. Even better, it's less than 5 miles away from the aforementioned Gap Clearance Center!

What does that mean?

Well, that means that a light bulb went off in my head, and I reserved 3 rooms for our party at a hotel near the Cincinnati airport/Gap Clearance Center. This way, we won't have to drive the additional 1 hour, 15 minutes to Dayton on Friday night, only to turn back and do the drive back on Saturday morning! Now, we'll be able to relax for the evening, have a nice dinner, certainly have a few drinks (because really, after all of this, I'm going to need a drink!) get a good night's rest and not have to wake up extra early on Saturday morning. Score!

So, yes, it really looks like this scenario will all work out just fine. Our flight back home is still out of Chicago next Thursday on American, but let's just hope that they get their act together before then.

Frankly, I'm amazed that this all worked out as well as it did. I know that we essentially lucked out. I've already heard from one friend who was supposed to travel from San Jose, whose flight was canceled, and they just couldn't' find a way to get him there. That's really too bad. He said he had already tried that flight that my sister and I got on, so I'm guessing it's fully booked now. I also heard from a friend who is already in Dayton who knows of at least 5 groups (Scholastic A High School guards) who had to cancel their WGI trips altogether because of their flights on American. That's really too bad. I feel sorry for those poor kids - how disappointing for them!

So, that's my story. With any luck, I'll be in the air tomorrow, landing in Kentucky, on route to Dayton. We'll see what happens....

Labels: travel, wgi

About a month ago, I set up a private social networking site for all of the Alumni of the State Street Review - a color guard from Madison, WI which I was a member of in 1992-1993. (They were around from 1978-1989, then again from 1992-1993)

The site has been a tremendous success so far: we already have 100 members!

People have been posting photos and video footage from our shows, rehearsals, trips, and miscellaneous adventures.

Two of my friends posted this great clip from our 1992 show, which was Country Western themed. We referred to this part of the show as "The Boot Dance". It was a really fun part of the show. And yes, I'm in there somewhere. Just look for the girl with the big hair!


Find more videos like this on The State Street Review Alumni Site

Labels: color guard, wgi

I just rented and watched "Dreamgirls" last weekend. I actually really enjoyed it.

I never saw it live on stage, and I never even listened to the full soundtrack. But, I did know quite a lot of the songs. "How?" you ask?

Why, through my old days in color guard, of course!
(no surprise there)

The reason why I'm most familiar with the songs was by one color guard show way back in 1983. That's right: 1983 - 24 years ago. I was watching it, even then! Back then (from 1983-1985) WGI was broadcast on PBS stations. They had these horrible TV commentators. We taped them on VHS, and I watched those shows over, and over, and over again. I went to my first WGI in 1986 - it was the first time in 3 years that they didn't air it on PBS.

Bug, I digress....

In 1983, The State Street Review from Madison, WI did a show to parts of the soundtrack of Dreamgirls. I didn't know anything about the broadway show at the time. But, oh, did I love this color guard show! It's still one of my "old school" favorites.


State Street Review, 1983: Dreamgirls

In my mind, this show still holds up. Check out the rifle line. This was back when equipment work and precision went hand-and-hand. I secretly wanted to be in the short flag line - look how cute their uniforms were!

The State Street Review went on to win WGI for 5 consecutive years, from 1985-1989. They decided to "fold" (not have a guard) after that season.

That could be the end of my story, but lucky for me, it's not. In 1990, I moved to Dayton, OH to join another color guard, called the Miller's Blackhawks. The Blackhawks had always been a WGI favorite - usually ranking between 2nd and 5th or so, but never capturing the gold. 1990 was supposed to be that year. The staff hired on Sal Salas, who, with his wife LuAnn, was the director of State Street Review. Sal had quite the reputation, of course.

Lucky for us, Sal took an immediate liking to both me and my sister. It could have had something to do with the fact that we were both born in the city where he grew up: Stockton, CA. The 1990 season didn't end terribly successfully for the Blackhawks (a surprise 4th place at WGI) but on a personal level, I learned a great deal in life lessons, and life-time friendships.

Sal would become a mentor, and one of my closest friends - His Soul Sister that's what he calls me.

Sal talked me into moving down to Southern California to join another guard that he was designing for: The Anaheim Kingsmen. This was the year that Mykail and I first marched together (we had become friends, and competed against each other in Ohio in 1990.) We had a great season. It's too bad there aren't any videos on youtube from that show.


Trina & Mykail: Kingsmen, 1991
check out that BIG hair!

After we finished that season with The Kingsmen, Sal and LuAnn decided to bring back State Street Review. After a brief, and misguided stop in Boston, Mykail and I moved ourselves to Madison - for the first of our two years as members of The State Street Review. We were such enormous guard geeks back then, that this all seemed like a surreal dream!


Trina in the State Street Review, WGI 1993

Thank you for all of the memories, Sal & LuAnn. You changed my life, and helped make this guard geek's dreams come true.


Sal and Trina - at my wedding, 2005

Here's another one of my favorite vintage State Street Review shows. It's called The Four Seasons. When I watched this show, I dreamt of being in the sabre line in State Street (again with the cute uniforms!) - a goal I managed to achieve in 1992 (what?! no cute costumes for the sabre line?) Enjoy!


State Street Review, 1986 - The Seasons

Labels: color guard, friends, wgi

My how time flies.

It's already time for me to pack my backs and head back home.

Our time in Chicagoland has been really wonderful. We spent the majority of our time visiting with our many friends here: breakfast with Eileen, dinner with Bill, and a raucous night in downtown Chicago with Jason.

It's been a great trip - as always. I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful friends here.

Time to go home. I miss my kitties. I miss my hubby. :)


Breakfast with Eileen ("Hi Eileen!")


Bill & Tammy


A visit to Chicago is never complete without a visit with The Amazing Jason!

Labels: friends, travel, wgi

Another WGI has come and gone...

When I was at WGI Headquarters (essentially, the hotel gathering place/bar), my friend, Benji offered to buy me a drink. Everyone knows that I don't drink much, but I figured, when in Rome... (or, Dayton, as it were...)

So, I requested a Mojito.

Benji didn't know what it was.

I described it him.
He thought it sounded yummy.

He came back a few minutes later, asking for my second drink of choice.
Apparently, the bartender had never heard of one either.

Tammy and I just woke up. We're planning to meet some friends for breakfast before we all head home. We didn't get to bed until 4:00. (typical) We woke up at 8:00am, a bit groggy (to say the least), from our lack of sleep over the past two nights.

Tammy mentioned in disbelief that she didn't even have a drink at headquarters last night. I acknowledged that I haven't even had a drink all weekend. (which she laughed at, reminding me that I don't usually have a drink at WGI at all.)

That's when I said, "I tried to have a drink, but nobody knew what a mojito was..."

Her reply: "Trina: You asked the boy from Eau Claire, Wisconsin to ask the bartender from Dayton, Ohio to make you a Mojito! Are you surprised?"

that thought never occurred to me, and made me laugh.

So, another WGI has come and gone. The show was really good last night. One of the strongest WGIs in recent memory. I might even have to buy the DVD this year.

Have to go get ready to meet Sal and Cody for breakfast now.

Will write more once we're back in Chicagoland... :)

Labels: funny ha-ha, wgi

Tammy and I have had such a great day (already!).


Gap Clearance Center, Hebron, KY

As I've mentioned from previous years, one of our favorite activities during our girl's weekend in WGI is when we make the drive over the border of Kentucky to do some serious shopping at the Gap Clearance Center!

We were not disappointed! Some great clothes, and wonderful bargains were found!

To summarize: I bought 5 pairs of pants (2 of which are for my Mom and my Sister), 1 pair of spandex leggings (been wanted to get some of these for a while) 5 tops, and one pair of sandels.

"How Much?" you say?

You'll never believe it...

To top it off, as we were nearing the check-out counter, a nice woman approached us, offering a 20% off coupon!

"So how much was it?"

But wait... there's more!

They also threw in a free Gap CD - which I'm listening to right now, and it's really great!

So, lets summarize again...

5 pairs of pants
5 tops
1 pair of leggings
1 pair of sandles
1 music CD
6% Kentucky Sales Tax

(minus 20%)

Grand Total: $73.68.

Oh, yeah!

webTrina strikes again!

For the record, Tammy found 2 pairs of pants, 4 tops, a jacket and a bag. She paid under $50.

This is why we love coming here!

After our early afternoon shopping spree, we drove back to Dayton to our favorite little High Tea Restaurant, which we just found last year.

The food was amazing: great tea, tea sandwiches, scones, and pastries.
All for $12/person.

I'm telling you, there are some great buys here!


Afternoon High Tea in Dayton!

We're taking a quick break in our fabulous hotel room, resting up for the big night ahead.

WGI Finals is tonight!

....followed by a late night at headquarters!

Labels: bargain queen, webTrina, wgi

The drive from Chicago to Dayton went really well. We were lucky that it turned out to be a bright, sunny day - perfect for a road trip! We made it in to Dayton right on time today at 6:00.

We met our friends, Rich & Benji at 7:00 for dinner. That was a wonderful treat, as we never feel like we're able to spend enough time with them each year at headquarters.

After dinner, I talked everyone into having an ice cream with me at Graeters in Centerville. (yum)


Benji, Tammy & Rich outside of Graeter's

We decided to hit headquarters tonight to see what the scene was like. It was a bit slow when we arrived around 10:30, which was nice, because it was easy to see people. By the time that we left at 12:30, it was pretty packed, and we managed to see lots of people - several who don't necessarily come on a yearly basis, so we had some really nice surprises.


Philip, Trina & Jeff Worth! (first time back at WGI in 12 years! So happy to see you again!)

I took some fun photos, and will post them soon.

PS: to our amazement, we found out tonight that Dayton (or maybe State of Ohio) has now outlawed smoking in bars! :)
tomorrow, we'll be waking up in time to enjoy our free breakfast at our fabulous hotel. Afterwards, we're off to Kentucky to go shopping at the Gap/Banana Republic Clearance Center! :)

PSS:

funny story
Here's my WGI Geek moment of the night:

I was at headquarters, and Mike Gaines introduced me to Tommy Keenum of Final Analysis and other memorable WGI shows.

When I was introduced to Tommy, I shook his hand and said, "I love your work. I've been a big fan for a long time..." (oh, what a dork I am!) I also told him that one of my favorite WGI shows ever was The Color Purple (Final Analysis, 1988)

Anyhow, I don't suppose many people compliment him on shows from nearly 20 years ago, so he was probably a little taken back, but appreciative.

Mike continued the introduction by telling Tommy, "Trina marched in Blackhawks, Kingsmen, and State Street..."

Tommy said, "You couldn't have possibly marched in those shows. You don't look like you're any older than 24!"

That's when I said, "Oh, Thank you! Now I'm an even bigger fan!"

Oy. I think I may be the world's biggest dork.


Tommy, Mike & Craig

Prelims Scores.

Labels: friends, wgi

Okay, technically, I'm in Bloomingdale...

Good morning!

It's a sunny day out, albeit cold and there's still a lot of snow on the ground!

Tammy and I are up and getting ready to head out to make our trek across Illinois, and Indiana to Ohio!

Once again, I'm proudly sporting the Ohio t-shirt.

The trip (not including any frozen custard spots along the way) should take about 6 hours.

See you in Ohio!

Labels: friends, travel, wgi

It's that time of the year again!

Time for my annual trek to the Mid-West!

I'm flying out this morning to chilly Chicago. I'll be staying at Tammy's place tonight, then tomorrow we'll be taking a road trip to Dayton, OH! It'll be pretty much the same itinerary as every year: Good food, a little color guard, some discount shopping, and great friends. We're both really looking forward to it!

Last year, I started to dub this vacation as my "girls weekend". Tammy and I have such a blast, and it's always such great fun to do a road trip together. While I'm away, Martin will be visiting Dick in San Francisco. They'll be having their own "boys weekend" while I'm away. While my weekend will consist of eating at Bob Evans (yum!) and Chicago Style Pizza, their weekend will consist of dining out at some of San Francisco's finest restaurants! This is the second year in a row that we all planned the "girls weekend"/"boys weekend" thing. It's a lot of fun for all, and no one feels like they're missing out on the fun.

I plan to bring my computer and my camera along this time around. Will try to post during the trip!

...and, oh, yes. I do plan on wearing my road trip t-shirt again this year! :)

Labels: color guard, friends, wgi

Mmmmmm....Chicago-Style Pizza. Just like being back in the Mid-West!

I had a great evening last night with two of my longtime color guard friends, Philip, and Mike Gaines (Mr. WGI Hall of Famer, himself!).

While in the planning stages, the evening was dubbed "Mid West Color Guard Night Out", and later "The Gathering of the Old Color Guard Dinosaurs". Way back in the mid-late 80s, we all used to march in the mid-west, and thought it would be fun to get back to our "roots".

I went all out, and proudly sported my "Friends Don't Let Friends Live in Ohio"t-shirt, underneath my dapper State Street Review member jacket. Philip and Mike both got a kick out of this.

We started out the evening with fruity drinks at the Orbit Room on Market. It's been a good long while since I've had a chance to hang out with Mike (he's' on the road so much nationally and internationally teaching guards still), but we all quickly found our way to talking about "the old days" and catching up on related gossip.

In true mid-western form, we went to a new Chicago Style Pizza restaurant in Hayes Valley. It didn't disappoint - Chicago Style Pizza the way it was meant to be: so chock-full of cheese, you're stomach (and no-doubt your arteries) are full after your first slice!

After dinner, we made our way to Philip's new pad for a few hours of complete and utter geekiness: we watched old WGI videos/DVDs dating back from 1982-1993. Oh, what a guilty pleasure that was: watching some good old fashioned color guards with two of my old color guard friends. Now, I admit that I've watched these shows a few times within the last year or so, but Mike and Philip claimed that they hadn't watched these in over 10 years.

The thing is, once we started watching them, it was if we'd gone back to the days when we used to do this as teenagers: We knew every movement, every toss, every break, every single minute detail instantly! All those years of watching those videos for hour after hour were still there in the back of our minds.

And the funny thing is, all the old emotions and memories came back too:

• Mike was still bitter about losing to being boo'ed during retreat for beating Sac in '89. (corrected on 3/5/07 WOW! How did I get that wrong!)
  
• I still had a personal grudge against the Raiders, and a certain amount of bitterness towards Alliance '91
  
• Philip was still (understandably) bitter about never having made finals, and thus, never making "the video". (yeah, that sucks)

Sure, we know we're old. We know we're "those old color guard hags" that still go to WGI each year. But, the thing is, those were our most formative years when we developed into the people that we became. That's the time when I developed my most close friendships. It's the ties that bind.

I love my color guard friends! I'm so glad that I still have so many in my life. We may be geeks, but at least we admit it! Say it loud, and say it proud!

Thanks for a great evening, guys.
Let's do it again soon!

Labels: color guard, friends, wgi

because I'm still such a geek



I will be making my annual trek out to Dayton for WGI again this year, but this is a cool way to watch WGI from home!

WGI Live Webcast.

Gotta love technology :)

update

In other WGI News....

Congratulations to our friend, Michael Gaines! WGI just announced that Mike will be inducted into the WGI Hall of Fame this year!

Labels: wgi