Posted by Leland on August 05, 2001 at 00:51:48:
In Reply to: Marching band-oh, what fun! posted by Nick on August 03, 2001 at 23:54:25:
Stood at attention for a whole half hour? Without moving? That's just unusual -- I've never done that in all my years on the field. I would really like to know what purpose that served. I mean, you're not going to be performing full honors military funerals or retirements anytime soon, and no civilian dr*m c*rps stands still for even a minute these days.
Water, water, water (salt tablets, soda pop, and to a lesser extent, sport drinks all take some of your body's water to be digested), NO caffeine, don't lock your knees, dress lightly, WEAR A HAT (no use trying to look sexy when all you'll do is fall over), and you'll be fine.
Certain outdoor summer ensembles will be hustling through a 5-hour marching rehearsal in the afternoon, spending a couple minutes every half hour or so pounding water, and they're healthy. I'm still wondering what your director did wrong to make people pass out.
And that 20K isn't as much of a problem as those tenors or bottom bass drums. At least a sousaphone's weight is pretty much centered; if it's not, your body carriage needs to be fixed.