A legitimate zoo zoo

Collin decompresses. Brandon is still going. Aaron goes on a midwest zoo tour.

Main topic: Marching band and it's impact on us

  • Collin is… whew...

  • 18 hrs!!! Seriously. 

  • Brandon is still going  

  • Some sort of STEM thing 

  • Not straw, straw!

  • Sense memory - Swish

  • Moon lander

  • It’s a mystery! 

  • Brain still stuck in Egypt mode

  • A hoard of children at the museum

  • The other other zoo

  • Oklahoma’s wild Zebra problem

  • Aaron’s Midwest zoo tour

  • Legitimate zoo zoo

  • Marching Band and playing music 

    • Brandon played the trumpet

    • Aaron played percussion

    • Collin played clarinet 

    • Vintage marimba 

    • Count the tubas and bass drums 

    • Implied fortissimo 

    • Carthage judges...you

    • Our life lessons

    • Band introspection 

Check out our other episodes: ohbrotherpodcast.com

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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE

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SUMMARY KEYWORDS

band, play, people, marching, zoo, trumpet players, remember, big, college, percussionist, fun, song, hear, line, jazz band, high school, marimba, oklahoma, week, trumpet

 

00:05

Welcome to Oh, brother, podcast with three brothers trying to figure it all out

 

00:11

with your hosts

 

00:12

Brandon, Collin and Aaron. This week's show legit zoo zoo.

 

00:24

Hello. Hi. Hello.

 

00:30

Brandon

 

00:34

Ramey.

 

00:38

We did say 830 and you are early. Oh,

 

00:42

my gosh. This

 

00:45

Oh yeah. No, sorry.

 

00:50

I couldn't it sounds like your folds.

 

00:54

Yeah, yeah, it's all my fault actually. Really all here. My bad I can agree

 

01:00

Bad. Ah, Lu. Oh

 

01:06

is a night. Oh, dude. Oh, oh, we had a dog sitting client that said, I'm going to pick my dogs up on the 29th at noon, which is a little whatever. So Megan and the kids are actually down at dad's house right now and I was gonna stay, I was gonna stay. So they're done there and I'm gonna go tomorrow and be with him and we're taking Monday off so we can just have a longer weekend down there. Kind of not necessarily last minute, but we did have a talk this weekend.

 

01:46

But there was there another spider in the house. I

 

01:52

know, at least Well, I mean, yes, there's always spiders in this house but none visible. Okay. They remain hidden. So good job little eight legged dudes.

 

02:03

But the the

 

02:05

reclusive stay yeah stay late yeah yeah keep your namesake

 

02:12

so she had said that she's gonna pick up the dogs at noon on the 29th like cool. So I which listeners is tomorrow tomorrow. Okay, and so we I so Megan kids left earlier this afternoon I had an interview for the other show

 

02:32

at 6am and at

 

02:34

545 she called Megan and said, Oh, I'm an hour and 15 minutes away. Ah, granted,

 

02:44

she had to drive

 

02:47

nine hours to get to her destination. She had already been on the road for eight hours. When she decides to text us, text us that she's is an hour away.

 

03:04

And 18 hours early? Yes. Yes.

 

03:07

More importantly

 

03:08

18 hours early.

 

03:18

So,

 

03:19

I'm getting ready to go into an interview that's going to last an hour and a half. And so I'm frantically trying to get the dogs ready, get all their stuff together, get bowls clean, get food put back in, find all their toys, get it packed so that whenever she knocks on the door at seven o'clock or 715 I can pause the interview, run down with the dogs, you know, get get them out the door, then come back up, finish

 

03:42

Hmm, well

 

03:44

in my haste and then, you know, interviews going and it's like this, okay, this I'm gonna have a lot of editing with this one. It just keeps going. The door knocks I run downstairs, lift dog, whatever. And then finish the interview at 740

 

04:04

took an hour and 40 hour and 45 minutes since kept going, and then at the end, they want to talk about other topics they want to talk about and all sorts of stuff. I was like, haha.

 

04:14

Ah, the one time this is a problem.

 

04:19

Really sweet. Um, if you think of anything else, you could just email me, okay, I gotta go

 

04:27

downstairs

 

04:28

to this, whatever.

 

04:31

And they're gonna throw it in. And then I'm like, there's also stuff in the house that I was trying to get done. So that I can just leave tomorrow. Now, all of a sudden, it's like, well, I was gonna have all tomorrow morning to clean the house and do all this stuff, but I'm not gonna have that anymore. So I was gonna clean and then I look at the kitchen counter and I'm like, oh, there's all the dog's food that I did not give back to the lady.

 

05:02

So I was like, I messaged her and was like, yeah, so sorry. I still have all of their dry food. I'm gonna leave really early in the morning then just get put on the porch and come by and get it. Okay,

 

05:14

cuz Ah, so yeah matter Coby time person. Second supper ob co

 

05:22

it's a lot of food is is more than his body weight right now.

 

05:27

Oh dear. Yeah, it's a lot of food so

 

05:33

yeah and then I made some coffee to pierce that down so

 

05:35

we're all good. There you go. Okay.

 

05:39

Ah, but that was my night.

 

05:44

Yeah, yeah, I know

 

05:47

so far

 

05:49

so far, what's been up with you guys?

 

05:56

Not a whole bunch really just sort of been going right that time of It's cool where it's just like, yep. Still going, right? It's

 

06:09

trying to make good quarter ends next Friday. So I've made a big long list of all my missing assignments and I was like, hey, guess what? Oh, hello.

 

06:21

Tax collectors come bill is due.

 

06:27

That's next week. Quarter ends. grades are due. conspicuously basketball starts children. Hello. Hello,

 

06:35

huh? Are you getting this connection? Hello.

 

06:42

dangle the carrot and the stick? Yes. So that's uh

 

06:48

that's it. Just getting ready to do

 

06:52

new stuff and word got word got to do a

 

06:58

every quarter Because we do the PBS thing, which is like the positive behavior, something support, I don't remember what it stands for. Like every quarter, we do a, like celebration, right? About people that have met their behavior goals, we track them with like a thing, an app or whatever. And everybody who meets their goal, we it's like based on percentages, right? So if you have like, X percent, I think it's like 85 or above behavior, stuff, then you get to go to this thing. And if you're under, you get to go to like a, like a reteaching, where they talk about the rules and all that stuff, because there's, those are the kids that have got something that they're, they just can't, you know, get over. So they talk about reinforcing expectations and all that stuff. So we're getting ready to do that but this third quarter we usually just do one at school. right a lot so sometimes we take trips to places like the one for fourth quarter we like go to the park and it's like all day. We do Park things that we have activities and stuff like that. The first one we went to like the why when just swimming in a Gaza, but this one's like at school. So you have to do like stuff. We have to come up with like an activity to do.

 

08:29

Okay, I'm trying to make sure I have a thing.

 

08:32

Right? Yeah. Okay.

 

08:36

For the afternoon to do, because it'll be basically all afternoon with the stuff so we're gonna do that thing that day. So we're gonna come with something, try to figure out kind of play that and figure out what we're doing. Some sort of STEM thing probably because they really like that kind of stuff though. We will do something. I'm thinking about doing an egg drop again.

 

09:05

And do any old throw the egg out the window

 

09:09

and have it padded or have a they have

 

09:12

to they have to make it not break. Yeah. Uh huh. So it's just gonna be like, I'm gonna gather things said good ones, the cardboard and the 12,000 Walmart

 

09:22

bags in my garage.

 

09:25

So

 

09:26

what you need to do that you need to go to like Walmart and get those really big, like straw containers, like the drink straws, because oh, we did a stem activity where we didn't get like bales of hay. No, but I was gonna go to one of your school's neighbors and just, you know, just like get like go to show grandmas. And because we made like moon landers with eggs. Well, that's why I was kind of thinking about I was gonna go to the beach right outside the cafeteria. They just have A bin where the cooks throw all the boxes that the food comes in. And then we take it down to the recycle building. Not me, but like somebody, we'll sit down there. And I was just gonna go and raid that, like all the cardboard and bring it up to the ribbon like cut it, you know, into smaller, so they don't have like a box. That's cheating. But I was thinking about that doing like some kind of lander context because they like talking about like the Mars landers. Yeah, because they've done all kinds of weird stuff. There. So, I was trying to think what else I need probably just cardboard, plastic bags and a bunch of tape. I need to buy a bunch of duct tape. Mm hmm. You know, those little like, plastic cups like the itty bitty cups like the ones I used to give you for like swish. Oh, yeah. So like I have a

 

10:57

right. I use those I still have my good lander, I could taste that. That's That was mean,

 

11:04

that was a sense memory that I did not want to go back

 

11:07

and revisit. So, thank you. I was shopping today and I saw some mouthwash and there's this pink slash purple stuff that I saw. And I was like,

 

11:17

That

 

11:19

poor lady down the aisle. It's like looked at me funny. I'm like, No, it's okay. I'm just having flashbacks.

 

11:26

trauma from my childhood.

 

11:30

But yeah, so we that'd be a good meme. You can't taste images. Like Yeah, me. Just make sure that cart. Oh god anyway, later. All right.

 

11:39

So that's what I just use. We use a lot of like straws, you know, for the kind of like blades and shock absorbers. Yeah, because I then would just just buy those big things of straw in bulk. And then that's how we made like, some of the stem bridges or I gave them a budget. like five straws, aka Oh yeah, steel was a, you know, a certain amount of money. And so a lot of my experiments that involve steam most likely involve straw or straws at some point in time. So I am so sorry turtles,

 

12:20

popsicle sticks and toothpicks

 

12:22

ones I did had lives like 800,002 things.

 

12:26

I had a lot of popsicle sticks. Yeah.

 

12:30

And this one, I figured if I borrow the cardboard from the bin, we do the thing, and then I just go put it back in the bed. Right?

 

12:40

It's easy. Nailed it.

 

12:43

I had considered a budget though, like you were talking about. I don't know what that would look like currently. But I'm considering throwing that in there so that we don't like the first class doesn't just like burn through all this stuff, and then be like, wait so I haven't quite worked out what that looks like yet, but I do know that I need duct tape. That's

 

13:06

obviously

 

13:09

that's gonna be important. But we did that once a couple years ago. And it was really good. So I'm gonna bring it back I asked the principal, Okay, can I do you mind if I throw eggs out my window again? And she was like yeah, sure, go for it. Okay. Now that

 

13:28

it's the second story, it's on the back side, that's fine. Yeah,

 

13:33

you should have them have targets also. So

 

13:37

I did also say that get one of the piece of cardboard and like, just put a bull's eye on it and then move it like, not directly under the window, you know, like out so they kind of have to, like lob it to kind of get out there. Because that would be, that'd be a good thing to do. Make him try to whoever gets closest you know be another way to see how it goes. So I think it'd be fun, I think looking forward to it. But I have to sort of finalize my stuff and start. I think also what I'm probably gonna do is just start now, grabbing a bunch of boxes. And when the kids, the kids always ask me like, What's that for? I never tell them. drives him drives him crazy. Like I'm so aloof with like, everything. Like what are we doing? Like? You'll find out soon? I'll tell him more about like, Yeah. Are you? Are you concerned? Yeah. Are the vape my favorite? My least favorite thing to be asked is what are we doing today? And I just always answer, sitting in our desks and waiting for directions. Just every day, same thing we do every day, same thing we did yesterday. Try and take over the world sitting down waiting for directions. I should start answering that. taking over the world. I should just say that.

 

14:56

I'm stealing that. That's right. Next week. I want to get a new stream Next Monday, she's gonna be so confused.

 

15:01

for child support child, same that might

 

15:07

try to take over the world.

 

15:10

I'm gonna say that, I think that next week

 

15:12

you need that take over the world and

 

15:18

we just get these weird looks. What? Look at you and go old. And you know, they just look at me and go. They don't say that they just like, why don't you tell us? Because it's more fun to this.

 

15:32

It's this more fun. Aren't you having fun?

 

15:36

Or like in science when we talk about like something, it's gonna be like something super weird and I'm like, but we'll talk more about that later. No, no, no, no. I

 

15:46

will admit whenever I first started, and I was still trying to like, develop, like lesson plans. There was there were some times where I didn't exactly know what we would be doing until like the morning of yeah And so kids would come in and they'd be like, hey, so what are we doing Mr. Funkhouser? And I'd be like, ah, you'll find out. Don't worry. It's a mystery. Mostly as I had no idea. It was a, it was a learning period for all of us. What are we doing? You'll find out because I don't know either. I do that sometimes in in history, because like, I like right now we're finishing up the thing. And there's like three things that I want to do. But I don't really know in which order I want to do them. I'm just kind of like, it's gonna be one of these. I haven't planned out I just don't really the sequence is like, Um, so, yeah, we're going with looking at Egyptian artwork, versus someone doing that. So we can get a thing about like, what's going on? It's just basically like, what is this? Like? What things do you see here? It's just like looking at pictures and then being like, I put a bunch of pictures in like a Google slide. I'm going to share with them so they have it, they can look at it on iPads. And then like, just questions like, what do you like on this big? Like, what do you see? What do you think is happening? What is, you know, like that kind of just kind of get a feel for what on earth is going on? Why is it so weird? Yeah. And then that's like the last thing I like my mind is I always have these problems at like after the end of these units like trying to transition to the next thing, because I'm like, finishing up thinking about Egypt, but my brain is not ready to move on to the next thing yet. I have to like start getting that ready, but my brain is still stuck in Egypt mode. can't even fathom Ancient Greece right now. I'm just like, No, no, but mummies and stuff. And you know, and so my brain is it's having a difficult time of not being able to make the transition to the next thing. So I'm still stuck here like in this mode. have like, we are talking about this and we're doing this but I have to like, switch and start getting ready for the next thing. Yeah, that's my struggle.

 

18:24

Nothing super exciting. Oh,

 

18:28

man, what are you gonna do?

 

18:31

Yes. So I was actually sick Monday. I was like I wasn't like deathly sick but I'm pretty sure I caught the death and so I was just kind of limited and like yeah, I'm, I'm feeling kind of bled and so I actually got to work

 

18:53

Tuesday

 

18:55

and I worked for a little bit. I didn't really have any cases was just doing some typing and then I got threatened by my coworkers that if I don't go home, they'll beat me up and I was

 

19:04

like, probably go home. They don't want to share, you know.

 

19:09

So Wednesday we just had some, a lot of meetings

 

19:14

with the DA,

 

19:16

you know, did all that kind of stuff, did some stuff with the tribe. So I haven't really done a whole lot workwise this week. Last weekend, I was down in Oklahoma City and went to a baseball game with Shelby granted it was an O u baseball game. So my skin was a little Tingley

 

19:40

OSU. I mean, it

 

19:42

was, it was okay. It was a really nice stadium. It was a really fun game.

 

19:48

Then we were like, Oh, you know what we should do? We should totally go to the Science Museum. And both of them were like, Yeah, that'd be amazing. And so it's, it's a beautiful facility but we didn't really get to see it because we walked in. And there was just like a horde of children on like a Sunday. And both of us were like, Oh, no, because it was all nice and quiet on the outside. And I was like, Oh, this is this is super cool. And then once the doors parted, and it was just a, you know, I can't describe the the horrible sound of like, just thousands of children just screaming, and both of us with each other and we're like, Oh, nope. And so we just walked over to the zoo. The Oklahoma City zoo, which is, oh, they share a parking lot. And so we we had over we walked over there, and it was a little rainy. And

 

20:50

say don't remember last last weekend beings.

 

20:52

Yeah, expert, just like wonderful. It wasn't exactly bueno. But there was maybe two Well people in the entire Zoo that every go wow we literally had the zoo to ourselves It was amazing

 

21:10

and so

 

21:12

we get we kind of gotten the zoo mode so I think we're gonna go to the Tulsa zoo tomorrow now the great Zoo tour 2020 go all the zoo zoos because we already we already went to the the aquarium. So we already crossed that off the list. And so we're like, oh, let's go to the the other zoo. Oh wait, what about the other other zoo?

 

21:33

and other others you

 

21:35

have the tools the zoo. There's no Oklahoma City Zoo and also Zoo and then there's some sort of like lion safaris Zoo somewhere around here. Oh, dear. There's like an alligator Park. I know. There's a there's there's something down in Oklahoma. Close to Oklahoma City that it's like it's something like big Dave's. No. Oh no. Alligator park or something and I was like,

 

22:01

that sounds like the little there's some random Zoo thing. And

 

22:06

that's that I don't know, somewhere in Northwest Arkansas. And I took biology in college. And when we were down there, it was like, it's like one of those like, sketchy. Like, like somebody's house. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I don't know what it's called. But we went there for the

 

22:25

last because we were talking about all this stuff. And he's like, yeah, we're going down there. So we took the van, the college van down there, and it was like that. It was like, yeah, there's always houses right here. And then there's like, oh, here's a chimpanzee Like what?

 

22:41

So here's a ratio.

 

22:45

I have a feeling it's one of those because several weeks ago, we actually went into war Iraq, which, if you've never heard of wolf Iraq, which I have not, it stands for get. It's not it's not as cool as you think. It stands for iraq you're like, Oh, that's some really cool like, Native American thing. No, it stands for literally

 

23:06

woods, lakes,

 

23:09

rocks, they just shortened it and so it's cold

 

23:12

outside

 

23:13

Yeah, we're gonna call it outdoors but that it sound cold is so different. Frank Phillips whenever he came to the area, and you know, he got stupid rich, he was like, I want to build like a cabin, like just randomly in the middle of the Osage nation and just bought like a stupid amounts of land because you know, oil money rich. And then he just pretty much just built like his own private museum with his own private, like family like cabin, which is this giant monstrosity of a house for a quote unquote, summer home, and then he was like, I like animals, but I don't really feel like hunting and so he just is imported like zebras and tigers. And there's a wild herd of buffalo that roams this property. And there's like elk, and all sorts of things. And it's literally like his own private zoo. And then as he got older is like, I'm actually gonna open it up to the public. And so you go there, and it's like an art museum, a history museum, and then it just has all these things inside this massive building. But it's surrounded by pretty much like a legitimate Zoological Park. That my question is, my first question is, how long until we're hearing about Oklahoma's feral zebra problem?

 

24:44

Well, it's not nothing. Why with a

 

24:47

Columbia is the Wild

 

24:50

West those wild like that close? Yeah, it's nothing like that. Um, I don't think there's, I think there's a few zebras there, but it's so the park itself is actually enclosed. I don't know how much acres, but it's the several thousands. It's also right next to a federal land reserve where they have wild horses here. And so this is just like,

 

25:14

that's a lot of fence to break.

 

25:16

Yes. And but but also think of like, think of your image of Oklahoma, like Great Plains prairie lap. That's not really not really flat like this is actually in the valley where there's a legitimate lake and a rolling Hill. It's Oklahoma hills, Oklahoma hills. And so it's not really just like this compound. That's just there. And there's just whatever. And so it's it's a really unique place because I was like, She's like, Oh, we should go to war Iraq. And it's like, Huh, why? What is that? And so, kind of imagine the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, we went up to Montana.

 

25:57

Oh, yeah, that's like a smidge

 

25:58

smaller. In the middle of Oklahoma with a place was enormous I Wow. And so no This place is if you get bored you should google it because it's it's really really cool because it's literally from me here in bartlesville it is 20 minutes away from me

 

26:20

I had no idea it existed

 

26:24

that's a weird

 

26:25

no yeah, it's and so that counts as a zoo slash museum and, and so by just imagining them going in concentric circles outwards like they're gonna mean like Omaha, and like,

 

26:38

somewhere in Arkansas to decide who is on there's Yeah, on your Zoo tour.

 

26:43

Oh, well RPR next,

 

26:45

by Dickerson Park Zoo, let us know Well,

 

26:48

that's actually that's actually Next on the list. Oh man

 

26:50

is off like Ellen Susan on you. As she'll be there. She's like, yep, there I am. Hello. Because

 

26:58

the other I'm not close to was the zoo up in Independence Kansas? I remember going to Neil Wallace

 

27:04

zoo in Independence Kansas.

 

27:07

Yeah, it's literal. It's not like a major like extravagant Zoo but it's like a legitimate Zoo zoo. They're an independence right on the cross where that park was where we always camped out Yes, there's there's a zoo over there and I only remember going was and it was the one time it was open.

 

27:26

Yeah, I did not.

 

27:29

I mean, I don't remember. My my memories of independent Kansas are basically confined to that park slash football field stadium. Mm hmm. And just the tiniest bit of like the downtown area. I only wear I remember walking the parade route

 

27:46

that I kind of blacked that out of my memory, but I just

 

27:50

remember like kind of what the buildings look like there that light colored brick. Yeah. And kind of wide street area. That's all I remember. That's all I it's very vague. Nothing. concrete, the park a lot more so because we had to sit there for hours on end and sit and then in the rain usually was always raining. It was one year it was raining so bad. I remember the that field is garbage

 

28:20

right now and so

 

28:23

with the one year I remember my knees my junior my sophomore year maybe a sophomore junior probably colorguard did this thing where they like ran down. It has a whole year. I think it was sophomore year and they were riding happy was mud and a bunch of them just slipped

 

28:43

with sliding forward towards that front sideline. They ate it. They were sliding through that mud and they had like these white pant things or whatever. It was bad.

 

28:58

It was bad. Yeah,

 

29:01

but yes there's a zoo. Uh huh in in new I pretty much try to block out anything from in the bands I from neola it was a fun trip. I remember a train was always usually really cold and so

 

29:15

there

 

29:16

was a train yeah there's a train and we used to go down okay so this a lot inside baseball but but let's back up just Nia Walla is Halloween spelled backwards and it is a marching band competition festival in Independence Kansas. And

 

29:32

three of us were

 

29:33

in band,

 

29:35

marching band. Oh, apparently

 

29:38

like a legitimate like pipe city festival like it's not just a bail it is but it was I didn't know that

 

29:45

for our for our intents and purposes. It is a band fest all

 

29:49

I do remember it because one year I remember we got bored and we went a walking like, like a do me and Cory In Chad, Chad, we went walking very far away. We bought some ice cream. I think we would do that sometimes. And we like, yeah, we went out and we went down that thing. I can't remember which direction we left from, because I really have no, there's no clear orientation of cardinality in my brain about how that place is set up. But we just want to walk into one of the main roads. Yeah, just hanging out, wandering around. Because it was like hours between the parade in the Oh, yeah, Joe. Oh, yeah, we just we just wandered around. wandering around down. Do we? Uh, we'd go. I'm supposed to do that.

 

30:38

Know You weren't? We wouldn't. We'd go and walk around the river.

 

30:41

River. Oh, yeah. The trails that go through the

 

30:44

Yeah, we spend a lot of time on those. Yeah, those are cool.

 

30:58

This interesting topic, because

 

31:01

All three of us were in marching band. And

 

31:07

and so Brian, you were the you were the first one, obviously because you're the oldest

 

31:15

by default to get into marching band Did you

 

31:20

What made you stick through it all those years?

 

31:23

It was fun, mostly like that. Was it? Just fun? Yeah, I was marginally good at it. So I was just like, okay, like I was just good at marching. And so

 

31:37

yep, go do it.

 

31:40

And you played you played the trumpet. This everybody knows. Yeah.

 

31:43

Oh, yeah, that's true. That's important, too. Yeah. It's all of the stereotypes about trumpet players are 100% true.

 

31:50

Mm hmm. lays out is possible.

 

31:52

Yes, that's true. Dan, do you want to be the loudest? It's basically like, if you You are familiar with choir and like the sopranos. That's basically that's basically trumpet players right? Hmm. The center of attention good the loud brash, but yes, it's very every time I tell like when I first started working in school, my coworker one of them she was in band a bunch and she was like, Oh, you're a band. Like what do you play as like Trump? He goes, yep. Yeah.

 

32:26

So yeah, it was Yeah, it was just fun. I really enjoyed it a lot. And I was kind of it really and it was relatively like I've liked it was just really fun. Yeah, that getting it to school at like, six o'clock in the morning was nice. But everything else is really good. Yeah, I like going on the trips. I like doing marching in parades. I like everything. It was good. Yeah, Mr. Shannon kept us really active and mark and band at rogersville Started in sixth grade. And you could take it all the way through senior high school and it was every single day. It wasn't. And I'm saying that just because, like, I know, I know who were in band, who would they just went like twice a week or whatever block they were in, they'd go to so that that's it. That's it. I think that's a key difference that didn't experience that we had that. Not everybody did have my sixth graders go three days a week. Yeah. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Yeah. And I think after that seventh grade, you can go every day. But in sixth grade, because that's like 1516 they started to fifth grade, but that's like, still elementary school kind of intro band thing. So they got three days a week and then if you make it through that you can go to full days, but I just really liked it. I took all the band classes, like you have to be in concert band. Yes. Would you like to be in jazz band? Absolutely. Give me a chance man. I love jazz. Marching man just because you got to go and do stuff. Right. It was one of those. Like really the only thing I wanted to do in school like like, we Do you like to go on this trip? Most of them were very far like we're going to Carthage like Well, I don't really care about Carthage but when we go to this was on Saturday I don't care. I'm gonna go do stuff is fun I

 

34:15

like playing my trumpet really loud

 

34:21

that's true kind of it I really enjoyed that part and

 

34:27

in Aaron What about you?

 

34:29

Well as a percussionist It was never our job to play loud right all those stereotypes are true too by the way we were we were the flutes of the band we're the the gentle sway and no use lies no yeah we

 

34:50

hear so yeah I started

 

34:53

I'm

 

34:57

I don't really know what like got me into it because I did band choir and athletics. Yeah. But yeah, he started in sixth grade, but I started mark. I was in the high school pit in seventh grade. Oh, then I actually started marching marching into eighth grade. I did too. We had a that year, whatever was small and he was like, hey, eighth grade is gonna March and we were just like, Okay.

 

35:24

Funny experience. But Me too. He those eighth graders were utilized quite extensively.

 

35:30

Yeah, we were conscripted into the high school band we did the trumpet line didn't need it, because you want to talk to the players that were like ahead of me, like, Oh my goodness, those guys were. We were just sort of there to fill the gap in the line. Not they're not really providing any Sonic help, cuz they had it under control. It was just fine. But it was really nice to get to like, hang out with those guys. Because most of them were like, super nice. And they will just like, teach you stuff about how to be a better trumpet player. And then really

 

36:02

early like that, you know,

 

36:05

they were just like, Oh yeah, you got to do this. And it was in that weird like, band way of like, it was sort of hidden in the guise of Listen, I don't want you to screw up my line. So in the A, you have to do your job so that I look good. Yeah, like we're not here to suck. Okay, yeah, this is what you got to do like Okay, got it but it was it was good they were still like helpful it wasn't like Yeah, what are you doing? You know I mean so and so sure. Yeah, that was exactly the the way for me because I had you know, guys like Austin vegeto Levi Hamon,

 

36:44

Kyle, router.

 

36:47

Kyle Haim stra Dustin Smith. I had a lot of the those older guys because it was pretty much just me that stayed from transition from middle school to high school. I was pretty much the only Cuz I when I graduated, I was the only senior percussionist like there was no other seniors. I liked it because it was it was unique. It was fun. And then when I talked to people, especially hearing the, you know, the or, you know, other school and talk about like all the trips we went on, you know, because we went to Cedar Rapids, Ohio, the year after I graduated, they went to Hawaii of all places. So we actually, we actually had a really cool band banned. And then I talked to people that I went to college with it and Yo, because I continued I quote, unquote, playing career in college as a snare drum at a northeastern Oklahoma a&m, where, you know, got these people that have never really marched before and I was like, he doesn't know that. Perhaps that is that not something that no one knows is that So it was it was kind of that that really cool feeling of like, Oh, you don't know how to read sheet music? Ah, okay, let me teach you. Well, I mean, if you're a drummer that knows how to read sheet music, you are the minority You are a god. Now

 

38:17

that is a definite that is a

 

38:22

that's a superpower. I will admit. Most of the time whenever we did stand tunes for like football games or basketball games, US percussionists. We didn't have sheet music. It was just a different like. Well, I and that was just like a cool feeling to be, you know, be a part of a college band. Yeah, we had maybe anywhere between 40 to 60 people in the band, but I mean, we were all really good. Not so much with some of the people that I shared the percussion line with, as like, I remember I showed up and like Well, you're probably going to be the most experienced person here. Got two people that were homeschooled and never picked up an instrument before. And then three other people came, like one person was a saxophonist. And one person was a clarinet and we stole a trumpet player. And I'm like, ah, I beg your pardon. Totally. Later. Yeah. And so I had to pretty much builds percussion line from scratch. And then, you know, when we got to do you know, winter drumline, like that, that was that was the thing. And then I talked to people that you know, come to from these really big schools here in Oklahoma, and they're like, yeah, we have like six kids in it right now. Man, we have like 12 really cool. It was that was a staple. Yeah, we did that. I like that too. I joined that not because I wasn't like the my. The first year they did it was my junior year and they had some people doing it and then so senior year, a bunch of more of us are like, like band Can I have more band? Let's join john Lyons. And so they needed a bunch of like auxiliary percussionists to like fill out the stuff. So that's why I played Tiffany's, me the music and then I played bongos on some song and like my friend played that marimba like, because they just needed more pit to fill it out. And so there was some pushback, some of the percussion some of the other drummers were like, oh, yo, you guys would join cuz we do good like, No, we just want to do band stuff Shut up. I just want to go on more bad trips. It's

 

40:28

easy class, like, What are you? What are you talking about?

 

40:30

We didn't have a

 

40:33

that wasn't a class. I was like, after school thing. Yeah. But we actually we actually had it as a legitimate class in and oh, no, when I was in high school. I said we had band and jazz band. And there was some sort of music appreciation class, but I could never take that because I always had to do other things. But and I mean, that's kind of the same thing with with choir, mostly because it was Super easy, but it was actually a lot of fun. Now you don't really because, you know, again, we also went on some really cool trips. We got to go Yeah, you dog. Yeah, really, like we got to go sing up in Carnegie Hall. We got to, we got to do things like that. And it was just, it was just fun. It was just kind of something unique. And then, you know, I kind of it's, it's a little disheartening now because, you know, a lot of schools are closing down their, you know, arts stuff. And, you know, when I when I was teaching at caney Valley, they maybe had, you know, six people in the band, and that was including the band instructor. Oh, yeah. And so it was kind of heartbreaking to see places diminish. It's hard it's small schools though, because, you know, you got like, only a limited pool of people and like 800 clubs, so it's hard to get people to in that to do that multiple stuff. No. Well, and it's costly. Well, yeah, I mean that that trumpet is not cheap, right? Like

 

42:10

Yeah, it's not a that's not a small investment. So

 

42:15

that's a problem too, like brass instruments in particular are like, stupid expensive. Yeah. So

 

42:24

if you're if you're a small band you like Yeah, but we need a new tuba. Well, just good luck with that.

 

42:30

Who's mortgaging their house?

 

42:32

Yeah, that was that was a big thing at any Oh, was seeing a lot of the old tubas and the other equipment like that they're like well, this you know, marimba is from you know, 1956 and you know, there's Oh, this marimba this this tuba here was gifted when like, any Oh first opened, and they're like, Oh, I don't remember there being a lot of random instruments sitting around it. Correct. Yeah, cuz I also played in college. I played in the jazz band, just in college, like the jazz slash pet band. So we had we like played legitimate jazz songs. And then we played pet stuff at the basketball games. And it was a real small group there was only Well, there was two jazz bands. There was a full Jazz Orchestra, which is a worship like a full jazz set with like, four trombone players, and like three trombone players, and like, four or five sax players, you know, and a guitar and a bass and a drum, like a big, you know, big band type thing. And then there was a jazz quintet. I think it was five of us.

 

43:45

It was me and a sax player.

 

43:49

So it's just one trumpet player. The guy that played tenor sax, it was like, amazing. I oh my gosh, he went Oh, Wow. Yeah, he was a great saxophone player and a bass player. Yeah, there's a guitar player and a drummer. Kind of it. There might have been another saxophone player sometimes. Or a trombone player. That was it. Small, real small ensemble. So that was real fun. Because we would also like, go play out randomly. Like, we would just go out and play like, a hotel, or like, we played a couple weddings Really? Well. That was weird, but I was like, fine. We just like planned a wedding. I distinctly distinctly remember this, I had this memory of it was like an outside wedding in spring. And it was like mega dark and they were in this Pavilion. And we couldn't see our charts at all. So we had to like take, we like, borrowed the Christmas lights they had strung up on the wall and drape them across the music stands. So that we could like just see the key changes on our charts like what are we okay?

 

45:05

We at the bridge bar. Okay, there it is.

 

45:08

That was really funny though. We did a it was one of the guys at any Oh, like we started a barbershop quartet.

 

45:16

Oh, yeah.

 

45:17

So yeah, we I it was just something where we all were in the same dorm. And so sometimes you get like a message be like good I can't sleep. I remember going out and singing random things at like 3am in the parking lot. You know, I'm like a weekend or something. But yeah, we sing it. Some fundraisers. We sing ads, like the president of you that have the college's birthday. Some alumni events, we sing the national anthem a few times. And that was really cool. Cool. And we got to we got to go to Tulsa where apparently I did not know this. Tulsa was the original location. First barbershop quartet.

 

46:00

And really,

 

46:03

yeah, I, I have to confirm that because I remember that was told to me I was like, what the huh? sure that wasn't just some Toulson taking credit for something. No, no, for real this is it.

 

46:18

Like, wait a minute, are you sure it wasn't like not Chicago or Baltimore? No, no, no Tulsa. Well, okay.

 

46:27

So we got to do stuff like that, but it was just always little things. And plus, we had a really cool like arts program at any Oh, because I remember because I, let's be honest, I wasn't the best athletically. And so I was like, how am I gonna go to college? I was like music. And that's how I went to Crowder. It was kind of an accident, right? They were me and my friend were looking for places to go. And we were looking at Crowder and we saw they had a band We called him up and she's like, Hey, you can come audition next week. All right. We were down there. I played like three songs. She's like, here, I read this was like, I played some random song. And she's like, Alright, you're in. I was like, Whoa, but that was that was exactly kind of what happened to me. Oh, because I was I remember I went out, we went down with the dad, and it was just miserable. It was cold. If you ever been to Miami, Oklahoma, there's a mushroom farm that smell. And I was like, Oh, this is this is college. Oh, wow. All right. And I remember like, we talked to the football coach. I was like, yeah, we talked to the baseball coach. I was like, Man, I'm not gonna be able to do that either. And then I was like, Oh, I was at our little campus tour lady play. He actually did. Band and choir. And I think about that, and she's like, Oh, my gosh, let me meet you with Mama. And I'm like, And Mary Susan Whaley but that's not ominous whenever everyone, everyone called her mama Sue or mama Wally who she's, you know, still a huge inspiration. And you know, to my education career was she she came out after this huge theater. And she's like, you know, like super supportive and I saying to her, I don't really do well solos, but she's like your nominal base. And then she's like, I hear you do band. And I was like, Well, yeah, I played band. But the lady said that the band teacher is, is busy. And she's like, well, he's not gonna be in a moment. And so she called him and he came out and he's like, Well, I was in a meeting. But I was told I need to come speak with you. And I'm like, I am so sorry. It was her idea that I was like, I don't I don't know what's going on. And he's, he's like, Yeah, she kind of runs the campus. So I don't really have I can't really argue You

 

49:00

like well, I drum. So

 

49:02

like I hit things with sticks good. Is that is that something unique? You like,

 

49:07

huh?

 

49:10

I play good. And so I when

 

49:15

I literally took like a snare drum up to his office, and I think dad was sitting over there. And I just played some random beats. And he's like, Oh, good night. So I offered you a scholarship. I was like, Oh, this is how college works. Okay. And so then Mary Susan, offered me a scholarship. And that's kind of how I continued on and then like, we had band camp, you know, early when the semester started, and then that's when I found out that I had, you know, two homeschool kids. Three people that never played percussion before and that girl that was a part of the flags. Or the color guard. I was like, Oh, I don't know if I like college now. But it was actually a lot of fun just because it was a it was an interesting dynamic. We were actually really good. We got to play on all these sporting events and things like that. So it was just, it was just something that I can look back on. And sometimes Still, if I'm like driving, I get a song stuck in my head that we played like years ago. I'd be like, I remember that song. I whistled jazz songs to myself all the time.

 

50:35

I still play free ride.

 

50:37

Like, oh, yeah, there we go. Like a bunch of those jazz, like other pet band songs. And then like a bunch of jazz standard songs. I use play all the time. I was on them constantly. All the time. I can still play songs we played in high school. Like the drum part I don't really care about well, but yeah, I mean,

 

50:54

but yeah, I didn't expect you to like bust out the clarinet part or this flute part. That'd be weird.

 

51:02

I can't The only music I can read as a drummer is the piccolo Don't worry guys I gotta find

 

51:09

Well, yeah, I just just an interesting thing like that that I have on my resume and people ask me and I'm like yeah, no i did band. Oh, oh, you did bad thing I did Damn. Yeah the people that I the guys I played like guitar stuff with they found out about that and like you should bring your trumpet. That's always a weird experience. No, really not there. I've done it if I play my trumpet last month, right, like I busted it out. And I was playing over there. But it's weird, because they don't really know how to play with a horn player. And so like

 

51:46

a weird mariachi band. That's good, you

 

51:47

know? Yeah, they don't really know your way. Well, yeah, they're like, hey,

 

51:55

let's do something jazzy. Like, you know how to play jazz music. No, no. Oh boy, okay.

 

52:04

It was funny cuz like, do you know what 251 means? Like

 

52:07

not really like okay, well just play something in a key that I can handle and I'll just play along with me fine.

 

52:15

Here's learn about syncopation.

 

52:18

This vamp because it

 

52:20

is a Shelby came up like a few weeks ago. And she's like, Oh yeah, you remember you told me that you were a drummer in high school in college. And it's like I learned, like, I would love to see drum and it's like, uh, yeah, I haven't picked a pair of drumsticks and forever I highly doubt I have drumsticks now, and I literally walked in my closet and I picked I lift up a box and there's a pair of drumsticks I was like,

 

52:44

Listen, I know you have to because I have drumsticks in my closet like so. I haven't I you've got to, I don't even know.

 

52:51

Yeah, they're they're sitting on my, my desk is I pick him up and go away. I was I was sitting there doing nothing. little strokes with it. Hey,

 

53:01

there you go.

 

53:03

And I was like, Oh my gosh, it's coming back to me.

 

53:12

Every once in a while in the fall, I do like, I'm like, I need to hear snare drum right now. I have to hear I can't. I have I have YouTube marching bands because I need a snare drum

 

53:25

I need in

 

53:28

me, for me what always was my favorite part is whenever the the larger marching bands would come out and they'd have like, 14 tubers.

 

53:37

And they that's how, you know,

 

53:39

that's how they you know, that's how, for those of you who aren't in the marching band world, you know, it's gonna be it's a big band whenever they have 14 plus tubes on the field and you can just sit back and bask in the bass glory.

 

53:53

You have to count yet you do two things you count the tubas and the bass drums and the

 

54:02

Because Yeah, when you hear the walking bass drum, yes.

 

54:09

One of my things that I love to do is like, I'll get on YouTube and the DCI warmups. Oh, good gravy. Those are how much fun and I remember I love I used a video in one of my presentations. I didn't college. I can't remember what the purpose was, but I was like, here's the DCI band warming up this will Oh, explain this all in a second. I can't remember why. But yeah, like importantly, the DCI drumline is amazing that that was that was always fun. And that's that's something I'll still just be like, you know what I'm in the mood for man. It'll be like, you know, the cadets are, you know, somebody that I just like have to listen to. I did. Something about that marching snare drum. That sound is just Yeah, the snare. Yeah, it's like just that. That it's such a I don't know there's such a distinct let's like crack noise. Yeah, that thing. I love it. I love that sound. Yeah, they're there. It's one of those sounds it's like addicting, right?

 

55:20

I don't know if you guys have this problem, but there are certain sounds that I'm just like, I need that. I'd like to get addicted to that like certain sound. Uh huh. And that marching drum snare is one of them on the list. It's like, oh,

 

55:34

cadences during like, a parade. Were the funnest things in the world to me. I love that. There's there's a video

 

55:43

I would get bored and be like, no, let me play loud. Come on my turn.

 

55:48

Let me play that. A or B flat just like super high up there. Give me that one just piercing

 

55:55

noise but there's a video that someone has. So when I was At any Oh, we had this cadence that we used in rogersville. And the van abductor, Mr. Compton came up and he's like, I want something for our stand tunes, make me something and looked at me. And so I use that cadence. And it just something that we would just say during football games, and they're still using it. How long was that? Eight years later? Because they sent me a video and they're like, Aaron, this is still your cadence sounds like my heart swells with joy. I will say there is a different dynamic when you switch from the marching band to a concert band. Well, as a percussionist now you have to play quiet. I

 

56:49

hear this oboe means What's

 

56:55

it there's no there's a lot of rests here. Mr. Shannon is Ready play those

 

57:01

wires the Why does this not say? fortissimo What is this is p p p p i what

 

57:10

rimshot is there

 

57:14

I thought I thought music just said F at the motto

 

57:22

they're like hey you can play the black soccer Shindo you're like the chat I can I hit it with a stick and like you get a mallet. I still to this day have a lot of difficulty with

 

57:39

the marimba

 

57:41

and the whatever the large scale bells are. Those will always Yeah, the

 

57:47

enemy of those called

 

57:51

I don't know about but I could be other bells. The big tall ones.

 

57:55

No, they're the cuz there's marimba and what's the other one? Although

 

58:00

Yeah, I like

 

58:02

talking about like the Tubular Bells like that the vertically tall one.

 

58:05

Yeah. There's just those are just shines is I can, but there's, I remember a lot of times there was a there was several songs that we played that have like, little to no percussion. And so but I mean like, you know, there's it was always a fight with the other percussionist with like, oh, does the song have a bass drum and a snare? We could play those who got to miss Mr. Shanna would look over at you and be like, I need someone on the timpani. I need something. Someone on the bells. I need someone on the triangle. I need something on the cymbal. There's like but there's a snare drum right there. Can I say that? Well, that's because we had to let Collin have a turn to be heard.

 

58:54

That's why oh

 

58:58

no, you didn't

 

59:00

Silent here. I mean, let's say what so I played it was part of the wind instruments, the best instruments. It sat in the front row, so that everyone could

 

59:09

see he'll not hear you had to play know how hard

 

59:12

it was. We had so many holes to cover. It was very hard. Very difficult. I played the clarinet, and then in marching band and, and concert band and then Barry sax in jazz band. And yeah, if

 

59:28

you're not it today, I forgot you played very sad.

 

59:31

Yeah, you're right. Even for musicals. I did play in the past.

 

59:38

Which, that was a that was a totally different experience. But I'm not a competitive person, except when I think back to marching band years, and I realized I was a very competitive person. I that was something that I really was invested in as far as getting that score back from the judges and learning about what that was. And being devastated when it was lower than I thought it would be and the highs of whenever it you know, the whole thing pulled off and being able to be for me was that like, you guys touched on that as having mentors, they were all the people who helped you become better and then being part of that community of we are doing a thing we are working together and and yeah being frustrated when somebody messed up when the trumpets played too loud. Or when the the percussion got off beat from the rest of everybody else out there. Getting it and yes, all of the all of the the thoughts and preconceived ideas and things of woodwinds is definitely, definitely true. We are delicate little flowers who

 

60:56

stomp our feet when we don't get our way.

 

61:00

That's why we had to be quiet and contraband. The woodwinds had to be heard because much man can't hear it at

 

61:07

all. As much

 

61:09

of your brass and drop.

 

61:12

It was it was funny because our college instructor, Mr. Compton, he was like, I would really love to make this band. more of like a DCI band because they don't have food wins in but yeah, with Colin, you know, I was never a competitive person. I yeah, I played football, but I was just kind of doing it and I mostly did it for fun and I was I was decent at I was smart.

 

61:41

But in a band.

 

61:44

I wanted to get a better score than did Maryville know the Branson or Willard?

 

61:50

I never get a better score than Willits losers. I know. I know. I smiling, no fun having

 

61:58

I had to be Branson. Now, I will also admit that when I was a senior only might've told the younger underclassmen, hey, if you hit a judge while we're marching, I'll buy you a Gatorade. Because they I just remember always marching and there's a color guard used to do that. Those field judges would be paying attention. Yeah. Oh gosh, I remember listening to some of those recordings where they'd be like, and now I see Oh,

 

62:28

my bald

 

62:31

head with a flag.

 

62:32

Oh, my God.

 

62:34

That was also a very not the hitting part. But that was a sense of pride for me when I was a senior, because, you know, as a percussionist, we were, we had to have a different look. We had to be different. And whenever we were in parade form, or, you know, whenever we were performing in front of like, grants and, uh, you know, we had to look and be better than that. And so that was that that was big for me whenever I looked over the scores, and I'd asked, you know, Mr. Shannon, Mr. Shannon, how did we do score wise, and you know who I'm talking about and be like, well, visually, you guys did better. And I'm like, my heart would swell. But the Carthage judges always give you a 72 no matter how good you do Carthage judges who I know are totally not listening Carthage, right. You know who you are. I know I never really, I don't know, I don't think I had the same like, I'm just not a competitive person. Like full stop. There's more about like, I don't really care what the judge said. I just wanted to know that we did good, I guess what it's like I wanted like, marks like and why like porn line. Were you? What do you not know what a diagonal is? Come on. There's a distinct difference between diagonal and curved and what you're doing was curb get in line now. Like, really?

 

64:03

It's like a self like perfectionist thing,

 

64:05

where really what the judge like, whatever the score, is that good. I don't know what that means anyway.

 

64:10

And it definitely scratched that itch to have that kind of personal perfectionism of a desire to do a thing and do it really

 

64:19

well.

 

64:20

Especially whenever I did feel

 

64:22

like I weird to me, because like that's, that's not generally how I live my life. This is like an outside thing. Like it's a weird exception of like, how I generally am like in life is just like, that was like No, I need to do this like perfectly everything else. I'm just like, that's kind of how I am now. But I remember drill downs.

 

64:46

I was always in that I was in either

 

64:49

win, or it had to be another percussionist because I was like, Oh, I'm not gonna let

 

64:55

like I'm not gonna let a flute player beat me. Are you kidding me? No flute players. could never be to

 

65:01

be honest. I mean

 

65:04

that that competitiveness, like left whenever I got to do, but I, we I still had to have that look of we're cartoonists we are different for a reason we're different species. And so I, we never we never did competitions. But we would go to high school events. And I remember we went to a a high school competition. And that was it brought me back to we have to look and be better than these high school kids. And this is when I still had like the three homeschool kids that never been a competition before and I was like, I'll be fine. And so I that nature. I was always pretty competitive. of, you know, we had to look different. We had to act different. We had to be different. And I there's the immortal words, which I will that will constantly be. If I can make it a ringtone I would have just someone yelling was a guide left to guide right. Guide right. Got a guide down we use that one a lot. Oh, we use guide right? guide right. I yelled at my horn line so much. Yeah. Why? I remember that just ringing. I'm pretty sure that's all anybody that was in a bad high school with me would be able to tell you. They could they would say like me he yelled a bot.

 

66:34

As as I talked to other people who were in band in high school with you? Yes, that is all they

 

66:42

they go to they Well, it's usually right and yelled a lot and I'm pretty sure he hated me and I go, No, he didn't hate you. That only

 

66:49

when you were out of line.

 

66:53

When you were in line, you were amazing. I loved you. But if you're out of line, I hated you so much. Because I definitely remember it. I remember having some moments with some like underclassmen people like whenever I was like older, like, yeah, you were doing like a mate like, you know, we had some like good like, Heart to Heart moments. I don't know if anybody else remembers that. They probably remember me shouting, like super loud, like,

 

67:17

over there like,

 

67:19

yelling at them because they were in the wrong spot. Yeah,

 

67:22

I will also definitely say No, I did not yell the first time. Oh, yes, there was a grace period. It wasn't the first time it was the 25th time you were not in the right spot. I started yelling a little bit.

 

67:34

I I will say

 

67:37

yeah, with when I was a senior, because I even when I was like afresh, even when I was in eighth grade marching. I was that Epitome that I had to be perfect martyr and not be that guy of the band. And so

 

67:52

because some crazy trumpet six I used to yell at the clarinets. It'd be out of line. What are you doing? That's not where you're supposed to be

 

67:59

moving. Too busy being a very special thank you. Thank you.

 

68:05

There's just a couple in particular I'm thinking of that I they would be, I would look down the lines, and I would see one like two feet in front of everybody else. I'm like, What? Do I just scream at them as I was yelling by? I wasn't gonna say names. I'm being

 

68:19

people's out. Sorry. Sorry.

 

68:21

Every time I every time I would I

 

68:23

will just take this time and apologize to Kevin Kyle. Sorry.

 

68:29

Every time I open up one of those yearbooks I can I look at him I'm like you. But I will also say that I was in probably one of the best shapes of my life. Because of band.

 

68:46

A, it takes a very

 

68:51

unique is a word individual that can march back can crap step two, a extremely high count. Going from the let's say the 20 all the way over to the 10 yard line across the field and you had to be there and let's say 16 counts as a book in it. You should do it why playing a trumpet?

 

69:16

Oh no, we we would also get in not being able to breathe

 

69:20

without breathing.

 

69:22

Yeah, you're only breathing out

 

69:25

but I I just definitely remember like I don't know how I remember this but it was definitely the Titanic song we did Titanic song and it was after the My heart will go on and then it was back into Mr. Shannon like to do the get your attention song, a really slow song and then finish with a bang Song. Yes, that's accurate. That's

 

69:51

100%

 

69:52

and so I remember doing my heart will go on and then I can't remember the other song was but we you know percussionists. We Just like we didn't play that entire song. And so I remember we're dead quiet and at a dead stop. And then we had to go from like, the 15 yard line, like in this huge arc, clear across to the, the 20 don't make it one or the other 15 but but I remember once one time this this poor girl, her name was Melissa. She, she couldn't keep up. And so she tripped. Like halfway there. And we had to go back and make like a big splinter. Like it was part of the show to like, get her up because she like hit hard. And we're like, oh, we're dancing with the music, improvise, improvise. And then we had to, like, lift her up and like, carry her the rest of the way. Oh, no, it was like, I just remember I saw her and then she was gone. I was like, Oh, no. I'll never let go and then gone. And then

 

71:01

It was

 

71:04

oh, this happened in college. It we tried to do at least like two different two or three shows a football season. And so we were constantly practicing. It wasn't like one show for the whole year in high school, but this was we did three shows, but they're all usually pretty simplistic, like formations that we did. And but the progression always had to had to move but I just remember stand tunes. The song holiday by Green Day will never be the same. Because normally the tempo is

 

71:42

no you play everything like hyperspeed but yeah, we used to do a

 

71:45

pep and

 

71:46

we're gonna take the song but play it

 

71:48

more I remember, like looking at us and I remember seeing him snap and then he's like,

 

71:55

this is a good tip of right 123 and like it's I had great fun. arms when I was in high school in college because of those audacious and so every time I hear holiday on the radio, I'm like, No, they're not. They're not playing it right there. It's too slow. Yeah, because it's like that's what they like in jazz being good playing faster. It automatically becomes peppier. When it's fast Yeah, yeah. Oh, it We definitely put the pep in it. During during Sam tunes, like everything we played was just hyperspeed but it was just a very interesting unique time. And it was it was a blast to be a part of. We ever really got the answer for calling of Wow, yeah. Why did Colin join me and we got enemy.

 

72:48

We just went off on this warp speed. Sure. Well,

 

72:50

I will say percussionist and bass players tend to do. Yes.

 

72:55

vortex mostly Yes. No, right.

 

72:59

Follow the baby. Drum.

 

73:00

Well, I'll follow him as soon as he does the right tempo. I will never no more. No more.

 

73:10

No, I'm sorry you guys aren't playing the right tempo because I'm playing it.

 

73:14

When when?

 

73:15

Yeah, if you follow Yeah, anyway uh well i will say having the exposure of band seeing Brandon seeing you go through it. It was definitely an interest and then what was really cool about rogersville in sixth sixth grade you did both choir and band and just as a

 

73:33

was not cool cuz I had to do choir

 

73:35

well, so yes, I will say that. Yes, but at least it was like No, everybody is going to do it right it was like so just to give somebody a taste of either of those whether you pursue them in the future or not. It was like you at least are going to have music in your life for

 

73:52

one and I want your choir and my life

 

73:54

and then you run screaming from choir Aki, obviously. Yes, and

 

74:03

But it is just

 

74:06

I just I really started to eat that up

 

74:08

of Okay,

 

74:10

I can do this and I never thought of myself as musically talented or whatever but just being exposed to that I and being able to be a part of something that was much bigger than yourself I know that sounds very cliche but when you're in the band room and you have a line of notes in front of you, but as you're playing you hear other lines of notes being played around you to hear all that put together.

 

74:35

really hit me

 

74:37

like I never had felt something like that before is is very special to me and I always loved when all cylinders are firing in the band room and you were able to make it through a whole piece without Mr. Shannon shutting you down and saying no, try again. That was terrible. So I just I just Really liked being a part of that, that thing. And being able to have pride in it and going, Okay, this is something I can do well, and I love the way the sounds, and it was challenging. It was one of those things was on that graph of things that you're good at versus how hard it is like, I felt like I was good at it. And it was hard. So I enjoyed showing up. And I enjoyed. I feel like I that was kind of me where I was at tos. Like I felt like now I might be misinterpreting this. I felt like I was good. Yeah. And I was challenged too, right. So like, some people might have a different interpretation of my skill, but like I thought I was pretty good. And so I had the same kind of like, yeah, I'm good. And the work I could see it and it's I can tell that it's doing so I like it right. That's what Yeah, and so it made it while Yes, it was hard. It was easy to show up in try and I remember trying to go to to stay And practicing those solos and just it being one of the worst times of my high school time of just how hard that was for me, and how challenging it was, but going, there's just no other option in my mind of like, No, I'm just, this is something I'm going to practice that I'm going to really work on, and seeing it pay off at the end and then seeing that and then, you know, stretching myself a lot to do the the pit band for musicals. And, and, and jazz band and all of these little things that it wasn't just a an extracurricular activity at that point. It was, I mean, it was one of the reasons that I was excited to go to school. It's got a good reason I was.

 

76:50

I was that's why I was like, Oh, man.

 

76:53

You got you start saying the morning

 

76:55

go. Good. Yeah, exactly.

 

76:57

And, you know, I'll just I know I know, I'll never we'll never forget those memories or, you know, a lot of the lessons that you know, I took from that from Mr. Shannon, or the way that instrument room smelled. Yeah. Yeah, it was terrible. Like the spit in the oil like no like that. There's another sense memory. That would that always gross me out when would see you guys turn around and release your vows? It has to go somewhere. It does. Yeah. And, you know, like I was saying like those life lessons of something I still say, multiple times a day of if you're late or late. Yeah, I said that this morning.

 

77:39

I tell that to I've told that to

 

77:41

hourlies that I've hired I've told that to students that you know, like, it's just a simple phrase and

 

77:48

changes how you operate in the world. And and that was a as you said, 6am marching band practice in the morning. Yep. know if you're like so much is tied into To that, and it came from band, you know, just I just that's why I have I have such love for that and such joy whenever other people are involved in reminiscing about it of I don't think of myself again as somebody who has a lot of like school pride you know, all the you know, I went to college and graduate school and I could have cared less how those people performed but yeah, man marching band. Yeah, sure. I'll have pride for that all day long. And that, and I love doing that whenever I was the, the drum major for two years of that that was that was something that I I took immense pride and stressed over and

 

78:48

being able to be

 

78:50

a, whatever a representative was for the band at that point in time, you know, like, because you're just up there flapping your arms for a while. The band really doesn't know need you in the grand scheme of things? Except if they're really spread apart? Yeah,

 

79:04

I've got to start. That's all we

 

79:05

need. Yeah, you just kind of start and then me and then get to know like, again that. Yeah, I didn't contribute to any of the sound coming off of the field. And so yeah, those guys did that. And we get to stand up and accept the award for them. But knowing like, yeah, they're, they're the ones and we help to help to show them off to the crowd and that kind of stuff to be that be in that position. Without, again, just a whole whole experience. Yeah, there's also some good lessons to be learned in that environment. Because there was definitely some people that I that were in my line or that were trumpet players with me that I hated. Right? I hate I've gone. No, did not like them. We did not get along at all, but we're just in the bed. And in general, there was some people that were saying, No, I can't even with you, like I can't, like I can't I don't want to talk to you. But I've got to figure out how to work with you because I care about this band. And that stuff is not important. I just want to play, we've got to figure out how that we can work together and play this song. That's it. I don't want to, like speak with you. But we've got to work together and do this marching. Because, oh, I care about that more than I care about hating you. Right? Oh, it's more but so that kind of, like trying to figure it work in that environment. So those lessons are like how to get around those things and work with people when you have like, a, like big personality differences. And oh, yeah, you just don't like them. And, but you've got to work with them anyway. There's no choice, right? You've got to do it. And yeah, and at the time, you're not really thinking at that level.

 

80:51

You're just thinking, like, okay,

 

80:54

like, you know, it's one of those questions of, you're 17 years old,

 

80:57

like I hate you. Yeah, hey, You,

 

81:01

but we've got get this done. And when you flash forward to job interviews of when they say explain it, you know, explain a scenario where you had to work with somebody who hated, you might not immediately go back to those experiences in band or pain camp or whatever, but they are there. And I mean, I have those memories of people who, like we were actively tearing each other down outside of band, but it was one of the things of like, nope, when we're here, it's a truce, or maybe it's still active, but it's still

 

81:31

active. I almost got in a fistfight in jazz band.

 

81:33

So

 

81:37

but having that,

 

81:39

that, being able to have the understanding of the one thing that we both can agree on, is that this other thing is important to us. Yeah. So we can get we can work on that. We still hate you. I still don't like you. And I still want to push you in front of a bus but that's true. But again, in my situation, it's you got to Two trumpet players sometimes try to work into and I am not like, like, I'm like this stereotypical, like very brash, very loud, very like opinionated person. And so when the two of those people are occupy the same space, very difficult sometimes. And now, like, this is something that I like when I was like 17. Right? I didn't really think about it in that terms. But now you've kind of had time to go. Okay, I know that I have some issues here. I know that my personalities can get in the way of something.

 

82:38

Physically rein it in sometimes.

 

82:42

A little. Yeah, they can be to get you in trouble. Sometimes. I'm aware of this. Now. When you're 17, you're still trying to figure out how to be a person, too. So you kind of are like, yeah, and you're struggling with that. But in that environment, where there's that creative things happening and you're working, too For a goal, it kind of helps you to be like, okay, I'll hit you later. Right now we've got to do this. But it is one of those. It is one of those very unique

 

83:12

things of, of,

 

83:14

yes, we're coming together as a group to do these things. But I need to make sure that I'm focusing on me. And make sure am I am I contributing everything I have to the group? Yes, that becomes the most important thing. Yeah. And so while that sounds very self centered, it's coming from that motive of if I'm not performing at my best, yeah, I'm letting them down and letting them down and letting the group down and all sudden, that becomes the motivating factor of, I need to make sure that all this other stuff is out of my head that I'm focused on this and I'm practicing that I'm showing up so that the group can be at its best. Yeah, it's just one of those weird things of Yeah, it

 

83:53

is. Yeah.

 

83:55

Yeah, it is a weird, it sounds counterintuitive, but you do have to kind of put that hat on sometimes if I need to sit down I need to focus on just how am I doing? Because how I'm doing is gonna affect how we do right now

 

84:14

boom

 

84:15

yeah then some knowledge on Yeah, my goodness

 

84:20

BAM introspection. Yeah.

 

84:25

I love it. Goodness. Yeah. Just

 

84:45

yell next time they go.

 

84:47

Stop Recording they're

 

84:50

making it. I'm 24

 

84:55

I was gonna even say I even

 

84:59

did one of them. Mr. Shannon's old magic tricks.

 

85:02

The blanket one.

 

85:03

Yeah, the blank. I took it. I had a I had a little handkerchief that I found. I was like, Yes. I did this at work, and so no one knew what I was doing. So he goes, Oh, it's gone. And then I told Shelby, one of Mr. Shannon's stories of whenever you used to work at the circus.

 

85:24

Uh huh. I'm curious about which story

 

85:27

that was there was a there was a pregnant pause if ever there was one. I was

 

85:31

waiting. I was what did you tell her about the one where he got like, peed on by the

 

85:36

leg? No, that was the one that I told because like, Okay.

 

85:40

I was like, Yeah, my instructor was peed on, like a leopard or something. And then I told him about, like, how he went on a date and accidentally grabbed her shoulder. Yeah, but it wasn't his shoulder. Yeah.

 

85:56

And he was tell the

 

85:58

signers that the fact that he was telling Got to like middle schoolers?

 

86:02

What's just

 

86:04

terrifying at the time? Maybe? Yeah.

 

86:09

What is this? This is the 90s, man,

 

86:12

whatever

 

86:18

it is it. Like that's one thing that I kind of breaks my heart with. Some of the places that I go for my job is like, I meet all these like, and that was kind of the one thing that I didn't really want to talk yesterday is that I just met this really troubled kid with a pretty crappy home life. And I went to the school office like you guys definitely. Anything this kid could be a part of because I was like you would do amazing in band. They're like, No, we don't have that program. I was like, ah

 

86:54

Why? And so

 

86:57

that was just frustrating on a on a level like That, huh?

 

87:03

Yeah, yeah.

 

87:05

Yeah there, you know those those programs they had so much value and obviously you know, we got

 

87:10

a lot out of them.

 

87:13

And to think that those shared experiences aren't are common across Yeah, it does. It doesn't make you feel make you feel really bad

 

87:25

because a lot of what makes what makes you feel really bad is when you're, every time you see a marching band, you look, the first thing I do still today is look at their feet.

 

87:32

Yeah. What are you doing?

 

87:38

One of the homeschool kids that I was talking about. He's like, it'd be really cool if we had white shoes. Like No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, I can't do that with your feet. And they're like, oh, okay, I'm sorry.

 

87:50

You don't want it you don't want them see your feet and big floppy things on your head so that they can see the Bubble Bubble Bubble bubble,

 

87:55

bubble bubble when I go to the Christmas parade, I was getting elbowed my wife Cuz I'm

 

88:01

like, What is that diagonal? She's like, shut up.

 

88:06

But I can

 

88:07

look at there be there. Yeah.

 

88:19

I do that still still. Last time I was a Christmas parade last year. I think there's no I didn't go this last two years ago I guess I had those thoughts. I was watching the bands come by I

 

88:29

was like what are you doing

 

88:33

now? It's bad. It's bad

 

88:42

you know, ingrained in there won't go away probably ever, right?

 

88:47

Oh no, no I guarantee you it won't

 

88:55

NES well you can

 

89:00

You guys have a good week coming up? I

 

89:04

guess so I don't really know what's happening next week. Mystery week. He started mystery. So I am actually waiting for. It's called Tulsa on our academy. actually give me a call. Is it a zoo? No. Okay. It's a charter school in Tulsa for a few teaching jobs, and then I was waiting I was waiting on that. But that that's the only thing that I got coming up that's quote unquote big. That definitely qualifies. That is a cool, definitely. Where what positions Do you know? So, I already did a phone interview. And it's for so it's charter schools are weird. Yes, some of them don't go all the way up. They only do like yes sir. A few certain grades. So this one that this program they're actually adding on every year or every other year like a different grade level and so the okay this one would be for a freshman and sophomore history teacher

 

90:16

they don't have any athletics yet.

 

90:20

And so but like they've had a miscarriage or like, they've had a middle school for a really really long time. And they're just now slowly implementing adding them up. Yeah, yeah, high school stuff. And I, I kind of felt a little bad because I was still at work when I did this phone interview with these, but I went I went to the back little conference room areas to, to meet or to call this this person and she's sent me an email. She's like, I wasn't really impressed. I've already sent your stuff to the principal. Be prepared for a call and I'm like,

 

90:54

Yeah, yeah, go join but

 

91:01

Check a time Mr. Funkhouser Never mind that

 

91:07

I kind of made a little boo boo because I was like, Well, you know, like a lot of people a in school like they don't really like, like history, but they really don't like math and the lady's like, I actually teach math. I'm like, Oh, shit. Oh, no.

 

91:22

Not add a bed.

 

91:26

So yeah, but other than that, I think the interview went really well. Now I'm just kind of waiting for. It will give me a holler. That's exciting. Cool. Very cool. There we go. Yeah, I'm not doing anything. Well, then I'm aware of just a normal week doing stuff. posting a big list of missing assignments. That's what I'm doing next. Monday saying Hello, children. Your name is on this list. You have a problem. Actually, it's not a few names on the list once I have some kids. Your name is on this list. More than once. You have a problem.

 

92:04

Point. Yeah.

 

92:05

Problem. Yes.

 

92:08

So is that but no. Are you going down to the?

 

92:14

Yeah, we're gonna do a big thing via dad's.

 

92:19

Yeah. So be there till Monday and then come back home.

 

92:24

That's a blue ID. No.

 

92:27

Just just for the fun of it. Yeah. Lily didn't have school on Monday. And so I'm taking it off.

 

92:35

I don't know why they don't have school, but

 

92:37

that some random Missouri holiday?

 

92:39

I don't know. Maybe I just like yeah, we're close. I don't know.

 

92:43

Yeah, I think I think she may be taking the person who runs it. Maybe taking a personal week? I don't know. But is she in? She is not daycare. What is she in? preschool.

 

92:57

It's a it's a you've called it now.

 

93:03

It's a no it's a it's a private preschool.

 

93:07

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, no, it's Yeah. Private preschool but it's just it's half day and half week so it's feel introductory at this point. Oh, yeah. Real or directory. But no, she has it. She's registered not as a daycare but as an actual preschool. Right? Yeah, no, it's been it wins yet. Huge. Yeah. I mean, I mean already. Thank you one of those. It was those Guruji know Aaron. They start with Latin by startling. Yeah. Wow. Huh? No, no, it's been it's been really huge for her. I've noticed her. Her storytelling and just a mental organization when communicating has really Increased as far as like planning goes with activities or how she presents information is has already gotten a lot better. And, and she's one of the things that we really struggled with when we were working with her at home and doing more homeschool activities was the writing aspect. And that was something we just fought with her every single time we sat down to do that as she would do maybe one and then she move on to the next letter and just wouldn't and then it would end in tears and screaming and gnashing of teeth and then we'd put it away. And so we just stopped doing writing activities because we didn't want that to become a negative association with her. And she writes all the time. Now she's she's constantly getting a piece of paper, and just writing random letters and going What's this smell like? Well, that's not an actual word. Okay? What's this smell like? That's not a word either. But you know, she's she's trying and that's been huge.

 

95:00

Yeah, that is a that's one of the steps, right is the

 

95:04

like, act like the play spelling, right? Kind of like a thing? Yeah. So it's good. Yeah. Yeah. And we're so we encourage that. And, you know, we don't try and bring that up. Because again, when we did it last week, we tried to bring it up, it was a no go. So it's like you, you're gonna do your own thing. We encourage you, and we'll continue to play along and provide all of the drawing and paper and stuff that you have free access to. So you can do it as you wish. Because then you can it's easier to transition into like, Hey, why don't you make this? This a letter? Uh huh. If they're already kind of like, exploring their own place spelling and all that like, kind of stuff. When you it's it kind of makes the transition to what about letters, see, okay, yes, then. Oh, you mean this? I'm already making that shape kinda so well, and, and we noticed it sort of and this will probably be an ongoing theme

 

95:59

I've heard Her life. I know she's only four. But like,

 

96:03

when she didn't start talking until she was three, like actual like just actually verbalizing stuff until she was three, she was very delayed in that. But when we would take her to speech therapists or speech coaches or our pediatrician, they were like, yeah, there's nothing concerned here. She knows exactly what you're saying. And she would say words, but if she couldn't say the word perfectly,

 

96:25

Oh, she didn't want

 

96:26

to do she wouldn't say I wouldn't ask you. So when one of the things that, you know, is very developmentally, one of the steps with kids is mimicking, of like, say, dad, and the kids, and you're

 

96:37

like, great job.

 

96:40

She never did that.

 

96:42

Just would not you'd say, say ball, and she would just stare you in the eyes. Now you could say go get the ball, or Where's your ball or which you could say which balls bigger? Which ball smaller, which balls, you know which color is the she knew all of that. We just not verbalize it. And so when it came to writing I feel like that was similar. Very similar. She She couldn't do it. She couldn't trace the lines. Exactly. So she just wouldn't do it. Yeah. And or perform perfectly. So she just wouldn't. And so encouraging this, as you mentioned, Random Play writing. Yeah.

 

97:18

That's what it's called. It's, it is.

 

97:22

There's a, the, the a lot of French schools actually do that in their art classes. They do. They teach those like strokes, but then they do it in the form of like, picture drawing. Yeah, right. Especially with like, the the letter shapes, like it's like, half circle, or like, the full circle or just straight lines. And they make art with it. Mm hmm. And then they transition that art into letters because they're already familiar with how the pin strokes Yeah, function. Yep. And so then they can just combine them in different ways to make the letters right because there's really only a couple that you need. Right grant writing you'd like to? Well, for boys Yeah. Yeah.

 

98:07

Yeah. Straight line curve. squiggle. Right.

 

98:09

Yeah. Take full circle, half circle. Straight line. Bigger straight line.

 

98:15

Yeah. And

 

98:16

like an arch. Okay, got it done.

 

98:21

And that's what they that's what

 

98:22

the preschool has been doing is just working on strokes so that whenever they can do and like, it's fully like, they'll do the tray strokes with their fingers. They'll practice drawing with different strokes, they'll have their they'll position their body in different strokes to make letters, you know, it's, it's, it's full so like when when you go to write that a, you know that in your hand in your you can you can feel it in your body and visualize it. And that's, that's helped her push through that so that Yeah, she she's just so much more comfortable with it than she was before. She She like adapting mold, like a lot of the kids. Also, or how's that looking? Oh, she's fine. She's,

 

99:08

yeah. That was her brother and that she beats at the time. Yeah. I don't

 

99:16

know. I don't know how we're gonna do that no one's going to start attending in the summer.

 

99:22

So, yeah, we don't know if we're gonna do try and do the same class. We'll do like a morning afternoon or we'll just have

 

99:29

it better. Yeah, we're just gonna see how it goes. But

 

99:34

because I know these might be good for him to get away from her. Really?

 

99:38

Yeah. Well, like beaten by his other

 

99:42

sister. Multiple it's, it's that's her space now. Oh, yeah.

 

99:47

So I don't want to

 

99:48

feel like I'm imposing him on her space. Because Yeah, that's she knows all because she's already been there. So that's the chair I sit in and that's the person I talked to and I said well, and then he shows up and then the younger brother

 

100:00

When they're doing here, what are you doing? I hope to see you at home.

 

100:04

And then I also want him

 

100:05

to have a preview. And I

 

100:08

think one thing I want him to have that experience of going through all those same things. So we'll see, we'll see how that process goes. But she, she loves the kids. She knows all their names she she'll come home and tell stories of who was there who wasn't there. What they did that day. All the activities. We talked about that over lunch or over. Yeah, Megan talks to her about that over lunch when they get back and then we recover it at dinner talking about what her favorite part of the day was, who she played with. And she's, she's gotten really good at telling those stories as well.

 

100:45

And remembering so we haven't had any, any concerns with that. Fortunately, yeah.

 

100:57

all that fun stuff.

 

101:00

Kids All right. Well,

 

101:09

you guys have a good evening.

 

101:12

Good. Well,

 

101:14

enjoy the rest of your evening and we'll talk again soon.

 

101:18

Okay, love you guys bye