Welcome to the part of the web site that begs the question: shouldn't Tim and Scott be treated by a mental health professional for their condition? This is the weekly masterpiece of hyperbole called Contest Journal.
This week Tim and I hit the road at headed east to the New Albany Invitational and then headed back to the west to the McDonald's® Evansville North Invitational. It had been a couple years since we attended a show at New Albany so we were excited to get on the road. Instead of listening to music during the 2-hour trip, Tim and I kicked around ideas on jingles we could use on the intro to the SI web site. After an hour and a half of brainstorming, we came up with a set of lyrics that worked. Unfortunately neither of us can sing and we don't have any budget to hire professional vocalists, so we had to resort to an alternative method to record our new jingle.
Introducing the new SI web site jingle.
As all of the best percussionists will tell you, to perform really well you have to wear your chin strap somewhere other than your chin. I'm, always looking for anything to give me that extra edge in photography, so I decided to follow the lead of the drummers and try the same thing with my neck strap.
Did holding the strap in my mouth make me a better photographer? No, but the strap tasted like chicken, so I chewed on it for most of the show.
The show at New Albany was fairly short, but filled with great performances. The highlight of the show was the pit crew contest. Each pit crew wrapped up one of their members in a duct tape cocoon, then all of the mummified people raced (hopped) down the field 30 yards. During the race other pit crew members badgered and humiliated the contestants to make them hop faster. Upon crossing the finish line, the first contestant to shed his hillbilly straightjacket was awarded the coveted Houdini award and a gift certificate redeemable at any New Albany area hospital for any joint dislocations that were suffered during the race.
After the show, Tim and I jumped back in his SUV and headed back to Evansville for the McDonald's® Evansville North Invitational.
The biggest surprise of the day was when SI was presented the runner-up plaque for the McFavorite band web site. In the photo below Tim shows off the award to me and the groundskeeper.
People who know Tim and I have heard us say many times that music and art are closely related. To illustrate this point, our good friend and Northeast Dubois director Alan Conrad showed us how he was the inspiration for Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker," despite the fact that the original sculpture predates Alan by about 100 years.
Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" | | 
Mr & Mrs Conrad's "The Alan" |
Each year we are amazed at the lengths bands go to gain even the slightest advantage over their competitors. For instance, Pike Central flew in the Black Knight from Camelot just to tune their timpanis.
At the end of the day, Tim and I were tired, but really happy because we witnessed two great shows featuring some of the best bands in southern Indiana. We can hardly wait until District. Jasper here we come!
