This week Tim and I geared up for the 2008 marching season by driving up to historic Inman Field in Vincennes and shooting the sixth annual Pre-season Spectacular. We were excited that marching season was just around the corner and the Pre-season Spectacular was the perfect appetizer for the main course that starts in September.

The drive from SI headquarters in Rahm to Vincennes takes about an hour. Tim and I knew we had to choose the music we were going to listen to carefully so we would be ready to make the most out of the photo opportunity. Over lunch we discussed our musical options for the trip. It quickly became obvious that there was only one album that would prepare us for the show:

Early Recordings by the Swiss supergroup 16-17.

Check out 16-17's breakout megahit from Early Recordings: "Direkt B."

For a couple years in the mid 1980s, "Direkt B" was the number one requested song at weddings, commencements and baby showers. "'Direkt B' was one of those songs represented the thoughts and feelings of young people all over the world in the 1980s." wrote Andrew Edwards of Tinnitus Magazine in 1984. "The way that 16-17 captured the raw emotion of literally millions of young people and put it into a four minute song is absolutely brilliant." After listening to that for an hour, Tim and I could not wait to get to out of the SUV and start shooting.

The folks at Vincennes Lincoln have a great sense of humor. They often say things about Tim and me to other directors just to see how they respond.

For instance Vincennes Director Jason King points out to Debbie VanderMel and Brent Richardville of North Knox, and Bill Marsh of Vincennes that Tim has a habit of following people around the stadium, sticking his camera in their face and saying things like "Come on baby, pout!" and "Show me the new face of Cosmo!" like he is some type of fashion photographer.

One of the coolest things about being involved in the marching band activity as long as Tim and I have is that we often get to re-connect with old friends from years past. Vincennes Lincoln band mom Candi Elmore (pictured below) marched with Tim and me in high school.

Here Candi and I share a laugh about the time I "forgot" to pick her up for a date because Tim asked me to help him replace the cork in the spit valves on his baritone.

Tim and I try to be as helpful as we can to everyone. Sometimes we help people without realizing that we did. For example, upon seeing the bright red glow off of my sun burnt, bald head, this guy realized that he could have had a V8.

Simply Instrumental - Promoting good nutrition!

From humble beginnings, the Vincennes show has grown into a social event that attracts many people not normally seen at marching band contests. This year, the southern Indiana chapter of The Miyagi Disciples - the official Karate Kid fan club dropped by the show.

After the bands performed, members of the club wowed the audience by breaking boards in half with roundhouse kicks and by waxing several cars to a mirror finish in the parking lot.

Whenever we go to Vincennes, Tim and I like to take some extra time and visit some of the historic monuments and other points of interest in the area.

At the top of our list of places to visit every year is the International Brassiere Museum in Vincennes. This place RAWKS! It turns out that we visited the museum at a very good time. The feature exhibit at the time was "Corsets of the Victorian Era - Accentuate Thy Junk Old School!"

What a great day! Tim and I got to meet some old friends, learn some new karate moves and I found out that it is best to wash a leather thong by hand as opposed to a putting it in a washing machine.