TWHSParent

Please clarify the cost benefit to the event and how that impacts a school's decision to attend? Last I checked, there is no revenue from the event driven to programs attending Grand Nationals, it is purely a cost to those programs. MFA will absolutely NOT pay for a program to attend Grand Nationals. And not even Reagan attending this year would have a significant impact to revenue at GN. One program just won't do that. Grand Nationals finals will be sold out with or without Reagan. It just has transcended the impact of individual programs and is a whole that is larger than the sum of the parts.

There have been several falls today. Noticed 2 or 3 for Westlake, and others scattered. I think it is the performers doing their all and a little beyond.

Here bright and early. Looking forward to a great day of shows.

Travel safely - that's more important than having all the red out of your eyes! Take care!

That would be awesome! Take care and I'll be happy to share my thoughts!

I'm driving over this evening with the youngest child. We'll be there pretty much all day tomorrow. I did get the expensive tickets (suites), so I would have to come out to visit, which I'm certainly willing to do. Actually I have to in order to get my Team Texas shirt....

Umm, to win. Any place that gave those odds for making finals would be in receivership overnight.

Something like: Reagan: 3 to 1 Flower Mound: 5 to 1 Vandegrift: 10 to 1 Hebron: 15 to 1 CTJ: 15 to 1 Leander: 20 to 1 TWHS: 25 to 1 Vista Ridge: 30 to 1 Marcus: 50 to 1 Keller: 50 to 1 James Bowie: 50 to 1 LD Bell: 75 to 1 Westwood: 100 to 1 Westlake: 100 to 1 Cedar Park: 100 to 1 Cedar Ridge: 100 to 1 Coppell: 100 to 1 Field: 250 to 1

Is that 7pm to 12am rather than 7am to 12pm?

It was pretty bad when I lived in Plano from 2004 to 2007. I used to drive from east Plano (less than a mile from Plano East HS) to Irving (just west of Las Colinas, near MacArthur Blvd and 114) for work. Talk about a fun drive!

Of course!

Here in Houston it looks like Tuesday night, Wednesday all day, and Thursday morning will be a washout. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are currently looking OK, as is Friday.

I realized that while I was having dinner, and you already corrected it before I got back.

Baroquen (or some spelling like that) - pronounce Baroque -en (play on broken).

It certainly can be. They have 3 weeks to get it into championship form (not there yet - the 2nd half is still rough, but a beautiful show). It will probably win this super regional with a bit of a margin on Carmel (TBD as of this writing).

Got the email, too. I guess since I'm farther out, she told me if I don't receive the package by Wednesday they'll set up will-call.

Needs more cowbell.

I will attend.

It went up. Main change is Robinson dropping and Forney being added, therefore Cedar Ridge was pushed onto panel 2. They were previously at the end of the first block and on panel 1.

Yeah, and those lists aren't in order either, just putting my thoughts together on the panels, and who I think are the strongest on each one, etc. Then break down to top half/bottom half, and then finally get to a ranking. Oof.

So with the change in schedule, it appears Cedar Ridge is moved from panel 1 to panel 2. To account for that I am updating my panel predictions: My top 5 predictions for panel 1: Ronald Reagan Claudia Taylor Johnson Flower Mound The Woodlands James Bowie Top 5 for panel 2: Vandegrift Leander Vista Ridge Hebron LD Bell The next 4: Keller (panel 1) Cedar Ridge (panel 2) Marcus (panel 2) Westwood (panel 2) Just out: Cedar Park (panel 2) Westlake (panel 2) Rouse (panel 1) Coppell (panel 1) It is going to be so close between these bands to make finals.

In WGI the schools are at basically 3 levels - "Scholastic A", "Scholastic Open", and "Scholastic World". Currently Texas has James Bowie, Marcus, Claudia Taylor Johnson, and The Woodlands in Scholastic World (Did I miss any?). In Scholastic Open and Scholastic A, we have lots of programs so I won't list them. So, for now, I guess those 4 in Scholastic World would be the top ones in Texas? Did any from Texas jump from Scholastic Open to World for this upcoming season?

I think visual could be closer than you think (think SA 2017). And yes, they had drops during the show , not even Avon's guard is perfect all the time. I like the show, I still think it is premature to anoint anything yet. Indy and SA will be interesting, but certainly not the last word on GN. I'm just testing my critical eye out and getting feedback from others to see if there are things I'm missing that I should be accounting for. Just like the bands, I'm trying to get better about what I'm looking at and for to better understand the shows and what does and doesn't score well. The only way to do that at the level of show these programs put out is to be a little nit-picky about questions.

I don't know about that (re: Carmel 2017) - I do think there was crowd appeal that went around in the full package. There weren't so many "Ah-ha" moments, but it was crystal clear what they were trying to do thematically (yes, I saw it live in Indy that year). I don't believe, at least from this video (and I certainly reserve the right to change my mind after viewing in person), that Avon is quite that clear. Carmel wasn't trying to put across a music theory idea, they were trying to put across "Serenity", and they did. Edited to be clear I was writing about Carmel '17

My previous question is still something I wonder about - where is the MGE? They received no reaction based on music. Maybe the judges will be enthralled by the esoteric music theory behind the show, but the crowd certainly won't. ISSMA does not place as high a value on MGE as BOA, so it hurts less on that circuit.