UPDATE x2

I hope you all got a chance to see the MRDs march in the Macy's Parade. Their appearance was short, but good. The nearly 500-strong band was the largest in the show, and proved to be a great PR asset to us after this minor annoyance.

Also, you can X the previous X-Mas list I posted here for convenience. My bro, Jeff, has devised an even simpler system, one that works for me as well.

Repost from jmu.edu!

JMU's Marching Royal Dukes Perform in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

From: Public Affairs

The Marching Royal Dukes perform a football halftime show

Nov. 21, 2008

HARRISONBURG – The largest marching band in the history of James Madison University will represent the school in the 82nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade® Nov. 27 in New York City. The 474-member Marching Royal Dukes marching band is one of 10 bands performing in the Thanksgiving tradition.

The JMU band will perform "Sing, Sing, Sing" in Herald Square and other selections along the parade route. NBC will broadcast the parade beginning at 9 a.m.

The band is slated to perform between 11 a.m. and noon.

“With JMU’s centennial, what better way to celebrate on a national scope than to feature the band program on TV,” said Scott Rikkers, assistant director of bands and director of the Marching Royal Dukes. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s good for the school, it’s good for the state, it’s good for the kids.” JMU, established in 1908, is the only university in America named for James Madison, the fourth president of the United States and the Father of the U.S. Constitution.

This year’s performance will mark the marching band’s second appearance in the holiday classic. In 2001, the Marching Royal Dukes represented JMU in the 75th anniversary Macy’s parade.

The Marching Royal Dukes date to 1972 when JMU established a football program. Membership in the Marching Royal Dukes is open to all JMU students, regardless of their academic majors. About three-quarters of the band members are not music majors.

“We’ve been revitalizing the program over the past couple of years and I think there’s definitely renewed excitement about the program,” Rikkers said. “I also think, of course, the Macy’s trip is a big draw.”

Contributing to the record-size band are 320 returning band members. “I’m glad to have that because they’re the strength of our program – they are the tradition,” Rikkers said.

All 474 band members will depart the JMU campus at approximately 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, en route to New York City.

Shortly after viewing the Marching Royal Dukes in their New York appearance, local music lovers will have an opportunity to see the band live and up close in the Harrisonburg Holiday Parade Dec. 5. The band will march in the 6 p.m. downtown parade and will present a free public concert afterward on Court Square.

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Christmas List!

Ok, so I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I have been getting asked left and right what I'm hoping for this Christmas. So then I got the brilliant idea of putting a X-Mas list on this blog, so all interested parties can see it at the same time. As of yet, it is not complete, nor is it really that specific. What I'll throw out there right now are some general ideas. I'll update as my greed increases the closer we get to the holiday. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Books: The Great Gatsby and/or Tender Is The Night--Fitzgerald has been lauded by many as producing what could be most closely considered the Great American Novel. These may be a good inspirational starting point for me beginning to write my own; One of pop-sociologist Malcolm Gladwell's books--Blink, The Tipping Point or his newest offering, Outliers. I haven't read any of these, and I'm hesitant to indulge in yuppie conventional wisdom, but his common sense views of societal phenomena appear to be in the same vein as mine; or, as always, more Vonnegut.

Music: Way to Blue--An introduction to Nick Drake, the English singer/songwriter whose ill-fated existence is, similarly to Gladwell's rise, now becoming the stuff of legend among hipsters. That's ok, the music is pretty good, very mellow, great for work--but don't listen to too much or you may wind up as depressed as he was; lastly, perhaps something by Stan Rogers(, Sarah Mac).

Useless consumer products: An electric razor/beard trimmer--I'm thinking about keeping a near-perpetual 5 O'Clock shadow, and a beard trimmer will be a must for that, but don't worry, Sarah K, having a convenient shaving instrument might inspire me to do the act even more ;). Wet-dry might be a nice feature, too.

The Office

So, we moved in to the new office right downtown on Court Square today. It went pretty smoothly, and since I had relatively little to move in, I was the first one all set. Here are some shots so you can see where I'll be working. Of course, I took these using the built in cam on my laptop, which is always difficult. I'll also be putting up a vibrant calendar and hopefully a bulletin board and some art, so the walls won't look so plain. They are a little drab as of right now, but that's ok. At least my office is well lit, even if I only have a support column and no window or closet. The photos:

It's a gravitas-off!

Now most people after the historic election we've all just witnessed would probably blog about the candidates, analyze who won and why, etc. But there's plenty of that already. Also I'm not an expert, and I don't really care about all that hootenany. What I thought would be more fun would be a gravitas-off! In this post, I'll pit my two favorite commentators of the election (not including anchors/reporters), David Gergen and George Will, and let you decide who's got more of that serious substantive je ne sais quois we seek out in our talking heads.



I find my own perspective during the election season interesting. I used to hold the view that opinion pages of newspapers and pundits on TV were worthless and, if anything, inhibitive to what media outlets are supposed to do. I ferociously opposed reading editorials and columns; I used to think, why would I want to read someone else's opinion? Just give me the facts, and I'll come up with my own.

But recently, I've found myself skimming or skipping entirely the news sections of papers and gravitating right to the opinion page (I mostly read the local DNR, the Washington Post as well as CNN.com, MSNBC.com, whatever looks interesting on Google News and, of course, the South County News). I even started occasionally reading some of Bernie Miklasz' sports columns. That's scary.

Now this could be that news reporting has gotten so nearly instantaneous that reading a full-length story in a paper or even online has become tedious, compared to quick online news blurbs or videos. (For an example of the type of presentation I think most news outlets will gravitate toward soon, check out my co-worker's news blog. Or it could be that I just find them more interesting at this point in history, or maybe something has happened in the core of who I am, like maturation. Nah, that can't be it.

I chose to watch, primarily, CNN for daily coverage and ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday mornings. Upon reflection, I believe this is at least partly because the two analysts I liked to listen to most were CNN's Gergen and ABC's Will, who is a regular 'roundtable' member.

So anyway, check out the vids of each, and vote in the comments section on who you like more (though I'm sure Jeff will support a write-in candidate). If this is successful, maybe I'll do a similar post on anchors. But there's already been research on that.

And this is why my ex-boss is awesome

I have enjoyed reading the columns of my former editor Dave "Scoop" Ambrose since I first started working for him while still in college. Don't get me wrong, he is a fine news reporter and layout editor as well, but it's been the opinion of me and a few others who know him well for quite some time that he could be far better off financially if he just found a gig as columnist somewhere and did freelance or consultative graphic design for other papers. His writing and design skills have mostly been honed through decades of experience in newspapers, and they are his best skills.

But I think he just loves running all aspects of a small-town paper far too much to abandon it (despite said financial difficulties, political annoyances and managerial swamping). His 'Scoop Sez' column this week displays not only his superior writing ability but also his 'unique' personality and willingness to report and/or write about things many in rural Central Illinois might consider too "edgy."