It's Like They Knew!

As fans of drum corps know, and for those of you who don't know...one of the ways we spend the cold winter months is to anxiously check our email, Facebook, corps websites and Drum Corps Planet every day in the hopes that we will be one of the first to find out what each corps is planning for the upcoming year. Once the show is announced we download the music, hope the t-shirts will be designed and put in the online store quickly and dream of how it's going to sound when we see our favorite corps during the summer. Some corps announce early...in fact, the Madison Scouts announced their 2013 show the Sunday night after DCI Finals in August, probably the earliest announcement ever. Some corps announce late...I think the Blue Devils are ALWAYS the last corps to announce their show. I was happy to see that Santa Clara Vanguard is doing "Les Miserables" and Spirit of Atlanta who did a great "Vegas" themed show last year is doing a "Speakeasy" this year.

Since you know I'm a big "Phan" then you'll know that I was very excited to get the announcement from Phantom Regiment (via e-mail), that their show this year would be called "Triumphant Journey." I think this fits in PERFECTLY with my goals for the year. Even the description is perfect - a tale of a young woman's epic transformation from innocence. In a storybook land where grimm forces lie threatening outside the castle walls, her ultimate destiny lies well beyond a fairy tale ending. Now I will be the first to admit that I'm not exactly young, and probably not all that innocent either, but I do hope that 2013 will be a transformation for me. This has motivated me even more to continue to go to the gym, and walk the stairs at the train station instead of the escalators, and write in my blog more and go on a Triumphant Journey of my own. I knew I loved this corps for a reason!

And for those of you wondering what the music will be:

Music to be taken from:

• Elizabeth: The Golden Age, by Craig Armstrong and A. R. Rahman
• Cape Fear, by Bernard Herrmann
• Four Sea Interludes, by Benjamin Britten
• Enigma Variations, by Edward Elgar
• Symphony No. 11, by Dmitri Shostakovich

Don't know what the exact selections will be, but I'm sure they will not disappoint.

Now, for a quick Project Dean update...I didn't get to the gym over the weekend and have another weird schedule at work this week, but I did spend 20 minutes on Sunday scraping an inch of ice off of my car which was good arm work, and I have been taking the stairs at the train station instead of the escalators. There are 43 stairs (not including the stairs on the train and the stairs up to the train platform or the stairs to our apartment) so I'm almost able to do those now without losing my breath too badly. Another week or so and I should be good on that.

I also cooked new meal number 2 for the new year. I made sage pork chops with apples and red onions with some garlic mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were made with buttermilk and the garlic was boiled with the potatoes and then mashed. It was quite tasty, although I could have browned the onions and apples just a tad bit more. Here's a picture.

This week I hope to try a new restaurant, but I'm up for a new recipe too.