NOTES FROM PIPEY'S CORNER

AND THE SEASON IS OVER...NOT!

SOOOOO - Pleasanton has come and gone, many thanks to all of you who came by the booth and bought something! Our business was up considerably from last year, thanks to Tartan Thistle giving up the Games circuit. A few observations:

• 1. The gate, while up over last year's dismal showing, was nowhere near the attendance of years past. Is Pleasanton becoming stale?

• 2. The number of bands attending was down. Only ONE Canadian band, NO regimental pipe band, and NO bands from AZ, CO, NM, OOTAH, or elsewhere. Other than the one Canadian band, NO bands from outside WUSPBA that I could see. Obviously gas prices have a lot to do with it.

• 3. People were spending money - but carefully. We sold a LOT of books this year, primarily because we had a good selection fully displayed with our larger setup.

All in all, a good outing, with many thanks to Jamie and Dexter for all their assistance.

Good news: Wygent drone reeds are back in stock! I have a LIMITED supply of Mk Is and Waterproof Duatones, all with glassfibre tongues. Bad news - Mk Is are now $109.95....

It IS September 11 as I write this, and we remember...in particular the 343 firefighters who were lost - Ladder 8 and Rescue 4 especially. You'll never be forgotten, Bronko....also, we sadly mark the passing of Scott MacAuley, age 51, from melanoma. He had been the head of the Summerside PEI College of Piping for the last eight years or so. A gifted player and practical joker, he will be missed. Our sincerest condolences to his family and colleagues.

BLACK PART SPEAKS:

Observations on judging piping contests......The following comments are based on actual events that the 'ol pirate himself be a witness, or victim of this contest season.

1)  The adjudicator being 'hung over':  Usually from a hard night's drinking the past evening. The adjudicator usually has blood shot eyes, uncombed hair, and a wrinkled kilt, not to say the least bad breath, and a lousy attitude.  This guy'll sit there and listen to you perform, all the while wishing you'd stop sooner than later.  Sometimes his head will be in his hands, but mostly he just sits there with a scowl on his face cause your piping, good or bad, is making his headache worse than it was when he got there.  This guy is there simply to collect a check, and doesn't really care about you or your performance.  All he wants to do is get the contest over with so he can go have a beer or two with the same 'buddies' he was out with last night.  This has happened more than once this season, and usually its the same adjudicator(s). 

2)  Inappropriate comments:  Now this happens all the time even if the adjudicator hasn't been drinking the night before.  Most often, the adjudicator has failed to remember that there is a large responsibility to the competitor to give that the competitor the best he, or she has to offer; just as the competitor when he, or she steps up is there to offer their best, if possible.  Note that the 'if possible' applies only to the competitor, and not the adjudicator.  Adjudicators must remember that what they write down on a score sheet is 'cast in stone', and will be read by the competitors, their friends, and when appropriate by the piping and drumming coordinator for the contest sponsor.  Be careful what you write:  It'll 'haunt you'!  For instance:  On one of my recent score sheets for a Piobaireachd Contest can be found the following comments:  "TD [Taorluath Doubling] you beat your feet and swung side to side.  Completely alien to me."  Well now COME ON!  Since when do you not stop in a doubling of a variation, and since when does a piper not keep, or move to the music?  So even in the professional levels comments may 'haunt you'.  What the heck was this guy doing writing this down when he should have been listening?  Ol' Black Part'll see to it that these stupid  comments "haunt' this adjudicator for sometime. 

Being an adjudicator is not a 'Right' 'cause you can play better than most and have managed to pass a few really easy tests.  Being an adjudicator is a 'Privilege', and with that privilege comes responsibility:  To the competitors, to the contest sponsors, and not the least yourself.  This ol' pirate calls upon the WUSPBA Executive Committee and the Music Board to be more observant
at contests and 'weed out' the bad actors from the adjudication panels.

And.....You'll play nice now....and you'll judge nice now....and you'll act nice now.....Black Part's Orders!    Ahrrrrrgh!     

(The management of Cuillinn Craft takes NO responsibility for any editorial statements made by John Eric Partanen PhD. Any and all comments should be directed to BLACK PART)