I just wanted to let you know just how I proud I am of you all for playing so well at the concert. I really, really mean it when I say that you sound better than ANY BC Band has sounded in a REALLY long time. No joke.

I know you’re probably sick to death of hearing about Learning Targets and hearing me, Dan, Mr. Nelson and Ms. Winslow constantly on your case to get your work done, but you know what?? IT HAS PAID OFF HUGE! It’s unbelievable how much you ALL have improved in such a short amount of time.

The best part is that ALL of you, not some of you or a few of you, but ALL OF YOU stepped up and made big improvements. As I look at the data, I am most proud of the fact that out of 300 assessments that the data represents, there were ZERO missing assessments!!!! That is outstanding, but please know that the bar will continue to be raised in the near future.  We push you all very hard because we care about you and you DESERVE IT!!!!! You deserve the best music education experience in the whole world, without a doubt.

Like I said before, I know some of you were getting pretty annoyed with us on your case and went kicking and screaming through the maze in which you can only go one way, but we eventually all got through it. It wasn’t so bad, was it? The best news is that we’ve all been through the process twice now and it is only going to get easier and easier as we figure it out together. I’m not going to lie and tell you that I have it all figured out as far as how it works exactly, but I will tell you that I am 100% positive that the main idea of EVERYONE succeeding in band class and improving at their own level is the right thing to do. Like I said, you all deserve the best and that’s what we are trying to provide for you.

I’m very excited for what the future will bring after the break!

Don’t forget – there is the annual Christmahanakwanzaaka Party this Wednesday! Enjoy the short week!

It’s that time again – time for the 9th Annual BC Band Christmahanakwanzaaka Party! We will put up the BC Band Tree, plug in the fake fireplace, and have our $5 limit gift exhange to celebrate all of the hard work and effort put into the year so far as we look forward to a nice winter break.

This is not our actual tree, but it's very similar and awesome.

INFORMATION

The Party will start at 8am sharp and will conclude at the end of 1st hour (8:48am)

BC Band Alumni are more than welcome to come and of course participate in the gift exchange if they would like.

If you’re going to bring food, please consider bringing something to share. I realize there are 68 people in the HS Band and I’m not saying bring enough for EVERYONE, but it would be nice if everyone brought a little something – like a pot luck.

Yes, we really do really have this exact fake fireplace. Even though it doesn't give off heat, it does plug in and makes crackling noises. Pretty sweet.

GIFT EXCHANGE

The gift exchange tradition has been around longer than I have been the band director at BC. The BC Bandos continued the tradition with me that first year and I’m very glad this has continued to be strong tradition in BC Band Land.

This is OPTIONAL, but a lot of kids participate and have a great time, so if you’re thinking about it, DO IT!! If money is a problem, let me know and I’ll give you the money. It’s not a big deal and I’m more than happy to help.

• Those who want to participate bring a wrapped – $5 gift.
  • Please do NOT exceed the $5 limit.

• Try and be as creative as possible with the gift.
  • There have been some pretty amazingly creative $5 gifts given over the years!

• If money is a problem and you want to participate, please see me ASAP and I’ll give you the money.
  • If you feel stupid asking . . .first of all, don’t, then fill out a Concerns Request Form and I’ll give it to you secretly if that helps.

• Do NOT put your name on this gift. Just put it under the awesomely pathetic BC Band Charlie Brown Tree.

• At the beginning of class, the winner of last years Lucky Bobble Head (see more information below) gets to pick the first gift from under the pathetically awesome tree.
  • Everyone watches as this person unwraps the gift.
  • When they are done unwrapping the gift, the person who brought that gift gets to go pick the next gift.
  • This continues until there are no more gifts and everyone is playing with their awesomely creative $5 gifts.

This is the first lucky bobble head that was given out. Then the body was lost/broken, so it became just a lucky bobble head head until that too was lost.

THE LUCKY BOBBLE HEAD

One of the most important aspects of the gift exchange is the Lucky Bobble head. This too was a tradition before I was the director here and has been modified slightly, but the main idea remains the same. The director wraps up the lucky bobble head and puts it under the pathetically awesome tree with all of the other unmarked gifts. The person who randomly chooses the gift that is the Lucky Bobble head is said to have good luck for a year and also $10 cash.

The first Lucky Bobble Head (pictured on the right) was Big Boy. After a year or so, Big Boy’s body was damaged and then lost, so it was given out the next few years as a “Lucky Bobble Head Head” until that too was never returned.

The tradition was that the person who won it had to bring it back all wrapped up the next year for someone else to have a chance at good luck for a year and $10. I think seniors kept winning it and not coming back.

There have been many different versions of Lucky Bobble Heads that kept disappearing until finally I got smart and keep the current Lucky Bobble Head in the Band Office.  When the movie screen is up, you can see the Lucky Bobble Head through the window. The movie screen isn’t up often, but if it ever is, you’ll know where to look.

The current BC Band Lucky Bobble Head

The current Lucky Bobble Head is Ronald McDonald in honor of one of the funniest/random experiences the BC Band had a few years ago while playing for the re-grand opening of the new BC McDonalds.

It was quite the experience and hilarious.

Here is the video that Ben Pimlott and Doug Suckow made to commemorate the event. I still laugh out loud when I watch this video. Classic BC Band!

As I was looking through old photos, I stumbled upon this:

This was from December 2007. They bought me a REAL tree and decorated it. That was so awesome!!

Check out the blog post from back then: http://chris-porter.edublogs.org/2007/12/12/christmahanakwanzaaka-tree/#more-382

Those kids are AWESOME!! All of my kids are AWESOME!! How did I get so lucky??

I’m super stoked that this is already the 9th year of this very important holiday. I’m so proud of those who play those extremely important instruments for the greater good. The entire universe thanks you for all you do. I’m so sincere.

Don’t forget that during Trombone Appreciation Week all those who are honored get a daily *brunch as a small token of our appreciation for all that you do.  Just stop by the band office and you will be rewarded handsomely.

Thank a trombone player today!!!

* and by “brunch” I mean, Swiss Cake Rolls (or Nutty Bars)

Do you guys even know what a “record” is, regardless of it’s condition: broken, in good shape, or otherwise?

I love idioms (ie. “I sound like a broken record”)

If you’re a current student in need of extra credit, you can earn the equivalent of a missing playing assessment and/or a missed lesson if you email me the definition/describe what an idiom is, IN YOUR OWN WORDS. cporter@brookcntr.k12.mn.us

As long as I’m on that random tangent right off the bat, do any of you youngsters even know what tapes are? Not video tapes; rather, awesome, analog audio tapes. Like this:

Ah yes . . . just seeing those classic tapes brings me back to a time when the only way to record a good song you hear on the radio was to hope it comes on when you’re actually ready to record, and then also hope that the stupid radio station DJ doesn’t talk too much during the beginning or end of the song. Times have certainly changed quite a bit. If I want to hear something now, I can just hop on YouTube quick and find what I’m looking for and then work some magic to save it, or buy it on iTunes.

This whole random rant makes me sound old, and I kind of am, at least relative to the BC Bandos, I suppose . . . HOWEVER, I’m really not THAT old (33), but it just goes to show how fast time flies.  I still can’t believe that I’m finishing my 10th year of teaching already. I’m not kind of old, I am old.

Tempus Fugit – - a Latin expression that means, “Time Flees” or as more commonly translated, “Time Flies”, and boy does it ever.  It seems like just yesterday the very same little kids that walked into BCHS for the first time as 7th graders are going to be walking out as a graduates tomorrow.  It really is hard to fathom that those kids I’ve had for the past 6-years will be moving onward and upward sooner than later.  They have all been such a huge part of the landscape of BC Band Land and have made so many amazing contributions over the past 6-years that I can honestly say that it will be weird to not have them there anymore.

STAY TUNED –> SENIOR BANDO TRIBUTE WILL BE POSTED VERY SOON!!!

ANYWAY . . .

It’s always an adjustment when you lose kids from your program to graduation, but it’s a natural part of the cycle and supposed to be this way.  In addition, this time of the year is very emotional in many ways in the sense of lots of change occurring concurrently: end-of-the-year this/that/lat, people graduating, finals, clean-up, planning ahead, etc, etc, etc! One of my favorite parts about this time of the year is watching the remaining younger Bandos to see who is going to step up and in what capacity.

I’ve said this over and over and will say it again (broken record?), the thing I love about this program is that it’s truly STUDENT DRIVEN and STUDENT CENTERED. This is YOUR program, not mine.  I went to high school/college and was in band and did all that – - this is about YOU guys – - I just have the teaching license and a school-issued set of keys.

The BC Band program has been most successful when the STUDENTS have stepped up, taken charge and ran with it. This is not to say this isn’t happening now, or hasn’t happened recently because it most certainly has; however, I will say that it’s not exactly easy on a program to lose 56 Bando Seniors in the past 2 years!! That’s not even counting the seven that will graduate tomorrow. To put it in perspective, when I arrived as a new-employee almost 9 years ago and Mr. Larson told me, “We need to you go build this band program.” and then tossed me the keys. At that time, there were 25 kids in the ENTIRE PROGRAM (grades 7-12).

All of this is even more important now as we look forward to the next school year. Unfortunately, due to poor MCA test scores, the school needed to reallocate money to support reading and math. For the band, that means we go from having TWO full-time band directors to having just ONE. To make matters worse, I have to teach Electronic Music and Drumline in addition to the band classes; hence, my lesson times have been nearly eliminated. That’s a scary thought being we start our Bandos in 7th grade, which is EXTREMELY LATE, relative to the majority of the other schools in our country that start in 4th/5th/6th grade.

What’s my point?

To put it succinctly, I’m super stoked about how YOUNG the program is and how there are so many AMAZING people ready to do some amazing things in the very near future. We will have to figure out a way to make this work next year and I’m confident we can do that and do it well. One of the positive things that will come from having only one director is that all of YOU will have to step up in order for things to get done. It’s a VERY REAL life-skill building opportunity for you guys. I’ll say it this way . . . if something is delegated to one of you, it’s 1000000000% up to YOU to do it. I am one person and simply cannot do all of the things required to run the program. This is EXACTLY the of thing that build this program from essentially “nothing” to what it is today.  It’s all about you guys and the cool thing is that you’ll develop some great skills that you will use for the rest of your lives along the way – no matter what you decide to pursue as a career or vocation.

I can’t wait to see how this new chapter of the Book of Band unfolds. It’s always an adventure when the BC Bandos are involved – there is no doubt about that.

Stay tuned . . .

P.S. I will try to be a better/more regular blogger again; hence, the “broken record” title of this post. I will have to be, as technology will be our saving grace next year.

I hope everyone has rested and recovered from our fun-filled day out at Eden Wood Center in Eden Prairie! I am so sincere when I say I had an absolute blast yesterday! I love just lurking in the woods and observing from afar . . . oh, and being the Porterazzi.

Here are some highlights:

This was AWESOME!! Robertlee was very very hilarious and his comments were cracking everyone up. Thanks for being such a great sport and being so funny. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.

A lot of Risk-Takers in the BC Band. I’m very proud of everyone for at least trying to climb and going beyond their comfort zones.  I’m also very very VERY proud of how supportive everyone was – I loved the cheering and encouragement and the “mandatory high-5′s” (Aaron Joles)

This is awesome! He stayed with it and made it to the top. Great job!!!

Anyway, it was so cool to see everyone step up and step out of their comfort zone and let down their walls to get to know each other and support each other! This is especially important this year because we have so many young bandos and also a bunch of new people from all over the place.  I know I’ve said this before, but I would like to again point out that the BC high school band has lost over 50 seniors in the past TWO YEARS to graduation!!! That’s a lot of leadership gone in a very short amount of time!

The good news is that the future (and now) is very bright and a lot of different people are stepping up and filling those leadership positions and doing a great job! I’m so excited for the crazy schedule that has been the school year thus far to chill out and get back to “normal” (whatever that is . . . ) so we can launch our “Community and Service Coordinator” projects and do some really cool things.

I really appreciate everyone and their patience and understanding through this whole beginning of the year crazy business.  It’s not be as smooth as I would like it to be due to a bunch of things (transition academy, homecoming being so early, IB visit, have FIVE performances in SEVEN days, etc, etc, ETC!! I know things should be better and calm down soon, so stay tuned for some fun stuff in the works!

** As soon as I get a new computer, I will edit and post some video footage from this day. I would do it now, but the computer they gave me to use in the meantime is the very same one they give to the kindergartners down at EB. Soon, I will have a most EXCELLENT computer. I’m so excited. I’m so nerdy!

It’s that time of year again . . . summer is almost over. Not yet though, stay positive!!

Yes, it’s hard to imagine getting up all extra early, sitting in a building for 7 hours a day and doing homework, etc, etc, etc . . .

BUT

It’s part of life and being BALANCED.

Disclaimer:  I’m not even trying to throw the IB learner profiles into this venue because I “should” or “have to”.  This is a place where I don’t “have to” do any of the required school stuff, but the IB stuff really does make sense and I’m going with it.

Anyway – summer wouldn’t be nearly as exciting if it weren’t for the rest of year.  It’s going to get all cold and snowy pretty soon, so we might as well have to be inside working during those times and get to ENJOY the summer weather.  I hope everyone had a good summer.

I had a BUSY summer working with the Richfield kids: beginning band camp, middle school band camp, and serving as Drumline Instructor for the Richfield Marching Spartans (huh!) for the third year in a row, I taught a technology seminar to a bunch of band/choir/orchestra teachers, played a lot of drumset at church, and the list goes on and on and ON.  Aside from being so busy, I had some other fun and crazy adventures . . .

BC DRUMLINE

Once again, the BC Drumline marched the Earle Brown Days Parade. Everyone did a GREAT JOB!! I am especially proud of the young members (8th graders) for stepping up and doing it the job so well! I’m also very proud of the graduated seniors that stuck around and were committed to being positive leaders of the group! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Your leadership and wonderful example is much appreciated and will be passed down to the younger generations for BC Bandos!

Thank you to our great volunteer banner carriers! A special shout out to the Villeda’s who are now probably in El Salvador! I hope your whole family is doing well! Stay in touch por favor!!!! Thanks also to Mikey – aka “my son” (not really my son, but since had blonde hair, blue eyes – people thought he must be my kid. Hilarious , who is going into 3rd grade (I think?) down at the Magical Kingdom of Earle Brown and was a great little drum major and helper! A future BC Bando for sure!!!!

I really like the picture above and it’s NOT because I’m in it. Really.  In fact, I wish I wasn’t.  Ms. Wilson took this from my car that Mr. Vennes was driving behind us and captured a really cool pic.  I really like how the bass drummers have the exact same mallet “height” and I alos like how you can see “BCHS Centaurs” on my shirt and see the rest of the parade in the background.  Great job on the pic Ms. Wilson!

The BC Drumline was also featured on Channel 12 this summer. I hate to admit this, but I haven’t even seen it yet. I don’t have Comcast cable anymore and don’t get Channel 12.  I hope to get a copy of that broadcast and will post it on the website ASAP. Here are some behind the scenes pics from that day . . .

Kathy is making her big Channel 12 debut

. . . and Cameron also being interviewed for the big TV feature

The rest of us had to a wait for a bit while they were filming the interviews

Again, OUTSTANDING JOB BC Drumline!!! I’m so very proud of you and how hard you worked to put those cadences on the street with little or no prior background with marching and/or playing drums! Way to go! The future is VERY bright!!!

–

Like I said before, being BALANCED is very important, so here are a few highlights from my summer that are non-BC Band related.

ATTACK OF THE BIRDS

This summer I decided to take better care of my lawn and water more regularly so my grass wouldn’t die completely like it had in the past.  To turn on the hose, you have to walk under my deck, which normally wouldn’t be a huge deal, right?

WRONG

It IS a huge deal when you have one of these, living under the deck . . .

Yes, it’s a birds nest. A small nest, in fact, but don’t be fooled by it’s size. It houses some of the most crazy attacking birds that I’ve ever seen. I’m so sincere.

Look at thing!  This bird is a little psycho and will attack if you come within even 40 feet of my house.  Seriously!

Yes, they’re tiny little birds that are seemingly harmless, but let me assure you they are not at all.  None of my friends believed that I had attacking little birds in my back yard but finally, Mr. Vennes came over to face the birds. One of the little attackers tried to bite his ear off and he could hear the little beak chomping as they flew by, so my point was finally validated.

I understand they were protecting their little baby attacking birds, but come on!! I couldn’t even go out and turn on my house without wearing a helmet.  Thank goodness they have relocated. I still hesitate and get all paranoid while turning on the hose.  Hilarious.

OTHER SUMMER ADVENTURES

I took my cute little nephew Eric – aka. “E-Rock” to the USA Cup (or “USA Tup”, as he would say) to watch some soccer . . .

Went on a weekend trip to Duluth and Gooseberry Falls . . .

Sat in an over-sized chair . . .

Did some golfing at the cabin and in a couple tournaments . . .

(I won longest drive and closest to the pin and some $$ the other weekend!)

This is the view from my parent’s cabin . . . I’ve said it time and time again, and will say it again, I am so extremely lucky to have such a generous family that allows me to share and enjoy such a nice place during the summer!

Ripped out the floor in my house with the help from some friends . . .

Taught a week-long technology symposium to music educators from all over the country . . .

Took a little road trip with some other teachers to Chicago . . .

We went out to eat at a place right across from Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mr. Vennes bet me $1 that I couldn’t get the workers to turn on the Twins game at this place, which was very much Chicago Cubs territory. I am proud to say that I successfully completed the mission and gladly accepted my $1 in winnings from our bet.

Enjoyed my Norwegian Fro that I get when the weather gets nice and humid . . .

Got to see the debut of the new Vikings Quarterback – #4 Brett Favre!!!

Are you doing okay Noragene?? Are you going to become a Vikings fan now? We will accept you with open arms and help you burn all of those Packer jerseys you own to celebrate.

AND got a new pair of “Fast Shoes” (much faster than my fast red shoes. The red ones are still really fast, but these are even faster.)

So there you have it, my gooney tale of the summer of 2009. I hope everyone had a great summer and I look forward to hearing stories from all of you soon!!!!!

Enjoy your last days of summer.I’m so stoked for the year! Already there are so many new things going on and awesome opportunities for the band.  I shouldn’t be surprised by that though . . . because that’s how we roll in BC Band Land!!

I really really really need to get more pictures up from the year. I know! I’ll post a web gallery and in it, I can put events such as: the Concert of Rock, Jazz Festivals, Kyle the Fish, Christmahanakwanzaaka, etc, etc, etc!!

I have to get going now. It’s the last day of school and I have a technology presentation to give in exactly 22 minutes and I haven’t even started yet. I have been sidetracked these past couple weeks by so much other stuff that this presentation got put on the back burner. It’s really too bad because I had some cool ideas. Maybe I’ll just bring my computer down and fire up some of the programs I use a lot, explain how I use them and then show a couple bando vids. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do.

End of the Year Recap 2009 coming soon . . .
STAY TUNED!!

THANK YOU BC BANDOS FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK THIS YEAR!!!

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W213JjM-XA

The is a video representation of how the BC Jazzers made it to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Jazz Festival successfully, despite the fact the bus that was ordered from the school did not show up. We had 35 people (with instruments, wearing dress clothes), it was cold and the only way we could get there was by taking three different Metro Transit buses, walking a TON, and truly coming together as a team to navigate our way through the transit system.

By pure determination, team-work, and a never-give-up attitude, we made it! We missed our performance time in the concert hall, but made it in time for our clinic!

It’s just another example of how NOTHING can stop a determined group of BC Bandos from doing anything – including figuring out how to get to a Jazz Festival with no bus.

All of the credit goes to the students – they made it happen. Nice work everyone!

Stay tuned for Morris updates . . .

The good ol’ website is back up and running (after being temporarily down to make room for the Concert of Rock site) and I realized this blog hasn’t been updated in a crazy long time.

That’s really unfortunate because there has been a TON of stuff going on worth noting and sharing. My first priority is to get the site back up and updated with the essential information (permission slips, lesson schedules, etc) but after that – it’s time to post some pics, videos and tell some stories.

Oh the stories . . .

Stay tuned!

I wish that I could tell the tale (fish tale?) as well as the drumline instructor, Dan did today.  But there is really no way I could emulate Dan’s great storytelling, especially through a blog, but I will do my best to convey the story that I found extremely hilarious.

First, the introductions . . .

Meet Kyle  (the person)

Kyle (the person) is a junior and plays the alto saxophone.  Kyle (the person) is a really nice guy, and in fact, even has a fish named after him.

“Hi Kyle (the person)!” Said like we do in Jazz Band at the beginning of the year.

Next, we’ll meet Kyle (the fish)

Kyle (the fish) is the red one pictured above, on the left. Incidently, the other fish pictured with the longer tail is Dr. Jackson (the fish) named such because the long tail reminded the kids of the type of long jacket a conductor might wear.

“Hi Dr. Jackson (the fish)!”

That’s Dr. Jackson (the person). She used to work with us quite a bit back when she was a professor at the U of M, but now we don’t get to see her very often because she’s back teaching band at Eden Prairie HS. As you can see, we still really miss Dr. Jackson (the person), so much so, we named a fish after her.

“Hi Dr. Jackson (the person)”

Anyway, back to Kyle (the fish) . . .

Kyle (the fish) is a friendly fish. He has lots of fish friends and is a very fast swimmer.  Kyle (the fish) is named after Kyle (the person).

“Hi Kyle (the fish)!”

See the connection here?

Next we’ll meet the 2nd hour band aides, William and Casey.

William (pictured on the left) and Casey (pictured on the far right) are wonderful workers. That’s Kathy in the middle, she’s also very nice but has nothing do with this particular story, hence, little mention here.   They help with the horrible job of testing 7th graders for recorder tests, they help in many other ways, including cleaning out the fish tank and maintaining the “Band Shark Tank”.

*Just a note, the fish aren’t really fish, I mean, they are – but we prefer to refer to them as Band Sharks. The Band Sharks and Shark Tank and all of that cool stuff came from the 4th Annual Appreciation Day. The kids are very very generous and very very nice.

Each year, they have held, “Porter Appreciation Day” on November 18th. Here is the link from the 3rd Annual Porter Appreciation Day which included a Game Cube, Donkey Konga, etc!!

http://chris-porter.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/3rd-annual-porter-appreciation-day/

This year, the name changed to “DPP Appreciation Day” to include Mr. Perrine and also Dan. They bought us a cake, made us breakfast, brought pop, snacks, etc AND bought us a FISH TANK!! Oh, I mean, a SHARK TANK!!!!! and all of the cool stuff to go with it!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU BANDOS!!! That’s so nice of you guys!!! I love it!

Finally, let’s meet Dan – our percussion teacher and overall helper.

That’s Dan (aka Skip) pictured above using the band butcher knife to cut the cake the kids bought us for DPP Appreciation Day. Dan is very helpful. Dan is very knowledgeable. Dan does so many things to help out and make things run smoothly and if he ever were to leave us, our world would come to a screeching halt. Seriously.

“Hi Dan (aka Skip)!”

Okay FINALLY onto the story that Dan told me today . . .

Dan was sitting on the band couch at the end of the 2nd hour going through some paperwork. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he could peripherally see a little red spot moving about. He took a closer look and realized that it was KYLE (the fish) flopping around on the floor near the fish tank!!!! Casey and William had just cleaned the tank and were moving the fish in and out of the tank during that hour, so most likely Kyle (the fish) escaped and landed on the floor.

Kyle (the fish) was on the floor by the trombone and RCA-1/8 audio cable, right next to where that paper clip is currently sitting.

After getting over the initial shock of seeing Kyle (the fish) flopping around on the floor, he immediately sprung into action.  He ran out into the band room, motioned with a sense of urgency to Casey and William to come into the office IMMEDIATELY.

The three of them stood near the trombone watching Kyle (the fish) lay on the floor. Dan, again using his wonderful common sense said, “It’s Kyle!!! Aren’t you going to pick him up and put him back in the tank??”

William then grabbed the green net from the counter . . .

and immediately began to attempt to pick up Kyle (the fish) with the net. Even with the best intentions and sense of urgency, William only manged to scrape the net and Kyle (the fish) on the floor and was unable to pick him up.  Dan stepped in yet again and yelled, “USE YOUR HANDS!!! HURRY!!!!!!!”

So William finally picked up poor Kyle (the fish) and threw him back into the shark tank.

The three of them anxiously waited, as Kyle (the fish) was motionless. They stood there silently watching for several minutes, but Kyle (the fish) still hadn’t moved a muscle. William said in a very sad tone, “Well, it doesn’t look like we were in time to save him – looks like Kyle is dead.” He then reached for the very same green net he had used to try and save Kyle and was going to pull him out of the tank.

Dan suddenly put his hand up and firmly said, “WAIT!!!! Fish do this sometimes, let’s just wait a little bit to see if he pulls through. Kyle is a fighter.”

Still not convinced by Dan’s random, so-called-knowledge of the stages of fish death, Casey and William politely waited for a little bit, but were going to pull Kyle (the fish) out of the tank anyway.

Then Dan had perhaps what is one of the most brilliant ideas ever; he said, “Do you know what Kyle needs right now?? Do you????!!!?????    We need to do a slow clap.” And the three of them began to clap.

(pictured above is Casey doing a reenactment of the most epic slow clap in all the land.)

They watched poor, motionless Kyle (the fish) float in the tank as they clapped louder and faster in encouragement.  They noticed the other fish in the tank had surrounded Kyle (the fish) and were rallying around him and appeared to be cheering him on and pulling for him as well. This was a true team effort.

As the clapping got louder, faster, and reached a roar – Kyle (the fish) started moving his mouth, then began to move his fins, then HE STARTED SWIMMING AROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KYLE (the fish) IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He’s right there in the corner, near the heater!

Since the incident a couple hours ago, we have been monitoring Kyle (the fish) and it appears as if he is doing just fine. He has been hiding behind the heater and the filter quite a lot this afternoon, but he’s had a rough day, so that’s to be expected.

The most important thing is that Kyle (the fish) is ALIVE thanks to a few caring bandos, a Dan, the other fish, and a slow clap!!

Thank you Dan, Casey and William for saving dear Kyle (the fish)’s life.

THE END

I can’t wait to read comments about this story!!! I have to get back to preparing for the concert, so I will refrain from my personal comments about this tale, but the one thing I have been laughing about all day was the fact that Dan went out to get William and Casey to pick up poor Kyle (the fish) instead of just picking it up himself!!!!!!

LOL

LOL

LOL

oh boy . . too funny. This is up there with the time we had to push Ethan’s truck out of a snowbank during band class. I love days like this. Too bad it’s right before a concert and there is less time to enjoy it because of the stresses of getting ready. Oh well, it was much needed laugh!!!!