Fairbanks Band

After receiving many positive comments and "count me in"'s, the first-ever Fairbanks Alumni Pep Band is a GO! It will be on Tuesday, December 21. Rehearsal is at 6 and we'll perform at 7 for the boys varsity game. If you are interested, go to the alumni band page to read all the info and to register. If you have questions, please email Mr. Keller or call 937-349-3721x306. I'm very excited that is is really going to happen. I hope to see many of you band alumni of all ages at this event! If you get your registration in early, I'll send you music in the mail so you can "brush up" on playing!

I must say that our first rehearsal for pep band was pretty amazing. Things went very well for both veterans and rookies. I hope you all are looking forward to our first game on December 10. Please make sure you're at next week's rehearsal. We'll be doing Wooly Bully, Soak Up The Sun, I Can't Turn You Loose, Wipe Out, Born to Be Wild, Margaritaville, and page one of Bohemian Rhapsody. Please be ready...this is going to be a HOT band!

Pics from the Milford parade are on the picture page A good job, everyone! Hope you had a great turkey day :-)

Hey FMB. There was a typo on the info sheet I handed out about the parades. The school will be open at 11:30, NOT 12:30...kind of a moot point since you have to be at the Elementary school at 12. See you there. Stay warm!

I bought the new U2 album on Tuesday and it is fantastic! You can read about it HERE I downloaded mine from the iTunes Music Store, but you can get it anywhere. The iTunes version is a first because you also get a .pdf of the CD booklet with credits and lyrics and all the trappings. You might want to put it on your Christmas shopping list.

I have the pep band pictures I took the other day posted. Below are small versions. Click HERE for the full version, or HERE for the full crazy version.

By now, all FBBB members have their folders. Please keep them in good shape, as they need to make it through the entire season. Do your best to keep the music in order. You MAY write on the music in any manner necessary for you to get the music down. Penicil, pen, highlighter, colored pencils...whatever. Be aware that there are a few new tunes in there, including two new cheers and Bohemian Rhapsody and Margaritaville. Please bring your folder and instrument to every rehearsal and game, as I only have a few extras of each instrument. If you lose it or destroy it, it will cost you $5 to get a new folder. Rookies should be able to play their fight song and cheers before the first rehearsal. Please remember our rehearsals are on Mondays November 29 and December 6 from 3-5 P.M. Our first game is on Friday, December 10 at 5:30. I'm VERY excited for this year's pep band. Let's cheer the Panthers on to a VICTORY!

Some FMB members have notified me in the past few days that they will not be in attendance for the Milford Center or Marysville parade. Please see this update on the marching band page about following the attendance policy if you are one of these people.

The complete list will be in this Friday's Rolling Stone magazine. Any of your favorites in the top 10?
-BK

Like a 'Rolling Stone'
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, written and recorded by the 24-year-old folk-rock visionary in 1965, tops Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time," a special edition on stands Friday. Dylan, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones account for 117 songs on the list, chosen by 172 writers and artists, including Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Jakob Dylan and k.d. Lang. Voters nominated 2,103 tunes from the past 50 years.

The Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction is second, followed by John Lennon's Imagine, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Aretha Franklin's Respect, the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, The Beatles' Hey Jude, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Ray Charles' What'd I Say.

Dylan once called his de…

I need to get a picture of the entire pep band for the winter sports program, so we'll be doing it at 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, November 17, in the gym. All pep band members should bring their instrument or sticks for this pic. No specific attire is required, but if veterans could wear an old pep band or marching band tshirt, that would be cool. It should take about 10 minutes. If you have questions, email Mr. Keller

This is a note for any Fairbanks Band alumni who might check this site. Would anyone be interested in doing and "alumni pep band" for one of the games this winter, possibly one over holiday break? (when college folks are home) Either post a comment below or email me to let me know what you think either way. Any feedback would be helpful!

I Think I Just Became A "Full-Time" Steelers Fan...

CLEVELAND - The NFL warned Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren for comments he made about trying to hit Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the head in Sunday's game.

"We notified the team, including Gerard Warren, that if a player commits a flagrant foul after making such a statement, it may be a decisive factor supporting the suspension of the player, depending on the entire set of circumstances," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Warren told reporters Thursday that the Browns needed to rattle Roethlisberger.

"One rule they used to tell me: Kill the head and the body's dead," Warren said.

He said if the Browns can shake the confidence in Pittsburgh's rookie, they might be able to stun the Steelers.

"I didn't say knock him out of the game, I said just go across his head a time or two," said Warren, who was fined $35,000 in his rookie season for a cheap shot on former J…

I haven't posted much on the website about fifth grade band since way back in September, so I think it's time I let fifth grade band members, parents, and the public know that the entire class is off to a great start! We started with 40 band members and still have every one of our starters still participating. Every class from flutes to percussionists is doing well and is staying on target with their progress. Even with the fog delays, everyone is where they should be for this point in the year. Everyone is showing good evidence of practice and fundamentals are strong. I hope all of the band members are having as good a time learning as I am teaching. It's been a pleasure. Members: keep up the good work. I'm proud of all of you. Mom and Dad: I told you it would improve. I hope it's starting to sound like music :-)

If you have any specific questions about your student, please email me, or call me at 937-349-3721 ext. 306. I hope this class continues to gr…

To many of my posts, you're welcome to post comments, but you must register with blogger.com first. I welcome your input, especially positive comments and constructive criticism. I reserve the right to delete posts if I feel they are inappropriate, or if they are posted by anonymous users. Rule one: if you don't have the guts to sign your name to it, it doesn't deserve being printed in public. Rule two: praise in public, criticize in private. If you have a comment for only me, just send me an email instead. I'll be sure to live up to these same rules. The only other caveat is that the MEC filter, which governs the Fairbanks server, will not allow you to post a comment from within the Fairbanks network, so don't even try. You'll have to post comments from home or another computer not on the school's network.

HS FMB members: You did a very nice job at this morning's assembly. I know playing from memory three weeks after the season is over is tough, but you did wonderfully. One of the veteran's present commented on how big the band had become, especially since he was a member of the band (pre-Fairbanks) when there were only 19 people in his class! I also know that you have the thanks and respect of the faculty and administration for adding something special to today's program. Your participation in things like this and the Memorial Day parade in the spring show what a strong community we have, and how your participation reflects well on you and your school. Good job, all!

I'm honored that the Fairbanks Marching Band was asked to participate in the FHS Veteran's Day assembly. We'll play America the Beautiful, the Star Spangled Banner, and Taps. There will also be an assembly in the middle school, where taps will be played by yours truly. I hope you all appreciate the sacrifices that our service men and women make every day for us and our freedom.

High School marching band members will be excused from class at 9:25 to get set up for the assembly. JH band members will rehearse between their 8:20 assembly and their meeting with veterans at 9:35.

I just want to start this blog by letting all band and choir members know that we are on the right track with our performance preparations. We're still a month away from the concert, but everyone is making good progress and we should be ready. Please remember that the concert is on Monday, December 13, at 7:30 P.M.

This is my first blog entry. It's kind of a test, so don't pay too much attention to this!