Now, looking at this page just
makes you wanna go "Huh?" right? Well, this is a little inside joke from
my All-State band trip this February. Those involved were Edwin (we usually
call him Ed), Julie, Robert, and myself, the four people from our band
who made it to All-State. And then, there were our band directors, who
thought we were the craziest, zaniest people on earth after that week.
They don't know how close they were! :-) Well, Julie brought "Bear" along
for the ride; a white, blue eyed, stuffed bear with an attitude. There
was also Rob's "dog with no name", who acted as "Bear"'s companion for
the trip. The dog took pictures of "Bear" as they toured Louisville while
the rest of us were sweltering in a hot practice room trying to overcome
the urge to fall asleep on our stands. However, the dog didn't get many
photo ops....maybe it was because he was taking the pictures? This is "Bear"
in all his photogenic glory. Looks fairly tame, right? You don't know the
half of it then!!
This is "Bear"'s first photo. See
how happy he is! This is him sitting "shotgun" on the way up to Louisville,
Kentucky, which was where All-State was held. He got rather bored and forced
us to sing showtunes to him and made the directors pull over at every rest
station claiming he had to go. We all think he was just carsick and didn't
want to admit it. We never found out, though. He is not very good company
when travelling long distances. The director's almost went crazy when he
tried to take the wheel from them claiming that "he knew a better way".
Luckily, we put some Brahm's music in the stereo, which seemed to calm
him down. Lucky for him. We almost had to break out the tranquilizers and
dart guns! Maybe we shouldn't have bought him that case of Jolt Cola at
that first convenience store. We'll have to remember that for next year!
Hmmm....looks like the dog is going
to have to get a little better at "capturing the moment". This picture
didn't seem to take well. Maybe he couldn't find the flash button. Who
knows? Is that Ed there on the right? Looks like it. This must've been
when "Bear" was tormenting him by headbutting him. See how Ed screams out
in agony? I think this is where he and "Bear" developed a bitterness towards
each other. "Bear" never did like Ed much to begin with, but after he was
awakened from his little nap by Ed, he wasn't too happy! We finally dislodged
"Bear"'s choke grip on Ed and restrained him by having Robert sit on him.
After he learned his lesson, we let him loose, but I had to sit between
him and Ed. I could tell this was going to be an interesting trip...
I think this is when we were
just entering Louisville. This picture must've been taken while the rest
of us were catching up on our Z's. We had to sleep with one eye open, though,
because there was no telling what "Bear" would do to us in our sleep. Before
we went to sleep, we made sure that we put away any harmful objects so
that "Bear" would not find some way to kill Ed. At this point I was starting
to regret ever letting Julie bring "Bear" along. He was causing us all
a great deal of pain and grief. Not to mention costing the director's what
was left of their sanity. After putting up with about 150 hyperactive band
students, the last thing they needed was a white, fuzzy, psychopath!! We
felt bad about that and decided to get them a card (which is another story
in itself!). Gee, what FUN we were having at this point!! I think "Bear"
was trying to get a picture of that car in the background. He said he was
gonna ditch us losers and hotwire a car like that one to go back home in.
I don't think he liked Louisville very much. Maybe it was because all day
while we were at band practice, he had to sit up in the room watching old
reruns of "I Dream of Jeannie".
Now even I'm confused by this one.
This was evidentally taken at sunset in the revolving restaurant on the
25th floor of our hotel. My question is, how did those two get up there,
and how are they both in the picture. Julie and I figured that while we
were rehearsing down on the 2nd floor, "Bear" was busy figuring out how
to pick the lock on the door to get out. How they pushed the elevator button
is another mystery, but somehow, they got all the way from the 16th floor
to the 25th. Rob was missing some money later that night, so we figured
that "Bear" and the dog must've taken it to pay for their dinner. We figured
they must have also bribed some unsuspecting waitress into taking their
picture, since they're both in the picture. I think the picture was just
"Bear"'s way of having an alibi for what he'd do next....
Here we are on our way back home.
All of us were very tired after hours and hours of practicing. All except
for "Bear" who was still on a sugar rush from all that Jolt he drank througout
the trip. Wish he would have shared! And where was the dog on the way home?
Rob thought that maybe he had been accidentally packed, but I thought that
maybe that evil grin that came across "Bear"'s face every time we crossed
a bridge was more than just his fondness of looking at water. Here you
see "Bear" giving directions to our band leaders in the front seat. They
caught on to his game though after seeing a sign that said "Los Angeles:
Next Right". We turned the suburban around at the next rest area, where
"Bear" tried to make a snack of some hiker's ankles. After prying his jaws
loose with a stick we found, we hopped back in the suburban and floored
it before we got taken to court over the matter! We finally made it back
to Kentucky much later, and what a relief it was to set foot on good ol'
Kentuckiana soil! At least until we found that "Bear" had raided Ed's suitcase
and eaten all of his socks!
Isn't this a pretty picture? You
won't think so after this! Well, you know that the dog was missing on the
way home. Rob thought he had accidentally packed the dog in one of his
suitcases, and we thought he would be better off there. When we got back
home, we scoured the entire suburban and every suitcase searching for him,
but to no avail. And then we heard the sound of maniacal laughter coming
from the back seat. We looked behind the seat and found "Bear" gloating
over some snapshots he had in his paws. We snatched them from him and asked
him what they were for. "Oh nothing," he replied as he walked away. We
caught him before he could get too far and then grilled him for information
about what had happened to the dog. I guess the bright light got to him,
because he cracked and confessed to shoving the dog off the bridge in this
picture. We never could convince the authorities to drag the river to search
for the body of a suspected murdered stuffed dog though, so we'll never
really know if what "Bear" said is really true.