Show your Valentine that you really care. Use a condom.

MAN this weekend was exhausting. I really don't know where to begin. We had Trombone Day on Saturday, so that was a pretty big deal.

Friday, I got to sleep in because there was no Theory. Sleeping in is always a plus. So, waking up at 10:45, I strolled over to Anthropology sat through another boring lecture. And then, at noon, I was free! I went and grabbed some lunch before heading over to the Performing Arts Center (PAC) to get out my horn and practice before a lesson with Tom Riccobono, a renowned trombone player visiting for the weekend.


Tom Riccobono


He's an extremely nice guy, and in the short amount of time I spent in the lesson (Only thirty minutes), he taught me quite a bit about how to better my breathing and tonguing technique.
After my lesson, I went down to the lobby and began constructing my BRAND NEW BASS TROMBONE.

I met with the guy from Sheridan Brass, and we began picking out slides, leadpipes, bells, valves, mouthpieces, tuning slides... Basically, building a trombone from the ground up. My parents arrived shortly afterwards, and we spent a good two hours mixing and matching until we got one that everybody thought sounded great.

Eventually, we decided on a horn with a gold alloy coating, a B1 1Y bell, a 2G mouthpiece, and a Tru-Bore valve system.


Not mine, but a Tru-Bore valve with a B1 1Y bell.


Overall, it was a very sexy (and expensive) horn. I got to really play on it that evening at the dress rehearsal and the difference was astounding. It sounded great and it played very well.

After the dress rehearsal, I went to have an amazing dinner with family and some family friends in town. It was a great dinner, and I ended up going to bed early.
I woke up the next morning at 8:00, and I headed over to the PAC to get ready for Trombone Day.

There were some warm-ups, some master classes, blah blah, nothing that exciting. Got some Mexican food with my family for lunch, and then back to the PAC. The afternoon is when things started to get exciting. Mark Mullins, the principle trombonist for the band Bonerama, gave a masterclass and showed off some of his electronic gear.



Mark Mullins.


Yes, electronic gear. You see that mic connected to his bell? It goes to a gateway connected to a floorboard with a Wah-Wah pedal and a Harmonizer, leading out to an amp. Essentially, an electric trombone. It was awesome.


Here's an example.

And then, a little after two, there were some concerts. First, Tom Riccobono performed for us, mostly classical etudes and such. It was great. And then, Mark Mullins played with the Hub Bones, playing some jazz, funk, and rock. It was amazing.
After the concerts, we rehearsed again for the final concert, and then dismissed for dinner.

My parents and I went to Raising Cane's for some chicken fingers before going back to campus. There, we got ready for the final performance, featuring both guest artists, the USM trombone choir, the USM Hub Bones, and the festival choir of all the trombone players that came up for the day. It sounded great, and everyone liked it.



The Trombone Choir playing with the festival choir for the last piece. Try to find me!


Afterwards, we cleaned up and went back to our rooms. I got to talk a bit to both the guest artists some more, which was neat, but I ended up going to bed fairly early again.

The next morning, Sunday, I woke up at ten to go get some breakfast with the parents before they headed home. We went to IHOP and had a pretty great meal. But they left and I went on my way. I did some homework, but then I went over to Gamestop and picked up Left 4 Dead 2. I've been playing that since. It's a great game.


EDIT: Oh, and the title. I'm sure you're wondering about that. In the Hub, they had a table giving out condoms to promote safe sex for Valentine's day. Not very funny in itself, but the sign they had said what's quoted in the title. It made me and my friends laugh.