Archive through June 28, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: Hobbies & Interests: Archive through June 28, 2003

Kristylovesbb

Friday, June 27, 2003 - 09:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Not1worry, that sounds like my cages! They are all condo cages as I call them. Mine are all about 4ft deep, 5ft across and about 6ft high. I detest seeing a parrot held in a small cage, they needs lots of room, lots of toys, and lots of lots of attention and love.

You ask for it Tex, I like nothing more than to talk about my birds. Here are some interesting tricks they perform, stick out one foot and say give me five. I give them five and they say good bird. One parrot, on command falls over backwards into my hand when I say play dead, she drops her neck down like it is broken and does not move until I say good bird! They all kiss me on command and when I come home from shopping they all say "mommies home". When daddy comes home they all say "daddies home". My Macaw can't stand for me to have anything in my hand and yells give me that if I have something, if I tell her no she says "you little shit". If I raise my voice the Macaw says "you better hush, or hush it up right now". They all like to shake hands with anyone. The Yellow-Naped Amazon sings many songs I have taught her and some she has made up herself, they are known for their singing ability and absolutely love to listen to and sing opera. She gets to eat everything we do for supper and if you leave something off she knows it and has a fit until she gets EVERYTHING we have. The African Grey mimics everything electronic in my home, microwave timer, telephone, pager, cell phone, you name it. She calls me Kristy, the rest call me mommabird. The Grey is the boss of all the rest and she constantly tells them to hush or get out of something they are not supposed to be in. If I hear "git" I know someone is in to something. All my birds have huge vocabularies. The words I love the most come from my Golfin Cockatoo when she says, very sweetly, hey baby and snuggles under my chin.
I could go on and on but I fear I have bored you enough, I do tend to get carried away talking about my babies.

Egbok

Friday, June 27, 2003 - 11:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
No, no Kristy, you're not boring me! Bring on more stories about your babies...this is great and truly amazing. I've always admired parrots and thought that I would love to have one someday, but I have kidlets instead - LOL!

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:23 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here is a story you might enjoy. Once my husband and I went to the AutoZone and we decided to take the Amazon. Well I sat in the truck and put the parrot on the steering wheel. A gentlemen came out of the store wearing a torn tee-shirt with grease all over it and he didn't have a tooth in his mouth. Well, all of a sudden the parrot wolf whistles at the man! This gentlemen grinned from ear to ear at me never seeing the bird. I proceeded to fuss at the bird and tell her to stop it, when she decides to start screaming oh,oh,oh, like I was beating her! A lady ran over to the truck to make sure I was not beating a kid! I was mortified, when I told my husband he laughed all the way home.

Twinkie

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I want to hear more about the birds too! I'm amazed when birds talk or sing or mimic noises.

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Ok here goes, once a guy from New York stopped by for a visit and laughed his head off at the birds with the deep southern accent. The Macaw would crack you up she is soooo funny. She loves to sing "I've Got That Joy". When I give her some human food she asks "is it good", takes a bite and say "ummmm". She calls me a little monkey when she doesn't get her way. Her favorite words are "Shasha is a good bird" and she hates it when I ask her to play paddy cakes. She stands her feather straight up and lunges at me saying "NO"! Believe it or not the Amazon can't stand to be asked if she wants a cracker! It enrages her, her eyes start flashing and she puffs up. Anyone who knows anything about parrots knows when the eyes flash look out! When my husband doesn't get to come home from work at his usual time, his bird, the Amazon jumps from shoulder to shoulder kissing all over him and screaming daddy's home over and over. She has decided that my husband is her man, she gets angry when we kiss in front of her. When she comes in heat she will not let me near him. We have to be very careful during this time because she is deeply bonded to him and loves to sit on his chest and stare at him. All other times she is content to sit on her perch beside his chair. Every morning when we get up all the birds say good morning and when my husband gets ready to leave for work the Amazon says "give me sugar bye bye, daddy gotta go to work, sugar bye bye".

Can ya tell I love my birds. LOL

Whoami

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 03:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
My passion could best be described as The Marching Arts.

I am a die hard Drum and Bugle Corps fan. No, not just a fan....it's ingrained in my blood. I marched when I was a pre-teen/teen, instructed when I was in my 20's, and remain a fan to this day.

As a result of Drum Corps, I also love Winter Guard, and Indoor Percussion (these both happen during the winter months).

To the layman, it's just "that band thing." To the die hard fan, it's something else entirely. Its a way of life, its a community. It breeds people with phenominal work ethic. Its a brotherhood.

Back in my day, it gave me a reason to be valuable. It gave me somewhere to belong when my peers judged me for my appearance. It gave me a place where I could be appreciated, valued, and needed for the talents I could contribute to the group, regardless of my social misfittings.

No matter what I try to put into words, it will never give you the true feeling of what drum corps means to me, and to the others out there in this wonderful activity.

I can bet that if you were to catch a contest in your area, you would come away amazed and enthralled. In fact, I challenge those who are reading it to check out the following DCI Summer Schedule and see if there's a contest in your area. Each show should have a link to local ticket information. The proceeds to the shows help with funding for the sponsor corps.

Go to the show, talk to some of the kids "backstage" to see why they do this each summer. Or to the parents and support staff who run the bootster tables (which is also a source of funding for each corps). If you want the full experience, find out where one of the corps are practicing for that day's show, and go check out their rehersal. See what it takes to get 16 counts of their show just right. See what the support staff (cooks, chaperones, etc) go through to keep the kids healthy and ready to work. Attend the show that night. Then come back here and report your experience in my folder. Nothing would give me a bigger thrill to find a surprise like that in my folder this summer.

Whoami

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 03:36 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Geeze, I keep going back and editing...now its too late and I feel like I have more to add...

Lets say you go to the rehearsal, then to the show. I wonder if you'll recognize the section of the corp's show that they worked on over and over and over that day. I'm also wondering how you'll feel when you see these kids on the rehersal field in shorts, tank tops and other summer garb, tanned beyond belief from all the hours practicing in the sun. Then I wonder how it will impact you when you see these same kids in uniform that night.

Hopefully the show you attend will give you the full spectrum of the activity, from the smaller less experienced Division II/III corps, to the Division I corps, and maybe even some of the elite powerhouses in DivI.

OK. I think I need to stop now. As you can see, it is a huge passion with me.

Kaili

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 06:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Kristy- those were some of the best stories ever- how cute!!! I would love to meet your birds- you must put a lot of work and love into raising them. How many years have you had them?

Not1worry

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 06:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Whoami, the best years of high school were the ones I spent in marching band! We had a great band, all of our instructors were DCI veterans. This was in Florida, so lots of our kids went on to march in Suncoast Sound. Our marching and manuevering instructor had marched in Madison Sound and we were all in awe of him. I remember gearing up for the big shows by watching videos of Garfield Cadets.

Unfortunately after my 2 years, some of the close-minded parents decided that our band directors private life made him a bad influence on us. I didn't even realize the guy was gay! (His perm should have tipped me off, but I was only 14). So he resigned/was fired and we got this horrid director. 2/3rds of the band had quit by lunchtime.

Anyhow, all meant to say, what a great hobby!

Whoami

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 10:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Not1worry,

Awesome! I see by your profile you are in NC? Have you checked the scheule? I don't know what part of NC you are from, but here's the NC shows:

July 29: Charlotte, NC Great lineup featuring two of the "elite four." Looks like mostly Div I corps.
There's also two DivII/III contests (sorry, the schedule didn't have links for them, but you can always check out the DCI Website for further information. Those shows are July 21 in Winston-Salem, and Aug 1 in Tarboro.

If it's been a while since you've seen a show (or if you've never seen one live), you're likely to wet yourself over how advanced this activity has gotten, especially if you go to the Charlotte show (Cavaliers and Blue Devils are amazing, and likely one of them will be this years DCI Champion).

Its such a shame those narrow-minded parents had to end up ruining your HS band. People can be so stupid sometimes!

If this thread is still around when the DCI Championships is on PBS, you can bet I'm gonna be hounding everyone to check it out!

Egbok

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 11:32 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Who, I found your hobby to be so interesting! My nephew is involved with the Drumline at his high school marching band and he loves it...you'll always find a pair of drumsticks in his hands - LOL! L.A. Unified provided a Drum Corp competition and I attended each progression and was so impressed with the different styles and flairs that were incorporated with the music. Thank you for sharing your hobby!

And Kristy, the story about the Amazon and the toothless man wolf whistle made me literally fall out of my chair this morning! I was cracking up and my sons just looked at me with "that look...there she goes again"...keep the stories coming!! I'm falling in love with your birds!

Not1worry

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 11:34 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Whoami, I hope you will let me know when it comes on PBS! I haven't watched one in years. Knowing the work that goes into in makes it so much more enjoyable to watch. I can remember spending a week on our blacktop practice field just learning 3 spots. When I first began I didn't think we'd ever learn to march AND play AND not run into each other. It was such a great feeling to make that big push and end the show knowing we had kicked butt! We were lucky to have instructors who insisted we could do the same drills as the DCI corps...and we did. Oh, the memories. I'm going to go call my friend who was the only only girl in the trombone line, we are still best friends.

Kady

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 11:45 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Kristy....I am also enjoying your bird stories. Do you have the ability to post some pictures of them? :)

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 12:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kaili, my birds are all between 6 and 7 years old. I purchased them all within one year. Thanks everyone for allowing me to talk about my babies and I enjoy reading about all of you guys very much!

Kady I have a digital camera and I will take new pictures of all the birds and post them for you.

Spygirl

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Keep the stories coming, Kristy - they make me want birds!!!

Grannyg

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have always thought that having birds was the coolest thing. I love reading about yours, Kristy. They are my favorite thing at the parks when they have those bird shows. I am always amazed at what all they can do.

Not1worry

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kristy, if you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for your "condo cages"? We didn't really have any idea how much to charge for the one my husband made. He looked at some wooden ones off the internet to get ideas. It's all metal, and it's made in 3 or 4 ft. panels, so it can be taken apart and reconfigured if needed.

My mother would be horrified that I was asking someone how much they paid for something, LOL!

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Not1worry, the cages I have are called California cages, we paid $600.00 a piece for them.

Sorry about the picture I have got to do some resizing to get them to fit before I can post them.

Not1worry

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:48 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Kristy. We charged him $1500 and he seemed delighted to pay it! I'll have to get hubby to take a picture of his project and the birds in their new mansion.

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 03:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yes Not1worry please do I would love to see them.

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 05:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Nother story, everday when DH gets home from work the Amazon, her name is Ugg, I hate this name but she looked like a buzzard when she was born, climbs down her cage walks down the hall goes over to DH's recliner swings herself up on the metal between the foot part and chair, pokes her head up, says peepie and proceeds to walk up his leg to his shoulder to give him a kiss.

When it is time to go to bed DH asks her if she is ready to go nite-nite, if she isn't ready she hunkers herself down on her perch so he can't get his hand underneath her to pick her up.

I almost forgot this, she loves coffee in the mornings. She tells DH "want some coffee" and you better believe she gets it!

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 06:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I give up, have no idea how to do this and I certainly don't want the mods to have to clean up a ton of mess I will make. Sorry guys.

Grannyg

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 06:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kristy, email them to me and I'll see if I can resize them if you want to. Email is in profile just make sure you put TVCH in the subject.

Kristylovesbb

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 07:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Granny, I only have pictures of Ugg, the Yellow-Naped Amazon for now but I will work on getting some of the others later on. You are so kind to help me and I really appreciate it.

Whoami

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 08:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kristy, I'm also enjoying your stories. I'm also so glad you said, "bear with me" quote about trying to get the pics right. You wouldn't believe how many times people write, "bare with me." I always think, "ummm...no thanks."