Homecoming and Reynolds' Echec Epique

Any die-hard Reynolds fans who came to the game tonight hoping for a win to accompany our homecoming night were sorely disappointed. Not only did we lose to the Davie War Eagles, but we did not score a single point the whole game. It was, as noted above, an echec epique, which translates literally to "epic failure." However, there were a few interesting things which occured today. I was stressed out initially, because the marching band went to a marching band festival at Glenn High School on Thursday, which left no time to do homework or study for the multiple tests that I had the following day, which included an Iliad quiz, a math test, a French test on art and Versailles, and a chemistry test. The schedule was also to be shortened today to make room for the pep rally, which always concludes our school's spirit week. I hate pep rallies at our school for two reasons, and one is that everyone is so loud that the man speaking into the microphone cannot be heard, and the other is that any music (besides marching band music) that they play is awful. This combination of things makes one feel as though one's ears are bleeding by the time that they leave the gym. In any case, today at lunch, a man with a guitar came to perform for us. He had a very nice voice which was good for singing Thom Yorke. He played "Fake Plastic Trees" from Radiohead's album "The Bends," some Tom Petty, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, whom I don't care for. Chloe and I sat on a bench and watched him, and she sang the harmony of everything he played and criticized his range. Around 5:30 that night, we arrived at the parking lot of the stadium that we share with Parkland, where numerous tables had been set up and sheltered areas where hot dogs, hamburgers, brownies, and pasta salad were being distributed. At the very edge of this area were several rows of seats which faced another solo guitarist, who sang similar repertoire (a few of his songs included another Tom Petty song, "More than a Feeling," "Sweet Home Alabama," etc.). He serenaded everyone at the tailgate party all through dinner, which was free. After one of his songs, a group of people which included Evan and Niko approached him and made a request, which was taken ("Sweet Home Alabama,"). After that, the guitarist encouraged requests, so I walked over and requested some Bob Dylan, because it seemed as though he had a good raspy-esque voice for Bob Dylan. He gladly obliged, seeming to be shocked that I would request Bob Dylan - the way he looked, he must have guessed that I would request something along the lines of Lady Gaga, or another pop artist typical of my demographic. He played a song that I wasn't wholly familiar with, but it was classic Bob nonetheless. Later on, as we lined up in our pre-National-Anthem lines outside of the gate, I saw the guitarist sitting in the open trunk of his car with what must have been his wife/girlfriend and their little girl. She watched our puny marching band with wonder, and I found something about that scene rather moving. Once inside, nothing too terribly interesting happened; Nikki was not crowned homecoming queen, which was sad. Speaking of Nikki, she did an amusing thing at the festival yesterday. Up at the press box, one could make announcements to other people in the crowd, and so she had the commentator read a proposal to Mr. James, written under the pseudonym of Nancy. It was very cute. In any case, that's about it for tonight.