Winter Storm Followup

Got back recently from Winter Storm, and OMFSM what a good time it was. Seriously, the amount of fun I had should be illegal.  The weekend went like this:

Thursday evening: Arrive Marriott hotel in Kansas City.  Get settled in the room and return the lobby lounge for a drink.  Dozens of piping people are already there, and we run into a few people that we know.  We meet a few other people we didn't know before but do now.  Good time.

Friday: have breakfast, begin watching piping competitions.  I spent most of the day watching the Ceol Beag MSR competition, which was the qualifying round for the light music competition.  It ran from 8 am to about 3:30 pm, and I watched (and recorded) a good chunk of that.  The Silver Medal piobaireachd competition was happening concurrently, and I caught a few of those performances as well, though without my camera.  Gold Medal started about 4 pm and ran until 8:30, and I saw the last two players.  The final round of the Ceol Beag started at 9 and ran until about 10:30; I recorded all six performances in that contest.  Awards ceremony for all the day's competitions started about 11:30 and we finally went to bed about 1.

Saturday: workshops!  Four master classes with some of the judges from Friday's competitions.  Good instruction from great pipers.  Saturday evening was a spectacular concert with the judges, winners of the contests, and a proposal.  Following the concert was the famous Winter Steam party sponsored by Newcastle, and it was a great time.  I had my camera on hand and collected some pictures of K and I with some very good pipers and drummers. In that collection of photos are the winners of the the Gold Medal (Jori Chisholm), Silver Medal (Alex Gandy) and Ceol Beag (Alex Gandy again), as well as some of the judges and instructors (John Cairns, Fred Morrison, Stuart Liddell, Alasdair Dunn, Chris Armstrong).  I had hoped to get a picture with Angus MacColl, but we couldn't find him at the party.

Sunday: morning workshop sessions, then hang around waiting for our shuttle to the airport.  The trip home was an adventure in itself, but we made it back quite safely, though with admittedly fewer brain cells than when we left.

Final report: it was a FREAKING good time.  I've never heard so much good piping in person as I did on Friday, and Angus MacColl's little recital at the concert was worth the price of admission.  Would I go back?  Absolutely.