Fat Old Guy

Supposedly, the software comes with most CD-R drives. I'd find a high school student that is into ripping CDs and ask him. However, I'll poke around this evening and see what I can find on ZD-net.

 

As for microphones, go to a store that sells stuff for performing musicians. My wife has a couple Shure SM-58 that she likes but they might be overkill for your needs. The SM-58 runs about $100. I'm sure that there are much less expensive mics and ones that may be better suited to your needs.

"Most of my campstaff would not have the slightest idea what a BSA "field" uniform is..."

 

Rather than using improper terminology wouldn't it be better to teach them the correct terms and then use them?

Maybe the word is that the scouts simply need to get uniforms just for the Jamboree. I know that the Scouts from my troop that went to the last one bought new shirts and put all of the appropriate jambo patches on them.

It isn't that difficult if your computer has a CD-R drive. Attach a good microphone to your computer and record the WAV files. There's CD burner software out there that let's you burn a "music" type CD using WAV files as the source.

 

Also, if you plug a good mic into your camcorder, the sound will be much better. Most camcorders are capable of recroding hi-fi or nearly hi-fi sound, the weak link is the mic.

Our parents panic at the idea of their son calling someone outside of the troop to be a merit badge counselor.

 

One problem that I see is that people (parents and Scouts) think that the counselor is supposed to feed them the material in little doses. The idea of actually doing the research and work and then taking it to the counselor and saying, "look what I did!" is foreign.

"Does anybody use the troop flag anymore? It's got your community name on it."

 

Don't usually take the troop flag to the University of Scouting and don't usually have it out when we stop at McDonalds on the way back from camping. However, it is a thought . . . unfurl the troop flag everytime we stop for a break at a reststop. A bad thought but it is a thought.

Cut sammiches are fer wimmen! My mother used to cut my sammiches and my wife insists on doin' it too. Just give me a big ol' sammich with stuff drippin' outta' the sides.

"The Cat Came Back" is an interesting song. It can be traced back to 1893 and a number of versions of it have popped up.

 

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/master/catcameback3.html

 

http://www.cs.utah.edu/~scook/html/cat.htm

 

are two slightly different versions and at

 

http://frogstar.com/mp3/index.asp you can find an mp3 file of Rolf Harris' version. You may remember that Rolf Harris did "Tie Me Kangaroo Down"

 

Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own

He had a yellow cat which wouldn't leave its home;

He tried and he tried to give the cat away,

He gave it to a man goin' far, far away.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,

He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;

He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,

Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

He gave it to a little boy with a dollar note,

Told him for to take it up the river in a boat;

They tied a rope around its neck, it must have weighed a pound

Now they drag the river for a little boy that's drowned.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

He gave it to a man going up in a balloon,

He told him for to take it to the man in the moon;

The balloon came down about ninety miles away,

Where he is now, well I dare not say.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

He gave it to a man going way out West,

Told him for to take it to the one he loved the best;

First the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail,

Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

The cat it had some company one night out in the yard,

Someone threw a boot-jack, and they threw it mighty hard;

It caught the cat behind the ear, she thought it rather slight,

When along came a brick-bat and knocked the cat out of sight

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

Away across the ocean they did send the cat at last,

Vessel only out a day and making water fast;

People all began to pray, the boat began to toss,

A great big gust of wind came by and every soul was lost.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

On a telegraph wire, sparrows sitting in a bunch,

The cat was feeling hungry, thought she'd like 'em for a lunch;

Climbing softly up the pole, and when she reached the top,

Put her foot upon the electric wire, which tied her in a knot.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

The cat was a possessor of a family of its own,

With seven little kittens till there came a cyclone;

Blew the houses all apart and tossed the cat around,

The air was full of kittens, and not a one was ever found.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

 

The atom bomb fell just the other day,

The H-Bomb fell in the very same way;

Russia went, England went, and then the U.S.A.

The human race was finished without a chance to pray.

 

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner

But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.

Away, away, yea, yea, yea

". Different council strips for each county, you suggested. I'm not opposed to that idea -- but is there only one community, town, or other govermental jurisdiction in each county?"

 

Baby steps. Gotta start with baby steps. I'd love to see a return to community strips but one frequent arugument is that there are too many towns to stock. My council covers 17 counities, so a leap into the idea of unique identifiers would shock too many people although there are no towns today that weren't around in 1970, they've just gotten bigger. Well, the post office thinks that there are new towns but they've just applied new names to parts of old towns.

 

Another option would be CSPs with the District Name on them but that would be pretty useless. We have 40+ districts and I'm much more likely to know where East Awfulgosh is than to know where Pondondonkonk District is.

 

I've seen a number of troop from other areas with troop number patches that have the town name on them. That's a half-decent compromise, it keeps the CSP and let's you know where the troop is from.

 

 

"Heck, for that matter following rules in anything you do makes it safer and a lot more fun for everyone."

 

Don't know about that. There's a college in New England, the name escapes me but I saw a story about it on the news, where they have rules for male/female interaction. Before each contact the guy must tell the girl what he intends to do and get her permission. This means that, by the rules, conversations on dates go like this:

 

He: I would like to hold your hand and gaze into your eyes. May I?

She: I accept your proposition to hold my hand and gaze into my eyes. However, you did not specify which hand.

He: Right hand.

She: That is satisfactory.

 

Later.

 

He: I would like to kiss you up the lips. May I.

She: Yes, you may.

He: I would like to kiss you on the cheek and then your ear.

 

The conversation would continue but you get the point.

 

Fun?

 

 

 

 

 

Oh happy, happy, joy, joy.

" I have a scout who rides his bike to and from meetings...what's the diff?"

 

The G2SS doesn't address riding bikes to events. A troop could bike to summer camp without violating any rules.

 

 

There's a Correena on ebay but he/she has ZERO feedback. There's no eaeddzy to be found.

 

What's a body to think?

"The other person moved, not sure why he never came back. I do not think it was an issue with the board."

 

Probably a lack of time or his new boss frowns upon spending work time on the internet.

 

" there are 3 people here whos only goal in life seems to be to disagree to what BW has to say."

 

I'm vain enough to think that you're including me in that group. If you are, you're wrong. I've often agreed with Bob White and my goal in life is to be shot by a jealous husband when I'm 97 years old.

" a kid from town XXX may well be in a troop in YYYY that meets at MMMM school. Which community strip does he wear? Hometown, Troop's town or School's town?"

 

Does the troop have different flags for each kid? Noooooo. They'd wear the name of the town that's on the unit flag. Simple, no?

 

"It also avoids the idea that Thistown, USA is better than Thattown, USA."

 

Oh, how New Age. I suppose that you dislike cheers at football games that say things like, "Our team is better than your team. . ."

 

Now, let's all sing "We are the world . . ."

Council events are run by Councils. Regional events are run by Regions. Big difference.

 

This is one of the silly and unclear BSA rules. Under a strict reading of the rule, a Scout cannot drive to a troop meeting.

"One would wear a strip with their state on it, and underneath it what town you lived in."

 

The state goes BELOW the town.

 

I've long been a fan of the community strips and I think that we lost something when they went away. I've seen some troop with newly made community strips but they never look as nice as the BSA originals.

 

I've seen that in New York the different boros have their own CSP. I've suggested to our people who make the decisions that my council make different CSPs for the different counties. Another option would be to allow the districts to add the district name to the CSP.

 

Best yet would be to go back to community strips. With computer controlled embroidery, they could be custom made just like unit numbers.

 

 

"Some see the changes as bad (you seem to like the older ways), some as good."

 

I dislike change for the sake of change and I usually see no reason to change things that have worked for 50 years. They suposedly changed the handbook to make it appeal more to the youth. How? By removing text and putting BIG pictures in. I sit on quite a few boards of review and I have seen just about every handbook in my troop (around 60 registered Scouts) and most show few signs of being read.

 

Now, I wouldn't say, "stick with canvas tents" just because we've always used canvas tents. However, knowing how to make a shelter out of a tarp is still a useful skill.

 

 

Sounds like a violation of the G2SS. Doesn't the G2SS prohibit Scouts from driving to anything but a Regional or National event?

 

 

"Is he Jason? Is he the Dude? Is he 27 or 64?I did correct him and suggested he forgot arrogant, too."

 

I don't know of many people in their mid-60s that would know of Oingo Boingo.

 

 

boleta,

 

I make my living by identifying what is wrong with systems of many types. BSA is just another system and I see the flaws in it.

 

On the other hand, Bob White, who has memorized far more handbooks than I ever will, views the BSA system as flawless and considers those who criticize the system to be disloyal and bad Scouters. In his mind, those who have not been anointed to sit on the national committees are not capable of making judgements on how well the system works.

 

Bob White also considers looking at old publications to be a great waste of time because the current handbook is the best handbook ever and the old handbooks have bad information in them. He keeps yapping about "tourniquets" and how the old handbooks gave dangerous information about them but my collection of handbooks goes back to the 30s and if you consider my copy of "Scouting for Boys," it goes back to 1908. Oddly, I can't find anything about tourniquets that is much different than what they teach today. Odd, no?

 

Someday you may have the joy of expressing an opinion that is contrary to Bob White's way of thinking and then you will really get to know and love him.

 

 

"What's the starting pay for a DE? What's a SE make?"

 

I know that DEs around here start around $30,000 which is much less than a starting teacher and about the same as a McDonald's assistant manager.

 

The SE makes about $275,000 plus a $75,000 expense account.

You guys are wicked. Don't you know that the current BSA handbook is the best handbook ever and will remain such until BSA releases the new handbook which will be a 27 page comic book highlighting the new "1st Class, 1st Week" program.

Don't worry. Bob White has not gone anywhere. He can't because, like Mayo, he has no where else to go. Bobo has promised to leave before but has returned, he has also promised to not read postings from various people but has made responses to what they've said.

 

He'll be back.

Nope, that's from the cover of the 6th Edition of the BSA handbook. The book that I speak of was originally published about 50 years earlier in 1908. You can find it here

 

Books-A-Million Scouting for Boys

 

Oddly, at Books-a-million, the hardback version costs much less than the paperback.

 

(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)