KILT ACTION IN TULSA

When I was in Pretoria, South Africa, I dragged my friends to a Scottish festival complete with pipe band competitions and Scottish foods for sale. I was enchanted by the sound of bagpipes floating towards us from what looked like a huge park, and we followed our ears until we got to the site. You can really hear those war pipes from a long way off. Recently, I was able to go to the Oklahoma Scottish Festival . It was a strikingly similar festival complete with band competitions.


The first thing I did of course was to follow my ears, and find the competition field for the Pipe & Drum bands.

The judges check the group for something worth points and make marks on their clipboards. These judges are extremely serious, and even cup their hands around their ears to better isolate the bagpipe sounds.

The first band I watched was the Silver Thistle. They hail from Austin, Texas. Their unit was slick and polished, and the judges were on them like fleas to a dog. I believe they performed very well.



Members of the Silver Thistle Pipe and Drum corps perform in Tulsa, Oklahoma.



Here is another example of one of the judges pacing around the group. What I really enjoyed was the fact that even the judges were dressed with great attention to detail. Just look at the shoe laces that tie up around the ankles! The very shoes are special, too. The socks look thick and wooly, and the ribbons poking out create a nice bright spark of color.

Now, where else do you see such interesting leather cutwork on shoes?


There is something about the perfection of these bands. When they are on the field everyone’s competition pour their eyes over them and discuss in great detail any possible shortcomings. Here is a picture of what I assume are members of the competition.

Above are kilted members of another pipe and drum corps.

Here is one last image that shows more about the peculiar details of clothing one can see at a Scottish Festival. Here you can see the ribbons at the back of the hat and the red pom-pom cockade and the metal badge on the left of this man’s hat.

The Oklahoma Scottish Festival  was filled with regimental kilt wearers and in the next blog post I’ll show some of the other dapper and unusual Scotsmen, or should I say Scotspersons?

Final Jabulani Update with Photos Courtesy of Denis Hutchinson, Theatre Consultant

Jabulani, the new theatre complex opened in Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday May 25 2012. The TimesLive called it “…an assortment of colorful boxes.”, and continues its story to explain the box shape aids in the acoustics. Here is their link:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/2012/05/22/feather-in-cap-for-soweto

DWR Distribution posted the best article from a theatre technician's view point. Load of pictures, lots of excitement, great technical information! Here is the link!http://www.dwrdistribution.co.za/news2.asp?filename=1382012201949.txt

The BBC provides this short video report featuring the first show in the space rehearsing. (You have to wade past advertisement to get to the video unfortunately.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18134910

AlJazeeraEnglish provides this very nice video of the theatre without advertisements. It features the theatre as well as tries to summarize the historic riotous events that shaped Soweto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xylwRUO0B6g

And finally, http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8099&catid=88&Itemid=266#ixzz1wXsrpHkq is a link to the www. Arfritects.com article boasting of their great award for the theatre design, the “…social / environmental impact development prize, which recognises and measures the positive impact of any development on its surroundings and region.”

At the end of the above report, there are links to 5 more stories about the theatre.

I’ll close now with some final images provided by Denis Hutchinson.

The proscenium stage now has its floor, fly system, and seating in place. Photo by Denis Hutchinson.

Stage employees begin the hanging and focusing of the lighting instruments. Photo by Denis Hutchinson.

This view of the proscenium stage shows the stage left corner and part of the seating including side balcony. The red acoustic tiles help provide even more red color complimenting the upholstery on the audience seating. An employee is getting the final construction dust off the floor. Photo by Denis Hutchinson.

Here is an image of the “front” of the theatre featuring the separately coloured and shaped boxes for each theatre. A groundskeeper tends to the new landscaping which will add some beautiful relief to the building site.  Photo by Denis Hutchinson.

Pictured here is a walkway to the theatre, bordered by brand new trees and covered by awnings reminiscent of the Sidney Opera House. Photo by Denis Hutchinson.