Navigation
Who Am I??? Click Here The origins of Nate
Your Mom and
What not. 		Click Here Your mom's a(n) insert occupation here. YEAH, she is!
The Legend
of Smokes. 		Click Here ALL HAIL CAPTAIN SMOKES!!!!
Marching Band
Psychoanalysis. 		Click Here The Doctor is in! Band on the Brain.
Joxer the
Mighty 		Click Here A mighty fine hero.
Trumpet Life. Click Here. What it's like to be a player.
NIXON'S BIO Click Here. The somewhat complete biography of our band director/"grandma" Miss Nixon.
Stop the MADNESS! and go back.

Who am I?


Note: The sentence in the picture in no way reflects my political status and isn't intended as propaganda of any sort. It is there because I don't want to take the time to edit it out, and also to poke a little fun. I am the one with my tounge sticking out. ;) I am Nate! My friends call me Bulldog or Langly. For security purposes, both yours and mine, I will not tell you my last name, but I do live in Northern Indiana. I was born on April 23, 1982. Speaking of birthdays....We have a lot of (to quote a friend) "butt-naked weather". I have no idea what that means. I would like to say "Your Mom!" to any of my band buds checking out my site. I will talk about band and it's effects on the normal human psyche later. Some more about me. I go to Northridge High School in Northern Indiana and I love Marching Band and band. One of my friends told me to hack some code and be an opinionated S.O.B. ,but I will refrain, for now. I love horses, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Literature. I am also an avid X-Phile, Xenite, Whovian, and Hudsonian. I like books, I read a lot. I like reading Shakespeare, Poe, and most literary classics. I like Sci-Fi, clean Anime (I.E. Sailor Moon), Fantasy stuff. There you have it. Some stuff about me. I will elaborate on certain subjects in the next couple of paragraphs. Be prepared for anecdotes and humor. I am 15 and on a computer baby, nothing can stop me now! "It's like my brain is a Ferrari and there is no speed limit!"- "Smokes".
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Your Mom and whatnot

Anyone in band knows that there are certain phrases that catch on and die harder than a termite in a log cabin. One such phrase is "YOUR MOM!" I don't know how this all started, but it is cool. I am going to probably mention a whole slew of names , that unless you know THE BAND you will have no clue as to who I am prattling on about. So anyways, I play the coronet and the trumpet. A coronet is similar to a trumpet, the only difference is that a trumpet is just a little longer that a coronet. I will probably also jump back and forth from topic to topic like a jackrabbit(I know it's cliched, but who cares.) so be prepared. The one awesome thing about our band is our ability to bond with each other. We like form one big family, sort of. We have our differences, but we set them aside and get what needs to be done, done and we do it with style and pizazz! We also have a lot of fun together. Miss Nixon our band director is one of the funniest and nicest band directors I have seen. She sometimes participates in the fun by saying what I like to call Nixonisms, funny little sayings like:"That was about as majestic as MY MOM picking pickles! You know she salts them and sprinkles dill on them and stuff."she said that when the music told us it was Maestoso and we obviously didn't play it that way.
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The Legend of "Smokes"


This section is devoted to one of my dearest friends, Janelle or her nickname "Smokes". If you have been reading all of this you will note that at the end of the first header there is a quote from her. She is one of my section leaders the other one is Angela. We have two section leaders because we are such a big section in the band, we trumpets are. 14-16 players strong. The band saying"WE KICK GRASS SO KISS OUR BRASS" came from our brass section. Anyways, Janelle acquired her nickname about a year ago when Adam(Frohike) and I were Freshmen in the Marching Band. We were out on the blacktop doing drills and trying to "HIT THE FISH." Janelle was next to me on my right and Adam was off to my left. We ran out of chips to mark our spots. She noticed a cigarette butt on the ground and it was right next to the spot we were supposed to set on. She told me "Guide to the Smoke." After that I called her "Smokes" she didn't mind and I think she took a liking to it. So now she is called "Smokes", she nicknamed me "Smokey". She is also known as "Captain Smokes". My friend Adam was in Jazz Band that year with her and one day she wore a military type T-shirt. It had a star with wings on it. He called her "Captain Smokes". He even developed a hail for her. Sometimes when we see her we salute and say"ALL HAIL CAPTAIN SMOKES!" It is quite a scene. So there you have it. The Legend of "Smokes".
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The Wonders of Marching Band on the Normal and Unsuspecting Psyche of a Human Being

Ahhh, yes. Marching Band has it's wonders. I can remember back to 8th grade at the end of the year. Knowing that to be able to be in band in High School I was required by sources unknown to enroll in Marching Band. Quite frankly back then I was scared as hell. I thought at least I have most of the summer before band camp began. Summer flew by until that day in the last few days of July. It was hot, really hot. I, along with the other "new recruits" were forced to learn about marching and get yelled at if we didn't. I didn't like this at first. I was the kind of guy who was quiet most of the time, absorbed in a book or computer game. So I took being yelled at passively, no expresion showed on my face when Leah Martin (since graduated) insulted my manhood because I marched like crap. Outside I showed nothing, I wasn't supposed to, you were supposed to stay at attention until told by the drum majors (Travis & Laura, back then, Travis and Jessica, now). You had to keep a straight face no matter what happened, talking was deeply frowned on. The only time you could talk was when you were eating lunch after you were dismissed for the day. I am not saying no talking went on. All in all the end of that summer for me was hell. It toughenen me up and transformed my mind in to a lean, mean, BAMF. BAMF is an ideal attitude developed by the members of our perc, or Percussion section. It stands for Bad Arse Mother... well you can guess the rest. It is a little obscene, but it gets the idea across of what you should feel like before and after every preformance. If you didn't feel like that, you didn't belong there. Home F-Ball or Contest. Now these days I look forward to being yelled at to stay in step and wipe the smirk off my face, and if you have ever seen us at Regionals, you would agree that it is indeed a wonder. Another thing you notice is that after your first year in marching band, you will have the innate ability to carry any liquid in a container and not spill it. I have carried a scalding styrofoam cup of coffee over little kids, around adults and over sharp rocks without spilling a drop. It's amazing, also I am told it prepares you for the army. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I would put money on the fact that it is.
Do you want to see the Official Raider Marching Band page in it's full, glorious and purely un-adulterated form?!? If so click HERE!!!
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Joxer, Joxer, Joxer the Mighty....

Yes, most Xenites know of the man I sing about. He's Joxer, Joxer the Mighty. A retired cook from Callisto's army, Joxer used to be an awesome warrior, but it must be lost in his head. Maybe some day he will remember and then, watch out baddies! Joxer spends his time taging along at the heels of Xena and Gabrielle. Whenever they are in need of a manly warrior or whenever he bumbles in Joxer summons his hand-pounded plate mail and his 2-swords (one on either side of him). He's always either getting into trouble or getting someone else in trouble. Joxer also has a twin brother called Jett, he's an assassin. Joxer is played by Ted Raimi. He does an awesome job. Joxer is single at present, even though he was romanced by a Xena look-alike named Meg, but Joxer has eyes only for the gorgeous Gabrielle, Xena's sidekick. Gabrielle is potrayed by the hot and tempting Renee O'Connor who hails from Texas. Xena is played by the beautiful Lucy Lawless, a native of New Zealand where the show is recorded at. You can see Xena:Warrior Princess on channel 22 on Saturday Nights right after Hercules at 12:00 AM. It's is late, but it is worth it. Ted Raimi also comes from New Zealand. Joxer has his own song too.

Joxer the Mighty

(For lack of a better name, if you Xenites know it please e-mail me.)
    He's Joxer the Mighty, he's very tidy.
    He never needs a place to hide,
    becuase he's very big inside.
    He's every man's trusty and every woman's fantasy. With Gaby as his sidekick.
    Fighting with her little stick.
    Singing songs and righting wrongs,
    Fighting evil all day long,
    He's Joxer, Joxer the Mighty.
That's not the whole song, I will have to watch that Xena episode over again. I will do that later. I hope to have pics of
Ted Raimi, Lucy Lawless, and Renee O'Connor soon, I will post them when I get them.
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BEING A PLAYER...trumpet that is.

First and foremost, I would like to give a BIG THANKS, to my trumpet section: Jamie Wallace, Adam "Frohike" Ledyard, Erin Sparks, David Kramer, Kris Pape, Brad Hochstedler, Angela Riley, Janelle "Smokes" Martin, Danielle Charette, Emilie "Moo" Blough, Laura Elliot, Robin Sommer, Dan Patrick, and Faith Fleischman. You guys are AWESOME and TRUMPETS RULE. Thanks for being so nice and kind to me. Being a trumpet is Boss, the instrument itself is simple, (3 keys) yet hard.(try hitting an above the staff C, or playing Quicksilver for that matter.) Weather we are doing basics in the hot sun for Marching Band, or playing "Cheese, Bacon, and Ham"(Land of a Thousand Dances) at Home Games, we are always cool. Now, I don't mean to put any other sections down. You guys can write about your own when you get your own webpage. The trumpet section is commandeered by two, I repeat two section leaders. They are the pick-of-the-litter, creme da la creme, cash of the crop. This year our leaders are: Angela Riley, and Janelle "Smokes" Martin! The only bad thing is that they are seinors and will be graduating this year. :( Anyways, the section leader's goal is to keep the other trumpets FOCUSED and in line and stuff like that. Since I am a trumpet my view will be a bit biased towards other things, but not much. I have two trumpets, well actually a trumpet and a coronet. A coronet is just like a trumpet, but a bit shorter. We had section parties at different peoples houses. We had some REAL fun there. We have this saying: WE KICK BRASS! (If you haven't heard or seen it before) It was developed by Danielle Charette during Marching season. Dan, Jamie and I are usually: causing mischeif, swearing, or playing our trumpets. I credit Dan with teaching me how to really swear. I don't have friends just among trumpets either, a trombone, David P. by name. Is another good friend of mine. Our band is sorta one big dysfunctional, but happy family. Everyone knows everyone else, except for the "Unknown Freshman". Nobody knows who he/she is. There is always usually one. It's the one that makes you say "Shoot! What's his/her name?"
If any of you have Marched you might enjoy this little nugget! Click Here!! Even if you haven't marched it still might be funny! Top?

The BIO OF NIXON!!!!

Allright! You've waited patiently enough and that is commendable. In my hand I have the real McCoy, the straight poop, the bonafide, the genuine bio straight from Miss Nixon herself! Many thanks Miss Nixon, I won't disgrace your family name. Ok, enough talk. Here it is.
Miss Nixon was born in good ol' Rushville, Indiana. She graduated from Plymouth High School in 1983. She was 5th in the class out of 210 other graduates. She was in the National Honor Society. She was on the Varsity Swimming team, the most valuable swimmer for 2 years and broke 4 school records. She was also on the Varsity Track team and broke one school record. In what, I have no idea she didn't elaborate. In BAND , she was a drum major(yay!). She received the Louie Armstrong jazz award, was an OUTSTANDING soloist at the ISU JAZZ FEST. Now on to college. She went to DePauw University and graduated in 1987, cum laude. She went to college with Joe Francis(one of Jason's many brothers.) She was in Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Academic Honor Societys. Featured soloist at Senior Band Concert. Received the "Tarnished Spitvalve" award her senior year. Miss Nixon taught at HMS in 1988 for 6 yrs. Her first year at HMS she masterfully taught Choir, Band, and General Music classes. In 1993 she moved on to bigger and better things, teaching Band at NHS. At home Miss Nixon has 4 cats their names are (in no particular order): Corn Cob, Corn Flake, Corn Pone(?), and CORNHOLIO!!! She also still swims competitively when she has time. She has led the Northridge Marching Raiders to a 69 at Regionals, my Freshman year('96). She continues to teach successfully at NHS leading the Band to higher ground, more challanges, and just all around good stuff. She also has a wickedly cool taste for Pep music.
I hope to have more as time goes by and if Nixon permits it.

COMING SOON.....

More about band life and other delights.

When I get this GIF construction set down, we will have some real fun! -Nathan "Langly" S. Updated-6-4-98
"I feel a storm a brewin'. I ken feel it in your mom's bones!" -some old guy

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