Like MacArthur, We Have Returned.

The Seaside Games were great fun. Wonderful cool weather right beside, co-incidentally enough, the seaside. A nice handful of pipe bands and some good music. L.A. Scots was guest band but no competition for them. G-IV had Blandford, Pasadena, UCR, Gold Coast [a new-ish band local to Ventura], Salt Lake City, and Nicholsons. G-III's competition was between Blandford's and LA Scots' grade III ensembles. A couple of parade bands, George Hall's Black Watch band and the L. A. Police Emerald Society were also there.

The comp results (from the Dunsire Forum):

SATURDAY

Grade 4:

U.C.Riverside
Pasadena Scots
Nicholson
Salt Lake Scots

Grade 3:

Kevin R. Blandford Memorial
L.A. Scots


SUNDAY

Grade 4:

Pasadena Scots
U.C.Riverside
Nicholson
Salt Lake Scots
Gold Coast

Grade 3:

Kevin R. Blandford Memorial
L.A. Scots

There were loads of other excellent musicians and dancers, too. If you find these folks in your area, do not fail to catch their performance. A wonderful family band that will lift you out of your seat.

Lots of SCD people were there and a dance on Saturday night. I'm told it was good. We missed it. We went back to our room for a rest Saturday afternoon and fell asleep. Eventually awoke and scouted up some dinner but too late for most of dance.

For the first time I caught a good deal of the Highland dancing. It's an interesting endeavour and extremely taxing for the feet but a beautiful performance when it's well-done. I was particularly interested in watching the dance piper. Now that's a gruelling task. The same tunes played the same way at the same tempo for every competitor in each event. I don't know what they paid him, if anything, but it wasn't enough.

I took some photographs but nothing blog-worthy resulted. The phone camera ones all had too much light. And the ones taken with the proper camera are all too dark.