LJ Idol // Week 9 // Marching Orders
The competition is divided into three layers:
Squad, squad ‘shun!
The first, Wing.
The second, Region.
The third, Nationals.
The second, Region.
The third, Nationals.
Open order, March!
I could, if you asked me, repeat the whole routine –
Right dress!
I will still remember it when I am ninety-nine years old.
(I intend to die skating down the river from Castleford to Ely on my hundredth birthday.)
(I intend to die skating down the river from Castleford to Ely on my hundredth birthday.)
Eyes Front!
Twelve cadets.
Average age? Sixteen, tops.
Move to the right, right turn!
Twelve cadets and me.
About turn!
I was the one shouting the commands.
Move to the left, left turn!
Shouting is not as easy as it looks.
You are not shouting correctly.
You are not shouting correctly.
Shout better.
About turn!
Wing. June 2006.
This is the year we plan to win.
Squad, stand at ease!
Region. September 2006.
No one expects it.
We've never come this far before.
We've never come this far before.
(It remains the third most incredible moment of my life.)
Squad, squad ‘shun!
(The second moment was alone in a plane in the sky.)
(The first is a placeholder for skating down the river from Castleford to Ely.)
(The first is a placeholder for skating down the river from Castleford to Ely.)
Move to the right, right incline!
October 2006.
You are not supposed to shout with laryngitis.
But we cannot practice if I do not shout.
To the front, salute!
So I shout.
(Ow.)
To the left, salute!
Nationals. November 2006.
This will be my last ever competition.
I’m leaving in January.
No one expects us to win.
No one expects us to win.
To the right, salute!
.
.
We placed fifth.
Move to the right, right incline!
January 2011.
I could, if you asked me, repeat the whole routine, but you really shouldn’t shout with laryngitis.
I can’t shout anymore.
I can’t shout anymore.
Squad, by the left, quick march!
[September 23rd 2006.]