Chris Tune's Blog

Here is former California Academic Decathlon Executive Director, Marvin Cobb with Richard Riordan, California Secretary of Education. Marvin was fired by the Board of CAD only a few weeks ago, in their dissembling while axeing Cobb, they stated that two of the largest donors to the Decathlon did not want Cobb as director. It's possible that Riordan's foundation was one of these. The Riordan Foundation promised to fund the 2005 CAD event, but initially balked at paying the money over to CAD . There is a very convoluted story involving so-called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which, luckily I'm very much familiar with. . . . 

U.S. Proposal in the O.A.S. Draws Fire as an Attack on Venezuela - New York Times : "Last month, however, he and other administration officials made several statements tying the effort directly to their concern about Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's populist, anti-American president. Mr. Chavez has curtailed some press freedoms and judicial independence while forming close ties with Cuba, an alliance that, more than anything else, infuriates some Bush administration officials." EXAMINE THE ABOVE TEXT FROM THE NYT ARTICLE! Do you see anything patently illogical? Let me help. . . .the New York Times espouses freedom of the press. . . .the New York Times is concerned about "the independence of the judiciary" unless we are talking about red-shirted and communist leaning latin-american leaders. Hugo Chavez is just another country's leader to the Times. The respect that is paid to these tyrants is beyond my understanding. Chavez is in the process of joining Cast...

On the way to the Toronto venue we saw some of the town from our bus. 

Warming up in Toronto. 

Here is the venue for London, ON. This was large. 

Looking up from the area near the river Thames to see the city of London. . at right is part of the auditorium 

More of the Thames in London, ON 

This is near the theatre in London, ON. There is a Thames river running through idyllic spaces. 

The canals in the capital run right behind the theatre. This city of Ottawa is truly beautiful 

Canada's capital. The roofs are copper and become green with oxidation. 

Another, more modern venue. 

In the Burton Cummings theatre. This was a nice old theatre. . .and supposedly it's HAUNTED! I didn't hear anything spooky, but you can't help but think about ghosts in one of these really old places. 

Stage setting at another venue 

Believe it or not, this sign was at the back of the hockey rink used for our performance. I thought it funny that Dino gets everywhere! 

Here is an example of the size venue we performed at. Several of the shows were in major municipal auditoriums.  

Here is the mixing console that went around Canada with us. Our production head was great with us getting decent sound no matter what. . .he was also a very comforting and cool presence during the most difficult times. 

Here is the stage setting for the show. A big band orchestra with "Sands" orchestra stands and a large backdrop with many images of things Vegas and of the rat pack members. 

This must be what the bar looks like to Dino. . .a little blurry but easily found . . .I was trying to get used to setting low light shots on my camera and some came out better than others. . .this shows the "gestalt" of a rat pack show. . .this is a reproduction of the shows done by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and others throughout the late fifties and early sixties. 

Drummer Drew Hemwall, is having a pleasant time. . .he got us in and out of many a tempo change and many a que. DH is quite an excellent drummer. 

Here is our Dean Martin and fearless leader, Steve Apple sharing a joke or two with a crew member. We are playing here on a converted hocky rink. . .It wasn't cold at all. . it was just right! 

Bass player Larry Walters, and trombonist Don Gustafson enjoying their ferry ride from Vancouver, B.C. to nearby Vancouver island and the site of our first gig of the Canada tour. 

Ace jazz trumpeter Bob Summers looks like he'll be relieved to get out of all these crowded airports. . .we are winding down the end of our tour with a layover in O'Hare airport, Chicago. 

Our band worked hard and had great fun, while touring Canada with "Direct from Vegas, The Rat Pack!" 

THIS IS A LETTER FROM EL CAMINO COACH CHRISTIAN CERONE TO THE CA ACADEMIC DECATHLON BOARD May 12, 2005 Jeff McCombs President, Board of Directors California Academic Decathlon 18757 Burbank Blvd., Suite 220 Tarzana, CA 91356-3375 Mr. McCombs: In last week’s article discussing the termination of Marvin Cobb, the LA Times wrote of you: “He said he could not discuss circumstances of Cobb’s departure, calling it a confidential ‘personnel matter.’” We all understand you meant to say personal matter, right? Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be any justification for firing Marvin without any prior fair and appropriate disciplinary action. On the day of his termination, you shared this gem with the county coordinators: “This is Marvin Cobb’s last day as executive director and we wish him the best of luck.” Did you actually think we’d believe he stepped down willingly, after winning three consecutive national titles, or is this another misrepresentation of what you truly meant to say? I can...

It's kinda cool to see this stuff back stage. . .maybe I'm in "the big league. . ." 

Bassist Larry Walters has "been there and, done that". . .it's great to talk to him about his decades playing Disneyland, or maybe Woody, or some such music giant. . ., besides that Larry is a pilot and an interesting companion. . .never short on wisdom! 

Studying IS FUN! When you participate in the California Academic Decathlon. . .here we see some attendees at the Ice Cream Social at the LAX Marriott.