12 Weeks of FIRST Season

FIRST General Forum
1

I didn’t want to steal the Fembots thunder over in their “Twas the Night Before Kickoff thread” but someone there made a suggestion, and I ran with it.

I’m going to ask if my team wants to make a video for this, so please don’t steal my lyrics/idea!

Without further ado…

The 12 Weeks of FIRST Season
(Sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”)

Click here for the karaoke music:

In the first week of build season Dean Kamen gave to me,
A manual a million pages long.

In the second week of build season Dave Lavery gave to me,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the third week of build season, Woodie Flowers gave to me,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the forth week of build season AndyMark gave to me,
4 Super Shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the fifth week of build season, FIRST gave to me,
(Less than) 5 hours of sleep!
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the sixth week of build season, my FIRST team gave to me,
6 lines of auton,
(Less than) 5 hours of sleep!
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the first week of regionals, my RD gave to me,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the second week of regionals, SOAP gave to me,
8 matches online,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the third week of regionals, ChiefDelphi gave to me,
9 champion predictions,
8 matches online,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the forth week of regionals, teams gave to me,
10 kinds of metal,
9 champion predictions,
8 matches online,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the fifth week of regionals, AirTran gave to me,
11 airplane tickets,
10 kinds of metal,
9 champion predictions,
8 matches online,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

In the final week of regionals, the FIRST community gave to me,
12 brand new friends,
11 airplane tickets,
10 kinds of metal,
9 champion predictions,
8 matches online,
7 important speakers,
6 lines of auton,
5 hours of sleep,
4 super shifters,
3 GP rules,
2 red herrings,
And a manual a million pages long.

2

I like it. I look forward to seeing the video.

3

Great piece of writing. Only if the season was longer. =]

4

I might change 10 kinds of metal to 10 team buttons. Otherwise it is fantastic.

5

the author is Jane Young, I found it on the other thread (had to modify it a little).
I thought it fit the general feel of this thread.
Quote:
‘Twas the night before Kick Off and all through CD
The teams are a’puzzlin’ and Dave’s filled with glee.
The students are waiting for Kick Off’s reveal
In hopes that the 2009 game’s a thrill.

The team members scratch their heads with the clues,
As visions of sensors and cameras start yet anew.
And grandmothers smile at the teams with delight
As knowledge and kindness are shared through the night.

And out of the KoP box may come news:
The dlavery offer of pun-ridden clues
Was indeed helpful for all who partook
Though he laughed and he giggled and his belly, it shook.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow
Is helping the northern teams wait with a glow
As hot cocoa and marshmallows diversify systems of
Thought – well yes and no.

The drivers are chomping to start world wide
In the quest for the robots that will bring home the prize.
When what to their wondering eyes should appear
The clues - they are good ones, the answers not near.

Now mentors! Now students! Now sponsors and all!
On teamwork! On FIRSTers! Let’s all have a ball!
To the Kick Off we go, to the game challenge, haste!
Not a moment to dally, not a moment to waste!

Not as leaves that before the hurricane fly,
When teams meet with challenge, they continue to strive.
No problem too large or too small overlooked
The teams are quite ready to build by the book.

They’ll follow the rules, to the manual they’ll go
When questions are asked and they just don’t know.
The FIRST Q&A is another great source
After teams have researched and studied, of course.

Our eyes, how they’ll twinkle and sparkle before
The six weeks’ build has them begging to snore.
Well, the nose snores that’s true - but the eyes, they must close
In order to sleep or to rest or repose.

No grumbling, arguing, fighting allowed –
Remember that Grandma, we must make her proud.
Our mentors are waiting, our students are, too –
This Kick Off will rock, I can feel it, can’t you?

The punster, the jokester, the right jolly elf –
Is happy and waiting for Kick Off, himself.
The new animation is coming along
That is - if nothing, no nothing, goes awfully wrong.

Our hats off to FIRST and thanks, GDC!
For making the season just what it should be:
A season to recognize science, math, and more
Technology, education, and robots that score!

It’s time to anticipate what this all means
The magic and drama the challenge will bring.
Wishing all a good build and experience that’s great
Here’s to all of our teams and to FIRST 2008!

Borrowed from and with a nod to - 'Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore

6

hipsterjr: thanks for sharing, but please learn to just post links to other threads

:wink:

BandChick: GREAT JOB! I do like the ‘buttons’ idea stated above, and instead of (less than) 5 hours of sleep, why not just make it 5 minutes of sleep! :yikes: And come on, only 12 new friends? you’re more extroverted than that!:smiley:

ps- If you need help with a video, just let me know!

7

i could say the same thing about the buttons

8

Thanks everyone for your comments!

AWESOME idea! This is why the power of editing is so important!

There’s actually a BUNCH of Twas the Night threads…
I’ve read most of them.

5 minutes is more accurate, isn’t it? :yikes:
And I suppose it should be more like 12 DOZEN friends.

Thanks for the offer! One of my students has Final Cut Express on his machine at home, and he’s all excited to make more videos, now that I taught him how to REALLY use it.

9

True that!

I just saw this last night and realized that CJ had copy/pasted my poem into Sara’s 12 Weeks of FIRST Season thread.

If we link to the thread that my poem was initially written in, we’ll find that inspiration woke up the Muse from a long winter’s nap. The thread was begun in 2005 and CJ brought it back to share with the CD community last year and added a couple of cheery lines in his post that inspired me to try my hand at it. If you check out a couple of the last posts in the thread, there are links to other poems written by fellow FIRSTers.

This year, we’ve had several new poems written in current threads here in CD and I think it is just wonderful to see the spirit of Kickoff alive, well, and inspiring in such a fun and lovely way.

It is also awesome to see Sara take up the challenge and write the 12 Weeks of FIRST Season. Inspiration comes from many places and can strike very suddenly. Anticipating Kickoff during the holiday season is a great way to be inspired, creative, and productive.