So I stopped for a minute last week to consider a few things. Here's what I came up with.
Last Monday was Columbus Day. Columbus was far from a hero during his lifetime. He was imprisoned prior to his 4th voyage to the new world and was nearly a cripple during said voyage. Ironic.
All 3 of the marching band shows that I wrote qualified for State Finals several weeks ago. Very happy about that and for those students and their staffs. Hoping this will increase my business. Also noted that when the last of the 3 qualified, they were only the third Class C band in the state to do so and I wrote 2 of those 3 bands' shows (Columbus Grove and Kalida). As of today, there are only 6 C bands qualified for state (and I wrote 1/3 of them). Bellefontaine is a Class A band and there are quite a few more of those in state, but Bellefontaine's show is really making an impression. Not by far the best executed show out there, but a very memorable one. People cry during the ballad. Judges and directors have been commenting about it all over the place. Crazy.
Marketing firms like me. I'm getting calls for multiple interviews with marketing firms right now, including one in Denver. Tempting.
As I've not been as actively involved in teaching one specific marching band this fall, I've been much more available on weekends. Toward that end, I've played a lot more gigs this fall. Crazy.
It's awful warm out for October.
People do crazy things. It's a fact.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
a new faith
Since marching drum corps and becoming a marching band instructor, director and designer, I have been of the belief that Dr. Beat just might be god. Toward that end, I have posted said belief as my religious views on facebook, though to Skyler Mayberry's credit, God probably does love a mocha. I've received several comments from friends that tend to agree with that statement. Today, I garnered my first disciple. I may be creating a group soon to share the word and teachings of Dr. Beat.
keep marching
keep marching
Sunday, October 7, 2007
the odd couple?
There are two television ads airing right now that both use the theme song from "The Odd Couple".
The first is an ad for a hybrid Honda Civic that culminates in a Bonzai tree made of improperly disposed fast food containers left on the hood of a not-hybrid car left by the driver of the hybrid Civic with a note that says, "You dropped this". I actually laughed a little.
The other, a Jared ad for Subway with Jared going about his daily routine opposite a pro-athlete whom I didn't recognize. I didn't laugh, but realized it was the same tune I had just heard and my dad pointed out that it was the Odd Couple theme. Then I laughed.
Random, I know. Just pointing that out.
back to my job search
The first is an ad for a hybrid Honda Civic that culminates in a Bonzai tree made of improperly disposed fast food containers left on the hood of a not-hybrid car left by the driver of the hybrid Civic with a note that says, "You dropped this". I actually laughed a little.
The other, a Jared ad for Subway with Jared going about his daily routine opposite a pro-athlete whom I didn't recognize. I didn't laugh, but realized it was the same tune I had just heard and my dad pointed out that it was the Odd Couple theme. Then I laughed.
Random, I know. Just pointing that out.
back to my job search
Sunday, August 5, 2007
now wait a minute
***let me preface this with the fact that I realize one of the things I'm about to discuss has been a big no-no for a long time, and the other is a more recent development.****
So Barry Bonds just got away with cheating and tied Hank Aaron for the most career home runs ever. There is pretty substantial evidence at this point that proves he did cheat despite the fact that he won't admit it.
Yet, when Pete Rose was in a similar situation regarding his having bet on baseball, they banned him for life. Did Pete deny it, yes. Did he deserve some kind of punishment, yes. Do his on field accomplishments still warrant an induction into the Hall of Fame, even though they won't let him in? I think so.
Bond's "dope man" at the chemical company is in jail. Why isn't Bonds? He wasn't even suspended or reprimanded. They just let him play and go on to tie another record and cement his place in the Hall of Fame, a place he hardly deserves to be.
Bonds and a host of others have cheated, yet many are still playing. Players before dealt with drug addictions and arrests and they got to keep coming back, some many times. As with the Black Sox of another era, there has to be a straw that breaks the camel's back and puts an end to this. Is Bonds it? I hope so. I'd really like to see some parity in this sport. I'd like to see Bud Selig make a decision on anything (his lack of commitment to being present when Bonds broke the record and his lack of reaction to his tying it last night were depressing....and highly reminiscent of the extra-innings All-Star game they couldn't resolve) I'd really like this whole thing to be over so I can stop hearing, seeing, and reading about it all over the media.
I'd like someone to take a stand and do the right thing. Is that so hard?
According to my youngest brother, Brian, who just returned from a summer internship in Washington DC, perhaps it is.
Scary thought.
So Barry Bonds just got away with cheating and tied Hank Aaron for the most career home runs ever. There is pretty substantial evidence at this point that proves he did cheat despite the fact that he won't admit it.
Yet, when Pete Rose was in a similar situation regarding his having bet on baseball, they banned him for life. Did Pete deny it, yes. Did he deserve some kind of punishment, yes. Do his on field accomplishments still warrant an induction into the Hall of Fame, even though they won't let him in? I think so.
Bond's "dope man" at the chemical company is in jail. Why isn't Bonds? He wasn't even suspended or reprimanded. They just let him play and go on to tie another record and cement his place in the Hall of Fame, a place he hardly deserves to be.
Bonds and a host of others have cheated, yet many are still playing. Players before dealt with drug addictions and arrests and they got to keep coming back, some many times. As with the Black Sox of another era, there has to be a straw that breaks the camel's back and puts an end to this. Is Bonds it? I hope so. I'd really like to see some parity in this sport. I'd like to see Bud Selig make a decision on anything (his lack of commitment to being present when Bonds broke the record and his lack of reaction to his tying it last night were depressing....and highly reminiscent of the extra-innings All-Star game they couldn't resolve) I'd really like this whole thing to be over so I can stop hearing, seeing, and reading about it all over the media.
I'd like someone to take a stand and do the right thing. Is that so hard?
According to my youngest brother, Brian, who just returned from a summer internship in Washington DC, perhaps it is.
Scary thought.
Friday, July 6, 2007
the last dance
The couple I mentioned at the end of the previous post, turned out to be a brother and sister out enjoying a cruise. They were older (late 70's, I think) but still full of life. They caught on to what a miser Jerry was in only minutes and turned out to be wonderful people to talk to. They kept offering to buy us drinks and continued to eat in the steak house every night. They thoroughly enjoyed our music and even danced a few times.
As it turns out, the man is dying of colon cancer. He's been given 6-8 months to live. He's already undergone some treatments and has to wear a colostomy bag and the whole nine-yards. (or meters, I should say since we weren't in the states) He lives near his sister just north of Brisbane, our home port, and she has become his primary care giver. His wife died ten years prior and her husband died of a prolonged illness just 2 years ago. Yet, you wouldn't know any of this to look at them. They were out on a cruise, enjoying life, worries be damned.
On the last night, the cruise director gave us a short set with an early start time leaving us 2 hours at the end of the night to finish our packing and get our bags checked in with security, and have dinner there in the steak house if we wanted (this was his way of granting my night off request. Not great, but better than nothing.) This would be one for the ages.
For the record, I absolutely believe in karma.....especially now. We'd been playing the steak house sets on the little stage in the room, but had to put Jerry on an electric keyboard to fit on the stage (despite the fact that there was a baby grand not 6 feet away. Not our idea.) Jerry's hearing is pretty bad, though it's the last thing he'll admit, and he is always way too loud on the electric. It's hurting Rich's ears (and Rich is aware he's lost some of his own hearing) and I wear earplugs every night. We are constantly amazed that passengers don't complain about it, though the cruise director does mention it to Jerry several times and Rich and I turn down the amp almost every time we take a break. Finally, at the end of our second to last cruise, all the cables and amplifier crap out. I spend a half hour trying to get it working again while Rich and Jerry play duets on the grand piano and drums, and finally give up. I suggest continuing on the grand and we're all quite happy with that. Jerry is still too loud, but it's on the grand so it sounds better. (and he can't shift into all the obnoxious string and marimba patches he likes to use on different things).
On the final night, we're playing our short, early set and low and behold, a passenger requests that the piano be softer. Not the trio, the piano. Jerry has the lid full open in a room that doesn't need it (you could probably play that room with the lid completely closed in my opinion) and refused do make any changes. During our break, Rich and I lowered the lid to the short stick, yet Jerry jacked it back up again. We shrugged it off as we'd honestly expected him to do as much. Then, in our last tune, which I think was "The End of a Love Affair", a nice ballad which Jerry was feigning to play with feeling or emotion as it was our last tune together, the same passenger asked again that the piano play softer....in the middle of the final tune. YES, I believe in karma. We finished the tune, packed up our stuff and shook hands (we had to offer up hands to Jerry as he probably would have slid off without saying a word or thanking us) waited for Jerry to leave. Rich and I were all smiles and gave each other a huge hug and slap on the back for surviving to see that moment of karma. He'd finally tried to do something nice or with feeling and wasn't even rushing the slow tunes when a complete stranger blew him up right in the middle of it, and for the second time that night and the only two times the whole contract. It was a perfect moment of karma.
And to top it off, our fans, the couple from before, invited us over and insisted we have dinner and drinks with them. We couldn't refuse any longer and we hadn't eaten yet either. Not only did they buy us dinner and drinks, but they were the only people to entire contract to tip us. $50 each! (I should note that I had carefully planned and spent all but about $30 of my Aussie currency, just enough to make sure I had some cash while traveling home the next day, and this (and another surprise acquisition) suddenly landed me with quite a stack of Aussie cash. I delightful problem to have!) They were great fun to talk to that night, jokes and stories all around, and it turned out that the woman had also won the snowball Bingo jackpot earlier that day worth over 3-Grand! We also decided that Jerry looked almost exactly like Alfred Hitchcock, but with W.C. Fields' whiskey nose. We were still joking and drinking after the dinner service stopped and actually had to dismiss ourselves around quarter-til to make sure our luggage was checked in before 11pm.
By now, everyone was healthy again. Rich and I were excited to be going home, yet sad to leave some of the great great people we'd been able to work with. I stayed up all night, drinking, taking pictures, sharing stories and the like and we disembarked the next morning. We were a little late getting in, but the sunrise breakfast on the aft decks was quite nice and we ran into a lot of other staff getting off so there were some added final goodbyes. Jerry did not disappoint, he did his own thing and was wearing the same awful floral shirt, khakis, leather jacket, red leather beret and bright yellow backpack he'd been carrying when I met him 4 months prior. It was hilarious!
We made it through the airport, more jokes about Jerry here, and I actually ended up seated in a row with one of the casino dealers and with an empty seat between us. Ironically, there was a picture of Alfred Hitchcock holding a Quantas bag in the airline magazine. Rich tore it out and came running back with it. I borrowed a highlighter to make his nose red (it was a black and white image) and there was Jerry! We got a hearty laugh out of this and I hung him from my tray table latch. Couldn't have been better.
So, for the record, the cruise ship contract was an amazing experience. I now totally believe in karma, I know how to deal with asshole bosses, I've been able to share time and stories and drinks and cigars with one of the best musicians on the planet that you'll never hear of, and I've been places and hung out with people I would never otherwise have seen or met. Truly a diverse and amazing experience.
Now, if I could just find a job........
As it turns out, the man is dying of colon cancer. He's been given 6-8 months to live. He's already undergone some treatments and has to wear a colostomy bag and the whole nine-yards. (or meters, I should say since we weren't in the states) He lives near his sister just north of Brisbane, our home port, and she has become his primary care giver. His wife died ten years prior and her husband died of a prolonged illness just 2 years ago. Yet, you wouldn't know any of this to look at them. They were out on a cruise, enjoying life, worries be damned.
On the last night, the cruise director gave us a short set with an early start time leaving us 2 hours at the end of the night to finish our packing and get our bags checked in with security, and have dinner there in the steak house if we wanted (this was his way of granting my night off request. Not great, but better than nothing.) This would be one for the ages.
For the record, I absolutely believe in karma.....especially now. We'd been playing the steak house sets on the little stage in the room, but had to put Jerry on an electric keyboard to fit on the stage (despite the fact that there was a baby grand not 6 feet away. Not our idea.) Jerry's hearing is pretty bad, though it's the last thing he'll admit, and he is always way too loud on the electric. It's hurting Rich's ears (and Rich is aware he's lost some of his own hearing) and I wear earplugs every night. We are constantly amazed that passengers don't complain about it, though the cruise director does mention it to Jerry several times and Rich and I turn down the amp almost every time we take a break. Finally, at the end of our second to last cruise, all the cables and amplifier crap out. I spend a half hour trying to get it working again while Rich and Jerry play duets on the grand piano and drums, and finally give up. I suggest continuing on the grand and we're all quite happy with that. Jerry is still too loud, but it's on the grand so it sounds better. (and he can't shift into all the obnoxious string and marimba patches he likes to use on different things).
On the final night, we're playing our short, early set and low and behold, a passenger requests that the piano be softer. Not the trio, the piano. Jerry has the lid full open in a room that doesn't need it (you could probably play that room with the lid completely closed in my opinion) and refused do make any changes. During our break, Rich and I lowered the lid to the short stick, yet Jerry jacked it back up again. We shrugged it off as we'd honestly expected him to do as much. Then, in our last tune, which I think was "The End of a Love Affair", a nice ballad which Jerry was feigning to play with feeling or emotion as it was our last tune together, the same passenger asked again that the piano play softer....in the middle of the final tune. YES, I believe in karma. We finished the tune, packed up our stuff and shook hands (we had to offer up hands to Jerry as he probably would have slid off without saying a word or thanking us) waited for Jerry to leave. Rich and I were all smiles and gave each other a huge hug and slap on the back for surviving to see that moment of karma. He'd finally tried to do something nice or with feeling and wasn't even rushing the slow tunes when a complete stranger blew him up right in the middle of it, and for the second time that night and the only two times the whole contract. It was a perfect moment of karma.
And to top it off, our fans, the couple from before, invited us over and insisted we have dinner and drinks with them. We couldn't refuse any longer and we hadn't eaten yet either. Not only did they buy us dinner and drinks, but they were the only people to entire contract to tip us. $50 each! (I should note that I had carefully planned and spent all but about $30 of my Aussie currency, just enough to make sure I had some cash while traveling home the next day, and this (and another surprise acquisition) suddenly landed me with quite a stack of Aussie cash. I delightful problem to have!) They were great fun to talk to that night, jokes and stories all around, and it turned out that the woman had also won the snowball Bingo jackpot earlier that day worth over 3-Grand! We also decided that Jerry looked almost exactly like Alfred Hitchcock, but with W.C. Fields' whiskey nose. We were still joking and drinking after the dinner service stopped and actually had to dismiss ourselves around quarter-til to make sure our luggage was checked in before 11pm.
By now, everyone was healthy again. Rich and I were excited to be going home, yet sad to leave some of the great great people we'd been able to work with. I stayed up all night, drinking, taking pictures, sharing stories and the like and we disembarked the next morning. We were a little late getting in, but the sunrise breakfast on the aft decks was quite nice and we ran into a lot of other staff getting off so there were some added final goodbyes. Jerry did not disappoint, he did his own thing and was wearing the same awful floral shirt, khakis, leather jacket, red leather beret and bright yellow backpack he'd been carrying when I met him 4 months prior. It was hilarious!
We made it through the airport, more jokes about Jerry here, and I actually ended up seated in a row with one of the casino dealers and with an empty seat between us. Ironically, there was a picture of Alfred Hitchcock holding a Quantas bag in the airline magazine. Rich tore it out and came running back with it. I borrowed a highlighter to make his nose red (it was a black and white image) and there was Jerry! We got a hearty laugh out of this and I hung him from my tray table latch. Couldn't have been better.
So, for the record, the cruise ship contract was an amazing experience. I now totally believe in karma, I know how to deal with asshole bosses, I've been able to share time and stories and drinks and cigars with one of the best musicians on the planet that you'll never hear of, and I've been places and hung out with people I would never otherwise have seen or met. Truly a diverse and amazing experience.
Now, if I could just find a job........
dinner for two
And now, the final chapter of my last week on the ship.
Richard Franks is the drummer for the trio in which I play, and also the man with whom I share a cabin. He is possibly the greatest set player I've ever played with (and I've played with many, several of them quite good and well known) and a beautiful human being. (No, I'm not gay.) He's also a year older than my father. Rich's experience as a performer, both on land and on ships, has been invaluable to our survival with a band leader as poor as we had. The man kept me sane through the working aspects my four months on the ship and I owe him quite a lot.
So I asked Sandy, our deputy cruise director, to schedule us a night off so I could take Richard to dinner in the steak house on the ship. **The irony here is that, despite being the "show band", we play most often for the dinner seatings in the steak house, yet we've never eaten in there.....save the odd dessert we managed to barter off somebody.** The dinner didn't happen, but fate smiled on me that day. We were supposed to be playing for a guest entertainer that night, a Kiwi whose name I've forgotten, and when he walked into rehearsal and realized there was only a trio to back him up (and he'd been warned about Jerry), he decided that he'd just use his backing CD and told us to take the night off. His actual words involved a massage, drinks and dancing girls, but that story is for another time. I seized the opportunity to do the steak house dinner that night and ran down to make our reservation.
**Back story before I continue**
Two of the female dancers (who live across the corridor from us) are on lockdown with chicken pox (or something like it) and have been since a day or two prior to the end of the previous cruise. Because they aren't allowed out or visitors allowed in, they've had to rearrange the entertainment schedule for the week. They moved the Guest Ent. scheduled for the second night to the first night and didn't have any show at all in the main lounge on Noumea night (we don't sail from this port til about 11pm anyway, so it wasn't really missed.) Then they moved the second Guest Ent, whose stage name I just remembered was Ash (no really....and it was a dude), up a night as well.
Things the first night, had not gone to plan at all. We were supposed to back up the Guest Ent. that night during his comedy bit to play him on and off and back up his harmonica musings. Well, Rich had developed a short history of health problems, mainly related to severe headaches, in the last weeks of the contract. He had mean free of the headaches for about a week then had one again that night, though much milder. He stopped in the medical center to have it checked out and they held him all night. Meanwhile, he can't get out to tell me or Jerry this and it's 10 minutes to show time and Rich is MIA. Finally, I track him down and run upstairs and let Jerry know what's up. We scramble and tell the production guys to play the Guest Ent. on with a canned track and then go looking for the cruise director. We find Chris and he tells us to bail on the show and go play in the steak house. I can't get my stuff off the stage til the show is over (long story there) but eventually I get down there and join Jerry in some bass and piano duets for the night.
OK.....back to the story. Richard is fine now and we're having our hard earned dinner in the steakhouse on a rare night off. We had to be in some kind of uniform and figured our blacks would be the least conspicuous. Yet, there's a couple near us that recognized us as 2/3 of the trio. They'd been eating in the steak house every night and also noticed what grouch Jerry was, even while playing by himself the first night of the cruise before I showed up. Toward the end of our dinner, (which was delicious, by the way. The mushroom sauce for the steak was amazing.) one of them leaned over and asked, "Where's Grumpy?" We had no idea what they were talking about, but then found out they were talking about Jerry. We couldn't contain our laughter any longer. We joked with this couple the rest of the evening, then went out the the aft decks and smoked some cigars. A pretty great evening, all things told, and we never played a note together that day as the rehearsal that never actually happened, took the place of the usual lunch time pool set.
But the couple would play a much bigger role in our final days. Their story in the next post.
Richard Franks is the drummer for the trio in which I play, and also the man with whom I share a cabin. He is possibly the greatest set player I've ever played with (and I've played with many, several of them quite good and well known) and a beautiful human being. (No, I'm not gay.) He's also a year older than my father. Rich's experience as a performer, both on land and on ships, has been invaluable to our survival with a band leader as poor as we had. The man kept me sane through the working aspects my four months on the ship and I owe him quite a lot.
So I asked Sandy, our deputy cruise director, to schedule us a night off so I could take Richard to dinner in the steak house on the ship. **The irony here is that, despite being the "show band", we play most often for the dinner seatings in the steak house, yet we've never eaten in there.....save the odd dessert we managed to barter off somebody.** The dinner didn't happen, but fate smiled on me that day. We were supposed to be playing for a guest entertainer that night, a Kiwi whose name I've forgotten, and when he walked into rehearsal and realized there was only a trio to back him up (and he'd been warned about Jerry), he decided that he'd just use his backing CD and told us to take the night off. His actual words involved a massage, drinks and dancing girls, but that story is for another time. I seized the opportunity to do the steak house dinner that night and ran down to make our reservation.
**Back story before I continue**
Two of the female dancers (who live across the corridor from us) are on lockdown with chicken pox (or something like it) and have been since a day or two prior to the end of the previous cruise. Because they aren't allowed out or visitors allowed in, they've had to rearrange the entertainment schedule for the week. They moved the Guest Ent. scheduled for the second night to the first night and didn't have any show at all in the main lounge on Noumea night (we don't sail from this port til about 11pm anyway, so it wasn't really missed.) Then they moved the second Guest Ent, whose stage name I just remembered was Ash (no really....and it was a dude), up a night as well.
Things the first night, had not gone to plan at all. We were supposed to back up the Guest Ent. that night during his comedy bit to play him on and off and back up his harmonica musings. Well, Rich had developed a short history of health problems, mainly related to severe headaches, in the last weeks of the contract. He had mean free of the headaches for about a week then had one again that night, though much milder. He stopped in the medical center to have it checked out and they held him all night. Meanwhile, he can't get out to tell me or Jerry this and it's 10 minutes to show time and Rich is MIA. Finally, I track him down and run upstairs and let Jerry know what's up. We scramble and tell the production guys to play the Guest Ent. on with a canned track and then go looking for the cruise director. We find Chris and he tells us to bail on the show and go play in the steak house. I can't get my stuff off the stage til the show is over (long story there) but eventually I get down there and join Jerry in some bass and piano duets for the night.
OK.....back to the story. Richard is fine now and we're having our hard earned dinner in the steakhouse on a rare night off. We had to be in some kind of uniform and figured our blacks would be the least conspicuous. Yet, there's a couple near us that recognized us as 2/3 of the trio. They'd been eating in the steak house every night and also noticed what grouch Jerry was, even while playing by himself the first night of the cruise before I showed up. Toward the end of our dinner, (which was delicious, by the way. The mushroom sauce for the steak was amazing.) one of them leaned over and asked, "Where's Grumpy?" We had no idea what they were talking about, but then found out they were talking about Jerry. We couldn't contain our laughter any longer. We joked with this couple the rest of the evening, then went out the the aft decks and smoked some cigars. A pretty great evening, all things told, and we never played a note together that day as the rehearsal that never actually happened, took the place of the usual lunch time pool set.
But the couple would play a much bigger role in our final days. Their story in the next post.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
travel orders
Alright, so it's been about two months since I've posted. The blog was a pleasant distraction and a lifeline of sorts to home from the ship. After I got back to the States, I didn't care much about posting any more, but I'm regaining interest. So....the stories of my final cruise aboard the Pacific Star.
In a previous post, I mentioned that we had our travel details but there was more to the story. Here it is: Around noon or one on the day we'd ultimately get our travel orders, we were called into the cruise director's office. (keep in mind, this is CD Chris who was on our first week as a fill in and now our last week as a full timer) Turns out, L.A. didn't have anyone to replace us yet so they called Chris and told him to ask us to stay and extra week. He'd already told Jerry this, but Rich and I got a separate call. Rich was actually in the mess at the time I got the call so I just popped into the office to see what was up. To be honest, I had a hard time remaining professional when Chris asked me, but I told him I'd consider it and talk it over with Rich, without whom I would definitely not stay. Jerry however, had already told Chris yes.
Bear in mind, LA had already called a few weeks prior and cut my contract short by this same week, so I really wasn't all that inclined to stay when they'd had the foresight to send me home with the other two guys (who's contracts were a week shorter than mine....long story) but not to have somebody lined up to replace us first. In addition, I'd set up three appointments for various things during that week and told everyone back home I was coming. I caught up to Rich and told him the news and we just started laughing. He had every reason to go home as well. He needed to get off the ship and get healthy, he already had a new gig lined up, his wife had dinner reservations for the second night back. But most of all, we didn't want to put up with Jerry any longer or do a favor for a company that did us no favors. But wait, there's more.
Jerry comes in minutes later as we're laughing hysterically and relaying the story to DJ's Bass and Dets. Jerry's all excited about getting asked to stay, tells us the situation (like we didn't already know what was up) and says, "so we'll stay on and play another week." Containing laughter at this point was painful....for us and the DJ's. (Everybody on the ship knew what a jerk Jerry was, from the servers and stewards to the shoppies to the officers. It was almost funny.) We managed to explain our situations politely and tell Jerry that our decision would be a no. We went into Chris' office later and told him this. He gave us a minor guilt trip but we didn't care.
Then, at 4 when the crew office opened and we could pick up our travel orders (Adam had told us they'd come in earlier in the day, but the office wasn't open at the time) we were dancing around singing like a bunch of little kids. Everybody was laughing and smiling at us and all we could do was sing our song and shout "See ya!" Good times. Hopefully that makes the tone of the earlier post make a little more sense.
But that's just part of the story. More coming when next I need a break from writing Kalida's show.
In a previous post, I mentioned that we had our travel details but there was more to the story. Here it is: Around noon or one on the day we'd ultimately get our travel orders, we were called into the cruise director's office. (keep in mind, this is CD Chris who was on our first week as a fill in and now our last week as a full timer) Turns out, L.A. didn't have anyone to replace us yet so they called Chris and told him to ask us to stay and extra week. He'd already told Jerry this, but Rich and I got a separate call. Rich was actually in the mess at the time I got the call so I just popped into the office to see what was up. To be honest, I had a hard time remaining professional when Chris asked me, but I told him I'd consider it and talk it over with Rich, without whom I would definitely not stay. Jerry however, had already told Chris yes.
Bear in mind, LA had already called a few weeks prior and cut my contract short by this same week, so I really wasn't all that inclined to stay when they'd had the foresight to send me home with the other two guys (who's contracts were a week shorter than mine....long story) but not to have somebody lined up to replace us first. In addition, I'd set up three appointments for various things during that week and told everyone back home I was coming. I caught up to Rich and told him the news and we just started laughing. He had every reason to go home as well. He needed to get off the ship and get healthy, he already had a new gig lined up, his wife had dinner reservations for the second night back. But most of all, we didn't want to put up with Jerry any longer or do a favor for a company that did us no favors. But wait, there's more.
Jerry comes in minutes later as we're laughing hysterically and relaying the story to DJ's Bass and Dets. Jerry's all excited about getting asked to stay, tells us the situation (like we didn't already know what was up) and says, "so we'll stay on and play another week." Containing laughter at this point was painful....for us and the DJ's. (Everybody on the ship knew what a jerk Jerry was, from the servers and stewards to the shoppies to the officers. It was almost funny.) We managed to explain our situations politely and tell Jerry that our decision would be a no. We went into Chris' office later and told him this. He gave us a minor guilt trip but we didn't care.
Then, at 4 when the crew office opened and we could pick up our travel orders (Adam had told us they'd come in earlier in the day, but the office wasn't open at the time) we were dancing around singing like a bunch of little kids. Everybody was laughing and smiling at us and all we could do was sing our song and shout "See ya!" Good times. Hopefully that makes the tone of the earlier post make a little more sense.
But that's just part of the story. More coming when next I need a break from writing Kalida's show.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Don't call it a comeback....
Well, I'm back in Ohio.
My travel day began at 5:30am in Brisbane on Saturday, March 10 and now I arrived home (which is my parent's place until I find a new job/apartment) at 9pm, Saturday, March 10th. Amazingly, I've pulled off a 30 hour travel day, all in the same day. My 13-hour pan-Pacific flight landed in LA 5 hours before it took off from Brisbane. Isn't the Dateline a wonderful thing.
For the moment, I'm enjoying unlimited internet that doesn't cost me a ton of money and the fact that I can stretch out without being in somebody's way. Not to mention, this place doesn't pitch or rock at all. Nice to be in a home that doesn't move. I have about a thousand thoughts and stories from my final cruise that I'd like to share, but I'm a little tired now (and I didn't sleep at all the night before my plane flights) and I'll save that for tomorrow when I'm better rested.
To the Star crew....love ya, miss ya, wish you were here.
peace
steve
ps. who turned off the heat around here?
My travel day began at 5:30am in Brisbane on Saturday, March 10 and now I arrived home (which is my parent's place until I find a new job/apartment) at 9pm, Saturday, March 10th. Amazingly, I've pulled off a 30 hour travel day, all in the same day. My 13-hour pan-Pacific flight landed in LA 5 hours before it took off from Brisbane. Isn't the Dateline a wonderful thing.
For the moment, I'm enjoying unlimited internet that doesn't cost me a ton of money and the fact that I can stretch out without being in somebody's way. Not to mention, this place doesn't pitch or rock at all. Nice to be in a home that doesn't move. I have about a thousand thoughts and stories from my final cruise that I'd like to share, but I'm a little tired now (and I didn't sleep at all the night before my plane flights) and I'll save that for tomorrow when I'm better rested.
To the Star crew....love ya, miss ya, wish you were here.
peace
steve
ps. who turned off the heat around here?
Monday, March 5, 2007
Free at last!
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!
I will be leaving the beautiful white (old, weeping) lady, the Pacific Star, my home away from home in the early morning hours of March 10 in Brisbane.
My plane leaves Brisbane at 12:10pm and 13 hours later, I'll be landing in Los Angeles at 7am. After customs and what not, I board to plane to Detroit at 11am and land at 6:30pm. (all times local)
There is a long story to tell about this cruise and even just the last five hours prior to my posting this, but I'll save that for another post. I don't want to buy another internet card before I leave and have less the $3 left on this one which will be needed to check email for the remaing 3+ days.
I've been shown the way to go home! I'm comin' home Ohio....snow drifts and all.....and me with my 4 month tan. Ha! Love it!
Dinner in the steak house tonight to celebrate for Rich and I....Jerry may actually be staying an extra week so we won't have to see him in the airport at all. And Rich and I are on the same plane. weeeeeeee. We were jumping around dancing and singing earlier today. It's great. I need to shut up and sign off.
PEACE
I will be leaving the beautiful white (old, weeping) lady, the Pacific Star, my home away from home in the early morning hours of March 10 in Brisbane.
My plane leaves Brisbane at 12:10pm and 13 hours later, I'll be landing in Los Angeles at 7am. After customs and what not, I board to plane to Detroit at 11am and land at 6:30pm. (all times local)
There is a long story to tell about this cruise and even just the last five hours prior to my posting this, but I'll save that for another post. I don't want to buy another internet card before I leave and have less the $3 left on this one which will be needed to check email for the remaing 3+ days.
I've been shown the way to go home! I'm comin' home Ohio....snow drifts and all.....and me with my 4 month tan. Ha! Love it!
Dinner in the steak house tonight to celebrate for Rich and I....Jerry may actually be staying an extra week so we won't have to see him in the airport at all. And Rich and I are on the same plane. weeeeeeee. We were jumping around dancing and singing earlier today. It's great. I need to shut up and sign off.
PEACE
Friday, March 2, 2007
Show me the way to go home....
Well, there's a lot going on about the ship this week and I'm pretty sure, none of it means that much to me anymore. We've got a new cruise director on who is really shaking things up, hopefully for the better but I'll never know. 2/3 of the production is changing and the trio is going home too. That's right friends, I'm coming home. Don't have all the details yet, but I'll proabably post that in a blog later in the week. For now, let me just leave you with this. Rich pulled me out of the shower the other day as JAWS was playing on our TV to listen to this song. We laughed our asses off and have been singing it ever since. Enjoy.
Show me the way to go home
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it went straight to my head
Where ever I may roam
Over land or sea or foam
You can always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home!
cheers
Show me the way to go home
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it went straight to my head
Where ever I may roam
Over land or sea or foam
You can always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home!
cheers
Friday, February 23, 2007
A lot can happen in 3 days
The last 3 days have been a real adventure. But first, let me pick up where I left off.
The long day in Brisbane this week was a godsend. I found the cigars I was after, I putzed around a did a little shopping, hung out with a few people, and generally had a relaxing day. Toward the end of my time off, I met up with a few other crew members for a beer at a pub not far from the wharf. We discovered that this pub also made a pretty good steak dinner so we ordered. Fantastic! My medium rare New York Strip was a little more medium than rare, but the meal was still great. I pretty much devoured the whole thing and sampled about 5 or 6 Aussie beers I'd never had in the process. Not bad, but the honey wheat was a disappointment.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good by the time I got back to the ship, and since all the passengers had already boarded, I cruised right through the terminal without having to play dodgem with a thousand tourists. The passenger boat drill was a joke as most of the pax had been aboard and drinking since about 3. After that, the trio was supposed to play dance music in the nightclub. This is usually giant frustration for us and 3hours of it could have been a disaster, but I was playing really well and the cruise director pulled us off early to open the room as a night club with a DJ as the party in the other bar was overflowing. Fine by me, so Rich and I went out back and smoked the first of our cigars. Arturo Fuente's from the Dominican Republic. Great flavor, and a 2-hour smoke. We have 2 cruises left and have 2 each of the Fuentes remaing for each of those cruises. Should be pretty sweet. (the spacebar on this computer sucks. I'm not on my laptop, in case you hadn't guessed.) So by the end of the night when we finally headed down for bed, I realized that the only thing that could have made it any better was having someone to cuddle with. This was not to be, but oh well.
The next day, we played for Jackie Love's cabaret. Jackie is somewhat famous in Australia and a true professional. Easily the best Guest E we've played for in many many respects. Once again, it was Richard and I holding it together and Jerry screwing things up, but that's nothing new and a badge of honor for Rich and I as other crew members can see and hear what's happening so Jerry isn't fooling anyone. Even passengers pick up on it. We celebrated with a beer, a pizza, and a smaller, cheaper Fuente that was surprisingly quite good. Another good day.
The next day would bring a surprise. Richard woke early with a migraine and was vomitting all day because of it. He wasn't able to play our noon pool set, so Jerry and I played a duet. It went OK. Time was a little wide but we held it together and were more than civil toward each other, so that's good. Come dinner time, we were scheduled to play the steak house, but Richard was quarantined just beforehand, so we had to punt. Jerry decided to play the gig himself on the grand piano so I got the night off. I watched a movie, worked on Kalida's show a bit, then headed up to watch the second sitting of the production show. Now the fun begins.
The house lights above one of the aisles were flickering and I called the production manager over to check it out. He said, "Oh no, those are the emergency lights!" Sure enough, two seconds later, complete power loss to the entire ship. So the passengers are laughing, and most of them drunk as this really was just a booze cruise. (you wouldn't believe all the extra security we brought on for 3 friggin days) Finally the cruise director comes into the showroom and as he does, I'm standing at the edge of the crew stair entrance and hear the GES. ***For those unfamiliar with ships, the GES is the General Emergency Signal which summons all passengers to their lifeboat muster stations. Usually, this signal is proceeded by a crew alert signal to get the crew in place to deal with the passengers before the pax actually are called to action. But not tonight. I said to the Cruise Director that the GES was going off, and he said now it's not. But it turns out, I was right, though it had only sounded in the crew areas. Since the CD is one of the 3 officers on the muster control party, he has to swing into even more action now as crew are scrambling up from the dark with lifejackets and muster hats in hand.
Thankfully, this was a false alarm, triggered by the power loss. Richard, meanwhile, was down in the depths of deck 2 forward in the isolation cabin (vomitting and diaherria are serious threats to the health of the ship, its crew and pax) even though he was not contagious. He had to crawl up from the depths to our room, in the dark as the emergency evacuation lights did not come on, and get his life jacket and what not. I'm sure that was fun.
Meanwhile, they managed to restart the show, which they had to do 2 more times as the captian's announcements killed all the PA equipment on all decks. The cast perservered though. Points for recovery.
Glen, the production manager, is about to have a coronary though, as his phone starts ringing off the hook and he got about 10 pages in these few minutes. You see, the power reset the systems in the night club and the pool deck and no one could get them up and running again. But Glen can't leave the show lounge til the show ends. So that was a bit of a mess.
Then, I walk up and deck and remember that Captain Rivera has returned to take over tomorrow for Captain Paoletti. Sure enough, there sits Rivera, eating a pizza on the open deck while all hell is breaking loose elsewhere. Welcome back!
The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully. Just swapping stories of where were you when.....? I found out that several of the dancers were heading to an open audition for Tokyo Disney in the morning and they were also auditioning male musicians/percussionists. Unfortunately, the muso auditions are in the afternoon after we are set to sail, but I sent a resume down with one of the dancers who had worked there before and knew one of the production directors. He said he'd put in a good word for me and see if he couldn't get them to take a look at me. I'm waiting for a phone call regarding that. Not expecting much, but Japan could be fun. My phone is actually on right now....for the first time in over 3 months. It's on Roaming and I don't want to know what a call will cost, but it does actually work.
And that is about it. Amazing what can happen in 3 days. At any rate, just two 7-day cruises remaining and I head home, with considerably less debt and plenty to keep me busy through the end of April. Thinking about a Meditteranean contract starting in early May and ending late July. Just a though for now though.
Man.....long post. Have fun reading that one. See you all soon.
cheers
The long day in Brisbane this week was a godsend. I found the cigars I was after, I putzed around a did a little shopping, hung out with a few people, and generally had a relaxing day. Toward the end of my time off, I met up with a few other crew members for a beer at a pub not far from the wharf. We discovered that this pub also made a pretty good steak dinner so we ordered. Fantastic! My medium rare New York Strip was a little more medium than rare, but the meal was still great. I pretty much devoured the whole thing and sampled about 5 or 6 Aussie beers I'd never had in the process. Not bad, but the honey wheat was a disappointment.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good by the time I got back to the ship, and since all the passengers had already boarded, I cruised right through the terminal without having to play dodgem with a thousand tourists. The passenger boat drill was a joke as most of the pax had been aboard and drinking since about 3. After that, the trio was supposed to play dance music in the nightclub. This is usually giant frustration for us and 3hours of it could have been a disaster, but I was playing really well and the cruise director pulled us off early to open the room as a night club with a DJ as the party in the other bar was overflowing. Fine by me, so Rich and I went out back and smoked the first of our cigars. Arturo Fuente's from the Dominican Republic. Great flavor, and a 2-hour smoke. We have 2 cruises left and have 2 each of the Fuentes remaing for each of those cruises. Should be pretty sweet. (the spacebar on this computer sucks. I'm not on my laptop, in case you hadn't guessed.) So by the end of the night when we finally headed down for bed, I realized that the only thing that could have made it any better was having someone to cuddle with. This was not to be, but oh well.
The next day, we played for Jackie Love's cabaret. Jackie is somewhat famous in Australia and a true professional. Easily the best Guest E we've played for in many many respects. Once again, it was Richard and I holding it together and Jerry screwing things up, but that's nothing new and a badge of honor for Rich and I as other crew members can see and hear what's happening so Jerry isn't fooling anyone. Even passengers pick up on it. We celebrated with a beer, a pizza, and a smaller, cheaper Fuente that was surprisingly quite good. Another good day.
The next day would bring a surprise. Richard woke early with a migraine and was vomitting all day because of it. He wasn't able to play our noon pool set, so Jerry and I played a duet. It went OK. Time was a little wide but we held it together and were more than civil toward each other, so that's good. Come dinner time, we were scheduled to play the steak house, but Richard was quarantined just beforehand, so we had to punt. Jerry decided to play the gig himself on the grand piano so I got the night off. I watched a movie, worked on Kalida's show a bit, then headed up to watch the second sitting of the production show. Now the fun begins.
The house lights above one of the aisles were flickering and I called the production manager over to check it out. He said, "Oh no, those are the emergency lights!" Sure enough, two seconds later, complete power loss to the entire ship. So the passengers are laughing, and most of them drunk as this really was just a booze cruise. (you wouldn't believe all the extra security we brought on for 3 friggin days) Finally the cruise director comes into the showroom and as he does, I'm standing at the edge of the crew stair entrance and hear the GES. ***For those unfamiliar with ships, the GES is the General Emergency Signal which summons all passengers to their lifeboat muster stations. Usually, this signal is proceeded by a crew alert signal to get the crew in place to deal with the passengers before the pax actually are called to action. But not tonight. I said to the Cruise Director that the GES was going off, and he said now it's not. But it turns out, I was right, though it had only sounded in the crew areas. Since the CD is one of the 3 officers on the muster control party, he has to swing into even more action now as crew are scrambling up from the dark with lifejackets and muster hats in hand.
Thankfully, this was a false alarm, triggered by the power loss. Richard, meanwhile, was down in the depths of deck 2 forward in the isolation cabin (vomitting and diaherria are serious threats to the health of the ship, its crew and pax) even though he was not contagious. He had to crawl up from the depths to our room, in the dark as the emergency evacuation lights did not come on, and get his life jacket and what not. I'm sure that was fun.
Meanwhile, they managed to restart the show, which they had to do 2 more times as the captian's announcements killed all the PA equipment on all decks. The cast perservered though. Points for recovery.
Glen, the production manager, is about to have a coronary though, as his phone starts ringing off the hook and he got about 10 pages in these few minutes. You see, the power reset the systems in the night club and the pool deck and no one could get them up and running again. But Glen can't leave the show lounge til the show ends. So that was a bit of a mess.
Then, I walk up and deck and remember that Captain Rivera has returned to take over tomorrow for Captain Paoletti. Sure enough, there sits Rivera, eating a pizza on the open deck while all hell is breaking loose elsewhere. Welcome back!
The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully. Just swapping stories of where were you when.....? I found out that several of the dancers were heading to an open audition for Tokyo Disney in the morning and they were also auditioning male musicians/percussionists. Unfortunately, the muso auditions are in the afternoon after we are set to sail, but I sent a resume down with one of the dancers who had worked there before and knew one of the production directors. He said he'd put in a good word for me and see if he couldn't get them to take a look at me. I'm waiting for a phone call regarding that. Not expecting much, but Japan could be fun. My phone is actually on right now....for the first time in over 3 months. It's on Roaming and I don't want to know what a call will cost, but it does actually work.
And that is about it. Amazing what can happen in 3 days. At any rate, just two 7-day cruises remaining and I head home, with considerably less debt and plenty to keep me busy through the end of April. Thinking about a Meditteranean contract starting in early May and ending late July. Just a though for now though.
Man.....long post. Have fun reading that one. See you all soon.
cheers
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I'm getting paid for this
It's a couple days later now, but the other day I hopped off the ship in Champagne Bay. Amazing. We took a little ride up into the hills a little bit and entered the Blue Lagoon. I'm told there was a movie by the same name filmed here but who knows. What I do know, is that it was really amazing. After we paddled around in the lagoon for a while, we headed back to the beach.....the ride in the back of the truck just about did in my kidneys, but that's another story....and swam in the crystal clear waters and sunbathed on the pristine, white sand.
I spent most of that day with Dave and Kiwi Stef from the new cast and we all still can't get over the fact that we were being paid to be there. Beats working for a living.
I'm back in Brisbane for the moment. We're about to embark on a 3-night cruise that will be mainly full of industry people and people just looking for a booze cruise. We don't go anywhere, just out and around and back in with no ports to call. It's pretty silly but we've got 6 extra hours in Brisbane today as we won't sail until 8pm instead of the usual 2pm, so that's nice.
In the meantime, I just sent a box full of unnecessary clothes home in the hopes of getting the weight of my suitcase back under the limit for the return home. Going shopping for a box of cigars for Rich and I to split these last few weeks a little later on.
Finally got the materials to start writing Kalida's show. My brain is mush at the moment, but I need to find a way to buckle down and get at least a lead sheet sketch done before I go home. I'll also be writing Bellefountaine's show, so I'm excited to meet with them when I return home in a few weeks. Anybody else need an arranger?
I think I'll sign off for now. Too many IM windows open. I can't IM from the ship so it's nice to chat when I have some time....especiallly since I'm not rushed today.
peace
steve-o
I spent most of that day with Dave and Kiwi Stef from the new cast and we all still can't get over the fact that we were being paid to be there. Beats working for a living.
I'm back in Brisbane for the moment. We're about to embark on a 3-night cruise that will be mainly full of industry people and people just looking for a booze cruise. We don't go anywhere, just out and around and back in with no ports to call. It's pretty silly but we've got 6 extra hours in Brisbane today as we won't sail until 8pm instead of the usual 2pm, so that's nice.
In the meantime, I just sent a box full of unnecessary clothes home in the hopes of getting the weight of my suitcase back under the limit for the return home. Going shopping for a box of cigars for Rich and I to split these last few weeks a little later on.
Finally got the materials to start writing Kalida's show. My brain is mush at the moment, but I need to find a way to buckle down and get at least a lead sheet sketch done before I go home. I'll also be writing Bellefountaine's show, so I'm excited to meet with them when I return home in a few weeks. Anybody else need an arranger?
I think I'll sign off for now. Too many IM windows open. I can't IM from the ship so it's nice to chat when I have some time....especiallly since I'm not rushed today.
peace
steve-o
Friday, February 16, 2007
I'm comin' home!
My pardon has been granted! I'm coming home, boys and girls!
And I'm not coming home on March 17. I'm coming home on the 10th. Only 3 weeks to go and the current Pacific Star Trio will be gone forever.
I found out just this morning that my contract was shortened one week, without any warning by the powers that be in LA. I suspect that, as the other two guys in the trio were already set to leave on the 10th, that it makes more sense and may ultimately be easier to bring on a complete trio rather than piecing one together on the ship. Considering the fact that we spend better than 90% of our working time as a trio and not as the show band we thought we were hired to be, this makes a lot of sense.
Ironically, I was about to volunteer to extend one week to help smooth the transition with the two new guys that would have just come on for my last week. It also happens that the added week would have been a Cairns cruise and a nice way to end my contract, but we'll not mention that.
Oh well!
I'M COMIN' HOME!
See you all in 3 weeks.
And I'm not coming home on March 17. I'm coming home on the 10th. Only 3 weeks to go and the current Pacific Star Trio will be gone forever.
I found out just this morning that my contract was shortened one week, without any warning by the powers that be in LA. I suspect that, as the other two guys in the trio were already set to leave on the 10th, that it makes more sense and may ultimately be easier to bring on a complete trio rather than piecing one together on the ship. Considering the fact that we spend better than 90% of our working time as a trio and not as the show band we thought we were hired to be, this makes a lot of sense.
Ironically, I was about to volunteer to extend one week to help smooth the transition with the two new guys that would have just come on for my last week. It also happens that the added week would have been a Cairns cruise and a nice way to end my contract, but we'll not mention that.
Oh well!
I'M COMIN' HOME!
See you all in 3 weeks.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day
Well, the stars and planets and what not aligned somehow yesterday to make for one of the weirdest days I've had in a long time. First, the sea has been a real adventure around here lately. We've had beautiful, warm, sunny days with huge sea swells rocking the boat all over the place. Actually rocked all the food off our breakfast buffet the other day. Sometime you really must try running on a treadmill aboard a ship that is pitching in all directions. I've gotten used to it in calmer seas but the last two days were an adventure. So yesterday began with that as we coasted into Noumea.
Once there, I went for a walk, as I often do, and turned down a road I had never been down before. This was fortuitous. I found a host of things I'd not seen before, including a monument to the US armed forces who helped keep New Caledonia free during the Pacific campaigns of WWII. So that was nice and refreshing, despite sweating my ass off.
I got back to the ship, where my roomy was running about 3 hours early for our usual dinner set. He had an interesting day himself, but that is for another blog. I grabbed dinner and sucked down one of the bottles of (warm) Gatorade I picked up in Noumea and headed up to the dinner sets in the steakhouse. Jerry was in a particularly good mood this night. He completely threw me during the first tune when he gave me a completely unsolicited compliment regarding my solo. I was dumbfounded. Especially since I was playing softer than I usually do, which is often a problem for him.
Meanwhile, during dinner, a passenger came into the steakhouse who is just about a dead ringer for my last girlfriend....the one who dumped me when I told her I was leaving for four months to play on a cruise ship. That completely threw me, especially when you consider that it was Valentine's Day.
Add to that, I had just read an email from home that, among other things, informed me that they are experiencing blizzard conditions back home. As I was walking down the deck with the sun setting out the window, I was noting all the women holding roses and thought, "isn't it odd to see people wearing shorts on Valentine's Day when I'm used to freezing my butt off on that day."
There was also a party in the crew bar after hours. The crew bar is not a great venue for much of anything and last night's party was strange. Lots of people possibly looking for love but no one actually loving, just lots of drinking. And when I came home, a little drunk, my 58 year old roommate was not in bed asleep as I'd expected. Strange again. (He's just fine, don't worry) So I finally gave up and went to sleep....after I helped the girls across the hall hang chasing Christmas lights from their ceiling and checked out all their photos of friends and family....but not without putting in a movie; V for Vendetta (or crazy Valentine's Day....you pick)
ps. Less than one month til I fly home. Couldn't get local leave and can't really afford to pay for the flight myself, nor can I extend my contract as I have too many obligations back home. So on March 17, Steve-o will come marching home. Miller, if you're reading this, I think I'm in for NCAA if that happens. Keep me posted.
Once there, I went for a walk, as I often do, and turned down a road I had never been down before. This was fortuitous. I found a host of things I'd not seen before, including a monument to the US armed forces who helped keep New Caledonia free during the Pacific campaigns of WWII. So that was nice and refreshing, despite sweating my ass off.
I got back to the ship, where my roomy was running about 3 hours early for our usual dinner set. He had an interesting day himself, but that is for another blog. I grabbed dinner and sucked down one of the bottles of (warm) Gatorade I picked up in Noumea and headed up to the dinner sets in the steakhouse. Jerry was in a particularly good mood this night. He completely threw me during the first tune when he gave me a completely unsolicited compliment regarding my solo. I was dumbfounded. Especially since I was playing softer than I usually do, which is often a problem for him.
Meanwhile, during dinner, a passenger came into the steakhouse who is just about a dead ringer for my last girlfriend....the one who dumped me when I told her I was leaving for four months to play on a cruise ship. That completely threw me, especially when you consider that it was Valentine's Day.
Add to that, I had just read an email from home that, among other things, informed me that they are experiencing blizzard conditions back home. As I was walking down the deck with the sun setting out the window, I was noting all the women holding roses and thought, "isn't it odd to see people wearing shorts on Valentine's Day when I'm used to freezing my butt off on that day."
There was also a party in the crew bar after hours. The crew bar is not a great venue for much of anything and last night's party was strange. Lots of people possibly looking for love but no one actually loving, just lots of drinking. And when I came home, a little drunk, my 58 year old roommate was not in bed asleep as I'd expected. Strange again. (He's just fine, don't worry) So I finally gave up and went to sleep....after I helped the girls across the hall hang chasing Christmas lights from their ceiling and checked out all their photos of friends and family....but not without putting in a movie; V for Vendetta (or crazy Valentine's Day....you pick)
ps. Less than one month til I fly home. Couldn't get local leave and can't really afford to pay for the flight myself, nor can I extend my contract as I have too many obligations back home. So on March 17, Steve-o will come marching home. Miller, if you're reading this, I think I'm in for NCAA if that happens. Keep me posted.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Something old, something new
This has been an interesting cruise. It has been the last for our current cast of singers and dancers and therefor, the handover to the new cast who joined last Brisbane. The old cast has been here 7 months now which includes my entire contract to date. If you count the 6 weeks of rehearsals prior to that, they've been at it over 8 months for this one contract. That's an eternity to me right now. They have been a great bunch of people though and they've helped make our corridor an interesting place to live.
I've met the new cast, and talked to both of the singers, Nicole and Dave, at some length and they're all pretty cool. Looking forward to having them around. It'll be a challenge for the new cast this cruise as they'll be finally performing all the shows that they've been learning and rehearsing all this cruise in addition to doing all their cruise staff duties for the first time. I suspect there will be alot of naps taken next cruise.
As the old cast leaves, so with them go our other teen staffer and Roxy, one of the 2 JACD's, leaving about 6 of us from the entertainment staff that I began my contract with. They whole staff have been a fantastic group of people. They've really made this place what it is. Of the 6 remaining, I'll be the second last to leave in just over a month now.
In other news, they installed five industrial Maytag Washer/Dryer units in the crew laundry about a month ago. These are identical to the ones in the laundries in all the dorms at Miami and in my last two apartment complexes. I thought they were completey idiot proof as I'd never actually seen one broken down. I was wrong. Between the idiots using them and the repair men who can't read the manual, only the schematic, 3 of the 5 washers are now out of order. What a friggin disaster. I'm giving them one more shot but I'm probably just sending my stuff the other laundry and paying the couple dollars to have it done. This sucks cuz I finally got some dryer sheets. Oh well.
I'm on IPM tomorrow so no internet time for me. After next cruise we have a 3-day cruise which is just a cheapo to get us back starting 7-days on Saturdays. We don't even stop anywhere. It's just a get drunk and use the casino cruise and it won't leave til 8pm or something so we'll have almost a full day in Brisbane. YAY!
Also had a bit of fun this week. Because of the Norwalk virus and what not, it is a disciplinary offense not to report vomitting or diaherrea if you're a crew member. Something I ate the other day didn't agree with me and I got written up for not reporting it til 12 hours later. Ask me sometime about the lock down procedures for people with stomach flus on ships.
That's all for now. Time for dinner and a string of shows.
peace
I've met the new cast, and talked to both of the singers, Nicole and Dave, at some length and they're all pretty cool. Looking forward to having them around. It'll be a challenge for the new cast this cruise as they'll be finally performing all the shows that they've been learning and rehearsing all this cruise in addition to doing all their cruise staff duties for the first time. I suspect there will be alot of naps taken next cruise.
As the old cast leaves, so with them go our other teen staffer and Roxy, one of the 2 JACD's, leaving about 6 of us from the entertainment staff that I began my contract with. They whole staff have been a fantastic group of people. They've really made this place what it is. Of the 6 remaining, I'll be the second last to leave in just over a month now.
In other news, they installed five industrial Maytag Washer/Dryer units in the crew laundry about a month ago. These are identical to the ones in the laundries in all the dorms at Miami and in my last two apartment complexes. I thought they were completey idiot proof as I'd never actually seen one broken down. I was wrong. Between the idiots using them and the repair men who can't read the manual, only the schematic, 3 of the 5 washers are now out of order. What a friggin disaster. I'm giving them one more shot but I'm probably just sending my stuff the other laundry and paying the couple dollars to have it done. This sucks cuz I finally got some dryer sheets. Oh well.
I'm on IPM tomorrow so no internet time for me. After next cruise we have a 3-day cruise which is just a cheapo to get us back starting 7-days on Saturdays. We don't even stop anywhere. It's just a get drunk and use the casino cruise and it won't leave til 8pm or something so we'll have almost a full day in Brisbane. YAY!
Also had a bit of fun this week. Because of the Norwalk virus and what not, it is a disciplinary offense not to report vomitting or diaherrea if you're a crew member. Something I ate the other day didn't agree with me and I got written up for not reporting it til 12 hours later. Ask me sometime about the lock down procedures for people with stomach flus on ships.
That's all for now. Time for dinner and a string of shows.
peace
Friday, February 2, 2007
Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll (relax Mom, just read)
Well this last cruise has been quite the adventure. We had a little sexual misconduct among the pax last cruise so there was some fall-out from that incident which made it to the Aussie news media. Not such good press, especially since (I'm told anyway) there was a suspicious death on one of our sister ships last year. Not to be outdone, some other lady came forward later in the week with allegations about some voyeauristic predator stealing her camera and photographing himself while she slept. Then they brought on some ex-security guy saying how the security is told to turn a blind eye to the rampant drug use, something something, that's going on on the ships. My only reaction to all that is.....why the hell wasn't the crew invited. Load of BS that is. Anyway, P&O Australia still took a beating in the press this week. And that covers sex and drugs.
On to rock-n-roll. Rich and I now hold the upper hand in the battle of Jerry-co. (Bad pun. Sorry, couldn't resist) We were playing Stella Webb's cabaret show the other night in place of one of the production shows (the male lead singer fell ill so we made a few changes in the entertainment plan for the cruise) and we were bringing her back on for her encore tune. Generally speaking, the Ike&Tina Turner version of Proud Mary starts pretty slow. Not in Jerry's world though. He launches into it at Mach-2 and Rich and I just stare at him, shaking our heads and saying "It's too fast". (tempos that are too fast are a recurring theme with Jerry, but this was an extreme) Finally, Stella very calmly interjects, "Let's try it a little slower, JERRY!" Game, set and match to the rhythm section. Jerry stopped playing and started looking around for help so I started the tune. Rich joined and Stella was soon to follow and Jerry just sat there for a few bars. There was great jubilation and dancing on tables later in the evening. Needless to say, the Cruise Director now has Jerry by the balls and he also has the authority quash anything negative Jerry might say about me in my final evaluation. Check-mate! And that, my friends, is all rock-n-roll to me.
Today begins the first of 2 9-day cruises. If it's raining on Isle of Pines, I'm gonna cry cuz I was on IPM the first time we went there and this will be my only other opportunity to visit what I'm told is one of the most pristine beaches and snorkeling spots around.
6 more weeks on the Star. Still working on local leave so I can see a little more of Australia before I go.
Happy Wombat.....er.....Groundhog Day!
On to rock-n-roll. Rich and I now hold the upper hand in the battle of Jerry-co. (Bad pun. Sorry, couldn't resist) We were playing Stella Webb's cabaret show the other night in place of one of the production shows (the male lead singer fell ill so we made a few changes in the entertainment plan for the cruise) and we were bringing her back on for her encore tune. Generally speaking, the Ike&Tina Turner version of Proud Mary starts pretty slow. Not in Jerry's world though. He launches into it at Mach-2 and Rich and I just stare at him, shaking our heads and saying "It's too fast". (tempos that are too fast are a recurring theme with Jerry, but this was an extreme) Finally, Stella very calmly interjects, "Let's try it a little slower, JERRY!" Game, set and match to the rhythm section. Jerry stopped playing and started looking around for help so I started the tune. Rich joined and Stella was soon to follow and Jerry just sat there for a few bars. There was great jubilation and dancing on tables later in the evening. Needless to say, the Cruise Director now has Jerry by the balls and he also has the authority quash anything negative Jerry might say about me in my final evaluation. Check-mate! And that, my friends, is all rock-n-roll to me.
Today begins the first of 2 9-day cruises. If it's raining on Isle of Pines, I'm gonna cry cuz I was on IPM the first time we went there and this will be my only other opportunity to visit what I'm told is one of the most pristine beaches and snorkeling spots around.
6 more weeks on the Star. Still working on local leave so I can see a little more of Australia before I go.
Happy Wombat.....er.....Groundhog Day!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
almost there
Just 6.5 weeks remaining in my contract and the last one will be without Jerry. Unfortunately it will be without Rich, the drummer, but what can you do. I'll be laughing the whole way home that last cruise, I'm sure. Probably pack my bags before the new people show up and just wear my uniforms all week.
Black and White party in the crew bar last night. Interesting. Very interesting. It was also Laura's (one of our dancers) 19th birthday.
Life has been quiet this week. We've had a mess of seasonal youth staff on since mid December . The personel changed slightly week to week, but they were always present....until now. They all disembarked last Brisbane; along with Sandra and Troy, our teen director and deputy cruise director, as the summer holiday has ended for most Aussies and Kiwi's. This has also brought the return of a slightly higher class of passenger. We were dubbing the cruises since the New Year's cruise the "Trailer Trash" cruises. Not the highest class of passenger, but that's another story. With the departure of the youth staff came a deadly queit in the crew bar. I sat with David and Neil and two other gents that night in the crew bar and we were it. It was dead. Miss those folks.
Got a lot of sun today. Didn't take the hop onto Lifou (I've already been there 6 times and we'll be there 5 more times before I leave) but had a good day nonetheless. I'm on IPM (In-Port Manning....meaning I can't leave the ship) in Vila tomorrow so I'll be working on some arrangements and edits for our female productions singer's cabaret show on my computer and hopefully getting my first ever professional massage. Yay crew discount.
May have picked up another arranging gig in addition to Kalida, whose show I'm hoping to start next week, as long as the scores arrive. Haven't heard from Talawanda in a while. Starting to think Richard just decided to have Dave write theirs anyway. Being out here on ship probably cost me there. Lesson learned.
I'm running out of time on this access card so I'm gonna sign off.
Cheers
Black and White party in the crew bar last night. Interesting. Very interesting. It was also Laura's (one of our dancers) 19th birthday.
Life has been quiet this week. We've had a mess of seasonal youth staff on since mid December . The personel changed slightly week to week, but they were always present....until now. They all disembarked last Brisbane; along with Sandra and Troy, our teen director and deputy cruise director, as the summer holiday has ended for most Aussies and Kiwi's. This has also brought the return of a slightly higher class of passenger. We were dubbing the cruises since the New Year's cruise the "Trailer Trash" cruises. Not the highest class of passenger, but that's another story. With the departure of the youth staff came a deadly queit in the crew bar. I sat with David and Neil and two other gents that night in the crew bar and we were it. It was dead. Miss those folks.
Got a lot of sun today. Didn't take the hop onto Lifou (I've already been there 6 times and we'll be there 5 more times before I leave) but had a good day nonetheless. I'm on IPM (In-Port Manning....meaning I can't leave the ship) in Vila tomorrow so I'll be working on some arrangements and edits for our female productions singer's cabaret show on my computer and hopefully getting my first ever professional massage. Yay crew discount.
May have picked up another arranging gig in addition to Kalida, whose show I'm hoping to start next week, as long as the scores arrive. Haven't heard from Talawanda in a while. Starting to think Richard just decided to have Dave write theirs anyway. Being out here on ship probably cost me there. Lesson learned.
I'm running out of time on this access card so I'm gonna sign off.
Cheers
Friday, January 26, 2007
I hope this works
With any luck, clicking here will take you to my Facebook page where all my Australia pictures are for the moment. If it doesn't w
ork, try back in week.
ork, try back in week.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Off and running....
The fates have smiled upon me and I am able to check and post to my blogspot from the ship (unlike Facebook and MySpace.....though I'm probably gonna delete my MySpace page soon anyway. Not so much a fan anymore). This Saturday I'm gonna try and put a link to my facebook page on my blogspot profile as all my pictures are currently on Facebook. I'll see what I can do about getting pix on Picasa so they're linked directly to this blog.
Also, many thanks to my brother, Jeff, who not only turned me on to the idea of posting a blog (something I'd scoffed at for a long time prior to leaving the northern hemisphere for 4 months) and also for his help with some technical issues, including creating my header. That is actually a photo of me playing the bass, believe it or not. Pretty cool though. Thanks ffej!
Anyway, the ship is running a bit behind at the moment. We had some form of impropriety on the ship a couple nights ago. This was severe enough that we now have police on board investigating the situation and they have forced the ship to slow it's progress. Not sure how much that's going to affect us in turnaround tomorrow, though I now some people are already gonna have to deal with missed flights.
Big party tonight in the crew bar. The seasonal youth staff are all disembarking tomorrow so a big party for them plus the two guest entertainers who have been on since the New Year's cruise are disembarking as well. I know we've got Dan Shearin joining us again with his "A Little Bit of Swing" show and I'm not sure who the other guest will be. This will be a nice change though, as we haven't played a show since the Christmas Cabaret on Christmas Eve. I've been getting a little tired and frustrated with playing only trio stuff all the time for an entire month. It's especially hard when the drummer plays on the back of the beat, the piano player miles ahead of it and I'm supposed to find the pocket. If I play with the drummer, I'm behind the beat. If I play with the piano player, who is always way too loud, I'm rushing. And they're both a whole generation or more older than I am. It's a no win. Sight reading shows is far more relaxing.
I do have this to say though. This ship may not be the greatest, but the crew that make her up are some of the most fantastic people I've ever met in my life. They make the whole thing. A lot of them are leaving in the next few cruises and they will be missed. The replacements who have already come on are incredibly cool people though and I'm glad to have known them all. Hopefully my next ship will be as good.
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oy! Oy! Oy!
(it's Australia Day)
Also, many thanks to my brother, Jeff, who not only turned me on to the idea of posting a blog (something I'd scoffed at for a long time prior to leaving the northern hemisphere for 4 months) and also for his help with some technical issues, including creating my header. That is actually a photo of me playing the bass, believe it or not. Pretty cool though. Thanks ffej!
Anyway, the ship is running a bit behind at the moment. We had some form of impropriety on the ship a couple nights ago. This was severe enough that we now have police on board investigating the situation and they have forced the ship to slow it's progress. Not sure how much that's going to affect us in turnaround tomorrow, though I now some people are already gonna have to deal with missed flights.
Big party tonight in the crew bar. The seasonal youth staff are all disembarking tomorrow so a big party for them plus the two guest entertainers who have been on since the New Year's cruise are disembarking as well. I know we've got Dan Shearin joining us again with his "A Little Bit of Swing" show and I'm not sure who the other guest will be. This will be a nice change though, as we haven't played a show since the Christmas Cabaret on Christmas Eve. I've been getting a little tired and frustrated with playing only trio stuff all the time for an entire month. It's especially hard when the drummer plays on the back of the beat, the piano player miles ahead of it and I'm supposed to find the pocket. If I play with the drummer, I'm behind the beat. If I play with the piano player, who is always way too loud, I'm rushing. And they're both a whole generation or more older than I am. It's a no win. Sight reading shows is far more relaxing.
I do have this to say though. This ship may not be the greatest, but the crew that make her up are some of the most fantastic people I've ever met in my life. They make the whole thing. A lot of them are leaving in the next few cruises and they will be missed. The replacements who have already come on are incredibly cool people though and I'm glad to have known them all. Hopefully my next ship will be as good.
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oy! Oy! Oy!
(it's Australia Day)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
New things everyday
It took working a cruise ship for 4 months in Australia and some prompting from my brother to finally get me to put up a blog. So here it is. Hopefully I'll be able to update this from the ship. If not, I'll try and update it in Brisbane every week.
At the moment, I'm in an internet cafe in Cairns which is in tropical northern Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is about an hour away by bus. It's January 24 and it's about 88 degrees and humid outside. Feels like I should be teaching a band camp. Feeling pretty good at the moment, despite everything I imbibed last night. We overnighted here in Cairns and the night off was a much needed release for many of us. Somebody played a Rage Against the Machine tune at one point and I can recall screaming the lyrics with my hand in the air. Realized just how much I needed to get out of the fishbowl.
We set sail for Willis Island and Brisbane later this afternoon. We're throwing a party for our departing deputy cruise director tonight. We worked up a little skit for him and everything. It should be hilarious. Friday is Australia Day (their 4th of July). Should be interesting. Friday will also be the last day that the seasonal youth staff are on the ship. They're good people and I've been hanging out with them quite a lot so I'm sure I'll miss them when they're gone.
I'm gonna work on posting pictures here eventually. For now, they're all up on my facebook profile. I'll see if I can get a link up here to that. I need to do some shopping now before I head back the ship though.
cheers
At the moment, I'm in an internet cafe in Cairns which is in tropical northern Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is about an hour away by bus. It's January 24 and it's about 88 degrees and humid outside. Feels like I should be teaching a band camp. Feeling pretty good at the moment, despite everything I imbibed last night. We overnighted here in Cairns and the night off was a much needed release for many of us. Somebody played a Rage Against the Machine tune at one point and I can recall screaming the lyrics with my hand in the air. Realized just how much I needed to get out of the fishbowl.
We set sail for Willis Island and Brisbane later this afternoon. We're throwing a party for our departing deputy cruise director tonight. We worked up a little skit for him and everything. It should be hilarious. Friday is Australia Day (their 4th of July). Should be interesting. Friday will also be the last day that the seasonal youth staff are on the ship. They're good people and I've been hanging out with them quite a lot so I'm sure I'll miss them when they're gone.
I'm gonna work on posting pictures here eventually. For now, they're all up on my facebook profile. I'll see if I can get a link up here to that. I need to do some shopping now before I head back the ship though.
cheers
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