The day the music killed someone…

So children. It’s been a VERY interesting 3 days. It was Christmas, obviously, and that means more than imaginable amounts of work. COPIOUS amounts of work. So I have slept little, and worked A LOT. I’m going to Tarintino the story of how I almost killed a guy…

AHHH AHHHHA AHHAHHHH AHHAHHHH OH MY GOOODD AHHHH!!!! STOP THE SHOW!!! CALL 911!!!!! This is what we hear at the end of the third song during the main production show for the evening. So I go out to see what A clown I am going to have to punch in the mouth because they have disrupted my show…lo and behold my nemesis..having a panic attack

Lets go back…lets go back to the beginning. First sea day of the cruise I am running sound for a lecture. And you can probably imagine what that entails. Setting up screens for power point. Getting a headset mic on the lecturer, having some soft-ish background music for the walk in, etc. So we get started and during these lectures if they are terrible or if I have heared them before (in this case I had heared this lecture 2 times before this, because the lectruere has been on since I returned; GREAT guy, his wife is awesome, they are a really cool couple. Both Dr’s of history and professors at Universities in Philly) so I am just surfing facebook or something and this guy walks from row 3…ROW THREE…of the theatre to my booth and says that his “talking is too loud”. His “speaking voice” (which for us audio people it was comfortably a 68dB at the MOST) was just loud enough to carry to the back of the room. So I was cordial enough this time. I mean I do a lot of things on this ship, and even if I wasn’t paying attention to the particular event that was happening, I am STILL running sound, and that is my number one priority on the ship. DON’T EVER come up to me and tell me how to do my job when you don’t the foggiest damn idea how to do it. So I said, “I’ll have a look at it, Chief” yes I literally said Chief, and he left. ANYWAY, so that was episode I in this Star Wars saga of Epic oldness. NUMBER TWO TIME..

Third show of the ruise Christmas eve special show. High energy, fairly loud, made to make people clap, bob their heads, what have you… So the head of entertainment literally got off the ship 2 days before these incidents started occurring and he was more than happy with the levels and mix of the shows. This also happened to be the show that I was singing Mary Did you know. I digress, we get to the 3rd of 4th number and the house is packed. Towards the end of the 3rd number, old baby ears McGee does that old person sun. You know (he has a cane by the way) its like speed walking with a cane and a limp and they move the cane faster to give the impression that they are moving faster, but they aren’t…you know? That’s what I see out of my peripheral. Then it happened…. BOOM BOOM BOOM. This old – ear muffs – punched, yes PUNCHED my wall in front of me and goes ‘Its too GD loud, I cant believe how loud it is you son of a bitch. Im leaving”. NOW.. you don’t talk to , interrupt, speak around, clap near, or even make eye contact in the middle of a song that an engineer is mixing. (45 channels being used by the way) THIS. WILL. INFURIATE. THEM. And lets top it off with cursing at them. I took my hands of the board and said in the calmest way possible(which included a SNL-type wave) “BYE BYE THEN” he stormed off as 3 rows..YES THREE ROWS of guests (im talking about 15 people) watched this Stars wars episode 2 saga of unpleasant a**holism and looked and me and said what an A**hole. A bah humbug if you will. All these guests were on my side, and I gave them the look of high five me for your acknowledgement and they did it with their eyes. I had so much adrenaline pumping through me that I was even MORE nervous about singing a song that I hadn’t done in 5 years. Thanks old d-bag, now I am going to puke out my guts on stage. Awesome.

This concludes episode 2. Stay tuned for episode 3, the conclusion of “a tale of a guy who needs to just die already”

Im going to turn from the story for a minute to say that I now understand why the other people on board want to drink non stop every day, all day.


AND NOW EPISODE 2 and a half through 3

So after the Christmas show, I told the Cruise Director about this guy, and somehow this guy just so he knew that there was an issue with a guest and how unpleasant he was being. Next day.. I didn’t sleep but 2 hours. The girl that I really like was leaving and so I was helping her pack all night so that she would just sleep on the plane home to London. So Its Christmas day, and the day was pleasant enough. No issues, no problems, had probably 3 hours off that day which I used for the gym cause I was sad that the girl had left, did the shows, no incidents. All good. I thought that the guy wouldn’t be back. OH HOW WRONG I WAS… next day, yesterday, he shows up to the morning lecture. Same ol same ol. I get background music on, guy comes up to the booth and is trying to be all “sane” now and is like “I have really sensitive hearing, I don’t think that the lecturer even needs a microphone” and I said to him, very condescendingly, “yes he does because they get video taped for showing to other guests (“who aren’t F holes” – added for this stories purposes) to watch in their cabins” “ well me and my wife we just cant stand it” I said . “ok” and I walked to the other side of the booth to pretend to make a phone call. He walked away. He came back to the booth a second time during the lecture to AGAIN complain about the sound. This guy was dancing the mother freaking samba on my last good will. Again, I ignored him, because I don’t want to go to Interpol jail for murdering someone in international waters. After the lecture, the lecturer (Dr. McDonald – who is the coolest dude) was like “if this a@@hole comes up to the booth again Im going to punch him. He shouldn’t be talking to you like that, and its distracting me.” So Dr. M gets mad respect for that little quip there.


mid day….

I get an email from the Cruise Director saying “ he talked to the guy for like 20 minutes about the sound” “please keep the levels at a nominal place” this is less than a week after I was told by the head of entertainment, my boss and the cruise director, my boss to make everything louder. So I said I would work on it during rehearsals. So I brought it down marginally… a “DFA” type job if you will.

SHOW TIME THAT SAME DAAAAAAyyyyyYYYYYyy…

Exterior. A cranky old man with a cane, with disheveled hair, and a crazy look in his eye walks in and takes his rightful place at the back of the room. I see him and grimace. My boss, the Cruise Director comes over and says, well he told me earlier that he would wear earplugs. I heard that and loaded my normal show (Yamaha M7) song number 3 getting towards the end and the first paragraph occurred in real-time. The guy eventually walked out on his own feet, but it was the most attention-seeking stunt I have ever seen in my life. So that ended, and after show the cast, myself, the 2 awesome lecturers were having drinks and all we did was bemoan this old cranky a clown who has made life unbearable at this point on the ship. So that’s how I almost killed a guy with sound. Fun, no?

Until next time kiddies, don’t try and upper decker on your own toilet. You will be sad.

Chadillac

CHRISTMAS!!!

Well folks…it’s that time of year again. It just really has gone by. This year has taught me numerous things. I have grown in ways that I didn’t think were possible. I have also been immersed in a way of life that I didn’t think I could be around, and still keep my moral compass aligned, but somehow with God’s help I have been all right. This past year, I lost 70 pounds. I am in the gym everyday now. I eat better. I am constantly active. I have seen half of the world. I have seen more of the world that most people will in their whole lives, and I am not even 30 yet.

In just 4 short months I will have traveled the world. THE WORLD. How many people can say that they have literally traversed the entire globe? Not many. I will join that elite band of people soon. It is a lot of sacrifice though with being so far away from home, and me with my VERY unhealthy fear of flying. God-forbid that there is an emergency back home, cause I wouldn’t be able to get back.

I have been trying to get back into dating. That term literally has no meaning on board this ship though. There isn’t a way to date someone. So my whole M.O. for dating that I have used in the past is enviable and I have to come up with something else.

Other than that things are great. Meeting new people, seeing new places, about to begin the world cruise, so it’s going to stressful and super busy.

I love and miss you all on this Christmas day. I cant wait to see you all again soon.

Chadillac

Sea Day 2 / Cruise #3

Well its about that time for another segment in the “Where in the world is Chadillac at”? The answer is: just southwest of Cuba, and a days sail from Cartagena, Columbia. I look forward to NOT dying or being kidnapped there so I will probably get off the ship for about a minute just to say I was in South America for the first time ever. But that place is shady, and again…I LIKE LIVING. (Sorry Columbians, but your country scares me) ANYWAY – today started like any other…

I awoke at 4:40am not knowing where I was. Once I realized that I was in my bed passed out, in my clothes, with my remote in had, I understood what happened. The Narco episode hit me like a freight train, and I thought it was still like midnight. SO, as I punched my wall because my plans for the pervious night were all for naught, now I am awake and need to vent. So early gym session it is. 46 minutes of running…600 calories …and then about 50 crunches, and 50 pushups. Nice way to start the day. PLUS when I was in Puerto Rico I got a “Belly-buster” belt thing. Its like wearing saran-wrap on your stomach as you work out. IT’S AWESOME. It burns more calories through thermal heat. So it gets hot. I basically just told you what you already knew. So it was like 7:30 when I got done, so I had some cheerios for breakfast, and a yogurt. Then I came to strike the stage from last nights show before this mornings lecture. I will have the afternoon off today, so I will be relaxing, maybe go to the top deck so I can get some sun. My tan is wearing off.

Well that’s about all I got for now. I will post new pics on FB when we get to Columbia. If you aren’t my friend, then go to www.facebook.com/chadstonemusic and add me as a friend.

From the water, LOVE LOVE LOVE

Chadillac

Cubans always be swimmin'

Well it’s about that time of the week…to update my blog that is.

I performed my awesome version of IRIS this past week for the variety show. And tomorrow my colleague Daniel and I will be doing a version of High & Dry. It’s originally by Radio Head, but closer to Jamie Cullum’s version. It should be good. We have a guest pianist on tonight, so his rehearsal is at 5, and then after his rehearsal is over, I’m going to get my practice on.

Anyway, we arrive at Isla Catalina, Dominican tomorrow, and I really wont be going to the beach….TILL ONE O CLOCK!!! HAHAHAHA I’m still going!! But I have to do inventory with my co-worker Adam in the morning. Boo. PLUS I have an 8am hair appointment. So my day shall be long. Looking forward to a quiet day at our NEXT port which is St. Johns (part of the US). It has one of the worlds top rated beaches- Trunk Bay. I CANT WAIT. Well folks, that’s all for now. More as we end this cruise and start the Christmas/New Years cruise

Ciao!

Chadillac

Another day in the Caribbean…

Its my birthday and I’ll party on private Islands if I want to…

Hello from the Lesser Antilles Islands (google it) We were at a place called Isla Catalina. It’s basically a deserted island that ships go to, its like a state park, but its an island. It’s really cool. I think its part of the Dominican. See face book pictures.

I have taken this week off from the gym. Its been good. My muscles needed time to heal. I will begin my regimen this coming week, along with a 7-day detox. Its time to hunker down and get these last 30 LBS off; get my toning on.

Even though its Christmas, I am nowhere where really good food will be. So I have no excuse, or reason to eat bad this holiday season. Which is freaking sad, because I want my grandmas green-bean casserole. I WANT IT!!! And I want a white Christmas. I think the only white I will see, is my tan-less skin, and the white sands of Cabo San Lucas. We will literally be transiting the Panama Canal on Christmas day. So it will be hot, and muggy. NOT looking forward to that. We have two more sea days, and then back to Ft. Lauderdale. Where I of course will be frequenting that Starbucks that is right next to where we dock. Then I may get a cab this time, because I need to hit up a Wal-Mart and the closet one is like a 10-minute cab ride away. We leave from Ft. Lauderdale on the 10th for one more 10-day Caribbean cruise, and then it’s westward to California; which of course leads all the way to London.

Had a great birthday today. Thank you to everyone who FB’d, emailed, texted me. I love all of you greatly, and am sad that I am away from my friends and family back home. But it’s now or never. Miss all of you back home. Send me Christmas stuff!!! Just send it to my dads!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
Chadillac

The only GYM I'll ever be inside of...

Hello Folks! (picture is of Nicola and Kate being retarded)

Just returned from the Gym. Or as ALL of the foreigners on board this ship refer to it as a singular entity, and say "I'm going to gym" like "gym" is a verb or something. ANYWAY (no S please), Now I have about 3 hours off before tonights show, so I may just keep on trucking with the song writing train. I wrote a new song last week, and Im still tweaking it up, but I am happy with it. Its called Carolina. It is referring to the place, not a person. I know Im always writing songs about chicks, but you know thats me, and Im good at it. Im trying to get to some real songwriting though.

I also heard back from my friend Josh Moore, who is an amazing producer, and I am going to be spending some time in Houston recording a legit album with him once my time with Seabourn is up. Hence the reason I am getting some new songs together, for the album. WOO_freaking_HOO!!!

We get to Puerto Rico tomorrow, and I am getting off the ship. Regardless of what happened last time I was there (refer to earlier post "San Juan, Puerto Rico) This time, I am synchronizing my time(s) with the ships clock before I walk off, plus I am only going to get lunch, then hit up STARBUCKS!!! (-ed note BEST. COMPANY. EVER) then find a hardware store cause I need some drill bits for our stage. Tomorrow should be a relatively light day. Which, coincidentally, are my favorite days. Coldplay dropped a Christmas single you should all go and buy it like there is no tomorrow. Its a Christmasy rainbow slap in the face of awesome. Thats about the only way to describe it. Well my many, many followers. Till the next post. HOLLER!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Chadillac

USA USA USA

AHHH... I love starbucks. HATERS!!!! Iced White Mocha is the shizzle-bizzle. I am enjoying a fresh breath of air in Ft Lauderdale, enjoying my coffe and cursing at my computer because it wont connect to the iTunes iPhone server for me to update my OS to 4.2, so this day of relaxing awesomeness has turned into satans sweaty scrote punching me in the face. Descriptive enough? So as I sit here hoping in vain to connect to the iTunes store I am filling my body with a caffeine equivalent of a syringe of adrenaline injected straight into the heart. WOOOOO Well i'll try to update again this week children.

Holler at your boyeee

chadillac

rant

I don’t understand why people think that it is their job to tell me how to do my job ESPECIALLY when they have no idea WTF they are talking about!!! I mean, I was hired to do a job. That job was facilitated by ONE man who made the sound design the way that the COMPANY wanted it. I have to stay as close to that as possible to avoid lawsuit-i-ness. So it seems that some people on board don’t undertand this concept. I literally love loud music. LOVE THE POOP OUT OF IT. But at my FOH position its too loud. Hitting 102 dB, with an average of 98dB. The average age of our guests is Moses’ cousin. These peeps are ready to die any second and I am rock concerting their ear holes.

And to anyone who understands the basic principles of sound engineering, you cant just turn the stupid master volume up to make it “louder” the mix becomes total crap. You absolutely have to re-mix everything at the new decibel level. This is not an easy task when there is 15 minutes to show time and each scene has already been mixed and saved at its proper mix level. UGH. This show will sound BEEEEEEzarre.

Now I am eating peanut M&M’s. DOUBLE FRICK! I don’t need the calories, but I am stressed out. I cant wait for Ft Lauderdale, and 6 hours off the ship to get things I need and enjoy some starbucks!!!!!!!!! YEAH STARBUCKS!!!!!!

That is all for now. Show was weird. Im going to sleep; long day tomorrow. PEACE

Chadillac

Deserted Island of the Caribbean

Hello children of the corn-i-copia.

GREETINGS FROM CATALINA ISLAND. It is a dismal dreary place filled with clear blue water, boats, skiing, BBQ, caviar, champagne, and terrible island music. Its really dreadful. :-p Seriously though. All of that is going on about 300 yards from me, and guess who has to stay on board to show a gay movie to the rest of the guests who didn’t go ashore….THIS guy. We played hairspray. Now my co-worker and I are doing a rehearsal for tonight’s show. It’s a marionette puppeteer. This better not suck, that’s all I have to say. So im sitting in this rehearsal watching Adam program lighting, cause the guys sound needs is pressing play on a mini disc and letting it auto play for 50 minutes. I will be taking a nap during the show.

So we have two sea days in a row before we get back to Ft. Lauderdale. I will be hitting up Starbucks so I can get my new iPad OS downloaded, AND then to Home Deport, or a Lowes cause we are missing drill bits for our sets. And using a ratchet is NOT fun to do. Then perhaps a quick bite at Chili’s or something. I miss that Quesadilla explosion already and we haven’t even begun the world cruise yet. UGH. Maybe Hong Kong will have something similar to my favorite salad… who knows.

Well Im really bored, so maybe I will do some work now. I posted pics on my FB, so look for them. Also, if you aren’t on my FB as a friend, then go to www.facebook.com/chadstonemusic and add me as a friend!!

Miss and LOVE YOU ALL

That is all.

Chadillac

St. John

BLOG-o-sphere!!

Just left St. John (Part of the US Virgin Islands) Thanksgiving, was bleh. Didn’t even get a Thanksgiving meal. Gay. I had Chicken and tomatoes. Well I am back on insanity videos. And my legs are absolutely killing me. Tomorrow we are at a place called Catallina Island. Its literally JUST an island. There is nothing there. So everyone in my department, except me, has to go ashore and help be the Island hosts. HAHAHA. NOT ME. I have things to do on the ship anyway. I am gonna try and get some sunshine on my body tomorrow as well. That’s about it for now. I’ll holler again when we hit Ft. Lauderdale. Ill have more free time that day.

Love you al

Chadillac

San Juan, Puerto Rico

OK. So here's the deal-i-o. Apparently there is a reason behind the fact that Puerto Rico is on another time zone. I dont know what the reason is, or what idiot in a white wig decided it, but there THAT is.

We get to Puerto Rico. HOT & HUMID are understatements. (even though they are just words and not statements; how about "Underwordments") It should be Hell and Brimstone. So I get up at 10am. YEAH SLEEP. Then we had the "Association of guys who audit boats and the way they operate" on board, so we had a crew drill this morning. This consists of simulating fires or Men oerboard or "nuculur bombs", or whatever to test the crews response to an emergency. Thank the good Lord almighty that they only do this after 10am, so we dont disrupt the guests sleepy time. Anyway, so we do the drill, and get that out of the way. Then my co-worker Adam and I had to do some housekeeping to our club stage because it was a chorded nightmare. There were power and microphone cables...EVERYWHERE. Its like a Male Seahorse gave birth to power and microphone cables and the birthing took place on the stage. Get that visual. So that took all of an hour. Then we decided....Time for some Puerto Rican foooood. Mas Bueno. We got off the ship, and I would say we walked about 3 miles and this town looked like that scene from Bad Boys II when they get to Cuba. JUST like that. It was cool. So we just walked past all the touristy places to find some REAL Puerto Rican cuisine. We found this amazing restaurant that had the coolest interior. (Pics to come soon) It was Kate, Nicola, Adam, Myself, and Richard. BEST. MOJITO'S. EVER. Had some Quesadillas con queso y papas fritas, y biztec empanizado y platinos fritos tambien. BUENO BUENO BUENO!!! Dan and Adam joined us at the end of the meal and we had another drink. So it took like 2 hours to get all the food and eat and everything, so we left and started just checking out all the shops and walking through all the side streets, just getting lost in San Juan. At this point Kate and Nic, and me separated so we could continue to check out shops, while the rest of them went to some fort. We finally are getting close to the time we need to be getting back to ship when we come across a shop that sells butterflys. Like embalmed butterflys. weird. But they were displayed in such a way, you felt like you were listening to ANY track from Garden State when you looked at them. I digress, at this point I want to punch Liz Shumate's baby because I want to get going, but the girls cant stop looking at these displays and want to buy stuff. So I keep checking the time and we have like 10 minutes before we need to leave. As I am outside taking photos Kate runs out the door yelling. ITS FIVE O CLOCK NOW THE SHIP IS GOING TO LEAVE US!!!! I hear this and immediately internally vomit forth al that was good and pure about my skills with time. REFER TO BEGINNING STATEMENT OF THIS POST.

We start hauling ass the 1 and a half miles backt o the ship dodging the craziest traffic I have ever been in. We were running through the streets and I was creaming Eye of the Tiger in my head the whole time. As we get closer and closer there are US customs officials and Puerto Ricans officials motioning for us to hurry up. WE WERE RUNNING. We know. Thanks. We round the corner out of the terminal and half the staff and guests are waiting on the outer decks and NO JOKE applaud our running return. This sentiment was not felt by the Chief Security Officer, the Chief Purser, The Captain or the staff captain. We were told the second we walked on that we had to meet with the staff captain for him to decide our fate just two hours later. I also learned that the Purser was ready to give our passports to the local port agent cause the ship was about to leave us. It was quite scary. Basically I will not be using my time ANYMORE when we get off the ship.

It was an eventful last few hours. I had some oatmeal for diner and I am about to go and get a show rehearsal started. Then we have a country themed show in the club tonight. I just want to sleep. That is all for now Pics will some soon.

Love you all

Chaeillac

Day one back...

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Greetings everyone!!

   Well I made it back onto the ship yesterday.  We sail today and head to the Caribbean.  Our first stop is in Puerto Rico, then St. Martin, etc…(for full itinerary details go to: www.seabourn.com)  

  When I boarded yesterday, I had a familiarization training with what to do in case a fire, someone falls over, etc.  I will have more extensive training coming up in the next few weeks.  I didn’t do much of anything yesterday. I saw my friends, and we hung out waaaay too late last night.  I am going to take a 2-hour nap as soon as I finish this blog update.  I am back to gym tonight.  WOO HOO!!!  I can’t wait.  My muscles are starting to atrophy.  ☺  Tomorrow and the following day are both sea days, so I will be going from about 9am till 1am so no picnic for me right of the back, but then we have 5 days in port in a row.  HOLLER!!  Those days will start like this: Sleeping in, checking out the city, and eating some local cuisine.

I think that I am getting sick.  I popped enough vitamin C to take down a Rhino, so I should be ok.  There are a lot of new faces, so I will be making new friends all over the world!  Anyway, pictures to come as soon as we hit somewhere worth taking pictures of. ☺    


Miss you all loads and keep checking back for updates.

Love

Chadillac

Sojourn Idol

If you are not on my face book then you can access the video of me singing my version of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Enjoy.

November 2010

Hello Interwebs!!

Well it’s a random night. I am writing this blog from the couch of my grandparents couch. It’s the night before Jamie and I leave to head back to Tampa. I figured that I need to update this stupid thing a bit. I am going to be getting one of those mini-HD video recorders to take with me this next contract out posting videos of my outings.

My next contract begins on Nov.19th. We will be in the Caribbean for a month. Then December 20th we leave for Los Angeles. We leave Los Angeles Jan 5th and head west. We will reach Fiji first. Then some of the places we will hit over the following 4 months are: Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Dubai, Egypt, Oman, Greece, Italy. These are just a few. My contract ends on April 15th in Rome. Depending on whether or not I join the newest ship we are building will determine if I continue on immediately from April 15th, or if I will get another vacation at that point. So it’s up in the air what I will be doing then. SO. I hope that I get to see as many of you as I can before I leave in the next 23 days. Otherwise it may be a year before I am back in America for a vacation.

I hope that I will also have time to be a little more faithful to blog updates. As you can tell I was slacking off a bit the last few months. That would be because I started getting off at EVERY port and enjoying the crap-sandwich out of the world that I was in. So I wasn’t really apt to sit down and write about where I was, instead I wanted to live it. So the videos that I make should make up for it.

Well all my followers (all one of you) be prepared for Australia, Asia, India, and Africa…cause it will be coming at you video-style.

chadillac

FREEDOM!!

Children.  I am in the UK.  waiting for my cruise home.  I leave in 2 days back to America!!!  IM SOOO EXCITED!!  basically I will be seeing all of you while I am home, so I wont be updating this blog until I return to the ship which will be Nov 19th.

 AMERICA!!!!

Olden, Norway

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Ciao!

Chad Stone

www.myspace.com/chadstone

Olden, Norway

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Ciao!

Chad Stone

www.myspace.com/chadstone

Olden, Norway

 

Massive Update

Massive update

 

Well faithful few who care even a little bit about this blog.  It seems that I haven't posted anything is QUITE some time.  Not a whole lot to update.  Things have gotten better.  My time is being managed better, so I am having opportunities to leave the ship.  On this cruise alone, I have now gotten off in 3 different ports.  YEAH FOR ME!!  I have A LOT of new pics, so that post will come slowly, its hard to post pics because of the slow connection speed. 

 

I am still faithfully hitting the gym.  I am down to 204.  Meaning 56 pounds I have lost.  I am in some new clothes that I got in Norway.  Fitted shirts, 36 pants, Larges only.  My friends went with and were chucking clothes at me, since I had nothing that fits me anymore.  So I got a new Norwegian baler modern suit from this trendy store, similar to something like Urban Outfitters.  I got a cool tan jacket, 4 dress shirts, a nice hoodie, and a navy suit. 

 

The other place I got off recently was in Bergen, Norway.  I went solo to just walk around for alike an hour, and I found a nice park, and took some pics. 

 

Today I was in The Shetland Islands; which is Lerwick, Scotland.  Where Shetland Ponies and Shetland Sheep dogs come from.  QUAINT, AWESOME, FRIENDLY place.  I bought some fudge there, and am eating it as I am writing this. 

 

So I got some scarfs for myself, then found this hole-in-the-wall music store.  They carried the picks, AND strings that I use.  BALLER.  I now have new guitar strings that are normal to me.  Also got some magnets, cause all our walls are magnetic in our rooms so I can put up some pics. Then went to a grocery store and got some rice krispies for bfast, and some canned pineapple.  YEAH.  This was a great place to walk around and chill, which you will see from the pics.  Also my lunch was a pizza from Scotland.  I haven't had pizza this good since I left Italy.

 

Anyway, that's about all the newness that I can think of.  OH, I am going to audition for the company that books all the singers for the ships when I get to London in September.  HOPEFULLY I can book the next ship as an entertainer, and then it will be A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

 

I miss you like a fat kid misses cake.  All my love fellow countrymen (and women)

 

Love,

 

Chadillac

Head-wound day

So like the title of my blog says, yesterday was head-wound day. 

 

  I was taking apart one of our sets, which has support braces made of steel triangles.  They weigh about 10 pounds each.  Anyway, they are mounted about 5 feet in the air.  So i was going to remove blots from the bottom braces, after I had un-done the top brace bolts and wouldn't you know it...we hit rough seas.  So this 10 pound triangular piece of steel falls 5 feet onto my head, neck, and back.  At first it didn't feel like much, but I put my hand up to feel the lump, and come back with a hand full of blood.  Segue to the hospital...

 

 Get there, still bleeding quite profusely, and the Doc is like, you don't need stitches.  (Sang a song and danced when he said that)  They disinfected it, and told me to get some ice for the swelling.  So, this was at about 5pm. SEGUE to 9pm and my head is still bleeding.  The seas have gotten really rough by now, but I still have to finish taking down the set for the next show.  So as I am taking down the set, blood is dripping onto the stage, the set pieces, pretty much everywhere. 

 

  Its 10 minutes to show start, I am in pain, holding gauze to my head, and feeling incredibly nauseous, and the Cruise Director comes in, and is like, you look like death on a stick.  So he sends me to my cabin.  The nurse calls me and tells me to come back tomorrow morning at 9 so they can take another look.  So I get in my room, and some friends came by and made sure I was ok.  All the while I was a freaking mess.  I was pale, bleeding, and home-sick which is a horrible combo.  To top it off this was the worse week that I have had since I have been here.  But that's another long story.  Needless to say, it was a fitting end to the week.

 

Well I have some color back in my face.  My head wound has stopped bleeding, and I have a massive lump.  I am riding the ibuprofen train to keep my head from the pounding that I woke up to this morning.

 

All in all, it could be worse.  I am in Finland on a luxury super yacht, so how bad could it be right? 

 

YOU. HAVE. NO. IDEA.

 

All my love

 

55 days and counting…

 

Chadillac

 

From The Gary Stone

Pops sent this to me...liked it...holler from Helsinki

 

I Was Never PromisedI know as I sit here, I was never promised an easy life.I was never promised happiness or comfort ability.I was never promised a roof over my head or food to eat on a daily basis.I was never promised that my family or I would be healthy and I was never promised that I would develop friendships that I hold dearly.I was never promised that today would be free and that I wouldn't have to exchange a day of my life for it.I was never promised that I will make a better tomorrow and with the utmost humility, make a difference in many people's lives.I was never promised clothing to wear on a daily basis and a washing machine and dryer to clean and dry them.I was never promised a direction in life and I certainly was not afforded a road map to get to where I belong.I was never promised the luxury of an automobile or the money to put gas in it.I was never promised that I would live in a modest house and fill it with the essentials to make a house, a home.I was never promised, but I do promise, to never take for granted the things that have been so graciously given to me in my life...I will give thanks on a daily basis for everything and everyone I touch and that touches me.I, as I sit here writing this to you, I know in a blink of an eye, that all of these things that I have can be gone.Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude..

Denmark - Charter IS OVER!!!!!

Hello America!!!  I miss the stinking crap out of you and all your conveniences.   All your chick-fil-a, and wal-martiness.  I MISS IT!!!!! 

 

Got that out.

 

So I am in the Baltic Sea, its 1:45am.  I am burning DVD's for the charter that is leaving tomorrow. Since that takes forever to do, I am doing 40 minute workouts i-between.  I had to do multiple workouts today because I indulged my sweet tooth by absolutely molesting a bag of Peanut M&M's.  (Homer Simpson sound - hmmmmmmmmmm)  Its all goof though because as of tonight I am a svelte 209 ponds.  That's going to be 51 pounds lighter than when I left that great nation of America.  Im in the gym every night.  It doesn't matter if I will only get 4 hours of sleep.  I'm in that beast for at least an hour.  40 minutes of running and 20 minutes of crunches and sit-ups.

 

 

The charter that is leaving was Exclusive Resorts.  An American company.  They were great.  There were quite a bit of events scheduled during the cruise, which made me have ALOT to do.  I am looking forward to getting back to the normal cruises tomorrow.

 

I met Jennifer Love-Hewitt's mom.  I met the still photographer for my favorite show ever created on the earth.  THE WEST WING.  I am now this photographer's biggest fan.

 

I am still meeting new friends.  If you are a FB friend then you have probably seen a lot of "Chad is friends with_____etc…"  A lot of cool South Africans.  Of course because they are cool. (SHOUT OUT TO THE MARAIS)

 

I am also an honorary member of the mafia on board the ship.  The Philippinos are the mafia here.  They control all the things that the crew wants.  Namely, liquor.  I gave them some microphone cases that I was going to throw away and they took all 190 of them.  Now I get whatever I want….for free.  That's how this Stone rolls.

 

The new Production Manager (the guy who replaced Tim) is getting the hang of stuff here, so Im not really having to repeat myself with things, which is great because I can take more breaks, rather than show things again and again.

 

Tomorrow is going to be awesome.  2 things on the books.  First thing is at 3:30 pm.  HOLLER SLEEP!!

 

Speaking of which, I'm gonna start that small coma right now.  ALL MY LOVE FLORIDA!!!!

 

Chadillac

 

Sweden/Finald/Russia/Germany/Estonia

Well for most of you who are on FB, you know that I recently started getting back on it myself.  Its hard to keep on top of my on-board account when I live to work here.  But I finally got some cash and filled my account up.  YEAH FOR INTERNET ACCESS!!

 

We are doing a private charter this week for a US-based company.  Its been nice to have all Americans around for the week so far.  However, there are TOO MANY things happeneing simultaneously during it.  It sucks.  I got 4 hours of sleep on Monday. 5 horus of sleep last night, and ill get about 5 horus again tonight.  I am working 19 hours a day this cruise.  its retarded.  Im EXHAUSTED. 

 

I lost only one pound so far this week.  Not being able to spend alot of time in the gym this week, but I am still going every day. 

 

Im in a lecture right now, so I gotta get back to work.

 

love and miss you all

 

chadillac

Fwd: Flaam, Norway

Flaam, Norway

Chillin in Norway

Hello campers!

 

   Its day 1,000,000 of working here (Thats what it feels like) and we have arrived at my favorite place in Norway.  Olden.  Its my favorite because somehow I am able to get off the ship for a short time, but get off nontheless.  There are insainly busy days, and days that are marginally insaine.  Today, for example, I slept till 11:45, had a 2 hour lunch, then went to a shop across the street from the yacht, and bought some stickers and a nail clipper kit.  But at 3:45pm until midnight there is one thing right after another, and when i say right after another, I mean over-lapping each other.  So it will be a 15 minute dinner tonight in between the madness. 

 

  My co-worker/boss/friend Tim has finally gotten fed-up with the craziness, so his last day is this Sunday.  I havent heard one word from any of my bosses who will be replaceing him, but I have made it exceedingly clear that I will not do his and my job.  I wont even do his job.  They dont pay enough.  So hopefully someone is coming to replace him soon.

 

  The technical manager for the company is here from Miami today.  He got here Saturday and he leaves tomorrow.  He is here to update our inventory and basically to see what the state of the ship is in before Tim leaves.  He may be the one coming back if they cant find a replacement in time.

 

  The next cruise should be quite easy.  Some private American company is renting the boat for 9 days.  Which mean 60% less work-load!!!  YEAH FOR PRIVATE CHARTERS!

 

  side note.  I didnt think anyone could snore louder than me, but I have successfully found someone, and that someone is my freaking roomate!!!  WTF.  And since he works so late, he snores during the day.  ridiculous.

 

  Other than that...still getting to know all my co-workers, and they are all pretty cool.  But this place is like a traveling high school.  There is an incredible amount of drama, thankfully that I am not a part of.  I just hear it all the time. 

 

  Well thats abbout all I have for now.  I will be back on US soil in 2 months and 15 days.  I have already booked my trip home, thats how much I am looking forward to getting off this boat!!!

 

Miss you and love you all

 

Ciao!

chadillac

--
Cheers!

Chad Stone

Chad Stone Music
www.myspace.com/chadstone

Trondheim, Norway

Trondheim, Norway

traveling through the Fjords

Traveling through the Fjords.  Enjoy!