FINALLY!!

We have the interwebs. YEAH.

So a lot has been going on since I last wrote on here. We have all moved onto the boat. We have gotten most of the media installed and commissioned for use in the club, the observation bar, and most importantly, the Grand Salon. (or main stage) I have included several pictures.

My room as you can see, is a descent size. I thought that it was going to be tons smaller, but I am pleasantly surprised. My roommate is a 56-year-old man from the Philippines. He is the leas guitarist and bandleader for the show band. He is a nice enough guy, but he English isn’t so good. But he goes to bed early, and gets up early, so we aren’t really that much in each other’s way.

We have begun all the rehearsals for the shows. These shows are licensed out the wazoo, which means that the company that we are licensing these shows through has top set up every aspect of the show. Including the sound. So I am a glorified CD player right now. Once the SD for the company gets everything situated, then the shows are good to go. All the guest entertainers are mine to do with as I please.

The cast members are all very nice. I have had breakfast with a few of them, and they are pretty cool. One of the guys, Adam, is the worship leader at his church in London. Cool. The other guys name is Dan. And the two girls are Nickolah, and Kate. Aaaaatractive.

Anyway, we are required to take quite a bit safety and familiarization classes. It was 2 hours yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hopefully we wont have anymore. They are quite boring and monotonous. “if you see fire, inform the bridge, and get to safety.” WELL THANK YOU MR SAFETY MAN!!! I would have never known what to do in a fire scenario!!!

The food has been ridiculous. So far, basically the chef knows how to make a potato, in any form. But it looks like he is using a lot of rosemary and olive oil and pan frying the potatoes till they are brown. MAGICAL. There is a lot of variation because of the diverse crew. But I can always just get a salad when the meal gets crazy. And by crazy I mean fish heads. NOT joking.

I have been working about 14 hours a day getting this mess ready, and I haven’t had a day off since I arrived. So I will try to get a few more updates before we leave. We are here for another two weeks, then we leave for London…YEAH.

Well loved ones…. love you

Chadillac

Moving to the boat

YEAH! We move onto the boat tomorrow at noon! Im stoked. I have re-packed all my stuff from the hotel room and and ready for the shuttle to pick us up.

The entire entertainment team goes on tomorrow at noon. I also got my room assignment. 1329. Its forward port side. I have a window. baller. Its near the mess and crew bar. And the crew gym is further forward from my quarters. I will be sharing my room with the night purser. The purser is basically the concierge for guests at a hotel, but that person is called a purser on the cruise ship.

Anyway if you want to send me anything you have to let me know, so I can give you the address of our local agent in a port of call that we will be in 3 weeks from when you send it. That way I know it will be there when I arrive. FYI :-)

The rehearsals have begun. we had out second day of the shows rehearsal. There are 4 different shows that the cruise director has to choose from for any given cruise. (I think that we would do like 2 different ones per week, since most of the cruises are 2 weeks at a time) Other nights that the shows will be guest performers. And who knows what kind of American Idol reject-type talent it will bring :-)

I am literally using all 48 channels on my M7CL. Live Band, plus tracked band backing, live vocalists, and all my effects. basically getting our moneys worth from Yamaha. Using the Radar playback system as well for the tracks and recording. I have never used it before. Its pretty simple, but I am longing for my d-show and Pro Tools HD rig. sadness.

The plus side is that there are only 4 singers. BUONO! Less vocal mixing for me. The chicks are hot by the way, and all 4 of them are english.

Of course the last 3 days we are in the city is the day that my friend Tim and I find the best Pizza shop here. We have been slumming it at the equivalent of a Dominoes before 3 days ago. This place is a bar/coffee shop/pastry shop/ and maker of some awesome pizza.

I have only met the entertainment peoples so far, and a few of the waiters. Thus far, Tim and I are the only Americans in a 300 person crew. minorities what! Its cool though, apparently a lot of countries have rules regarding curfew of people of other nationalities. Guess which nationality has virtually no restriction whatsoever...thats right...TEAM AMERICA! All except Russia. I have to get this thing called a "Seaman's visa" stop laughing.

Anyway, so I am listening to TOTO's "Stop loving you" baller, and watching CSI: Des Moines, Iowa from 2001. They are like 3 years behind in TV shows. weird.

anyway, here are some more random pics from today. The show rehearsal, my board, the cast, the path I take to work, etc.

enjoy loved ones.

Oh, also the Internet isn't good to go on the boat yet, so I will be incommunicado for a few days, so holler at you all laters!

peace and love from Italy!

Long few days

So I dont really feel like typing alot, Im just gonna post some pics. Ill get a new blog up in a few days.

love love love

So...

Its Sunday. A day of rest. Or so I thought...


So the lighting scheme was given to the company that is making the boat. The lighting scheme was incorrect. We basically had to remove all of the lights from the 5 bars of trussing. (talking about 20 moving lights, and 50 or so conventional lights) from the air to the floor. Then we had to re-hang them all into uni-strut, which is a hassle to begin with, but we have c-clamps on the movers which means that we cant just slide them in the uni, we have to remove and re-hang. So on top of all of this, we are missing 8 moving lights. So the LD for the show company arrived today (the day after we finished re-hanging) and said that one of the house electric lines were incorrect. And he did this at around 5 pm today, when we were leaving, so needless to say I have a lot more work to do tomorrow.

retarded.

anyway.

Today was rainy. So a one hour walk to work in the clouds, and one hour walk to the hotel from work in a downpour. Not to mention that a freaking truck drove right by me, and doused me in dirty road water. GROSS. Not my BEST day in Italy.

BUT I HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF THAT I AM IN ITALY.

Well we move onto the boat in a few days, and then it will be no more walking and gay uni-tard suits in the boat yard. And then we leave from here in 26 days. First stop is South Hampton, England. Then we will be doing a 2 week cruise around the british isles and hitting Russia, Denmark, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Amsterdam. YEAH!!!

So, fellow Americans. I miss you and our convenient country.

Chadillac