Thursday, December 30, 2010

Diving...Drumming...Annette Visiting!

Well, I've got two dives under my belt in Roatan, Honduras and it's a great high to be doing something like that here.  We took off our masks at 20 feet down a couple days ago, as a part of the certification program, and it was a pretty unnatural feeling!  I am not really all that used to shutting off air circulation from my nose, so I will usually take in some water and choke a little...always fun...but I stayed on the bottom and our instructor said it was "good that you fought it...you have to learn how to fight that, so that was a good experience for you."  For those that don't dive, this is a necessary part of the certification because you have to know what to do in case your mask is knocked off 60 feet down.  You can't just swim up and put it back on...that's when you run into trouble because of the nitrogen levels in your blood...the science of it all is just as fun to learn about! 

My diving partner on the ship is Orly, the bass player from the Legends show.  He's a cool cat (great player too!) and gets all the skills terribly easy (I did just learn that he's dove before so it doesn't make me feel so bad...haha).  It usually takes me a bit longer to do any of the skills and I hope I'm not dragging down his experience.  Our instructor is great...a German guy named Jürgen...and he's super patient with our learning process.  He's very thorough and doesn't accept half-assed skill completion from either of us.  If it's not done exactly the way he does it, he makes us start over and do it until we understand (sometimes, it's 5 or 6 times in repetition because we missed a small detail that other instructors would probably gloss over).  I totally appreciate that he actually cares about "the right way" to do things, but I do find it funny when trying to communicate details underwater that were not previously discussed...always a challenge. 

I am getting to drum on the ship now, sometimes having to sacrifice time at a port or just waking up super early.  Glad that things are coming together in that department...I do still need a double kick pedal to work on that stuff though.  I'm this close to buying another...maybe a DW9000?  I'm a little tired of the Iron Cobra's feel...I just wish those things weren't so pricey!

I got to talk to Annette last night and she bought a plane ticket to come out in mid-February!  I'm psyched!  She is coming out for the Costa Maya/Roatan/Cozumel run, so I'm hoping to be Scuba certified by then so we can do that at one of the ports!  I'm glad she was able to work it out with her new job...too bad she can't stay for 2 months, but who can do that these days?  Anyways, just glad she'll make it out!!!

'Til next time...

D

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas in Miami!

Hello all,

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all my friends and loved ones!  I am spending the day with about 30 other friends from the ship, at a real house, with REAL FOOD!  The atmosphere is totally upbeat and we are all enjoying getting away for a bit.  We have to be back on the ship at 3 p.m. to prep for tonight's shows, but at least we get to have a little fun before hitting what looks to be the busiest week of our tour (Christmas AND New Year's...and TONS of kids...somewhere around 1,000).  I'm gonna keep this one short, since I'm consequently appearing totally antisocial here...haha...here's some more vids...

Dusk in Nassau/Bahamas...

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

It's Been A Long Time...But...I'm Still On A Ship...So....

Whoo!  Nothing much has changed lately, but I felt the need to update everyone.  I have been on the Epic, working for Blue Man Group again for the past month, and all is well here in Blue Man land.  The only thing that I can really complain about is our problem securing some of the equipment in order for me to do my job.  The ship tends to take their time on things, so I'm hoping that changes soon...procuring equipment and maintenance is more than half my job, so cross your fingers!!!

We have been having a decent time on the ship, with the Blue Man band hosting a couple parties, both for crew only, as well as in the ship's "Bliss Lounge"...one of the clubs onboard where passengers can hang out.  The band, reincarnating themselves as "The Crunch," have played a couple super-hyped modern rock sets that gets the crowd pretty bouncing.  These have been my favorite nights on the ship so far...

The show that we alternate with, Legends, abounds with talent and right now is featuring Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, and Britney Spears impersonators...I have seen their show more than a few times...it's great to see all these new friends rocking out!  We also had an amazing magician/comedian named Jeff Hobson onboard until last week.  The guy is unbelievably good and you need to check him out.  We get him back in a little over a month, and I'm looking forward to seeing him for the 8th time or so...

Staying in touch with Annette has proven more than difficult.  Internet is hard to come by, and free internet...even harder.  I finally talked to her for the first time on Skype last Saturday...it was awesome to see/hear her again.  I miss her a ton and getting through this 6 month trip is going to be hard to stomach, but we can do it!  Skype/Gmail is about the only thing I'm using to communicate with people.  I have no phone and I haven't ever felt this much in the Stone Age.  Most of us onboard have the same story, so there's just no easy way to go about it on the Epic.

Other than that, I have made some videos...nothing special...showcasing some of the port days where we get to unwind a bit while on the ship.  It's takes a long time to upload these suckers, so it's probably going to be a one-at-a-time kind of thing...here's a shot of the view from Cozumel's "No Name Bar", where you can treat yourself to swimming right off their back porch and grabbing an earful of craptastic music...

D

Cozumel - No Name Bar

Thursday, December 2, 2010

On the Epic!

Hello all...been awhile!  So, I'm now officially a member of the NCL - Epic until mid-June!  I flew into Miami last Friday, and have been on the ship for 5 days now.  It's been great so far, but the internet service has been spotty at best.  You can get internet on the Epic, but it's $.10/min, and apparently as slow as a 14.4 modem.  To compensate, I've been studying German in my free time on the boat, and every time I hit a port, I get on the internet for free at one of the local shops.  Not only is it free, but it's also normally pretty fast...well, at least faster than a circa-1995 connection....possibly an upgrade to 1999.  Either way, can't complain.

Life on the ship has been interesting.  There has been PLENTY of downtime, so I've been trying to do anything but watch TV (oh, and my TV doesn't work, so it's really not an option...).  There are two gyms, and I have plenty of books/software on German, so I'm keeping myself busy.  On our off days (Tuesday through Thursday), we've been really lucky.  A lot of the crew is either not allowed off the ship, or has a lottery to get off the ship here and there.  Our status allows us to do a lot of the things that the passengers can do.  Let's put it this way...I'm planning on getting my scuba certification (I've never done it yet), within 2 months.  A lot of the guys are doing this, so it's pretty cool to have the opportunity.

I still haven't played the drums really since being on the ship.  I've heard there are opportunities to do so, but I have been so busy with learning my new tasks (I've never run cues during the Blue Man show so that is totally new), and learning where to do this or that.  I love everybody on board and I truly feel lucky to have a show crew like this.  They are a pretty tight family, and I hope to make myself a solid part of it very soon.

So far, my schedule has looked like this:
Friday - flew into Miami
Saturday - first couple of shows, staff party
Sunday - 2nd couple of shows...already doing my own cues
Monday - Costa Maya...got up at 8 and hit the beach for internet, ceviche, and relaxin...2 shows and load out for the other big show to take our theater space for 3 days
Tuesday - Roatan...up early again, tried to go scuba diving with everybody but had to get medical clearance first....it's all good...I start in two weeks
Wednesday - at sea, free day...was up at 6 a.m. and explored the ship at length
Thursday - here we are...Cozumel...free day until tonight...we load the show back in and I am meeting with my new trainer for the first time...gonna be fun either way!

Next week will be the first of the St. Thomas/St. Marten run for me...I plan to do a lot of shopping during that trip as I should have a full list of things necessary to do this for 6 months by then.  Other than that, the "saints" run is supposedly the lesser of the two tours.  Looking forward to it all the same...

Ok...gotta run...more updates (and pics) soon!