We were in Nassau today. Briefly. We still had rehearsing to do, but we were able to get out for a little bit. Right in the port was a Navy destroyer and there were a couple Bahaman (Bahamian?) police in fatigues and carrying machine guns. Right in the water by the port there were fish in the blue blue water. I have pics coming soon.
We basically walked around the main part of town. Lots of little shops.
It was then time to go to Atlantis…the casino in Nassau. Catching a taxi is much easier than in Chicago…and it is pretty easy to get a cab in Chicago. If you even pause on a street and look towards traffic they will start honking and asking if you need a cab. We found one and went to Atlantis. They have a cool aquarium there…there is a public part, and then you can continue to the awesome part for $32. We were thrilled enough with the normal part.
After getting some food there and checking it out we ended up in a taxi with 4 other people. Our cab driver decided to give us trivia and bits. “To our right is a development of underground condos” (cemetery) “This cemetery has been around since the 1600s. Do you know how many people are in there?” No. “All of them!” Now, I think he should have said do you know how many dead people from the 1600s are in there or something like that. He then moved on to trivia. How many islands make up the Bahamas? Over 7000. What are the colors of the flag? I said blue, yellow, and black. I know I was right, because I like flags and had noticed the flags around town…but there was also a flag sticker on the windshield. What do the colors stand for? I guessed that the top and bottom blue stripes stood for the sky and water, the yellow stripe in the center was sand. I was right on the blue stripes. The yellow is sun, and the black triangle stands for the people.
All in all…a good time.
We came back and saw a lady and her daughter or grand-daughter jump in the water…and then swim towards the destroyer (because that is where the ladder was). We thought for sure it was a) illegal and b) they would get arrested. They got out with no problem.
Every port has a photo op as you get off the ship. In Freeport there were two people dressed as pirates (one at each of the two exits). In Nassau there were people dressed in bright clothes and dreadlock wigs. There is then a whole section of the ship where you can find photos the next day available for purchase. More on these as we see them…I did snap a pic of the Rasta day.
We had a great rehearsal and really nailed down some scenes. Deanna and I managed to catch the Jean Ann Ryan Company’s other show, Cirque Bijou before dinner. Something I managed to remember…in the pre-show music a song came up from my childhood. There is a strange album that my parents had that I doubt many other people had. It is called Oxygen (might be Oxygene) by Jean Michael Jarre or something really close to that. All synthesizer. The Yanni of his day I’d imagine. I used to listen to that album all the time as a kid…and one of those songs was in the pre-show music for Cirque Bijou. I’ve looked for this album on iTunes a couple times with no luck. This gives me hope.
We had dinner in the Tsar’s Palace and a photographer came around and took pictures of us sitting at our table.
Tomorrow is the journey back to Miami. We should be able to get a mailbox and some sweet free internet access.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Day 3: Teaser
Just a quick note or two.
a) I'm using internet on the boat. I've been blogging in word and then copying and pasting to save minutes.
b) I have a lot of photos that I'll be working on and getting ready to download when we're in Miami on Sunday (hopefully)
c) Hey, previous casts on the Jewel...what were all the t-shirts for in your prop bag?
a) I'm using internet on the boat. I've been blogging in word and then copying and pasting to save minutes.
b) I have a lot of photos that I'll be working on and getting ready to download when we're in Miami on Sunday (hopefully)
c) Hey, previous casts on the Jewel...what were all the t-shirts for in your prop bag?
Friday, November 16, 2007
Day 2 Pt 2
The Edge’s show was great. I mostly enjoyed the way he engaged the audience was fantastic. Great reffing tricks for CSz.
We had a nice dinner at 9:00pm and then hung out. Tomorrow we’ll be heading into town and checking out our first island.
We had a nice dinner at 9:00pm and then hung out. Tomorrow we’ll be heading into town and checking out our first island.
Day 2
Today started off at 3:15am. Did it seem like yesterday started then as well? Yes. Deanna used her phone as an alarm yesterday and it was still set. I jolted out of bed to find the auditory intrusion. I grabbed her phone from where the sound was coming from…but I had her camera…and the sound wasn’t coming from her camera. I finally got it shut off and went back to bed. As soon as I got back in bed the phone started vibrating with new messages. Next time, the phone loses a battery.
The plan was to wake up at 8:00am, workout, shower, and meet everyone at 10:00 for breakfast and to find out what’s what. The 8am didn’t happen.
We met everyone and found out we had a window of time to work in the theater. I guess this ranked high up on the “awesome scale”…for different reasons:
1) Since Second City is not prop intensive (no “set design” being used…especially in comparison to the JARs reviews (reminder: JARs= Jean Anne Ryan dancers)…they are lower on the list to actually rehearse in the Stardust Theater. It just so happens there are about 7 or so dancers who are leaving (some today, some tomorrow) which means there are other dancers coming in who need to rehearse. So, we theoretically would be low on the list. We found out we could be in the theater from 11-3 because The Edge (a juggler) is doing a show tonight. He would be able to set up stuff behind the curtain while we did whatever.
2) The sound guys, Matt and Alex, were able to get us set up with our mics right before they left to head into port. Another big plus. So, at this point we’re on stage and we have mics.
3) We did a quick T&B (show terminology moment for family: T&B=Tops and Bottoms where we just run the beginnings and ends of scenes to make sure everyone is getting to the right places, with the right props at the beginning of the scene and moving props and getting off stage or to the next scene start place at the end) and went to lunch. Right before lunch we were about to go looking for our tech guy, Sean/Shaun/Shawn to see if Matt could start setting up light cues in the system. At about the same time we thought “we should call Sean” he walked into the light booth. While we were at lunch he started doing light cues and continued after we came back and ran White Guys (song with the guys) a bunch to fine tune it.
So, it is Friday. We were able to do a full run with set light cues and be done by 3:30…three days before our first show. On the ships that is called “ahead of schedule”. When I ran into Beth on our lunch break I said Matt was setting light cues and she was surprised in a good way.
Another good thing is we were in a port that everyone we talked to (on crew) said was basically shops and that you would need to take a 30 minute cab to get to the actual city. We were in Freeport. From the ship it looked like a port and Cargo loading facility. Matt was trying his best to get us done by 1 today but we all agreed we would rather work today and be able to get off the ship in Nassau tomorrow. Whether that happens I don’t know. I’m just glad we’re in a good place with the show.
After all was said and done I went to work out for the first time on the AND in a while. Pretty good. I’ve been trying to take advantage of the food and eat a lot, but keep it healthy.
One REALLY hard thing to get used to is not cleaning up after yourself. It seems like it shouldn’t be that hard of a thing since you never really bus your own tables at restaurants, but when your table is full of plates and you personally brought those plates there…it is weird.
We’re going to check out Edge’s show tonight and catch dinner with everyone at 9pm. Plus…IT IS FORMAL NIGHT! YIKE!
The plan was to wake up at 8:00am, workout, shower, and meet everyone at 10:00 for breakfast and to find out what’s what. The 8am didn’t happen.
We met everyone and found out we had a window of time to work in the theater. I guess this ranked high up on the “awesome scale”…for different reasons:
1) Since Second City is not prop intensive (no “set design” being used…especially in comparison to the JARs reviews (reminder: JARs= Jean Anne Ryan dancers)…they are lower on the list to actually rehearse in the Stardust Theater. It just so happens there are about 7 or so dancers who are leaving (some today, some tomorrow) which means there are other dancers coming in who need to rehearse. So, we theoretically would be low on the list. We found out we could be in the theater from 11-3 because The Edge (a juggler) is doing a show tonight. He would be able to set up stuff behind the curtain while we did whatever.
2) The sound guys, Matt and Alex, were able to get us set up with our mics right before they left to head into port. Another big plus. So, at this point we’re on stage and we have mics.
3) We did a quick T&B (show terminology moment for family: T&B=Tops and Bottoms where we just run the beginnings and ends of scenes to make sure everyone is getting to the right places, with the right props at the beginning of the scene and moving props and getting off stage or to the next scene start place at the end) and went to lunch. Right before lunch we were about to go looking for our tech guy, Sean/Shaun/Shawn to see if Matt could start setting up light cues in the system. At about the same time we thought “we should call Sean” he walked into the light booth. While we were at lunch he started doing light cues and continued after we came back and ran White Guys (song with the guys) a bunch to fine tune it.
So, it is Friday. We were able to do a full run with set light cues and be done by 3:30…three days before our first show. On the ships that is called “ahead of schedule”. When I ran into Beth on our lunch break I said Matt was setting light cues and she was surprised in a good way.
Another good thing is we were in a port that everyone we talked to (on crew) said was basically shops and that you would need to take a 30 minute cab to get to the actual city. We were in Freeport. From the ship it looked like a port and Cargo loading facility. Matt was trying his best to get us done by 1 today but we all agreed we would rather work today and be able to get off the ship in Nassau tomorrow. Whether that happens I don’t know. I’m just glad we’re in a good place with the show.
After all was said and done I went to work out for the first time on the AND in a while. Pretty good. I’ve been trying to take advantage of the food and eat a lot, but keep it healthy.
One REALLY hard thing to get used to is not cleaning up after yourself. It seems like it shouldn’t be that hard of a thing since you never really bus your own tables at restaurants, but when your table is full of plates and you personally brought those plates there…it is weird.
We’re going to check out Edge’s show tonight and catch dinner with everyone at 9pm. Plus…IT IS FORMAL NIGHT! YIKE!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Day 1
Early start. I, of course, tried to stay up until our 4:00am cab. No dice. I took a shower around 2:00am and went to bed around 2:30. I probably got about 30 minutes of sleep. Deanna and I lugged our luggage (luggage…lugged…same root?) downstairs and had the fastest cab in Chicago pick us up. He wasn’t going super fast, but fast enough over bumps to make someone with no sleep get angry.
At the airport we discovered that the Delta counter didn’t open until 4:30am. Deanna and I were the first of our group to arrive. We waited in the line that was already forming when we saw Andy checking his luggage outside. We opted for that. Jen, Larrance, and Matt were right behind us. There was one person in front of us. At the check in there were two guys working. One guy was probably 70, the other in his early 30s. The older guy (we’ll call him Pops)came out to help us because the younger guy (we’ll call him Speedy) was helping the guy in front of us. Speedy finished helping us and moved on to Larrance, Jen and Matt. It seemed like they were all taken care of and ready to go by the time Pops was asking for our names. Frustrating. After waiting and waiting Pops finally printed out our luggage tags and then…after all that…told us two of our bags were overweight. Now, we knew this. We expected it and were told Second City would cover the cost. So I said “Yeah, that’s fine. What’s the charge?” to which he said “you gotta go inside for that.” My frustration must have been visible because Speedy said, “I’ll take care of it. I’ll get you tags.” I tipped Speedy, and paid and sort of tipped Pops. All in all I paid $15 and had to wait a lot. It costs something like $25/overweight bag so Pops saved me $35.
We got to the first leg of our flight no problem. A quick 45 minute flight to Cincinati.All we had to do was get from gate A25 to gate C20 for a flight that leaves in 30 minutes. It meant catching a shuttle…time was precious.
We made it to the gate!...to find out it was delayed until 9:15…then 9:45…then 10:30. In the midst of all this something happened. But first, a story.
Joey travels a lot for Second City Touring Company. On one of his travels he saw George Takei…Sulu from Star Trek, but most recently Hiro Nakamura’s father on Heroes. Todd, who lives downstairs from Joey, went out of town and ran into the actor who plays Mohinder Surresh on Heroes. I joked with them that I would see one too. So who did we see while waiting through delays? Tim Gunn from Project Runway. We had all been up since 4am and looked like slobs or we would have got a picture with him.
Back to the delays. Around the “delayed until 10:30” mark they also let us know that we would need to change gates. We changed to A25. Back we went.
We ended up getting to and on the ship around 3:30 or so. It was a long travel day, but for some reason, non-stressful. We’ve already started making acquaintances with people who the veterans know. We ate buffet, slept, ate buffet, walked around, saw a show…in a nutshell.
When I woke from a nap I started around 5:00 I looked out our window…Oh! We have windows. They are obstructed by life boats, but I could see enough to know it was dark out and there was a city we were moving past. PS. We have Katie and Steve/Brendan and Beth’s room. Deanna was unpacking like crazy. I wanted to get out and watch land go away. As soon as I got out on the deck I felt my first major tip…and it wasn’t that major, but enough to tip water out of the kids pool. You can feel it every once and a while as we go…and yes, I literally mean you.
Tonight we saw The JARs perform their Band on the Run dance review. It was good and what I would expect. The best part was that we got to see a show AND see the stage we would be performing on all in one sitting.
I am now in bed and can feel the waves every so often. I’m trying to type up the blogs as I go and then post when I get access…so let’s hope for the best.
At the airport we discovered that the Delta counter didn’t open until 4:30am. Deanna and I were the first of our group to arrive. We waited in the line that was already forming when we saw Andy checking his luggage outside. We opted for that. Jen, Larrance, and Matt were right behind us. There was one person in front of us. At the check in there were two guys working. One guy was probably 70, the other in his early 30s. The older guy (we’ll call him Pops)came out to help us because the younger guy (we’ll call him Speedy) was helping the guy in front of us. Speedy finished helping us and moved on to Larrance, Jen and Matt. It seemed like they were all taken care of and ready to go by the time Pops was asking for our names. Frustrating. After waiting and waiting Pops finally printed out our luggage tags and then…after all that…told us two of our bags were overweight. Now, we knew this. We expected it and were told Second City would cover the cost. So I said “Yeah, that’s fine. What’s the charge?” to which he said “you gotta go inside for that.” My frustration must have been visible because Speedy said, “I’ll take care of it. I’ll get you tags.” I tipped Speedy, and paid and sort of tipped Pops. All in all I paid $15 and had to wait a lot. It costs something like $25/overweight bag so Pops saved me $35.
We got to the first leg of our flight no problem. A quick 45 minute flight to Cincinati.All we had to do was get from gate A25 to gate C20 for a flight that leaves in 30 minutes. It meant catching a shuttle…time was precious.
We made it to the gate!...to find out it was delayed until 9:15…then 9:45…then 10:30. In the midst of all this something happened. But first, a story.
Joey travels a lot for Second City Touring Company. On one of his travels he saw George Takei…Sulu from Star Trek, but most recently Hiro Nakamura’s father on Heroes. Todd, who lives downstairs from Joey, went out of town and ran into the actor who plays Mohinder Surresh on Heroes. I joked with them that I would see one too. So who did we see while waiting through delays? Tim Gunn from Project Runway. We had all been up since 4am and looked like slobs or we would have got a picture with him.
Back to the delays. Around the “delayed until 10:30” mark they also let us know that we would need to change gates. We changed to A25. Back we went.
We ended up getting to and on the ship around 3:30 or so. It was a long travel day, but for some reason, non-stressful. We’ve already started making acquaintances with people who the veterans know. We ate buffet, slept, ate buffet, walked around, saw a show…in a nutshell.
When I woke from a nap I started around 5:00 I looked out our window…Oh! We have windows. They are obstructed by life boats, but I could see enough to know it was dark out and there was a city we were moving past. PS. We have Katie and Steve/Brendan and Beth’s room. Deanna was unpacking like crazy. I wanted to get out and watch land go away. As soon as I got out on the deck I felt my first major tip…and it wasn’t that major, but enough to tip water out of the kids pool. You can feel it every once and a while as we go…and yes, I literally mean you.
Tonight we saw The JARs perform their Band on the Run dance review. It was good and what I would expect. The best part was that we got to see a show AND see the stage we would be performing on all in one sitting.
I am now in bed and can feel the waves every so often. I’m trying to type up the blogs as I go and then post when I get access…so let’s hope for the best.
Master Plan or Farewell to Blank
Dear (Person from Chicago),
Thanks so much for being awesome. I love improvising with you. Not just the good times like (time we did something fun onstage i.e. Multiple Savion Glovers under an umbrella), or the weirdly bad times like when (a weird thing happened between you and I on stage i.e. River of Milk). I also enjoy the preshow bits we always do like (Belly full of cous cous, back slap alley, boom shaka).
Mostly I'm just glad our paths have crossed.
I'm off to a four month adventure, but when I get back we can go (do thing we do) like always. Hell, let's do a show together.
I miss you,
R
--------------------------------
PS. Right now I have less than three hours until the cab picks us up for the airport (if it is on time). My plan is to stay up. Then sleep at the airport, on the first plane, and on the connecting plane. I will then get a coffee and head off to the ship. Also, check http://secondcity.com/?id=touring/ncl if you like. We'll be up on it soon and we may even end up as the Spotlight of the Week person at some point.
From this point on I can't guarantee frequency of posts. It all depends on internet speed and agility.
Thanks so much for being awesome. I love improvising with you. Not just the good times like (time we did something fun onstage i.e. Multiple Savion Glovers under an umbrella), or the weirdly bad times like when (a weird thing happened between you and I on stage i.e. River of Milk). I also enjoy the preshow bits we always do like (Belly full of cous cous, back slap alley, boom shaka).
Mostly I'm just glad our paths have crossed.
I'm off to a four month adventure, but when I get back we can go (do thing we do) like always. Hell, let's do a show together.
I miss you,
R
--------------------------------
PS. Right now I have less than three hours until the cab picks us up for the airport (if it is on time). My plan is to stay up. Then sleep at the airport, on the first plane, and on the connecting plane. I will then get a coffee and head off to the ship. Also, check http://secondcity.com/?id=touring/ncl if you like. We'll be up on it soon and we may even end up as the Spotlight of the Week person at some point.
From this point on I can't guarantee frequency of posts. It all depends on internet speed and agility.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
1 is the Dumbest Number
...because it is the number of full days until we leave, and because we're becoming dumb. Deanna can't find her debit card. I have no idea what I did with one of those zip up cd cases that has the DVDs I set aside specifically for the boats (Office, Arrested Development, etc).
Rehearsals have been great. Matt Craig is a great director. I think the thing I like the most is that he continually sees things from our side and keeps us in mind while still getting the show ready. Matt has done plenty around here. He has played for ETC and Mainstage (go to secondcity.com to figure out what those are if you don't know...family). He's played on the ships and I think he might have even directed a ship before. We might be his first ship that he has directed. Regardless, he has a great eye for the sketches and has helped me specifically with making different character choices in some points.
There are three things that go into your sketches in the beginning. You read them via script, you see them via DVD, and you make your own initial character choices. I tried to match the DVDs as much as I could and in some cases that was different than what he suggested.
We have our running order down pretty well. Today we worked on White Guys (a song) and our ending mostly. Tomorrow is our last rehearsal day and then we're on a plane at 6am Thursday.
Right now Joey is tracing his lineage back through time via ancestry.com. He's been on it since we got home.
Rehearsals have been great. Matt Craig is a great director. I think the thing I like the most is that he continually sees things from our side and keeps us in mind while still getting the show ready. Matt has done plenty around here. He has played for ETC and Mainstage (go to secondcity.com to figure out what those are if you don't know...family). He's played on the ships and I think he might have even directed a ship before. We might be his first ship that he has directed. Regardless, he has a great eye for the sketches and has helped me specifically with making different character choices in some points.
There are three things that go into your sketches in the beginning. You read them via script, you see them via DVD, and you make your own initial character choices. I tried to match the DVDs as much as I could and in some cases that was different than what he suggested.
We have our running order down pretty well. Today we worked on White Guys (a song) and our ending mostly. Tomorrow is our last rehearsal day and then we're on a plane at 6am Thursday.
Right now Joey is tracing his lineage back through time via ancestry.com. He's been on it since we got home.
Monday, November 12, 2007
3 Is A Magic Number...
and also the amount of full days we have left. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will have rehearsals from 10am-6pm. Our flight is at 6:something am on Thursday.
I shot my last headshot for awhile...at least in Chicago. I plan on going photo crazy on the boat so check out my photoblog or my flickr (search Rance Rizzutto Photography).
Today was spent doing the shoot, running stuff to the storage unit, and packing for the ship. Deanna had her last rehearsals for non-ship stuff.
We had a nice dinner at the Deluxe Diner on Devon and Clark. Deanna and I went there one day merely out of convenience. I think it was when she got back from Italy and was hungry for something that wasn't pasta or pizza. I had a Diner Combo of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and french toast. It was GREAT! We've been back at least 5 times and tonight was a tiny farewell dinner.
The service, which has been on the better side of moderate in the past, was awful. There was one guy working out front and one guy in the kitchen. It took forever for them to take our order and longer after that to get our food. I feel like I jinxed it by liking the place so much.
Sam likes this Chinese Buffet place and was really upselling us on it when we left for Maine last year. So we had a farewell dinner there. It sucked...big time. Sam still thinks it is awesome and we are dumb...but guess what...he is dumb...but only about the buffet.
In other news, stories of my dad's infamous Movie Title Flubbery are still making the rounds. Just yesterday Deanna got to tell the story of how he remembered "The Vagina Monologues" as "The Vagina Monocles".
More as I know it.
I shot my last headshot for awhile...at least in Chicago. I plan on going photo crazy on the boat so check out my photoblog or my flickr (search Rance Rizzutto Photography).
Today was spent doing the shoot, running stuff to the storage unit, and packing for the ship. Deanna had her last rehearsals for non-ship stuff.
We had a nice dinner at the Deluxe Diner on Devon and Clark. Deanna and I went there one day merely out of convenience. I think it was when she got back from Italy and was hungry for something that wasn't pasta or pizza. I had a Diner Combo of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and french toast. It was GREAT! We've been back at least 5 times and tonight was a tiny farewell dinner.
The service, which has been on the better side of moderate in the past, was awful. There was one guy working out front and one guy in the kitchen. It took forever for them to take our order and longer after that to get our food. I feel like I jinxed it by liking the place so much.
Sam likes this Chinese Buffet place and was really upselling us on it when we left for Maine last year. So we had a farewell dinner there. It sucked...big time. Sam still thinks it is awesome and we are dumb...but guess what...he is dumb...but only about the buffet.
In other news, stories of my dad's infamous Movie Title Flubbery are still making the rounds. Just yesterday Deanna got to tell the story of how he remembered "The Vagina Monologues" as "The Vagina Monocles".
More as I know it.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let Us Go
So...a few things.
1) it was just snowing outside. I'm glad I got to at least see snow before we leave for "Warm Winter". I like snows.
2) As much as I like christmas music...and I think I like it a lot...it started on the radio on 11/1. C'mon. 11/1? These DJs are going to kill themselves if they have to fake warm holiday goodness that long. Every year I listen to that station all season long. I can't bring myself to stick to it this year...too early. You really blew it, radio.
3) In other news... Deanna and I purchased snorkeling equipment among other things today. I also got a new suitcase more designed to accomodate a suit, but not a garment bag. It is bright orange. I dare myself to not find it in an airport. I also scored big time in the "clothes for tall people" department.
Awhile ago I went to DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) to look for shoes. It is usually pretty tough to find shoes there because pretty much every brand only fits me if it is a 14, and they generally cut off at 13. When I first moved here I went there with some people from CSz and happened to find a pair of Addidas cross trainers that were 14s. Perfect! So perfect that I've had them for at least three years...probably four. This year they were looking pretty ratty so I went to DSW to look. Nothin'. We decide to try again today while we're out and about. Deanna finds about 5 different 14s. She is a shoe whisperer. I ended up getting a very comfortable pair of black show shoes to replace my rockports (that I've had for close to, if not over 10 years...since my Swagat days), a pair of nice brown shoes, and a pair of Ecco hip blue shoes. Major score.
I also got two pillows. The pillows I have now suck...they SUCK. I hate them. The funny thing about one of them is that it used to be Deanna's and I'd always try to steal it to sleep on. I have it now. And it sucks. It is flimsy...I think feathers...and it sucks. I consider it a paper pillow. The other one I have I only used to put under the paper pillow because I need more...but this thing has become more like a rock. And it sucks. I was telling Deanna as we were looking for pillows that I should get a sharp and jagged one so I could have "scissors" to complete my trilogy of awful pillows. I got two and will be trying them out tonight. Wish me luck.
We found out what sketches we'll be doing. We were sent a running order and most of the scripts. Some of the sketches that we didn't have scripts for yet are ship specific...written for/on the boats. I can't wait to find out more about those. I think I had two or three sketches that I was really hoping we would do. #1 on the list is a song called White Guys, and IT IS IN! I get to do it. It was on the mainstage at Second City not too long ago, and one of the two guys who originally did it is our director. Double bonus.
So, we're excited to get crankin'. We can pick up our hard copies of the scripts tomorrow.
I may be leaving something out, but that is bound to happen.
1) it was just snowing outside. I'm glad I got to at least see snow before we leave for "Warm Winter". I like snows.
2) As much as I like christmas music...and I think I like it a lot...it started on the radio on 11/1. C'mon. 11/1? These DJs are going to kill themselves if they have to fake warm holiday goodness that long. Every year I listen to that station all season long. I can't bring myself to stick to it this year...too early. You really blew it, radio.
3) In other news... Deanna and I purchased snorkeling equipment among other things today. I also got a new suitcase more designed to accomodate a suit, but not a garment bag. It is bright orange. I dare myself to not find it in an airport. I also scored big time in the "clothes for tall people" department.
Awhile ago I went to DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) to look for shoes. It is usually pretty tough to find shoes there because pretty much every brand only fits me if it is a 14, and they generally cut off at 13. When I first moved here I went there with some people from CSz and happened to find a pair of Addidas cross trainers that were 14s. Perfect! So perfect that I've had them for at least three years...probably four. This year they were looking pretty ratty so I went to DSW to look. Nothin'. We decide to try again today while we're out and about. Deanna finds about 5 different 14s. She is a shoe whisperer. I ended up getting a very comfortable pair of black show shoes to replace my rockports (that I've had for close to, if not over 10 years...since my Swagat days), a pair of nice brown shoes, and a pair of Ecco hip blue shoes. Major score.
I also got two pillows. The pillows I have now suck...they SUCK. I hate them. The funny thing about one of them is that it used to be Deanna's and I'd always try to steal it to sleep on. I have it now. And it sucks. It is flimsy...I think feathers...and it sucks. I consider it a paper pillow. The other one I have I only used to put under the paper pillow because I need more...but this thing has become more like a rock. And it sucks. I was telling Deanna as we were looking for pillows that I should get a sharp and jagged one so I could have "scissors" to complete my trilogy of awful pillows. I got two and will be trying them out tonight. Wish me luck.
We found out what sketches we'll be doing. We were sent a running order and most of the scripts. Some of the sketches that we didn't have scripts for yet are ship specific...written for/on the boats. I can't wait to find out more about those. I think I had two or three sketches that I was really hoping we would do. #1 on the list is a song called White Guys, and IT IS IN! I get to do it. It was on the mainstage at Second City not too long ago, and one of the two guys who originally did it is our director. Double bonus.
So, we're excited to get crankin'. We can pick up our hard copies of the scripts tomorrow.
I may be leaving something out, but that is bound to happen.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Habit Forming
At least I hope so. I don't have anything interesting to write about...I'm just writing to get in the habit of writing.
It is getting colder out here. 16 days until that isn't a problem anymore.
I just remembered that I need to pick up some pants I am getting alterred. While in Maine I went to the L.L. Bean outlet store and found some pants that hadn't been alterred yet. A major score for a guy my height. Normally stores with a minimum of moderately fashionable clothes don't carry sizes long enough for my arms or legs. The cut off is usually about an inch short of not looking odd. I have one pair of jeans that are long enough...one. They are a little baggy, AND they now have a grease stain on one knee (from changing the tire in a parking lot) that didn't come out. So...finding pants that are WAY too long is great.
I got inspired, photo-wise, by www.johnrussophoto.com. Celebrity shots. There is an article about him in this month's Rangefinder magazine.
We saw Joey in the Second City home show last night...and everyone else in his touring company (Seth, Robyn, Anthony, Lily). They have a great song about having only a certain amount of battery life left on your cellphone to last you until the next morning. I like the songs. Songs are pretty much sounds...and some of you know how I feel about sounds.
We saw Beth there (she hired us for the cruise ships) and she said our running order was being put together as we speak. "As we speak?" I said. Yes. She just emailed Matt Craig (ex-Second City Main Stage...currently in L.A.), who will be our director. A part of me would have loved scripts weeks ago. A bigger part of me doesn't want scripts until the last minute so I don't memorize it one way before getting director's notes. There are some scenes that I really like that I hope are in our running order...time will tell.
Gotta run. Need my pants.
It is getting colder out here. 16 days until that isn't a problem anymore.
I just remembered that I need to pick up some pants I am getting alterred. While in Maine I went to the L.L. Bean outlet store and found some pants that hadn't been alterred yet. A major score for a guy my height. Normally stores with a minimum of moderately fashionable clothes don't carry sizes long enough for my arms or legs. The cut off is usually about an inch short of not looking odd. I have one pair of jeans that are long enough...one. They are a little baggy, AND they now have a grease stain on one knee (from changing the tire in a parking lot) that didn't come out. So...finding pants that are WAY too long is great.
I got inspired, photo-wise, by www.johnrussophoto.com. Celebrity shots. There is an article about him in this month's Rangefinder magazine.
We saw Joey in the Second City home show last night...and everyone else in his touring company (Seth, Robyn, Anthony, Lily). They have a great song about having only a certain amount of battery life left on your cellphone to last you until the next morning. I like the songs. Songs are pretty much sounds...and some of you know how I feel about sounds.
We saw Beth there (she hired us for the cruise ships) and she said our running order was being put together as we speak. "As we speak?" I said. Yes. She just emailed Matt Craig (ex-Second City Main Stage...currently in L.A.), who will be our director. A part of me would have loved scripts weeks ago. A bigger part of me doesn't want scripts until the last minute so I don't memorize it one way before getting director's notes. There are some scenes that I really like that I hope are in our running order...time will tell.
Gotta run. Need my pants.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Deanna's Return Went Flat
Deanna is back! Deanna is back!
First a recap since the last post. Remember how I said I needed to update my phone? Well, they told me the process would take about 30 minutes. It took about 45. What happened during those 45 minutes? At the beginning of them, Sara was assassinated. She had 30 minutes to get to me. By the time my phone updated that 30 minute window had closed. Whoever got her couldn't have planned it better to avoid me.
Late Saturday I went to bed around 1:00am. I had 8 missed calls from around 2:00am on my phone when I woke up. I happen to know the assassin knew 80% that I'd not only be home, but that I'd be asleep.
Today...I was home (which is currently farther north than most people live) and not really planning on going anywhere. I decided to take some stuff south to our storage unit. Right as I got as south as I was going to make it, I got a call. Scot was attacked down town. I was 15 minutes away and in a car. He was saved. He couldn't have called at a better time for me that day.
Which brings us back to tonight. I go to pick up Deanna at the airport. I missed rehearsal because of it, but thought I would head down there secretly to save people. If I was there, people wouldn't attack. If I wasn't (but showed up unannounced) I could save people. Well, I get to the airport. I recall the car pulling a little to the right as I approached the parking lot.
Pick up Deanna. We go to the car. She looks at the front passenger tire and says "Rance, you can't drive the car like this." I assure her it wasn't like that (and by "that" I mean completely flat) when I left. So, I had to bust out the spare for the first time. The car fell off the jack once, but then all was well.
What did this mean? I wasn't going to go to CSz rehearsal to save people. I get called by Megan. She's toast.
Then I remember Kat talking about a conversation with Shad where he said "if there is a medic I would take out his car to get the kill". Did someone flatten my tire? Probably not...but that is how much people get into this game.
Anyhow...DEANNA IS BACK!
Three more weeks and we're on our way!
First a recap since the last post. Remember how I said I needed to update my phone? Well, they told me the process would take about 30 minutes. It took about 45. What happened during those 45 minutes? At the beginning of them, Sara was assassinated. She had 30 minutes to get to me. By the time my phone updated that 30 minute window had closed. Whoever got her couldn't have planned it better to avoid me.
Late Saturday I went to bed around 1:00am. I had 8 missed calls from around 2:00am on my phone when I woke up. I happen to know the assassin knew 80% that I'd not only be home, but that I'd be asleep.
Today...I was home (which is currently farther north than most people live) and not really planning on going anywhere. I decided to take some stuff south to our storage unit. Right as I got as south as I was going to make it, I got a call. Scot was attacked down town. I was 15 minutes away and in a car. He was saved. He couldn't have called at a better time for me that day.
Which brings us back to tonight. I go to pick up Deanna at the airport. I missed rehearsal because of it, but thought I would head down there secretly to save people. If I was there, people wouldn't attack. If I wasn't (but showed up unannounced) I could save people. Well, I get to the airport. I recall the car pulling a little to the right as I approached the parking lot.
Pick up Deanna. We go to the car. She looks at the front passenger tire and says "Rance, you can't drive the car like this." I assure her it wasn't like that (and by "that" I mean completely flat) when I left. So, I had to bust out the spare for the first time. The car fell off the jack once, but then all was well.
What did this mean? I wasn't going to go to CSz rehearsal to save people. I get called by Megan. She's toast.
Then I remember Kat talking about a conversation with Shad where he said "if there is a medic I would take out his car to get the kill". Did someone flatten my tire? Probably not...but that is how much people get into this game.
Anyhow...DEANNA IS BACK!
Three more weeks and we're on our way!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
BlackBuried
I get a lot of spam. A LOT. Normally when I wake up I look at my BlackBerry and I have 100+ emails waiting to be sifted through. This morning?
9
9 emails. Normally this would seem extremely odd to me...except this is the second time it happend in the last month.
If you texted me between, say, 3:00am and 9:30am (Rance Time) I didn't get your message.
I got ahold of my provider to find out there is a bug with my phone that has been fixed. All I have to do is update it. What happens is my phone thinks I'm out of memory even when it isn't, so it deletes emails.
In other news, first attempts were made last night in the assassination game. I had shows and showed up at three different theaters. If you remember, I'm a paramedic. I save people this time around...this means I'm everyone's best friend. I saw people at ComedySportz who asked me where I was going so they could get to me if they got attacked. I saw people at iO, some who were relieved and some who seemed as if I foiled their plans. I saw people at the Playground who didn't seem worried at all.
I was in a midnight show at the Playground. I checked my phone at 1:05am. I had received a call from Nick at 1:03am. He had fallen victim to a letter bomb...and not a clever one at all. We met up and I saved him. Apparently I have 30 minutes to get to people or have them get to me. After I heal them they have an hour of safety.
I think I may turn this into a game for myself. I may start stalking people I think are on the attack...waiting for them to make their move and then popping out of the shadows to save their target.
Or I may prepare for the ships.
The smart people who read this will know I'll be at CSz tonight.
9
9 emails. Normally this would seem extremely odd to me...except this is the second time it happend in the last month.
If you texted me between, say, 3:00am and 9:30am (Rance Time) I didn't get your message.
I got ahold of my provider to find out there is a bug with my phone that has been fixed. All I have to do is update it. What happens is my phone thinks I'm out of memory even when it isn't, so it deletes emails.
In other news, first attempts were made last night in the assassination game. I had shows and showed up at three different theaters. If you remember, I'm a paramedic. I save people this time around...this means I'm everyone's best friend. I saw people at ComedySportz who asked me where I was going so they could get to me if they got attacked. I saw people at iO, some who were relieved and some who seemed as if I foiled their plans. I saw people at the Playground who didn't seem worried at all.
I was in a midnight show at the Playground. I checked my phone at 1:05am. I had received a call from Nick at 1:03am. He had fallen victim to a letter bomb...and not a clever one at all. We met up and I saved him. Apparently I have 30 minutes to get to people or have them get to me. After I heal them they have an hour of safety.
I think I may turn this into a game for myself. I may start stalking people I think are on the attack...waiting for them to make their move and then popping out of the shadows to save their target.
Or I may prepare for the ships.
The smart people who read this will know I'll be at CSz tonight.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Stop, Drop, and Roll'd
Remember that computer I talked about? The one that fell down the stair while we were moving? (I talked about that, right?) Deanna called me while I was in Maine to tell me it was covered. She also called me later from Italy to tell me it wasn't.
Our insurance only covered fire, theft and flood. I can't believe "moving" wasn't in there.
Tomorrow I plan on seeing how damaged it is. How will I do that? I'm back in Chicago, that's how. In exactly 30 days I'll be in Miami on a ship.
The cheaper(?) travel route to and from Maine seemed to be flying into Manchester, NH and renting a car. I think in the long run it was about the same price as a flight out of Bangor. Manchester is about 5 hours from Maine. Bangor is about 45 minutes away. Ah well. I was on the flight with the most bitchiest, loudest people. It wasn't the worst thing, just odd that everyone was so obnoxious. They were soon trumped by three girls on my 'L' ride home from the airport. You know in those old films where the old deaf people had those horns and always said "eh?" and then people would yell really loud so the deaf person could hear them? These girls were louder. And it was apparently their normal conversation volume.
Anywho. I'm back.
Also, The Assassin Game has started again. Don't remember if I mentioned it last year. A group of people play you get a target and you know someone else has you as a target. You can shoot them in the chest with a nerf dart or squirt gun, touch them in the chest with a spoon ("dagger"), or send them a letter that they have to be the opener of. I got killed by a letter bomb on a gig in Arizona last year.
This year there are 23 people playing. I don't have time to be one of the people, but a few of us had some ideas last year for some new things. This year I am a paramedic. If someone gets attacked and can get to me or one of the other two paramedics within 20 minutes of the attack, they're still in.
So, if you read this and you're an improvisor around town and people look shifty, this is why.
PS. just under half of the players are non-CSz people. Fun at iO!
Our insurance only covered fire, theft and flood. I can't believe "moving" wasn't in there.
Tomorrow I plan on seeing how damaged it is. How will I do that? I'm back in Chicago, that's how. In exactly 30 days I'll be in Miami on a ship.
The cheaper(?) travel route to and from Maine seemed to be flying into Manchester, NH and renting a car. I think in the long run it was about the same price as a flight out of Bangor. Manchester is about 5 hours from Maine. Bangor is about 45 minutes away. Ah well. I was on the flight with the most bitchiest, loudest people. It wasn't the worst thing, just odd that everyone was so obnoxious. They were soon trumped by three girls on my 'L' ride home from the airport. You know in those old films where the old deaf people had those horns and always said "eh?" and then people would yell really loud so the deaf person could hear them? These girls were louder. And it was apparently their normal conversation volume.
Anywho. I'm back.
Also, The Assassin Game has started again. Don't remember if I mentioned it last year. A group of people play you get a target and you know someone else has you as a target. You can shoot them in the chest with a nerf dart or squirt gun, touch them in the chest with a spoon ("dagger"), or send them a letter that they have to be the opener of. I got killed by a letter bomb on a gig in Arizona last year.
This year there are 23 people playing. I don't have time to be one of the people, but a few of us had some ideas last year for some new things. This year I am a paramedic. If someone gets attacked and can get to me or one of the other two paramedics within 20 minutes of the attack, they're still in.
So, if you read this and you're an improvisor around town and people look shifty, this is why.
PS. just under half of the players are non-CSz people. Fun at iO!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
No TV...Now With Less "No"
If you know me well enough you know that I've cut back on TV.
Back in June Deanna and I decided to cut out TV for a month. It went well enough that we got rid of cable altogether. We would still watch show on DVD, but no TV. Well...that was during the summer. Turns out there are a lot of shows that stop in the summer and start up in the fall. Weird, huh?
The nice thing? Pretty much any show I'm interested in is online. I can watch the full thing online! Thanks technology! The only down fall is I usually have to wait until the next day to watch. Each station has their own rules. NBC shows get posted at 2:00am Pacific time. So if I want to watch Heroes or The Office in Maine I need to wait until 5:00am the day after it originally aired. CBS posts Kid Nation at midnight EST but Survivor: China doesn't show up until the next day.
My current love/pet peeve is Beauty & The Geek. I love this show, but CW is blowing it online. Last week the episode was missing the last two minutes. They have a preview of the next week's episode that never got updated. It is updated now, but the episode isn't and it's been two days. C'mon, CW. Make me like you!
So far Discovery has the smoothest interface and CBS has the buggiest/most likely to suck.
Shows to watch if you haven't? Kid Nation. 40 kids from 8-14 put in a western town that was abandonned and left to do things on their own. They have a town council made up of 4 members (all kids) who showed leadership qualities (kinda. One is an eagle scout, but this bratty turd of a 10 year-old girl is a beauty queen...she sucks). The kids were split into four teams each with a council member as their captain. The show really has tested the kids in making choices between what a kid would want and what the town needs to survive. Each week there is a competition to decide a couple things.
1) it decides the hierarchy and "pay". Upper class gets $1 each and they have no real job...they can do nothing if they like or go help other teams with their jobs. Next is the merchant class. They either get $.75 or $.50 and they run the shops. There is a saloon, and a general store. Third place makes you the cooks ($.25) and you're incharge of feeding the whole town...everyone tries to keep the yellow team (captained by the beauty queen turd) away from this because they barely work. Fourth place gets you a dime and you're cleaning out houses, fetching water, and anything working class.
2) if all four teams finish the challenge within a certain time they win a bonus prize for the town. It's always a choice too...the choice between something kid like and something the town needs. I think the first one was between a TV and 7 extra outhouses. Next was between a huge water slide or an in-town water supply (they have to walk way up to a pump right now)...they didn't all finish in time so they didn't get either. Next was between a microwave and a supply of hot chocolate or a pizza party...the council chose the microwave and the kids hated them for it.
There is a journal the council members read that talks of the failures of the original town settlers who couldn't make the town work and what might make it better. Like establishing a curfew (which they did and the kids actually appreciated it).
This week was about religion. They were going to institute a full town religious ceremony that would allow everyone to bring their religions together. The kids didn't want it because they said everyone would just argue and there have been wars over religious differences. This 9 year old says we don't have to focus on the differences, we can focus on what they share in common. No one listened. He decided to go person to person and take a survey of who was what religion...a 9 year old. And he knew his stuff. He'd ask someone their religion and they might say "Jewish". He would reply "Orthodox or Progressive". They ended up having a non-force gathering that wasn't driven by the council, but put together by another girl. Instead of saying they needed to be there she went and told everyone "this is happening and we'd like you to come, but only if you want to."
These kids are pretty amazing. Also, they are kids sometime. It is hilarious to watch the homesick ones go to the saloon and expressly say "I gotta go to the saloon and get a rootbeer to take my mind of my troubles." Kids doing shots of soda, chugging bottles...hilarity.
Watch that show. It's available online at cbs.com.
Back in June Deanna and I decided to cut out TV for a month. It went well enough that we got rid of cable altogether. We would still watch show on DVD, but no TV. Well...that was during the summer. Turns out there are a lot of shows that stop in the summer and start up in the fall. Weird, huh?
The nice thing? Pretty much any show I'm interested in is online. I can watch the full thing online! Thanks technology! The only down fall is I usually have to wait until the next day to watch. Each station has their own rules. NBC shows get posted at 2:00am Pacific time. So if I want to watch Heroes or The Office in Maine I need to wait until 5:00am the day after it originally aired. CBS posts Kid Nation at midnight EST but Survivor: China doesn't show up until the next day.
My current love/pet peeve is Beauty & The Geek. I love this show, but CW is blowing it online. Last week the episode was missing the last two minutes. They have a preview of the next week's episode that never got updated. It is updated now, but the episode isn't and it's been two days. C'mon, CW. Make me like you!
So far Discovery has the smoothest interface and CBS has the buggiest/most likely to suck.
Shows to watch if you haven't? Kid Nation. 40 kids from 8-14 put in a western town that was abandonned and left to do things on their own. They have a town council made up of 4 members (all kids) who showed leadership qualities (kinda. One is an eagle scout, but this bratty turd of a 10 year-old girl is a beauty queen...she sucks). The kids were split into four teams each with a council member as their captain. The show really has tested the kids in making choices between what a kid would want and what the town needs to survive. Each week there is a competition to decide a couple things.
1) it decides the hierarchy and "pay". Upper class gets $1 each and they have no real job...they can do nothing if they like or go help other teams with their jobs. Next is the merchant class. They either get $.75 or $.50 and they run the shops. There is a saloon, and a general store. Third place makes you the cooks ($.25) and you're incharge of feeding the whole town...everyone tries to keep the yellow team (captained by the beauty queen turd) away from this because they barely work. Fourth place gets you a dime and you're cleaning out houses, fetching water, and anything working class.
2) if all four teams finish the challenge within a certain time they win a bonus prize for the town. It's always a choice too...the choice between something kid like and something the town needs. I think the first one was between a TV and 7 extra outhouses. Next was between a huge water slide or an in-town water supply (they have to walk way up to a pump right now)...they didn't all finish in time so they didn't get either. Next was between a microwave and a supply of hot chocolate or a pizza party...the council chose the microwave and the kids hated them for it.
There is a journal the council members read that talks of the failures of the original town settlers who couldn't make the town work and what might make it better. Like establishing a curfew (which they did and the kids actually appreciated it).
This week was about religion. They were going to institute a full town religious ceremony that would allow everyone to bring their religions together. The kids didn't want it because they said everyone would just argue and there have been wars over religious differences. This 9 year old says we don't have to focus on the differences, we can focus on what they share in common. No one listened. He decided to go person to person and take a survey of who was what religion...a 9 year old. And he knew his stuff. He'd ask someone their religion and they might say "Jewish". He would reply "Orthodox or Progressive". They ended up having a non-force gathering that wasn't driven by the council, but put together by another girl. Instead of saying they needed to be there she went and told everyone "this is happening and we'd like you to come, but only if you want to."
These kids are pretty amazing. Also, they are kids sometime. It is hilarious to watch the homesick ones go to the saloon and expressly say "I gotta go to the saloon and get a rootbeer to take my mind of my troubles." Kids doing shots of soda, chugging bottles...hilarity.
Watch that show. It's available online at cbs.com.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
ImprovAcadia: Belfast....and other glories
Today was the day that Deanna left for Italy. She'll be back in two weeks and we'll be less than a month away from our journey.
Today was also the day that I walked to the L.L. Bean outlet. I packed pretty tight coming out here, but brought a lot of my photo stuff. Three bags in total. And I'm not going to make it back with the same packing...especially after purchasing Cities and Knights of Catan (expansion). Jen, Larrance, and Stuart (see pic) have all gone on the ships before and we've been "talkin' ship" a lot. I have a better idea of what I need to bring. Jen mentioned that the Bean had luggage, so I checked it out. They did.
I have a bunch of suitcases. What I was looking for was a rollerbag that I could fit my current suitcase into along with extra stuff and just check one bag. I found it. A black bag. The fun part is that all of the luggage (since it is an outlet store) is flawed in some manner. How was the bag I picked flawed? It was embroidered with "MASON" on it. I'm Mason now. All of the luggage had names or initials. I checked for some cool combo of letters, but MASON was what I settled on.
I also found three pairs of pants (no pleats!). Two of which had yet to be hemmed...which is perfect for a tall-y like me in a city filled with tailors.
5 shows left in Maine.
Today was also the day that I walked to the L.L. Bean outlet. I packed pretty tight coming out here, but brought a lot of my photo stuff. Three bags in total. And I'm not going to make it back with the same packing...especially after purchasing Cities and Knights of Catan (expansion). Jen, Larrance, and Stuart (see pic) have all gone on the ships before and we've been "talkin' ship" a lot. I have a better idea of what I need to bring. Jen mentioned that the Bean had luggage, so I checked it out. They did.
I have a bunch of suitcases. What I was looking for was a rollerbag that I could fit my current suitcase into along with extra stuff and just check one bag. I found it. A black bag. The fun part is that all of the luggage (since it is an outlet store) is flawed in some manner. How was the bag I picked flawed? It was embroidered with "MASON" on it. I'm Mason now. All of the luggage had names or initials. I checked for some cool combo of letters, but MASON was what I settled on.
I also found three pairs of pants (no pleats!). Two of which had yet to be hemmed...which is perfect for a tall-y like me in a city filled with tailors.
5 shows left in Maine.
The Things I Do For Love
This is one of many crappy cut out face things in Belfast, ME. It's not so much that they are crappy, but there were six that I saw in the small town of Belfast (Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion; A dog; A car; bears; and others).
They annoy me. More so because they trick people. You're in a town without much to do...getting your picture taken in one of these things in Belfast is the equivalent of going to the top of Sears Tower in Chicago I think.
It WAS however, crappy in that there was dog crap right behind the thing.
Deanna knows I don't like these things and she wanted me to take a pic in one. So here you go. :)
PS. I have a bunch of photos in my Daily Photo blog over there in the side links, or you can just click on the link under the picture and go to flickr to see them.
They annoy me. More so because they trick people. You're in a town without much to do...getting your picture taken in one of these things in Belfast is the equivalent of going to the top of Sears Tower in Chicago I think.
It WAS however, crappy in that there was dog crap right behind the thing.
Deanna knows I don't like these things and she wanted me to take a pic in one. So here you go. :)
PS. I have a bunch of photos in my Daily Photo blog over there in the side links, or you can just click on the link under the picture and go to flickr to see them.
Monday, October 08, 2007
"Settle" Down...It's Fun
Things in Maine have been pretty low key. I've been on a few hikes, taken some pics (up on my photo blog soon) and Settled Cattan! I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this game (Settlers of Cattan). It's pretty fun...for all of us but Larrance.
Tomorrow we go into Belfast. A town known for having the game store where I purchased Settlers last year. Also known for having the expansion sets for the game that I'll buy this year.
Major things of note are mostly happening to Deanna. She booked and shot her first commercial AND she leaves on Tuesday for a trip to Italy. I'm pretty damn proud of her.
I wish I could tell you more exciting tales, but we have been accident free since Old Man McEatty rammed us.
Tomorrow we go into Belfast. A town known for having the game store where I purchased Settlers last year. Also known for having the expansion sets for the game that I'll buy this year.
Major things of note are mostly happening to Deanna. She booked and shot her first commercial AND she leaves on Tuesday for a trip to Italy. I'm pretty damn proud of her.
I wish I could tell you more exciting tales, but we have been accident free since Old Man McEatty rammed us.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Hit Me With Your Best Shot...Wait.
Today was the official Day Off in Maine. Everyone gets Mondays off at the theater. So after putting in two shows I was ready for a well deserved break from all that monotony that two shows can bring. I mean, we're talking about TWO WHOLE SHOWS!
I had one important mission: return the rental car. That went off pretty well.
After that we all decided we'd go for a hike and then catch a movie in town.
It is about 22 miles from the house into town. The main road is two lanes in each direction at 25 miles per hour through the first stretch upon leaving the house. As we were driving we noticed a pickup truck pulling out into traffic. Very slowly, and not entirely into just one lane, but making a wide turn out into our lane. A bunch of people in the right lane stopped. We went around. Everyone, I think, wondered what the hell he was doing. As we passed we noticed it was an old guy.
Later on up the road a bit we were stopped at a light. We were all talking about cruise ships as three of us will be going on the ship together, and the fourth has already been on the cruises (as have the owners of the Maine Theater)...when BAM! It felt like Larrance popped the clutch and the engine died...kind of threw our necks back. Nope. Old guy in a pickup truck rear ended us. We pulled over and they exchaged information. Larrance said he had food all over his face like he was eating in the car. But we also remembered seeing him from earlier and knew it wasn't safe.
***SNAP-DECISION OPEN LETTER***
Dear Old People,
Please surround yourself with family who are smart enough to hide your car keys from you and not let you endanger lives. You may drive slower, but you also favor heavier cars. It's not a contest to see who lives longer and you won't win my taking out younger people with your car. You're scientifically proven* to be more dangerous than drunk drivers.
XOXO,
The World
*that proof has to be somewhere
***END SNAP-DECISION***
We also have been playing a game called Settlers of the Catan. It's hard to explain, but it is fun. I learned how to play last night and gave Jen a hard time about cheating because she didn't explain part of it. It wasn't really cheating. I'm just a razzer by nature.
It is a 3-4player game, but you can buy an expansion set that allows up to 6 people to play. We're going to get the expansion and bring this game on the boats because...get this...there will be six of us.
I also saw Declan on our way to hiking. He works at the theater on Wednesdays so I'll see him again. You may remember him from countless comments on older posts.
I had one important mission: return the rental car. That went off pretty well.
After that we all decided we'd go for a hike and then catch a movie in town.
It is about 22 miles from the house into town. The main road is two lanes in each direction at 25 miles per hour through the first stretch upon leaving the house. As we were driving we noticed a pickup truck pulling out into traffic. Very slowly, and not entirely into just one lane, but making a wide turn out into our lane. A bunch of people in the right lane stopped. We went around. Everyone, I think, wondered what the hell he was doing. As we passed we noticed it was an old guy.
Later on up the road a bit we were stopped at a light. We were all talking about cruise ships as three of us will be going on the ship together, and the fourth has already been on the cruises (as have the owners of the Maine Theater)...when BAM! It felt like Larrance popped the clutch and the engine died...kind of threw our necks back. Nope. Old guy in a pickup truck rear ended us. We pulled over and they exchaged information. Larrance said he had food all over his face like he was eating in the car. But we also remembered seeing him from earlier and knew it wasn't safe.
***SNAP-DECISION OPEN LETTER***
Dear Old People,
Please surround yourself with family who are smart enough to hide your car keys from you and not let you endanger lives. You may drive slower, but you also favor heavier cars. It's not a contest to see who lives longer and you won't win my taking out younger people with your car. You're scientifically proven* to be more dangerous than drunk drivers.
XOXO,
The World
*that proof has to be somewhere
***END SNAP-DECISION***
We also have been playing a game called Settlers of the Catan. It's hard to explain, but it is fun. I learned how to play last night and gave Jen a hard time about cheating because she didn't explain part of it. It wasn't really cheating. I'm just a razzer by nature.
It is a 3-4player game, but you can buy an expansion set that allows up to 6 people to play. We're going to get the expansion and bring this game on the boats because...get this...there will be six of us.
I also saw Declan on our way to hiking. He works at the theater on Wednesdays so I'll see him again. You may remember him from countless comments on older posts.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Man In Maine Fall Mainly On His Butt
How's that for a title...it's actually more of a headline because it sums up today quite well.
We are moved. Major step #1 in the "going on the ships" process. Our stuff is in storage. The apartment is clean. We have a place to stay. We're staying with friends and left aside an assortment of "essentials" (crap we thought we would need, but we probably don't) to bring to their place.
Because of our schedules for the next 6 weeks it will be rare that all four of us are living there at the same time. Neither of them were there when we moved in. One major thing that needed to happen was putting some of our stuff in their storage area. Minor glitch...we didn't know where it was, and I had a 10:30 Baby show that night. We came home to a hide-a-bed couch all made up with a note saying we were "effin' crazy" if we didn't just sleep there and store the stuff in the morning. So we did just that.
In the morning I took a small load of stuff down on a hunt for the storage. Found it, checked out the remaining space, then went up stairs for one more load...a plastic tub with office equipment, and my PC. The final elements of our move. As I was walking down the stairs, Deanna said "Be careful!" To which I replied "Relax. I've got this." Not one step later did it appear that I was on a flat area, but there was one step left. I bit it...but not as hard as my PC. It rolled down the remaining stairs as I was crumpled oddly on the remaining stair that I didn't see. I'm mildly injured...just sore really.
I'm writing on my laptop right now...not because my PC died in the fall (I haven't checked it yet) but because I left for the airport this morning. I then arrived in Manchester and drove from there to Maine to play in the 10pm show there. I'll be here for two weeks.
Summary verified.
We are moved. Major step #1 in the "going on the ships" process. Our stuff is in storage. The apartment is clean. We have a place to stay. We're staying with friends and left aside an assortment of "essentials" (crap we thought we would need, but we probably don't) to bring to their place.
Because of our schedules for the next 6 weeks it will be rare that all four of us are living there at the same time. Neither of them were there when we moved in. One major thing that needed to happen was putting some of our stuff in their storage area. Minor glitch...we didn't know where it was, and I had a 10:30 Baby show that night. We came home to a hide-a-bed couch all made up with a note saying we were "effin' crazy" if we didn't just sleep there and store the stuff in the morning. So we did just that.
In the morning I took a small load of stuff down on a hunt for the storage. Found it, checked out the remaining space, then went up stairs for one more load...a plastic tub with office equipment, and my PC. The final elements of our move. As I was walking down the stairs, Deanna said "Be careful!" To which I replied "Relax. I've got this." Not one step later did it appear that I was on a flat area, but there was one step left. I bit it...but not as hard as my PC. It rolled down the remaining stairs as I was crumpled oddly on the remaining stair that I didn't see. I'm mildly injured...just sore really.
I'm writing on my laptop right now...not because my PC died in the fall (I haven't checked it yet) but because I left for the airport this morning. I then arrived in Manchester and drove from there to Maine to play in the 10pm show there. I'll be here for two weeks.
Summary verified.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Remember Me?
I'm slowly going to start getting back into this thing for boat purposes...the Daily Photo too.
We received our first official email/slew of paperwork. It's all starting to happen. We know when we're rehearsing and we know who the cast is (we've known the cast for awhile).
Deanna and I are in the midst of moving out. We move on the 30th...technically on the 27th. I've been spending the last two months slowly preparing. Painting, sorting junk, getting stuff ready to sell. The walls are all white. A bunch of stuff is online or sold. We're doing it. The unfortunate thing is I'm working a gig that takes me out of town 4 of the next 9 days...including coming back around 11pm on the 27th. We have movers coming so at least it isn't Deanna loading a van by herself.
I'm home...well..."home" for the 28th then leave the 29th for Maine.
It should be interesting.
Soon we should be receiving scripts, finding out who our director is, and an assortment of fun things I don't know about.
I just shot my last photo shoot for the month. So I can pack all that stuff up. I may try to get some shots in when I get back from Maine. I have about 5 or so people who have already expressed interest. I just need to find a space.
This blog will mostly be for boating...maybe sometimes foreboding.
We received our first official email/slew of paperwork. It's all starting to happen. We know when we're rehearsing and we know who the cast is (we've known the cast for awhile).
Deanna and I are in the midst of moving out. We move on the 30th...technically on the 27th. I've been spending the last two months slowly preparing. Painting, sorting junk, getting stuff ready to sell. The walls are all white. A bunch of stuff is online or sold. We're doing it. The unfortunate thing is I'm working a gig that takes me out of town 4 of the next 9 days...including coming back around 11pm on the 27th. We have movers coming so at least it isn't Deanna loading a van by herself.
I'm home...well..."home" for the 28th then leave the 29th for Maine.
It should be interesting.
Soon we should be receiving scripts, finding out who our director is, and an assortment of fun things I don't know about.
I just shot my last photo shoot for the month. So I can pack all that stuff up. I may try to get some shots in when I get back from Maine. I have about 5 or so people who have already expressed interest. I just need to find a space.
This blog will mostly be for boating...maybe sometimes foreboding.
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