Greetings from Deck Zero Forward, The Crew Laundromat!



What? Did you really think I was going to post a picture of the washing machines? To be honest, I'm getting a little worried that I'm writing a blog that no one can read... does this count as talking to myself? Probably, but doing laundry isn't fun, and I need something to keep my mind off the fact I'm currently sitting a few yards behind the bow (just above the bulb) in an area called "the whale catcher". Of course it isn't what it sounds like, but we've hit a few "bumps" that has made me wonder... I'm just sayin'...

Today's port was the island of Cozumel, Mexico. Not much to speak of unless you rent a Jeep and tour the island, or go snorkeling, otherwise, it's no different than parts of L.A... well, except for the lack of smog and the tallest building in town is parked at the pier. My boss is on the ship this week, so I actually have to "work" now; It's easy to forget this isn't a travel blog.

For Da Love of Da Game by DJ Jazzy Jeff

Greetings from Deck Four Forward, aka The Crew Bar

[Note: No pictures allowed to protect the guilty]

OK... you're probably wondering what has happened, no I haven't forgotten all of you, I just underestimated how ridiculously slow the internet is on the ship. Seriously, I've tried to upload new entries and ran of minutes halfway thru... not... good. Here's a brief recap to bring you up to speed:

Training... and lots of it. The good news is if the ship has an emergency, I'm competent enough to guide guest to their muster (emergency) stations. The bad news, I highly doubt I'll get a comment card stating the following: "Ranking our vacation using '10' as the best and '1' as the worse, the ship sinking was a '0'... but the Audio Tech kept us all entertained in the life raft. If we ever have another life threatening experience, we hope it's with Bryan."

People have been asking whether I've gotten sea sick yet, no haven't but I did catch the flu; with over 3500 people onboard and a useless flu vaccine it was unavoidable. Having the flu on dry land sucks, having the flu while out to sea... really sucks. Other than training, sleeping, and being terribly ill, I've enjoyed my first week going to destinations I've only seen in pictures or on TV, and as I type this, I'm on my way to a couple more!

Sailing by N'Sync

Greetings from beautiful St. Maarten!



As some of you know, I've been trying to visit St. Maarten for years... unfortunately, training prevented me from spending as much time as I would've liked. No worries, I'll be back in two weeks. However, as you can see, I did have a few hours to get off the boat to have lunch in town. It was the usual tourist trap: you couldn't sneeze without hitting a jewelry or watch store, there were plenty of duty-free liquor stores, and of course, Cuban cigars... which seemed to be a popular item given the recent retirement of "El Presidente" Fidel Castro. Oddly enough, I had the best bacon cheeseburger I've had in a very long time complete with sweet potato fries. I can't wait to go back to see one of St. Maarten's most famous spots: Maho Beach.



Daybreak by Brand New Heavies

Greetings from St. Thomas! And welcome to the first installment of "Pimped Out Yachts".



This yacht is so big, it won't even fit in the frame! Notice that it has more Jet Skies than life rafts (8 vs. 4 respectively), two launches that dwarf many family water craft, and a helicopter! Folks, the owner of this ship has earned "ballin' out of control" status. If you're looking top step up your "pimp game", you have to float one of these! More pics in the gallery.

As always, my "yacht" is bigger.

Player's Ball by Outkast

Greetings from San Juan!



First, I would like to apologize for being late updating my blog... I guess technology hasn't quite caught up to shipboard internet.

Today was our first port, but unfortunately, I'm still on the ship preparing for a show in a few hours. There was a lot of hard work today as the stage crew had to finish installing the new scenery and the lighting crew had to make adjustments. Today, I work my first "fly on" act and had to get back into the groove of setting up a live show for a single-artist one-night show. Before sound check, I managed to get a snap a few pictures as we entered San Juan, P.R. Enjoy!

Higher Ground by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Greetings from Deck Six Aft!



The day started with the painful realization that ship is moving... I mean really moving! Enough for me to hit my head on the top rack. Lucky for me I don't have a cabin mate so I have a little extra space... little being the key word. That's it folks, other than the bathroom on the left (off camera), that's all there is to my cabin... I have to step outside to change my mind. Training started today: we toured the ship, watched the usual corporate videos about sexual harassment and workplace safety, and learned about the history of the company. Since the ship is at a maximum cruising speed of 21 knots, or 24 mph, we've been rocking and rolling (literally and metaphorically) all day long on our way to San Juan P.R. I'm feeling a little wobbly... but I'm sleeping like a baby.

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough by Michael Jackson

Greetings from the Port of Miami!



Yeah... that's a big boat! Welcome to my new home for he next few months: the M/S Carnival Victory. My first day was near total chaos from the time I hit the shack in the bottom center of the picture. I was told I needed to bring my luggage on the ship by my supervisor and coworkers, however, the guard at the shack told me to take my luggage to the wrong spot and it almost didn't make the ship, luckily the ship's crew found my luggage I.D. and matched it the crew list. But this created another problem: my medical information was in my "checked" luggage, and since it was lost, I couldn't get my ship I.D... stupid mistake, I know, but I was able to get the key to my cabin on deck six (I was on "Deck Zero"). After making a seven deck hike up the stairs to find my cabin (the elevators were packed full of passengers and locked out of the crew area), it was time to check in with my technical crew. I found them on deck five of the port side moving stage sets on to the ship via a crane... immediately I jumped in and helped out. When all the sets were loaded, it was time off load the old 1000+ lb. audio console that was once in the main lounge; having to shove what was a $150,000 piece of equipment off the side of the ship was a little scary, but the crane got it down safely. Afterwards, I met with the Technical Director and he promptly informed me Crew Management was patiently waiting for my medical information and they wanted me to return to the office on "Deck Zero" to contact security. After the six deck hike to the management office, they gave me the number to security and told me to return to my cabin to contact them... again, up six decks of stairs (the passengers were still boarding the ship) to call security only to find out my bags were back on "Deck Zero" around the corner from Crew Management.... oh great. With yet another round trip, still using the stairs, I finally had my luggage, my medical, and was able to fully check in and attend new crew orientation which lasted about 45 minutes and gave us our training schedule for the rest of the cruise. Finally, I had some free time only to notice the ship had already pushed out of it berth and starting out to sea; yes, it was that smooth. Check out the photo gallery to see the pictures I took from Deck Four Forward (near the bow of the ship). My first day ended with my first show, it was fairly low impact and the crew did great job, but it appears I have a lot of work ahead of me... I'm just glad to be smoothly out to sea.

Miami by Will Smith

After days in the warehouse gathering and preparing equipment, it's almost time to set sail. I owe a big "thank you" to my new coworkers for helping to get me ready... tomorrow is the big day!

Cruisin' by D'Angelo

Day 2 was another day at the warehouse, but this time I got a chance to tour the whole thing: twenty-one ships worth of EVERYTHING! Audio and video gear, furniture, canned sodas, etc., I've only seen a small fraction of what goes onto the ship every week. Everything that goes onto the ships (except for obviously the fresh food) goes thru that massive warehouse.

As the day went on, I began picking up details about what's going to start this Sunday. Not only do I spend a few days of safety training, I have to attend a class on how to smile... yeah, I'm not kidding... thank the Disney Cruise Line for that. To add to the adventure, I have a fresh-out-of-school audio mixer onboard that has been working a grand total of 3 weeks. Oh yes, adventure awaits.

Work to Do by The Isley Brothers

Greeting from beautiful Miami!



Or at least that's what would say if I weren’t under a tornado warning. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the weather has been a bit sketchy all day.

I've decided to add a new category for day-to-day entries called the Take Log as homage to my friends on the scoring stages. Also, the format is changing to "top-to-bottom" for new entries from here on.

My first day officially started when I touched down and I got a chance to meet a few of my coworkers for some drinks at a neighborhood bar... it's obvious I'm going to be the "responsible" adult of the team. After a few hours of sleep, my new coworkers and I made our way to the Carnival Entertainment warehouse to begin preparing my equipment and road cases for Pro Tools. It became clear just how massive Carnival's entertainment division operation is; the large warehouse was packed to the ceiling with audio, lighting, and video equipment, while in a neighboring warehouse dozens of workers were feverishly working on show costumes. After gathering the needed equipment, I started on a familiar task: building a Pro Tools system.

Rain On My Parade by Eric Roberson

Greetings from the middle seat of a Boeing MD-80!

Now that I've pretty much sold, given away, stored, or trashed most of my belongings, I'm on my way to Miami. I apologize to those I couldn't see on my way out of L.A., it was poor planning on my part combined with my start date being moved up... but don't fret, I should be back in L.A. for a few days in May.

Typing on a MacBook Pro in coach is a drag, so that's all for now. Day 1 begins tomorrow.

Q: Do friends and family get free cruises?
A: No.

Q: Do friends and family get discounted cruises?
A: Unless you are my Mom, Dad, Sister, or Brother, no. However, I may consider putting myself up for adoption if the price is right.

Q: Have you ever been on a cruise?
A: No. In fact, I've never seen a modern cruise ship up close.

Q: What happens if you get sea sick?
A: Pop some Dramamine and continue to collect my paycheck every week.

Q: Where will you be living?
A: For the first few months, on the Carnival Victory out of Miami on 7 day cruises to the Caribbean.


Photograph courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines ©2008

During the summer, I’ll move to the Carnival Splendor in Europe for about 4 months. After that, I’ll probably return to a Miami-based cruise and travel to various ships as needed.

Q: What about your car?
A: Due to sponsorship commitments, my car will be staying in Los Angeles and driven to car shows by my car club members. Occasionally, I’ll find myself in L.A. for a car show or track day.

Q: What about your favorite TV shows?
A: All are available on iTunes or the internet, also, the ships have satellite TV.

Q: What about catching a race or game on TV?
A: Saturdays will probably suck, Sundays will be cool as long as the safety drill happens after the race or before the Sunday night football game... but then again, that's what Digital Video Recorders (DVR) are for.

Q: Can I visit you on the ship?
A: Of course. But you have a 1 in 22 chance of finding me, book a cruise now and you may get lucky!

Q: What will you do for vacation?
A: I dunno... take a cruise? I'll probably make a few trips to L.A., and spend time with my family in Kansas.

Fantastic Voyage by Lakeside

noun
• a separate introductory section of a literary or musical work.
• an event or action that leads to another event or situation.

In August 2007, Carnival Cruise Lines contacted me in regards to a Pro Tools system and computers they wished to purchase thru MAXX Digital (one of many companies owned by friends that helped me throughout 2007). During the course of our discussion, the conversation went from purchasing one Pro Tools system, to the possibility of installing twenty-two systems fleet-wide, and finally, just going to work for them as an Audio Coordinator. At the time, I wasn’t too interested in leaving my friends, family, and career in L.A., but I sent them my résumé regardless… and didn’t hear back from them about their purchase or the Audio Coordinator position until months later.

By November, I had gone from recording studios and scoring stages to working in warehouses at a fraction of what I used to make. Again, I was working for very good friends that made room for me at their businesses, for which I am forever grateful, but it sucked and a career change was in my immediate future, whether by choice or not. As if almost on cue, Carnival finally called back, this time looking to purchase two Pro Tools systems. As with the initial conversation in August, the focus quickly shifted from their purchase to my employment, this time they were a little more serious. For the rest of 2007, Carnival and I were on the phone almost daily, including during the holidays. The more we spoke, the more we wanted to work together until I finally said “yes”.

So starts a new chapter of my life...

Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire

noun
a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.

Yep, the title says it all… “epilogue” this is the end of my career as an audio engineer in Los Angeles, or at least an extended pause. What happened? There isn’t one particular thing I can point to, just a culmination of events I like to call “2007”. The phrase “misery loves company” would apply here, and I had lots of company with family, friends, and colleagues all feeling the pain. Most of you have heard my various rants about 2007, if you haven't, I'll spare you the details and offer a song that sums up how I feel about it...

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John