Aug. 8th

Today, I woke up at 9:30... and I still felt like I needed more sleep. But I forced myself to get up and take a shower and go into town. I went straight to the internet cafe, which wasn’t open for another 20 minutes. So, I just walked around, and called Nick and checked in on him. Afterwards, I saw my boss outside the internet cafe, I let him know about the night before, and he told me to keep playing when a customer asks me to break.

I went inside, and checked all the internet stuff, and bought a bunch of new songs to learn for the new sets. 18 to be exact. I chatted with some friends, ate some enchaladas for lunch, and headed back to the boat. On my way, I was listening to music on my Ipod, and i got a hard hit to the arm, and i thought I had accidentally hit someone. Turned out to be Colleen. But by the time I realized she was too far away to say anything. Before I got to the boat, I called my dad and filled him in on stuff.

So, I got on the ship. and worked on getting a track together for “Viva la Vida.” Practiced through some of the new songs. Then took an hour nap, went and ate dinner. Went up stairs to the atrium to let Colleen know I didn’t see her when we were walking. Then invited her to go to something tonight. She said she’d be available around 10:30,. I talked with Milan, the piano player about recording and Mac Computers. He’s looking into getting one, and he asked me lots of questions..

Afterwards I went to my room and practiced more and more, until 10:30ish, and I called Colleen. Her, a couple of her co-workers and I went to the crew bar and we just sat and talked for awhile. They had a couple drinks. Colleen isn’t a big drinker, which is nice. Amanda showed up a little later with Brian. She said she tried calling me about going out. Gabe (the showband guitar player) came over and talked with me. He asked if I’d be up for doing a few songs together during one of my sets, which I agreed too. We all just hung around.

Then it got late, and we all walked back to our rooms. And now I have a bad headache and I’m going to sleep .

A TIRED day... but a GREAT NIGHT

SOOOOOOO tired today.. My God... I woke up at 5:45 AM to shower, and go to immigration. There was already a line of 40 people there. So, I was in line for about 45 minutes, and then I managed to get my stuff signed and stamped. As I was leaving, the line out grew the one I was in by 10 times... Trevor and I went and ate breakfast, since we were already up. I got scrambled eggs and bacon. It was pretty satisfying. Chris ended up sitting with us, and then Gabriel, the showband guitarist. I asked him if he had to do real sight reading for guitar. He said it was mostly just knowing the chords.

Afterwards I went to my room and slept until 10:40 AM. I got my raincoat on and went into Ketchikan for about 20 minutes. I mailed off my CD to corporate so that I can start selling them. Lots of people already have been asking for the burnt ones... So I don’t think I’m going to have a problem with selling professional made ones.

After that, I checked my texts and answered a few. There weren’t too many. Most people got the hint that I won’t be using my phone much while I’m gone. I went back on the ship, then went and ate lunch. I sat and talked with one of the security officers. His name was Mark. He was very friendly as well.

Then I went back into the Atrium bar and sat and waited for Amanda because we were supposed to go into town together. As I waited, I saw Dean and he came and sat and talked. Then me, Edwuardo (The Bar tender) and Dean met a man named Jesse, who helps build engines for the NASA shuttles. We talked for about an hour. He explained everything about them, and how powerful they are. He says they’re still using 60’s and 70’s technology. They haven’t varied too much from that. He also said that when they retire the space shuttles next year, we won’t have one for 4 more years. Due to poor management of money I suppose. Very informative fellow.

After that, I saw Amanda talking with her mom on the phone, and she apologized and said she was really drugged up from being sick and she couldn’t leave the ship. I went back to my room to restring my guitar, and took another hour long nap. It was unquenchable sleep. I just felt more and more tired.

At 4:40, I went and set up and performed at the Atrium. Another good little crowd. I had a lot of fun talking, but I was very aware my voice was suffering from the lack of sleep, for it was harder to hit my notes than usual, and I cracked a couple times, so I started dropping the keys to a lot of songs to offset myself.

After that set, I saw Colleen working at the guest services desk, so I went and had a 14 second conversation with her until a customer just kind of pushed by me and asked a question. But in the 14 seconds, Colleen said she was going to come and see me play tonight. After our talk, I went and ate a small dinner, then ran to the Deco lounge to play a 30 minute set. The deco lounge is a really small place near the dining area where chairs are all around you. In that half hour, every chair was full and I had everyone’s attention. I was having a great time. Then in the middle of a song, I heard someone whisper into my ear “take a 10 minute break.” I assumed it was a boss telling me, so afterwards, I told everyone that would finish up my set. But then I turned to see the person who told me to take a break, and it was just some passenger, who was about to start a birthday party in another room. That kind of pissed me off, because I only had 10 minutes left to play, and I do get paid to be here for a reason. SO I was just slightly aggravated about that.

I dumped my stuff off at the piano bar, and went and took another 15 minute nap. That didn’t seem to help much. I came back to the bar, and started setting up my stuff, and within a few minutes my crowd from the night before was back, with a set of some people that had seen me earlier. I was very tired by this point and really just didn’t have the energy. Colleen and a couple of her friends came to watch and requested songs. Neil, Dean, Rich, and Neil’s Girlfriend hung around all night. During my one break, Neil went through my setlist and picked all the songs he wanted to hear that night (which was fine by me.. At least I knew they’d be happy!) I sat and talked with Colleen and her friends. All real nice girls. They all work at guest services. I probably talked with them for about a half hour. Then I went back to playing, and from there on out it was a straight party. I loosened up a bit, and started having a lot of fun, making jokes, adding people’s names to songs. Megan came out and sang a few songs for me. Colleen’s friends had to go to work at some point but Colleen stayed the whole time with everybody. Neil told me that tonight was the best night so far on the cruise and they all look forward to me playing on Sunday (since tomorrow is my day off.)

So my crappy night ended up being a really great night. After I was done, Colleen waited around for me, and I told her I’d walk her to her room since she stayed out to watch me (though it is right on my way.) When we got there, I asked if she had scissors or something to cut my shoe laces with (my shoe laces are REALLY long... and I have to triple knot them to make them untrippable.) She just so happened to have a razor blade. So she met me in my room, and I showed her around (She said her room is different because the top bunk doesn’t push to the side.. It’s stationary.) She helped me measure the length of the shoe laces and get them cut right. She told me she had a really fun time and I told her she definitely needed to come out again soon. Then she said to enjoy my WHOLE day off (since she works 7 days a week.. only gets sections of days off.) I walked her back to her room, came back (which took a total of 12 seconds,) and here I am writing away. Now I’m going to sleep til about 9:30, shower up, and go into town and use free fast internet.

SOOO, ‘til next time!

Catching up! And a good night!

It’s been a busy couple days... But not really. Ha. Just trying to do what I can. Yesterday, I went out into Vancouver around 8 AM, to find that nothing of value opened until 10 AM. So.. I walked around and took many many pictures. A very beautiful town, it was. I managed to find the Apple Store, so I most certainly took a look around. Logic 9 came out, which is a very cool recording software. Unfortunately it’s a lot more expensive here than it is in the US. So, I passed.

Also in the Mall I visited, I tried some sushi (which was very delicious.) I also had a fruit smoothie. I then went to Staples and bought some burnable CDs, so that I could some of my album while I wait for approval from Carnival. I also noticed that most ATMs in Vancouver, don’t accept VISA. It was so backwards to me. But luckily most shops did accept it. So, I was safe.

After a few hours, I went back to the ship and prepared to play for my new audience. I started off with a bash, and played lots of upbeat good songs and got lots of onlookers immediately. Then I went to the piano bar, and it was kind of dead. A couple cool people hung around, but it was overall dead. But that’s normal for the first night.

So, after sleeping in late, and having lots of weird dreams that involved an old man psychic, I woke up, ate lunch, took lots of pictures out on the deck, in search for whales (of course they were jumping around when I didn’t have my camera. I ran to get it, and when I got back.. there was nothing..) Then I played in the Atrium, and after I played one original, I got requests for more. Then, I got some pictures taken of me in a tux for a poster, and then I went and played the Piano Bar. This time, I managed to fill it pretty well tonight. Sold two cds, and by the end of the night, everyone was singing along. Met a gymnist teacher named Neil (who swears he will fill the place up tomorrow for me,) and Australian named Mel (great funny guy,) and an 18 year old named Dean. Amanda came and asked if I wanted to go see the comedian with her tonight at 12 (assuming I got off then) and I agreed. But at 12, the place was really rocking, so I couldn’t leave. She was dressed up real nice. All the people at the bar were heckling me to go out with her and all that. Especially Mel. But I informed them many times she had a boyfriend.

Amanda came back around 12:50 and said the comedian sucked and asked me if I wanted to go to Disco. All the people at the bar started cheering for me, though I repeated once again, it wasn’t like that. We invited everyone out, and I ran back quick to get dressed into a dress shirt and tie. My boss had his door open, so I let him know how it went, and that I was going to go out and socialize (which he liked.) Gerhard has been really cool to me. He really encourages me to go out and meet people, and he and I have lots of cool conversations after the gigs. It’s really going to suck when he leaves. He’s a cool mentor.

So, I went to the crew bar, to not find Amanda there (where she told me to meet her.) I saw Chris, the bass player and he made me get a beer. Haha. Funny english guy. So I got one, and chatted with Megan, Jeffery (the showband piano player) and Melody (entertainment girl.) After a few jokes and laughs, Amanda showed and we made our way to the disco. She asked what all the cheering was about when she left the bar earlier, and I let her know. She thought it was funny.

We got to disco and it was DEAD. Like.. maybe 15 people there. She bought me a coke and rum, and we drank and talk for a bit, and waited for people to arrive. Not many arrived... then she got the sudden urge for pizza, so we ran to the pizza bar and got a slice each. Then ran back down. We bumped into a few of the passengers and made them come (Dean and Mel.) So they came in and I talked with them and Amanda, until Amanda got tired and left. So I talked with both of the guys for a bit, and explained my job to them. I turned around and noticed Colleen (a girl that works at guest services, that I had met a couple days before.. we also ran into each other the same time 3 nights in a row at her door.) coming up the stairs and I poked her and we got to talking. Found out she’s 27, and from Toronto. This was her second contract and she’ll be here until December. She likes her job, though it has it’s ups and downs. While she ran off to get a bottled water, Mel left, but I talked with Dean for a bit. He works for his dad’s auto mechanic shop. His dream is to start a underground record label and help the local bands he loves. So I gave him my advice on it all. He was a real cool kid.

Colleen came back, and she asked if I wanted to go to the lower level of the disco with her, so I did. When we got to the bottom, we pretty much demonstrated what bad dancers we are. Though she’s black, she admits she has no rhythm. As I am a white guy it’s already a given I can’t dance. We hung around and talked more, as we danced. The song “Womanizer” came on, and she asked me if I was a womanizer.. I told her no.. not by any means, but she didn’t seem convinced. She noticed me coming in with Amanda, but I once again made it clear we were friends. Another one of her friends came over and danced with us. Colleen left to do something real quick and she told me not to leave, so I hung with her friend. We ended up being the only 2 people besides the DJ left in the room. He called out “last song”, and Colleen came back, and we all walked out. Colleen lives 4 doors down from me, so I walked her to her room, and I came here to go to sleep, because.. well.. I have embarkation tomorrow.. well.. in 3 hours. So.... NIGHT...

Good Things

It’s 1:36 AM right now, and I’m about to set my clock forward an hour as we make our way towards Vancouver. Today, I slept in, since I was up so late last night. I woke up at 11. Got cleaned up and went and ate lunch, which consisted much of fruit and yogurt. I love the fact that that’s available every day. It makes me so happy when I see it!
Afterwards I checked the Caper, which listed me as playing from 9:30 to late in the Piano bar. A very late start compared to my other times. So, I went to my room and started recording a demo of my new song. I managed to get through the drums, bass, and guitars. My voice wasn’t too warmed up so I’ll work on that in the next couple days. Afterwards, I just played some games on the psp, and watched Forrest Gump. Such a good movie. Afterwards, I made my way to dinner, and managed to burn the top of my mouth with HOT Mashed potatoes. The outside of the potatoes weren’t steaming, so I thought I’d be fine. How wrong I was. The hot stuff was in the middle..so that got me good.
After dinner, I went upstairs and talked with Megan and Amanda a little bit.. Then went down to the crew training area (in this place you can learn another language, learn how to use a pc, learn business, how to save money, powerpoint and many other things in your free time. I went and talked with Simon for a bit in boredom, but decided I would try learning Spanish for real... Since I have so much time on my hands. I’ll start tomorrow around 10 AM.
Afterwards, I came to my room, and ended up taking an hour nap because of a minor headache. I woke up around 8:45, and got my stuff together and went to the piano bar, There was a girl there, that I had seen the first day of this cruise. Found out she was a senior in high school from Colorado. And she has taken 7 years of violin. I ended up starting at 9:15 because I was bored, and because she was there to listen.
After about 45 minutes, another couple came in, and started requesting lots of my soft ballads. Billy Joel, Elton John, and others in the genre. Found out the woman was a nurse who travels to different ships every two cruises.But her and her husband enjoyed it very much, which I was most happy for. Then they left, and a group of Indians (folks from India) sat around and asked if I knew Beatles. So I played through all the Beatles songs and they sang along, and they requested more and more. Then a c ouple other ladies joined, and then some of the 14 year olds that were watching a few nights ago. It was a pretty cool group. Then everyone realized that the clocks were being pushed forward, so most of them went to bed. The two girls hung and asked lots of questions about my job, and how I got it and such.
I was finished at about 1. Got my stuff and put it in my room, then went to go get a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I was starving! My boss, and some of my fellow musicians were there, so I went and sat with them. My boss, whose name is Gerhard, joked that he needed me to play 10 hours tomorrow. Then he said he had a paper he needed me to sign. I asked if it was a bad piece of paper, and he shrugged his shoulders and said “I guess you’ll just have to see”.
I’m not gonna lie.. I was a little worried. I wasn’t sure if I missed something, or whatever. So I finished up my cereal and went to go retrieve the paper. It was a positive comment sheet. It was filled out by Gerhard, saying “Derek is a high energy performer and shows outstanding people skills, no matter if it's among his fellow crew members or if it's indulging guests into his music. After performing already 4 hours on 7/27, Derek was needed to sub in the piano bar where he performed nonstop for another 2.5 hours and quadrupled bar revenue compared to average nights.” It was signed by both the Cruise director and Gerhard. So, that was a pretty cool thing to see. Boasts the morale a bit. I don’t know where it’s being sent too and what it means for me exactly, but at least I know I’m doing my job well, and I’m fitting in well.

Well, it’s 1:57... but let’s just say it’s 2:57. I’m off to sleep!

Working out and being social

Last night was pretty uneventful. In fact, I fell asleep by 11 o clock. I woke up at 6:40 to the sound of some loud motor below (one of the engines, I guess). Took about an hour to fall back asleep. Then I woke up at 10:45. I quickly got dressed, for I was due at a boat drill. So I got my green hat and life jacket and arrived to see Amanda, Bryan, Doug (another soloist), Simon (One of the training personnel from England. Really cool guy) and James (sound tech) with many others. The drill consisted of us being shown where all the life boats and life rafts were and then told that in three weeks the coast guard was coming on the ship for a drill, so they wanted to make sure we all knew what we were doing.

Afterwards, I went and got my workout clothes on and went to the gym. It was pretty empty. I ran on the treadmill and the elliptical machines. Tomorrow, I’ll work on lifting some stuff for weight loss.

I ran back to my room, showered up, and went to lunch, which consisted largely of fruit, and yogurt. Pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

Then I went BACK to my room, and found myself blocked in by painters, that were repainting our area. So I was stuck in my room until 4:40. I got my tux on and went and played in the atrium for an hour. It was a real good crowd this time around. I miss playing there. I love standing and playing. I noticed the guy who worked with the Goo Goo Dolls there listening with his family.

After I got done, I moved my equipment to the piano bar, and then went and got some miniature Spirit ornaments that I’m going to send to some family and friends.

Then Amanda and I went and ate dinner. She pointed out a girl who was stalking the golf pro teacher. The girl was a cute blonde, and from England. She had come to me a few days earlier and said I did amazing at the show. SO, now that i have the red flag, I can’t be too nice. Being too nice sends bad messages and gets stalkers.

After dinner, I went out on the deck and just gazed at the beautiful scenery. The sun was out in a red haze, as the mountains passed us with snow on them. Quite gorgeous. Then I went to my room to hang until 8:30.

Made my way to the piano bar, and had a good little crowd hanging out. A couple had just renewed their vows for their 50th anniversary. So I tried to pull every old song out of my book as I could. Amanda visited with a Ketchikan Chocolate... and it was damned good. Definitely gave me a sugar rush. She said she’d talk to me later about going to the crew bar to socialize.

At 12 o’clock the manager said I could leave. (The ship was dead.. very old crowd on this particular cruise.) So I went to my room and got dressed in very casual clothes and decided to go to the crew bar on my own. When I got there, I didn’t see anybody I knew too well. So I went and bought a 1.5 liter bottle of water, and brought it back to my room. But refusing to give up on socializing, I went back. I noticed the bass player from the Jazz band sitting with a couple guys. He waved me over so I went and sat there. He’s around 50 years old, and he’s from England. Really nice guy. He was sitting and talking with the Golf Pro, Mike. So I chatted with both of them for awhile. I had 2 beers, but that was more than enough for me. Mike told me all about the stalker and such. He told me not to start any convos with her and avoid convos if she starts them.

A sound tech came and sat down named Trevor. He was my age, and a real nice guy as well. Mike got up at some point, so it was me, the bass player, and Trevor all talking about music, ship life, the road, etc. We all made our way to the bow deck, and continued chatting. The air was FREEZING.... Reminded me of Titanic.. as dark as it was. The bass player (he never actually gave me his name. I hope to get it tomorrow) told me he thought I sounded great and I didn’t play like a 22 year old, and that I was beyond my years. Which was a cool compliment. He said I was the right guy for the job, and was glad I got it. Trevor said he’d definitely go out of his way to come see me sometime soon. So that was all cool.

After that, I wanted to go to the lido deck (the deck where passengers eat) and use my privilege to get some good food. I went up to the pizzeria (which is open 24/7). They had salmon pizza, caesar salad pizza, and many other specialties.I stayed basic with pepperoni, but I look forward to trying the others.

WELL, I’m tired.. time to hit the sack.

Day off, and the Supper Club

Today was my day off. A VERY uneventful day. I got up at around 9, and about 10 minutes later, a drill was called for port manning (the members that had to stay on ship while in port.) I got my bright green hat, and life jacket and headed to the area that my emergency card told me to go. When I arrived, I was met by one of the security officers with a sheet of paper to sign. Afterwards, he said “thank you” and I went back to my room to drop my stuff off, and went to get lunch. While I was in the middle of eating my fruit bowl, an announcement was made for the port manning to meet in the piano bar. SO, I had to ditch my meal and went up for the 10 minute meeting. The top security officer described what port manning was, checked our cards and let us go.

On my way out, I saw Amanda and her boyfriend. They were checking the ATM machine both to notice they got paid (via direct deposit.) After they left the ship to go see Juneau, I checked the ATM as well, to find I got paid for 5 days of work during the pay period. So there was a nice 500 dollars in there. So I quickly went to my room, paid off a credit card, and other little bills.

Afterwards, I watched the movie “Hook”, and managed to get my laundry done (which is usually a very hard thing to do due to the amount of people there are sharing the little amount of washers and dryers.) But on Juneau day, most people go into town because it’s the 2nd nicest (against Vancouver).

As 6 o’clock got closer, I got dressed up in kaki pants, a dress shirt, and a tie, and I went to the Supper Club (the very luxurious restaurant at the top of the ship.) I was greeted by a couple girls that I had seen in front of the Atrium Elevators promoting the supper club. I was sat down by a window which showed nice snow mountains.

My appetizer was a crab cake, which was presented very nicely and tasted amazing. The whole feel was like cuisine. Second, I got a Caesar salad, with anchovies. THEN, I was brought the entrée, which was a huge lobster tail, delicious steak, with some sauteed mushrooms and asparagus. It was soo good. For desert, I was given 4 small cups of different deserts. THEN I was given a truffle desert from the chef.

The bill was 30 dollars. It was great service, awesome food, 5 star quality. I was very VERY impressed. You can’t get food like this anywhere else for 30 dollars. No less than 60 in most places. It will be something I’ll do from time to time as a relaxer. When I acquire tips and such.

Afterwards, I headed back to my room, and am just taking it slow tonight. Just watching some movies, and hanging in my room. Tomorrow, I got work 5-6, then 9 til late.. SO until then!

Woo wee

July 31st: 7 pm



Played my gig at the party, that 0 people showed up too. So I just used the time to practice. The crew watched, and then I showed them my macbook and began the selling pitch. Afterwards, I took more photos of outside, since the clouds lowered just right around the mountains which made for some breathtaking moments. Afterwards, I went downstairs and called my best friend, Nick. Turns out, he got married.

Him and his girlfriend have been living at his parents house, but they went and got their own place last week, and just decided to get married. Haha. They did it at the court house. Sadly, they’re shooting for a ceremony in September and I can’t make it. He said he wouldn’t have a best man if I couldn’t be there, which is really cool, but sad at the same time. It’s moments like these where you wish you had instant access to the places you’re from. I’m proud of him and how far he’s come, and his girlfriend.. I mean wife is a great girl. It’s just weird how time flies, and you find how far behind you are.

Got my gig tonight, then day off tomorrow! I’ll post some more pictures around the blog!

Until then!