Sea Day, and Whittier

When I got to the Atrium yesterday, all my fans from the piano bar were there. So it was a good gig. I really enjoyed it. I love talking with passengers that come to listen, because it does turn into a kind of friendship. I ate dinner afterwards, and bumped into Colleen so I ate with her. Found out she was going to the bar in town where we (the musicians) will be playing.

On our way back to our rooms she said she got tickets to go on the Yukon Trail tour, and asked if i wanted to go. I said as long as it doesn’t interfere with the time I’m playing, that would be fun.

I went back upstairs and started restringing my guitar, when Monica, a passenger that’s been to see me almost every night with her dad, sat and talked with me for a bit. She was 24, and from Texas. She will finish her degree in Psychology in December. She worked and tried to get her degree at the same time so it took a little longer. The last couple nights she had requested songs I didn’t know, but I took time to learn two of her requests, which I played, and she liked.

After that gig, I went and set up in the piano bar where she came and the others from the other night. It was a great night of conversation and music. And I made 146 dollars in tips! Best night thus far. Unfortunately, this will be my last week in the piano bar. A new piano player is coming in on the 2nd, so I’ll be forced to the atrium or the Deco Lounge. After the piano bar, i talked with Carlos (a man who has worked for Carnival for 15 years and was on vacation) Monica, Billy (the drawer, artist) and Megan, and tried to talk them all into coming into town to hang with us and the musicians. Within seconds, Monica and Carlos agreed.

We all met at the gangway, and approached a red van that took us to the Bar. When we got there, there were maybe 10 people in there... That were locals. I was beginning to worry. Monica said she was having a good time, and Carlos bought us our beer. He’s a real cool guy. Too bad he doesn’t work on our ship. So we chatted about lots of stuff, when suddenly the musicians showed up. And two minutes later, half the staff was there! The place was SLAMMED. Within minutes i was pulled up to play with the band. I sang “All My Loving”. And jammed through lots of different tunes. It was a great time. Colleen indeed showed up with her friends.

My boss, Peter, who is a very soft spoken guy, definitely let loose and was crazy! It was a great time.

At one point I mentioned to the Cruise Director that I would be leaving for a week. He told me he’d find room for me to stay if that’s what their (corporate) concern was.

When it came to leave, Colleen, her friend, Monica and I went back to the ship. We all went our separate ways and I fell asleep.

This morning I woke up with a massive headache, but I checked my email to see something from Chuck. He said that he was trying to work out the details of keeping me on the ship for the week, UNLESS I wanted to get off, which was just as easy to arrange. I told him if Pat wanted to come on immediately, I could take the week off and see some friends, It might help me through the next 4 months.

Won the Goo Contest, and maybe getting a week off the ship?

Yesterday, I got to a great start, by sleeping in until 11:30! I felt great though. It really helps to sleep in, especially when I’m up so late playing. I went to lunch, went about my day as usual. I found out I won the Goo Goo Doll Contest. 2 years in a row! So, I get a 100 gift certificate to a music store, and a bunch of Goo Goo Dolls stuff. But the fact that the Goos liked it so much made me happy enough.

I made my rounds of phone calls to tell people, and texted a lot of friends. I restrung my guitar, and went and did my 5-6 gig in the Deco. The room is just.. too weird for me. There were more people in it this time, but only one older woman was clapping. So I played more for her than anyone. She gave me a 5 dollar tip, so that was nice. Afterwards, I went to dinner, and sat and talked with Glenn, the drummer of the showband. He and I haven’t had much of a chance to chat, but he’s 47, and he’s from NYC.

He considers himself the “Garbage Man” of Carnival, because he takes all the filler jobs on the ships. If someone gets sick, he fills in for a few weeks, and leaves. He says he’s been on 5 ships in the last two years. They call him a lot. We talked about Frank Sanatra and how he was involved with the Mob, and how Mayor Gulliani got rid of the mob in NYC. It was a very cool conversation. Peter, the boss, sat down. I was asking about his job as MD and stuff a little more. Turns out.. I make more then him, and he’s been doing cruise ships a long time. I was kind of surprised because the Musical Directors are responsible for everything. If something goes wrong, all eyes turn to them. So... with that knowledge, I decided if I stay with Carnival, I may just avoid doing that, and just stick to solo, because I get paid so well as it is.

After dinner, I bumped into Bryan in the hall way. He had a bunch of photos that were taken of crew members they were going to sell, and sure enough I found a bunch of me with my guitar. I might a couple because they looked pretty cool.

I ran up to my gig at 8 in the Shanghai bar, and I had a couple people off and on. One gentleman gave me ten dollars. I took a 45 minute break in there during the show that was taking place. Luckily I did, because not ONE person walked by the room, let alone into it! So Nunik and I talked a lot, and then Dana, one of the store girls came in aggravated at someone she worked with. So we made her feel better.

At 9:30, no one was still there, so I pulled out my fakebooks of top pop music, and fooled around with stuff. Nunik came up and sang along too, and then people came in. My same group from the last few nights. It was a fun time. Megan sang Free Fallin’ with me, and we all managed to finish up by 1.

I went back to my room and started watching a movie, and fell asleep just to wake up at 12:45. I checked my email, and Chuck had emailed me back about the Casino job on the ship. He said that he had me scheduled to come back on the ship to take Doug’s spot on the 16th. If he meant “come back on”, that means I’d have to leave. Which I assume is September 9th, because that’s what I was originally told. I was under the impression that they would just keep me on until the 16th, then move me to the casino. But, I guess... they’ll just go the more expensive route. If that’s the case, I asked if I could fly into Charlotte, so that I could see some of my friends at Catawba, so I’m waiting for an answer back from Chuck.

Now I’m going through some songs before I play tonight. 5-6, and 7:15 to 8:15 in the Atrium, and 9-1 in the piano bar.

The last couple days, and my 1st month review.

I finished up yesterday walking through the rain for another hour and a half looking for the hardware store. They ended up selling me the wrong fuses even though I brought the right specifications. I got to talk to Amanda as well. She sounded good.I think she still misses it though. I know I’ll miss her ‘cause she was my good buddy.
I messed around with music a bit, took a nap, and hung around until Colleen called at ten. She came over and we watched a disc of Family guy which ended up being a little over two hours. After she left, I wrote a song, and went to sleep. Not sure if the song is keepable yet.
I woke up at 9 this morning in anticipation for the boat drill we were supposed to have. Though there was one called for the fire team, none was called for the rest of us, leaving me and a bunch of my musician counterparts confused and worried we had missed it. Turns out it was cancelled for us. The Coast Guard is conducting a drill next saturday so we wanted to make sure we knew what we were supposed to do.
I got my laundry together, and went and did that. Took naps in between loads. Ate lunch (mm mmm, fried chicken) Then I learned some new songs for my list, and tried recording some ideas down. Then it came to doing my first gig in the Deco lounge, so as I got there, an Art Seminar was taking place near where I’d be playing and I was asked if I could wait 15 minutes. No problems there. I went and said hi to Colleen, and let her see me in my tux, since apparently she hasn’t seen me in it yet. I also chatted with Megan for a bit.
At 5:15 (15 minutes after I was supposed to start) I got going, to an audience of exactly two people... who weren’t watching me... but were yet, looking out the window. So, I played quiet songs. At 5:50, people showed up and sat down, just in time for me to finish. But after I was done, I stood and talked on the mic with everyone for about 20 minutes. It was fun stuff. A few people promised to come see me late on.
I went to dinner after that, and that was... ok... Sat with Chris, the bass player, Jeff and another dude I don’t really know. They all asked if I was coming to jam in Whiter on Tuesday night, since it’s our last night of going there. (Every Whiter, the musicians go and set up in this bar in town, and they jam all night, and all the crew come out and party. I’ve missed it the last two times because I didn’t know about it. Apparently it’s an all night thing. Starts at 2 AM, and ends around 6. Since it’s the last night, I said I’d go).
Went back to my room, and messed more with my song. Then left to go to my gig about a half hour early to get a coffee to wake me up. On my way out of my hall, I saw Colleen talking with a friend. To avoid being rude, I just said hey and kept walking. After I reached a flight of stairs, she called for me to wait up. We met up with a friend of hers and they went shopping in the gift store. Looking at jewelry and such. Colleen made a joke about me looking to buy her something. But.. I laughed that off. She’s crazy. I don’t buy jewelry. Hah.
Afterwards, she walked me to the Coffee shop, and we split ways and I got my mocha, and went and played my gig. The crowd was pretty good tonight, and I was feeling good about singing. I was well rested and very talkative, and had a lot of fun making jokes and stuff.
Now I’m here writing this out.
It also occurred to me that 2 days ago was a month since I started working here, and I thought I should give the overall impression and feel of it all!

My impressions so far are that the job is really great. I’m getting paid very well to do what I love, I love the people I work with, the audiences have been a lot of fun, the scenery is gorgeous, having my own room rocks, big paychecks, getting hit on by older women, and so on and so forth. Honestly, as from this stand point, the only part of the job I wish I had was access to my best friends back home. Friendships come and go on the cruise ship, and that makes it hard to hang out with people and such. Right now Colleen is the only friend I hang out with. I see Leighton from time to time, and I have what I call “passing friends,” as in people who know me and I know, and we say hi, eat lunch and go our own way. Internet is kind of expensive too. But as of now I love it, and I find myself to be very lucky being able to do this for a living. This is a great back up career choice.
Well, I’m beat. Time to catch some ZZZs. ‘til I write again!

Cool stuff!

Yesterday ended up being a pretty cool day! I woke up at 10 to find my power was fixed. I ventured out around the ship and saw Colleen for a second, and then went into town looking for a hardware store. There were none in the immediate area, so I decided to wait until Juneau to get the fuses. When I got back on the ship, I checked my email and found that I had a couple from my good friend Amanda. She mentioned that AG, the head of the site the goo goo dolls contest I'm in, was trying to get ahold of me. So I called her and caught up with her since we hadn't spoken on the phone in months.

Then I called Nick and got filled in on his business. He applied to be an audio architect at Muzak. I filled him in on my royalty business, and got him excited. Afterwards, I searched my spam folder and found the email from AG, so I emailed him back and a few moments later I received an email from him saying:

"They thought you did awesome, and declined even picking a second place "band". The goos enjoyed your version of cant let it go so much, that, because of you, they have decided to add it back into their setlist at some point for the upcoming tour. Pretty high compliment dude.

If you go to a show on the upcoming tour let me know, we'll put you on the meet and greet list.

Great job derek..hang in there man and never give up."

So that definitely got me excited and I called all my closest friends. Afterwards, I pretty much had a the typical gigs. Non-responsive crowd in the Atrium, and a nice little bunch in the piano bar. I went to bed soon after because I had to be up at 8 this morning to wear the Bear Mascot suit for 3 hours for 50 bucks. Though I was very animated, it was rainy and wet and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Water got into my feet paws, and it began getting colder which made it more miserable and a lot of people didn't want to hug me because the costume fur was so wet.

The first hour was a little crappy because It was hot and I felt a little sick in the thing. After that it was pretty laid back.

Afterwards, I went to lunch with Bryan, Megan and their boss. Then I came into town looking for a hardware shop but still can't find it. I located it online, so now I'm about to head that way!

After I record for a bit, I'm supposed to have a movie night with Colleen. Watch some Family Guy, and the Dark Knight, since she hasn't seen it. I like breaking people of their Dark Knight virginity. I have taken 5 :)

Okie, I'm off!

Thursday, Aug 20th

I slept a good 10 hours last night. All the way to 12:20. But I gotta tell you I felt great! Unfortunately in the middle of the morning I heard a pop noise, and it appears the power on two of my outlets went out. I let my room steward know, and I went for a quick lunch. Then ran up to get a Caper upstairs from the atrium. I saw Peter, and he told me that the photography department wanted to use me at either 6:15 or 8:30 to be in the costumes. Apparently Danielle and I were the only ones to sign up. It’s 50 bucks though.. You can’t argue with money. I’ll have to do it on my normal day off in Juneau. That’s the only part that blows. But I should be done late morning, and get to do my normal business in town.

I went to the CTC training area and talked with Simon for about an hour. Just random stuff.. Nothing too job related. He’s a cool guy though.

Afterwards I went back to my room, and the power was still out. So I went up stairs to the stores to see if I could buy a converter for the UK plug in my room. I did, and it was still recieving power, amazingly! So I hooked up everything through it, and blew two fuses on the speakers... Because.. apparently, they use a different kind for 220v outlets. So... that really sucked as well. But I did tinker with Logic anyways and messed around with some guitar effects and experimented with it. It really is a great software. BFD2 Drum software is MILES ahead of the last one, and it sounds so much more professional sounding. All I need is a shipshape mic and I could do my albums on my own! (But I need years of sound training to learn how to mix and all that.)

Did my 5-6 gig in the Atrium. Midway I was asked to turn down (which for some reason just deflates my energy, and drive for playing.) So I did, and that’s what happened. I went to dinner, and had some steak, rice, and spinach with mushrooms. Peter came and sat with me and we talked about the place I’m playing. He thinks if I’m not filling the place up at 8, that I should use that hour some place else, which I agree. I found out he’s been working on cruiseships since ’92. He’s been with Carnival for 6 1/2 years, and a Musical director for 1 1/2. He plays saxophone. He just tries to stay on the ships, so no home life. He said he got an email about my CD, and Now I have to record a cover of Carnival’s “theme song” and do a commercial kind of deal, and send it in again. THEN I can order them, and get to selling.

After dinner, I headed back to my room and messed more with Logic, and BFD.. got lots of cool ideas down.. But probably nothing concrete.

Went to do my gig in the Shanghai bar, and a couple people showed up from last night, and then it was moderate for about an hour. Then it was about 8 people for the rest of the night. An officer and his friends (an officer of the ship) was down having drinks and listening. He told me he thought I was great and he loved when I played pink floyd the other night. So I played two for him, and he bought me a shot of something.. It sat on the piano for over an hour before I drank it... but it hurt when it went down, and I was definitely feeling it the rest of the gig.

I met a gentleman and his wife/girlfriend. I placed them in their 20’s. Turns out they were 50, and 40. I couldn’t believe it. The woman looked SO Young.. no wrinkles, very attractive. I was quite surprised. I met another gentleman who wants to play on cruise ships and do what I do, so I explained the whole process to him.

At the end of the night, I packed it up and headed to my room. Now that Amanda’s not here, I have no one to make me go to disco, so I probably will become less social in that department. Unless Colleen makes me go. But I didn’t see her today, so that won’t happen. Anyway, I’m going to bed!

2 days of craziness..

I’m installing some software right now, so I thought I would write my blog for yesterday and part of today while I’m waiting for it to finish.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from Amanda about going to lunch at 11:30. But I declined. I was far too tired. I got up closer to 1 PM. I restrung my guitar, and did my usual stuff.

I had to play in the atrium from 5-6. A lot of the people that had been watching me from the night before were there. It was fun. After I finished, I went to dinner with Amanda in the Crew mess. I had a cheeseburger and fries and she had her usual salad. Leighton was there too. So we chatted it up for awhile.

Afterwards, I went back to my room and burned a LOT of my albums, to give to those who tipped. When I went to set up, I chatted with Nunik for a bit about why she hasn’t dated in awhile. And then Rachel came by, and picked up an album and said goodbye. She had lots of packing to do and she needed a real night’s sleep. So she didn’t stick around A lot of people tipped and I managed to give out over 20 albums. The night gig was pretty quiet for a few hours. Then it picked up, but my lack of sleep caught up me and I just wasn’t feeling the energy. But it was my boss’s last night, as well as Roxanne’s last night... So after the gig, I went to the crew bar to find my Boss was already in bed, but Roxy was there with Colleen and the other girls from the front desk. I hung around for a little bit and chatted. Then headed to the disco because I promised a lot of the people that saw me I’d come out to see them.

It was pretty dead there, but there were all there. A couple people told me they had agents and such that they would give my album too. So, lots of networking! I spoke with some girl from Illinois for an hour or so. She was the girl dancing it up with Gabe the other night. She was a little aggravated that he didn’t come up to say goodbye, since they were kind of hanging out over her cruise. (The reason was that he kinda didn’t really like her,) but I played along and just pulled the ignorance card.

After that, I went to sleep.. Then I got a phone call at 7:30 am. I answered, and it was Amanda crying. She said she was fired and had to be off the boat by 9. I asked her what she did, and she said she didn’t know. She asked me to come say goodbye to her and that she’d call me. But by 9:10 I hadn’t gotten a call. So I went out looking for her, and couldn’t find her... So... I’ll be pretty sad if I didn’t get to give an official goodbye. Hopefully I’ll hear from her soon.

I went into town, and got Apple Logic to record some new music, and some monitors so I could mix my music on something real.. and not my laptop speakers. I also bought 2 weeks worth of strings (12 boxes). The speakers were pretty heavy. I had to walk them back 10 blocks back to the ship, which seemed pretty impossible. But half way there, one of the bar cleaners, who is indonesian saw me and helped me carry one back to the ship. He said he hears me every night and really likes my music and thinks I’m really good. I was most grateful.

I got back on the ship, and came and showed James and Colleen my stuff, since they were both at guest services. We chatted for a bit, and then I lugged my stuff down to my room, reorganized my desk so that my speakers would fit (I had to move the tv... I’ll probably let someone who doesn’t have one in their room use it.) And I’ve been installing Logic and BFD 2... as I take 10 minute naps here and there. But now I gotta shower, and get ready for boat drill. I play at 7:30 to 8:15 in the Atrium, and then 9-12 or 1. Hopefully 12. Tonight I’m going to sleep like a baby.

ALSO, earlier when I was checking the internet, I saw that the semifinalists were voted in by the judges. Out of all 5 groups, the Goo Goo Dolls picked me. They were allowed two votes, and they only picked me! So that was pretty awesome. I’m supposed to see the comments after the voting from the people is over. SOOO!! Yay. Ok, going to shower up!

Just got out of boat drill and our bi-weekly meeting. The boat drill was same as usual, but Bryan told me Amanda was fired because they didn’t like her attitude. Sad for sure... The staff meetings just have all the staff members in a room while our boss tells us what’s going on, and all that stuff. The big boss that was here with his family enjoyed their trip, so it was all good stuff. I talked with Danielle (one of the show girls) for a quick second. She told me she went to the beach today. This is out last cruise to Whittier. Afterwards, we’re go to the glacier bay for two cruises, and then Hawaii! Mark, the assistant cruise director read one comment card, and it was for me, and it read “Derek in the Shanghai Lounge went way above and beyond. He truly made my experience on the boat and in the bar something to remember. He learned 8 songs requested by me and 2 other guys on his off time. He is the coolest guy and I will miss his humor and his beat. Thank you Derek for making my trip awesome.” Everybody clapped for me, and Danielle added the “thanks for playing in the crew bar!” So, that was pretty awesome.

On my way back to my room, I was walking with Doug and Jim, the other two soloists, and they said jokingly “Man you really went far and above to write that stuff about yourself.” and “The must have been one wild night with that girl.” I think I know who wrote it. My guess is Rich. But it could have been either Rich, Neil or Dean. Sooo,we’ll see!

Then I went to dinner, and saw Colleen and her friend from guest services. Colleen and I are supposed to go to the supper club soon, but the last two times her friend couldn’t make it, so I said I’d take them both. Good for them because they can go together, and good for me because I look like a pimp. Haha. After dinner, I walked them to their hallway, and Colleen said depending on how she felt she might come out to see me. I begged.... I have no pride. She told me to keep my fingers crossed... So.. YEAH.

Afterwards, I continued installing my software, and got ready for my first gig of this cruise.

I played it and people seemed to like it. I was definitely feeling the tiredness. My voice needed a good break. After I finished, I bumped into Marina and talked with her for a bit, then ran and set up to play. It was quite dead. Met a guy named Bill, from Kentucky. He’s 27. Nice guy. Flirted with Nunik a lot.

Colleen came out to see me! During my break I went and talked with her for awhile. Then went back up when two older ladies came in. One of them was hitting on me.. I thinking she thought I was a lot older than what I am.. My new boss, Peter came to see me..but I had just finished. So I introduced myself.

Afterwards, I walked Colleen to her room, and I came to mess with my new software and play with it. Now I’m going to bed!!!

Monday, August 19

I woke up today at about 9:45 to go into town to Walmart. As I was leaving my room, I saw my room steward in a room cleaning... and I noticed in the window behind him.. the boat was still moving. He informed me we wouldn’t stop until 11 AM.

So I went back to bed because I needed the sleep. By 12, I woke up again, and went out into the sideways rain. It was freezing cold, and raining hard. I looked around town for the Walmart shuttle. Eventually I ran into Bryan and Megan. When the little shuttle came, it turned out all would fit but me... So I got out to get in the next one. Megan and Brian followed, and we managed to get on a non-squished shuttle.

The town is a lot larger than I thought, for the Walmart was a good ten minutes away and we passed LOTS of places.

Eventually we got there, and it was the standard Walmart. So I went in and got Madden ‘10 for my psp, Family Guy Volume 7, and a 5 dollar movie. I also had a sub at Subway. Eventually I bumped back into Bryan and Megan and we all left together. But the same problem arose when it came to coming on. There was a little room, that I thought I could squeeze into, but some weasel jumped in right in front of me, not giving me a chance. So I just got in the other one by myself. When I arrived back to port, Bryan was waiting for me. So that was cool.

I went back to my room and watched Family Guy, and tried my game out. Turned out I didn’t hae to work until 9:30, So I just hung low.

At 8ish, I was checking my email, and I got an Email from Pumpaudio.com stating they sent my check to my address but it was sent back. They mixed half of my college address and my home address together. So I emailed them and said I’d do direct deposit. I just assumed I probably made 50 bucks or something from song use. TURNS OUT... I made 902 dollars from my songs being used in TV, Website, and other miscellaneous things. “Tainted”, the one song I had no desire for on my album, made me 700 of that.. So.. it was exciting. I’m using that money to order the CDs I sell on the ship.

Gerhard knocked on my door and gave me a stand for the poster that would go in front of the Shanghai Bar. I retrieved my poster, and it was very cool looking. I’ll post it soon.

I got to playing at 9:30 and it was busy once again with everyone singing along. The majority of the music played was music from the last 20 years... I got to play some oldies towards the end, but it was all very fun. Amanda also got the job for CNN as a reporter. She starts in November! I had a couple shots of some very strong drink.. One was from the bartender.. and the Cruise Director came in and bought me one.. I couldn’t turn it down because.. we’ll... he’s the big boss.. So.. that burned.. I definitely don’t like that feeling.

Afterwards, Rachel was back, so we hung out and talked for a few hours. Clocks went forward an hour sometime through out the night, and I ended up going to bed at 6 am. Soo... Gross... I did manage to see the sunrise over the ocean.. It was very worth it.. SO beautiful... So.. I’m going to bed!