Musical Compilation

okay now that im back in California where there is REAL INTERNET i have a little time to upload some stuff.... and sort through videos i took with my new HD camera the Kodak ZI8 (which kicks the HD flip's butt.....)

Here's a few clips from some of the shows we performed in the Showband, also known as the Valor Orchestra.....

The biggest shows, which take the most work and rehearsal, especially for the dancers, i was not able to film, as i would have had to get permission from all the dancers, and i didnt even bother. 

heres the link:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFoBU4hHTKo

American Lobby

The night before i left the Carnival Valor after my 3 month contract was up (April 18th) i realized that i shouldnt leave without recording a demo in the main lobby..... This demo could be used to send to agents etc. who book musicians on all cruise lines and in all parts of the world.. so i got out my new HD camera and high def audio recorder....This was the result.

Costa Maya

Occasionally the ship goes a different route for a week.  This last week went to all the ports in the opposite order and instead of Roatan Island went to Costa Maya in Mexico...  heres a quick pic.  i should have taken one in downtown on the beach too because it was very cool.........

basketball

my new hobby on the ship is playing basketball on the top deck.   its a heck of a lot more fun than running on the treadmill which is extremely monotonous and painful...  i always get inspired to write cool stuff but dont have internet handy.  then when i get to a port with free internet im not inspired anymore.  so hopefully ill time it right soon...  ;)  right now im in miami.  heres a picture of a few other cruise ships.  At any given port you can find several cruise ships from different companies parked out at sea a bit or at the docks if there is one....

Mason's Video

For those that haven't seen it, Mason has a cool video of him walking around the ship on his Facebook page. You'll have to have a Facebook account to see it, though.

schedule

we depart miami every Sunday afternoon at about 4:30 pm after a boat drill where i have stand at "muster station f" and occasionally demonstrate to guests how to put on a life jacket....  We then sail Sunday night and all Monday, which is one of the two "sea days," until we arrive in Grand Cayman on Tuesday morning.  After a full day in Grand Cayman we sail that evening and arrive in Roatan Island off of Honduras at about 12pm on Wednesday.  We sail from Roatan that night and arrive at Belize Thursday morning.  There is a 25 minute ride in a tender to get to Belize, as we park the ship a few miles from shore.  We leave Belize Thursday night and arrive in Cozumel Friday morning.  Then we leave Cozumel and have another sea day on saturday before returning to Miami Sunday morning.  The schedule repeats for my 13 weeks. 

heres my music schedule:

Sunday:  Intro show with comedian 10:30pm

Monday:  5-6pm jazz set by the casino for "formal night".  7 and 8:45 shows ("Night Club Express) and   late night jazz set in the "Winston Cigar Bar"

Tuesday:  2 shows (7 and 8:45pm) of juggler followed by a comedian

Wednesday: off.....   ;)

Thursday:  2 show (7 and 8:45pm) of the singers and dancers' favorite show:  "Far from over" which is highlights from the 80s....   lots of synth stuff for me....

Friday:  typically a Comedian with 2 shows at 7 and 9pm.  Although this week we had a "fly on" Motown act that we had a rehearsal for at 3:30 pm

Saturday:  8pm country show featuring our lead dancer guy.  Its actually a cool show and get two piano solos, one with just me and the singer and the spotlight is on me.  I even have to take a bow when its done...  then there is the "Carnival Legends" show at 10:30 where different guests that have won the karoake contest get to perform and dress up as different famous singers.  This week "Frank Sinatra" was the best.  Last week it was garth brooks.  This is a fun show.

rescue

the ship stopped mysteriously last night a couple hours after we left Cozumel.  No one knew what was happening as we seemed to be turning around.  I went to deck 7 forward (right below the captains lookout) which has the best view.  We had turned around and were moving very slowly.  Both spotlights were shining semi-frantically and i thought oh no! someone had fell off the ship....  There is a code for this that employess learn, its called "bravo bravo."  I never heard this code, but still it seemed thats what was going on.  I saw where there light was shining and didnt see a distinct person anywhere.  But then someone else watching by me pointed out a small flashing light in the distance..  and then i realized there was a boat...  A small boat had capsized and i found out later this man was in bad shape.  He probably would not have survived much longer..  unfortunately my 8pm show was starting in the Ivanhoe Theater so i couldnt watch the rescue boat go out and retrieve the guy....  dang it!  here is picture of the stormy waters that night....