Quick Hits in the New Year

So…New Years Eve is usually a fun night for me as a musician. When I'm lucky enough to have a gig on NYE, I enjoy that because I get to party, play music, and get paid for it. If I don't have a gig, I usually am hanging out with good people anyway, so, the holiday is enjoyable. New Years Eve on the ship was great. I had the best of both worlds. First, we played an extra set on the Promenade (main area in the ship where all the shops are) and counted down the time until 2013. It was a huge party almost everyone on the ship there (I'm talking about literally thousands of people). Awesome. We played some funk arrangements and I did my best Fred Wesley impression. At midnight, we drank champagne and I realized that I was at a gig while also surrounded by all my friends. The party continued in Studio B (onboard ice rink) where there was drinking and dancing. We continued with an after party in the crew bar. The evening/morning came to a close having snacks and watching a DVD of the Ellington band with several close friends. Good stuff. I can truly say I'm damn glad to be here.

--

I turned 37 on January 17, 2013 and had the pleasure of my Mom's company for the cruise over my birthday. We had a great time onboard enjoying St. Croix, St. Maarten, Barbados and more. She got me an M-22 shirt for my birthday as well as a massage up in the Shipshape Spa. We saw the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater show. She came to all my shows and met all my friends. We took a tour of Old and New San Juan and basically got some great hangout time. Ended out the week with a trip to Crane Beach in Barbados to get some sun and boogie-boarding. Terrific. What a treat!

Photographic evidence of fun:

Murder Mystery Dinner Theater.

Representin' Northern Michigan!

St. Croix with Adventure in the background.

L to R: Mom, Me, Beau Fleming (tenor sax), Jamie Newnham (vocalist)

Dustin Bear (alto sax). Murder Mystery night.

A smoothie in Antigua.

L to R: Shannon McMillan (vocalist), Mom, Dustin, Me.

Crane Beach, Barbados.

Crane Beach, Barbados.

Lunch in Barbados.

Crane Beach entrance. Only entrance to beach is

over the stone circular walkway. 

Me and Jaime catching big waves! 

Mom catching some rays in Barbados.

The boogie-board crew (L to R: me, Jaime, Chris Joodi (trumpet),

Beau, Krisitan Brooks (dancer) at Crane Beach.

Mom enjoying a Carib...the official beer 

of the Caribbean! (I practically live on the stuff).

Crane Beach view from our lunch spot.

Another shot of Crane Beach.

Mom relaxing at Crane Beach.

Profile pic at Crane Beach. That is a 

CRAZY shirt.

Old San Juan. Castillo San Cristobal.

Castillo San Cristobal museum.

A view from the fort in Old San Juan.

Main courtyard of the fort.

A lookout post.

Photo opportunity in Old San Juan.

View from the top of the fort in Old San Juan.

St. Croix. What, what?

The beach in St. Maarten.

After the Old/New San Juan tour in PR. End of a 

great week.

--

For the first time in almost a year, I have accepted a bit of responsibility into my life. The Music Director (manager of all 20+ onboard musicians) is taking his vacation in about 5 weeks. He asked me to fill in for him while he is gone and I said yes. It is only a short vacation fill, but, I had to extend my contract to do it. I will be with the Adventure until May 5, 2013 and will be serving as MD for the last 6-7 weeks. This past week I started shadowing Kris (current MD) around and learning from the master Jedi. We'll see how it works out, but, I like it so far.

New Year Message

2012 was an eventful year for me. My life turned upside down and then somewhat righted while enjoying my Walkabout. Here's what I thought about as the clock ticked to midnight on January 1, 2013.

• I've spent the majority of my time in the past year wearing sandals as opposed to socks and shoes.
• It pays major dividends to have a bottle opener on my key chain.

Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Looking forward to staying in touch throughout 2013. Thanks for reading!

Xmas 2012

I'm a big fan of the show "Entourage" that used to air on HBO. Created by Mark Wahlberg (and loosely based on his life), the show describes the experience of a young actor rocketing to super stardom in Hollywood after a role in a blockbuster movie. The show also details the friendship and family bond between Vince (the star) and his "Entourage" made up of his brother and his childhood friends from the East coast. Vince is determined to make it or break it in Hollywood his way...with his friends around him. What he really cares about is his "Entourage" not movie super stardom. He'd be happy back in the pizza parlor in Queens as long as he's with his friends.

Early in the first season of the show (Entourage ran for 8 seasons on HBO), Vince does an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel late night talk show. The interview and the entire evening's festivities for the Entourage is an impressive success. The episode culminates with the group of friends watching themselves on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, smoking weed, drinking, smiling, laughing, and basking in the glory of an awesome night spent with friends. The moment was so eloquently summed up by the character Johnny Drama with this famous line, "Great night, man. Great fuckin' night!"

This past Christmas I had a similar experience with a group of friends from the ship. We spent December 25th in St. Maarten - land of amazing beaches. There are way too many details to describe about how marvelous the day was. However, the short version involves gingerbread flavored coffee in the morning, playing for the arrival of Santa Claus with a 2nd line version of "Here Comes Santa Claus" on the Promenade of the ship, a van rental and trip to a secluded beach, burgers, beer, pictures, swimming, and most of all laughter throughout. After we returned to the ship there was a gift exchange, two shows with the guest entertainer, a great dinner, blueberry pie for dessert, and a Christmas crew party on the back deck with free beer. 

Those that know me understand that I'm not a big holiday guy. A lot of people on the ship struggle with being away from home for the holidays, but, it didn't really bother me that much. However, I have to say that this was one of my best Christmas celebrations ever. Certainly contributed to me enjoying my holiday at sea. Drama was right. "Great fuckin' day."