Well, here it is, the last day of May, and the last day of this swing through Europe (France, mostly) with Blue Man Group. Today was a rough day to end on. For some reason, everyone is wound up and mad about things. People have been successfully winding me up all day. And all I wanted was a nice easy day before I go home tomorrow. As if to tempt us, the venue today is right next door to the international airport. All day long, over the high metal fence, I could see airplane tails pull up and then jet off into the distance. What torture.
But its one hour to show time and then I barrel my way through the French cues one last time before I don't have to think about it for 5 days... When I land in Seoul, South Korea, and spend two more weeks listening to Blue Man banter, in Korean.
Almost home....
31 May, 2008
28 May, 2008
Brussels... Belgian For Blackout...
Safety. I get it. We must do what we can to make things safe. Accidents are always bound to happen. That's why cars have seat belts. That's why the baby industry thrives, so first time parents have less of chance of injuring the little one with an accident.
Heck, even electrical cables have a ground line to prevent shocks. Which brings us to today's blog. The night the lights went out in Brussels, twice.
Last night was our "real" show in Brussels. The night before was a private event sponsored by one of the local cell network providers, Proximus. What that show taught me is that, no matter what your country or nationality, people still don't seem to appreciate something for free as much as they do if they pay for it themselves. That show was DEAD. It was almost like doing a show in L.A.. People are always looking around to see if they are doing the right thing or acting the right way and plopping down in their seat with the attitude of "Entertain me, now." Show sucked.
Anyway, last night's show was for a paying audience, so we weren't as full as we were the night before, but everyone was enjoying the show. During the second song of the show, there's a series of about 12 strong fuzzy guitar cords that I accent with strobe light hits. About 4 hits in... BAM, the entire rig goes out... The ENTIRE lighting rig goes black. There's still video, still sound, still follow spots, but the stage is a complete black hole.
I turn to Mel with my calmest yell say, "WE JUST LOST THE RIG!!!" Mel bolts up from his chair and starts squawking into his radio. About a minute later, I can see the lights start powering up and going into a homing position.
Thankfully, we didn't loose video or follow spots so the show was able to continue as normal. I kept running lighting cues to make sure that when the lights did turn back on we were in the right place. After about 5 minutes of darkness, I was able to get all most of the lights back on line and working. I hopped on headset and asked Wayne, our power guy what was going on.
Normally, in these situations, when you trip the main breaker and the entire lighting rig goes out, it's often because you are drawing too much amperage. But this wasn't the case. Wayne informed me, "We've got plenty of head room in terms of amperage, I don't know what just happened, and I apologize because I don't know if it will happen again or not."
We took our chances and continued to run the show as normal. Not two songs later, I've got a series of big drum hits I accent with the strobe lights and again, BAM, the entire rig goes out. I turn to Mel and before I could calmly yell, he's on his radio squawking. I see the rig powering back up and Mel tells me, "We're gonna leave off the floor lights". I told him I thought it was in the strobes and to leave those off.
After a little bit of delving, we remembered we were having trouble with one of the strobes tripping it's breaker. Which in America is usually no big deal. If there is enough electricity going down the ground wire, it will trip the breaker. Safety. I get it.
But in Europe, they have this wonderful thing called a "ground fault". Which basically means if there is ANY electricity on the ground, it trips the main breaker for the entire system. Now, you can manually set the ground fault to trip at a higher load so you can get some electricity down the ground wire. But yesterday, the house electrician refused to set the ground fault any higher. Which as it turns out is a very common argument you have to have with European house electricians. They want to be completely safe and have the ground fault set so low that if there is even the slightest chance something is awry, snap, off goes the breaker.
We suspect that the one bad strobe on the big hits, was sending just enough down the ground wire that the ground fault was tripping. There wasn't enough to trip our breaker, but the ground fault, being set so low, would snap off.
Which brings us to the other ridiculous argument about safety; Why does the ground fault have to be on the main breaker thus shutting down the ENTIRE lighting rig? It is Europe, we follow the rules here.
Safety, I get it. But at the cost of the entire rig for the show? I don't get that.
Nicole, LOVES deserts, so she was in heaven in Paris. I like deserts, but a meal can always end for me after the meat and potatoes portion. I have to say, I tried a number of different lemon (citron) tarts while I was there and my favorite was from the little panini stand right by the hotel. Perfect amount of tart.
Heck, even electrical cables have a ground line to prevent shocks. Which brings us to today's blog. The night the lights went out in Brussels, twice.
Last night was our "real" show in Brussels. The night before was a private event sponsored by one of the local cell network providers, Proximus. What that show taught me is that, no matter what your country or nationality, people still don't seem to appreciate something for free as much as they do if they pay for it themselves. That show was DEAD. It was almost like doing a show in L.A.. People are always looking around to see if they are doing the right thing or acting the right way and plopping down in their seat with the attitude of "Entertain me, now." Show sucked.
Anyway, last night's show was for a paying audience, so we weren't as full as we were the night before, but everyone was enjoying the show. During the second song of the show, there's a series of about 12 strong fuzzy guitar cords that I accent with strobe light hits. About 4 hits in... BAM, the entire rig goes out... The ENTIRE lighting rig goes black. There's still video, still sound, still follow spots, but the stage is a complete black hole.
I turn to Mel with my calmest yell say, "WE JUST LOST THE RIG!!!" Mel bolts up from his chair and starts squawking into his radio. About a minute later, I can see the lights start powering up and going into a homing position.
Thankfully, we didn't loose video or follow spots so the show was able to continue as normal. I kept running lighting cues to make sure that when the lights did turn back on we were in the right place. After about 5 minutes of darkness, I was able to get all most of the lights back on line and working. I hopped on headset and asked Wayne, our power guy what was going on.
Normally, in these situations, when you trip the main breaker and the entire lighting rig goes out, it's often because you are drawing too much amperage. But this wasn't the case. Wayne informed me, "We've got plenty of head room in terms of amperage, I don't know what just happened, and I apologize because I don't know if it will happen again or not."
We took our chances and continued to run the show as normal. Not two songs later, I've got a series of big drum hits I accent with the strobe lights and again, BAM, the entire rig goes out. I turn to Mel and before I could calmly yell, he's on his radio squawking. I see the rig powering back up and Mel tells me, "We're gonna leave off the floor lights". I told him I thought it was in the strobes and to leave those off.
After a little bit of delving, we remembered we were having trouble with one of the strobes tripping it's breaker. Which in America is usually no big deal. If there is enough electricity going down the ground wire, it will trip the breaker. Safety. I get it.
But in Europe, they have this wonderful thing called a "ground fault". Which basically means if there is ANY electricity on the ground, it trips the main breaker for the entire system. Now, you can manually set the ground fault to trip at a higher load so you can get some electricity down the ground wire. But yesterday, the house electrician refused to set the ground fault any higher. Which as it turns out is a very common argument you have to have with European house electricians. They want to be completely safe and have the ground fault set so low that if there is even the slightest chance something is awry, snap, off goes the breaker.
We suspect that the one bad strobe on the big hits, was sending just enough down the ground wire that the ground fault was tripping. There wasn't enough to trip our breaker, but the ground fault, being set so low, would snap off.
Which brings us to the other ridiculous argument about safety; Why does the ground fault have to be on the main breaker thus shutting down the ENTIRE lighting rig? It is Europe, we follow the rules here.
Safety, I get it. But at the cost of the entire rig for the show? I don't get that.
...
And finally, before I go, I'll answer Jade's questions about the last couple of blogs.
In all the times I've been in Brussels (4 maybe?) I've only seen two outfits on the pissing boy. The Santa outfit at Christmas, and I saw him in Leidehosen around Octoberfest. There is a whole committee designated to dressing the pissing boy and there's a museum in a hotel somewhere that has his outfits on display. But if you want a quick look at 52 different outfits, the tourist trap gift store across the street from the pissing boy has playing cards.
As for wine... I did actually have a couple of bottles I shared with friends over a couple of great meals. One of the follow spot operators in Paris gave me a bottle of his favorite table wine as a gift. I'm saving that one until I'm home and will share it with friends.
In all the times I've been in Brussels (4 maybe?) I've only seen two outfits on the pissing boy. The Santa outfit at Christmas, and I saw him in Leidehosen around Octoberfest. There is a whole committee designated to dressing the pissing boy and there's a museum in a hotel somewhere that has his outfits on display. But if you want a quick look at 52 different outfits, the tourist trap gift store across the street from the pissing boy has playing cards.
As for wine... I did actually have a couple of bottles I shared with friends over a couple of great meals. One of the follow spot operators in Paris gave me a bottle of his favorite table wine as a gift. I'm saving that one until I'm home and will share it with friends.
Nicole, LOVES deserts, so she was in heaven in Paris. I like deserts, but a meal can always end for me after the meat and potatoes portion. I have to say, I tried a number of different lemon (citron) tarts while I was there and my favorite was from the little panini stand right by the hotel. Perfect amount of tart.
...
26 May, 2008
Come To Brussels, Get Mugged By Waiters.
If I was going to write a tourism ad for Brussels Belgium, that's probably what it would be. "Come to Brussels, try the chocolate! Have a waffle! Take a photo of the beautiful center square and pissing boy statue! But most of all, come to Brussels to be mugged by our waiters!
Okay, it's not really getting mugged, but it's one of the very bizarre charms of Brussels. I've had days off here on a number of occasions, so yesterday, Princess Tam Tam, who has never been to Brussels, and I stepped out to see the sights. All she knew was Belgian waffle. So on the walk to the center square, we stopped at a little stand and had a waffle. I got mine covered in chocolate (I think I can hear Nicole's mouth watering).
We then walked around a bit before getting to the square which was unfortunately (or fortunately) turned into a open air concert area. Turns out this past weekend was, not a jazz music festival, but rather a jazz music marathon. At least that's what all the advertising called it. Don't get me wrong, I like most jazz music, but there are times when I'm listening to it and all I can hear are 5 musicians plays 5 different songs all at the same time. I guess that's the point. Anyway, I found it funny that it was called a "marathon", like it's a hard endurance event to listen to live jazz every night for 3 nights. But I digress...
After we took some pictures of the square, we walked over to the only other landmark I know in Brussels, the statue of the pissing boy. I'm sure there's some really great monuments around this city, but for some reason the tourists flock to take a picture of this very tiny statue. It's not very big, only about 2 feet tall. But the gag is, it has over 10,000 outfits that it has worn. So every time you come to Brussels, you can go look and see what different outfit the pissing boy has on. The last time I was here, it was in December, so of course, he was wearing a Santa outfit. But this time, we were slightly disappointed, he was standing there in the buff. I guess it was bath day on Sunday.
From there we went to my favorite tourist attraction, getting mugged by waiters. Near the center square is a cross roads of cobblestone walkways that are lined with restaurants. All of them have tables inside and tables outside. The outside tables, are in the walkway on both sides so the once 10 foot path is squeezed down into about 4 feet. So people passing each other have to turn sideways and do their best not to bump the seated diners. Every restaurant has a waiter who basically stands in the 4 foot walkway and, well, mugs you. "Sir please, come eat in my restaurant, I have mussels, seafood, steak! You come eat here, I give you your first drink for free! Sir? Sir? I can tell you are hungry, my food is the best!"
They stand in your way, they force menus into your hand, They grab you by the crook of your arm, they sing, the dance, they are ruthless! And you have to walk this gauntlet whether you intend to eat or not.
Seeing as Princess Tam Tam had never been here before, I walked behind her and let her "choose" the restaurant. We entered, and muggers rained down on her. "Ma'am? Ma'am? You want to eat? I have the best mussels! Don't go! Wait! I give you first and last drink free! You come in, you sit here, come sit! I pull out the chair for you. Ma'am? Ma'am?"
About halfway through I could tell she was getting flustered and was on the verge of having a meltdown. It really takes a strong constitution, or better yet, a savvy negotiation process to be get all the way through. I stepped ahead of her and acted like a bulldozer and plowed our way to the end. After a moment to collect ourselves we dove back into the gauntlet and chose a restaurant. And why did we choose the restaurant we did? Because there was no waiter out front to mug us, and there was only one other person inside, and he was a local.
The food was great, the company was better. We lingered over salmon and steak. I had a Belgian beer, she, a glass of red wine. The bill came, it was a bit pricey (again, considering the exchange rate) but we paid it and headed back out into the gauntlet, where we learned something we didn't think of before! When the waiters came to mug us, we simply said, "Thanks but we've already eaten," and they left us alone. Now you too, know the secret of mugging prevention. "Thanks I've already eaten," or walk through eating a sandwich.
I like Brussels, I really do. It's the seat of power for the EU (European Union), so there are lots of people here who are business oriented and better yet, speak English. People are definitely much friendlier here than in Paris, and everything is centralized and in walking distance. The food is awesome, and if you like seafood (which I don't) the mussels are fresh from the Belgian and Dutch coasts. In this little country there are 100 of different beer brewers, so the selection is not only huge, but very very tasty.
Granted there's no Eiffel Tower, no Louvre. But a few days of wandering the streets of Brussels is good for the soul.
Okay, it's not really getting mugged, but it's one of the very bizarre charms of Brussels. I've had days off here on a number of occasions, so yesterday, Princess Tam Tam, who has never been to Brussels, and I stepped out to see the sights. All she knew was Belgian waffle. So on the walk to the center square, we stopped at a little stand and had a waffle. I got mine covered in chocolate (I think I can hear Nicole's mouth watering).
We then walked around a bit before getting to the square which was unfortunately (or fortunately) turned into a open air concert area. Turns out this past weekend was, not a jazz music festival, but rather a jazz music marathon. At least that's what all the advertising called it. Don't get me wrong, I like most jazz music, but there are times when I'm listening to it and all I can hear are 5 musicians plays 5 different songs all at the same time. I guess that's the point. Anyway, I found it funny that it was called a "marathon", like it's a hard endurance event to listen to live jazz every night for 3 nights. But I digress...
After we took some pictures of the square, we walked over to the only other landmark I know in Brussels, the statue of the pissing boy. I'm sure there's some really great monuments around this city, but for some reason the tourists flock to take a picture of this very tiny statue. It's not very big, only about 2 feet tall. But the gag is, it has over 10,000 outfits that it has worn. So every time you come to Brussels, you can go look and see what different outfit the pissing boy has on. The last time I was here, it was in December, so of course, he was wearing a Santa outfit. But this time, we were slightly disappointed, he was standing there in the buff. I guess it was bath day on Sunday.
From there we went to my favorite tourist attraction, getting mugged by waiters. Near the center square is a cross roads of cobblestone walkways that are lined with restaurants. All of them have tables inside and tables outside. The outside tables, are in the walkway on both sides so the once 10 foot path is squeezed down into about 4 feet. So people passing each other have to turn sideways and do their best not to bump the seated diners. Every restaurant has a waiter who basically stands in the 4 foot walkway and, well, mugs you. "Sir please, come eat in my restaurant, I have mussels, seafood, steak! You come eat here, I give you your first drink for free! Sir? Sir? I can tell you are hungry, my food is the best!"
They stand in your way, they force menus into your hand, They grab you by the crook of your arm, they sing, the dance, they are ruthless! And you have to walk this gauntlet whether you intend to eat or not.
Seeing as Princess Tam Tam had never been here before, I walked behind her and let her "choose" the restaurant. We entered, and muggers rained down on her. "Ma'am? Ma'am? You want to eat? I have the best mussels! Don't go! Wait! I give you first and last drink free! You come in, you sit here, come sit! I pull out the chair for you. Ma'am? Ma'am?"
About halfway through I could tell she was getting flustered and was on the verge of having a meltdown. It really takes a strong constitution, or better yet, a savvy negotiation process to be get all the way through. I stepped ahead of her and acted like a bulldozer and plowed our way to the end. After a moment to collect ourselves we dove back into the gauntlet and chose a restaurant. And why did we choose the restaurant we did? Because there was no waiter out front to mug us, and there was only one other person inside, and he was a local.
The food was great, the company was better. We lingered over salmon and steak. I had a Belgian beer, she, a glass of red wine. The bill came, it was a bit pricey (again, considering the exchange rate) but we paid it and headed back out into the gauntlet, where we learned something we didn't think of before! When the waiters came to mug us, we simply said, "Thanks but we've already eaten," and they left us alone. Now you too, know the secret of mugging prevention. "Thanks I've already eaten," or walk through eating a sandwich.
I like Brussels, I really do. It's the seat of power for the EU (European Union), so there are lots of people here who are business oriented and better yet, speak English. People are definitely much friendlier here than in Paris, and everything is centralized and in walking distance. The food is awesome, and if you like seafood (which I don't) the mussels are fresh from the Belgian and Dutch coasts. In this little country there are 100 of different beer brewers, so the selection is not only huge, but very very tasty.
Granted there's no Eiffel Tower, no Louvre. But a few days of wandering the streets of Brussels is good for the soul.
...
25 May, 2008
The 40 Dollar Post.
So I did the math. Okay, my computer did the math, I just entered the numbers. The 24 Euro internet bill is $37.18 in U.S. dollars. So hard to be in Europe with the dollar tanking like it is.
But anyway, here's a collage of my 12 days in Paris... 8 of which were with Nicole.
Pictures in no particular order...
Pack.
Dance.
Walk.
Mona Lisa.
Baguette.
Sightsee.
Croque Moisseur.
Notre Dame.
Art shot.
Sausages and frittes.
Crepes.
Big keys.
Waiting for the gallows.
I.M. Pei and 666 panes of glass.
Babylonians?
Impressionists.
Catacombs.
Claustrophobia. (Flash sparkle. I didn't pee my pants. Although I wanted to.)
Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bones.
Panini.
Desert.
Cappuccino.
Fin.
...
But anyway, here's a collage of my 12 days in Paris... 8 of which were with Nicole.
Pictures in no particular order...
Pack.
Dance.
Walk.
Mona Lisa.
Baguette.
Sightsee.
Croque Moisseur.
Notre Dame.
Art shot.
Sausages and frittes.
Crepes.
Big keys.
Waiting for the gallows.
I.M. Pei and 666 panes of glass.
Babylonians?
Impressionists.
Catacombs.
Claustrophobia. (Flash sparkle. I didn't pee my pants. Although I wanted to.)
Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bones.
Panini.
Desert.
Cappuccino.Fin.
...
21 May, 2008
The First Nutshell
So Nicole has been in Paris for a few days now, and we've been nonstop. Except for our afternoon naps and shows every night, it's not been the same day twice. We've taken a ton of pictures and intend to post them here soon. But seeing as I share this internet connection with 36 cast and crew and all of their respective others, hogging bandwidth is something I should do when no one else is here.
In the meantime, here are some of my pointers for seeing Paris...
In the meantime, here are some of my pointers for seeing Paris...
- The Louvre is really big.
- The Eiffel Tower is really tall.
- The D'Orsay Museum is closed on Mondays, while everything else is closed on Tuesdays.
- The Concierge was the person who took care of the prisoners, doled out their food and what not. And if you did a bad job, you were killed. Which make me wonder, how did the title, concierge, come to mean, the guy at the hotel you ask where things are?
- The subway system is very underground. And sometimes very above ground.
- The Seine is full of water, and boats can float on that.
- Decathlon is a GREAT store! Even with the weak dollar.
- Panini's taste good, any time of day.
- Don't always listen to what your guide book says. After all, that's still someone's opinion of what to do in Paris.
...
16 May, 2008
Reporting Live From Paris.
Here's the first post whilst I'm in Paris. And frankly, there's not much to report. But before I get to that, I feel I should answer Jades question... I can get into the lounges for Delta, Continental, Northwest, and American Airlines. Which is fine because I'm not a fan of United, much less any airlines.
But back to Paris. Not much has happened worth reporting. I landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport and caught the shuttle van that was set up for the crew. I ended up having to wait for a couple of hours for my room to be cleaned and ready, so a bunch of us, who were in the same boat (so to speak) went to a cafe and had sandwiches and L'Eau with gas. That's sparkling water.
When I got to my room, I fought hard the temptation to sleep because I didn't want to get my jet lag on. But ended up setting my alarm for a 1/2 hour nap because I couldn't fight it anymore. It was a really solid sleep which was probably worse because I woke up groggy instead of just being foggy. Yes, I'm saying a fog is better than a grog. I showered to wake up the skin and then met a couple of friends to hunt down dinner.
After a nice steak and pomme frittes (that's steak and french fries) chased with a nice bottle of wine, I got back to my room at 11PM with every intention of sleeping until load in.
Load-in was at 6AM and I of course bolted up from my sleep, wide awake and ready to work... at 3AM. I was jet lagged and I knew it. But there's no point in trying to fall back asleep because I'd again go from foggy to groggy. So I sat up in bed and turned on bad French TV for a spell.
While flipping through, I came across an MTV like station that was playing videos. I became entranced by this video that was playing. It can be seen here. Can you believe the name of the group is "Undies Kissing Girls"?! Nice.
Load in led to rehearsal, rehearsal led to programming, programming led to sleep, which led to the next day of rehearsal and programming and then show, which led to the opening night party at a night club, which led to another day of programming and then show. (note there's no sleep between the night club and more programming)
So today was really the first day off I had. When I say day off, I mean I have the day off, we still have shows at night. I'm currently sitting at my lighting console using the free internet. At the hotel, it's about $15 an hour for internet connection. Yes I said and HOUR. It's crazy. May as well come to work early and save myself the money.
I did walk around a bit today. I was on a mission to go to my favorite store in Europe, Decathlon. It's basically a supermarket of sporting goods. But they have their own lines of stuff, so even with the bad exchange rate for the dollar to euro, the prices aren't bad. They have Under Armour like shirts that are about 7 Euro or about 10 dollars. Not bad.
Aight time to start the show. I'll have pictures later from my drunken stupor at the opening night party, and Nicole will be in town. So the sight seeing will begin.
But back to Paris. Not much has happened worth reporting. I landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport and caught the shuttle van that was set up for the crew. I ended up having to wait for a couple of hours for my room to be cleaned and ready, so a bunch of us, who were in the same boat (so to speak) went to a cafe and had sandwiches and L'Eau with gas. That's sparkling water.
When I got to my room, I fought hard the temptation to sleep because I didn't want to get my jet lag on. But ended up setting my alarm for a 1/2 hour nap because I couldn't fight it anymore. It was a really solid sleep which was probably worse because I woke up groggy instead of just being foggy. Yes, I'm saying a fog is better than a grog. I showered to wake up the skin and then met a couple of friends to hunt down dinner.
After a nice steak and pomme frittes (that's steak and french fries) chased with a nice bottle of wine, I got back to my room at 11PM with every intention of sleeping until load in.
Load-in was at 6AM and I of course bolted up from my sleep, wide awake and ready to work... at 3AM. I was jet lagged and I knew it. But there's no point in trying to fall back asleep because I'd again go from foggy to groggy. So I sat up in bed and turned on bad French TV for a spell.
While flipping through, I came across an MTV like station that was playing videos. I became entranced by this video that was playing. It can be seen here. Can you believe the name of the group is "Undies Kissing Girls"?! Nice.
Load in led to rehearsal, rehearsal led to programming, programming led to sleep, which led to the next day of rehearsal and programming and then show, which led to the opening night party at a night club, which led to another day of programming and then show. (note there's no sleep between the night club and more programming)
So today was really the first day off I had. When I say day off, I mean I have the day off, we still have shows at night. I'm currently sitting at my lighting console using the free internet. At the hotel, it's about $15 an hour for internet connection. Yes I said and HOUR. It's crazy. May as well come to work early and save myself the money.
I did walk around a bit today. I was on a mission to go to my favorite store in Europe, Decathlon. It's basically a supermarket of sporting goods. But they have their own lines of stuff, so even with the bad exchange rate for the dollar to euro, the prices aren't bad. They have Under Armour like shirts that are about 7 Euro or about 10 dollars. Not bad.
Aight time to start the show. I'll have pictures later from my drunken stupor at the opening night party, and Nicole will be in town. So the sight seeing will begin.
...
11 May, 2008
Things That Go Bump In The Day.
Namely, me. I got bumped, AGAIN. 6 weeks ago, I got bumped on my way to Green Bay, WI. American Airlines, as many of you saw, had to re-inspect most of their fleet of MD-80 jets for wiring problems. The news says, most of the canceled flights would be at the airline hubs of Chicago O'Hare and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Not many flights were effected out of LAX. Only two flights! One of them was mine.
So today, same thing. I get to the airport to check in my bag to Paris, and the magical kiosk keeps telling me there is a problem. Finally, someone comes to help me and tells me that my flight to Houston is 3 hours late and that I've been bumped to another flight. Now I'm flying to Newark, NJ and then on to Paris. The flight is at 12:30 PM, one and a half hours later than the Houston flight. Great. I'm stuck in the airport longer than expected.
But it's fine, 'cause I can access the business class lounge so I can have water, Fritos, and free internet so I can write my blog.
By the by, the only reason I can get in the lounge is because of the magical American Express Platinum card. I'm not trying to show off or act all "high makamaka". But if you travel as much as I do, and can get the Platinum card, Do it.
See you all on the other side...
So today, same thing. I get to the airport to check in my bag to Paris, and the magical kiosk keeps telling me there is a problem. Finally, someone comes to help me and tells me that my flight to Houston is 3 hours late and that I've been bumped to another flight. Now I'm flying to Newark, NJ and then on to Paris. The flight is at 12:30 PM, one and a half hours later than the Houston flight. Great. I'm stuck in the airport longer than expected.
But it's fine, 'cause I can access the business class lounge so I can have water, Fritos, and free internet so I can write my blog.
By the by, the only reason I can get in the lounge is because of the magical American Express Platinum card. I'm not trying to show off or act all "high makamaka". But if you travel as much as I do, and can get the Platinum card, Do it.
See you all on the other side...
...
06 May, 2008
Seussilious
I enter my room and looked all around.
A bed and desk, and a place to sit down.
I turned and looked in the room that I pee.
It's small and it's tight, but that's not all that I see.
I pan my eyes up to the top of the wall.
And there sits a painting not terribly small.
I stood and I stared,
not knowing what to think.
I was baffled and awed,
And leaned on the sink.
For there it sat,
up high on the wall,
The Cat in the Hat!
It's not terribly small.
I sniggled and snorffed,
and giggled a bit.
At least I don't see it
while I'm taking a s**t.
What more can one do?
Besides post a blog,
About The Cat in the Hat,
Hung in the bog.
And to my friend Jade,
For in this blog I write,
The counter space around the sink
is just enough for a mite.
...
Isn't it just the "Boland Way"?
...
A bed and desk, and a place to sit down.
I turned and looked in the room that I pee.
It's small and it's tight, but that's not all that I see.
I pan my eyes up to the top of the wall.
And there sits a painting not terribly small.
I stood and I stared,
not knowing what to think.
I was baffled and awed,
And leaned on the sink.
For there it sat,
up high on the wall,
The Cat in the Hat!
It's not terribly small.
I sniggled and snorffed,
and giggled a bit.
At least I don't see it
while I'm taking a s**t.
What more can one do?
Besides post a blog,
About The Cat in the Hat,
Hung in the bog.
And to my friend Jade,
For in this blog I write,
The counter space around the sink
is just enough for a mite.
...
Isn't it just the "Boland Way"?...
04 May, 2008
The End.
Here we are. The last show on this leg of the tour. Everyone kept saying, this will be the last shows on American soil for at least a few years. They said Micheal Jackson would never play on American soil after his first child molesting incident. But, like Micheal played Hawai'i, our first show on the "Canada" leg this coming September is in Youngstown, OH. Hopefully we'll sell well for that one.
The end of this tour is a mix of blessings and curses. A blessing that it's over and I get to go home for a few days. But a curse because it's not really over and I still have to go to Paris and Korea. But it's a blessing that it's Paris and Nicole is joining me. It's a curse because I can't upgrade to Business class to Korea. But a blessing because the tour has routed me through Hawai'i to Korea so I get about 8 days with my family at the end. A curse because we still have two days of rehearsals, so I'm not really going home until Wednesday. But still a blessing because it's finally over!
It's been a bit of a rough end. We've done a 5 in a row all in the Northeast of the country. We did a show last night on Long Island which is the closest we'll ever get to New York City. And since Blue Man is based in the Big Apple, most of the big wigs had to come show face and press palms. The stress level in the room was definitely high. And it certainly doesn't help that the Nassau Coliseum where we played is strong union. So strong that they get in each others way and nothing gets done quickly. It's always strange that there's three unions and one union, the I.B.E.W., all they do is tie in power and run two cables. Nice.
But it's almost over, I get to go home. The end, sleep will come.
But I think the most important news of the weekend has been the surprise invite of Astana to the Giro D'italia. Back on my soap box with me. But I should point out that back in February, Astana was told that they can't ride any races promoted by both companies that run the Giro and the Tour de France. So far, Astana has been left out of most of the big name races in the season. But everything else they've been allowed to enter, they've won handily. Including this weekends ProTour event, the Tour de Romandie, which was won by Andreas Kloden.
They (Astana) have already stated that they will put their three best riders, Leipheimer, Contador, and Kloden on the start line in Sicily. I don't know that they will win, but perhaps they will do well. They haven't prepared properly. But in any case, it's a big F/U to the ASO (the people who manage the Tour de France). Their one big ally in Italy basically says, "We were wrong to not invite you Astana. Please come, you truly are the best team in the sport of cycling."
Which has led conspiracy theorist to put forth the theory that the ASO will also invite Astana, but not until the last minute, thus giving them less of a chance to win because they are unprepared and worn out from winning and working hard all season.
Damn conspiracy theorists. I think they will stick to their guns and Astana will sit out the Tour de France this year. But they will have egg on their face for being the only ones who excluded the best team in cycling.
The End.
The end of this tour is a mix of blessings and curses. A blessing that it's over and I get to go home for a few days. But a curse because it's not really over and I still have to go to Paris and Korea. But it's a blessing that it's Paris and Nicole is joining me. It's a curse because I can't upgrade to Business class to Korea. But a blessing because the tour has routed me through Hawai'i to Korea so I get about 8 days with my family at the end. A curse because we still have two days of rehearsals, so I'm not really going home until Wednesday. But still a blessing because it's finally over!
It's been a bit of a rough end. We've done a 5 in a row all in the Northeast of the country. We did a show last night on Long Island which is the closest we'll ever get to New York City. And since Blue Man is based in the Big Apple, most of the big wigs had to come show face and press palms. The stress level in the room was definitely high. And it certainly doesn't help that the Nassau Coliseum where we played is strong union. So strong that they get in each others way and nothing gets done quickly. It's always strange that there's three unions and one union, the I.B.E.W., all they do is tie in power and run two cables. Nice.
But it's almost over, I get to go home. The end, sleep will come.
But I think the most important news of the weekend has been the surprise invite of Astana to the Giro D'italia. Back on my soap box with me. But I should point out that back in February, Astana was told that they can't ride any races promoted by both companies that run the Giro and the Tour de France. So far, Astana has been left out of most of the big name races in the season. But everything else they've been allowed to enter, they've won handily. Including this weekends ProTour event, the Tour de Romandie, which was won by Andreas Kloden.
They (Astana) have already stated that they will put their three best riders, Leipheimer, Contador, and Kloden on the start line in Sicily. I don't know that they will win, but perhaps they will do well. They haven't prepared properly. But in any case, it's a big F/U to the ASO (the people who manage the Tour de France). Their one big ally in Italy basically says, "We were wrong to not invite you Astana. Please come, you truly are the best team in the sport of cycling."
Which has led conspiracy theorist to put forth the theory that the ASO will also invite Astana, but not until the last minute, thus giving them less of a chance to win because they are unprepared and worn out from winning and working hard all season.
Damn conspiracy theorists. I think they will stick to their guns and Astana will sit out the Tour de France this year. But they will have egg on their face for being the only ones who excluded the best team in cycling.
The End.
...
02 May, 2008
3 Days and Counting, But We're Not Caught By Parsons
Three shows left on this leg of the tour. We're in Wilkes-Barre today (or is it pronounced "Wilkes-Barre"?), Uniondale tomorrow (Long Island, NY) and then Springfield, MA on Sunday. We then have two days of rehearsal and then fly home. So all you L.A. folks, I'm home for just under 5 days. I'll be shooting on Saturday with Mike if anyone else wants to come. But that's about the only plan I have. And I'm hoping to keep it that way. I haven't seen my wife or house or cats or dog or truck for over 6 weeks. I'll go shoot a shotgun, but I think I'll stay home otherwise and enjoy some quite time on the couch.
We were in the same arena we finished the last winter/spring leg in. We were here for 5 days rehearsing for South America. So I know the area well. Over there is the Red Robin where Benny and I had a drink and a burger. Next to that is the hotel we stayed in. If you look over there, you can see the shopping area with the Target and Dick's Sporting Goods. Yep, I was here too long.
Aside from that, nothing much to report. Same ol' same ol'. Just gotta get to the end of this tour.
And in case you are wondering about the title of this blog, here's where it's referenced from. Time to post again Lindsay.
We were in the same arena we finished the last winter/spring leg in. We were here for 5 days rehearsing for South America. So I know the area well. Over there is the Red Robin where Benny and I had a drink and a burger. Next to that is the hotel we stayed in. If you look over there, you can see the shopping area with the Target and Dick's Sporting Goods. Yep, I was here too long.
Aside from that, nothing much to report. Same ol' same ol'. Just gotta get to the end of this tour.
And in case you are wondering about the title of this blog, here's where it's referenced from. Time to post again Lindsay.
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