Productive Chaos
Feb. 27th, 2025 06:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Enjoyed Monday very much, because it was a weekend for me :)
Woke up early to do transcription, but it was raining heavily outside, and with a lovely cup of coffee and an easy case it was very relaxing. Jameson was up early as well for physical therapy for his arm. It's going well but is of course painful.
Other events-of-the-day:
- It ended up raining all day. It was wonderful.
- In addition to transcription, I practiced bass and went to the grocery for lasagna ingredients.
- Enjoyed writing and chatting with misc friends throughout the day.
- Cooked us teriyaki chicken kabobs, Mila chicken soup dumplings, and steamed edamame for dinner. It was "ok" but the teriyaki sauce needed something, it was kinda boring.
- I got a gig! It's not until April and it's just a one-nighter. BUT I get to wear a costume and play 1920s stuffs!
Not confirmed but I'm pretty sure it's this band:
Now I've got another fun thing to look forward to!
Hmm. Somehow I thought I did more than this today, but I guess not. Oh well! :p
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Tuesday was another glorious day off but wasn't very relaxing. A lot to do!
First was transcription early in the morning. I submitted one job and will hold the other hostage until the day before it's due so they don't send me new work during the back-to-back Epic rehearsal days.
Then I drove the caramels out to my friend Bill, which is two hours round trip. It's a nice drive, but I spent half of it using dictation to respond to a flurry of text messages and group chats as our Epic rehearsal was rescheduled twice and then put back to the original time, and then the musicians in the gig I just got were messaging about reserving a rehearsal space. Anyway got the caramels dropped, chatted with Bill a bit. He tried a caramel and said they were excellent. Good!
Back home lunch, then prepping the salad and parts of the lasagna for dinner tonight.
Practicing bass and memorizing another Disney tune.
Packing lunch and dinner for Epic tomorrow, and prepping breakfast too.
Made the lasagna while Jameson was in a meeting. It's a recipe I've used before, halved, and it turns out great every time. Now he can eat out a little less while I'm at Epic for the next three days.
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Wednesday, up early to shove my soul into my body for Epic rehearsals.
Showed up early enough to get a decent parking spot, even!
I brought the remaining caramels from the batch I'd made for Bill, and everyone who tried them enjoyed them (we didn't get much indoor time today.)
It was a very weird day. Mock service is in full swing, so lots of employees walking around in civilian clothes riding rides, eating at restaurants, shopping, and taking in entertainment as though they were guests. There were also some Warner Bros. honchos on site later in the day.
Both of the other trombone ladies had gigs that night and left at 2pm. Up to that point Dwight (show director) had us practicing things with our prop "backstage" since we couldn't do it in the actual park during mock service. Then we were told we'd do shows at 1:30 and 3:30, so I got into costume and makeup, but the schedules were running behind (shows are on a schedule so as not to overlap/compete. If one is late, subsequent shows can be late or even canceled.) We didn't do the 1:30 but did do the 3:30.
It was the first time any of us have done a show, in full costume, with our special prop. With EVERYTHING! We even had our hats and wands!! Fun fact (which I'll hope is not an NDA violation): My wand is from Ollivander's, but the boys' wands are from Cosme Acajor. I am a bit jealous because Cosme's wands are new and shiny, but having a wand at all is very exciting!
The new wands from Cosme Acajor's shop in the Ministry of Magic.
Remember that you can click on images to enlarge them.
(photo courtesy wdwnt.com)
And they WORK on the interactives in the park!! Between activities Adrian the clarinetist and I snuck away to wave our wands at as many interactive things in the park as we could. Mine did not work, possibly because it's from the "other" wizarding world. But Adrian's set everything off and it was very fun to see!
Ahem. The 3:30 went as well as it could considering all of the new factors that we were dealing with. Some things went pear-shaped, but for the most part it went pretty well. It's really exciting to be SO CLOSE to a truly complete show :)
All day long the WESH2 helicopter was circling. All. Day.
Here's what they got:
To close out the day we did a show run in the park out of costume (mock service ended at 4pm.) So OF COURSE that’s when the Warner Bros honchos came through! Lol. That run went fine. Personally I don't care who's in the audience; it doesn't change how I play. Unless it's my parents. But that's a moot point now.
It was a more relaxed day than expected, and I was thankful for that.
Back home Jameson was helping some friends with a keyboard issue...he knows so much about all types of keyboards!...and instead of practicing I took it upon myself to dig out the old, ugly, stinky "frankenbone" that my friend Brett sent me a while ago when I was looking for a spare trombone to use at Disney. I hadn't ended up needing it because I found a guy with a spare Earl Williams that he was willing to trade for my Minick. But when I'd tried to return it to Brett he'd asked me to just keep it or donate it. A throwaway horn.
Part of using our new prop at Epic Universe involves setting my trombone down and, uh...."doing lots of stuff involving movement" around it. Not just me, but my colleagues in the show. As my trombone is one-of-a-kind and not replaceable if something happens to it, I am VERY uncomfortable with this. Myself and the other trombone ladies have voiced this discomfort many times, but ultimately the problem is that I'm bringing a rare trombone into a situation where it could be damaged. So, fine. I cleaned up this "frankenbone," which is not very fun to play, but the guests don't know that. I'll have no problem if it's hit, knocked over, or damaged during our show.
Cleaning the trombone took me until 9pm, so no practice today, but that's all right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday and Friday: Two more Epic rehearsal days.
Saturday & Sunday: Days "off." Starting a new transcription job, meeting with a tax preparer, cooking dinner, practicing, cleaning...the usual.
Woke up early to do transcription, but it was raining heavily outside, and with a lovely cup of coffee and an easy case it was very relaxing. Jameson was up early as well for physical therapy for his arm. It's going well but is of course painful.
Other events-of-the-day:
- It ended up raining all day. It was wonderful.
- In addition to transcription, I practiced bass and went to the grocery for lasagna ingredients.
- Enjoyed writing and chatting with misc friends throughout the day.
- Cooked us teriyaki chicken kabobs, Mila chicken soup dumplings, and steamed edamame for dinner. It was "ok" but the teriyaki sauce needed something, it was kinda boring.
- I got a gig! It's not until April and it's just a one-nighter. BUT I get to wear a costume and play 1920s stuffs!
Not confirmed but I'm pretty sure it's this band:
Now I've got another fun thing to look forward to!
Hmm. Somehow I thought I did more than this today, but I guess not. Oh well! :p
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday was another glorious day off but wasn't very relaxing. A lot to do!
First was transcription early in the morning. I submitted one job and will hold the other hostage until the day before it's due so they don't send me new work during the back-to-back Epic rehearsal days.
Then I drove the caramels out to my friend Bill, which is two hours round trip. It's a nice drive, but I spent half of it using dictation to respond to a flurry of text messages and group chats as our Epic rehearsal was rescheduled twice and then put back to the original time, and then the musicians in the gig I just got were messaging about reserving a rehearsal space. Anyway got the caramels dropped, chatted with Bill a bit. He tried a caramel and said they were excellent. Good!
Back home lunch, then prepping the salad and parts of the lasagna for dinner tonight.
Practicing bass and memorizing another Disney tune.
Packing lunch and dinner for Epic tomorrow, and prepping breakfast too.
Made the lasagna while Jameson was in a meeting. It's a recipe I've used before, halved, and it turns out great every time. Now he can eat out a little less while I'm at Epic for the next three days.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, up early to shove my soul into my body for Epic rehearsals.
Showed up early enough to get a decent parking spot, even!
I brought the remaining caramels from the batch I'd made for Bill, and everyone who tried them enjoyed them (we didn't get much indoor time today.)
It was a very weird day. Mock service is in full swing, so lots of employees walking around in civilian clothes riding rides, eating at restaurants, shopping, and taking in entertainment as though they were guests. There were also some Warner Bros. honchos on site later in the day.
Both of the other trombone ladies had gigs that night and left at 2pm. Up to that point Dwight (show director) had us practicing things with our prop "backstage" since we couldn't do it in the actual park during mock service. Then we were told we'd do shows at 1:30 and 3:30, so I got into costume and makeup, but the schedules were running behind (shows are on a schedule so as not to overlap/compete. If one is late, subsequent shows can be late or even canceled.) We didn't do the 1:30 but did do the 3:30.
It was the first time any of us have done a show, in full costume, with our special prop. With EVERYTHING! We even had our hats and wands!! Fun fact (which I'll hope is not an NDA violation): My wand is from Ollivander's, but the boys' wands are from Cosme Acajor. I am a bit jealous because Cosme's wands are new and shiny, but having a wand at all is very exciting!
The new wands from Cosme Acajor's shop in the Ministry of Magic.
Remember that you can click on images to enlarge them.
(photo courtesy wdwnt.com)
And they WORK on the interactives in the park!! Between activities Adrian the clarinetist and I snuck away to wave our wands at as many interactive things in the park as we could. Mine did not work, possibly because it's from the "other" wizarding world. But Adrian's set everything off and it was very fun to see!
Ahem. The 3:30 went as well as it could considering all of the new factors that we were dealing with. Some things went pear-shaped, but for the most part it went pretty well. It's really exciting to be SO CLOSE to a truly complete show :)
All day long the WESH2 helicopter was circling. All. Day.
Here's what they got:
To close out the day we did a show run in the park out of costume (mock service ended at 4pm.) So OF COURSE that’s when the Warner Bros honchos came through! Lol. That run went fine. Personally I don't care who's in the audience; it doesn't change how I play. Unless it's my parents. But that's a moot point now.
It was a more relaxed day than expected, and I was thankful for that.
Back home Jameson was helping some friends with a keyboard issue...he knows so much about all types of keyboards!...and instead of practicing I took it upon myself to dig out the old, ugly, stinky "frankenbone" that my friend Brett sent me a while ago when I was looking for a spare trombone to use at Disney. I hadn't ended up needing it because I found a guy with a spare Earl Williams that he was willing to trade for my Minick. But when I'd tried to return it to Brett he'd asked me to just keep it or donate it. A throwaway horn.
Part of using our new prop at Epic Universe involves setting my trombone down and, uh...."doing lots of stuff involving movement" around it. Not just me, but my colleagues in the show. As my trombone is one-of-a-kind and not replaceable if something happens to it, I am VERY uncomfortable with this. Myself and the other trombone ladies have voiced this discomfort many times, but ultimately the problem is that I'm bringing a rare trombone into a situation where it could be damaged. So, fine. I cleaned up this "frankenbone," which is not very fun to play, but the guests don't know that. I'll have no problem if it's hit, knocked over, or damaged during our show.
Cleaning the trombone took me until 9pm, so no practice today, but that's all right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday and Friday: Two more Epic rehearsal days.
Saturday & Sunday: Days "off." Starting a new transcription job, meeting with a tax preparer, cooking dinner, practicing, cleaning...the usual.
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