![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_3910/17
We are sailing to LA today. Upon returning to the ship last night, Paula (sax) wasn’t feeling great, so I was asked to fill in for her set. I did a very poor job, mostly because I spent the entire day goofing off and hadn’t played a single note or listened to any jazz.
I’m having confidence issues. Well I guess you all know I had them before coming here. All I can do is keep trying. In a few minutes I’m running up to Nia’s room (trumpet) to pick up some recordings. Stacey (bass) has already given me quite a lot of music as well. And I’m going to try to do one hour of listening every day.
One thing that I forgot to bring or buy is a notepad/paper. Everyone has suggested that I write out the music as a way of practicing that goes along with listening.
Today we had our first outdoor set, wearing our cute little “Hawaiian” shirts and standing near the pool. It was very hot, but we made the best of it and afterward many people came up to thank us for playing and tell us we did a good job. And then we saw some whales! I wanted to take pictures, but really all you could see was a blue lump in the vast blue sea. In person, they were beautiful.
10/18
We arrived in LA sometime last night or this morning. We had another outdoor set today, but this time it was a special PR event for some company VIPs to experience some of the new sound equipment that’s been installed during ship renovations. The sound check was in the morning, so I got up early and ate breakfast then climbed nine flights of stairs(!) to reach deck 16. It was a beautiful day and we had a fantastic view of the shipyard and bridge.
The sound check went well. During the down time before the event I checked my email and spoke with other band members about how we can arrange some pop/rock/funk charts for ourselves for future sets. It’s a little difficult without reliable internet, but I think we’ll be able to pull something off, just maybe not right away.
We had to wait over an hour for the event to start, but start it did, and it was over in just a few tunes. Afterward several execs came over to thank us and introduce themselves. I was happy to meet these people, who very likely had a hand in hiring me!—and who also have a say in the equipment and facilities that we’re able to use. So even though it was a long wait to perform for them, I was glad that we got to do it.
Afterward we were starving! The crew mess was closed, so Stacey (bass) and I went to the Horizon Court buffet. It’s for guests, but we have permission to use it on certain days during certain hours. We figured this probably qualified as a permissible time to eat! The food was delicious :)
Then we had a little bit of free time before the turnaround day safety drill. “Turnaround day” apparently means the day we take on passengers and then “turn around” and leave haha. We all spent the time resting and enjoying our American cell phone data service, although we could only get signal by sitting in the hallway near a door. I felt bad every time an international crew member approached our little hallway huddle to ask, “Wifi?” only to find out we were using data.
The safety drill went well. I returned to my room and decided to risk washing some of my “dry clean only” clothes…so far it looks like nothing was ruined, yay! Then I downloaded some real books, jazz exercises, and recordings that Nia (trumpet) had graciously put on a flash drive for me. I’m going to begin working these into my daily routine to see if I can’t improve my musicianship a little bit.
I am well aware that it’s my own fault that I’ve avoided everything jazz for so long. I didn’t like it to begin with, and then after getting shamed or embarrassed every time I tried to perform it I started to actively avoid it. But I think these ladies are making me reset how I approach jazz music. Here I am being given the opportunity to improve, and I NEED to take advantage of it. Afterward I may decide that I still hate jazz, or whatever, but at the very least I need to really make an effort this time.
Tonight at dinner there were WHOLE SQUID! And I do mean whole. Guts and eyeballs and everything but the beaks and ink sacs. I like to try new things and I already know that I like squid, so I slopped some onto my plate and took a big bite. Blech! Squid guts are not very good! The taste isn’t actually that bad, but the texture was pretty awful. Rubbery and gritty and just no. Plus it was oversalted. I ate it anyway so as not to be wasteful, but probably gonna cross whole squid off my list :P
10/19
Today was pretty slow. We only had a little training in the morning, then a set around 6:45. In the time between we were “” docked at Catalina Island. “” docked means that we’re not in an actual port, but rather anchored offshore, and then the cruise ship provides little orange ferries to take people to and from the island. I know this because we woke to an awful grinding noise, which my roommate said was the anchor tearing up the bottom of the sea. But anyway, here’s Catalina Island.
I didn’t disembark myself because I felt I needed to practice for the evening set. And it’s a good thing I did, because even with the practicing I didn’t play very well. But then I think most of us weren’t happy with how we played. Personally I was nervous, Molly (drummer) said she just wasn’t in the groove, and I think Paula (sax) might have wanted a sectional beforehand. And we should have tuned as well. But, hey. It’s only been two weeks, and we haven’t had that many sets together. People still danced, and applauded, and seemed to have a good time. Of course we want to do better, but what’s important is that people are still having fun and enjoying what we’re putting out in the now.
In other news, we have begun sailing to Mexico!
Tomorrow I’ll have a sectional with Paula and Nia (trumpet), then Molly and I have volunteered for a “cherry pie” job: helping out at an art auction!
10/20
Today we had a dance set in the afternoon and it went quite well. Even my solos were not terrible. The only hitch was a request from a guest, and we thought we had the lead sheet for it, but turns out it was a Bb sheet. So I started to play and thought, “Well this doesn’t sound right!” That’s because it needed to be transposed! Whoops! But we got through it one way or another, and we still got applause when we were done.
Oh, before that, Molly (drums) and I had our “cherry pie” work registering people for an art auction today! It was very easy. We each got a computer and a spreadsheet with some formulas already entered. If a guest wanted to register for the auction, we’d ask for their room number, and their name would come up automatically on the sheet. Then we’d assign them a bidding number and give them some raffle tickets. A fun job for a little extra cash! When we were finished we enjoyed lunch at the guest buffet, since crew mess was closed by then. I enjoyed spending time with Molly and getting to know a little more about her :)
Other than that, it was a pretty slow day. I went to the crew gym for the first time and used the elliptical. Tomorrow Molly, Stacey (bass) and I are going to the guest gym together to exercise. All of us have almost the whole day free in Ensenada, but I am stuck with In Port Manning (IPM) duty and can’t get off the ship. I’ll probably spend the day practicing, searching for stray wifi signals, and exploring the ship (I STILL don’t know where everything is!)
10/21
It was a nice slow day. As mentioned, I couldn't get off the ship because of IPM duty, but made the best of my time. I practiced, did laundry, and went to the gym. Here are some pictures of the port. We were docked next to a Carnival ship.
In the evening we had a rehearsal for a Disco Deck Party to take place in a few days. Pretty straightforward stuff.
10/21
I'm typing this from a coffee shop in LA. Molly and I walked there to get our wifi fix, and we also need to pick up some stuff we ordered and had sent to a UPS store. I also want to pick up some honey and cinnamon (for my morning oatmeal) and some office supplies, like a lanyard for my ship ID. This coffee shop is awesome by the way...Sacred Grounds. Stop in if you get a chance.
We need to be back on the ship by 2pm, then we have a passenger safety drill at 3:15pm. At night we'll have two dance band sets, which should be fun (because there's less improv haha). I like it when people are dancing and having fun :)
We are sailing to LA today. Upon returning to the ship last night, Paula (sax) wasn’t feeling great, so I was asked to fill in for her set. I did a very poor job, mostly because I spent the entire day goofing off and hadn’t played a single note or listened to any jazz.
I’m having confidence issues. Well I guess you all know I had them before coming here. All I can do is keep trying. In a few minutes I’m running up to Nia’s room (trumpet) to pick up some recordings. Stacey (bass) has already given me quite a lot of music as well. And I’m going to try to do one hour of listening every day.
One thing that I forgot to bring or buy is a notepad/paper. Everyone has suggested that I write out the music as a way of practicing that goes along with listening.
Today we had our first outdoor set, wearing our cute little “Hawaiian” shirts and standing near the pool. It was very hot, but we made the best of it and afterward many people came up to thank us for playing and tell us we did a good job. And then we saw some whales! I wanted to take pictures, but really all you could see was a blue lump in the vast blue sea. In person, they were beautiful.
10/18
We arrived in LA sometime last night or this morning. We had another outdoor set today, but this time it was a special PR event for some company VIPs to experience some of the new sound equipment that’s been installed during ship renovations. The sound check was in the morning, so I got up early and ate breakfast then climbed nine flights of stairs(!) to reach deck 16. It was a beautiful day and we had a fantastic view of the shipyard and bridge.
The sound check went well. During the down time before the event I checked my email and spoke with other band members about how we can arrange some pop/rock/funk charts for ourselves for future sets. It’s a little difficult without reliable internet, but I think we’ll be able to pull something off, just maybe not right away.
We had to wait over an hour for the event to start, but start it did, and it was over in just a few tunes. Afterward several execs came over to thank us and introduce themselves. I was happy to meet these people, who very likely had a hand in hiring me!—and who also have a say in the equipment and facilities that we’re able to use. So even though it was a long wait to perform for them, I was glad that we got to do it.
Afterward we were starving! The crew mess was closed, so Stacey (bass) and I went to the Horizon Court buffet. It’s for guests, but we have permission to use it on certain days during certain hours. We figured this probably qualified as a permissible time to eat! The food was delicious :)
Then we had a little bit of free time before the turnaround day safety drill. “Turnaround day” apparently means the day we take on passengers and then “turn around” and leave haha. We all spent the time resting and enjoying our American cell phone data service, although we could only get signal by sitting in the hallway near a door. I felt bad every time an international crew member approached our little hallway huddle to ask, “Wifi?” only to find out we were using data.
The safety drill went well. I returned to my room and decided to risk washing some of my “dry clean only” clothes…so far it looks like nothing was ruined, yay! Then I downloaded some real books, jazz exercises, and recordings that Nia (trumpet) had graciously put on a flash drive for me. I’m going to begin working these into my daily routine to see if I can’t improve my musicianship a little bit.
I am well aware that it’s my own fault that I’ve avoided everything jazz for so long. I didn’t like it to begin with, and then after getting shamed or embarrassed every time I tried to perform it I started to actively avoid it. But I think these ladies are making me reset how I approach jazz music. Here I am being given the opportunity to improve, and I NEED to take advantage of it. Afterward I may decide that I still hate jazz, or whatever, but at the very least I need to really make an effort this time.
Tonight at dinner there were WHOLE SQUID! And I do mean whole. Guts and eyeballs and everything but the beaks and ink sacs. I like to try new things and I already know that I like squid, so I slopped some onto my plate and took a big bite. Blech! Squid guts are not very good! The taste isn’t actually that bad, but the texture was pretty awful. Rubbery and gritty and just no. Plus it was oversalted. I ate it anyway so as not to be wasteful, but probably gonna cross whole squid off my list :P
10/19
Today was pretty slow. We only had a little training in the morning, then a set around 6:45. In the time between we were “” docked at Catalina Island. “” docked means that we’re not in an actual port, but rather anchored offshore, and then the cruise ship provides little orange ferries to take people to and from the island. I know this because we woke to an awful grinding noise, which my roommate said was the anchor tearing up the bottom of the sea. But anyway, here’s Catalina Island.
I didn’t disembark myself because I felt I needed to practice for the evening set. And it’s a good thing I did, because even with the practicing I didn’t play very well. But then I think most of us weren’t happy with how we played. Personally I was nervous, Molly (drummer) said she just wasn’t in the groove, and I think Paula (sax) might have wanted a sectional beforehand. And we should have tuned as well. But, hey. It’s only been two weeks, and we haven’t had that many sets together. People still danced, and applauded, and seemed to have a good time. Of course we want to do better, but what’s important is that people are still having fun and enjoying what we’re putting out in the now.
In other news, we have begun sailing to Mexico!
Tomorrow I’ll have a sectional with Paula and Nia (trumpet), then Molly and I have volunteered for a “cherry pie” job: helping out at an art auction!
10/20
Today we had a dance set in the afternoon and it went quite well. Even my solos were not terrible. The only hitch was a request from a guest, and we thought we had the lead sheet for it, but turns out it was a Bb sheet. So I started to play and thought, “Well this doesn’t sound right!” That’s because it needed to be transposed! Whoops! But we got through it one way or another, and we still got applause when we were done.
Oh, before that, Molly (drums) and I had our “cherry pie” work registering people for an art auction today! It was very easy. We each got a computer and a spreadsheet with some formulas already entered. If a guest wanted to register for the auction, we’d ask for their room number, and their name would come up automatically on the sheet. Then we’d assign them a bidding number and give them some raffle tickets. A fun job for a little extra cash! When we were finished we enjoyed lunch at the guest buffet, since crew mess was closed by then. I enjoyed spending time with Molly and getting to know a little more about her :)
Other than that, it was a pretty slow day. I went to the crew gym for the first time and used the elliptical. Tomorrow Molly, Stacey (bass) and I are going to the guest gym together to exercise. All of us have almost the whole day free in Ensenada, but I am stuck with In Port Manning (IPM) duty and can’t get off the ship. I’ll probably spend the day practicing, searching for stray wifi signals, and exploring the ship (I STILL don’t know where everything is!)
10/21
It was a nice slow day. As mentioned, I couldn't get off the ship because of IPM duty, but made the best of my time. I practiced, did laundry, and went to the gym. Here are some pictures of the port. We were docked next to a Carnival ship.
In the evening we had a rehearsal for a Disco Deck Party to take place in a few days. Pretty straightforward stuff.
10/21
I'm typing this from a coffee shop in LA. Molly and I walked there to get our wifi fix, and we also need to pick up some stuff we ordered and had sent to a UPS store. I also want to pick up some honey and cinnamon (for my morning oatmeal) and some office supplies, like a lanyard for my ship ID. This coffee shop is awesome by the way...Sacred Grounds. Stop in if you get a chance.
We need to be back on the ship by 2pm, then we have a passenger safety drill at 3:15pm. At night we'll have two dance band sets, which should be fun (because there's less improv haha). I like it when people are dancing and having fun :)
