22 shows left in 26 days
I'm in Rochester, New York today. We're in a smaller arena than usual, making our workload a little lighter. I only needed two screens in the air today. I took my six stagehands and built the screens in no time. Sent four to Arnold and kept two to help me build camera risers. I was probably finished with everything by around 10:30 this morning. It's been a great day so far. Instead of taking a nap, I've been walking around the city, taking it all in. I walked down to some area called High Falls and then turned and came back. There's some great architecture and I've been taking a few pictures here and there.
I'm getting used to being alone. Occasionally, I'll feel lonely and even sad... I miss Kayla constantly, of course... but now I'm settling in to who I am out here. I'm not the type to sleep my days away. I'm not the type to drink or smoke away my troubles. I'm not the type to sink into perversity. Not that I blame anyone for doing so. I'm just not the type. I'm determined to stay positive. It helps to be able to walk around outside. When your day consists of sleep, bus, venue, work, bus, sleep, bus, venue, work, etc., you can really get stuck in a rut. In Toronto, I decided to go out no matter what. I passed so many couples, giggling, cuddling, talking... ugh. I can't wait to see new cities with my wife again.
Hmm...
Nothing special about the DC show. The next morning we were on Long Island in New York. Sure didn't feel like New York, though. I didn't see the city at all while I was there. We were in Uniondale, 20 miles out of Manhattan. The one thing that makes our New York shows different from the rest is the local and Union crews. And Teamsters. Don't forget the Teamsters. Teamsters on the truck. Union stagehands. Local (IBEW, I think) cable handlers. Every task was split between the various groups. One of our stagehands tried to wrap a cable and had it snatched out of his hand by an IBEW guy. It's a weird system, but effective to an extent. It was nice to work with the same stagehands for two shows. Most of them remembered the load in/out from two days before and jumped right in wherever we needed them. Between the two New York shows, we traveled to New Hampshire and back.
Snow! When I left the building to nap on the bus, the ground was clear. It was cold. Oh yes. It was cold. They left bags of ice outside with no worries. When I woke up later that afternoon... snow. Inches of snow. All over the place.
So anyway. Those shows from Greensboro through Uniondale (NY) flew by and I hardly noticed the changing of days.
We were driving from New York to Toronto on New Year's Eve. We got pretty drunk in the back lounge to celebrate. It was an early show that day, so most of us were really considering going to bed around 9 or 10 that night. It took determination to make it to midnight. We missed the big ball drop in New York City, thanks to me. I couldn't get the remote to work. It's huge and controls several different digital consoles. I was the "sober" one they said, but I still messed it up anyway. We popped a bottle of champagne and started calling people we knew. Most everyone I wanted to talk to ended up at the same party. Stephanie passed her phone around and I got my fill of friends on New Year's. Kayla was partying in Murray, Kentucky with old friends and we were only really able to exchange a few text messages occasionally. There's always next year.
We arrived in Toronto at 7 a.m. on January 1st and straggled into our hotel. Which was a very nice hotel. The Westin Harbour Castle was right on Lake Ontario, 30-something floors and all the nice additions like pools hot tubs and such. I slept in 'til 3 that afternoon and needed every minute of it. The week had been long and tiring and we all needed the comfortable beds to sleep away our stress. When I woke up, I took my time getting showered and dressed and eventually hit the town. I walked down to the harbor and chilled for a few minutes. Then, over to a corner market across from the hotel. I withdrew some great looking Canadian money from an ATM and started walking up Yonge Street. Tons of Christmas lights still in the air over Yonge. Most of the shops were closed or closing, unfortunately, since it was New Year's Day. I still had a great walk through the city and even enjoyed a tasty falafel dish at a place called Red and White. I listened to The Radio Dept. on my iPod almost all the way back to my hotel. It just seemed to fit the mood. I hit the hot tub and pool at the Westing when I got back. There weren't too many people around and I was able to relax for the most part. After this, I went to a bar across the street, determined to have some genuine Canadian beer while I was in town. I sat at the bar and drank a couple of Steam Whistles. Steam Whistle is a really great tasting pilsner that comes in an awesome green bottle. It's brewed at the bottom of the CNN Tower, if I'm not mistaken. A couple beers in, I heard someone behind me say "on tour"... I turned around to find Chucky (the choreographer), Kim (his sister and dancer) and Todd (an audio guy). I joined them for the rest of the night. It's fun to hang out outside of work. You learn so much more about the people around you.
I'm going to take a break now. I've been trying to post this entry for a couple days. So when you read "I'm in Rochester" up there at the top... I'm not in Rochester anymore. I'm in Hartford, Connecticut now. The town looks kinda nice, so I'm going to go walk around for a bit.
I'm getting used to being alone. Occasionally, I'll feel lonely and even sad... I miss Kayla constantly, of course... but now I'm settling in to who I am out here. I'm not the type to sleep my days away. I'm not the type to drink or smoke away my troubles. I'm not the type to sink into perversity. Not that I blame anyone for doing so. I'm just not the type. I'm determined to stay positive. It helps to be able to walk around outside. When your day consists of sleep, bus, venue, work, bus, sleep, bus, venue, work, etc., you can really get stuck in a rut. In Toronto, I decided to go out no matter what. I passed so many couples, giggling, cuddling, talking... ugh. I can't wait to see new cities with my wife again.
Hmm...
Nothing special about the DC show. The next morning we were on Long Island in New York. Sure didn't feel like New York, though. I didn't see the city at all while I was there. We were in Uniondale, 20 miles out of Manhattan. The one thing that makes our New York shows different from the rest is the local and Union crews. And Teamsters. Don't forget the Teamsters. Teamsters on the truck. Union stagehands. Local (IBEW, I think) cable handlers. Every task was split between the various groups. One of our stagehands tried to wrap a cable and had it snatched out of his hand by an IBEW guy. It's a weird system, but effective to an extent. It was nice to work with the same stagehands for two shows. Most of them remembered the load in/out from two days before and jumped right in wherever we needed them. Between the two New York shows, we traveled to New Hampshire and back.
Snow! When I left the building to nap on the bus, the ground was clear. It was cold. Oh yes. It was cold. They left bags of ice outside with no worries. When I woke up later that afternoon... snow. Inches of snow. All over the place.
So anyway. Those shows from Greensboro through Uniondale (NY) flew by and I hardly noticed the changing of days.
We were driving from New York to Toronto on New Year's Eve. We got pretty drunk in the back lounge to celebrate. It was an early show that day, so most of us were really considering going to bed around 9 or 10 that night. It took determination to make it to midnight. We missed the big ball drop in New York City, thanks to me. I couldn't get the remote to work. It's huge and controls several different digital consoles. I was the "sober" one they said, but I still messed it up anyway. We popped a bottle of champagne and started calling people we knew. Most everyone I wanted to talk to ended up at the same party. Stephanie passed her phone around and I got my fill of friends on New Year's. Kayla was partying in Murray, Kentucky with old friends and we were only really able to exchange a few text messages occasionally. There's always next year.
We arrived in Toronto at 7 a.m. on January 1st and straggled into our hotel. Which was a very nice hotel. The Westin Harbour Castle was right on Lake Ontario, 30-something floors and all the nice additions like pools hot tubs and such. I slept in 'til 3 that afternoon and needed every minute of it. The week had been long and tiring and we all needed the comfortable beds to sleep away our stress. When I woke up, I took my time getting showered and dressed and eventually hit the town. I walked down to the harbor and chilled for a few minutes. Then, over to a corner market across from the hotel. I withdrew some great looking Canadian money from an ATM and started walking up Yonge Street. Tons of Christmas lights still in the air over Yonge. Most of the shops were closed or closing, unfortunately, since it was New Year's Day. I still had a great walk through the city and even enjoyed a tasty falafel dish at a place called Red and White. I listened to The Radio Dept. on my iPod almost all the way back to my hotel. It just seemed to fit the mood. I hit the hot tub and pool at the Westing when I got back. There weren't too many people around and I was able to relax for the most part. After this, I went to a bar across the street, determined to have some genuine Canadian beer while I was in town. I sat at the bar and drank a couple of Steam Whistles. Steam Whistle is a really great tasting pilsner that comes in an awesome green bottle. It's brewed at the bottom of the CNN Tower, if I'm not mistaken. A couple beers in, I heard someone behind me say "on tour"... I turned around to find Chucky (the choreographer), Kim (his sister and dancer) and Todd (an audio guy). I joined them for the rest of the night. It's fun to hang out outside of work. You learn so much more about the people around you.
I'm going to take a break now. I've been trying to post this entry for a couple days. So when you read "I'm in Rochester" up there at the top... I'm not in Rochester anymore. I'm in Hartford, Connecticut now. The town looks kinda nice, so I'm going to go walk around for a bit.
posted by Josh at 11:54 AM
1 Comments:
Holy crap I was in Toronto this past June and spent a lot of time on Yonge street. I Also had some of that beer when we spent the afternoon at the the CN tower. It is good beer!
Ward
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