One Night In Bangkok!!!

Hey all!
I am in Bangkok right now, and everything is so cheap! I just bought a high quality Brazil Soccer shirt for 3 bucks american!!!Grit, Szymon (i couldnt find a way to say 'hey man, i wanna go on a date, leave me alone') and myself have been running around getting VERY VERY VERY lost in Bangkok since 2pm and its now 7pm. We shared a van ride into Bangkok from Laem Chabang with some passengers and it took 2 hours to get here. The cool thing was it cost us 10US each lol. We are all going to get a Thai Massage after this entry for one hour for 200 Baht, which is about 6 bucks US....I think I am in paradise! Then at about 10pm we are going to find (hopefully) our shopping center where we got dropped off, and meet back with the cool passengers and then make it back to the ship (even though its cheap, i dont want to blow my money on a hotel to stay here overnight....).... so I am having a blast right now and maybe tomorrow i will spend 4 bucks and go to Pataya, and see some traditional old places...if that makes sense....

OK I should go now, we are gonna run around Bangkok for a bit and take night shots and get our massages and blah blah blah...the life of a photographer ;)

See you all in the next cartoon!

M

Some Random thoughts of Nothingness...

Hey all! We are now officially in Thailand! YAYYYYY! Koh Samui looks amazing (at least from the ship it does lol). All my friends are out having fun, and I am walking around the ship looking for things to do. I have 3 hours left until I get ready for my 2nd crusade as a Pirate (yay!) so I thought I would run down here and throw some random thoughts on here. I had a few that I thought of but now...its all a blur (isnt that always the way? lol). Well here goes nothing:

1. "Beetlejuice" was just on in the crewbar. Such a good movie! Everyone sang "Shake Senora: at the end...it was kinda like a big karaoke party.....again....
2. Every single night when you see the sun set from the ship, you are always amazed. I have seen many crew photos but I have only taken a few myself, so you just have to take my word for it. There is a place up on the jogging track (highest place on the ship) that you can sit on this big platform and get yourself in frame with the sunset behind you, its so beautiful.
3. If you are good to crew, they are good to you in return. Its not about what you know in this line of work, its who you know. Be nice to people, and your life will be a whole lot more managable. There is this guy that sits at a table by the gallery once every cruise and has people sign up for wine tasting. We are always nice to him, so every time when he is done, the photog's get the grapes from his display. It sounds weird, but getting 2 bags of fresh grapes every week in a place where you mostly eat fish and rice ....its heaven. Things like that make the world go round.
4. I found out last night that the department that makes the most money on the entire ship is the crew bar. Now lets do some math here. I bought a Red Bull drink at the regular lounge...for 5 dollars!!! Thats not a drink, thats drink MIX, and its 5 dollars! I just wanted something to wake me up (its like Jolt if you dont know what it is...just lots of caffiene). In the crew bar, a tequilla sunrise is $2.50AUS. A Corona is $1.50AUS. Cigarettes in 25s (for the smokers) are $2.50AUS a pack. We arent spending a fortune per item here, and yet every single night 600 crew members spend more there than 1300 passengers at FULL price in any other bar on the ship....isnt there some safety regulation here??? And its not like its some big gong show every night. It may sound like it by the way I drag on, but really its just like a pub with casual drinking and music. Its like a BP Lounge. Weird.
5. Climbing 8 stories of stairs takes only 20 seconds or so, and no one is ever out of breath at the top (unless its a passenger). Going downstairs is just gravy. Thats right, I said Gravy.
6. We have a lifeboat #13. I just thought I would mention that.
7. I still hurt from waking up the other day and ramming my head on the roof. That was like...4 days ago! Still a very funny thing when I think about it lol.
8. Szymon, Kristen, Matt, and myself want to buy a helicopter. No reason.
9. I will be in Bangkok tomorrow :). As a matter of fact I might be there at night. One night. In Bangkok. (i will call anyone who wants to sing with me, just let me know haha)
10. Phuket (next cruise) has an island called James Bond Island. It was in a Bond flick (duh), and also if you have seen The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio, the main scene looking off the beach where you see the two big rocks on either side and the big opening into the ocean in the middle.. Thats James Bond Island, and I will walk there with my own two feet next week!
11. I have gone to more countries in 4 days than I have in my entire life :)
12. I keep forgetting there is a New Zealand Ice Cream shop on deck 10...dammit!
13. No one here ever knows what day it is.
14. I am eating healthy but I wonder what I weigh.
15. I want someone to research for me on the internet places I will be going, so i dont have to spend money looking for things to do for free...if that made sense.
16. My boss Joel dropped $2300S in Singapore and bought a Canon 20D and all the trimmings. He lets me play with it. I love Joel.
17. I am trying really hard to nominate the dishwasher for employee of the month. Next time I can upload pics I will show you all a photo of him and you will see why. This guy works 16 hour days every single day and makes about $300 a month, and I NEVER see him without a smile. he literally makes my day.

ok thats it for now. I am sure i will think of one right when I hit "Publish" but if its important it can wait. Love you all, and when you hear from me next I will hopefully have some cool stories about my trip to Bangkok!

Ciao!

M

Singapore, getting into trouble, and IPM@KOHSAMUI

Ok...today was a sea day, tommorrow is Koh Samui, and yesterday was Singapore. Thats all I know. Time has flown in the past few days. One minute I am typing in a cafe in Malaysia, the next I am wandering aimlessly around Singapore downtown with Szymon for 6 hours getting lost every ten minutes but loving it, and the next I am stressing out over a Formal night and getting yelled at for the first time. The machines screwed up last night around 2am so I couldnt print off my flyers for the passengers (to let them know about our daily portraits), and so I called Will and he told me to leave it for him in the morning...it was he that was supposed to close the machines down, so when he started getting into sh!t I took the flack (hey, its better to be a new guy and take flack and make strong friends than to watch a guy thats SUPPOSED to know what he is doing get into even worse sh!t). So he got off scott free and I got a beating (they were dangling me over deck 11 and beating me like a pinata)....well not really, I just got told to make sure my flyers were all printed tonight and that was it. BUT, its now 2:30am (actually 330 am but we changed clocks back 1 hour again tonight thank God) and I have to be in the gallery for 7:30am...Ugh. "Will, turn your LOUD alarm on for me ok?!" "3...2...1...wake up!! wake up!! wake up!!" that thing still makes me laugh lol.

So ya, tomorrow we are in Koh Samui, which i THINK is in Thailand, not sure. I am In-Port-Manning so I have to stay on the ship (oh well, its just another beach apparantly) plus I get to see it 10 more times in the next 2 months...no biggie. But the day after we are staying in Laem Chebang for 2 days so I am doing a 12 hour tour with Grit (pronounced Gdit), my new friend. She is this amazing German gal who barely speaks english (which is why i think we get along...she cant understand me lol). Its actually kinda sweet: she stumbles upon sentences to me, i understand her more than anyone on the ship (other than the Germans of course) and she is teaching me German. (for the record, "Lick my ass" is Lech meeham ash....dont ask, its just better that way... its not literal, its how they say Kiss My ass...and I just had to laugh). Anyways, we are spending the day at an Elephant hostpital, and having a traditional Thailand dinner in Bangkok, and then watching a Thailand Dance....Ive seen pics, its amazing!

Ok I gotta go to bed now!

talk to you all later! Oh...actually, Aden left in Singapore and he wont be back for 1.5 months. I miss him, so for Aden's sake, I will once again say:

See you all in the next cartoon!

Oh, and Lech meeham ash! =)

Yo-ho-ho-ho A Pirate's life for me!

YARRRRRRR!!!!! finally you see what i mean! Don't we look like we just finished our run at the Gay Pride Parade?! This is Matt, Stewart, Morgan (An entertainer, he does Rodney Stewart, and very well too i might add!), Szymon, and some guy we dont know...but he is taking this a little too seriously!

K, Ali awaits! See you all in the next cartoon!

In Malaysia!!

hey all, everything is going really well! I have spent the last 2 hours on my own in Melaka, Malaysia trying to find an internet cafe and taking tons of photos and soaking up the local atmosphere.....and i think this time around the photos will work! I will give this a try...but i have to hurry...there is a man on a bike with a sidecar (i forget the name of the bike, but the drivers name is Ali lol)...he is drivin me around the town showing me stuff...all for basically 5 bucks US... it is so hot here but it was raining so much and on my way to the mall here, i had to wait under a canopy with some guy i dont know...but i got his picture lol...

OK the photo works! this is a photo from a few days ago of some of the photogs and shoppies.. from left to right: Szymon, Emma, Anna, Anna, Stewart, Amber (from Vancouver!), Aden (irish guy lol), Kristen (from Vancouver!), Matt, and finally my roomie Will!

Ok I will add another photo here...and then I should run outside. Ali awaits!

The Burial of Kelvin and Maud...

Sunday: First of all, why me? Why come up to me and ask this? Is it because I am the new guy? Was I destined to do this? Did the universe know this and then chose me to be the first to do this? The answers are all Yes. I swear to you, as I am sitting here right now, the answers are all Yes.

When my boss Joel came up to me tonight as I stood there in my tuxedo by my backdrop, he asked me "Mike, do you want to photograph something special tomorrow?". Being keen on "First impressions are everything" I said "Yes....but what is it?"...something that has never done before.....then he told me: "There is a request by the family to photograph a burial at sea".

I immediately took an indescribable honor to what I had just heard, although I hate to admit that I still joined in on the jokes at the crewbar later on. "Wait! Squeeze in around the urn folks! now smiiiiiiiiiile!" the laughter stopped (at least for me) when it actually hit me: there is a corpse on this ship. My ship. Less than one month into my first contract and I am acting as if its MY ship, yet I laugh at the jokes. Then something else hit me: Sure, there is a corpse on this ship, but there are people here grieving. This isn't a vacation for them. This is a mission. Thats why they are here, no other reason but to bring a loved ones last wish to truth. And I will be there. And I DO take it to heart. And I am honored. Deeply.

Monday: How exactly do you photograph a funeral again? I figured I wasnt really supposed to get amazing angles or anything like that, they just wanted someone to document it, and so I did. Plain and simple. Oh, I also had a feeling the funeral was for a man. Well its not. I soon saw the photo of a woman that could have easily been my grandma's twin. And now, there this woman was, her ashes divided up into three little blue boxes, one for each of her children. The captain of the ship, Stefano Rivera, gave a few words and spoke from the bible, and then stood at attention while the ashes were emptied into the sea.

At the Gallery a few hours later, I was feeling kinda empty, almost like I knew this woman and was grieving as well. I am not afraid to admit that when the ashes were spread, and some people started to cry, I was among them crying too. One of the gentlemen looked up at me and smiled through his own tears. These are people that I have only known a week, and have seen them many times on the ship, but now I almost felt like family. Having said that, when one of the gentlemen came into the gallery later on, I had to ask for the woman's name. "Maud Nielson". I told him that the service was lovely, but I was under the impression that it was for a man until I saw Maud's photo.

"It was, Michael. Her Husband, Kelvin, died twenty years prior and was cremated. Maud and Kelvin had promised each other to be buried at sea together, and so she held onto his ashes for twenty years so that they could forever be together"

Life is a fragile thing, but True Love always holds it together.

Pirates, and then PIRATES

Hey everyone! Just a quick recap on the past few days here on the mighty "Pacific Sky - my Home away from Home"... the night before last night was "fright night", so everyone (passengers and crew) dress up as ghosts and ghouls etc... (yes, 1 Halloween every cruise...just no candy...). Having said that, there are also photos taken as well, but this time around, we dress up as Pirates and jump into the photos with the passengers....guess who was a pirate this time?! YARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! We're talkin a full blown pirate costume: triangular hat with a skull and crossbones, a black curly "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" wig, a red and black and gold jacket that would make Elton beam with jealousy, white tights (a Freddy Mercury joke should go here), and even a sword, parrot on the shoulder, and golden earrings to match.....but the icing on the cake: the beard....we take a cork from a wine bottle and light it on fire. Then we blow it out and smear it on our faces... I will update everyone with a photo soon (seeing as now there are about 500 photos of me as a pirate on this ship)....Picture Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook in "Hook" and that was me....hell ya :)

Stewart, Matt, Szymon, and myself had a total blast that night, by the end of the photos, we were hoisting up grannys on our shoulders and making the guys wear our hats....and the funny thing? They loved it. I am proud to say that I was even in a swordfight with an 80 year old man with a cane. Boy, did he surprise the hell outta me! A wooden sword versus a titanium cane? And the reach on that thing, my God! We all felt like kids again, it was such an experience. The biggest Gong Show on this ship yet. I mean, c'mon.....how many people can say "hey, I work as a Pirate sailing through the Indian Ocean"....

Now for the other part....of the real Pirates... The next few days we are approaching Asia, and there are threats of Real Pirates boarding the cruise ships. See, what they do is this: they tie two of their ships together with a long rope that floats on the water.....then our ship goes in between them, undetecting the rope, and as we keep going, we basically pull the two boats right alongside us....sounds kinda cool, but really....I dont want to be here if they come around.

However, having seen how that man and his cane fight...I feel pretty safe ;)

Finally, in closing...I will leave you all with a little something Aden (irish guy) says to all of us at the end of every night...

"See you all in the next cartoon!"

Happy Valentine Day!

So today, I was in Albany. I did my first tour (for free). Valentine's Day, and I was on a tour bus with 80+ old people and my camera. Didnt bother me any, I kinda liked it. For the record, Google "Albany Natural Bridge" and see if you can find pictures. I consider it now, my 2nd wonder of MY world. 1st being a tie with the fact that there is 1km or so of water under me and I am finally doing what I wanted to do my whole life, and the fact that my sunburn (and peeling) is finally gone.

So once I got back to the ship, I started thinking a lot about Valentine's Day. Typical "i am alone and no one loves me in that way and blah blah blah blah"..... so I thought "hey, I cant do anything about that right now, so what can I do to make me happy?". Then it occured to me... what should I be in love with today? not who, but what should be my valentine today? I took pictures all night of other people in love.... then it hit me (many things hit me out here...):

I am in love with....love.

Every single couple I took photos of today were easily pushing 70...and every single one just as much in love with each other than the next. No bickering (well, very little), and everyone had a smile (well, most). I over heard a couple saying this was their 27th cruise, and another couple said it was their 19th. They are still goofing around and flirting as if they were 16 years old. It was such a warm feeling to see everyone smiling and in love through my viewfinder, that I didnt even care that I was alone or yadda yadda yadda.... to hell with it. I dont need it. I want love, but I have it, its all around me. Its all around everyone, and if you dont see it, you are being selfish. If its not the love you are lookign for, its still love. Love is love. There are folks on this ship, sleeping right now, and when they wake up, I imagine them kissing each other, one maybe walking slowly to the door and getting breakfast for the other, and then bringing it back to bed to share it with the ones they love. Valentines day doesnt even matter. Love for these folks (and most I hope, eventually) is every day.

Happy February 14th everyone. To hell with Valentine's Day. Spread it throughout the year, and if you cant for some reason, just listen and watch it around you. Its there.

Glowsticks, a fellow Canuck, an Irishman, and a Drum

You know those moments in life that are so amazing and surreal that you are in complete disbelief even as its happening? Therefore, you can almost be nostalgic about it while its still going on? Last night I had one of those moments.

I was finishing up some developing in the lab by myself around 1:30am or so (casually, on my own time, its really not like work at all...lots of music playing), and after I was done, I thought I would jump down to the crew bar to see who was there. I knew I didnt want to drink anything but I thought I'd take a looksee before bed. Just a few people, Aden (a cocky Irish man, who really is an amazingly nice man at heart), Amber (new giftshop girl from canada...amazing gal, free spirit...vancouver lol), Ben (One of the head guys from the bridge..29 scottish, great funny guy), and myself (hi.). We got to talking about tons of things, but nothing fantastic. After 30 min or so Aden suggests to go to deck 6 aft and play the drums. I stared at him blankly, but then we all followed. We arrive in the back of deck 6: wide open balcony at the very back of the ship, roughly 20 feet above water....noisy, cold, slight wind, but a 'crew only' area and there is a picnic bench for sitting. Aden has a drum case and when he opens it up I am brought quick memories of Great Big Sea concerts in Canada. its a Barron (sp?). An Irish drum that you hold sideways in one hand and twiddle a little stick on it to get those celtic jig type sounds. (The only person I know that plays it is Shawn McHahn from Great Big Sea...sounds amazing). Then he plays us a tune, and as he does Amber starts a little groove to it on her own (like i said, free spirit). I made a comment to her earlier about dancing like a Rave girl, and so when she came up to the dck 6 with us she must have stopped off at her room and got these two glow balls on chains that you swing around your body like firesticks....my guess was right....Rave Girl. She smiled. Canadians are always right. Unless they are wrong. Then, they might as well be called "Americans". Anyways, she starts to pull them out and swing them around to the beat. So there we are, three guys drinkin beer, one with a Barron hammering out a very earthly beat, and watching this girl paint these movements in the air as if she were creating life itself. She summed up the moment shortly after by saying "when you dance to a drum in moments like these, its Intoxicating". Then ben grabbed the sticks, and I grabbed the barron. We looked like two retards in the middle of a mating ritual. After about 30 min or so of playing around, Aden said "In the 5 years I have been on this ship, no one has EVER come as close to playing the Barron as well as you do, Michael. Good on ya. You make me proud."

By 4:30 am i was in bed, drunk with pride, freedom, and intoxicated by the moment. As I fell asleep I moved up and down with the ship, and remembered how we talked about how certain beats can be summed up as Earthly, and how they make you feel part of the Earth. Then I thought about how the entire ship and everyone on it, is moving the same with me right now. Then I though of how the ocean was dancing with us as well, followed by the rest of the world. Soon, I drifted off to dreams of home and old friends whom I have lost contact thru the years. We are still moving as one.

Adelaide!

So, we went to Adelaide yesterday. Before this cruise I had never even heard of the place, so I had very low expectations. When I got there, though, my opinion changed. I fell in love with the place. Nothing fantastic about it really, (other than the fact that its in Australia, and everything is new to me), I just loved absolutely everything about it. The trees are different, the birds are different, there are amazing buildings and parks and everything just...fit. Its somewhere where I would be proud to call home. (dont get ideas, I am just making a happy observation).

I found an internet cafe while travelling (and knew I would, so i brought a CD with photos to email), and when I got there, my blog was down for maintenance, and my photo site wouldnt recognize my password....BUT all was not lost, for I emailed myself the photos, so if anyone wants the ones I had at the time (Lifou, Ouvea, Isles of Pines, etc) let me know in the comments here, or email me and I will be more than happy to send them to you.

Today is a sea day, and tomorrow as well, and then we arrive in Albany. Then its another sea day followed by (i think) Fremantle or Exmouth. Then the latter, and then 4 sea days til Asia. This will be an amazing chapter. In the next 3 months, I see Singapore 10 times....ask me a year ago if i would have ever been to Singapore in my entire life and I bet I would have said no. Now I can build a time machine and show myself the photos I will take :)

On to Cruise 2! Singapore here we come!

Hey everyone! My first cruise ended yesterday in Melbourne at around Noon! It was a blast! This next one is a 16 day cruise going the other way now (west) to Adelaide, Albany, Freemantle, Exmouth (i think), Perth, and then finally crossing the equator up into South East Asia (Malacca, Thailand, Singapore...etc). Its going to be amazing, there are a few reports that since we have a few days overnight at certain ports (check P&O cruises' website for the Pacific Sky's itinerary...I have no idea, I just take pictures lol), some of us are taking the train and heading into Bangkok (it costs like $2US dollars to take the train there....um....ya). Oh, and yes...I will be singing that 80's Bangkok song. I still sing. Lots. The boat rocks continuously, and everytime I run up stairs I feel like I need to act out the ending of Grease (Olivia and John singing "you're the one that I want" in the fun house)....seems like only I get the point....wasted jokes... lol

So, yesterday I shot the embark photos (people walking onto the ship stop for a photo).... Oh, and seeing as how I was the first person to see the passengers, it was NOT surprising to have a male crew member come up to me every 5 minutes asking "hey mike, any hotties this cruise?"

The answer: no.

Last time: over 800 hot people (guys and girls) were 19-29 years old. This time: well, lets just say over 95% of the passengers are...um....great great great great grandparents. Nice though, dont get me wrong, its just more fun with people your own age.

Anyways, had fun last night, brought in the new inventory with the gang and Joel bought us a case of Corona (which was polished off in about 3 hours....thats 6 each by the way). Then we hit the crew bar (15 steps away from the lab....convenient?). Then when the crew bar closed at 1:30am, Joel thew us his cabin keys and said "grab anything you can drink, take it up to my room, throw on some tunes, I am going to get us all pizzas and I will meet you all there".

Guess who woke up at 8am with zero hangover? *insert applause here*

If it wasnt for the fact that we all walk up and down stairs all day (we're talking 8 flights continuously), we'd all be some seriously fat photogs.

Tomorrow is Adelaide, and I am shooting gangway shots at 7:45am, and then I have until 8pm to run around. I am going for a run on the beach (somewhere) and also going to find an internet cafe. I have some banking to do, and I want to upload the www.michaelwachniak.com site with photos (cant do it here on board).

Also, getting lonely here. I have more contact with my friend Julie from Citi Financial (car loan) than most of you. You know exactly who you are. A simple "mike i miss you" or "mike, Adobe (my dog) is or isnt pregnant" or "hey, um....hi....well...bye" would do lol.

ok folks talk to you soon! Wam-bam-ala-kazam! ;)

Almost in Melbourne

I am waiting for my pizza to be made so I thought I would run down to deck 2 to check my email. The bar is crazy tonight, last night on the ship and everyone is awake. There's even a hundred or so old people running around the ship and its 2:30am lol. Will's beside me checking his email, he gets to see his woman tomorrow in Melbourne (translation: Mike....dont come back to the room for a few hours). Good thing I am shooting embarkation photos tomorrow (everyone coming on the ship for the next cruise. I dont have to do anything until 3:45pm tomorrow so I can hang out all night, but there is a rumor going around that there will be random breathalizer tests tomorrow morning, so I cut myself off after 3 drinks (not taking chances on this....its just too good of a lifestyle to !$#& up on something as silly as that).

I miss everyone. I'm not homesick yet, but I miss everyone. Its a good life out here, so much to do, so much to see, but I sometimes I just want to go out and hang at BP's with a coffee and the gang and see how many people I can make choke by making them laugh lol. I also miss my family. A day doesn't go by where I don't wonder what Kaia (my niece) is doing that very moment. My watch has two time modes, and I have set one mode up as Vancouver time... I am always thinking of everyone, so never feel alone ok?

Happier times now lol... my pizza is almost done (meat lovers....and its greasier than anything I have ever had...its not even that good, but it makes me feel at home (I bet no one has referred to pizza as home before lol)..

Well I think thats it, I just wanted to say hi. There is about 85 phillapino people behind me singing karaoke and its beginning to get on my nerves (at first its cute how much they get into it, but now its just.....wrong.)

Goodnight Neverland. (or good morning, its 7:30am in Vancouver)

Ouvea, Lifou, Isle of Pines...

Hey everyone! I have to be brief (I have $1.03 left on my internet card lol)... We were at the isle of pines today which is amazing (look it up...i wandered around it all day with Anna and Szymon..feet hurt).. we did Lifou yesterday, Port Vila the day before (I was IPM - In Port Manning - meaning I had ot stay on the ship for Port Vila so I couldnt see it), and Ouvea the day before that.... all of these: picture the typical "post card" sandy beaches with palm trees and coconuts and clear blue waters.....and then picture me..with my camera...lol..

Thats my office. I work there.

And now we are starting a 3 day trek back to Melbourne where we will start our 3 month run around Asia :)

I will update you all further...when I have more internet money.... and when I can update with photos too! email me @ ike1@hotmail.com everyone ok?!

now if you will excuse me, I am gonna go run and grab some food, then head up to watch us wander around the islands..ciao!

Day 5, and I found the internet room!!!

I am drunk....well sort of. This is the end of day 4 totally at sea and before I go to bed I will try to recap the past few days. I will write in point form because the internet sucks when you are in the middle of the ocean lol...

Saturday Day 1:
- Arrived at the dock in Melbourne to embark the Pacific Sky @ 7am. I seemed to have a TINY bit more luggage than most people....jeez.
- Met my employees: my boss Joel (crazy aussie surfer type) great guy, Will (my roomate) from England...thick accent but awesome bloke, Anna (representing the Hungarians lol) I work with her the most she is awesome, Alison (south african I think) I dont know her much but she is pretty neat too, Szymon (shammon...lol ya...like how Michael Jackson says it) represents Poland..he is cool but hard to understand sometimes, and finally Ben (there always has to be a Ben...life just wouldn't seem right without one!)
- Joel shows me my room....bunk beds, a shoebox that passes for a closet (trust me its small), and a bathroom (3'x5' tops)...yippie...
- 2pm we set sail. 2:15pm I am nausius. 3pm I vomit. 4pm I work in the gallery selling prints. 5pm I vomit. 5:15pm I go to the medical centre and get a shot of "phenegran" in the ass. I pass out and sleep til morning.

Sunday (day 2):
- I wake up groggy but ok. I go to work and skip breakfast.
- "Formal Night"...Mike wears a Tux and takes "Sears" type portraits of everyone. It was fun, had softboxes and backdrops...and hot Aussie women....
- Got to bed @ 11pm

Monday (day 3):
- Feeling fantastic!
- work the gallery (basically in a store selling the prints that are displayed....prints are of passengers)
- I have heard 6 times on this cruise so far that I have an Irish accent....that makes me laugh. hard. (by the way I am typing this now on wednesday, and the talley is now up to 8. serious.)
- As everyone heads to the bars at night, I head to the passengers library and read "Tuesdays with Morris"....not a party pooper, I just didnt feel like partying....and you are right, Jenny, this book is amazing!

Tuesday (day 4):
- hit snooze button on alarm like 40 times and still made it to work on time (thats the wonderful part of living at work lol)
- worked at gallery, then decided to go up to the 11th floor and head to the gym....its iron pumping time! Then I went out to the deck and sunbathed for an hour or so with the passengers. Its amazing how you can look on any side of the ship and see nothing but ocean. I love how blue it is....(for crayon references, look up Ultramarine Blue...thats the color)
- bought an internet card and a phone card....scratched the back of the phone card to get my PIN number....and the number came off with it....!##%^@!!! not happy....they are fixing it now though so i will call people soon.
- it was Pajama night on the ship....(a note to the guys: 1500 passengers...approx. 700 are Aussie women ages 20-35.....now....picture them drunk in lingerie......and i get to photograph them!! envy me... envy me i say!!)
- I head to the Starlight Bar on 9th floor and its basically a giant rave....loud rave/house/trance/top40-remix hits....and everyone is a fool....it was so fun...and I drank...(by the way.....drinks are $1.00AUS for crew....I drank my fill for under 10 bucks)
- OLD PEOPLE were raving....I mean 70 year old guys were dressed in womens undergarments and dancing around with 20 year old women....I was so happy for them lol
- went to bed @ 2am, wrote all this stuff in my journal so i could type it later today.

We are heading into Ouvea tomorrow (Thursday, Australian time. I am a day ahead.) I will be spending 5 hours walking around sandy beaches and taking pics.... I dont know how I will be able to show you guys photos, but I will try... Talk to you all soon! please email me @ ike1@hotmail.com because I dont know how to check my other account yet ok? ciao!

Update to previous post...

This will be quick, my laptop is almost dead (no way of charging it until i get to the ship tomorrow). I wandered around taking pictures today, and had a total blast. Then I came back to the room, slept til 8:45pm, got a phone call saying I will be picked up at 6am tomorrow. I laughed. They were serious. i stopped laughing. Then I went to the restaurant and had supper (tortelini with red pepper sauce...damn that was good). Then I walked around the city for a while again. Tons of people out, its Friday night, so everyone is partying it up. Streets are
like Stephen Ave in Calgary, but add about 300 more people to it lol. Now I am back writing this, and then I will have a bath maybe and then hit the hay. I will keep everyone posted as to what is happening later on ok!? Goodnight people!

Melbourne, Australia!!

Hello world, I'm in Australia! Right now I am sitting in the hotel restaurant on the 2nd floor, drinking lemon water and looking at the busy street below. I am sitting here wearing shorts, flipflops (yes its january 27th and I am wearing flipflops) and I am waiting for my "Chicken Skewers in Peanut sauce over steamed ice with a mixed leaf salad". The street looks very busy with people running about, and everyone looks like a tourist haha. Oh, my food is here now. WOW, that IS peanutty, AND those leaves really ARE mixed! Damn that tastes good! Ok, so to fill you in on "how the trip was"-Left vancouver @ 5pm Wed (jan 25th)- Arrived in LA @ 7:40pm, proceeded direrctly to the new gate.- Saw a woman running around looking lost and frantic, and this other woman came up to her and said "excuse me, was that Ludacris that you were with earlier?". she replied with a "yes". Now I can see why she was frantic. If you were
'rolling' with one of the most famous rappers around and you LOST him? ya, panic. - Got through customs and had 3 hours to kill so I thought I would sit down and have a pint of the good stuff :)- the guy that I sat next to was Nathan. Nathan from Halifax, and going to
Melbourne on the same plane as I am to meet friends. Nathan has been sitting here
6 or 7 hours. Nathan is drunk. Nathan insisted on buying his new friend Michael
drinks.
Michael is drunk.
- Finally it was time to go to the gate, and after a few short....rather LONG minutes we were on the plane. - I sat between 2 guys, one of which looked like a criminal, and the other I found out later LOVES to cuddle strangers while he sleeps..- Many movie choices up in the plane, but I ended up switching between "wallace and grommit" and "the exorcism of emily rose" endlessly playing for about 6 of the 14 hours aboard the plane. The rest of the time consisted of eating,
sleeping, and "wow this guy likes to cuddle".
- Finally arrived in Melbourne @ 935am Friday, went through MORE customs (in 35C
heat by the way). No sign of Nathan. Nathan is probably still sleeping on the
plane. Poor Nathan.
(I have to pause the story for a second...a cop HERSE just drove by...is that what police cars look like here?..anyways, on with the story) Finally got my Luggage and this next part made me smile: There actually was a man waiting there for me, Holding up a sign with my name on it...well kinda. The sign seriously said "Mitchell Wachenann". We stared in silence at each other for a while, then I showed him my passport.
his reply: "Close enough...ok we're off then"and away we went.
This guy (already forget his name) was like a walking encyclopedia!!! Every block we drove past had a story! About 15 minutes later we arrived at the "Mecure Welcome Hotel". I said goodbye
to him and went to my room (816...great view...of a back alley). Took a few pictures of the amazing view and hopped online to email the family telling them I am alive and well. - Had a shower, shaved, called front desk to see what is included in my room (the cruise line paid for the room, had to see what else they paid for!). Turns out I have a $20 credit for lunch and a $30 credit for supper, which is why I am here...its lunch time (actually its almost bedtime now....I wrote this all during the day but only now am I typing it into my computer heehee). Now its back to the room, drop off the journal, grab the camera, and wander around aimlessly through the streets of Melbourne taking pictures. After that,back to the room to nap.

Aussie-bound!

Hey all, just filling everyone in quickly, and then I will write something meaningful later tonight. Tomorrow (Wednesday Jan 25th) I will be leaving Vancouver airport @ 5pm PST and arriving in Los Angeles @ 8pm PST. There, I will wander around until I find the appropriate gate for my next flight (and longest I have ever taken to date). At 11:15pm PST I will hop onto a big birdie and fly on its back for 15h10m and safely (knock on wood) arrive in Melbourne, Australia. With the time zone changes and what not, I will arrive @ 9:25am local time. I will then meet strangers (with a "Mr. Wachniak" sign no doubt lol) that will take me to my hotel. I am sure I will NEED to sleep the entire day away, but by a show of hands, who thinks I will barely make it to my room before I am running around the city taking pictures? :)

The next day (Saturday) I will be picked up early in the am and taken to my cruise ship "The Pacific Sky" and I will start my training and blah blah blah (ha ha)....

more later!

Fat baby face!!!

Ok so I looked through the family photos today...and I came across this....
The photo was very faded and discolored so I decided to snap a photo of it and do my best to restore it in photoshop for my mom (before shot on the left, after shot on the right). I think I did a pretty good job, it only took me a few minutes. Man oh man, would I make a sexy fat guy, eh?! Look at me! I think while I am gone for the next 6 months I am going to adhere to a strict diet of donuts and twinkies, and maybe when I get back and women see what I have transformed into....hee hee.

The story parallels that of a caterpillar. Nothing wrong with him at all, but just knows he can be better so he shells himself up inside a cocoon and the transformation begins. Time passes (in this case 4-6 months) and alas, as he is ready to return to civilization, the cocoon breaks apart and out emerges the most breathtaking, most beautiful butterfly anyone has ever seen!

Actually, this story more resembles that fat blob of a caterpillar on bug's life, but hey! Everyone loved him too lol.

The afterbath :)

So I'm out of the bath now....and no, nothing cool was thought. In fact, all I remember thinking was:

"Why the hell am I playing with toys in the tub?"

The good guys won by the way....they always do. I was never really a troubled child. Good always overcame the bad when it came to toys. Sometimes it was a tie, but the bad never won. Not that I remember. Maybe its surpressed, who knows? Oh well, I guess thats something I can discuss with my therapist when I am 50.

I giggled til the cops came...

Hey all, I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would post a link for all comedy-fans out there. I have been meaning to try out a few new podcasts for a while now, but as usual I forget or get distracted and go onto something else. I can usually blame the distraction on something shiny or springy. Anyways, I found a podcast called "Keith and the Girl", and I must say I have never laughed so hard by myself since.....well since I found that third nipple on my shoulderblade. These guys basically talk about whats in the news, and who's hot vs. who's not...a typical newscast. Having said that.....a word of advice: Kids should not be in the listening vicinity. When you download each 1-hour episode, you get this nice little "explicit" logo that pops up to warn you of what lurks ahead. What it should say is: "if dirty language was medicine, we could heal the world in a single episode".

The link to get the episodes and find out more is: http://www.keithandthegirl.com

There, now that I have shared with you guys, I feel better. I am going to have a bath, and maybe think of something else to write. Maybe something cool, but probably not.

Thanks for everything, Calgary

I just wanted to say Goodbye for now to all friends and foes in Calgary. 6 months may not seem like a long time to be gone, but it is the longest I have ever been away from home at one time plus I get very nostalgic, so I am really overdoing this.

I would really like to keep in contact with you all, so please drop a line to me now and then @ ike1@hotmail.com and I will try to do the same ok?

Be safe, be strong, and be free.

cheers,

Michael

'Deciphering Me' at a later date

As I wheel around the bend into the final stretch of my last days in Calgary (at least for a while), my mind seems to have lost grip of all day-to-day "mind-banter"....and all that is left for the moment are remnants of random song quotes... over and over as I walk through my day, songs pop into my head for no reason apparent to me...I thought I would write some down, to share, but more importantly to decipher myself at a later date. The world is nothing without at least an attempt at inner-analysis:

"I need a photo-opportunity I want a shot at redemption Don't want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon

"Janie sings on the corner, what keeps her from dying? Let 'em say what they want, but she won't stop tryin', oh you know. She might stumble, if they push her around. She might fall, but she'll never lie down ... it's not so bad.." - Great Big Sea

"Driftwood floats, after years of erosion. Incoming tide touches roots to expose them, Quicksand steals my shoe, Clouds bring the f-stop blues" - Jack Johnson

"There are nine million bicycles in Beijing. That's a fact. It's a thing we can't deny, Like the fact that I will love you till I die" - Katie Melua

"Smiled and said 'yes I think we've met before'. In that instant it started to pour, Captured a taxi despite all the rain We drove in silence across pont champlain And all of the time you thought I was sad I was trying to remember your name..." - Stars

"I'm a coward I'm neurotic I'm just tired of living in here I'm depressive I'm obsessive I'm just tired of living in fear " - Holly McNarland

"If you don’t need it every day But sometimes don’t you just crave To disappear within your mind You never know what you might find So come and spend some time with me And we will spend it all at sea" - Jamie Cullum

Another year over, and a new one just begun...

A bunch of random thoughts in lieu of another year gone by. It doesn't have to make sense. At least not now...

Its funny how much one changes, when nothing seems to have changed at all. The second bottle of champagne that I kept unopened in my fridge for 5 months before finally letting go of the past. The "Employment", the "I hate my job", the "Unemployment" stages, never seemed to be getting me anywhere. The friends I thought I would lose, the friends I thought I would never lose, and the friends that were right under my nose the entire time, not going anywhere. Never.

The hard parts are there to just make sure you're ready. Its all one big test. Preparation.

"Are you finally ready? Its hard out there, man. Here, take this. If you ever need anything, don't worry. We'll know. We always do. The signs are always out there, some just need the right light to see them. Are you sure you can paddle on your own? We'll be here if you need us. We're not going anywhere. Be strong. Try not to let the fire burn out. If it does though, don't worry. Its not your eyes that should be guiding you anyways. It your heart. When they are ready to show up, they will. And they will know. They will know everything you did. They will know everything about everything. And they will know that you are still here. Like I said about the hard parts, all they do is make sure you're ready."

The Force is strong in him. I can feel it....

I haven't had much time to write anything for a few days, but this story cannot go unnoticed.

As a child I have always taken the idea of Psychic capabilities very seriously. I remember thinking that I could talk to people with my mind, or predict the future, or anything else that a true JEDI would be capable of. Hell, I still do. Very much in fact. Its a frequent thought in my mind, and the scary thing is...I have a very high percentage of intuition. Small things though, like knowing the time before looking at a clock, or waking up right before my alarm goes off because I hated the sound of it. Its not something I consider a rarity, I think everyone has something like that. I guess its just a matter of how you can tune into it, and the world is getting louder and louder every day.

I flew back to Calgary today after a nice 4 week Christmas visit with my mom and sister. I left my car in White Rock because I will only be staying here a week and then its back to BC to start training for the new job (yay me!). Because of this, I now have to travel around by these two things I think are called "feet". This could not have come at a better time, I think I gained about 10lbs of turkey around my midsection and I really do not wear it well.

Anyways, my Jedi story...

Since I have been gone for 4 weeks, I took all my perishable food with me to BC and therefore my cupboards are bare, so I ran down to 7-11 to grab a quick bite to eat (Everything was closed already, I will hit up Safeway tomorrow LOL). On my way back I remembered that I brought home "Lost: Season 1 DVD" and I have the last half to watch (best damn show out there at this moment by the way. After a few more minutes of walking I came up to the Blockbuster Video and thought to myself "maybe you should go in just to see what is there"....."what the hell Mike, you just said that you wanted to watch Lost, don't waste your money"....."ya but just go in...you might find something of interest, Mike...trust me" (Inner Monologue....ain't it a bitch?). I remember thinking something very important was in the store and I had to go in....so I did.

As I walked in, there were a lot of people in line, and as I kept walking to the New Release area I noticed something.... two women were ripping open the factory sealed "For Sale" DVD's and stuffing them in their jackets. I played like I didn't notice and grabbed the first movie I saw and walked up to the front. I looked back cautiously to see if they were staring at me, and naturally they were. As I continued to wait, they continued to stuff movies in every pocket they could. Finally, when it was my turn at the counter I said to the teller "Excuse me, do you have a pen and paper? I am not sure if this is the movie I want, so I am just going to use my cell phone and call my friend." I pretended to call someone (and actually faked a conversation too I might add... look for me in next year's Golden Globe nominees), and as I did I wrote the following on the piece of paper:

"There are two women stealing at the back of your store wearing (blah blah blah). Here is my membership card if you need to contact me about this later. I will be back tomorrow to pick it up. thank you."

I handed it to the woman at the counter and walked out (without the movie....I am reporting thieves, not becoming one LOL).

I will update this when I go back tomorrow to get my membership card.

" just go in, Mike...you might find something of interest...trust me"

(insert Jedi song here)

Christmas A Day Early...

Due to the fact that my mom is a nurse in the ER, and was kind enough to work for another person on Christmas Day, we are bumping the festivities at our house one day earlier. We really don't mind, Christmas is about being together, and so what if its on a different day? It also made me feel good that my mom did that, because I bet that normally it would be very hard to switch shifts with someone on Christmas Day.

So tonight, December 23rd, is TECHNICALLY "Christmas Eve". I am just about to have an afternoon nap, and mom is cleaning up. Then, when I wake up, I have some last minute wrapping to do (as I always do). My sister and Sean and Kaia (niece) should be here in around 4 hours, and thats when the par-tay starts. It just never really seems like a 100% Christmas unless there is a child bouncing off the walls. I am sure that for most of the night I will be running around the coffeetable with eggnogg in hand, chasing a 29-pound three year old, and an 80-pound two and a half year old (the last one is my Doberman, if you were wondering).

When the night winds down, we will all say our goodnights, and get settled for bed. Mom, on the other hand, has one last important task before she goes to sleep. Santa. He still doesn't know about our change in nights (or "eves" as it were). So, I imagine a few phone calls will be made (Reception at The North Pole, Vancouver Air Traffic Control, etc.), and then finally she can head off to bed.

When we wake up in the morning.......there will be coffee, juice, slippers, music (ain't no Christmas like a Bony M Christmas!), lights, love, warmth, laughter, oh ya........and chaos.

You havent' seen me open my presents :)

I'm Sai-ling A-wayyyyy...

I got the job! I am an official Photographer on a cruise ship! I am going to be paid money to travel to exotic locations all around the world, doing what I love to do! Talk about a great Christmas Miracle, eh? I really thought I would get the job, I just ....didn't really think I would actually GET the job! (if that makes any sense...maybe I am just rambling)

Now I have to get all the necessary info back to "my people" down in Los Angeles, and then they will notify me of when and where I will be going. I gave my availability as Jan 15th, and I have to come back to Calgary for a week or so at the end of December to grab some documents, but I could very well be on the other side of the planet by this time next month! (hell, as long as its somewhere warmer I am happy) I really hope to see as many people as I can while I am in Calgary before I have to come back to Vancouver for departure. Please email me ike1@hotmail.com if you are free before and after New Year's ok?

"Good things take time. Great things happen all at once."

Someone buy me a lottery ticket ;)

Snippet #1 of my X-men 3 Experience...

I just spent 25 of the past 36 hours on the set of X-men 3. Due to a confidentiality agreement that I signed, I can't tell you anything about the movie, but what I CAN tell you about are my personal experiences that I had while waiting in the "Extras Holding Tent".

I arrived on the set Friday night at around 6:30pm. After I signed in, I had a chance to look around at all the people. There were about 150 Extras (the politically correct term so as not to offend anyone is "Background Performer"), and they were split off into two groups: Soldiers and Mutants. Yours Truly was not only a Soldier, but (and this is the honest truth, you can even ask anyone) I was the sexiest soldier in the tent. Seriously! In fact, when you see the movie, and you see a sexy soldier run past the screen, thats me. Promise. Anyways, after I got suited up, stared at myself in the mirror for 5 minutes (thinking to myself that I would gladly give up every one of my childhood Halloween's dressed as vampires, rockstars, and ghouls for just ONE dressed in this get up), I found an empty chair and sat down. And stared. At everyone.

After about 4 or 5 hours of staring, I decided to go for some fresh air.

Now, as some of you may or may not know, winters in Vancouver and surrounding area have a very deep, different kind of cold. If the temperture is -4C (and it was), it will feel like -40C (and it did). Call me wimpy, but I stand by my statement. I was born in Winnipeg. I know what cold is.

So, after about 30 seconds of fresh air, I went back inside.

More Staring.

As luck would have it, I managed to nod off for a few minutes.

Have you ever woke up from a deep sleep and not known where you were or what was going on? You know, when you go for an afternoon nap and wake up at around 8pm, thinking its 8am and that you are late for school or work? Or how about when the phone rings, and you have no idea what that noise is, where its coming from, or what the hell you can do to stop it? Now, picture me waking up, noticing I am in a soldier uniform, then seeing 150 soldiers talking and running around in this HUGE tent, and to top it off, throw in a few fireball explosions outside only a few hundred feet away. You see, apparantly while I was sleeping, they had picked a small handful of soldiers to go to set so they could film a few scenes (hence the fireballs).

I thought I was actually a soldier, actually in the army, and actually under attack.

I jumped to my feet, almost scaring nearby soldiers into seizures, and almost knocking a full board of scrabble to the floor.

To back up for a second: On my way driving to the set earlier that night, I imagined things to go a little differently. I thought I might steal an innocent glance or sweet smile from Halle Barry, or maybe get a "G'day" from Hugh Jackman. I pictured the weather to be slightly ABOVE freezing, with zero waiting time and immediate calls to run to set to start shooting scenes. Ah, Ignorance is bliss.

Ok. Back to the present. Now I have four or five complete strangers staring at me like....well.... like I just jumped to my feet and almost scared them into seizures. Now What? All I could do was took a deep breath, glanced around at everyone, and calmly and carefully said the first and only sentence that came to mind:

"Would anyone like anything from the Snackbar while I am up?"

My seat was taken when I returned. Its probably for the best, though. They were beginning to weird me out, and I was just about to go out for some more fresh air.

It was a Full Moon last night...

and my sister and I had our little "Moon Meditation". Every full moon (or NEW moon), we will get together on the phone and talk about what we want to see happening in our lives in the near future, and then take a few moments to sit and just imagine as if it were already happening. This time however, since I am in White Rock (where my mom and my sister live), we had a chance to talk about it in person. I imagined the following: I have been waiting for a callback from the Cruise Line position as a Photographer (yes, touring around the world on a cruise ship, as a photographer, getting paid UBER amounts of money), so I thought it would be great to get a phone call today (Friday) saying I got the job, and then I would work for six months touring the world, building up an amazing portfolio of my own, saving TONS of money, and then when I got back, I would use that money to work towards an acting career in Vancouver.

Sounds easy right?

So today, I wake up. Coffee is made, and a photography magazine awaits (I went to London Drugs last night and found a $20 bill in the parking lot, so I treated myself to the December edition of Outdoor Photographer, and a tin of Tiger Balm. Bad Back.) So I open the magazine, and the phone rings. "Hmm.." I say to myself. "I thought I predicted the Cruise Line call would be around 2:45pm today...and its only 11am." It was a talent agency here in Vancouver that I applied for a few days ago. Apparently I am working on X-Men 3 tonight and tomorrow as a Soldier. Holy $#%!

I guess the Moon got the order of my meditation wrong.

Meh. =)

First Introduction...

The first introduction that I shall have the honor of doing on this blog (other than my own of course) is my partner in crime, Adobe. Adobe is a 2 1/2 year old purebred Doberman.

The scarf was my niece's idea. Not mine. Or Adobe's for that matter, although in my opinion, she seemed to like it.

"I am ready for my close-up, Mr. Deville!"

It begins...

So....I have been wanting to create a blog for quite some time now, but was too afraid that I would have nothing to say. Not that I see myself as an uninteresting or unintelligent individual, I just didn't think that what I had to say was of any interest to anyone else. Finally today, as I sat there on a patio chair (very uncomfortable might I add, and not suitable for an office chair), in my pajamas, empty coffee mug in hand (A purple Eeyore mug. Thank you Disney Store. Thank you.), sitting in front of my laptop (as opposed to beside or ON my laptop).......it occurred to me: Who the @#$! cares if anyone reads my blog? By definition, BLOG (noun) means: "an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page". PERSONAL! It does not say "for everyone to see and be a part of"...though it would be nice if I had a few blog followers. We could decorate this little place with little thoughts and ponderings together. Who knows how often I will publish my "personal chronological log of thoughts" anyways. Hell, they might not even be chronological thoughts at all! What if I have random thoughts of my childhood that I would like to share? I can do whatever I want in here, so long as it is with reason. That is my one rule. Everything in here has to be written with reason, whatever that may mean. It is after all, my blog. It all begins.....right as soon as I press this publish button, and post my first lil' snippet o' thought.....with reason.