I have nothing to say other than that.
I mean, I didnt really know the guy.
-m-
Friday, December 29, 2006
.....And a Happy New Year!!!
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year!!
Holy shit am i glad that the Christmas Cruise is over!!! It was just a weird weird weird cruise...
you'd THINK that during the holiday season on a cruise with all families, people wouldnt steal.... WRONG! thats when they do it the most!
I caught soooo many people (not just kids but old farts too!) stealing photos from the gallery and generally just being HORRIBLE SCROOGES during the holidays.... arg!
ok...thats it... i'm done bitching :)
I got to see St Maarten for the first time (love it... love it...) and Grit and I had a great Christmas .... we woke up around 9am, opened gifts (with Bony M singing in the background haha), and then we made some tea in our new "Decorate-Yourself Starbucks Mugs" and then we met Stu, Carrie, Matt, Kyla, Thomas and Linda on the gangway and went out to St Thomas..... and my God.... Magen's Bay... I can tell you, it was like the beaches in Ouvea...but damn close...
Beach....Tanning.....Swimming.... and my day off, in a Caribbean Island on Christmas Day :)
Now I am sitting in Fort Lauderdale just a few hours before the "New Years Cruise" starts...
what good fortunes and experiences will be brought my way this cruise?
New Years Eve is formal night (typical. just typical.) and I am shooting portraits in The Atrium until 10:30pm and then after we put the photos up in the gallery, we all go up to the open decks and shoot everyone having fun til midnight, when the balloons and streamers drop. Grit is off at 10pm and i told her she has to walk around with me until midnight hahahaha... gotta have the new years kiss ya know :)
alright folks... its off to the ship again... sleep for a few hours and then work for a bit, then when Grit gets off at 9pm we are getting all dressed up and headin to the steakhouse... mmmmmm, dead cow :)
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Instead of wishing you everything you want in 2007, I want to wish you all everything you need. If you truly need it, you WILL get it.
So Be It.
-M-
Holy shit am i glad that the Christmas Cruise is over!!! It was just a weird weird weird cruise...
you'd THINK that during the holiday season on a cruise with all families, people wouldnt steal.... WRONG! thats when they do it the most!
I caught soooo many people (not just kids but old farts too!) stealing photos from the gallery and generally just being HORRIBLE SCROOGES during the holidays.... arg!
ok...thats it... i'm done bitching :)
I got to see St Maarten for the first time (love it... love it...) and Grit and I had a great Christmas .... we woke up around 9am, opened gifts (with Bony M singing in the background haha), and then we made some tea in our new "Decorate-Yourself Starbucks Mugs" and then we met Stu, Carrie, Matt, Kyla, Thomas and Linda on the gangway and went out to St Thomas..... and my God.... Magen's Bay... I can tell you, it was like the beaches in Ouvea...but damn close...
Beach....Tanning.....Swimming.... and my day off, in a Caribbean Island on Christmas Day :)
Now I am sitting in Fort Lauderdale just a few hours before the "New Years Cruise" starts...
what good fortunes and experiences will be brought my way this cruise?
New Years Eve is formal night (typical. just typical.) and I am shooting portraits in The Atrium until 10:30pm and then after we put the photos up in the gallery, we all go up to the open decks and shoot everyone having fun til midnight, when the balloons and streamers drop. Grit is off at 10pm and i told her she has to walk around with me until midnight hahahaha... gotta have the new years kiss ya know :)
alright folks... its off to the ship again... sleep for a few hours and then work for a bit, then when Grit gets off at 9pm we are getting all dressed up and headin to the steakhouse... mmmmmm, dead cow :)
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Instead of wishing you everything you want in 2007, I want to wish you all everything you need. If you truly need it, you WILL get it.
So Be It.
-M-
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Long Time No Talk!
hey everone! Its been a long long time, almost a month! i am still alive, but have been pretty busy....and Grit has been taking up my time :) yay! I am in Ocho Rios right now, on December 20th, 5 days til Christmas... in Jamaica and its 30C outside :) dont hate me lol.
Lots has been going on, but just to give a quick summary and then some pictures: I have swam with dolphins (and even kissed one!), I have white water rafted in Costa Rica (with Grit, she loved it, hell its better than her last contract in the Baltic...BRRRR), I have dressed up as Freddy Mercury at an 80s crew disco (and won the grand prize: a Motorola Razr cellphone!), I have worked hard and played hard, and things are going good. Lots of friends, everyone is happy, great team, and I am proud to have the life I have. Not sure if there are many contracts after this one or not, I might be ready for something new soon. Grit and I are planning our trip around Europe in the Summer (dont worry, I will be home first for a fair bit...Brooks and Calgary especially!!...Dad, I'm gonna kick your ass at golf, and I might wanna throw in a fishing trip too!)...
How is everyone else? How is the Christmas prepartion process going? We have 473 kids under 18 next cruise... Holy Christmas, Batman! Also, we had a contest last cruise to see who could sell the most Cruise DVDs and I won (I had 20 and the 2nd place behind me had only 8 hahaha) so I get Christmas Day off in St. Thomas...and Grit has it off too!!!
Oh my god, sitting here typing...and guess what is playing on the stereo at the bar here?
Bony M Christmas...
Only the family would appreciate that..... NOW it feels like Christmas :) what are the odds?
ok, photo time, and then I gotta go!
Merry Christmas everyone!
p.s. I am waiting until the festivities start here on the ship before I send anything home so i can send photos of us having our Christmas in the Caribbean ok? I havent forgotten.. I just thought it would be cheaper to send everyone 1 package of everything rather than presents and THEN photos...
Ta!
-M-
Lots has been going on, but just to give a quick summary and then some pictures: I have swam with dolphins (and even kissed one!), I have white water rafted in Costa Rica (with Grit, she loved it, hell its better than her last contract in the Baltic...BRRRR), I have dressed up as Freddy Mercury at an 80s crew disco (and won the grand prize: a Motorola Razr cellphone!), I have worked hard and played hard, and things are going good. Lots of friends, everyone is happy, great team, and I am proud to have the life I have. Not sure if there are many contracts after this one or not, I might be ready for something new soon. Grit and I are planning our trip around Europe in the Summer (dont worry, I will be home first for a fair bit...Brooks and Calgary especially!!...Dad, I'm gonna kick your ass at golf, and I might wanna throw in a fishing trip too!)...
How is everyone else? How is the Christmas prepartion process going? We have 473 kids under 18 next cruise... Holy Christmas, Batman! Also, we had a contest last cruise to see who could sell the most Cruise DVDs and I won (I had 20 and the 2nd place behind me had only 8 hahaha) so I get Christmas Day off in St. Thomas...and Grit has it off too!!!
Oh my god, sitting here typing...and guess what is playing on the stereo at the bar here?
Bony M Christmas...
Only the family would appreciate that..... NOW it feels like Christmas :) what are the odds?
ok, photo time, and then I gotta go!
Merry Christmas everyone!
p.s. I am waiting until the festivities start here on the ship before I send anything home so i can send photos of us having our Christmas in the Caribbean ok? I havent forgotten.. I just thought it would be cheaper to send everyone 1 package of everything rather than presents and THEN photos...
Ta!
-M-
Madonna (Grit) and Freddy Mercury (me) at the 80s disco
White water rafting in costa rica!
Me and Mitch :)
How Real Coffee is supposed to be... in Costa Rica :)
'The 80s Guys'Friday, November 24, 2006
My 100th Post...what now?
Wow. 100 posts. what now?
It has been just 3 weeks shy of a year since I started this blog, and reading back on some of the posts, I just can't believe how lucky I am.
In the past 11.5 months, just off the top of my head I have:
- flown over the International Dateline to Australia
- been blown away by the serenity of the South Pacific Islands
- been stung by a school of baby jellyfish and luckily didnt have to get peed on
- been a pirate in the indian ocean
- crossed the equator in a ship
- drank beer with strangers in a dark alley in Bangkok
- treated a Thailand prostitute's to a free dinner with a friend and then hung out with her in Kao San Road talking and laughing simply because we thought it would be nice for her to have a "night off".
- not only witnessed but photographed a burial at sea
- sat on the beach in Phuket where the tsunami hit the worst.
- rode on and befriended an elephant named "Sweetheart".
- para-sailed in malaysia.
- fell in love with someone who lives on the other side of the planet, and who to this day i have actually spent more time away from her than with her since we met, and we're stronger than ever. (by the way, Grit told me yesterday that she got a call from Steiner, she is coming to work on the Coral in 8 days!!!!)
- took a train to venice, italy and spent 8 hours in absolute amazement.
- survived what could have been one of the worst disasters at sea ever recorded, and walked away without a scratch and standing taller.
- dipped my hands in the famous fountain, and hummed "give peace a chance" to myself at the John Lennon memorial in central park, new york.
- I have crossed the atlantic in 9 days, and woke up at 530am one morning to watch the statue of liberty get closer.
- I have taken a photo straight down from the top of the empire state building.
- i have cried at the world trade center site.
- i have swung from tree to tree on a cable while it was pouring down in a rainforest in costa rica, and screamed to the heavens the whole way.
- i swam with stingrays in grand cayman 1 week before steve irwin died, and i am going to do it again.
- i have soaked up the sun lying on a tube drifting down the great river in jamaica
- i have finally brought home a girl that my family likes :)
- i have learned a few words in over 15 different languages
- i live with 800 crew members from over 40 different countries every day that never fight each other, never steal from, and can always manage to make each other smile. i dont see why the rest of the world find it so difficult.
- i have watched storms all night and past the sun rising over the middle of the ocean, just because i could have sworn that i could have very well been the only one in the world to see it.
- i have walked ACROSS the locks of the panama canal... very little people do that.
the list goes on...all for the past 11 months.
and what now? i keep on roaming.
thats what we do.
like buffalo, we roam.
and then all of it happens.
and we roam.
-m-
It has been just 3 weeks shy of a year since I started this blog, and reading back on some of the posts, I just can't believe how lucky I am.
In the past 11.5 months, just off the top of my head I have:
- flown over the International Dateline to Australia
- been blown away by the serenity of the South Pacific Islands
- been stung by a school of baby jellyfish and luckily didnt have to get peed on
- been a pirate in the indian ocean
- crossed the equator in a ship
- drank beer with strangers in a dark alley in Bangkok
- treated a Thailand prostitute's to a free dinner with a friend and then hung out with her in Kao San Road talking and laughing simply because we thought it would be nice for her to have a "night off".
- not only witnessed but photographed a burial at sea
- sat on the beach in Phuket where the tsunami hit the worst.
- rode on and befriended an elephant named "Sweetheart".
- para-sailed in malaysia.
- fell in love with someone who lives on the other side of the planet, and who to this day i have actually spent more time away from her than with her since we met, and we're stronger than ever. (by the way, Grit told me yesterday that she got a call from Steiner, she is coming to work on the Coral in 8 days!!!!)
- took a train to venice, italy and spent 8 hours in absolute amazement.
- survived what could have been one of the worst disasters at sea ever recorded, and walked away without a scratch and standing taller.
- dipped my hands in the famous fountain, and hummed "give peace a chance" to myself at the John Lennon memorial in central park, new york.
- I have crossed the atlantic in 9 days, and woke up at 530am one morning to watch the statue of liberty get closer.
- I have taken a photo straight down from the top of the empire state building.
- i have cried at the world trade center site.
- i have swung from tree to tree on a cable while it was pouring down in a rainforest in costa rica, and screamed to the heavens the whole way.
- i swam with stingrays in grand cayman 1 week before steve irwin died, and i am going to do it again.
- i have soaked up the sun lying on a tube drifting down the great river in jamaica
- i have finally brought home a girl that my family likes :)
- i have learned a few words in over 15 different languages
- i live with 800 crew members from over 40 different countries every day that never fight each other, never steal from, and can always manage to make each other smile. i dont see why the rest of the world find it so difficult.
- i have watched storms all night and past the sun rising over the middle of the ocean, just because i could have sworn that i could have very well been the only one in the world to see it.
- i have walked ACROSS the locks of the panama canal... very little people do that.
the list goes on...all for the past 11 months.
and what now? i keep on roaming.
thats what we do.
like buffalo, we roam.
and then all of it happens.
and we roam.
-m-
Monday, November 20, 2006
Random Picture Time!
ok these mexican keyboards are very hard to get used to haha! ok, i am in Cozumel Mexico right now, and i just popped off the ship to send some random pics of this cruise. the zipline tour in costa rica was amazing, and although i didnt get to do the ATV tour in jamaica, the river tubing that replaced it was well worth it. Panama was a real treat too, i actually jumped off the cruise ship at 5am while it was still moving and onto a pilot boat that took me to shore. then i shot photos of everyone on their balconies as they past by me in the locks of the panama canal. i actually walked ACROSS one of the locks to go to the other side... not many people do that! in fact, only 3 people on the entire ship can actually leave at that time, and they are all photographers hahahaha. ok, i am gonna finish the blog entry and then grab some mexican food. then its back onto the ship, i gotta finish feeding my negs through the line and print em off before island night! yay!
=M=
=M=
this is jay, canadian SR. Videographer (probably my roomate in 2 days too...good thing we really really get along). In panama we shoot the balconies on the ship for an hour and then we have about 6 hours off with an escort until the ship comes back to get us, and all we do is drive around. this is a friend of our escorts in a local REAL pub (not some dolled up one for passengers, this is authentic). Got our asses handed to us in Pool though...damn those guys are good!
this is our new friend pointing to HIS women.... old men dont change no matter where you are haha.
this is one of the tugs that pull the ships through the panama canal. this particular one has been retired and is sitting in a park...for big kids to play on!
striking a pose in panama. Vogue :)
ZipLine tour in costa rica....150 metres in the air, in a rainforest, pouring more rain than any day i have ever been alive to witness. also...biggest frontal wedgie ever...look at that package!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Oh me, Oh my!
I just had to mention this, as I am completely stoked about it. On the Crown last contract I didnt go on a single tour/shore excursion through the ship because I either had zero time, or my cabinmate Jacek always beat me to it...
Today, I have not only booked one, but TWO shore excursions for this cruise.
Ready? Get this:
1. Tomorrow, I am joining a small crowd of say 20 people and we are all hopping on our own ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles) and we are driving up and down the beaches of Montego Bay, Jamaica. After kickin up the sand for a while, we are driving up Mt. Zion (yes, Bob Marley's 'Zion'). I should get quite a few nice jungle type photos with this one!
and finally:
2. In 5 days time, I will be joining again about 20 people, but all Crew this time (Crew Only Tour), and we are doing whats called a 'ZipLine' in Limon, Costa Rica. A ZipLine can basically be described as "that tightrope people dangle from hooks on in the TV show 'Fear Factor'..."
We are going from tree to tree shimmying across a metal zipline, roughly 80 feet in the air...
stoked? yes! scared?
....not yet ;)
-M-
Today, I have not only booked one, but TWO shore excursions for this cruise.
Ready? Get this:
1. Tomorrow, I am joining a small crowd of say 20 people and we are all hopping on our own ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles) and we are driving up and down the beaches of Montego Bay, Jamaica. After kickin up the sand for a while, we are driving up Mt. Zion (yes, Bob Marley's 'Zion'). I should get quite a few nice jungle type photos with this one!
and finally:
2. In 5 days time, I will be joining again about 20 people, but all Crew this time (Crew Only Tour), and we are doing whats called a 'ZipLine' in Limon, Costa Rica. A ZipLine can basically be described as "that tightrope people dangle from hooks on in the TV show 'Fear Factor'..."
We are going from tree to tree shimmying across a metal zipline, roughly 80 feet in the air...
stoked? yes! scared?
....not yet ;)
-M-
Friday, November 10, 2006
Cozumel....pant...pant...
Woke up this morning 1 hour earlier to a phone call from an equally sleepy photographer saying we are in Cozumel earlier and we gotta hustle to the gangway for pics....
...2 hours in TOTAL and UTTER heat.....no shade (until Royal Caribbean pulled alongside...thank you!)...
now I am on a few hours off so i get to do basically the same thing...take pics in the hot sun...BUT not of passengers haha... some cool places round here... 'Carlos N Charlies' and of course 'Senor Frogs' (done that....many times....).
I think I am gonna grab a cervesa and then hop back into my cabin (with the broken airconditioner...still cold compared to outside)...and then its island night! Formal night is over (last night) and its smooth sailing from here (for 3 days haha)...
Here are a few pics so far that I threw on just cause I could...
cheers!
-M-
...2 hours in TOTAL and UTTER heat.....no shade (until Royal Caribbean pulled alongside...thank you!)...
now I am on a few hours off so i get to do basically the same thing...take pics in the hot sun...BUT not of passengers haha... some cool places round here... 'Carlos N Charlies' and of course 'Senor Frogs' (done that....many times....).
I think I am gonna grab a cervesa and then hop back into my cabin (with the broken airconditioner...still cold compared to outside)...and then its island night! Formal night is over (last night) and its smooth sailing from here (for 3 days haha)...
Here are a few pics so far that I threw on just cause I could...
cheers!
-M-
me and my sis and mama just before I left for the Coral
the new gang on the 2nd night on the ship...Halloween! Notice me without a costume :(
the new home...Coral Princess... on my way to it for the first time. Shot from a tender boat in Grand Cayman.
The Atrium of the Coral Princess.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Random Thoughts And Pictures Falling From the Sky
Hey everyone! I thought I would throw a little update online today...tell all my peeps the DownLow on whats been goin on these past few days. Work is good, getting back into my little groove again... deck 2 cabin sucks my hairy ass....pardon the vulgarity, but there is no other way of putting it...meeting new friends each day, some real cool people here on board. Crewbar is small and insignificant...but a beer or two each night to wind down is simply unpreventable. Formal Nights are still the bane of my existance...c'est la vie!
I suck at ping pong...the Phillipeno's dont.
Panama Canal is amazing...there is literally 1 foot of water maybe 2 on either side of the ship...
Fits.... LIKE A GLOVE!
I am eating super healthy... probably because I have only been to the crew mess to eat ...twice maybe. Horizon Court is where its at. Every meal I have the worlds biggest salad: onions, lettuce, carrots, radishes, celery, bacon bits, croutons, peppers, and a TINY bit of dressing. Then there is the fish (not fried) AND either chicken/steak/pork/all of the above. No Deserts (not holding back, they just simply dont appeal to me...plus I am eating too much dinner haha). Still havent started up with the gym again, but i cant find the @!$#!$ thing haha. Everyone says crew gym is on deck 1.. i have looked 4 times and i cant even find stairs to go to level one!!! The spa has a passenger gym, but I would like to try out the crew gym first and make sure i still know how to exercise still haha.
Grit is still at home in Germany. She called Steiner today to see when she can come here and they said they might have an answer wed or thurs this week. getting impatient here... she is guaranteed a spot here, but its all a matter of when... oh well... she is doing well and we are talking lots. I cant wait to see her, she will love the ship, its so much smaller than what we are accustomed to from past contract. Its a lot like the Pacific Sky!
Speakin of which, get this: first formal night (first day i was here) I grabbed my camera and put a memory card in.... i hit preview to see what pics were already on it, and first pic was.... ME.
WHAT THE !$!%?
Apparantly when we sold the Pacific Sky, we sent all our equipment (including the memory cards) to various Princess Ships... the memory cards obviously came to the Coral, but what boggles me is this: I have had a contract in the mean time. The cards were in plain sight, and not only were they on the ship i came to, but nobody deleted these cards for....6 months! And I could have picked any other memory card that WASNT from the Sky... my first thought:
Wake up Neo. The Matrix has you.
Where's the hidden camera? Is this the Truman Show? :)
Very Syncronistic indeed.... yet hard to decypher the meaning so far....
in the meantime, thats all. I am going to Costa Rica tomorrow. There is a Sloth Sanctuary there, I might not have time to go this turn, but I have 16 more times to go before we head to Alaska.
How is everyone else doin? How's the snow? :) Don't worry, it was about +35C today in Panama before the rain....I will send some heat your way ;) I am all sweaty anyways.
See you all in the NEXT CARTOON!
-M-
I suck at ping pong...the Phillipeno's dont.
Panama Canal is amazing...there is literally 1 foot of water maybe 2 on either side of the ship...
Fits.... LIKE A GLOVE!
I am eating super healthy... probably because I have only been to the crew mess to eat ...twice maybe. Horizon Court is where its at. Every meal I have the worlds biggest salad: onions, lettuce, carrots, radishes, celery, bacon bits, croutons, peppers, and a TINY bit of dressing. Then there is the fish (not fried) AND either chicken/steak/pork/all of the above. No Deserts (not holding back, they just simply dont appeal to me...plus I am eating too much dinner haha). Still havent started up with the gym again, but i cant find the @!$#!$ thing haha. Everyone says crew gym is on deck 1.. i have looked 4 times and i cant even find stairs to go to level one!!! The spa has a passenger gym, but I would like to try out the crew gym first and make sure i still know how to exercise still haha.
Grit is still at home in Germany. She called Steiner today to see when she can come here and they said they might have an answer wed or thurs this week. getting impatient here... she is guaranteed a spot here, but its all a matter of when... oh well... she is doing well and we are talking lots. I cant wait to see her, she will love the ship, its so much smaller than what we are accustomed to from past contract. Its a lot like the Pacific Sky!
Speakin of which, get this: first formal night (first day i was here) I grabbed my camera and put a memory card in.... i hit preview to see what pics were already on it, and first pic was.... ME.
WHAT THE !$!%?
Apparantly when we sold the Pacific Sky, we sent all our equipment (including the memory cards) to various Princess Ships... the memory cards obviously came to the Coral, but what boggles me is this: I have had a contract in the mean time. The cards were in plain sight, and not only were they on the ship i came to, but nobody deleted these cards for....6 months! And I could have picked any other memory card that WASNT from the Sky... my first thought:
Wake up Neo. The Matrix has you.
Where's the hidden camera? Is this the Truman Show? :)
Very Syncronistic indeed.... yet hard to decypher the meaning so far....
in the meantime, thats all. I am going to Costa Rica tomorrow. There is a Sloth Sanctuary there, I might not have time to go this turn, but I have 16 more times to go before we head to Alaska.
How is everyone else doin? How's the snow? :) Don't worry, it was about +35C today in Panama before the rain....I will send some heat your way ;) I am all sweaty anyways.
See you all in the NEXT CARTOON!
-M-
Monday, October 30, 2006
First message from the Coral Princess
Oi Oi, Geezahs!!!
Ok...where shall I start....
- Vancouver to Vegas to Miami to Grand Cayman via plane... not bad. (first thing i did when i got into miami was....yes.....listen to "Miami" by will smith...."welcome to miami..." haha)
- Staying 1 day in Grand Cayman was good... walked around, saw some places I have already been (and that was cool...not sure why...), had free internet in the hotel, had 2 for 1 Bud light in a bar/grill at night (hey...its still beer). Only slept 2 hours and woke up to the phone ringing and it was the guy downstairs picking me up....slept in haha...oops!
- Got to the ship, saw James Security/Rob Purser/Stacey Tours from the Pacific Sky...alright! Photo Team is really cool..lots of cool ppl, none of them sane by any means neccessary. 6 photogs left last cruise so the cabins are messed up, therefore i am staying with a videographer on...deck 2....Jesus....what did i do wrong? its only temporary though...photogs live on deck 9 here so thats 5 decks higher than the crown! yay! Had 2nd formal night, during which i was the restaurant photo bitch guy thing.....and 3 tables told me I was the nicest and best photographer they have ever seen on the ships... I have 2 more days on this cruise to find them again and introduce them to a little thing called 'comment cards' haha. now its 12:30am...gonna go grab another drink (seeing as how I just found Scotty from the Crown about 20 min ago...life just gets better and better)... i started singing the ports of call song that we made up on the crown and scotty's buddy said 'oh...now i know who you are'...i guess i am popular haha. tomorrow i have no inductions, no laminex to get off the ship with in cozumel, and nothing on schedule til 4pm... guess who is sleeping in? ME! yay!
Summary: Coral-amazing atrium, amazing crew, amazing stabilizers (we arent moving that much side to side), shit crewbar (come on guys...knock a few walls down), and one really hot new photographer...who just joined today... me! lol
oh oh oh, another good thing...msn in the internet room, PLUS a card reader for pics... i can update all the time with pics now!
Getting Grit here in a few weeks or so... and this will be one helluva ship!
see you all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Ok...where shall I start....
- Vancouver to Vegas to Miami to Grand Cayman via plane... not bad. (first thing i did when i got into miami was....yes.....listen to "Miami" by will smith...."welcome to miami..." haha)
- Staying 1 day in Grand Cayman was good... walked around, saw some places I have already been (and that was cool...not sure why...), had free internet in the hotel, had 2 for 1 Bud light in a bar/grill at night (hey...its still beer). Only slept 2 hours and woke up to the phone ringing and it was the guy downstairs picking me up....slept in haha...oops!
- Got to the ship, saw James Security/Rob Purser/Stacey Tours from the Pacific Sky...alright! Photo Team is really cool..lots of cool ppl, none of them sane by any means neccessary. 6 photogs left last cruise so the cabins are messed up, therefore i am staying with a videographer on...deck 2....Jesus....what did i do wrong? its only temporary though...photogs live on deck 9 here so thats 5 decks higher than the crown! yay! Had 2nd formal night, during which i was the restaurant photo bitch guy thing.....and 3 tables told me I was the nicest and best photographer they have ever seen on the ships... I have 2 more days on this cruise to find them again and introduce them to a little thing called 'comment cards' haha. now its 12:30am...gonna go grab another drink (seeing as how I just found Scotty from the Crown about 20 min ago...life just gets better and better)... i started singing the ports of call song that we made up on the crown and scotty's buddy said 'oh...now i know who you are'...i guess i am popular haha. tomorrow i have no inductions, no laminex to get off the ship with in cozumel, and nothing on schedule til 4pm... guess who is sleeping in? ME! yay!
Summary: Coral-amazing atrium, amazing crew, amazing stabilizers (we arent moving that much side to side), shit crewbar (come on guys...knock a few walls down), and one really hot new photographer...who just joined today... me! lol
oh oh oh, another good thing...msn in the internet room, PLUS a card reader for pics... i can update all the time with pics now!
Getting Grit here in a few weeks or so... and this will be one helluva ship!
see you all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Ok...Calgary update...and my new ship!
Wow, its been a while? (cracks knuckles, clears throat...)
ok...
I came to Calgary last Thursday... guess that would be a week ago already. I stayed with good buddy Graham from FS (aka. retail hell), and saw most of my friends, which was really really good. I took a 128 block roundtrip walk from Marda Loop up through downtown then up through my old stompin grounds north of downtown , stopping for a bite and a Cherry-Rootbeer shake at Peter's Drive-In, and finally back from whence I came (feet didnt even hurt the next day, so nyah!).
I also heard back from Princess Cruises Head Office saying that I can switch from the Star Princess to the Coral Princess for my next ship so that Grit could get on with me, so I gladly accepted it and immediately called everyone I know shouting with glee (I think I actually did shout the word "Glee"... who does that? I do!) So now that I accepted it, I had to cut my Calgary trip short and make a B-Line for Brooks so I could at least see my dad for the once small now smaller period of time... oh, and about to get smaller...read on...
I get to Brooks yesterday, everything goes perfectly, I set up my Dad's stereo system and all the trimmings in his new place (huge and so nice), and then I get an email from Head Office about my flight details....
Now I leave Oct 28th 7:48pm from Vancouver to Vegas, have a 1 hour stay in Vegas, and then fly to Miami, watch the sunrise and chill for a few hours, and then fly to Grand Cayman Island for noon on Sunday the 29th... good news is I get a full day, night, and overnight alone and unsupervised in Grand Cayman to do whatever the Hell I want (pun intended, click on link). Bad news is now my trip visiting my Dad and Anne (whom i have not seen since January) has gone from a pathetic 5 days, down to 3.5 days, to a soggy and under par 2 days...
(I know I know, most of you are probably thinking "wow, such a rough life you lead Mike...poor world traveller")
Screw Grand Cayman, I want time with my dad...
I think I'll just have to plan a much better visit next time I am back. I am spending a month at home next time, and then Grit and I are gonna find an old VW van and tour Europe for a few weeks (Josh and Graham, are we meeting in Rome or Naples?) :)
ok so... everything is going good, but everything is stressfull and I guess I just gotta make the best of what time I have with my friends and family... which is kinda what we all should be doing anyways...
K, I am gonna go for a run to my dad's work and then run to have lunch with him.... ciao!
love,
-M-
ok...
I came to Calgary last Thursday... guess that would be a week ago already. I stayed with good buddy Graham from FS (aka. retail hell), and saw most of my friends, which was really really good. I took a 128 block roundtrip walk from Marda Loop up through downtown then up through my old stompin grounds north of downtown , stopping for a bite and a Cherry-Rootbeer shake at Peter's Drive-In, and finally back from whence I came (feet didnt even hurt the next day, so nyah!).
I also heard back from Princess Cruises Head Office saying that I can switch from the Star Princess to the Coral Princess for my next ship so that Grit could get on with me, so I gladly accepted it and immediately called everyone I know shouting with glee (I think I actually did shout the word "Glee"... who does that? I do!) So now that I accepted it, I had to cut my Calgary trip short and make a B-Line for Brooks so I could at least see my dad for the once small now smaller period of time... oh, and about to get smaller...read on...
I get to Brooks yesterday, everything goes perfectly, I set up my Dad's stereo system and all the trimmings in his new place (huge and so nice), and then I get an email from Head Office about my flight details....
Now I leave Oct 28th 7:48pm from Vancouver to Vegas, have a 1 hour stay in Vegas, and then fly to Miami, watch the sunrise and chill for a few hours, and then fly to Grand Cayman Island for noon on Sunday the 29th... good news is I get a full day, night, and overnight alone and unsupervised in Grand Cayman to do whatever the Hell I want (pun intended, click on link). Bad news is now my trip visiting my Dad and Anne (whom i have not seen since January) has gone from a pathetic 5 days, down to 3.5 days, to a soggy and under par 2 days...
(I know I know, most of you are probably thinking "wow, such a rough life you lead Mike...poor world traveller")
Screw Grand Cayman, I want time with my dad...
I think I'll just have to plan a much better visit next time I am back. I am spending a month at home next time, and then Grit and I are gonna find an old VW van and tour Europe for a few weeks (Josh and Graham, are we meeting in Rome or Naples?) :)
ok so... everything is going good, but everything is stressfull and I guess I just gotta make the best of what time I have with my friends and family... which is kinda what we all should be doing anyways...
K, I am gonna go for a run to my dad's work and then run to have lunch with him.... ciao!
love,
-M-
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Calgary Trip Possibly this Week!
Hey everyone!
Grit left yesterday for home (Germany) and I got a call today at 4pm saying she made it home safe....her luggage though, is still either in Vancouver or London.... the funny thing is, so is everyone else's luggage from that flight lol. Go British Airways Go! They must have found some Atomic Toothpaste or maybe some Explosive Water....sheesh.
Ok so now the house is VERY empty and boring, but its giving me time to get certain things done, and plan my trip to Calgary! I am thinking of coming this Thursday or so, and maybe spending a few days in Brooks with my Dad, and then Monday or so coming back to Calgary to visit for a few days. Is anything going on in Calgary in the next week or two? Anyone wanting a coffee or a pint O' the good stuff? A few of you I already have spoken to, and some want coffee, some want clubbin, either I am ok with. I just want to BE in Calgary for one. I haven't been there since the first few days of January, so I have quite a few things I have planned for just me walking around alone. I might want to do an Elbow Falls run if anyone is interested. This year was the first Canada Day that I haven't gone to Elbow Falls for sunrise pics in...4 years is it? Correct me if I am wrong for those of you who know lol.
It will be nice to just BE in CowTown. Walking around Chinook Mall, Jogging down Centre St Bridge, Sayin Hi to the gang NorthLand Mall Future Shop, Delivering Pizzas around the University (ok maybe not the last one lol). I probably wont see Calgary for another 6 months to a year because I am heading out back to the ships in November so I gotta make it a good trip :)
Lookin forward to seeing you Calgary!
My last view of Calgary as I was on the plane for White Rock BC in January 06.
-m-
Grit left yesterday for home (Germany) and I got a call today at 4pm saying she made it home safe....her luggage though, is still either in Vancouver or London.... the funny thing is, so is everyone else's luggage from that flight lol. Go British Airways Go! They must have found some Atomic Toothpaste or maybe some Explosive Water....sheesh.
Ok so now the house is VERY empty and boring, but its giving me time to get certain things done, and plan my trip to Calgary! I am thinking of coming this Thursday or so, and maybe spending a few days in Brooks with my Dad, and then Monday or so coming back to Calgary to visit for a few days. Is anything going on in Calgary in the next week or two? Anyone wanting a coffee or a pint O' the good stuff? A few of you I already have spoken to, and some want coffee, some want clubbin, either I am ok with. I just want to BE in Calgary for one. I haven't been there since the first few days of January, so I have quite a few things I have planned for just me walking around alone. I might want to do an Elbow Falls run if anyone is interested. This year was the first Canada Day that I haven't gone to Elbow Falls for sunrise pics in...4 years is it? Correct me if I am wrong for those of you who know lol.
It will be nice to just BE in CowTown. Walking around Chinook Mall, Jogging down Centre St Bridge, Sayin Hi to the gang NorthLand Mall Future Shop, Delivering Pizzas around the University (ok maybe not the last one lol). I probably wont see Calgary for another 6 months to a year because I am heading out back to the ships in November so I gotta make it a good trip :)
Lookin forward to seeing you Calgary!
My last view of Calgary as I was on the plane for White Rock BC in January 06. -m-
Friday, October 13, 2006
One Less Fear...
I have a fear. Well...HAD a fear. This is going to sound funny. I went swimming tonight with Grit, Hill, and Kaia, and it occured to me that I have never actually DOVE off of a diving board. I have JUMPED off a diving board many times, but I have never done the typical 'head first arms stretched' kinda dive. When asked why not by my sister, my only reply was "I dont really know". I think I was scared at some point in my childhood and then never really had a NEED to dive into water before (funny, I work/live in the middle of the ocean). Anyways, so I kinda chuckled to myself and said "well, I guess a fear is a fear is a fear, so lets get this FIRST dive over with just to get it out of my system"...
so up the diving board I went (its only 2 feet off the water)...
and when I got to the end...
(dare i say this. stop reading now please)...
I froze.
what the hell?!
27 years of NOT diving and now I simply CANT.
Long story short: A lot of time passed, I felt like a total puss and finally did it and (to my own accord) after many attempt I also perfected it...sorta.
Moral of the story: I said it before..A Fear is a fear is a fear.... it doesn't matter what degree it is, it can be overcome.
I have many fears, but what I am slowly finding out in life is that I am growing less afraid to overcome them. Today I overcame a fear, and as silly as it was, it felt so good beating it. I am asking you (yes I am talking to YOU) that the day you read this, whatever day TODAY is for you....TRY to overcome a fear. Even if its something childish like mine was....just go ahead and fight it.
There's a lot of things in life to be afraid of, erase one of them today.
quotes on fear:
"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed." (har har)
Michael Pritchard
"You don't face your fears, you stand up to them."
Anonymous
"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."
Eddie Rickenbacher
and my personal favorite:
"He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses courage loses all."
Cervantes
-m-
so up the diving board I went (its only 2 feet off the water)...
and when I got to the end...
(dare i say this. stop reading now please)...
I froze.
what the hell?!
27 years of NOT diving and now I simply CANT.
Long story short: A lot of time passed, I felt like a total puss and finally did it and (to my own accord) after many attempt I also perfected it...sorta.
Moral of the story: I said it before..A Fear is a fear is a fear.... it doesn't matter what degree it is, it can be overcome.
I have many fears, but what I am slowly finding out in life is that I am growing less afraid to overcome them. Today I overcame a fear, and as silly as it was, it felt so good beating it. I am asking you (yes I am talking to YOU) that the day you read this, whatever day TODAY is for you....TRY to overcome a fear. Even if its something childish like mine was....just go ahead and fight it.
There's a lot of things in life to be afraid of, erase one of them today.
quotes on fear:
"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed." (har har)
Michael Pritchard
"You don't face your fears, you stand up to them."
Anonymous
"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."
Eddie Rickenbacher
and my personal favorite:
"He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses courage loses all."
Cervantes
-m-
Thursday, October 05, 2006
A Pirate Looks at his Logo...
Decided that I would throw some color onto my blog, so I started making a logo in photoshop... I found an older photo of me sitting atop a cliff in Banff with my hand in the air (most of you know it as the splash screen on my photography site), and then found a free world map photo online... after that I started thinking it looked somewhat like a treasure map.... and seeing as how I have dressed as a pirate on the ships quite a bit (and will continue for who knows how long) and actually kinda feel like a pirate sailing the seas quite a bit (and will continue for who knows how long)....it kinda fit. So i played some more.... then i wanted fire.... so i played some more....
3 hours go by....and voila.
please let me know what you think. personally, and i dont really like to beep my own horn...
...but beep beep! i REALLY like it :)
"Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons dont thunder, theres nothin to plunder
Im an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late"
-lyrics from Jimmy Buffet's "A Pirate Looks at Forty"
-m-
3 hours go by....and voila.
please let me know what you think. personally, and i dont really like to beep my own horn...
...but beep beep! i REALLY like it :)
"Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons dont thunder, theres nothin to plunder
Im an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late"
-lyrics from Jimmy Buffet's "A Pirate Looks at Forty"
-m-
Holiday = no brain stimulation = me got no words
Wow, I have stared at the screen for 5 minutes and nothing has entered my mind that is even REMOTELY worth writing down.... I hate being sick...
so...just some random babbling ok? ok:
Victoria was amazing, I will post photos tonight probably. Didnt really do much, got a hotel, went to 'YE OLDE SPAGHETTI FACTORY', had a few pints at Cactus Club, and wandered around aimlessly. While eating dinner (i have to mention this), there was a party of ....50 or so people that came in and sat right beside us...all German Speaking.... Grit's eyes lit up like a cat biting through an extension cord! She didnt talk to them, she only listened. At the time, I thought she should say at least something, but now that I think of it....they were just there eating....just like us... I would find it rude if someone jumped in while we were eating.. (*cough* just like taking photos of people in the restaurants on the cruise ships *cough*) =)
Didnt go to Buchart Gardens. Too expensive. I know I know...I regret it, but hey...40 bucks for us to walk around flowers....yes its beautiful I know, but I can think of at least 5 or 10 places around White Rock that is just as beautiful.....and free!
Last night we rented X-Men 3 and The Lake House. HUGE contrast lol! my mom and Grit wanted the Lake House for its romance, and X-Men 3 just so i can pause it and show them where I am in the movie (yes I am in the movie..check out my blog entry from Decemebr 19th, 2005). I personally didnt care, I just wanted to chillax (love that word). Its the small things in life that I love.... like watching movies with Grit with the subtitles on so she can 'learn' while she watches... in my opinion she understands the movies perfectly, but I can just imagine her checking how words are SPELLED while she watches......foreign women rock haha. Next holiday is in Germany, I'll be doing the same....but with a more spaced out look I imagine.
Today we crossed the border to the states and did some shopping with my mom. Only a few hours, but Grit's passport does now officially proove that she has BEEN to the USA.
Photos for Sale:
I have quite a few people from the US checking out my blog regularily (hi! welcome!). I just wanted to mention a shameless plug for myself to those of you that might not know, and refresh the minds of those who do: if you like any of my photos that you see on www.michaelwachniak.com you may purchase them from myself anytime you want (although it is easier to get a hold of me while I am on holidays, I also sell them when I work on the ships, but I have to wait until turnaround days to send them via snailmail). If you would like to support my work in any way, or have questions about my photos, please email me.
Coming to Calgary:
I am coming to visit Calgary for REAL this time!! Oct 15th or 16th I will be flying out and staying for 2 weeks or so. Anyone wanting to chill/have coffee/ throw something at me/ wander around late at night jumping from building to building/ roadtrips/ all of the above please let me know via email.
thats it methinks...
time for tea. Ciao!
-M-
so...just some random babbling ok? ok:
Victoria was amazing, I will post photos tonight probably. Didnt really do much, got a hotel, went to 'YE OLDE SPAGHETTI FACTORY', had a few pints at Cactus Club, and wandered around aimlessly. While eating dinner (i have to mention this), there was a party of ....50 or so people that came in and sat right beside us...all German Speaking.... Grit's eyes lit up like a cat biting through an extension cord! She didnt talk to them, she only listened. At the time, I thought she should say at least something, but now that I think of it....they were just there eating....just like us... I would find it rude if someone jumped in while we were eating.. (*cough* just like taking photos of people in the restaurants on the cruise ships *cough*) =)
Didnt go to Buchart Gardens. Too expensive. I know I know...I regret it, but hey...40 bucks for us to walk around flowers....yes its beautiful I know, but I can think of at least 5 or 10 places around White Rock that is just as beautiful.....and free!
Last night we rented X-Men 3 and The Lake House. HUGE contrast lol! my mom and Grit wanted the Lake House for its romance, and X-Men 3 just so i can pause it and show them where I am in the movie (yes I am in the movie..check out my blog entry from Decemebr 19th, 2005). I personally didnt care, I just wanted to chillax (love that word). Its the small things in life that I love.... like watching movies with Grit with the subtitles on so she can 'learn' while she watches... in my opinion she understands the movies perfectly, but I can just imagine her checking how words are SPELLED while she watches......foreign women rock haha. Next holiday is in Germany, I'll be doing the same....but with a more spaced out look I imagine.
Today we crossed the border to the states and did some shopping with my mom. Only a few hours, but Grit's passport does now officially proove that she has BEEN to the USA.
Photos for Sale:
I have quite a few people from the US checking out my blog regularily (hi! welcome!). I just wanted to mention a shameless plug for myself to those of you that might not know, and refresh the minds of those who do: if you like any of my photos that you see on www.michaelwachniak.com you may purchase them from myself anytime you want (although it is easier to get a hold of me while I am on holidays, I also sell them when I work on the ships, but I have to wait until turnaround days to send them via snailmail). If you would like to support my work in any way, or have questions about my photos, please email me.
Coming to Calgary:
I am coming to visit Calgary for REAL this time!! Oct 15th or 16th I will be flying out and staying for 2 weeks or so. Anyone wanting to chill/have coffee/ throw something at me/ wander around late at night jumping from building to building/ roadtrips/ all of the above please let me know via email.
thats it methinks...
time for tea. Ciao!
-M-
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Doing so little its borderline scary...
Hey everyone, just a quick update as to whats been goin on in the past little while.
NOT MUCH!
Grit has been here with me for about a week now, and we have been living every day to the fullest.... sleeping in til 1pm or so, sitting on the couch with a coffee till about 3pm, maybe make some toast (she loves peanut butter...i swear having her here is like when Drew Barrymore brought ET in the house...everything is NEW and exciting!!). Last week we went out for supper at Semiahmoo beach with some buds from the Crown (Chantel, Sarah (crazy cat lady hahahaha), Sarah (Flamingo Sarah), Kim (vaguely remember her from the crown), and a few others that came along). It was great, had a beer at "Charlie Dont Surf" and a quesadilla and then walked the pier with some Dolce Gelato....damn good stuff... we also went to a birthday party in Vancouver and saw some old friends from the Pacific Sky (Amber and Kristen). Went to a cool place called CHAI on West Broadway...very very amazing atmosphere...so warm. Aside from those things we have basically just been goin for walks and hanging out... its been sooooo good just to do nothing!
TOMORROW, HOWEVER:
We are getting a ride to the ferries and the two of us are heading out (on foot, no car) to Victoria! We're gonna get a hotel and basically continue our "doing nothing" there for a few days....but we are also hitting up a few castles, walks, and *cough* have to mention *cough*....BUCHART GARDENS!!!! I have heard this place is amazing in the fall, so we gotta go....
as for the next contract... probably November i am thinking. We might request the crown again hahaha. its got a good itinerary then because everything changes in november... turnover day is no longer in New York, it goes to San Juan... (damn good place to be!).... plus, who wouldnt love spending Christmas and New Years in the Caribbean??? :)
Until then though, I have 2 more weeks with Grit and then I am off to Calgary to visit....whoever!!! Which, by the way.... anyone have a place I could crash at? hahahaha
See you all in the next Cartoon!
-M-
NOT MUCH!
Grit has been here with me for about a week now, and we have been living every day to the fullest.... sleeping in til 1pm or so, sitting on the couch with a coffee till about 3pm, maybe make some toast (she loves peanut butter...i swear having her here is like when Drew Barrymore brought ET in the house...everything is NEW and exciting!!). Last week we went out for supper at Semiahmoo beach with some buds from the Crown (Chantel, Sarah (crazy cat lady hahahaha), Sarah (Flamingo Sarah), Kim (vaguely remember her from the crown), and a few others that came along). It was great, had a beer at "Charlie Dont Surf" and a quesadilla and then walked the pier with some Dolce Gelato....damn good stuff... we also went to a birthday party in Vancouver and saw some old friends from the Pacific Sky (Amber and Kristen). Went to a cool place called CHAI on West Broadway...very very amazing atmosphere...so warm. Aside from those things we have basically just been goin for walks and hanging out... its been sooooo good just to do nothing!
TOMORROW, HOWEVER:
We are getting a ride to the ferries and the two of us are heading out (on foot, no car) to Victoria! We're gonna get a hotel and basically continue our "doing nothing" there for a few days....but we are also hitting up a few castles, walks, and *cough* have to mention *cough*....BUCHART GARDENS!!!! I have heard this place is amazing in the fall, so we gotta go....
as for the next contract... probably November i am thinking. We might request the crown again hahaha. its got a good itinerary then because everything changes in november... turnover day is no longer in New York, it goes to San Juan... (damn good place to be!).... plus, who wouldnt love spending Christmas and New Years in the Caribbean??? :)
Until then though, I have 2 more weeks with Grit and then I am off to Calgary to visit....whoever!!! Which, by the way.... anyone have a place I could crash at? hahahaha
See you all in the next Cartoon!
-M-
Grit and I beside the infamous WHITE ROCK, in White Rock BC :)
Kristen, Amber, Grit & I at Chai for Amber's birthday!
Grit striking a pose on the pier.
Bright...Light....Bright...Light....Can't...See....
Saturday, September 16, 2006
What would you do if I sang out of tune?
There are many times when I write in my blog that I feel like little Fred Savage from The Wonder Years. When I proof-read (yes i do that...sometimes), when I type it out for the first time, and even when I think of what to write, I always get that 'aw, my baby is growin up' kinda feeling lol...and in a way I am. 27 but still growin up. I will probably have this blog when I am 80 and still be 'growing up'.
Anyways, the point of today's entry is that I found a few quotes from the tv show "The Wonder Years" and some of them really sum up feelings I have had over the past year or maybe even longer, but never really had the words... If you listen close enough, I am sure you can hear Joe Cocker's voice trippin' and scratchin' over the bassline:
"I never knew until that moment what it was like to lose something I never really had."
"Love can tear and rip you apart. It can kill you. But if you’re lucky, it can put you back together."
"Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go."
"In your life you meet people. Some you never think about again. Some you wonder what happened to them. There are some that you wonder if they ever think about you. And then there are some you wish you never had to think about again; but you do."
"All we could do was close our eyes, and wish that the slow song would never end."
the list goes on...
-M-
Anyways, the point of today's entry is that I found a few quotes from the tv show "The Wonder Years" and some of them really sum up feelings I have had over the past year or maybe even longer, but never really had the words... If you listen close enough, I am sure you can hear Joe Cocker's voice trippin' and scratchin' over the bassline:
"I never knew until that moment what it was like to lose something I never really had."
"Love can tear and rip you apart. It can kill you. But if you’re lucky, it can put you back together."
"Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go."
"In your life you meet people. Some you never think about again. Some you wonder what happened to them. There are some that you wonder if they ever think about you. And then there are some you wish you never had to think about again; but you do."
"All we could do was close our eyes, and wish that the slow song would never end."
the list goes on...
-M-
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Another Crew Home Safe...
4:30am. home. 7 hour wait in jfk earlier. hungover (dont mention any alchohol for at least a month or two). miss the ship. miss the friends. already showed my mom the buffalo dvd. already had timmies. goin to bed now.
waking up....whenever i feel like it.
vacation starts...... now.
-m-
waking up....whenever i feel like it.
vacation starts...... now.
-m-
Friday, September 08, 2006
Damn Tropical Storm...I am packing!
ok, so no Bermuda on my last cruise... how pissed am I? Today I was supposed to have a full day off in St Thomas, but the new guy Paul (God Rest his soul lol) didnt have a laminex and therefore couldnt not leave the ship, and therefore I had to do his fire course... which really threw off my groove. It was however a great day because i spent the morning putting massive fireballs out with various extinguishers on a hill overlooking the ocean. I am glad that tomorrow is my last formal night (yay!) and I will be home soon, but DAMMIT do i need to have a fucked up Bermuda too?! So instead of seaday, Bermuda, seaday.... its Seaday THRICE!!!!!
(not impressed)...
Hurricane season really chaps my ass...ya know?
oh well.
I am glad that I have to pack now though. Yes i said GLAD to pack. I have never really hated packing, as I think I am used to it by now.
(insert Littlest Hobo theme song right about...... now)
I move. We all move. We all change. Change is good. Change is bad. But Change is necessary. I dont expect to stop anytime soon, I dont think lol.
Things I am looking forward to in the next 2 weeks:
- first bath since May....mmmmm.
- walks with sister Hillory, niece Kaia, and dog(s) Adobe, Reuben, and Ava (mommy doberman and the kids).
- Grit coming to visit sep 22nd. (so happy i just peed a little)
- Moby Dick fish and chips on the beach in White Rock (and the gang from the Crown that lives in Lower Mainland, you are all comin with me... this shit is addictive!)
- chillin with my mom (hey shut up lol)
- planning on my trip to calgary (best time to visit, please email me!)
- planning ANYTHING with my dad.
....but the one that beats them all out for the number 1 spot... (sorry Grit):
Tim Horton's Coffee. XL 2c 3s.
God Bless us, everyone. =)
-M-
(not impressed)...
Hurricane season really chaps my ass...ya know?
oh well.
I am glad that I have to pack now though. Yes i said GLAD to pack. I have never really hated packing, as I think I am used to it by now.
(insert Littlest Hobo theme song right about...... now)
I move. We all move. We all change. Change is good. Change is bad. But Change is necessary. I dont expect to stop anytime soon, I dont think lol.
Things I am looking forward to in the next 2 weeks:
- first bath since May....mmmmm.
- walks with sister Hillory, niece Kaia, and dog(s) Adobe, Reuben, and Ava (mommy doberman and the kids).
- Grit coming to visit sep 22nd. (so happy i just peed a little)
- Moby Dick fish and chips on the beach in White Rock (and the gang from the Crown that lives in Lower Mainland, you are all comin with me... this shit is addictive!)
- chillin with my mom (hey shut up lol)
- planning on my trip to calgary (best time to visit, please email me!)
- planning ANYTHING with my dad.
....but the one that beats them all out for the number 1 spot... (sorry Grit):
Tim Horton's Coffee. XL 2c 3s.
God Bless us, everyone. =)
-M-
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Random Pics whilst in BarefootBar in Grand Turk
ducky ducky what?
there, i said it. for those it makes sense to, i love all of you and miss you terribly. for everyone else, wait for the dvd lol.
now for some random pics....
Grit and her best friend on the Star Princess, Natalia... 15.5 more days til i am with her lol
ok...um....this...is....um.... me and maggie, and cruise staff: jacinta and cameron
i....er.....um...
this was the night before the youth staff left last cruise... this is on dvd and i can tell you its amazing lol.....
ok, this is bermuda. aside from that, this pic is just a cool picture.
some of my best friends. they will always be with me.
this is the buffalo crew. where do i begin. buffalo is: drink with your left hand all day except for 1230am-1am then you go to your right. if you get caught in the wrong....you finish your drink. thus, best friends and worst enemies lol.
there, i said it. for those it makes sense to, i love all of you and miss you terribly. for everyone else, wait for the dvd lol.
now for some random pics....
Grit and her best friend on the Star Princess, Natalia... 15.5 more days til i am with her lol
ok...um....this...is....um.... me and maggie, and cruise staff: jacinta and cameron
i....er.....um...
this was the night before the youth staff left last cruise... this is on dvd and i can tell you its amazing lol.....
ok, this is bermuda. aside from that, this pic is just a cool picture.
some of my best friends. they will always be with me.
this is the buffalo crew. where do i begin. buffalo is: drink with your left hand all day except for 1230am-1am then you go to your right. if you get caught in the wrong....you finish your drink. thus, best friends and worst enemies lol.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Re: whats up
This is a reply to an email my dad sent to me and my sister today. Just a basic "how ya doin?", and when i started replying, it almost turned into a blog entry...
so lo and behold:
hey guys!
emailing you both as well :)
things are good! i am proud of myself that i didnt give up and come home after the list in july, but everytime we move (even rocking quite a bit as we speak) my knees give out... its to the point now where i am getting giggles from friends and stuff and thats a good thing because when i was at my worst they really respected my space and helped me where i could... we all get a little queezy at the knees when we roll every now and then... but i am proud to say that none of my friends left because of the list on july 18th. and now also that my contract has been shorted from november to september 12th, i am happy but now also very sad... i have made amazing friends here, i cant even explain it and i wouldnt even try. just know that i have reached plateaus of love and friendship on these ships, this ship especially (aside from my little schatzi who i obviously met on the first ship, Grit lol) that i never thought possible... we have a posse here of about 20 i would say...20 CLOSE friends... some dont reach that in a lifetime, and we've achieved it in less than 4 months... we have laughed we have cried, we have been on every end of the spectrum... and its to the point where i have friends from every area in the world... south africa, poland, hungary, germany, england, usa, mexico, ukraine, scotland, ireland, thailand, phillippenes, canada.... the list goes on... i literally have a home in everyone of these places. love, its infectious. we spread it and it keeps on going.
i cant wait to get home, i cant wait to see Grit, I cant wait to see my family, I cant wait to see my friends again somewhere, i cant wait to get to my bed....
and i cant wait to wake up tomorrow.
love
mike
p.s. its grits birthday today! sent her 6 roses from this ship to hers...saying 'here is 6 now, and there will be 6 more at the airport with me in september' :) awwww
so lo and behold:
hey guys!
emailing you both as well :)
things are good! i am proud of myself that i didnt give up and come home after the list in july, but everytime we move (even rocking quite a bit as we speak) my knees give out... its to the point now where i am getting giggles from friends and stuff and thats a good thing because when i was at my worst they really respected my space and helped me where i could... we all get a little queezy at the knees when we roll every now and then... but i am proud to say that none of my friends left because of the list on july 18th. and now also that my contract has been shorted from november to september 12th, i am happy but now also very sad... i have made amazing friends here, i cant even explain it and i wouldnt even try. just know that i have reached plateaus of love and friendship on these ships, this ship especially (aside from my little schatzi who i obviously met on the first ship, Grit lol) that i never thought possible... we have a posse here of about 20 i would say...20 CLOSE friends... some dont reach that in a lifetime, and we've achieved it in less than 4 months... we have laughed we have cried, we have been on every end of the spectrum... and its to the point where i have friends from every area in the world... south africa, poland, hungary, germany, england, usa, mexico, ukraine, scotland, ireland, thailand, phillippenes, canada.... the list goes on... i literally have a home in everyone of these places. love, its infectious. we spread it and it keeps on going.
i cant wait to get home, i cant wait to see Grit, I cant wait to see my family, I cant wait to see my friends again somewhere, i cant wait to get to my bed....
and i cant wait to wake up tomorrow.
love
mike
p.s. its grits birthday today! sent her 6 roses from this ship to hers...saying 'here is 6 now, and there will be 6 more at the airport with me in september' :) awwww
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
How Come? Just Add Water.
This is going to be simple. This is going to be real.
I am sitting here in the internet room of the crewbar at 4:30am (yay i can sleep til 11am). I just finished a round of toasted prociutto and mozza panini's and chicken salad from the international cafe, on my way back from Skywalkers Bar with Chris (we went up for ONE.... thats an inside joke by the way.) I said my goodnights as we sat down in the corridor and smoked a cigarette (hey...shiplife) and then as i ran my ass up to drop off the dishes, I thought that I am in the perfect state of mind to just ramble on in my blog and hope something of value pops into place (my sincere apologies if i am unsuccessful). I am gone in 2 cruises. plain and simple. i can honestly say that i have no idea what i am going to do until the next ship calls for me.... yes i am doing another ship, but only if Grit and I are together... you have noidea ho hard it is to hold a CROSS-PLANET relationship.... i seriously think parts of me (referring to heart, thank you) no longer work like they used to. these people i meet on the ship: passengers and crew, are some of the most amazing things that have ever happened to me. sometimes i want to strangle BOTH of them, but when it all simmers down and i am at home in my room ON LAND... i will miss them both terribly. I remember only now, how i felt the last time i left a ship. I have made the best friends I will ever meet on these ships (if you were offended by that comment, i still hold you closer to my heart than these ones, and I know you will understand how I am feeling). I strongly feel at this point in time, that at home on land...I am nothing but a passenger. I have seen it with my own eyes. I will be forgotten to the point that only pictures and very strong feelings of the past remain. Life moves too fast here on the ships. One day is a week. One week is a month. One month is a year. (again re-iterating that this is a random rambling). How come it was so hard for me to see the world for 26 years of my life, and yet now all i have to do is press my finger down on a camera and sleep? ya know what i mean? i fall asleep and i am in a different country, and 2 times a week i am in a different time zone. the ship life is so random at every moment, anything could happen and 11 times out of 10 it usually will... i am 27 and i am still growing up. there is no fear here, and yet there is so much (but not what you ever think). things you never want to feel emotionally, whether its about family, friends, life in general... you will feel, every single day. tomorrow also, is the 1st anniversary of Port Canaveral since the list. we all know it. i remember setting up formal night and eating in Horizon Court before it happened. Tomorrow, i am sleeping in, setting up backgrounds, skipping food altogether, and wrapping myself in bubblewrap on by bed until i absolutely have to get up for portraits. to each his own.
i am still here, i am still very much alive (i am not talking about my therapy anymore... this is a general life statement now... probably only the ones who really know me will understand... the rest of you will just simply flood my blog with useless banter and shit...again)
this is just a random entry on a random blog about someone who really is happy with his life. i am struggling every day, and i never know what the next day will bring... even beyond this life. but the thing is I am happy. I am home in 21 days, long enough to enjoy my family aboard, but short enough to enjoy my family on land sooner. my love is coming to me in 1 month and 5 days, that says it all.
i strongly reccommend to everyone who loves LOVE and is not afraid of being afraid, to try working for the ships. everything you need (and i mean really really need) in life is there waiting for you.
all you have to do is just add water... (looks around all sides of the ship) ...
Literally.
-M-
I am sitting here in the internet room of the crewbar at 4:30am (yay i can sleep til 11am). I just finished a round of toasted prociutto and mozza panini's and chicken salad from the international cafe, on my way back from Skywalkers Bar with Chris (we went up for ONE.... thats an inside joke by the way.) I said my goodnights as we sat down in the corridor and smoked a cigarette (hey...shiplife) and then as i ran my ass up to drop off the dishes, I thought that I am in the perfect state of mind to just ramble on in my blog and hope something of value pops into place (my sincere apologies if i am unsuccessful). I am gone in 2 cruises. plain and simple. i can honestly say that i have no idea what i am going to do until the next ship calls for me.... yes i am doing another ship, but only if Grit and I are together... you have noidea ho hard it is to hold a CROSS-PLANET relationship.... i seriously think parts of me (referring to heart, thank you) no longer work like they used to. these people i meet on the ship: passengers and crew, are some of the most amazing things that have ever happened to me. sometimes i want to strangle BOTH of them, but when it all simmers down and i am at home in my room ON LAND... i will miss them both terribly. I remember only now, how i felt the last time i left a ship. I have made the best friends I will ever meet on these ships (if you were offended by that comment, i still hold you closer to my heart than these ones, and I know you will understand how I am feeling). I strongly feel at this point in time, that at home on land...I am nothing but a passenger. I have seen it with my own eyes. I will be forgotten to the point that only pictures and very strong feelings of the past remain. Life moves too fast here on the ships. One day is a week. One week is a month. One month is a year. (again re-iterating that this is a random rambling). How come it was so hard for me to see the world for 26 years of my life, and yet now all i have to do is press my finger down on a camera and sleep? ya know what i mean? i fall asleep and i am in a different country, and 2 times a week i am in a different time zone. the ship life is so random at every moment, anything could happen and 11 times out of 10 it usually will... i am 27 and i am still growing up. there is no fear here, and yet there is so much (but not what you ever think). things you never want to feel emotionally, whether its about family, friends, life in general... you will feel, every single day. tomorrow also, is the 1st anniversary of Port Canaveral since the list. we all know it. i remember setting up formal night and eating in Horizon Court before it happened. Tomorrow, i am sleeping in, setting up backgrounds, skipping food altogether, and wrapping myself in bubblewrap on by bed until i absolutely have to get up for portraits. to each his own.
i am still here, i am still very much alive (i am not talking about my therapy anymore... this is a general life statement now... probably only the ones who really know me will understand... the rest of you will just simply flood my blog with useless banter and shit...again)
this is just a random entry on a random blog about someone who really is happy with his life. i am struggling every day, and i never know what the next day will bring... even beyond this life. but the thing is I am happy. I am home in 21 days, long enough to enjoy my family aboard, but short enough to enjoy my family on land sooner. my love is coming to me in 1 month and 5 days, that says it all.
i strongly reccommend to everyone who loves LOVE and is not afraid of being afraid, to try working for the ships. everything you need (and i mean really really need) in life is there waiting for you.
all you have to do is just add water... (looks around all sides of the ship) ...
Literally.
-M-
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Ok, now we plan!
Alllllllrighty then!
I found out today that sadly Grit is NOT coming to the Crown Princess. The funny thing is that it really did not phase me, because it actually turns out better this way! Its probably too late to extend my contract past September 12th, so if she was coming then i would be leaving right when she got here i bet... also, she can now shorten her contract back to September 28th, and she was checking prices today for flights from London to Vancouver (dammit, the girls always one step ahead of me lol...next time, Gadget!!!). So I have 3 cruises left here on the Mighty Crown Princess (starting tomorrow in New York)... which reminds me: Guess where I am going tomorrow?
- some Youth Security, Photogs, and Cruise Staff are taking the subway from Brooklyn to Manhatten and then from there some are breaking off to Times Square and some are going with me to ....... NBC Studios!! I am going to see the Saturday Night Live studio!!!! and God Dammit, I ain't walkin out of there without a Conan O'Brian Coffee Mug, neither! We are also heading to Rockefeller Center, and perhaps a quick jaunt around Central Park again. i love how i can say AGAIN... What a life...
Oh, one more thing: I am also 90% sure that I am switching away from the Photography department for my next contract(s) (at my own will). I have been thinking about it for some time now and I think that I am much more suitable for Cruise Staff. Cruise Staff are the people on board that host the entertainment/games/dances etc... and dress up as cowboys, 50's era, 70's era...etc..and basically entertain the people throughout the ship. So many people have told me over the past few weeks that they have thought the same thing for me... Cruise Staff is the heart and soul of the ships (in my opinion)... Its a lot of work, but i really do think that if i do one more contract as a photog, i may very well never pick up a camera again... pardon my french, but i am sick and fucking tired of taking Sears type portraits.... if the photos arent spontaneous, they arent me, and those of you that KNOW me.... you know i am right on that one.
so, there we go. Some more stuff to chew on.
See y'all in the next cartoon!
-M-
I found out today that sadly Grit is NOT coming to the Crown Princess. The funny thing is that it really did not phase me, because it actually turns out better this way! Its probably too late to extend my contract past September 12th, so if she was coming then i would be leaving right when she got here i bet... also, she can now shorten her contract back to September 28th, and she was checking prices today for flights from London to Vancouver (dammit, the girls always one step ahead of me lol...next time, Gadget!!!). So I have 3 cruises left here on the Mighty Crown Princess (starting tomorrow in New York)... which reminds me: Guess where I am going tomorrow?
- some Youth Security, Photogs, and Cruise Staff are taking the subway from Brooklyn to Manhatten and then from there some are breaking off to Times Square and some are going with me to ....... NBC Studios!! I am going to see the Saturday Night Live studio!!!! and God Dammit, I ain't walkin out of there without a Conan O'Brian Coffee Mug, neither! We are also heading to Rockefeller Center, and perhaps a quick jaunt around Central Park again. i love how i can say AGAIN... What a life...
Oh, one more thing: I am also 90% sure that I am switching away from the Photography department for my next contract(s) (at my own will). I have been thinking about it for some time now and I think that I am much more suitable for Cruise Staff. Cruise Staff are the people on board that host the entertainment/games/dances etc... and dress up as cowboys, 50's era, 70's era...etc..and basically entertain the people throughout the ship. So many people have told me over the past few weeks that they have thought the same thing for me... Cruise Staff is the heart and soul of the ships (in my opinion)... Its a lot of work, but i really do think that if i do one more contract as a photog, i may very well never pick up a camera again... pardon my french, but i am sick and fucking tired of taking Sears type portraits.... if the photos arent spontaneous, they arent me, and those of you that KNOW me.... you know i am right on that one.
so, there we go. Some more stuff to chew on.
See y'all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Monday, August 14, 2006
You don't have to go far...
The title is completely random, so don't read too much into it lol. I have found myself sitting in an internet cafe in Bermuda. Inside the airconditioning is maintaining a steady cool breeze, the radio is playin Joe Cocker, and the occasional gaggle of passengers waddle by me, each holding bags and bags of useless souveniers. Outside however, the weather is sunny but not HOT like you would expect in Bermuda. The sounds of waves crashing alonside the dockyard, and the occasional flock of crewmembers on scooters screeching by can be heard.
I woke up this morning at 8:30 to clean the lab printers up on deck 7 with Chris, Adrian, and Jillian. We finished surprisingly quickly, and so we went up to eat at horizon court (deck 15). Afterwards, Jillian and I went up to entertain Chris as he was getting his hair cut in the spa. A few goofy faces and we were off, but as we left the spa, Leona (spa manager) requested Grit's full name so she could send it to Steiner's head office... hmmmm... perhaps she IS coming!
Oh, by the way... did i mention that I found out 3 days ago my contract has been shortened (yet again) to Sept 12th?
So now, the same guy who was dying to get off the ship only a month ago is now trying his damndest to lengthen his contract... hrmmm...
I smell freshly cut grass.... sorry, but i am inside a mall and i smell freshly cut grass... weird.
ok well, my time is running up here... I just wanted to write something completely random, but also to keep you guys up to date as to whats going on. For all of you 500+ people who have found my blog over the past 3 days (you know who you are, and why): if you are coming onto the Crown sometime soon, stop by the gallery and say Hi ok? and let us take your pictures even if you dont buy them lol even if you dont want to, if you have the time then do it, cause it helps us a lot :) we ARE talented you know :) we arent just retards with cameras...
well, not ALL of us.
-M-
I woke up this morning at 8:30 to clean the lab printers up on deck 7 with Chris, Adrian, and Jillian. We finished surprisingly quickly, and so we went up to eat at horizon court (deck 15). Afterwards, Jillian and I went up to entertain Chris as he was getting his hair cut in the spa. A few goofy faces and we were off, but as we left the spa, Leona (spa manager) requested Grit's full name so she could send it to Steiner's head office... hmmmm... perhaps she IS coming!
Oh, by the way... did i mention that I found out 3 days ago my contract has been shortened (yet again) to Sept 12th?
So now, the same guy who was dying to get off the ship only a month ago is now trying his damndest to lengthen his contract... hrmmm...
I smell freshly cut grass.... sorry, but i am inside a mall and i smell freshly cut grass... weird.
ok well, my time is running up here... I just wanted to write something completely random, but also to keep you guys up to date as to whats going on. For all of you 500+ people who have found my blog over the past 3 days (you know who you are, and why): if you are coming onto the Crown sometime soon, stop by the gallery and say Hi ok? and let us take your pictures even if you dont buy them lol even if you dont want to, if you have the time then do it, cause it helps us a lot :) we ARE talented you know :) we arent just retards with cameras...
well, not ALL of us.
-M-
Friday, August 11, 2006
Update with pics, and I am in San Juan
I know i havent written a lot lately, and I know i have much to say.... but really .... i just want to update the blog with photos. I am still hanging in there... i am still suffering occasionally from the listing, i crumbled to the ground yesterday out of nowhere because we listed just as we left Grand Turk...it was pathetic, but shit happens, and i wasnt the only one. i still hang out in the crew bar. I have NOW been given the OK from the spa manager for Grit to come here BUT we are waiting on Steiner to email everyone to find out when... I think my contract has been shortened to sept 10th but i am lengthening it to stay a while, for me & Grit and also so i can stay home for Christmas. Grit and I are still steady and strong, she saw her mom today in Germany for the first time in 6 months, i am so happy for her! Chris, myself, Rory and Cameron still sing every once in a while in the crew bar and we always get a crowd of about 40 or so singing to tunes we write, its such a feeling of pride. I bought a G Blues Harmonica in St. Thomas. I now have a "Jummy Buffet's Margaritaville" shirt. i STILL wear my happy face necklace. and I still miss everyone.
But this is my life. and i wouldnt change it for the world. i will see everyone again. everyone. and we will share stories. and we will laugh. and we will cry. but we'll be there together.
But this is my life. and i wouldnt change it for the world. i will see everyone again. everyone. and we will share stories. and we will laugh. and we will cry. but we'll be there together.
john lennon IMAGINE memorial in central park.
the beach party held by the bar staff a few weeks ago. we had to limbo just to get in hahahaTuesday, August 01, 2006
White Light
Ok everyone, I need some serious White Light here. I was in the gallery today and 4 Steiners at different times all came up to me and said "Did anyone get a hold of you about your girlfriend coming here?"
....what?....
I have been asking around DAILY with everyone I could to see if there was any way to get Grit trans-shipped here to the Crown from the Star, and with no luck....
...until today...
Apparantly the spa manager here said that if Grit emails Steiner Head Office and requests the Crown again, the spa manager will request her to come here, and the only remaining factor is that Grit will have to pay her way here...
...not a factor... signed sealed delivered.
So i just called Grit and woke her up in her cabin..woops.. oh well its 6am there. The satelite was screwy so she got all my information that i had spewed to her, but i couldnt hear what she was saying, so up to the internet room i went to email her the goodies...
...now its a waiting game...
white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light Grit & I white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light
its really the only solution/therapy that I can think of at the moment.
Listing sucks.
-M-
....what?....
I have been asking around DAILY with everyone I could to see if there was any way to get Grit trans-shipped here to the Crown from the Star, and with no luck....
...until today...
Apparantly the spa manager here said that if Grit emails Steiner Head Office and requests the Crown again, the spa manager will request her to come here, and the only remaining factor is that Grit will have to pay her way here...
...not a factor... signed sealed delivered.
So i just called Grit and woke her up in her cabin..woops.. oh well its 6am there. The satelite was screwy so she got all my information that i had spewed to her, but i couldnt hear what she was saying, so up to the internet room i went to email her the goodies...
...now its a waiting game...
white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light Grit & I white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light white light
its really the only solution/therapy that I can think of at the moment.
Listing sucks.
-M-
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Imagine...with my own eyes.
Well... we got to New York just fine, no problems (other than my problem sleeping, which seems to be fading).
I had a day off today, and Chris Jenny and I went hellbound all over manhatten....
we saw:
1) world trade center site... its jaw droppingly big, and empty... it just makes you feel so small, especially when you see the surrounding buildings and how big they are and then look at the photos posted everywhere of the twin towers, and how they stand 4 to 5 times larger, if not more. i saw the cross (the 2 welded i-beams with the names of all who perished)...i cant express the feeling that gave me, but what really hit home were the painted signs along the fence that said "post no bills" in white... all over these signs were little messages written in memorial... and one particular message along the "N" in "NO" was this:
"I miss you Dad"
tears rolled. I think it was the DAD part.... DADDY is something you usually see when it comes to situations like this, and its a little child... but DAD. I got this sensation of a full grown man writing about his father, maybe an office worker or something... i dont know, i am probably not making much sense but it really pinned the emotion for me. quite an experience to see it with my own eyes.
2: central park: oh my god i can die now. today i actually walked through "Strawberry Fields" (beatles lovers) and saw the 'Imagine' John Lennon memorial with my own eyes. After that we walked to the giant fountain (the most recent thing i can think of is in the movie 'the producers' where matthew broderick and nathan lane have the singalong in front of a big fountain... well i have seen it, with my own eyes). then we got caught in a terrential rain shower and NO cover.... after about 2 minutes of being raped by raindrops we finally said Fuck It and danced around... of course, 2 minutes later we grabbed a carriage (not horse drawn) and went back to the subway.
3: Times Square: i have seen this a few times before now (with my own eyes), but it always pleases me. so much aggressive advertising, so little money to give a shit. c'est la vie!
and now, back on the ship... we already have passengers on board, and instead of our typical 9 day cruise, we are on a 7 day 'recovery' cruise: sea day, seaday, grand turk, seaday, bermuda, seaday, seaday.
rivotting, isnt it? :
2800 passengers, 1200 crew, terrential rain...
but the statue of liberty is, at this very moment, giving a wave to me through the starboard side window (or LISTING side, as i like to call it)....
ok, its work time... i have filled you in enough. anti-climactic i know, but hey... i did a lot today. brain doesnt have to work 24/7.... if it did, there would be no time to imagine, would there?
-M-
I had a day off today, and Chris Jenny and I went hellbound all over manhatten....
we saw:
1) world trade center site... its jaw droppingly big, and empty... it just makes you feel so small, especially when you see the surrounding buildings and how big they are and then look at the photos posted everywhere of the twin towers, and how they stand 4 to 5 times larger, if not more. i saw the cross (the 2 welded i-beams with the names of all who perished)...i cant express the feeling that gave me, but what really hit home were the painted signs along the fence that said "post no bills" in white... all over these signs were little messages written in memorial... and one particular message along the "N" in "NO" was this:
"I miss you Dad"
tears rolled. I think it was the DAD part.... DADDY is something you usually see when it comes to situations like this, and its a little child... but DAD. I got this sensation of a full grown man writing about his father, maybe an office worker or something... i dont know, i am probably not making much sense but it really pinned the emotion for me. quite an experience to see it with my own eyes.
2: central park: oh my god i can die now. today i actually walked through "Strawberry Fields" (beatles lovers) and saw the 'Imagine' John Lennon memorial with my own eyes. After that we walked to the giant fountain (the most recent thing i can think of is in the movie 'the producers' where matthew broderick and nathan lane have the singalong in front of a big fountain... well i have seen it, with my own eyes). then we got caught in a terrential rain shower and NO cover.... after about 2 minutes of being raped by raindrops we finally said Fuck It and danced around... of course, 2 minutes later we grabbed a carriage (not horse drawn) and went back to the subway.
3: Times Square: i have seen this a few times before now (with my own eyes), but it always pleases me. so much aggressive advertising, so little money to give a shit. c'est la vie!
and now, back on the ship... we already have passengers on board, and instead of our typical 9 day cruise, we are on a 7 day 'recovery' cruise: sea day, seaday, grand turk, seaday, bermuda, seaday, seaday.
rivotting, isnt it? :
2800 passengers, 1200 crew, terrential rain...
but the statue of liberty is, at this very moment, giving a wave to me through the starboard side window (or LISTING side, as i like to call it)....
ok, its work time... i have filled you in enough. anti-climactic i know, but hey... i did a lot today. brain doesnt have to work 24/7.... if it did, there would be no time to imagine, would there?
-M-
Thursday, July 20, 2006
...Ghost Ship...
hello all. just a recap finally as to what happened a few days ago. it is now 430pm july 20th and we have now been ok'd by US coast guard to hobble up to new york. we are actually JUST leaving right now, and there are some seriously 'different' vibrations to the ship as we are going, of course i am making small jokes with the shoppie Kim on the computer next to me, but we both kinda have this look in our eyes.... we do now have Crisis councellors on board for the crew as of today, and yours truly is making his way down after this. everytime i close my eyes at night, i get phantom 'listing' or 'leaning' and my heart starts to pound. we were told the night of the incident that if we listed 5-10 degrees more, we would have capsized.... this is NOT a fact, but its not something you need to hear.
there are only crew members on this ship... what was once a floating majestic hotel of close to 5000 aboard, is now a hobbling, ghost town of 1200. it is in fact a ghost ship.
on the bright side, all 8 crew members who were treated ashore have now joined the ship and are doing well. all passengers treated ashore (i dont know the numbers, but its 100-200) have all been let go from the hospital except for 2, but we have confirmation that neither one of them are in critical condition. You have no idea how bad this was, but NOBODY has any idea how bad it could have been either.... everyone is ok.
I have decided that I am not going home. I am, however making a request to transfer to the Star Princess (Grit's ship) tonight. I figure that leaving one ship that almost tipped over, and joining another ship that had 4 decks burnt to a crisp only 4 months ago... makes sense eh? Grit and I have been speaking about this and she said that she has been talking with the photomanager since the 'incident' here on the crown... the manager said that he was putting in a request for me. lets hope he sticks with it.
i have 2 internet cards now, and 1 phone card so i can contact everyone soon... that was the only thing holding me up before, crew office was closed (no internet cards) and phone cards were sold out..
see you all in the next cartoon! (not leaning to one side)
-m-
there are only crew members on this ship... what was once a floating majestic hotel of close to 5000 aboard, is now a hobbling, ghost town of 1200. it is in fact a ghost ship.
on the bright side, all 8 crew members who were treated ashore have now joined the ship and are doing well. all passengers treated ashore (i dont know the numbers, but its 100-200) have all been let go from the hospital except for 2, but we have confirmation that neither one of them are in critical condition. You have no idea how bad this was, but NOBODY has any idea how bad it could have been either.... everyone is ok.
I have decided that I am not going home. I am, however making a request to transfer to the Star Princess (Grit's ship) tonight. I figure that leaving one ship that almost tipped over, and joining another ship that had 4 decks burnt to a crisp only 4 months ago... makes sense eh? Grit and I have been speaking about this and she said that she has been talking with the photomanager since the 'incident' here on the crown... the manager said that he was putting in a request for me. lets hope he sticks with it.
i have 2 internet cards now, and 1 phone card so i can contact everyone soon... that was the only thing holding me up before, crew office was closed (no internet cards) and phone cards were sold out..
see you all in the next cartoon! (not leaning to one side)
-m-
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Damage Everywhere PLEASE READ ME
ok people, this is a serious post. I am 100% ok, I just want to tell everyone that. The Crown Princess today, at approximately 4pm just coming out of Port Canaveral Florida leaned about 15 degrees to one side and shit hit the fan. The clinic looks like a war infirmery, literally millions of dollars in damage has occured.... floods from busted pipes, marble tables smashed in millions of pieces, people were thrown around, pools on deck 15 emptied onto the surrounding deck... this is serious shit. our whole team is ok, adn there are smiles now finally... everyone is still in shock though... we are back in port canaveral and i think we will be wet docked here for a few days... i will be in touch with everyone soon, i am ok.... it was the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me.....i saw people flying past me and things smashing and screaming everywhere... i dont think we will be sent home, but literally 30% of the ship or more is a complete write off...
the spa.... oh Thank Christ Grit wasn't here with me for that.... people were smashing up along windows and massage beds were flying everywhere...
a $50,000 grand piano in the Princess Theatre literally went THROUGH a wall....
and on top of that... its Formal Night.
I hate Formal Nights...
all is well with me once again everyone... stick by the phones tonight, i have stories :)
and a SHITLOAD of pictures...
-M-
the spa.... oh Thank Christ Grit wasn't here with me for that.... people were smashing up along windows and massage beds were flying everywhere...
a $50,000 grand piano in the Princess Theatre literally went THROUGH a wall....
and on top of that... its Formal Night.
I hate Formal Nights...
all is well with me once again everyone... stick by the phones tonight, i have stories :)
and a SHITLOAD of pictures...
-M-
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Sweepin', Cool Bob, Margaritaville, and everything else in between...
Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Day off. Chillin' out at an outdoor internet cafe with a Red Stripe Lager. Clouds in the sky. Very Humid. Margaritaville meal still sittin uneasy-like in my stomache. Out of breathe from chasing after some customers to return a bag they left on the table next to me. Smiling at the sight of homeless people cleaning the streets with brooms and picking up garbage, while asking for money, rather than sittin 'round expecting change to fall from the sky. Probably the only way to keep the streets clean, the rest of the world should do the same. Everything in their path that they find while cleaning is theirs. Finders Keepers. Sippin' the lager again. Cringing at passengers that just do not know when to stop eating. All you can eat buffet on ship, and then 'lets go ashore and have a quick bite'. More Lager. Thinkin about 'Cool Bob' and all the other locals askin' me and Chris if we want 'smoke'. Jamaica. ya man. but no man. Thinkin about the crew disco last night. "White Night" sponsered by the Pursers Department. Wear only white. Photogs in Togas. Mike in White Pirate Pants and bedsheet around his neck like an aviator scarf, hair Ace Ventura'd and sunnies. We won. Go Team. Scotiabank next to me. Odd to see in jamaica. Rastafarian on other side. Thats better. Thinkin about what cool thing to buy here.
Should go now, runnin out of things to say lol. When I weed through the 300+ photos takin from the disco last night, I will throw a couple on. Theres a video round here somewhere too .... should be interesting :)
Tomorrow is Grand Cayman, then Seaday, then Port Canaveral FLorida, then seaday... and THEN (pray to the universe) I get a chance to FiNALLY take on New York...bloody hell.
Calgarians who went to Our Lady Peace at the Stampede (Ben you MUST have)...fill me in... everyone here are not fans... but i will throw in a little "4am" when we jam in the crewbar... they dont seem to mind too much, but its usually just a solo-effort :)
p.s. Blood on the moon the other day, hope everyone is doin good.
Namaste
-M-
Should go now, runnin out of things to say lol. When I weed through the 300+ photos takin from the disco last night, I will throw a couple on. Theres a video round here somewhere too .... should be interesting :)
Tomorrow is Grand Cayman, then Seaday, then Port Canaveral FLorida, then seaday... and THEN (pray to the universe) I get a chance to FiNALLY take on New York...bloody hell.
Calgarians who went to Our Lady Peace at the Stampede (Ben you MUST have)...fill me in... everyone here are not fans... but i will throw in a little "4am" when we jam in the crewbar... they dont seem to mind too much, but its usually just a solo-effort :)
p.s. Blood on the moon the other day, hope everyone is doin good.
Namaste
-M-
Thursday, July 06, 2006
July 6th, in San Juan, Random Photos thus far...
This is the crew bar. This is my birthday. This is my Birthday Cake hat.
The Crown Princess in Grand Turk... so majestic.
This is the Piazza in the Crown Princess. I still rub my eyes everytime I pass it to make sure I am really seeing what I am seeing. The entire ship looks like this. Its quite humbling.
This is the gang. I can name all of them, but really...all they are is strangers to anyone who sees this lol so hey... friends and family, this is my team... my team, these are my friends and family. There. You all know one another.
Martha Stewart at the Christening of the Crown Princess. She dropped the bottle, it broke. Its a good thing. :P Tuesday, July 04, 2006
100 People: Deep Blog Entry in Progress...
This entire entry probably won't come out the way I originally planned it to... I have been toying with this entry in my mind since April on the Pacific Sky when I was in SouthEast Asia. I thought about it during one of my meditation moments (dont picture me droning hums sitting cross-legged with incense burning. My meditation moments are usually any moments where I get a chance to breathe during the day). You will really have to go with me on this one, as it may not really make any sense, but in any case its something worth trying whenever you have a spare moment or two:
Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Sit somewhere that you won't be bothered, much like that of a meditation area. Take a few minutes to breathe, maybe toss on a tune or two, and begin to write down the names of 100 people you know. Randomly, just quick people off the top of your head, list 100 people you have known during your entire life. Friends, enemies, lovers, employers, friends of friends, mailmen, teachers, it doesnt matter. If you have met them and know them well enough, throw them onto the list. Everyone technically knows thousands of people in their lifetimes so it really isnt that hard when you think of it, you just have to be without prejudice (if a name comes up, throw it on regardless of why)....
now, take a look at it.
Repeat this somewhere down the road, be it a week, a month, a year, or even just a different state of mind....
Did new people get onto the 2nd list? Why?
Did people from the 1st list get removed? Why?
It sounds kinda lame maybe at first, but really... as random as your list may be, there are reasons as to why everyone is on there... and the same person that added people onto the first list, has forgotten them on the second... Oh sure, when you get to 75 people I am sure there actually is a fight as to think of who goes on the list... but what if someone in the top half of the first list didnt even make it to the top OR bottom of the 2nd?
Try it twice in one week.... notice the changes if any... now imagine 2 lists one year apart. Two years apart. Ten Years apart. I bet over 60% of the list will remain the same forever, while the other 40% is fizzled away with people that are in our lives one day, and out of our minds the next.
....
I brought this up now because I have noticed something. A photographer here quit 2 days ago, one more is leaving in 6 days, one more is leaving to another ship probably in 6 days as well... we're dropping like flies, all for unrelated reasons mind you... People come and go in our lives, its a fact of life. I have met so many new friends at this job. We have laughed, cried, shared so many of our intimate and darkest secrets. But time goes on. Friends do drift further away, maybe not all the way, but sometimes it does happen. Its nice when we get the ones that stay in the top half. Likewise, the ones that leave the list have at one point touched our hearts in some way... but... (and this is going even deeper now).... would the list be any different than it is now if we didnt ever know them? Even though they are now no longer on it?
****
Anyways, that was my deep topic for the day. Nothing really ship related, but I am well, happy, and content otherwise. Things are good here :)
See you all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Sit somewhere that you won't be bothered, much like that of a meditation area. Take a few minutes to breathe, maybe toss on a tune or two, and begin to write down the names of 100 people you know. Randomly, just quick people off the top of your head, list 100 people you have known during your entire life. Friends, enemies, lovers, employers, friends of friends, mailmen, teachers, it doesnt matter. If you have met them and know them well enough, throw them onto the list. Everyone technically knows thousands of people in their lifetimes so it really isnt that hard when you think of it, you just have to be without prejudice (if a name comes up, throw it on regardless of why)....
now, take a look at it.
Repeat this somewhere down the road, be it a week, a month, a year, or even just a different state of mind....
Did new people get onto the 2nd list? Why?
Did people from the 1st list get removed? Why?
It sounds kinda lame maybe at first, but really... as random as your list may be, there are reasons as to why everyone is on there... and the same person that added people onto the first list, has forgotten them on the second... Oh sure, when you get to 75 people I am sure there actually is a fight as to think of who goes on the list... but what if someone in the top half of the first list didnt even make it to the top OR bottom of the 2nd?
Try it twice in one week.... notice the changes if any... now imagine 2 lists one year apart. Two years apart. Ten Years apart. I bet over 60% of the list will remain the same forever, while the other 40% is fizzled away with people that are in our lives one day, and out of our minds the next.
....
I brought this up now because I have noticed something. A photographer here quit 2 days ago, one more is leaving in 6 days, one more is leaving to another ship probably in 6 days as well... we're dropping like flies, all for unrelated reasons mind you... People come and go in our lives, its a fact of life. I have met so many new friends at this job. We have laughed, cried, shared so many of our intimate and darkest secrets. But time goes on. Friends do drift further away, maybe not all the way, but sometimes it does happen. Its nice when we get the ones that stay in the top half. Likewise, the ones that leave the list have at one point touched our hearts in some way... but... (and this is going even deeper now).... would the list be any different than it is now if we didnt ever know them? Even though they are now no longer on it?
****
Anyways, that was my deep topic for the day. Nothing really ship related, but I am well, happy, and content otherwise. Things are good here :)
See you all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Friday, June 30, 2006
O' Canada, Lets sing together!
Hey everyone! Happy Canada Day! I am in the crew bar and about 300 canadians and non-canadians are celebrating Canada Day! Nothing but Candian Music (Great Big Sea, Tragically Hip, Our Lady Peace, 54:40, etc)... could be the best night on the ship so far hahaha
We sang O Canada, followed by Tragically Hips "Courage" and then ..... Stompin Tom Connors - Good ol' Hockey Game.... imagine 50 phillippeno's staring in absolute puzzlement.... funniest fuckin thing i have ever seen. anyways i am still in the crew bar and I not only am I having a great time, I dont have to be awake until 11am, and I had a very productive "mike you are the GO-TO guy" day, but I am finally back in my "absolute-contentment" stage again.... I have things to work towards, things to fight for, and things to keep me happy in the mean time... passengers are happy with me at a personal level (cause 'work-level' is just me doing my job) and also getting quite a few manager 'pats on the shoulder'...
wow, this entry has a lot of 'quotation marks'
happy canada day everyone!... tomorrow is a seaday and then the next day I am going to do something I have been wanting to do for a few years...
I am walking the site of Ground Zero in New York.
Jenny (photog) went last time, and couldnt stop crying. I expect to do the same. Nevertheless, pics will follow.
Here's to Canada, and the rest of the entire world. Non-Tragically Hip fans and others included.
-M-
We sang O Canada, followed by Tragically Hips "Courage" and then ..... Stompin Tom Connors - Good ol' Hockey Game.... imagine 50 phillippeno's staring in absolute puzzlement.... funniest fuckin thing i have ever seen. anyways i am still in the crew bar and I not only am I having a great time, I dont have to be awake until 11am, and I had a very productive "mike you are the GO-TO guy" day, but I am finally back in my "absolute-contentment" stage again.... I have things to work towards, things to fight for, and things to keep me happy in the mean time... passengers are happy with me at a personal level (cause 'work-level' is just me doing my job) and also getting quite a few manager 'pats on the shoulder'...
wow, this entry has a lot of 'quotation marks'
happy canada day everyone!... tomorrow is a seaday and then the next day I am going to do something I have been wanting to do for a few years...
I am walking the site of Ground Zero in New York.
Jenny (photog) went last time, and couldnt stop crying. I expect to do the same. Nevertheless, pics will follow.
Here's to Canada, and the rest of the entire world. Non-Tragically Hip fans and others included.
-M-
Monday, June 26, 2006
My heart was fine until just before midnight...
...and then it stopped...
I will be 27 years old in 10 minutes.
*gulp*
actually, if it wasnt for Rory running in front of me into the crew bar, shutting down the DJ, yelling out a birthday announcement to 100+ people, and getting every single person to sing to me.... my heart may have not started again at all...
last night was the calm night, tonight is the party night (apparantly). Put it this way, I had 2 drinks and spent about 45 minutes having staring contests with Jenny (scottish photog) trying to see who would laugh first. Its very easy to get this girl laughing, so we decided to change it to the first person that would cry... so we would stare at each other and think of sad things and the first to shed a tear would win... ya, we are fun... it ended after 15 minutes by me secretly telling Chris to blow smoke in my face... Jenny still doesnt know how i won hahaha. Cheating at crying contests is allowed on your birthday.
We're heading up tonight to "stalkers" (Sky Walkers Bar on deck 17) and getting 'jiggy' with it (as it were).
Went to Bermuda yesterday, it was so hot and beautiful... Hamilton, Bermuda is now on my list of 20 places to live...
Tomorrow is San Juan ... should be nice, I am going to find a beach and sleep for a few hours... thats all I want.
A final thing before I go: Some of you I might not be able to talk to today, and some of you may not be able to talk to me today, so as long as you sing this as loud as you can, it will be ok.
Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Michael, Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Many Happy Returns.
-M-
I will be 27 years old in 10 minutes.
*gulp*
actually, if it wasnt for Rory running in front of me into the crew bar, shutting down the DJ, yelling out a birthday announcement to 100+ people, and getting every single person to sing to me.... my heart may have not started again at all...
last night was the calm night, tonight is the party night (apparantly). Put it this way, I had 2 drinks and spent about 45 minutes having staring contests with Jenny (scottish photog) trying to see who would laugh first. Its very easy to get this girl laughing, so we decided to change it to the first person that would cry... so we would stare at each other and think of sad things and the first to shed a tear would win... ya, we are fun... it ended after 15 minutes by me secretly telling Chris to blow smoke in my face... Jenny still doesnt know how i won hahaha. Cheating at crying contests is allowed on your birthday.
We're heading up tonight to "stalkers" (Sky Walkers Bar on deck 17) and getting 'jiggy' with it (as it were).
Went to Bermuda yesterday, it was so hot and beautiful... Hamilton, Bermuda is now on my list of 20 places to live...
Tomorrow is San Juan ... should be nice, I am going to find a beach and sleep for a few hours... thats all I want.
A final thing before I go: Some of you I might not be able to talk to today, and some of you may not be able to talk to me today, so as long as you sing this as loud as you can, it will be ok.
Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Michael, Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Many Happy Returns.
-M-
Monday, June 19, 2006
A very random look at life on the Crown thus far...
Just before I took the tender boat to Grand Cayman Island today I ran to the photo lab and threw random photos onto a CD in hopes that I would find an internet cafe... and now I have, and now that I finally looked at the photos... I am kinda disappointed haha... these are VERY random photos, and none of them really have any kinda meaning, BUT i will show them to you anyways... Next time I will show you some of our stock shots of the ship, like the Atrium (Holy Beautiful, Batman), and the dining rooms, and my cabin (meh, its aight)... that kinda stuff...
But for now, enjoy some completely random photos:
ok Update: the internet is slow and I have been trying to upload 10 photos for 45 minutes...looks like 2 is all we are gonna get today:
But for now, enjoy some completely random photos:
ok Update: the internet is slow and I have been trying to upload 10 photos for 45 minutes...looks like 2 is all we are gonna get today:
This is a picture of Chris (photog from England) and myself jammin with everyone in the crewbar... Probably Pink Floyd or Tom Petty or something, not my taste in music but easy to play lol
This is a picture of Adam (Aussie Videographer) in a Brookyln subway station at around midnight... no signs of ass-raping.... yet!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
....breathing again....
Ok, woke up at 7am, in Grand Turk. Took gangway photos, went and had nachos with Jenny at "Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville", and then came back to the ship and slept from 1-5:30pm (god i needed that). I listened to my ipod, watched movies, and relaxed all alone in my cabin... and then I started breathing again...
I needed that little explosion last night to remind me that I am human... I think.. although, the gang are beginning to NAME my personalities... we wont get into details lol.
Tomorrow is Ocho Rios, Jamaica (hey man! my first time!)...and I am IPM (DOH!).. at least I can leave the ship to photograph the passengers lol... and then its back to the ship for yet another bout of sleeping/movies/relaxing...(it wont always be like this... its the calm before the storm), and then I have the privelage of being a pirate in the pm....and then after that its Disco Night in the crewbar, so there will be about 700 people in a space the size of a single floor "Gap" store....so I gotta prepare.... laundry time... can't smell like a photog at disco nights... we'll have none of that! There's something with dancing with two women at the same time, and then turning around and faux-grinding with flaming homo-sexuals that just screams out "mama-mia! Crank the ABBA!"...again, not going into detail lol...no dad I am not gay...
Oh one more thing... JON PINETTE.
If the name doesn't ring a bell, it should. Whoever is reading this, if you have ever watched JUST FOR LAUGHS, and seen a REALLY fat white guy that made you laugh your ass off, OR if you have ever heard me say things like "You eat like fee-weeeeryyyyyy" (japanese man saying "you eat like FREE WILLY!").... ya, i figured you would know that one..
well, he is on my ship right now as a guest entertainer, and i only found out when it was too late. he is no longer doing shows and is leaving tomorrow... that made my heart rip just a little... BUT there is a happy ending...sorta... i was up on the open deck (Deck 15) grabbing a burger before Gallery tonight, and guess who was there (not surprisingly)... this man makes a 20 minute skit about eating at buffets and people being afraid of his size and closing business when they see him, and he is eating at a buffet....with me! I am jealous of MYSELF!
Ok, its 3am...I should get to bed... But alas, its 1 hour back tonight so I just gained an hour of sleep haha. I have been given the thumbs up to use the internet anytime I want until they get the wi-fi up in my cabin (which should be when we get to St. Thomas June 28th). Let your emails flow like wine, and I will finally have time for you guys lol. (just remind me that you still know i exist first, its been a while since I talked to some of you)
*cough* Dana/Amber/Graham/Josh *cough*
Songs on heavy rotation on ye olde ipod:
- Yoga Meditation - "Sleeping through the rain" - (30 minutes of rain, and soothing sounds)
- Amos Lee - "Colors" - (from "Just like Heaven"...finally saw that today...corny but good)
- The Watchmen - "Beach Music" - (Danny hasn't done me wrong for 11 years and he isnt going to start now)
- Billie Holiday - "Them There Eyes" - (among the other 20 of hers sitting strongly on my list)
- Jamie Cullum - "All at Sea" - just listen....or check the words here
- Counting Crows - "Millers Angels" - if i write a movie, this will be in it.
- Misc Rock songs sung while jamming on guitars in the crewbar with Rory, Chris, and about 15 Steiners (spa people), 5 dancers (gay and loving it), 5-10 shoppies (cause hey, shoppies are people too), and the occasional Purser or Officer of the Bridge.... 2 acoustic guitars, Chris usually plays lead, Rory or myself will play when we can, or Rory will just hit the back of his guitar like bongo drums... we do everything from 'Hotel California', to Jack Johnson, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band and even Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (with 35 of us headbanging a la 'Waynes World'). I have movies, i will try to link one up to the blog sometime... either those or a 30 second clip of the photogs constantly laughing at me and my typical physical 'schitzo-humor'... honestly, isn't it wrong for that many people to pee at the same time?
-M-
I needed that little explosion last night to remind me that I am human... I think.. although, the gang are beginning to NAME my personalities... we wont get into details lol.
Tomorrow is Ocho Rios, Jamaica (hey man! my first time!)...and I am IPM (DOH!).. at least I can leave the ship to photograph the passengers lol... and then its back to the ship for yet another bout of sleeping/movies/relaxing...(it wont always be like this... its the calm before the storm), and then I have the privelage of being a pirate in the pm....and then after that its Disco Night in the crewbar, so there will be about 700 people in a space the size of a single floor "Gap" store....so I gotta prepare.... laundry time... can't smell like a photog at disco nights... we'll have none of that! There's something with dancing with two women at the same time, and then turning around and faux-grinding with flaming homo-sexuals that just screams out "mama-mia! Crank the ABBA!"...again, not going into detail lol...no dad I am not gay...
Oh one more thing... JON PINETTE.
If the name doesn't ring a bell, it should. Whoever is reading this, if you have ever watched JUST FOR LAUGHS, and seen a REALLY fat white guy that made you laugh your ass off, OR if you have ever heard me say things like "You eat like fee-weeeeryyyyyy" (japanese man saying "you eat like FREE WILLY!").... ya, i figured you would know that one..
well, he is on my ship right now as a guest entertainer, and i only found out when it was too late. he is no longer doing shows and is leaving tomorrow... that made my heart rip just a little... BUT there is a happy ending...sorta... i was up on the open deck (Deck 15) grabbing a burger before Gallery tonight, and guess who was there (not surprisingly)... this man makes a 20 minute skit about eating at buffets and people being afraid of his size and closing business when they see him, and he is eating at a buffet....with me! I am jealous of MYSELF!
Ok, its 3am...I should get to bed... But alas, its 1 hour back tonight so I just gained an hour of sleep haha. I have been given the thumbs up to use the internet anytime I want until they get the wi-fi up in my cabin (which should be when we get to St. Thomas June 28th). Let your emails flow like wine, and I will finally have time for you guys lol. (just remind me that you still know i exist first, its been a while since I talked to some of you)
*cough* Dana/Amber/Graham/Josh *cough*
Songs on heavy rotation on ye olde ipod:
- Yoga Meditation - "Sleeping through the rain" - (30 minutes of rain, and soothing sounds)
- Amos Lee - "Colors" - (from "Just like Heaven"...finally saw that today...corny but good)
- The Watchmen - "Beach Music" - (Danny hasn't done me wrong for 11 years and he isnt going to start now)
- Billie Holiday - "Them There Eyes" - (among the other 20 of hers sitting strongly on my list)
- Jamie Cullum - "All at Sea" - just listen....or check the words here
- Counting Crows - "Millers Angels" - if i write a movie, this will be in it.
- Misc Rock songs sung while jamming on guitars in the crewbar with Rory, Chris, and about 15 Steiners (spa people), 5 dancers (gay and loving it), 5-10 shoppies (cause hey, shoppies are people too), and the occasional Purser or Officer of the Bridge.... 2 acoustic guitars, Chris usually plays lead, Rory or myself will play when we can, or Rory will just hit the back of his guitar like bongo drums... we do everything from 'Hotel California', to Jack Johnson, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band and even Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (with 35 of us headbanging a la 'Waynes World'). I have movies, i will try to link one up to the blog sometime... either those or a 30 second clip of the photogs constantly laughing at me and my typical physical 'schitzo-humor'... honestly, isn't it wrong for that many people to pee at the same time?
-M-
First Cruise, and first bump in the road...
ok... so many things to say, not enough time to say it.
- First port of the first cruise tomorrow, Grand Turk.
- I saw Martha Stewart with my own eyes a few days ago, she is the Godmother of our ship. Its a good thing.
- I am melding with everyone nicely, finally...good friends come in bunches.
- Its 3am, and I have to be awake in 3 hours to shoot gangway. Ugh.
- Going to the Caribbean! yay!
having said that...at this very moment anyways, i havent been this depressed and alone for a very long time. there ya go, i said it. first REAL negative comment on this blog for a while. I cant get into it too much, and i dont really want to. Everything is fine, but the main thing is this: out of nowhere today, i got this uncontrollable feeling of being utterly alone. wah wah, i know, fuck off... i am sure its just temporary, maybe its the 3080 passengers giving off negative energy, who knows. Maybe I have a negative-genie-in-a-bottle, and i rubbed it the wrong way when shooting ressies today....who knows? it rarely happens but it does happen...I miss Grit so much. I have photos taped up above my bed of her and every night just before i go to bed i turn on the ipod, and look up at her... i tell myself that i am here for me........and her.... and no-one else (besides the creditors)...when it all boils down to it, I need to be happy. that can be argued til the cows come home, but thats the answer when all is said and done. I need to be happy, no matter what. She made me happy. She made me feel things that i HAVE felt before (everyone says HAVENT felt before....but i am changing it). I HAVE felt love, I HAVE felt peace, and I HAVE felt like every day should be a Sunday morning in bed with the woman I love.... and now, I really can't picture anyone other than her to be sharing that with. And now, I am here... in the middle of the ocean, with good friends (granted), and a good job (ditto), and i have NOW been to Venice (alone...but fuck it lol).... and I want some fairy to come down, wave the wand, bring my debts down to zero and throw a one way ticket to Germany in my hand, and I am not talking about going to see World Cup.
I think I just twisted the knife. I am halfway across the planet from my real home.
diese Frau ist mein Sonntag Morgen
(this woman is my Sunday Morning)
blah. bedtime.
-M-
- First port of the first cruise tomorrow, Grand Turk.
- I saw Martha Stewart with my own eyes a few days ago, she is the Godmother of our ship. Its a good thing.
- I am melding with everyone nicely, finally...good friends come in bunches.
- Its 3am, and I have to be awake in 3 hours to shoot gangway. Ugh.
- Going to the Caribbean! yay!
having said that...at this very moment anyways, i havent been this depressed and alone for a very long time. there ya go, i said it. first REAL negative comment on this blog for a while. I cant get into it too much, and i dont really want to. Everything is fine, but the main thing is this: out of nowhere today, i got this uncontrollable feeling of being utterly alone. wah wah, i know, fuck off... i am sure its just temporary, maybe its the 3080 passengers giving off negative energy, who knows. Maybe I have a negative-genie-in-a-bottle, and i rubbed it the wrong way when shooting ressies today....who knows? it rarely happens but it does happen...I miss Grit so much. I have photos taped up above my bed of her and every night just before i go to bed i turn on the ipod, and look up at her... i tell myself that i am here for me........and her.... and no-one else (besides the creditors)...when it all boils down to it, I need to be happy. that can be argued til the cows come home, but thats the answer when all is said and done. I need to be happy, no matter what. She made me happy. She made me feel things that i HAVE felt before (everyone says HAVENT felt before....but i am changing it). I HAVE felt love, I HAVE felt peace, and I HAVE felt like every day should be a Sunday morning in bed with the woman I love.... and now, I really can't picture anyone other than her to be sharing that with. And now, I am here... in the middle of the ocean, with good friends (granted), and a good job (ditto), and i have NOW been to Venice (alone...but fuck it lol).... and I want some fairy to come down, wave the wand, bring my debts down to zero and throw a one way ticket to Germany in my hand, and I am not talking about going to see World Cup.
I think I just twisted the knife. I am halfway across the planet from my real home.
diese Frau ist mein Sonntag Morgen
(this woman is my Sunday Morning)
blah. bedtime.
-M-
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Cruise cam!!
Hey everyone just a quick note, you can see where I am on this website!!
http://www.kroooz-cams.com/Princessindex.html
http://www.kroooz-cams.com/Princessindex.html
Start Spreading the News!!!
Hey everyone!!! Greetings from New York! We've been here for 2 days now and only NOW am I having the chance to Blog lol.
First things first:
LANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND!!! I am so happy to see land! The Atlantic Ocean crossing was an amazing experience, and so beautiful....but Holy God! At times it felt like a prison drifting at sea! The days pretty much consisted of training/gallery shifts/labwork...and the nights consisted of discos/movies under the stars/crew IDOL (A Steiner won it... not surprisingly)/walking around the ship/going to gym... A few things to note: Adam (videographer) was up on the top decks halfway through the journey and saw whales along the ship, and the day before he saw a..flock? of seaturtles along the current we were crossing. I saw....nothing.
2nd thing: New York.
Holy Fucking Shit. Nuff Said. We woke up on the 8th at 5am, threw on our red Princess Cruises 'Photo Staff" jackets (I'm officially cool now by the way), and ran upstairs to stand ON TOP of the bridge (yes...on top of the bridge...if you see pics of the Crown Princess, the bridge is the 'sunglasses' of the crown..you will know what I mean). The weather was Shite. Jenny (Scotland), Jacek (Poland), Adam (Aussie) and I (Canada...Word.) had to form a "Photo-Cuddle-Puddle" in order to survive...
Then we saw her. Torch and book in hand, and an outfit accented with the finest sandals and tiera money can buy. The Statue of Liberty.
(Smaller than in the movies by the way, but twice as beautiful)
The next day and a half was a blur of constant work...there was even a time where all of the photog team were hanging out in Mark's cabin (Head Office trainer guy) and 17 of us drinking and then all of a sudden boss gets a page and at midnight we all have to stumble down to the M-1 (long hallway from one end of ship to another in crew area) and move 30 boxes of product around.... it was a GONG show!!
Then last night Jacek, Adam, Jenny, Dagmara and I had time off so we took the subway (yes the subway...from brooklyn) to manhatten, and what happened next will always stay with me. We went to the Empire State Building and I froze my ass off on the 86th floor looking over New York... But i have now been there. Then after that we walked to Times Square and everyone was like a kid in a candy store... everywhere you could look, you could see broadway shows! Lion King, The Producers, Rent, Phantom, Mama Mia, The Colour Purple, Dirty Rotten Scoundrals, The Wedding Singer (Stephen Lynch as Robbie Hart haha), Chicago (God dammit i gotta go!), and a hot dog stand at every corner!!! We had a beer at the Havanah Central bar and then headed back tothe ship. Today however, Jacek and I had to run and find a pharmacy to get a few personal things (9 days on a ship without many essentials is a bad thing), and we couldnt think of a better place to go than ...where else? Times Square! again! I walked around quite a bit more and even found the Ed Sulivan Theatre (Hi Mr. Letterman!)....
then we took the subway back (so i could work a few hours), and now we are in an internet cafe in Brooklyn, only minutes away from the ship... It is now time to find a convenience store, grab some munchies, and head back to the ship (our feet are KILLING us!!)....
I hope that is enough info to fill everyone in on for now... I had pictures to show, but today when i first checked internet, there was no usb connection on the pc, and now I didnt even bring the fuckin thing and of course there is a usb port... ack!
See y'all in the next cartoon!
-M-
First things first:
LANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND!!! I am so happy to see land! The Atlantic Ocean crossing was an amazing experience, and so beautiful....but Holy God! At times it felt like a prison drifting at sea! The days pretty much consisted of training/gallery shifts/labwork...and the nights consisted of discos/movies under the stars/crew IDOL (A Steiner won it... not surprisingly)/walking around the ship/going to gym... A few things to note: Adam (videographer) was up on the top decks halfway through the journey and saw whales along the ship, and the day before he saw a..flock? of seaturtles along the current we were crossing. I saw....nothing.
2nd thing: New York.
Holy Fucking Shit. Nuff Said. We woke up on the 8th at 5am, threw on our red Princess Cruises 'Photo Staff" jackets (I'm officially cool now by the way), and ran upstairs to stand ON TOP of the bridge (yes...on top of the bridge...if you see pics of the Crown Princess, the bridge is the 'sunglasses' of the crown..you will know what I mean). The weather was Shite. Jenny (Scotland), Jacek (Poland), Adam (Aussie) and I (Canada...Word.) had to form a "Photo-Cuddle-Puddle" in order to survive...
Then we saw her. Torch and book in hand, and an outfit accented with the finest sandals and tiera money can buy. The Statue of Liberty.
(Smaller than in the movies by the way, but twice as beautiful)
The next day and a half was a blur of constant work...there was even a time where all of the photog team were hanging out in Mark's cabin (Head Office trainer guy) and 17 of us drinking and then all of a sudden boss gets a page and at midnight we all have to stumble down to the M-1 (long hallway from one end of ship to another in crew area) and move 30 boxes of product around.... it was a GONG show!!
Then last night Jacek, Adam, Jenny, Dagmara and I had time off so we took the subway (yes the subway...from brooklyn) to manhatten, and what happened next will always stay with me. We went to the Empire State Building and I froze my ass off on the 86th floor looking over New York... But i have now been there. Then after that we walked to Times Square and everyone was like a kid in a candy store... everywhere you could look, you could see broadway shows! Lion King, The Producers, Rent, Phantom, Mama Mia, The Colour Purple, Dirty Rotten Scoundrals, The Wedding Singer (Stephen Lynch as Robbie Hart haha), Chicago (God dammit i gotta go!), and a hot dog stand at every corner!!! We had a beer at the Havanah Central bar and then headed back tothe ship. Today however, Jacek and I had to run and find a pharmacy to get a few personal things (9 days on a ship without many essentials is a bad thing), and we couldnt think of a better place to go than ...where else? Times Square! again! I walked around quite a bit more and even found the Ed Sulivan Theatre (Hi Mr. Letterman!)....
then we took the subway back (so i could work a few hours), and now we are in an internet cafe in Brooklyn, only minutes away from the ship... It is now time to find a convenience store, grab some munchies, and head back to the ship (our feet are KILLING us!!)....
I hope that is enough info to fill everyone in on for now... I had pictures to show, but today when i first checked internet, there was no usb connection on the pc, and now I didnt even bring the fuckin thing and of course there is a usb port... ack!
See y'all in the next cartoon!
-M-
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Algeciras, Spain...Refuel for 2!
Hello everyone! Still no internet on the ship as of yet, but we are now in Algeciras, Spain for a few hours refuelling so I thought I would recharge and refuel myself by hitting up an internet cafe and supermarket. I was going nuts without contact from the other world... and its only been a few days haha I have to get back into the schedule again. I had some nice emails from people saying they miss me and wish me luck across the might Atlantic...almost as if its ME who is driving the ship lol. All I can say is 'i will try to do my best'.
Its relatively boring here...but the cool thing is this:
one side of the ship has Spain.... behind us is Jabralta .... and to the other side in the distance is Morocco!!! Africa!!!
All these places, amazing as they are however.... Grit I miss ya so much, we gotta come back here haha! and THEN everyone else can come.... heehee
If internet comes up on the ship on the crossing, I will update y'all, but if not...talk to you in one week in New Yawk lol
Oh, Finally saw the movie Crash last night on the Movies under the Stars... god what a good movie...
anyways, see ya soon!
ciao!
M
Its relatively boring here...but the cool thing is this:
one side of the ship has Spain.... behind us is Jabralta .... and to the other side in the distance is Morocco!!! Africa!!!
All these places, amazing as they are however.... Grit I miss ya so much, we gotta come back here haha! and THEN everyone else can come.... heehee
If internet comes up on the ship on the crossing, I will update y'all, but if not...talk to you in one week in New Yawk lol
Oh, Finally saw the movie Crash last night on the Movies under the Stars... god what a good movie...
anyways, see ya soon!
ciao!
M
Friday, May 26, 2006
Update to schedule
One more thing to add before I go drown my newly received cold with tea.....(got it 5 hours ago by the way...cant stop coughing)....
As we are leaving for New York tomorrow, and there still isn't any word of internet on the ship... I am unsure as to when I can talk with anyone next. The good news is that there is wireless internet pumped into each cabin and therefore I will have 100% usage of my own laptop on the internet while I am far and away..... translation: you want photos, you can have photos. you want msn, you can have msn.... Dad: you want Skype? you can Skype the shit outta me (haha).
So, to recap my schedule... tomorrow (27th) we sail for the first time at 4pm, at sea for about 4 days and then we refuel in Spain... still not sure as to whether or not we will be able to get off the ship in spain but nevertheless: I will be in Spain in a few days. After that we sail across the Atlantic and no word of a lie, as we are taking the same voyage as the Titanic did (around this time of year even), we will be passing within a short distance of the flippin' thing as well.
Then we get to New York I think June 8th or 9th, and land in Brooklyn haha no kidding. We are there for 5 days or so doing odd jobs here and there, and then on the 14th we go crazy to the Caribbean for the rest of my contract.... good times.
hope to talk to everyone soon, keep those emails a comin' in the mean time!
arrivederci!
M
As we are leaving for New York tomorrow, and there still isn't any word of internet on the ship... I am unsure as to when I can talk with anyone next. The good news is that there is wireless internet pumped into each cabin and therefore I will have 100% usage of my own laptop on the internet while I am far and away..... translation: you want photos, you can have photos. you want msn, you can have msn.... Dad: you want Skype? you can Skype the shit outta me (haha).
So, to recap my schedule... tomorrow (27th) we sail for the first time at 4pm, at sea for about 4 days and then we refuel in Spain... still not sure as to whether or not we will be able to get off the ship in spain but nevertheless: I will be in Spain in a few days. After that we sail across the Atlantic and no word of a lie, as we are taking the same voyage as the Titanic did (around this time of year even), we will be passing within a short distance of the flippin' thing as well.
Then we get to New York I think June 8th or 9th, and land in Brooklyn haha no kidding. We are there for 5 days or so doing odd jobs here and there, and then on the 14th we go crazy to the Caribbean for the rest of my contract.... good times.
hope to talk to everyone soon, keep those emails a comin' in the mean time!
arrivederci!
M
Arrivederci l'Italia!
31 hours left until we leave Italy, and its no surprise that nobody wants to go. Its too kozy here. Every night has consisted of not one, but usually two different patios with gelatto's and cappucino's as far as the eye could see.... and every time you walk down the street and you hear folks speaking italian, or smell the bakeries and restaurants and coffee shops, or hear the music playing (usually Live and involving accordians) in local pubs....you are instantly transformed into this person that quite simply doesn't give a shit about anything negative in the world. You cant help but feel .....content. Not just content....but like 'just got out of a 45min soak in a hot bath with candles and bubbles and Jack Johnson playing softly and...oh and all my bills are paid' type of Content.
ya. I'm taking Italy with me.
Go Rocky. Go.
M
ya. I'm taking Italy with me.
Go Rocky. Go.
M
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Woke up this morning with an itch to explore...
Hey everyone, I can't talk for too long, but I just had to mention this because I am about to explode...
I had a day off today in Trieste, Italy...so I woke up, and decided at the spur of the moment to go siteseeing...so i walked around, decided to hop a train... and two hours later:
I am in Venice Italy.
Right now.
I have 7 hours before my train leaves for the ship, its 1pm, i have TWO cameras on the go, about 3 cappucinos in my system (going on 4 in about 5 minutes), and I can't wait to go exploring.
In fact, I'm outta here! I'll be back in a few hours!
Ciao!
M
I had a day off today in Trieste, Italy...so I woke up, and decided at the spur of the moment to go siteseeing...so i walked around, decided to hop a train... and two hours later:
I am in Venice Italy.
Right now.
I have 7 hours before my train leaves for the ship, its 1pm, i have TWO cameras on the go, about 3 cappucinos in my system (going on 4 in about 5 minutes), and I can't wait to go exploring.
In fact, I'm outta here! I'll be back in a few hours!
Ciao!
M
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Crowned in Italy!
I have arrived! Trieste, Italy.... damn. I never thought I would see the day where I would be Michael Wachniak: World Traveller.
Ok so a quick note to bring everyone up to speed. I flew from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Germany yesterday, then to Milan, Italy. In Milan there was a 9 hour wait, so I hopped on the internet, ate at Burger King (ya.. i know), and slept for a few hours. When I finally took off to Trieste, it was all starting to sink in. I am in Italy...
I arrived in Trieste airport at about 11pm, and by 1115pmI was at the ship. The ship....the CROWN PRINCESS... is .... the biggest fucking thing I have ever seen in my life. The gangway is on 4, so when you stand there, you have this white...WALL standing another 15 stories above you. The Pacific Sky had 11 decks... The Crown has 19. Do the math. You cant help but just stand there with your jaw gaped wide open. Anyways when I got there, there was about 20 people outside drinking beer, smoking, sitting on crates. I walked inside and immediately smelled 'new ship'. The guys gave me my cabin cardkey and then said 'ok talk to you later'... nothing about when i start working, nothing about what i should do, i still dont even know if there are any other photographers on the ship haha. So, I went to my cabin 4209 (deck 4 baby ya!) and its simply amazing. Clean, new, has a TV and a DVD player... oh ya, and no electricity. So, i had to run over again to tell someone.. and today its still Powerless (just like Nelly Furtado).
Today I woke up at 1pm, went to a safety induction, went back to bed, and now Matt and I are walking around Italy and going to find food...
I will keep everyone posted, but I just wanted to tell everyone I am ok.
Miss you tons!
see you all in the next cartoon,
M
Ok so a quick note to bring everyone up to speed. I flew from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Germany yesterday, then to Milan, Italy. In Milan there was a 9 hour wait, so I hopped on the internet, ate at Burger King (ya.. i know), and slept for a few hours. When I finally took off to Trieste, it was all starting to sink in. I am in Italy...
I arrived in Trieste airport at about 11pm, and by 1115pmI was at the ship. The ship....the CROWN PRINCESS... is .... the biggest fucking thing I have ever seen in my life. The gangway is on 4, so when you stand there, you have this white...WALL standing another 15 stories above you. The Pacific Sky had 11 decks... The Crown has 19. Do the math. You cant help but just stand there with your jaw gaped wide open. Anyways when I got there, there was about 20 people outside drinking beer, smoking, sitting on crates. I walked inside and immediately smelled 'new ship'. The guys gave me my cabin cardkey and then said 'ok talk to you later'... nothing about when i start working, nothing about what i should do, i still dont even know if there are any other photographers on the ship haha. So, I went to my cabin 4209 (deck 4 baby ya!) and its simply amazing. Clean, new, has a TV and a DVD player... oh ya, and no electricity. So, i had to run over again to tell someone.. and today its still Powerless (just like Nelly Furtado).
Today I woke up at 1pm, went to a safety induction, went back to bed, and now Matt and I are walking around Italy and going to find food...
I will keep everyone posted, but I just wanted to tell everyone I am ok.
Miss you tons!
see you all in the next cartoon,
M
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Update: www.michaelwachniak.com
I am pleased to announce that I have finally added all my new photos to my site. Australia, New Caledonia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia... its all there. I strongly encourage you to visit it and please let me know what you think. I want everyone to see what I saw, as it was a very big part in my life.
www.michaelwachniak.com
(photo above: sunset on my last day in Langkawi, Malaysia)
Monday, May 15, 2006
Bon Voyage, Amber!
I took the bus down to Port of Vancouver today, in hopes I would see a buddy of mine from The Sky. I didnt get a chance to see her but I did see my first sail-away FROM LAND lol
have a good trip Amber! Be nice to the guys, aight!?
Ah, The Island Princess
Oh God I hope he read the sign!
Look at that ASS! (Although I musts admit, the Pacific Sky's was better lol) 
have a good trip Amber! Be nice to the guys, aight!?
Ah, The Island Princess
Oh God I hope he read the sign!
Look at that ASS! (Although I musts admit, the Pacific Sky's was better lol)
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