The Carnage Of Flight 151

The standard shot of Times Square by night! It's actually not that square at all!

The standard shot of my shadow! This time in Central Park!
When I actually have a home again I'm going to have to get all my 'Shadow Shots' printed & framed & put them on display! Got a few of them now in various places around the world.

This Proclamation hangs in The Joyce and it is a thing that I never knew actually happened/existed. The Mayor declared October 3rd, 2002 to be "The Joyce Theatre Day" as they'd been running for 20yrs! Myself & Dan thought it was the coolest thing and ran around saying it in our best Mayor Quimby voices from The Simpsons!

Myself, Dan's mum Bev, Dan, Toni (Company Manager), Nicole & Andrew (Dan's cousin & wife) @ Christmas lunch.

A view of part of the NY skyline from across the lake within Central Park.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas. Ours over here was not really an event per se but a chance for us all to go out for a meal. Dan has his mum here & his cousin and wife flew in from Seatlle to join us. We ended up going out to a seafood restauraunt & then basically worked our way through a couple of bottles of Christmas Cheer!! It was the weirdest Christmas that I've probably ever had. I've spent a few Christmas's away from home due to travel but that's been at my own choice & with close friends. For this Christmas I didn't have a choice! I'm not complaining in anyway or saying that Dan isn't a close friend & that I didn't have fun but it was a slightly weird & strange non-event!! Next year we're supposed to be in China! Maybe '09 I'll have roast turkey, stuffing & pudding in 30deg heat - & get to watch the Boxing Day Test! The Yanks just don't care for it & I haven't been able to find anywhere that screens it, even on delay! I reckon it'd be a great night out, starting to watch the cricket at 1700 in the arvo!

The weather here was pretty good for Christmas, no snow as hoped but we got the other end of the scale. Typical Melbourne Winters day. Bright blue sky, cold but warm in the sunshine. It was the same weather for Christmas Eve so I went for a massive walk through Central Park. Walked the entire length of it up one side and then back down the other! Took about 4hrs all up. You could walk it quicker if the paths were straight but as they meander around & there's heaps of stuff to look at etc, time gets swallowed up! It was really nice. It'd be great to see it again in Summer when all the leaves are on the trees etc but it was a nice afternoon stroll.

Well last night, Dan, his cousin Andrew & wife Nicole & myself crash landed on 8th Avenue! Myself & Dan had decided that we'd head home after the show as today, Thurs, was our only time off before doing 2 x shows a day on Fri, Sat & Sun. Andrew & Nicole ended up having dinner with friends right around the corner form the venue so we went to have one, ONE, drink.... Ain't it funny how plans can change! We found a bar called Flight 151 & it was decked out with all sorts of plane memorabiliea. The first few rounds were actually quite quiet... then the barstaff made an announcement that they were about to draw the lucky number from the barrel to determine which shooter was now going to be $2 for the next hour... We had been unaware of this & this is where Flight 151 developed engine trouble...! Each hour there was a new shooter! After 3hrs, we'd worked our way through vodka, a sweet kind of one & tequila...! We'd also worked our way through Jack Daniels & Cokes, Black Russians & Long Island Ice Teas!! Zoowee! It was a great night but it completely wasted the idea of having today free to play tourist! The total bill was $380 - and that didn't cover any food!

The toilets in Flight 151 were also strange & at one stage, gave me quite a fright! We were well immersed in shooters and I went off to the restrooms. Whilst in there, this announcement comes on & states that the Captain wishes for us all to be seated & fasten our safety belts! Was freaky! There were a few other announcements made & I guess it keeps that whole airplane theme going!

Tango Fire - It's All Coming Back To Me Now!

The following photo's are basically of signs that I've seen when out strolling & exploring my area!

Even though I'm not a fan, Dave Letterman is shutdown @ the mo' due to the writers strike - gets some coverage back in Aus. Just cause it's something funny to do, it'd be great to sit in the audience. Maybe by the time Ric (Lil' Brudda) arrives...?

Haven't quite mastered the Times Square Shuffle yet - hey, I'm a Tech not a dancer...!

Hello once again. It's just ticked over into Christmas Eve here. We've just completed 4 shows in 2 days and we've got both Christmas Eve & Day off - yeah!! We had made plans to go and explore Beaker St tonight where there's supposed to be live music etc. but after the gig both Dan & myself decided we weren't up for it and have gone our seperate ways in the hotel.... The hotel doesn't even have a bar.... I've barely even tried alcohol in the States..... Are we the same two techs who recently completed the UK Tour...?

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I basically arrived in New York 9hrs before I started work. I was pretty foggy in the head when we arrived @ The Joyce at 0800. The rig was all up & coloured - which was great but by 0830 I had crew chomping at the bit to start focussing...! I have NEVER focused that early in the day before & the routine Dan & I had in the UK was, Tim focus from upstage to downstage after lunch!! My brain had to work extra hard as we'd had to adapt our rig or look into their Repretory Rig. Due to the Joyce doing 47 straight weeks of 1 week Dance Seasons all year, they have 1 rig that stays in poition and that's what's there. Saves on bump out & bump in (set-up) time if they don't physically have to keep swapping stuff around.

Therefore, when I had crew wanting to focus @ 0830 my head was a mess! As soon as the first few lights came up & I'd remembered how to interpret my own Joyce Light = Tango Light sheet of paper, it all came flying back. This little section at the back of the brain, that had been trodden down over the last few weeks, pulled itself up, pushed the jet-lag aside & kicked into gear! If I'd actually had to wait until after lunch to focus, I probably would have been a mess! It was a great focus session, we had the lot done in no time at all.

Due to having to adapt my rig to their rig - which wasn't that hard - I had built in a few 'safety nets' (read ass covering) lights to ensure we were covered. In their rig they've basically got 7 overhead bars and most of them are covered with Source 4 profiles that still seem prety new. Not a fresnel in the building with 4 way S4pars Batterns overhead. As we were focusing I realised that a couple of things weren't going to work & the 'Safety Net' Lights came in very handy!! All lights that I'd channelled ended up getting used, just not neccessarily as I'd originally intended!! The main factor was that The Joyce basically has no Flytower, so the LX Bars only go out to (from memory) 23 feet, so getting some shots US without hitting borders etc. was tricky to say the least.

The crew are easily the best I've encountered. Very disciplined & professional but they've all got a wicked sense of humour and as they were used to hard & quick turnarounds, they were kind of surprised when we unloaded 4 red legs & a guaze to hang & that I wasn't being to perdandict that the lights weren't working the way I wanted them too - & that we were relaxed & not walking around like we owned the joint! The show looks a little different due to different angles etc but it's come up a treat. It's the nicest thing to actually have to drop levels down and leave you with somewhere to go if you do need more light rather than having everything @ full & still needing more light! The show is always evolving, partly to keep me sane but also because you find a look due to venue restrictions that actually works etc. Also you start to see new places where there could be another queue or fade of the spots quicker etc.

Now, having been in New York for a week it's proven that Tango is firmly in my blood. As we were doing Opening the music, the cue points & spot plot all came flooding back far easier than I thought it would. It feels as if we basically went from the UK to here, not that that there was 6 weeks in between. It's nice to know that it has all stuck & that some part of my brain has actually stored the info. I had been expecting a far worse set-up - just due to jet-lag and not having done it for 6 weeks but, honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. A great kick off to the US Tour - many more cold & windy adventures to come I'm sure!!

Also, as I have no idea what I'll be doing over the next couple of days, a big Merry Christmas to you & yours this holiday season & a happy & healthy start to 2008. Take care out there & catch you again shortly.

Snaps 'N' Stuff!!

These guys were our crew in Malvern, UK. Damn fine bunch & were one of only 3 Regional Crews who came out for a drink after the gig! Toad (the guy far right making the rock'n'roll sign) is the UK version of Kev O'Brien for those who know him. He was an absolute hoot!

The three members (as well as their personalities) of Mirra Vanless Tango & their trusty vehicle.

Me, Dan & Ange out for my Birthday in Liverpool @ a pretty decent live music venue that we found.

Canterbury Cathedral as seen from my Control Room balcony! Nice!

Me as Chief Table Maker & Breaker, atop my tables for the final time in Basingstoke - our last UK gig!

Myself amongst most of the kids on our "End Of UK Tour Drinks" in Basingstoke. Was a grand night out & was great to have all the Company together in the one room!

And this is some of us later on in the night.... From L-R. Back Row : Hugo, me, Dan & Javier.

Front Row : Maritzio, Ange & Christian.

Giz, all dressed up & onstage, at The Joyce, New York helping me check my prac lamps on Opening Night.

Here's Giz getting interviewed by Annie About Town. She works on "Good Day New York", which is on the Fox Network. They did a few live crosses to us the morning after Opening - we were at the venue from 0600 - 0900 the morning after Opening...! Please cut & paste the link below to see one of the live crosses. Pity they didn't post Giz's interview! You may not be able to tell put they're both wearing the same colour schemed outfits!

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=5262215&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.7.1

Yep, Summertime Is Way, Way Behind Me Now!

Well, if you're still checking in & even reading this then I thank you! I'm yet to alert the wider public that I'm back 'online' and willing to share stories of woe & hilarity! No pictures downloaded yet & yes, I know I haven't seemed to have finished off the UK leg section of the Blog but that will come!

I'm currently holed up in my hotel room on West 29th Street, New York! We're about 15hrs behind (for those in Aus) & approx 20-25 (minimum) colder! Today, it was a barmy 1 deg all day! Yeah! Doing hotle living is a bit crap for three weeks - we were supposed to have mini apartments (like London) but they were sold a few months ago & are now luxury condo's! They were apparently really lucky to be able to secure us rooms in Holiday Inn Express (sounds as good as it is!) this close & for the length of the Festive Season!

The flight here was SO long! Due to weather delays and re-diversions etc, I ended up getting into my room at 2345 Sun which was 8.25hrs before I started the load in in our New York Venue, The Joyce!! Oh yeah - especially as I'd flown out of Melb @ 1300 on Sun and according to 'local' time it was only 10.5hrs later... try telling that to a body/mind that's just done 27hrs of plane & 5.25hrs (NOT counting before we flew out of Melb) Airport time...!! Zoowee!

To top it off, the Duty Free nerds at Melb Airport owe me $35 odd bucks! Bought Duty Free alcohol on the way out of Melb and checked with them 3 times (3 x seperate people) if I could take liquids into the US, especially as I was going 'Domestic' from Los Angeles to New York. "Of course" they said, "No you can't" said 8ft tall black guy with a gun (I kid you not at LA!) When he scanned my carry on I was declared as "We got an 1156!" & it took 3 armed people to put my 'Special Edition' Kalhua in the bin...!! (Not that I fought them - internally yes, externally, no!) Lovely cherry on the top of the delays etc. I'd already been experiencing!

New York is pretty cool though - gotta admit that. My body clock is still way off centre & if this leg was the UK leg, I'd be in a really bad place but because I've done it 40 odd times now, most of them one after the other, as soon as the lights turned on Mon morn, a little piece of my brain set aside for Tango (that I didn't know had been created) kicked in!!

Basically, that's my story up til now with more & photos of both end of UK & up til now to follow. Oh yeah, don't even get me started on what's been organised for us the DAY AFTER OPENING NIGHT!! No point even thinking about getting the body clock aligned until after that....

All that and other non-senscile ramblings to be revealed later than now.

Bali - Paradise By The Pool Side Light

Hello There Reader (if there are any of you left!),
There is still some stories to be told from the UK but for those of you who aren't aware, I'm currently on a 10 day holiday in Bali whilst on my 6 week break between the UK & USA Tours. I have finally become a millionaire thanks to the Indonesian Rupeha - $1 AUS = 8,180 something!!

It's been a realy hectic time since arriving back in Melb - a mate's Buck's Night, my best mate Adam's Buck's - where I have the honour of being Best Man @ the actual ceremony, Adam's wedding and then another mate's wedding - Ange & Ray. In between all of that I worked a chunk at the Arts Centre as a Casual - the way I started way back in early 1998! It was GOLD to head back to the old stomping ground but basically having no 'responsibility', especially after the UK Tango Tour. All I had to do was get given a gig and when it was done, report for more work! Didn't have to worry about everyone else, that there was a show to do, no calling of cues etc! Heaven! I also had the opportunity to light the Nick Cave Exhibition in the George Adams Gallery - which was a great experience & actually meeting & chatting with Nick was quite cool.

Anyhoo, enough of that boring stuff...! After all that ended & before kicking back into work I had 4 days down in Portsea (that also covered Ange & Ray's wedding - thanks Rel for organising a mini holiday with the guys & girls) & from Portsea drove to Melb Airport & went down to Tassie to catch up with Dad & Kerry for 4 days before heading here to Bali, just out of Depensar in Kuta. I'm forever in debt to one of my best mates Suzie for the opportunity. She herself has recently come off an Australian Tour & one of the guys on that, Todd, has a wealthy friend in Bali who has a spare house on his block of land - as you do! I'd met Todd a couple of times whilst Suze was on tour as I'd drive down to catch up with her whilst she was close to Melb. He said to Suze that it was cool to invite me, which she did, & I accepted!!

The place is GOLD! It's nothing too flash but it is prob of the 4-5 star quality if it was classified as a Hotel! Staff come in each day & clean etc., we can get massages & there is prob the best pool I have ever seen. It has a narrow channel (for use of a better word) that links the two houses but otherwise you'd have no idea there was even anyone else on the property!! Between the two houses there is this great wall of palms, plants, flowers, trees etc & you have complete privacy. Laurie & Raphael (Raph) who live here permanently pop on over every now & then & they are both fantastic guys. We've had many laughs and devoured many bottles of vodka/wine/beer & other assorted Duty Free things...!

Raph is a great cook & we have been treated to a couple of dinners that he just creates! Absolutely fantastic! Todd's really cool too. We knew each other as we'd met briefly before but it really only took us a day to cerment a friendship of our own! The clincher was when I provided instant back-up & support for him when he was attempting to add chilli flakes to Suzie's food....! He made a play & I just did what came natural as if it was Adam, Bernie, Ric or even Suze herself & ran with it!! He was the 'Tainter' & I was the 'Eyes'! After the first two 'taintings' didn't work, we went for OVERDOSE... still nothing, so we eventually fessed up...! We had visions of Suze jumping into the pool and errupting into a cloud of steam but to no avail! A lovely bonding moment after drinkng "Caniptions" - basically we all took it in turn to make beverages out of what was in the kitchen....

It's been SO relaxing to actually finally stop. It has been SO long since I've had a holiday of this calibre. First few days were literally spent lounging around the pool. We have ventured out to the beach - the water is so warm - and shopped a little. Last night, Wed 5th Dec, we all went bowling. Was a hilirious night out. In the cab ride there we were all from Norway - thanks to Todd speaking first.... Todd could speak English & myself & Suze couldn't - the translations & converstaions that went on were hiliarious. At bowling we met a few people & told them that we'd just come off a tour of Cats in North Korea....! I have never told such stories before & had backed it all up from knowledge of North Korea that I'd absorbed during a Forreign Correspondance report on the ABC!! Kinda wrong but they were people we were never going to see again & it did make us mingle! If you're shaking your heads (or maybe even laughing) we did buy them a couple of rounds of drinks - one it backed up our story & two, it helps them believe the stupid stories we were telling!!

On the way home, for some reason we decided to go on a "Slingshot" Ride - basically you get strapped into a steel framed ball between two REALLY tall posts, with a bunge type cable (stretched) attached about half way down back to the ball.... You get titled back, so your looking at the sky & then they release you.... Oh my God....! For about 5 sec's you have no idea where it is you actually are, just that you're not on the ground and getting thrown around alot!! Apparently you travel at 5G's...? Don't know if that's true but it was definately a rush. I went on it first with Todd & we paid to have it videoed & copied onto a DVD - the camera is mounted in the ball and basically records your faces as you yell, scream & contort!! As we were being lowered you can hear us on the DVD discussing how we're going to convince Suze to do it... It actually wasn't that hard & Todd got off & I stayed strapped in for a 2nd run! 2nd time, especially striaght after becasue it had only just happened and my body memory was still fresh, I basically kept my eyes open for the whole thang. Man you move fast & have no idea where the ground actually is! Poor Suze - as we were tilted back I started talking to her & said that the man counts down from three before you're released. As he started counting down from 3, Suze turned to me & said "What happens when...." GONE! We were off!

After we got off another couple got on & we stayed to watch them and I have to admit, watching it from on the ground it seems as if the ball stops bouncing severely after 10-15secs. In the actual ball, feels SO much longer - prob something to do with the brain processing everything as it's happening quicker than you could possibly compute!

I haven't downloaded any of my Bali photos yet but will endeavour to do so as well as finish off the UK leg of the tour. Anyway, nobody's probably reading this by now as my last post was over a month ago!

If you are still checking in once & awhile & especially if you've returned knowing that I should be in the US and might be writing again & even more so if you've backtracked to make sure you haven't missed anything, then I thank you. Take care friend & standby for more posts where I'm sure you'll hear the question asked whilst in New York - "Why do I shave my head when it's below freezing...?"