Disciples Of The Mountain : A Reading From The Book Of Splash & Space!

And on the day that was the 27th of January, the Tribe Of Tango did cast aside their Fire for they had stumbled upon a great land. And it was good!



Yep, that’s right - we went to Disneyland!
Sunday was always TBA in Irvine, California & it was never A’d, so a surprise & much received day off was born. It was great & it was the best way to recharge the batteries. A full day off I’m pretty sure we haven’t had since New York. Having a full day where there was no travel, no set-up, no show - no time ties was Gold! Disneyland was only 30mins away & I figured since I was in the area & would highly unlikely be again, that it was worth taking a look. There’s also been warmth - only about 14-15deg but sun that actually feels warm!! Has been awhile since we felt warm!!


Dan, Carolina, Pablo, Mariela, Andres, Celeste, Chooky, Yanina & myself met our bus driver, who’ve we had for our entire California leg, @ 1000 & off we went. It’s a weird kind of place & not at all like I expected. My visions were of ‘that’ castle towering over you & rollercoasters visible as far as the eye could see. Not too be. There’s actually very little of the Park visible as you approach & when you enter, ‘that’ castle is in front of you - but it’s tiny!


The sky was overcast & there was forecasts of thunderstorms & lucky for us, this kept attendance numbers low. Being the middle of Winter probably also helped! For the entire day, our longest wait would have been no longer than 15mins - with Autopia (more on that later!) & Nemo Submarines being the exceptions. To start off we just saw a ride & went on it! After the initial excitement wore off, we became more methodical in our approach! I can’t imagine the place 6 months from now, teeming with people & waiting 40mins for 2-3mins of fun! No thank you. We did Disneyland @ the perfect time & the only trade off was, we got rained upon twice but for Disciples Of The Mountain Of Splash, a little more water was nothing!!


Our system was to go on all the rides that had a triangle next to them on the map - this meant that you shouldn’t go on it if you had heart problems, were pregnant or had high blood pressure. We figured that these rides were exactly what we were looking for!! By about 1830, there was one left & Dan led the charge to Autopia as he had discovered it on the map & it is a ride that he will now never forget or be allowed to forget!! We waited in line for around half an hour to hop into this little car that ran around a track… all you had to do was “Put your foot on the pedal to start & take your foot off the pedal to stop”. You had a steering wheel but as you were on a track, it meant nothing…! No sudden drops, no light show, no wind in your hair (not that that’s ever a problem for me!) & no rush in any way. Although, I discovered that if you turned the wheel in the opposite direction to the corner, you received a mild bump & the minimal level of excitement known to man - like seeing you’ve received a Parking Ticket!! Dan has made the Legacy Of Autopia his own & we’re not tired of reminding him of it yet!!


We went on far too many rides to mention them all but highlights for me were Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Star Wars Experience & then the two main Mountains - Splash & Space. Splash Mountain was great, although there was a lot of build up for the main event that lasted approx 20secs! You hop in a log shaped boat and then slowly start to travel up ramps, with water cascading past, on your way to the very top. Along the way you pass through a cavern that has all this animatronic’s singing “Zippee Doo Dah, Zippee Aye” & then you do one last final ascent & then you drop, pretty much straight down a 50ft drop waterfall &, funnily enough, make a huge splash that proceeds to end up mostly in the log & over you depending on where your sitting!! The scary thing is, you’re not strapped in!! There is no safety belt or barrier of any kind!!


We participated Mount Splash 5 times!! They also take your picture as you go over the fall & we changed our pose each time! You can then purchase the picture for $30 but as they display your photo, poster size, as you exit, I kept taking pictures of the picture they were trying to sell me…!! Tee hee! Once we were aware of the photo thing we kept coming up with more and more silly poses to do for the camera!!


Space Mountain was a great experience & Dan & myself went on it 5 times in a row before we had to depart. You hop in your little space machine & as you start going up the ramps, your ‘Shuttle’ slowly starts receiving power & is prepped for take off. Lots of flashing lights & sounds etc. Then countdown begins & when you reach “Lift off”, you’re plunged into darkness with only stars around you & that’s when the rollercoaster part begins!! It’s a great experience - you can’t see where you are or what’s coming next as you twist & turn your way down about 5 stories!! At the very end you burst through a set of doors & are bombarded with strobes & bright lights - including a camera - that literally blinds you!! I did the same ‘photo of the photo’ thing here as well. Gizmo also got in on the act on both Mountains & now has a few more happy snaps to add to his collection!!


I’ll endeavour to write more in the next couple of days to update you on Bermuda & beyond. We’re currently in flight to Madison, Wisconsin where it’s going to be a top temperature of minus 12deg C… think of us whilst we freeze!!


Giz, me, Dan & Pablo on Splash Mountain.









Dan & I on one of our final Space Mountain missions!!





Giz earns his Space Mountain Wings!














Me, Giz & Donald - sadly, we didn't encounter a real Donald for the entire day!














There were these signs all over the Park stating that they were 'Picture Spots' - don't know why anyone would want pictures with a sign but myself & Dan obliged! When in Disney....














An explosive moment...!!















Pablo, me & Andres doing our best Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation!!

















Our first Splash Mountain. Dan, Pablo, Mariela, Carolina & me!

The Memory Of One

Good evening all - I have many photos to post of our time in Bermuda, which was fantastic but alas I can't post them right now & fear that I will never be able to.... You see, my photo's, along with laptop, camera, iPod & PSP & other assorted 'fun' itmes were lost @ Atlanta Airport! Yes that's right, without being drunk or hungover, I mnaged to leave behind a rather important item in the smoking lounge or it was stolen when we were sitting in a cafe having lunch. Scarily, I feel that it was my own stupidity. I realised about 10mins after leaving the lounge but twas not there upon my return & it was naught to be seen. Did I mention that it also contained my Passport...? I didn't...? Well it did! Currently in the process of getting myself a new one. It's a right royal pain to have lost it all but the most annoying is my Tango Tour Photos. I've backed up my photo's up until my Arts Centre farewell but have no copies of the UK or US photos! Luckily I can download the ones I've posted on Facebook & this blog so I still have some memories.

The Passport is a definate "D'oh" as it's a living document of me & where I've been in the world & it's all the pretty visa's, stamps etc that are a pain to loose. Everything else is replacable even though it will take some work to rebuild the iTunes Library but I do know that fairly recently I made a back up of my library & will just have to find the CD that is most likely buried in a box in storage!! That's the bit that's the hardest for now - having no music! My iTunes get's a flogging everytime I'm in my room as I still watch very little TV. Luckily I bought a few CD's in New York but may have to go to the iTunes Store & dowmload some albums!!

So here I am in La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya), just out of San Diego in Calafornia, typing away on my new, top of the line HP Pavillion Laptop that I bought in Portland, Oregon mainly because I need it for work but also because there's no sales tax in Oregon!! Plus there was a sale and Pablo - one of the dancers - is an electronic whizz and can find & suss out the best deals in any town in under an hour!! Me, him & Shanni headed off on an excursion where I also replaced my camera with a more slimline one that is waterproof to 3.5m & also shockproof. Pablo's great, he has a very slapstick style sense of humour & his brother runs an electronic store in Buenos Aires. He spends most tours buying uup big on electronics and then resells it back in Argentina for 2.5-3 times the original amount!! New technology is so hard to get in Argentina that premium prices are paid.

My Spanish, more Spanglish, is coming along well. I add a couple of words each day and also a new phrase every day or two. It's been great actually hanging out with the Company in regards to bus & plane travels, instead of being a seperate entity as we were in the UK. Christian, Nelson, Javier, Dan & myself have become quite a tight little bunch & will generally all meet in the hotel bar after a show for a few rounds - which is where the Spanish & English lessons continue! We've had a few great nights out & I have to admit that I now feel more like 'one of the Company' than I ever had. It's too do with the fact that we travel together, that they now know that I know what I'm doing & also, I'm not the newest kid on the block anymore!!

My nickname tends to change on a weekly basis - for pretty much all the UK Tour, Pablo called me Tim Burton everytime we met. Currently it's either Lex Luthor or, as seems to be the current flavour, Mini Me! They are a great bunch to tour with & work for & it's nice to have actual friendships starting to develop with them, rather than just interacting briefly on stage every day when they come in for class.

Well, that's about all I got for now. I'll tell you all about Bermuda & Beyond soon - probably a good thing that I've lost my photo's or otherwise you'd hate me when you saw where we were staying!! I'll try & get some off the others so I can still post a few - especially of Beach Cat!

Take care & catch ya soon.

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frighful...Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Holla from a snowy & airport closed Boston! Yep, we're snowed in! We should be in Bermuda by now where it's a nice, warm 20deg but nooooo, Boston decided to snow last night & our 0920 flight couldn't cut it through the snow & was cancelled! All a bit of a bugger when you're up @ 0600 to make the flight! Luckily we knew the flight was cancelled before we actually left the hotel but still...! So here I be, back in my hotel room, eating some room service with the horror tomorrow of flying to Bermuda, going straight to the venue & then setting up & doing the show! Had we made it today, we would have been there by midday & the presenter was putting on a 'Welcome Dinner' for us! Now I'm left with Room Service...! Doesn't seem right! I'm just hoping that we can actually fly out tomorrow, otherwise I guess the show gets cancelled...? We're heading to Bermuda as part of the Bermuda Festival where we're doing a shorter version of the show - only one hour but doing it twice in an evening.

Since leaving New York we've performed in Virginia Beach & now Boston. Virginia Beach was a weird little town. Kinda looked like a Hollywood set in the middle of, nothing really! All very 'fake' looking & plastic. The venue had only been open since November & we were the first to use their dance floor. They had a Congo Desk and, talking to the Techs, they're having a few software problems with it - "We've been Congoed" was a phrase that I heard alot. It was great to have a Congo copy of the show from North Hampton though & just insert my Memory Stick into the desk & wallah! There it was! Saves so much time not having to plot the show from scratch, even though it only takes about an hour. Just means that dinner becomes more of an option! Myself & Dan always take lunch for an hour but dinner is never guaranteed. Sometimes it's my own fault as I'll sit there and adjust cues for far too long!

I'm becoming more proficient at ETC desks too. Back @ the Arts Centre & throughout the UK, it's pretty much Strand consoles all the way. I'm far more familiar with them & alot of shortcuts & processes came back to me when using it every day in the UK. The US is pretty much ETC based. I still prefer the Strand as that's what I grew up on but I now know my way around most standard ETC deks. If we're pushed for time, I'll still get a venue tech to do the actual plotting as my speed isn't huge at the moment but it's great when I need to adjust levels, times etc.

Boston is a pretty cool town. We've done 3 shows here so we've had a little time to go & explore. Dan & I went & did the 'Cheers' thing (remember the TV show..?) There's a bar that claims to be an exact replica of the TV set - they're wrong! It resembles it, as in it's a bar where you can buy beer, but that's about it! We were both expecting to see 'Cheers' & walk in & everyone yell our name & have Woddy ask, "How's the world treating you Mr Blundell..?" Alas, was not to be! I did however, achieve fame in Boston! We had lunch there and I ordered the Norm Burger as I was starving and it did say that it was a large serve.... About halfway through it, the waitress comes up & says that if I finish the burger, they'll take my picture & post it on their website under the 'Norm Burger Hall Of Fame'! There was no mention of this on the menu & I've never attempted menue items that say "eat the whole thing & you eat free" cause you just know it's going to be bad! But, as I was halfway through & had been told that fame in Boston was only a few mouthfuls away, I ploughed on! The photo should be uploaded within the next couple of weeks! Keep your eye peeled for me @ http://www.cheersboston.com/ under the Faneuil Hall Marketplace section! I also recieved a certificate which will be framed & hung on a wall once I have a home again! We also went to the bar that was the inspiration for Cheers. The entrance to it, down a flight of stairs, was used as the outside shot's in the TV show.

The snow is crazy! It's probably about a foot deep & is really light & fluffy & it's coating everything! The city is pretty organised as all the roads & footpaths are clear. Reminds me of Warsaw as that's the only other city I've ever seen that's covered in snow. Pretty frickin' cold too @ the moment!

Well, here's to hoping that we actually do get to Bermuda tomorow & that someday soon, I'll be warm again!

Catch ya!

Hitting The Road - Quality Bus Time!

Subway station - basically the closest one to our hotel. It's a great system & isn't that hard to negotiate once you get the hang of it.

Gizmo doing a well rehearsed headstand!

Myself & Dan out in Times Square.

Subway Station sign.

The American Museum of Natural History - a couple of it's inhabitants!

Myself & Samuel L. Jackson...! Ran into him out the front of the Virgin Megastore.

Once again proving that just because something isn't called a hat, doesn't mean it can't be worn on ones head!

Garret, Geoff, myself & Ryan - 3 Texans we met @ New Years. Good bunch of guys.

Myself, Jake, Nicole, Dan & Andrew @ New Years.

The Joyce Crew - Kahleel, Joe, Dan, Geoff, Saeed, myself, Wayne, Marie, Jeremey, Web & Kyle. Absent : Kelly & Andrea. A great bunch of Technicians.

Well, Happy New Year & all that! I'm happy to say that all is now well again in regards to my stomach! We're currently holed up in Norfolk, Virginia. We left New York early this morning & all piled onto our bus & headed off on our 8.5hr ride. Time was easily passed as I've recently become the proud owner of a PSP - Portable Play Station! All the Argentines have them & have been encouraging myself & Dan to buy on e for ages. It didn't make much sense for the UK Tour as we weren't travelling with them & didn't have much down time... Now though, as we're doing a whole lot of travel by bus, it's the perfect addition! I killed a number of Germans in World War II between New York & Norfolk! They're pretty cool - you can link up to other nearby consoles and play multi-player! Myself & Dan have a Star Wars game that is pretty cool, especially being able to hunt down the evil droids together!!

It was definately sad to leave The Joyce. They were a great bunch of techs & genuine friendships have been born. When Ric joins me & we're off travelling, we're definately going to swing by The Joyce one night & have drinks with the crew. Each venue that you hit you do strike up friendships but most of them only last for that day or for a few days and then the ties are basically severed bar the stupidity of Facebook & other assorted 'communities' on the Net. There are a bundle of great techs that we've encountered and despite swapping emails etc we no longer keep in touch. I'd love to hope that it will be different with The Joyce gang. It will be great to see them again in Feb & have a few drinks & it'll be good to introduce them to Ric.

For those who are unaware, Ange is no longer with the Company. She quit after the UK Tour, which was a shame but she had her reasons & I wish her the best. Myself, her & Dan worked well together & as the three of us are quite different people, we were always able to bounce off each other pretty easily. Our new wardrobe person is Lynda & she's pretty cool.

For our final night in New York myself, Dan & Lynda ventured to Little Italy for tea. It's a really different feel to the rest of New York & there is, of course, a bucket load of places to choose to eat! We had a great dinner & all the pasta was home made & it was brilliant. Afterwards, myself & Dan sought out Bleeker Street. We'd been told that it was the place to go for live music & cool little bars. We'd been planning to go a few times but for some reason, we haven't been as active at night as we were in the UK. We got a little lost but then struck gold! It's a great street & there is planty on offer. It was a Monday night and we enjoyed the offerings of 2 x bars. One was a guy & his band playing originals with a couple of covers which was pretty cool. The next bar was a Blues Bar & it was great. 5 big ol' black guys just strumming away. They were fantastic & it did result in us getting home a little later than planned...! Amen for bus time to catch up on those extra z's....!

I think I've got a few places to re-visit with Ric upon our New York venture. When we hit San Fran & Los Angeles we'll just wing it, which will be fine & also fun! Hopefully the Argentines will meet up with us when we hit Buenos Aires & show us around. It'll be good to take Ric to some of the cool places I've enjoyed in my time in New York & to also go & play proper tourist & do the statue etc.

I've also bought far too much stuff since hitting the States. A PSP plus the required accessories, DVD's, CD's, clothes & a pair of shoes! Should have left a whole hell of alot of clothes behind!

Norfolk is weird! Has a strange vibe to it! The venue we're playing in has only been open since November! We're the first company to use their new marley floor. They seem pretty switched on but you never can tell! It will be interesting doing a One Night Stand version of Tango again. Pretty sure the brains ready for it...! It's actually decent scheduling as we don't fly to Boston until Thurs eve so we've got the day free to go & explore Norfolk a little. Will it provide us with a bounty....? Only time will tell.

HMAS Stomach Flu - Thar She Blows!

I write this from what could have been considered my Death Bed but only 24 or so hours ago! There is a vicious, vicious Stomach Flu literally ripping through New York @ the moment. It first came apparent @ The Joyce on Fri when both Dan & Toni had it, as well as 3 dancers had fallen to it overnight. By Sat a couple were back on their feet but Dan was still down but a few more, including Joyce staff had now been infected!!

Sun morn @ 0830, I woke up suddenly, did the whole "Oh oh" & just made it to the toilet in time. I can tell you - this bug is nasty. The best way to describe it without painting a picture, is that there's 2 stores having liquidation sales and "Everything must go!"

Getting through 2 x shows on Sun was a massive challenge & thank God I know the show. Basically sat, slumped on the console, cradling my head in my arms and would look up for visual ques & to call the spots but otherwise I just sat there and 'contained' myself until either Interval or the end of the show!

I have never seen any kind of virus hit like this before. It felt like a dodgy Hollywood movie where a disease is spreading - you know, the kind where they say "This is today" & show a chart of red dots over the land, "Day 2" - more red dots, "Day 3" - even more red dots & so on & so forth. This wasn't an episode where over the space of a couple of weeks a few people have sort of the same cold etc. By Monday, more than 3/4's of the Company had had it, 4 of our Joyce crew, about 1/3 of their FOH Staff, all their Bar Staff & one of their cleaners. It hasn't been just us - it's New York wide. You start off feeling weirdly hungry, eat something & then feel kind of off & then, anywhere between 4 - 8hrs later, you explode!!

Anyway, that's all I'll write for now. Just managed to make it out for New Years but it was a very, very quiet event. Yes this has been a bleak & not neccessarily pleasant entry but this Blog is about whatI've been up to & I've been getting rid of a lot lately!!

Happy 2008!