EaST BeRLiN....2
Well, it's been more than a week so far and basically it's been hanging w my brother and his new son Liam a lot...
Taking photos of where we've been Alot of WW2 monuments, NAZi / DDR history sites, and occasionally venturing out to a funky bar or two... The one day we had out without the nephew was unfortunately Monday... which is when everything is slow and things like Museums and stuff are closed and the Olympic Stadium was closed to tourists as the AC/DC Concert was being set up. So I've had to delay or nix 2 different things...
Everyday... my brother's basically a house husband til the end of the summer... Liam ( as he's a 1 year old ) takes up alot of his time. So, wandering around Berlin is taking a toll.
As Andrew's an office guy not a rock and roll truss hucker like me I don't think he's used to manual labour like lifting all day. In fact, lifting Liam and pushing, lifting around his TANK of a Kinder-wagon ( and wandering Berlin's streets with cobblestones, while wearing Berlin's men's shoes of choice sandals ????) ) is killing my brother's back. So, I've offered to buy him and Liam a new (lighter) stroller.. but it has to pass Sabina's checklist...So that's another day.
We went out to Gera/ Weimar ( about 300 KM's away from Berlin in the south ) to meet Sabina's parents and clan ( I didn't really realize that this was happening till I got here, that this was going to be an " over the weekend " thing..) Which killed going out to clubs last weekend. While we were there her Father got ill and had to go to the hospital, which kind of made things a bit tense and also took away the other other person I'd met so far, who seemed to want to converse in english and help translate what the other german clan members were saying to me. While we were out there I was able to go out with both Andrew and Sabina in Gera... See a pretty little little german town... ( which reminded me of The Movie, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" ) go to a DDR Kifer - Bar. And visit Buchenwald Concentration camp.
( I can't say that the Buchenwald KZ trip was "Fun" but it was very revealing and so interesting. I'm a huge fan of history and I've always wanted to understand what happened in the NASDAP period to those who the Nazi's decided were undesirables. Even though I've seen so many depictions of the holocaust.
See if I could stomach the remains of real horror... It's one thing to read in books or on websites and watch B&W footage of the camps as they were found. But, after being there... that's a very, very removed experience.
Being there... it's beyond words....The actual site of the mass murders and seeing the exhibits with the factual information right there. I don't believe in ghosts but the grounds of the camp have this terrible feeling even though most of the barracks are just rubble. The Crematorium was just a total brain-fuck. But, thankfully I made it through all the memorials and sites with all the information and bald proof of mass murder to make it to the permanent collection of artifacts.
Stuff that that shows every side.. the inmates, the guards, the towns folk, and the murderers. And see that they're all human beings. People that died here, guarded here, tried to ignore here for fear of the same suffered fate...
And the Murderers... the biggest question... the thing that made me make it to the exhibition hall.
How could humans be so evil...?? so programmed to see other humans as Sub humans? kill repeatedly like a machine. Enjoy it... Even laugh, and make love after. The real insane horror that people make light of... or metal, goth, and industrial bands reference as inspiration or react to - good or bad.
And really... it's too easy... everyone wants a boogy-man someone to blame for things... And with that knowledge in the hands of functioning Psychopaths as local and national leaders... the insane becomes the norm. )
Thankfully, back in Berlin.... the area in which Andrew lives is full of funky art bars which are super cheap, Beer wise. BECK'S which is 6 bucks CND in Vancouver is about 3 dollars here in bars and 2 bucks in the stores... ( and you can drink ANYWHERE... ) so having a few beers is super easy.
The area is stuffed with hot Hippie Cyber chicks... The kind of Smart /Geeky/ Sexy type I tend to like...So I'm constantly checking girls out around here. Most are W/ BF and Child ( Berlin is very cheap and housing is subsidized if you have children ) and they speak only german...the ones I've tried to talk to.
So, I'm hoping tonight to go down to Potsdamer Platz where everyone goes to watch the Germany Fifa cup games and see if a few beers ( God Beck's my Favourite beer is so cheap here....In Vancouver it's always the most expensive beer in the bar...) And see if Drunk, happy, sporty, german girls are more liberal with their english....
Well, it's been more than a week so far and basically it's been hanging w my brother and his new son Liam a lot...
Taking photos of where we've been Alot of WW2 monuments, NAZi / DDR history sites, and occasionally venturing out to a funky bar or two... The one day we had out without the nephew was unfortunately Monday... which is when everything is slow and things like Museums and stuff are closed and the Olympic Stadium was closed to tourists as the AC/DC Concert was being set up. So I've had to delay or nix 2 different things...
Everyday... my brother's basically a house husband til the end of the summer... Liam ( as he's a 1 year old ) takes up alot of his time. So, wandering around Berlin is taking a toll.
As Andrew's an office guy not a rock and roll truss hucker like me I don't think he's used to manual labour like lifting all day. In fact, lifting Liam and pushing, lifting around his TANK of a Kinder-wagon ( and wandering Berlin's streets with cobblestones, while wearing Berlin's men's shoes of choice sandals ????) ) is killing my brother's back. So, I've offered to buy him and Liam a new (lighter) stroller.. but it has to pass Sabina's checklist...So that's another day.
We went out to Gera/ Weimar ( about 300 KM's away from Berlin in the south ) to meet Sabina's parents and clan ( I didn't really realize that this was happening till I got here, that this was going to be an " over the weekend " thing..) Which killed going out to clubs last weekend. While we were there her Father got ill and had to go to the hospital, which kind of made things a bit tense and also took away the other other person I'd met so far, who seemed to want to converse in english and help translate what the other german clan members were saying to me. While we were out there I was able to go out with both Andrew and Sabina in Gera... See a pretty little little german town... ( which reminded me of The Movie, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" ) go to a DDR Kifer - Bar. And visit Buchenwald Concentration camp.
( I can't say that the Buchenwald KZ trip was "Fun" but it was very revealing and so interesting. I'm a huge fan of history and I've always wanted to understand what happened in the NASDAP period to those who the Nazi's decided were undesirables. Even though I've seen so many depictions of the holocaust.
See if I could stomach the remains of real horror... It's one thing to read in books or on websites and watch B&W footage of the camps as they were found. But, after being there... that's a very, very removed experience.
Being there... it's beyond words....The actual site of the mass murders and seeing the exhibits with the factual information right there. I don't believe in ghosts but the grounds of the camp have this terrible feeling even though most of the barracks are just rubble. The Crematorium was just a total brain-fuck. But, thankfully I made it through all the memorials and sites with all the information and bald proof of mass murder to make it to the permanent collection of artifacts.
Stuff that that shows every side.. the inmates, the guards, the towns folk, and the murderers. And see that they're all human beings. People that died here, guarded here, tried to ignore here for fear of the same suffered fate...
And the Murderers... the biggest question... the thing that made me make it to the exhibition hall.
How could humans be so evil...?? so programmed to see other humans as Sub humans? kill repeatedly like a machine. Enjoy it... Even laugh, and make love after. The real insane horror that people make light of... or metal, goth, and industrial bands reference as inspiration or react to - good or bad.
And really... it's too easy... everyone wants a boogy-man someone to blame for things... And with that knowledge in the hands of functioning Psychopaths as local and national leaders... the insane becomes the norm. )
Thankfully, back in Berlin.... the area in which Andrew lives is full of funky art bars which are super cheap, Beer wise. BECK'S which is 6 bucks CND in Vancouver is about 3 dollars here in bars and 2 bucks in the stores... ( and you can drink ANYWHERE... ) so having a few beers is super easy.
The area is stuffed with hot Hippie Cyber chicks... The kind of Smart /Geeky/ Sexy type I tend to like...So I'm constantly checking girls out around here. Most are W/ BF and Child ( Berlin is very cheap and housing is subsidized if you have children ) and they speak only german...the ones I've tried to talk to.
So, I'm hoping tonight to go down to Potsdamer Platz where everyone goes to watch the Germany Fifa cup games and see if a few beers ( God Beck's my Favourite beer is so cheap here....In Vancouver it's always the most expensive beer in the bar...) And see if Drunk, happy, sporty, german girls are more liberal with their english....
EaST BeRLiN
The KLM flight was absolutely wonderful....I was worried about the MD 11 as it's one of the oldest Air craft out there still flying persons. But, the minute I was through security and staring out at, our royal Dutch blue MD 11 " Anna Pavlova " ( Named after the famous russian Ballet dancer ) on the VYR tarmac any fear just went away....
Seeing as I had hardly slept the night before and was up early to get baggage, I was hoping that I 'd nap at the terminal once I had expelled my anxiety. But, no rest came till I reached my Brother's place in EaST BeRLiN. On the flight over I was right near the back where the plane curves to the tail. The plus, was it gave me an extra window to look out at the world. But, put me under the third engine and I could hear her cycle occasionally as the pilots used her to climb and accelerate.
Once in Amsterdam, still with little of no shut eye came the run from one terminal to the next. The last time I'd been through the place it was pre 911 and the extra added security check took up a huge amount of time , which I really didn't have ( i was hoping for a seat and rest before moving on. ) That plus the board gate change it was a bit crazy....The walkways looked too familiar, those long hallways, encased by long, tall windows either side through which I could see the rows of loading and unloading planes. The long, flat people mover escalators were intermittent, but it wasn't until i got onto one that worked and looked around that I realized that this was the terminal walkways that Feist filmed, " My Moon My Man "
The flight to Berlin Tegal was very much the commuter flight with almost no one on board... but, at 55 minutes to berlin flying time no rest still. After collecting my baggage and then meeting up with Andrew and his new Family ( I'm still weirder out by him being a Dad - He's really taking to it which is the oddest aspect. Even though I've known of Liam for a year. looking over at him feeding, changing, and pushing a baby stroller around Berlin is very odd...)
Any fear of weirdness in meeting Sabine was a nonstarter. My brother was always a ladies man ( and his son is the chip of the old block... He totally worked magic on a a couple of ladies from the U.S. who were checking to the sites around Alexandersplatz... a Real ham for the girls. He was getting tired and cranky and then these two spotted him and he was all smiles and faking the shy act...) So, I'm used to my brother having GF and a wife and running into him all my life in the company of women.
The rest of my time, on my first day has been wandering W/ Andrew and Liam taking photos with a new camera and playing tourist so far....EaST BeRLiN is very odd... Bits of the wall still puncture the city but they're a walking art gallery now. Checkpoint Charlie is now just a tourist trap.. A recreation of the old hut, staffed by Italian actors who model as American border guards and pose for pictures. And your in no danger of being shot just making a bad deal on russian and east german communist army surplus that the turkish tourist stalls sell, or being run over by sleek Euromobiles....This is a VW paradise.. the only rare ones are the new and old Punch-buggies... very few Porsches.. which is sad.
In the rest of EaST BeRLiN is far more genuine..a strange, lively mishmash...old german buildings, crushed up against brand new shops and condos. And the rare bombed out, or abandoned shells. Some which are being removed and fixed up, next to Anarchist Squats, Left wing Squats and Right wing tenements or Turkish immigrant flats. Around the corner from Hostels full of loud Auzzies and Kiwi's, and funky artsy bars where hipsters watch the world cup playoffs.
The streets that used to be for so long filled W/ Tanks, soldiers and security checkpoints and all that cold war coolest stuff I imagined are now filled with Transit vans, hipsters riding dangerous looking single speeders w/ no helmets. the walkways and all over the place it's alive with children, pregnant women or women w/ baby strollers. Very few Men push strollers and I've noticed people sometimes give my brother w/ his sleeve tattoos the oddest... almost scowling looks as he pushes Liam around the city.... I guess they're thinking " who's this Biker underworld type stealing this baby...???"
Soon I'll get cheap cel phone and venture out on my own for a bit after I get my baring...
The KLM flight was absolutely wonderful....I was worried about the MD 11 as it's one of the oldest Air craft out there still flying persons. But, the minute I was through security and staring out at, our royal Dutch blue MD 11 " Anna Pavlova " ( Named after the famous russian Ballet dancer ) on the VYR tarmac any fear just went away....
Seeing as I had hardly slept the night before and was up early to get baggage, I was hoping that I 'd nap at the terminal once I had expelled my anxiety. But, no rest came till I reached my Brother's place in EaST BeRLiN. On the flight over I was right near the back where the plane curves to the tail. The plus, was it gave me an extra window to look out at the world. But, put me under the third engine and I could hear her cycle occasionally as the pilots used her to climb and accelerate.
Once in Amsterdam, still with little of no shut eye came the run from one terminal to the next. The last time I'd been through the place it was pre 911 and the extra added security check took up a huge amount of time , which I really didn't have ( i was hoping for a seat and rest before moving on. ) That plus the board gate change it was a bit crazy....The walkways looked too familiar, those long hallways, encased by long, tall windows either side through which I could see the rows of loading and unloading planes. The long, flat people mover escalators were intermittent, but it wasn't until i got onto one that worked and looked around that I realized that this was the terminal walkways that Feist filmed, " My Moon My Man "
The flight to Berlin Tegal was very much the commuter flight with almost no one on board... but, at 55 minutes to berlin flying time no rest still. After collecting my baggage and then meeting up with Andrew and his new Family ( I'm still weirder out by him being a Dad - He's really taking to it which is the oddest aspect. Even though I've known of Liam for a year. looking over at him feeding, changing, and pushing a baby stroller around Berlin is very odd...)
Any fear of weirdness in meeting Sabine was a nonstarter. My brother was always a ladies man ( and his son is the chip of the old block... He totally worked magic on a a couple of ladies from the U.S. who were checking to the sites around Alexandersplatz... a Real ham for the girls. He was getting tired and cranky and then these two spotted him and he was all smiles and faking the shy act...) So, I'm used to my brother having GF and a wife and running into him all my life in the company of women.
The rest of my time, on my first day has been wandering W/ Andrew and Liam taking photos with a new camera and playing tourist so far....EaST BeRLiN is very odd... Bits of the wall still puncture the city but they're a walking art gallery now. Checkpoint Charlie is now just a tourist trap.. A recreation of the old hut, staffed by Italian actors who model as American border guards and pose for pictures. And your in no danger of being shot just making a bad deal on russian and east german communist army surplus that the turkish tourist stalls sell, or being run over by sleek Euromobiles....This is a VW paradise.. the only rare ones are the new and old Punch-buggies... very few Porsches.. which is sad.
In the rest of EaST BeRLiN is far more genuine..a strange, lively mishmash...old german buildings, crushed up against brand new shops and condos. And the rare bombed out, or abandoned shells. Some which are being removed and fixed up, next to Anarchist Squats, Left wing Squats and Right wing tenements or Turkish immigrant flats. Around the corner from Hostels full of loud Auzzies and Kiwi's, and funky artsy bars where hipsters watch the world cup playoffs.
The streets that used to be for so long filled W/ Tanks, soldiers and security checkpoints and all that cold war coolest stuff I imagined are now filled with Transit vans, hipsters riding dangerous looking single speeders w/ no helmets. the walkways and all over the place it's alive with children, pregnant women or women w/ baby strollers. Very few Men push strollers and I've noticed people sometimes give my brother w/ his sleeve tattoos the oddest... almost scowling looks as he pushes Liam around the city.... I guess they're thinking " who's this Biker underworld type stealing this baby...???"
Soon I'll get cheap cel phone and venture out on my own for a bit after I get my baring...
June-uary....
Over the course of the end of the month I bounced from STING to The Eagles, who returned to do the make up concert that was canceled earlier this month ( which netted me TWO Eagles paychecks - a minimum 4 for the canceled one - " getting paid to Sleep in...Yaaayyy" and then I was HE ( Crew Chief / houselights ) for the second show...
It was a huge road crew who were in really great spirits as this was a last stop, " we get to go home tomorrow " show. Our local crew was huge as well, and really new as the old cats were busy on the Opera. So, I was kind of the perfect crew-chief of the moment as I knew most of the newbies from all the BC place events ( U2, Madonna ) and The Olympic calls. And those crews at times were twice the size. So, I did a pretty good job, even a couple of the riggers noticed and said how well it went. That we were often in lighting keeping pace or even waiting on them, which usually isn't the case.
And now it's June....
The first part of june in Vancouver is always wet and cold. Oddly they always seem to start putting on outdoor shows in Stanley park right at the this time. They're the odder Alt. ones: LSD, Soundsystem, Xavier Rudd, Massive Attack. I guess the promoters get the grounds for really cheap., so they can make a bet that one or two of them will be huge like deadmaus and Samantha Ronson ended up being , during the Olympics.
Setting up shows in a rainforest means bugs, bogs, and mud are the pests, not electrical tape and gaffer tape shrapnel on your boots. And as far as I'm concerned that kind of stuff should only be encountered, while camping or mountain-biking. And as I hate camping I avoided the Malcolm Bowl shows till there was no work elsewhere.
I 've been sleeping weird hours when I haven't been working [ and I work odd hours...]
Oddly I've been tired like crazy every evening around 7pm till 11pm and then I wake up and watch old Doctor Who episodes or surf the web till morning... It's playing havoc with everything. Then again I never know when I work right now... and I should just let my body do as it pleases when it comes to sleep. I think, that I'm too used to working at the times zone for the last 6 years on ACT show runs. And now that I'm not on one, so my body goes... " there's no stress... I'm going to just shut down." ( or I'm PTSD - Post Touring /Show Disorder - As I'm having odd dreams too... Some have been maddening, " Stuck in the bowels of a show or theatre company I don't like " kind of dreams - As apposed to all the falling dreams I used to get when I actually worked shows that were very stressful/ full of unsafe issues. )
There was a whole NEW stress show the other day...
I got a last minute call to be the Head carpenter at a Grad show....At the Orpheum. It's a very senior gig. If it's not worked by the FT city guys it tends to be worked by the elder stagehands ( seriously 55 + for the most part City Casual Roster - our first roster ) It was odd jumping into a venue that I'm used to being a grip in and suddenly being the boss of guys who were first members of the local when I was maybe 5 years old. The guys I watched in 1983, strike David Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour, and they're really my inspriation to work as I do now. On top of that was the stress that I didn't know where everything was ( I knew some stuff )
But, It was just really ODD being the titular crew boss of people who usually tell me what to do. So I just decided to be the best stagemanager of the day, that I could be in the situation.
I forget how easy it is to be a good SM....
Massage the talent and then rely on the crew to do all the cues...I kind of have bad feelings about the last group of SM's I've been working with regularly in the last few years... That's why I really want to work on Lion king if it gets to me. I miss the really professional SM's that the American tours have. The local ones here are inconsistent. ( which to me just reeks of amateurism ) there's the fantastic Opera SM's ( that crew is just so solid ) everywhere else its hit and miss. Some really good young ones... either that or I'm too busy noticing how cute they are... and then there's some really bad older ones ( like Nurses with bad bedside manners - that just annoy me right now... ) So, I tried to channel the best of the ones I know, and everything went off with nearly perfection...
And I made myself wonder if I should have been one instead. But, that would mean not being IA and having seniority... and I don't want that...Which I guess is why so many of the older Stage-managers are like that... Like bitter angry Nurses. The older ones... who started before Arts Admin courses became the rage in liberal colleges. They're often women who started as actresses or Box office / FOH staff, who got noticed and/or decided to just get into running shows, but having little or no training. ( I only know a handful of older male SM's - They tend to do really well and or, move into being T.D.'s. )
Really, Theatre's filled with all these vestiges of the old the sexist word, when I think about it. Me, because I'm an unabashed Unionist I notice the english manor class structure of theatre...I forget how that affects women... because I'm not one. The servants of old England weren't treated very well.… But the servant women got it the worst.
But, the old SM's... They still even after 20 some odd years have to impress, and never be see to fuck up to keep working. I guess because being an older SM and screwing up a cue isn't cute, or they don't feel they can cute their way out of taking the responsibility. And, they have to keep stroking all the egos of the production staff, and then never get mentioned in speeches to the public ( While watching other young Sm' s, who mostly went to college or university to become SM's get tours or promoted or catch the eye of, the Production managers on the really big shows. ) And as they have no tenure at all, they have to cling to the place they started at for the most part. - Where as union techs have master Seniority and can bounce around. - A fact I know has saved my sanity so many times. I wonder some times if they really don't like they're jobs any more.
Over the course of the end of the month I bounced from STING to The Eagles, who returned to do the make up concert that was canceled earlier this month ( which netted me TWO Eagles paychecks - a minimum 4 for the canceled one - " getting paid to Sleep in...Yaaayyy" and then I was HE ( Crew Chief / houselights ) for the second show...
It was a huge road crew who were in really great spirits as this was a last stop, " we get to go home tomorrow " show. Our local crew was huge as well, and really new as the old cats were busy on the Opera. So, I was kind of the perfect crew-chief of the moment as I knew most of the newbies from all the BC place events ( U2, Madonna ) and The Olympic calls. And those crews at times were twice the size. So, I did a pretty good job, even a couple of the riggers noticed and said how well it went. That we were often in lighting keeping pace or even waiting on them, which usually isn't the case.
And now it's June....
The first part of june in Vancouver is always wet and cold. Oddly they always seem to start putting on outdoor shows in Stanley park right at the this time. They're the odder Alt. ones: LSD, Soundsystem, Xavier Rudd, Massive Attack. I guess the promoters get the grounds for really cheap., so they can make a bet that one or two of them will be huge like deadmaus and Samantha Ronson ended up being , during the Olympics.
Setting up shows in a rainforest means bugs, bogs, and mud are the pests, not electrical tape and gaffer tape shrapnel on your boots. And as far as I'm concerned that kind of stuff should only be encountered, while camping or mountain-biking. And as I hate camping I avoided the Malcolm Bowl shows till there was no work elsewhere.
I 've been sleeping weird hours when I haven't been working [ and I work odd hours...]
Oddly I've been tired like crazy every evening around 7pm till 11pm and then I wake up and watch old Doctor Who episodes or surf the web till morning... It's playing havoc with everything. Then again I never know when I work right now... and I should just let my body do as it pleases when it comes to sleep. I think, that I'm too used to working at the times zone for the last 6 years on ACT show runs. And now that I'm not on one, so my body goes... " there's no stress... I'm going to just shut down." ( or I'm PTSD - Post Touring /Show Disorder - As I'm having odd dreams too... Some have been maddening, " Stuck in the bowels of a show or theatre company I don't like " kind of dreams - As apposed to all the falling dreams I used to get when I actually worked shows that were very stressful/ full of unsafe issues. )
There was a whole NEW stress show the other day...
I got a last minute call to be the Head carpenter at a Grad show....At the Orpheum. It's a very senior gig. If it's not worked by the FT city guys it tends to be worked by the elder stagehands ( seriously 55 + for the most part City Casual Roster - our first roster ) It was odd jumping into a venue that I'm used to being a grip in and suddenly being the boss of guys who were first members of the local when I was maybe 5 years old. The guys I watched in 1983, strike David Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour, and they're really my inspriation to work as I do now. On top of that was the stress that I didn't know where everything was ( I knew some stuff )
But, It was just really ODD being the titular crew boss of people who usually tell me what to do. So I just decided to be the best stagemanager of the day, that I could be in the situation.
I forget how easy it is to be a good SM....
Massage the talent and then rely on the crew to do all the cues...I kind of have bad feelings about the last group of SM's I've been working with regularly in the last few years... That's why I really want to work on Lion king if it gets to me. I miss the really professional SM's that the American tours have. The local ones here are inconsistent. ( which to me just reeks of amateurism ) there's the fantastic Opera SM's ( that crew is just so solid ) everywhere else its hit and miss. Some really good young ones... either that or I'm too busy noticing how cute they are... and then there's some really bad older ones ( like Nurses with bad bedside manners - that just annoy me right now... ) So, I tried to channel the best of the ones I know, and everything went off with nearly perfection...
And I made myself wonder if I should have been one instead. But, that would mean not being IA and having seniority... and I don't want that...Which I guess is why so many of the older Stage-managers are like that... Like bitter angry Nurses. The older ones... who started before Arts Admin courses became the rage in liberal colleges. They're often women who started as actresses or Box office / FOH staff, who got noticed and/or decided to just get into running shows, but having little or no training. ( I only know a handful of older male SM's - They tend to do really well and or, move into being T.D.'s. )
Really, Theatre's filled with all these vestiges of the old the sexist word, when I think about it. Me, because I'm an unabashed Unionist I notice the english manor class structure of theatre...I forget how that affects women... because I'm not one. The servants of old England weren't treated very well.… But the servant women got it the worst.
But, the old SM's... They still even after 20 some odd years have to impress, and never be see to fuck up to keep working. I guess because being an older SM and screwing up a cue isn't cute, or they don't feel they can cute their way out of taking the responsibility. And, they have to keep stroking all the egos of the production staff, and then never get mentioned in speeches to the public ( While watching other young Sm' s, who mostly went to college or university to become SM's get tours or promoted or catch the eye of, the Production managers on the really big shows. ) And as they have no tenure at all, they have to cling to the place they started at for the most part. - Where as union techs have master Seniority and can bounce around. - A fact I know has saved my sanity so many times. I wonder some times if they really don't like they're jobs any more.
STING - Rehersals
It's fun ( at times ) to set up a whole brand new show... See the first version of what the rest of the tour is going to look like... And all the extra hours spent just waiting to work while the Road Crew figure out how its' all ( they Think ...) going to work, is great for the pocket book - especially now that I'm going to Berlin this next month for two weeks and I'll really need the money. The Sting Crew were really nice about all the stopping a starting and changes. They would just tell us to take an extended coffee break in the Caf ( where there's lots of food ) while they sort it all out. I fact I don't remember ever eating so much really great catered food, over three days since I stopped working on film sets. In fact I think my body finally reacted after eating shit food, a Ghetto Dog out here on the street the other night an finally threw it all back up. ( either that or it was all the cheap beer from the Shop Party. ) I ended up bouncing around from Lighting to video to backline and then back to sound... which always seems to be the most fustrating labour intensive of all the departments on tour.
But after building, Re-building or adding to the uptenth cable loom, after the very young road sound crew keeps, adding cables or changing stage routing. ( When really they should just, make us go for coffee and sit down and map out the routing on paper. Check it with the stage setup, and then give us the bundles to build with a bit of cable length lee way while they work on Orchestra positioning with the head sound engineer ( Because you know the orchestra positions always will change a bit, but Sting's Band will be very consistant, by and large )
Or as the Vets do it.... and was suggested by one of the Stagemanagers, lay out everything as single cables and wait til the sound check, so they know every cable works. And after the band has reh. the first day, then loom everything during the breaks.
Sound guys are a bit up their own heads about how everything should be done, and it gets a bit boring. And each has his own "Perfect" idea, So I was glad to move back to Lighting and Video when a bunch of Video wall changes on the main rig, meant that the schedule to marry the stage and the lighting rig was delayed. They cut back to heads only as they decided that they could push the stage under the lighting / video rig with Forklifts. Sadly it means I'm cut from the Reh. show as the call goes back to the hall for that, but I've seen Sting before ( without an Orchestra ) so I can deal. And all the motor changes with out a full crew was killing my shoulder.
I can't imagine how they're going to tour this monster....Accross Canada it looks like they're going into much smaller places then the coliseum where we set up the reh. They're first show at The Centre is like going to be stuffing 10 pounds of Shit into a 5 pound bag. Good luck....
It's fun ( at times ) to set up a whole brand new show... See the first version of what the rest of the tour is going to look like... And all the extra hours spent just waiting to work while the Road Crew figure out how its' all ( they Think ...) going to work, is great for the pocket book - especially now that I'm going to Berlin this next month for two weeks and I'll really need the money. The Sting Crew were really nice about all the stopping a starting and changes. They would just tell us to take an extended coffee break in the Caf ( where there's lots of food ) while they sort it all out. I fact I don't remember ever eating so much really great catered food, over three days since I stopped working on film sets. In fact I think my body finally reacted after eating shit food, a Ghetto Dog out here on the street the other night an finally threw it all back up. ( either that or it was all the cheap beer from the Shop Party. ) I ended up bouncing around from Lighting to video to backline and then back to sound... which always seems to be the most fustrating labour intensive of all the departments on tour.
But after building, Re-building or adding to the uptenth cable loom, after the very young road sound crew keeps, adding cables or changing stage routing. ( When really they should just, make us go for coffee and sit down and map out the routing on paper. Check it with the stage setup, and then give us the bundles to build with a bit of cable length lee way while they work on Orchestra positioning with the head sound engineer ( Because you know the orchestra positions always will change a bit, but Sting's Band will be very consistant, by and large )
Or as the Vets do it.... and was suggested by one of the Stagemanagers, lay out everything as single cables and wait til the sound check, so they know every cable works. And after the band has reh. the first day, then loom everything during the breaks.
Sound guys are a bit up their own heads about how everything should be done, and it gets a bit boring. And each has his own "Perfect" idea, So I was glad to move back to Lighting and Video when a bunch of Video wall changes on the main rig, meant that the schedule to marry the stage and the lighting rig was delayed. They cut back to heads only as they decided that they could push the stage under the lighting / video rig with Forklifts. Sadly it means I'm cut from the Reh. show as the call goes back to the hall for that, but I've seen Sting before ( without an Orchestra ) so I can deal. And all the motor changes with out a full crew was killing my shoulder.
I can't imagine how they're going to tour this monster....Accross Canada it looks like they're going into much smaller places then the coliseum where we set up the reh. They're first show at The Centre is like going to be stuffing 10 pounds of Shit into a 5 pound bag. Good luck....
Can Some Please Explain Fake Tits..?!
I look at SG's very seldomly....I write... I join groups... most of them really geeky groups. I comment on peoples entries... Years ago I joined this for the hot Tattooed babes but I seldom connect with any of them ... and if I do it tends to be fleeting.
In my actual life I know only a handful of women who have Tattoos ( that I know of ) and I've only slept with 3 women who have them...Tattoos look hot on girls... ( anything looks hot on girls — in my mind )
Except 2 things...
Shaved Eyebrows and Fake Boobs...So I saw this new SG pictorial here.… A new girl to my eyes... A smokey brunette with dreads, tattoos.... Lovely, Joan Crawford style arching eyebrows , and vintage under wear, fetish -display and I clicked on it... Only to see... what I think are very obvious fake boobs... and I wanted to, once again.... Ask...why?
I even contemplated asking in the comment section ( where everyone is so nice and supportive, on average - they even have a metre showing how many approve ) Why... ? you're such a pretty girl.... why...?
Why let some overpaid doctor slice your mamories open and insert silicone or saline bags that don't fit your body one iota... I'll bet her breasts were lovely before but someone or something made her think one day... " I need surgery " - I hate that person because he or she or it ( that moment ) manipulated some lovely girl into thinking she wasn't perfect....THERE.
Don't get me wrong....I try to see them as just extreme body modification... but I can't... they don't have the tribal history or Tattoos or Piercings to give them any validation other that modern vanity...And I wonder about the medical after-affects... Especially if the surgeon re-locates her nipples EEEWWWW!!!! Does a woman who has implants ( is she lessening her personal sexual pleasure? — sure, she's attracting more valuable mates... Dudes on average like big boobs and they''ll tip more focus on, and play up for boobs but is she connecting with them? Is she receiving — and giving, full honest pleasure??? )
And as she ages... but her breast don't ( or do in some weird way... Burst... infect... shift oddly ) how more uncanny is she going to look... and feel? Sure they kind of past muster now... but every woman I've know who gets them ( I know and work with alot of actresses — hasn't liked them when the body ages and the boobs to weird things.... )
I look at SG's very seldomly....I write... I join groups... most of them really geeky groups. I comment on peoples entries... Years ago I joined this for the hot Tattooed babes but I seldom connect with any of them ... and if I do it tends to be fleeting.
In my actual life I know only a handful of women who have Tattoos ( that I know of ) and I've only slept with 3 women who have them...Tattoos look hot on girls... ( anything looks hot on girls — in my mind )
Except 2 things...
Shaved Eyebrows and Fake Boobs...So I saw this new SG pictorial here.… A new girl to my eyes... A smokey brunette with dreads, tattoos.... Lovely, Joan Crawford style arching eyebrows , and vintage under wear, fetish -display and I clicked on it... Only to see... what I think are very obvious fake boobs... and I wanted to, once again.... Ask...why?
I even contemplated asking in the comment section ( where everyone is so nice and supportive, on average - they even have a metre showing how many approve ) Why... ? you're such a pretty girl.... why...?
Why let some overpaid doctor slice your mamories open and insert silicone or saline bags that don't fit your body one iota... I'll bet her breasts were lovely before but someone or something made her think one day... " I need surgery " - I hate that person because he or she or it ( that moment ) manipulated some lovely girl into thinking she wasn't perfect....THERE.
Don't get me wrong....I try to see them as just extreme body modification... but I can't... they don't have the tribal history or Tattoos or Piercings to give them any validation other that modern vanity...And I wonder about the medical after-affects... Especially if the surgeon re-locates her nipples EEEWWWW!!!! Does a woman who has implants ( is she lessening her personal sexual pleasure? — sure, she's attracting more valuable mates... Dudes on average like big boobs and they''ll tip more focus on, and play up for boobs but is she connecting with them? Is she receiving — and giving, full honest pleasure??? )
And as she ages... but her breast don't ( or do in some weird way... Burst... infect... shift oddly ) how more uncanny is she going to look... and feel? Sure they kind of past muster now... but every woman I've know who gets them ( I know and work with alot of actresses — hasn't liked them when the body ages and the boobs to weird things.... )
Rob Zombie...
Odd that two rock shows in a row were for bands I like... Sadly, this time I didn't make show crew but I did get to see Alice Cooper for the first time ever. And I got to see Rob Zombie sing "Werewolf Women of the SS" Live... and... I do have a story..
Is there someone in your work that just Bugs you?.. A person...or maybe a few different people... Bascially, people that can't get it together.
A guy who's just lazy and lets you down, holding the heavy bag... another tells good hard working new people how to do stuff when they're always the exact one who doesn't follow his own rules? Someone who talks too big when they're just a flunkey, a grip... a nobody.... right there beside you when your being A grip... a nobody... just trying to "Get Er Done " Or that person who looks to get something more than he deserves. ( in the most blunt way... like just taking a gig that's not his or even just TAKING stuff that's not his... seriously - I'm talking about stealing - outright thievery )
Now imagine those people as one person??? Really these people do exist... they continue to breathe the same air as you and me. I'm shocked sometimes... I keep thinking they'll get it...BUT THEY NEVER SEE THEMSELVES...
And how much they would bother you? When you do your best every day to be professional, especially for a well know act and people you admire crew and performers.You get a good nights sleep before work. Show up on time with your tools... paratrooper boots and all. And when your paid ( Very well I might add ) to work even though there's nothing yet to do... just to be on standby and ready.. and they're loundging on a road case... Right at the very end of the first act, when we're supposed to be ready.
And a very well known ( famous ) person tells them off their ass and to get to work. And they laugh about it... as they just embarassed you, and everyone one else on the crew.
Waht to do about these people... When I know really fantastic guys and girls who would give anything to to just be there.... THATS WHAT PISSES ME OFF....
Odd that two rock shows in a row were for bands I like... Sadly, this time I didn't make show crew but I did get to see Alice Cooper for the first time ever. And I got to see Rob Zombie sing "Werewolf Women of the SS" Live... and... I do have a story..
Is there someone in your work that just Bugs you?.. A person...or maybe a few different people... Bascially, people that can't get it together.
A guy who's just lazy and lets you down, holding the heavy bag... another tells good hard working new people how to do stuff when they're always the exact one who doesn't follow his own rules? Someone who talks too big when they're just a flunkey, a grip... a nobody.... right there beside you when your being A grip... a nobody... just trying to "Get Er Done " Or that person who looks to get something more than he deserves. ( in the most blunt way... like just taking a gig that's not his or even just TAKING stuff that's not his... seriously - I'm talking about stealing - outright thievery )
Now imagine those people as one person??? Really these people do exist... they continue to breathe the same air as you and me. I'm shocked sometimes... I keep thinking they'll get it...BUT THEY NEVER SEE THEMSELVES...
And how much they would bother you? When you do your best every day to be professional, especially for a well know act and people you admire crew and performers.You get a good nights sleep before work. Show up on time with your tools... paratrooper boots and all. And when your paid ( Very well I might add ) to work even though there's nothing yet to do... just to be on standby and ready.. and they're loundging on a road case... Right at the very end of the first act, when we're supposed to be ready.
And a very well known ( famous ) person tells them off their ass and to get to work. And they laugh about it... as they just embarassed you, and everyone one else on the crew.
Waht to do about these people... When I know really fantastic guys and girls who would give anything to to just be there.... THATS WHAT PISSES ME OFF....
Spring....
It's really lovely and warm here in Vancouver... I can smell summer around the corner. So, when I was cut from the Opera install this weekend as we were way ahead of schedule... ( I could have stayed... but it was so nice and I had dispatch stuff to do... and a car to fix... and a trip in June to Berlin to plan. - I hope this Iceland Volcano thing goes away...) The head guys in the theatre were trying to convince me to take the TUTS run this summer but I really want to do two things... Setup and hopefully work on Lion King ( even though it looks like every old cat is coming back for that gig as well. ) and get some flim work if there's any for the summer. and maybe work the PNE .
I'm tired of cheap regional Musical Theatre... I've been doing that regularly every season since 2004, when the Vogue got Decerted and I had to make plan B into plan A. and with the last few interesting jumps away (Spamalot Madonna, AC/DC, U2, and the Olympics this last winter ) I've realized I just don't have the desire to push that Regional button any more. I just don't want to work with the " Judy Garland " Hey let's put on a show... My uncle has a barn..!!! " type stuff. I want as many if not all the gigs to be big and stupid ( with lots of expensive gear and craft service or a Rider) Get paid well for what i do that I can actually book off for interesting things that are non- theatre and, when I'm at work to be surrounded by professionals that actually want to operate as such.
And I'd like to date... not Internet date but chat some woman up and find that courage date...
It's really lovely and warm here in Vancouver... I can smell summer around the corner. So, when I was cut from the Opera install this weekend as we were way ahead of schedule... ( I could have stayed... but it was so nice and I had dispatch stuff to do... and a car to fix... and a trip in June to Berlin to plan. - I hope this Iceland Volcano thing goes away...) The head guys in the theatre were trying to convince me to take the TUTS run this summer but I really want to do two things... Setup and hopefully work on Lion King ( even though it looks like every old cat is coming back for that gig as well. ) and get some flim work if there's any for the summer. and maybe work the PNE .
I'm tired of cheap regional Musical Theatre... I've been doing that regularly every season since 2004, when the Vogue got Decerted and I had to make plan B into plan A. and with the last few interesting jumps away (Spamalot Madonna, AC/DC, U2, and the Olympics this last winter ) I've realized I just don't have the desire to push that Regional button any more. I just don't want to work with the " Judy Garland " Hey let's put on a show... My uncle has a barn..!!! " type stuff. I want as many if not all the gigs to be big and stupid ( with lots of expensive gear and craft service or a Rider) Get paid well for what i do that I can actually book off for interesting things that are non- theatre and, when I'm at work to be surrounded by professionals that actually want to operate as such.
And I'd like to date... not Internet date but chat some woman up and find that courage date...
TRUSS SPOT : MUSE
The month long, bad sarcastic joke that was the 2010 olympics is now over.. all the parking lots, and city parks have been turned back from Stages and event pavilions ( Drinking Tents ) into what they were. I was so busy working that month I met nobody but Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. While the city hosted the world... I worked.
i can feel every weekend since, people trying to get out on the streets, searching to... to recreate the experience of Canada winning the Gold in Hockey. It's not working. The nice off shoot is people talk to each other in the streets... which is kind of a vancouver taboo... this is the only thing ... ( other than the Olympic line to Richmond ) that I don't want to see end here.
MUSE came to The Coliseum. I got the truss spot gig.. Which is my favourite rock gig of all time. But, as it was after all the Olympic work had died down the senior guys who were also on truss spot detail took the Grand staging downstage positions... Which kind of sucked as I knew a large number of people ( Read : Women - Alt/ possibly single ) who were attending the concert. And it would have been nice to show them how cool my job is.... that thing I live for, in my quite moments. The idea / dream of showing the non Theatre people ( read : Alt/ Women - Possibly single ) I know how fucking awesome my job is... As if somehow they might get it, and by vertue of that... get me or even want to ask me about me... Women in my experience are very delinquent in that function.. I always end up being the one who interviews them and they ask nothing about me.... I have to often volunteer that info... and I've gotten regularly... quizical responses. Lik I'm some sort of Star's Plumber.
So, sadly I was the upstage truss spot guy way up in the truss hidden by upstage lighting, lazers and LED Video screens. Plus, my pickup was the drummer. The worst gig truss spot wise... Pretty much lock off on the guy and don't move around too much. If it wasn't for being 15 metres up over the concrete Stadium floor I would have fallen asleep. Especially since we were motered up to the spot chairs by truss motors. So there wasn't even the thrill of climbing wire truss ladders to keep me awake.
The show sounded good .... and what little I saw on the big cubical video screens looked cool... but who was I to know.... Music wise I'm still on the fence with them. They sounded much cooler and louder than they do on iTunes or when I've listened to friends CD's of them.
The month long, bad sarcastic joke that was the 2010 olympics is now over.. all the parking lots, and city parks have been turned back from Stages and event pavilions ( Drinking Tents ) into what they were. I was so busy working that month I met nobody but Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. While the city hosted the world... I worked.
i can feel every weekend since, people trying to get out on the streets, searching to... to recreate the experience of Canada winning the Gold in Hockey. It's not working. The nice off shoot is people talk to each other in the streets... which is kind of a vancouver taboo... this is the only thing ... ( other than the Olympic line to Richmond ) that I don't want to see end here.
MUSE came to The Coliseum. I got the truss spot gig.. Which is my favourite rock gig of all time. But, as it was after all the Olympic work had died down the senior guys who were also on truss spot detail took the Grand staging downstage positions... Which kind of sucked as I knew a large number of people ( Read : Women - Alt/ possibly single ) who were attending the concert. And it would have been nice to show them how cool my job is.... that thing I live for, in my quite moments. The idea / dream of showing the non Theatre people ( read : Alt/ Women - Possibly single ) I know how fucking awesome my job is... As if somehow they might get it, and by vertue of that... get me or even want to ask me about me... Women in my experience are very delinquent in that function.. I always end up being the one who interviews them and they ask nothing about me.... I have to often volunteer that info... and I've gotten regularly... quizical responses. Lik I'm some sort of Star's Plumber.
So, sadly I was the upstage truss spot guy way up in the truss hidden by upstage lighting, lazers and LED Video screens. Plus, my pickup was the drummer. The worst gig truss spot wise... Pretty much lock off on the guy and don't move around too much. If it wasn't for being 15 metres up over the concrete Stadium floor I would have fallen asleep. Especially since we were motered up to the spot chairs by truss motors. So there wasn't even the thrill of climbing wire truss ladders to keep me awake.
The show sounded good .... and what little I saw on the big cubical video screens looked cool... but who was I to know.... Music wise I'm still on the fence with them. They sounded much cooler and louder than they do on iTunes or when I've listened to friends CD's of them.
I Feel Like A Stranger... I My Own City...( haunted by the world gone by )
The Olympics is gone... the guys I know who were working on the Really big show in the Jiffy Pop Dome... have struck... once again there's 6000 techs who are looking for 4000 gigs... They all called me jamming up my lines....Me I've been catching up on sleep majorly
Depression looms...
Me? I'm pretty happy... I'll go back to where I usually am on regular years.. to last month ...Soon... I'll cook again at home... pay my bills with what I make in the moment.... work on my idea for my Tattoo ( or the idea of a motorcycle license ) and coast til May - When I'm going to BERLIN to see my Brother and my new Nephew....
Girls....? I care... but... STILL.... fuck girls... they've never been there for me... NOT like work... I've always found it... but women... I find.... Well, I find I never find... When I'm looking and then...??? SHE happens... And things go head over heels...
I think I'm happy and I can be safe.... With someone... Inside her enjoying with release that knowledge that I'm MALE ....
AND
Then it's over ( Usually by her call... Which always makes me think it's my fault - I wish i could escape this feeling... other guys ( Bastard FUCKERS ) seem to be able too/ or hide it better...I Covet them and their ability to disconnect. ) SERIOUSLY.... The minute I EXHALE...I think we're something... that's when she pulls the cord and I'm left in free fall.. without any rescue plan or second chute.
And people wonder why I live like a Paratrooper... and hang lifeless in the trees... After this fall... Still to this day.
The Olympics is gone... the guys I know who were working on the Really big show in the Jiffy Pop Dome... have struck... once again there's 6000 techs who are looking for 4000 gigs... They all called me jamming up my lines....Me I've been catching up on sleep majorly
Depression looms...
Me? I'm pretty happy... I'll go back to where I usually am on regular years.. to last month ...Soon... I'll cook again at home... pay my bills with what I make in the moment.... work on my idea for my Tattoo ( or the idea of a motorcycle license ) and coast til May - When I'm going to BERLIN to see my Brother and my new Nephew....
Girls....? I care... but... STILL.... fuck girls... they've never been there for me... NOT like work... I've always found it... but women... I find.... Well, I find I never find... When I'm looking and then...??? SHE happens... And things go head over heels...
I think I'm happy and I can be safe.... With someone... Inside her enjoying with release that knowledge that I'm MALE ....
AND
Then it's over ( Usually by her call... Which always makes me think it's my fault - I wish i could escape this feeling... other guys ( Bastard FUCKERS ) seem to be able too/ or hide it better...I Covet them and their ability to disconnect. ) SERIOUSLY.... The minute I EXHALE...I think we're something... that's when she pulls the cord and I'm left in free fall.. without any rescue plan or second chute.
And people wonder why I live like a Paratrooper... and hang lifeless in the trees... After this fall... Still to this day.
The Golden Mean...
Here's what I've been working on....
Yeah... It's so in your face... clear... you should see it live on stage while it's filmed in +2000p by three different camera angles while it's also shown on video screens around the theatre. They hung two on the middle of the theatre from rigging... but the powers that be nixed it... I guess it was too in your face...
This is what's so amazing about all the new technology... and the way it's being advanced to the point in 2010. THIS IS EXCERPTS FROM THE SHOW I"M ACTUALLY WORKING ON...AS IT"S BEING WORKED. And it's posted here on youtube... that the actual show... techs moments from it mere hours from myself and the crew focusing the lights for the show... hours before the first audience @ The Playhouse, witness the actual event....
The show is all around the theatre... there's a ramp into the audience cutting out all the centre seats. The remaining audience is actually on stage... Stage left and right of the dancers. While video live streams the event for the audience... who are part of the show... like watchers at a fashion show... and it's being recorded for a DVD and a itunes pod cast.
And this... this isn't the future.. Someone else it streaming their live event, LIVE... tech setup warts and all...and making it available as part of the extension of the art work itself, as we speak.
But, I liked - bODY_rEMIX_gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS better.. there was more to it, ( Which came last year.... )This is a company which I would like to see remounts from
Here's what I've been working on....
Yeah... It's so in your face... clear... you should see it live on stage while it's filmed in +2000p by three different camera angles while it's also shown on video screens around the theatre. They hung two on the middle of the theatre from rigging... but the powers that be nixed it... I guess it was too in your face...
This is what's so amazing about all the new technology... and the way it's being advanced to the point in 2010. THIS IS EXCERPTS FROM THE SHOW I"M ACTUALLY WORKING ON...AS IT"S BEING WORKED. And it's posted here on youtube... that the actual show... techs moments from it mere hours from myself and the crew focusing the lights for the show... hours before the first audience @ The Playhouse, witness the actual event....
The show is all around the theatre... there's a ramp into the audience cutting out all the centre seats. The remaining audience is actually on stage... Stage left and right of the dancers. While video live streams the event for the audience... who are part of the show... like watchers at a fashion show... and it's being recorded for a DVD and a itunes pod cast.
And this... this isn't the future.. Someone else it streaming their live event, LIVE... tech setup warts and all...and making it available as part of the extension of the art work itself, as we speak.
But, I liked - bODY_rEMIX_gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS better.. there was more to it, ( Which came last year.... )This is a company which I would like to see remounts from
