day 15 – sea day

it’s finally the final sea day before easter island… looking forward to land ho!!!  it’s kind of like being in outer space to be at sea for any stretch of time without seeing land – similar to other recent sea day reports, in that i went to my writing class, had lunch, etc… the sea days begin to run together a little bit when there’s more than two in a row, and we are on #4…

my theme night was a tribute to the music of tony bennett… i love him!  i remember when i still lived in anchorage and my dad and johnny (nino’s dad) sent me and my mom to a tony bennett concert for mother’s day at the atwood concert hall – not only is the sound perfect there, but he was perfect!  he had, of course, the amazing ralph sharon jazz trio accompanying him, and the thing that’s so incredible about tony bennett is how much fun he has and how effortless he makes it all seem!  his voice is still magic even as he gets older, and tho he’s probably lost a few high notes off his range, he’s lost none of his warmth or charm…

my absolute favorite tony bennett memories are of the album (i had it on cassette) “steppin’ out with my baby,” which was pretty much in constant heavy rotation (along with mel torme’s “songs of new york,” or “the shoo-be-doop songs!”, as little nino would say) when i was home with nino when he was a baby and a toddler… i remember dancing in the kitchen or living room with him at least a million times and singing with him… it’s because of this that i can’t to this day do any of the tunes off either of those album’s without thinking of baby nino!  last night i got to do several, and whenever i do “i concentrate on you” by cole porter from that tony album, i get a little verklempt in my gnechtagazoink, it’s true…

anyway, the guests caved a little early (11-ish) tonight because we are anticipating early morning easter island excursions… even my hard core last set peeps... crossing fingers that the weather is good enough for us to be able to disembark…  wish us luck!  cheers!  df (mama)

day 14 – sea day

today was another lovely day at sea, except we have gone into code red – that means there are too many passengers going to the infirmary with gastro intestinal issues, so we have to clean like crazy and cannot serve our own food for a week and have to wash our hands like we have ocd (i do that here anyway!)… i feel bad for the crew that already works so hard every day having to work practically around the clock to double clean any surface that anyone ever touches with virox… these precautions will go on for a week to make sure it is contained and doesn’t spread…

on a happy note, miracle of miracles, i am down 5 pounds… i am thinking of writing a best seller called “the cruise ship diet.”  i think that would sell a zillion… i’ll keep you posted – if it keeps working for me, i think i could be on to something…

tonight’s mainstage show was a motown tribute – i thought they were pretty good, but may have been better placed on a shorter cruise with a demographic that skewed a little younger – it was clearly not everyone’s cup of tea… it was formal night, a casino theme, with everyone wearing black and red… flashy outfits!  it’s fun to watch the fashion parade as they go past the piano bar to dinner or the show on formal nights… then there’s always the few rebels wearing their hawaiian shirts… hee hee!  so my piano bar theme tonight was “viva las vegas,” which featured songs about gambling, as well as songs from famous vegas headliners like elvis, sinatra, sammy davis, jr., cher, celine dion, tom jones and wayne newton, who i found out will actually be on our world cruise towards the end of the trip!  cool!  it was a lot of fun – i am pretty busy today and tomorrow with preparing this week’s request roundup… i’ll let you know how it goes; i am shooting for 20 songs this week!

my writing teacher here thinks i should try and make a publishable project out of this (article, series, book?), so does my mom and a couple other friends i've heard from, so i will be thinking about that as well.  it’s certainly nice to have some creative things to do and focus energy on – i am really no good without a project or show or something in the works… i haven’t been bored in years!  a slightly shorter blog entry today… one more sea day and then i really hope weather will permit us to get off the ship at easter island… people (crew and guests alike!) are getting a bit restless!  cross your fingers!   ciao, df

p.s.  i can't believe two weeks have already gone by...

day 13 – sea day

today was payday, so i had to wake up earlier than i wanted to in order to get a draw for minor expenses like crew internet cards, ship satellite phone cards, coffee and souvenirs on shore, incidentals, etc…  everything else gets directly deposited in the bank at the beginning of the month – that’s a lot better than paying a fortune to wire it home, believe me!  they charge an insane amount of money to wire funds, and it feels like flushing money down the drain…  anyway, i then posted yesterday’s blog entry, checked my email, called my folks to say hi, called bob and nino, and worked on a couple of new tunes… went to lunch and then attended the sea day writing class – the teacher is an author named patricia rushford who was a nurse first, then an author.  she and her husband ron come to the piano bar each night and i go to her writing class each sea day; she is a neat person to get to know… i also appreciate that she is a great resource in terms of exploring various avenues for writing projects and what to do with them, how to market things, etc… she has done fiction and non-fiction, and i am glad to be getting to know her as a friend and a writing coach…

today was the perfect nap time, the ship was rocking soooo nicely, and i had a great crash in my cool, quiet room… since i stay up ‘til 3 or 4 routinely, i usually sleep about 4-6 hours at night, so an hour or two in the afternoon is the way i begin getting ready to work… i generally nap at 3 or 4, wake up 5 or 5:15, shower, light supper and ready to sing at 7… i have to kind of reverse dinner and lunch as it’s hard to sing when you have to digest or feel full…

so psyched that my supervisor has now scheduled a break for me from 8-8:45, which is my dead time!  now i can go see the first main stage show, or at least part of it – i always want to be in my lounge when the show lets out so the people walking by can hear and see that i am there and playing… tonight’s show was a piano duo (4 hands one piano) from great britain called 'katzenjammer' – they were pretty dynamic, witty, and very flashy stylistically.  there was a camera trained over the keyboard with big screens on either side of the stage to watch their hands.  they made me want to practice my classical stuff i brought with me to dust off…

if i haven’t mentioned it lately, i am more in love with my ipad, louise, than ever… the name came from my mom’s middle name which was also my nana’s middle name – since i didn’t get it for my middle name, and i won’t be having any more children or dogs, i had to put this special name somewhere… wow, what a brilliant tool she is!  when i saw the katzenjammer guys later in the night, they were drooling over it, and i felt lucky all over again to have it… my set tonight was the music of billie holiday… quite possibly my favorite themed set list thus far – some quintessential billie stuff like “god bless the child” as well as a bunch of other great songs like “summertime,” “the man i love,” (which i dedicated to bob!) and more… moving the happy hour and theme set to 9 was a good move – my 9-10 was as full as the 7-8 tonight… good call, me!

on a sad note, we must say goodbye to nino’s computer which bit the dust in some sort of momentary power outage.  i think papa and bob are already on it, and helping nino to order a new one… he was ready to throw in his savings and said maybe i shouldn't get him any souvenirs, and i was once again struck by the joyous rarity of having such a great, unspoiled teenager who does not have a sense of entitlement that is often typical of that age... save your money, bean, and i will still pick you up some cool road trinkets, we will just call this happy early birthday from papa and bob and me!  i suffer such intense mama guilt being away from you at times, but one of the reasons i am working hard on the road is so you can have the things you need... i hope you realize how happy it makes papa and bob and i that you are such an awesome person, and how proud we all are of you!  in this day and age, particularly considering your studies in media arts, web design, etc., we view a computer for you as more of a necessity than a luxury, like a video game console or something... you just keep doing as well as you are by doing your best, and let your folks help you on this one... love you bean, give everyone hugs from me!  xo, mama

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

day 12 – sea day

tonight’s theme was “broadway and cabaret faves.”  lots of broadway fans out here, and i have had to really amp up the show tunes repertoire since working on ships!  growing up in alaska, it was not a real pop-cultural mecca, and my main musical influences were whatever radio stations we could receive and my parents’ and older siblings music collections… they didn’t even have the sullivan arena or the atwood performing arts center ‘til i was in high school, and before that, if any major act came to town, they would have to play at the west high school auditorium… no wonder we didn’t get many shows or concerts!  my folks had the same stereo from montgomery wards throughout my childhood, with the turntable that would hold about 5 records on it and an 8-track tape player… they listened to some good stuff, and it’s a good thing it all went into my head, because i get a lot of requests for the same music on the ships: henry mancini, johnny mathis, julie london, andy williams, the carpenters… one of my funny bits is to do the “8-track” version of johnny mathis’ “chances are;” i sing about halfway through, make a loud “click!” and a whirring sound (like a bad 8-track edit… hee hee…) then continue the rest of the song... they didn't always give you a whole song before jumping, did they?

when kurt vonnegut, jr. wrote books, he once said he had an audience of one in mind when he wrote, his sister, and if he kept his writing as though it was only for her, the writer’s voice stayed cohesive… i’ve always thought about that, and in my piano bar, i think my dad is my “audience of one” that i keep in mind as i design sets, think of themes, and in my dealings with the public and overall guest approach in general; growing up in hotels, resorts and around the guest services/food and beverage business, with a manager dad, i think i’ve always been aware of the guest services mindset one should aspire to (in my dad’s opinion) , and that is the standard i aim for on this floating hotel, and thanks, pop!  it has been working out very well!  just needed to give you a shout out as i continue to realize how much the life we lived when i was growing up would end up being a vast resource library of not only music for this demographic, but for a mindset about doing things a little bit old school with the extra touches and being as all about the guests as i can get – not playing music for other musicians, as pop would say, but playing what people want to hear and keeping them in the room… i find the more you treat the gig that way, the better and more fun it ends up for me as well.  my dad can be a bit of a tough customer when things aren’t as they should be, so if i am gearing myself towards making happy that one guest who is very discerning, frighteningly smart, slightly demanding, strongly opinioned and not a bad guy (but you wouldn’t want to piss him off or make a bad judgement call or cut a corner with him!), then i couldn’t really have a better audience of one in mind for this clientele! 

there are many wonderful things about this gig and this life of playing music and traveling, but i am quite sure one of the most valuable aspects is the perspective and appreciation i have even more for my husband, my son, my son’s dad, my folks, my brothers and sister, my good friends, that comes from missing them and thinking about them while i am out here on my own… my nuclear family all had such an immense (nuclear, indeed!) impact on me that keeps revealing itself over time – as the youngest, i think i may have been more collectively and deeply influenced by all of them than i ever could have been on them myself, and this unique position, tho it seemed like a tough spot growing up, may have been the best spot of all in hindsight…

and, hey, let’s not forget my dog… here's to good dogs everywhere!  i love that dog!  he is the baby of our family; i recently realized that my own whole family is a bunch of babies… i was the youngest of four, bob was the youngest of two brothers, nino is the youngest of two brothers, johnny’s the second born twin, technically the young one, and then gimli is all our baby… interesting… i mentioned once that i missed the dog on the bandstand, and a lady crocheted me a small facsimile of gimli in beige and brown… no bigger than a champagne cork, so i take him on the road with me… i also have pictures of my boys with, and i am so glad we can chat and email to stay close while i’m out here…  missing you all!

i’m looking out the window listening to captain olaf’s weather and nautical report for the day – swells are 3-4 meters (swoopy!), it’s clear skies, and nothing but bright blue ocean for miles and miles and days… we are truly out in the middle of nowhere!  if you have time, look on a globe or a map – easter island is even more mysterious when you realize how completely cut off it is from anywhere… after today there are three more sea days to easter island and then five sea days after… crossing my fingers i get a crew escort spot for a big stone head tour…   cheers, df

day 11 – second day in callao, peru

what a gorgeous day – glad i brought the spf 70 sunblock, as it was bright, and i have a tendency to fry in the sun (this is one of many reasons i prefer rain and gloom…); i had to appreciate the beauty of this place, tho, sun or not… i took the shuttle down to the marriott and waterfront shops, where i did some free internet (got to e-chat w/bob!  yay! xoxo!), drank good coffee, looked at expensive stuff, listened to an awesome astrid gilberto-like, soft, latin rendition of  pink floyd songs… i know, it doesn’t seem like it would work, but i am totally going to borrow the concept and apply it to a few other artists as well… as you cross the blvd by the marriott going towards the ocean, all you see is a park with some statues, pools, fountains and an overlook platform to view the coast below, but as soon as you are on the platform, there are stairs going down to many layers of high end and trendy shops set into the hillside, a movie theater, restaurants, from american imports like chilis to elegant bistros with local fare…  i’ve never been to a mall set into a cliff before, and what a beautiful backdrop of coastline and the waves crashing!  wow!  i could imagine getting a swanky hotel gig with bob for a month or two and enjoying the scene a little longer – i didn’t find out about the boho artist section of town (that is apparently an artist and musician’s haven with great restaurants and clubs) ‘til it was too late, so next time i come back, i’ll check it out… got a few nice pics to share, tho they don’t quite get the color and sound… missing my family a ton, especially my babies (nino, give gimli a hug; gimli, lick nino's face), and if i could teleport everyone out here, this trip would feel complete!  i am staying busy, tho, and it makes the time go by... we are already 10% done!  unbelievable...

tonight's theme was the music of nat king cole... because they brought a peruvian folklore show on at 7, my 7-8 was dead... then i had about a third of my room through 10:30; after two busy days in the sun, they were dropping like flies from there on... still had my broadway guru, my hut sut olsen guy and my lady behind me at the bar who is my recent convert til the very end... we've changed theme time and happy hour to 9pm instead of 10 so the folks who go to the 10 o'clock mainstage show can have a cocktail at my place first... it was my idea, and they changed it, so i hope the result will be good... i also volunteered to do a sea day 'name that tune' session since the late diners and late show folks always miss the games at night... trying to keep everybody happy!  we've got 4 sea days now on the way to easter island... wish me luck!  ciao, df

peruvian dog fashion - almost got one for gimli but nino would have killed me

view from larcomar mall

cool statue in park

vendors walk right into busy lima traffic to sell stuff

cool murals abound

port song for callao, peru

(to the tune of “el condor pasa” by simon and garfunkel)

a little west of lima lies callao                

i’ll tell you now; it’s big and ho-o-ow; 5^th biggest now

of latin american cities, don’t you know

after mexico city and sao paulo, buenos aires and rio

in 1535 old pizarro moved here y’know,

he loved it so-o-o, and it did grow

one third of all peru round here does roam        

not counting bones in catacombs; 9 million call it home

the germans, french and japanese, italians too and the chinese

so many immigrants arrived, and now they multiculturally thrive in peruvian life

the tourism industry is pretty keen         

and the restaurant scene’s - world class, i mean - fusion cuisine

they export lots of things here from peru           

like coffee they grew, and sugar, to-o-oo, and cocaine, it’s true

the ubiquitous peruvian flute bands       

were nowhere man, they must’ve all been ba-a-anned to america’s lands

though handicrafts were easier to find,

they blew my mind; craftsmanship so f-i-ine it must take some time

i loved this desert city by the sea; i went and shopped for my family

a new golf hat for my son’s dad - only five bux… now that’s not bad, no it’s not bad

an alpaca scarf and ocarina too;

through it I blew; doo doo de dooo and bracelets, too

i almost caved and got some awesome boots;

they were so cute, and the right size fo-oo-oo-ot, but my funds were kaput

the indian market and the *larcomar  (*mall on seaside)

had a hold on me like salaza-a-ar, and with heavy heart

i made my way back to the cruise ship dock,

by 3 o’clock - just one more sto-o-p at the dockside shops

and then it’s time to write a song – i’d better start, i don’t have too long

i hope you all had a good stay in lima for - the past two days… the past two days

day 10 – callao, peru

callao is the biggest seaport near the major city of lima… it is our first overnight port, and though we don’t do any mainstage shows on overnight port nights, the piano bar, the jazz trio and the string quartet play even when in port… some guests venture out for dinner or do an overnight hotel stay, but many are still looking for something to do at night, so we are there for them… my schedule rocks because i have days free to enjoy the places we go!  i had a really great day today and got off the ship shortly after we docked at 9 am… there was a shuttle that drove us to mira flores, a suburb of lima on the waterfront.  it was about a 40 minute ride, and we got to go through every sort of neighborhood, through the industrial port area, poorer neighborhoods, then very well-to-do homes and upscale shopping areas.  i went to the place they call the indian market where there are countless booths with handicrafts from all over peru… got nino a beautiful alpaca wool scarf and an ocarina, and some yarn wristbands for him and his pals… there were beautiful panchos, and sweaters, and a million types of pottery, coffee sets, statues, hats, purses and a thousand other souvenir items… the smells of leather and wool and fibers were everywhere, and everything was so brightly colored; i tried to get a couple of pics… the gardens and parks are well-tended, with lots of flowers and cacti… i noticed some large sculpture pieces on the beach as we drove past, and will be going to the waterfront area tomorrow for my second day trip and will try to get some photos… i’m not sure why i’ve had difficulty uploading pictures the last coupla days, but i will hit a starbucks by the marriott tomorrow and give it a go from there in case the connection is better and faster… 

the native peruvian people here are very striking, some with a beautiful reddish-brown skin tone and very distinctive features… some of the shopkeepers could speak a little english in the marketplace, and i understand about as much spanish, so we were fine… many of the houses have wrought iron gates in front of their entryways, and well-tended gardens… i couldn’t put a finger on what was odd throughout the drive from neighborhood to neighborhood, but i finally realized it was that the tops of so many buildings were partially missing, and i remembered the epic earthquake they just went through in 2010… clearly they are still fixing things and it must have done an incredible amount of damage… as i looked at the partial rooftops, everywhere was hanging people’s brightly hued clothing to dry on clotheslines, and the colors against the pale blue sky and the barren rooftops was really kind of pretty…

i won’t write a port song until tomorrow as i want to take another day in town and see some more stuff.  since there was no show, i had a small but steady stream of people throughout the evening… one nice couple loaned me a flash drive they put a few songs on they had asked for that i didn’t know; my earnest list-maker was tired a little earlier than usual… i am getting to know my regulars pretty well, and i still am getting new people in, too – i am happy that my knowledgeable people are not lofty about it, they are actually helping me fill in the cracks of one of the smaller slices of my musical pie, which is broadway show tunes… many songs i know as jazz standards by cole porter or rodgers and hart, or gershwin, those all came from shows of yesteryear, and i do know a bunch; but there’s also a lot of other old-school shows that didn’t make the crossover into my jazz fake books… there’s one fellow in particular who knows pretty much every show and every song in them – his wife enjoys the casino while he comes into the piano bar, and he’s happy as long as she doesn’t show up for more money, he says!  ha ha!  he’s got a wealth of interesting anecdotes i will prob’ly be making notes of for future trivia games, etc. – one of my aussie fellows gave me a real nice compliment on my sondheim, and i had a hard time wrapping it up with a couple of my late night gals because we couldn’t stop chatting…

tonight’s theme was “latin and lovely,” which had everything from spanish songs to brazilian bossa nova … i threw in some american stuff, too, with a latin feel.  looking forward to the next day of peru (can’t wait for some great coffee!).  take it easy!  -df

cool cacti and nice landscaping everywhere

hall after hall of beautiful crafts

cute kids in market

day 9 – at sea

i usually get off the gig around midnight, go upstairs to get some soup and hang out with my colleagues (most of the musicians, photographers and guest entertainers who are done late go up there) and we talk shop, commiserate and stay tuned in to each other.  sometimes we make plans to go into port together or share a cab or do an excursion… on this ship, i have to say, i am lucky to be working with a lot of very talented and very good people!  they always stack the deck for a grand voyage with high caliber types, and you’d think that would come with a lot of egos, but it is a wonderful group of consummate pros who are all, mostly, pretty humble and regular folks.  i was impressed that a few guys have been with this company between 15 and 20 years and have played with all kinds of entertainers… a lot of good stories from these fellas, and that’s one of the reasons i always try to make the late night hang after the gig… the other late night hang is in the officer’s bar on the crew deck where i live – i always stop by to get a diet coke and a large pellegrino on the way home to my room– they have cheap drinks there, but i usually only celebrate with a cocktail or two at the halfway point in my contract and again before i come home… even then, i take it pretty easy - if a guest or a colleague wants to buy me a drink, i don’t usually say no, but you have to be careful, as this is a 24-hour community where we could be called to perform a safety function at any time – they are also allowed to give you a breathalyzer test at any time, and if you are over a certain limit, even on your off-the-clock time, you can be sent home at your own expense…. so, i generally don’t party out here… (i’ll save it for new years eve with erin and deana and the fellas – hee hee… that was FUN!)

today the writing group that meets on sea days had a session… i have been going to every one so far, and the group has now shrunk to a good size for discussions (about 20-25 regulars)… the author who facilitates is very nice and is writing a mystery book during this trip which is due at her publisher march 1^st… that would be a lot of pressure!  she and her husband still come regularly to the piano bar every nite… nice folks… i asked her if we could learn how to do proper query letters and book proposals, and she said we could, so i will look forward to that... it would be fun to get published...

tonight’s piano bar theme was “terms of endearment,” songs with sweetie, honey, baby, etc. in the title; my keeping-my-feet-to-the-fire friend brought his list, and i actually had more than he did!  he had a couple i didn’t know, tho… earlier in the evening, i got to play a private party for the captain and some suite holders in my lounge, so i started a little early last night – it was formal night, for the captain’s black and silver ball, so everyone was pretty glitzed up – you can always tell it’s formal night by all the glitter, sequins, etc. on the floor at the end of the night… anyway, it was a nice party, then i played my busy set from 7-8… they scheduled a break for me at my dead time, 8-9, since i started early, then i had a good crowd til at least 11:15, and it tapered from there… we played the “american pie” game, which is where i sing the song "american pie" and part of the way through, keep going “down to the sacred store where i heard the music years before, but the man there said…WHAT KIND of music wouldn’t play?” and the guests keep yelling out genres until i am stumped, then we can end the song – it takes, like, an hour usually (which is, i think, about how long the original version of the song goes with all 117 verses, hee hee…); anyway, i got stumped on viennese operetta… i didn’t even know that was a genre… i’ll have to look something up for next time… today’s victory?  i won over one of the most challenging piano man fans, after the american pie game, she stayed to the end and told me she didn’t think he could have flipped thru so many genres of stuff and as quickly – she also didn’t believe i had learned all that music growing up in alaska… i told her a lot has come since i moved south, but she was very complimentary – i have known she was one of the most disappointed ones that he wasn’t here, and have made a real effort to say hi to her and remember her name, ask her for requests, etc… anyway, we are officially pals now, and i only have one more hardcore piano man fan i want to get to come in who has avoided the piano bar altogether because i’m not him – it so happens she’s good friends with the gal i converted last nite, so i may get her in yet…  we’ll see!  ttfn, df