The Year of the Mer-Man

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Happy New Year and welcome to 2014: the year of the Mer-man!

I hope everyone enjoyed some vacation time and is making great strides with their new year's resolutions...or at least resolved to laugh at how preposterous they seem now. Let's just agree that this has the potential to be a rad year, regardless of what we envisioned while wearing our New Year's Eve goggles. It's certainly started off with a bang for many of us.

Since the last update there's been a lot of action out here in theCaribbean. We've celebrated a few more cast birthdays, settled into our cabins on the ship, started performing all of our shows, made it through the Christmas season and a few illnesses, seen a bunch of gorgeous beaches and are accelerating through the first third of our contract on the Jewel.

I'll start off by describing the experience of performing for a theatre audience with the cast, since that's the whole reason we're out here. I have to say that I was extremely nervous beforehand, even after watching the previous cast get a great response for performing skills that I knew I could do well and consistently. Fortunately I have usually thrived with a fairly high level of performance anxiety, and was able to rely on that energy to take things up a notch for the first few weeks as opposed to using skill that comes from stage experience. I'm pleased to report that there have been no major mishaps or crashes, and we have made it through over fifty shows without embarrassment! That being said, that doesn't mean there weren't a few hairy moments or unplanned adjustments that needed to happen to pull a show out. Most involved trying to balance Rosh while the ship is being rocked and shaken from the giant waves that tend to hit the ship while we are crossing the Mexican gulf. It may seem like a non factor, like it may just add a bit of fun to the routine, but when we hear from the dancers that it felt like the stage floor dropped a metre or two after a jump, it tends to make it challenging to hold an L-sit fully extended above Rosh's head without moving, or stumbling into the audience. At the rockiest of times it becomes a game of dodge-that-guest while the hoop swings from side to side way out over their chairs. I'm working on getting some high fives out of it, or for big points you can steal a drink or for an automatic win, kiss a baby on the head. It's rare to have the waves affect the ship to that degree so when it happens I plan to be ready to stack up my points!

As I mentioned last month, I'm involved in three different shows a week with the production cast, with my participation increasing from one to the next. That means that our first show on Sundays, being the Sail Away show, is a fun and simple performance that helped to get my feet wet in terms of performing. It was fun the first time, and I'm happy to say that once we get out there, it's still a blast every time. We head out onto the pool deck topside, and after pumping up the crowd during some introductions and Nickelodeon dances with Sponge Bob, we take to the rotunda stage in our pastel cut off shirts and board shorts. Like most dance numbers Rosh and I start off with our classic step touches and claps (which gave us more trouble than one would expect during rehearsals, lol) and move into some simple dance choreo while the singers and dancers do their thing to the song 'Let's get Loud'. Our major contribution to the song comes during the reprise when we hop off onto the deck and do a couple handsprings, a toe flip where Rosh launches me up for a backflip, and a couple standing backflips before we hustle back up on stage to finish step touching and hit a final pose, and hit it good! The quick five minute number is over and we stay on the deck to get the passengers out dancing with us to classics like the electric slide, wobble, and a few other party line dances. It's simple, repetitive, widely known, and a perfect way to interact and start messing with the guests, especially the kids with their interpretive breakdancing and high kicks, which are both strongly encouraged (by me and the crew, maybe not by their parents).

We're off within about fifteen minutes and we head to the main Stardust Theatre to do a technical run-through for the Welcome Aboard Show later that evening. Before each show we will do a full-out run through without costumes during the day to make sure everything is running smoothly and all the lights, sound and tech stuff is working correctly. It was tough at first to do three shows a day, but like most things on the ship, once you get accustomed to the routine it becomes easier. TheWABshow usually brings enough guests to fill up two thirds of the theatre, and gives people a quick look at all the performers who will have evening shows for that week's cruise. The show is filled with short performances by comedians, magicians, jugglers, and the occasional ventriloquist. We start and end the show off with our two numbers, and similar to the Sail Away show, Rosh and I do some outstanding step touches (with bigger hip swings and girations), some tumbling, flips and some windmills/breakdancing during 'Vacation' and 'Latin'. It's definitely a sight to see our new patented head-shaking-hip-thrusting-latin-triple-step-shimmy moves on the risers in the back, and it almost always gets a few dancers to crack up on stage. It gets us laughing and brings up the energy so although it may look a bit ridiculous, it all contributes to a better show for the audience, doesn't it!? Of course we are all extremely professional about it...

So that's our first complete day of each week, and not counting a few days of sore wrists and ankles we have always been able to made it through in good spirits and with good form. The next two shows are always more intense as they are bigger productions with higher level stuff. Our 'Band On the Run' show on Monday nights has consistently been a big hit, and when we greet the guests by the exits after the show they are always happy to express their thanks and talk about how they were impressed or wowed. The dancers and singers are the stars of the show, and they work their asses off for 45 minutes, going through over 20 numbers from the 60's, 70's and 80's. Rosh and I still do some rocking out to Queen, some flips to Lady Marmalade, some marching to In the Navy, and of course some shirtless dancing to YMCA, followed by some winks and shoulder dusting. Let's just say that I do some movements that I would not choose to do willingly at a dance club, or anywhere for that matter, but when you're on stage you do it as big and colourfully as possible with a big smile and learn to love it!

After we finish two shows on Monday we usually have some free time to look forward to over the next few days. That's when we have time to get off at most ports, allowing us up to half a day to get off the ship and onto land, which I'm appreciating more and more as time goes on. To stave on cabin fever we've explored a whole bunch of white sand beaches, local restaurants, sports bars, nature trails and dive centres. If you can make it through the first twenty diamond shops and tacky souvenir stores upon getting to land, you can have some pretty cool experiences in the sun. We have yet to be able to do a few excursions that we've planned (due to training, drills and Christmas shows) like swimming with dolphins, sting ray sand bars, golfing, zip lining and of course, hiking, but we have been able to do the best activity of them all, scuba diving. By far the coolest new hobby of mine, we are one day away from completing our open water certification inCozumel,Mexico, which will give us freedom to hang out with all the sea creatures inBelize,Mexico,Hondurasand beyond. For those of you who haven't experienced breathing 60-100ft underwater in clear blue-green water while bizarrely stunning fish and wildlife hang out all around you, I owe you a tank of air because it is sooooo fresh! Equipped with Rosh's new Go-Pro and mounting accessories, we will be producing some funky underwater videos over the next few months, that's for sure. It's amazing how quickly you can adapt to conditions underwater, and after getting past the few freaky skills training exercises like removing your mask, regulator and BCD on the surface and ocean floor, you can become confident enough to forget about your gear and just enjoy the awe inspiring new world around you. So go do it, before you convince yourself that you know all about the ocean, because you don't, and not even the legendary David Attenborough can describe the beauty better than your own eyes and ears.

So we are out in the sun more than we usually would be in the winter, and the main reason for working on a tan these days is because of the costume we are required to wear for our third and final show of the week, Le Cirque Bijou. Let's just say that these shorts could not be more bedazzled or short...I mean real short. So after too many complaints that these pasty chicken legs were blinding people during the first few weeks, it was demanded of me to get some colour into them. They definitely resisted for a good while but they have become a few shades darker to eliminate the risk of temporary blindness, similar to that experienced after walking in the Alaskan tundra for days straight without sunglasses. Along with those shorts, we wear bell-bottomed shiny-red jewel pants with no shirt to begin the show, and a full length yellow singlet, with the entire front missing to show off the beastliness that is Rosh's fur, and my transparent skin for the handbalancing and silks finale. I'm not sure I'll be posting pics of them any time soon so just use your imagination...I'm sure what you are picturing is just less ridiculous than reality. It's completely up to our behavior and mannerisms to convince the audience that we are manly acrobats, so we do a lot of chesty postures and intense poses throughout the show to act the part, of course with faces painted in funky designs.

Costumes aside, the show is going really well, or as well as it can go with the main point hoist out for the entire contract. The theatre is always full and we usually get great responses from the crowd, with a few extended standing ovations. You can imagine how different it is to hear a response like that from 800 people compared to a handful of friends, family and team-mates cheering us on at gymnastics meets, even though those few people may be very supportive. It's motivating and definitely encourages us to keep working on ways to improve. I have to give a big shout out to the cast for stepping up when we lost one of our singers, Adam, for medical reasons, last month, as they stepped in to rock the shows like they've been practicing for months, as opposed to a few days. These are some pretty rad professionals I work with, and getting to watch them from the audience during the Rock show on Saturday nights is really impressive. Fortunately, our new singer, Joe, has just arrived and after a week of rehearsals to add him into the shows, he'll be relieving the other singers of their overloaded roles and helping us all out. With just over 120 shows ahead of us, hopefully that will be the last and only change to the cast, and we all stay healthy to the last cruise in May. With our Christmas show successfully behind us, our schedule is pretty consistent from here on out, with the same cruise itinerary and show schedule each week from now to the end.

On another subject, operation inflate is going swimmingly, with an increase of almost 10lbs to around 156lbs of pure lanky power now to my name. I'm feeling healthy and the work out routine that Rosh is leading us through is the main reason for the increase in weight, most of which is from weight training, and only a bit coming from getting iced on a regular basis. No longer being blown over by a gust of wind is having me feel like Milhouse in capri pants when the flash flood hits...you know, like everything is coming up my way. I've heard Rosh grumble about having to lift a bit of extra weight, but shouldn't he be getting stronger from the same workout routine? Plus, our goal of shredding out of our formal suits at the end of the contract isn't going to happen unless we keep cranking weights, right?

There's a ton of stuff to look forward to over the next few months, with a visit from Tad and Chrissy, the NFL playoffs, Winter Olympics, Arsenal's continuing supremacy of the EPL, and planning a bachelor party after hearing about Jonno and Jacqui getting engaged! I am trying to maximize time in the sun since I'll be spending more time indoors following this contract, after being accepted to D'Youville College inBuffalo,NYfor the Masters program in Childhood Education. It starts as soon as I return in May and will continue straight through for a calendar year so it's all about saving for tuition these days. I love having that to look forward to, since I'll be one step closer to getting into the 'career' that really fires me up. Moving back into my apartment inTorontowith Rotem (commuting to Buffalo a couple days a week) and being around family and awesome friends again sounds pretty good to me.

Well I hope that slice of my life will tide you over until the buffet opens up. I'm missing everyone back home, but not enough to come home yet!

ps. I am still the overlord of Catan, with the current standings as follows:

Sloan - 9 wins

Leroy - 8 wins

Rosh - 5 wins

Charlie - 2 wins



Sanitize and maximize,





Sloan "Doo Doo Paypa" Craw-bones

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Photos

Christmas!
Secret Santa exchange with the cast

New Year's 2014
Couple of mer-men and a mer-lady

jewel crew christmas
Cast on the stairs

Crew Party
Good times in the theatre with all the entertainment crew

Beach-deer
Melissa and her famous prancing

Scuba time!
finishing a solid training session

Hey Canada!
Piper's Christmas card to everyone back home

Sexy Legs Competition
Noone wins

No Name Bar
Home base for scuba training in Cozumel

Tony touch
too dang cool

Huh?
that's how you rock onesies

Yessss!!
Catan!

Comments

[Aunt Mary]

You so cool....
That's all I have to say..i love your blog....you so cool.....