“Confunded” Schedule on this Sea Day

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Can this cruise really be coming to an end? When we saw the “When & Where” for today, we felt surely whoever devised this schedule must have been under some sort of spell. There were no morning lectures planned. Team Trivia was once again in the Crow’s Nest at 1PM; but, the crew Indonesian Show started at 1:30PM in the Showroom. There was really no way to do both, as Duncan and Pam would find out. Sharon suggested the Q&A with our Greenland Pilots. There were afternoon lectures conflicting with Bingo, which got itself relocated to the Wajang Theatre. In the words of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, the whole thing was “confunded”. The only thing good about today is that I was feeling better. I still have a congestion and am prone to sudden and almost violent sneezes; but, the headaches are gone, and it feels that I am on the mend. It’s probably a good thing; otherwise, I might become more aware of Sharon’s complaints about “Grumpy Boy”.

I got eggs benedict and Sharon had them make her perfect scrambled eggs without the hint of runniness. She’d even wrangled a large chocolate croissant. I headed down to the front desk and planned to meet Sharon in the library. She was already there when I arrived with the “Puzzle Pages”. I ordered my now daily Iced Mocha Grande; but, there were no chocolate cookies for Sharon. We did the puzzle, and this time it was close enough to call a tie (well, maybe not).

Sharon headed off to the Coffee Chat with the Cruise Director while I started working on the blog for yesterday. She interviewed the 4 women from Voce who performed a few nights ago. The group started about 3 years ago (which makes sense since we saw them on our Transatlantic in Oct 2015). There are about 15 women the leader can pick from for a job based on who is on vacation or working on a play etc. Of the 4 on this trip 2 are engaged and the other 2 said they are very single. They talked about some of their travel issues. They’d mentioned during their show the other night that they had a cruise starting in Rio so had packed a lot of sundresses etc only to find out when they boarded the ship that it was also going to Antarctica. The crew helped out by providing big puffy orange jackets for them. Apparently, someone on this cruise had also been on that cruise and had a picture of them in the jackets. They also said they got stuck in Horta (in the Azores) once. Only 3 of them had made the flight to Horta because the 4^th one spent too much time in the Duty Free Shop so got to the gate after they’d closed the door. The ones that got to Horta saw the ship but it passed right by the island because it couldn’t tender in due to heavy seas. So they had to spend 3 days there. They all talked about how they got into the entertainment business, their families, some of the shows they’ve been in etc. All very nice women and they seem like they’re having lots of fun with the group.

At the Q&A with the Greenland Pilots we met the two who joined us at our last port in Iceland. They are “transit pilots” in that they get on at a port and will get off at a port, and in this case are responsible for piloting in Greenlandic waters. The other type of pilot is “harbor pilot” which we normally encounter, and they will board from a harbor pilot boat directly to the ship and are responsible for getting the ship to or from the pier or anchorage, and for navigating inland waterways. These Greenlandic pilots work in six-hour shifts. They provide advice to the captain, and he may choose to take the advice or not. They said, if the captain chooses to do something else, they have a form that they request the captain to sign, noting that he is choosing not to accept the advice of the pilots. They said that captains normally take their advice. The reason that it’s so important to have Greenlandic pilots is that the available electronic mapping is not that good, reliable or accurate. That is why they use paper maps and radar sightings to align your bearings to the maps. Somebody asked, “Have you ever hit an iceberg?” “’That’ wasn’t on my watch!” he said. They both had lots of experience in Greenland waters, even though they are Danish, prior to becoming pilots. They both described experiences they had in the past with rescues around Greenland which can be difficult.

I grabbed a couple slices of pork belly and a spicy sausage lasagna bowl and it took Sharon forever again to get her Plain Dive-In Burger. I was already finished by the time she got her “fast food”. Lately, the Dive-In has been anything but fast.

I met Sharon in the Crow’s Nest for Trivia, after having struck out getting her a chocolate chip cookie at the Exploration Café. Duncan and Pam were already there, and when the Arts and Crafts knitting circle left, we moved to “Our Spot” which was now vacated. Rose Marie joined us and said that Jim would be coming… “He’s down at the art auction right now. I hope he doesn’t buy anything.” She said, he went to an auction once and he came home with a plow. It’s now in their front yard and they use it as a reference for friends: “Our house is the one with the plow in the front yard.” Sharon seamed to think that we don’t need any more art either, and I’m thinking, well, there are one or two pieces that I’'d like to get. Sharon excused herself and went down to save us a spot for the Indonesian Show. Tom, who sometimes plays with Duncan and Pam during Evening Trivia joined us, so we still had six people. Tino was doing Team Trivia today. There was a car question. “In 1964 Donald Campbell set the World Land Speed record with an official speed over 400 MPH. What was the name of his car?” I knew it wasn’t good when Duncan’s head drooped. He’s our “Go-To” guy when it comes to cars (He used to collect them). Jim was saying, “I can see what it looks like.” Duncan agreed with the answer, when he heard it: “Blue Bird”. Next came, “What does ‘SPF’ stand for in sunscreen?” I was thinking “Sun Protection Factor”; but, Duncan had written down “Solar Protection Figure” so we mixed it up and came up with “Solar Protection Factor”. Unfortunately, I was right to begin with. Tino then asked, “What is the world’s biggest cat?” I was thinking “Siberian Tiger”, the answer to the largest cat in the northern hemisphere from one of our first questions with Linda. It was that “northern hemisphere” qualifier that had me worried. Duncan and Jim suggested “Bengal Tiger” (although it seems they’re found in the northern hemisphere as well. In the back of my mind I was thinking, “We should just say ‘Tiger’.” “Tiger” in fact was the answer Tino was looking for; and, with him teams grade their own papers. Duncan gave us credit. Later when I checked, the Siberian Tiger is quite a bit larger than the Bengal Tiger; and, larger still is the “Liger” born of a male lion and a female tiger. “What was the name of the vessel also known as ‘NCC 1701’?” Duncan and Jim knew this instantly, and I was scratching my head (how can they possibly know something so obscure?). I guess I haven’t watched enough “Star Trek” in my days. It’s the star-fleet number on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Tino then asked for “What is the only venomous mammal?” We wrote down something stupid like “Vampire Bat” (which I think was my suggestion). In the back of my mind it seemed that there were certain small creatures like shrews or something that had something to do with poisons. But the winning answer was “Platypus”. After Googling his answer later, I discovered several venomous mammals, including a couple of shrews, so this question (along with the Big Cat question) are not so black and white. Tino does provide ample research for his answers, going into detail about the duck billed platypus and only the male as delivering venom through its ankle spurs for defensive purposes. We got a paltry 10 of 16 points. Tino asked, “Okay. Who got 17 points?” He then asked about 16, then 15 and another team cheered.

I passed Duncan and Pam who discovered that there wasn’t even standing room in the Showroom to see the Indonesian Crew show. For once, Sharon was saving me a space. Somehow, I don’t think that she was too upset about missing Team Trivia. I had to worm my way through the throngs standing in the aisle, some of whom I’m sure were eyeing the empty seat next to Sharon. The eye daggers were intense for anybody showing up as late as I did and having a place to sit. And we had good seats too. Sharon said that she’d been lucky to get these; because the Showroom was packed by 5 after 1. Linda was hosting the Indonesian Crew show; which, I assume is why she relinquished her Team Trivia today. The first act featured a talented guitar duo, and one was also an accomplished singer and Room Steward. The second performance was a native dance number, accompanied by a rhythmic steady drum beat where one dancer did graceful steps and hand positions which I’m sure told a story appropriate for her culture. Similar to the second number in the Philippine show (only in that case the single dancer part of the number had no music at all), I was afraid that there might be a second part to this dance featuring a second dancer after it had already gone on for seven or eight minutes. Things picked up after that and the four additional acts filled the hour. What was most notable from all of these acts were the large engaging smiles of all of the performers. One act featured an Indonesian band accompanied by a small rhythm section. The Indonesian band members were all performing on the Angklung a musical instrument from Indonesia made of a varying number of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves, similar to Western hand-bells. The trick it seems is to hold only one corner firmly and to trigger the vibration with the other hand. This produces a chord of vibration, similar to strumming a guitar. The melodies can be quite haunting. The final act featured a “Monkey Clan” that becomes possessed by a demon, that needs to be saved by a good spirit. All sorts of attempts are made to revive the monkey but nothing works until a final attempt is made with a pair of flip-flops (which are obviously supposed to be the paddles of a CPR kit). Use of the paddles causes the monkey to appear briefly in spasm, and its tail to pop up briefly between his legs. A repeat, and now the red tipped tail is straight up between his legs. Soon everybody is revived and the story has a happy ending.

Bingo was transplanted to the Wajang Theatre, and the movie was shifted to start after Bingo was over. The bags of popcorn put out for movie-goers were completely devoured by the Bingo Crowd (who evidently may be accused of gluttony). Theatre Goers seem to know that you take one small bag and leave the rest for everyone else. The bags were gone before Bingo started, and I heard one lady in the back boast “I had four bags… Would have had more, but they’re all gone!” It was my turn to buy the Bingo Cards. They had to sell them at the Wine Tasting Counter outside the theater as there was no easy way to set up in the Theater itself. Tino called the regular Bingo and the 4-Corner Bingo, and the same person won both games. Sharon got within one on both of those games. Tino was going to “rush things along” but the collective “Aw gee” mood that engulfed him made him reconsider and so we did the Crazy-Kite. I came within two and Sharon kept complaining that all of her numbers were on the middle row (which of course don’t help with the Crazy-Kite. Somebody else won this time. The blackout game started, and I thought that I was doing pretty good: Tino had called six numbers, and I had all six numbers on a single chance! With six number to go until the cutoff for the $20,000 Jackpot I only needed six numbers. Tino called his favorite number, “B-8” and that was one of the six numbers that I needed. When the cutoff was reached, I needed just three numbers. Tino asked, “Who is within three of Bingo.” My hopes dimmed when it turned out that there were three others in the room just three away, and one who was two away! All I needed was one “N”, one “G” and one “O”. Tino called a combination of eight “B’s” and “I’s” in a row! Somebody was now just one away. Tino called “O-Seventy… Three.” The lady that needed just one said something akin to “Arrghh”… Anyway, I’m sure that’s what she meant by the words that came out of her mouth. Tino noted, “Oh, did you need the other one!” Checking the board, we could see that there was now just one “O” that hadn’t been called. Such despair. So close. Tino called the next number, and it was indeed, “O…” He didn’t have to finish. The lady behind us called “Bingo”. “How did you know what I was going to say?” Tino jokes with her. “From the depths of despair one moment, to the jubilation of victory the next.”

I’d improved during the day; but, I still had this cough that sometimes won’t quit, and I thought it best not to try to sit down for 90 to 120 minutes. It was just too easy to go up to the Lido and be done with dinner in fifteen minutes… well, maybe thirty minutes for Sharon. We’d already checked and this was the second day in a row that there were no appetizers, entrees or most especially desserts for Sharon that registered on the “I gotta get me some of that” scale. It’s understandable for Sharon; but, for me that’s saying something. Sharon got some leg of lamb and delicious roasted potatoes; while, I got some chicken and a variety of side dishes and some clam chowder. Meager fare for me; but, still quite satisfying.

Sharon had a good round-up of the Buffaloes winning about $150. She and the person playing next to her both had great Bonus rounds with everyone coming by to watch. Sharon had 43 spins but only managed $99 out of it but that’s not too bad. While Sharon was carousing it up in the casino, I was the dutiful pack mule and seat reservation specialist in the Showroom, again having staked out two prime seats that would have been too soon snatched up if I hadn’t arrived forty minutes early. With thirty minutes to go, there were no two seats left together in the balcony.

Kenny Byrd entertained us tonight with his ventriloquism. He did a bit with his old man puppet, perfect humor for a HAL cruise. And then he brought the bird that looked a lot like the Heckle and Jeckle characters. The act was entertaining, and Kenny did a lot of audience participation and interaction, walking down among those on the lower level. Elvis was seated right in the front row, and Kenny spent some time chatting with his wife, but he was not selected to be one of the participants in this show. The two who were chose went up on the stage and became his life-sized puppets. They were instructed to bounce up-and-down with their legs, and to move their mouths up and down when he taps them on the shoulder, and continue doing that as long as he keeps tapping. The gentleman pupped never quite got the hang of it. He would open and close his mouth once when the tapping began. He would continue bobbing up and down after that; but, he stopped moving his mouth. Kenny reacted to this by muffling the lyrics of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” which he was trying to sing as a duet to represent the non-moving mouth. For the finale, he had to switch the two, so the dramatic ending could come with a moving mouth.

I was trying to decide if I wanted to play blackjack or go back to the cabin; but, when Sharon asked me to take her tablet and phone back to the cabin, if I wasn’t playing blackjack, and I distinctly felt that she felt that I shouldn’t be playing blackjack, and it was decided, back to the cabin it was! After the show Sharon headed to the Piano bar where Barry was doing songs from some of the old Divas: Connie Francis, Barbara Streisand, Doris Day, Patsy Cline, etc. I was sound asleep when she final turned in for the night.

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