Where's Derrick?

Amsterdam

Ok, I'm really tired. I was unable to sleep on the flight over and it's going on 5 pm here. I've no idea what time that translates into back home-when I got into Schiphol I vaguely remember setting my watch, but not sure if I moved it back or forwards...like I said very tired!! But I was determined to take the train into the city..and I walked around for a few hours. Amsterdam is....well, it's very...well...uh...DAMN IM TIRED! Pictures below........

Schiphol is a very cool airport...hope I spelled it right...

 

I took the "A" train. Really!

 

Just outside Amsterdam Central Station. I call this one "Strangers Immortalized by Nikon".

I call this one "SexMuseum".

 

"Bongorama"

...

 

Seconds before my trolley accident...

This guy wanted a tip because I took a picture of him.

I just laughed and took another...

There must be a billion bicycles here...and a bunch of these things...I want one.

 

The A Train.

Back in T-town

Whew! Well, I made it home in one piece! My flight from Brisbane to LAX was 12 hours, then another 6 hours to DTW-a bit of jet lag, but I'll be alright tommorrow.

I'm leaving for Singapore somewhere around Nov 22 and really looking forward to the next contract!

A few pictures

Hi family and friends,

I'm having alot of fun, and forgetting to blog about it, so I thought the least I could do was post some pictures!

I was captured by natives in fiji....

but it was all worth it because the food was really good...

this is from the museum in Noumea that has some very cool tribal artifacts....i found out as we were leaving that I wasn't allowed to take pictures....whoopps!

Lost in the rain forest....(Fiji)

 

Still sort of lost, but we finally found our way back to the main path....haha!

and ended up here...

 

Here is the latest picture of the Jewel-it's in Venice and will soon be departing for Singapore. I'm flying there to meet it sometime around the end of the month and will be sailing back to Sydney for it's maiden voyage to New Zealand and Melbourne. Needless to say i'm pretty excited!

I've got a show to do.....

So.....I've done a few pre-shows in the Atlantis at the request of the Cruise Director over the past couple of weeks. The first one (read "where's barfy") just about gave me heart failure, subsequent shows have been much easier. So, in a decidedly abrupt and over my head, behind my back move, it was decided today that I am to have my own show. It will be an hour show with the pacific show band backing me up in the main theatre on the ship.

How about that, I went from having 3 bosses who looked at me funny if I got up at the wrong time of day for a cup of coffee, to being a headliner.

How about that...

This doesn't suck.

This is Chuck Zach and I today in Noumea.  

They were acting up and hooked up with scary-drifter-guy (second picture) 
who's story was that he was stuck on Noumea waiting for his visa to come through. I ditched them and went to the aquarium for a few hours. Then I got to ride the worst smelling bus in the world back to the ship.

Fiji

We just departed Brisbane for 14 days in Fiji. I will try to update as much as I can with pictures during this period. I LOVE THIS JOB!

Cheers-

Where's Barfy?

I'm a bit nervous today. Tonight I will be performing in the main show lounge for somewhere around a thousand people. This is largely the work of the Cruise Director David Pepper who seems intent on making me vomit onstage for his own amusement.

Actually, he is a very kind man who refuses to allow me to be humble about myself, constantly tells me I'm brilliant and is promoting the heck out of me. My absolute knee-jerk response to this is to say, "David, I"m just a guy from Toledo, Ohio with a guitar-stop fawning over me!" Of course, I may be a guy from Toledo with a guitar, but I'm not that dense-I'll keep those thoughts to myself...and try not to barf.

24 hour souvenir shop?

A friend recently asked me which of the many amenities on board the pacific sun was my favorite. I would have to say that the pizza bar ranks up there as numbero uno. They serve pizza 24/7 and for those who just have to have a burger and fries at 4 am, they can find one there as well.

I typically steer clear of the crew bar-the guys from the show band go there every other night or so, and I always get the knock at my door around 12 am asking if I want to go with them. I usually politely decline- Don't get me wrong, it's fun to go there on occasion-we play darts and scream at each other over really loud (and usuallly bad) karaoke....however, I prefer my own selection of music and a good book over a smoke filled bar with a bunch of drunken sailors (seems like the entire merchant navy shows up around midnight), so I normally don't stay long.

I've been playing chess with the environmental officer onboard. She is pretty good and I've not managed to beat her yet, but it's good fun.

Hayden and I had a great show. It was the highlight of my trip so far and I have it all on video. It turned out quite well. No rehearsal-we just met a few hours in advance to put a setlist together so it was very impromptu. He is every bit as good as I suspected.

We pulled into Noumea today ...

... so Zach and I scoped out a Kava bar and we are going there tonight after my set. Try to stop me!

Hope everyone is staying healthy-just wash your hands with hot soapy water several times a day for at least 20 seconds and stay away from suspicious looking swine!

Cheers Mates!

Cairns

Pulling into Cairns tommorow-I'm stoked....we will be staying overnight so I am going on a tour of the rainforest and also will be spending a good part of the following day jetskiing. 

I opened tonight for the Guest Entertainer"Steady Eddie"-a fairly well known comedian in Australia. Good fun, but he's not exactly your run of the mill comedian. He has cerebral palsy and he spends a good part of his show taking the piss out of his illness. Very interesting, and pretty funny as well.

I will be doing a show with one of the Guest Entertainers later this week. He is a very talented multi-instrumentalist named Hayden Smith. He actually approched me with the idea and the cruise director quickly approved it, so it's a go. I'll be sure to post how it turns out.

I'm reading Richard Dawkins "The Greatest Show On Earth". I highly recommend it to everyone-especially Becky Nichols-she really should read this book. (Hi Becky! You miss me?? You LIE! hehe...)

Hope everyone back home is well-I think about home often...it's hard to believe I've only been gone for 2 months!

The Pacific Jewel

I signed a new 4 month contract today aboard P&O's new ship the "Pacific Jewel". I will be on the maiden voyage as the resident piano/guitarist in the piano bar beginning December. This ship is massive-almost twice the size of the Pacific Sun, and it's an honor to have been chosen for this position.

I can't really describe how exciting this is for me. I'm grateful to everyone who encouraged me back in Toledo. Thanks so much for your support-

Pictures coming soon!

At Sea

Heading back towards Brisbane today after the 7 day Island cruise. From now until mid-October, the ship will be primarily following the same itinerary:

1. Brisbane-to drop off, pick up passengers
2. Sea Day
3. Stops in New Caldonia & Vanuatu over 3-4 days
4. Sea Day
5. Back in Brisbane

This is good news for me as I will have many opportunities to explore the islands. I am allowed to take any of the passenger tours for free as an escort and there is much to do. I have neglected to sign up for any tours so far-usually opting to roam the islands with my crewmates, or lay around on the beach (tough life, i know) but next week I'm signing up for a few. I'll be sure to note the consequences here. It could be quite interesting, especially if I elect to try "cliffhanger bunjie jumping"!