Guitar Hero!!!

First things first (again)...

Sorry Vala! Didn't mean the bitch thingy.

Buying that guitar was probably the smartest thing I've done since I applied for this job. EVERYONE wants a piece of Elli now, and I don't mind sharing him with the right people. This trubador thing isn't very big outside Iceland, I think. People are so surprised that I can actually play more than 10 songs on guitar... but I ain't complaining.

When we sailed away from Istanbul yesterday, it was pretty amazing seeing Asia on my right-hand side and Europe on my left. Now that my training is over, I can start going on excursions and see the Acropolis and what not. All I have to do is hold up a sign that says "follow me" or whatever, and I get the tour for free. Pretty sweet.

See y'all later.

Ellert

Istanbul Schmistanbul!!!

First things first...

Happy birthday Krummi!!! Hope you had an awesome time on your big day. Wish I could have partied my ass of with you. November....november, just hang in there, it'll be ok. I know Vala can be a bitch. Just hang in there, buddy! Hahahaha!!!*

And now for minor chit chat...

I'M IN ISTANBUL!!! But unfortunately I have to stay on the ship from 20:00 because 1/3 af the crew has to stay behind every tima we're docked overnight. But that's ok. We'll stop here at least 5 times before my contract is over.

My camera is still fucked so, no pictures for the time being. I bought a guitar today... awesome, all things considered. 140 turkish lyra, which is around 7000 icelandic.

I can't describe how awesome it feels to be here everyday, working with extremely good musicians and spending time with cool people.

I want gossip from back home. Don't give me the "Hi, I hope you're doing well" crap... give something juicy... otherwise you won't get the juicy stories I've got to tell. I've got hundreds of them.

mmmmmmm..... beer!

Ellert!

* = I'm gonna get slapped when I get back home.

First cruise over!

1 down, 11 to go!

The first cruise was all in all AWESOME. I played with various guest entertainers such as: violinist Chris Watkins, pianist virtuoso Tian Jiang, singers Claude Eric Brunelle and Izzy (insert familly name here) :-D and of course the Galaxy singers and dancers, which are a talented bunch.
I played drums in one of their shows but that kind of meant that I couldn't sit and watch them work. I had to play to the best of my ability, and the last thing you need when you're concentrating is a bunch of extremely hot girls dancing around in front of you wearing provocative clothing... damn... Soooo... I went to see one of their shows and I was blown away. They do 4 or 5 shows per cruise and if the other shows are anything like the one I saw then OMG*, people, OMG!!! I thought that their job on board the ship was much easier than mine and that they really didn't do anything that required a lot of effort... boy was I wrong.

We will stop in Istanbul on this coming cruise. I'm told that there is a whole street with nothing but music shops. I think I might keep an eye out for a cheap and effective acoustic guitar. I've been craving to play guitar for a week now.

I'm getting on great with Ben, my roommate. We kind of have the same humour and (I cannot stress how important this factor is) we both like to drink beer. A few days ago he told me that his dad played trombone in the Buddy Rich big band. That's just awesome. And Ben is not a bad trumpet player either.... far from it, actually.

That's all for now, you scoundrels,

Ellert

* = OMG means Oh My God... for those of you who aren't hip enough to get it. haha.

Changes

I realized that only "registered users" could comment on my blog so I changed it. Now, anyone can comment. Saves a lot of time that way.

Lovely,

Ellert.

Sexual ethics... huh?

So... lot's of news I guess.

You may wonder why this post is entitled "sexual ethics". Well, so do I, because I have to attend training called 'Sexual ethics' in two days and I must say I'm a little more than curious. Speaking of sex... *cough*... One staff member got fired yesterday because of 'Inappropriate guest interaction' so they take this stuff really seriously... and I don't blame them.

Tonight, we (the Galaxy orchestra) will play big band music in the main lounge of the ship. I choose to call it "The great escape from the theater". Not that the theater is bad or anything, quite the contrary. It's slightly bigger than the main hall in þjodleikhusid. That's big!! AND I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT PLAY DRUMS... THEY HAVE PEOPLE TO MOVE THE DRUMS AROUND... PACK THEM DOWN, SET THEM UP ETC... sorry, I didn't mean to yell at y'all, but that's just fuckin' awesome.

By the end of the cruise I think I will have played 'Memory' from cats and 'Don't cry for me Argentina' about 7000 times and I will attempt murder on the one who asks me to play that stuff while I'm at home between contracts. I'm not joking... it's been in 3 out of the 4 shows I've done so far, and I heard that it's going to be in the show tomorrow night as well. Go figure! I don't even like those songs. *stupid old people*

That's all folks!

Ellert.

Broadway show! Whoopy!!!!

Are you kidding???...

Last night we played two Broadway shows. I did an estimate of the amount of pages I had to read and they were about 25, almost all of which had tempo and feel changes. The show was basically an homage to all the biggest Broadway musicals (called Broadway express) and it included songs from 'Lion king', 'A chorus line', 'Cats', 'West side story' and I think 'Oklahoma' as well. Hard stuff, but I got through unscathed. :-Þ

I even got a few compliments after the show. When I had my extremely late dinner one of the lead singers came up to me and said that it was great having me on the drums. So, I'm doing something right. This is definately something I will want to continue doing for a while. I think I'll give the entertainment agency a call and have them extend my contract if possible.


Smell ya later.

Ellert

Day 3

I made it there, safe and sound... sort of.

The first day, I arrived on board the ship at 11:30 a.m. and immediately I was sat down to finish 3 million pages of paperwork... it seemed like 3 million at least. Then I went to my cabin and got to take a nap, which was awesome. Then at 3:30 I had rehearsal with the showband. It went pretty well, all things considered. The people in the band are: Jorge (Mexico) bass & bandleader, Ben (USA) trumpet, Patrick (USA) piano, Marie (Canada) tenor sax, Lisa (Czech Rep.) alto sax, Andrea (USA) trombone and myself on drums, of course.

There's one interesting guy I've met, and his name is Tom Jackson (Australia) Band Master. He's a drummer too. He plays in a pop quartet above the Martini bar. He's a really cool guy and we've had some interesting conversations about drumming. He showed one of the books he's written and he's got some really cool ideas and analogies for drummers and musicians alike... anyway back to my first day experience...

When the show started we played our piece which is a 12 bar blues song to introduce the band. Everyone did a 12 bar solo, including myself. "And on drums, all the way from Reykjavik, Iceland: Ellert Breidfjord!!" It didn't feel bad hearing my name "glorified" like that. Then we played "Santa Esmeralda" and the musical cast came and sang it with us and did some dance move's I daren't even talk about. When the show was done, I went straight to my cabin (which I share with Ben, the trumpet player in the band) and I was out like a light.

Second day started at 9 a.m. with 3 training courses"time & attendance", "Safety training" and "Environmental familiarization". That wasn't finished until 3 p.m. !!!!! Then we had a rehearsal with Claude Eric Brunelle, an amazing singer and just as good a performer. Wonderful singing voice. We played stuff like "fly me to the moon", "copacabana", "sway" and "feeling good" (not the Muse version).

After the second show (main show) Eric invited the band to join him for drinks in the Martini bar, which we did. I had my first martini ever... aaaaaand I didn't like it that much. Way too much alcohol in way to small a container, if you ask me. But being the ever-so-polite, easy-going guy that I am, I finished it, had my beer and some coke *sniff* KIDDING!!!! After that it was extremely late dinner with Jorge, Tom and Ben and then off to bed.

Happy, mom????

Ellert.

I cracked...

I'm leaving in less than two days... so I'm kind of already there... right? RIGHT?

I just wanted to run you through the process from getting the "idea" that you might have what it takes to play on a cruise to buying shoes that have weird and funny names two days before you leave... this is MY experience, anyway.

It started on a cold day in February when I was driving home from work and I remembered my friend John talking about a friend of his who had been playing on a cruise for 4 or 5 years by that time. So I thought myself: "Maybe that's something I could/should try for a while".

The next time I met with John I told him about it and he said it was "...the best idea I've ever had" which isn't untrue (double negative, I know). So I started doing some research and ended up with 4 e-mail addresses, out of which I got 3 replies. I auditioned for 2 out of those but got offered a job for all 3. Weird, huh? One of the two I auditioned for is called ProShip Entertainment and they handle all the musical entertainment for the major cruise companies.

The audition I did for ProShip was brutal. Lots of complex, tempo-changing big band stuff and gazillion groove examples to play. But I "nailed it" so to speak and I was offered a job starting at the end of august.

That changed exactly a month ago. A representitive from Celebrity Cruises called me as I was on my way to a binge in Þorlákshöfn and asked if I could start on the 13th of July. I said yes, of course. Then he said "...we'll just pick you up in Rome" which still sounds hilarious to me. The weeks leading up to my departure have been quite busy.

They have included the following and more:

6 visits to see my doctor to complete the medical check up for the cruiseline (7 if you count the time I had get an x-ray taken of my lungs). This cost me a lot of money.

Answering questions like "are you a member of Al-Qaida, Hamas or any other organizations who are hostile towards the united states of America?" just to get a work permit in the U.S.A. ... believe me that's just the tip of the iceberg. Some questions I had a hard time understanding, like "Would you ever consider possibly thinking about maybe conspiring to perhaps to terrorize the U.S.A., and if so, how would you do it and who would get to do it with you?" This also cost me a lot of money.

That last one was a joke but the questions were really long and extremely vague about what
they really meant.

And then there was the clothes shopping. I had to buy a suit. I had to buy a pair of shiny leather dress shoes. I had to buy shoes that are called "top-siders"... what the "f" is that? And I had to buy a bunch of sticks because, appearantly they don't grow stick trees on board the ship. What a rip-off, huh? This also cost me a lot of money. I'm a poor bastard these days.

Well, that's it folks!

I hope to never ever write such a long post, unless it's my birthday and I'm drunk, in which case I won't stop writing till "I've got blisters on my fingers" -John Lennon.

Who's fo' coffee?

Ellert S Breiðfjörð Sigurðarson