so this is christmas?

tomorrow is christmas eve and it certainly doesn't feel like it. we've got rehearsals tomorrow. we've been doing full run throughs of the entire show for the past couple of days. more and more im past feeling like this is work and simply accepting it as what there is to do with my day. there is simply nothing else that exist - i believe "enveloped" is the proper word. the past few days have also seen the entire cast and crew be at the building no less then 12 hours each day. methinks i'm going batty from all the craziness - check THESE bags out!


what IS refreshing is knowing that none of the time is wasted - there really just IS this much that goes into this show, and everyone is being very professional about things from my vantage. i'm surprised that people are as focused as they are given the long days - it's inspiring, really.

amidst all of this i have felt tinges of unsettlement as the holiday comes upon us and here i am in an almost surreal world - far away from the family routes through San Antonio, familiar food, and comfy couches. i've got some mac n cheese, and my iPod and gifts to mail.

Mona is visiting - Mona is Shawn's girlfriend - they are from Cincinnati

this is Shawn, Mona is not pictured. they've got friends down here from what i understand, and they've rented a house nearby. "all are welcome" so says Shawn, so maybe i'll spend my day with them - they Are nice folk.

after all these long days though, all i'm thinking is how i need to do laundry and clean my room - and sleep!

doors

so, there are 2 kinds of folk here on the train ... from what i can tell anyway.

the hallways are very narrow, see VIDEO below, if ya haven't already, for a good idea of the inside of the cars.

anywho, 2 kinds of folks : those who hang out with their door closed, and those who keep them open. you're walking down the cars and through the vestibules, and you might see folks on their laptops, or making a meal -

watching TV, or on the phone. when you're walking through a car with all the doors closed it feels deserted. there's really no way of knowing if anyone's even home -

unless there's a lot of noise of course. no porch light that would be on, no car in the driveway, no window to catch a glimpse through - complete, uninterrupted and ABSOLUTE privacy.

it's pretty easy to keep to yourself out here - VERY easy, and VERY to yourself.

it's easy to get things done without anyone bothering you, and it's easy to be up to no good without anyone to answer to.

there are interesting people here indeed - and many interesting ways to becomes one of these interesting people - i just hope i can stay nice and plain

so tired - i'm starting to feel better, i've been a little sick. finally got a chance to get some groceries - was in DIRE need of laundry detergent, but now i'm glad to report that i've cleaned myself up!

had to stay late a couple of the past few nights and program and i think i'm just about done.
which is a huge relief - now, it's just re writes and edits, but i'm at least caught up to the show, and everything seems to be in working order. the keyboards Have been giving me alittle grief as they've been freezing up perodically, but i hope it's nothing to worry about and that ic an figure out a way to lighten their respective memory loads.

heading to sleep now - happy sleepings to you all

tired

so - i'm losing track of days here - we're getting one day off a week, but it's not regular. and i think if it weren't for union rules they'd work us every day! it feels like winter quarters is never going to end and there are all these people there everyday, but no fruits

until today - we had the first run through of act I. over the past few days, the band has been staggering our lunch so we can do sound checks while the floor is empty.



there's a great deal of scheduling for the performers to get their floor time to rehearse and block their own acts. of course there's a lot of space and several preformers so there are always acts getting their stuff ready.




it's not all toiling and brick making though - there have been 2 nights of note - Gag Night and Act Night

Gag Night is where the clowns presented what they've been working on - different acts to be or not to be the the show. there were solo and duet acts mostly and one 4 man act that was great. it was great to see the clowns in their element doing something fresh. everyone's been doing the same show for 2 years now - so there's definately that excitement here in WQ despite the long days...

12 clown gags in all, and i believe 6 were accepted.

last night was act night and was most of our first peeks at the new acts. you'd think with all this circus people flipping and jumping everywhere we'd have seen SOME of these acts by now ... but we, the band, are locked up in this back room playing this new music almost as quickly as it gets written and printed in yet aNOther cave of a room with all the orchestraters, composers, and copyist in it. if i'm not there, i'm off at my keyboards programming them and revising and re-organizing samples and loops and patches orders.... it's tedious, but fun ... but ... tedious



so ... right .. act night .... it was nice to just sit back and enjoy a show of sorts and they laid it out as best as could be done - it was dubbed "The Greatest Act Night on Earth" (for a more detailed expounding of Ringling's protocol concerning standards of greatness please click here

the acts are shaping up to be classic circus, and i couldn't be happier

there's a trapeze act! and several handbalancing and contortion act!

we had neither of these things this past tour.

the new tiger act looks great - more tigers and the tamer is a charmismatic guy with great presence

we've also recently at least run acts I & II so there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel - mostly we're just trying to stay focused and get sleep where we can.

...and back

now, i'm done with home as quickly as i started ... ?

i'm here in florida along with what seems like the entire Ringling family. this is as close to home base as the circus comes to. we'll be here until the new year - HQ is the florida State Fairgroiunds in Tampa Bay and it's where the new edition of the show is being put together. from acts to costumes to lighting design and music - it all gets put together HERE.

it's quite a a sight - this army of people putting together this massive ... thing! the clowns are are one side of the arena practicing - stilt walkers stretching - dancers have mirrors set up on the other side practcing their moves - we're set up in a back room rehearsing all the new music as it gets printed out and sent to us from the guys writing it in yet aNother part of the complex.

it's very fast paced - we work 6 days a week from 9-6 - and things get done.

This whole ordeal is called "Winter Quarters" a funny name considering we're in florida where it is now 72 degrees and it's 7PM! not quite the winter wonderland. not that it was any cooler in San Antonio - but there is little around to let us know that it's December, much less that Christmas is close by. My world right now is COMPLETELY Circus!! i'm at the train or at the fairgrounds - no malls playing Xmas tunes - no walking around downtown with tinsel and bell ringing santas - nuthin. it could be JULY for all i know!

we're getting 1 day of off a week and it's long days at the stategrounds ... Ryan (keys II) and I spend most of the time and extra time (lunch and after/before work) programming the keyboards for the show. it's a tedious process, which is fun - just a little repetitive sometimes and i find myself pretty tired at the end of the day ...

i'm taking pictures on my camera phone to put up soon. in case you missed it - i think i lost my camera somewhere in boston - possiby the North End.

home

i'm home finally for a visit for t-day. it's been a while and made longer given the craziness of where i am/was

i've only got a week here before i fly out to florida where i'll be for a month while we write and prepare the new edition - 138th edition of the show for next year..

i'm trying to see everyone and eat all the home food i can before heading back out.

no posts for this week cause of this.

hope all is well with everyone - and Happy Thanksgiving

the greatest

it's november, and i've been here on the show since may 4th. my first time playing a show solo was lafayette, LA at the end of may. i threw around some rough numbers - which means i used my cell phone calculator feature as provided by the kind folks at verizon wireless - and figured i've done somewhere around 250 Greatest Shows.

now, one may wonder how one such as myself keeps such a consistant record of greatness. well, let me tell you - i don't do it alone! every single person on the show must give their all EVERY SINGLE TIME out of the blocks. do you REALIZE the pressure involved at not only being part of the Greatest Show, but, as a show is only as strong as it's performers, one must routinely be THE GREATEST. every single action, response, and thought must be The Greatest. if we were to hear "Good Job" after a show, then, our job, we have not done. even "great job" is not par. after the last strains of the Greatest Last chord in a show die away into the echo of the arena - i lean over to my bandmates and say "Guys, ... that was the GREATEST playing on earth" we all nod casually, because, of course, the Greatest - is simply routine.


here, we have Jonathan - by title - the Greatest Guitar Player ON EARTH!! can you, the reader, POSSIBLY fathom the weight on this man's shoulders?! his mind - a steel trap, his hands - FAULTLESS in execution, his creativity and technical wizadry on those six strings? UNPARALLELED!



melissa here? she works at the Pie Car (coinicdently, she's known as Pie Car Mel-the greatest nickname on earth) - provider of the food that fuels the greatest performers on this planet. now, do you think that food to be anything less than stellar? i think not. and who makes stellar meals? The Greatest Cooks on Earth!! THAT'S who!

you see, being the greatest permeates through everything we do. this is no random compiling of persons from around the world! mountains were climbed and rivers crossed to find the most, skilled, talented, NAY, the GREATEST person for each position!


so, how did I get here?! they came and found me in a little corner of the world called San Antonio - the greatest city on earth, as it happens ... and plucked me from my private utopia to fulfill my destiny as Greatest Keyboard player on the face of the Planet. Tall order ain't it? also leaves little room for career growth.