enlisted

Hey All,

Today Im thinking a lot about lists. They can be very helpful when trying to put life into perspective. I like to make lists of the daily “to do’s”, Franklin Covey likes to prioritize lists with the alphabet, Steve Rivet likes to make “Top 3 and Bottom 3″ lists for, (what seems like,) every event in his life.

Here is a list I have been working on.

Songs I want to learn.

1. Mr. Tambourine Man – Bob Dylan

2. Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye

3. River of Dreams – Billy Joel

4. Why Georgia – John Mayer

So, I am going to ask everyone to give me a list that they are working on. It doesn’t need to be long or extremely deep. Just a list that they would like to share.

101

Much Love,

BJSR

Merry Christmas!

Hey All,

Merry Christmas everyone. Sounds like most of the Midwest god rocked with some winter weather, so I hope everyone was able to see their family. My holiday was a littler different than usual, but still very memorable.

We all exchanged stockings on Christmas eve up in the crew bar. My stocking was filled with snacks and little toys from all the entertainment staff. I also got a really nice tie clip from my friend, Jay. I got all the girls tropical flowers from Barbados. After the exchange I opened my present from Alex. It was an awesome, yellow, Ralph Lauren polo. I will be perfect to wear in this weather, which is funny because I got her Uggs to wear in the MI/OH weather back home. All the crew met up in the bar later that night and we proceeded to enjoy a few drinks and spread holiday cheer. Everyone is away from family, so drinking seemed like the best way to distract us from the distance. I think it worked. We had a great night and got lots of fun pictures with my new friends abroad.

On xmas day I was able to video chat with family and see them open my presents from the Caribbean. We also hooked up with Big Nose down in Texas and I got to open his gift for me; Some art supplies to start drawing and sketching on the ship. Seeing family, even though digitally, made the day seem so much less lonely. After a little nap, a bunch of us went to Pigeon Island off the coast of St. Lucia. It was a beautiful day and will have some pictures soon from that trip. They served us a big feast in the crew mess and I ended the night with a 4.5 hour gig in the Atrium. All in all, not too shabby.

I would love to hear what everyone elses’ day was like. What they got, what the weather was like? all the Jazz. Look forward to the stories. Miss you all so much!

Much Love,

BJSR

Under the Weather and Under a Waterfall

Hey All,

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I apologize that I haven’t posted anything all week. I have been rather sick and kind of out of it. There are so many germs on this flipping ship, its amazing that I am not always coming down with something. Its like a 3rd grade classroom during flu season.

Anyway, despite being sick, I have had some pretty fun adventures in the past week or two. And to keep your appetites fed I will try and space them out so there are new stories throughout the week.

Adventure 1:  Dominica Waterfalls

A couple of weeks ago I explored the scenery of Dominica with some friends in the old dance cast, before they finished their contract. The island of Dominica is known for its rain forests, and not much else, so we hopped in a cab with Benu (our taxi driver) and headed toward the middle of island. The sights along the way were worth the cab fare alone, but Benu was taking us to the famous Trafalgar Falls. What makes these falls so unique is that there are two falls next to each other. One waterfall is formed from the run off of the mountain above, which is pretty standard. The second waterfall is formed from a volcanic spring just a couple hundred yards a away. Therefore, one waterfall is freezing cold and the other is very hot. When the streams of the two falls connect, the water mixes and continues down to the ocean.

So, we made our way to tthe start of the trail and after a 15 minute hike we go to the lookout post to see both of the falls. We heard some guides shouting around about tours to the base of the cold waterfall and asked around to see if it was worth the extra dough. For an extra 10 dollars each a guide would take you through the rocky trail to get to the natural pool at the bottom of the cold fall.  We were all feeling ambitious and daring enough to brave the “rocky” path and see the pool without a guide. I blame my ambition on not wanting to pay any more money.

We spent the next 45 minutes scaling boulders and hopping over streams in our flip-flops, joking about what the ship would do if they lost half of their entertainment staff due to stupidity and cheapness. Jen (blond in white dress) fell into the water, India (brunette in gray dress) almost turned back after the first big rock, and I almost lost my sandals 4 times. They should say “not for climbing” on the bottom like those key-chain caribbeaners . Luckily no one died and we made it to the base of the waterfall. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The pool was about 40 feet in diameter and quite deep in the middle. It was almost completely surrounded by rocks, with an opening that looked out about 100 feet below to where the two streams connected. The water was freezing but we couldn’t resist going for a swim and taking some pictures and videos. We felt like we had discovered some hidden treasure, and did it without a guide. When we didn’t have anymore feeling in our hands, we headed down to the hot spring and warmed up in the other stream. I could have sat there for a couple of hours, and probably would have if Benu didn’t come and tell us that we had to get going or he was going to leave without us.

It was a truly awesome day. I am planning on going back before the end of contract, but I am not sure I am going to give Benu a call again. Here are some pictures to supplement my wonderful story telling. Enjoy, and look forward to some more stories from the Islands.

Tuffy Wisdom of the Day:

When describing a scene where there are a lot of people crammed into a small space, use the expression “butts to nuts”. Your audience will love it.

Much Love,

BJSR

I Got Friends in Low Places

Hey All,

The Birthday celebrations are all over and now I am just an old man. Thank you so much for all the well wishes and posts. I feel so loved. It is always funny to see the barrage of facebook messages on Birthdays, but I particularly enjoyed this year’s digital smothering.

I feel older. Either that or I am just bloated. I have big plans for this year. I don’t know what they are yet, but I promise you that they will be big. Rest assured that you will be the first to be informed when they come to fruition. For instance, I decided that I am going to try and grow a mustache. I know I missed Movember by a month, but growing a mustache, however pathetic it will look, just sounds like something a 23 year old does…ya know?

Anyway, thank you for all the love. Hope everyone is gearing up for Christmas, please visit my previous post if you are still curious on gift ideas. You will find all the info you need.

Tuffy Wisdom of the Day:

“How do you out run a bear?  Trip your friend.”

Much Love,

BJSR

Lovin’

Hey All,

I have another video for everyone. This is the first music video of many to come. My buddy, Tuffy, came up and jammed with me last night in the Atrium where I perform every night. The video is a little blurry, but it gives you an idea of what I am up to every day. I have been learning how to use my new looping station and really like to beatbox with it. The glass elevators that are going crazy behind us are awesome, but I can never see them while I play. I always joke that I can always tell if the crowd is watching me or the elevators by how much their heads move up and down in a single song.

Enjoy!

Much Love,

BJSR

Family

Hey all,

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Not a lot to report today, just that I love my family.

You all rock and miss you.

Rivet family at my Graduation

Much Love,

BJSR

Cafe in St. Kitts: Video

Hey all,

Really sorry for the delay in getting a post up. Not a good way to keep the fans satisfied. I promise this will not be a trend. Hope you enjoy the video and look forward to a much more steady stream of awesomeness from BJSR.wordpress.COM

Much Love,

BJSR

P.S. Right now I am listening to a Reggae version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in the streets of St. Kitts.

I love my life.

Snorkling

Hey All,

Had an awesome day at the beach yesterday. We were in Antigua, pronounced “Antiga”, and there are a ton of amazing beaches there. We hopped in a taxi with Darren, our taxi driver, and headed a little more secluded beach. Darren cranked up his cassette of Bob Marley and we enjoyed the views of the island. Beautiful hills, goats in the street, crazy drivers on the “wrong” side of the road, and farms overlooking the water.

The beach was straight out of a movie. Old palm and wooden cabanas were scattered along the sand and the water was so blue green it looked like it had been colored by a crayon. Sean, the production singer showed me how to snorkel and we went for a quick swim around the beach. Turns out he is a fantastic swimmer and place fourth in the Montreal Olympic trials.

We enjoyed some Red Stripe (“Hooray Beer”) and nice meal as the sun set and headed back to the ship before dark. It was a truly fantastic day. Here are a  couple of pictures of the adventure.

Much Love,

BJSR

St. Kitts. Video: Halloween

Hey All,

Hey everyone…So I got a new video for you. This one is from Halloween last week, and if you can’t tell from the video, I am dressed up as Harry Potter.  I got the opportunity to play up on the Lido deck as we sailed away from St. Kitts. As you can see from the view its a pretty nice gig. I snagged a guy that was listening to me play and traded him a request for a quick video. Forgive the windiness and the vocal crack right at the beginning of the song…it was my first one of the night. Enjoy!

Much Love,

BJSR

First Great Performance

Hey all,

So last night I had a pretty awesome performance. I was jamming out in the Atrium as usual… when a young couple came up and started listening. I figured they liked some of the newer stuff I played so I started playing some 90’s covers. After about 30 minutes they asked, jokingly, if I play any Snoop Dog. I decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up, so I started playing my medley of “All Along the Watchtower / I Wanna Love You”.

When I got to the Akon cover, I heard some hoots from the upper floors but didn’t really think much of it. I hesitated to start the Snoop Dog rap given that I haven’t done it in a while and I wasn’t sure I would be able to avoid swearing. I let the hesitations drop, however, and broke into the rap…in my best snoop voice. “Mobbin’ through the club in the low Pressin’…”

About three words in, the entire Atrium erupts in screams and cheering. I look up to see about 20 young black kids throwing their hands up and running down the stairs towards the bar. Apparently they have never such a sight. I finished the song to a roar of applause and proceeded to play every hip hop song I knew.

Needless to say it was the highlight of my cruise performances… so far. It gave me a lot of hope that I wouldn’t have to play Eagles covers for the next 6 months. Not that I have problem with that, but its nice to change it up here and there.

That’s all for now. If you have any song requests, I would love any ideas you may have .

Much Love

BJSR