here piggy piggy piggy

Hey all,

I have decided not to come home because I dont want to get the swine flu. From what CNN is reporting, this is the most dangerous thing that has ever hit the US. Thankfully, I dont eat a lot of bacon on the ship. If I do come home and all my family and friends are dead, I will be pissed.

Stay Healthy everyone!

Contract Countdown: 4 Days

Much Love,

BJSR

1 week

Hey All,

Long time no blog. Just getting back from our big Charter to Trinidad. It was a very cool experience, but I am glad to be back into the normal swing of things, even though its only for a week. I will have a ton of pictures and stories of the trip and my last week up soon, but with only a couple days on the trip I am going to try and experience the islands as much as I can before I am back in the States. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip for now.

I have also posted some new videos on my myspace page. Check em out and let me know what you think.

MYSPACE

All for now.

Contract Countdown: 6 Days!

Much Love,

BJSR

Long Lost Child

Hey All,

Happy Easter! I am sure you probably thought I fell of the face of the earth, but alas, I am still here. I have been very busy the last couple of weeks recording a lot of my music and seeing the islands while I’m still here.

I apologize for the absence, but feel even worse telling you that I will probably not be able to write a lot in the next couple of weeks. We are starting a two week charter cruise, acting as a floating hotel for the Summit of the America’s  event that is taking place in Trinidad. Its a pretty big deal, so you should google it. We don’t have very many details on the situation because the Trinidadian government is taking their time figuring everything out. The security for the entire summit is very tight as all the Heads of State and major delegates from both North and South America will be there…including Obama. yeah, I know. Our Ship will be, as I said, a floating hotel docked for a week in Trinidad for all of the international media covering the event. I will be playing in the Atrium as I always do for them and I am looking forward to playing for a little more diverse crowd. Networking, Baby!
Anyway, it should be an interesting couple of weeks as I finish my contract on the ole’ Carnival Victory. I will take lots of pictures and have lots of stories for everyone. I will try to hop on a couple of times in the next couple of days to post some fun stuff. If I don’t, though, its not from a lack of love…more of a lack of technology.  🙂

Easter dinner tonight should be lovely in the Staff Mess. I am going to put on a Bow Tie and try and eat as much shrimp cocktail as I can before I go into a food coma. We don’t have any guests while we sail to Trinidad, so its like a ghost town here. No one has to work…PARTY!

All for now, I miss all of you.

Much Love,

BJSR

PS  I have almost hit 1,000 views to my myspace!  Im’ going to try and get 10,00 before the end of the Summer. My only question is…(serious, cinematic voice),  “Will you help me?”

pass this link to everyone you know.    www.myspace.com/bjsrmusic

fun stuff

Hey All,

Thursday. It a beautiful day in Dominica. Im at our favorite coffee joint, doing a little bit of interwebbing. I am trying to get my affairs in order for my return to the States. Hard to believe I have been rocking the Caribbean for 5 months already. One more months to show this ship whats up!

So I recorded some of my set last night. I was kind of having an off night, but I did get a cool take of “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley. I will be recording just about all of my sets from here on out because I need demo material to book some gigs this summer.

Make sure you check out the Myspace page.

MYSPACE

I also got a link to this video from my friend, Kathleen. Its absolutely hilarious and I am not even a cat person.

Enjoy!

Contract Countdown: 31 Days.

Much Love,

BJSR

SPARTANS

Hey All,

It was a great weekend. I got to watch the Spartans advance to the FINAL FOUR! I am in a pool with a bunch of crew members and its the first time that I am the only one to pick Michigan State to go all the way…and they may actually do it! It has been nice walking around the ship with my MSU shirt on. Last night at boat drill I had about 15 guests congratulate me on our victory. It was glorious.

All for now. GO STATE!

Contract Countdown: 34 Days

Word of the Day:

determination |diˌtərməˈnā sh ən|
noun
1 firmness of purpose; resoluteness : he advanced with an unflinching determination.
2 the process of establishing something exactly, typically by calculation or research : determination of molecular structures.
• Law the settlement of a dispute by the authoritative decision of a judge or arbitrator.
• Law a judicial decision or sentence.
3 the controlling or deciding of something’s nature or outcome : genetic sex determination.
4 Law the certssation of an estate or interest.
5 archaic a tendency to move in a fixed direction.

Much Love,

BJSR

Pics

Hey All,

Happy Weekend everyone. I just posted some new pictures on my myspace page. My friend, Tony, just got a new camera and was taking some pictures of Bennett and I on the lido deck jamming out. Tony is a backstage tech on board and works in TV back home. He has an amazing eye for this kind of thing and I think the shots turned out really nicely. My favorite shot is the close up on my glasses. If you look closely you can see a really cool image of the lido deck and the water slide in the lenses. I think I shall send it to Carnival that they may use it for advertising. 🙂

MYSPACE

Enjoy!

Go Michigan State!  Elite 8, BABY!

Contract Countdown: 36 Days

Much Love,

BJSR

Hey

Hey All,

Don’t have a ton for you today. I have been trying to get over another cold I have. Luckily I have plenty of time to sleep on this ship. I’m sure all the guests are sick of me sniffling into the microphone and apologizing about doing so. Good group of guests, though. I met two girls from Chicago. One grew up 30 minutes from Dayton, and the other one went to UofM and dated a guy that Went to Grand Ledge. It’s a small, small world. I also got asked to sing for a wedding in Chicago in June. She asked for my rates and when I gave her the number she was pleasantly surprised….I knew I should have asked for more.  ☺

Anyway, All for now. Keep it real and keep an eye out for some new videos and recordings coming soon.

Word of the Day:

convivial |kənˈvivēəl; kənˈvivyəl|
adjective
(of an atmosphere or event) friendly, lively, and enjoyable.
• (of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial.
DERIVATIVES
conviviality |kənˌvivēˈalitē| |kənˈvɪviˈølədi| |-ˈalɪti| noun
convivially |kənˈvɪviəli| |kənˈvɪvjəli| adverb
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense [fit for a feast, festive] ): from Latin convivialis, from convivium ‘a feast,’ from con- ‘with’ + vivere ‘live.’

Contract Countdown: 38 Days

Much Love,
BJSR

110

Hey All,

Last Friday I was asked by Mike,, the Golf Pro on board, if I wanted to go golfing in Antigua. While I am trying to save some money before I get home, I figured that I might not have an opportunity to play golf in the Caribbean again. So, I signed up. We left early, (early for a musician that plays at night), because I had to be back for an early set up on the lido deck.

The course was about 20 minutes from the port and as the 6 of us took the cab we joked about who’s game would be worse. Having not played in two years, I figured my “muscle memory,” as my dad likes to put it, would take some time to return.  We hit the course by 9:00 and by 9:05 we knew what the competition was going to be like. The one guest we were playing with is a certified PGA pro and hit drive that did not curve a degree as it sailed 250 ft. down the first fairway. None of us wanted to hit after his shot, but we all manned up. My first drive was fairly decent and I boggied the first hole. I was feeling pretty confident until my second drive hit the center of the fairway…of the 7th hole.

With a couple of tips from our pro guest and mike I started to get back into the swing of things (pun intended). Robert taught me a nice 7-9 iron stroke that I picked up on pretty quickly and rocked some really nice approach shots. I was kicking butt around the green, but I was still having trouble off the Tee. I finished 18 with a 110 (an Honest 110) and felt that I could have done a lot worse after 2 years out of practice. I was pleased that i didn’t finish last with a 112 and a 117 by the assistant cruise director and Camp Carnival worker.

The course was nice but the ground was incredibly dry. I think I hit a ball that rolled more that 125 feet on the 4th hole. Of all the courses that Mike plays on our route, this is the cheapest. That’s why he usually invites crew to play. The most expensive course he plays is in Barbados at the Green Monkey, which costs 3,000 dollars if you are not staying at the villa it sits on. I don’t think we will be playing that one any time soon, but we are going to try and go one more time before my contract is up. Mike thinks with a little time in the simulator, working on my drive, I could get myself down to a 89.  Here’s hoping.

Contract Countdown: 41 Days

Much Love,
BJSR

Old Men and the Sea

Hey All,

Its the last full week of March. Hope its going out like a lamb for you. I was discussing with Alex today that even though the weather hasn’t really ever dipped below 65 degrees this winter, it still feels like spring time here. Or, should I say smells like spring time. It is sort of hard to explain, but when I get off the ship in the mornings I get hit with the same sensation that I would in early April in Michigan. It must be that some plants are blossoming or something, because even though I have been taking my allergy shots for almost 5 months now, I’m still sneezing like crazy. I guess my Ohio allergist didn’t test for all the tropical foliage found in the Caribbean…weird.

Anyway. Time to tell you about adventure number 2. Last Tuesday, my boys; Bennett, Michael (Booba), and Phil, hopped into a cab and headed for the South end of Dominica. We met up with Rock and Mikey, two locals that Bennett met the week before. They threw us in their little boat and motored us to the middle of the Bay. Rock handed us our fishing poles, which were not poles. They were little boards with 50lbs line wrapped around it and a lure and hook at the end. Bennett and Booba dropped their lines and we proceeded to troll around the Bay looking for schools of fish. It was pretty windy, which apparently doesn’t bode well for easy fishing, but makes for a fun ride. The waves were rolling and in such a small boat if felt like we were on a roller coaster. I couldn’t help but yelling “Is that all you got?!” to the thrashing water, and I was dropping every sailing and Castaway reference I could. I’m sure Rock and Mikey thought I was an idiot, but I think they enjoyed my child-like enthusiasm.

After only 10 minutes or so, Booba got a bit and started reeling in the fish. Due to the fact that we didnt actually have polls he was just pulling in the line, mangling up his hands pretty bad. It was a impressive struggle and after a couple of minutes we saw a little bit of splashing about 15 feet from the boat. Rock and Mikey yelled and pulled up the fish…well, half of the fish. Our catch had been bit in half by a Barracuda! Mikey Jumped for a wooden pole with a large hook on the end and Rock started dipping our catch in the water to attract the Cuda. When it got close to the boat we could see the shadow under the water, it looked like it was between 3 and 4 feet! Mikey waited for the right moment and made his move, jabbing at the fish. He missed and we all yelled for him to make another attempt, but our Cuda was long gone by then. We were left with a half a Tuna, (which we named Dan), and an intense desire to catch some more fish.

We continued to troll around the Bay for another hour with little success. I had a bite that I reeled in for a while but it broke loose right before we got in on the boat. It was a little disappointing, but Rock and Mikey took us outside of the bay and rolled us around in the bigger waves to distract us from the bad fishing and let us do a little bit of snorkling. I was very amused. They told us that the wind was not the best, but they would take us back to the beach and cook us our catch.

Bennett grabbed a couple of Kubulis, (Dominican Beer), and we watched as Rock dressed the fish on the beach and Mikey lit the fire and boiled the water. They boiled up some green bananas that were picked across the street and tossed in some onions and seasoning. Dan (our fish) was thrown in last and we waited with our beers. Rock threw in the head for me and told me I had to eat the eye. Feeling very much like Anthony Bourdain, I obliged and the four of us eat our bounty on the beach. The bananas were delicious. The fish was quite good but I thought it could use a little bit more salt, not to be picky. The eye, however, was actually really tasty. It was more fatty than the rest of the fish and had some good flavor. It made me want to have my own travel show.

After our meal we headed back in the cab, full and a little sun-burned. Although we only caught a half of a fish it still felt like a success and don’t think I will every forget that experience.

Here are some shots from the day.

Stay tuned for more adventures from sea.

Contract Countdown: 42 Days

GO SPARTANS!

Much Love,

BJSR

Kites!

Hey All,

Happy weekend everyone! Im chilling in St. Kitts at my favorite internet cafe, doing a little interwebbing. This week has been pretty darn fun. Lots of adventures and stories, but I dont want to overwhelm you with everything at once. So, I will start with the kite flying.

The week before last that we had bought kites from the Wallgreens  in Old San Juan and waited in intense anticipation for our chance to fly them the next week. We had everything planned for Last Sunday; interneting and phone calls in the morning, kite flying at round 3:00, and the dinner at restaurant in San Juan. It was shaping up to be the perfect day. We had our kites all packed up and cameras in hand. As we went through security and passed our bags through the metal detectors, the guards stopped us and started to search our bags. Apparently, because the kites were still in there packaging, they needed to go through customs or we couldn’t take them off the ship. Well, customs was closed and all of the customs agents had left for the morning. Frustration started to build and a couple of the people in our group (not me) were voicing their opinion about the stupidity of the situation. I mean, these kites cost like $2.99, and were probably not even going to last through the day. The guards took our reaction as a personal attack and wrote a couple of names down, (again, not mine) and called the chief of security. After a while of compromises and apologies ( “what we have here is a failure to communicate”)  we concluded that if we take the kites out of the wrappers, we could take them off. The whole thing got everyone really revved up, which I think made the day even more enjoyable.

So we headed on up to Fort de Morro on the other side of the island. The Fort has a huge grass lawn in front of it that is usually filled with picnickers, photographers and other kite fliers. Today was no exception and the conditions were perfect to launch our cheap, plastic kites. We spent the next few hours running around like 10 year olds. It was brilliant…almost whimsical. I had so much fun. I reminded me of all the Easters that we would get the sames little kites and try to run outside and fly them, except this time I was in another Country. The wind was pretty intense off the water. Our kites lasted about 2 hours before the plastic ripped and the strings broke, but we were as content as could be. We got some great pictures all got a pretty good laugh about it. Great memories.

Here are some shots of the day. I am going to try and post a video or two soon of our adventures.

Stay tuned for more stories from this week. And make sure you check out the myspace page and keep listening to the tunes.

Contract Countdown: 43 Days

Word of the Day:

whimsical |ˈ(h)wimzikəl|
adjective
1 playfully quaint or fanciful, esp. in an appealing and amusing way : a whimsical sense of humor.
2 acting or behaving in a capricious manner : the whimsical arbitrariness of autocracy.

Much Love,

BJSR